A/N: I have no explanations for this other than I was annoyed at a certain appliance.
Disclaimer: The characters aren't mine but the situation is an unfortunate hazard of my working life.
Rage Against the (Washing) Machine.
Shunsui hated doing laundry.
If it weren't for the fact that both his precious Nanao-chan and Juu had ganged up on him and threatened him with varying degrees of bodily harm and other unmentionable tortures, he truly wouldn't have bothered but as it was...
He sat staring at the sloshing, churning machine with distaste.
It wasn't so much the chore of laundry that bothered the brunette, after all once the items were in you could pretty much leave it to it. Hence why both Jūshirō and Nanao had flat out denied him when he'd tried to charm (aka bribe) them into doing it for him. No, no it was the appliance itself that bothered Shunsui so much.
The filthy, stinking liar that called itself a washing machine.
You see although you could just let the machine do its job you just could not sit-off and relax no matter how hard you tried. You were in a state of constant, tense awareness.
This was no small feat by any stretch of the imagination.
Shunsui, self-proclaimed king of the slackers who had once managed to find a place to take a sake break and nap in the middle of an open battlefield (which Yama-Jii had admittedly not been too happy about) could not relax while doing laundry. He found his gaze constantly wandering back to the machine, searching for any change or sign that this torture would be over soon and the brunette couldn't even focus on drinking his sake or having a nap.
It was beyond annoying.
And the worst thing was it was as if the damnable machine knew it and was mocking him.
Every time Shunsui looked back at the time remaining dial it never seemed to change, he would swear blind that it had been on one minute for at least the last fifteen and the brunette grumbled as he sat fidgeting on the cold wooden bench.
Thoughts began to circle his mind and he vaguely wondered if this was how Jūshirō felt on a daily basis, waiting for something that was inevitably going to come but not knowing when, the last trickle of time stretching out endlessly. The very idea of being constantly on edge like this made him balk, it was a fate worse than death.
Melodrama momentarily over Shunsui shook his head scowling and chased away the morbid thoughts of his friend's demise. This was why he hated being focused, it made him think and when he thought he made connections. Often ones that didn't really make a lick of sense to anyone but himself and possibly Juu but they were there, like a thorn in his mind.
He stared at the sloshing, swirling water then back at the timer and just about resisted the urge to pull out his hair in annoyance.
One minute.
One minute, one minute always one fucking minute. Why couldn't it just finish already? It had been going for at least an hour and a half already and this was supposed to be an 'express wash'.
Express wash my left ass-cheek he thought darkly.
In front of him the machine slowed to a halt and made a few grinding noises before clicking and beeping, signaling the end of the cycle. The brunette could have jumped for joy if it wasn't for at that moment he came to a rather horrifying realization.
He still had to dry the damned things.
Cursing every god and deity he could think of Shunsui piled the sopping wet clothes into the nearest dryer and slammed the door on the washer shut, the slightly rusty hinge creaking in a mocking laugh.
Shunsui hated doing laundry.
Later, much, much later the brunette strode into the thirteenth division and wrapped his arms around his pale friend in a friendly hug.
Jūshirō cocked an eyebrow but didn't move away.
"While I'm not adverse to this Shun, I do have to ask..."
Shunsui buried his face in the crook of his arm, which was still wrapped around the white-haired man's neck.
"I really hate doing laundry, next time I'm just buying new clothes."
A low melodious laugh erupted from Ukitake's mouth and he patted his friends back consolingly, while the brunette burrowed his head further to hide the smile that was stretched across his lips at the sound. Knowing that if his friend caught him he'd be in trouble.
But as long as Juu could still laugh, everything would be alright.
*End*
A/N: Uh... Okay this was actually meant to be humor but ended up turning angsty, go figure. I blame Boris.
Reviews are appreciated.