The first time Kyoraku Shunsui met Ukitake Jushiro, it was an utterly unremarkable day.
When he said as such to his friends on that particular day, at that particular time, they had vehemently disagreed.
"You're going to be personally trained by Shigekuni Yamamoto!" Hitoshi had cried. "Aren't you happy? Only you and a few other people are being allowed such an honor!"
He wasn't really all that happy about it. Quite frankly, he was more than content to float on through his easy classes with as little effort as possible. His grades were fine, so there was really no need to change things, and yet the old man had insisted that he be held to higher standards. No matter how much he protested, Yama-jii hadn't taken no for an answer.
"He's gonna make you so strong, Kyoraku!" Said Katsumi.
Sure, maybe, but Kyoraku wasn't all that interested in gaining immense power in the first place. He found fighting to be utterly useless, under most circumstances. It was something that people used as a problem-solving method far too often. It was an excuse, if anything. An excuse to avoid actually working things out.
But he'd given up trying to get out of it. Yama-jii had made a decision, and there wasn't a thing he could do.
As he approached the gates to the training hall for the first time, a feeling of dread washed over him.
This was gonna be hell.
He forced the frown off of his lips as he pressed the doors open, revealing a large dojo with a few students littered about. He noted that more than a few of them were pressed into a tight circle, but he couldn't quite catch who was in the middle of it. Someone quite popular, he supposed. Unconcerned, however, he found a nice space against a nearby wall to lean against. Sooner or later Yama-jii would make his entrance, and training would begin.
He hoped it would be over quickly.
As soon as the elder man entered the dojo, all the students immediately lined up and bowed, some even welcoming him verbally. Shunsui lined up along with them, giving a half-hearted bow that barely reached past his chest. It wasn't to be disrespectful or anything, he just couldn't find it in him to pretend to be excited about all of this.
Introductions were given - not that they were necessary - and the students were quickly split up into groups of two. Sparring first, Yama-jii had announced, using bokken. Shunsui supposed it wasn't such a bad plan as it gave the old man a chance to properly observe his new students. Plus, there was no better way to get to know someone than to fight them.
Yamamoto paired up individuals and Shunsui found himself one of the last to be given a partner. His sparring mate, at least for this go around, was a white-haired student with black eyebrows and a friendly smile. He had been quick to shake Shunsui's hand and introduce himself, and his good manners paired with his friendly disposition made the dark-skinned man wonder if perhaps he had been at the circle of all the students before. He seemed nice enough to be that popular.
"My name is Jushiro Ukitake," he greeted. Shunsui noted that his shake was firm and controlled. From just the brief connection he could feel the other's reiatsu pulsing steadily beneath the surface.
"Shunsui Kyoraku," he greeted in return, a relaxed smile gracing his lips. This guy seemed nice enough - maybe he could convince him to go easy, at least for today.
"Begin!" He heard Yama-jii's commanding voice boom from the front of the dojo.
Taking a few steps back, Kyoraku faced his opponent. They both bowed before drawing their bokken and pointing them at each other. Looking as relaxed as ever, Shunsui asked,
"Hey, do you mind just taking it easy for today? I figure it's the first day and all, there's really no harm in going slow, right?"
His request brought a smile to Ukitake's face; a strange reaction which immediately churned Shunsui's gut. He was, without a doubt, going to say no.
"I'm afraid not. I think you and I both know that Yamamoto-sensei is watching us closely today, and I want to make a good impression. Don't you as well?"
Shunsui shrugged, "I guess so."
His answer caused Ukitake's smile to change. It never left his face, but he seemed suddenly more...concerned. Pitying him, perhaps.
"You don't really want to be here, do you?"
Kyoraku was surprised that the man could see through him so easily. Then again, he wasn't exactly making a huge effort to conceal his emotions, either. Perhaps, he supposed, he should try harder next time.
"I'd rather take it easy," he admitted with a small shrug.
He felt a bit embarrassed to admit such a thing - odd, since he normally had no shame whatsoever. Maybe Ukitake's personality was rubbing off on him a bit, even if they'd only known each other for a few minutes.
"I'll tell you what, Kyoraku-san. Let's give it our all in sparring today and it might just end quickly."
He had a challenging smirk that Shunsui couldn't resist. His grip on his sword tightened ever so slightly.
"Those sound like fightin' words, Ukitake-kun," Kyoraku teased. "But, hey, it would be rude to back down from a challenge like that. I guess I can give it a go, just this once."
Their wooden swords clashed only moments after the end of their exchange. Despite his opponent being such a skinny guy, Shunsui was finding himself quickly being pushed back by Ukitake, but he wouldn't let the pale man take control so easily. Summoning his strength, he pressed harder against his peer's bokken, pushing him back just enough to break free from the deadlock and swing again, this time with a vertical strike.
Ukitake was clearly taken by surprise by Kyoraku's effort, but the realization that the man really was giving it his all only deepened the smile on his face. He blocked the vertical strike with ease and was quick to press against Shunsui's bokken, which slowly fell to the side, unable to hold ground against Ukitake's strength.
Jushiro attacked first, his sword immediately swinging towards the opening on Kyoraku's other side. Kyoraku, however, was more than ready, and his counter was something Jushiro hadn't expected.
He dropped one of his hands, leaving his bokken gripped in just his left. Had he kept the sword held in both hands, surely Ukitake would have landed a hit, but the speed the shaggy-haired man gained by using only one hand was more than enough to counter.
Ukitake could barely detect a difference in strength.
Shunsui smirked, knowing he had taken his partner by surprise. Faster than Ukitake could track, he switched hands once again, swinging towards the thin student's open side. The sword hit home with a subtle crack!
The noise was small, but Shunsui couldn't hide a cringe nonetheless. He hadn't been able to fully control himself and the hit was bound to leave a bruise at least, especially on his skinny, pale partner.
"Damnit, I hurt you, huh?"
Ukitake only laughed. "Not at all! Your fighting style is incredible. Kyoraku-san. I'm glad we were paired up together. Shall we continue?"
What a nice guy, Kyoraku mused. He's gotta be in some serious pain right now, but he's acting like he doesn't have a care in the world. He must really not want me to feel bad.
"Alright, I guess so. I'll try not to hit you so hard this time, promise."
Ukitake merely chuckled.
So they went at it again, Shunsui immediately using only one hand to wield his bokken. Ukitake was slowly growing accustomed to his partner's fighting style, and Shunsui found himself having to invent new tricks to try and get around the man's defenses.
What surprised him the most was when one of Ukitake's hands suddenly fell away from his sword. His right hand now wielding the heavy weapon, his attacks lost little of their strength and gained speed significantly.
A huge smile broke out onto Shunsui's face. Even if this wasn't Ukitake's regular style of fighting, he was clearly already fairly adept at it.
He was actually having a pretty fun time.
The fun came to an end when Shunsui felt a sharp rap on the back of his head. He knew immediately what it was - Yama-jii. He silently prepared for a scolding.
"If you two are in the business of inventing new sword techniques, perhaps you find the traditional way of fighting too boring," the elder suggested.
"Of course not, master, we just-"
"Enough! Come with me, you two."
Yamamoto lead them both to the center of the room. Simultaneously, all of the fights around them suddenly came to an end as the students began to surround the three.
"Take hold of your swords," the man instructed. Kyoraku and Ukitake obeyed, both looking rather uncertain.
"The techniques I teach you here are not just basic fundamentals. They are skills that will be used to defeat your enemies - and to eliminate hollows. They are vital- allow me to demonstrate."
He looked to Shunsui and Jushiro, raising his cane.
"Come."
The young men looked at each other, sharing a worried glance. They both knew they didn't hold a candle to the master's strength, but disobeying him would only bring further punishment.
Kyoraku was the first to run forward, bokken now held in both hands. He swung at the older man, who promptly stepped to the side. Before he could turn to strike again, he found himself being knocked in the back by the end of Yama-jii's cane. He tumbled to the ground and turned just in time to see Ukitake being met with a similar fate.
The white-haired man fell beside him, prompting Shunsui to offer him a weary smile. It was calmly returned, though Ukitake's eyebrows were rather tightly knit.
The rest of the training session passed, thankfully, with few other incidents. Shunsui and Jushiro made sure to keep both hands on their swords as much as possible, though if Shunsui had released his right hand a few times, Jushiro had made no note of it.
Shunsui could still feel the pain of Yama-jii's cane as the sunset filtered through the dojo's windows and training was called to an end.
He and Jushiro had scattered then, but as he exited the dojo he saw the familiar locks of white hair heading down a path opposite the rest of the students.
Running to catch up, Shunsui called out, "Ukitake-kun!"
White hair spun around to reveal an almost equally white face, and the lips that rested there quickly curled up into a smile.
"Kyoraku-san. Are you headed into town as well?" His voice had a breathy tone that Shunsui immediately noticed hadn't been there before. He had seemed fine before, but was something wrong now? What could it be?
He put it out of his mind for the time being. Ukitake was a grown man who could take care of himself.
Shunsui nodded slowly. "Yep. Gonna go out drinking with some buddies."
"Drinking, this early in the week?"
"Yeah. Not heavy drinking or anything, but a coupl'a the guys thought it would be nice to celebrate me getting into Yama-jii's class, so I figured why not?"
"Speaking of our sensei, are you alright? That hit from his cane looked pretty painful- well, both of them did."
Shunsui chuckled. "Yeah, it's fine. I'm used to the old man beatin' up on me. What about you? It looked like he knocked you pretty good in the chest back there."
Jushiro shook his head, a breathy chuckle escaping him. "No, no, I'm alright. He was going easy on us."
He couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah, but it still hurt like hell."
Though neither asked or even mentioned it, they both fell into step with one-another, walking side by side toward the town. They walked in relative silence until a bar, familiar only to Shunsui, came into view.
"Well, this is my stop," Shunsui announced, halting and turning to his companion.
"Have a safe night, Kyoraku-san." Ukitake offered him a friendly smile, though Shunsui barely noticed it beyond the man's now strikingly pale face. It was definitely paler than before, he thought.
"Please, call me Shunsui."
"Alright, then, but only if you call me Jushiro."
They smiled at each other.
"Shunsui-san."
"Jushiro-kun."
"Good night."
"G'night."