Title: Cancer
Author: Ansela Jonla and Del March.
Fandom: Bleach
Rating: 15
Characters: Shuuhei, Yumichika
Warnings: almost non-con
Summary: Shuuhei is angry, bitter, drunk and not happy about being followed.
Word count: 3184
Notes: This is the fault of delwynmarch. She was responsible for putting the idea in my head, she thought of the title and she cowrote the first part of the fic.
oOo
A flicker of black cloth caught Shuuhei's eye as he slammed back a glass of whiskey, not noticing the burn of the alcohol as it slid down his throat. He motioned for the bartender to refill the glass as he turned to look at the newcomer to the bar. Sure, it wasn't illegal for non-Shinigami to wear black, but it wasn't exactly a common colour to see on random people. He scowled as he realised who it was. Ayasegawa Yumichika was one of the last people he wanted to see, mostly because wherever the peacock went, his rowdy Division mates usually weren't far behind. Drinking alone was a lot harder with that bunch of illiterate, ill-mannered thugs hanging around.
Kazeshini's sly whisper trickled past the haze of alcohol that Shuuhei had been working to erect for hours. Shuuhei drained the next drink in one go to silence him, not wanting to listen to the smug bastard's tempting croon. What he was suggesting was completely wrong, totally illogical. Turning his back on Ayasegawa, Shuuhei motioned for another drink. This would be his last one, in this bar at least. He'd move on before the moron patrol arrived to join their pretty princess scout.
The cold air outside was a blow to the face, sobering him up as effectively as a pot of hot coffee. Shaking his head, Shuuhei glanced in both directions along the deserted street, before picking neither and effortlessly jumping to the roof opposite. He jumped from building to building, sometimes in a straight line, and sometimes diagonally, weaving his way out of the small town and towards the shadow of the bordering forest that led further into Rukongai.
He acted like he couldn't feel the insistent reiatsu behind him, pretended that the slapping of waraji on various roofing materials was merely the echo of his own footsteps. There was no one following him but a trick of his imagination, a spectre sent by Kazeshini to torture and test him once again. The wind devil, the malevolent kamaitachi that haunted Shuuhei's soul, had got a lot nastier since Shuuhei embraced him and mastered him in the effort to reach bankai and be promoted to Captain. An effort that ultimately, to their shared horror, turned out to be in vain as Central 46 forever denied him that rank due to his previous loyalty to Tousen. Loyalty he'd discarded when Tousen had discarded him, but apparently even killing the traitor hadn't redeemed him in the eyes of the 46.
The darkness of the trees surrounded him and he was forced to slow down or run into a tree trunk or low hanging branch. There still wasn't anyone following him as he carefully wove through the undergrowth; the rustling was a mere trick of the wind that whipped at his shihakushou. He pushed forward, willing his eyes to pierce the shadows before him, refusing to listen to his body begging him to slow down, to be more careful. He was drunk, at night; he should not be rushing through some unknown forest, he knew it. But he did not care. Nothing mattered any more, not when his whole life's work had come undone through no fault of his own, and there was absolutely nothing he could do to repair the damage.
He was not surprised when he finally missed a step and ended up sprawled all over the forest floor. A sharp pain in his ankle informed him that he had probably sprained it, but once again he could not bring himself to care. One way or the other, he would find his way back to Seireitei sooner or later anyway; he would go back to the good old routine, as he always did. And for what? For a stunted career, killed before it could even properly begin? For pitying friends who would mourn with him the unfairness of the Central 46's decision, but who could never make it hurt less? He had nothing to go back to, and yet he would go back, because he did not know how else to live.
The crunch of footsteps halted next to him, and a warm body knelt beside his. He didn't need to look to see the mocking condescension on the Fifth Seat's pretty face, the unspoken smug superiority in his stance, his every move. He could almost feel the other man's arrogance in the very air he breathed - and strangely enough, he found that it did not bother him as much tonight as it did usually. Ayasegawa had no respect for him, but at least he would not smother him in pitying understanding like everyone else was going to as soon as the news would be made public.
"Come to laugh at me, Ayasegawa?" he muttered, pushing himself to his feet. "I bet you find this whole thing funny, don't you?" Swaying on his feet, steadfastly ignoring the throbbing pain in his ankle. He shook off Ayasegawa's hand and started limping through the forest again. He was a high-ranked Shinigami with Captain-class skills, even if he would never actually hold that rank. If he willed his ankle to heal, then heal it would, with a short amount of time. Pity it only worked on small hurts, and not big wounds like the massive gash where his heart and pride used to lie.
"Not at all," Ayasegawa replied softly. Shuuhei glared at him angrily, certain that the effete trickster was taunting him in some way. "I would not make light of your misfortune in such a way." The impertinent Fifth Seat continued to follow Shuuhei through the woods, at a slower pace now, since Shuuhei saw no point in injuring himself further for the peacock's amusement or Eleventh's later mockery once Ayasegawa spread the news to them.
The woods soon gave way to an open space, a stony, barren patch of land fit for neither farming nor housing. There were a few scars in the ground that Shuuhei recognised, gouges where Kazeshini had torn into what little soil there was; craters where kidou had blasted splinters of bedrock into the air; furrows where Hihiou Zabimaru had missed its faster, more agile targets. Abarai-kun had had the patience to train with Shuuhei when few others would, revelling in the challenge of trying to hit someone so fast with his slow bankai. They'd both enjoyed the time spent sparring, both striving to reach the same goal in their own way, Shuuhei trying to catch up to his former underclassman, to bridge the gap that had sprung into being over five decades of separate training and, in Shuuhei's case, stagnation. And Abarai-kun had done it, was certain to make Captain when he was called to take the test, because he'd only served under Aizen for a short amount of time before being discarded into Eleventh's barbarity as a failure whose life or death no longer mattered. He wasn't tainted by long association with an eventual traitor.
Ayasegawa let out a low whistle as he saw the moon-lit training area, and his purple eyes widened as he took in the destruction wreaked upon the ground. He seemed to take in every single mark on the ground, even the slightest stain where blood and sweat were spilled, before turning to Shuuhei with a mocking smile - he didn't have any other kind, in Shuuhei's opinion -on his face. "I didn't realise how hard you've been training recently, Hisagi-fukutaichou. This is impressive."
"You don't know anything about me, Ayasegawa," Hisagi snapped, stepping into the open space. If he remembered right, there was a small cave in the hills on the other side of the training area. He and Abarai-kun had used it for shelter when the weather had forced them to cease training a few times. He could sleep there tonight, instead of going back to his cold quarters where his friends were no doubt waiting to shower him with meaningless pity and false reassurances. Ayasegawa followed him, and Shuuhei stopped to glare at him.
"Go away, Ayasegawa," he ordered. When the slender Eleventh Divisioner didn't move, Shuuhei snarled at him. "That was an order, Ayasegawa-goseki. Follow it."
"You're drunk, off duty and, most importantly, not in my Division. I don't have to listen to orders from you," Ayasegawa replied. He flicked his hair back from his face and looked at Shuuhei with half-lidded eyes. "Of course, if you want to force me to leave, you know what you have to do."
Shuuhei scoffed at the idea. Ayasegawa thought he was so smart, with that stupid, cheating kidou-type zanpakutou of his. The little princess was lucky Shuuhei had never bothered to mention it to Zaraki and Ikkaku. He'd be in serious trouble if those two barbarian kidou-haters knew exactly what he was hiding. And he thought he was superior to Shuuhei just because his little surprise worked once, when he cheated in their fight, that time that Ayasegawa and the rest of Eleventh appeared to be the traitors. Shuuhei still couldn't believe that those five he'd intercepted that time were never punished at all for releasing known intruders from Fourth Division's medical holding cells, while he was still being penalised for the loyalty that all Lieutenants were expected to show to their Captains.
"Get lost, Ayasegawa, before you say something you'll regret later." Shuuhei turned his back on the Fifth Seat, dismissing the smaller man completely. The man wasn't worth his time.
"Are you a coward, then?" Ayasegawa's mocking tone halted Shuuhei in his tracks once again. "You didn't get your own way, so you'll hide behind a haze of alcohol and sleep rough in Rukongai when you're not working, so you don't have to face the people who care about you? You disgust me, Hisagi-fukutaichou."
Shuuhei whirled round angrily, Kazeshini roaring in his head as he restrained himself from lunging at Ayasegawa. "Like I care about your opinion, Ayasegawa. You're nothing but a Fifth Seat who is scared to reveal his full abilities for love of a man who sees him only as a convenient method of transport to the nearest healer after a fight." Shuuhei saw the anger starting to distort Ayasegawa's face and pressed on, a twisted sense of satisfaction creeping through him at the thought of wiping off Ayasegawa's usual expression of apathetic boredom. "You'd spread your legs for him the second he showed any interest, but even he won't touch such a pathetic, worthless, frigid whore as you. I bet you'd even spread your legs for your Captain if he asked."
Ayasegawa didn't respond, his face contorted into an anger that would have been terrifying to see if Shuuhei hadn't been equally enraged. His first attack was quick, an nukitsuke strike that would have cleaved Shuuhei's stomach open had he not been ready for the attack and blocked the blow with his own half-drawn zanpakutou. The pair traded blows for a few minutes, silent but for the clash of metal on metal and the involuntary grunts and quickened breathing of exertion.
Ayasegawa broke away first, leaping backwards into a half-crouch. "Sake, Fuji Kujaku," he growled. He ran his hand along the katana as it glowed white, transforming it into four hinged falx blades. A flick of his wrist separated the blades as he lunged forwards, catching the front of Shuuhei's shihakushou with the wicked points before Shuuhei could dodge completely.
Ayasegawa was more agile than Abarai-kun, Shuuhei realised. Shuuhei was soon covered by small cuts where the quadruple blade caught him as he was doubled over from a punch to the guts, or frantically trying to rub gritty dirt from his eyes. Ayasegawa was smiling now, a mockingly triumphant grin on his face as he compared his flawless state to Shuuhei's battered one.
"This is quite an interesting reversal of our previous fight, is it not, Hisagi-fukutaichou? Your training doesn't seem to have helped you much. Or are you going to blame it on the drinks you've had tonight?" Ayasegawa licked his lips, his tongue tasting a drop of Shuuhei's blood that had landed at the corner of his mouth. "What are you going to do now, Shuuhei?"
Shuuhei's eyes narrowed dangerously, and he gripped Kazeshini's hilt so hard his knuckles turned white. "Back down now, Ayasegawa. You don't want to push me further." Kazeshini roared in his head, no longer silenced by whiskey-haze, calling for Ayasegawa's blood, for more than just blood; the viciousness and persistence of the zanpakutou's desires, ones which merely reflected what Shuuhei had locked away ever since the encounter on the rooftop, battered at Shuuhei's resistance. He was no longer so good at denying Kazeshini what he wanted, not since he gained bankai. Ayasegawa simply smiled mockingly and vanished, reappearing behind and above Shuuhei for an easily blocked strike. "Don't say I didn't warn you, Ayasegawa."
Kazeshini surged forwards in Shuuhei's mind, his thoughts wrapping around his master's, meshing with them, weaving in and around Shuuhei's mind until they were one and the same. Emotions flared within them, ones supressed by Shuuhei but always, always embraced and nurtured by Kazeshini, kept at bay until they both needed them. Anger, hatred, lust, want, need; they all swirled within him, sharpening his senses and his reaction times.
He released Kazeshini without a word, catching Ayasegawa by surprise. One double-headed scythe spun out, the weight and momentum of the blade allowing the chain to wrap around Ayasegawa's zanpakutou, and Shuuhei easily tore Fuji Kujaku from the Fifth Seat's grasp with a simple tug of the chain in his hands. The other blade flew at Ayasegawa's body, forcing him to jump backwards and further separating him from his zanpakutou. Shuuhei carelessly kicked the blade into the shadow of the trees, where neither of them could see it any more.
Again and again the blades flew, scoring thin, stinging wounds all over Ayasegawa, shredding his shihakushou a little more with each superficial blow. Shuuhei's training with Abarai-kun had been good for his control over the blades he wielded, and melding with Kazeshini's mind only made him better. He could give the lightest kiss with the wind-blown scythes as easily as he could remove a limb. He could entangle and ensnare an opponent with as little effort as disemboweling them.
Ayasegawa was helpless now, his zanpakutou out of his sight and reach, his stubborn refusal to learn even the simplest kidou depriving him of that form of combat. All he had was the hand to hand skills that he couldn't use, kept at bay by spinning blades and tangling chains that tripped him and tore at his clothes if he tried to get close enough to land a punch. Not that there was much left of his shihakushou to tear, the fabric taking the brunt of Shuuhei's feather-light blows.
Shuuhei smirked as he threw the right blade out again, twisting the chain so the scythe swung around Ayasegawa's body and legs twice before burying itself in the rocky ground, binding Ayasegawa in place, trapping his arms against his body. The second blade secured the binding, holding the Fifth Seat firmly, the chain responding to Shuuhei's will as it always did, shortening its length and so tightening around Ayasegawa so he couldn't hope to escape with strength alone.
Ayasegawa's expression would have frozen most men in their tracks in ordinary circumstances - Shuuhei knew that the peacock somehow had the majority of Eleventh Division terrified of him - but Shuuhei found it pitiful to behold when he was so firmly restrained. Shuuhei walked up to the trapped Eleventh Divisioner, leaning down to whisper in his ear. "I win."
"Yes, okay, you win. I submit. You're stronger than I am." Ayasegawa snarled back. "Now let me go."
Shuuhei blinked, a slow, cruel smile spreading across his face. "I don't think so, Ayasegawa. You don't seem to have learned anythingyet." Shuuhei inhaled Ayasegawa's scent, a strong mixture of sweat and blood that made his heart beat faster. "You certainly haven't learned any respect for your superiors."
"Hisagi-fukutaichou, what do you mean?" Ayasegawa's hand twitched, as if to try and push Shuuhei away, but his arm was still bound to his side by chains. "You've proved whatever point you were trying to make. You're not weak or a coward. You're-"
Shuuhei silenced him with a kiss, his hand gripping the back of the Fifth Seat's hair to stop him from pulling away from the assault. When he did pull back, a triumphant leer on his face, blood stained his lips from where Ayasegawa had bit him.
"You don't learn very easily, do you?" Shuuhei said, licking the blood from his lips. "That wasn't very respectful."
"You're not acting much like a superior officer right now," Ayasegawa replied. Shuuhei slapped him, raising a red mark on previously untouched cheeks. The blow was hard enough to make Ayasegawa rock backwards in the restraining chains, and Shuuhei grinned contemplatively.
"As much as I like seeing you like this, I'd much prefer you on your knees." A sweep of Shuuhei's legs knocked Ayasegawa's feet from under him, the chain responding once more to Shuuhei's will and tightening to keep his prisoner in this new position, his head level with Shuuhei's crotch. "That's a much better place for you." He grabbed a fistful of Ayasegawa's hair and forced the Fifth Seat to look up at him. "I hate you, you know. Not because you waste your talents in that cesspit of a Division, or because you chase after a man who'll never notice you, but because you didn't kill me. What happened to your precious rules, huh? The winner lives, the loser dies? Just five minutes before that, you were begging me to kill you. What happened?"
Shuuhei let go of Ayasegawa's hair, smoothing it almost unconsciously. "Why? Why didn't you just kill me that day. It would have been better that way." Shuuhei stepped around Ayasegawa and picked up the two scythes, flicking them as if to remove dirt off the blades and sealing them into their single katana form once again. He sheathed Kazeshini and frowned at Ayasegawa, who'd collapsed to hands and knees once the chain that held him upright was gone. "I may not have much of a career left, but I'm not going to throw it all away on a hypocritical little fraud like you. Good night, Ayasegawa. Bakudou no rokujyuuni: Hyapporankan!"
Ayasegawa had no chance to dodge the binding kidou, one of Shuuhei's favourite and most practiced spells, and the hundred rods slammed into him, forcing him face down into the ground and pinning him there. Shuuhei smiled sadly as he turned to leave. "Don't worry, you won't be there all night. Madarame's nearby, probably looking for you. Don't try and follow me once he finds you." Shuuhei vanished in a burst of shunpo, reappearing at the edge of the hills and vanishing into darkness once again in their shadow.