Despite his best attempts to convince his boss to let him go home for the night, Ichigo found himself dragging his feet back to one of the rooms with a couch in it, not entirely happy that he'd been told that a small rest will pick him back up from 'the pit of embarrassment he'd fallen into' as Mr. Urahara had put it. That man could not seem to get it through his head that Ichigo had just experienced the single most horrific moment of his life and did not feel like being sexy for a day or two, let alone the next few hours! Sliding into the usually vacant room, used only by his fellow strippers who were unlucky enough to get thrown out of their living quarters but lucky enough to have Mr. Urahara offer up a temporary shelter, Ichigo plopped down onto the squeaky couch. Glancing around his new surroundings, he realized why he'd never ventured in there before. Not only was it sort of dusty and cluttered from a lack of cleaning but it also stank of vomit, alcohol and sex – not a very pleasant combination. His stomach was already uneasy enough as it was from the shock Renji had given to his system and the stench hanging in the air was not helping at all.
But then again ... neither was thinking about Renji ...
Clutching his stomach and letting out a small groan, Ichigo relaxed down into the cushions, allowing himself to stretch out and get comfortable as he tried to ignore the smell and keep his mind from thinking about what had probably taken place right where he was laying. For a moment, he simply laid their and stared at the ceiling but when his thoughts began to lean towards the redhead that had caused him such grief he closed his eyes and tried to think of other things.
Less upsetting things.
Like that girl.
The one he'd made orgasm ... right in front of Renji.
Dammit, he'd really fucked up this time. It wasn't enough he'd stripped for the guy and even given his cock a good grinding but he'd also witnessed Ichigo bring a young woman to pleasure right then and there in front of everyone. He couldn't have just recognized Renji's stupid ass could he? He had to completely overlook any and all signs of familiarity in his stupid face and just keep on trying to make money. How stupid did that make Ichigo feel? Very damn stupid, indeed.
And he was getting tired of using the word 'stupid' repeatedly – even if it was only in his mental dialog.
"I'm so fucking stupid ..."
"Damn right you are," came the sultry reply from not even five inches away from his ear.
With a small cry of surprise, Ichigo's eyes flew open as he jolted himself back further into the couches protection. Finding mirthful golden eyes staring back at him with amusement was not something he'd expected but finding the culprit to be Yoruichi didn't come as a surprise either. If any kind of mischief took place here it was almost always her doing and the worst part was she got away with it. He supposed it was a perk that came with being the bosses main squeeze.
"Dammit, Yoruichi! What the hell is wrong with you!" Ichigo all but shouted unable to keep his temper in check with so much testing it that night. "Are you trying to give me freakin' heart attack?"
The smirk her lips formed was in no way sorry or apologetic for her actions. Then again, he couldn't really expect her to be, could he ...? "Never. After all, your one of the more popular male strippers and we can't go loosing you to something as trivial as a heart attack now can we?"
Ichigo sighed, running a hand through his hair impatiently. "You say 'we' like you own this club and aren't a stripper just like me." A pause. "And heart attacks aren't trivial – their serious business."
"Of course they are," She replied, nodding as if she fully understood though he already knew his words had just flown right over her head, completely ignored. "and I thought I'd told you before that I willingly strip. I'm not an actual employee here, Ichigo, I do it because I want to! So, for all you know, I could very well own this club with Kisuke and I just never told you ..."
For what seemed like a very long time, they stared into each others eyes, brown melting into gold, firm brown into swimming hazel – Ichigo was the first to look away.
"I somehow doubt that." He muttered, more to himself then to her.
Yoruichi chuckled gently. "Oh, really? Then, how is it that even after you explained your situation to Kisuke three times, I somehow talked him into letting you go home?"
In all honesty, Ichigo wasn't sure he'd heard right but decided to at least pretend he knew what she'd said, though he still sounded incredulous when he all but croaked out; "Really?"
She nodded, pony tail bouncing. "Yep. But this means you have to work really hard tomorrow night and earn a lot of money to make this up." She warned gently, though the playful purr in her voice was a dead give away that she was only teasing him. Which was perfectly fine because if it meant he could go home and (hopefully) not vomit then he was willing to take a bit of mockery.
"Thanks Ms. Yoruichi, I owe you."
"I know you do."
(XxXxX)
Finding his table covered in Chinese food boxes was not something Ichigo had expected when he'd stepped into his apartment but it wasn't necessarily an offensive sight either. It just left him with one, definitive, ground breaking, ultimately fate changing conclusion which was: his roommate was home.
"Shuhei! Where are you?" The carrot top called out as he dropped his bags onto the floor.
"Back here! Give me a moment!" came the reply as he crossed the threshold into the kitchen. There were a few more boxes on the counter top and it made Ichigo wonder just how many people his roommate had thought they'd be feeding. Maybe there was someone with Shuhei who he didn't know about ... or he could have been expecting someone to pay a visit. It just really wasn't like him to bring anyone over unannounced and especially so late ...
All suspicions of a third party were wiped from his mind when the dark haired man stepped into the kitchen dressed in only a pair of jeans that were unbuttoned and unzipped, left to cling to his thin hips loosely. Shuhei greeted him with a nonchalant wave before he bent to retrieve a beer from the fridge. Even though he knew it wasn't appropriate, Ichigo couldn't help but look at Shuhei's ass appreciatively, knowing full and well that if it wasn't his good looks that had made clothing lines want him to model their products then it was definitely his body. His rear had just been the deal closer.
If only my ass were as nice then maybe I'd be able to move up from stripping to modeling too ...
"So, how was work?" Shuhei asked gently as he popped the can open, tilting his head back to take a swig and leaving the long line of his neck on display. His Addams apple bobbed once, twice then a sigh escaped his lips as he pulled the can from his mouth. Ichigo had always felt a little envious when in Shuhei's presence and this was exactly why. He just made every thing look so ... damn ... good.
"Not so great," the carrot top admitted with a sigh of his own. He retreated into the small living room where their table was setup and, coincidentally, where the food was as well. "I ran into someone I didn't really want to – and in the worst possible way too."
"Let me guess," Shuhei muttered as he watched Ichigo slide into a chair from the kitchen's entrance. "you stripped for this person?"
Ichigo's stomach began to ache again. Dammit, he needed something to calm it down ...
Shuhei cocked a dark brow when his words were met with silence. It must have meant he'd struck it head on, but judging by his roomies face, it looked like their was more. After a moment of consideration, he decided to just go with the next best guess. "Did you give them a lap dance too?"
"Dammit, Shuhei, just stop already!" Ichigo cried out in exasperation, grabbing onto his own short hair and pulling hard enough to make his eyes water slightly. "Just be quiet and eat some damn Chinese food! You bought so freakin' much we could live for a week off it all! At least enjoy it while it's fresh cause' three days from now it's not gonna' be tasting so good!"
Chuckling gently, the tattooed man obliged and stepped over, sliding into the chair across from Ichigo who, in a show of agitation, was already shoveling food from one of the boxes into his mouth. With a shake of his head, Shuhei picked up his set of chopsticks, broke them apart and began to chow down on the shrimp fried rice. Oh, how he did love shrimp. It just wasn't so great for him ... oh well. That's what exercise was for he supposed.
"So, who was this person anyway?" He asked after a moment of silence.
Frowning down at his half eaten egg roll, Ichigo gave a shrug. "Some guy from high school."
Shuhei blinked up at him. "Did he recognize you?"
"Yeah! The bastard came looking for me! I mean – what the hell is up with that?! You only do that sort of thing with best friends or if your in love! And he is most certainly not in love with me!"
Reaching for the sweet and sour chicken box, Shuhei asked gently; "Were you best friends then?"
"Psh! Hell no! We fought all the time! The only reason we even knew each other was because we were always beating each other up!" Ichigo angrily bit into a chunk of beef, chewing with as much irritation as one possibly could.
This time it was Shuhei's turn to frown. "So if your not best friends then he must be in love with you."
Ichigo's eyes widened as his cheeks turned bright red. "Wha-what!?"
"You just said so yourself," Shuhei replied fixing the carrot top with his own look of agitation. "By your logic, if he didn't come find you because you two were buddies then that means their must be emotions between you two."
"That's not true!" Ichigo insisted as he dropped his chopsticks into the box he'd last been eating from. He suddenly wasn't feeling so hungry ...
Shuhei shrugged, thinking that for it to be nothing like he was claiming, Ichigo sure was being defensive about the whole thing. "Well, did you ever say or do anything to him that might make him like you or something?"
"No ..."
"Did he ever say or do anything that would hint his feelings towards you."
"No."
"Does he know your bisexual?"
"No! For gods sake, Shuhei just let it go!"
Rolling his eyes, the dark haired man sighed heavily. "Fine. I don't really care anyway. But when he starts stalking you, don't come crying to me because I tried to help you out so you can set things straight with him." With as much authority of a judge ending a trial, Shuhei lifted his beer, drank the last of it's contents and then slammed it down onto the table.
And just like that, that particular conversation was dead.
"Speaking of stalkers," Ichigo said, pleasantly enough. "hows your fanboy?"
Shuhei chuckled as he swiped a strand of hair from his eyes. "As fanboyish as ever."
(XxXxX)
That night when it was time to go to sleep, Ichigo crawled into bed with Shuhei, not out of wanting comfort from the other male or even from wanting someone to share the lonely night with. It was more to give him proof that, although it didn't always seem like he had anyone there for him, there was at least one person who always had his back. And, as if to further that proof, he slept the whole night with his back against Shuhei's front and, never one to deny physical contact, the tattooed man remained pressed tight against the younger male, arms around his middle.
If their was one thing Shuhei understood, that was the feeling of being alone.
(XxXxX)
Yes, I finally managed to update. I am so sorry that it took so long and this chapter was nothing more then fodder to get the story going into the next chapter. I doubt you care about my sorry excuses but I'd like to at least attempt to save myself. To begin with, I find it hard to continue stories and I had a hard time finding inspiration for this and then school started and since I fail at life, that took up most of my attention. Then, theres the fact that for some goddamn reason my computer won't let me sign in to FF.N and I have to actually use my mothers computer to post this and she doesn't like me using her computer and so I have to sneak and do it and --- it's just very troublesome. Please forgive me.
But, I do hope that you liked this chapter. Even though there wasn't a whole lot going on I still hope it was good enough to please. And I wonder if anyone caught the foreshadowing at the end ... I know this is a kind of slow start but I have something very interesting planned for this so I hope you all stick around!
And who doesn't love the idea of Shuhei and Ichigo being roommates? I personally think it's genius because they'd be great living under the same roof. Personalities close enough that it doesn't cause too much conflict but different enough to make things interesting. Not exactly 'Friends' material but not everyone can make it big in a sitcom, right? Right.
I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible. Promise.