Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with Bleach.

A/N: here we go, chapter three…NOTE: for the purposes of this story, I have changed Ukitake's health crisis. He isn't dying. He was very sick as a child and has a few side effects (he wouldn't be Ukitake if he was in perfect health) but since TB (which is assumed to be his illness) is no longer as common in this day and age, I have fiddled around a bit…

A/N2: Also, this has yet to be properly edited, so ignore any misprints…I intend to fix them as soon as I'm not dead tired and stressed out…

Headline: Historically Bad Boys

Nanao stood off to the side and watched on in amazement at the applause Jyuushiro and Shunsui were receiving from the live audience of the T.V. talk show Verity*.

The show's host, Mari Manami (who could honestly believe that was her real name?) was famously known for getting the truth out of those she was interviewing. If you appeared on her show, you had no choice but to tell the whole truth.

There was a contract and everything…Nanao had seen it when Shunsui was signing it.

"It's a true pleasure to have the opportunity to interview not one, but both, of you," Mari Manami smiled pleasantly at the men. "With your track record in the media, and all the times you've both refused to appear on the show, I was sure I would never be given the chance to speak to either of you. What made you finally decide to join me?" she tilted her head to the side questioningly.

"I was hoping to get in your pants," Shunsui grinned devilishly, clearly joking.

"I think we both decided it was time to face the music," Jyuushiro rolled his eyes at his friend's antics, stirring a few laughs from the audience.

"And face the music you shall," Mari grinned evilly.

"That's a rather frightening grin," Shunsui feigned nervousness.

Mari chuckled. "Shunsui Kyouraku, afraid of a woman?"

"Of course, women are frightening," Shunsui nodded. "Everyone knows my mother. She's the most frightening of all."

Laughter broke out again. Haya Kyouraku, model turned actress turned politician had definitely inspired fear in many.

"Now, first question," Mari continued. "The two of you seem to go everywhere together, is it true you're gay lovers? Remember, you must always tell the truth on this show."

"We're not," Jyuushiro shook his head, chuckling himself. "If anyone can honestly imagine Shunsui favoring men over women I would suggest they see a professional."

"It's true, Shunsui is something of a womanizer,"

"Something?" Shunsui raised a single eyebrow.

"Okay, very much a womanizer," Mari amended. "But Jyuushiro, you're never seen with the same woman twice either, and you are both the only constant in each other's lives."

"Ah, yes," Jyuushiro blushed nervously. "I suppose that's true."

"Wow, it is pretty easy to imagine us as lovers if you put it that way," Shunsui frowned. "But really, Jyuu and I are kind of like the Yin-Yang philosophy…we bring balance to each other's lives while being polar opposites. Everybody needs someone to experience things with, or someone to pull them out of trouble in my case," he cracked a smile. "And since neither of us have a significant other and have been friends for so long," he shrugged. "It seems reasonable to share do things with your closest friend."

"I've heard it said that the two of you didn't get along when you first met?"

"That's definitely true," Jyuushiro laughed.

Shunsui nodded. "I think it was hate-at-first-sight."

"Explain it to us, you met on the set of the futuristic T.V series Alyzon?"

"Yes, we were both 9, I think?" Jyuushiro nodded.

"Yup," Shunsui agreed. "We were originally supposed to play genius fraternal twins but at our first meeting, we had a massive argument, I don't even remember what it was about, Jyuu?"

"Me either," Jyuushiro shook his head. "But that argument made the director decide to rewrite our on-screen relationship so that we were rivals."

"Well that relationship certainly made the show," Mari grinned. "That fist fight in season three had everyone on the edge of their seats."

"I still have a scar from that," Jyuushiro pouted.

"I was sore for weeks," Shunsui nodded.

"So how did you become friends?" Mari wondered.

The two frowned at each other for a moment.

"I think it was when we came back from the interim between seasons four and five of Alyzon," Jyuushiro finally said.

"There was a two year gap between when season four finished showing and when season five began," Mari nodded.

"That was because the show was axed at the end of season four," Shunsui admitted. "But within a year, the production company had been so swamped with complaints about how the show left off that they decided to continue it. The ratings went up heaps when the show started back."

"That was also because of both your success though, you were both inducted into the Gotei 13 during that time."

"Yes," Jyuushiro nodded. "That was definitely a huge honor."

"Especially for you Jyuushiro, Shunsui was a child star and had starred in movies before the making of Alyzon, you hadn't."

Jyuushiro nodded. "Shunsui had the advantage of his family knowing people in the business though. It is much easier to get an audition when you know people. Not that Shunsui didn't earn his place in the Gotei through his own hard work…"

"The list is the only honor you can never buy," Shunsui grinned. "And we both earned it with our roles in Alyzon. I know I started to respect Jyuu far more when his name got put up there at the same time as mine. Of course, there were a lot of things about him that I didn't know."

"Like what?"

"The illness he had had in childhood," Shunsui admitted. "No one knew about that until we were 16, that was when I found out too."

"Jyuushiro, do you feel comfortable speaking about it now?"

"It was cancer. It hit my lungs the hardest, which is why I sometimes still find it hard to breathe on occasion. I imagine the sensation is how an asthmatic would feel. It was a miracle I survived at all."

"And that's why your hair is white?"

Jyuushiro nodded. "It grew back white after all the kemo. I was seven at the time. I still go for regular check ups to make sure nothing's come back, and I recommend everyone get checked on a regular basis so the fight isn't so hard. Mine was caught in the early stages when I got a check up regarding a flu, and even then it was a tough struggle."

"Despite that, from the time you turned 15, you and Shunsui were labeled the Bad Boys of the Media. You were caught smoking, drinking and taking drugs at different intervals while you were still underage."

"Yes," Jyuushiro nodded. "Drinking and partying became a social necessity early on, a problem that is still present with current teens. Shamefully, I'm not actually sure when I started smoking; I think it must have been one night when I was drunk, and from there I started to have the cravings for it, before I knew it I needed a cigarette every two hours. Next came the drugs…I still don't know which I have and haven't tried. I do know I never did anything to stop myself."

"I was the same," Shunsui continued on. "I started drinking early on. I started smoking socially earlier than Jyuu as well, but I didn't get addicted like he did so it was easy for me when I quit later on. The drugs weren't so easy to quit though," he flushed in shame. "We all know I still enjoy a drink here and there, but thanks to Jyuu's influence I no longer smoke or do drugs."

"So Jyuushiro, you quit?"

"I've been clean since I was 21," Jyuushiro nodded. "I struggled with it a lot more than Shunsui did, which is why I now only have a drink or two when celebrating very special occasions."

"There were rumors at one stage that you overdosed?"

"That was true unfortunately," Jyuushiro looked saddened by his past actions. "Not many people know this, but from the time I was 18 I was going out with a girl who was slightly younger than me. She meant everything to me, and on my 21st birthday I proposed and she accepted. At the time, she knew I drank and she knew I smoked, but I was a jerk who had her believing I was trying to quit for her. She didn't know about the drugs but when I overdosed, she helped me get back on my feet. Then she caught me drinking, smoking and taking whichever drug it was on that particular night and that was it. We argued, she reminded me about my past struggles with my health and that was that, she left me and the engagement was over. I'm truly thankfully to her though, because she's the one that woke me up. From there I managed to quit. I haven't smoked or taken any form of drug since."

"You were engaged?" Mari asked in surprise.

"I was."

"Is this girl the reason you are unable to commit now?"

Jyuushiro frowned. "Perhaps. It's more like…I can't see myself with anyone and I feel it's hard to find someone who doesn't just like me for my fame and fortune. I'm not the kind who wants to get married and divorced within a year, I'm fussy with this sort of thing, I want to find one woman that I can settle down with. I want what my parents had."

"Understandable," Mari nodded. "Any chance we can find out who the girl was?"

"None, for the sake of her peace I won't disclose her name. She may have broken up with me, but her heart was just as broken as mine. There is a limit to how much crap one person can take from another, and I don't blame her. I know from helping Shunsui quit drugs that it isn't easy to watch someone slowly killing themselves despite your efforts."

"Shunsui, Jyuushiro helped you quit?"

Shunsui nodded. "I saw what he went through to quit. I felt his pain when his fiancé couldn't take anymore. I asked him to help me, and I had an easier time of it then he did, but there were still relapses and times when I was in withdrawal that I did everything I could to get a fix."

"And Jyuushiro's help is what saw you through?"

"Yes," Shunsui nodded again. "I don't think I could have done it without him. Which always pains me because I don't know how he did it without anyone."

"Unlike Jyuushiro, you are still regularly reported as having boozy nights on the town. Aren't you afraid of relapsing while you're drunk?"

"No, never," Shunsui shook his head. "I've been clean since I was 22, that's eleven years now. Alcohol and women are something of a substitute for me, if someone I'm with starts dealing, I go off and find a willing woman, so I avoid all temptation. I also know, that if I ever come close to falling back into that world, Jyuu will help me out, he always does," he grinned. "He has deadly resolve, he'll never give into that temptation again, so it's all good."

"You sure have a lot of faith in your friend,"

"I do," Shunsui nodded.

"What about your relationship status?"

"I'm the same as Jyuu, I'll settle down with the right woman, but until then, I'm going to play the field," he grinned devilishly, and there were a few wolf whistles from the crowd.

"Okay, time to go to a break everyone," Mari smiled to the camera. "We'll be back shortly…"

A/N: please review, if there are any questions I should have them asked…fill me in…

*For those who don't know and are as lazy as me when it comes to picking up a dictionary Verity is "a true principle or belief, esp. one of fundamental importance"…