Author's Note: I do not own Bleach or its characters. This is AU.


You Know That I'm

Jyuushiro was pretty sure he was going insane. That was probably the only reason he had agreed to go out drinking with Shunsui tonight. As much as he loved Retsu, he needed to get away from her for an evening and hopefully regain his self-control. Besides, Shun was a good person to commiserate with when it came to unrequited love. He had one of his own in the form of one of the doctoral candidates in his department. Shunsui could list you whole reams of reasons why he shouldn't be in love with Nanao Ise, but when it came down to it, Shunsui was head over heels for her in spite of all the good reasons he shouldn't be.

The problems with Shunsui's love life aside, Jyuushiro was glad to get out of the house if only for a night. He didn't have a problem with Retsu being there. In fact, it was just the opposite. He liked having her there too much. He had absolutely no idea what he was going to do when she left. What he really wanted was for her to stay. Even though it went against every single reason he had ever come up with for why he shouldn't get involved with anyone. Quite honestly, Jyuu just didn't know what to do about the whole situation.

So it made sense to him to try Shunsui's solution. At least once. Of course, after about three beers, Jyuu found himself spilling out the entire predicament to his best friend. Shunsui wasn't very helpful. He laughed and told Jyuu that he was making things too complicated. According to Shun, both he and Retsu deserved to be happy, and if being together made them happy, they should go for it. After all, they had no ethical reasons not to get involved with one another. Shunsui also threatened to turn him over to Nanao and have her pound some sense into him if he started on the whole 'I could relapse and die on her' thing again. According to Shunsui, no one could completely control what would happen to them; they just had to make the most of what time they had.

Jyuu wasn't sure if that helped any. Still, maybe it was worth a try. Retsu really was too special to just let her go.