Title: Paper
Author: Celeste
Rating: PG-13 (Some shounen-ai themes. Like you expected anything else)
Feedback: (yes!)
Pairing: ChadxIchigoxIshida OT3 undertones
Spoilers: Not really…I think?
Summary: Ishida- He could write a book.
Word Count: 1,475 (wow…exact same as the one before. Freaky.)
A/N: Oh my god…I think I'm writing sappy Bleach-fic! There is something criminally wrong about that, but I just can't seem to make it stop. It just sort of comes out like this. Hopefully it's not a long term thing and the crack fic will return soon, because I really think I'm not cut out with dealing with serious issues. Especially in this whole OT3 area of writing. I want to have fun with these three, I do. I guess my muse just kind of has a different agenda right now. ;; But I think if I get enough flames about how bad this all is I'll give up on writing like this and go back to the fun Bleach crack that is about a billion times easier to write. Flame away!
Dedication: JaB, because her livejournal entries never cease to amuse. And I need that because I'm constantly boring myself with my own writing.
Disclaimer: Not mine… if it were, I wouldn't have such a hard time getting the merchandise. ;; Well, theoretically.
Distribution: Just lemme know.


All his life, Ishida Uryuu had never had anyone his age who he could consider a real friend. For the longest time, he was uncertain as to what true friendship really was.

Just from watching Kurosaki and Sado, he felt like he could write a book.

There was something about their easy, steadfast camaraderie that made him stop and watch, made him pause and admire, and that also stirred a strange sort of longing inside of him. He would call it jealousy, if only for lack of a better term, but he didn't want to believe that observing something as pure as their interaction would incite such a shameful reaction in him in response.

So he wouldn't call it jealousy, making himself bound and determined to call it simple admiration instead. And that made more sense, when he thought about it, because if he really was jealous of their friendship, it would be because he either wanted to be as close to Kurosaki as Sado was or as close to Sado as Kurosaki was, and when he thought about it, it wasn't that he wanted to usurp the place of either.

There was a fondness for both of them that he couldn't quite explain, that might have involved some parts jealousy but which he really wanted to believe was more parts appreciation.

In any case, he felt that their relationship was worthy of note.

And being as studious as he was, Ishida contented himself with taking those notes on their touching interaction for future reference, though he knew perfect emulation was futile. But if he could learn something, snag a small part of their easy companionship and keep it with him always, then it was all worth it.

Day in and day out he sat beside them, writing on the tablet of his mind the story that they graciously allowed him to take part in, finding his own sort of timid joy in Kurosaki's predictably antagonistic attitude and Chad's solid, steady presence.

There was an unspoken ease between the two of them that seemed impenetrable, a comfortable trust which the Quincy longed to discover the secret to, to unlock and record and preserve for generations.

He wanted…

"Ishida… lunch."

The archer looked up at the sound of Sado's voice, seeing the taller boy looking down at him with a subdued sort of concern, gesturing with a large hand to the food that Ishida wasn't eating.

"Yeah…pay attention, stupid. You're already too skinny to forget eating," Kurosaki scoffed around his juice box straw.

Ishida flushed slightly, but managed to shoot back a, "I didn't know you cared so much, Kurosaki. I'm touched," while pushing up his glasses in what he hoped wasn't too embarrassed a manner.

Ichigo snorted and polished off his drink, looking purposefully away from the other boy. "Well, it'd just be freaky if you got any smaller. You'd be able to fold up and hide behind Rukia, or something."

Chad smiled, eyes laughing from behind his unruly bangs. "Yeah."

Ishida turned a betrayed countenance on Sado. "I would have at least counted on your backing against this juvenile attack, Sado-kun," he sniffed, though he wasn't as annoyed as he made out to be.

The taller boy looked repentant for a moment, before shrugging one large shoulder. "You should eat lunch," he offered simply.

Ishida looked away, tucking a long bang behind his ear. "I was planning to."

"…'kay." Chad allowed a rare, teeth-showing smile.

"I'm so alone," Ishida announced with just a hint of dramatic flourish before lifting his chopsticks.

That made Chad frown a little, made Ichigo's eye twitch in an annoyed manner.

"Oh stop being such a drama queen, wouldya? Just eat your goddamn rice before the bell rings, skinny-ass."

Sado reached out and gently bopped the Quincy over the head with his half-empty water bottle before uncapping it and pushing it against the smaller boy's cheek. "You should drink too," he added calmly. "'s hot today."

"Ah…thanks…" Ishida murmured, slightly perplexed as he took the drink and set it down beside his bento.

The other two boys shared a look, both nodding slightly before Ichigo resumed his calm, post-meal posture and stretched out on the rooftop, staring up at the sky. Chad sat beside him as per tradition, and they idled in comfortable silence as the Quincy sat nearby, finishing his food in thoughtful quiet.

Kurosaki closed his eyes and sighed, brow slightly furrowed even as he relaxed.

Chad, half of his face hidden by those unkempt bangs, was presumably doing the same, though in a much more subdued fashion as he sat beside the orange-haired shinigami.

Ishida watched them as he chewed his egg and marveled at how well suited they were to each other in the lazy afternoon sunlight.

He felt that strange, ambiguous not-jealousy-but-admiration beginning to curl in the pit of his stomach again as he watched them, and took a sip of water to quell its rages.

Frowning, he set his chopsticks down, pulling his knees up against his chest and resting his chin atop them, staring at the ground and the half-eaten lunch lying at his feet.

After a moment, "Oi…Ishida…"

The Quincy blinked at Kurosaki's sudden address. "Uh…yes?"

"Quit it would ya?"

"Quit what?"

"Quit being so goddamn annoying," Ichigo clarified helpfully, eyes still shut.

Ishida frowned, forgetting his internal discomfort at the first sign of Ichigo's external bothersome attitude. "Well as long as we're voicing our dissatisfactions with each other's characters, can I ask you to stop being such an idiot?"

The shinigami cracked an eye, scowling. "Would you quit being such an ass and just eat your lunch already? Jeez."

"And drink," Chad added after a moment's silence. "Because it's hot today."

The archer looked away from them. "I was just thinking for a moment," he defended rather lamely.

The shinigami grimaced. "Yeah, and it was annoying as hell."

Ishida fought the urge to throw the water bottle at Ichigo, citing internally that without the cap, it would probably splash all over Sado if he did. Even if his taste in best friends was somewhat questionable, Chad didn't really deserve to pay for Ichigo's bad personality.

Wondering how good his aim would have to be to avoid that, the Quincy eyed Sado speculatively.

Blinked at what he saw.

"Sado-kun…are you laughing at me?"

"No."

"You are!"

"I'm laughing at both of you."

"Oi, what're you laughing at me for? I didn't do anything!"

"You don't have to do anything to be laughable, Kurosaki."

"Oh would you shut up already? Didn't we tell you to eat your lunch, pretty boy?"

"I'm flattered you care enough about my good looks to want me healthy, Ichigo."

"Argh…freakin'… I give up. Starve to death for all I care. Che…asshole."

Before he could really help himself, Ishida found himself joining Sado in his laughter.

Ichigo frowned, but not in an irritated manner so much as a resigned one, and turned on his side. "I'm sleepin'. You both make me more tired than the goddamn hollows."

Without a word, Chad moved ever so slightly so that his shadow fell over Kurosaki, blocking the sunlight.

Ichigo grunted his thanks, and for a while, silence reigned.

Before long, the shinigami was snoring. Ishida wasn't sure about Sado's state of consciousness with his eyes obscured by his hair as they were. Awake or asleep, the larger boy didn't really move or make any noise either way.

The archer sighed and picked up his chopsticks again, deciding that jealousy and admiration were both inadequate terms for what he felt towards the other two boys.

He wasn't sure exactly what it was, but he was beginning to cross off what it was not on his mental list, and in doing so, found himself starting to arrive at a conclusion of sorts with equal parts dread and anticipation.

He thought that perhaps, he was just starting to realize, maybe, what was happening to him here.

And he wasn't sure how he felt about it.

There was a sudden, solidly reassuring weight rested atop his head, and he felt his hair being mussed beyond repair.

The gesture still surprised him whenever it occurred, but he found himself growing slightly less jumpy about it as its frequency increased. He didn't shrug immediately out of the contact this time, instead asking only, "S-sado?"

"10 minutes till lunch is over." The hand was calmly withdrawn.

"All right…thank you."

"Sure."

He began to eat again. And to drink, because it was pretty hot out here. Beside him, Kurosaki and Sado dozed in comfortable silence.

Ishida watched them as he finished his lunch, deciding that regardless of where he fell into the grand scheme of things, he was sure that anything he might write about his life with these two was going to fill pages.

He looked forward to it.

END