Author's Note:
# Apparently you can put python comments in here, but not Java/C style comments...interesting
Imagining how Shunsui and Juushiro would have behaved during their Academy days is so much fun.
Fair warning for everyone: this story contains hints of yaoi. If two guys kissing is "perverted" or "disgusting" to you, please stop reading. I don't need more anonymous reviews disparaging homosexuality.
Chapter 2: The Play's the Thing
When Nanao landed outside of Juushiro's home later that evening, the sun was already setting. Shadows stretched long across the ground, and the chilly wind blew softly through the buds on the trees. She sent a little pulse of reiatsu towards Juushiro in lieu of knocking, and received a brush of acknowledgement in return. Slipping off her shoes, she headed towards the kitchen in the back of the house, knowing from experience that was where she would find the two men. Sure enough, Shunsui was lounging against a counter, cup of sake in hand, while Juushiro chopped up vegetables for the night's meal. As she rounded the corner, Shunsui burst out laughing at a comment from the pale captain. Catching sight of her, he called, "Can you believe it? Juu-chan thinks that Kiyone and Sentaro would make an adorable couple."
Juushiro shook his head fondly, reaching around Shunsui for a plate. "I did not say that," he defended himself. "I simply said that they're getting along better these days, and that it's a refreshing change. How you got from that to your assertion, I have no idea."
Shunsui shrugged happily. "Can you imagine them as a couple, though?"
"They'd either kill each other within a week or we'd finally get some peace and quiet around here," Nanao replied. Juushiro's third seats were rather rambunctious, and she honestly didn't know how he managed to tolerate their antics. She draped her coat over the back of a chair and asked, "Do you want help cooking?"
"Sure," Juushiro responded easily. "I'm making onigiri with salmon; if you want to prepare the fish that'd be great."
She began rummaging through his cupboards for the utensils, and nearly ran into Shunsui when he reached for the sake bottle. "Taicho, this would be much easier if you found somewhere else to stand," she pointed out.
He pouted. "My Nanao-chan doesn't love me. Say, why are you still in uniform?" Both captains had traded their uniforms for less formal clothes, though Shunsui retained his ever-present pink kimono.
She shrugged. "No time to change. That last mission report took a bit longer than I'd expected." She nudged him aside to get to a frying pan, and sighed ruefully. "The newest batch of recruits is going to be a handful."
"Do tell," Juushiro suggested interestedly.
Throughout dinner, they traded stories of their divisions' latest shenanigans, ranging from painting the barracks pink to getting into drunken arguments with members of the eleventh. While it was often the eighth division recruits who ended up with the most outrageous pranks, the thirteenth got into its share of trouble. This week, several of Juushiro's unseated officers had set up a very successful photography business, until his fourth seat discovered that most of the profits came from pictures that the subjects would really prefer to keep to themselves. Those particular shinigami had been suspended and forced to complete an ethics course before being allowed to return to the squad. By comparison, the sparkly graffiti on the wall of the sixth division's headquarters was positively mundane.
The trio retired to the porch after eating to enjoy the lovely spring evening. Nanao sat cross-legged, leaning against the wall, while Shunsui and Juushiro lay back against pillows, holding hands and watching the stars emerge. When Nanao shivered, Shunsui draped his pink kimono over her, ignoring her protests. "I can't let my sweet Nanao-chan catch a cold," he informed her cheerfully. "You could always come cuddle," he suggested, wiggling his eyebrows at her suggestively.
"I'll stick with the kimono," she replied, laughing at his downcast expression.
"Juu-chan, my Nanao-chan doesn't want to be near me," he whined. "Maybe you should ask her to come over, she'd listen to you I bet." He looked at her with wide, pleading eyes. "Would you come cuddle if Juushiro asked you?"
She rolled her eyes. "I am not cuddling, as you put it, with either of you."
"You are no fun at all," Shunsui complained. Juushiro hid a smile when Shunsui looked at him accusingly.
"It's not my fault!" he protested, amused.
"You didn't ask her to come over," Shunsui pointed out with complete accuracy and a total lack of logic. "Say, Nanao, did I ever tell you the story of when we put on a school play, and Juushiro was cast as the princess?"
The white-haired captain sat up and smacked Shunsui in the chest. "You can't tell her that!"
Shunsui ignored his lover as he lifted himself onto an elbow. "You see, there weren't very many girls in our class at the Academy. And none of them wanted to go on stage. But we were doing a classic fairy tale. You need the lovely damsel in distress, held captive in the tower guarded by a dragon, to make the story work."
Juushiro groaned and shoved Shunsui's shoulder. "Stop it!"
Undeterred, Shunsui continued, "We considered using a puppet, or somehow convincing one of the two girls in our class to play the princess, but neither idea seemed likely to work."
Juushiro rolled his eyes. "And of course you had to suggest that I take the part. I still think you were trying to get revenge for all those days I woke you up to attend class."
"Maybe I just wanted to see you in a dress," Shunsui teased. "Anyway, Juu-chan finally agreed, and guess who got to play the handsome prince?"
Nanao snickered. "I don't know, you don't seem like you fit the type."
"Aww, I'm hurt," the flamboyant captain moaned. "I'll have you know I made a wonderful prince. All the girls loved it."
"Still don't see it," Nanao teased.
"The number of girls he brought back to our dorm room did increase after we performed," Juushiro allowed.
"Thank you, Juu-chan!" Shunsui grinned at him mischievously. "You got your own share of attention afterwards too, you know."
"Yeah, from guys who thought I was a girl!" Juushiro spluttered.
Nanao laughed. "I would have liked to see that! Though I'm not sure how anyone could make that mistake." The pale captain may have been slender, but he was definitely male.
"The stage wasn't that well-lit, and my Juu-chan looks very fetching in a dress," Shunsui explained. "We even used a bit of kido to fill out the bust."
"Alright, sorry Juushiro-san," Nanao chuckled, "but that actually makes sense!"
Juushiro glared at Shunsui. "You know I have plenty of tales of your escapades during school, right? And most of yours are far more entertaining. Like that time in Yamamoto-sensei's office when you"
Shunsui cut him off with a kiss. "I'm sure Nanao-chan doesn't want to hear that."
"Later," Nanao mouthed when Shunsui's back was turned. Juushiro gave her a conspiratorial wink, and returned his partner's kiss affectionately.
A comfortable silence fell as the three watched the moon rising over the horizon. Shunsui sighed, enjoying the warmth of Juushiro's chest under his head. It had been a while since he'd recalled that particular incident, though it never failed to bring a smile to his face. Things had been so different back then, though. For one thing, they hadn't particularly liked one another…
"No. Kyoraku, I need to study. I'm not leaving just so your newest girlfriend can be more comfortable," Juushiro said firmly. He returned his attention to the hefty book in front of him, jotting down another note in his notebook.
"Aww, come on!" Shunsui pleaded. "She's incredibly hot, and you wouldn't believe what she can do with her tongue."
"I don't want to know," Juushiro said tiredly. "Midterm exams are less than a week away, and I actually care about my grades. Unlike you."
"You need to get laid," Shunsui returned. "Maybe Mari has a sister who'd be interested, I could ask her."
"No."
"Ooh, maybe she's got a couple of hot girlfriends! We could make this a real party!"
"Kyoraku, go away," Juushiro sighed.
Shunsui rolled his eyes. "You're so uptight. I bet you've never even kissed a girl."
Juushiro's grip tightened on his pen. "That's none of your business," he snarled.
"Knew it!" Shunsui crowed. "That's got to be fixed. I bet I can convince Mari to do it, she's pretty kinky once she gets into it. Last night she…" Juushiro threw a book at his head. "Oww! Fine, be a virgin your whole life." He stalked out of the room, slamming the door behind him, and Juushiro heaved a sigh of relief.
He didn't see his roommate again until the next morning, when Shunsui stumbled in reeking of sake and covered in lipstick smears and hickeys. "You missed an amazing party," Shunsui slurred, still a little drunk. "Turns out Mari's friend can give the best lap dances I've ever seen." He started to describe them in more detail, and Juushiro calmly closed his book, walking out without a word. Shunsui looked after him in puzzlement. "What's wrong?" Juushiro threw him a scathing glance, and closed the door a little harder than necessary. Shunsui winced. "You know, you're cute when you're embarrassed," he yelled.
Despite Juushiro's dire predictions, Shunsui passed his midterm exams. Admittedly, some of them were a hair away from being a failing grade, but that wasn't something he told his roommate. It was still something to celebrate. So he was too hungover to pay attention when Yamamoto-sensei announced that their class would be performing a play in front of the whole school. "To teach you discipline and teamwork," the old man explained. "Rehearsals will be held three times a week, and all students are expected to participate."
"Big waste of time," Shunsui grumbled under his breath.
"Did you have something to say?" Yamamoto inquired sharply.
"No, sensei," Shunsui mumbled.
"Since you are so enthusiastic, I'll expect you to be the first one at rehearsal tomorrow," Yamamoto responded coldly. Shunsui nodded his head miserably, and Juushiro snickered under his breath.
To his surprise, the first rehearsal didn't start out too badly. The students were in charge of everything from set design to stage direction to casting, and the teachers basically left them alone after handing out the scripts. After a heated argument, he claimed the role of the dashing prince by promising to supply sake after each performance. "Girls love the handsome leading man," he confided to Juushiro while they waited for the rest of the roles to be assigned.
"You know you're going to have to memorize all those lines, right?" Juushiro replied coldly. He hadn't quite forgiven Shunsui for his drunken revelry after the exams.
Shunsui shrugged happily. "I'll still get all the ladies." Juushiro shook his head disapprovingly.
They waited in silence for a few minutes as their classmates divvied up the roles, until one of them exclaimed suddenly, "Wait, who's playing the princess?"
"Rei?" Shunsui suggested, eying the buxom blond. "She'd be perfect!"
The girl sniffed. "I'm already playing the evil witch."
"How about Mika-san?" Aono, a dark eyed boy with wicked kido skills, offered.
Mika shook her head calmly. "I volunteered to run the stage crew." They all looked around for a moment. If the only girls in their class refused, who was left?
"Juushiro could do it," Shunsui said wickedly, shooting a glance at the pale teen beside him.
Juushiro's cheeks went pink. "Absolutely not! Get one of your girlfriends to do it!"
"Now, you know Yamamoto-sensei wouldn't allow that. Besides, you don't have a part yet. You'd be perfect."
Juushiro shook his head, glaring at his impudent roommate. "I am not dressing up like a princess on stage. Besides, I was going to do the special effects."
Shunsui waved a hand airily. "You can still do that. The princess spends most of her time locked in the tower anyway, it's not like it's difficult acting. Or are you not good enough at kido to do both?" he challenged.
"Fine," Juushiro spat when he saw all of his classmates looking at him pleadingly. "But you owe me."
Shunsui grinned victoriously. "You'll make a charming princess!" He patted Juushiro on the ass, only to double over as Juushiro's elbow caught him squarely in the throat.
"Don't ever do that again," the white-haired teen warned coldly. Shunsui clutched his abused neck and gasped for breath, unable to respond. I may have deserved that, he admitted to himself, but Ukitake does have a nice butt.
Weeks went by, and the play slowly came to life. Shunsui threw himself into the role with surprising fervor, finding himself actually enjoying rehearsal. Juushiro spent every minute of free time perfecting kido to create effects like fog, moonlight, or flame. By far the hardest to master was the fireball that the dragon was supposed to spit at the prince before he defeated it. The fire had to look realistic, but it couldn't actually burn anything. He'd singed Shunsui several times during rehearsal with the modified Shakkaho, but he considered that fair payback for his humiliation.
At last the day of the performance arrived. For the past several weeks, even Shunsui had shown the strain as they worked day and night to keep up with their classes while the play demanded all of their attention. To Juushiro's shock, he'd stopped partying the night away, returning to their room after the late rehearsals to complete his homework and wearily tumble into bed alone. The two had come to a much more amicable relationship as a consequence.
The first half went off without a hitch; even the fog kido to create the illusion of a swamp looked relatively realistic. Seeing as it had nearly flooded the stage during the dress rehearsal, relatively realistic was a dramatic step up. During the intermission, Shunsui strolled up to Juushiro, grinning broadly. "The audience is lapping it up," he declared.
Juushiro smiled back. "I'm glad."
Shunsui looked him over curiously. "Where's your costume? You're on in the second act, you know." Juushiro sighed. This was the part he'd been dreading. While he'd tried on the dress for fittings, he'd flatly refused to wear it during practice. Shunsui saw the sour look on his face and chuckled. "It can't be that bad. Go on, go put it on!"
Juushiro scowled, but he knew he'd need to get dressed sooner or later. He vanished into the dressing rooms, reemerging several minutes later with a frustrated expression. The pale teen wore a red velvet gown with a long, flowing skirt that swirled around his legs, decorated with golden embroidery. His long white hair, loosened from its usual ponytail, trailed down his back like a silver waterfall. Shunsui whistled approvingly. "You make a gorgeous girl!"
Juushiro blushed, glaring at him. "Help me with this," he snapped, holding out a steel-boned corset. "You've slept with enough girls, you should know how their clothing works."
Shunsui laughed, taking the corset and spinning Juushiro around so his back was to the brown-haired teen. "It helps to have someone lace it up for you," he explained, deftly threading the ribbons through the holes. He pulled hard on the laces, making Juushiro gasp.
"How'd you learn to do that?" he asked when he could breathe again.
"One of my girlfriends was really into corsets," he explained as he tightened the corset further. "She always made me help her get dressed when we went out anywhere." Juushiro panted, and Shunsui added, "Take shallow breaths. It'll help."
"Or you could loosen it," Juushiro suggested hopefully.
Shunsui patted his shoulder. "Nope! You've got to have the proper feminine figure for our big scene." He spun Juushiro to face him and smirked. "Just like that. Though the chest needs work." The dress had a high neckline, but it couldn't completely conceal Juushiro's lack of breasts.
The pale teen blushed, muttering, "I think I have a way to fix it." He whispered a few words, and the fabric slowly expanded.
Shunsui poked it, fascinated. "What'd you do?"
"Modified Sho to provide a low-power, continuous push instead of a sharp shove," Juushiro explained matter-of-factly. "And stop touching me."
Instead, Shunsui slung an arm over his shoulders. "Aww, but we make the perfect couple! Just look at the outfits!" Juushiro had to admit that the costume team had done a good job. Shunsui wore tight calfskin breeches, knee-high black boots, and an embroidered surcoat in a chocolate color. The shade blended nicely with the crimson adorning Juushiro. But he wasn't about to admit that. He twisted away from Shunsui's arm, making his roommate pout. "You can't deny we look good together," Shunsui argued confidently.
Juushiro folded his arms and glared. "Yes, I can." Shunsui just laughed. He reached out and brushed a strand of hair out of Juushiro's face, tucking it behind his ear. Juushiro bore the touch with an exasperated eyeroll.
"Showtime!" The call came from Mika, who was monitoring the set change with a meticulous eye. They hurried to their places; Shunsui to the front of the stage and Juushiro to the wings. Miraculously, the second half went as smoothly as the first. The hero fought his way through the wall of thorns, navigated the maze, and defeated the fire-breathing dragon with little more than singed eyebrows. The stage went black, with a spotlight on Shunsui for his monologue, while Juushiro helped Mika drag out the final set. He felt his stomach clench with nerves, though he only had a few lines to remember. This was not going to be fun.
When the lights came back up, Shunsui was facing a gray stone tower. Juushiro sat at the top, trying to conceal his lack of oxygen, and waved down to Shunsui. "Oh brave prince, are you here to rescue me?" he called in a high-pitched voice.
"I am, my darling!" Shunsui exclaimed dramatically. "And we will live happily ever after!" It was drivel from start to finish, but the audience loved it if the applause was a good indication. Shunsui pretended to scale the tower, using shunpo to support his weight - they'd discovered that trick after the first tower collapsed on top of him. "My fair lady, let me take you away from this place!" he cried.
"Of course, my prince," Juushiro responded, trying not to grin. At the point, Shunsui was supposed to sweep him off his feet and flash step offstage, allowing the curtains to fall. The first part happened according to plan, but instead of carrying Juushiro offstage, Shunsui dropped lightly to the floor beneath the tower. "What are you doing?" Juushiro hissed.
Shunsui set him on his feet but kept a firm grasp around his waist. "My lady, I beg a kiss from your fair lips," he declared. Juushiro's eyes widened. He wouldn't dare.
Shunsui knew he was taking his life in his hands as he bent Juushiro backwards into a dramatic stage kiss position. When Juushiro didn't immediately punch him, he tentatively brushed his lips against his roommate's mouth. Juushiro's lips were soft and warm against his. Shunsui pulled back quickly, and swept Juushiro into his arms once again. This time, he shunpoed offstage like he was supposed to, and the curtains fell.
"What the hell was that?" Juushiro snarled as soon as they landed in the wings.
Shunsui shrugged nonchalantly. "Just a bit of improvisation. Plus I thought it was sad you'd never been kissed."
"That was not my first kiss," the pale student informed him frostily. "You are dead!"
Shunsui ignored the threat, seizing Juushiro's hand. "Come on, curtain call!" He practically hauled his roommate out onto the stage, raising their clasped hands high. As they bowed, the audience started chanting, "Kiss her! Kiss her!" Shunsui grinned, turning to Juushiro. "Can't disappoint the audience," he pointed out cheerfully.
"I am going to murder you in your sleep," Juushiro fumed as Shunsui bent him backwards again. But his eyes fluttered closed as the flamboyant teen slanted his mouth over Juushiro's, kissing him skillfully. Shunsui deepened the kiss just a little before pulling back and grinning at the flustered teen.
"You taste like candy," he whispered, making Juushiro flush.
"I. Am. Going. To. Kill. You," Juushiro snarled back just as quietly.