All Wrong, and Yet All Right: Chapter Two
And motivation strikes!
Chapter Rating: PG-13?
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Bleach.
Warnings: This story contains male x male relations. Don’t like don’t read. This chapter contains some language, and very light sexual stuff.
All Wrong, and Yet All Right
Chapter Two
Alcohol,
The last of the Quincy sipped his drink lightly. He was nearly certain that, at some point, something alcoholic had been added to the mix, but by now he couldn’t bring himself to care. The people that he considered the closest things he had to friends were scattered around the room. In addition there were several Shinigami there that the others had seemed to have befriended. He had never cared much for Shinigami. In fact he had never cared for parties. He certainly wouldn’t have been present at all if it hadn’t been for the charms of Orihime.
~earlier that week~
It had been five months, one week, and two days since he had awoken beside that familiar head of orange hair, not that he was counting. He still saw Ichigo regularly enough, but neither was willing to speak of what had occurred between them. They nearly always politely acknowledged the others existence when in school. More often than not Ishida would end up spending time with Ichigo and his friends, usually due to Orihime’s insistence. Her interference on this particular day had brought him out to the familiar roof top where they typically all shared lunch. Today their group was its usual size. Ichigo, Ishida, Orihime, Chad, Keigo, Mizuiro, and Tatsuki were all present. Rukia had been added to the group for the day, as she was ‘visiting from far away’ as far as some of them were concerned.
The lunch had been filled with chatter between various different people, most of which Ishida merely nodded to. He was in the process of doing so to something that Rukia was saying when Orihime gleefully jumped to her feet and called for everyone’s attention. Respectfully their private conversations died out, not that she wouldn’t have spoken over them anyway.
“Since we are all graduating soon I had an idea!” she declared as she reached into her bag and pulled out some brightly colored pieces of paper. “We are going to throw a party at my house on Saturday as a last get together before we finish!” as she continued she began passing the paper out to all of them. “I am also inviting some of our friends that visit every once in awhile! Don’t worry about food. I’ll cook everything!” There was a collective groan at this proclamation, but no one really wanted to say anything about it to the girl.
Ishida pushed up his glasses as she slipped the brightly colored piece of paper in his hand. It boldly declared the time, date, and location of her party. The moment it touched his hand he started brainstorming ways to avoid attending. Parties certainly were not his thing. The biggest problem was that any excuse he gave would leave Orihime disappointed which was something he did not want to do. He never could stand the way she looked when she was not happy.
With his fate, for the most part sealed, his mind moved to the next problem. If he were going, a possibility that now looked inevitable, then it would be infinitely better if there was food that was considered edible by everyone’s standards and not just Orihime’s.
At some point, as his mind had gone through its process, Orihime had been saying something that involved him because he found her looking at him as if she expected an answer. “I’m sorry Inoue-san, my attention was elsewhere,” he said kindly.
“Are you going to come, Ishida-kun?” she asked, completely unperturbed at his inattentiveness.
She offered him a sweet smile while she waited for the answer. That alone stamped the final closing seal on the poor Quincy’s fate. He never could say no to her when she smiled at him like that.
“Actually Inoue-san, I was thinking that perhaps I could come over early and aid you in your preparations.” Her smile widened at his words.
“That will be great Ishida-kun!” she exclaimed, obviously thrilled enough that he was coming that she forgot all about wanting to prepare on her own. Everything settled in her mind she turned to Rukia and began chatting animatedly about something that Ishida could not make out. Ishida returned his attention to his lunch as he tried to crush the feeling of dread that was forming in him about the coming weekend.
~present~
Regardless of his qualms against events such as the one he was present at, Ishida had still, in the end attended.
“Okay!” Orihime declared cheerfully, picking up the cards that had been used for the last game Ishida had not partaken of. “Let’s play truth or dare!” Several sets of eyes simply stared at the young woman.
“Don’t you think we are all a little too old for that?” Rukia asked the young woman.
“Not really,” Orihime responded in a confused tone.
“Alright,” Ichigo said offering her a smile, “come on guys.” He settled himself to her right offering a challenging gaze to everyone.
“What’s going to be the penalty for not answering or doing as challenged?” Tatsuki asked everyone as she settled to Orihime’s other side.
“No penalty,” Ichigo declared still glaring around the room with a challenge prevalent in his eyes. “You’ll all just have to live with the fact that you were too much of a wimp to complete it.”
Rukia snorted lightly and rolled her eyes. “Men,” she mumbled under her breath. Across the room Matsumoto echoed her feeling with a stifled laugh.
“So everyone is playing then?” Orihime asked hopefully. Ichigo answered her with a nod and a bright smile spread across her face. “Should I go first then?” When no one said anything she took that to mean a yes. “Um Kurosaki-kun, truth or dare?”
“Dare,” he responded automatically.
“Um…” she put her finger to her lips as she looked around the room trying to think of something good. “Tell someone exactly how you feel about them!” Everyone in the room heaved a collective groan.
Ichigo grinned and rocked up onto his knees. He reached across Orihime and grabbed Tatsuki’s hand. “Tatsuki you have been the very best sparring partner a man could want. You make me so happy when you kick me through the window, the classroom, the door.” Several people in the room snorted as Tatsuki used her other hand to punch Ichigo in the head.
Despite just getting attacked the orange haired teen sat back grinning. “Let’s see. Keigo truth or dare?”
“Dare!” the teen instantly declared waving his hand in the air triumphantly. The slight flush to his cheeks and the unsteadiness of his body clearly displayed the fact he had drank just a bit too much of the spiked punch.
“Alright,” Ichigo rose and moved over to his friend where he knelt and whispered something in his ear. A drunken grin spread across Keigo’s face and he crawled forward towards Matsumoto. She simple gave him a puzzled look right until his hand shot out and reached down between her ample cleavage. Seconds later he was flying across the room with a huge hand print across his face. Despite smacking into the wall nothing could remove the dreary smile from his face.
After Keigo finally righted and collected himself, and Ichigo managed to stop laughing, the game proceeded as normal or as normal as a truth and dare game could be with a house full of half drunk near adults. Ishida didn’t really mind and paid little attention to the entire thing. He spent most of his time sipping his punch, sitting off to the side against the wall, and pondering exactly how much longer would be the appropriate amount of time before he could leave.
Ishida has almost decided that another ten minutes will be sufficient when he heard Ichigo’s voice directed at him. “Hey! Ishida. Truth or Dare?”
The Quincy leveled a glare at the orange haired teen as he pushed his glasses back into place. Ishida quickly weighed his options and found that he liked neither. Both he and Ichigo knew he would do whatever the teen asked because of his own sense of pride. Since he didn’t really want to reveal the deep secrets that Ichigo would undoubtedly pry into with a truth question, Ishida declared that his choice was dare.
“I dare you to drink whatever concoction Matsumoto makes for you,” he stated immediately with a smug grin.
Ishida’s heart nearly stopped at Ichigo’s words. Matsumoto on the other hand immediately grinned, snagged a cup and began pouring liquid into it from small bottles tucked in odd places in her clothing. Renji and Hisagi both joined in offering bottles of their own and before long the trio looked like mad scientists creating a deadly poison. As far as Ishida was concerned they may as well be, especially since he did not hold his liquor well at all.
When Matsumoto proudly presented him with a glass, he was surprised to see little more than a shot of liquid inside. She simply smiled at his confusion and took a sip of her glass. “We wouldn’t want to kill you by giving you too much.”
Ishida scowled at that and then sighed. The things he did for his friends. He took a deep breath, pressed the cup to his lips, and then drank it in one fast gulp. Despite the speed it burned all the way down his throat and tasted relatively disgusting. He set the empty cup beside him and shot another glare at Ichigo. “Kurosaki truth or dare?”
“Dare,” Ichigo replied not skipping a beat.
“I dare you to drink a full cup of the same substance I just drank,” Ishida challenged.
Ichigo grinned and slapped his empty glass in front of Matsumoto. “Fill me up!” he declared cheerily. She laughed and proceeded to do just that with the help from the men once again. The entire time they were creating the drink, Ishida and Ichigo were caught in their own private glaring match.
“Here you are,” Matsumoto declared lightly as she passed Ichigo’s glass back to him.
Ichigo grinned and immediately began to drink the contents of the cup in large gulps. As soon as he was done he sets the cup aside and blinked wearily. “What the hell was in that stuff?”
“Oh a bit of this a bit of that,” she told him lightly.
He grinned and fixed his gaze back on Ishida. “Ishida truth -“
“Okay!” Tatsuki cut in. “New rule. No choosing the person that chose you, otherwise these two,” she gestured at Ishida and Ichigo, “will go at it all night.”
“Alright,” Ichigo relented and turned his attention elsewhere.
Ishida sighed and let his head fall back against the wall. He could feel that concoction he just drank affecting his body. Everything felt slightly warmer and he knew that his inhibitions were slowly dropping down with each sip of punch he took. The Quincy resolved to be more mindful of what he was doing to be sure that he didn’t do anything he would later regret.
For the most part he was avoided for the remainder of the game. Everyone could clearly see his discomfort and Ichigo was having plenty of fun getting back at his friends when it was his turn. All in all it had been a rather peaceful and humorous game for Ishida. He had simply sat back and relaxed as he watched his friends spill secrets and do increasingly ridiculous things.
By the time he heard his name again he had to shake his head to try and process what he heard. That would teach him to sit back and feel relaxed. He had no idea what his name had been involved in. The Quincy was fairly sure he wasn’t being asked to do anything since they had not spoken to him further. By the time his intoxicated brain wrapped its way around that Ichigo was right in front of him looking at him with what Ishida could only classify as a lecherous grin. Yes he really should pay more attention to his surroundings.
When Ichigo continued to move forward into Ishida’s personal space, the Quincy’s eyes widened. He swore that he would never drink that much again because by the time his hands rose to try and push the other teen away Ichigo was ready to grab them by the wrists and press them into the wall above his head. Panic flared through Ishida at the action and the memories it brought up but it was banished as the eyes that came into his vision were a warm and comforting brown.
“It’s just a dare,” Ichigo whispered softly, his lips so close to Ishida that his breath brushed lightly over his face. Then he was suddenly leaning in to press their lips together and Ishida’s eyes widened in surprise at the action.
The first try was clumsy and Ichigo found that Ishida’s glasses were in the way and noses could be a nascence. The second try was a bit better. Ichigo tilted his head just so and their lips were finally able to meet. The third try, that was the best of all, since somewhere in his intoxicated state Ichigo remembered something from one of the many movies he had seen and he flicked his tongue out lightly to trace along Ishida’s lips. Then those lips were parting and his tongue was dipping in to take its first explorative journey into the unknown.
Ishida managed to think that this was exactly the sort of thing he wanted to avoid before his eyes sagged closed and he instinctively returned the kiss. It wasn’t perfect in fact it was sloppy at best but neither man really cared all that much about how refined their skills were. A moment later Ichigo pulled back and brown locked on blue before he was leaning in again. This time Ishida was leaning up to met him and welcomed the return of the deep kiss with whole hearted fervor.
Later he would undoubtedly blame all the alcohol coursing through his veins. For now, Ishida simply enjoyed the sensation of another body pressed to his and the feel of lips against his own. It was, he quickly decided, perhaps the one thing that had been missing from that night five months, one week, and five days ago. Not that he wanted to ever relieve that night again, despite what his alcohol muddled body thought.
“Alright Romeo let him up for air,” Tatsuki declared as she pulled Ichigo off Ishida and dragged him back off to the other side of the room.
Ishida, in his inhibited state, couldn’t stop the small keening cry at the loss of Ichigo’s lips. He stifled it immediately and flushed bright red. He couldn’t bring himself to look at anyone any longer. It didn’t take him looking to know that Ichigo was grinning like a fool.
“I believe it is time for me to go home,” he stated as levelly as he could. Slowly he climbed to his feet, using to wall to brace him and help him keep his balance. He took half a step forward and nearly met the floor barely saving himself by using the wall.
“No one should go home tonight. Not after the alcohol you two have had,” Rukia declared looking from Ishida to Ichigo. The first looked slightly ashamed, while the second just grinned at her.
Orihime nodded her agreement. “I can put Ishida-kun in the guest room if he would like.” Ishida didn’t respond he simple rubbed the bridge of his nose with his free hand and squeezed his eyes shut. Taking his silence as acceptance, Orihime grabbed his arm gently and lead him that way.
She helped him get off his shoes and made sure he was settled before promising to come check on him later. He barely heard her. His eyes had already sagged closed and he felt himself fading into the peaceful blackness that could protect him from everything. By the time the door clicked softly shut, he was fast asleep.
~~~
Ishida opened his eyes and quickly discovered a throbbing pain somewhere behind his left temple sinking back into his skull behind his eyes. He rolled his head sideways and found a glass of water and some painkiller. Thanking whatever deities had placed it there, he took both tablets and lay back to snooze for the next half an hour.
Once the pain killer kicked in and he felt reasonable better, he climbed from the bed. Upon opening the door he didn’t have to work hard to find the inhabitants of the small apartment. He simply followed the sound of clattering dishes and murmured conversation to the kitchen that doubled as a dining room.
“Ishida-kun!” Orihime greeted him, much too perky for this time of morning in his opinion. “Would you like some breakfast?”
His stomach flipped immediately at the suggestion and he shook his head negative. “I’ll get you some water,” Rukia told him. “Go sit,” she gestured to the table where Renji, Ichigo and Matsumoto were already eating or sipping at mugs of liquid. Obediently, he slid into the seat across from Ichigo. He couldn’t be positive but he thought he saw the man’s eyes flick up to met his own for a brief second before returning to his breakfast. Still the glance made a light flush rise in Ishida’s cheeks.
His memories of the previous night were a bit muddled and hazy in some parts but he did remember the specific parts concerning Kurosaki. He could always blame the alcohol and the fact that it was simply a dare if anyone ever brought it up. That and the threat of a glowing arrow through vital organs should deter all questions. Still he could not simply write off his body’s reaction.
“Here,” Rukia said as she placed a glass in front of him.
“Thank you,” he replied softly, having found his vocal cords at last. He sipped lightly at the water as he tried to rationalize what had happened. He had reacted to stimulus the previous night. When provided with the proper stimulus his body would react like all other male bodies of his age, with participation and enjoyment. The alcohol had likely simply made it easy for his mind to ignore the gender and who the other party was. That was a satisfactory explanation.
Ishida closed his eyes and released a little sigh of relief. He hated the small thought that he had enjoyed it simply because it was Kurosaki. That would never happen. Not after everything that occurred between them. Carefully he set the glass on the table and rose. “I have to be going now. Thank you for everything Inoue-san.”
“You’re welcome,” she replied cheerfully.
Ishida turned his eyes onto the still eating Kurosaki, “I hope last night’s drinking did not cause too many lingering effects. I still expect you to be ready to hunt hollows tonight,” he said curtly.
Ichigo looked up at them and their eyes met for a moment. Something passed between them before Ichigo grinned. “I don’t think it’s me you should be worried about. I’ll be there with bells on.”
Ishida simply made an irritated noise in response and turned from the table. He moved through the small apartment to the front door where he slid his feet into his shoes. The Quincy was not entirely sure what it was that had passed between him and Ichigo, but he did know that what had happened the previous night would be added to the ‘Do not mention,’ category. It seemed like that category was beginning to grow lately and Ishida did not care for that one bit.
After exchanging polite goodbyes with everyone, he stepped out into the morning sun. He knew there were many things he needed to sort out in his mind, chiefly how slowly he should kill Kurosaki, however for now he had other things to focus on. First on the list was getting home and into a warm bath. Following that would be a clean set of clothing. From there he would look over his mail and work on any lingering assignments. For now, everything else could wait. For now, this was enough.
~~~
Previous Chapter: Chapter One
Chapter Rating: PG-13?
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Bleach.
Warnings: This story contains male x male relations. Don’t like don’t read. This chapter contains some language, and very light sexual stuff.
All Wrong, and Yet All Right
Chapter Two
Alcohol,
The last of the Quincy sipped his drink lightly. He was nearly certain that, at some point, something alcoholic had been added to the mix, but by now he couldn’t bring himself to care. The people that he considered the closest things he had to friends were scattered around the room. In addition there were several Shinigami there that the others had seemed to have befriended. He had never cared much for Shinigami. In fact he had never cared for parties. He certainly wouldn’t have been present at all if it hadn’t been for the charms of Orihime.
~earlier that week~
It had been five months, one week, and two days since he had awoken beside that familiar head of orange hair, not that he was counting. He still saw Ichigo regularly enough, but neither was willing to speak of what had occurred between them. They nearly always politely acknowledged the others existence when in school. More often than not Ishida would end up spending time with Ichigo and his friends, usually due to Orihime’s insistence. Her interference on this particular day had brought him out to the familiar roof top where they typically all shared lunch. Today their group was its usual size. Ichigo, Ishida, Orihime, Chad, Keigo, Mizuiro, and Tatsuki were all present. Rukia had been added to the group for the day, as she was ‘visiting from far away’ as far as some of them were concerned.
The lunch had been filled with chatter between various different people, most of which Ishida merely nodded to. He was in the process of doing so to something that Rukia was saying when Orihime gleefully jumped to her feet and called for everyone’s attention. Respectfully their private conversations died out, not that she wouldn’t have spoken over them anyway.
“Since we are all graduating soon I had an idea!” she declared as she reached into her bag and pulled out some brightly colored pieces of paper. “We are going to throw a party at my house on Saturday as a last get together before we finish!” as she continued she began passing the paper out to all of them. “I am also inviting some of our friends that visit every once in awhile! Don’t worry about food. I’ll cook everything!” There was a collective groan at this proclamation, but no one really wanted to say anything about it to the girl.
Ishida pushed up his glasses as she slipped the brightly colored piece of paper in his hand. It boldly declared the time, date, and location of her party. The moment it touched his hand he started brainstorming ways to avoid attending. Parties certainly were not his thing. The biggest problem was that any excuse he gave would leave Orihime disappointed which was something he did not want to do. He never could stand the way she looked when she was not happy.
With his fate, for the most part sealed, his mind moved to the next problem. If he were going, a possibility that now looked inevitable, then it would be infinitely better if there was food that was considered edible by everyone’s standards and not just Orihime’s.
At some point, as his mind had gone through its process, Orihime had been saying something that involved him because he found her looking at him as if she expected an answer. “I’m sorry Inoue-san, my attention was elsewhere,” he said kindly.
“Are you going to come, Ishida-kun?” she asked, completely unperturbed at his inattentiveness.
She offered him a sweet smile while she waited for the answer. That alone stamped the final closing seal on the poor Quincy’s fate. He never could say no to her when she smiled at him like that.
“Actually Inoue-san, I was thinking that perhaps I could come over early and aid you in your preparations.” Her smile widened at his words.
“That will be great Ishida-kun!” she exclaimed, obviously thrilled enough that he was coming that she forgot all about wanting to prepare on her own. Everything settled in her mind she turned to Rukia and began chatting animatedly about something that Ishida could not make out. Ishida returned his attention to his lunch as he tried to crush the feeling of dread that was forming in him about the coming weekend.
~present~
Regardless of his qualms against events such as the one he was present at, Ishida had still, in the end attended.
“Okay!” Orihime declared cheerfully, picking up the cards that had been used for the last game Ishida had not partaken of. “Let’s play truth or dare!” Several sets of eyes simply stared at the young woman.
“Don’t you think we are all a little too old for that?” Rukia asked the young woman.
“Not really,” Orihime responded in a confused tone.
“Alright,” Ichigo said offering her a smile, “come on guys.” He settled himself to her right offering a challenging gaze to everyone.
“What’s going to be the penalty for not answering or doing as challenged?” Tatsuki asked everyone as she settled to Orihime’s other side.
“No penalty,” Ichigo declared still glaring around the room with a challenge prevalent in his eyes. “You’ll all just have to live with the fact that you were too much of a wimp to complete it.”
Rukia snorted lightly and rolled her eyes. “Men,” she mumbled under her breath. Across the room Matsumoto echoed her feeling with a stifled laugh.
“So everyone is playing then?” Orihime asked hopefully. Ichigo answered her with a nod and a bright smile spread across her face. “Should I go first then?” When no one said anything she took that to mean a yes. “Um Kurosaki-kun, truth or dare?”
“Dare,” he responded automatically.
“Um…” she put her finger to her lips as she looked around the room trying to think of something good. “Tell someone exactly how you feel about them!” Everyone in the room heaved a collective groan.
Ichigo grinned and rocked up onto his knees. He reached across Orihime and grabbed Tatsuki’s hand. “Tatsuki you have been the very best sparring partner a man could want. You make me so happy when you kick me through the window, the classroom, the door.” Several people in the room snorted as Tatsuki used her other hand to punch Ichigo in the head.
Despite just getting attacked the orange haired teen sat back grinning. “Let’s see. Keigo truth or dare?”
“Dare!” the teen instantly declared waving his hand in the air triumphantly. The slight flush to his cheeks and the unsteadiness of his body clearly displayed the fact he had drank just a bit too much of the spiked punch.
“Alright,” Ichigo rose and moved over to his friend where he knelt and whispered something in his ear. A drunken grin spread across Keigo’s face and he crawled forward towards Matsumoto. She simple gave him a puzzled look right until his hand shot out and reached down between her ample cleavage. Seconds later he was flying across the room with a huge hand print across his face. Despite smacking into the wall nothing could remove the dreary smile from his face.
After Keigo finally righted and collected himself, and Ichigo managed to stop laughing, the game proceeded as normal or as normal as a truth and dare game could be with a house full of half drunk near adults. Ishida didn’t really mind and paid little attention to the entire thing. He spent most of his time sipping his punch, sitting off to the side against the wall, and pondering exactly how much longer would be the appropriate amount of time before he could leave.
Ishida has almost decided that another ten minutes will be sufficient when he heard Ichigo’s voice directed at him. “Hey! Ishida. Truth or Dare?”
The Quincy leveled a glare at the orange haired teen as he pushed his glasses back into place. Ishida quickly weighed his options and found that he liked neither. Both he and Ichigo knew he would do whatever the teen asked because of his own sense of pride. Since he didn’t really want to reveal the deep secrets that Ichigo would undoubtedly pry into with a truth question, Ishida declared that his choice was dare.
“I dare you to drink whatever concoction Matsumoto makes for you,” he stated immediately with a smug grin.
Ishida’s heart nearly stopped at Ichigo’s words. Matsumoto on the other hand immediately grinned, snagged a cup and began pouring liquid into it from small bottles tucked in odd places in her clothing. Renji and Hisagi both joined in offering bottles of their own and before long the trio looked like mad scientists creating a deadly poison. As far as Ishida was concerned they may as well be, especially since he did not hold his liquor well at all.
When Matsumoto proudly presented him with a glass, he was surprised to see little more than a shot of liquid inside. She simply smiled at his confusion and took a sip of her glass. “We wouldn’t want to kill you by giving you too much.”
Ishida scowled at that and then sighed. The things he did for his friends. He took a deep breath, pressed the cup to his lips, and then drank it in one fast gulp. Despite the speed it burned all the way down his throat and tasted relatively disgusting. He set the empty cup beside him and shot another glare at Ichigo. “Kurosaki truth or dare?”
“Dare,” Ichigo replied not skipping a beat.
“I dare you to drink a full cup of the same substance I just drank,” Ishida challenged.
Ichigo grinned and slapped his empty glass in front of Matsumoto. “Fill me up!” he declared cheerily. She laughed and proceeded to do just that with the help from the men once again. The entire time they were creating the drink, Ishida and Ichigo were caught in their own private glaring match.
“Here you are,” Matsumoto declared lightly as she passed Ichigo’s glass back to him.
Ichigo grinned and immediately began to drink the contents of the cup in large gulps. As soon as he was done he sets the cup aside and blinked wearily. “What the hell was in that stuff?”
“Oh a bit of this a bit of that,” she told him lightly.
He grinned and fixed his gaze back on Ishida. “Ishida truth -“
“Okay!” Tatsuki cut in. “New rule. No choosing the person that chose you, otherwise these two,” she gestured at Ishida and Ichigo, “will go at it all night.”
“Alright,” Ichigo relented and turned his attention elsewhere.
Ishida sighed and let his head fall back against the wall. He could feel that concoction he just drank affecting his body. Everything felt slightly warmer and he knew that his inhibitions were slowly dropping down with each sip of punch he took. The Quincy resolved to be more mindful of what he was doing to be sure that he didn’t do anything he would later regret.
For the most part he was avoided for the remainder of the game. Everyone could clearly see his discomfort and Ichigo was having plenty of fun getting back at his friends when it was his turn. All in all it had been a rather peaceful and humorous game for Ishida. He had simply sat back and relaxed as he watched his friends spill secrets and do increasingly ridiculous things.
By the time he heard his name again he had to shake his head to try and process what he heard. That would teach him to sit back and feel relaxed. He had no idea what his name had been involved in. The Quincy was fairly sure he wasn’t being asked to do anything since they had not spoken to him further. By the time his intoxicated brain wrapped its way around that Ichigo was right in front of him looking at him with what Ishida could only classify as a lecherous grin. Yes he really should pay more attention to his surroundings.
When Ichigo continued to move forward into Ishida’s personal space, the Quincy’s eyes widened. He swore that he would never drink that much again because by the time his hands rose to try and push the other teen away Ichigo was ready to grab them by the wrists and press them into the wall above his head. Panic flared through Ishida at the action and the memories it brought up but it was banished as the eyes that came into his vision were a warm and comforting brown.
“It’s just a dare,” Ichigo whispered softly, his lips so close to Ishida that his breath brushed lightly over his face. Then he was suddenly leaning in to press their lips together and Ishida’s eyes widened in surprise at the action.
The first try was clumsy and Ichigo found that Ishida’s glasses were in the way and noses could be a nascence. The second try was a bit better. Ichigo tilted his head just so and their lips were finally able to meet. The third try, that was the best of all, since somewhere in his intoxicated state Ichigo remembered something from one of the many movies he had seen and he flicked his tongue out lightly to trace along Ishida’s lips. Then those lips were parting and his tongue was dipping in to take its first explorative journey into the unknown.
Ishida managed to think that this was exactly the sort of thing he wanted to avoid before his eyes sagged closed and he instinctively returned the kiss. It wasn’t perfect in fact it was sloppy at best but neither man really cared all that much about how refined their skills were. A moment later Ichigo pulled back and brown locked on blue before he was leaning in again. This time Ishida was leaning up to met him and welcomed the return of the deep kiss with whole hearted fervor.
Later he would undoubtedly blame all the alcohol coursing through his veins. For now, Ishida simply enjoyed the sensation of another body pressed to his and the feel of lips against his own. It was, he quickly decided, perhaps the one thing that had been missing from that night five months, one week, and five days ago. Not that he wanted to ever relieve that night again, despite what his alcohol muddled body thought.
“Alright Romeo let him up for air,” Tatsuki declared as she pulled Ichigo off Ishida and dragged him back off to the other side of the room.
Ishida, in his inhibited state, couldn’t stop the small keening cry at the loss of Ichigo’s lips. He stifled it immediately and flushed bright red. He couldn’t bring himself to look at anyone any longer. It didn’t take him looking to know that Ichigo was grinning like a fool.
“I believe it is time for me to go home,” he stated as levelly as he could. Slowly he climbed to his feet, using to wall to brace him and help him keep his balance. He took half a step forward and nearly met the floor barely saving himself by using the wall.
“No one should go home tonight. Not after the alcohol you two have had,” Rukia declared looking from Ishida to Ichigo. The first looked slightly ashamed, while the second just grinned at her.
Orihime nodded her agreement. “I can put Ishida-kun in the guest room if he would like.” Ishida didn’t respond he simple rubbed the bridge of his nose with his free hand and squeezed his eyes shut. Taking his silence as acceptance, Orihime grabbed his arm gently and lead him that way.
She helped him get off his shoes and made sure he was settled before promising to come check on him later. He barely heard her. His eyes had already sagged closed and he felt himself fading into the peaceful blackness that could protect him from everything. By the time the door clicked softly shut, he was fast asleep.
~~~
Ishida opened his eyes and quickly discovered a throbbing pain somewhere behind his left temple sinking back into his skull behind his eyes. He rolled his head sideways and found a glass of water and some painkiller. Thanking whatever deities had placed it there, he took both tablets and lay back to snooze for the next half an hour.
Once the pain killer kicked in and he felt reasonable better, he climbed from the bed. Upon opening the door he didn’t have to work hard to find the inhabitants of the small apartment. He simply followed the sound of clattering dishes and murmured conversation to the kitchen that doubled as a dining room.
“Ishida-kun!” Orihime greeted him, much too perky for this time of morning in his opinion. “Would you like some breakfast?”
His stomach flipped immediately at the suggestion and he shook his head negative. “I’ll get you some water,” Rukia told him. “Go sit,” she gestured to the table where Renji, Ichigo and Matsumoto were already eating or sipping at mugs of liquid. Obediently, he slid into the seat across from Ichigo. He couldn’t be positive but he thought he saw the man’s eyes flick up to met his own for a brief second before returning to his breakfast. Still the glance made a light flush rise in Ishida’s cheeks.
His memories of the previous night were a bit muddled and hazy in some parts but he did remember the specific parts concerning Kurosaki. He could always blame the alcohol and the fact that it was simply a dare if anyone ever brought it up. That and the threat of a glowing arrow through vital organs should deter all questions. Still he could not simply write off his body’s reaction.
“Here,” Rukia said as she placed a glass in front of him.
“Thank you,” he replied softly, having found his vocal cords at last. He sipped lightly at the water as he tried to rationalize what had happened. He had reacted to stimulus the previous night. When provided with the proper stimulus his body would react like all other male bodies of his age, with participation and enjoyment. The alcohol had likely simply made it easy for his mind to ignore the gender and who the other party was. That was a satisfactory explanation.
Ishida closed his eyes and released a little sigh of relief. He hated the small thought that he had enjoyed it simply because it was Kurosaki. That would never happen. Not after everything that occurred between them. Carefully he set the glass on the table and rose. “I have to be going now. Thank you for everything Inoue-san.”
“You’re welcome,” she replied cheerfully.
Ishida turned his eyes onto the still eating Kurosaki, “I hope last night’s drinking did not cause too many lingering effects. I still expect you to be ready to hunt hollows tonight,” he said curtly.
Ichigo looked up at them and their eyes met for a moment. Something passed between them before Ichigo grinned. “I don’t think it’s me you should be worried about. I’ll be there with bells on.”
Ishida simply made an irritated noise in response and turned from the table. He moved through the small apartment to the front door where he slid his feet into his shoes. The Quincy was not entirely sure what it was that had passed between him and Ichigo, but he did know that what had happened the previous night would be added to the ‘Do not mention,’ category. It seemed like that category was beginning to grow lately and Ishida did not care for that one bit.
After exchanging polite goodbyes with everyone, he stepped out into the morning sun. He knew there were many things he needed to sort out in his mind, chiefly how slowly he should kill Kurosaki, however for now he had other things to focus on. First on the list was getting home and into a warm bath. Following that would be a clean set of clothing. From there he would look over his mail and work on any lingering assignments. For now, everything else could wait. For now, this was enough.
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Previous Chapter: Chapter One