Muguruma didn't notice too much of the fight. From the very beginning, he had been sure about who would win, although the other guy did have some surprises up his sleeve and managed to drag the fight on quite a good deal. Everything he could think about about was that embarrassing situation he had been in just earlier.
When Ukitake had arrived, he had meant to casually stroll over to him, stand next to him during the spectacle and perhaps make some witty and intelligent remarks about this or that move. And so, when their eyes had met, they had smiled at each other greetingly, and Muguruma had started to move towards the white-haired captain - only to stop short when Kyōraku appeared next to his object of desire.

Fuck.

He had seen them exchange a few words and then both look at him, so he had grabbed the next best person, like it had been his intention all the time to talk to – shit, Retsu Unohana.
What the hell should he have to say to her? What was she doing here, anyway?!
He had stammered some nonsense about how he really liked her hair, with Unohana smiling at him confusedly, and then he quickly went to hide himself somewhere in the crowd.

Damn damn damn. Why couldn't he just crawl into some hole in the ground and die right now...

He simply hadn't been ready to confront Kyōraku, after this one embarrassing night... he wouldn't have been able to look him in the eye without blushing like a fucking schoolgirl. Again, Kyōraku was the main target of his hate, obviously. Why couldn't this guy just crawl into some hole in the ground and die? It would really help him a great deal.

The following days, he thought really hard about how to get closer to Ukitake, how to find out if the white-haired man was only the least bit interested in him. And that without making a complete fool out of himself, again.
So he memorized the feeling and structure of Ukitake's reiatsu, and, constantly on the lookout for it, crossed his way whenever possible, greeting him like their meetings were completely coincidental.
Until, some day, Ukitake casually asked him if he wanted to have some tea in the evening. He continued to chatter about how he grew and dried and whatever his own tea leaves; Muguruma wasn't really listening. All he did was grin from ear to ear.

Ukitake didn't know why he was so nervous, waiting for Muguruma to arrive. He didn't even know what he expected to happen.

On the other hand, he knew very well where Kyōraku expected this evening to end. Which was Ukitake's bed. Or, alternatively, the table. Or the floor. Or the lawn in his garden... His friend had quite explicitly informed him about his imagination of what might happen, until Ukitake had felt impelled to end this flow of words with a well-aimed blow of his elbow.

Maybe this foolish blabber was the reason why he was so nervous. Stupid Shunsui.

He already felt Muguruma's reiatsu near by, slowly approaching his house. And his heart was beating fast.

"Good evening, Muguruma-san", he greeted him, smiling. "How nice that you could make it."

"Thank you for the invitation", the young man answered with a slight bow.

At first, the atmosphere between them had been quite formal and stiff, but the longer they had talked, the more they had loosened up, feeling comfortable in the company of the respective other. The topics of their conversations had shifted from current politics, over strange encounters they had had in various fights against hollows, to their time in the academy and how things there had changed.

Muguruma kept praising Ukitake's tea, until Ukitake let slip out that he also grew bonsai trees, glancing absent-mindedly at Muguruma's exposed, muscular chest with the number "69" tattooed right above where his belly button must have been.

The white-haired man was slightly puzzled when Muguruma broke into a peal of laughter, almost spilling his cup of tea.

"You must be pulling my leg, Ukitake-san", he laughed, "growing bonsai is more an appropriate hobby for old man Yamamoto... and he might be still too young to officially qualify, I'm not sure..."

"Well, excuse me", Ukitake replied, feeling the need to defend his bonsai's honour, "that is a very relaxing and philosophical activity, not to mention rewarding."

"You're actually serious?"

"Of course."

"I don't believe you. I wanna see them."

"Fine..."

And so they walked through the darkness of Ukitake's spacious garden, to the little wind-sheltered area behind a low stone-wall and some bushes, where he kept his precious bonsai. There wasn't much to see without daylight, anyway, but Muguruma finally acknowledged Ukitake's "Old-man-hobby", of course not without going on to mock him about it.

"You must be awfully bored in your spare time, Ukitake", Muguruma grinned as they were slowly walking back towards the porch.

"That is not it", Ukitake replied, looking up to the stars and the bright moon. "There are times when I'm too weak to pursue my duties as a captain, but I still feel too well to stay in bed all day. And I can't expect Shunsui to come over and play Go and Koi Koi with me all the time."

"Next time, just invite me over", Muguruma said confidently, "I'll be able to think of something more fun to do than to watch bonsai grow."

By now, they had reached the little red bridge that led the way across a decorative pond.

Chuckling about Muguruma's remark, the white-haired man stopped halfway across the bridge, putting his hands on the handrail and gazing at the reflection of the clear night sky on the still water.

"It's such a beautiful night", he said in a quiet voice.

Muguruma stood right behind him, answering only after a few moments. "I agree", he said in his deep voice.

He was so close to him that Ukitake could feel the heat radiating from the other man's body, contrasting with his reiatsu that Ukitake always perceived as silverish and somewhat cool. Deeply breathing in and out the nights balmy air, the white-haired man closed his eyes. If it only didn't carry the scent of Muguruma's heated skin...

It seemed the young man had come even closer, but Ukitake didn't dare to turn around. It felt like Muguruma's silver reiatsu reached out for him, mingling with his own and flowing all over his body. There was a strong, fiery feeling mixed into those stirring silver streams... was it... desire?
Ukitake found his heart was beating way too fast inside his chest, a situation that didn't change for the better when he suddenly felt two hands gently but determinedly gripping his hips, and pulling him back against a firm and muscular body.

"Muguruma-san...?", he asked in a hoarse voice, as he felt goosebumps spread all over his skin; the focus of his attention now razor-sharp on the touch of their bodies.

"I'm gonna be straightforward", the young man whispered, his hot breath caressing Ukitake's ear and neck. "I want you, Ukitake. But if I'm making a fool out of myself, then please tell me right now, and I will never bother you again."

Slowly, Ukitake turned around to face Muguruma, who was now so very close to him, his intense, black eyes glinting in the moonlight.

"You are not making a fool out of yourself", he whispered, hesitantly placing his own hands on the younger man's midriff, but steadily returning his look. "Because I want you, too, Muguruma."

With that, he bridged the little gap that was still between them and kissed the other man's lips.

Muguruma closed his eyes. Ukitake's lips were just as soft and skilled as he had imagined, and his mouth tasted like sweet green tea and honey. The same was true for his tongue, Muguruma found out as he deepened the kiss. He could feel Ukitake opening up to him, his powerful reiatsu rising around them like tidal waves. It felt like an unseizable, enormous body of water, an ocean that was spreading before him in blue and black, still like a mirror. Muguruma smiled into the kiss.

He held the other man tightly in his grip, not allowing him to back off as he pushed him back against the wooden handrail. As their hips touched, he could feel that Ukitake was just as aroused as he was.

With a surprised moan, the white-haired man interrupted the kiss, breathlessly clutching his hands into the fabric of Muguruma's clothes. The said man used this opportunity to give some attention to the soft skin covering Ukitake's neck and collarbones, kissing and biting it playfully. At the same time, he squeezed his hips tightly against Ukitake's – feeling the other man's erection through the many layers of fabric was almost enough to send him over the edge right here and right now.

But suddenly he felt himself being pushed away by surprisingly strong hands.

"Muguruma, wait", he heard Ukitake's voice, and raised his head to give him a questioning look.

"You are going too fast", Ukitake said.

For a second, Muguruma looked startled, but then he smiled and gave the older man a gentler kiss. "I'm sorry", he said in a low, growling voice, "it's just that you're making me so fucking hot..."

"Well, and what should we do about that?", Ukitake replied in a playful tone.

"I think I'll be able to restrain myself", Muguruma carried on, slowly letting his fingers trace down on Ukitake's chest, stopping to provocatively play with the white obi, "but only if you call me by my first name."

Ukitake smiled. "That should be no problem..."

"And", Muguruma added, looking deep into Ukitake's eyes, "only if you'll call out my name when I make you cum tonight, Jūshirō."

"I do hope that you will return the favour", Ukitake replied, his voice shaking with arousal.

When they kissed again, Muguruma let his hands slide down on Ukitake's back, grabbing the man's firm buttocks and squeezing them. "Holy fuck", he hissed under his breath, "I love your sexy little ass..."

This made the older man laugh out in amusement. "I'm sure yours is a lot sexier than mine."

"Why don't you find it out?", Muguruma asked, wearing a wide, wolf-like grin. Ukitake was pretty sure that the young man would also behave like a wild animal in bed, which made him excited and nervous at the same time.

"I do find these many clothes a little troublesome", he answered, tucking playfully at the rope Muguruma used as a belt . With the back of his fingers, he brushed over the rippled muscles on the young man's stomach, watching amusedly how this caused goosebumps to spread all over his skin.

"Let's continue this inside, shall we?"

In Ukitake's bedroom, they quickly stripped down to their underwear and ended up making out on the futon, which was already laid out for the night.
They were lying next to each other, kissing, their legs intertwined in a way so that Muguruma's groin was pressed to Ukitake's thigh. He had grabbed the other man by the hip and was making small, rhythmic movements to ease the tenseness of his vibrantly hard cock.

"Jūshirō", he uttered after a while, interrupting their kiss, "I know you want us to go slow, but I am totally ready for the next step."

"That's fine with me", Ukitake answered, playing teasingly with one of Muguruma's hard nipples, "what would you like to do?"

"I'd like to see your cock, for starters", the young man answered with a grin, already tugging on Ukitake's underwear. He had it removed in no time, finally releasing the other man's twitching erection from it's linen cage.

"My my, Jūshirō", he cooed, "even your cock is handsome. And look how hard it is..."

Ukitake blushed, letting out a smothered moan when Muguruma grabbed and gently squeezed his shaft.

"Kensei", he hissed, looking at him with lust-filled eyes. Hearing his name uttered by those lips for the first time, Muguruma felt a shiver running down his spine, and heat rising in his stomach.

Oh yes, he wanted to hear his name spoken in this voice many more times. He wanted to hear it whispered, screamed and moaned in utter lust.

"Ahh, Kensei, stop", Ukitake repeated when the hand between his legs started to move and to massage this very sensitive region. "I'm sorry", he said, his voice urgent, "it's been quite a while since I've been with anyone. I fear I won't last very long if you continue like this."

"That shouldn't be a problem", Muguruma replied, grinning. "We will do it again, and again... and again..."

Ukitake laughed and ran his fingers through the young man's silver hair.

"Okay, Kensei... then show me what you've got."

When Muguruma had finally squirmed free from his underwear and presented his erect cock, Ukitake was exceptionally pleased with what he saw. The young man had soft, darkish pubic hair, which led in a fine trace up to his belly button, but somehow thinned out before reaching it. His balls were thoroughly shaven, and his dick was very thick and veiny.
Ukitake was surprised how very hard Muguruma was when he grabbed his shaft; it felt almost like a steel rod wrapped in velvet.

"That's one great cock", he whispered, rolling the wet tip in his palm.

Smiling, the young man sealed Ukitake's lips with a kiss, moving one leg across the older man's body so that he ended up sitting straddle-legged on his lovers thighs.

Ukitake just watched in eager anticipation how the young man grabbed both of their cocks with one hand, squeezing them tightly together, and couldn't help but tilt his head back, moaning with pleasure. The skin on Muguruma's dick felt burning hot against his own, and it was so incredibly hard... Moments later, the young man gave a muffled grunt, and Ukitake felt a warm liquid running down his shaft.

When he looked up, he saw that Muguruma's glans was oozing thick ropes of slippery pre-cum, perfectly making up for lube. At this sight, he felt the knot that had been tightening inside his belly melt into a hot, liquid stream. His arms lifted above his head, he dug his fingers into the fabric of the futon when the young man started to stroke both their cocks in one hand.
He could feel his reiatsu welling up again, and he moaned, unable and unwilling to do anything about it. Muguruma easily adjusted the level of his spiritual pressure, closely observing his lover's face as he mingled and stirred their reiatsu without slowing his movements.

There it was again, that huge, dark, glassy sea...

Ukitake tried to suppress the feeling of his impending climax, welling up between his legs, as long as he could. Yet he wasn't able at the same time to refrain from loudly voicing his pleasure.

"Kensei...", he moaned, drawing out his lover's name under his breath, "Ah... I'm going to come..."

"Yeah, Baby, come!", the young man answered, his own breathing loud and fast, "don't hold back!"

"Ahh, Kensei... this is good..."

"Come on, Babe... give me your hot cum..!" He could feel Ukitake's reiatsu all around him, but now it was astir, the surface of that dark sea began to ripple, and deep, deep down, something large started to move.

Moaning ecstatically, Ukitake flexed his back, pushing his hip towards Muguruma, feeling an orgasm building up in his groin.

"I come... ahh, Kensei, please..."

"Give it to me", Muguruma demanded, "come."

Ukitake felt his balls tensing up and the cum gushing out of his cock, seconds before an indescribable, incredibly releasing feeling washed over him, momentarily depriving him of all his rational senses as the waves clashed above his head.

"All right, that's it", he heard Muguruma's quiet voice in the distance, "I wanna come now, too."

A little slow on the uptake, Ukitake drowsily opened his eyes and looked at the young man who was kneeling above him. He saw that most of his sperm had ended up on Muguruma's right arm and abdomen, from where it was running downwards, in direction of his stout, proudly erect dick.

Gazing, Ukitake thought: that must be the most erotic sight ever in the whole world...

"Don't just stare at it", Muguruma grinned, "come on, Babe, grab it!"

"Babe?", Ukitake repeated, bemused, but still complied with Muguruma's request. With one hand, he started to stroke the young man's thick shaft and carefully cupped his swollen balls with the other.

"Yeah, that's it", Muguruma groaned, "jerk it harder..."

"Oh, so you like it hard", Ukitake purred, intensifying his grip, "how suiting for such a big, sturdy cock..."

"Oh yeah, Babe, stroke it... just like that..."

Moaning, Muguruma threw his head back, his hands resting on his thighs, while he fucked Ukitake's well-versed hands. He loved how he slightly squeezed his balls; it somehow gave him an extra kick.

"Fuck, I'm so close... I'm gonna cum", he moaned, "aah... I wanna cum on your chest..."

"I'd love that", Ukitake answered quietly, with a tantalizing smile.

He felt the muscles in Muguruma's legs twitch and his balls tighten, pulling his cock downwards so that the cum would land on his chest.

Breathing heavily, the young man leaned forward and placed his hands next to Ukitake's shoulders.
For a second they looked at each other, before Muguruma's eyes fluttered shut; Ukitake felt spasms running through the young man's body before the twitching cock between his hands blew his hot load all over his stomach and chest.

"Fuuuck" Muguruma was almost screaming with pleasure, before his body collapsed on top of the other man. Burying his face in the pillow next to Ukitake's head, his heated muscles still vibrating, he deeply inhaled the fresh scent of Ukitake's hair, thinking that he hadn't felt such great satisfaction in a good many years.

After a while, he slowly raised his head again, meeting the gaze of Ukitake's smooth brown eyes.

He couldn't help but start smiling broadly at the white-haired man.

"You're amazing", he whispered, softly rubbing his nose on Ukitake's cheek, whose responding chuckle was immediately muffled by Muguruma's lips.

"I was about to say the same thing to you", the older man said when their lips parted again, his fingers slightly tickling the sides of the muscular body lying atop of him.

There was a sticky dampness between them, glueing their heated skin to one another.

"I think I will have to take a shower", Ukitake stated, and Muguruma laughed out loud. He got up to all fours and started to dry Ukitake's skin with some part of his clothes that were scattered around the place.

"You've got a gorgeous body, Jūshirō", he said after a while, absent-minded, then turning to smile at the other captain. But the said one only answered with a half-hearted thank you.

"Come on, why so humble?", Muguruma asked teasingly.

"I usually don't picture myself as someone who is considered by other people as being... sexually attractive."

Laughing, Muguruma said: "Wow, insanely hot and unassuming about it... how ravishing." With that, he bent down to kiss the man with the long white hair and perfect, slender body.

"By the way", Ukitake said, now smiling slightly, "did you really call me Baby before?!"

"Yes, Babe", Muguruma grinned. "Problem?"

"Don't you think it feels strange, considering that you are easily half my age?"

"Nah. I like to call all the hot studs I fuck with Babe. It kinda gets me going."

"Is that so", Ukitake said, amused, "all of them? How many would that be, if I may ask?"

"At the moment?", Muguruma asked, pretending to calculate. "Around... zero, except that really hot one lying next to me. What about you?"

"As I told you. It's been a while for me."

"How long?"

"About eight years."

"Honestly? And who was your last one?"

"You wouldn't know him. Some guy from the 3rd."

"And you don't see him any more?"

"No."

"And why did you wait eight years before..."

"What's with all these questions, Kensei?", Ukitake interrupted him, smiling leniently, "it just didn't happen, and that was perfectly fine with me."

"I'm just trying to get to know you better", Muguruma answered, "I find you interesting."

"Oh my", Ukitake chuckled and placed a hand on the younger man's side, his fingers circling with a light touch. It occurred to him that this was the first time he had ever invited one of his lovers into his private chambers. Everything had happened so fast, he hadn't even stopped to think about it – and this was a man he barely even knew...

"Do you do this often?", he asked in a playful tone. Muguruma answered with a questioning gaze. "Do what?"

"Picking up captains, for instance."

The younger man laughed. "No. You're actually the first captain I've ever picked up. I usually don't go for people with whom I have work relations..."

"Ditto", Ukitake sighed and lowered his gaze for a moment. "Are you... exclusively attracted to men?"

"Kinda", the young man answered, chuckling. "I've had sex with women, and it wasn't bad, but... I'd choose you over any woman in the world, that's for sure."

"How flattering."

"What about you?"

"I have never lain with a woman", Ukitake explained, "and I've never wished for it, either."

"Hm", Muguruma grinned, "what a disappointment for the female population of Soul Society..."

The older man just rolled his eyes. "Yeah", he said without much conviction and removed his hand from Muguruma's hip to comfortably fold his arms behind his head.

For a while they lay next to each other in silence, listening to each other's breathing, until Ukitake turned towards the other man and looked at him through the darkness.

"It has gotten late", he said quietly. "I think both of us should go to sleep."

"Hm", was Muguruma's only response, but he lazily got in an upright position.

"Would you maybe..." he heard Ukitake's voice behind his back, "would you like to visit me again, tomorrow maybe, for some afternoon tea?"

"For some tea, huh?", Muguruma repeated and laughed to himself. "Since I found your tea to be absolutely delicious, of course I'd love to return tomorrow for some more of your... tea."

"I'm pleased to hear that", Ukitake chuckled.

"... and for some more of your lovely butt", Muguruma added, looking over his shoulder, which caused the other man to laugh out loud.

"Well, let's leave it at that, then."

"Good morning, Taicho", Ukitake's grinning third seat greeted him in the morning, bowing slightly. They had come across in the narrow corridor outside his living quarters, just before sunrise.

"Good morning, Shiba-san", Ukitake said and smiled back. His third seat seemed strangely cheerful despite the early hour, and it was even before breakfast... Suspicious.

"Had a good night, yesterday?", Shiba said with a smirk. It was more of a statement than a question.

An unwelcome realisation creeped up Ukitake's back, and he felt his cheeks starting to burn.

"Well, yes, it was... quite good", he answered, thinking that he sounded like an idiot. Quite good? Aargh, stupid!

"Good for you", Shiba grinned and gave him a sound slap on the shoulder before he continued his way in the opposite direction. "See you at roll call", he said over his shoulder and gave Ukitake a last, conspirational wink. Ukitake sighed deeply. He trusted Shiba not to tell anyone, but still...

He was gonna have to cast some kind of shielding kidō around his bedroom the next time.