Ikkaku was sore. Kenpachi had knocked him around even more than usual during the practice drills this morning. He knew he should have paid better attention but he couldn't seem to help himself. His eyes kept roaming the crowd of 11th Division onlookers for a certain graceful presence. In the sea of rough, ill mannered men, Yumichika had always been easy to spot but Ikkaku hadn't seen him at all this day. He hadn't seen him in the mess hall during meals, he hadn't seen him on guard duty, in the office or even at the regular pubs. As a matter of fact, Ikkaku hadn't seen Yumichika all week. Ikkaku had slept, eaten, fought and worked alone for an entire week and quite frankly it was starting to get on his nerves.

There wasn't much he could do about it though. If Yumichika didn't want to be found, he wouldn't be. Damnit, Ikkaku thought, figures just when he's feeling well enough to fool around, Yumichika goes off on his little tantrum. Ikkaku was the type to flare his anger in the heat of the moment and forget it completely once he had cooled off. Unfortunately Yumichika wasn't the same so now, Ikkaku foung himself being cock blocked when he really needs some release. Fighting had worked to distract him for the first few days but now he was just getting antsy. He was sure it was just the fact that he'd been horny that made him all fidgety and distracted like that. He refused to admit, even to himself, that he missed the warmth of Yumi's small frame nestled in his arms when he goes to bed, the scent of his hair, the taste of his lips…

STOP! Those thoughts are getting him riled up far too quickly and with Yumichika MIA there is no other option than to push the thoughts out of his mind and find someone to beat into a whimpering pulp. It's not the first time that Yumichika has vanished after an argument. Usually when they exchange heated words and Ikkaku is being too stubborn to admit that he had any part to play in the problem, Yumichika would stomp off in a huff. When he would come back, he'd usually give Ikkaku the cold shoulder, the pout or a combination of both. Ikkaku would give him his space for a day or so then placate him in the way only he could. Ikkaku loved that part, the make up sex was great. But Yumichika had never been gone for more than a day before, he would always come home at night, even though he would roll out his own futon as far as possible from Ikkaku's. And even if Yumichika was avoiding him, Ikkaku should have seen at least a glimpse of him somewhere in the division ground. It certainly wasn't like Yumichika to shirk his duties for the sake of his foul mood. Ikkaku had even tried reaching for his lover's reiatsu and come up empty. It was leaving him feeling rather off kilter.

Granted this fight had been quite a bit more serious than the past ones and they had never gone off on one another like that before… But what the hell did Yumichika expect? Keeping a damn secret like this from him for all these years and then having the nerve to be defiant about it when he was caught red handed! It was bad enough he had a kidou type sword but using it against a fellow shinigami and then acting like he was in his right to do it… What was Yumichika thinking? It was a good thing that Kira hadn't reported him.

Fuck, Ikkaku had forgotten all about Kira this week. He had been too busy wondering where the hell Yumichika was and why the hell he wasn't coming home. He should probably go check on him. He had been pretty weak when Ikkaku had brought him home. Even after Ikkaku had ransacked his kitchen and warmed up all the food he could find, Kira's reiatsu had been meek at best. Damn, Yumichika's sword was vicious. Not that he'd ever tell anyone he was impressed by a kidou sword… Yeah, he definitely needed some sort of distraction and it seemed the rest of his division was avoiding him. They always did when he was in the mood for a good fight. Cowardly bastards.

"Ikkaku, this is a pleasant surprise," Kira greeted him with a smile and offered him a seat across from his desk.

"Hey, Kira. How's it going?"

"I'm doing well. Much better than… before… I have you to thank for that."

Ikkaku grunted distractedly. He was too busy noticing the pomegranate on Kira's desk. Yumichika loved them, although he couldn't stand them himself. Stupid, messy things, such a pain in the ass to peel and in the end all you got were a bunch of tart kernels with a big crunchy seed in the middle. He hadn't understood why the hell Yumichika liked them so much until maybe last year when they were in season and Yumi had nibbled the little red beads out of every dip on his body, then held a few on his tongue as his pretty mouth wrapped around Ikkaku's… Bad, bad thoughts! Fuck damn it, now he was hard!

"Ikkaku, are you alright?" Kira asked alarmed.

"Huh?" Ikkaku snapped himself out of his daydream as if noticing Kira's presence for the first time. "Yeah. It's nothing."

"Are you sure? Anything I can help you with?" Kira asked gently.

Ikkaku chuckled dryly, "No. Not with this."

"Please tell me what's wrong, Ikkaku and I'll do my best."

Idiot. Too damn naïve for his own good. Hmm, Ikkaku mused, hand job, blowjob, bend over your desk so I can pound that tiny, flat ass of yours… Ikkaku chuckled inwardly. Like Kira would ever do that. Still, he would have to tell him something or else Kira would get all sad and slouchy. Ikkaku didn't think he could handle the comforting role at the moment… or ever. He was in no mood to come up with a plausible lie and Kira probably wouldn't buy it anyway. Hell, the truth is scary enough, maybe he'll back off once he hears it.

"I'm horny, haven't had sex in over a month and I have an erection that's not looking like it's going away anytime soon. You think you can help me with that?" Ikkaku snorted.

Kira looked taken aback. He sat silently in his chair watching Ikkaku for a long moment. Was he considering it? Ok, Ikkaku thought, this is too weird.

"Shit. Sorry, Kira. I shouldn't have said that. Forget I said anything. Listen, I just came to see if you were ok. You are, so I'm just going to go."

Ikkaku stood quickly and headed for the door. He wanted to get out of there right away but Kira's voice stopped him before he could make it halfway across the room.

"Wait a moment, Ikkaku," Kira said walking over to the bald man. "I said I would try my best to help you and I intend to."

Ikkaku thought his eyes might just fall out of his head and his jaw had definitely hit the floor. Maybe he was hallucinating. He should probably head over to the 4th and get himself checked out again… Wait a minute! Why was Kira kneeling in front of him? A small, hesitant hand reached for his hakama but Ikkaku caught it quickly.

"Kira, stop. I didn't mean… What the hell are you doing? I'm not going to make you do…"

"You're not making me do anything," Kira interrupted, sliding his hand out of Ikkaku's. "You saved me the other day. I want to thank you."

"Like this?" Ikkaku asked incredulously.

"You're obviously frustrated and I want to show my appreciation. Let me do this for you, Ikkaku." Kira's voice was incredibly gentle.

Ikkaku's cock was incredibly hard and he was really fucking horny. Who knew when Yumichika would come out of hiding? It sure as hell was tempting. Kira was sitting there right in front of him, his hand sliding into his hakama, freeing his aching cock from the confining fabric, his fingers curling around the base, his tongue tracing over the… whoa! Well, that decided that then…

Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap! He shouldn't have done that. He really, really, really shouldn't have done that. Damnit, Ikkaku thought as he glared down at his flaccid cock now tucked securely back into his hakama, don't you have any self control? He noticed some people giving him some funny looks. Couldn't a man glare at his penis in peace? A withering glare sent them all scurrying back to their duties, while Ikkaku stomped back to the 11th. Ikkaku really wanted to find Yumichika right now and lose himself in the man's scent, his touch, his taste… Not that Yumichika was likely to let Ikkaku near him since he was probably still pouting. Ikkaku wondered where he got the patience to put up with Yumichika's moods sometimes… Although, now Yumichika really had a reason to be pissed at him, even if he didn't know it. But would Ikkaku even be able to look Yumichika in the face right now? Certainly not with Kira's scent lingering on his body. Yumichika was ridiculously sensitive to scent, he would figure it out in a second and Ikkaku had never been very good at lying to him. Damn bastard was just too damn perceptive for his own good. Ikkaku had given up on trying to keep anything from Yumichika a long time ago. It took far too much effort. Regardless, he needed a trip to the bathhouse.

"Pachinko-chan!" Yachiru's overly cheerful voice pierced his eardrums.

Ikkaku scowled as his Lieutenant let herself in and began bouncing on his futon.

"Wanna play a game?"

"No," Ikkaku grumbled.

"You're no fun, Pachinko-head. I miss Wierdo."

"Where is he?"

"On a mission in the real world, silly."

"Alone?"

"Uh huh. Let's play tag! You're it!"

With that, Yachiru snatched up Ikkaku's Zanpakuto and holding it high over her head, took off in a flash of pink.

"Oi! Come back here you little brat!"

A month. A whole month since Ikkaku had last seen Yumichika. That was longer than they had been apart since… well since they first met. Ikkaku wasn't too good at putting names to his emotions, even if anyone else could have easily identified the loneliness, the melancholy and the discomfiture if Ikkaku allowed them to see his true feelings for just a moment. Ikkaku could however put a name to two of the things he was feeling. The first and foremost was anger. What the hell was Yumichika doing going off on a mission to the real word and not telling him? No wonder Ikkaku hadn't been able to find him, he wasn't even in Soul Society! This was one hell of a tantrum Yumichika was having, going off for an entire month. This emotion was the one that he showed everyone. His division mates knew him well enough to avoid him so the poor new recruits ended up getting the brunt of his anger. Fortunately, Kenpachi was glad for it, he said it weeded out the weaklings without him having to raise a finger.

The other thing Ikkaku knew for sure was that he was hornier than ever now. The first week, after he had found out about Yumichika's mission, he had spent his nights trying to drink his cock flaccid. This worked until the morning he found himself waking up in the bed of some woman he couldn't for the life of him match with a name. The following night, he had opted to drink alone in his room but Kira had come over for a visit and Ikkaku was temporarily soothed. Since then, Kira would visit him ever evening. Ikkaku figured it was a better option than possibly getting someone pregnant and it wasn't like Ikkaku and Yumichika didn't occasionally partake in some form of debauchery with other people. After centuries together, a little variety was essential, so it wasn't really cheating per se. Yumichika had never had any problem with it before, although Ikkaku wondered if he would be ok with it being Kira. But, this was Yumi's fault in the first place. He shouldn't have left Ikkaku to his own devices for so long. Besides, Ikkaku had made it clear to Kira that they were only fooling around until Yumi got back, to which Kira had surprisingly seemed to be ok with. He had chalked it up to helping his friend in his time of need. Damn, Kira sure was devoted to his friends.

This was getting ridiculous! What the hell kind of mission kept Yumichika in the real world for three months? And not a damn word from him either. Ikkaku stomped over to Kenpachi's office with every intention of demanding an explanation. If he didn't get one to his satisfaction, then he would just have to go the real world himself and bring Yumichika back. He was coming up to the office now and he could hear voices coming from inside. Kenpachi and Yachiru's voices he recognized but there was someone else as well. It sounded important. He'd have to wait until the other person left. As he leaned on the wall next to the door, he wondered what was going on.

"Enough with the formal crap," Kenpachi grunted. "Get to the point."

"Yes, Zaraki Taichou. 5th Seat, Ayasegawa Yumichika was fighting a hollow along side the shinigami representative, Kurosaki Ichigo, in the real world earlier today. The hollow was vanquished but during the fight, Kurosaki Ichigo suffered a mild concussion."

"What about Feather-chan?" Yachiru chimed in.

A prolonged silence, then, "We were unable to detect any trace of Ayasegawa Yumichika."

Ikkaku's stomach twisted violently.

"Nothing?" Kenpachi asked.

"No, sir. It is believed that he defeated the hollow before he..."

Before he what? Why did that asshole just trail off like that?

"Alright," Kenpachi said. "Did you tell anyone else?"

"No, sir."

"Good, keep your mouth shut."

There was some shuffling and the stranger exited the office. He was a special forces man, a newbie, a messenger. He looked nervous and exhausted. Not surprising, Kenpachi's reiatsu was brutal. The shinigami, who looked no older than a teenaged boy, was in such a rush to get away from the strain of the overpowering reiatsu that he almost ran into Ikkaku on his way out. He stopped just short of the bald man and then, as if recognizing him, bowed and offered his apologies before continuing hurriedly on his way. What the hell was that about?

"So, he actually did it," Kenpachi said from within the office.

"Does that mean Feather-chan isn't coming back?" Yachiru wailed.

Not coming back? Why the hell not?

"Doesn't seem like it."

No! This wasn't happening. It couldn't be happening.

"But Ken-chan, I'm going to miss him!" Yachiru's voice was alarmingly distressed.

"Not much we can do about it now."

"Feather-chan was really sad when he left, wasn't he Ken-chan? Do you think he's happier now?"

Yumichika had left right after their argument. Had he really been that sad?

"Who knows? Maybe. He can't be any worse than when we saw him last."

How bad had he been?

"Ken-chan's going to miss him too, right?"

Of course not. Kenpachi had no reason to miss him. Yumichika was fine, he would be coming home soon.

"Damnit… I didn't think of that. Who the hell is going to do the paperwork now?"

This was impossible. There was no way this was happening. He had misheard. He had misunderstood. He must have. There had to be another explanation. Yumichika was fine. He was fighting hollows or doing whatever mission in the real world. He'd be home as soon as he was done. Hell, if he came home right now, Ikkaku would be willing to apologize to him. He would be willing to take all the blame for their argument. He would be willing to get down on his knees and beg for forgiveness. He would be willing to grow some damn hair if Yumichika would just hurry up and come home, damn it!

This hallway was stifling. He needed air. He couldn't trust his legs at the moment and had to hold onto the wall for support. He could wait until later to feel disgusted with this moment of weakness. Right now he needed fresh air.

He came around the corner but instead of feeling the warm sunshine against his face, he was confronted with the shadow of an orange haired ryoka boy. What the hell was Kurosaki doing here? Didn't he have a concussion or something?

"Ikkaku, I've been looking everywhere for you," Ichigo said, his face grave.

Ikkaku couldn't find words at the moment. His eyes were transfixed by the colour orange. Not the orange of this kid's ridiculous hair but the orange Ichigo was holding in his hand.

"Uh…" Ichigo stuttered, noticing Ikkaku's scrutiny of the item he held and unsure of what he wanted to say really, "I guess you know about the fight already. I'm not… I'm not even really all that sure of what happened. All I remember was getting knocked out when the hollow threw me into the side of that building. When I woke up, the hollow and Yumichika were gone. This is all I could find of him."

The orange cuff Yumichika wore around his neck was pushed into his hands. It was torn, dirty and slightly bloodied.

"I'm… I'm really sorry, Ikkaku," Ichigo said.

Ikkaku gripped the orange fabric fiercely in his hand. He nodded to Ichigo and without a word headed back to his room.