Attractive Gloom

Anime/Manga: Bleach

Pairing(s): Hisagi Shuuhei x Kira Izuru x Abarai Renji

Genre: Romance

Warnings: Male x male relationship, possible OOC-ness, swearing, and slightly suggestive

Personal thoughts: Just an idea I got when Yumichika refused to admit that gloomy could be attractive. Apologies for length (my fics are always long)

Ps.

"Talking"
'Thinking'

Oneshot

"What the hell!"

Shuuhei was glad Renji had spoken first for if Renji hadn't yelled that out, he was positive that he would have instead. Actually Renji had beaten him to the draw, he was just opening his mouth to let out his response to the scene in front of him, however Renji was a lot more brash then he was. It was a loss that Shuuhei gladly took, he was normally the composed one and Renji gave him the opportunity to stay like that. However, maybe, the scene here wasn't one he should be too friendly towards. Since one member of the party seemed to be particularly scarred, that member was Kira Izuru.

First of all, what made this encounter odd was that it was only Yumichika and Izuru in this room. Renji had decided he was going to have lunch with Ikkaku and since Shuuhei was out of yen again (paying for drinks with Rangiku was never a smart move, however he always did it every time he drank with her) had of course agreed to come along when he heard Ikkaku was going to be paying. If it had been any other situation he wouldn't have agreed because the ninth division never got along with the eleventh division. The whole difference of opinions, least blood shed to most blood shed.

However when Renji had opened the door to Ikkaku's house, which he and Yumichika shared, Renji and Shuuhei had come across this. There was Izuru sitting on a cushion in front of a mirror, Yumichika behind him, squatting up to make sure he was doing what he wanted. The part that freaked Renji and himself out so much was what Yumichika had done to Izuru's hair. It was tied up at the back, coming off spiky but it was slicked up. Izuru's bang that hung over his eyes for so long was clipped to the side with some pretty star design that had an azure colour. That wasn't all.

Certain sections of his hair was done in small braids that lead back to the hair tie, it was only certain sections of Izuru's hair that had the braids. They laid upon his other hair and it gave a design that must be beautiful in someone's eyes. The long bang that was kept in front of his face was neatly tucked behind his ear. A braid was also there, it started behind the ear, it was pretty in one sense. However it was way too feminine to be a male's hairstyle, Shuuhei was sure of that. However pretty the hairstyle was, it wasn't Izuru. Yumichika had a "tch" and Izuru, who was already blushing from not only having someone touch his hair but who was also in his personal space bubble, started blushing more.

"What does it look like I'm doing?"

"I don't know!"

"Actually, you guys are just in time for the new look Izuru is going to sport!"

The quick glance of Izuru's eyes to Yumichika's and the look he gave him read 'I will?' however after that Yumichika spun Izuru's cushion around, almost causing Izuru to fall over. Thankfully his balance was good and only caused minor embarrassment as he straightened himself. There he was sitting in front of them, blushing and looking down, hands folded neatly in front of him. Renji and Shuuhei could only gape, not because of how pretty he looked, he looked much prettier before, but because of how much he changed. His face was more visible now, it looked sorta bare but at the same time it was nice. However Shuuhei had noticed the slight make up done to Izuru's face in an attempt to bring out his features.

"What I think…" Renji started "Is what the fuck did you do to him Yumichika!"

"I should have known you two would have no talent in recognizing beauty."

Yumichika then spun the cushion around so Izuru could face him. "However we still have much work to do, like changing your clothes."

The moment Yumichika had touched Izuru's kimono to remove it Shuuhei was there gripping Yumichika's hand tightly. Shuuhei was well known for his speed in Seireitei, he was one of the fastest shinigami around. Yumichika's finger tips where millimeters away from touching the part of clothe near Izuru's chest. Yumichika had given Shuuhei a face at the way he was acting.

"I have to get rid of his top in order to get him a prettier one."

"Ayasegawa." Shuuhei warned but it was lost on the pretty boy.

"Well, I suppose with the way his eyes are always drooping like that, it wouldn't matter if I gave him new clothes or not, he still wouldn't be beautiful."

Shuuhei didn't know what to do, a part of him, the part that cared for his friend wanted to hurt Yumichika for saying that. However it was too against his nature and he wouldn't give Yumichika the pleasure of pissing off the unnaturally patient Shuuhei. However it wouldn't stop Renji from shoving Shuuhei out of the way to get at Yumichika for saying such an insulting thing to his friend. Renji had whacked him clear on the head and was about to assault him with words when Izuru had spoken.

"It's fine Renji-kun. I already know my features aren't beautiful."

This had caught Renji off for a split second before he turned back to yell at Yumichika once more.

"Look what you did now! I really don't want to argue with him that he's beautiful!" Renji grew a slight blush at the thought; it was really weird to call Izuru beautiful. Well not weird per say but it was embarrassing to call one of his closest male friends beautiful, hell it was even embarrassing to call a female friend beautiful.

"Why would you want to? The depressing look is so ugly so I thought I'd change him around. However if you look, even when he smiles those eyes of his ruin it, not to mention his constantly worried eye brows."

Yumichika went to go reach to pull Izuru's lips into a smile however Shuuhei grabbed his hand again with another warning "Ayasegawa."

Shuuhei gave a sigh and motioned Izuru to come with him. "Where's your washroom?"

"Why are you looking for that?"

Renji then interrupted with a "It's to your left there."

"Hai."

"Guess this means it's just you and me Yumichika." Renji grew a famous squad eleven smirk on his face. Which probably meant he was planning on fighting Yumichika out of anger at what he did to Izuru.

Izuru had of course gotten up instantly and followed after Shuuhei, wondering if it was okay to leave the two alone. However Shuuhei must think so, so he agreed, however he forgot that Shuuhei really disliked anyone from squad eleven so he might be a little more lenient to let one of them be beat up. Shuuhei had slid the door shut when Izuru had gotten into the room and told Izuru to sit up on the side of the counter that wasn't compacted with beauty products. Izuru sat once again with his hands folded in front of himself and waited for Shuuhei to give him further instructions.

'He's being so formal, he must be a little shaken up over what Ayasegawa did to him. Hell, I know the experiences of letting him play with your hair, damn guy managed to get me when I was drunk. That was the worst morning of my life and it took me forever to get my hair and face back to normal.'

"Let's get you cleaned up."

Izuru nodded, although there was a hesitance to it that made Shuuhei stare at him strangely.

"Did you… like what Ayasegawa did?"

"Well… uno… it isn't that… it's just he worked really hard and…"

"That doesn't matter Izuru and besides even if he didn't he'd still be upset over his look being taken apart."

"Then should I not…?"

"That's why I'm doing it, don't feel bad over it, this is my choice."

Izuru nodded slowly. Then Shuuhei grabbed a cloth, used the sink nearby to soak in water. Squeezed it to let some water out then started rubbing at Izuru's face, first he wanted to get the make up off.

'This might take awhile. I hope Renji doesn't kill Ayasegawa too badly.'

"Tell me if I rub too hard okay?"

"Hai."

"…So…"

"…Hmm?"

"Why did you let Ayasegawa do this to you anyways?"

"Well… Ayasegawa-san had said that squad eleven needed some funds so he was going to do some makeovers for people. He asked if I'd be willing to be an example of what he could do and…"

"Souka… I understand Izuru but you really shouldn't trust him, squad eleven should be fine for funds, like they always are. I honestly think he lied to you about it just to give you a makeover."

"Why… would you say that?"

"He told me once that he thought that people who had a gloomy look to them were unattractive."

Shuuhei frowned when Izuru lowered his eyes.

"However, I believe they are quite attractive."

The blush from before was back, he was embarrassed completely but so was Shuuhei, they stayed like that for awhile before the wet cloth was put down. Shuuhei reached up and brushed his fingers along Izuru's forehead to get at the clips out of his hair. Izuru blushed deeper and looked like he wanted to pull away, physical contact was not something Izuru felt comfortable with. Shuuhei looked at him apologetically and pulled the clips out of his hair and moved the bang back in front of his face and removing the braid there.

"You know how to un-do braids?"

Now it was Shuuhei's turn to blush deeper.

"Ayasegawa has a thing for braiding."

"What does that have to do with this?"

"He tried the same stunt on me while I was drunk. The braids were tiny and you better believe I learned quickly how to remove them."

There was a soft "oh" from Izuru.

Shuuhei then reached behind Izuru to remove the hair tie. He could only stare as Izuru's hair fell weirdly, this was because the back of his hair was gelled and this caused the ends of his hair to stick up.

"We'll have to wash your hair to get that gel out, I'm sure Ayasegawa won't mind if you use his gel removal here."

"…" Izuru shifted uncomfortably at that.

"Don't worry, it's not an actually shower, just let me get the braids out of your hair, then we'll remove your kimono top and then just quickly rinse your hair out."

"…" Izuru didn't respond right away but gave a slow nod at that.

"It'll be just like the times we went to the onsen."

"Hai."

With that Shuuhei made quick work of the many braids in Izuru's hair, which wasn't hard once the band that held it like that was gone. Shuuhei then backed off so Izuru could get off the counter and remove his kimono top. It was the same thing always when they went to the onsen, the guy was really shy, even to reveal a bit of skin. It also didn't matter how many times Shuuhei had seen his milky chest; it didn't seem to make Izuru any more comfortable. Izuru then proceeded to neatly fold his shirt and place it on the counter then he looked at Shuuhei for further instructions. Izuru suddenly became flustered when he had turned around to a now shirtless Shuuhei.

"Wh-what are you doing?"

"Well I'd figured I'd help you wash your hair so… I don't want my shirt getting wet either."

Izuru gave a nod and then took Shuuhei's shirt to fold it. 'Must be a habit he got from living alone or from squad four. He didn't even ask me if he could take it to place it aside.'

Shuuhei then headed over to the shower in the bathroom to turn it on then proceeded to test the water till it got to the desired temperature.

"Okay, bend over."

"Are you sure we should really be doing this here?"

"Why not?"

"Well… this is Ayasegawa-san's house and…"

"Don't worry and let's just do this."

"Are you sure?"

"I said to bend over, the quicker the better."

"Hai, I suppose."

Izuru then leaned his head under the shower head.

"Ah! Shuuhei-kun too-" 'Hot'

Shuuhei knew what Izuru was going to say so he quickly reached for the knob.

"I know, I know, just give me a second to adjust."

A few moments of silence then Izuru finally spoke again "O-okay, this is good."

"I'd hope so, now shall we get to work?"

"Hai."

Izuru gasped when he felt Shuuhei's hands reach over to start lathering his hair to remove the gel. When suddenly Izuru gasped out in pain and Shuuhei realized the flaw in having Izuru's head down, the shampoo was bound to get in his eyes.

"Did that hurt?"

"…Iie, not that much… it just stings a little."

"Gomen na, I didn't mean for that to happen I wasn't thinking that that would hurt you."

"I-it's fine, just continue, the quicker we move on the less this will hurt."

"Hai."

At that moment the door was bashed down to reveal a very flustered red haired shinigami. "Just what the hell are you doing in here!"

Shuuhei and Izuru had both looked over surprised and then Renji's blush grew deeper then he roared out "Damn it Yumichika! Don't put thoughts like that in my head!"

"Not my fault, they were the ones making suggestive comments."

With that Yumichika closed the door leaving the three to stand there awkward with each other. Renji scratched the back of his head.

"Suggestive… comments…?" Shuuhei inquired.

Renji looked away and crossed his arms defiantly "Yumichika said that you too were having sex."

At this Izuru fell forward into the bath tub there out of shock at the blunt words. Shuuhei had attempted to grab him but lost his balance because some spray water droplets had hit the floor earlier. He came crashing down onto Izuru and the two quickly became a wet pile of limbs. Shuuhei blushed heavily, not the best place to land when someone just suggests that they were having sex. Now he was over top of Izuru and his crotch was perfectly above his ass right now. Shuuhei scrambled with his hands and quickly pulled himself away from the shower.

Renji had stared for a few seconds, blush spreading deeply at what that just looked like, it had surprised him. However not as much as Izuru who was still laying there face first in the water, surprised at feeling Shuuhei's bare chest against his own skin. Izuru then put his hands down to try and lift himself up before it slipped out from under him and he fell back down. He laid there blushing for awhile, utterly embarrassed for the umpteenth time today.

That's when Renji's hand reached out to him.

Izuru rolled over and took it shyly and Renji hoisted the wet fukutaichou out of the shower. Renji just threw him one of his normal reassuring smiles. Izuru always loved that smile, it had always made him feel really safe, well maybe not just the smile. Then there was a towel being handed to him. Izuru looked to see Shuuhei already whipping himself down with a white towel. Izuru took it and started to dry his face when he pulled the towel away coughing at the strong scent that emanated from it.

"Gomen na again." Shuuhei looked at him apologetically "I took Ayasegawa's towels, somewhat for this whole mess and partly because I didn't want to touch Madarame's."

Izuru took one look at the messy, tangled, scruffy looking white towels and nodded. Partly wondering why Yumichika even let Ikkaku keep those towels, or perhaps replacing them all the time became too expensive because no matter how new it always ended up looking like that. Being careful this time not to get a major whiff of the strong lavender scent he slowly started drying himself. Having to squeeze out water from his hakama and patting it dry for the most part. He'd have to change when he got home, then he looked at Shuuhei and Renji, wondering why they where just staring at him and hadn't already left.

At that, they both blushed and looked away, Renji mumbling "Well, now that that is taken care of, both of you put your shirts back on and come on."

Renji turned to the door and both Izuru and Shuuhei headed to the counter to slip back into their shirts. Tucking the shirt back in proved a bit difficult with how their obis were tied but they managed. Izuru looked shyly down at his feet and mumbled a very soft "Arigato for… helping." Shuuhei merely nodded at him and rubbed the back of his head. "You don't have to keep looking away from me when you want to speak."

"Maybe he's still afraid of his sempai." Renji teased as he began violently shaking the door knob. This caught the two other fukutaichous' attention.

"What's going on Renji-kun?" Izuru inquired.

"The fucking door won't open!" Anger was rising in his voice.

Shuuhei then moved over and did a 'move aside' motion with his hands and tried, tilting his head to the side confused. Then he blinked looked at Izuru then to Renji "Why Did Ayasegawa close the door when he left?"

There was a small "Teme" mumbled under Renji's breath.

Izuru looked confused and started feeling out of the loop because both seemed to make a realization he didn't. However Renji liked announcing things, even if it is painfully obvious and there was no need to do so.

"He locked the door to fucking punish us!" Renji growled irately.

Izuru tilted his head to the side. "How is this punishment?"

"Well, you two have work to do and I hate being locked up somewhere that I can't get out of. Yumichika I swear I will scar your face if you don't come back here right now and get us out!"

At this point Renji started pounding on the door, forcing Shuuhei away in fear that Renji might miss and hit him. Izuru concentrated for a second and then cleared his throat to try and get Renji's attention. He realized in less then a second not even Shuuhei, who was right beside him, could hear that. So instead he just raised his voice with a quick threatening call of his name. Renji had stopped because it was a tone that he had never heard before from Izuru and apparently neither had Shuuhei for he was giving Izuru a strange look.

"I can't sense Ayasegawa-goseki in the house and I highly doubt that he knows the kidou to suppress one's reiatsu to the point one can't feel it. Nor do I believe that someone in the eleventh division would know how to suppress their reiatsu any more then necessary as to not crush other members with their reiatsu."

"Ayasegawa isn't a typical squad eleven though." Shuuhei mumbled off-handedly, almost like he knew something the other two didn't.

However Izuru continued "I also believe the threat to his face, which you will obviously carry out, was not acknowledged. He probably left to avoid hearing such things and letting us out. Not to mention these are squad eleven doors."

Renji blinked "What's that got to do with anything?"

"Chances are, they are reinforced to take the abuse the squad elevens put on them everyday. If they were normal doors I'm pretty sure you'd walk into the eleventh division and there wouldn't be a single door still on it's hinges."

"Okay… so that means?"

"I'm not quite confident in the fact that you can break it anytime soon and I also don't believe you have the money to pay for it."

"Well..."

"Neither does Shuuhei-kun for that fact for I'm sure he came to the eleventh for a free meal."

Shuuhei grew a slight blush at that, it wasn't his fault that he had a crush on Rangiku and he was too nice of a guy to refuse paying for all her drinks and his own.

"If that is the case then let me break the door with a kidou, I'm sure these doors can't withstand that."

Renji gave a quick nod and Izuru began the hand motions to release a ball of energy at the door. However Shuuhei quickly stuck an arm out and Izuru immediately stopped and looked at Shuuhei confused.

"If you break the door that means you'll be paying for it."

"Hai, that is correct."

"Shouldn't we all just chip in and pay for the door together if that's the case."

"You clearly forget how much yen I have Shuuhei-kun, however you sound like you have another plan."

"In fact, I do, one that would save us a lot of trouble and money."

Shuuhei then bent down in front of the door, grabbing one of the star clips from earlier and bending the metal behind it. Then he slowly inserted it into the key hole and within a few seconds there was a click and he slung the door open. "As easy as that."

"Damn Shuuhei." Renji commented. "I didn't know you knew how to pick locks."

"It was something I picked up from Rukongai." Shuuhei stated as he started to leave Ikkaku's and Yumichika's house.

"Me and Rukia never picked up any skills like that, it was all running and fighting."

Shuuhei just shrugged, not wanting to say that he wasn't as brave as Renji back then so he found other methods to get food. Shuuhei just keep walking beside Renji, getting in a few comments about Rukongai before Shuuhei stopped his pace and looked at the slightly trailing behind Izuru. Waiting for him to catch up, however when he stopped completely at the same distance, it made both himself and Renji look at him questioningly.

"What's up?"

"… It's quicker to get to my division that way… so…"

Shuuhei nodded and Renji just blinked "Why do you have to get back to your division so quickly anyways?"

"… No reason."

Renji and Shuuhei exchanged glances with each other, he had grown quiet over the years, especially after the betrayal… especially after the war had ended. He had still kept the distance that they had passed off as recovering or training. However, now it was starting to make both of them doubt it. He always seemed careful in his words, afraid to ask silly questions, almost like he was afraid to speak like it would earn him some sort of punishment. Izuru used to be talkative, right up until Gin decided to betray soul society and then it's almost like he hit a brick wall. Well it seeped out as Izuru got adjusted to Gin being missing, one would think that with Gin gone he would be more talkative. Renji opened his mouth to speak before a loud gurgling sound cut him off.

Renji looked down at his stomach, he couldn't believe he had forgotten the whole reason they came to the eleventh anyways. He scratched the back of his head with a sheepish smile. "Guess I'm still hungry."

At this Shuuhei frowned because it made him remember he was hungry too. "I suppose Ayasegawa will no longer let Madarame pay for lunch."

Renji nodded reluctantly and looked at Shuuhei with a "Now what?"

Shuuhei just shrugged when a voice interjected "I'll pay if you can't find anyone else to eat with."

They both looked at Izuru, who was staring back at them "I mean it but if you don't want to eat with-."

Renji cut him off there by throwing an arm around "Sounds great Izuru! Let's go get some food I know the best place!"

Renji started walking off arm still slung around Izuru as if he was almost being dragged along. When Shuuhei jogged and caught up to them he was sure that if he hadn't heard Izuru offer, it would have looked like the blonde was going against his own free will. Although, he supposed Izuru always had that tired look to him… however was the look of 'I don't want to be here' always there? Although as that thought crossed his mind it seemed to vanish, maybe it was just the lighting making his eyes look like that.

"How much money do you have again Izuru?" Shuuhei inquired, not to be nosy but he felt horrible when ever he took yen from people unless they were rich like Marechiyo or they just didn't care about spending money like Ikkaku.

"Probably over five times the amount you have. My family was rich and I've really only been saving ever since I became a shinigami."

"You sure it's not too much, I mean paying for three people to eat?"

Izuru then got the hint that Shuuhei was trying to get at without being rude. Shuuhei did have an appetite but when compared to Renji, it was like he barely ate. However Shuuhei seemed to miscalculate that Izuru barely ate anything himself and he didn't know just how bare his house was. He didn't have trinkets or anything, he had a small amount of furniture, enough for just himself, it wasn't meant for guests. The only thing other than furniture in his house was books, paper, and pens. Mostly poetry books and most paper was used to write his own poetry. Other then that his house was completely and utterly bare so Shuuhei probably didn't realize how much he had saved up, I mean, being a fukutaichou pays a lot. Not that he probably realized, Izuru mused to himself, considering how much he spent on Rangiku.

"I know. You don't have to worry, if one fukutaichou's pay can last a few days with Rangiku-san's drinking habits then I think one fukutaichou's pay can pay for three fukutaichous' lunches."

Shuuhei nodded and couldn't refuse Izuru's offer for a free lunch.

A/N: I didn't manage to progress Shuuhei's, Renji's, and Izuru's relationship as far as I would have liked. Oh well… I think this will suffice as a one shot. I don't think it's too horrible but I dunno, let me know what you think? Enjoy ^_^

Translations:

Goseki = Fifth seat
Hai = Yes
Iie = No
Gomen na = I'm sorry (Male speaking)
Teme = Bastard
Reiatsu = Spirtial Pressure