Title: Happy Together
Author: Celeste
Rating: PG-13 (there be some shounen-ai here...)
Feedback: (yes!) HisagixAyasekawa (Yaaay Crack!)
Spoilers: Yes. Don't read until you've gotten to at least 173.
Summary: Drabble-ish fic: The 9th division looks forward to the future.
Word Count: 869 (would ya look at that? XD)
Time: 15 mins (no edits)
A/N: Okay, I should be doing homework, but this idea kind of jumped into my mind while I was trying to read for English, and obviously I wasn't going to get anything done until I'd finished it. It's sort of a stand alone drabble, but makes a hell of a lot more sense if you've read my whole 4-part HisagixAyasekawa mini-arc (beginning with "How in the Hell Did I Lose to You?"). But you know, if you just like unexplainable crack, then this works too.
Dedication: Dave for drawing me gay porn again today. XD Love that man.
Disclaimer: Not mine, alas. I wouldn't mind borrowing Hisagi any time though. XD Er, though I guess I did just sort of made up Kurosawa because I needed an outside POV and I know nothing about the status of Tousen's team outside of Shuuhei being in it. ;; So he's mine, but so minor it doesn't even really matter.
Distribution: Just lemme know.

Division 9's 11th seat, Kurosawa Seiichi, took a moment to breathe and rub away the sweat that had collected on his brow as he worked on sweeping the corridor that lead into Hisagi-taichou's quarters, having only finished Ayasekawa-fukutaichou's area a little earlier on in the morning.

He was proud to report that it was spotless, just like fukutaichou liked, something "beautiful" that was properly "befitting of their honorable team".

The 11th chair didn't really get it, but he was glad that fukutaichou was happy, that the superior officer had been glad enough with his work to take the time to stop him and commend him on a job well done.

Kurosawa was very fond of his division. The 9th team had been through some hard times lately, but Hisagi-taichou was a good taichou, and Ayasekawa-fukutaichou was kind, if a little bit odd.

It gave all of the members of the team a great deal of hope for the future.

Hisagi-taichou had been gone for a week now, doing his duty as a senior officer and spending a certain portion of his on-duty time teaching the up-and-coming shinigami students from the academy. Students always liked Hisagi-taichou.

He was slated to be back today, and Kurosawa was in charge of making sure the 9th division's common areas were swept clean and made sparkling while Ayasekawa-fukutaichou had personally put himself in charge of cleaning Hisagi-taichou's office and living space in anticipation of his return later this afternoon.

The whole team looked forward to the return of their captain, even though fukutaichou had been a flawless replacement during his short absence.

They were all glad that taichou was coming back, as much as they liked fukutaichou.

It was just that fukutaichou seemed happier when taichou was near.

The men in the division understood it; saw their captain and vice-captain's camaraderie and teamwork on the battlefield as well as their deep connection and fondness for each other off of it.

They seemed to revitalize each other just by being close, which made the division as a whole a much more pleasant place to work and live than it had been, even before the crisis with Tousen-taichou.

The 9th division was beginning to look like a happy family under the guidance of a stoic, but quietly kind father and a merry, sweetly gentle mother. Despite the rumors that had spread about the division's two top officers, after weeks of being in their hands, none of the men were still worried about being left under Hisagi and Ayasekawa's command.

Thinking of those two, Kurosawa smiled, finding that they gave him so much positive hope for the future, both for his own and his team's.

A sudden rush of air and the 11th seat yelped as an enormous, deadly spirit force forced its way into the gates of the 9th division quarters, blowing them wide open via the strength of its pressure alone.

Kurosawa's first reaction was to assume that they were under attack and he immediately made a movement towards his zanpakutou though he could tell by the mere feel of the intruder's strength that he would fall easily. But if he could manage to hold whoever it was off until fukutaichou…

Hisagi Shuuhei, in a horribly bad mood, stormed the corridor of his own team's designated commons area, captain's vest billowing around him with the strength of his irritation.

Kurosawa felt a rush of relief upon seeing the familiar figure and not some insane, power-mad ex-captain who wanted to kill everyone in sight. "Hisagi-taichou! Y-you've returned early, sir! Uh…welcome back, sir!"

Shuuhei frowned, eyeing his 11th seat before realizing that the man couldn't really move all that well under the irritated emission of his spirit energy. Apologetic, he forcibly constrained it. "Sorry," he murmured, slightly cowed though he still felt every inch of restlessness he'd been subject to since he'd left Soul Society for the human realm seven days ago.

"Ah, n-no problem, sir! I apologize for the state of the…"

"It's…uh, fine," Shuuhei assured him, looking about impatiently. "Ayasekawa?"

"Excuse me, sir?"

"Where's Ayasekawa?"

"Ah! In your quarters, sir!"

"Excellent."

Kurosawa blinked. It was as if someone had turned on a light somewhere in the middle of Hisagi-taichou's dark mood. He watched as the captain's lips quirked upward slightly, a small, anticipatory smile.

"Carry on, Kurosawa."

"Ah, yes sir!"

That said, Shuuhei breezed past him, pace increasing as he eagerly made his way towards his living quarters.

Kurosawa watched him leave, saw the captain as he extended a hand and pushed open the doors of his own office with his spirit energy again, creating enough wind to scatter a cloud of dust from the still un-swept areas around him.

The doors flung open and the sound of Ayasekawa's sudden, high-pitched exclamation of delighted surprise was the only thing heard before Hisagi-taichou strode purposefully forward.

The doors slammed forcibly shut behind him.

Kurosawa blinked after them before sighing and shaking his head.

Resuming his sweeping, he made a mental note to himself to announce to the other members of the division that taichou and fukutaichou would be unavailable for the next three or four hours.

The two of them were definitely happier around each other.

END