InsaneJournal

[Bleach] Five Meetings
fandom Bleach
characters Shuuhei, Yumichika


The first time that Hisagi Shuuhei meets Ayasegawa Yumichika -- really meets, that is, not just nodding to each other in hallways with polite smiles -- he gets his ass kicked.

The second time, he expects Yumichika to gloat, to make sharp little comments that slide neatly between his ribs without anybody noticing. He waits tensely all night for a blow that doesn’t come, until Renji finally pulls him aside and says, “Senpai, do you realise you’ve been glaring at Yumichika for the past two hours? I think Ikkaku’s about to beat your head in with his chair, and not just ‘cause he’s drunk off his face.”

Shuuhei opens his mouth to reply, to say something like “I can take Ikkaku” or “I’m more scared of Yumichika”, but then he decides that he’s drunk too and leaves without saying anything.

The third time, he’s training by himself behind the Ninth Division barracks when he senses an unfamiliar reiatsu nearby. He slowly unsheathes his zanpakuto, then calls out, “Who’s there?”

“Nobody dangerous,” a low voice says, and Yumichika steps out from the shadows of the nearest building.

For a moment, Shuuhei simply stares at Yumichika and wonders if he’s being ironic. Then he realises that he still has his sword pointed at an unarmed man, and despite what his instincts tell him he forces himself to slide his sword back into its sheathe and relax his stance. “What d’you want?” he says.

“Full of holes,” Yumichika murmurs, so softly that Shuuhei suspects he isn’t meant to hear. In a louder voice, he muses, “Less paperwork, somebody to come home to at night, the love of a good man--”

“What? What’re you talking about?” Shuuhei says with a frown.

Yumichika smiles, an oddly unreadable expression that makes Shuuhei feel wary, his hand tightening unconsciously around the hilt of his zanpakuto. “You asked me what I wanted,” Yumichika reminds him, then shrugs one shoulder. “I was just taking a stroll when I noticed you and thought I’d say hello. I’m not after a pound of flesh, so you can stop looking at me like I’m a hungry predator.”

“I’m not...! You’re...” Shuuhei begins to say, but doesn’t really know how to end.

“I am?” Yumichika prompts.

“You’re... I don’t know what you are,” Shuuhei mutters. Belatedly, it occurs to him that this is kind of a rude thing to say even to someone who’s kicked his ass, but Yumichika just laughs. And it’s a nice laugh, Shuuhei thinks, soft and mellow and only slightly mocking; it lingers in his mind long after Yumichika leaves him alone to contemplate all the holes in his defence.

The fourth time, alcohol is once again involved, which, Shuuhei ponders blurrily, is only to be expected when it comes to his friends. He peers at the beer bottle in his hand, then shakes it a little to see if there’s anything in it, and he’s wondering just how many he’s had when Yumichika informs him, “Too many.”

“Bwuh?” he says intelligently.

“You’re a funny drunk, Hisagi-san,” Yumichika says with a smile, and maybe Shuuhei really is drunk because the smile actually looks friendly and kind of affectionate and not at all mocking; it must be the beer bottle glasses, he decides.

“Hi Yumichika,” he says, because it’s only right to be sociable.

“Hi... Shuuhei-san,” Yumichika replies, and the smile really does look kind of affectionate. Maybe.

“You want?” Shuuhei asks, gesturing with the possibly empty bottle in his hand. When Yumichika shakes his head, he shrugs and lifts the bottle to his lips, which is when he finally discovers that there is, in fact, no beer left in it.

Yumichika laughs. “I think it’s time for you to go home. Unless you plan to join the brawl that Ikkaku and Iba-san are three minutes away from starting?”

“Brawl,” Shuuhei repeats, frowning. After a few moments of deep thought, he announces, “No, no brawl thanks.”

“Home, then,” Yumichika says lightly. He takes Shuuhei by the arm and helps him to stand, while Shuuhei peers at him and wonders if he imagined the strained note in Yumichika’s voice.

Halfway to his quarters, Shuuhei suddenly decides that it would be a good idea to rub his nose against Yumichika’s soft hair, sniffing audibly at the spot behind Yumichika’s ears. “Smell good,” he mumbles approvingly.

“You don’t,” Yumichika says. “You need a bath. And this would all go much more smoothly if you’d just wait until there’s a bed in the vicinity--”

And this is the last thing Shuuhei remembers hearing.

The fifth time, Shuuhei wakes up with an all-too-familiar headache and a distinctly unfamiliar weight on his arm. He glances down at said arm as his mouth splits open on a wide yawn, and he almost swallows his tongue when he sees that the unfamiliar weight is Yumichika’s head.

The gears in Shuuhei’s mind turn sluggishly as he tries to remember what happened the night before, but just when he thinks that he may recall something about hair-sniffing, he notices that Yumichika’s hair seems mysteriously impervious to bedhead. This makes Shuuhei pause and take a good look at his face, and he sees -- really sees, that is, for the first time -- that Yumichika has absurdly long eyelashes which fan out delicately on his sleep-flushed cheeks, and a bow-shaped mouth with lips that are slightly parted. This is when Shuuhei realises that he’s lying in a bed with a very beautiful man, and they’re both naked.

“Good morning,” Yumichika says, quietly, shifting backwards so that they’re no longer touching; his eyes watch Shuuhei cautiously.

Shuuhei frowns. “Clearly you’ve had a lot of experience in waking up next to strange men who don’t remember what the hell they did with you when they were drunk,” he mutters, and regrets his words almost the instant that they leave his mouth. At the back of his mind, he knows that he feels angry only because he isn’t sure how he’s supposed to feel -- anger is easy. The look that flashes briefly in Yumichika’s eyes simply adds to the guilty knowledge that he’s being a complete and utter asshole.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that,” he says, and wishes that he could wipe the nonchalant expression from Yumichika’s face. His apology is followed by a long period of avoiding each other’s eyes and incredibly awkward silence, until Shuuhei finally sighs and asks, earnestly, “What do you want from me, Yumichika?”

“What does anyone want?” Yumichika answers evasively, still not looking at Shuuhei, and he sounds almost indifferent except Shuuhei is looking at him, and somehow he can tell that Yumichika is anything but indifferent when he says, “Less paperwork, somebody to come home to at night, the love of a good man... simple things, really.”

“Yeah,” Shuuhei says, and he thinks that he’s starting to understand Yumichika at last. “But I’m not--”

“You are,” Yumichika says, cutting him off with a sharp certainty that threatens to unsettle Shuuhei’s newfound understanding. “You are a good man, Hisagi Shuuhei.”

A hundred thoughts race through Shuuhei’s mind as he stares at Yumichika, none of which seem to make more sense than any other, until he simply comes to the conclusion that thinking is overrated. He brushes Yumichika’s hair back from his face, and watches Yumichika’s eyes widen as he leans in.

The first time that Hisagi Shuuhei kisses Ayasegawa Yumichika -- really kisses, that is, and not under the influence of alcohol -- they both have terrible morning breath, and it is the first kiss of many.


.fin


A/N: This is my first time writing these characters CAN YOU TELL? ;_;