Warning! This fic contains yaoi (male-male relationship). Nothing hardcore but still enough to advise those who dislike such things to simply turn away from this story.

Here's a short one-shot, a challenge from a friend who wanted me to write a French fic with a preference for Bleach. I did it some time ago and eventually decided to translate it in English. I'd like to point out the fact that I have yet to read or watch Bleach, so please forgive me if there is any inconsistency with the original anime/manga.

Disclaimer: obviously, both the characters and universe do not belong to me. (Fuck...)

Authors notes are at the bottom of the page.

Friday. For many students, that day meant the end of a long school week with so many boring classes, as well as the beginning of a rejuvenating week-end, except for the most unfortunate of them who still had several more hours to bear on Saturdays, if not a damn test.

Save for those unlucky ones, it was a time everyone enjoyed in his own way. A lazy nap at home or an exhausting sports game; a romantic date with a lover or a wild party with friends; a relaxing moment in a bar or a mad dancing session in a night club…There were lots of options, enough to satisfy all potential needs and tastes. Sometimes, with a bit of luck, it was even possible to spend a great time without any stupid hollow eventually coming to spoil the fun…

Ichigo hoped tonight would be such a calm night.

About a year and a half had passed since Aizen's defeat. Unfortunately no matter how serious a threat he had been, the traitor was only one among so many others. No new enemy had yet to rival the power and cunning that had made the ex-captain so dangerous but even weak monsters could wreak havoc in the world of the livings. And for some unknown reason, it was like those had recently decided to hold some sort of destruction tournament. There had been more attacks over the last three weeks than during six 'classic' months, so much that Soul Society had urgently dispatched some reinforcements to grant the young Kurosaki and his friends a few days of well-needed rest.

"Alright then, see you all at my place in an hour. Sake's on me. You take care of the food and other drinks." That was how the substitute shinigami had summed up their discussion as they finally left school. For once, the decision had been quick and unanimous, even the ever-excited Renji being too exhausted to consider hanging out in town.

The calm party would take place in the small flat he'd been living in since the beginning of the current school year. There would be food, a DVD and video games; a simple program for everyone to relax after such stressful and tiring weeks, 'everyone' meaning himself, Renji, Shuuhei, Rukia, Orihime, Sado and Uryuu. If the latter did come that is…

"I told you already, I am NOT coming!" Indeed, it was the sixth time he said that in approximately ten minutes. Too bad for him, nobody was listening to him, especially not the orange-haired teen.

"You talk too much!" he answered, grabbing the boy's arm and literally dragging him behind him all the way to his place. No matter how curiously people eyed them, not once did he lessen his grip, not even while they were buying the sake in his favourite shop. He didn't give a damn how people mistaking the two of them for a couple were embarrassing the Quincy, there was no way he'd ever let him run away from this. And to be honest, he secretly hoped the two of them would actually be an item someday.

Truth was, he loved him.

For a long time, the mere idea of having close friends would have disgusted him. However, his mentality had considerably evolved during those years as a shinigami. As time passed, he had slowly opened up to others, discovering the real meaning of friendship… and even love. He had never thought about it in the past but once again, others had led him to ponder about his own situation.

His reflections had begun about a year ago, when Sado had asked Orihime out. After seeing these lovebirds together, he had taken some time to think about all the girls he knew, to reflect on how he felt about each of them. Unfortunately, none of them had attracted him in such a way, not even Rukia despite how much he liked her as a friend. That had not bothered him though. It only meant that he had yet to meet the love of his life.

What really opened his eyes four months later was Renji and Shuuhei's coming-out. He once thought that finding out one of his friend was gay would be rather disturbing. In the end, although the news didn't bother him at all, he was still in for quite a surprise. Not only did imagining the two vice-captains together, especially doing nasty things, not disgust him but in fact it excited him far more than any of his fantasies involving girls. Days later, he realized what was yet so obvious: Yumichika and Ikkaku were a couple too. And once again, feeling his pants tighten while picturing the two of them having some hot fun cleared any doubts he still had. He was into boys too.

For some time, he felt attracted by many of them and indulged himself with some lonely pleasures as he envisioned various scenarios. In most of them, he was with either Renji or Shuuhei, sometimes both or even joined by Izuru. On other occasions, they were replaced by Sado or Toushirou. Even Grimmjow, Ulquiorra or Shirosaki came up from time to time and he was surprised by how arousing was the idea of being at their mercy, bound and utterly helpless. The Quincy was also part of his fantasies but his feelings towards him had surfaced only weeks later.

Why he loved him so much was a mystery. His simple onyx haircut was nothing compared to Renji's long fiery mane. His mysterious blue eyes, although very captivating without his glasses on and well emphasized by thin eyebrows, would never be as charming as Toushirou's lively sapphires. His smile both angelic and rare couldn't rival with the late Grimmjow's awfully sexy grin. His short and slender frame wasn't as attractive as Sado's tall, highly muscular and yet very soft body. His reclusive and nerdy personality lacked that inexplicable extra that made Shuuhei so similar and yet so much more fascinating than him… No matter which feature of his love interest he analyzed, there was always someone who proved to be far more interesting than him.

And yet, Uryuu was definitely the one haunting all his dreams.

The love of his life, currently struggling to free himself from his iron grip. Only once they were inside his flat with the front door locked did he release the shorter teen.

"Don't you dare leave through the window!" he warned with a menacing tone ruined by the amusement shining in his eyes and the wide smile he couldn't hold back.

It was a humble place. From the tiny hall, two doors led respectively to the toilets and to the living room. In the latter were a sofa bed, an old couch and two armchairs set in a U shape around a coffee table. Facing all those seats were game consoles, a computer and a DVD player while behind them was a small kitchen. Finally, another door led from the living room to the bedroom and the adjoining bathroom.

The young archer knew that ignoring Ichigo's warning would be a very bad idea. Renji had rubbed off on the substitute shinigami and it was better not to upset him. Otherwise, if you were lucky, he'd simply sulk for some time; if not, you were in for a terrible vengeance. Plus he had to be honest with himself; all parties to which the orange-haired teen had dragged him were good memories. That's why he eventually decided to just stay there and read his current book while his host kept zapping on the TV. The other guests arrived about half an hour later.

Sado and Orihime were first, soon followedby the shinigami trio, all of them now wearing casual clothes. Everyone went in the living room, Ichigo and Uryuu sitting on the armchairs, the male couple on the old couch on their left and the others on the sofa bed on their right.

Now was the time for a difficult choice: the DVD. In such a situation, people usually strive to take everyone's tastes and preferences in consideration as well as the movies already watched by some of them. It's tricky but a compromise is always found eventually. Now try doing that with a man completely uninterested by such things… However, the group was so used to it that they no longer asked the Quincy for his opinion, although it didn't stop him from voicing it.

The new 'Sherlock Holmes', requested by Renji? "The same old story, as boring as in the first movie…"

'Sonny', mentioned by Shuuhei? "A supposedly original scenario yet utterly dull and predictable…"

'Le Prénom', recommended by Ichigo? "One hour and a half of worthless jokes not even good enough for retarded people…"

The last 'Kindaichi', prefered by Rukia? "The culprit is as obvious from the very beginning as always…"

'Mardek', suggested by Sado? "Some so-called 'offbeat heroic-fantasy' which is neither funny nor interesting in the end…"

'Allelujah Bordel', praised by Orihime? "A self-proclaimed humorist with no talent, no humour, only very good friends in the media to promote him…"

After a short debate disrupted by more useless comments from the Quincy, the group chose the second option. Their host stood up to insert the DVD and went back to his seat, throwing the empty box in his neighbour's head as he was about to give yet another remark.

"You talk too much!" He told him once more, earning him much laughter from the others. Since the first time he had randomly said it one day, that short sentence had become a real gimmick for their group. Although none of them was spared, the archer was everyone's main target, and especially Kurosaki's. First because as much as he loved the boy's voice, it was sometimes better to shut him up. And more importantly because the pout that appeared on his face every single time was priceless.

For two hours, the seven friends had fun watching the fantastic adventures of that unusual zombie and his companions, commenting various scenes and enjoying the food and drinks set on the table. However, Ichigo's attention was often distracted. From his position, he could clearly see the affective gestures of both couples and he couldn't help but send furtive looks at his loved one, craving to hold him in his arms in the same way and share such intimate moments. It wasn't long until those thoughts physically affected his lower regions.

Week after week, he could feel his patience diminish. Somehow, Uryuu reminded him of his old self. Despite their long friendship, his private life remained a complete mystery. Not once had he heard him reveal the slightest information about it, no matter how many times he had tried to get something out of him. Was he even able to have feelings for someone? The boy was so impassive that he wasn't even sure what emotions were shining in his wonderful blue eyes as he occasionally observed the vice-captains lovers. At least, that would have given him a hint regarding his opinion on such a relation but once again, he didn't get any result.

What were his chances? In the end, he had no idea what to expect if he ever cracked up, which was becoming more and more likely as time passed.

Then came the video games. To ensure a reasonable turnover so that everyone could play, fighting games were chosen. Even Uryuu took part in them, quickly 'convinced' by the orange-haired teen who had stopped his protests using the famous gimmick along with a light smack on the back of his head. All reticence quickly disappeared, swallowed up by the friendly atmosphere, the mini-rivalries and the players' common stubbornness, never wanting to admit defeat. That led to some epic duels, the most impressive ones opposing Renji and Ichigo, the thickest-headed of them all. There were also battles between teams of two or three fighters which varied over time, depending on everyone's mood.

Once again, the host's attention was often focused on the man haunting his dreams. Battles were the one time when his emotions clearly appeared on his ordinarily impassive face. Well of course, they weren't exactly risking their lives against hordes of deadly monsters right now but the cheerfulness emanating from his six friends and the challenges he had to face had a similar effect. His suddenly vivacious eyes when playing, his mocking smirk when defeating his opponent, his frustration when losing narrowly… All those simple gestures never failed to give Ichigo some butterflies in his stomach.

Fatigue slowly increased as hours went on. Sado and Orihime were first to leave not long after midnight, the lovebirds preferring not to ruin their plans for the next day by waking up in a zombie-like state. Shuuhei and Renji left an hour later, the latter carrying an already sleeping Rukia on his back. That left only one person.

"I'd better leave as well; I still have to get all the way to the other end of town." He said with a heavy yawnwhich did not go unnoticed.

"Sleepy, huh?" the other asked, unable to resist the sudden urge invading his mind. "You know you can stay here and head back home tomorrow if you want."

"Don't worry, I'll be fi…" His reply was interrupted by another heavier yawn. A wide smirk appeared on the orange-headed teen's face, clearly indicating that no argument would convince him anymore. "Alright, alright, you win! Just help me with the sofa bed."

"How about a real bed instead?" He forced his smile even wider, trying his best to hide the unbearable stress torturing him from the inside. Uryuu sent him a surprised look, raising his left eyebrow.

"I thought you only had one bed…"

"Exactly." Incomprehension was written all over the other's face, leaving him to wonder if he should laugh or cry about it. How could such a genius be so dense right now?

"You must be drunk. We're not a couple, remember?"

"Well, we can fix that…"

"What?" Judging from his eyes, the archer was clearly not expecting such an answer. It took him a few seconds to fully register the words as well as the innuendo. He then began a boring monologue made of a series of unconvincing protests which Ichigo soon stopped listening. His mind only registered two things. First, all of the raven's arguments were based on his embarrassment; none was against the basic idea of them hooking up. And second was the cute blush that had spread over the raven's face. Eventually, the taller boy just snapped.

Taking Uryuu's chin in one of his hands, he brought their lips together and kissed him, enjoying the moment as much as he apprehended it. He knew he had to be ready for anything, including ending up as target practice for a flurry of deadly arrows but no such thing happened. On the contrary, after a few seconds, the other's lips began to move along with his. Their mouths opened, allowing their tongues to collide and dance together, fighting for dominance during long seconds that felt like an eternity. Only when oxygen was lacking did they force themselves to break the kiss. Another wide smile appeared on the orange-haired teen's face as he took the shorter boy in his arms bridal style and headed for his bedroom, saying with a tone both amused and euphoric.

"You talk too much…

- FIN -

Author's Notes:

For curious people, Mardek and Sonny are flash games series which you can easily find on sites such as Kongregate or Armorgames. If you haven't yet, I highly recommend that you check these games along with the authors sites (respectively, 'krinstudio dot com' for Sonny and 'fighunter dot com' for Mardek)

Kindaichi is a reference for the manga/anime Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo about a teen resolving murder cases. Once again, don't hesitate to check it.

Allelujah Bordel is the current one-man show by a French humorist called Jérémy Ferrari. To French-speaking people, if you love dark humor, search him up on the Internet.

Finally, Le Prénom is a french play adapted as a film. Again, French-speaking people, I highly recommend it for its humorous dialogs and situations.

Not much else to say about this fic. Do not hesitate to check the other ones, even if there aren't so many of them at the present time.

Special dedications go to a young crazy friend and to a cosplay fangirl.

Thank you for reading, even more for reviewing. Don't hesitate to point any mistake, inconsistency or anything. Useful criticism is always welcome.