[Bleach] War to End... (part 5)
Jul. 30th, 2006 01:58 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
valmora(aka "the scene where Kira and Val make it clear that nearly all the characters in this fic are gay for one another")
All headings and disclaimers can be found in part one.
“It is good to see you with us again, Ukitake-taichou.” Unohana’s carefully-spoken words were clear and calm, even if her gaze still held a bit of worry. “How are you feeling?” Her question was offset by subtle movement to the right and out of Ukitake’s direct line of vision, although the movement seemed to herald a slight increase in pressure against his reiatsu.
“Very well,” he answered evenly, “although my neck hurts. Presumably I fell asleep while in my office - how silly of me.” He chuckled, thinking of all the nights he had done something similar and of Shunsui’s inevitable scolding, and continued, “I think I’m quite all right now, though?” He left it a question, wanting to see how much she had deduced.
Moments passed in silence until the gentle weight of Unohana’s reiatsu eventually receded and recollected about her form. “So it would seem,” she confirmed, watching him carefully still. “However, your reiatsu will continue to be restricted until I am certain of your ability to leave Fourth Division.” She left the without harming others unsaid.
“That’s reasonable,” Jyuushirou agreed, resisting sitting up only through long experience in the Fourth Division under Unohana’s dictatorial regime. “What happened?” He was certain he had gone to sleep in his own office, and it was unlikely he had checked himself into Fourth Division while in his inner world; the possibility that he had hurt someone, or revealed something of the events inside his mind, was chilling.
“It would seem as though after you fell asleep, your reiatsu began to flare.” The woman sat back, setting her hands in her lap as she observed Ukitake’s reaction to her words. “Your third seats, thinking something was amiss, found you asleep in your office. However, they were prevented from nearing you due to the state of your reiatsu. For this reason, they requested my intervention. I was able to subdue the energies and tranfered you here. You have since been resting here in varying degrees of well-being.” She paused, gaze thoughtful as she watched him, and then added, “This room has been secured such that it would be highly unlikely for you to leave it without my consent.”
“Thank you,” he said, nodding in gratitude to her. “Are Kotetsu - mine, that is - and Kotsubaki well? I’m sure your own vice-captain was pleased to see her sister?” Turning the conversation to irrelevancies might, he thought, make her forget to ask what had brought him here.
As an Earth-inhabitant might have said, yeah, right.
“They are... shaken, but well,” Unohana answered, glancing placidly down at the box still clutched in Jyuushirou’s hand before returning her gaze to his own. “Kyouraku-taichou has also been quite worried; the three of them have been waiting down the hallway for quite some time, although I am sure Kotsubaki Sentarou-san and Kotetsu Kiyone-san have since been convinced of returning to your division.”
“I’m sure Ise-san is very annoyed by now,” Jyuushirou remarked, amused, “if Kyouraku has been waiting for as long as you imply. Could you tell him that I’m quite all right and he should listen to his vice-captain? I wouldn’t mind terribly if he wished to see me, but I’m sure that Ise-san will have some objection to that.” He smiled at her, then added, “If you wouldn’t mind, could I have my work sent here for me to do while you’re keeping me monitored? I wouldn’t want to overburden my division with paperwork I feel perfectly capable of doing.” He set the box on the table by the bed, leaving it there and deliberately not looking at it, instead gazing at Unohana.
“If you are well enough to receive work, then you are well enough to receive visitors, and we should both know by now that allowing Kyouraku-taichou his visit is the quickest way of returning him to his division.” Unohana rose, observing Ukitake a moment longer. “I will have the paperwork sent here; however, you will take care to monitor the length of your attention to it, or I will have it removed. While I see no imminent need to worry, I will be monitoring your condition until our next meeting. If nothing has changed by then, I believe you should be well enough to attend.”
That Unohana had been in Jyuushirou’s room so long argued for some change in his condition, and Shunsui, shaking Nanao off and moving to just outside the door, slouched against the wall, listening to the soft murmur of voices and wanting to be let in.
He was given his opportunity when Unohana opened the door; she caught sight of him as soon as she had entered the hallway and said, with a smile that gave no hint as to how irritated with him she probably was, “Kyouraku-taichou, he’s ready to see you now.”
He closed the door behind himself, ignoring Nanao’s frustrated sigh and the sound of her dropping into a chair in the waiting room, and watched Jyuushirou, who was half-lying in the bed, half-sitting, and looked in better health than he had been just the day before.
Hearing Shunsui’s entrance, though unable to feel it with his reiatsu as he normally did, Jyuushirou turned slightly, offering the other man a warm smile, though it was more for his own nerves than to ease Shunsui’s. “You didn’t have to come,” he greeted, split between feeling the comfort of the other captain’s presence and trying to send him back to his own division.
“Of course I came,” Shunsui answered brightly, “Unohana-taichou wouldn’t have told me how you were, and - well -” he took a few steps closer and feigned secrecy, “Nanao-chan wouldn’t have let me get out of work if she hadn’t been worried. Always best to do what the ladies in your life want.” He nodded sagely, tucking his hands into his sleeves and perching on the side of the bed despite its narrowness.
Offering Shunsui a bemused smile in response, Jyuushirou let his gaze settle on the other man. A phantom echo of pain crept through his mind, reminding him how close he’d come to never seeing Shunsui again. His hands subtly curled in the sheet laid over him. The chance for loss was still there. He searched back in himself, worriedly seeking out some knowledge of the state of his Hollow side, but received on a subdued, almost lazy, echo. He fought back a feeling of relief, reminding himself that there was still the chance of betrayal, despite the muted response he’d received.
Seeing Jyuushirou’s hands clench in the blankets, Shunsui reached out, taking Jyuushirou’s hand and uncurling his fingers from around the cloth.
“That bad?” he asked, then, seeing the box on the table, picked it up with his other hand and examined it, one eye on the box and the other on Jyuushirou. Turning the box over in his hand for a moment, he seemed to dismiss it, then set it down and reached out to rearrange Jyuushirou’s clothes, putting robes that were in disarray from Unohana’s ministrations back in place.
The question, more than the actions that went with it, was what drew Jyuushirou from his pained musings. He looked up at his companion, allowing the adjustment of his clothing without complaint. Just as Shunsui was about to settle his hands, though, Jyuushirou caught his wrists, pulling the other man closer as he admitted to himself the need to feel Shunsui’s presence.
“Something happened,” he began softly, keeping their eyes locked; needing the strength to find the words he needed. “It caused me to - I’m not a shinigami any longer.”
The warmth of Jyuushirou’s hands around his own was reassuring, yet the way he was looking at Shunsui was anything but, as Shunsui shifted Jyuushirou’s grip until they were holding hands.
“Your levels of reiatsu would argue otherwise,” he noted gently, pushing back against that psychic force with his own, just enough to make Jyuushirou aware of it, and smiled. That worried look on Jyuushirou’s face made him worry.
Allowing his partner a faint, nearly self-depreciating smile, Jyuushirou merely shook his head lightly, dropping his gaze to their combined hands. “You can’t tell, then,” he murmured, almost thoughtfully, “that the Hollow in me has been released.” His grip tightened.
Shunsui responded, pretending carelesness, “I wouldn’t say that the Hollow has been released. After all, you aren’t currently trying to kill anything, are you?” But he pulled one of his hands free of Jyuushirou’s grip to run fingers along Jyuushirou’s arm, wordless caress. “And I don’t think you’re weak enough in mind to give in about that.”
“I’d never allow it,” Jyuushirou softly, but firmly, stated, and looked up, strengthened by Shunsui’s unyielding support. “But he was released, and I was forced to confront him.” A pause. “We reached an agreement, but I am wary... I can’t feel him very well and I don’t know if that’s good or not.”
“If he’s not trying to take over,” Shunsui pointed out, “and he doesn’t try it tonight while you sleep, he probably won’t any time soon. He’s you, remember, Jyuushirou? If he agreed to something, he’ll keep his word.”
And then it just broke in Shunsui’s thoughts, that this was an exile-worthy offense, even if it hadn’t been intentional, and that when it was announced - as it would inevitably be; all the captains would have heard by now that Ukitake-taichou had been taken to Fourth Division and would want to know what had happened, and Yama-jii could smell that sort of thing from worlds away - Jyuushirou might very well be gone, or executed for the treasonous offense it could be interpreted as. Shunsui pushed the thought to the back of his mind.
Jyuushirou tried not to see the logic in his companion’s words - he’d already convinced himself it would be best to assume the worst. “... I won’t let him, even in sleep.” He was not weak - his body was the only thing that could ever make him feel as if he were, but even when in the throes of a coughing fit that left his throat raw and blood spattered on the floor, he knew, somehow, that he was strong. He knew it.
And yet, right then, he was scared. Selfishly scared and he couldn’t bring himself to dismiss the feeling. His thoughts pulled him in different directions, making it impossible to settle on one thing or the other. “I can’t think,” he mumbled, shaking his head lightly and ppulling away, trying to gain some sort of mental footing.
“I’ll go,” Shunsui murmured, standing, leaning over to press a kiss to Jyuushirou’s temple. “The meeting’s in a few hours. I’ll try to stall their asking questions, and Unohana-taichou will probably cover for you for a little while. Don’t worry about it right now; you’ve got more important things on your thoughts, after all. Since you were thrown into battle right after getting out of Fourth.” There was a pause while Shunsui processed the implications of that, then, “How are your lungs?”
“No.” Jyuushirou turned, catching the edge of Shunsui’s sleeve before he could leave entirely. He backtracked, thinking over the man’s words, surprised to find that in spite of everything that had happened - there was nothing. No tightness in his chest, no tickling or shortness of breath. He shook his head and looked up to catch and hold Shunsui’s gaze. There were more important things to think on.
“I’m not hiding, Shunsui,” he stated, more firm than he’d expected his words to be. “I’m... perfectly healthy - there’s no reason I can’t attend. A few hours is enough time to sort through this.”
Glancing down at where Jyuushirou was holding on to his sleeve, Shunsui asked, “Do you want me to send Nanao back to headquarters and stay here?” He took Jyuushirou’s hand again, running his thumb over the back of his palm. “If you’re well. I don’t want to have to insist on you sleeping so much that I have to ask Unohana-taichou to use kidou on you.”
Again, he felt his lips turn up in a half-smile at Shunsui’s words, regardless of his own feelings at the moment. Jyuushirou lightly squeezed the hand now holding his own. “I promise you I am well.... I can’t honestly say I’ve felt as healthy as I do right now. And I should let you get back to your division.... but if you could stay for a while, I would appreciate it.”
Shunsui, in accordance with Jyuushirou’s words, promptly slid back to sitting on the bed. “Work holds for a few hours,” he proclaimed, smile wide. “What is it? I’ll listen to anything you have to say. Scoot over; my old bones get tired if I don’t take a nap every so often, especially when Unohana-taichou doesn’t let me bring sake in with me for you.”
Jyuushirou quickly slid over to the side of the bed closest to the wall, allowing Shunsui to climb in beside him. “For me?” he noted somewhat amusedly. Well, the other man was staying, at least, and he needed his partner’s relaxing presence just then. Just having the other captain nearby settled his nerves; if his strength was ever less than enough, Shunsui would always be there to pick up whatever fell from his shoulders, and that reassurance, more than anything else, made him believe, even for just a moment, that everything else would work out.
“I hadn’t intended on this,” he began, speaking slowly as his thoughts collected into words. “But now that it’s happened... I need to decide.” He glanced to the side, seeking Shunsui’s help in the careful dissection of his current situation. “What are your thoughts?”
Leaning against the several pillows propping Jyuushirou up, Shunsui mused, “I’ve known you too long to think that you’ll keep this a secret; besides, Yama-jii will know that something about you has changed. If you report it officially at the meeting...” It’s illegal; either he’ll have to unbend to keep you or he’ll throw you out, he thought, and put an arm over Jyuushirou’s shoulders, thumb brushing along the cords in his neck.
“If I don’t report it officially, it would be like admitting guilt....” Jyuushirou answered, succumbing to the gentle caress enough to lean against Shunsui, gazing thoughtfully across the room at nothing at all. “I don’t think what happened is something to feel guilt for,” he added after a moment’s thought.
“... My Hollow was far less agressive than I have heard of Kurosaki Ichigo’s being,” he murmured after a second pause. “He vowed to give me the ultimate decision in all things, and I have barely felt him since.”
“You shouldn’t feel guilty,” Shunsui responded easily. “It’s not a personal failing, if the notes on your desk and that box on the table are any hint.” He glanced at the door, which was windowless and was letting through no suspcious yelling (as of Nanao trying to shame him into emerging). Brushing a kiss over Jyuushirou’s cheek, he added, “Besides, if your Hollow isn’t a threat to shinigami, it’s not as though Yama-jii can afford to lose you from the battlefield, especially if you’re as healthy as you say you are.”
Jyuushirou frowned lightly and said, “Kurotsuchi-taichou is going to have a lot to answer for during the meeting - doutbless it will be long, since this will inevidibly spark debate.” He relaxed against Shunsui. “I do feel as though I could remain on the field longer, though. It’s strange, but I can’t remember ever feeling as strong, physically, as I do now. “
“Your reiatsu is as strong as it ever was,” Shunsui observed, “and Unohana says she has you restrained? That probably explains why you feel like that.” He tilted his head back against the wall above the bed. “What does Kurotsuchi have to do with all this?”
“She made it clear that I would not be leaving this room under my own power,” Jyuushirou replied, and then sighed lightly as he thought of how to answer the following question. “That box is what draws the Hollow out... I don’t know exactly how it works, but if you’re holding it when you enter your inner world, it automatically forces a confrontation. Kurotsuchi-taichou made it. Originally, he gave it to Kuchiki-taichou, intended for Abarai-taichou, but they brought it to me because they didn’t know what it was.” He shook his head lightly. “Such a mess.”
Shunsui repressed the urge to whistle, knowing it would draw attention to the room that he didn’t want. “Mess, indeed. Jyuushirou, you get yourself into such wonderful tangles.” He paused, thinking of possibilities, how inequipped Abarai doubtless was for such a transformation if Jyuushirou was in this state -
“It’s probably better that you’re the one who used the box first, rather than Abarai,” Shunsui pointed out. “I wonder if Kurotsuchi-taichou has used it, or if he meant to use Abarai as his lab rat.” His hand, on Jyuushirou’s other shoulder, stilled, fingers tucked under the edges of his clothing slightly.
“I’m inclined to believe the latter,” Jyuushirou stated, curling agianst Shunsui’s warmth. “Although I wonder which he truly meant it for. I agree with you, though, that it was better to have been me... Perhaps Sensei will be more willing to listen this way,” he posed, looking wherever he could for the silver lining.
“Yama-jii adores you,” Shunsui jested. “There’s no other explanation for why he still puts up with me.” The warmth of Jyuushirou pressing against him made his voice slow, more relaxed than usual. “He’ll be reasonable. After all, he won’t just be losing you if he exiles you.” He smiled faintly into Jyuushirou’s hair, kissing behind his ear.
“I hope it doesn’t come to that.” Turning his head to welcome the gentle affections, Jyuushirou lightly cast an arm over Shunsui’s chest. “I don’t want to stop fighting this war. I won’t let Aizen win.”
“You wouldn’t have to stop just because Yama-jii couldn’t let you fight with the Gotei Thirteen officially. He’d have you in on the sly,” Shunsui informed him, good-humoured. Kissed the tip of his nose, despite the angle. “You’d make a terribly handsome outlaw, you know, carrying a sword on each hip and wearing a ten-gallon hat.”
Jyuushirou rolled his eyes at the remark, swatting Shunsui’s hat in retaliation. “If I were completely banished, I couldn’t step foot in Soul Society, let alone fight – ten-gallon hat or no.”
“Biggest battle’s not going to be in Soul Society anyway,” Shunsui pointed out, “so the masterful plan works out.” He grinned, ignoring the injury to his headgear, and then asked, frivolous, “Say, what did Hollow-Jyuushirou look like?”
“Like me,” Jyuushirou stated dryly, glancing up and under the now-tipped hat. More seriously, he added, “The only difference is the coloring. Black hair, white skin, white outfit, black teeth, hole in the chest...” His hand absently moved upwards, unconsciously tracing the described area on Shunsui’s body. “Not all that frightening, but disconcerting to be faced with.”
Shunsui let his hand drop from Jyuushirou’s shoulder over his heart, fingers splayed over his chest under the cloth, the quiet pulse intimate beneath his fingertips. “It sounds like in other circumstances he would have been very handsome,” Shunsui noted, voice warm, pushing his hat back to rights as he found Jyuushirou’s lips and kissed him. The gesture spoke of everything, from I worried last night when you didn’t come home to Don’t you think this is a good prank, kissing while Unohana-taichou isn’t watching and a little more than that-
At least, until Nanao threw open the door with a sniff of annoyance and an impatient, “Taichou! If you’re done whiling away your time, we still have reports to file from last month and payrolls to analyse before the meeting!”
Jyuushirou, by now more than used to such interruptions, allowed himself a moment of indulgence in finishing the kiss as it had begun: slow and warm. When it came to an end, however, he leaned back, offering Shunsui a light smile, which he extended to the young woman in the room with them. “Please don’t let me keep you further - I’m sure Ise-kun has been working very hard to prepare for the meeting.”
“I’m glad to see that you seem to be in excellent health, sir,” Nanao informed Jyuushirou smartly as Shunsui extricated himself from the bed and its occupant, then, waiting for Shunsui to pass her on the way out of the room, she added, “If all goes well, the paperwork will be finished before the meeting, rather than next week.”
Shunsui ignored her threats of productivity as he exited the room, blowing Jyuushirou a kiss before the door closed, whimsical and, of course, followed by the sound of Nanao’s scolding.
Jyuushirou leaned back against the pillows that held him up, still smiling faintly even though the source of his lightheartedness had already left. He closed his eyes for a moment, settling in and breathing slowly - a method he usually used to still the ache of his lungs, but which also seemed useful to calm one’s nerves - as he carefully settled part of his consciousness back on the vague echo of the Hollow still inside him and, finding it unchanging, was content.
-----
Scene One
Scene Two
Scene Three
Scene Four
Scene Six
Scene Seven
All headings and disclaimers can be found in part one.
“It is good to see you with us again, Ukitake-taichou.” Unohana’s carefully-spoken words were clear and calm, even if her gaze still held a bit of worry. “How are you feeling?” Her question was offset by subtle movement to the right and out of Ukitake’s direct line of vision, although the movement seemed to herald a slight increase in pressure against his reiatsu.
“Very well,” he answered evenly, “although my neck hurts. Presumably I fell asleep while in my office - how silly of me.” He chuckled, thinking of all the nights he had done something similar and of Shunsui’s inevitable scolding, and continued, “I think I’m quite all right now, though?” He left it a question, wanting to see how much she had deduced.
Moments passed in silence until the gentle weight of Unohana’s reiatsu eventually receded and recollected about her form. “So it would seem,” she confirmed, watching him carefully still. “However, your reiatsu will continue to be restricted until I am certain of your ability to leave Fourth Division.” She left the without harming others unsaid.
“That’s reasonable,” Jyuushirou agreed, resisting sitting up only through long experience in the Fourth Division under Unohana’s dictatorial regime. “What happened?” He was certain he had gone to sleep in his own office, and it was unlikely he had checked himself into Fourth Division while in his inner world; the possibility that he had hurt someone, or revealed something of the events inside his mind, was chilling.
“It would seem as though after you fell asleep, your reiatsu began to flare.” The woman sat back, setting her hands in her lap as she observed Ukitake’s reaction to her words. “Your third seats, thinking something was amiss, found you asleep in your office. However, they were prevented from nearing you due to the state of your reiatsu. For this reason, they requested my intervention. I was able to subdue the energies and tranfered you here. You have since been resting here in varying degrees of well-being.” She paused, gaze thoughtful as she watched him, and then added, “This room has been secured such that it would be highly unlikely for you to leave it without my consent.”
“Thank you,” he said, nodding in gratitude to her. “Are Kotetsu - mine, that is - and Kotsubaki well? I’m sure your own vice-captain was pleased to see her sister?” Turning the conversation to irrelevancies might, he thought, make her forget to ask what had brought him here.
As an Earth-inhabitant might have said, yeah, right.
“They are... shaken, but well,” Unohana answered, glancing placidly down at the box still clutched in Jyuushirou’s hand before returning her gaze to his own. “Kyouraku-taichou has also been quite worried; the three of them have been waiting down the hallway for quite some time, although I am sure Kotsubaki Sentarou-san and Kotetsu Kiyone-san have since been convinced of returning to your division.”
“I’m sure Ise-san is very annoyed by now,” Jyuushirou remarked, amused, “if Kyouraku has been waiting for as long as you imply. Could you tell him that I’m quite all right and he should listen to his vice-captain? I wouldn’t mind terribly if he wished to see me, but I’m sure that Ise-san will have some objection to that.” He smiled at her, then added, “If you wouldn’t mind, could I have my work sent here for me to do while you’re keeping me monitored? I wouldn’t want to overburden my division with paperwork I feel perfectly capable of doing.” He set the box on the table by the bed, leaving it there and deliberately not looking at it, instead gazing at Unohana.
“If you are well enough to receive work, then you are well enough to receive visitors, and we should both know by now that allowing Kyouraku-taichou his visit is the quickest way of returning him to his division.” Unohana rose, observing Ukitake a moment longer. “I will have the paperwork sent here; however, you will take care to monitor the length of your attention to it, or I will have it removed. While I see no imminent need to worry, I will be monitoring your condition until our next meeting. If nothing has changed by then, I believe you should be well enough to attend.”
That Unohana had been in Jyuushirou’s room so long argued for some change in his condition, and Shunsui, shaking Nanao off and moving to just outside the door, slouched against the wall, listening to the soft murmur of voices and wanting to be let in.
He was given his opportunity when Unohana opened the door; she caught sight of him as soon as she had entered the hallway and said, with a smile that gave no hint as to how irritated with him she probably was, “Kyouraku-taichou, he’s ready to see you now.”
He closed the door behind himself, ignoring Nanao’s frustrated sigh and the sound of her dropping into a chair in the waiting room, and watched Jyuushirou, who was half-lying in the bed, half-sitting, and looked in better health than he had been just the day before.
Hearing Shunsui’s entrance, though unable to feel it with his reiatsu as he normally did, Jyuushirou turned slightly, offering the other man a warm smile, though it was more for his own nerves than to ease Shunsui’s. “You didn’t have to come,” he greeted, split between feeling the comfort of the other captain’s presence and trying to send him back to his own division.
“Of course I came,” Shunsui answered brightly, “Unohana-taichou wouldn’t have told me how you were, and - well -” he took a few steps closer and feigned secrecy, “Nanao-chan wouldn’t have let me get out of work if she hadn’t been worried. Always best to do what the ladies in your life want.” He nodded sagely, tucking his hands into his sleeves and perching on the side of the bed despite its narrowness.
Offering Shunsui a bemused smile in response, Jyuushirou let his gaze settle on the other man. A phantom echo of pain crept through his mind, reminding him how close he’d come to never seeing Shunsui again. His hands subtly curled in the sheet laid over him. The chance for loss was still there. He searched back in himself, worriedly seeking out some knowledge of the state of his Hollow side, but received on a subdued, almost lazy, echo. He fought back a feeling of relief, reminding himself that there was still the chance of betrayal, despite the muted response he’d received.
Seeing Jyuushirou’s hands clench in the blankets, Shunsui reached out, taking Jyuushirou’s hand and uncurling his fingers from around the cloth.
“That bad?” he asked, then, seeing the box on the table, picked it up with his other hand and examined it, one eye on the box and the other on Jyuushirou. Turning the box over in his hand for a moment, he seemed to dismiss it, then set it down and reached out to rearrange Jyuushirou’s clothes, putting robes that were in disarray from Unohana’s ministrations back in place.
The question, more than the actions that went with it, was what drew Jyuushirou from his pained musings. He looked up at his companion, allowing the adjustment of his clothing without complaint. Just as Shunsui was about to settle his hands, though, Jyuushirou caught his wrists, pulling the other man closer as he admitted to himself the need to feel Shunsui’s presence.
“Something happened,” he began softly, keeping their eyes locked; needing the strength to find the words he needed. “It caused me to - I’m not a shinigami any longer.”
The warmth of Jyuushirou’s hands around his own was reassuring, yet the way he was looking at Shunsui was anything but, as Shunsui shifted Jyuushirou’s grip until they were holding hands.
“Your levels of reiatsu would argue otherwise,” he noted gently, pushing back against that psychic force with his own, just enough to make Jyuushirou aware of it, and smiled. That worried look on Jyuushirou’s face made him worry.
Allowing his partner a faint, nearly self-depreciating smile, Jyuushirou merely shook his head lightly, dropping his gaze to their combined hands. “You can’t tell, then,” he murmured, almost thoughtfully, “that the Hollow in me has been released.” His grip tightened.
Shunsui responded, pretending carelesness, “I wouldn’t say that the Hollow has been released. After all, you aren’t currently trying to kill anything, are you?” But he pulled one of his hands free of Jyuushirou’s grip to run fingers along Jyuushirou’s arm, wordless caress. “And I don’t think you’re weak enough in mind to give in about that.”
“I’d never allow it,” Jyuushirou softly, but firmly, stated, and looked up, strengthened by Shunsui’s unyielding support. “But he was released, and I was forced to confront him.” A pause. “We reached an agreement, but I am wary... I can’t feel him very well and I don’t know if that’s good or not.”
“If he’s not trying to take over,” Shunsui pointed out, “and he doesn’t try it tonight while you sleep, he probably won’t any time soon. He’s you, remember, Jyuushirou? If he agreed to something, he’ll keep his word.”
And then it just broke in Shunsui’s thoughts, that this was an exile-worthy offense, even if it hadn’t been intentional, and that when it was announced - as it would inevitably be; all the captains would have heard by now that Ukitake-taichou had been taken to Fourth Division and would want to know what had happened, and Yama-jii could smell that sort of thing from worlds away - Jyuushirou might very well be gone, or executed for the treasonous offense it could be interpreted as. Shunsui pushed the thought to the back of his mind.
Jyuushirou tried not to see the logic in his companion’s words - he’d already convinced himself it would be best to assume the worst. “... I won’t let him, even in sleep.” He was not weak - his body was the only thing that could ever make him feel as if he were, but even when in the throes of a coughing fit that left his throat raw and blood spattered on the floor, he knew, somehow, that he was strong. He knew it.
And yet, right then, he was scared. Selfishly scared and he couldn’t bring himself to dismiss the feeling. His thoughts pulled him in different directions, making it impossible to settle on one thing or the other. “I can’t think,” he mumbled, shaking his head lightly and ppulling away, trying to gain some sort of mental footing.
“I’ll go,” Shunsui murmured, standing, leaning over to press a kiss to Jyuushirou’s temple. “The meeting’s in a few hours. I’ll try to stall their asking questions, and Unohana-taichou will probably cover for you for a little while. Don’t worry about it right now; you’ve got more important things on your thoughts, after all. Since you were thrown into battle right after getting out of Fourth.” There was a pause while Shunsui processed the implications of that, then, “How are your lungs?”
“No.” Jyuushirou turned, catching the edge of Shunsui’s sleeve before he could leave entirely. He backtracked, thinking over the man’s words, surprised to find that in spite of everything that had happened - there was nothing. No tightness in his chest, no tickling or shortness of breath. He shook his head and looked up to catch and hold Shunsui’s gaze. There were more important things to think on.
“I’m not hiding, Shunsui,” he stated, more firm than he’d expected his words to be. “I’m... perfectly healthy - there’s no reason I can’t attend. A few hours is enough time to sort through this.”
Glancing down at where Jyuushirou was holding on to his sleeve, Shunsui asked, “Do you want me to send Nanao back to headquarters and stay here?” He took Jyuushirou’s hand again, running his thumb over the back of his palm. “If you’re well. I don’t want to have to insist on you sleeping so much that I have to ask Unohana-taichou to use kidou on you.”
Again, he felt his lips turn up in a half-smile at Shunsui’s words, regardless of his own feelings at the moment. Jyuushirou lightly squeezed the hand now holding his own. “I promise you I am well.... I can’t honestly say I’ve felt as healthy as I do right now. And I should let you get back to your division.... but if you could stay for a while, I would appreciate it.”
Shunsui, in accordance with Jyuushirou’s words, promptly slid back to sitting on the bed. “Work holds for a few hours,” he proclaimed, smile wide. “What is it? I’ll listen to anything you have to say. Scoot over; my old bones get tired if I don’t take a nap every so often, especially when Unohana-taichou doesn’t let me bring sake in with me for you.”
Jyuushirou quickly slid over to the side of the bed closest to the wall, allowing Shunsui to climb in beside him. “For me?” he noted somewhat amusedly. Well, the other man was staying, at least, and he needed his partner’s relaxing presence just then. Just having the other captain nearby settled his nerves; if his strength was ever less than enough, Shunsui would always be there to pick up whatever fell from his shoulders, and that reassurance, more than anything else, made him believe, even for just a moment, that everything else would work out.
“I hadn’t intended on this,” he began, speaking slowly as his thoughts collected into words. “But now that it’s happened... I need to decide.” He glanced to the side, seeking Shunsui’s help in the careful dissection of his current situation. “What are your thoughts?”
Leaning against the several pillows propping Jyuushirou up, Shunsui mused, “I’ve known you too long to think that you’ll keep this a secret; besides, Yama-jii will know that something about you has changed. If you report it officially at the meeting...” It’s illegal; either he’ll have to unbend to keep you or he’ll throw you out, he thought, and put an arm over Jyuushirou’s shoulders, thumb brushing along the cords in his neck.
“If I don’t report it officially, it would be like admitting guilt....” Jyuushirou answered, succumbing to the gentle caress enough to lean against Shunsui, gazing thoughtfully across the room at nothing at all. “I don’t think what happened is something to feel guilt for,” he added after a moment’s thought.
“... My Hollow was far less agressive than I have heard of Kurosaki Ichigo’s being,” he murmured after a second pause. “He vowed to give me the ultimate decision in all things, and I have barely felt him since.”
“You shouldn’t feel guilty,” Shunsui responded easily. “It’s not a personal failing, if the notes on your desk and that box on the table are any hint.” He glanced at the door, which was windowless and was letting through no suspcious yelling (as of Nanao trying to shame him into emerging). Brushing a kiss over Jyuushirou’s cheek, he added, “Besides, if your Hollow isn’t a threat to shinigami, it’s not as though Yama-jii can afford to lose you from the battlefield, especially if you’re as healthy as you say you are.”
Jyuushirou frowned lightly and said, “Kurotsuchi-taichou is going to have a lot to answer for during the meeting - doutbless it will be long, since this will inevidibly spark debate.” He relaxed against Shunsui. “I do feel as though I could remain on the field longer, though. It’s strange, but I can’t remember ever feeling as strong, physically, as I do now. “
“Your reiatsu is as strong as it ever was,” Shunsui observed, “and Unohana says she has you restrained? That probably explains why you feel like that.” He tilted his head back against the wall above the bed. “What does Kurotsuchi have to do with all this?”
“She made it clear that I would not be leaving this room under my own power,” Jyuushirou replied, and then sighed lightly as he thought of how to answer the following question. “That box is what draws the Hollow out... I don’t know exactly how it works, but if you’re holding it when you enter your inner world, it automatically forces a confrontation. Kurotsuchi-taichou made it. Originally, he gave it to Kuchiki-taichou, intended for Abarai-taichou, but they brought it to me because they didn’t know what it was.” He shook his head lightly. “Such a mess.”
Shunsui repressed the urge to whistle, knowing it would draw attention to the room that he didn’t want. “Mess, indeed. Jyuushirou, you get yourself into such wonderful tangles.” He paused, thinking of possibilities, how inequipped Abarai doubtless was for such a transformation if Jyuushirou was in this state -
“It’s probably better that you’re the one who used the box first, rather than Abarai,” Shunsui pointed out. “I wonder if Kurotsuchi-taichou has used it, or if he meant to use Abarai as his lab rat.” His hand, on Jyuushirou’s other shoulder, stilled, fingers tucked under the edges of his clothing slightly.
“I’m inclined to believe the latter,” Jyuushirou stated, curling agianst Shunsui’s warmth. “Although I wonder which he truly meant it for. I agree with you, though, that it was better to have been me... Perhaps Sensei will be more willing to listen this way,” he posed, looking wherever he could for the silver lining.
“Yama-jii adores you,” Shunsui jested. “There’s no other explanation for why he still puts up with me.” The warmth of Jyuushirou pressing against him made his voice slow, more relaxed than usual. “He’ll be reasonable. After all, he won’t just be losing you if he exiles you.” He smiled faintly into Jyuushirou’s hair, kissing behind his ear.
“I hope it doesn’t come to that.” Turning his head to welcome the gentle affections, Jyuushirou lightly cast an arm over Shunsui’s chest. “I don’t want to stop fighting this war. I won’t let Aizen win.”
“You wouldn’t have to stop just because Yama-jii couldn’t let you fight with the Gotei Thirteen officially. He’d have you in on the sly,” Shunsui informed him, good-humoured. Kissed the tip of his nose, despite the angle. “You’d make a terribly handsome outlaw, you know, carrying a sword on each hip and wearing a ten-gallon hat.”
Jyuushirou rolled his eyes at the remark, swatting Shunsui’s hat in retaliation. “If I were completely banished, I couldn’t step foot in Soul Society, let alone fight – ten-gallon hat or no.”
“Biggest battle’s not going to be in Soul Society anyway,” Shunsui pointed out, “so the masterful plan works out.” He grinned, ignoring the injury to his headgear, and then asked, frivolous, “Say, what did Hollow-Jyuushirou look like?”
“Like me,” Jyuushirou stated dryly, glancing up and under the now-tipped hat. More seriously, he added, “The only difference is the coloring. Black hair, white skin, white outfit, black teeth, hole in the chest...” His hand absently moved upwards, unconsciously tracing the described area on Shunsui’s body. “Not all that frightening, but disconcerting to be faced with.”
Shunsui let his hand drop from Jyuushirou’s shoulder over his heart, fingers splayed over his chest under the cloth, the quiet pulse intimate beneath his fingertips. “It sounds like in other circumstances he would have been very handsome,” Shunsui noted, voice warm, pushing his hat back to rights as he found Jyuushirou’s lips and kissed him. The gesture spoke of everything, from I worried last night when you didn’t come home to Don’t you think this is a good prank, kissing while Unohana-taichou isn’t watching and a little more than that-
At least, until Nanao threw open the door with a sniff of annoyance and an impatient, “Taichou! If you’re done whiling away your time, we still have reports to file from last month and payrolls to analyse before the meeting!”
Jyuushirou, by now more than used to such interruptions, allowed himself a moment of indulgence in finishing the kiss as it had begun: slow and warm. When it came to an end, however, he leaned back, offering Shunsui a light smile, which he extended to the young woman in the room with them. “Please don’t let me keep you further - I’m sure Ise-kun has been working very hard to prepare for the meeting.”
“I’m glad to see that you seem to be in excellent health, sir,” Nanao informed Jyuushirou smartly as Shunsui extricated himself from the bed and its occupant, then, waiting for Shunsui to pass her on the way out of the room, she added, “If all goes well, the paperwork will be finished before the meeting, rather than next week.”
Shunsui ignored her threats of productivity as he exited the room, blowing Jyuushirou a kiss before the door closed, whimsical and, of course, followed by the sound of Nanao’s scolding.
Jyuushirou leaned back against the pillows that held him up, still smiling faintly even though the source of his lightheartedness had already left. He closed his eyes for a moment, settling in and breathing slowly - a method he usually used to still the ache of his lungs, but which also seemed useful to calm one’s nerves - as he carefully settled part of his consciousness back on the vague echo of the Hollow still inside him and, finding it unchanging, was content.
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