Hey Interwebbers!
Fair warning, there is some smut in this one, though it's not a lot. I had to rewrite it a few times. Hope you like it.
Also, I would like to thank those that added the story to their favourites or left comments. They are much appreciated! Thank you all so much.
Hanataro was still engrossed in his thoughts when Ikkaku returned. The men barely said two words to each other and Hanataro feared that the furrow of the other's brow would be permanent this time. Still, he thought, he couldn't let it stop him. Both the bald man and the man's best friend had told him not to be afraid, and he couldn't help now but to look at Ikkaku with a sort of wonder, thanks to the information leaked by Yumichika. If it was true and Ikkaku had a soft spot for the healer, there was no way he would come to harm if he hadn't so far.
Just as Hanataro had gathered his courage enough to speak, so too did Ikkaku, seeming not to notice that the other had something to say.
"I think yer just about healed up as much as I can help ya with." He said, without looking up from his tea. "Your bruises aren't noticeable and yer sleepin' through the night without screaming. Figure you can go back to yer own place."
This seemed to both relax and sadden Hanataro. It was, in fact, what he had been about to say, but to hear the other say it seemed to make it more real. In truth, he didn't feel that he wanted to leave, especially now that he was beginning to have some genuine curiosity about the man. It was his sense of responsibility that pushed him to get back to work, though, and he knew he would have to go back eventually.
"Ok, Ikkaku. I think so too." He tried to keep his tone casual, as the man had wanted. "Thanks, though, for… well, everything."
"Ya." The gruff response was mumbled and without eye contact from the bigger man. "No problem. Let me walk you over." He grabbed his Zanpacto from the stand beside the door and was out before Hanataro had the chance to stand. He ran to keep up with the bigger man who marched more than walked Hana back to the fourth.
Isane felt the reiatsu of Ikkaku Madarame before she saw him coming down the path into the fourth's barracks. She searched him out immediately, finding him easily on the edge of the compound.
"Madarame!" She yelled, still some distance away. A lot of the fourth division was afraid of the members of the eleventh, but being a lieutenant, she never allowed herself to show it to the fighters who came through their door.
"What exactly have you done with Yamada?" Ikkaku looked at her with his signature sneer, his eyes narrowed.
"Wha… Whada ya mean, done with him?" His voice rose also, in answer to the grey-haired superior. Before something could start, though, a sheepish Hanataro poked out from behind Ikkaku's much larger frame.
"I'm here Lieutenant. I'm fine." This seemed to surprise Isane, who looked to be relieved to see the seventh seat.
"Hana, thank Kami you're ok. We were worried when you didn't check in with anyone." Hanataro began to reply but was cut off by a, now quite loud, Ikkaku.
"Well he's been busy, alright? I've been runnin' my guys in circles the past few days, so lay off him!" Isane took an involuntary step back. She was still a lieutenant, and not one to be yelled at, and was about to tell him as much when little Hanataro spoke up.
"It's ok, Ikkaku, she was just worried. She didn't mean anything by it." He put a small hand on the other man's arm as he spoke, and when he did, Ikkaku seemed to calm right down. Isane thought she also noticed something else that flashed across the big man's face for an instant before he regained his control. Could it be..?
"Alright, fine." Ikkaku was saying, "But if she gives ya a hard time about this, you just let me know and I'll straighten it out." Hanataro smiled at that. Before all this he would have thought the man was making a threat. Now he thought it sounded more like an offer to help and Hana was grateful.
Isane watched the flow of expression between the two men and shook her head. Was this really Hanataro interacting so willingly and so calmly with the third seat of the eleventh squad? Maybe there was more of a friendship there than anyone had previously known. Perhaps the man really had volunteered then, the lieutenant thought.
A lull in the conversation brought Isane back from her thoughts and she turned to Hanataro, her protective instinct kicking in once more.
"You should get some rest Hanataro. If you've been working as hard as Madarame-san here would have us think, you will need it. I'll get you back on the duty rotation tomorrow." Hanataro nodded.
"Thank you Lieutenant," he bowed slightly to her then turned to face the fighter. "Bye Ikkaku. I'll see you around, I guess." The other nodded, the frown never quite gone from his face.
"You bet. And hey, think about what I said this morning, alright? I mean it." The healer smiled back at the departing man as he walked back down the path to his own squad.
"What did he say this morning?" Isane asked, confused. Hanataro just stared straight ahead, his face turning pink, and shook his head.
"N-nothing important Lieutenant." He suddenly turned back toward his own apartment and took off at a quick pace.
"Well, thanks Lieutenant, I'd better get home, I'll see you!" Before Isane could say another word, she was standing alone on the edge of the division, bathed in the early evening sun and very, very confused.
When Hanataro got back to his own room, he flopped down onto his bed, and was immediately aware of how different it was from the one he had been sleeping in the past few days. He knew, of course, that all the beds for the seated officers, at least, were standard issue, and he doubted Ikkaku's was any different, but it felt different just the same. When he had been in Ikkaku's bed, he had been wrapped in warmth, and even when the man had not shared his bed, there had been his smell. It was not a bad thing at all; musky but light and sweet somehow. In fact it was comforting to have around, and now there was no sign of it.
He closed his eyes, trying to decide what he felt for the man. He had long since been afraid of him, but the Ikkaku he had seen over the last few days was different, caring and comforting, and Hana could feel an attraction growing. Just moments ago when he had touched the man's arm there had been electricity running through his body as the harshness in the other's eyes seemed to melt. Warmth ran through him as he remembered it, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up, and a tightness beginning to form in his groin. As Hanataro recalled the strength of those arms, wrapped around him that first night, so comforting, firm, yet gentle, he felt a tingle run through him. He remembered the feeling of the warm, firm chest pressed snugly against his back, the calloused hand running through his hair and down his neck, and unnoticed was his own hand, moving lower of its own accord.
His mind traced images of Ikkaku from his memory, and he watched the man come to life in his imagination; not the brute he had once thought him to be but the kind man he now suspected he really was.
"Hana," the man said his name and the voice was soft and made the healer shiver once more. "I wanted you to stay with me, Hana." The imaginary Ikkaku lay down with the healer, his scent wafting once more over the smaller man, filling him with bliss. His rough hand came up to caress the other's hair, then moved in behind his head as he brought their faces closer together.
"I wanted to stay, Ikkaku…" He let out a small sound as the imaginary man kneeled over him, his body's heat radiating down, and leaned in closer. Their lips touched, lightly at first then more completely as the black haired man pulled the other down. A hand roamed the muscular chest above him with light touches and he felt a need rise in him he never had thought possible with the third seat. He could feel the desire in their kiss, the fire in the other's touch, the electricity running down him. The intensity continued and he could feel his clothing being shed, but didn't care. The other man was soft, moving gently, and so unlike what he would have expected. He wrapped a hand around the hairless head, running his fingers over it then down the man's neck as he felt his length suddenly being held by a strong hand. A finger ran over his sensitive tip and he shook with anticipation, feeling the wetness of his own leaking member being spread over the head. As the hand stroked him, he bucked with it, feeling in ecstasy as he looked into those dark, red-tipped eyes he had once feared.
"Ikkaku…" He moaned the name of the one who tortured him with long slow strokes, never leaving those eyes that seemed to see through him so completely. The smile that came to the lips of the man was not the one often seen on the fighter during battle, but was one of contented happiness that Hanataro had seen when at the man's apartment. He leaned in again to barrage the smaller man's mouth with kisses as his hand picked up speed. Heat rose in the healer's core and his loins burned with need. Thin lips and a brush of teeth raked across his neck as the man moved lower, working his way down to Hanataro's chest. A warm tongue traced down his collarbone, mouth sucking sweetly along the way. Goosebumps ran over his pale skin as he traced the man's broad shoulders with his fingers, and as Ikkaku's mouth found a hard pink nipple a gasp escaped him. A calloused hand was still working his shaft, the other curved around his round ass, caressing, and Hanataro let out a cry and let loose to the fighter's name.
"Ikkaku!" as he opened his eyes, he found himself once more alone in his apartment, naked on his bed and covered in a sticky mess. All at once he realized what he had done. He hadn't intended to do anything more than decide how he felt about the man, though, he realized, he certainly had done that. It seemed he had stronger feelings then he had previously known, although he had to admit that the quickening of his pulse when the other was around could have been caused in part by attraction this whole time.
As he cleaned himself off, he wondered what to do about this then realized it was probably a bad idea to do anything. The only reason he had to think there was two ways to this attraction was Yumichika who wasn't above lying for his own amusement, and even if it was true, he barely knew the man. He thought he had caught a glimpse of the real Ikkaku during the last few days, but what if that had been the façade? What if the real Ikkaku was the blood thirsty, sex-driven, drunken brute that everyone thought he was? If that was the case, then Hanataro could get himself in some real trouble. No, he thought; better to not act on it.
He lay back down on his bed, clean once more, and closed his eyes, trying not to think of the other man. At first he was successful, but as he slipped down into sleep, his thoughts returned to the fantasy once more and that night his dreams were filled with Ikkaku.
That's it for now. Another chapter is already nearly finished. Should be up soon. Let me know what you think. Thanks!
~Andromeda