Kensai did make a point, as Ichigo had suggested to him, of 'borrowing' Shinji's cell phone so that he could delete the picture. Though he was flattered that his comrades had decided to keep it around, in his experience, Shinji was much more likely to show it around or use it to his embarrassment than Ichigo. However, he did also make a point of sending it to himself before erasing it. Just in case. You never know what something like that could come in handy. Shinji noticed the deletion but took it only with a grumble of complaint and let it go at that. The image had served its purpose and not having it just made it all that easier to focus on Ichigo.
He kept a close eye on Shinji in the weeks leading up to his next episode. Even if it weren't for the spiritual attraction, their deal made him want to observe as much of him as possible for clues as to what he should do when the time came. He wasn't certain that he wanted the blonde during his episode, but it was certainly something worth considering.
However, Kensai wasn't the first to react to Shinji's behavior. Lisa was and she took action in the form of meeting Ichigo after school one Thursday afternoon. To say that the young man was surprised to see her would have been an understatement. Actually, he had been expecting to walk home alone that day because although his boyfriend met him almost every other day of the week, he abstained from Thursdays in order to make Friday afternoons and evenings easier.
"Oi, Kurosaki, you got a minute?" she called when she saw him exit.
He look around, shrugged, and joined her. "What's up?" he asked concerned.
"Look, I know you don't like beating around the bush so I won't waste time with that. Just answer a question for me," she told him evenly and when he nodded in appreciative compliance, she continued. "When you spend time with Shinji, do you prefer to do it during his episodes, or out side of them?"
He appeared disgusted by the question and was second guessing his willingness to oblige her so easily. "What's it to you?
She gave a slight sigh and kept her voice low. "Well, in the interest of your relationship, I think it would be best if you stuck with one for a while and tried to stay away from the other, alternate back and forth between the two, if you know what I mean."
Her even answer dispelled his disgust. In fact, it caused him pause. He had been wondering if something like this might be coming. "Oh yeah?" he sighed.
"Shinji's been washing his sheets everyday for the past week and a half," she informed flatly, "and we get to hear him moan and groan for you while he sleeps."
Ichigo blushed. He hadn't realized it had gotten that bad. He wasn't sure if he should commend Shinji for controlling himself so well around him or be irritated that he was hiding it.
"Or you can keep going the way you are and then you'll have to take some real time off for a while," she shrugged, it was also an option but she didn't think that the younger vizard would like it as much.
"So those are my options…"
"Pretty much."
Ichigo pursed his lips. "Why are you the one telling me this?" He tried not to sound annoyed.
"Because I don't think Shinji realizes it yet," she answered.
"Then why not go to him about it?"
"He'd just say I was meddling," she dismissed.
"You are meddling," Ichigo replied flatly.
"Yeah, but not in the bad way, right?" she reasoned carefully.
Ichigo almost smiled. "No, I guess not."
She actually smiled until he gave a sigh of defeat. "What's the matter?"
"Oh," he sighed again, "I guess I was just hoping that bringing Kensai into it would make it last longer, that's all," he bashfully admitted.
Her smile returned, but it wasn't the lecherous one he was expecting. It was actually rather gentle. "It did help. If you remember, the first time around, when it was just you two fooling around you had to cut it off after about two or three episodes."
"But that's all we've had this time," he argued.
"But you've been seeing each other a lot in between those times and that one you had together should be considered a double dose," she explained.
Ichigo blushed again but this time not as deeply as he was thankful for her frankness. "I guess…"
"Don't worry too much about it, okay? I just wanted to give you heads up, let you know what your options are so maybe it'll be easier to decide when the time comes."
"Thanks," he offered sheepishly.
"No problem," then she turned to leave but stopped. "If you can't find anybody while you're taking your sabbatical, you can always call me," she offered impishly.
That made Ichigo's cheeks really light up, "Yeah, I'll remember that…"
Then she was gone and he was almost home.
So, that weekend, during their date, which happened to be an evening picnic in the park they had become so fond of frequenting, Ichigo bravely broached the subject. He hadn't intended to do it so soon, he could still feel the thoughts simmering in his brain and a decision, shall we say, had yet to come to a full boil. However, now that Lisa had pointed it out to him, he was noticing more and more the things, some big and some small, that had altered in his boyfriends behavior. Not that he disliked these things. Actually, more often than not, he enjoyed and was endeared by them.
Like now he now held Ichigo's hand while they were walking alone together. There were a couple of times when Ichigo caught him trying to do it in public. A few of those times, Ichigo was kind enough to indulge him but the rest of the time, like if someone he knew was within his sight, he pulled away. Then there was the flattery. At first, Ichigo thought his boyfriend was doing it to embarrass him, but he was quickly realizing that his flustered responses were only an added bonus.
The most subtle thing he noticed was Shinji's eyes. He'd never really thought about how telling they were but he knew that feeling was only possible because they had spent such intimate amounts of time together. Shinji gave him a wide variety of different looks. There were smoldering stares, longing gazes, fleeting little winks. But now, more than ever, there was something he was only beginning to be able to identify. It was an almost vacant look. Sometimes, it felt as though the blonde was staring right through him.
"Shinji…" he carefully began after they were finished with their meal and when the man reclined next to him looked up in response, he continued, "You're episode's commin' up, isn't?"
Shinji started slightly at the young man's observation. "Yeah…"
"Have you thought about…what you're going to do?" he carefully asked.
Shinji pursed his lips. "I don't really care. I just wanna be with you." That's all I want anymore, he mentally added.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?"
The blonde gave a hurt frown. "Unless you don't want to," he offered weakly.
"No, it's not that," he leaned down and kissed his reclined boyfriend on the forehead gently. "I just wanna make sure we don't over do it, ya know? I like hanging out with you…even if that means we don't get to be together like that for a while." he managed, surprised by his own eloquence.
Shinji's gentile smile return but he didn't reply for a long moment after. "Do you think that's what we should do?" His question didn't sound as accusatory as he expected, for which he was glad. Actually, he was happy that his significant other was the receptive to him.
Ichigo tried to shrug like he didn't care.
"I suppose you're right," Shinji offered, feeling a little defeated in spite of how endeared he was by the thoughtfulness.
"Oh, come on now, don't look so down," the younger vizard tried to coax.
Shinji forced another smile. "No, you're probably right. I just didn't want to think about it…" He sighed again. "Maybe we should take a few episodes off."
"That means we can still see each other in between those times though, right?" Ichigo offered hopefully.
That made it so that Shinji didn't have to force his smile anymore. "But that means I'll really have to start thinking about what I want to do and who I want to do it with," he teasingly complained.
"I'm sure you'llthink of something," Ichigo teased back. In his experience, Shinji didn't seem to have much of a shortage on those kinds of ideas.
"Is there anyone you'd prefer that I be with?" Shinji asked, hopefully looking for suggestions.
Ichigo stammered a bit at that, having not expected that sort of question. "I-I dunno…"
"So I could be with anybody and that'd be fine by you?" Shinji continued his questioning, this time he sounded more mischievous.
Ichigo frowned at the phrasing. "Well…yeah, I guess. I mean, I don't really care who else you're with…as long as you come back to me."
Shinji grinned giddily, almost foolishly. "You're amazing, ya know that?"
The young man's brows furrowed a bit but he didn't shun the compliment. "Oh yeah?" he managed.
"Yeah, most other people would be a lot more jealous than that. I mean, I'm sure that even I'll be at least a little envious of who ever you decide to mess around with."
"Really?" Ichigo blinked in disbelief.
"Of course. But I'm selfish. I like the idea of having you all to myself."
"I didn't say I didn't like having you all to myself," Ichigo playfully corrected and Shinji's smile grew. "I just understand that I have to share sometimes in order to get the most out of you."
At that, they closed this distance between their bodies and started to kiss. Their embrace was long and passionate, leaving them both nearly breathless as they pulled away. There was one more thing about Shinji that had started to change, to show his addiction, and that was their kisses. Ichigo couldn't put his finger on exactly what the difference was, but he could feel it in the intensity, something that excited him as much as it worried him. As he contemplated this, he helped Shinji pick up their things and fold the blanket. He was a little surprised that Shinji hadn't decided to put the moves on him this evening and even more so when he tried to make an advance only to have him reluctantly pull away. He didn't say anything about it because he understood enough about the blonde's condition not to push it. Shinji had drawn a line and he wasn't about to cross it, at least not until a hand was reached across to pull him to the other side.
Shinji walked Ichigo home and they stood across the street from the clinic for several long moments before saying anything. "Thank you Ichigo, I had a really good time tonight," Shinji offered, breaking the silence.
Ichigo pulled him close, "Me too," he breathed in the scent of the older man's hair. "You wanna go out again next weekend?"
Shinji faltered for a moment. "I'd love to but…as you said, my episode is coming up. I'd hate to have that interfere with our date," he complained.
Ichigo offered a gentle smile. "Okay. Why don't you call me later in the week then you're more sure about when it's going to happen. If it is, then I can take a raincheck. If not, then we'll go someplace. How does that sound?"
Shinji shook his head in amazement. "You're so easy going about this, I almost think you're up to something," he teased.
The younger vizard laughed. "You know I don't like tricks. I just wanna make sure we're okay."
Shinji kissed him again and then was on his way.
Shinji awoke in the middle of the night one night later that week with a throbbing pain in his lower abdomen, mainly his groin. As he stirred, he also noticed that, once again, he'd made a terrible mess of his bed sheets and as some of the details of his dreams came back to him, he blushed to himself. Reluctantly, he threw his legs over the side of the bed and stood. After a moment of cleaning himself up, he put on a new pair of pants. He gathered up his sheets and started them in the washing machine before going to the refrigerator.
He chugged a beer on his way to the liquor cabinet where he retrieved a mostly full bottle of tequila. With the bottle in hand, he made his way to the card table, all the while scolding himself for not having made arrangements for this episode. Not that he hadn't tried. He wracked his brain for the last week about what he should do but the only thing that ever came into his mind was the face of his boyfriend, the one person he shouldn't see.
On his way to the table, he was so distracted that he tripped, nearly breaking the bottle in his hand. He swore quietly as he picked himself up, hoping that he hadn't disturbed the others, and made it the rest of the way without incident. Unfortunately, or otherwise, he had awoken a couple of the others but only one saw fit to see what was going on.
Kensai approached Shinji a few minutes later to find him already well on his way to being shit-hammered. "Hey, what are you doing up?" he asked casually, though he had a pretty good idea.
"Couldn't sleep. Sorry if I woke you," Shinji offered, already starting to slur his words a bit.
"Is it anything I could help you with?" he continued knowingly.
Shinji tried not to glare because he knew how irrational it was but he couldn't help it. "No."
Kensai frowned and took a seat across from the blonde playing solitaire.
"What are you doing?" Shinji asked defensively when once the other was seated and eyeing him with even appraisal.
"Well, if you're not going to let me help you, I'm just going to sit here and make sure you don't give yourself alcohol poisoning," he replied evenly. He could feel the intensity of Shinji's raietsu and the effect of his episode on that energy. It was making his skin tingle and there was no way he was going to walk away now.
Shinji grumbled and took another couple of burning swallows of the liquid. Kensai's frown deepened as he observed his comrade's behavior.
"What's the matter?" the white-haired man tried again.
"You know very well what my problem is!" Shinji snapped.
"I know you're episodic. What I don't know is why you're being a jack ass," Kensai sniped back.
"You're the one asking stupid questions."
"Are you afraid to go get him in the middle of the night or something? I mean, wouldn't now be one of the better times to tear him away from what he's doing?" Kensai offered.
Shinji almost growled at the reasoning. "I can't have him this time," he grumbled, moving cards around erratically.
At that, Kensai was thoroughly confused. The last time he checked, Ichigo was more than willing to help with Shinji's episodes. "How come?"
"So we can keep seeing each other the rest of the time…" Shinji listlessly replied.
"Oh, I guess that makes sense," Kensai offered only to be rewarded with a sneer.
"I'm so glad you approve."
"That still doesn't explain why you're trying to drink yourself stupid," he argued.
"Not stupid, just into sweet unconsciousness," Shinji replied.
"That doesn't even work for me anymore. What makes you think it'll make you any better?"
"Shut up. Quit bothering me." Shinji dismissed. He knew his plan was extremely flawed but it was all he had.
Kensai sat in silent observation as more of the alcohol disappeared and his old friend became more and more intoxicated, to the point where he couldn't hardly handle his cards anymore. "Shinji," Kensai began again, this time able to manage a fairly even tone.
"What?" Shinji snapped, not looking up into the other man's stern features.
"I'm calling in my favor."
"Don't be stupid. You don't wanna do that right now."
"Yes I do. Right now."
"No, you wanna save that for when you want somethin' really good. Don't waste it now."
"Shinji," Kensai repeated even more sternly than the first time. "You made me a promise. You said that I could call in this favor whenever I wanted."
Shinji gave a defeated frown. "Why are you doing this?"
"You didn't say I'd have to explain myself," Kensai stipulated. "You just said I could have you whenever I wanted, that you'd submit to me."
"Well, you might be outta luck then 'cause I'm too drunk to fuck at this point," Shinji tried.
Kensai appeared put off by that because he knew it wasn't true. "If you don't want me, I'll just leave you to your misery then." He offered but didn't retreat.
"Why are you doing this now?" Shinji tried to demand but he was slurring too much to be effective.
"Because I wanna," Kensai replied smartly.
"Well…" Shinji sighed and took another few swallows, leaving the bottle mostly empty, "Good luck! I can't even walk right now," he almost laughed.
Kensai grinned. "No problem." He stood and hoisted his friend over his shoulder. "I'll just carry you."
Shinji made a few sounds of disoriented surprise and kicked ineffectually. Now that he had physical contact with another person, he was beginning to think that his earlier statement about being too drunk to mess around was a lie. He wasn't the only one. With the way Shinji's erection pressed and rubbed against his shoulder, Kensai wondered if the blonde might release before they even got where they were going.
I've only recieved one request/suggestion so far, and saddly, i cannot seem to fit it in at the moment. however, worry not, it will come to fruition in the future!
