Prompt: 036. Veneer

"I'll kill 'im! Lemme go, Kensei! I'mma rip 'is throat out!"

"I've never seen the idiot so angry!" Hiyori laughed, standing a good distance away from the enraged captain; just a tad closer than the dead man behind her. She grinned and gave Aizen a thumbs up. "Good goin', loser!"

Despite Kensei holding Shinji back and Kyouraku and Ukitake there to make sure Shinji never reached him, Aizen was a little terrified. Especially because he knew his captain held grudges and, unfortunately, this was one he would most definitely be paying back.

"Captain Hirako," Aizen began, but was cut off once again by a slur of curses and an angry glare.

"If 'e opens 'is damn mouth again, I'll-" Shinji let his words drown out in a frustrated shout as a hand came to prod ever so lightly at a very chipped front tooth. "What the hell m'I s'pposed t' do 'bout this? Sousuke!"

Ever helpful, though keeping his distance, Aizen smiled. "I've heard there's a new procedure in the living world that can correct such anomalies. They're called 'veneers'."

"Did 'e just call me an anomaly?" Shinji growled to Kensei, who had finally released him.

"Just your tooth, I believe," Kensei confirmed with a nod. "The chipped one."

"I know which one!" Shinji shouted, shooting another glare at Aizen. "This ain't over!" he declared before storming off.

"My, my," Kyouraku mumured, sending a pitying glance to Aizen, "are you sure you'll be okay on your own, Sousuke?"

Aizen really wasn't sure how to answer.


Prompt: 037. Fall

"The first one t' fall... well, that's kinda obvious," Shinji said, scowling across the narrow plank that stretched from one rooftop to the adjacent one.

"If this is part of my punishment, sir, I really think there are better ways to-"

"Shaddup!" the captain shouted, tightening his grip on his sword's hilt. "An' no releases. The old man'll throw a fit if we destroy the place."

As if a lieutenant would ever be ballsy enough to release his zanpakutou at his captain. Not to mention... "Captain, if you don't mind my saying, you've already taken my sword. I couldn't possibly." His eyes traveled to the green-hilted blade, securely tucked in his captain's waistband before lowering to the ground below where, he knew, explosives had been planted in the dirt. But even if luck had been on his side, Aizen was sure he'd set them off; Shinji had made him plant them, after all, and they were covering literally every foot of ground. They weren't deadly, of course, but they were still going to hurt like a bitch.

Seeming to have forgotten about the sword, Shinji gave a shrug. "Alrigh', then no kido."

Shinji couldn't have made it more obvious that the entire purpose of that particular 'activity' was to put Aizen in a good amount of pain if he'd shouted it from the rooftop he was standing on. Still, Aizen was hard-pressed to object. It had been his fault that the other's face made such unfortunate contact with the very hard ground that broke the tooth. Well, if unknowingly bumping into someone counted as being at fault. When the one doing the bumping was Aizen, and the one being bumped was Shinji, it most certainly counted.

And then Shinji gave the signal to begin and the pair balanced themselves toward each other on the plank. That was, naturally, the easy part and as soon as they met, Shinji withdrew Sakanade from its sheath and aimed a clean slice right at Aizen's head. The lieutenant ducked and was met with another swipe aimed at his left side. That one clipped his uniform, just barely grazing the skin underneath, and he quickly retreated, pivoting his body to stand with his right side to Shinji. He spared the injury no mind, keeping his eyes focused on his captain, but blinked as Shinji changed his position, face more serene than Aizen had ever seen it, and lifted a leg to aim a firm kick directly in the center of his lieutenant's chest.

Aizen wished he'd had time to appreciate just how admirable his captain was while fighting, but the force knocked the wind from his lungs and sent him falling from the plank. One, last glimpse of Shinji sheathing his sword, eyes narrowed only slightly, and he hit the ground with a thump.

Moments later, the air filled with the sound of a dozen explosions triggering each other and Shinji finally smiled.


Prompt: 038. Nightmare

After he'd finally calmed down, and given that the addition of a pearly-white veneer really did make his tooth look like brand new, Shinji had felt a smidgen of guilt at just how badly he'd hurt the other man. Of course, he'd never say as much, and he hadn't lessened the other's workload any, but when it came time at the end of the day for the two to part ways, he had hesitated and eventually invited Aizen back to his own quarters for the night.

As Aizen learned, Shinji really went all out for himself. While the lieutenant contented himself with a futon on the floor and a few, sparse pieces of furniture, Shinji's room was elaborate, to say the least. As the captain had claimed as an excuse for inviting Aizen inside, his bed did look worlds more comfortable. Aizen had attempted, once, to argue that Shinji had no place sleeping on a simple futon while he rested in a bed that the captain must have somehow brought back from the living world. Shinji shut him up with a certifiably terrifying look and the two quietly settled down into a restful sleep.

At least, it would have been restful, had Aizen not woken up to rather violent screaming. It wasn't anything he was unused to, but the tone of it was unfamiliar. It wasn't angry, it was scared.

Sitting straight up, Aizen's brow furrowed as he realized whatever horror his superior was experiencing must have been in his own head. He watched the other man, face contorted in what looked like the closest thing Aizen had ever seen to agony on his captain's face, gripped at his covers and shouted out into the quiet darkness. There were no words that Aizen could discern, but he was clearly reliving some, brutal memory.

After another moment of decision, Aizen slipped from the bed and knelt down at Shinji's side, a tentative hand reaching out to firmly shake the other's shoulder. He wasn't entirely familiar with nightmares, but he could fathom that being woken from one would make a person violent, if only until reality settled back in.

A clean punch to the face proved him right.

Shinji bolted straight up, eyes wide and chest heaving with short pants. He tangled his fingers in the thin blanket that covered him and attempted to control the shivers running down his spine. It was only when Aizen spoke his name that he realized he wasn't alone, and though he attempted to cover up his obvious distress with his usual indifference- or even a spontaneous bout of anger- his mental exhaustion took a toll on him. Tonight, he wasn't up for faking it.

"Captain Hirako?" Aizen voiced again and started slightly as the smaller frame leaned lightly against his own. He studied the blonde for a moment before awkwardly moving an arm around the other man's shoulders. He knew better than to speak again, and shifted himself back against the side of a very vacant bed. So much for more comfortable.


Prompt: 039. Contagious

"I heard something interesting~" came Kyouraku's greeting.

Disgruntle, Shinji glanced up from his paperwork and raised an eyebrow. "Like what?"

The older captain moved himself fully into Shinji's office with his usual grin gracing his lips. "I heard you and Sousuke spent the night together last night, in your quarters."

Shinji's eyes immediately widened and he leaned forward, hands firmly planted on his desk. "Who the hell told ya somethin' like that? It's obviously not what it sounds like!"

"Oh?" Kyouraku wondered. "Lisa told me. Apparently, she was snooping around and spotted you two, last night."

"Damn girl. Can't ya keep a leash on 'er or somethin'?" Shinji huffed and glowered back at his papers. "I was just..."

"Just~?"

"Nothin'! I was just bein'nice, okay?"

"My, my," the amusement in his voice grew, "after so long, now you've decided to be nice, all of a sudden?"

"It ain't like that! C'mon, ya know better than that, don'tcha? Or have ya been hangin' out with Hiyori too much? Stupidity's contagious, ya know."

"Relax," Kyouraku said, raising his hands in defense, "I won't spread any rumors."

"An' Lisa?"

"Let me know when you find a leash strong enough."


Prompt: 040. Good riddance

"It's only a simple mission, Captain, don't make such a fuss." Honestly, Aizen was positive he wouldn't even be gone a full day.

"I ain't makin' a fuss," Shinji argued, frowning, "but I've been havin' t' take on a lot of the work as it is! Now you're leavin'?"

"It won't be for long," the lieutenant assured with a smile, "I'm confident you can survive until I return."

"It ain't about somethin' like that," Shinji muttered, crossing his arms and turning his head to the side. "Fine, whatever. Don't get beat up too bad."

Aizen waited another beat before tilting his head. "Is that all?"

"Whadda ya mean?" Shinji asked, wrinkling his nose. "What else m'I s'pposed t' say?"

"I imagined you would say something like 'Good riddance'."

The blonde waved a hand. "Idiot, I say that after ya leave. Can't do it if ya don't go." But, as Aizen bowed a final farewell and left out of the office, Shinji glanced toward the door with a frown. A moment's thought and he closed his eyes, snorting softly. "Good riddance, Sousuke."