Sorry for the mistakes! I work on Google docs on my laptop and for some reason the uber-sensitive tracpad wants to highlight and erase while I'm typing. No excuses, just an explanation :) Sorry again!
Whether Ikkaku liked it or not, Kido was Yumichika's secret, guilty pleasure. Though he made a show of reluctance whenever Ikkaku was near - even when helping his frustrated, endearing friend with the basic techniques required for graduation - Yumichika was actually delighted by Kido and everything that it could enable him to do.
For instance, healing Ikkaku without him realizing it.
"Yes, it is possible," his instructor said, answering his posed question. There were only three others in this specialized, post-class session, and they, too, seemed keenly interested by the idea. "The best target would be someone whose sensitivity to Kido is very dull. Of course, that does inhibit the restorative properties as well, making the healing less effective than it might have been. Tell me, Ayasegawa, is there some practical purpose you feel this could serve?"
"Perhaps gaining skill in such subtle restoration would aide relief members in providing superficial care to those of the direct combat division," Yumichika said, thinking of Ikkaku's aversion to all things Kido. "It is rumored that there is a certain amount of resistance to such techniques."
"I believe you mean Squad Eleven," their teacher said, smiling slightly. "An unfortunate group of people, by all rights, and perfectly disdainful of our powerful art. However, I can see your point, Ayasegawa. They do tend to make it difficult for the relief squad to assist them. Someone of your level should have no trouble healing people like that without their awareness, but I highly doubt you would be placed in the Fourth Division. The Kido Corps will, no doubt, have a place more suited for your abilities."
"Teacher, what about drawing the spirit back from death?" It was Onaga Tamotsu asking, someone who'd been in every Kido class with Yumichika since day one, and somewhat of a friend to him as well.
The teacher's grave expression stilled Tamotsu's usual smile, but he answered all the same.
"Death is a part of the cycle, a part of the Death Gods' lives," he said. "Drawing a spirit back from death is cheating it from its potential. The only known Kido able to perform such a heretical act require the direct transition of another soul. In other words, these forbidden Kido are self-sacrificing, draining the caster of every particle of life force in order to impart it onto the target."
"But it can be done?" Yumichika softly asked, confirming.
"Yes. It can be done, but it shouldn't be done. Now, let us turn our minds to more practical things..."
Yumichika accepted the change in subject, but his mind was carefully turning over the idea of a self-sacrificing Kido. Would he resort to such tactics in order to avoid seeing Ikkaku die? At least, by sacrificing himself, he wouldn't be around for Ikkaku to pummel when he realized what had happened. Whatever it was that had happened to Ikkaku in the World of the Living, whatever tragedy that had transported him here alone with just his sword, it was not something that Ikkaku ever, ever spoke of.
But it was something he wanted to escape, and badly, even after all of these years.
'Who are you to deny him?'
Yumichika ignored the Azure Peacock, shaking his head a little. The insufferable, vain spirit always tended to surface during Kido instruction, and delighted in Yumichika's ability to wield the powerful "magic". Yumichika had long ago begun to suspect that Ruri'iro Kujaku was no more a direct-combat spirit like Hozukimaru than he was an ice spirit.
But Ruri'iro Kujaku kept his own council. He refused to reveal himself in such an ugly, common way, and Yumichika was too frightened of the truth to force the issue.
The distant gong sounded for the evening notice, freeing the students for their meal and free time.
"Remember, all four of you! To even discuss the Forbidden Kido outside of this room is a punishable offense," their instructor warned them. "If there are no more questions, then you are dismissed."
Yumichika breathed a sigh of relief, his head aching slightly in a way that told him Ruri'iro Kujaku was spoiling for a meeting. But he was tired, hungry, and too distracted to even consider sword meditation, so he just gathered his things and quickly headed out in the hopes of finding Ikkaku. If anyone could distract him from his thoughts, it would be his loud, ridiculous, loveable fool.
"Ayasegawa!"
Yumichika turned when he heard his name called, and waited with expressionless calm for Tamotsu to catch him up.
"Good! I was afraid you didn't hear me!" the man said, panting a little, his glasses sliding down his nose. He shoved them up, losing them beneath a spill of shaggy brown hair that Yumichika found uninspiring at best. Yet, despite his indifferent manner of dressing and carelessness towards his appearance, Tamotsu still managed to be someone whom Yumichika had grown rather fond of. "Where are you off to?"
"To find Ik - "
" - find Ikkaku, yeah, yeah, I should know better than to ask," Tamotsu laughed, and seemed even more pleased when Yumichika tipped his nose up in offense. "What's the rush?"
"Why do you care?" Yumichika asked, smoothing his hair. He'd kept it short out of pure, stubborn orneriness when he'd realized that Ikkaku didn't care for it. If Madarame Ikkaku was going to lay siege to the beds of the Academy's not-so-unwilling women, then Yumichika was going to do something Ikkaku didn't like, thank you very much! "Tamotsu, I know I'm beautiful, but you shouldn't get the wrong idea."
"How could anyone?" Tamotsu asked, laughing again. He was always laughing, even though life hadn't dished him kindness, either. Instead of ferociously striking back at it, Tamotsu threw himself into learning, into changing, into making a new place for himself where he could be comfortable. He prided himself on finding a happy outcome for even the most dire of situations. It was refreshing sometimes to be around someone who wasn't actively seeking to die... "I don't listen to gossip, Yumichika, but I do have eyes, and all the better for wearing glasses. Even a dead man could see where you've thrown your net."
"I beg your pardon?" Yumichika inquired, offering him a tight, frosty smile. "Shall I practice my Hado on you, Tamotsu? Eh?"
"No, no!" Tamotsu held up his hands in mock surrender. "Who cares what I say, anyway? But, it worries me, you know. You're one of the best Kido practitioners the Academy has seen in a long time - both of us are! But I know when they come to recruit, you'll give it up to go wherever Ikkaku goes. Yumichika, I'd think after so long that we're friendly enough for me to bring it up. "
"There's nothing to bring up!" Yumichika sharply informed him, swinging away to continue along the path. "Mind your own business, Tamotsu!"
"I just wanted to know, Yumichika, why you're wasting all of your talent and potential on a walking corpse!"
Yumichika stopped in utter shock, his eyes wide. Behind him, Tamotsu stirred but didn't come any closer.
"He's as good as dead, Yumichika. You take Kido in secret, you don't speak of your accomplishments, you don't allow anyone else to be close to you...I just wonder, why do you bother when he hates the things you love? Why do you bother when he's determined to die?" There was genuine bewilderment in Tamotsu's soft voice, and genuine affection, too. "No one likes you, you know. Because you won't let anyone in but him. And what's going to happen when he's dead? You'll be all alone, and your only accomplishments will be his."
Yumichika hugged his arms across his chest, shivering, wounded. Of course it was true. Leave it to someone as simple as Tamotsu to come up with such a straightforward explanation. He'd given his heart to a dead man walking, a dead man who didn't even want it. He'd sworn to the Azure Peacock - and more than once over time - that if he could not have Ikkaku's love, then he would dedicate himself to ensuring that Ikkaku would lack for nothing he ever wanted, and that was how he would take solace.
'You're sentencing yourself to a lifetime of pain,' Ruri'iro Kujaku had warned him. 'And the sad thing is, Ikkaku has no idea you've done something so pathetic! Do you think he would thank you? Hm? When has that man ever thanked anyone? Dying alone isn't beautiful, darling boy. Living a life of tragic, unrequited love isn't beautiful! What point is there in having such perfect plumage, Yumichika, if you never show it off?'
"I don't understand what you feel for him," Tamotsu gently said, drawing silently closer. "Maybe he really did buy you, just like they say. If he did, then he's as careless of you as he is of himself; he certainly doesn't act like a man with a priceless treasure..."
"Stop." Yumichika took a deep breath, his hands fisting in his clothing, his heart in turmoil while the Azure Peacock laughed softly inside of his empty soul. "You're right - you don't understand what I feel. Whether he knows it or not, whether he cares or not, I will always be his."
"Well," Tamotsu said, his voice low and quiet. "Then I've finally heard a sad story that I can't make a happy ending for."
"Hey," Ikkaku's rough, low voice startled both of them, as did his nearness when he stepped out onto the path between them - Yumichika had been so upended by his turmoil that he hadn't even sensed Ikkaku's approach. He heard a soft sound behind him and turned to find that Ikkaku had forced Tamotsu back a step. "He bothering you, Yumichika? What've I told you people about pestering him, eh?"
"Leave him, Ikkaku, he isn't bothering me," Yumichika hastily said, laying a restraining hand on his arm. Coiled muscle tightened beneath the layers of his clothes, then relaxed, recognizing the touch. "He's a classmate."
"And a friend," Tamotsu daringly added, not nearly as intimidated by Ikkaku as most people were.
"Well, keep it more friendly, friend," Ikkaku warned, glaring at him. "If I catch you making him upset again, I'll pound you, understand?"
"I imagine so," Tamotsu said, his hands clenching. "It's about the only thing you'll do for him."
"Why you little - !"
"Ikkaku!" Yumichika latched onto his arm and pulled backwards with everything in him, keeping the lean but powerful man from lunging forward. "Leave him alone!"
"You should go," Ikkaku lowly growled, his hands still balled into fists. "You're not the kind of guy I usually bother fighting, but that won't keep me from hurting you."
"I'll see you in class, Yumichika," Tamotsu said, as if Ikkaku wasn't even there. "Please, think about what I've said..."
Ikkaku didn't relax until the other man was out of sight, and when he did he still didn't seem too happy about it.
"Some friend," he scoffed, turning to look at the young man still clinging to his arm. "He upset you, Yumichika. Why do you let him?"
"You upset me constantly, Ikkaku," Yumichika reminded him. "Why do I let you?"
Ikkaku grinned suddenly, his grey eyes crinkling, and said, "Because you wouldn't know what to do if I didn't tease you, Yumichika, eh?"
"Stupid," Yumichika breathed, trembling a little in the aftermath of tension. "Don't threaten my friends, I have few enough of them as it stands."
"What do you need them for, anyway?" Ikkaku asked, absently plucking a stray leaf from the crown of Yumichika's head. "When we're done here, there's no telling who will wind up where. It's better not to make bonds you'll have to break, Yumichika. That sort of thing can wait until you're settled."
You're settled, not we're settled...
'I just wanted to know, Yumichika, why you're wasting all of your talent and potential on a walking corpse!'
"I'll need someone when you've gone," Yumichika breathed, unable to look at Ikkaku's beloved face, because all he could think of was that one day he'd see it slack with death, entombed somewhere in the darkness to be forgotten by the world, and all of the wonder of him with it...
"Eh? Where'm I going?" Ikkaku questioned, frowning. "Don't be so gloomy, Yumichika! What a face! Smile for me, eh? I came to find you so I could give you this."
Yumichika looked over reluctantly, surprised to see that Ikkaku was holding a slender, leather-bound book.
"What is it?" he asked, turning to take it, his eyes widening when he realized that he was holding a neatly copied book of advanced Kido incantations. "I...Ikkaku..."
"It's that day," Ikkaku reminded him, his grey eyes carefully taking in his reactions. He covered his uncertainty well, but Yumichika had decades of experience in the subtle nuances of Madarame Ikkaku, and he recognized it all the same. "I thought you might get some use out of that, even if magic is cheating."
'Why do you bother, when he hates the things you love?'
"If it's cheating, then why would you get this for me?" Yumichika softly asked, holding the precious book with respect.
Ikkaku shrugged, his broad shoulders shifting. He grinned a little and watched Yumichika from under his lids as he said, "Because it's something you like, Yumichika. Kido isn't for me, I'm not smart enough for all that - but it's no problem for you. You're smart enough to be able to use it, so I thought I would get it for you."
Yumichika couldn't help but smile, running reverent fingers over the cover, warmed by Ikkaku's thoughtfulness.
"Thank you, Ikkaku," he murmured, turning his face up to Ikkaku's and smiling his most beautiful smile. Ikkaku actually blushed a little, and rubbed the back of his head with one hand in a gesture that Yumichika had seen countless times before. "All of these years, you've never forgotten."
"Er...yeah, well, I know how upset you get around now," Ikkaku said, cutting his eyes away as if something about Yumichika's smile unsettled or disturbed him. "I don't understand why you let it bother you still, that whole single Kan thing, but it does."
"So you always bring me a gift to make me smile?" Yumichika fished, hoping for something.
Ikkaku's blush deepened and he reacted as he usually did when cornered - he yelled.
"Shut up, Yumichika! You always act so mopey and sad! Am I a man, letting my best friend walk around depressed? Eh?! Stupid Yumichika! Why can't you just be happy? It's just a stupid day, that's all!"
"Ikkaku," Yumichika said, interrupting his rant to lay a delicate hand on Ikkaku's warm shoulder. "Thank you. For everything you've done, thank you."
Ikkaku looked at him warily from the corners of his beautiful grey eyes, then softly said, "Eh...shut up, stupid. Didn't I tell you, not too much?"
'It isn't that he hates the things I love,' Yumichika thought, giving Ikkaku such a brilliant smile that Ikkaku reluctantly returned it with his own wide, pleased grin. 'We're just different people, that's all. Different people who take care of one another as best we can, in the only ways we know how. If Ikkaku is a walking corpse, then aren't we all? How much time is any one of us promised? Ikkaku's regrets are my regrets; I have none of my own and I will not start with regretting my devotion to Madarame Ikkaku...'
"Stupid Yumichika," Ikkaku called him again, and slung one muscular arm over his shoulders, giving him a squeeze before urging Yumichika to walk alongside him. "That friend of yours, is he always so annoying?"
"Tamotsu?" Yumichika asked, surprised that Ikkaku would bring him up. "He's not annoying, Ikkaku! He's a scholar."
"He can't fight, can he?" Ikkaku accused, like it was reason enough to be dismissed out of turn.
"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Yumichika murmured, thinking of Tamotsu's formidable Kido ability. "He's in the Academy, Ikkaku - he has to be able to handle his Soul Cutter, just as you have to be able to handle Kido."
"Heh, we'll see," Ikkaku said, letting go of him with a short shove.
"Ikkaku," Yumichika sharply said, stopping, waiting until Ikkaku stopped and turned around. "If you start a brawl with Tamotsu - "
Ikkaku's grey eyes searched him, narrowing in suspicion, a scowl curving his fine lips. His gaze was so intense that Yumichika actually blushed. He closed the gap between them with two long, stomping strides and took Yumichika by the chin, tipping his head up to glare down into his surprised, wide eyes.
"You listen to me, Yumichika," Ikkaku growled. "Listen, I said! That man is bad news, you hear me? You steer clear of him, understand? If I catch him coming around you again, I'll pound him!"
He gave Yumichika a soft shake by his chin, still scowling.
"You're too good for the likes of that guy," Ikkaku told him, sending Yumichika's heart into a fluttering spiral of mingled panic and overwhelming joy. "Don't you forget it, not ever, Yumichika."
"I won't, Ikkaku," Yumichika softly breathed, struggling to keep his emotions under control. "It was two million, after all."
Surprise filled Ikkaku's grey eyes, as if he hadn't even been thinking of such a thing, but he quickly covered it with his usual quick grin, tipping his head back at an arrogant angle.
"That's right, brat," the man said, letting go of his chin with one last, lingering squeeze. "Now, there's something else."
"I...beg your pardon?" Yumichika squeaked, barely able to breathe when he was standing so close. It always flustered him in ways that he didn't understand, made his blood rush and his heart ache so strangely.
"We're going to see your family," Ikkaku told him, almost offhandedly.
"What?!"
"Eh? What's this? You mad?" Ikkaku asked, glaring at him. "I go and arrange this for you and you're going to complain? Heh?! What a brat!"
"My family?" Yumichika managed, stunned. "But, Ikkaku! We can't! It's - "
"Three more days before we have to be accounted for, and your brother made all of the arrangements for it," Ikkaku said, pleased with himself and not afraid to show it. "So stop being that way, Yumichika! You know how long it's been since you saw him last?"
"N...no..."
"Eh, me either," Ikkaku said, shrugging and then laughing when Yumichika punched him lightly on the arm. "But he does. I wrote him and asked if you could come, and he jumped at the chance."
"Ikkaku, why would you do such a thing?" Yumichika asked him, surprised by how it warmed him but wondering at his motives all the same.
"Er...well..." He cast around for an appropriately Ikkaku-style answer, then just gave up and said in a low voice, "Because it means so much to you, Yumichika. I remember how you cried. I remember how devastated you were when he threw you out without a penny or even your true name. I thought...I thought if I could get you back where you belong, then this day would have a happier meaning for you from now on."
"Ikkaku!" Yumichika couldn't help it - he flung his arms around Ikkaku's broad shoulders and hugged him as tightly as he could manage.
"Ah, you're not angry," Ikkaku said, relieved, apparently mistaking the gesture at first. His strong arms came up to circle Yumichika's slender frame and he gave the smaller man a warm squeeze. "So, we should go, yeah?"
Yumichika was reluctant to let him go, but he always did so, every time it was required of him. With a restrained nod and a purely blissful smile, he said, "Yes, let's go. I can't wait, Ikkaku! Elder Brother will make sure you know what it's like to eat a good meal! You're going to love it!"
Ikkaku just listened to his animated chatter, grinning his satisfied grin and altogether entirely pleased with himself that this thirteenth Day of Falling Leaves was one to be remembered.
Being welcomed back into the Ichigawa family, even in an understated, intimate way, was more than Yumichika had expected it to be. Part of his childhood hurt, he realized, had been that his father had taken away his name, and had taken away his family. To be so reviled and utterly unwanted had affected him much more than he'd given it credit for, forming his shyness into snobbery, compounding his mistrust into active suspicion.
But now he had it back, and they were overjoyed to see him. Eldest Brother had always been kind, and it was wonderful to see everyone from the servants to his nearly-grown nieces and nephews greeting him with smiles on their faces. The death of Ichigawa Daichi, though properly mourned and observed, had truly rid their close world of a constricting, ugly presence.
"Welcome home, Kanesuke."
Eldest Brother had come in person to welcome them at their arrival, a smile on his pleasant face and his plentiful family around him. Yumichika's sisters watched from behind their sleeves, surreptitiously taking the measure of their long-absent brother and his intriguing companion. Word had spread, no doubt, about Madarame Ikkaku and his deeds, and his sisters had been present when the brash young man had made his offer.
"Elder Brother," Yumichika said, bowing low and amending it with, "Clan Head Ichigawa Kenji."
"Kanesuke," his brother said, fondly squeezing his shoulder. "I insist you call me Elder Brother. Things have changed here, and I can't bear formality. Ah! Madarame Ikkaku, I must admit I was surprised when you contacted me."
Ikkaku managed to turn his attention to the Clan Head, and even offered a restrained bow, which was surprising to Yumichika. Ikkaku never sought to actively offend with his actions, he simply didn't have the patience for niceties or the respect for status that such niceties required. Men were men, and they found their place in Ikkaku's respect through their actions, not their births.
"Thanks for making the arrangements, Ichigawa," Ikkaku said, shocking even Yumichika, but his Eldest Brother seemed pleased by it, and clapped Ikkaku on the shoulder.
"This is the young man who rescued Kanesuke," he announced, in case they needed reminding. "He's our honored guest! And we have our brother back, at least for a little while. I'd say this is cause for celebration!"
Yumichika quickly lost his icy reserve as he was taken back into the bosom of his family, laughing along with his sisters at Ikkaku's expression of bewildered consternation. It was entertaining to see Ikkaku so out of his element, but the gruff warrior handled himself with aplomb in the presence of nobility, his informality a cherished novelty to the noble Ichigawa clan.
The day was filled with discussion, sharing, and reacquainting himself with his extensive family. His brother had made matches for his sisters, who were quietly elated by his choices, as well as for his own elder children. Already the next Clan Head was being groomed, and his young bride along with him, both of them older than Yumichika. Yumichika's stepmother remained in the house with her young children and seemed happier for the absence of her strict husband. There had been, Yumichika found out, gentle inquiries from other Houses for her hand - she commanded a considerable dowry, thanks to his father, and she was quite young, younger than Yumichika's elder sisters.
In all, it was wonderful to find his place again, and to see all of those servants who had done their parts over the course of his childhood to spare the Ichigawa children what punishments they could. Kenji had, thankfully, been expansively generous with them in reward for their long service, and they had surprised him by staying on to serve the family.
Even Ikkaku seemed to be enjoying himself, talking swordcraft with Kenji's own sons while the children of the House ran screaming circles around them. Outside of his own experience with Ikkaku as a child, he'd never really seen the man interact with children before, and it faintly surprised Yumichika to see that Ikkaku was both comfortable and capable of dealing with them. He wondered if it had something to do with Ikkaku's past, which he never spoke of, and that led to deeper musings about Ikkaku's life in the World of the Living.
"Kanesuke."
Yumichika only turned when his sister-in-law tugged lightly on his sleeve to get his attention, a pretty blush on her round cheeks. She'd left girlhood behind long before Yumichika's birth, but she was still an attractive, mannered woman in the prime of her life, a perfect person to claim the title of the Clan Head's wife.
"Forgive me," she softly said, dimpling at him. She had seated him next to her while they indulged in light, after-dinner entertainment. "I am unused to calling you by Yumichika. Tell me, little brother, are you happy with your decision to remain with your friend?"
Her light brown eyes left his and landed on Ikkaku, who was on the floor surrounded by a gaggle of house children, Kenji's Stealth Force-bound sons, and younger servants who, in Yumichika's opinion, honestly should know better. Apparently there was a toy soldier battle in progress and the adults had decided to become involved in strategies, much to everyone's' amusement.
"Yes, I am," Yumichika answered her, smiling fondly at the sight of Ikkaku's familiar scowl. "He's a little...uncivilized, but his heart is in the right place."
"I admit, I never thought I would see either of you again when he left with you," she said, shivering slightly. "I was sure he was a criminal intent on doing you harm. Did you truly fight him, Kanesuke?"
"Ah, yes, several times," Yumichika said. "But only to practice. He's quite something with his sword, and he'll make a formidable Death God."
"And what of you?" she asked. "Do you intend to join the Stealth Force with your brothers?"
"No." Yumichika watched Ikkaku hold a whispered conversation with one of the children in charge of the yellow soldiers, while his brothers conferred with the opposing side. "No, I will go wherever Ikkaku goes."
"He is a curious man," she noted, thoughtfully taking him in. "He shaves his head like a monk! But he certainly doesn't act like one, does he?"
Yumichika laughed, and started to correct her regarding Ikkaku shaving his head - which was an affectation on the other man's part, since he didn't have a hair one on his body except for the thin arches of his black brows - but his thoughts paused him. He'd never connected Ikkaku to any type of monk before, and the man was far from saintly, but there was an elusive something there, especially in regards to Hozukimaru. Ikkaku had released it once in Yumichika's presence in order to show it off, and its form had been quite curious to him. He hadn't placed it until his sister-in-law mentioned monks, but Hozukimaru's released form was that of a naginata - a weapon regularly wielded in the World of the Living by samurai, foot soldiers, and warrior monks.
"I doubt he was anything like that," Yumichika said.
"Oh? Was?" she inquired. "Has he been here so long?"
Yumichika smiled at her but said nothing, unwilling to tell her that Ikkaku had died before his time in the World of the Living. His training at the Academy had just emphasized how unusual Ikkaku's case truly was. People died in the world of the living, but even if they died young it was at their appointed time. Very rare was the case where death was unexpected, where someone actually did die before their time. Ikkaku's death in the World of the Living had broken the timeline of his life and affected events in unforeseen ways, because he'd been intended to live and take part in other events, affecting other lives. Instead, he'd been thrown clear of the World of the Living to land in Soul Society with every memory of his life before, as if he'd never died in the first place. Perhaps those traits, perhaps his previous life had impacted Ikkaku more than even his instructors realized. And he'd arrived with Hozukimaru in hand as well...It was truly a curious thing.
"Ha! We win!"
Amused laughter brought Yumichika out of his wandering thoughts and he laughed himself at the victorious grins that Ikkaku's side was sporting. There was a call for sake and a rematch, and the children hastened to reset the battlefield.
"Hey, Yumichika!" Ikkaku called, gesturing him over. "Come give us a hand!"
His smile widened and he gracefully rose to take his place at Ikkaku's side, all dark thoughts forgotten.
Long, long after the children had been put to bed and the toy armies nestled carefully in their cedar boxes, the adults, too, retired for the night to rest their sake-soaked heads. Yumichika's room had been prepared for him, everything kept as he'd left it. He was dismayed to find that Ikkaku was given a room in the guest wing, but he wasn't surprised all the same. Ikkaku was an honored guest, and such an honor required that a room be given. It wouldn't do at all to have Ikkaku spend the night anywhere else...
Yumichika reluctantly went to his own room, anxious about Ikkaku in some vague, formless way. Ikkaku, however, seemed quite happy to be taken to his room by the somber head servant, and amused by the two giggling maids sent in his wake to help him settle. Yumichika would've gladly blasted them with Kido if Ikkaku hadn't been looking, then mentally berated himself for being his father's son after all.
He dismissed the servants to put himself to bed, unable to shake his unease. Despite having paid his respects to his father, he couldn't help but feel the lingering hostility of the old man gathering around him. It left him sleepless and anxious to the point that he finally decided to get up mere hours after, his head aching slightly from tiredenss.
'I wonder how Ikkaku is...'
'Sleeping, like any other normal man,' Ruri'iro Kujaku spat, utterly disgusted with him. 'Please! If you don't get some rest, you'll look like something a stray chewed up and you know it! Being beautiful takes work, Yumichika! Well...at least, for you...'
"Shut up," Yumichika breathed, pushing the nosy spirit to the back of his awareness. He darkly thought that all of his sword meditation had been a bad idea, if this was the result. Ruri'iro Kujaku was a constant irritation anymore, what with his vociferous opinions and irritating vanity. Yumichika knew he was just frustrated, though - the spirit was more than ready to prove what he could do, but Yumichika wouldn't allow it.
He pulled his kimono on over his nightclothes so that he wouldn't be an utter disgrace if someone saw him, and slipped silently out of his room to go check on Ikkaku. He might not be resting easily in such a spacious, well-kept house, especially in his own room. Even when they'd stopped sharing a bed, the two of them had never stopped sharing a room, or else a space with a hundred other people, like in the barracks. Perhaps Ikkaku, like Yumichika, was uneasy in such silence, and would be glad of some company.
It certainly wasn't that he got lonely without that infuriating man! ...Was it?
The door was open an inch, probably from carelessness, and the screen opposite was wide open to let in the cool night air as well as the moonlight. Yumichika eased the door open just a little more and slid inside, once more blissfully proud that he was so slender and limber.
Ikkaku was snoring lightly, sprawled out on his bed in his usual manner, utterly relaxed and content.
"Stupid," Yumichika breathed, smiling fondly to see him. He settled quietly down next to Ikkaku's sleeping form and reached to tighten the sash on his nightclothes. Ikkaku always tied it with such negligence that he often woke up mostly naked, much to the amusement of their fellow barracks tenants. "How can you sleep so soundly?"
Moonlight cast a shadow on the ridges of his belly and dimple of his belly button. A scar from his fight with Kenpachi left a raised line of softer shadows, a mark to be remembered, a lesson to be cherished. Yumichika absently traced it with his fingertips, his deepening thoughts on that fight, on what that strange, powerful man had said.
"If you make me hard, Yumichika, it's going to be a problem."
Yumichika froze at the sleepy, raspy sound of Ikkaku's voice, embarrassed to realize that he'd traced the scar underneath Ikkaku's nightclothes clear down to the cup of his hip. He was so horrified by both his own actions and Ikkaku's crude suggestion that he couldn't respond, not even to move his hand.
"The braid is on the other side," Ikkaku told him, yawning. "And I mean it - unless you've changed your mind and you're a woman, don't make problems for me. It's too late to go hunting up one of those pretty servers."
Yumichika snatched his hand away like he'd been burned, his cheeks flaming, his fingertips still tingling with the sensation of Ikkaku's smooth skin.
"What is it, anyway? Can't sleep?" Ikkaku inquired, as indifferent to this as he was to anything Yumichika ever did to him. Yumichika couldn't decide if Ikkaku truly didn't mind it, or if it affected him so little, if he was just that comfortable with Yumichika, that it seemed natural. Either way, there was such a lack of actual interest that it acted like iced water every time. If Ikkaku had just shown him a hint of curiosity, then maybe he could be brave; but instead all Yumichika got was this easy acceptance, repeated surety that it fell within the realms of close friendship.
"Eh? What are you thinking, Yumichika, huh?" Ikkaku asked, shifting over to make room for him atop the bedding. Ikkaku never slept beneath anything because he didn't like the constriction.
One strong, certain hand closed around Yumichika's delicate wrist and gave him a tug that upended him, landing him on the bed at Ikkaku's side in a decidedly ungainly puddle of clothing.
"It's here, I said," Ikkaku said, sliding Yumichika's trapped hand into his clothes again on the other side, where Yumichika's braid was tied just above that fascinating place where his lean belly narrowed into his groin. "See? Damned brat, thinking I'd left it somewhere. Ha!" He tugged Yumichika's hand up, then, dragging the slender man up against his side. "Stupid. Why can't you sleep?"
Yumichika took several deep, slow breaths to gather his wits, stunned that he'd been so inappropriate twice, and once at Ikkaku's insistence. Ikkaku just lay there flopped onto his back with his nightclothes mostly undone now, and Yumichika lying at his side like a frozen plank, eyes wide.
"You're stupid!" he finally managed, sitting up in a flurry to untie Ikkaku's sash, then tie it with a firmness that made the man yelp. "Sleeping half naked in a house where the servants come and go like thieves! Shameless!"
"Yeah, 'cause that's news," Ikkaku complained, yawning again. One shrewd grey eye slit open to scrutinize him. "You don't have to be afraid here, Yumichika, eh? I'm here with you. Like I'd let you come alone. I don't think anyone wants to hurt you, here, but I'm here all the same, aren't I? Come here."
Yumichika twisted a little to look down at him, his heart picking up its pace, feeling like it would burst in his chest and end up spilling his secrets. He wanted to kiss him. He'd never wanted to kiss anyone before in his life, but he wanted to kiss Ikkaku and find out what those women liked so well about it.
Instead, he shed his kimono and lay down next to Ikkaku on his back, far enough away that the heat of the man's body barely reached him.
"I just came to check on you," he said, turning his head a little to take in Ikkaku's profile. He really was a handsome fellow, especially without the scowl. There was a nobility in his features that had nothing to do with breeding and everything to do with spirit.
"Heh, yeah right!" Ikkaku scoffed. "You're back here after all of this time and you got worried!"
"Well. How ugly," Yumichika breathed, sitting up with every intention to leave, his turmoil making him even more sleepless.
"Eh? Where're you going? Aren't you sleeping here?" Ikkaku asked, perplexed. With a startling amount of volume he yelled, "Heh?! Yumichika! Coming in here and waking me up for nothing - "
Yumichika pounced on him, slapping his hand over Ikkaku's mouth to stifle his noise.
"Hush!" he hissed, giving him a shake. "Ikkaku! What are you thinking, yelling like that! You'll wake everyone!"
Ikkaku's eyes glinted with ornery delight. When Yumichika cautiously pulled his hand away, he noted with prim disapproval that Ikkaku was grinning.
"I'm not staying," he said, straightening. "Like you told me, I'm too old to be sleeping next to you."
"Nah," Ikkaku said, that one word stilling his movements. "To me you'll always be that little boy with a girl's face, wearing a kimono not half as pretty as you, poking your nose in the air and telling me you'll civilize me."
Unexpected tears pricked Yumichika's eyes but he smiled all the same, remembering that moment himself. They'd been so carelessly young, so stupidly sure of their own actions, yet somehow they had made it work.
Yumichika wordlessly turned and draped against Ikkaku's side, settling his hand on the man's chest over his heart.
"Think you can sleep now?" Ikkaku asked, shifting a little to pull him closer, settling into the bed with Yumichika with the ease of long practice.
"Ikkaku," Yumichika said in answer. "What happened to you before you came here?"
After a long silence, Ikkaku softly said, "It doesn't matter. It was a long time ago."
"You don't trust me enough to tell me after all of this time?" Yumichika breathed, unhappy with the truth of it.
"You're the only one I trust, brat, and you know it," Ikkaku reminded him, a thread of warning in his voice. "But if you really want to know, Yumichika, then I'll tell you. I'm going to warn you, though. It's ugly."
Yumichika wriggled a little bit closer and softly said, "Most things are, Ikkaku. It's how we survive them that makes them beautiful."
Ikkaku took a deep, thoughtful breath, and slowly began.