Vexed and Glorious
Ishida was slow to wake, stirring slightly before he even tried to open his eyes. His awareness came even slower. One solid arm around his waist, breath tickling his neck. He could hear each one taken in, and feel the warm gust of air as he exhaled. Blue eyes opening at last, he was surprised to see how light it was. Frowning, he reached blindly for his glasses, hand slapping down on his bedside table a few times before he found them. Sitting up slightly and slipping them on, he glanced to the clock.
At which time Ichigo was promptly awakened by a hard knock to the head, followed by an irritated voice. "Kurosaki, do you know what time it is?"
"Mnn, what? Geez, Ishida..." The orange-haired teen rubbed his head, blinking his tired brown eyes. He smiled when he saw the Quincy's flushed face, hair still mussed from sleep, but blue eyes already shining with mirth. He blocked the second hit, chuckling as he glanced to the clock. "It's 10am."
"I set the alarm for eight! Eight! Did you turn it off?" Ishida demanded, still glaring.
"Guilty."
"Wha... why? I had everything planned! We were supposed to wake up and shower, eat breakfast, finish our long over-due homework, go to Jun's Place for lunch, head to the..."
"Wait, wait, wait. Having everything planned out like that... That's no fun. Wouldn't you rather just... let it happen?"
"Let it..." Ishida closed his eyes, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he sat cross-legged on the bed. "You're... impossible. We don't get very many chances to spend the day together, so I just..." He looked back down. Ichigo was still smiling. "...What?" He snapped.
"You look so cute like that." Ichigo admitted. Ishida rose an eyebrow.
"Like... what?"
"All pissed off and naked." The other's expression was enough of a warning for Ichigo to cover his head from the pillow heading his way. He laughed as he grabbed the raven-haired teen around the waist. The resulting struggle toppled them both from the bed, both teens freezing in a moment of dulled pain. Ishida huffed when he realized he was held tight against Ichigo's chest, the substitute Shinigami having opted to take the brunt of the fall for them, his back to the floor. "Ow ow, don't move yet..." Ichigo complained when the other went to sit up, and Uryuu froze again. "Just... hear me out."
"On the floor?"
"Yeah!"
"...Fine." Ishida huffed again, his head tucked under the orange-haired teen's chin, his glasses missing. If they were broken...
"It doesn't matter what we do today. I mean... we're together, right? All day. I wanted to sleep a little longer because you looked tired last night, but you let me do it anyway—"
"D-Don't be stupid..."
"What are you always so pissed for? You're the impossible one." Ichigo teased, running his fingers through the Quincy's hair. Ishida winced, feeling regret for a brief moment. It was true, he was more often than not angry over something... and he snapped a lot, complained, or bickered...
"...Sorry." He said quietly. Ichigo tugged his bangs.
"It's alright. I wasn't lying. You do look hot when you're mad. Makes me want to—oof!" He was cut off by the elbow in his gut that allowed Ishida to roll off of him, snatching up his missing glasses and slipping them on as he stood.
"I was right. You are the hopeless one." He said, heading for the door of his bedroom. He stopped for a moment, looking back. Ichigo's eyes were on his lover's naked profile. "...If you're not in the bathroom in the next sixty seconds, I'm taking a shower alone."
Thirty second later, they were both under the spray of hot water. However, schedule tossed out the proverbial window, Ishida had decided that they had time to let Ichigo finish that sentence...
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In the Cold Light
The sunlight roused the sleeping Quincy gently. It was bright, forcing him to close his blue eyes just as soon as he had opened them. He rolled to face the ceiling, the back of his slender hand over them as if to shield them. What time was it...? Turning his face to the right, the glaring red numbers told him that it was 5:15am. Digital... He frowned at the clock. It was so... precise. And he'd woken thirty minuets early. The light on his face was bright, but the air inside of his apartment was cold, stealing its comfort. His father always loved digital. It was to the minuet after all. He would never be late for work.
Oh, there was that knot again. He rolled to his right, arms around his stomach. But the cold sun just kept on shining, and if he rose to close the shades then he would be awake anyway. Frustrated, he pulled back the sheets and slipped his feet over the sides of the bed. Shivering as bare skin touched the cold floor, he stood up and set his hands on the desk. A second of searching found his glasses, and he slipped them on as he stood. Yet another thing he had gotten from that man; this damned eyesight. Damned inconvenient for an archer if you asked him.
The water in his place took forever to heat up, so he washed his face with the cold water instead. Patting it dry, he slipped his glasses back on to look into the mirror. He was unhappy and he couldn't keep it from his expression, but that look... Why was he thinking of this so much today? He caught the top of the mark on his chest in the mirror, reaching up to touch it. Why had he even bothered... Giving him this power and then sending him on his way. It was just like him; like a doctor. "I give them the means. What they do with it is their choice."
His clothing was laid out and folded as usual. What could he do but lose himself in this obsessive compulsive ritual? Perhaps it was just in his blood.
How could he not dwell on him, when it was all he had left? He never wanted to admit it, but visiting Kurosaki's household bothered him. Even without their mother his family was so close. Isshin smiled wide and spoke loudly, and Ichigo's sisters talked about their school and friends. And Ichigo... that orange-haired idiot; he complained and avoided them whenever he could, hiding out in his room. Ishida had always thought that his lack of proper family had been the reason for his inability to deal with others. Seeing Ichigo, he knew now that wasn't it.
It was this cold light. The presence of family; the loss of them. Having once felt the same kind of feelings that everyone had and then having it taken away. It was his power. The power to save others and the knowledge that they wouldn't understand. "Being a Quincy doesn't make money." Ryuuken had said. He would never understand. His eyesight was bad, but he wasn't blind. He couldn't close his eyes to the suffering of others.
He thought of the others that had lost their loved ones. Inoue Orihime and her brother, Sado Yatsutora and his grandfather, even Ichigo and his mother. Perhaps it was something that they didn't know instead of something that he was missing. Family without warmth.
Setting the dishes from breakfast into the sink, he glanced at the clock again. Digital didn't lie, and he was going to be late if he didn't rush. So much for waking early, he'd spent to much time on this reflection! Grabbing his bag, he rushed out of the door.
"...hida."
Ishida was breathing hard as he reached the school, slipping of his shoes to change them. He set his bag down, opening his locker.
"Oi, Ishida!" The loud voice reached him. Turning his head he beheld the flush-faced, orange-haired substitute Shinigami. He was about to frown when he noticed what was around the other teen's neck. A white scarf. That's right, it was fall wasn't it? "What the hell, didn't you hear me?" Ichigo was saying.
"Ah. What?" The Quincy looked back to those brown eyes.
"I was calling you halfway down the street! Did I do something again?" Ichigo dropped his bag none too gently, opening his locker as well.
"Oh, no. I didn't hear you." Ishida said as he slipped on his school shoes, placing his others into the locker.
"Well it's rare that you're late. You wouldn't believe..." Ichigo muttered as he changed his own, "My dad up and jumped me again, and we ran into Yuzu who was carrying orange juice. I had to go and wash it off and it's cold as hell out there!"
"So... you grabbed the scarf?" Ishida asked, his own face coloring slightly, and with more than just cold.
"Well yeah. I mean, did you not want me to wear it?" Ichigo asked, closing his locker.
"No, no. I just..." Didn't think you'd wear it. The Quincy adjusted his glasses. Ichigo frowned even more than usual as he approached the raven-haired teen. He slapped both hands onto the other's cheeks, ignoring Ishida's noise of protest.
"I thought so. You're freakin' freezing!" He exclaimed, holding his face still.
"K-Kurosa—!" Uryuu's hands rose to grab the other's wrists. He paused however, when he realized just how warm those hands were. They penetrated the cold skin of his cheeks, flooding them with warmth like the morning sun should have.
"Don't go making me things that you need yourself!" The substitute Shinigami was muttering, and he removed those hands of his. The warmth stayed however, and he felt as if it radiated from the places that Ichigo had touched. The scarf was around his neck in the next moment, and it too carried with it warmth. "Don't argue. You're skinny as hell, so if you don't wear more then you'll freeze to death. I'm hot-headed, remember? You can give it to me again when you take better care of yourself." As he finished speaking the bell rang, and the last trickle of students vanished from the halls. Ichigo turned to go, waving with one hand. "Come on."
The material of the scarf was warm against his neck, and Ishida felt the end of it between his fingers. He'd taken a month to make it just right. Nothing but cold needles and soft fabric, it was as if Ichigo had given it life with that over-flowing power of his. To think, something that came out of his cold light had been infused with this kind of warmth. Maybe... If he tried, he could let the same happen to him. "Hey, you alright?" Ichigo asked when he didn't respond or follow. Ishida looked back up, smiling as he dropped the end of the scarf to adjust his glasses.
"I'm fine. Are you still coming home with me after school?" He asked in his normal tone.
"Yeah, but we're going to be late now so we might have dententi—" He froze as Ishida's cool lips pressed against his. Brown eyes wide, he merely stared in shock as the other brushed past him. By the time he caught up with the other, that small smile told him that it wasn't likely that he was going to get an explanation. "How cold." He said with a grin as they reached the door to their homeroom. Ishida's smile increased as he laid his hand on the door.
"Not for long."