"What the hell am I doing here?!" Ikkaku looked around strangely.
You're here because I declared it! Bwahahahahaha!!
He stared at the Narrator boredly. "Che, whatever. I'm going now."
Wait!! You can't leave! I've got a story for you!
"What?!"
The wind was warm, but it was soft; the sun was bright, but the shade was nice. It was a perfect day. Ikkaku Madarame sat lazily under a tree in the eleventh division garden.
"Ikka-kun!" That voice, it was so familiar, very beautiful and soft, but it had a strong, confident undertone to it. "Ikka, what have you been up to? I've been looking for you all day."
Opening his eyes he found himself staring at the most beautiful person he could have ever imagined. Her long black hair flowed softly down to her mid back, the dark of her eyes just glowed with kindness, and her slender form looked perfect under her hakama. "There wasn't nothin' else to do today, so I decided to just take it easy today."
A light pout crossed her features as he stared up at her. "And you didn't think to come find me? Jeeze, what a boyfriend you are!" She giggled, taking a seat in his lap and snuggling close to him.
"You know I wouldn't wanna leave you out, Kiriumi. I just forgot." He grinned, wrapping his arms securely around her waist.
She just smiled sweetly and waved it off. "It's okay, we've got all afternoon to do whatever we want…" Kiriumi purred, leaning into his lips to capture them in a kiss. Happily he returned the kiss, running his tongue along her lips before sliding it into her mouth. Her hands fit perfectly in his as their fingers became locked together.
"I thought this is where I would find you two." Yumichika cleared his throat as he strutted into the garden.
"We're busy Yumi…" Ikkaku glared at his long time friend.
"Are you? I didn't notice." He admired his nails for a moment before turning his attention to his two closest friends. "Oh! Kiri, you just have to come with me to this spa that opened up in the first district! They say it does amazing things to a person's skin. Even with my flawless appearance I would adore a spa trip!"
The dark haired fourth seat squealed with excitement. "I heard about that place! Apparently it's been visited by almost all of the taichō and fukutaichō since it opened! Kira-kun said that it was a very nice place, and even though it's expensive it's completely worth it." She then turned to Ikkaku, her face bright lit with excitement. "Can we go, Ikka-kun? Please!?"
Never once had he been able to say no to that face. Her expression held such honest happiness that he found himself willing to die just to see it again. Not that he was against going to a spa, it was really girly, but it's relaxing, and everyone needs some relaxation time. "…Yeah, let's go."
Just then the small, pink haired wonder, Yachiru, appeared out of what seemed to be nowhere. "Yay!! Where are we going?!" Her eyes were staring curiously at Ikkaku as she hung from Kiriumi's shoulder.
"Would you like to come to a spa with us, Yachiru-chan?" Kiriumi asked, her happy smile only growing larger as Yachiru joined in on the conversation.
"Yeah!!" She cheered, jumping off of her shoulder and landing on the ground in front of the three of them. "I'll go get Ken-chan! And then we can all go have fun at the spa!"
"Today was fun." Kiriumi sighed happily, snuggling closer to the warm man lying next to her. "We should do more things together, with all five of us. It all stopped since we joined the eleventh division. Don't you miss the days when we used to just spend all of our time traveling throughout the rukongai?"
Ikkaku shifted slightly, giving her more room to come closer and wrapping his arms around her at the same time. "Those were pretty good times. All those people who got their asses handed to 'em by me! Ha, now that was fun!"
Smiling a sincerely happy smile, the dark haired shinigami placed several light kisses along her lovers jaw. "My Ikka's such a strong man. You could take everyone!" Grinning evilly, she batted her eyelashes up at him. "Well…Except for one person."
"I'm gonna surpass Kenpachi." He huffed.
"Mm, Kenpachi-taichō is so strong and manly though. He's pretty much unbeatable! Such a handsome man too…" She taunted, loving nothing more than to watch the bald man's frustration grow.
Turning over, he pinned her down to the bed. "What do you mean 'handsome'?"
Giggling at just how jealous he honestly was, she could feel her evil grin fade to small smile. "No one's more handsome than you though. You're all the man I want, and all that I ever will."
Her serious expression made him feel reassured. He loved her more than he loved life itself, even more than he loved fighting. And that was saying something. Though he never said it out loud much, she knew that he did love her; he just wasn't good at showing it. "I better be." He grumbled, leaning down to take advantage of their current position.
Happily returning the kiss, she wriggled her arms free and wrapped them around his neck. He took that moment to pull the sash on her sleeping robe and let it slide open. Life couldn't have gotten any better; she had good friends, a wonderful job that included her favorite hobby as well, and she had someone who she loved with her whole heart. It could only be described as perfect.
It was a very nice, quiet day in the eleventh division. Days like these were the ones that Kiriumi adored the most. She could sit calmly while she let an angels food cake bake in the oven. "Mm, maybe I should get some training in on today. I suppose I could fit it in after this is done and before dinner…" The sound of the door opening made the young shinigami perk up slightly. "Oh, hello, Kenpachi-taichō." She smiled brightly.
He nodded at her slightly as his own form of greeting. "Have you seen Yachiru?" He grunted.
"Um…No, I don't think I've seen her today." She said thoughtfully. "Is something going on?"
"No, she hasn't bothered me yet. I'm just wonderin'."
As the large captain turned to leave Kiriumi spoke up. "I believe she's been doing things with Ise-fukutaichō, it was something about the Shinigami Women's Association. She shouldn't be busy for much longer though."
"Oh," he replied, scratching at his eye patch. It seemed like he had nothing to do today.
Smiling kindly, she walked over to the oven and removed the tea pot from where it had been placed over the burner. "Would you like to have some tea, taichō? There hasn't been much to do in the division today anyway."
Shrugging slightly, the large captain took a seat at the small table. "It's too quiet. It ain't normal for this division."
"It is a bit strange, isn't it? I always like to think of it as a pleasant surprise. These are the days when I can get the things that are important to me done without much hassle." Taking a seat by her captain she set down the cups and the tea pot. "I think that most of the other division members enjoy it just as much. Everybody needs some peace every now and then."
"Yeah. Get's borin' though." Kenpachi did seem rather bored. He obviously wasn't one of those people who relished their down time. Though he always seemed to enjoy his solitude, he probably enjoyed having something to do much more. Even thinking after a while became a bit boring.
"I can imagine. But you can always go train or something. Sometimes I go over to other divisions to see people as well." She offered, smiling sweetly. "Or what about hobbies? You have to have something else you like to do. Well, other than fighting." Kiriumi chuckled, leaning forward and smiling up at her captain. The sound of the door opening alerted her of another visitor. "Hi, Ikka-kun, how are you?"
Ikkaku looked at his captain and his girlfriend; they were sitting a little too close for his tastes. "I'm fine." He grumbled, taking a seat right next his lover and placing his hand possessively around her waist.
She almost couldn't hold back her laugh. It was so cute how easily jealous Ikkaku could get. "We were just trying to figure out what to do with ourselves on this increasingly boring day."
The door opened again as two more people entered the room. "So this is where you all have been hiding." Yumichika smiled beautifully trotting into the room.
"I'm bored, Ken-chan!!" Yachiru complained, running in and jumping on the large captain's shoulder.
Kiriumi thoughtfully stared at her four friends for a moment. "Why don't we go out to eat tonight? I'm always up for a break with cooking, the division can survive by itself for one night, and it would solve our boredom problem."
"Wonderful idea, Kiri-chan! This is the perfect night to go out." The beautiful fifth seat smiled. "Let's go then."
The five walked back from the restaurant; Yachiru hanging on Kenpachi's shoulder, Yumichika prattling on about the beautiful store they had been walking past, and Ikkaku and Kiriumi hanging back a bit. Their fingers were entwined, and they talked quietly to each other.
"These nights are so much fun." She sighed happily, leaning close to her lover as they walked together.
"Yeah, better than earlier." He grumbled to himself.
But she heard him. "Oh, don't tell me you were really that jealous of me talking with Kenpachi-taichō." He turned away from her, scowling deeply. "Ikkaku…" Gently taking his face with her free hand she turned him to look at her. "You know, more than any other person, that I love you. I've chosen you, and you're all I will ever want."
"…I know." His expression lightened as he leaned down to plant a light kiss on her lips. "Che, it sounds real stupid to say out loud…" Ikkaku started, looking off to the side. "…but the best thing I ever did was bring you with me."
Though she was used to him never saying beautiful things like that to her, she knew when he did say something meaningful it was something that came from his heart. She couldn't stop herself as her eyes filled with tears. "Ikkaku…" Crying happily, she threw her arms around him and held him tightly.
"I love you…" He mumbled into her hair.
And as he held her, he knew he had made the best decision of his life.
"Ikkaku!" Yumichika complained, shoving his friend to get his attention. "Ikkaku, stop spacing out on me."
The bald shinigami looked away from the object of his affection and turned his attention to his best friend. "Whaddu ya want?" He grumbled.
"You weren't listening to me. What has you so distracted anyway?" Following what Ikkaku had been looking at, he noticed Kiriumi smiling sincerely happily as she talked to Kenpachi. Their hands were connected together and they seemed to be just as happy as they ever were.
Kiriumi flipped her medium length hair back and stood up on her tip toes, pressing her lips to his happily. Averting his eyes to the ground, Ikkaku stared harshly at it.
"I was just thinking about my biggest mistake."
Poor Ikkaku...
"I made my mistake. Now I'll live with it." Ikkaku mumbled.
I would say that you'll find another, but this Narrator knows, once you really fall in love with someone, it never goes away. But hopefully you'll be happy that you still get to be with her.
"…Che …" He grumbled, glaring at the ground sadly.