A/N:Bleach and all characters belong to Tite Kubo. Unbeta'd so all mistakes are mine alone.


Today is your Birthday

The morning was crisp, perhaps a little too crisp. The pale thin man let out a groan when his joints popped while he stretched. Sometimes he felt really old. His face was still youthful looking but if he looked hard enough he could see the faintest wrinkles at the corners of his eyes.

Sighing he glanced over at the broad back that was on the bed next to him. He must have come to bed late. Ukitake had gone to sleep by himself, Shunsui had told him to not wait up, he had a lot of work to finish. He really wanted to snuggle up against against that warm body it was like a furnace, and he was chilly. Instead he began to trace the delicate floral tattooed patterns that were splashed across that solid expanse of flesh.

Shunsui had begun to get the tattooing done to cover the scars from the various beatings he had gotten from his father and elder brother. Once he was free, truly free of the clan manor he rebelled more than he had ever done before.

Juushiro tutted quietly as he traced some fresh scaring that marred the intricate pattern. There was a soft snort from the face buried in the pillow. "You'll have to have some repairs done."

"Yeah.. soon." Was the lazy reply. "There's more important things going on right now." Juushiro nodded silently behind Kyoraku's back and began to run his finger around the remaining crescent holes left by the Quincy weapon that had robbed his handsome lover of the site in his right eye.

"Now these..." Juushiro sighed heavily, "these look too much like hollow holes." Bending down he laid several soft kisses between the shoulder blades.

"You know what today is, right?"

"Saturday?" Ukitake's lips curled into a grin when Shunsui growled and attempted to roll over. "Oh is it inspection day already, Soutaicho?"

"Dammit Juushiro."

"Don't curse at me like that, it's rude." Ukitake jabbed a sharp finger in Kyoraku's ribcage.

Shunsui grabbed the hand and tugged, Juushiro let out a squeak and found he was now enveloped in a strong embrace. "Hey you're chilly."

"Well...!" he snuggled tight against the warm body. "It's a bit chilly today."

"...and you were just playing back there?" Shunsui chided and kissed the top of the soft white hair. "Now for that special day." He felt around the side of the futon and let out a small whoop of triumph. "Happy Birthday, Handsome."

Ukitake careful peeled away the wrapping and opened the small ornate box. Inside he found a fragile blown glass wind chime. It was covered with prettily colored fish and tiny beautiful flowers. He was overwhelmed. Shunsui always knew exactly what to get him. And he love it.

"I love it." He kissed his best friend and lover with all the passion that he felt in his heart. "And I love you so very much."

"I love you too." Shunsui's voice was a husky rumble.