Keigo's Awesome Seaside Vacation (Part 3/3)
Title: Keigo’s Awesome Seaside Vacation (Part 3/3)
Rating: NC-17
Status: Complete
Pairing: Kurosaki Ichigo/Ishida Uryuu
Word count: 27k
Warnings: UST, language, underage drinking, m/m sex, a poorly-written action scene
Summary: Another school break rolls around and Keigo is determined to make everyone enjoy it at the beach with him. Although he didn’t exactly have the elicit union of a couple of argumentative teenagers in mind.
AN: Just a little sand and surf and angsty romance. I say ‘little’ but this thing somehow turned into a wordy beast! Soundtrack for this story is ‘The Island Pt I: Dawn’ and ‘The Island Pt II: Dusk’, both by Pendulum.
Part 1
Part 2
The afternoon plays out lazily and in efforts to obtain sunburns. Their entire group trades a bottle of sunscreen around, sets out blankets, and twists open bottles of water and soda as they lie out in the sun. Ichigo claims a spot beside Ishida-or Uryuu, as he has obstinately taken to calling him since this morning-and respects his space enough to leave about a handbreadth between their towels. He listens to his friends’ casual chatter between bouts of sleepy silence and feels content.
After a while, their crowd disbands into swimmers, snackers, and Frisbee-throwers, leaving him and Uryuu to bake by themselves. But Uryuu is paler than the freaking moon and no amount of sun block can allow him to stay under the burning rays for long. Soon he retreats under a shady tree to read a paperback-a different one from their drive in, the freaking bookworm. Left alone now, Ichigo rolls over onto his stomach and considers meditation. He hasn’t gotten in touch with Zangetsu in a while and he’s supposed to be practicing controlling his reiatsu-on Rukia’s insistence. So he shuts his eyes and takes deeper breaths as he turns inward.
The splashing, crunching, laughing sounds of the others fade out. Ichigo greets Zangetsu in his sideways world and they discuss the nature of his power in vague terms. He needs a better idea of how to monitor his own energy output in a personalized way because no matter how many times Rukia or Renji or even Ganju have tried to describe it, he has never been able to understand. Old Man Zangetsu can only give him a few tips but he appreciates it nonetheless.
Withdrawing from his inner metropolis, Ichigo takes what he has learned and attempts to apply it. He focuses on the pulse of his reiatsu in tune with his heartbeat, sensing it leaking out of the shell of his body from the spirit housed within. If his power is like a tap, he has the most finicky dial in the universe; it’s all he can do to decrease the output marginally, much less dramatically.
Ichigo keeps at it for a while, not paying attention to the passage of time or the people around him. His only interest is in suppressing his reiatsu as much as possible and he thinks it might be working. Picturing it as a giant, unruly mess of cotton, he balls it up carefully until its edges are rounded and compact. Contained within the meager confines of his body and no further. Pressure and heat grow but not unbearably. Ichigo’s exhales are slow and careful. The soft noises around him fill his ears and provide a simple soundtrack to his mental endeavors.
The perpetual tones of Chad’s rock-solid energy solidify in his mind. Inoue’s golden halo becomes clear and sharp. Tatsuki and Keigo’s subtler souls flicker like candle flames. Their positions are pinpointed in relative space and Ichigo doesn’t need to open his eyes or attune his ears to ‘see’ them exactly where they are. Sweeping his focus wider, he notices something which is icy cool and blazing hot at the same time. So subtle and reigned-in that it resembles a distant drop of blue light. It takes him a moment to realize it is Uryuu.
Fascinated by this novel discovery, Ichigo narrows his attention to a single target and analyzes it specifically. He has never felt Uryuu’s reiatsu with such clarity. The boy has never been one to flaunt his power, so even if Ichigo wanted to he would have trouble detecting Uryuu. Without the background noise of his own energy to further conceal it, Uryuu’s signature resolves for him now. Ichigo quickly decides he likes it. He wants to drag more of it out of Uryuu so he can feel it stronger.
“You’re going to burn, Kurosaki.”
The quiet words spoken from very close to him startle him out of his trance. If that hadn’t done it, the sensation of Uryuu’s hands spreading warm sunscreen over his back and shoulders would have. Slow and thorough, Uryuu drags his fingers slickly across his skin. Ichigo shivers at the pleasant press of them into his relaxed muscles. It doesn’t occur to him how atypical this gesture is until the distraction of his actions is gone. Yet, he figures it must be easier to be nice to someone once they’ve had their mouth on your dick.
“Thanks,” he says as he turns his head to grin up at Uryuu. “You can keep doing that if you want.”
“You’ve gotten better at it.”
“Huh?”
“Controlling your reiatsu.”
“Oh. Yeah?” Ichigo rolls to prop himself on his side with an elbow. His eyes sweep over Uryuu’s kneeling figure. From this angle and despite his thin white t-shirt, Ichigo is reminded of their activities last night. “You could tell?”
“It’s hard to miss,” Uryuu states with a tone that says he knows what Ichigo is thinking about, “Since you were flinging it at me like a net.”
“What? I wasn’t-”
“Precisely what do you think happens when you’re trying to sense someone else’s spirit, Kurosaki?”
“I don’t know.” Ichigo sits up properly to meet him on an equal level. “Does it hurt?”
“No.”
“Is it uncomfortable?”
“Not exactly…”
“Yours feels really nice,” he blurts before thinking. “I was trying to get a better sense of it.”
Uryuu’s eyes widen and his cheeks flush at the idea, making Ichigo smile at his embarrassment.
“It’s not like you’ve never sensed it before.”
“Yeah, but it’s like…the difference between the smell of ice cream and an actual lick of it. And when the taste is really good you want more of it.”
“Don’t compare me to ice cream, Kurosaki,” he complains without heat. In fact, the longer they talk about this, the more Uryuu fidgets. “I am not a summer treat.”
Smirking at that, Ichigo agrees, “Not if I can help it.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means, Uryuu,” he keeps firm eye contact and deliberately uses his name now, “That I’m not looking for a summer fling anymore than you are. I want to enjoy you year-round.”
Both of them blush a little at the mention of enjoying each other. Thoughts of their more intimate meetings swivel into his awareness and Ichigo doesn’t bother hiding it from his face. How easy would it be to lean forward and kiss Uryuu right here? To sneak off behind that copse of trees and pin him against one of them? But Ichigo promised not to touch him unless requested. If only Uryuu would ask! He holds his breath as he awaits the reply.
Uryuu rolls his eyes and looks away for a while. Ichigo follows his gaze to see Inoue and Tatsuki splashing each other in the surf. Smiling at their fun, he thinks about joining them. Ichigo wonders if Uryuu would go if he asked.
“Yours is nice, too, Kurosaki.”
“Hm?”
Turning to look at him, Ichigo is a little dumbstruck at the shyness he sees. Uryuu’s eyes are on the ground between them. His index finger idly flicks a clump of sand aside. Something about the scene stimulates a memory.
“Your reiatsu,” he clarifies, barely speaking above a whisper. “It’s not uncomfortable, it’s…pleasant.”
He is half-listening, focused on dredging up this weird memory because it seems important somehow. Uryuu standing in front of him on the roof right after lunch at school. Everyone else had gone back to class but he had asked Ichigo to wait. He remembers thinking it was strange, Uryuu wanting to talk to him in private. Then taking so long to say what he wanted while Ichigo grew impatient. And it turned out to be some kind of conference he had barely heard of from Keigo. Ichigo had already turned Keigo’s invitation down so he told Uryuu the same thing in a rush: he had to work for his dad that weekend. He recalls Uryuu’s reaction to that rejection since he had gone stone-cold on the spot. Muttered something like ‘fine’ and pushed past Ichigo to leave. After that he was more aloof to Ichigo than ever.
“Uryuu…” he gets the boy’s attention, mind spinning in epiphany. “When you asked me to that conference last semester, were you…asking me out?”
Eyes snap up to his and Uryuu’s expression twists its way through too many things before going completely blank. Not for the first time, Ichigo resents his tendency to close off like this.
“O-of course not, Kurosaki!” Uryuu adjusts his glasses and subtly shifts to put distance between them. “I just didn’t have anyone else to go with and-”
“You were, weren’t you?”
“Like I said, I-”
“I’m sorry.” Uryuu falls silent to glare at the towel. “I didn’t realize. I was really distracted that day and I never imagined you would-”
“Why would you? It’s not like I ever gave you any reason to.”
“Ask me again. Ask me anything, Uryuu. I’ll say yes.”
“Of course you will,” he sighs. The tension leaves his frame and Ichigo relaxes to match. “Why did I think it was strange? Of course Kurosaki Ichigo would randomly decide one day that he likes someone he’s been around for years.”
Ichigo huffs an uncertain laugh. He knows it doesn’t make sense but nothing about his entire life makes sense. He’s used to it by now.
“Hey, do me a favor, Uryuu?”
“What is it?”
“Call me ‘Ichigo’, already, will you?”
After a stunned pause, Uryuu quirks a teasing smile and says, “Weren’t you listening? I just did.”
The rest of the day goes almost too smoothly. With Uryuu speaking to him again, everyone seems to realize they’ve worked things out. They order pizza for dinner and take turns playing video games while shouting over each other. Even after a long day running around the beach they manage to find the energy to harass each other on games like Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat. It gets so crazy that Tatsuki and Keigo act out the player’s moves in the background while Inoue and Mizuiro control the characters. Unfortunately for Keigo, Inoue is a pretty good player…and Mizuiro is a little vindictive.
By the time they head to sleep it is late and everyone is exhausted. Snoring sounds start sifting through the walls as their friends collapse into their beds. Ichigo is tired, too, but he is too wired to sleep; he keeps catching Uryuu’s glances from across the room. They don’t speak as they change into pajamas, pull back the covers, and crawl into bed. Tension creeps into Ichigo’s neck and he stares up at the ceiling with subdued breaths. If Uryuu says anything right now, he wants to make sure he doesn’t miss it. Yet, he is too nervous to look over at him. Unintentionally, he sends out a curious tendril of reiatsu to do what his eyes cannot. Uryuu’s spirit is a steady pulse tucked deep inside so that Ichigo really has to concentrate and-
“Will you stop that?” Uryuu breathlessly snaps.
“What?”
“You know what.”
“You can feel that?” Ichigo incredulously asks. He finally turns to look at Uryuu. “I was barely-”
“It’s impossible to ignore. A tiger batting at me with its giant paw…”
At the tone of his voice, Ichigo sits up to peer more thoroughly. Uryuu’s breaths come quick and shallow, mouth pursed in a tight line. It’s hard to tell in the dark but he suspects a healthy blush on the boy’s face, too. His hands grip tightly to the blanket as he swallows once and blinks twice. Ichigo knows those gestures because they have recently been seared into his brain. Squeezing his eyes shut, he consults his mental storage for comparison. The signs match.
“Is it turning you on?”
He expects vehement denial and possibly another silent treatment. Instead, Uryuu sighs. He hears indistinct shuffling and opens his eyes just in time to see Uryuu raising a leg to straddle Ichigo’s thighs. Trying not to react the way he wants to-by flinging his arms around the boy and never letting go-Ichigo merely stares up at him in surprise. Uryuu plants his hands to either side of Ichigo’s shoulders as he leans down to speak.
“Reiatsu is just energy. It doesn’t have the power to incite arousal on its own,” he murmurs as his dark eyes dart back and forth between Ichigo’s. “It’s the fact that you are so intrigued by me that you keep pushing it at me to garner information. That is what’s turning me on.”
“Oh.”
“Kiss me, Kurosaki.” Granted with the permission he has wished for all day long, Ichigo’s heart gives an eager series of extra beats. But he can’t stop the frown that tugs at the corners of his mouth. Perceptive as always, Uryuu figures out why before Ichigo does, leaning down to ghost his lips over an ear as he whispers, “Kiss me, Ichigo.”
Ichigo does, and with the pitiful moan of a man made to wait too long for his prize. One hand in his hair and the other on his lower back, he pulls Uryuu against him and makes a hot mess of their lips and tongues. There is no hesitation in Uryuu’s movements this time. None of that desperation born of confusion and vulnerability, either. Uryuu is all heat and purpose and control. Ichigo is still happy to let him have it all if it means he gets to participate in the masterpiece that is Uryuu’s desire for him.
He is just working up from a medium simmer to a nice rolling boil when Uryuu pulls away from him. Hands are dislodged as the boy gets off the bed and Ichigo wants to shout and plead at the same time.
“Wait.”
“There.” Uryuu nods once, businesslike despite his shallow panting. “Now will you stop pestering me so we can go to sleep?”
“But-”
“Goodnight, Ichigo.”
“Ugh,” he groans, letting his head fall to the pillow. Leave it to Uryuu to find the perfect balance between indulgence and being a total fucking tease. “‘Night, Uryuu.”
The last day of vacation starts with him approaching Uryuu and being brushed off for the sake of studying. Leave it to that guy to study on a break. So while he retreats to a quiet corner with a stack of books, Ichigo wanders around the house looking for something to do. Inoue, Chizuru, and Tatsuki are taking their time packing while they chat. He hangs with them until Inoue launches into an energetic monologue involving something she read about supernovas and wormholes. Chad and Mizuiro are playing chess so intensely that Ichigo doesn’t think to interrupt them.
Finally, his stomach rumbles loud enough that he can’t ignore it any longer. Striding into the kitchen, he runs into Keigo having a similar idea with few results. They quickly decide that the kitchen is effectively depleted; they’ll have to go into town for lunch.
“Ichigo,” Keigo somberly intones the minute they are alone for once all vacation. “You don’t hate Ishida, do you?”
“Nope.”
Just like that, the calm gravity Keigo learned from his time with Ikkaku goes out the window. He shrieks and pulls at his hair in frustration. Ichigo waits with arms crossed and resists the urge to smack the boy out of his hysterics. On some level, he understands that Keigo is jealous of Uryuu for taking Ichigo’s attention. But it’s so hard to remain passive in the face of such immaturity. He has bigger things to worry about.
“Why!? Why don’t you hate him? What could you possibly see in that stuck-up, scary, geeky-”
“Enough, Keigo,” he can’t help growling. Ichigo is not a fan of people ragging on Uryuu. “Get over it already.”
“Wait.” Shrewdly narrowed eyes assess him. Keigo scowls and asks with deadly foreboding, “Do you…like him?”
“No.”
“Ah, thank the gods! I thought-”
“I’m pretty sure I might love him.”
Grimacing in annoyance, Ichigo plugs his ears against the wail that elicits. He can tell Keigo’s tantrum is going to take a while so he leaves the room with a long-suffering sigh. Passing the living room on the way from the kitchen, Ichigo balks as he spots Uryuu perched on the couch, studying as he said he would. He takes a moment to wonder if Uryuu heard what they were talking about. Then he wonders why his heart starts ramming against his rib cage at the thought. It was a very impulsive, if mostly true, thing to say to a friend when he hasn’t told Uryuu yet. When he is still unsure himself.
Uryuu doesn’t look up as Ichigo comes to sit beside him. He doesn’t appear perturbed in the slightest but with Uryuu that doesn’t usually mean much. Ichigo considers just asking him outright but he can’t quite bring himself to say it. Suddenly he’s thinking about what it might feel like to hear Uryuu tell him something similar. Feeling his face heat and his heart speed yet further, Ichigo swallows and presses damp palms to the fabric of his shorts.
“Are you just going to sit there and heave like a pregnant bear or do you want something?” Uryuu abruptly teases, flipping a page in his book. “I still have a lot of material to get through.”
“Don’t pretend you haven’t read all of those already.”
“It never hurts to review.”
“I thought you had some kind of photographic memory or something.”
“The term is ‘eidetic’, Kurosaki, and even I can’t absorb a book in its entirety on the very first run through.”
They realize it at the same time: Uryuu has reverted to his family name. Ichigo freezes as Uryuu blinks. Uryuu takes a breath to speak but Chizuru chooses that instant to walk in and order them into the van to go get lunch. The moment is broken but Ichigo dwells on it as they file through the door and pile into the vehicle with everyone else. Uryuu peers out the window from the seat in front of him, mirroring the uncomfortable expression Ichigo is wearing. It shouldn’t matter what Uryuu calls him. Especially since they’d been bickering like usual and Uryuu probably fell into old habits more than anything. Yet, it was not a nice feeling.
They pull up at a nearby okonomiyaki restaurant. Everyone rushes eagerly inside and claims a table in the far corner. Soon their plates are full, conversations are running rampant, and other customers are glaring in their direction for the disturbance. Ichigo carves into his meal and eats without really tasting it. He's distracted by the fact that today is their last day of vacation; they have to return to Karakura tomorrow morning. Go back to school life and leave this seaside haven behind. Ichigo is determined not to lose what he has gained here, even if he's not sure he's gained anything at all.
Uryuu is still not talking to him-is actually avoiding so much as glancing at him.
This behavior continues as they finish their meal and return home. And all throughout the movie they watch once there. Also during the brief game of karaoke Keigo demands they play before bed. By the time he heads up to his room with Uryuu trailing behind, Ichigo is on the verge of…something. He wants to yell and question and pounce all at the same time. But Ichigo does none of these because he promised he would let this be on Uryuu's terms.
That's fine. Ichigo can deal with that. He just wishes Uryuu would speak to him.
The long road trip home is spent reading manga borrowed from Mizuiro and stonily ignoring everyone. More like, pretending to read it while he broods. Although that's nothing new.
Since last night Uryuu has said two words to him: "excuse me" when he was blocking the bathroom door in order to pack his clothes. Ichigo still doesn't know what to do about any of it. Part of him imagines making a dramatic gesture in a heartfelt speech at a critical moment. Most of him decides he is speeched-out already and all of this is Uryuu's damn fault to begin with for being such a nerd about receiving Ichigo's feelings. So he settles for ignoring Uryuu right back until the guy stops acting like a mercurial woman. He has enough on his mind with college coming up without adding this, too. Ichigo can't be worrying about whether or not Uryuu will choose to thaw anytime soon.
So why is he still thinking about it the next day at school?
Lunch goes as usual on the roof. It would be tense if Uryuu had bothered to join them. As it is, Chad, Inoue, and Tatsuki are taking turns glancing at him when they think he won't notice. They keep at it until Ichigo's eye begins to twitch. When Mizuiro starts doing it, too, he snaps.
"Will you guys knock it off already!?"
"What are you talking about, Ichigo?" oblivious Keigo splutters around his sandwich.
"We just don't understand," Inoue says in a small voice. "Sorry if we're making you uncomfortable."
"I thought you and Ishida had...come to an agreement," Tatsuki says.
"I thought I made it clear it's none of your business."
Standing, Ichigo grabs his stuff and stomps away. Shoves open the metal door with a resounding bang on the concrete wall. Jogs down the stairs to the landing. He doesn't hear Chad following behind until he speaks.
"Ichigo."
"What?"
"You should talk to him."
Pausing on the landing across from him, Chad's calm bass echoes in emphasis. Ichigo unballs his fists and shrugs tightly. He knows better than to take his temper out on Chad.
"What makes you think I haven't tried?"
"Try harder."
"Uryuu is just like that. Talking won't do any good even if I could get him to listen."
Chad's eyes widen upon hearing the boy's name uttered so easily from Ichigo's mouth for the second time in as many days. It reminds him how fast everything has happened. A week ago he and Uryuu were bitching at each other on the rare occasions that they would even bother speaking. Now they're calling each other by given names and sneaking looks that mean something completely different.
"If he won't listen, maybe you can make him see."
"What's that supposed to mean?" he demands, thinking he has nothing left to show Uryuu anyway. Nothing else to add that he hasn’t already tried.
"I wonder if what Ishida fears is the same type of thing we all do," Chad explains in a rare bout of wordiness. "Maybe he thinks what you each want isn't compatible. Show him it is.
"What we want, huh?"
"What do you want, Ichigo?"
"I want..." Ichigo considers and Chad patiently waits. He has been thinking about this a lot lately, whether he wants to or not, so Chad doesn't have to wait long. "I want to be with him. Not just physically. I want to spend more time with him. Get to know him even better. I want to share stuff and fight and laugh. Kick his ass when he's being a punk and comfort him when shit goes wrong. I just...want him."
Ichigo looks up as he finishes the lame speech he said he wouldn't make. Chad is smiling.
"Then show him that."
Opening his mouth to ask how he's supposed to do that, Ichigo is cut off by the bell ending lunch. A few seconds later his friends file into the stairwell to return to class. Chad gives him a final encouraging look and follows them, leaving Ichigo to ponder alone. But he doesn't stand there long: a spark of insight spurs him into action. Running back to the classroom, he spots Uryuu in an influx of students moving from the hall into the classrooms.
"Uryuu!" he shouts over the noise to get his attention. Ichigo ignores the odd looks he catches from those who know of their enduring feud. "Hey, Uryuu, wait up."
To his relief, Uryuu does. Albeit with an apprehensive frown as Ichigo grabs his arm and leads him to a more secluded corner of the hall. It's not that he wants to keep this a secret, but he'd like to give Uryuu the option of privacy. For all he cares, Ichigo would cheerily announce to the entire school that he likes Uryuu. Somehow he doubts this would be appreciated.
"What is it, Ichigo?"
"Want to come to my place after school?" he asks, fighting off a grin at the sound of his name. "To study or whatever. Yuzu is making spaghetti tonight."
Uryuu's eyebrows raise and he stares for a few seconds longer than Ichigo would like.
"I-"
"Hey, you two," calls a teacher from one of the rooms. "Get to class."
"Yes, sensei," Uryuu placidly agrees.
Ichigo watches him walk away with an irritated frown. If it's not one thing, it's another. He's starting to think Uryuu will always have an escape route.
So Ichigo gets back at him by glaring at Uryuu's back for most of the rest of the day. At least he's too busy being annoyed to pay attention to his friends being nosy over this.
He is feeling defeated by the end of the day. Other than inviting Uryuu to do things together, he can't think of how to 'show him' this can work. Short of stalking the boy-which he knows from previous experience will not work-he's out of ideas. The final bell rings one last time and Ichigo sighs. Grabs his stuff and shuffles out of the building like everyone else. Ichigo arrives home and fends off his father as usual. Greets his sisters and treks upstairs to collapse into his desk chair. Pulls his textbooks back out and picks one at random to start reading.
Almost halfway through the chapter, he feels a whoosh of displaced air.
"I see you started without me."
Ichigo looks up to see Uryuu standing in the center of his room, glancing around. He has changed out of the school uniform in favor of casual clothes and carries a large messenger bag. When he has his fill of inspecting, Uryuu drops his bag to the bed and sits beside it. He looks at Ichigo with an expectant expression.
"I didn't think you…never mind."
"You've rearranged since the last time I was here."
"A year ago? Yeah, I've moved stuff around," he snorts, bitter about how infrequently they've been in each other's quiet places. "And I'll be moving it again soon."
"You mean when you go to university?"
"Yeah. Assuming I'm accepted anywhere."
"You will be."
It is said with natural confidence, as close to complimentary as Uryuu ever comes. Ichigo looks at him and wonders what he will do if they can't attend the same school. Wonders if Uryuu has thought about it, too. He watches the boy pull out a laptop and set it on the bed, twisting to sit cross-legged in front of it. His shoes are already placed neatly next to the bed post on the floor. Ichigo can't resist the urge to join him; he brings his texts and notebook with him. They do some shuffling to get situated and Uryuu plays music low and unobtrusive from his library. Some kind of melodic trance with heavy bass undertones.
"Do you mind?"
"No. I like it."
"Good."
"You want something to drink?"
"I'm fine."
"Just let me know."
"Mn.”
Gentle taps of typed keys accompany the music as Uryuu digitizes his day's notes. The occasional shuffle of paper and scritch of pencil join in. Ichigo feels warm in spite of a cool breeze from his open window. His earlier irritation is forgotten for the fact that Uryuu is here. And they have never really studied together, partly because it never really occurred to Ichigo before. Partly because he would've expected Uryuu to refuse anyway. But this is nice.
They study for about an hour, comfortable in the silence as they simply enjoy the company. Ichigo tends to study every day after school anyway, when he isn’t battling Hollows or spending time with friends. This way they’re hanging out and studying at the same time, though. He gets to be near Uryuu and even talk to him if he wants while they get things done. Excited at the notion, Ichigo wants to suggest they do this every day. Make it a habit, maybe even trade off going to each other's houses. But Ichigo frowns as he imagines Uryuu's unfavorable answer.
"What is it?" Uryuu jogs him out of his head to ask. Ichigo hadn’t realized he was being scrutinized.
"Nothing."
"Tell me."
"I said it's nothing: forget it."
"Ichigo."
A happy little flutter easily displaces impending ire. Ichigo is beginning to think he has a thing for hearing his name in Uryuu's voice. He’s totally okay with that.
“It’s a dumb idea but I was thinking,” Ichigo mutters while pretending to be immersed in his work, “That it might be cool to do this kind of thing more often.”
“Studying in your bedroom?”
“Or anywhere. The library or a coffee shop. Your place, maybe.”
When he doesn’t respond for several tense seconds, Ichigo casually glances up to see why. Uryuu is looking at him with an odd expression, eyebrows furrowed slightly and mouth tilted in a confused curl. Ichigo asks a silent question.
“Did you really invite me over just to study?” Uryuu candidly queries in that flat tone he uses when he thinks he knows the answer.
“Y-yeah,” Ichigo blushes. It’s not like he hadn’t imagined this possibly turning into something else but he was actually pretty sure it wasn’t going to happen. Until he heard that question. “What’d you think-this was some kind of ploy to get you on my bed so we could, uh…”
“Wasn’t it?”
“No! I just wanted to chill with you outside of school.”
“So you don’t want to make out?”
“Well, I-I didn’t say that, but,” Ichigo splutters, red as his favorite jacket. If he didn’t know better, he would say Uryuu is messing with him. Humor isn’t a common thing with him, though. Even now he is looking at Ichigo with a blank face, cat-eyes calm and assessing. “I mean I wouldn’t say no to that, if it happened, but it wasn’t my intention.”
“Then what is your intention?”
Sighing, Ichigo thinks he is sick of Uryuu getting to ask all of the questions. They were having such a nice time coexisting in the same room for once without arguing or harboring tension between them. Why can’t things be simple like that more often? He shuts his book and sets it aside as he turns to face Uryuu better.
“I already told you: I just wanted to hang out. Thought that it’d be good to try it for once, like normal people. Is that so odd?”
“Coming from you, yes.”
“Fine, then forget I said anything. It was a stupid idea anyway.”
Ichigo stands, intending to go downstairs for a drink if for no other reason than to take a break from this uncomfortable atmosphere. He gets as far as gripping the door handle.
“Wait.” Ichigo glances over his shoulder to see Uryuu approaching. He sets a hand to Ichigo’s arm to keep him from opening the door. Eyes find his and Uryuu takes a long breath before he speaks. “I didn’t say I wasn’t amenable to it, Ichigo. But you can’t say that this doesn’t sound like a proposition. ‘Come to my place to study’? I’ve heard lines with less innuendo in erotic films.”
Then Uryuu is retreating a few steps, flushed because he just admitted he watches porn. Ichigo takes pity on him and decides not to mention it-for now. Tucks that tidbit of information away for later instead.
“Yeah, all right. So I haven’t exactly had the purest of intentions with you but that doesn’t mean-”
“I know.”
“I just thought if we spent some time together…”
“You’re right.” Falling silent, Ichigo stares. That’s probably the first time Uryuu has ever conceded defeat to him in any sense of the term. Then his jaw drops outright because he adds, “I apologize.”
“It’s cool,” he murmurs once he recovers. Something else occurs to him a second later. “Uryuu, if you thought I asked you here for that…why did you come?”
Now they’re both blushing like a couple of idiots. Letting the question go unanswered, Ichigo pulls open the door to yell down the hall. He tells Yuzu that he’s having a guest for dinner. Her puzzled confirmation drifts back to him beneath the curious questions Karin shouts from their room. Ichigo ignores them, figuring they’ll find out at dinner, and locks the door when he closes it.
Uryuu is watching him from his reclaimed spot on the bed. Leaning back on both arms stretched out behind him. One leg drawn up and bent on the mattress, the other one dangles down with toes grazing the floor. A tingly memory of those toes curling a few days ago flits through his mind. Ichigo follows the line of that leg up to his canted hips and thinks about how much he wants to see the boy out of his clothes. Not just shirtless or with pants undone but completely naked, no more pesky barriers to Ichigo’s view.
The short walk over is occupied by resisting the inclination to step right up to him and connect their mouths. Push Uryuu down against his comforter and-Ichigo perches on the edge of the bed and stares at the floor as he reigns it all in. He literally just told Uryuu this wasn’t about all of that and now here he is wanting it so much he could scream. It doesn’t help that it is continually becoming easier to sense Uryuu’s reiatsu, like a pleasant personal scent amplified by going into someone’s home. Only a much more significant and diverse feeling.
“Come to my place tomorrow, Ichigo.”
It is said low and with a hint of breathlessness. Ichigo snaps his head up to catch the quirk of a smile before it disappears. There is a wealth of mystery in the depths of those blue eyes, all hidden meanings and half-promises. Ichigo’s heart stutters with it.
“Okay.”
“Ichi-nii!” They are startled from the moment when Yuzu knocks on the door. “I brought lemonade.”
“And snacks,” Karin adds as she tries the door. “Why is it locked?”
Rolling his eyes, Ichigo rises to let them in. Both girls lock onto Uryuu the instant they enter. He straightens, sitting much more modestly, and accepts the glass with a small seated bow and a word of thanks. Karin sets a plate of vegetables and fruits on the desk and flashes Ichigo a suspicious glance before standing beside Yuzu.
“Ishida-kun, isn’t it?” Yuzu is saying.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“We’ve seen you around,” Karin states, “But you haven’t been here very much, have you?”
“Not more than a few times.”
“Did Ichi-nii make you visit or something?”
“Karin,” Ichigo rebukes.
“What? You’ve known each other for years and you’re just now having him over for dinner. It’s strange, that’s all.”
“Karin-chan is right,” agrees Yuzu, nodding in emphasis. “And he just called you ‘Ichigo’. I thought you only called each other by family name.”
Shocked that they were eavesdropping, he hesitates to ask how much they heard. It must not have been anything too bad if they’re acting normally, though. Instead, he transforms embarrassment into anger and starts to shoo them out of his bedroom.
“Go be nosy somewhere else. And stop listening through my door!”
“But Ichi-nii!”
“Enough, go on. You can quiz him during dinner but leave us alone until then.”
“Ugh,” Karin groans as she is herded through the door with her sister. “Watch out for Dad. Once Yuzu tells him you have a friend over, he’s going to flip out.”
“Like I don’t know that,” he cries and slams the door. “Damn meddling geezer.”
Uryuu is sipping his drink and nibbling a baby carrot when Ichigo turns around. As if none of this fazes him. As if they weren’t just kind of flirting.
“Your sisters are quite agreeable.”
“Thanks.”
“It must be frustrating, though, having everyone question your motives. I’m sure your friends at school are giving you trouble, too.”
“Our friends,” Ichigo obstinately grumbles as he sinks to the bed and lies on his back, hands behind his head and eyes closed. It’s been a long day. “They weren’t that bad. Just curious about where you and I stand.”
“About that…have you thought about my original question: ‘why me?’”
“Of course I’ve thought about it,” he sighs. Ichigo lets his breathing even out into a slow, steady sort of thing as he forcibly relaxes. “I just don’t know how to say it. You know I’m no good with talking about stuff like that.”
“Try.”
Chad’s words earlier today echo Uryuu’s. Why is it so hard to understand that Ichigo has limitations? Just because he has ridiculous fighting power doesn’t mean that same concept applies to all aspects of his life. Extra reiatsu doesn’t get magically converted into mental acuity. Briefly, Ichigo considers repeating what he told Chad earlier. He rejects that option because it would probably sound rehearsed. Not to mention fumbling and idiotic. Feeling foolish, he keeps his eyes shut to help block it out.
“We’re a lot alike if you think about it-I know you hate the idea but it’s true,” Ichigo preempts his scoff of disapproval. “We know each other well enough to push each other’s buttons more than we should but…also enough to connect better than most people ever do. Safe to say I would do almost anything for you. And you can deny it all you want but I think you’d do the same for me, too, if it came to that. Plus, I like being around you as long as you’re not yelling at me.”
Uryuu doesn’t respond at first and Ichigo isn’t surprised. His reasons are vague and a little generalized but they’re all he has right now. Ichigo isn’t the type to ‘wax eloquent’ about how Uryuu does this or says things like that and that’s why he loves him. He doesn’t need to pinpoint specific examples to recognize how he feels. Although he can understand why Uryuu wants those examples, tangible relics to hold up in times of doubt and inveterate fear. That reassurance is not something Ichigo knows how to give.
“Sufficient,” he eventually says with a tone of finality.
Ichigo’s eyes crack open at the firm spread of Uryuu’s palm over the left side of his chest, over his heart. He swipes stylized bangs behind an ear and leans down to press warm lips to Ichigo’s in a kiss so composed and sensual that it almost slows his pulse. Eyes slide closed as tongues slip out. Uryuu softly hums into it and his fingers drift down Ichigo’s shirt to splay over his hip. Gripping there, he expresses his eagerness in the pressure of a squeeze. Ichigo moves arms from behind his neck to comb his fingers into that silky hair, shifting it free from its careful tuck.
A handful of minutes pass like this. Not a single thought is spared for the homework scattered to either side of them. His brain only has enough focus for the exquisite sensation of Uryuu against him. Ichigo doesn’t even notice the sounds he’s making until Uryuu pulls away to tell him to be quiet: they don’t want his family to hear. Oddly enough, that statement breathed so casually against his mouth sends a jolt of something dizzying through Ichigo. It forces another groan from him and Uryuu shakes his head with a resigned little chortle that immediately makes Ichigo grin.
To his horror, Uryuu sits up and straightens his clothes.
“Why did you stop?”
“Because if we continue any longer I won’t be able to.”
Ichigo considers that through the haze of what sense he has managed to retain. Reluctantly, he agrees Uryuu has a point. The last thing either of them wants is to be barged in on by his sisters-or gods forbid his father-while doing that type of thing together. Not to mention dinner should be ready within an hour. Showing up to eat looking like they’ve just run a marathon…try explaining that to your family.
So he uses that time to think about what just happened and what it might mean. If nothing else, Uryuu is readily talking with him again, though most of it is questions. He’ll count that as a win.
The first thing Goat-Chin does upon spotting Uryuu sitting at their dining table is gasp too dramatically. Then he scurries across the room to drag him from his seat and hug him too tightly.
“Hello there, Uryuu-kun!” the man yells, making Uryuu wince at the volume so close to his ear. “So good to see you spending time with my delinquent son. Teach him some good habits, will you?”
“Get your hands off him,” Ichigo commands as he rips Uryuu from his claws and places himself between them. Shell-shocked, Uryuu allows this protective gesture. “And don’t be so familiar with him. What the hell is wrong with you?”
“Ah, but I just got so excited!” Isshin pouts, “Since you finally brought someone home. You’re a late bloomer, Ichigo!”
Karin snickers from her comfortable sprawl in a chair as Ichigo flares fuchsia at the implication.
“W-what are you talking about, Idiot Goat-Chin!? This isn’t that so get those weird ideas out of your head!”
“Oh? So this isn’t you introducing your boyfriend to your family?”
“B-boyfriend?” Yuzu gasps. “Ichi-nii, I thought Orihime-chan…”
“Don’t jump to conclusions, damn it!”
“Then you’re not dating this nice young man?” his father asks, frowning in disappointment.
Wait-disappointment? Shouldn’t he be relieved? Modern times or not, don’t most parents still secretly dread their kids being gay? Not that Ichigo cares what his dad thinks about his preferences-or anything about his life-but this is too strange. Feeling lost, Ichigo turns to glance at Uryuu. He is expecting discomfort, maybe even a little fear or anger. But his face is blank with a hint of sadness. He meets Ichigo’s eyes and raises his brows as if to say, ‘your call’. Ichigo’s jaw almost drops.
“Uryuu, you…”
“Ah-ha! Only close friends and lovers use given names, Ichigo! How do you explain that?”
“I…”
Thoughts swarm like rabid bats around his head, tearing things up and making messes. Ichigo still wants to shout how much he likes Uryuu but this thing between them is still so tentative. Being hasty is the reason it’s so fucked up right now and he doesn’t want to make it even worse. Yet, Ichigo remembers the accusation Uryuu made that night he finally spoke his mind about everything. How it seemed like Ichigo wanted to keep him as a dirty little secret, too ashamed to tell anyone about it. On the other hand, he knows just how cautious Uryuu can be.
He can’t speak for Uryuu if he still doesn’t properly understand his feelings, but Ichigo can speak for himself.
“Well?” Isshin goads, “What is this person to you?”
“We’re not dating.” Silence fills the small space as everyone tenses. Ichigo looks at Uryuu’s guarded expression. He lowers his voice and meets the boy’s eyes as he adds, “But I’d like to.”
He smiles as Uryuu’s mouth parts in mild wonder. Neither of them was expecting Ichigo to come out now of all times but he doesn’t regret it. Sooner rather than later is better.
“What do you have to say to that, Uryuu-kun?”
“I…”
“I’ll warn you, my foolish kid is going to get you into a lot of trouble.”
“Yes, I understand that-”
“He’s rude and reckless and a pain in the ass!”
“I wholeheartedly agree. However-”
“Now look here you two,” Ichigo gripes, narrowing his eyes at the insults.
“However,” Uryuu firmly repeats with a warning glare in his direction. “I have already decided Ichigo’s virtues outweigh his faults.”
“Are you sure?” his father has the audacity to ask. “Because you don’t know him like I do.”
“Perhaps not. But I know him better than you think, Kurosaki-san.” Uryuu takes a deliberate step around Ichigo to stand directly before the man as he speaks. “I’ve watched him in times of great hardship and I have seen how he always met it with strength and resolve. Ichigo follows his own path; he carves it right out of the obstacles before him. He selflessly protects those around him and he never quits when it matters. That is why-” Here Uryuu turns back to look into Ichigo’s stunned gaze as he says, “That is why I like you, Ichigo.”
Why couldn’t he have thought of something like that? Makes his lame speeches sound even lamer.
Uryuu gives him a private smile, telling him he knows what Ichigo is thinking. Yuzu sighs in a swoon while Karin cracks a smirk and Goat-Chin beams at them. Ichigo doesn’t know what to say to that. He wants to do something girly like hold Uryuu’s hand or kiss his cheek but the notion is so foreign to him that he can’t manage it. Can’t even picture himself doing it. Uryuu’s smile widens like he’s still reading Ichigo’s mind. Then they are both disrupted because his dad and sisters are crowding around them for a spontaneous group hug.
“Such a cute couple,” Isshin pronounces as he wipes at a tear. “My boy is finally a man!”
“Ichi-nii,” Yuzu warbles, on the verge of a crying fit herself.
Even Karin is moved, “You take care of my brother, you hear?”
“Y-yes,” Uryuu stammers, overtaken by their maudlin antics.
Ichigo shoves and the circle is disbanded. “What is wrong with all of you? Just because of this you’re all in tears?”
“Masaki~! Our son has…our delinquent boy has finally…”
“Would you shut up and quit talking to a damn poster?” Ichigo grouses, plunking into a seat and serving himself noodles without further ado. “Crazy old goat! Just ignore them, Uryuu. Apparently they watch too many dramas these days.”
When Uryuu sits beside him at the table, Ichigo glances over to see that he is still smiling.
Ichigo doesn’t forget about Uryuu’s invitation the next day after school. He doesn’t bother going home first to change, though, since he isn’t bothered wearing his uniform a little longer. So Uryuu waits for him at the gate and they walk to his apartment together.
He is too nervous to say much on the way. It was one thing having Uryuu at his place with his whole family in the house as supervision, even if they weren’t actually in the same room as them. But being alone in an apartment is another thing. Ichigo is oscillating between the determination to just study and maybe chat versus wanting to try and ‘put the moves’ on Uryuu and continue what they couldn’t yesterday. Only problem is he still can’t read Uryuu well enough to know which he would prefer.
“You’re doing it again, you know,” a quiet comment brings him back to the present.
“Huh?”
“Reiatsu.”
“Oh, sorry.”
“If you’re curious,” Uryuu says without looking up as he pulls out his keys to unlock the door. “Just ask me. You don’t have to try and read my spirit every time.”
“Well, I…” Ichigo steps into the hall and toes off his shoes as he searches for the least awkward way of phrasing his thoughts. He follows Uryuu into the living room and drops his bag on the low table before he finally settles on a response. “Never mind.”
“So frustrating.”
“Wha-hey!” With a strong shove to both shoulders, Uryuu pushes him to the couch, frowning down at Ichigo. “Look, it was a stupid idea so I-whoa!”
Ichigo snaps his mouth shut because Uryuu is sliding into his lap, the pleasant weight of him instantly affecting his heart rate. Leaning back to give Uryuu more room, he stares up at the boy in confusion. Wasn’t he just annoyed?
“You were wondering whether I invited you over to study or to fool around, right?”
“Um. Yeah.”
“The answer is: both.”
“Oh. Okay.”
“You don’t mind doing this first, do you?”
As he speaks, Uryuu swiftly unbuttons his shirt, tugs the hem out of his pants, and shrugs out of it to drape over the armrest. The sight of his naked torso in the full daylight streaming through thin curtains makes Ichigo’s mouth water. He has seen it before but it makes a huge difference now that he has permission to look and appreciate. His skin is so fair that the slightest mark would stand out like a beacon, if he had any. Ichigo wants to make a few.
“N-no. Nope.”
“Good.”
A strong grasp holds his jaw as Uryuu leans down for a rough kiss. Apparently, he’s not in the mood to take it slow. Ichigo can’t complain, especially if it means he can finally get the full experience. Uryuu sweeps his tongue along the roof of his mouth and deftly destroys the squadron of buttons blocking Ichigo’s body from his touch. Tilting forward to allow his shirt to be pushed over his shoulders, Ichigo groans as his lower lip is nibbled.
“You want it rough, Ichigo?” he breaks away to ask huskily. A handful of minutes in and Uryuu’s eyes have already acquired the sultry gleam of well-fucked that he does so well. “I know how to bite without bruising.”
“God, yes,” Ichigo moans as this skill is demonstrated on his neck. “Whatever you want, Uryuu.”
While his request is fulfilled, Ichigo’s hands are not idle. They find the tapering planes of Uryuu’s long back and follow a meandering path down to his waist, under his pants, and linger at the top of his smooth ass. He’s impatient to get the boy naked but he doesn’t want to set the pace or be the one in control today. Somewhere in the back of his mind Ichigo is still thinking about what Uryuu said in a moment of anger, those insinuations of him taking advantage. Uryuu is too important to allow such a perception to persist. Even if that means he has to follow someone else’s lead for once.
Luckily, Uryuu is on the same wavelength and quickly stands to drop his slacks without prompting. Ichigo reaches for him but his wrist is snatched and tugged instead. He follows Uryuu down the short hall to his bedroom and silently cheers as his own pants are removed when they get there.
“Lie down.”
He does as he is told and Uryuu resumes his sprawl above him, initiating another long kiss as their hands run over each other mostly unhindered. When he lowers hips to press into Ichigo’s, molten light spins happy discs through him, raising the fine hairs on his arms and legs. A loud throaty noise erupts in its wake. Uryuu’s quiet laughter ends the kiss. He looks down at Ichigo with a goofy smile which is swiftly mirrored.
“I love your laugh.”
“Shut up and get naked, Ichigo,” he weakly orders in spite of a persistent smirk. “Try to keep quiet, would you? I have neighbors.”
“Then let’s make them jealous with our really loud sex.”
Ignoring the retort to that, he shimmies out of his boxers and loses his breath for a second as he watches Uryuu do the same. He uses the brief distraction to memorize him from head to toe as best as he can. If he had his way, Ichigo would take about a hundred pictures for later, preferably in various suggestive poses. Settling for ogling now, he shifts his knees invitingly apart and wraps arms around Uryuu as he slides in close. Unfettered access results in ten times the pleasure. They are reveling in more contact than their sensory capabilities can integrate, erections heavy and so very interested between them. Ichigo bites his own lip at the sound of Uryuu’s soft moans.
More. He needs to hear more of that music. Forgetting himself because of it, Ichigo flips their positions and begins laving wet kisses across Uryuu’s unguarded collar bone. He grips the boy’s waist and rolls his hips in insistent waves that leave them both panting within seconds. The music plays surprised and ascending.
“Ichigo,” he gasps after a particularly hard thrust. “Wait.”
“What is it?” Ichigo tries to keep the panic from his voice but he probably doesn’t manage it. He feels guilty for getting so lost in this that he took control on accident. “Do you want me to stop?”
“Hell no. Just…here. Use this.”
Reaching up to dig under his pillow, Uryuu retrieves a small bottle that he presses into his slackened palm. He stares at it for a moment.
“Why do you have mango-flavored lube, Uryuu?”
“Because your father has a strange sense of humor.”
“Ugh.” He grimaces at the thought of his dad giving lube to his boyfriend. “What the fuck is wrong with him?”
“I don’t know but I’d thank him if I were you,” Uryuu levelly advises. “He also gave me a pack of condoms and a pocket-size version of the Kama Sutra. Said he would’ve given them to you but he knew you’d just throw them away.”
“The hell…?”
“He’s not wrong, is he?”
“Can we stop talking about my hopeless moron of a parent right now, please?” cries Ichigo, lamenting the topic’s unfortunate effect on his dick. “Unless you’d rather write a thank-you letter to him first.”
Shamelessly smirking at his discomfort, Uryuu snatches the bottle back and squeezes out a healthy dollop. He pushes at Ichigo’s shoulder until they are lying side-by-side on the narrow mattress. Lust-darkened blue eyes hold his as Uryuu reaches down to slick the gel over both of them. Ichigo’s eyes roll shut on a groan as his erection is thankfully rekindled. After a while, his brain boots back up enough to gaze at Uryuu and lend his hand to the task, tightening their fists and snapping his hips up into them. They both moan at the sensation and meet in a wild kiss.
When the pleasure grows too great and their lungs start to scream, Ichigo pulls away, only to press his forehead against Uryuu’s. He watches as his expression changes the closer he gets to climax, seeing Uryuu do the same with him. The concentrated pinch of his arched brows. White teeth pressing into a red lip. Lids fluttering over black-eclipsed eyes. Pink flush deepening on pale skin.
But Ichigo has to shut his eyes to all this beauty because they’re rolling upward against his will. Back arcing in synchrony with Uryuu’s as they gasp and moan and shout. Hands squeezing and hips pushing. They hit the crest together, scarcely clinging to reality via each other. He feels Uryuu’s stilted exhales against his shoulder, sweat-slick skin shivering in erratic waves against his. Ichigo forces his eyes open because he needs to see. Looking lost in the best possible way, Uryuu blinks dazedly with unfocused eyes and takes gulps of air through an open mouth. It’s so adorable that Ichigo must taste it. Uryuu readily returns the kiss with a muted whimper.
In the hazy moments that follow, both of them somehow fight the pull of sleep without mustering the energy to rise from their comfortable sprawl. Ichigo almost laughs at the fact that they’re supposed to do homework at some point tonight. That thought leads him down a more somber road until even the soft puffs of Uryuu’s breathing can’t distract him from it.
“Uryuu, I was thinking…”
“Rarely a good thing.” Ichigo’s contemplative pause has him sobering and looking over after that little bit of snark. “What is it?”
“Why didn’t you ever tell me?”
They both know exactly what he means. Why did it take Uryuu two years to approach Ichigo and ask him on a date? Even then it wasn’t a very overt request. Plus, he gave up so easily. It makes Ichigo kind of angry at the situation now, thinking about how they could’ve been together this entire time if only one of them had the courage or the sense to try sooner.
“So many stupid reasons,” Uryuu sighs, draping a wrist over his forehead and closing his eyes. “I convinced myself you were straight. That you and Inoue-san would make a cute couple and I shouldn’t get in the way. Or that my father may be right about avoiding Shinigami. At one point I believed you hated me as much as I claimed to hate you.”
Ichigo won’t invalidate his reasons with dismissal or criticism. He can’t say he wouldn’t have thought similar things if he had been crushing on Uryuu for that long. As it is, he barely had the tenacity to break past the various layers of miscommunication and appearances to make it this far. The only regret he has is that Uryuu had to go so long in that state of unrequited anxiety and Ichigo tells him as much. Uryuu’s simple response of a wry smile sends a pang of sadness into his heart.
Snuggling against the boy, Ichigo kisses his neck and says, “Okay, first we need to apply to the same universities. Then we can talk about apartments. Urahara said he’ll give me a discount on a type of paint he invented to help shield reiatsu, so-”
“Ichigo.”
“Just hear me out, Uryuu. I know we’re bound to drive each other a little nuts by spending so much time together at first but-”
“Ichigo,” he interrupts again. This time he hears the amusement in Uryuu’s voice and glances over to see his smile transformed into something light and content. “Let’s just see how the rest of the semester goes before we make a ten-year plan, okay?”
“Nah. No need.” Shaking his head, Ichigo sits up to look down at him. “You’re not getting rid of me. I love you too much.”
The way Uryuu’s eyes widen as the smile slides right off his face scares Ichigo for a second. But he barely has time for a fleeting worry before Uryuu is dragging him down into a deep kiss that lasts long enough to thoroughly steal the breath from both of them. When they part, Uryuu blinks a few times too many, eyes a little glossier than usual. Ichigo can tell he’s working up to saying something he probably never thought he’d say again after his grandfather passed. Yet, Ichigo hopes he’s wanted to say it many times before. That he’ll want to say it many times in the future.
“I-I love you, too.”
The next day at lunch, Ichigo stands up in the middle of his meal to get everyone’s attention.
“I have something to say and I don’t want to hear any whining,” he says with a glare in Keigo’s direction. His friends look up attentively and wait for the revelation. “Uryuu and I are dating.”
The silence doesn’t last very long.
“Congratulations,” a few of them say.
“About time,” a couple others add.
Uryuu continues nibbling his sushi roll expressionlessly but Ichigo can tell he’s happy. It’s in the way his eyes gaze up instead of down and in the relaxed set of his shoulders. As he watches, the diminutive slant of Uryuu’s unintentional smile is drawn from him. Ichigo grins before turning to Keigo, the only person yet to give some kind of feedback. He is frowning in thought and picking idly at a piece of lint on his slacks. Sighing, Ichigo sits back down and resigns himself to putting up with Keigo’s bias for a few more months. Then something crazy happens.
“I guess we have room for one more…” Keigo grumbles to no one in particular.
“Huh?”
“The house we’re all going to share in college,” he clarifies, giving Ichigo a sullen look. “I guess we could add one more roommate to the arrangement.”
Shocked for a long moment, Ichigo finally smiles widely and agrees, “Yeah.”
When Uryuu starts arguing about how he doesn’t want to share space with a bunch of messy idiots and Keigo fires back about not needing chronic eggheads bossing him around, Ichigo can’t help laughing aloud. It’s going to be a good year.
Rating: NC-17
Status: Complete
Pairing: Kurosaki Ichigo/Ishida Uryuu
Word count: 27k
Warnings: UST, language, underage drinking, m/m sex, a poorly-written action scene
Summary: Another school break rolls around and Keigo is determined to make everyone enjoy it at the beach with him. Although he didn’t exactly have the elicit union of a couple of argumentative teenagers in mind.
AN: Just a little sand and surf and angsty romance. I say ‘little’ but this thing somehow turned into a wordy beast! Soundtrack for this story is ‘The Island Pt I: Dawn’ and ‘The Island Pt II: Dusk’, both by Pendulum.
Part 1
Part 2
The afternoon plays out lazily and in efforts to obtain sunburns. Their entire group trades a bottle of sunscreen around, sets out blankets, and twists open bottles of water and soda as they lie out in the sun. Ichigo claims a spot beside Ishida-or Uryuu, as he has obstinately taken to calling him since this morning-and respects his space enough to leave about a handbreadth between their towels. He listens to his friends’ casual chatter between bouts of sleepy silence and feels content.
After a while, their crowd disbands into swimmers, snackers, and Frisbee-throwers, leaving him and Uryuu to bake by themselves. But Uryuu is paler than the freaking moon and no amount of sun block can allow him to stay under the burning rays for long. Soon he retreats under a shady tree to read a paperback-a different one from their drive in, the freaking bookworm. Left alone now, Ichigo rolls over onto his stomach and considers meditation. He hasn’t gotten in touch with Zangetsu in a while and he’s supposed to be practicing controlling his reiatsu-on Rukia’s insistence. So he shuts his eyes and takes deeper breaths as he turns inward.
The splashing, crunching, laughing sounds of the others fade out. Ichigo greets Zangetsu in his sideways world and they discuss the nature of his power in vague terms. He needs a better idea of how to monitor his own energy output in a personalized way because no matter how many times Rukia or Renji or even Ganju have tried to describe it, he has never been able to understand. Old Man Zangetsu can only give him a few tips but he appreciates it nonetheless.
Withdrawing from his inner metropolis, Ichigo takes what he has learned and attempts to apply it. He focuses on the pulse of his reiatsu in tune with his heartbeat, sensing it leaking out of the shell of his body from the spirit housed within. If his power is like a tap, he has the most finicky dial in the universe; it’s all he can do to decrease the output marginally, much less dramatically.
Ichigo keeps at it for a while, not paying attention to the passage of time or the people around him. His only interest is in suppressing his reiatsu as much as possible and he thinks it might be working. Picturing it as a giant, unruly mess of cotton, he balls it up carefully until its edges are rounded and compact. Contained within the meager confines of his body and no further. Pressure and heat grow but not unbearably. Ichigo’s exhales are slow and careful. The soft noises around him fill his ears and provide a simple soundtrack to his mental endeavors.
The perpetual tones of Chad’s rock-solid energy solidify in his mind. Inoue’s golden halo becomes clear and sharp. Tatsuki and Keigo’s subtler souls flicker like candle flames. Their positions are pinpointed in relative space and Ichigo doesn’t need to open his eyes or attune his ears to ‘see’ them exactly where they are. Sweeping his focus wider, he notices something which is icy cool and blazing hot at the same time. So subtle and reigned-in that it resembles a distant drop of blue light. It takes him a moment to realize it is Uryuu.
Fascinated by this novel discovery, Ichigo narrows his attention to a single target and analyzes it specifically. He has never felt Uryuu’s reiatsu with such clarity. The boy has never been one to flaunt his power, so even if Ichigo wanted to he would have trouble detecting Uryuu. Without the background noise of his own energy to further conceal it, Uryuu’s signature resolves for him now. Ichigo quickly decides he likes it. He wants to drag more of it out of Uryuu so he can feel it stronger.
“You’re going to burn, Kurosaki.”
The quiet words spoken from very close to him startle him out of his trance. If that hadn’t done it, the sensation of Uryuu’s hands spreading warm sunscreen over his back and shoulders would have. Slow and thorough, Uryuu drags his fingers slickly across his skin. Ichigo shivers at the pleasant press of them into his relaxed muscles. It doesn’t occur to him how atypical this gesture is until the distraction of his actions is gone. Yet, he figures it must be easier to be nice to someone once they’ve had their mouth on your dick.
“Thanks,” he says as he turns his head to grin up at Uryuu. “You can keep doing that if you want.”
“You’ve gotten better at it.”
“Huh?”
“Controlling your reiatsu.”
“Oh. Yeah?” Ichigo rolls to prop himself on his side with an elbow. His eyes sweep over Uryuu’s kneeling figure. From this angle and despite his thin white t-shirt, Ichigo is reminded of their activities last night. “You could tell?”
“It’s hard to miss,” Uryuu states with a tone that says he knows what Ichigo is thinking about, “Since you were flinging it at me like a net.”
“What? I wasn’t-”
“Precisely what do you think happens when you’re trying to sense someone else’s spirit, Kurosaki?”
“I don’t know.” Ichigo sits up properly to meet him on an equal level. “Does it hurt?”
“No.”
“Is it uncomfortable?”
“Not exactly…”
“Yours feels really nice,” he blurts before thinking. “I was trying to get a better sense of it.”
Uryuu’s eyes widen and his cheeks flush at the idea, making Ichigo smile at his embarrassment.
“It’s not like you’ve never sensed it before.”
“Yeah, but it’s like…the difference between the smell of ice cream and an actual lick of it. And when the taste is really good you want more of it.”
“Don’t compare me to ice cream, Kurosaki,” he complains without heat. In fact, the longer they talk about this, the more Uryuu fidgets. “I am not a summer treat.”
Smirking at that, Ichigo agrees, “Not if I can help it.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means, Uryuu,” he keeps firm eye contact and deliberately uses his name now, “That I’m not looking for a summer fling anymore than you are. I want to enjoy you year-round.”
Both of them blush a little at the mention of enjoying each other. Thoughts of their more intimate meetings swivel into his awareness and Ichigo doesn’t bother hiding it from his face. How easy would it be to lean forward and kiss Uryuu right here? To sneak off behind that copse of trees and pin him against one of them? But Ichigo promised not to touch him unless requested. If only Uryuu would ask! He holds his breath as he awaits the reply.
Uryuu rolls his eyes and looks away for a while. Ichigo follows his gaze to see Inoue and Tatsuki splashing each other in the surf. Smiling at their fun, he thinks about joining them. Ichigo wonders if Uryuu would go if he asked.
“Yours is nice, too, Kurosaki.”
“Hm?”
Turning to look at him, Ichigo is a little dumbstruck at the shyness he sees. Uryuu’s eyes are on the ground between them. His index finger idly flicks a clump of sand aside. Something about the scene stimulates a memory.
“Your reiatsu,” he clarifies, barely speaking above a whisper. “It’s not uncomfortable, it’s…pleasant.”
He is half-listening, focused on dredging up this weird memory because it seems important somehow. Uryuu standing in front of him on the roof right after lunch at school. Everyone else had gone back to class but he had asked Ichigo to wait. He remembers thinking it was strange, Uryuu wanting to talk to him in private. Then taking so long to say what he wanted while Ichigo grew impatient. And it turned out to be some kind of conference he had barely heard of from Keigo. Ichigo had already turned Keigo’s invitation down so he told Uryuu the same thing in a rush: he had to work for his dad that weekend. He recalls Uryuu’s reaction to that rejection since he had gone stone-cold on the spot. Muttered something like ‘fine’ and pushed past Ichigo to leave. After that he was more aloof to Ichigo than ever.
“Uryuu…” he gets the boy’s attention, mind spinning in epiphany. “When you asked me to that conference last semester, were you…asking me out?”
Eyes snap up to his and Uryuu’s expression twists its way through too many things before going completely blank. Not for the first time, Ichigo resents his tendency to close off like this.
“O-of course not, Kurosaki!” Uryuu adjusts his glasses and subtly shifts to put distance between them. “I just didn’t have anyone else to go with and-”
“You were, weren’t you?”
“Like I said, I-”
“I’m sorry.” Uryuu falls silent to glare at the towel. “I didn’t realize. I was really distracted that day and I never imagined you would-”
“Why would you? It’s not like I ever gave you any reason to.”
“Ask me again. Ask me anything, Uryuu. I’ll say yes.”
“Of course you will,” he sighs. The tension leaves his frame and Ichigo relaxes to match. “Why did I think it was strange? Of course Kurosaki Ichigo would randomly decide one day that he likes someone he’s been around for years.”
Ichigo huffs an uncertain laugh. He knows it doesn’t make sense but nothing about his entire life makes sense. He’s used to it by now.
“Hey, do me a favor, Uryuu?”
“What is it?”
“Call me ‘Ichigo’, already, will you?”
After a stunned pause, Uryuu quirks a teasing smile and says, “Weren’t you listening? I just did.”
The rest of the day goes almost too smoothly. With Uryuu speaking to him again, everyone seems to realize they’ve worked things out. They order pizza for dinner and take turns playing video games while shouting over each other. Even after a long day running around the beach they manage to find the energy to harass each other on games like Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat. It gets so crazy that Tatsuki and Keigo act out the player’s moves in the background while Inoue and Mizuiro control the characters. Unfortunately for Keigo, Inoue is a pretty good player…and Mizuiro is a little vindictive.
By the time they head to sleep it is late and everyone is exhausted. Snoring sounds start sifting through the walls as their friends collapse into their beds. Ichigo is tired, too, but he is too wired to sleep; he keeps catching Uryuu’s glances from across the room. They don’t speak as they change into pajamas, pull back the covers, and crawl into bed. Tension creeps into Ichigo’s neck and he stares up at the ceiling with subdued breaths. If Uryuu says anything right now, he wants to make sure he doesn’t miss it. Yet, he is too nervous to look over at him. Unintentionally, he sends out a curious tendril of reiatsu to do what his eyes cannot. Uryuu’s spirit is a steady pulse tucked deep inside so that Ichigo really has to concentrate and-
“Will you stop that?” Uryuu breathlessly snaps.
“What?”
“You know what.”
“You can feel that?” Ichigo incredulously asks. He finally turns to look at Uryuu. “I was barely-”
“It’s impossible to ignore. A tiger batting at me with its giant paw…”
At the tone of his voice, Ichigo sits up to peer more thoroughly. Uryuu’s breaths come quick and shallow, mouth pursed in a tight line. It’s hard to tell in the dark but he suspects a healthy blush on the boy’s face, too. His hands grip tightly to the blanket as he swallows once and blinks twice. Ichigo knows those gestures because they have recently been seared into his brain. Squeezing his eyes shut, he consults his mental storage for comparison. The signs match.
“Is it turning you on?”
He expects vehement denial and possibly another silent treatment. Instead, Uryuu sighs. He hears indistinct shuffling and opens his eyes just in time to see Uryuu raising a leg to straddle Ichigo’s thighs. Trying not to react the way he wants to-by flinging his arms around the boy and never letting go-Ichigo merely stares up at him in surprise. Uryuu plants his hands to either side of Ichigo’s shoulders as he leans down to speak.
“Reiatsu is just energy. It doesn’t have the power to incite arousal on its own,” he murmurs as his dark eyes dart back and forth between Ichigo’s. “It’s the fact that you are so intrigued by me that you keep pushing it at me to garner information. That is what’s turning me on.”
“Oh.”
“Kiss me, Kurosaki.” Granted with the permission he has wished for all day long, Ichigo’s heart gives an eager series of extra beats. But he can’t stop the frown that tugs at the corners of his mouth. Perceptive as always, Uryuu figures out why before Ichigo does, leaning down to ghost his lips over an ear as he whispers, “Kiss me, Ichigo.”
Ichigo does, and with the pitiful moan of a man made to wait too long for his prize. One hand in his hair and the other on his lower back, he pulls Uryuu against him and makes a hot mess of their lips and tongues. There is no hesitation in Uryuu’s movements this time. None of that desperation born of confusion and vulnerability, either. Uryuu is all heat and purpose and control. Ichigo is still happy to let him have it all if it means he gets to participate in the masterpiece that is Uryuu’s desire for him.
He is just working up from a medium simmer to a nice rolling boil when Uryuu pulls away from him. Hands are dislodged as the boy gets off the bed and Ichigo wants to shout and plead at the same time.
“Wait.”
“There.” Uryuu nods once, businesslike despite his shallow panting. “Now will you stop pestering me so we can go to sleep?”
“But-”
“Goodnight, Ichigo.”
“Ugh,” he groans, letting his head fall to the pillow. Leave it to Uryuu to find the perfect balance between indulgence and being a total fucking tease. “‘Night, Uryuu.”
The last day of vacation starts with him approaching Uryuu and being brushed off for the sake of studying. Leave it to that guy to study on a break. So while he retreats to a quiet corner with a stack of books, Ichigo wanders around the house looking for something to do. Inoue, Chizuru, and Tatsuki are taking their time packing while they chat. He hangs with them until Inoue launches into an energetic monologue involving something she read about supernovas and wormholes. Chad and Mizuiro are playing chess so intensely that Ichigo doesn’t think to interrupt them.
Finally, his stomach rumbles loud enough that he can’t ignore it any longer. Striding into the kitchen, he runs into Keigo having a similar idea with few results. They quickly decide that the kitchen is effectively depleted; they’ll have to go into town for lunch.
“Ichigo,” Keigo somberly intones the minute they are alone for once all vacation. “You don’t hate Ishida, do you?”
“Nope.”
Just like that, the calm gravity Keigo learned from his time with Ikkaku goes out the window. He shrieks and pulls at his hair in frustration. Ichigo waits with arms crossed and resists the urge to smack the boy out of his hysterics. On some level, he understands that Keigo is jealous of Uryuu for taking Ichigo’s attention. But it’s so hard to remain passive in the face of such immaturity. He has bigger things to worry about.
“Why!? Why don’t you hate him? What could you possibly see in that stuck-up, scary, geeky-”
“Enough, Keigo,” he can’t help growling. Ichigo is not a fan of people ragging on Uryuu. “Get over it already.”
“Wait.” Shrewdly narrowed eyes assess him. Keigo scowls and asks with deadly foreboding, “Do you…like him?”
“No.”
“Ah, thank the gods! I thought-”
“I’m pretty sure I might love him.”
Grimacing in annoyance, Ichigo plugs his ears against the wail that elicits. He can tell Keigo’s tantrum is going to take a while so he leaves the room with a long-suffering sigh. Passing the living room on the way from the kitchen, Ichigo balks as he spots Uryuu perched on the couch, studying as he said he would. He takes a moment to wonder if Uryuu heard what they were talking about. Then he wonders why his heart starts ramming against his rib cage at the thought. It was a very impulsive, if mostly true, thing to say to a friend when he hasn’t told Uryuu yet. When he is still unsure himself.
Uryuu doesn’t look up as Ichigo comes to sit beside him. He doesn’t appear perturbed in the slightest but with Uryuu that doesn’t usually mean much. Ichigo considers just asking him outright but he can’t quite bring himself to say it. Suddenly he’s thinking about what it might feel like to hear Uryuu tell him something similar. Feeling his face heat and his heart speed yet further, Ichigo swallows and presses damp palms to the fabric of his shorts.
“Are you just going to sit there and heave like a pregnant bear or do you want something?” Uryuu abruptly teases, flipping a page in his book. “I still have a lot of material to get through.”
“Don’t pretend you haven’t read all of those already.”
“It never hurts to review.”
“I thought you had some kind of photographic memory or something.”
“The term is ‘eidetic’, Kurosaki, and even I can’t absorb a book in its entirety on the very first run through.”
They realize it at the same time: Uryuu has reverted to his family name. Ichigo freezes as Uryuu blinks. Uryuu takes a breath to speak but Chizuru chooses that instant to walk in and order them into the van to go get lunch. The moment is broken but Ichigo dwells on it as they file through the door and pile into the vehicle with everyone else. Uryuu peers out the window from the seat in front of him, mirroring the uncomfortable expression Ichigo is wearing. It shouldn’t matter what Uryuu calls him. Especially since they’d been bickering like usual and Uryuu probably fell into old habits more than anything. Yet, it was not a nice feeling.
They pull up at a nearby okonomiyaki restaurant. Everyone rushes eagerly inside and claims a table in the far corner. Soon their plates are full, conversations are running rampant, and other customers are glaring in their direction for the disturbance. Ichigo carves into his meal and eats without really tasting it. He's distracted by the fact that today is their last day of vacation; they have to return to Karakura tomorrow morning. Go back to school life and leave this seaside haven behind. Ichigo is determined not to lose what he has gained here, even if he's not sure he's gained anything at all.
Uryuu is still not talking to him-is actually avoiding so much as glancing at him.
This behavior continues as they finish their meal and return home. And all throughout the movie they watch once there. Also during the brief game of karaoke Keigo demands they play before bed. By the time he heads up to his room with Uryuu trailing behind, Ichigo is on the verge of…something. He wants to yell and question and pounce all at the same time. But Ichigo does none of these because he promised he would let this be on Uryuu's terms.
That's fine. Ichigo can deal with that. He just wishes Uryuu would speak to him.
The long road trip home is spent reading manga borrowed from Mizuiro and stonily ignoring everyone. More like, pretending to read it while he broods. Although that's nothing new.
Since last night Uryuu has said two words to him: "excuse me" when he was blocking the bathroom door in order to pack his clothes. Ichigo still doesn't know what to do about any of it. Part of him imagines making a dramatic gesture in a heartfelt speech at a critical moment. Most of him decides he is speeched-out already and all of this is Uryuu's damn fault to begin with for being such a nerd about receiving Ichigo's feelings. So he settles for ignoring Uryuu right back until the guy stops acting like a mercurial woman. He has enough on his mind with college coming up without adding this, too. Ichigo can't be worrying about whether or not Uryuu will choose to thaw anytime soon.
So why is he still thinking about it the next day at school?
Lunch goes as usual on the roof. It would be tense if Uryuu had bothered to join them. As it is, Chad, Inoue, and Tatsuki are taking turns glancing at him when they think he won't notice. They keep at it until Ichigo's eye begins to twitch. When Mizuiro starts doing it, too, he snaps.
"Will you guys knock it off already!?"
"What are you talking about, Ichigo?" oblivious Keigo splutters around his sandwich.
"We just don't understand," Inoue says in a small voice. "Sorry if we're making you uncomfortable."
"I thought you and Ishida had...come to an agreement," Tatsuki says.
"I thought I made it clear it's none of your business."
Standing, Ichigo grabs his stuff and stomps away. Shoves open the metal door with a resounding bang on the concrete wall. Jogs down the stairs to the landing. He doesn't hear Chad following behind until he speaks.
"Ichigo."
"What?"
"You should talk to him."
Pausing on the landing across from him, Chad's calm bass echoes in emphasis. Ichigo unballs his fists and shrugs tightly. He knows better than to take his temper out on Chad.
"What makes you think I haven't tried?"
"Try harder."
"Uryuu is just like that. Talking won't do any good even if I could get him to listen."
Chad's eyes widen upon hearing the boy's name uttered so easily from Ichigo's mouth for the second time in as many days. It reminds him how fast everything has happened. A week ago he and Uryuu were bitching at each other on the rare occasions that they would even bother speaking. Now they're calling each other by given names and sneaking looks that mean something completely different.
"If he won't listen, maybe you can make him see."
"What's that supposed to mean?" he demands, thinking he has nothing left to show Uryuu anyway. Nothing else to add that he hasn’t already tried.
"I wonder if what Ishida fears is the same type of thing we all do," Chad explains in a rare bout of wordiness. "Maybe he thinks what you each want isn't compatible. Show him it is.
"What we want, huh?"
"What do you want, Ichigo?"
"I want..." Ichigo considers and Chad patiently waits. He has been thinking about this a lot lately, whether he wants to or not, so Chad doesn't have to wait long. "I want to be with him. Not just physically. I want to spend more time with him. Get to know him even better. I want to share stuff and fight and laugh. Kick his ass when he's being a punk and comfort him when shit goes wrong. I just...want him."
Ichigo looks up as he finishes the lame speech he said he wouldn't make. Chad is smiling.
"Then show him that."
Opening his mouth to ask how he's supposed to do that, Ichigo is cut off by the bell ending lunch. A few seconds later his friends file into the stairwell to return to class. Chad gives him a final encouraging look and follows them, leaving Ichigo to ponder alone. But he doesn't stand there long: a spark of insight spurs him into action. Running back to the classroom, he spots Uryuu in an influx of students moving from the hall into the classrooms.
"Uryuu!" he shouts over the noise to get his attention. Ichigo ignores the odd looks he catches from those who know of their enduring feud. "Hey, Uryuu, wait up."
To his relief, Uryuu does. Albeit with an apprehensive frown as Ichigo grabs his arm and leads him to a more secluded corner of the hall. It's not that he wants to keep this a secret, but he'd like to give Uryuu the option of privacy. For all he cares, Ichigo would cheerily announce to the entire school that he likes Uryuu. Somehow he doubts this would be appreciated.
"What is it, Ichigo?"
"Want to come to my place after school?" he asks, fighting off a grin at the sound of his name. "To study or whatever. Yuzu is making spaghetti tonight."
Uryuu's eyebrows raise and he stares for a few seconds longer than Ichigo would like.
"I-"
"Hey, you two," calls a teacher from one of the rooms. "Get to class."
"Yes, sensei," Uryuu placidly agrees.
Ichigo watches him walk away with an irritated frown. If it's not one thing, it's another. He's starting to think Uryuu will always have an escape route.
So Ichigo gets back at him by glaring at Uryuu's back for most of the rest of the day. At least he's too busy being annoyed to pay attention to his friends being nosy over this.
He is feeling defeated by the end of the day. Other than inviting Uryuu to do things together, he can't think of how to 'show him' this can work. Short of stalking the boy-which he knows from previous experience will not work-he's out of ideas. The final bell rings one last time and Ichigo sighs. Grabs his stuff and shuffles out of the building like everyone else. Ichigo arrives home and fends off his father as usual. Greets his sisters and treks upstairs to collapse into his desk chair. Pulls his textbooks back out and picks one at random to start reading.
Almost halfway through the chapter, he feels a whoosh of displaced air.
"I see you started without me."
Ichigo looks up to see Uryuu standing in the center of his room, glancing around. He has changed out of the school uniform in favor of casual clothes and carries a large messenger bag. When he has his fill of inspecting, Uryuu drops his bag to the bed and sits beside it. He looks at Ichigo with an expectant expression.
"I didn't think you…never mind."
"You've rearranged since the last time I was here."
"A year ago? Yeah, I've moved stuff around," he snorts, bitter about how infrequently they've been in each other's quiet places. "And I'll be moving it again soon."
"You mean when you go to university?"
"Yeah. Assuming I'm accepted anywhere."
"You will be."
It is said with natural confidence, as close to complimentary as Uryuu ever comes. Ichigo looks at him and wonders what he will do if they can't attend the same school. Wonders if Uryuu has thought about it, too. He watches the boy pull out a laptop and set it on the bed, twisting to sit cross-legged in front of it. His shoes are already placed neatly next to the bed post on the floor. Ichigo can't resist the urge to join him; he brings his texts and notebook with him. They do some shuffling to get situated and Uryuu plays music low and unobtrusive from his library. Some kind of melodic trance with heavy bass undertones.
"Do you mind?"
"No. I like it."
"Good."
"You want something to drink?"
"I'm fine."
"Just let me know."
"Mn.”
Gentle taps of typed keys accompany the music as Uryuu digitizes his day's notes. The occasional shuffle of paper and scritch of pencil join in. Ichigo feels warm in spite of a cool breeze from his open window. His earlier irritation is forgotten for the fact that Uryuu is here. And they have never really studied together, partly because it never really occurred to Ichigo before. Partly because he would've expected Uryuu to refuse anyway. But this is nice.
They study for about an hour, comfortable in the silence as they simply enjoy the company. Ichigo tends to study every day after school anyway, when he isn’t battling Hollows or spending time with friends. This way they’re hanging out and studying at the same time, though. He gets to be near Uryuu and even talk to him if he wants while they get things done. Excited at the notion, Ichigo wants to suggest they do this every day. Make it a habit, maybe even trade off going to each other's houses. But Ichigo frowns as he imagines Uryuu's unfavorable answer.
"What is it?" Uryuu jogs him out of his head to ask. Ichigo hadn’t realized he was being scrutinized.
"Nothing."
"Tell me."
"I said it's nothing: forget it."
"Ichigo."
A happy little flutter easily displaces impending ire. Ichigo is beginning to think he has a thing for hearing his name in Uryuu's voice. He’s totally okay with that.
“It’s a dumb idea but I was thinking,” Ichigo mutters while pretending to be immersed in his work, “That it might be cool to do this kind of thing more often.”
“Studying in your bedroom?”
“Or anywhere. The library or a coffee shop. Your place, maybe.”
When he doesn’t respond for several tense seconds, Ichigo casually glances up to see why. Uryuu is looking at him with an odd expression, eyebrows furrowed slightly and mouth tilted in a confused curl. Ichigo asks a silent question.
“Did you really invite me over just to study?” Uryuu candidly queries in that flat tone he uses when he thinks he knows the answer.
“Y-yeah,” Ichigo blushes. It’s not like he hadn’t imagined this possibly turning into something else but he was actually pretty sure it wasn’t going to happen. Until he heard that question. “What’d you think-this was some kind of ploy to get you on my bed so we could, uh…”
“Wasn’t it?”
“No! I just wanted to chill with you outside of school.”
“So you don’t want to make out?”
“Well, I-I didn’t say that, but,” Ichigo splutters, red as his favorite jacket. If he didn’t know better, he would say Uryuu is messing with him. Humor isn’t a common thing with him, though. Even now he is looking at Ichigo with a blank face, cat-eyes calm and assessing. “I mean I wouldn’t say no to that, if it happened, but it wasn’t my intention.”
“Then what is your intention?”
Sighing, Ichigo thinks he is sick of Uryuu getting to ask all of the questions. They were having such a nice time coexisting in the same room for once without arguing or harboring tension between them. Why can’t things be simple like that more often? He shuts his book and sets it aside as he turns to face Uryuu better.
“I already told you: I just wanted to hang out. Thought that it’d be good to try it for once, like normal people. Is that so odd?”
“Coming from you, yes.”
“Fine, then forget I said anything. It was a stupid idea anyway.”
Ichigo stands, intending to go downstairs for a drink if for no other reason than to take a break from this uncomfortable atmosphere. He gets as far as gripping the door handle.
“Wait.” Ichigo glances over his shoulder to see Uryuu approaching. He sets a hand to Ichigo’s arm to keep him from opening the door. Eyes find his and Uryuu takes a long breath before he speaks. “I didn’t say I wasn’t amenable to it, Ichigo. But you can’t say that this doesn’t sound like a proposition. ‘Come to my place to study’? I’ve heard lines with less innuendo in erotic films.”
Then Uryuu is retreating a few steps, flushed because he just admitted he watches porn. Ichigo takes pity on him and decides not to mention it-for now. Tucks that tidbit of information away for later instead.
“Yeah, all right. So I haven’t exactly had the purest of intentions with you but that doesn’t mean-”
“I know.”
“I just thought if we spent some time together…”
“You’re right.” Falling silent, Ichigo stares. That’s probably the first time Uryuu has ever conceded defeat to him in any sense of the term. Then his jaw drops outright because he adds, “I apologize.”
“It’s cool,” he murmurs once he recovers. Something else occurs to him a second later. “Uryuu, if you thought I asked you here for that…why did you come?”
Now they’re both blushing like a couple of idiots. Letting the question go unanswered, Ichigo pulls open the door to yell down the hall. He tells Yuzu that he’s having a guest for dinner. Her puzzled confirmation drifts back to him beneath the curious questions Karin shouts from their room. Ichigo ignores them, figuring they’ll find out at dinner, and locks the door when he closes it.
Uryuu is watching him from his reclaimed spot on the bed. Leaning back on both arms stretched out behind him. One leg drawn up and bent on the mattress, the other one dangles down with toes grazing the floor. A tingly memory of those toes curling a few days ago flits through his mind. Ichigo follows the line of that leg up to his canted hips and thinks about how much he wants to see the boy out of his clothes. Not just shirtless or with pants undone but completely naked, no more pesky barriers to Ichigo’s view.
The short walk over is occupied by resisting the inclination to step right up to him and connect their mouths. Push Uryuu down against his comforter and-Ichigo perches on the edge of the bed and stares at the floor as he reigns it all in. He literally just told Uryuu this wasn’t about all of that and now here he is wanting it so much he could scream. It doesn’t help that it is continually becoming easier to sense Uryuu’s reiatsu, like a pleasant personal scent amplified by going into someone’s home. Only a much more significant and diverse feeling.
“Come to my place tomorrow, Ichigo.”
It is said low and with a hint of breathlessness. Ichigo snaps his head up to catch the quirk of a smile before it disappears. There is a wealth of mystery in the depths of those blue eyes, all hidden meanings and half-promises. Ichigo’s heart stutters with it.
“Okay.”
“Ichi-nii!” They are startled from the moment when Yuzu knocks on the door. “I brought lemonade.”
“And snacks,” Karin adds as she tries the door. “Why is it locked?”
Rolling his eyes, Ichigo rises to let them in. Both girls lock onto Uryuu the instant they enter. He straightens, sitting much more modestly, and accepts the glass with a small seated bow and a word of thanks. Karin sets a plate of vegetables and fruits on the desk and flashes Ichigo a suspicious glance before standing beside Yuzu.
“Ishida-kun, isn’t it?” Yuzu is saying.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“We’ve seen you around,” Karin states, “But you haven’t been here very much, have you?”
“Not more than a few times.”
“Did Ichi-nii make you visit or something?”
“Karin,” Ichigo rebukes.
“What? You’ve known each other for years and you’re just now having him over for dinner. It’s strange, that’s all.”
“Karin-chan is right,” agrees Yuzu, nodding in emphasis. “And he just called you ‘Ichigo’. I thought you only called each other by family name.”
Shocked that they were eavesdropping, he hesitates to ask how much they heard. It must not have been anything too bad if they’re acting normally, though. Instead, he transforms embarrassment into anger and starts to shoo them out of his bedroom.
“Go be nosy somewhere else. And stop listening through my door!”
“But Ichi-nii!”
“Enough, go on. You can quiz him during dinner but leave us alone until then.”
“Ugh,” Karin groans as she is herded through the door with her sister. “Watch out for Dad. Once Yuzu tells him you have a friend over, he’s going to flip out.”
“Like I don’t know that,” he cries and slams the door. “Damn meddling geezer.”
Uryuu is sipping his drink and nibbling a baby carrot when Ichigo turns around. As if none of this fazes him. As if they weren’t just kind of flirting.
“Your sisters are quite agreeable.”
“Thanks.”
“It must be frustrating, though, having everyone question your motives. I’m sure your friends at school are giving you trouble, too.”
“Our friends,” Ichigo obstinately grumbles as he sinks to the bed and lies on his back, hands behind his head and eyes closed. It’s been a long day. “They weren’t that bad. Just curious about where you and I stand.”
“About that…have you thought about my original question: ‘why me?’”
“Of course I’ve thought about it,” he sighs. Ichigo lets his breathing even out into a slow, steady sort of thing as he forcibly relaxes. “I just don’t know how to say it. You know I’m no good with talking about stuff like that.”
“Try.”
Chad’s words earlier today echo Uryuu’s. Why is it so hard to understand that Ichigo has limitations? Just because he has ridiculous fighting power doesn’t mean that same concept applies to all aspects of his life. Extra reiatsu doesn’t get magically converted into mental acuity. Briefly, Ichigo considers repeating what he told Chad earlier. He rejects that option because it would probably sound rehearsed. Not to mention fumbling and idiotic. Feeling foolish, he keeps his eyes shut to help block it out.
“We’re a lot alike if you think about it-I know you hate the idea but it’s true,” Ichigo preempts his scoff of disapproval. “We know each other well enough to push each other’s buttons more than we should but…also enough to connect better than most people ever do. Safe to say I would do almost anything for you. And you can deny it all you want but I think you’d do the same for me, too, if it came to that. Plus, I like being around you as long as you’re not yelling at me.”
Uryuu doesn’t respond at first and Ichigo isn’t surprised. His reasons are vague and a little generalized but they’re all he has right now. Ichigo isn’t the type to ‘wax eloquent’ about how Uryuu does this or says things like that and that’s why he loves him. He doesn’t need to pinpoint specific examples to recognize how he feels. Although he can understand why Uryuu wants those examples, tangible relics to hold up in times of doubt and inveterate fear. That reassurance is not something Ichigo knows how to give.
“Sufficient,” he eventually says with a tone of finality.
Ichigo’s eyes crack open at the firm spread of Uryuu’s palm over the left side of his chest, over his heart. He swipes stylized bangs behind an ear and leans down to press warm lips to Ichigo’s in a kiss so composed and sensual that it almost slows his pulse. Eyes slide closed as tongues slip out. Uryuu softly hums into it and his fingers drift down Ichigo’s shirt to splay over his hip. Gripping there, he expresses his eagerness in the pressure of a squeeze. Ichigo moves arms from behind his neck to comb his fingers into that silky hair, shifting it free from its careful tuck.
A handful of minutes pass like this. Not a single thought is spared for the homework scattered to either side of them. His brain only has enough focus for the exquisite sensation of Uryuu against him. Ichigo doesn’t even notice the sounds he’s making until Uryuu pulls away to tell him to be quiet: they don’t want his family to hear. Oddly enough, that statement breathed so casually against his mouth sends a jolt of something dizzying through Ichigo. It forces another groan from him and Uryuu shakes his head with a resigned little chortle that immediately makes Ichigo grin.
To his horror, Uryuu sits up and straightens his clothes.
“Why did you stop?”
“Because if we continue any longer I won’t be able to.”
Ichigo considers that through the haze of what sense he has managed to retain. Reluctantly, he agrees Uryuu has a point. The last thing either of them wants is to be barged in on by his sisters-or gods forbid his father-while doing that type of thing together. Not to mention dinner should be ready within an hour. Showing up to eat looking like they’ve just run a marathon…try explaining that to your family.
So he uses that time to think about what just happened and what it might mean. If nothing else, Uryuu is readily talking with him again, though most of it is questions. He’ll count that as a win.
The first thing Goat-Chin does upon spotting Uryuu sitting at their dining table is gasp too dramatically. Then he scurries across the room to drag him from his seat and hug him too tightly.
“Hello there, Uryuu-kun!” the man yells, making Uryuu wince at the volume so close to his ear. “So good to see you spending time with my delinquent son. Teach him some good habits, will you?”
“Get your hands off him,” Ichigo commands as he rips Uryuu from his claws and places himself between them. Shell-shocked, Uryuu allows this protective gesture. “And don’t be so familiar with him. What the hell is wrong with you?”
“Ah, but I just got so excited!” Isshin pouts, “Since you finally brought someone home. You’re a late bloomer, Ichigo!”
Karin snickers from her comfortable sprawl in a chair as Ichigo flares fuchsia at the implication.
“W-what are you talking about, Idiot Goat-Chin!? This isn’t that so get those weird ideas out of your head!”
“Oh? So this isn’t you introducing your boyfriend to your family?”
“B-boyfriend?” Yuzu gasps. “Ichi-nii, I thought Orihime-chan…”
“Don’t jump to conclusions, damn it!”
“Then you’re not dating this nice young man?” his father asks, frowning in disappointment.
Wait-disappointment? Shouldn’t he be relieved? Modern times or not, don’t most parents still secretly dread their kids being gay? Not that Ichigo cares what his dad thinks about his preferences-or anything about his life-but this is too strange. Feeling lost, Ichigo turns to glance at Uryuu. He is expecting discomfort, maybe even a little fear or anger. But his face is blank with a hint of sadness. He meets Ichigo’s eyes and raises his brows as if to say, ‘your call’. Ichigo’s jaw almost drops.
“Uryuu, you…”
“Ah-ha! Only close friends and lovers use given names, Ichigo! How do you explain that?”
“I…”
Thoughts swarm like rabid bats around his head, tearing things up and making messes. Ichigo still wants to shout how much he likes Uryuu but this thing between them is still so tentative. Being hasty is the reason it’s so fucked up right now and he doesn’t want to make it even worse. Yet, Ichigo remembers the accusation Uryuu made that night he finally spoke his mind about everything. How it seemed like Ichigo wanted to keep him as a dirty little secret, too ashamed to tell anyone about it. On the other hand, he knows just how cautious Uryuu can be.
He can’t speak for Uryuu if he still doesn’t properly understand his feelings, but Ichigo can speak for himself.
“Well?” Isshin goads, “What is this person to you?”
“We’re not dating.” Silence fills the small space as everyone tenses. Ichigo looks at Uryuu’s guarded expression. He lowers his voice and meets the boy’s eyes as he adds, “But I’d like to.”
He smiles as Uryuu’s mouth parts in mild wonder. Neither of them was expecting Ichigo to come out now of all times but he doesn’t regret it. Sooner rather than later is better.
“What do you have to say to that, Uryuu-kun?”
“I…”
“I’ll warn you, my foolish kid is going to get you into a lot of trouble.”
“Yes, I understand that-”
“He’s rude and reckless and a pain in the ass!”
“I wholeheartedly agree. However-”
“Now look here you two,” Ichigo gripes, narrowing his eyes at the insults.
“However,” Uryuu firmly repeats with a warning glare in his direction. “I have already decided Ichigo’s virtues outweigh his faults.”
“Are you sure?” his father has the audacity to ask. “Because you don’t know him like I do.”
“Perhaps not. But I know him better than you think, Kurosaki-san.” Uryuu takes a deliberate step around Ichigo to stand directly before the man as he speaks. “I’ve watched him in times of great hardship and I have seen how he always met it with strength and resolve. Ichigo follows his own path; he carves it right out of the obstacles before him. He selflessly protects those around him and he never quits when it matters. That is why-” Here Uryuu turns back to look into Ichigo’s stunned gaze as he says, “That is why I like you, Ichigo.”
Why couldn’t he have thought of something like that? Makes his lame speeches sound even lamer.
Uryuu gives him a private smile, telling him he knows what Ichigo is thinking. Yuzu sighs in a swoon while Karin cracks a smirk and Goat-Chin beams at them. Ichigo doesn’t know what to say to that. He wants to do something girly like hold Uryuu’s hand or kiss his cheek but the notion is so foreign to him that he can’t manage it. Can’t even picture himself doing it. Uryuu’s smile widens like he’s still reading Ichigo’s mind. Then they are both disrupted because his dad and sisters are crowding around them for a spontaneous group hug.
“Such a cute couple,” Isshin pronounces as he wipes at a tear. “My boy is finally a man!”
“Ichi-nii,” Yuzu warbles, on the verge of a crying fit herself.
Even Karin is moved, “You take care of my brother, you hear?”
“Y-yes,” Uryuu stammers, overtaken by their maudlin antics.
Ichigo shoves and the circle is disbanded. “What is wrong with all of you? Just because of this you’re all in tears?”
“Masaki~! Our son has…our delinquent boy has finally…”
“Would you shut up and quit talking to a damn poster?” Ichigo grouses, plunking into a seat and serving himself noodles without further ado. “Crazy old goat! Just ignore them, Uryuu. Apparently they watch too many dramas these days.”
When Uryuu sits beside him at the table, Ichigo glances over to see that he is still smiling.
Ichigo doesn’t forget about Uryuu’s invitation the next day after school. He doesn’t bother going home first to change, though, since he isn’t bothered wearing his uniform a little longer. So Uryuu waits for him at the gate and they walk to his apartment together.
He is too nervous to say much on the way. It was one thing having Uryuu at his place with his whole family in the house as supervision, even if they weren’t actually in the same room as them. But being alone in an apartment is another thing. Ichigo is oscillating between the determination to just study and maybe chat versus wanting to try and ‘put the moves’ on Uryuu and continue what they couldn’t yesterday. Only problem is he still can’t read Uryuu well enough to know which he would prefer.
“You’re doing it again, you know,” a quiet comment brings him back to the present.
“Huh?”
“Reiatsu.”
“Oh, sorry.”
“If you’re curious,” Uryuu says without looking up as he pulls out his keys to unlock the door. “Just ask me. You don’t have to try and read my spirit every time.”
“Well, I…” Ichigo steps into the hall and toes off his shoes as he searches for the least awkward way of phrasing his thoughts. He follows Uryuu into the living room and drops his bag on the low table before he finally settles on a response. “Never mind.”
“So frustrating.”
“Wha-hey!” With a strong shove to both shoulders, Uryuu pushes him to the couch, frowning down at Ichigo. “Look, it was a stupid idea so I-whoa!”
Ichigo snaps his mouth shut because Uryuu is sliding into his lap, the pleasant weight of him instantly affecting his heart rate. Leaning back to give Uryuu more room, he stares up at the boy in confusion. Wasn’t he just annoyed?
“You were wondering whether I invited you over to study or to fool around, right?”
“Um. Yeah.”
“The answer is: both.”
“Oh. Okay.”
“You don’t mind doing this first, do you?”
As he speaks, Uryuu swiftly unbuttons his shirt, tugs the hem out of his pants, and shrugs out of it to drape over the armrest. The sight of his naked torso in the full daylight streaming through thin curtains makes Ichigo’s mouth water. He has seen it before but it makes a huge difference now that he has permission to look and appreciate. His skin is so fair that the slightest mark would stand out like a beacon, if he had any. Ichigo wants to make a few.
“N-no. Nope.”
“Good.”
A strong grasp holds his jaw as Uryuu leans down for a rough kiss. Apparently, he’s not in the mood to take it slow. Ichigo can’t complain, especially if it means he can finally get the full experience. Uryuu sweeps his tongue along the roof of his mouth and deftly destroys the squadron of buttons blocking Ichigo’s body from his touch. Tilting forward to allow his shirt to be pushed over his shoulders, Ichigo groans as his lower lip is nibbled.
“You want it rough, Ichigo?” he breaks away to ask huskily. A handful of minutes in and Uryuu’s eyes have already acquired the sultry gleam of well-fucked that he does so well. “I know how to bite without bruising.”
“God, yes,” Ichigo moans as this skill is demonstrated on his neck. “Whatever you want, Uryuu.”
While his request is fulfilled, Ichigo’s hands are not idle. They find the tapering planes of Uryuu’s long back and follow a meandering path down to his waist, under his pants, and linger at the top of his smooth ass. He’s impatient to get the boy naked but he doesn’t want to set the pace or be the one in control today. Somewhere in the back of his mind Ichigo is still thinking about what Uryuu said in a moment of anger, those insinuations of him taking advantage. Uryuu is too important to allow such a perception to persist. Even if that means he has to follow someone else’s lead for once.
Luckily, Uryuu is on the same wavelength and quickly stands to drop his slacks without prompting. Ichigo reaches for him but his wrist is snatched and tugged instead. He follows Uryuu down the short hall to his bedroom and silently cheers as his own pants are removed when they get there.
“Lie down.”
He does as he is told and Uryuu resumes his sprawl above him, initiating another long kiss as their hands run over each other mostly unhindered. When he lowers hips to press into Ichigo’s, molten light spins happy discs through him, raising the fine hairs on his arms and legs. A loud throaty noise erupts in its wake. Uryuu’s quiet laughter ends the kiss. He looks down at Ichigo with a goofy smile which is swiftly mirrored.
“I love your laugh.”
“Shut up and get naked, Ichigo,” he weakly orders in spite of a persistent smirk. “Try to keep quiet, would you? I have neighbors.”
“Then let’s make them jealous with our really loud sex.”
Ignoring the retort to that, he shimmies out of his boxers and loses his breath for a second as he watches Uryuu do the same. He uses the brief distraction to memorize him from head to toe as best as he can. If he had his way, Ichigo would take about a hundred pictures for later, preferably in various suggestive poses. Settling for ogling now, he shifts his knees invitingly apart and wraps arms around Uryuu as he slides in close. Unfettered access results in ten times the pleasure. They are reveling in more contact than their sensory capabilities can integrate, erections heavy and so very interested between them. Ichigo bites his own lip at the sound of Uryuu’s soft moans.
More. He needs to hear more of that music. Forgetting himself because of it, Ichigo flips their positions and begins laving wet kisses across Uryuu’s unguarded collar bone. He grips the boy’s waist and rolls his hips in insistent waves that leave them both panting within seconds. The music plays surprised and ascending.
“Ichigo,” he gasps after a particularly hard thrust. “Wait.”
“What is it?” Ichigo tries to keep the panic from his voice but he probably doesn’t manage it. He feels guilty for getting so lost in this that he took control on accident. “Do you want me to stop?”
“Hell no. Just…here. Use this.”
Reaching up to dig under his pillow, Uryuu retrieves a small bottle that he presses into his slackened palm. He stares at it for a moment.
“Why do you have mango-flavored lube, Uryuu?”
“Because your father has a strange sense of humor.”
“Ugh.” He grimaces at the thought of his dad giving lube to his boyfriend. “What the fuck is wrong with him?”
“I don’t know but I’d thank him if I were you,” Uryuu levelly advises. “He also gave me a pack of condoms and a pocket-size version of the Kama Sutra. Said he would’ve given them to you but he knew you’d just throw them away.”
“The hell…?”
“He’s not wrong, is he?”
“Can we stop talking about my hopeless moron of a parent right now, please?” cries Ichigo, lamenting the topic’s unfortunate effect on his dick. “Unless you’d rather write a thank-you letter to him first.”
Shamelessly smirking at his discomfort, Uryuu snatches the bottle back and squeezes out a healthy dollop. He pushes at Ichigo’s shoulder until they are lying side-by-side on the narrow mattress. Lust-darkened blue eyes hold his as Uryuu reaches down to slick the gel over both of them. Ichigo’s eyes roll shut on a groan as his erection is thankfully rekindled. After a while, his brain boots back up enough to gaze at Uryuu and lend his hand to the task, tightening their fists and snapping his hips up into them. They both moan at the sensation and meet in a wild kiss.
When the pleasure grows too great and their lungs start to scream, Ichigo pulls away, only to press his forehead against Uryuu’s. He watches as his expression changes the closer he gets to climax, seeing Uryuu do the same with him. The concentrated pinch of his arched brows. White teeth pressing into a red lip. Lids fluttering over black-eclipsed eyes. Pink flush deepening on pale skin.
But Ichigo has to shut his eyes to all this beauty because they’re rolling upward against his will. Back arcing in synchrony with Uryuu’s as they gasp and moan and shout. Hands squeezing and hips pushing. They hit the crest together, scarcely clinging to reality via each other. He feels Uryuu’s stilted exhales against his shoulder, sweat-slick skin shivering in erratic waves against his. Ichigo forces his eyes open because he needs to see. Looking lost in the best possible way, Uryuu blinks dazedly with unfocused eyes and takes gulps of air through an open mouth. It’s so adorable that Ichigo must taste it. Uryuu readily returns the kiss with a muted whimper.
In the hazy moments that follow, both of them somehow fight the pull of sleep without mustering the energy to rise from their comfortable sprawl. Ichigo almost laughs at the fact that they’re supposed to do homework at some point tonight. That thought leads him down a more somber road until even the soft puffs of Uryuu’s breathing can’t distract him from it.
“Uryuu, I was thinking…”
“Rarely a good thing.” Ichigo’s contemplative pause has him sobering and looking over after that little bit of snark. “What is it?”
“Why didn’t you ever tell me?”
They both know exactly what he means. Why did it take Uryuu two years to approach Ichigo and ask him on a date? Even then it wasn’t a very overt request. Plus, he gave up so easily. It makes Ichigo kind of angry at the situation now, thinking about how they could’ve been together this entire time if only one of them had the courage or the sense to try sooner.
“So many stupid reasons,” Uryuu sighs, draping a wrist over his forehead and closing his eyes. “I convinced myself you were straight. That you and Inoue-san would make a cute couple and I shouldn’t get in the way. Or that my father may be right about avoiding Shinigami. At one point I believed you hated me as much as I claimed to hate you.”
Ichigo won’t invalidate his reasons with dismissal or criticism. He can’t say he wouldn’t have thought similar things if he had been crushing on Uryuu for that long. As it is, he barely had the tenacity to break past the various layers of miscommunication and appearances to make it this far. The only regret he has is that Uryuu had to go so long in that state of unrequited anxiety and Ichigo tells him as much. Uryuu’s simple response of a wry smile sends a pang of sadness into his heart.
Snuggling against the boy, Ichigo kisses his neck and says, “Okay, first we need to apply to the same universities. Then we can talk about apartments. Urahara said he’ll give me a discount on a type of paint he invented to help shield reiatsu, so-”
“Ichigo.”
“Just hear me out, Uryuu. I know we’re bound to drive each other a little nuts by spending so much time together at first but-”
“Ichigo,” he interrupts again. This time he hears the amusement in Uryuu’s voice and glances over to see his smile transformed into something light and content. “Let’s just see how the rest of the semester goes before we make a ten-year plan, okay?”
“Nah. No need.” Shaking his head, Ichigo sits up to look down at him. “You’re not getting rid of me. I love you too much.”
The way Uryuu’s eyes widen as the smile slides right off his face scares Ichigo for a second. But he barely has time for a fleeting worry before Uryuu is dragging him down into a deep kiss that lasts long enough to thoroughly steal the breath from both of them. When they part, Uryuu blinks a few times too many, eyes a little glossier than usual. Ichigo can tell he’s working up to saying something he probably never thought he’d say again after his grandfather passed. Yet, Ichigo hopes he’s wanted to say it many times before. That he’ll want to say it many times in the future.
“I-I love you, too.”
The next day at lunch, Ichigo stands up in the middle of his meal to get everyone’s attention.
“I have something to say and I don’t want to hear any whining,” he says with a glare in Keigo’s direction. His friends look up attentively and wait for the revelation. “Uryuu and I are dating.”
The silence doesn’t last very long.
“Congratulations,” a few of them say.
“About time,” a couple others add.
Uryuu continues nibbling his sushi roll expressionlessly but Ichigo can tell he’s happy. It’s in the way his eyes gaze up instead of down and in the relaxed set of his shoulders. As he watches, the diminutive slant of Uryuu’s unintentional smile is drawn from him. Ichigo grins before turning to Keigo, the only person yet to give some kind of feedback. He is frowning in thought and picking idly at a piece of lint on his slacks. Sighing, Ichigo sits back down and resigns himself to putting up with Keigo’s bias for a few more months. Then something crazy happens.
“I guess we have room for one more…” Keigo grumbles to no one in particular.
“Huh?”
“The house we’re all going to share in college,” he clarifies, giving Ichigo a sullen look. “I guess we could add one more roommate to the arrangement.”
Shocked for a long moment, Ichigo finally smiles widely and agrees, “Yeah.”
When Uryuu starts arguing about how he doesn’t want to share space with a bunch of messy idiots and Keigo fires back about not needing chronic eggheads bossing him around, Ichigo can’t help laughing aloud. It’s going to be a good year.