The Suit - Chapter 2 (Bleach, Sado/Ishida)
Title: The Suit, Chapter 2/?
Rating: currently R
Pairing: Sado/Ishida
Warnings: Set in Bleach universe, but the time skip made it A/R. Sexual concepts. Violence in later chapters.
Summary: With less than a year left before Uryuu heads off to university, he'd been certain he'd avoid all the complications and distractions of a high-school romance. His attraction to Chad threatens to throw a wrench in his neatly-laid plans.
Chapter 2
You reel me out
then you cut the string
The week passed in a blur of activity and, much like he'd planned, his amorous urges toward Chad had all but faded away. The distance he'd imposed had helped, as had the fact that he'd kept himself busy with schoolwork and sewing. Chad's suit plus a few university applications and handful of smaller projects he'd had on the back-burner had done an excellent job at ensuring that he fell into bed mentally and physically exhausted every night.
So, when he approached Chad at lunch the Thursday after the initial offer, it was easy enough to speak to him, to ask him to come by to try on the suit. Almost as if nothing had happened.
However, he couldn't help but feel a little relief when Ichigo tagged along.
It was a little less easy to watch Chad unbutton his uniform pants in the middle of Uryuu's bedroom, where the suit was laid out across the bed. Uryuu frowned at the way his mouth went dry when Chad stepped out of the pants, his back to Uryuu.
"You decide what university you're going to?" Ichigo asked, leaning back in Uryuu's office chair with his feet propped on the desk. He prodded at a neat stack of brochures.
Uryuu swatted at his legs, but with less aggravation than he might usually display, thankful for the distraction. Once Ichigo's feet were back on the floor where they belonged, Uryuu answered. "I'm still weighing my options."
"Probably leaving Karakura though, huh?" Ichigo leaned forward, loosely clasping his hands over his knees. "Not a very good medical program here, I'd guess."
"I'm not going to be a doctor," Uryuu said with a frown. He glanced over at Chad, who was now tugging a crisp white dress shirt into place, and then back at Ichigo, who had a thoughtful, faraway look in his eyes. "I assume you have something worked out with Soul Society...?"
It was more than an assumption; he'd overheard snippets of Ichigo's conversations with Rukia, with Renji, with a handful of other shinigami. He didn't know the specifics, but he figured if Ichigo could pry, then so could he.
"Yeah, after I graduate I'll be moving on. Can't live out of gigais forever, you know?" Ichigo rolled his eyes to the side, frowning slightly. "I woulda gone on already, but a few of them insisted I finish high school first."
Uryuu nodded and adjusted his glasses. "How are you going to present it?"
"We're still working out the bugs," Ichigo said, then he drummed his fingers on the table once, quickly. "Some sort of accident, I'm sure. We're thinking about 'sending me off to study abroad' for a few years, then do it, soften the blow a little."
Chad cleared his throat.
"Looking good," Ichigo said, grinning as he swiveled to face Chad.
Uryuu grinned as well; even unfinished, the suit draped well on Chad's large frame. It had looked like a circus tent on its hanger, but Chad's body filled it well, and the lines of it were fantastic, if Uryuu did say so himself. He stepped forward and carefully tugged at the lapels, and then stepped back again. "Turn around."
"How does it feel?" Uryuu asked as Chad made a slow turn.
"Good," Chad replied.
"Does it feel too tight anywhere?" Uryuu asked. Once Chad came to a stop, facing him once more, Uryuu reached up to smooth the fabric at the shoulders.
"It's fine."
"Raise your arms," Uryuu instructed. "Hm. Turn around and do it again. Good. Since you're still growing, I'm sewing this so that I can let it out later without ruining it. Just let me-"
"Chad's not still growing," Ichigo interrupted from behind them.
"What? I thought you grew out of your old suit." Uryuu gave Chad a quizzical look, one eyebrow sliding up his forehead.
Chad shook his head slowly. "It shrunk in the wash."
"You washed it?" Uryuu squawked, too affronted to notice the pitch of his voice. At Chad's affirmative nod, Uryuu pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Okay. That favor you owe me?"
Chad seemed to come to a state of sharp focus, waiting on Uryuu's next words.
"Take care of this suit. Don't ever wash it. Take it to the dry-cleaners. Okay? The dry-cleaners." Uryuu crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes consideringly at Chad, who was listening quietly. "Better yet-I go to the cleaners every week. If it needs cleaning, I'll take it for you!"
Whatever he'd planned to say next was interrupted by Ichigo snorting, and Uryuu cringed inwardly. Normally it didn't bother him to lecture, but with Chad standing there so calm, it felt vaguely ridiculous to get so worked up over a laundry mishap.
But he had worked hard on this suit.
"I won't wash it," Chad promised, serious and solemn.
"Good," Uryuu said decisively. "You can change now. I'll have this to you by the end of next week."
As Chad started shrugging out of the suit-jacket, Uryuu turned his back and busied himself by putting away the measuring tape and tools he'd had sitting out on his desk, in case he needed them. Ichigo rolled the chair to the side to give him room, and once everything was in its right place-and the burn of embarrassment had faded somewhat-Ichigo spoke up.
"We're heading downtown to get some food, then band practice. You can come if you want," he said casually.
A little startled by the unexpected invitation, Uryuu glanced up. Really, he considered Ichigo to be a friend, but not... he grasped for the right words inside his head. Not a real-world friend. More of a valued comrade-in-arms; someone he'd want on his side in battle, someone he'd put his life on the line for... but not someone he'd pal around with. And truly, he'd thought Ichigo felt the same way about him.
But then again... Chad was important to Ichigo, and Uryuu was doing Chad a favor.
He mulled it over for another few seconds, long enough to hear Chad walk up behind him. "I can't," he said finally.
"Are you sure?" Chad asked. "We'd like to have you along."
Uryuu was surprised to feel a twinge of regret when he answered, "I really can't. I've got studying, and I've got to be up early tomorrow."
"Maybe next time, then," Ichigo said with a quick grin, pushing up out of the desk-chair. "Well, we gotta run. See you around," Ichigo said, slinging his book-bag over his shoulder and strolling to the door.
Chad followed him, but he held back for a few seconds, looking for all the world as if he were about to say something important. Uryuu felt his spine stiffen up as the seconds ticked by.
But in the end, all he said was, "See you tomorrow."
"Right," Uryuu said. "Tomorrow."
And then Chad walked out of his room, and when Uryuu heard the front door close seconds later, he let out a huge sigh and sank down into his desk-chair, still warm from Ichigo's rump. It was highly frustrating to react the way he did to Chad-unsure whether he was more disappointed or relieved that Chad hadn't said something personal, or private, or just anything more than a short farewell.
He groaned and dropped his head on his desk. One more week. He'd give this one more week. And if he still wasn't over this ridiculous infatuation, well... well, he'd decide what to do, then.
***
"Hey, Ishida," Ichigo greeted when Uryuu was about to walk past the stairs to the rooftop. Hopefully to find somewhere private to eat his lunch, like he used to do - homeroom was usually nice and quiet, or there was that tree on the far side of the schoolyard that was usually fairly undisturbed. Distance had seemed to help last time, and after the previous afternoon, he thought even more distance couldn't hurt.
"You spacing out or something?" Ichigo snapped his fingers in front of Uryuu's face, prompting a quiet snarl.
"Shut up, Kurosaki," Uryuu muttered, and he took a tentative step away, turning to head down the hall. He nearly collided with Chad's broad, red-and-yellow-clad chest. He took a step back, cursing inwardly.
"Are you eating with us today?" Chad asked, smiling.
"Yeah." Uryuu held back a sigh. Barely. "I guess I am."
Uryuu felt like he was being herded up the stairs; Ichigo ascended ahead of him, and Chad brought up the rear. This feeling was compounded once their usual spot came into view. He took a step to the side, only to be gently stopped by a wide hand on his shoulder.
"Sit with us," Chad said. If it had been Ichigo, Uryuu could have blown him off, jerked his shoulder out of his grip, marched down the stairs. But he couldn't exactly do that to Chad, could he? Wordlessly he took a seat on the warm concrete and pulled out his lunch.
"Come to the wedding," Ichigo said out of nowhere.
Uryuu swallowed his food, swallowed again. "What? Why?"
"The guys said we should invite you, and you should come."
"But I don't-" Uryuu frowned, trying to come up with a good, socially acceptable excuse to reject the invitation. "I've got a lot of work to do over summer break."
"It's just for a day and a half," Chad offered.
"But that's-"
"They want to meet you. And Chad's band's playing." Ichigo took a long drink of his juice, his eyes steady on Uryuu. Then he gave the final blow. "For the last time."
Uryuu blinked, then stared down at his crossed legs. There was no getting out of it, was there?
But did he really want to get out of it? He'd made a resolution to learn more about Chad, to become more of a friend to him, and he knew he'd be doing them both a disservice if he refused this chance on the grounds of a simple crush. One that he'd be over soon--definitely before the wedding, which was in a little over a month. He nodded to himself, and then looked up.
"I'll go," he said to Chad, and the way Chad smiled at him was extremely disconcerting. So he looked at Ichigo, instead. "Where are they registered?"
Ichigo shrugged. "They don't expect us ruffians to bring gifts, anyway."
"You would do well to refrain from putting me in the same category as yourself, Kurosaki," Uryuu hissed, bristling. "Find out where they're registered, or I'm not going."
"Ishida," Chad said. Uryuu's head whipped around to face him.
"They're registered at Mitsukoshi," Chad said, a smile still playing around his lips. "Ichigo and Shigeo and I are going in together to get them something. You can chip in, if you want."
"Oh," Uryuu said, deflating. He glared briefly at Ichigo, who was hiding some expression behind his sandwich, then huffed out an annoyed sigh. "No, thank you. I'll get something on my own."
The door to the stairwell banged open, and Keigo's voice assaulted them in a greeting.
"Don't say anything about the wedding," Ichigo instructed sotto voce. "Keigo would shit bricks if he knew you were going."
"Did I hear my name?" Keigo called out, plopping down between Uryuu and Ichigo as Mizuiro took a seat against the wall.
"Yeah. We were just talking about how loud you were." Ichigo scowled at Keigo, who got even louder in protest. And Uryuu glanced at Chad, and found that Chad was already watching him.
So he looked away.
TBC...
_____________________
A/N: I gotta say, writing Ichigo is fun, and I hope he's at least somewhat IC... for this alternate reality, anyway. I'm not going to give spoilers for those of you not caught up on the manga, but I did not foresee what's been happening lately! I think when I started writing this, I was under the assumption that the series would be OVER BY NOW, lol.
Also, I mean to post chapters about a week apart, but this chapter feels really short, so I posted it a bit sooner. I think after this chapter I'll start the once a week thing?
Lyrics (c) Radiohead - 15 Step
Also, last chapter's lyrics were (c) Radiohead - Where I End and You Begin.
They're not all Radiohead, lol, these two just ended up stuck together ^^;
previous chapter | next chapter
Rating: currently R
Pairing: Sado/Ishida
Warnings: Set in Bleach universe, but the time skip made it A/R. Sexual concepts. Violence in later chapters.
Summary: With less than a year left before Uryuu heads off to university, he'd been certain he'd avoid all the complications and distractions of a high-school romance. His attraction to Chad threatens to throw a wrench in his neatly-laid plans.
Chapter 2
You reel me out
then you cut the string
The week passed in a blur of activity and, much like he'd planned, his amorous urges toward Chad had all but faded away. The distance he'd imposed had helped, as had the fact that he'd kept himself busy with schoolwork and sewing. Chad's suit plus a few university applications and handful of smaller projects he'd had on the back-burner had done an excellent job at ensuring that he fell into bed mentally and physically exhausted every night.
So, when he approached Chad at lunch the Thursday after the initial offer, it was easy enough to speak to him, to ask him to come by to try on the suit. Almost as if nothing had happened.
However, he couldn't help but feel a little relief when Ichigo tagged along.
It was a little less easy to watch Chad unbutton his uniform pants in the middle of Uryuu's bedroom, where the suit was laid out across the bed. Uryuu frowned at the way his mouth went dry when Chad stepped out of the pants, his back to Uryuu.
"You decide what university you're going to?" Ichigo asked, leaning back in Uryuu's office chair with his feet propped on the desk. He prodded at a neat stack of brochures.
Uryuu swatted at his legs, but with less aggravation than he might usually display, thankful for the distraction. Once Ichigo's feet were back on the floor where they belonged, Uryuu answered. "I'm still weighing my options."
"Probably leaving Karakura though, huh?" Ichigo leaned forward, loosely clasping his hands over his knees. "Not a very good medical program here, I'd guess."
"I'm not going to be a doctor," Uryuu said with a frown. He glanced over at Chad, who was now tugging a crisp white dress shirt into place, and then back at Ichigo, who had a thoughtful, faraway look in his eyes. "I assume you have something worked out with Soul Society...?"
It was more than an assumption; he'd overheard snippets of Ichigo's conversations with Rukia, with Renji, with a handful of other shinigami. He didn't know the specifics, but he figured if Ichigo could pry, then so could he.
"Yeah, after I graduate I'll be moving on. Can't live out of gigais forever, you know?" Ichigo rolled his eyes to the side, frowning slightly. "I woulda gone on already, but a few of them insisted I finish high school first."
Uryuu nodded and adjusted his glasses. "How are you going to present it?"
"We're still working out the bugs," Ichigo said, then he drummed his fingers on the table once, quickly. "Some sort of accident, I'm sure. We're thinking about 'sending me off to study abroad' for a few years, then do it, soften the blow a little."
Chad cleared his throat.
"Looking good," Ichigo said, grinning as he swiveled to face Chad.
Uryuu grinned as well; even unfinished, the suit draped well on Chad's large frame. It had looked like a circus tent on its hanger, but Chad's body filled it well, and the lines of it were fantastic, if Uryuu did say so himself. He stepped forward and carefully tugged at the lapels, and then stepped back again. "Turn around."
"How does it feel?" Uryuu asked as Chad made a slow turn.
"Good," Chad replied.
"Does it feel too tight anywhere?" Uryuu asked. Once Chad came to a stop, facing him once more, Uryuu reached up to smooth the fabric at the shoulders.
"It's fine."
"Raise your arms," Uryuu instructed. "Hm. Turn around and do it again. Good. Since you're still growing, I'm sewing this so that I can let it out later without ruining it. Just let me-"
"Chad's not still growing," Ichigo interrupted from behind them.
"What? I thought you grew out of your old suit." Uryuu gave Chad a quizzical look, one eyebrow sliding up his forehead.
Chad shook his head slowly. "It shrunk in the wash."
"You washed it?" Uryuu squawked, too affronted to notice the pitch of his voice. At Chad's affirmative nod, Uryuu pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Okay. That favor you owe me?"
Chad seemed to come to a state of sharp focus, waiting on Uryuu's next words.
"Take care of this suit. Don't ever wash it. Take it to the dry-cleaners. Okay? The dry-cleaners." Uryuu crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes consideringly at Chad, who was listening quietly. "Better yet-I go to the cleaners every week. If it needs cleaning, I'll take it for you!"
Whatever he'd planned to say next was interrupted by Ichigo snorting, and Uryuu cringed inwardly. Normally it didn't bother him to lecture, but with Chad standing there so calm, it felt vaguely ridiculous to get so worked up over a laundry mishap.
But he had worked hard on this suit.
"I won't wash it," Chad promised, serious and solemn.
"Good," Uryuu said decisively. "You can change now. I'll have this to you by the end of next week."
As Chad started shrugging out of the suit-jacket, Uryuu turned his back and busied himself by putting away the measuring tape and tools he'd had sitting out on his desk, in case he needed them. Ichigo rolled the chair to the side to give him room, and once everything was in its right place-and the burn of embarrassment had faded somewhat-Ichigo spoke up.
"We're heading downtown to get some food, then band practice. You can come if you want," he said casually.
A little startled by the unexpected invitation, Uryuu glanced up. Really, he considered Ichigo to be a friend, but not... he grasped for the right words inside his head. Not a real-world friend. More of a valued comrade-in-arms; someone he'd want on his side in battle, someone he'd put his life on the line for... but not someone he'd pal around with. And truly, he'd thought Ichigo felt the same way about him.
But then again... Chad was important to Ichigo, and Uryuu was doing Chad a favor.
He mulled it over for another few seconds, long enough to hear Chad walk up behind him. "I can't," he said finally.
"Are you sure?" Chad asked. "We'd like to have you along."
Uryuu was surprised to feel a twinge of regret when he answered, "I really can't. I've got studying, and I've got to be up early tomorrow."
"Maybe next time, then," Ichigo said with a quick grin, pushing up out of the desk-chair. "Well, we gotta run. See you around," Ichigo said, slinging his book-bag over his shoulder and strolling to the door.
Chad followed him, but he held back for a few seconds, looking for all the world as if he were about to say something important. Uryuu felt his spine stiffen up as the seconds ticked by.
But in the end, all he said was, "See you tomorrow."
"Right," Uryuu said. "Tomorrow."
And then Chad walked out of his room, and when Uryuu heard the front door close seconds later, he let out a huge sigh and sank down into his desk-chair, still warm from Ichigo's rump. It was highly frustrating to react the way he did to Chad-unsure whether he was more disappointed or relieved that Chad hadn't said something personal, or private, or just anything more than a short farewell.
He groaned and dropped his head on his desk. One more week. He'd give this one more week. And if he still wasn't over this ridiculous infatuation, well... well, he'd decide what to do, then.
***
"Hey, Ishida," Ichigo greeted when Uryuu was about to walk past the stairs to the rooftop. Hopefully to find somewhere private to eat his lunch, like he used to do - homeroom was usually nice and quiet, or there was that tree on the far side of the schoolyard that was usually fairly undisturbed. Distance had seemed to help last time, and after the previous afternoon, he thought even more distance couldn't hurt.
"You spacing out or something?" Ichigo snapped his fingers in front of Uryuu's face, prompting a quiet snarl.
"Shut up, Kurosaki," Uryuu muttered, and he took a tentative step away, turning to head down the hall. He nearly collided with Chad's broad, red-and-yellow-clad chest. He took a step back, cursing inwardly.
"Are you eating with us today?" Chad asked, smiling.
"Yeah." Uryuu held back a sigh. Barely. "I guess I am."
Uryuu felt like he was being herded up the stairs; Ichigo ascended ahead of him, and Chad brought up the rear. This feeling was compounded once their usual spot came into view. He took a step to the side, only to be gently stopped by a wide hand on his shoulder.
"Sit with us," Chad said. If it had been Ichigo, Uryuu could have blown him off, jerked his shoulder out of his grip, marched down the stairs. But he couldn't exactly do that to Chad, could he? Wordlessly he took a seat on the warm concrete and pulled out his lunch.
"Come to the wedding," Ichigo said out of nowhere.
Uryuu swallowed his food, swallowed again. "What? Why?"
"The guys said we should invite you, and you should come."
"But I don't-" Uryuu frowned, trying to come up with a good, socially acceptable excuse to reject the invitation. "I've got a lot of work to do over summer break."
"It's just for a day and a half," Chad offered.
"But that's-"
"They want to meet you. And Chad's band's playing." Ichigo took a long drink of his juice, his eyes steady on Uryuu. Then he gave the final blow. "For the last time."
Uryuu blinked, then stared down at his crossed legs. There was no getting out of it, was there?
But did he really want to get out of it? He'd made a resolution to learn more about Chad, to become more of a friend to him, and he knew he'd be doing them both a disservice if he refused this chance on the grounds of a simple crush. One that he'd be over soon--definitely before the wedding, which was in a little over a month. He nodded to himself, and then looked up.
"I'll go," he said to Chad, and the way Chad smiled at him was extremely disconcerting. So he looked at Ichigo, instead. "Where are they registered?"
Ichigo shrugged. "They don't expect us ruffians to bring gifts, anyway."
"You would do well to refrain from putting me in the same category as yourself, Kurosaki," Uryuu hissed, bristling. "Find out where they're registered, or I'm not going."
"Ishida," Chad said. Uryuu's head whipped around to face him.
"They're registered at Mitsukoshi," Chad said, a smile still playing around his lips. "Ichigo and Shigeo and I are going in together to get them something. You can chip in, if you want."
"Oh," Uryuu said, deflating. He glared briefly at Ichigo, who was hiding some expression behind his sandwich, then huffed out an annoyed sigh. "No, thank you. I'll get something on my own."
The door to the stairwell banged open, and Keigo's voice assaulted them in a greeting.
"Don't say anything about the wedding," Ichigo instructed sotto voce. "Keigo would shit bricks if he knew you were going."
"Did I hear my name?" Keigo called out, plopping down between Uryuu and Ichigo as Mizuiro took a seat against the wall.
"Yeah. We were just talking about how loud you were." Ichigo scowled at Keigo, who got even louder in protest. And Uryuu glanced at Chad, and found that Chad was already watching him.
So he looked away.
TBC...
_____________________
A/N: I gotta say, writing Ichigo is fun, and I hope he's at least somewhat IC... for this alternate reality, anyway. I'm not going to give spoilers for those of you not caught up on the manga, but I did not foresee what's been happening lately! I think when I started writing this, I was under the assumption that the series would be OVER BY NOW, lol.
Also, I mean to post chapters about a week apart, but this chapter feels really short, so I posted it a bit sooner. I think after this chapter I'll start the once a week thing?
Lyrics (c) Radiohead - 15 Step
Also, last chapter's lyrics were (c) Radiohead - Where I End and You Begin.
They're not all Radiohead, lol, these two just ended up stuck together ^^;
previous chapter | next chapter