On the Road

Ikkaku

"Just give me a second," I said, rummaging through a supply closet. I grabbed the money I had there, and something else. "Well, Hozukimaru, I guess it's time to hit the road again."

Honestly, strapping on my zanpakuto felt like meeting an old friend after not seeing them for years. It's not like I didn't regularly practice, but I always had to be discreet, and I don't remember the last time I was genuinely fighting against someone.

When I came downstairs again, I saw Yumichika's eyes widen. I wondered what I should tell him.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I just remembered that I really have to go back to my place before we leave. I was in such a hurry to talk to you that I forgot something very important."

He really does surprise me, all the time. I suppose back then I just didn't know him well enough, but even now he always keeps me on my toes.

If I was surprised by his calm acceptance of my zanpakuto, I was shocked when we walked by the alley that he had his fight in. We had decided to just walk straight through town. It's not like anyone was going to stop me when I was in a bad mood and wanted to get the rust off of Hozukimaru. Plus, there was a good chance that no one had spotted them yet. It wasn't unheard of for Hitomi's to throw their drunks into the alleyway to sleep off their booze. People might just assume that the man Yumichika fought was drunk. Except that was the shocking part to me, it wasn't a man, it was eight men; men that had various weapons strewn about them as they lay unconscious and battered on the ground.

"Wow," I said in a low voice, looking over at Yumichika.

"Please don't tell me that just turned you on," he said with a smile.

"Uh…no?" I answered dishonestly.

We quickly hurried past the alley and to Yumichika's place. I've never actually been there since it's over a shop and he says it's cramped. It was tiny, but it was very neat. "I didn't know you liked art," I said, pointing to the painting on the wall.

"Of course I do, art is beautiful," he said. "That isn't art though. It was just too drab in here and I wanted some color, so I made it."

It was just a mesh of colors and textures, but I found it fascinating. It's true that I don't know art from Adam, and it certainly didn't look like a tree or cherry blossom or anything traditional, but I'm pretty sure it was still art. I was still looking it over when I heard a very specific noise, a noise that's been ingrained into my head since before I could walk. It was someone unsheathing a sword.

I turned quickly.

Yumichika was fastening his sword to his belt just like I did. Not just a sword, a zanpakuto. He drew it out and inspected it closely, to see if the oil had allowed it to rust, running his hand over the wide part of the blade as if greeting it.

I could feel my heartbeat rise and my ears start to ring. It's never good to rush at someone holding a sharp weapon, but luckily he was sheathing it just as I got to him.

"Ikkaku, what are you…" I stopped his talking with a hungry kiss. He pushed me away. "They're going to come for me soon," he said.

"Mmmn," I replied, not listening.

He hissed slightly as I pressed him into the wall, hitching his legs around my hips. He was wearing one of my kimonos and nothing else, having changed quickly at my place. I quickly untied it and made short work of my own clothes, never letting got of Yumichika. He wasn't complaining anymore and had that glazed over look in his eye that let me know that I was in for it. He leaned over and started giving me small bites around my neck while I was trying to undress. I growled in response.

"You know," he whispered, "I've always wondered…" he trailed off as he licked me upside my bare head, from behind my ear to the top.

"Uuughhh," I moaned, slamming him into the wall.

"What? You like that?" he teased.

Yumichika

When I saw Ikkaku's zanpakuto I immediately recalled my own. I guess that should probably show you how I felt; it was more important to me to talk to Ikkaku for one last time than it was to get something that is basically a piece of my soul. I wasn't surprised he had one, although I hadn't really thought about it before. In fact, seeing him wear it seemed like I was seeing a more complete version of himself than I had been seeing before.

Ikkaku offered no objection to going back into town. I think he was itching for a fight and was practically hoping somebody would try to stop me.

Once at my place I moved the bookshelf and unwrapped it; Ruri'iro Kujaku, my bane and my pride. It had been at least a year since I'd trained. I ran my hand along the blade, feeling it pulse within me. I was shocked to find Ikkaku's arms around me almost the second it was away. I could tell by the fire in his eyes he was definitely too gone for me to reason with him but I tried. I more or less stopped trying to reason with him once he slammed me against the wall. As much as I love the slow romantic stuff, no one has ever been able take quite as much from me as Ikkaku. I'd never had sex with someone with my level of spiritual pressure, someone as strong as Ikkaku. If he held me down, it was actually something, and very erotic to me.

After was had spent ourselves I sat in his lap underneath the window, still completely naked, but not really caring. He wrapped his arms around me.

There was noise outside, and a crowd forming.

"This is your fault," I told him.

"Yup," he said with a grin. "What can I say, you are irresistible."

We got dressed, not hurrying despite the angry yells and beginning of some frantic knocks on the door.

"Yumichika," he said, suddenly serious.

"Yeah?"

"I wanted to say something before, but after today I know it for a fact," he continued. "I love you."

My heart skipped and I could feel the heat rush to my face. "Ikkaku…"

"You don't have to…"

"Ikkaku, I love you too," I finished, kissing him. "You don't have to look so shocked," I said with a laugh.

There was some more persistent knocking and yelling outside now.

"We should get going," I suggested.

"Let's make a little room for ourselves first," Ikkaku said.

I was wondering what he meant, but then I felt him allowing his spiritual pressure to heighten. I increased mine to meet it. We heard curses outside as people backed away. We went outside.

"Ikkaku?" one of the men said in shock. There was a murmur. I was fairly new to town and had kept to myself, but almost everyone knew Ikkaku.

"Watch out, they have weapons!" someone yelled.

"Yeah, we have weapons. Really, we could just wipe this whole place out easily, but there's no real reason for that. You guys are all pompous twats but I don't particularly feel like killing any of you. Aside from those of you who attacked my lover that is," Ikkaku responded. "I don't suppose you guys will raise your hand and let me know who you are?"

No one moved. Someone did yell, "You're gay?"

"No, I just sleep with men," Ikkaku said with a laugh. "Why does it matter? Anyways, move out of the way and let us pass and things will be fine."

"He attacked and hurt eight men!" a man yelled.

"They thought he was a woman, and if he was they would have raped him. Are you really siding with those guys?" Ikkaku asked.

"I'm bored with this," I said, drawing my zanpakuto.

"Me too," Ikkaku drew his as well.

The crowd took a collective backward step, before slowing edging away from the center, creating a narrow path. It would still have been dangerous to walk, we'd be exposing our backs to who knows how many bigots who hated us, but Ikkaku just pumped up his spiritual pressure so that those that got to near to us fell to their knees. He looked over at me and grinned. I grinned back, giddy with the fact that he actually loved me.

Ikkaku

"I don't suppose you know any of that kido stuff to help us with this?" I asked as we tried to unsuccessfully start a fire in the damp grass.

"Sorry, I don't know any at all," Yumichika confessed.

"Heh, no worries. Actually, I kind of hate kido anyways. It's always seemed weak to me to have to strike from a distance using weird words and powers, you should rely on your own power and strength, not magic," I said with a grin. He was quiet.

"Well, I do know how to flash step," he said hesitantly.

"I do too," I looked over at him. "I really have to know; what's your zanpakuto like? What's its name?"

"I'll have to show it to you later," Yumichika said. "Right now I need to figure out how to make this damn fire."

I ran my fingers through his hair as he worked. "You know, I've always felt that I loved you, we just fit together. Today, seeing you with your zanpakuto, I knew we could be even more than just lovers, we could be partners."

"Is that really an upgrade from lover?" he asked, his back to me.

"Well, I've had many lovers but not one partner," I said.

"So why does a common town carpenter have a zanpakuto?" Yumichika asked.

"I was a bandit. At least, I was one of those kids taken by bandits and raised to be one of them. I really did love it at first, when it was just training and sparring. On my first actual raid, I saw one of my team members about to strike a sleeping man in the back of the head. I just had to stop him. It was so unfair. To kill an unarmed man while he slept in his own home disgusted me. I wound up taking out the bandit who was going to murder the man and woke the man up. Together we defended his home. Afterward I confessed to him that I had come to rob him, but he didn't care. I was still pretty young at that point, and he told me that he could help me change my life if I wanted to. So I became his apprentice."

"That was his shop?" Yumichika said in awe.

"Yeah," I replied. "Why so shocked?"

"You left it so easily. You grew up there. I've never had a home; I don't think I could just..."

"It wasn't anything," I said honestly. It's not that I minded living as a law abiding citizen, it's just that I was so bored that I was going crazy. Even if Yumichika hadn't come along, I wouldn't have stayed and died in that dusty town. "What about you?" I asked curiously.

"I don't remember a lot from when I was very young. I was on the streets, I didn't have any family. Then I met a man who took interest in me. It was only luck that I met the type of man I did, as opposed to one who would take advantage of me or use me. Instead I traveled with him, learning how fight and defending myself. Eventually I got my zanpakuto and began training with that as well," he answered. "However…well the reason that the man had taken an interest in me was that he was dying. He hadn't lived a very good life and felt that he should at least do something kind before dying. I was his project, his last attempt to save himself from whatever it was he was afraid of."

"So he died, leaving you alone," I said.

"Yeah," Yumichika said sadly.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up anything painful."

"No, I'm just sad because he was the only person I've ever really known and even then I was just a means to an end. I don't think he personally cared about me, it was just what I represented to him, salvation of some sort."

"I care about you," I said, pulling him firmly between my legs as I leaned against a tree. "And I highly doubt someone like you could go your whole life without being cared about. I'm pretty sure you can walk into a half empty bar and be cared about."

"Just for my looks," he said.

"I thought you liked people admiring you for your looks. You judge people based just off their appearance all the time," I said confused.

"I never said that I made any sense," Yumichika replied, his voice getting quieter. I could tell he was starting to drift off to sleep, despite neither of us having eaten any dinner.

"I love you anyways," I whispered into his ear.

Yumichika

As I was falling asleep I had a lot of thoughts going through my mind. He loved me; he wanted me to be his partner. I wondered how strong his aversion to kido was and whether that was also was true for kido based weapons. I needed to put off telling him about mine as long as possible until I found out. I had finally found my Ikkaku and I wasn't going to let him go if I had to lie through my teeth for the rest of my life.