"My next episode…" Shinji began carefully as he was getting ready to leave, for real this time, "Look, I don't really care what we do. You know what I like; I know what you like. I don't wanna screw around like that, k?"

"Yes, of course. Anything else?" Kisuke feigned impatience.

"Yesterday…no, these last few months, have reminded me that I tend to make bad decisions when it comes to these things. Please, don't let me make any bad decisions this time."

"I would never dream of it. You know I'll take excellent care of you," now he sounded chiding.

Months passed before Shinji's next episode hit, giving him more time to recover and deal with his emotions in a semi-rational state. It also gave Kisuke more than ample time to make plans.

Then, one fateful Wednesday at 5 AM, Urahara Kisuke took a stroll over to the vizard's 'secret' warehouse. As he meandered in the door, he looked around. No one was upstairs. So, he went straight for the hatch in the floor and down the ramp.

"What are you doing here?" Moshiro suddenly appeared with Kensai not far behind.

"I'm not sure if that's any of your business," he told the green-haired vizard before turning to her former captain, knowing he would get a serious response from him, "Is Hakuro-san here?"

"Yeah, he just got up," Kensai led them in the direction he just motioned. "So, what are you doing here?" He had been wondering the same thing since the shopkeeper never just stopped by for a visit. He was always there for a reason.

"I have a date," he smiled until he saw the look on the white-haired man's face. A quick conversation later and Kisuke learned that Kensai was Shinji's lover before Ichigo, that the blonde vizard had cut short their relationship to take advantage of the younger man, and on top of all that, Kensai was extremely displeased with how Shinji handled Ichigo. He was especially irked by the part about keeping him in the dark about the addiction even if he wasn't affected the same way the rest of them were. As far as he was concerned, Ichigo should have known about the way Shinji, or any of the others, would have reacted to him beforehand if possible. He was one of the few that got outvoted when they first met Ichigo and it was suggested that they tell him about the condition before anything happened.

"But it's too late for that now," the white-haired man shrugged. "He's right over there," he motioned to a boulder where his comrade was perched eating a bowl of cereal.

"Thank you," Kisuke gave a sincere nod and went to him.

"If I'd known you were coming, I'd've poured another bowl," Shinji said dryly as his friend walked up behind him.

"No need. I made sure to have breakfast before I came. Is there anything you need to do before I whisk you away," Kisuke playfully teased but Shinji appeared unamused. "Come on," he motioned.

Shinji hesitated.

"Well?" Kisuke asked impatiently.

"Well what?" Shinji replied with equal impatience.

"Your episode, it has started hasn't it? Or am I mistaken?"

Shinji gave a reluctant sigh. "No, you're right."

"Then am I to infer from your attitude that you've changed your mind about our arrangement?"

"Don't fuckin' rush me. Let a man finish his cereal," Shinji brought the bowl, now only containing sugary milk, to his lips.

Kisuke smiled mischievously at having gotten under his friend's skin so easily. "My apologies. May I sit with you then?"

Shinji moved over a few inches to signal his willingness to at least share space with the other man.

"Here," once the man in the hat and clogs sat down, he pulled a piece of candy out of his pocket and handed to the other.

The blonde took it and examined it carefully. It looked like a tootsie roll. "What's this?" he asked with exasperation.

"I'm drugging you," Kisuke replied evenly, making sure to maintain eye contact.

"When you drug someone, you're not supposed to tell them," Shinji advised, still examining the candy but no closer to eating it. "What's it do?"

"Let's just say it will make you more agreeable," he carefully phrased.

"A rooffie? You can't be serious," he tried to hand it back.

"It's hardly a date-rape drug. You said you didn't want to make any more poor decisions," Kisuke broke eye contact for a moment to glance at Kensei, "It won't knock you out or anything."

He still appeared unconvinced but the brief glance at his jilted lover brought him closer.

"You'll be just as aware but you'll actually listen to me. You do have quite the defiant streak, you know."

Shinji gave another heavy sigh. "Do you really think this is necessary?" he asked incredulously.

"Necessary, no. Helpful, yes, definitely."

Knowing that it couldn't be worse than a lot of the other things he'd been through, he popped the candy into his mouth, chewed it up, and swallowed before washing it down with the rest of his milk. Then he stood. "Hey, Hyori!" he called and when the small vizard turned to see why she was being yelled at, he threw the spoon at her, hitting her in the head.

"Damnit! What the hell was that?" she began to rage.

Then he tossed her the bowl like a Frisbee, forcing her to catch it or risk breaking it, "I'm goin' out." Then he looked at Kisuke, nodded toward the door, and they left.

When they were about half way up the ramp, Shinji turned to his old comrade, "How agreeable are we talkin' here?" he finally asked.

"Don't worry about that," Kisuke dismissed.

"Okay…"

When they arrived at the shop, tidy and quiet, he led his friend inside. "Now, go into my room and get your toys, anything you want, okay? Everything should be in the closet," Kisuke instructed.

Shinji smiled at the mention of the toys and did as he was told. He returned a few minutes later, he took longer than expected, with a familiar-looking back

One look in the bag and the shopkeeper smiled. "And you said I was jaded where the boy could hear…if he could see what's in here now…" he teased.

"That's different," Shinji replied simply.

"I suppose it is. Here," he slid a stack of clothes across the table.

"What's this?" the vizard asked incredulously as he examined.

"Just something I thought would look good on you," Kisuke replied nonchalantly but couldn't hide his smile when things started becoming unfolded.

Shinji didn't react to the dress shirt. It was a little tighter than he would normally wear but nothing special. The socks weren't any different. Then, the kicker, a knee-length pleated skirt. "You want me to wear a dress?" he asked in disbelief. If playing dress-up wasn't his old comrade's fancy, then cross-dressing certainly didn't register.

"Actually, it's a skirt and I'd like for you to at least to try it on."

Shinji appeared reluctant and uneasy by the idea. "If you wanna girl, you should just go fuck a girl," he said bitterly.

Kisuke made a tisk-tisk sound, "Come now, I'm not trying to feminize you. If I were, there would be no doubt. I just happen to think you'd look good in it. Honestly, I didn't think you were that narrow-minded."

Shinji hesitated again.

"Please, try the skirt on. You know it won't stay on for too long anyway." Then, he started to crawl, with a somewhat predatory air, toward his guest.

"Fine," Shinji finally agreed when he found deft fingers already working to undress him.

"Thank you," Kisuke smiled sweetly as he continued the undressing. Once his friend was totally naked, while he was still very clothed, he pushed the vizard down.

"I thought…" he started but decided to stop for several reasons. The first reason was that he wasn't going to argue with postponing putting on a skirt but after that, the reason became a hot mouth kissing and licking his chest. Then, his words trailed off into wanton moans.

Kisuke looked up at his friend's face when he started prodding at his opening to find that the vizard wincing slightly. "What's the matter?"

"N-nothing…" Sure the rough attention stung a little but pain he could deal with. Denial was a totally different story.

The man who was still clothed gave his guest a suspicious look and let up.

"Don't fucking tease me," he warned, wishing he could produce the scathing tones he was usually capable of.

"You're not going to leave," Kisuke told him evenly and then allowed a moment for the 'suggestion' to set in. "Now, do you really want me to try to break you or are you just impatient?" he repeated.

"I-No one's been inside me since we were together," he admitted more easily than he expected. "And stop talking to me like that."

"You didn't have to do that. I know how much you like," he had more but was cut off.

"I did it because I wanted to…it's better that way…for both of us," Shinji insisted.

Kisuke awed for a moment before going down on his friend.

Shinji threw his head back so violently that when it made contact with the wall he'd somehow gotten pinned against that he saw stars. The sudden disorientation caused him to lose himself in his friend's mouth with a weak and rather pathetic groan. The blonde on his knees chuckled at that, something that, under normal circumstances, would have unnerved Shinji to no end. However, the sweet vibrations that the slight laughter caused around his cock made his vision blur and it wasn't long after that before he was coming again.

After his third, or was it the fourth?, orgasm, the man in his lap withdrew. He wiped his swollen lips on his sleeve and looked up at Shinji in such a way that made him so anxious that it bordered on uneasy. Kisuke smiled and brought the tips of his index and middle fingers of his right hand to the vizard's parted lips.

In spite of the haze, Shinji reacted quickly, much more quickly than expected. The man pinning him should have expected some sort of move. He knew Shinji could only sit by for so long before making a bold move. He leaned forward and snapped at the waiting digits. Not hard enough to hurt very much, but enough to keep them there. Then he brought his hand up to catch Kisuke's wrist. With the fingers firmly secured between his teeth, he teased the exposed bits of flesh with his tongue.

"A little early in the day for biting, don't you think?" Kisuke nearly growled, using his free hand to fondle the vizard's balls in the hopes that it would be enough of a distraction to get his fingers back. "I always considered that more of an afternoon or evening activity."

Shinji did actually growl but eventually relented and only after biting down hard enough to actually hurt his friend.

"I see." The shopkeeper took the other man by the hair and pulled him to his hands and knees before pressing his face into the floor. Then, without another word, he pulled the goody bag over and started rummaging through it. He gave an amused chuckle when he pulled out an all-too-familiar pair of dark purple objects. He felt Shinji try to turn to see but tried to keep his eyes away from what was going on. "You know, Kurosaki-kun deserves more credit than you give him…if his prudence is something that you hold against him," and Kisuke knew his old friend well enough to know that was the case.

Shinji made a sound of discomfort at the teen's name but no protest otherwise. The next thing he knew a hard, slick object was forcing itself inside him. It was almost half way in when Kisuke turned it on, allowing him to relax his muscles enough that it was only unbearably uncomfortable when the widest part of the egg passed through his opening. They both knew the instant it was pressed up against his prostate because he came hard, spilling himself onto the floor.

"This is one of the toys he picked out for us to play with. I think he liked it a lot more than he wanted to let on," Kisuke continued.

"Don't…you…" was all he could manage before it was turned up to high and he came again.

"What's that?" he asked innocently, turning it back down to low.

"Don't talk about him! You…you know better than that," he scolded.

"Of course. My apologies." The shopkeeper reached down to find that the vizard's member was only about half erect. So, setting the control to the side, he reached into the bag again. This time he retrieved a pair of leather wrist cuffs attached one another by three thick metal links.

Shinji recognized the sound of the metal links clinking against one another and immediately brought his wrists together behind his back. Again, he heard the man in the hat chuckle. "You know I fucking hate that," he griped.

"I'm sorry I can't stifle my excitement like you can," Kisuke sarcastically sniped, taking the presented wrists into his hands and pulling them back around to the front of the vizard's body before fastening them. In actuality, Kisuke preferred to not allow his lovers to rest very much weight on their faces but he knew there were times when Shinji enjoyed having his face smashed into the ground. This gave him the option for either.

Feeling that was enough accessories for the time being because, as he had pointed out, the day was still very much young, he leaned over the man on his knees effectively covering his naked body with his own, very much still clothed, form. Shinji gave a shudder at the feeling of the other former captain's breath on his neck and when that strong, skillful hand found his returned erection, he came again. He could feel Kisuke's erection straining his pants and pressing into his backside and it turned him on even more. He enjoyed being toyed with but only if the person doing the toying appreciated it as much as he did. He always knew this man enjoyed that angle but it's always nice to get a little reassurance now and then.

However, it was also starting to give him ideas. "Kisu, fuck me," he sounded much more desperate than he wanted to and hoped that the humiliation to would earn him some sort of reward.

That was when Kisuke moved from kissing and nibbling on the back of Shinji's neck to his ear, "I don't think I'm ready to do that just yet," he whispered in a thick voice.

The vibrations of his friend's velvety words seemed to be somehow on the same frequency as the object still moving inside him. The strange phenomenon caused him to lose himself in the hand jerking him off. "Oh why?" he cried out desperately while trying to push himself against the anxious length as encouragement.

"Well, if you're nice and tight," he moved his off hand to the puckered entrance and began messaging with his thumb, rubbing the residual oil into the skin, "I'm gunna take my time and you're gunna like it," he informed authoritatively while pushing the tip of his thumb inside.

Shinji mewled and came again.

"I'm glad we're in agreement," the shopkeeper said resolutely. He continued his attentions, milking another three orgasms from his friend before his erection waned enough to not be considered cruel for withdrawing.

While Shinji sat, somewhat in a daze, trying to recover some of his higher brain functions, Kisuke started dressing him, unhooking the wrist cuffs to slide his arms through the sleeves of the dress shirt. He decided to leave them unhooked for the time being. The fact that the vizard was wearing them was almost enough for him. Then, to his surprise, he received no protest as he slid the skirt up his friend's legs, making the zipper and small eye-hook much easier to manage without having to looking. When he reached for the socks, that's when Shinji spoke, "I don't wanna wear the socks."

"If you don't wear shoes and socks, I'll be very tempted to tickle your feet at the most inappropriate times."

"Shoes and socks it is then. I left my shoes next to the door."

"I knew you'd see it my way." He went to retrieve them as quickly as he could, making sure to turn the vibrations up the further he got away and then back down as he returned. To his surprise and delight, Shinji had regained his bearings fairly well after that first assault.

The vizard held his hands out when he saw his shoes. When Kisuke appeared unsure he informed, "I can put my own damn shoes on. Why don't you make some lunch of something?"

"I was just about to ask if you were hungry. I'm not going to try cooking," because he knew from experience that would inevitably turn into very messy food sex. Moments later, they were placing a bento delivery order. He knew it wouldn't take long, so instead of diving headlong into another heated round, he stood. "I'd like to show you something."

Curiosity piqued, Shinji stood and followed as the owner of the establishment led him down the hall and into his bedroom. "I think I've seen everything in that room," Shinji joked and this time his former comrade's chuckle was appreciated.

"I made something. Just for you," he opened the door and led his guest inside.

Immediately, the vizard noticed the difference. On the wall, next to the window, was a door that had never been there before. He went up and poked his head out the window to see that the outside of the wall had not changed and showed no signs of any sort of openings. With a shrug, he pulled back inside and opened the door.

"I thought you knew better than to just go opening magic doors?"

"I'm feeling lucky today. So, what is this?" he carefully stepped inside.

"The spiritual resonance of this room is different enough from that of the real world. Passing through that door way pushes you into an overlapping dimension. This room and the area outside technically occupy the same," he was cut off again.

"Never mind," Shinji halted the explanation in favor of looking around. The window was still to the side of the now-open door but from this perspective, it looked into the bedroom. Other than that, the room was fairly unremarkable…aside from the center piece. A large bed sat in the center of the room and over that bed hung a clasp attached to a long rope. The rope was threaded through a pulley, the end tied to one of the bedposts.

Before either of them could say anything more, they heard a distant knocking. It was their lunch.

"Would you go get that?" Kisuke asked sweetly as he handed his friend some cash.

Shinji was about to until he remembered what he was wearing. "No way."

"I thought you were hungry."

"I am. So, go get it," he tried to hand the money back.

"If you wait too much longer, they'll leave and you'll have nothing to eat," Kisuke went over to pretend to examine the knot at the end of the rope.

If Shinji's stomach hadn't growled at that exact moment, he would have continued to protest. As he hurried to the door, he caught a glimpse of himself in the bathroom mirror. As much as he hated to admit it, the skirt didn't look bad on him. In fact, it made his legs look great. He didn't get to think about that for too long, though, because he could see the figure on the porch start to retreat.

Without thinking, he opened the door, "Wait, don't leave!" he politely called out. He only realized that it was a teenage girl when she turned around and he saw her double take at his choice of leg wear. "Oh…umm…ha ha, for a minute I thought I was at the wrong place," she giggled nervously.

Shinji blushed and gave a sheepish grin as they traded food for money. "Eegh…" he was almost able to totally contain his sound of surprise when the vibrating egg was turned up again. Her look of concern made his blush intensify.

"Are you okay?"

Even though she was probably only glancing over him for obvious signs of distress, it felt to the vizard like she was examining every inch of him.

As she looked him over, she spotted the cuffs still on his wrists and gave a noticeable reaction to them. Nothing verbal, but he saw the look of disbelief and shock in her eyes. "Um, you can keep the change," he barely managed as he backed away and into the shop.

That was when she really got a good look at him. His skin was flushed, his hair messy, and when she pulled her gaze back up his legs she saw the slight tenting in his skirt. "No, ya know what," she slapped the money back on top of the boxes now in the blonde's hands, "this one's one me." She took his cheeks in her hands and pulled him in for a quick kiss on the lips before running off, giggling all the while.

Shinji scratched his head and couldn't help wondering if, somehow, she had actually been the stranger person in their encounter. Shrugging it off, he ducked back inside. No need to be seen by any more people than necessary.

On his way back to the strange para-dimentional-whatever room, the vizard stopped to check himself out in the bathroom mirror. Sometime during that, he felt his blush return again when he looked down at the noticeable bulge forming beneath his skirt and was starting to understand why his mischievous old friend would like to see a skirt on a man.

He took a deep breath to center himself and, knowing that there was no way to tame his returning erection without prolonged physical attention, he practiced a couple of winks and smiles in the mirror while straightening his hair. After that he returned to the strange extra room.

"Here," he handed the shopkeeper his box of food and his money.

"You weren't supposed to pay for this," Kisuke chided.

"I didn't. The delivery girl said that it was on her," he tried to sound like it wasn't anything special.

"The short brunette with the glasses?"

Shinji nodded as he sat down on the floor next to the bed and began eating.

"I always knew she was a good girl. Did she say why?" he asked knowingly.

"Nope. I think she was in a hurry." He made sure to sit with his legs crossed because he found that was the least revealing position for the time being.

They ate quickly because of the growing anticipation and when Kisuke left to dispose of their trash, he returned with a bottle, two small saucer cups, and two small wooden tables.

Shinji wrinkled his nose, "You don't need to get me liquored up," he reminded.

"I'm not getting you liquored up," he motioned for the vizard to sit with him even though he somewhat enjoyed watching his guest fidget about.

He did just that, hoping that a bit of alcohol would ease his nerves.

Kisuke raised his, "To friends," he toasted.

"To lovers," Shinji added, or countered, neither was sure.

"To lovers," Kisuke agreed but before he could bring the saucer to his lips, the other man spoke again.

"To lovers who don't have to be told," he continued defiantly before trying to do the same. Only this time, it was he who was interrupted.

"To selfish lovers," the man in green parried, hoping to get the last word, but to no avail.

"Then, to us," Shinji said flatly.

"I believe that's what I said," he chided.

Then, they both smiled and actually drank to the toast. Not a moment later, Shinji found his cup being knocked out of his hands. He looked down to find his wrists being bound together once again. He gave a stupid smile and simply allowed it to happen. It was finally happening. He had catered to his friend's stupid whims long enough and now he would finally be rewarded.

As he was being pulled by his wrists onto the bed and fastened to the clasp that hung above, his head felt light and his body heavy, "Did you put something in the sake?"

"No. That would be foolish."

"Then why do I feel so strange?"

"I thought you knew better than to mix drugs and alcohol…" Kisuke continued in his chiding voice.

Shinji was about to make some sort of protest until his wrists were pulled upward. Once he was on his knees, with his hands above his head, but with enough slack for him to slouch and lean on his lover, the rope was tied off. His smile returned as he weakly tested his restraints. However, it didn't exactly last. When he looked down and saw his erection wasn't hidden but accented by the skirt that he was still wearing.

Once he was sure the other wasn't going anywhere if he suddenly decided he wanted to, he stood to the side of the bed admiring. "Still needs a little work but…" he took Shinji's chin in his hand and forced their gazes to meet, "you'd better hope nobody else sees you like this," warned.

Shinji laughed a little when his cock twitched at the suggestion, thinking to himself, 'Like I have much choice in the matter at this point.' Instead he said, "Keh, wouldn't that be something?"

"Promiscuity is one thing, whorishness is another," he informed curtly, half because he meant it and half because he wanted to see how the other would react. If the drugs were taking their proper effect now, the reply had the potential to be very interesting.

"You knew who I am when you let me into your bedroom. Why are you suddenly taking issue now?" he asked through gritted teeth. He could handle the teasing and the embarrassment. He could handle that the one of them was easily using the other just as much. What he couldn't handle at this point was someone who thought ill of him and his behavior.

Kisuke frowned, not as interesting of an answer as he was hoping for, but it certainly said a lot. He leaned down and gave his 'guest' a short, sweet peck on the lips before heading for the door.

"No…no…you can't leave me now!" he was finally outraged by his sluggishness and lack of mobility when he couldn't grab the other and make him stay.

"I'll be right back. We left some things in the other room." He informed as he exited, making sure to close the door.