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If it weren't for the sun shining through an uncovered window, Ikkaku doubted he would have ever woken up. Sometime during the night, Yumichika must have gotten cold and was curled up against him, but it was hard to care about something so innocent and adorable. Even awake, though, he didn't want to get up. It was comfortable and warm in his position, and if he got up he knew he'd be subject to the cold morning air.
"Mm," Yumichika groaned at the light shining on his face. Not remembering that Ikkaku was with him, and thinking the man to be a pillow, he buried his face into Ikkaku's side.
"Yumichika?"
"Huh?" Yumichika's eyes shot open as he realized that there was someone else with him. "Sorry, Ikkaku, I forgot-"
"It's fine. You need to do something about the windows here, though."
"It's not worth the effort," was his reply as he pulled the blanket over his head and attempted to go back to sleep. They'd worked so hard and gotten home quite late. Plus, without the proper beauty sleep, his skin would lose its beautiful shine and his eyes would become dull.
It got rather cold when Yumichika pulled away, and Ikkaku wished it wouldn't be completely awkward if he scooted closer or pulled the man back. "Hey, Yumichika?"
"Yeah?"
"Did you mean what you said, about giving me a place to stay 'till I leave?"
"Of course."
"It might be a real long time 'fore I find a boat."
"I don't mind. As long as you don't mind me not being around much. I'm busy most nights, actually."
Ikkaku's stomach twitched. He had a feeling he knew why the man was busy, if he made a habit of taking men to bed for personal gains.
"I-i see."
"Don't think much of it," Yumichika said and cuddled back up against Ikkaku. "Sorry, I'm just cold."
"I don't mind, but." Ikkaku stalled. It wasn't his business, he shouldn't care what Yumichika did. He should be grateful for a place to stay, but it was hard to think that way. Of course he didn't think much of it when he was drunk, for the simple reason that he wasn't thinking much of anything. Sober, it wasn't a comfortable thing to know, especially considering that the man was beautiful and decent enough to return the sword he'd initially stolen and help an almost stranger out. "Never mind."
"Tell me," Yumichika popped his head out of the covers, and when he did so his face was hardly and inch away from Ikkaku's, and he was intently staring into the man's eyes.
Ikkaku's heart stopped beating and he jumped back a full three feet. "Don't do that!"
"What did you want to say then, and bring those blankets back. It'll be cold until the afternoon and I'm not letting you take the covers."
Ikkaku threw the blanker over. "Of course that's what you're concerned about."
Yumichika rolled his eyes. "Don't talk as if you know me."
"Whatever."
"What did you want to say, tell me," Yumichika persisted.
"Nosy."
"You should be more nice to someone who's gone out of their way to be kind to you."
"Yeah, you do that after you take my drunk ass to some random room, steal my shit and try to kill me."
"In my defense-"
"Just drop the subject."
Yumichika wrapped himself in the blanket again. "Suit yourself, but if you're going to be so mean then I don't need to play nice."
Ikkaku ignored what the man said and got back into the bed, taking some of the blankets by force and pulled Yumichika closer. "Shut up, it's too cold and too early."
"Humph."
"That's the most you're going to complain?"
"It is too cold." Yumichika answered and pulled the blankets back over top his head, and backed into Ikkaku cuddling closer. "Don't think you're off the hook, though."
"Yeah, yeah."
Yumichika suddenly remembered something important to tell his friend, before he got too comfortable and forgot, or fell asleep. He popped his head back up in the same manner that almost gave the man a heart attack earlier. "Oh yeah, the woman you met at the swords shop yesterday says she'll give you a job for as long as you can stay, since you look strong."
"Don't do that, I said, dammit!"
Yumichika smiled and curled back up under the blankets. He knew Ikkaku wouldn't stay mad for long.
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"I hate that man," Ikkaku muttered as he stood at the entrance of the shop, holding a broom and covered head to toe in dirt, dust and sweat.
"What was that, dear?" The old shop keeper asked. The man who caused her dear Yumichika so much trouble was certainly paying for it today. Whether or not Yumichika deserved the trouble wasn't important at the moment.
"Nothing, ma'am."
"Yumichika said you're saving up to leave, so if you want your full pay you shouldn't be standing around talking to yourself."
"Yes, ma'am," Ikkaku answered grudgingly. If it weren't for the consequence of Yumichika trying to kill him, he would've done away with this woman awhile ago.
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Just as expected, no one was at the apartment when Ikkaku got there, a few hours after dusk (the old bat was crazy, keeping him so long). There was a little tug at him, even though he was tired, to go looking for Yumichika. A tug that, despite his previous reservations about the man, couldn't be ignored.
The bar that he'd been in the first night he'd arrived at the crappy port town was apparently one that Yumichika frequented. He was in the corner seducing some hairy gorilla that had a multitude of random piercings that seemed to be of some value, as well as a pair of decorative twin axes strapped to his back. Ikkaku was almost concerned that if the beautiful man made one wrong move, the drunken ape would embrace him and accidentally break him.
The bald man didn't go unnoticed.
Yumichika's eyes lifted casually, as if he were just making sure there was no one who looked like they may have had a few more valuables on them, or be more drunk and almost as rich, before he sealed the deal and took the ugly man to a random room around town, when he set eyes on Ikkaku. He seemed surprised for a split second, but then averted his gaze back to the horribly disgusting man he was seducing.
Ikkaku didn't want to let something like that happen, though. He didn't want Yumichika to do something so degrading. I wasn't becoming of someone so beautiful, someone with so much talent regarding his fighting skills, nor did it seem completely anatomically possible when looking at the size difference. The last reason graded on his mind and almost made him wonder, if the mental image wouldn't be completely frightening.
Ikkaku stood at the doorway for another thirty seconds, somehow unnoticed, before he regained composure an walked to a bar seat. For ten minutes, it seemed no one recognized him, and Yumichika continued without being deterred. Surprisingly enough, the raven haired man walked over to Ikkaku, after kissing the gorilla and excusing himself for a moment.
"What are you doing here? If you order anything, the bartender will remember you and get mad for not paying your bill last time."
"I just," Ikkaku had forgotten to come up with a reason for coming in the first place.
"Why are you here, Ikkaku?"
"I forgot I ever came here," Ikkaku lied through his teeth. Yumichika didn't seem to notice it wasn't the truth though, and it made some sense, seeing as the night he left, Ikkaku was too drunk to walk almost. Why would he remember the bar that had kicked him out?
"Well, it'll be in your best interest to leave before the owner notices you."
"Tch. I can handle myself."
"Right, because you did very well against me, and by the way I must weigh forty pounds less than you. Just leave before you get yourself hurt, or in trouble," he cautioned, seeming to genuinely care. Of course, Ikkaku couldn't build up the nerve to ask Yumichika to come back with him, and not go with that hairy ape instead.
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