Devil

Months later, things were only worse for Ichigo. He used to veer from wanting to just get over it to indulging himself in a couple of games of what if. What if I could make him like me? What if he wasn't straight? In the end, he wound up giving up completely. It wasn't he had ever been good at fighting his emotions before and it seemed impossible to him that he'd overcome such strong ones. He felt that he should maybe tell Shuuhei, not because he thought it would get him anywhere, but just so that Shuuhei would stop torturing him. Then again, a change in Shuuhei's behavior wasn't something that Ichigo wanted, at least not a change that would make Shuuhei hang out less with Ichigo or not feel comfortable falling asleep in his quarters when he was too tired to walk home. So, he said nothing. His emotions no longer seemed to be spiraling out of control, they were lodged firmly in "oh you are just so screwed" territory.

"Hey, Shuuhei," Ichigo said breathlessly as he ran into the Squad 9 offices.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, I'm just running away from Renji. He completely went off on me about how I wasn't getting enough work done and how he had to do everything. I came in half an hour later for him to sign some stuff and he was freaking asleep on his desk with a giant pile of unsigned papers next to him! I was so mad that I kicked over his chair."

Shuuhei went wide eyed at that. "Geez, Ichigo. I know he's Renji, but he's still your captain."

"Oh come on, like you've never thought about kicking over Kisuke?" Ichigo asked.

"…No…of course not," Shuuhei said, pausing briefly to enjoy the image of a startled Kisuke waking suddenly as he was toppling backward, hitting the ground with a painful sounding crash.

"Ah, you thought about it," Ichigo smiled at him.

"Thinking about something and doing something are not the same thing. You need to have a lot more things you think about doing without actually doing," Shuuhei advised Ichigo.

Uh huh, Ichigo thought to himself. Like how I'm thinking about jumping over the desk, sitting on your lap and giving you a kiss, but I wouldn't actually do it. He was able to think the thought (and a couple beyond it) without even the slightest blush on his face. At this point if he turned red every time he thought about doing something to Shuuhei he'd be walking around tomato colored all day. Great, he thought, at least I've learned a new skill, being a secret pervert. I guess it's better than being an obvious pervert.

"Hello, Ichigo!" Kisuke boomed, walking into the room.

Speak of the devil, Ichigo laughed to himself.

Shuuhei glared at him.

"Yeah fine, you work. I'll go and hang out with Rukia, at least Renji is scared of her," Ichigo said, leaving with a wave.

"Mmm," Ichigo sighed. He and Rukia were laying in the grass in one of the small parks around the Seireitei. A soft breeze blew by, making the day go from too hot to just right.

"So lazy," Rukia told him.

He opened an eye and peered at her. "What wrong with enjoying doing nothing sometimes?"

"You're not enjoying doing nothing, you're enjoying avoiding Renji," Rukia replied.

"Even better," Ichigo smirked.

"You're like a less drunk version of Rangiku."

"Hey, I don't ever get drunk!"

"What about last week? Shuuhei practically had to carry you to your quarters," Rukia reminded him.

Ok, so there was a slight blush at that, maybe because it was something that Shuuhei had actually done as opposed to one of the many things that Shuuhei would do to him in his mind. Ichigo didn't hide it from Rukia at all. "Hm, yeah. I should do that more often," he said.

"Ichigo, get over him already," Rukia said sternly. "If you keep mooning of him like this, and spending so much time with him, you're just going to fall in love."

Ichigo didn't reply, just closed his eyes.

"HEY!" Rukia said loudly.

"What?"

"You didn't answer me."

"You didn't ask me a question, Rukia."

"Like hell I didn't," Rukia glared at him. "Look at me and tell me that you don't love him."

Ichigo ignored her.

"What the fuck, Ichigo!" she yelled, launching herself at him.

"Oof!" Ichigo's breath was almost knocked from him as she landed squarely on his chest, her hands on his shoulders.

"IDIOT!" she practically screamed into his face.

"Just calm down," he said, trying to get the upper hand of what was becoming a fairly ridiculous situation. "It's not that big of a deal."

"Ichigo, of course it is! You're the type of person that falls in love and just stays that way! You form these intense bonds with people all around you. Hell, I've seen you almost get killed rescuing your supposed enemies! Don't do it! Don't fall in love with him! Just cut off all ties with him and let things cool down enough so that you can see him without…"

"It's…a little too late for that," Ichigo admitted. He shouldn't have been surprised that Rukia punched him, but somehow it caught him by surprise, and he was left sprawled on the ground nursing what felt like cracked ribs while Rukia stormed off.

Rukia was going to pace around stewing in her anger, but she felt Captain Hitsugaya nearby and walked towards him. He glared at her, his arms crossed around his chest, an icy look in his eye.

"What?' she asked.

"Don't 'what' me."

She just stared at him.

"You were practically straddling him," Toshiro said coldly.

"Oh my god, Toshiro," Rukia sighed. "Not that it's any of your business, but he's gay. Gay and in love with someone. So get over yourself."

"Really?" Toshiro asked.

"Yes really, so stop pouting," Rukia said. "Or do you want me to be a bitch to you all day?"

Toshiro sighed and uncrossed his arm. "Fine, let's just go and eat," he turned. "Also, it's not respectful to say that a captain is pouting."

"Then don't pout."

They somehow made it through lunch without tearing each other apart. The daily fact that they somehow hadn't killed one another constantly surprised their friends. "So, are you two ice bitches still together or did one of you finally stab the other?" Renji would ask most weekends, getting a glare or a well aimed punch depending on how tired Rukia was feeling.

Ichigo and Toshiro's relationship, or at least their general ability to work together that they had developed during the war, became very strained as soon as Rukia starting dating the little captain. Toshiro found it incredibly hard to believe the idea that Rukia had lived with Ichigo and slept in his closet for months without anything romantic happening between the two. Rukia and Ichigo's fairly physical relationship definitely left Toshiro feeling a little sore, plus there was that whole "oh yeah, Ichigo would have died trying to save you from death while I sat on my ass and was just going to let it happen". How many "just friends" would do what Ichigo did, after only knowing Rukia for a couple of months? The whole situation seemed suspicious to Toshiro.

Gay though, Toshiro thought to himself. He wouldn't feel ok until Ichigo was firmly in the arms of someone else though.

"Who is it that Ichigo loves?" Toshiro asked, placing his arms more firmly around the small form that was leaning back against his chest.

"I don't think I'm supposed to talk about it, but it doesn't matter because no matter what, Ichigo isn't going to get him," Rukia replied.

That's not what I want to hear, Toshiro thought frowning. "Why don't you help?" he suggested.

"Help? How?"

"Is he here in the Seireitei?"

"Yes," Rukia answered.

"We have that annual costume ball thing in two weeks. Will the guy be there?"

Rukia gave a little squeal of excitement. "Yes! We could totally do something with that! Let's dress him up!"

Toshiro tried really hard to not give an evil laugh at that, but the costume choices that he had running through his mind for Ichigo didn't allow him to hold back. Luckily, Rukia was thinking along the same lines because she starting laughing too.

"Oh, I'm so going to force him to wear a skirt," Rukia laughed.

Yeah, I'd pay to see it, Toshiro thought with a smirk.

"You said you were going to help me!" Ichigo said looking at the stack of clothing handed to him in horror.

"We are," Rukia replied.

Ichigo held up the outfit, holding it like it was a snake. "It's too…small."

"No, it'll fit. To make sure you need to try it on though," Toshiro said with a malicious gleam in his eye.

"What, right now?" Ichigo said in a quietly terrified voice.

"Yes," Toshiro answered firmly.

"Now," urged Rukia while she tapped her foot.

"Too bad," Ichigo said, getting his spine back. "I refuse."

"You already agreed to me helping you for this party," Rukia answered.

"Yes, help me, not destroy me."

"I order you to put it on," Toshiro said, completely seriously.

"WHAT?" Ichigo yelled.

The two of them looked at him intently.

"Shouldn't you be worried that your boyfriend wants to see me in a dress this badly?" Ichigo tried.

"You don't have to be gay to wear women's clothing," Toshiro responded.

Whoa, what? Ichigo thought. I really hope that isn't some sort of confession from him. Ichigo shuddered, forcing himself to not look at Rukia.

"Fine," he surrendered.

Rukia and Toshiro exchanged triumphant smiles.

Shit shit shit shit, Ichigo chanted to himself as he walked to the party. It would be more accurate to say "escorted to the party" since Toshiro and Rukia weren't taking any chances on Ichigo bolting for the countryside instead and had showed up hours beforehand to "help him get ready". So far they had allowed him to wear a kimono over the top of his costume, since there was a chilly wind blowing, but Ichigo was dreading when they were going to rip it off of him.

"Take it easy, Ichigo," Rukia said. "You look great."

"YOU MADE ME SHAVE MY LEGS!" he yelled at her.

She rolled her eyes. "You're so overdramatic. I should have guessed you were gay from the start."

"Hey," Ichigo frowned.

They were there. Shit, they were there. Oh my fucking…and just as expected, Toshiro practically tore the kimono robe off of Ichigo and place a firm foot in his back, shoving him through the front door.

Ichigo was hoping to slink to a corner and hide someplace, but considering how very red his outfit was, and how very orange his hair was, it just wasn't going to happen. Fine, the only way to get through this is to completely own it, Ichigo thought to himself. I can do this. He took a deep breath, and began walking. Of course, the first person he ran into was Shuuhei.

"Uh," Shuuhei said, looking Ichigo over.

Shuuhei hadn't exactly known that Ichigo was gay. It just wasn't something that had come up. In fact, Ichigo had kind of shied away from talking about things like that. Shuuhei didn't care one way or the other, a lot of his friends were gay or bisexual and it had never bothered him.

Right now, Ichigo was out doing Yumichika as far as ostentation was concerned.

He was wearing a red velvet corset over a very short, very tight, red vinyl skirt. Garters from the bottom of the skirt connected to a pair of red thigh high fishnet stockings, which disappeared into knee high red high heeled boots. He had a pair of devil's horns on his head, and a spiked tail.

"Wow," Shuuhei finally said.

"Um, yeah," Ichigo said. He was going to give the excuse that he was forced to do it, but then remembered what he just said to himself thirty seconds ago and decided to just man up. "It's kind of boring having to wear the same thing every day, so I thought I'd at least have a little fun right now. If nothing else it'll be amusing to see Renji's head explode," Ichigo finished, laughing. Oh man was Renji going to give him a lot of ribbing for this. He was probably going to rub it in Ichigo's face for months.

Shuuhei smiled at him. Wait, Shuuhei smiled at him? Ichigo smiled back. Well, at least he doesn't think I'm a freak, Ichigo thought with relief.

"Hoooooly shit," he heard from behind him. "Look at that ass!"

Ichigo immediately turned red and turned around, not unsurprisingly finding Ikkaku and Yumichika admiring his costume.

"Hey, you can't say that," Yumichika pursed his lips to Ikkaku. "You didn't let me wear the outfit I wanted to wear," he paused. "However, you really should shave your legs and wear short things a lot more," he recommended to Ichigo.

Fuck, Ichigo thought. He had kind of hoped that would go unnoticed. "Yeah, it's not really something I'm looking to do regularly," he responded, trying to not freak out.

The two moved on to Ichigo's relief, although they were lewdly laughing as they left. He turned to Shuuhei. "Oh! I finally get your costume!" Ichigo exclaimed. It was one of the side characters from the manga that he had leant Shuuhei.

"Yeah, it's not perfect because I'm not good at sewing."

"You made it?" Ichigo asked, looking at it more appreciatively. They chatted, talking about the costumes of the people around them.

Um, that is not a place to stare at, Shuuhei reminded himself. He had always liked garters and kept finding himself looking down to where Ichigo's fishnets connected to his miniskirt. It was rather unfortunate that Ichigo was pulling it off really well too, because it was hard for Shuuhei to think of him as a guy when he had white creamy thighs like that. I absolutely did not think that, Shuuhei forced himself to raise his gaze and maintain eye contact with Ichigo at all times.

"Ichigo!" Rangiku cooed, embracing him from behind.

"Ichigo, you clean up nice," Yoruichi said, suddenly next to him.

"Uh, hi guys," Ichigo said slowly. It would have gotten the point across better if he had screamed, "Damn it, go away!" but not only would that make him look a little crazy, but it wouldn't work either.

"What cute little ears," Rangiku said, leaning on one of his shoulders and playing with his devil horns.

"I like the velvet," Yoruichi said, running her hand over the corset, "but I think you should have worn gloves too."

Oh wow, Shuuhei thought, his eyes very wide. Ichigo was absolutely getting mauled by two incredibly gorgeous and uh…well blessed…women. Shit, they were actually petting him. Why the hell do the gay guys get all the fun? Shuuhei tried to not focus on his envy and (to be honest) increasing horniness. He did smile when Ichigo started to turn bright red and stammer as the girls got a little more aggressive.

"Renji," Byakuya said, walking up to his former lieutenant, who had been standing in the corner talking to Shunsui and Jushiro.

Renji turned around. "Captain Kuchiki," he responded, a little startled. He was never really sure what to do when he ran into his old captain. He was settling into an informal camaraderie with a lot of the captains, but he still felt instantly on his guard and stiff when Byakuya was around. He had been lectured far too often for not showing enough respect to be able to be casually friendly to his former captain, at least not so soon after being under his command.

"You should inform your lieutenant that there are things appropriate to wear out in public, and there are things that are not," Byakuya said coldly. He had been stopped in his tracks when he had seen what Ichigo was wearing.

Renji looked over his captain's shoulder, finding Ichigo easily. Oh my god, he thought. He felt his heartbeat start to race a little. He walked past Byakuya without a word, heading towards the group that was collected around his lieutenant.

"Hey," he said, reaching for Ichigo's shoulder. Ichigo looked up at him. "Let's go."

Ichigo nodded and they headed out the door.

Byakuya hadn't moved. He had just assumed that Renji already knew about Ichigo's costume, so he hadn't been ready at all for Renji's reaction. Renji had been looking over his shoulder, so Byakuya could very clearly see the light come into Renji's eyes when he saw Ichigo. Then he had just gone over and collected Ichigo and left. Byakuya closed his eyes for a moment.

Ichigo had been glad to leave the party. Things had started pretty well, but both Yoruichi and Rangiku were looking positively predatory, which was surprising since it seemed to him like he was flying his "I'm gay" banner pretty high that night. He did wonder why Renji wasn't talking and wondered if Renji was upset with him.

They got to Ichigo's quarters, and Renji opened the door and came inside. Ichigo was about to make a joke, something along the lines of, "go ahead Renji, make yourself at home, don't wait to be invited in or anything," when he felt Renji's hands on him.

This isn't good, he thought. "Renji," he started, but was cut off by Renji's demanding lips. For a moment Ichigo just let it happen, he definitely had more than a little sexual tension from months of lusting after Shuuhei and it felt good to finally feel someone touching him. He felt Renji's hands going up the back of his legs, and under his skirt. Whoa, absolutely not, he thought, pushing Renji's lips away, his hands on Renji's chest. Renji ignored him, going for Ichigo's neck.

"No, Renji," Ichigo called out.

"Oh come on," Renji said, between assaults on his neck and jaw, "you are definitely dressed for attention. Well, you have it."

Ichigo gasped a little as Renji find a part of his neck that was extra sensitive. Before, in Ichigo's room before the war, Renji had been restrained, knowing that he wasn't going to go too far, but this was something else and Ichigo could clearly feel the difference.

"Seriously, Renji," Ichigo said, pushing Renji away again.

Renji just looked at him, his face flushed and his eyes dilated with lust. It took Ichigo aback slightly.

"I…like someone," Ichigo said.

"Look, I know that you've been crushing on Shuuhei a little, but that's something you need to get past," Renji replied.

"I love him," Ichigo confessed.

There was stunned silence.

"YOU DO NOT!" Renji yelled. His sexual energy quickly changed to anger. "Ichigo, do NOT do that! Please, it's just a really bad place to go."

"I can't help the way I feel," Ichigo said with a shrug.

"Don't be so casual about it!"

"I'm not, or I wasn't at first. There's nothing to do now though, and I'm tired of fighting with it."

"I should have just dated you," Renji said. "If you were just coming out of a messed up relationship with me then maybe you wouldn't be running so hard at the cliff you're aiming for!"

"That would have made it awkward for me to be your lieutenant," Ichigo replied wryly.

"Damn it, Ichigo," Renji said. He reached for Ichigo again, this time giving him a hug. "What the fuck do you think you're doing, kid?"

"I have no idea," Ichigo admitted.

"Well, I'm going to take off," Renji said. He didn't add, "…because you've made me too damn horny and I can't be around you right now."

"It wasn't my idea," Ichigo said, more or less picking up the unspoken point. "The costume I mean. Rukia and Toshiro practically forced me at zanpakuto point."

"Damn it, aren't those two ice bitches broken up yet?" Renji muttered.

"Are you ok, Byakuya?" Jushiro asked, concerned. "You seem pale."

"Yes, I'm fine. I think I'll be going home now though." Byakuya made his farewells and left.

I am unused to this feeling, Byakuya thought. As one of the wealthiest men in the Soul Society, there had never been something that he could look at that he couldn't have. He had never felt envy looking at something he wanted. His relationships had come and gone without much distress on anyone's part. When he had fallen in love with Hisana, it had been a poetic kind of romance in his eyes. She was his angel, and he loved her dearly, but he had never felt jealousy. There had never been a need. He had felt the odd emotion creep up while watching his former lieutenant's interactions with Ichigo, and had assigned it to the fact that Ichigo and Renji were already much closer than he and Renji had been. They fought like cats and dogs on the drop of a dime, and then went together to the bar. It was obvious that the two were the best of friends, and despite the frequent explosion of spiritual pressure from their squad, they knew each other very well and worked together almost like one. Their entire squad looked up to them, enjoying how unpretentious their new superiors were. They had loved how kind their former captain had seemed, and admired their former lieutenant's dedication, but they had never run around half naked through the squad because the other had stolen the other's clothing, or ran by flushed face yelling "don't tell him I ran this way!", or just tell them "don't get so drunk on duty" when found in a compromising situation.

However, this was different. Byakuya had to finally admit to himself that he was jealous of more than just their professional relationship, he was jealous of all aspects of their relationship.

He looked at his hand, pale white and long, a noble's hand. It's for the best, he told himself. Nothing would be acceptable about a relationship between myself and Renji. Besides, there is no place in my heart for another man. If I were to finally be with someone again, it would have to be a woman. I have to be loyal to my family and continue the family line. Without knowing why, he reached out to find Renji's spiritual pressure. He felt it, glowing like white hot metal, excited and agitated. He immediately retreated, not wanting to think about what it was that Ichigo was doing that was making Renji feel that way.

It's for the best, he thought, closing his hand into a fist and walking home.