Drabbles
Feathers - Ikkaku/Yumichika
Ikkaku found Yumichika lying by the stream, obviously lost in his own world. He plonked himself down beside the dark head, which immediately insinuated its way on to his lap.
“Eww,” Yumichika commented with a wrinkle of his delicate nose. The smell couldn’t be too bad, though, as he didn’t move. Ikkaku grinned down at him.
“Yeah, Shuuhei gave me a pretty good workout.” Yumichika quirked an eyebrow at that; Ikkaku knew his lover had a bit of a soft spot for the tousle-haired lieutenant. Yumichika had even gone so far as to call him ‘quite pretty’ once, high praise indeed coming from the beautiful one.
“What kind …” Yumichika began archly, but Ikkaku cut him off swiftly.
“Don’t even,” he shuddered. “You know I only think about you like that.” Yumichika practically purred at that one, fluttering his lashes and squirming more into Ikkaku’s lap. Flashing yellow and red caught Ikkaku’s eye and he touched one delicate feather.
“Careful!” Yumichika hissed, but without real venom. Ikkaku ran the feather through his fingers gently.
“Why d’ya wear these things, anyway?” he asked. Violet eyes widened at the question, then narrowed into a frown.
“I thought you knew?” Yumichika said quietly. Ikkaku wondered whether he was in trouble.
“I’m not psychic,” he said defensively, “and you never told me.” Yumichika raised his eyebrows at Ikkaku’s tone, then smiled.
“You’re such an idiot,” he murmured, sitting up gracefully and winding himself around Ikkaku in a loving embrace. He reached one white hand up and stroked the skin beside Ikkaku’s eye. “The red ones are the same colour as your war paint, so I’ve always got you close to me.” Ikkaku shifted, feeling faintly embarrassed at the words, but warmed through at the same time. He tightened his arms around Yumichika possessively, earning a pleased hum from his lover. After a second he remembered about the other feathers.
“What about the yellow ones? And if you say they’re for Kira, I’ll kill you.” It was Yumichika’s turn to shudder.
“Please. Slavish devotion I like, but bad hair I can live without.” He examined his nails, obviously pleased with his barb. Ikkaku didn’t let it distract him.
“So..?” he prodded.
“So what?” Yumichika asked innocently, then relented. “They’re another reminder. To be a whole person.”
“A whole person?” Ikkaku asked, confused. Yumichika sighed and rolled his eyes.
“Look at the people we work with every day. How much easier do you think it would be for me to dress dowdily, keep quiet, chug sake and kill things?”
“Oh,” Ikkaku said, not really knowing how to respond. He supposed life would be a lot more straightforward if his flamboyant lover pretended to be ordinary.
“How much easier to be lonely instead of being with you?” Yumichika added, and it finally sunk in. It took so much courage for Yumichika to be himself every day and to tell the world to shove it if it didn’t like him the way he was. Pride welled in Ikkaku’s chest, and he pulled Yumichika in for a deep kiss, not caring who saw.
“I love you,” he said simply, when they broke the kiss.
“You need a bath,” Yumichika teased, but the look in his eyes and the way he clung to Ikkaku’s arms told him he felt the same.
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[A/N - While in Western cultures yellow often stands for cowardice, in Japan it means courage. Opposites are fun!]
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color:black">Challenge Rules:
color:black">1. Pick a character, pairing, or fandom you like.
color:black">2. Turn on your music player and put it on random/shuffle.
color:black">3. Write a drabble related to each song that plays. You only have the time frame of the song to finish the drabble; you start when the song starts, and stop when it's over. No lingering afterwards!
color:black">4. Do ten of these, then post them
color:black">
mso-ansi-language:EN-GB;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">A/N - I cheated a little on some of these by continuing after the song finished but I can’t type fast enough! There aren't ten here, but these are the best of what appeared during the challenge.
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Pedestal - Portishead - 03.38 - Gin, Tousen
“D’ya know why ‘e’s put that blue sky up there?” asked Gin, catching up to Tousen’s quick steps and pointing at the dome above them.
“It makes no difference to me,” said Tousen, his tone making it clear that he wanted nothing more to do with this conversation. Gin smiled more widely.
“Funny; them Espada prolly think da same. If dey knew …” he let the sentence trail off, and started counting in his head.
Thirty seconds passed.
“Why did Aizen-sama put the sky up there?” Tousen asked. Gin snickered under his breath.
“Same reason ‘e does anythin’, I s’pose.”
EN-GB;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">Leaving the fuming Tousen behind him, he slipped away through the nearest door.
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Pure Morning - Placebo - 04.13 - Yoruichi/Soi Fong, Yoruichi/Urahara
Soi Fong bit down hard on the gag in her mouth, tasting rubber and blood. She shifted in her bonds, feeling the burn in her joints. How long had she been here? The sky was tinged with dawn, so twelve hours at least. Why had she allowed herself to get into this situation? It was beneath her to have allowed herself to be captured like this, here in this dirty back room in the human world. She looked up into the yellow eyes of her jailer and remembered why.
“Hmm, Soi Fong, what’s wrong? Haven’t I hurt you enough?” Yoruichi asked, dragging a sharp nail down Soi Fong’s cheek. She could feel blood beading there, hot and urgent. “Maybe this will help?” At Yoruichi’s gesture the hated Urahara got up from his place by the door and came up to her, the two sharing a passionate, loving kiss. Soi Fong screwed her eyes shut and screamed, the sound muffled by the gag until it echoed only inside her own head. Gentle hands touched her face, petting her until she opened her eyes and let the tension melt from her body.
“Ne, ne, love, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Yoruichi said regretfully, reaching out to unstrap Soi Fong’s arm, which immediately snaked around her. “I think the game’s gone on long enough, don’t you?” She picked the smaller woman up carefully and carried her back to bed.
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Speed Trials - Elliot Smith - 03.01 - Aizen/Gin
“You should get up,” Aizen said, straightening his kimono. Gin muttered something unintelligible into the pillow his face was pressed against, and allowed his long, naked limbs to sprawl even further across the bed. Aizen sighed. “Why is it you’re the only one that never listens to me?” Gin raised his head, propped it on one crooked elbow, and grinned.
“Who sez I dun listen?” he asked mischievously. Aizen leant over and kissed the top of his silky white head.
“I’m testing the Arrancar today, you know that,” he said peaceably.
“Gonna find out which ones is spades and which ones is forks.” Gin said, snuggling into the sheets.
“Espada, Gin.” Aizen rolled his eyes.
“Yeah, yeah,” Gin murmered, almost asleep again.
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Immigrant Song - Led Zeppelin - 02.25 - Kenpachi, Yachiru
Soaked in blood, he walked the lands of the dead, from mountain to seashore, from forest to city, drifting ever closer to the inevitable. Somewhere along the way he picked up a little pink-haired shoulder warmer, whose tiny hands helped to clear the mist from his eyes a little, whose childish laughter made him hear better. Still he drifted, drifted, drawn in concentric circles to the place where the power was.
One battle, another. Always fighting, because what else was there? He needed more powerful opponents, so he ended up in the Court of Pure Souls, where he could almost taste the reiatsu in the air. It was fatal, in the truest sense of the word: nothing else could have happened. When he stood in front of the crowds of shinigami and killed the strongest taicho in the place, it was inevitable. What was going to happen next was anyone’s guess.
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Get Myself Arrested - Gomez - 04.02 - Hitsugaya, Renji, Matsumoto, Yumichika, Ikkaku
“Abarai, what makes you think you can drive a car?” Hitsugaya asked in what he hoped was his most withering tone.
“I’m driving it, aren’t I?” Abarai replied in a more high-pitched voice than usual, clutching the wheel with both hands, his face almost pressed against the windscreen.
“This is pointless,” Hitsugaya said, hunching himself further down into the front seat and crossing his arms. “We’re going about two miles an hour. Where are we going, anyway?”
“Hey Taicho, let’s just enjoy the ride, eh?” trilled Matsumoto from the back seat. “Don’t even ask what Ikkaku had to do to get a loan of this car from Asano’s sister …”
“Hmph, which is precisely why I’m not talking to a certain person who shall remain hairless,” Yumichika huffed on one side of Matsumoto.
“What did you say?” Ikkaku roared from the other side, shoving behind Matsumoto to grab Yumichika’s jacket. Matsumoto leaned forward between the seats and started fiddling with the radio, almost blinding Abarai with one hefty bosom. He swerved the car wildly before getting back on course.
Blue lights appeared in the rear-view mirror.
“Thank the gods,” Hitsugaya muttered to himself.
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Outta Me, Onto You - Ani Difranco - 04.37 - Matsumoto
Every time, Rangiku swore it was the last. This time definitely, she wouldn’t go back. Seriously, what did she get out of it anyway? Good sex? She could have that with Shuuhei, probably. She’d always wondered why he had that 69 tattooed on his face, anyway. Companionship? That was a laugh. They never spoke any more, barely even touched each other before or after. Love? That was the least likely of all.
So why was it that every time she’d had a little too little sake and felt lonely, she always found herself at the door of 3rd division?
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Welcome Home - Peters and Lee 03.29 - Ikkaku/Yumichika, Yachiru, Kenpachi
“Oh god, can you see what I can see?” Ikkaku asked Yumichika as they wearily rounded the last corner before they reached the 11th division after the long slog back from the human world.
“Mmm-hmm,” Yumichika nodded, his eyes wide. He squeezed Ikkaku’s arm encouragingly. “Be brave, warrior mine.” They both gazed up in horror at the huge pink cat balloon floating over the mess hall. ‘Welcum harm!” was scrawled enthusiastically over the cat’s face in what looked like the expensive ink. Yumichika grimaced inwardly and led the way into the mess hall.
“Baldy, weirdo!” Yachiru shouted, bouncing straight into his arms. “Yay! You’re just in time for the party!” Yumichika looked around the room, which looked like an explosion in a pink glitter factory. All the 11th division members were miserably wearing pointy pink party hats and pink scarves. The tables were groaning with sweets.
“It’s very, um, nice, Fukutaicho?” he said slowly. “What’s it for?”
“Ummm. Um um umum.” Yachiru pressed one finger to her lip, deep in thought. “Can’t remember!” She wriggled free of Yumichika’s arms, taking a flying leap on to Ikkaku and producing a tub of pink paint from her kimono. “But I wanted to paint Baldy’s head!”
As Ikkaku struggled to dislodge her and Yumichika didn’t bother to hide his laughter, Kenpachi arrived.
“Ken-chan! Welcome home!” Yachiru giggled happily.
“I only went to the taicho’s meeting,” Kenpachi muttered, clearly bemused. Ikkaku and Yumichika looked at each other in dawning realisation.
The party was for him.