Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ Seireitei Monogatari ❯ One Night Stand ( Chapter 66 )

Title: One Night Stand

Pairings/Characters: Toushirou /Shuuhei, Jyuushiro, Shunsui

Rating: T

Warning: a kiss between males, implications of sex

Words: 1906

Description: Shuuhei takes denial to a whole new level.

 

 

Shuuhei stood outside of Ukitake-taichou's house and tried not to fidget, resisting the urge to double-check and make sure his clothes weren't unnecessarily wrinkled. He knew that the captain didn't really mind, but still, the impulse was there. This was only a casual dinner between them, after all, though he knew Toushirou had been invited. Plus, he could only assume that Kyouraku-taichou would be there as well. That was a given.

 

Raking a hand through his disarrayed hair, the vice-captain raised a hand to knock, but it slid open before he could do much of anything. A smiling Ukitake Jyuushiro greeted him, Shunsui very obviously peeking over his shoulder.

 

“Evening, Shuuhei. Come on in.”

 

He pushed the door open, gesturing for his guest to come inside.

 

Taking a deep breath, Shuuhei stepped within. “Thank you, Ukitake-taichou. For the invite, as well.”

 

“It's Jyuushiro,” the white-haired captain corrected with a smile. “And you've been working hard. It's only fair.”

 

Shuuhei could concede his point.

 

They led him into the parlor and not the dining room as he had expected. Perhaps they expected conversation first. He wouldn't be surprised if that were so. Therefore, Shuuhei settled down on a rather plush cushion and faced the two captains, waiting for communication to begin. But before either could even get a word in, his stomach made an embarrassing and rather loud grumble.

 

He reddened before he could stop himself. “Sorry. I haven't eaten anything today.”

 

Shunsui waved him off, looking rather nonchalant as he sprawled comfortably across the floor. “You've been busy, right? Jyuu-chan doesn't mind.”

 

“Exactly,” the thirteenth-division captain confirmed, beaming merrily. “Besides, we'll start dinner as soon as your boyfriend gets here.”

 

Shuuhei blinked slowly. “Ehh... boyfriend?” he repeated, feeling as if he were suddenly sweating profusely. “I... I don't have a boyfriend.”

 

“Then, what do you call your liaison with Shirou-chan?” Jyuushiro asked, frowning as if disappointed or disapproving. “It's not serious?”

 

Flustered didn't even begin to describe the state Shuuhei was rapidly approaching. “It was only a one-night stand!”

 

That was his usual response whenever anyone asked The Question. They always accepted it and moved on, except for The Brave Few. Shunsui appeared to be a member of The Brave Few.

 

The flowery captain was suddenly triumphant. “That's been going on for three years,” he declared with the assurance of one who was proud of his knowledge. “And you live with the man... er, boy... whatever! Face it, Shuu-chan. You're in love!”

 

The vice-captain viciously fought the urge to redden further. “It's convenient,” he protested, feeling as if he were being interrogated. “And we're just friends!”

 

The two best friends for millennia exchanged pointed glances, that odd ability to converse without speaking aloud.

 

Shunsui grinned. “Now, if that excuse worked, we would have successfully fought off those rumors years ago. Eh, Jyuu-chan?” he asked, nudging the other man with an elbow as he rolled his eyes. “Especially since in our case, what we say is actually true.”

 

Meanwhile, Shuuhei was having a panic attack of epic proportions.

 

`They know? How could they know?'

 

He inwardly groaned, curling his fists in an attempt to rein in the emotions threatening to pour out.

 

`Honestly, how could they not know? Gods, Toushirou is going to turn me into an ice cube before the night is through. I'm certain this will somehow be my fault.'

 

Sensing that his guest was becoming agitated, Jyuushiro thought it prudent to speak up. “It's alright,” he soothed. “It is not like it's the end of the world.”

 

Shunsui snorted. “Nope. It's only Seireitei's worst kept secret. Even more so than Sousuke and Kisuke-chan. Everybody and their brother knew about that one.”

 

Shuuhei was momentarily calmed by that bit of revealing information, not that he ever wanted to know that much about Aizen or the exiled former captain. However, his brief instant of peace didn't prepare him for the next bombardment as Shunsui blithely continued.

 

“Gods, even Tetsuzaemon's figured it out, and he's about as perceptive as the burnt side of toast.” He grinned roguishly and scratched at his bearded chin.

 

Even though he wasn't entirely certain what toast had to do with anything, Shuuhei still felt himself paling just a bit. Yes, he was definitely in for a frozen death. But it wasn't his fault. He had tried to keep it a secret. Toushirou was the one who said they should live together. And sleep in the same bed. Who was he to argue? He was just Shuuhei, the vice-captain, the occasional groper, and knitter of winter scarves.

 

It wasn't his fault that Matsumoto had come one morning to wake her captain up only to find, surprise… there was another person in his bed. Another male, who was naked. And cuddling. Well, more than cuddling. And wow, he hadn't even known her eyes could get that big.

 

Shuuhei winced in retrospect.

 

Or her voice that astonishingly shrill either.

 

Somewhere, outside his rampantly running thoughts, he heard Uki--Jyuushiro speak.

 

“It's really nothing to worry about,” the older man stated in that same annoyingly calm tone. “Even if everyone already knows, that only makes it easier to come out, right? Besides, I think it's cute.”

 

Cute.

 

Yeah, that was what the entire Shinigami Women's Association had said when Matsumoto tromped them into their bedroom in the middle of the night to prove her point. And just when he and Toushirou had been cuddled up... err, naked. And busy. Gods, why did Toushirou have to sleep naked? Was it Shuuhei's fault he couldn't say no to temptation?

 

Geez, what were the odds that Matsumoto would walk in on them? Twice? Besides, it had been his pride being questioned due to the position they had been discovered in. Not Toushirou's! Really, he should be the one who was angry and indignant and scowly, even if it was rather cute. He didn't dare label it a pout because that would get certain favorite parts frozen. And he rather liked them, you know, not frozen.

 

They'd bought a lock since then, but still... it wasn't his fault!

 

“Yeah, Shuu-chan, you should make an honest man of our little Shirou-chan,” Shunsui said with a sage nod, failing to notice how increasingly agitated their guest had become. “That way you won't have to sneak around anymore.”

 

Shuuhei blinked.

Sneak around? Sneak around? All he had been doing for the past three years was sneak around and still everybody knew. Despite all the careful planning, the well thought out excuses, the late night rendezvous when everyone was asleep, the cautiously masked reiatsu... they all still knew.

It really was--

 

“--not my fault!” he yelled the last so loudly that it echoed off the walls and attacked their ears, escaping from him before he could stop it. Shuuhei threw up his hands in defeat, words spilling out of him in a confusing flood that made sense to no one, not especially himself.

 

“It's not my fault,” he repeated just in case anyone in Seireitei hadn't heard him. “Okay, maybe just a little because a part of me wanted everyone to know. But he's to blame, too. It's Toushirou who doesn't want anyone to know. But I do. I don't care if everyone thinks I'm nothing but a dirty pervert. It's so damned obvious. Everyone knows already. I don't know who he thinks he's fooling. I mean the sex is great. You'd never know Toushirou's never been with anyone else before.”

 

He paused to suck in a breath, feeling a little blue in the face since he had said the last without taking a single pause. The other two stared at him, one wanting to get in a word edgewise, perhaps an apology. But before they could even speak, Shuuhei flitted onwards. He only vaguely registered the sound of a door siding open but was too far gone to even care.

 

“I feel like a goddamn pedophile!” Shuuhei admitted with a groan, slapping a hand over his face and sinking down into his cushion. “We go out, and people ask if he's my little brother. They think it's cute, how I spend time with my otouto-chan. And Momo keeps talking about how sweet it is that we're roommates and that Shiro-chan isn't lonely anymore, and oh my god! How can she not realize the truth?”

 

Shuuhei shook his head, working himself into a fine snit as he released everything that had been steadily building for the past three years.

 

“I took him to meet my mother because that's what good boyfriend's do, introduce their lovers to their family. And she thought I had adopted a kid! To make matters worse, it was because it was so obvious that I had been gay for years and wouldn't be dating a woman anytime soon.”

 

The vice-captain sucked in another gulping breath, nearly tearing out his hair in frustration. “I just can't take it anymore!” he declared. “And I want to get married.”

 

The last was said with such finality that Shuuhei suddenly deflated, collapsing back in himself as if speaking were the only strings holding him up. He was panting just a bit, heart beating wildly in his chest.

 

Dead silence followed his admission.

 

Somewhere, a cricket chirped.

 

Jyuushiro blinked, mouth partially hanging open

 

Shunsui coughed, only it didn't come off as nonchalant since it was his friend who was actually sick.

 

It was then that Shuuhei became aware that someone was standing in the doorway right behind him. There was a hint of a very familiar, very icy reiatsu, and he was suddenly very, very afraid to turn around. His dark eyes flickered between the two captains in front of them, mortification coloring his face.

 

That had to have been the worst proposal ever.

 

Shuuhei noisily cleared his throat before forcing out the question. “He's... uh... he's right behind me. Isn't he?”

 

Too stunned to speak, Jyuushiro and Shunsui could only nod.

 

Shuuhei groaned and buried his face in his hands. It was too late to take it back now. There went all the plans he had made. Right down the proverbial drain. That was not how he had planned to propose.

 

Then, he heard his lover take a step. The cushion dipped down slightly as someone settled near its edge. Fingers, slightly smaller than his own, pulled one of his hands from his face and entangled them together. As Shuuhei gaped in surprise, waiting for the inevitable freeze over, aquamarine eyes turned towards the other captains.

 

“Ukitake-taichou. Kyouraku-taichou,” Hitsugaya Toushirou greeted, sounding remarkably calm. “You said something about dinner? I've been in the office all day, and I've not eaten anything worthwhile.”

 

The vice-captain blinked, feeling suddenly tired.

 

Shunsui and Jyuushiro exchanged knowing glances.

 

“Yes, in the dining room.” The sickly man rose to his feet, Shunsui doing the same. “This way.”

 

He moved to lead them, his friend trailing along behind, and Toushirou stood as well. But before Shuuhei could even begin to rise, his lover leaned over and closed the short distance between them. Their lips met in a brief touch, but it was a relatively public kiss, where anyone could and probably would look.

 

Shuuhei was shocked into silence, especially when he caught sight of the half-smile on Toushirou's lips.

 

“We'll talk when we get home, all right?”

 

The vice-captain could only nod as he stood, looking at their still entwined fingers. He followed Toushirou into the dining room where a meal was already being laid out. Later, he would recall that it was the best damn dinner he'd ever tasted.

 

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