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"Shunsui-kun, will you come with me into town tomorrow?"
The question caught Shunsui by surprise, his head turning rather quickly towards Jushiro to reflect the emotion. The white-haired man paid it no mind, however, as his gaze was fixated upon the huge book in front of him. They had been studying at the time of Jushiro's sudden question - or rather, Jushiro had been studying. Shunsui had been doing anything but.
"Go with you into town? What for?"
"Well, truthfully, I…" Ukitake trailed off.
"Truthfully what? C'mon, Jushiro."
"I want to buy candy," Jushiro said. If he was trying to channel Shunsui's inner "I-don't-care" attitude, he was failing. Shunsui himself couldn't help but snicker at his apparent embarrassment, but he recovered quickly. If his friend was really that embarrassed about it, he wouldn't push it any further. At least, he wouldn't push it right then. Later was another time altogether.
"Sure, why not? Do you have a place in mind to go to?"
"Yes!" Jushiro nodded quickly, happy that Shunsui hadn't made much of a fuss about it. The last thing he needed was for his friend to bug him about his sweet tooth. "It's in one of the poorer Rukon districts, but the candy they make there is fantastic."
"It's a deal, then."
The two fell silent after Shunsui's confirmation. Jushiro returned to reading the large book sitting open on his lap, and his dark-haired companion felt content to lean against him, eyes shut in an attempt to avoid any sort of learning.
The next day came and went on uneventfully, leaving Shunsui quite ready to head out into the Rukon district. When his final class was over, he nearly ran out of it as fast as he could. The only thing keeping him from doing so was the idea that he might accidentally miss Jushiro in his rush. Instead, he contented himself with walking as fast as he could manage.
Before he could even get halfway down the hallway, a thin hand dropped onto his shoulder, effectively halting Shunsui in his speed-walk.
"Listen, Shunsui-kun. I know classes are done for you, but I've got one more before my day is over. I'll come meet you at your room, alright?" As Kyoraku turned to face his friend, he caught the man's apologetic smile. Shunsui frowned in return. Was he really gonna have to wait another hour just to go? It would be like an eternity!
"I have a better idea," he announced with a coy smile and a wave of his hands. Immediately, Jushiro fixed him with a skeptical look. He was no stranger to Kyoraku Shunsui's ideas.
"Now, now, Jushiro. Before you give me that look, let me explain myself. I'm just thinking - you're a pretty good student, right? Don't answer that, we both know that you are. Anyway, so you're a pretty good student, and your next class is only an extra thing you took for fun. So, it wouldn't hurt that much for you to miss it, right? And the professors never mind when you miss class, so it won't be a big deal!"
"Shunsui-kun, I can't just-"
"Jushiro. C'mon, buddy, live a little! You barely go out as it is, for reasons I can't comprehend, and I know you're looking forward to this. Let's just go."
"Shunsui-kun, I have to go to class. It's wrong for me to skip it just because I know I can get away with it."
"But think about it, Jushiro. The sooner we leave, the sooner we can buy some delicious candy. Konpeito, senbei, manju, dango…"
Jushiro was practically salivating as he went on and Shunsui smiled victoriously. He'd gotten him, hook, line, and sinker.
The pale man finally breathed a relenting sigh. "I-I suppose just once couldn't hurt…"
Shunsui grinned devilishly. "That's more like it."
As they began walking out of the academy, Jushiro hung his head. "I can't believe I let you sucker me into this, Shunsui-kun."
Shunsui chuckled. "Aw, c'mon. You and I both know that you're excited."
Another sigh. "I-I suppose, but…"
"But nothing! C'mon, Jushiro, stop worrying so much! We're gonna go out into the Rukon district and have a great time, so relax. Missing one class isn't gonna kill ya."
"Alright, alright." The paler of the two smiled, a smile which had long since grown familiar to Shunsui. He rather liked it. "I'll try to stop worrying."
"That's my Jushiro!" Shunsui exclaimed, throwing an arm around the man.
"Your Jushiro? I wasn't aware that owning souls was legal."
Shunsui only laughed and pulled him closer. His gait became awkward as he found it rather difficult to walk whilst leaning against another, but neither man felt particularly inclined to change their current situation.
It wasn't a long walk from the Shin'o Academy to the Rukongai, but from there to the particular district with the particular candy shop Jushiro had in mind, it was quite a distance. Shunsui, largely out of restlessness, had been counting down the minutes. It was nearly an hour before they finally arrived at the tiny wooden store.
Jushiro immediately entered, Shunsui following closely behind him. The large wooden doors creaked as they were slid open, revealing a small shanty filled with all sorts of different candies. Shunsui stared at the wares in amazement - he could only name maybe half of the candies in the entire shop.
"Ukitake-kun, welcome back! You haven't come in here since you entered the academy! What took you so long? There's nothing wrong, is there?"
The voice belonged to an elderly woman who was stooped behind a counter just beside the entrance of the store. Her long, grey hair was tied into a bun that sat neatly atop her head. Shunsui could tell immediately that she was very kind, and yet…
The way Jushiro's reiatsu bristled at her final question had him somewhat confused. He knew that his friend was a very proud man, but did he dislike his wellbeing being questioned that much? It didn't seem like that big of a deal, at least not to Shunsui.
Still, his friend's outer appearance reflected nothing of what Shunsui knew he was feeling on the inside. Jushiro offered a kind, friendly smile to the woman. Clearly they were old friends, Shunsui thought.
"I'm sorry, Kimura-san. I didn't mean to take so long to come back, but I've been very caught up in my studies." Jushiro rubbed the back of his neck, looking rather intensely apologetic.
"And who's this friend of yours here, Ukitake-kun?"
"Oh, yes! This man is Kyoraku Shunsui, a fellow student and friend of mine. I asked him to come with me today. Shunsui-kun, this is Kimura Chiyo-san."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Kimura-san." Shunsui greeted smoothly, a small bow accompanying his words.
"My, my, what a handsome and polite gentleman! Well, you should definitely bring this one around with you more often, Ukitake-kun!" Kimura-san let out a bark of laughter.
"Anyway, I'll stop bothering you so you can get your shopping done. Go on, dear." The gray-haired woman waved them off and quickly turned her attention elsewhere, leaving them no choice but to peruse the store. Shunsui certainly wasn't complaining - he was excited to see everything the store had to offer.
"So, do you know what you want?" Shunsui asked as he glanced around the store.
"Yes," his companion answered assuredly. Jushiro grabbed more than a few bags from the counter and began filling them full of dozens of different kinds of candy. Shunsui, meanwhile, was content to examine the store's wares until his friend was finished.
When the pale man tapped him on the shoulder and he turned to face the him, his eyebrows shot up. His white-haired compatriot was holding at least ten different bags, and though they were small, they were all filled to the brim.
"Damn, Jushiro. What're you stocking up for?"
Jushiro only chuckled and walked past him towards the counter. He was quick to pay and say his goodbyes, and before Shunsui knew it they were back out into the streets of Rukongai. His friend turned a swift left onto the road, causing him to speak up.
"Wait a sec, Jushiro. We came from the other way, remember?"
"I remember," Jushiro answered simply.
Curiously, Shunsui fell into pace with him. Where were they going? They took but a few more steps and he found his question being suddenly answered.
A little girl flew from her home and ran up to them both, a huge smile breaking out onto her face as soon as her eyes met Ukitake's.
"Ukitake-san! Everyone, Ukitake-san is here!"
In an instant, the pitter-patter of bare little feet filled Shunsui's ears as children swarmed them.
"Welcome back, Ukitake-san!" "Did you learn a lot?" "Did you get strong?" "Who's this guy?" "Is he your friend?" "Did you bring us candy?" "Will you play with us!?"
"Now, now." Despite not having any hands with which to motion to them, and despite his voice hardly being raised, Ukitake instantly calmed the children down. "I brought everyone a little something."
The children surrounded them further. Some held their hands out expectantly, others simply waited, staring at Jushiro with wide eyes. They paid Shunsui no mind now that Ukitake-san had promised them treats.
"Akiko-chan, Hanako-chan, Jirou-kun…" Ukitake called out the names of the individual children, placing a bag of candy in each of their hands as he did so. Shunsui was rather impressed that he was able to remember all of their names - there were just so many.
It didn't take long for Jushiro to end up empty-handed. The children immediately opened their bags and began munching on the candy as Jushiro opened his mouth to speak.
"Children, this is my friend Kyoraku Shunsui. I wanted him to meet all of you, so I brought him along with me."
"Hello, Shunsui-san!" A little girl greeted. "My name is Inari!"
"Nice to meet you, Inari-chan," Shunsui greeted with a kind smile. "I wonder, how did you meet Jushiro? You guys seem to know each other well."
The girl scratched her chin. "I dunno, we've just...kinda always known him. He's like our big brother! He's been there for us ever since we came here!"
Shunsui shot a look at Ukitake, who smiled embarrassedly and scratched the back of his head. Quite frankly, Shunsui was surprised that his friend had never told him about this. Then again, Ukitake was pretty quiet about his private life, even with Shunsui. They'd probably spent more time with each other than Shunsui had with his own family, and yet...he was starting to realize that he knew very little about the man.
"I wanted it to be a surprise," Jushiro said, smiling. He couldn't help but smile in return. It seemed that, little by little, Jushiro was finally opening up to him.
"Play with us, Shunsui-san! We want to play a game!" A little boy demanded, approaching him and tugging on the end of his uniform.
"A game? Well...sure, why not? What do you guys want to play?"
The children all grinned. "I bet you don't know how to play," the little boy said. "I bet we'll win!"
Shunsui grinned in return. "Oh, I think you'll find that I know how to play just about every game in the book. And I'm pretty good at 'em, too."
"Daruma-san ga koronda!" Inari suddenly announced. "Daruma-san ga koronda!" The children echoed.
"I know that one," he said, still smiling. "Who's gonna be it?"
"You, duh!"
With that, all of the kids suddenly ran away from him. Now that they were at a distance, he could properly count them. One, two, three...eleven total. It was a rather large number to be playing the Daruma doll fell over, but he wouldn't bother trying to explain that to the kids. If that's what they wanted to play, then he would play it with them.
He looked over to Jushiro, who smiled as he sat down on the ground to watch them play together.
"Have fun," said his friend with a wave.
So they played. They played long into the evening, a few of the children even managing to drag Ukitake into the fun. Kyoraku wasn't sure exactly when it happened, but he certainly hadn't complained. They were all enjoying themselves, especially Jushiro.
Even as the sun set, they played on, but Shunsui and Jushiro both could see that the children were growing weary. Jushiro silently looked to his friend, his expression just as tired as those of the children they were playing with.
"I think...I think our day may be coming to an end, Shunsui-kun."
"I can't tell who's more exhausted - the kids, or you."
Jushiro chuckled. "I think it's time we all rested."
"Aw, but I was having fun," Shunsui whined. The other children took note of their quiet conversation and quickly crowded in front of them. Curious eyes bored into their own.
"What're you guys talking about, huh? Super secrets?" Shunsui couldn't recall the name of the boy asking, but he knew the kid had been winning at nearly every game thus far. He was a feisty one, alright.
"Nah. We were just thinkin' that it's getting pretty late, and we should probably head back to the academy soon."
Before Shunsui could even finish speaking, the children began to protest loudly.
"No, you can't go! We haven't played Hanaichimonme yet! Ukitake-san, don't let him go!"
"We both have to go, young ones." Ukitake smiled sadly. "I'm sorry. I'll visit again as soon as I can, I promise, but it's getting late. You all need to go to bed, and, well...so do we." He chuckled softly, but the kids were less than amused.
"Tell you what," Kyoraku began. "Jushiro and I will start coming out here at least once a month, alright? We'll bring you guys candy and all that, too. Does that sound good?"
His promise certainly brightened the children's moods. "Only if you swear!"
"I swear," Shunsui said before looking to Jushiro. His promise would certainly hold a lot more meaning than Shunsui's own.
"I swear as well. We will come back once every month, if not more often."
The children looked around at one another before finally nodding. The two older men smiled down at them.
"Alright, then. We'll see you guys soon."
Goodbyes were said and hugs were given. A few tears were shed, and the two friends headed off once again down the beaten dirt road.
They walked, Shunsui leaning upon Jushiro just as much as the other did to him. They were both pretty exhausted, but he knew that they probably didn't need to be holding each other up. Still...it was nice.
"Man, today was one hell of a day, Jushiro...you should'a told me that I was gonna have to deal with a gaggle of children beforehand. I would've at least had a cup of tea this morning."
His white-haired companion chuckled softly. "Yes, I know. But it was a nice surprise, wasn't it?"
Shunsui nodded, his gaze slowly fixating upon his sleepy companion. The way Jushiro's short, unkempt, white hair glimmered in the setting sun…
He shook his head. Now was not the time for those sorts of thoughts.
"Yeah, that was a pretty nice reprieve. Now let's get goin', Jushiro."
"Yes. Let's go get some rest, Shunsui."
"Shunsui, huh? Just Shunsui?" He grinned over at Jushiro.
"Is- Is that alright?"
"Yeah," Shunsui's smile softened. "Yeah, that's great."