Title: Taking It In

Rating: T

Pairing: Hisagi Shuuhei x Kira Izuru

Preview: Why do these people have to exist in our world?

Warnings/Thoughts: Offensive words, character death, my thoughts on the future

Prompt: 046. Family

Shuuhei thought today was going well enough.

However that thought ended when he rounded a corner to find that Izuru had let his temper get to him and was pinning someone to a wall. Not many people knew that the blonde had his own temper but he has a lot of pent up aggression that he only recently started to vent out thanks to Shuuhei. To think Izuru would hurt a stranger was odd and Izuru was bound to feel guilty over it later. It was for that reason that he put a firm hand on both participants shoulders and separated them.

"What's going on?"

His eyes glanced back and forth between the two, Izuru was still steaming at the guy, a vicious glare to match. Apparently whatever happened upset Izuru so much that he wasn't going to calm himself down immediately after being snapped out of it. The other man, who seemed much older than Izuru, probably about 15 years or so in human years, kept a smug smile on his face, seemly unphased by the little interruption. What was Izuru doing attacking someone older than him, he was always respectful to those people.

"Ahh?" The older shinigami spoke "Maybe it was the other way around?"

Izuru at this point clenched his fists tightly, wanting to strike at the man badly but was restraining himself. Now that Shuuhei took notice it seems that when he came across the scene Izuru was trying to restrain himself from pounding the guy to dust. Shuuhei wanted to show sympathy towards Izuru when he saw the blonde's body start to tremble from the restraint. Izuru at this point shoved Shuuhei's hand off of his shoulder and sent a very dark glare at the person.

"It's shit like you that give shinigamis a bad name I can't believe the Gotei 13 would even let someone like you in. I'll let you know as a warning Futubatei that I am going to report this to the Soutaichou and I'm sure he won't accept what you said."

"Why would I want to be in a place that has coc-"

"Say another word and you'll be losing your head."

"Whatever."

With that the older man left, Shuuhei looked confused at Izuru for he had dropped the suffix "san" when addressing someone he didn't know. He then looked concerned at Izuru but before he could even open his mouth Izuru was making a bee line for the first division.

"Hey Izuru!"

When Izuru didn't answer, Shuuhei got more worried, jogging to walk beside him he then took notice that Izuru's eyes seemed a little glossy.

'Is his eyes watering?'

It seemed that was it by the amount Izuru was blinking his eyes to stop the tears from forming. Shuuhei had actually only seen Izuru cry once and that was when Gin had died, ever since then his eyes have been dry. Izuru didn't get upset for just any reason, depressed and guilty, sure, but not upset. There is a difference. Shuuhei tried conveying through his eyes the worry that he had, conveying through his reiatsu causing it to shift the air to state his worry. When that still didn't work he grabbed a hold of Izuru's shoulder again.

This caused him to halt abruptly "…Don't touch me."

"…Why?"

"Just don't."

"Izuru…"

At this, Izuru slapped Shuuhei's hand off again and instead redirected to their house that they shared. Shuuhei took this as Izuru was willing to talk there but not out in the streets. For now he'd avoid public display of affection and wait to see what Izuru wanted to say. Izuru had went straight to the couch when he reached their house and sort of just laid on it as Shuuhei sat cross legged in front of him, waiting for Izuru to open up.

"What happened?"

"He said some things… have you… ever been insulted before?"

"The ninth is pretty good about that, I don't tend to let those people stay in my division, I want them to follow the ninth division ideals."

"…That's good… I wouldn't want you to be insulted…"

"Hai… Izuru, please look at me."

Izuru had been facing the inside of the couch and he silently rolled over and Shuuhei didn't like that pain he saw in his eyes.

"Izuru…?"

"He insulted my parents. He kept saying my tou-sama must have cheated on my ka-sama, for it was the only way I could have turned out like this. He said my parents must really be suffering for having such a disgraceful child like me. That they did a shitty job of raising me or that maybe I was raped by my tou-sama."

Shuuhei stared at Izuru shocked "He said that to you!"

Shuuhei felt his heart ache 'How could someone do that? To think we have people who would say that to someone, insult someone who they care about. That's just tasteless.'

"There's more…"

For some reason Shuuhei got the feeling he didn't want to hear anymore, these kind of people always got under his skin. They made him want to take up his old speech patterns of swearing and to just teach them a damn lesson to keep those nasty words to themselves. However he wanted to hear, he wanted to know what they did to hurt Izuru so much.

"He insulted you and me… he wondered if maybe I was a female before I was reborn here. He said that maybe we aren't just some queer couple but that maybe you mistook me for a girl. Then he dismissed it and said that you seemed like the kind of person who'd like that sort of thing, said that you'd like being treated like a dog. He insulted you for your tattoo and that choker you love to wear, said that I must be one great cocksucker for you to fall for me. He also wished that us faggots would just go and die instead of showing off our pets everywhere…"

Shuuhei was at a loss of words and was surprised when Izuru suddenly apologized.

"Gomen for what?"

"You shouldn't have to hear these things."

"Neither should you."

"…"

"Does it bother you?" Shuuhei asked, tone dripping with dread and worry.

"You don't, so I don't really care what they say… I can handle it when they insult me, I'm strong when they do that. However they dragged my parents into it and then you and I just…"

Shuuhei just gave a soft smile and then began to gently stroke Izuru's head. "It doesn't bother me either but I do hate when they insult you. Hopefully Kurosaki-Soutaichou will get rid of this discrimination."

"I hope so…" Izuru looked down and then met Shuuhei's eyes.

Shuuhei felt his face go hot when a pair of lips meet his own, it always gave him such a pleasant warmth inside. Izuru lips always had an interesting mixture of sweet and bitter, it was a flavor that Shuuhei grew to love for he couldn't find it anywhere else. Sweet like Relish, bitter like Onions, ironically his favorite toppings for his hot dog. Izuru always had feather light kisses, not very passionate but so very tender. Their lips moved gently with each other, comforting in ways only the other could. When they parted, Shuuhei knew he shouldn't smile considering the situation but he couldn't help it. At least Izuru could see the compassionate sorrow in Shuuhei's eyes. Izuru just smiled back.

"I'm fine now… I just get a little defensive when people insult the three people I respect the most."

Shuuhei gave a nod "You wanna stay here while I inform Kurosaki-Soutaichou?"

"Iie, I'll come with."

As they walked out, Izuru entangled his hand with Shuuhei's without fear.

A/N: Sorry for the offensive language… well at least I hope it was offensive for the sake of this little story. I hope the ending wasn't too bad either… it seems a little rushed to me but I can't think of any other way to finish it *fails* Also, Kurosaki is Ichigo, I figured he'd become the Soutaichou in the future so…

Translation:

Shinigami = Soul reaper
Soutaichou = General commander, first division captain
Reiatsu = Spirit pressure
Hai = Yes
Tou-sama = Respectful way of saying dad/father
Ka-sama = Respectful way of saying mom/mother
Gomen = Sorry
Iie = No