Bleach Drabble (487)
487.
Title: A Year in the Life
Rating: PG-13
Pairing/Character/s: Ikkaku, Kenpachi, mentions of Yumichika, Yachiru, Kira, Shuuhei, Iba, Renji (barely there mentions of IkkakuxKira)
Word Count: 798
Warning/s: No real spoilers, though some vaguely hinted at. Um. Also, kind of a rush job so done stupidly. >>
Summary: Birthdays as a measure of time.
Dedication: fellow Ikkaku fans idiosyn, tsukishine, explodinguterus, sw_inku et. al. Bald love!
A/N: Wee, Ikkaku’s birthday! LOL This done, then Zoro’s next, right? XD;;
Birthdays are for celebrating. Hell, they can even kind of be considered a big deal too, when you come from a division that dies by the sword as often as it lives by it.
Birthdays are a sign you’ve made it another year without croaking, that maybe you’ve learned something along the way, gained something, lost something, tried something new. Moved forward, somehow.
For Ikkaku his birthday is all those things- a celebration plus.
He actually gets treated to lunch by Yumi (and how the hell often does that happen?), the guys buy him a round and Yachiru draws him a card where he’s covered in blood that’s not his own and victorious over some unidentifiable mass of steaming dead flesh on the ground. It’s really pretty sweet.
On top of all that Kira hadn’t nagged him once about cleaning out the storm drain this morning-he’s been putting it off for a couple weeks already-and he’d even gotten breakfast in bed (amongst other things) before the two of them had to be at work. Not too shabby, you ask him.
And that afternoon at work the rest of the division gets him a cake somehow, and even though his name is spelled kind of wrong on it, it’s chocolate and tastes good and everyone gets to take a break from afternoon training to eat a piece. After that he gets home early and everyone’s there already-dinner’s made and booze is being poured and Kira doesn’t even mind that not everyone is using a coaster tonight. They eat and they talk and Renji and Shuuhei and Iba break out the cards and the poker chips after the food’s all gone so the four of them can go for a round or two. It’s fun and full of energy, but they all make sure they don’t get too invested in the game all the same, given that they know what’s coming next.
Birthdays are for celebration.
But they’re for other things too-they’re a time marker, a reminder, a place on the calendar not only reserved for celebration but used for measurement as well, for seeing how far you’ve come since last year and the year before and the year before that. They’re a sign of growth.
Zaraki leaves by eight to go put Yachiru down for the night, and everyone else lingers until nine or ten, at least until Ikkaku gets up and says he’s got to go.
They all understand, wish him happy birthday and good luck as they head out the door.
Kira pecks him on the cheek and tells him to be safe as he can.
And then Ikkaku and Yumichika head out into the night together, and while his birthday had been fun and full of celebration thus far, Ikkaku knows it’s just a marker really, a precise measure of time that reminds him of where he’s been, tells him where he is now, maybe hints at where he’s going in the future.
He and Yumichika return to headquarters in the dead of night, and Kenpachi is already there, waiting for them. Smoking his pipe. Just like last year.
“You ready?” their captain asks after a moment, and Yumichika gives Madarame a significant look that means a thousand things before he goes off to wait for his friend on the sidelines.
“Almost,” Ikkaku says, and takes a deep breath, begins his dance.
Kenpachi rolls his eyes but sits the stupid ritual through, stands and draws his sword when the idiot looks to be about done.
“Now you ready? We don’t got all night you know.”
“Yeah. I’m ready now.” And then Madarame hefts Hozukimaru over his shoulders, grins. “Got something new to show you this year, taichou.”
Kenpachi grins back-likes the sound of that. “That so?”
And they fight.
Birthdays are a celebration of growth. How far you’ve come in a year.
Last year, Ikkaku barely drew blood.
This year… this year he gets the eye patch removed.
And that in itself is cause for celebration.
He gets his ass handed to him a couple of hours later anyway though, and when they’re done, Yumichika gives him a handkerchief to wipe the blood on his face off with and simply tells him and Zaraki both, “good work.”
Kenpachi grunts.
Ikkaku laughs around the cut in his mouth from where he bit the inside of his own cheek. “Yeah. Thanks.”
Kenpachi stretches. “I’m goin’ to bed.”
“Night taichou,” they both say.
Soon after, the clock chimes midnight.
End of the day.
And Ikkaku thinks to himself-- as he’s limping back home leaning on his best friend’s shoulder-that now he’s got a whole ‘nother three-hundred-and-sixty-five-days to learn something even cooler for next year.
Plenty of time.
And hopefully, even more to celebrate.
END
Title: A Year in the Life
Rating: PG-13
Pairing/Character/s: Ikkaku, Kenpachi, mentions of Yumichika, Yachiru, Kira, Shuuhei, Iba, Renji (barely there mentions of IkkakuxKira)
Word Count: 798
Warning/s: No real spoilers, though some vaguely hinted at. Um. Also, kind of a rush job so done stupidly. >>
Summary: Birthdays as a measure of time.
Dedication: fellow Ikkaku fans idiosyn, tsukishine, explodinguterus, sw_inku et. al. Bald love!
A/N: Wee, Ikkaku’s birthday! LOL This done, then Zoro’s next, right? XD;;
Birthdays are for celebrating. Hell, they can even kind of be considered a big deal too, when you come from a division that dies by the sword as often as it lives by it.
Birthdays are a sign you’ve made it another year without croaking, that maybe you’ve learned something along the way, gained something, lost something, tried something new. Moved forward, somehow.
For Ikkaku his birthday is all those things- a celebration plus.
He actually gets treated to lunch by Yumi (and how the hell often does that happen?), the guys buy him a round and Yachiru draws him a card where he’s covered in blood that’s not his own and victorious over some unidentifiable mass of steaming dead flesh on the ground. It’s really pretty sweet.
On top of all that Kira hadn’t nagged him once about cleaning out the storm drain this morning-he’s been putting it off for a couple weeks already-and he’d even gotten breakfast in bed (amongst other things) before the two of them had to be at work. Not too shabby, you ask him.
And that afternoon at work the rest of the division gets him a cake somehow, and even though his name is spelled kind of wrong on it, it’s chocolate and tastes good and everyone gets to take a break from afternoon training to eat a piece. After that he gets home early and everyone’s there already-dinner’s made and booze is being poured and Kira doesn’t even mind that not everyone is using a coaster tonight. They eat and they talk and Renji and Shuuhei and Iba break out the cards and the poker chips after the food’s all gone so the four of them can go for a round or two. It’s fun and full of energy, but they all make sure they don’t get too invested in the game all the same, given that they know what’s coming next.
Birthdays are for celebration.
But they’re for other things too-they’re a time marker, a reminder, a place on the calendar not only reserved for celebration but used for measurement as well, for seeing how far you’ve come since last year and the year before and the year before that. They’re a sign of growth.
Zaraki leaves by eight to go put Yachiru down for the night, and everyone else lingers until nine or ten, at least until Ikkaku gets up and says he’s got to go.
They all understand, wish him happy birthday and good luck as they head out the door.
Kira pecks him on the cheek and tells him to be safe as he can.
And then Ikkaku and Yumichika head out into the night together, and while his birthday had been fun and full of celebration thus far, Ikkaku knows it’s just a marker really, a precise measure of time that reminds him of where he’s been, tells him where he is now, maybe hints at where he’s going in the future.
He and Yumichika return to headquarters in the dead of night, and Kenpachi is already there, waiting for them. Smoking his pipe. Just like last year.
“You ready?” their captain asks after a moment, and Yumichika gives Madarame a significant look that means a thousand things before he goes off to wait for his friend on the sidelines.
“Almost,” Ikkaku says, and takes a deep breath, begins his dance.
Kenpachi rolls his eyes but sits the stupid ritual through, stands and draws his sword when the idiot looks to be about done.
“Now you ready? We don’t got all night you know.”
“Yeah. I’m ready now.” And then Madarame hefts Hozukimaru over his shoulders, grins. “Got something new to show you this year, taichou.”
Kenpachi grins back-likes the sound of that. “That so?”
And they fight.
Birthdays are a celebration of growth. How far you’ve come in a year.
Last year, Ikkaku barely drew blood.
This year… this year he gets the eye patch removed.
And that in itself is cause for celebration.
He gets his ass handed to him a couple of hours later anyway though, and when they’re done, Yumichika gives him a handkerchief to wipe the blood on his face off with and simply tells him and Zaraki both, “good work.”
Kenpachi grunts.
Ikkaku laughs around the cut in his mouth from where he bit the inside of his own cheek. “Yeah. Thanks.”
Kenpachi stretches. “I’m goin’ to bed.”
“Night taichou,” they both say.
Soon after, the clock chimes midnight.
End of the day.
And Ikkaku thinks to himself-- as he’s limping back home leaning on his best friend’s shoulder-that now he’s got a whole ‘nother three-hundred-and-sixty-five-days to learn something even cooler for next year.
Plenty of time.
And hopefully, even more to celebrate.
END