There for Each Other Chapter Nine (Bleach, Rose/Love)
Title - There for Each Other Chapter Nine
Disclaimer - Don't own any of the characters, I just lock myself in my room and make them bend to my muse's will.
Rating - Doesn’t start out at M but it will find its way there, we’ll just start out with T for now.
Word Count -4,141
Warning - There is het in here (Lisa/Love & YoruHara) but this will be yaoi so there are some overtones, if that bothers you (or vise versa).
Summary - It began with a stranger rescuing a stranger and went on from there. Love & Rose's story from Academy, Soul Society & beyond. There will be angst, UNF to the max, meddlesome YoruHara with help from a certain raven-haired be-spectacled visored - & let's throw in a Kuchiki!
Back to Chapter Eight!
People Mean More Than Just…
…Trouble.
Much like being in town, women gave their fair share all on their own in giving Aikawa a tension migraine.
Specifically one Lisa Yadōmaru.
Who reminded him ceaselessly that she didn’t want to end up married to that Kuchiki guy, but wouldn’t stop telling him that long enough to do something about it; like kiss him for instance.
Aikawa stared a moment at the bowl that he had kept from lunch, expecting to see his roommate before dinner for more than two minutes. With a grumble he moved to the trunk he shared with Rōjūrō taking out a simple blue yukata before he moved to grab the bowl up and set it out in front of the shoji on his way out of it, just about fed up with people in general, there wasn’t even a fraction of this drama bullshit out in the forest.
Considering the common male bath served more than twenty students the main area seemed much smaller than he’d imagined it when Yoruichi had described it in passing on their tour. What he was most interested in now was the hot spring Kisuke had mentioned in an attempt to tease the purple-haired noble who had gone all shades of red.
Tempting uses aside a hot soak sounded fucking fantastic for tension.
Rōjūrō surprised him as he slid open the door to the spring room, clutching closed the front of his own pale yellow yukata with one hand, a delicate teacup in the other. “Love,” He gave him an easy smile. “There’s a teapot, I think there’s something left in it,” He held out the cup and Aikawa took it.
“Thanks,” With a step back Aikawa let Rōjūrō pass. “Oi, is that you that smells like flowers?”
Rōjūrō stopped in place as he shuffled sideways through the threshold, barely a foot of space in-between them. “Yes. Problem?”
That it smelled better than the curvaceous woman he’d been with only moments before, yes. Otherwise, “Nope…that from the spring?”
“It’s my hair, I washed it before I soaked,” Somehow the clipped tone of the noble’s voice made Aikawa feel the slightest bit guilty.
What the hell?
“You really should too you smell sweaty,” Rōjūrō made a face, nose crinkling and somehow the expression took focus from the fact that he’d just been insulted.
“We can’t all smell like a girl,” Aikawa shot back and the cute (damn it) scrunched expression changed to one of narrow-eyed suspicion, like the blond couldn’t decide whether he had been insulted. “This is all I got, sorry,” He shrugged, lifting an arm to bring attention to the yukata folded over it.
“Here,” Rōjūrō suddenly pushed a leather satchel into his roommate’s midriff with a little more gusto than necessary. “I have plenty extra.”
Before Aikawa could say anything else, the noble left the tight space and stalked off. With a sigh he turned to enter the room, only to hear the blond call, “Love?”
“Yeah?” Aikawa turned just in time to get what felt like a towel thrown in his face. “Oi!” He yanked the cloth off his head but by then Rōjūrō was gone. In turning he saw the collection of white towels near the entrance in a set of shelves that were at least twenty feet wide.
With a shake of his head he moved back to fetch a few smaller washcloths for scrubbing before entering the main hot spring chamber. Off to the side there was a small collection of stalls it was there that he deposited the bag and teacup on a bench that ran adjacent. He threw the towel over one of the chest-high wooden walls, along with his current kimono so that he could step bare into the stall. There was a brass spoked-knob Aikawa didn’t pause to think before he turned, and the water that fell from the large pipe he’d missed hanging over his head was much colder than he’d expected (which he hadn’t really).
With a curse loud enough to carry across the Academy he moved out of the water so he could get used to its temperature at his own pace. As he leaned into it, he noticed the temperature had warmed so stepped directly underneath, lifting his arms under the water, letting it move over tired tense knotted muscle as he stretched.
It might have been ten minutes he stood there enjoying the hot water before he thought to scrub one of the washcloths over him to get most of the road dust off. He had almost forgotten that there was a place for him to loosen his muscles and it wasn’t leaning there in the shower stall as he came back from the wonderful cascading water he reached over to snap the water off. He let himself drip dry for a few minutes in the warmed room and grabbed the towel to sling it around his hips before starting across the room toward the spring.
“You aren’t even going to open the bag are you?”
Aikawa wasn’t proud that the sudden accusing bark of Rōjūrō’s voice made him jump. He grabbed for the edge of his slipping towel as he spun to see the blond glaring down at the unopened bag, hands on his hips, indignation in every line of his body. “Er…” He turned hopefully toward the spring that was even now calling his name.
“Love did you hear me?” Rōjūrō turned with a growl. “The bag…are you planning to use its contents?”
“No?” Aikawa tried the truth and although a glance over his shoulder proved though he looked no happier the noble didn’t continue his diatribe.
#
Not fair, Rōjūrō could tell he’d forgotten to blink for quite some time when he felt his eyes sting. There was no way a man could have that detailed a chest with that magnificent a… “W-what?”
“Um, no…y’all right?” Aikawa turned toward him.
“I’m…” Rōjūrō nodded and looked back down at the unused toiletry bag, making a show of picking it up so he wouldn’t have to look in the scantily-clad man’s direction. “I’m just fine…except my roommate is going to make our quarters stink.”
“Oi,” Aikawa scowled and turned the full force of his brown eyes on the noble. “I smell fine.”
“No you don’t,” Rōjūrō fixed his eyes firmly on the man’s face as he returned his gaze to him, lifting out the satchel. “Just water isn’t going to do.”
“It’ll have to,” Aikawa turned away and continued his journey to the spring, dropping down to sit on the edge, feet testing the temperature of the water before sliding in. “Fuck that’s nice.”
Leather creaked protest in the blond’s grip before he realized he had the strap tightly wound around his fist. “Love, I will find another roommate,” He threatened.
“I thought you needed me?”
To have that thrown back in his face, no matter the sexy quality of Aikawa’s blissed-out voice, dashed whatever heat had been coiling inside the noble’s belly. “I don’t need a heathen for a roommate!”
“Then I’ll pack my shit when I’m done here…” The sentence ended in a groan of pleasure as he slowly slouched on the bench carved into the side of the spring, sinking into the hot water up to his broad shoulders.
Snapping to, Rōjūrō scowled at the back of Aikawa’s head a moment before stalking toward the edge of the spring, a hand diving into the bag he still held in his other arm. Ditching the bag on the ground behind the unsuspecting man enjoying the spring, he jerked the stopper out of the half-full bottle of unscented soap and upturned it over the water.
The water quickly started to froth and brown eyes shot upward to the pearlescent smoked glass bottle as the last of the soap dripped out. “Y’little shit!” Water sloshed and Aikawa pushed up, sitting straight up so he could escape the spring.
Rōjūrō lifted his leg to balanced the arch of his foot on a dark shoulder, close to the bend where Aikawa’s neck began, leaning his weight forward to push him back down into the water.
The noble was stronger than he looked.
Aikawa figured that out when he tried to fight the foot that felt as if it was hardly pressing down on him. “Rōjūrō!”
“I’m not letting you give up…stop trying to quit--” The blond gave a yelp of surprise as long fingers wrapped strongly around his entire ankle. “Let go!”
“It’s yer noble bubble bath, Sire,” Came in a deep rumble that did things to the noble that had nothing to do with the pump of adrenaline that had surged at the solid shackling of his foot.
Reiatsu flared and Rōjūrō threw his arms out to keep his balance as his roommate fought back, surging out of the water. Without hesitation Rōjūrō let his own spiritual pressure rise until he was able to wrestle his foot free, quickly dropping to his knees and burying his fingers into the hair atop Aikawa’s head before shoving down on him and submerging him in the water, down past his own elbow.
Even though he soaked his yukata sleeve and most of the top half of it he succeeded and discovered, “Your hair…do you wash it?”
“Shit,” Aikawa sputtered reaching for the noble’s quickly retreating hand without success. “I smell like a goddamn heathen so apparently not!”
The frown on the blond’s face was small but its strange power for making Aikawa feel guilty for creating it was still at full strength, and he’d been the one shoved under the water! “Never mind the soap part, you have to keep your hair hydrated, especially if you’re out in the sun all the time…or it’ll get damaged and dry and break.”
Aikawa just shook his head and sighed, resigning himself to sitting in the foaming hot spring, which didn’t seem to have any other scent besides the smell the water had alone and a little soapy. “I ain’t bald.”
“No but your hair…” Rōjūrō made a small ‘humph’ noise in it all his frustration and irritation. “Just…” He thought quietly a moment before getting to his feet. “I’ll be right back…you just soak.”
“Right,” Aikawa grumbled.
“Oh, stop pouting,” The noble said in parting.
Me pouting? He shook his head and ran a hand over the bubbles, pushing it away to clear the water a moment before they surged back and obscured everything. Aikawa wouldn’t admit to himself that his bottom lip might have been a little pouty.
He wasn’t getting out of the spring because the blond had told him to stay there, he’d simply forgotten the teacup and he had discovered the teapot undisturbed a few feet down the edge of the water. That he could get the damn soap out of his eyes was also a bonus but he wasn’t even close to the shower before Rōjūrō returned.
Ironically it was the abrupt clanking of teacups that alerted him to the blond standing in the doorway, a bucket hooked on one elbow so he could carry what looked to be a fresh tea tray. He didn’t even have time to defend himself before a wave of hot reiatsu washed over him in a shocking slap of power fed with an intent of longing and fury. “Get back in the water!”
Accenting the command was the rattle of the tea service as the noble shook. His lavender eyes even more pleased when the other man turned to move away, giving them no reason to look away, along with the soapy wet curve of lower spine…
“I was only gettin’ the teacup.”
“Right, you left it in the shower,” Rōjūrō thumped the tray down beside the abandoned satchel, the bucket at his side as he watched Aikawa slide back into the water.
“I got this shit in my eyes.”
“Don’t be a baby,” Rōjūrō poured him a cup of tea before going to wet a washcloth for his face. He surprised him by getting his attention then wringing the sopping wet cloth dry over his face, only chuckling when he received a fresh volley of curses and splashes. “Enough now,” The noble tsked and lowered the cloth to gently wipe at his face since his hands were soapy.
Aikawa grumbled his thanks as he carefully attempted to pick up his teacup with said soapy hands. “What’s in the bucket?”
“Something for your hair,” Rōjūrō answered casually as he poured his own tea. “But you have to wash it first, so go scrub it out under the water and I’ll let you get up and rinse.”
“Scrub it out,” Aikawa shook his head with a roll of his eyes. “You’re going to make me do this every day ain’t you?”
“It’s in the rule book, especially if you are enrolled in hakudo…which we are,” The blond gave a delicate sip but Aikawa knew it was for looks, the noble drank his tea like it was sustenance. The sip had probably drained half the cup. “Plus it just feels better.”
“Right.”
“Like the difference between sleeping on the ground and having a futon,” Rōjūrō teased, knowing his roommate had fallen in love with his pillow.
“Y’a got me there,” Aikawa acknowledged with a nod. “Still ain’t wearin’ a fundoshi.”
“I’ve decided to just let you reap the consequences of that decision,” Rōjūrō gave a wave of his free hand as he moved to dangle his feet in the water, leg almost touching Aikawa’s arm. “I’m not going to go so far as to say it should be worn at all times, it’s just wiser at certain times.”
“Not interested.”
“Mm-hm,” The noble twisted to retrieve the teapot to refill his empty cup and top off Aikawa’s half-full one. He only let the other man take one drink before nudging him with his submerged leg. “That’s enough get going, I don’t want to be up all night.”
Getting his teacup jostled in front of his face didn’t make Aikawa move any faster, he griped and carefully set the cup down before pushing away from the edge, lowering slowly into the water until he was out of sight.
Rōjūrō sighed and shook his head as he waited for him to resurface as he enjoyed his fresh tea. He checked the bucket he’d brought, a sealed wooden one that happened to be filled with a few extra ingredients from the kitchen. Noboru hadn’t minded once the purpose had been explained, taking notes as Rōjūrō threw things into a small pot on the stove.
“I was gonna ask exactly what’s in there.”
Since the noble had been firmly distracted Aikawa saw him jump a little and dart his lavender gaze from his brew to soft brown eyes. “You’re going to get soap in your eyes again, Love.”
“Gonna ask about that too,” Aikawa admitted as he squeezed his eyes closed and moved back to the edge lifting his face toward the noble.
“Baby,” Rōjūrō shook his head and grabbed the washcloth to wipe his face. “Go rinse off.”
“I ain’t done soakin’,” Aikawa protested.
“Don’t just sit there it’ll get cold…You can get back in, just get the soap out of your hair first,” Rōjūrō explained patiently, refilled teacup back in his hand. “It has to sit in your hair for a little while anyway--”
Soapy dark skin flashed before the noble and lavender eyes fastened on the tremble that ran along the surface of his tea. “Get a few towels while you’re up will you?”
Since he’d lost the one he’d started with Aikawa was sure he’d need a few more before the blond was done with him tonight.
#
“So I wanted to apologize.”
Aikawa was in the midst of unfolding one of the towels to wrap around him, using a shake of one arm whilst reaching up to get a couple more when the voice took him by surprise. Trying to keep more soap from dripping down into his eyes he slowly turned just his head to look over his shoulder catching sight of Lisa leaning in the bath entrance door behind him. “Oh?”
“Was just going to come peek my head in and see if I could call for your attention,” There was no glare obscuring beneath her glasses, but teal eyes didn’t seem to mind showing the obvious path they took over him. “My apologies.”
“Yer apologies for comin’ in here? Or for earlier?”
“Earlier of course,” She lifted her head a little and there was the glare again, the corners of her mouth tilting upward ever-so-slightly. “Why would I apologize for standing in a door?”
Aikawa chuckled, “My delicate sensibilities?” He finished pulling the towel around his hips before turning to face her, noticing the disappointment on her face.
“How about sorry for having an ulterior motive?” She moved to remove her glasses to press fingers to either side of the bridge of her nose.
“Huh…a woman with an ulterior motive…” Aikawa tucked the other towels under his elbow. “I’ve never met one of them.”
“If it helps my ulterior motives have changed into one with a much more beneficial endgame for you than the first one had,” Lisa lowered her hand and lifted her naked gaze to meet his, to show the self-hatred in the girl’s eyes.
“So instead of makin’ that Kuchiki guy jealous I’m…?”
“You are not doing anything, I’ll do all the work,” The little grin returned, but it did little to soften the look in her eyes. “Don’t worry about a thing.”
“I ain’t lazy y’know,” Aikawa returned, moving closer.
“I can tell,” Lisa nodded, eyes getting a good look at the lines of his abdominals before returning to his face. “Before I start I have to figure out how much I want to reveal of myself.”
“This is a little one-sided ain’t it?” He said, tugging the towel a little high up on his waist.
“It is, but I meant something else entirely,” Lisa nodded with a grin.
“I gotcha,” Aikawa copied her nod, his smile easy, not of one uncomfortable in a towel and soap suds. “Yer makin’ my mind spin with all the secrets you could be keepin’…I guess you’ll tell them to me if y’want.”
“Don’t go figuring the secrets out before I decide I can tell you,” Lisa said half-serious, eyes finally growing curious when confronted with the ideas she could see forming behind those brown eyes. “I hope you don’t think I’m not attracted to you,” She reached out when he came close enough, fingertips skimming down his jaw.
“Y’make it obvious even for me,” Aikawa teased.
“I do not,” She lowered her hand, the other pushing her glasses back on; as if she knew the weakness they could cover at times.
“You do.”
They were both quiet a moment as Lisa saw things swirling in those eyes that told her, he was figuring them out already. “Aikawa--”
“Love!” Rōjūrō froze in the doorway, as the two turned to face him. “Sorry.” He held up his hands in supplication a moment before stepping out of the doorway. “You, wash now.”
“Oi…” Aikawa turned back to Lisa for help and found her snickering and doing a bad job of covering her mirth with her hands. “Damn,” He frowned and moved back into the spring, not even looking Rōjūrō’s way as he did so, ire in every step.
“I’m sorry I interrupted, I only wanted to apologize to Aikawa-kōhai about a disagreement earlier,” Lisa gave a small bow of her head.
“I’m only helping him with his hair,” Rōjūrō nodded, his tone indicating how unimportant it was and that he hadn’t wrestled his large roommate into submission in the soapy water, even if his yukata wasn’t dry yet.
“I’ll let you get back to it then,” Lisa turned to go, but then turned back to deliver a parting line. “I don’t know how you can say you’re attracted to men and not interested in him.”
#
Even with his unknown level of spiritual pressure to back him up it wasn’t the noble’s wrath that motivated Aikawa into returning to the spring soon after getting the soap from his hair.
Really.
“That girl,” Rōjūrō’s voice caught his attention as he turned to pour more tea, it was as if the blond had a sixth sense about it. “Sometimes…”
Aikawa agreed as he avoided the noble’s slapping hands and gave up pouring his own tea lowering himself into the spring up to his shoulders. “You don’t mind her hangin’ around do you?”
“No,” Rōjūrō moved to sit with both legs in the water, gesturing with a wave of his hands that Aikawa should come back toward him. “Sit right here on the bench in front of me,” He ordered softly, reaching back to drag the bucket closer to his side.
“Y’gonna tell me what’s in that?”
“It’s a conditioner,” Impatient the blond made grabby hands as Aikawa slowly drifted toward him. “It helps fix the damage to your hair from being dehydrated.”
“I drink plenty of water,” Aikawa protested as he turned his back to the noble and backed up until he could lean on the edge one of Rōjūrō’s feet on either side of him on the submerged bench. “’Nd contrary to popular belief I bathe as often as I can.”
“It’s not a bath without soap,” Rōjūrō argued and suddenly something warm and heavy splattered onto the top of Aikawa’s head.
Before Aikawa could yelp protest and move away, the blond gave a warning squeeze of his legs. “Yer tellin’ me you use this stuff on yer own pretty scruff?”
“Scruff!” Huffed out as fingers began to move the conditioner over the rest of his hair.
“I said ‘pretty’.”
“I guess that saves you,” Rōjūrō said carelessly, as if it were barely enough. “I usually use coconut oil it makes my hair smell nice, but yes I do.”
The soap that was still left in the spring was enough to mask any scents that were being worked into his dark hair by deft fingertips. “I don’t mind coconuts.”
“You don’t hm?” Rōjūrō massaged diligently and eventually Aikawa relaxed until he was slouched back onto the wall of the spring, a noble knee pressing against either ribcage. “But roses aren’t your thing?”
“Don’t know that one,” Aikawa shook his head.
“A rose…s’a flower,” Rōjūrō’s fingers stilled. “That’s such a shame.”
“That I’ve never seen one?”
“I’ll bet you have and you just didn’t know the name of it,” He argued in Aikawa’s place. “You recognized the smell as a flower.”
“Maybe, I’ve seen lots of flowers…now what are you doing?” Aikawa muttered as the noble draped a towel over his head.
“It has to sit and stay warm,” Rōjūrō adjusted the towel until it was more like a hat, twisted and piled. “Now soak.”
“Already doin’ that,” Mumbled and instead of trying to get up, or make the relaxed man move the blond reached for a towel to dry off his hands and picked up his teacup.
“I can finally do that pedicure I’ve been meaning to do since…forever,” Rōjūrō voiced his thoughts, so he wouldn’t start thinking about the warm relaxed man between his legs. “I could do yours…although…do you know what a pedicure is?”
“No fuckin’ idea,” Mumbled.
“Oh, Love.”
“That bad’hm?” Aikawa tilted his head back a little, trying to catch a lavender eye.
“Mhm,” Rōjūrō murmured as he glanced down at his roommate’s searching gaze, the level of his head not helping with the errant thoughts Lisa had planted and continued to cultivate with her damned suggestive questions and observations. “I’m missing a few tools I’ll have to do your pedicure later.”
“Few tools,” Aikawa turned his head a bit laughing and the hot puff of breath skittered over the inside of Rōjūrō’s knee, thankfully the other man was still sitting a bit too high for it to do any more than that.
It was easy enough to imagine those lips lowering to kiss that same spot, just above the bend in his leg. “Yes,” He tried not to hiss the word but couldn’t really tell if it was a little more sibilant than it should have been, his imagination running away with him.
Aikawa’s only answer was a drawn out, “Hmph,” as he did a full-body stretch, sliding a bit into the water before he used his leverage against the blond’s legs to pull himself back up, wherein he relaxed again. “How long do I have to keep this hat on?”
“’Nother ten minutes.”
“I dunno if that’s enough soakin’,” Aikawa sighed.
They were the longest ten minutes of Rōjūrō’s young life.
Onward to Chapter Ten!
Disclaimer - Don't own any of the characters, I just lock myself in my room and make them bend to my muse's will.
Rating - Doesn’t start out at M but it will find its way there, we’ll just start out with T for now.
Word Count -4,141
Warning - There is het in here (Lisa/Love & YoruHara) but this will be yaoi so there are some overtones, if that bothers you (or vise versa).
Summary - It began with a stranger rescuing a stranger and went on from there. Love & Rose's story from Academy, Soul Society & beyond. There will be angst, UNF to the max, meddlesome YoruHara with help from a certain raven-haired be-spectacled visored - & let's throw in a Kuchiki!
Back to Chapter Eight!
People Mean More Than Just…
…Trouble.
Much like being in town, women gave their fair share all on their own in giving Aikawa a tension migraine.
Specifically one Lisa Yadōmaru.
Who reminded him ceaselessly that she didn’t want to end up married to that Kuchiki guy, but wouldn’t stop telling him that long enough to do something about it; like kiss him for instance.
Aikawa stared a moment at the bowl that he had kept from lunch, expecting to see his roommate before dinner for more than two minutes. With a grumble he moved to the trunk he shared with Rōjūrō taking out a simple blue yukata before he moved to grab the bowl up and set it out in front of the shoji on his way out of it, just about fed up with people in general, there wasn’t even a fraction of this drama bullshit out in the forest.
Considering the common male bath served more than twenty students the main area seemed much smaller than he’d imagined it when Yoruichi had described it in passing on their tour. What he was most interested in now was the hot spring Kisuke had mentioned in an attempt to tease the purple-haired noble who had gone all shades of red.
Tempting uses aside a hot soak sounded fucking fantastic for tension.
Rōjūrō surprised him as he slid open the door to the spring room, clutching closed the front of his own pale yellow yukata with one hand, a delicate teacup in the other. “Love,” He gave him an easy smile. “There’s a teapot, I think there’s something left in it,” He held out the cup and Aikawa took it.
“Thanks,” With a step back Aikawa let Rōjūrō pass. “Oi, is that you that smells like flowers?”
Rōjūrō stopped in place as he shuffled sideways through the threshold, barely a foot of space in-between them. “Yes. Problem?”
That it smelled better than the curvaceous woman he’d been with only moments before, yes. Otherwise, “Nope…that from the spring?”
“It’s my hair, I washed it before I soaked,” Somehow the clipped tone of the noble’s voice made Aikawa feel the slightest bit guilty.
What the hell?
“You really should too you smell sweaty,” Rōjūrō made a face, nose crinkling and somehow the expression took focus from the fact that he’d just been insulted.
“We can’t all smell like a girl,” Aikawa shot back and the cute (damn it) scrunched expression changed to one of narrow-eyed suspicion, like the blond couldn’t decide whether he had been insulted. “This is all I got, sorry,” He shrugged, lifting an arm to bring attention to the yukata folded over it.
“Here,” Rōjūrō suddenly pushed a leather satchel into his roommate’s midriff with a little more gusto than necessary. “I have plenty extra.”
Before Aikawa could say anything else, the noble left the tight space and stalked off. With a sigh he turned to enter the room, only to hear the blond call, “Love?”
“Yeah?” Aikawa turned just in time to get what felt like a towel thrown in his face. “Oi!” He yanked the cloth off his head but by then Rōjūrō was gone. In turning he saw the collection of white towels near the entrance in a set of shelves that were at least twenty feet wide.
With a shake of his head he moved back to fetch a few smaller washcloths for scrubbing before entering the main hot spring chamber. Off to the side there was a small collection of stalls it was there that he deposited the bag and teacup on a bench that ran adjacent. He threw the towel over one of the chest-high wooden walls, along with his current kimono so that he could step bare into the stall. There was a brass spoked-knob Aikawa didn’t pause to think before he turned, and the water that fell from the large pipe he’d missed hanging over his head was much colder than he’d expected (which he hadn’t really).
With a curse loud enough to carry across the Academy he moved out of the water so he could get used to its temperature at his own pace. As he leaned into it, he noticed the temperature had warmed so stepped directly underneath, lifting his arms under the water, letting it move over tired tense knotted muscle as he stretched.
It might have been ten minutes he stood there enjoying the hot water before he thought to scrub one of the washcloths over him to get most of the road dust off. He had almost forgotten that there was a place for him to loosen his muscles and it wasn’t leaning there in the shower stall as he came back from the wonderful cascading water he reached over to snap the water off. He let himself drip dry for a few minutes in the warmed room and grabbed the towel to sling it around his hips before starting across the room toward the spring.
“You aren’t even going to open the bag are you?”
Aikawa wasn’t proud that the sudden accusing bark of Rōjūrō’s voice made him jump. He grabbed for the edge of his slipping towel as he spun to see the blond glaring down at the unopened bag, hands on his hips, indignation in every line of his body. “Er…” He turned hopefully toward the spring that was even now calling his name.
“Love did you hear me?” Rōjūrō turned with a growl. “The bag…are you planning to use its contents?”
“No?” Aikawa tried the truth and although a glance over his shoulder proved though he looked no happier the noble didn’t continue his diatribe.
#
Not fair, Rōjūrō could tell he’d forgotten to blink for quite some time when he felt his eyes sting. There was no way a man could have that detailed a chest with that magnificent a… “W-what?”
“Um, no…y’all right?” Aikawa turned toward him.
“I’m…” Rōjūrō nodded and looked back down at the unused toiletry bag, making a show of picking it up so he wouldn’t have to look in the scantily-clad man’s direction. “I’m just fine…except my roommate is going to make our quarters stink.”
“Oi,” Aikawa scowled and turned the full force of his brown eyes on the noble. “I smell fine.”
“No you don’t,” Rōjūrō fixed his eyes firmly on the man’s face as he returned his gaze to him, lifting out the satchel. “Just water isn’t going to do.”
“It’ll have to,” Aikawa turned away and continued his journey to the spring, dropping down to sit on the edge, feet testing the temperature of the water before sliding in. “Fuck that’s nice.”
Leather creaked protest in the blond’s grip before he realized he had the strap tightly wound around his fist. “Love, I will find another roommate,” He threatened.
“I thought you needed me?”
To have that thrown back in his face, no matter the sexy quality of Aikawa’s blissed-out voice, dashed whatever heat had been coiling inside the noble’s belly. “I don’t need a heathen for a roommate!”
“Then I’ll pack my shit when I’m done here…” The sentence ended in a groan of pleasure as he slowly slouched on the bench carved into the side of the spring, sinking into the hot water up to his broad shoulders.
Snapping to, Rōjūrō scowled at the back of Aikawa’s head a moment before stalking toward the edge of the spring, a hand diving into the bag he still held in his other arm. Ditching the bag on the ground behind the unsuspecting man enjoying the spring, he jerked the stopper out of the half-full bottle of unscented soap and upturned it over the water.
The water quickly started to froth and brown eyes shot upward to the pearlescent smoked glass bottle as the last of the soap dripped out. “Y’little shit!” Water sloshed and Aikawa pushed up, sitting straight up so he could escape the spring.
Rōjūrō lifted his leg to balanced the arch of his foot on a dark shoulder, close to the bend where Aikawa’s neck began, leaning his weight forward to push him back down into the water.
The noble was stronger than he looked.
Aikawa figured that out when he tried to fight the foot that felt as if it was hardly pressing down on him. “Rōjūrō!”
“I’m not letting you give up…stop trying to quit--” The blond gave a yelp of surprise as long fingers wrapped strongly around his entire ankle. “Let go!”
“It’s yer noble bubble bath, Sire,” Came in a deep rumble that did things to the noble that had nothing to do with the pump of adrenaline that had surged at the solid shackling of his foot.
Reiatsu flared and Rōjūrō threw his arms out to keep his balance as his roommate fought back, surging out of the water. Without hesitation Rōjūrō let his own spiritual pressure rise until he was able to wrestle his foot free, quickly dropping to his knees and burying his fingers into the hair atop Aikawa’s head before shoving down on him and submerging him in the water, down past his own elbow.
Even though he soaked his yukata sleeve and most of the top half of it he succeeded and discovered, “Your hair…do you wash it?”
“Shit,” Aikawa sputtered reaching for the noble’s quickly retreating hand without success. “I smell like a goddamn heathen so apparently not!”
The frown on the blond’s face was small but its strange power for making Aikawa feel guilty for creating it was still at full strength, and he’d been the one shoved under the water! “Never mind the soap part, you have to keep your hair hydrated, especially if you’re out in the sun all the time…or it’ll get damaged and dry and break.”
Aikawa just shook his head and sighed, resigning himself to sitting in the foaming hot spring, which didn’t seem to have any other scent besides the smell the water had alone and a little soapy. “I ain’t bald.”
“No but your hair…” Rōjūrō made a small ‘humph’ noise in it all his frustration and irritation. “Just…” He thought quietly a moment before getting to his feet. “I’ll be right back…you just soak.”
“Right,” Aikawa grumbled.
“Oh, stop pouting,” The noble said in parting.
Me pouting? He shook his head and ran a hand over the bubbles, pushing it away to clear the water a moment before they surged back and obscured everything. Aikawa wouldn’t admit to himself that his bottom lip might have been a little pouty.
He wasn’t getting out of the spring because the blond had told him to stay there, he’d simply forgotten the teacup and he had discovered the teapot undisturbed a few feet down the edge of the water. That he could get the damn soap out of his eyes was also a bonus but he wasn’t even close to the shower before Rōjūrō returned.
Ironically it was the abrupt clanking of teacups that alerted him to the blond standing in the doorway, a bucket hooked on one elbow so he could carry what looked to be a fresh tea tray. He didn’t even have time to defend himself before a wave of hot reiatsu washed over him in a shocking slap of power fed with an intent of longing and fury. “Get back in the water!”
Accenting the command was the rattle of the tea service as the noble shook. His lavender eyes even more pleased when the other man turned to move away, giving them no reason to look away, along with the soapy wet curve of lower spine…
“I was only gettin’ the teacup.”
“Right, you left it in the shower,” Rōjūrō thumped the tray down beside the abandoned satchel, the bucket at his side as he watched Aikawa slide back into the water.
“I got this shit in my eyes.”
“Don’t be a baby,” Rōjūrō poured him a cup of tea before going to wet a washcloth for his face. He surprised him by getting his attention then wringing the sopping wet cloth dry over his face, only chuckling when he received a fresh volley of curses and splashes. “Enough now,” The noble tsked and lowered the cloth to gently wipe at his face since his hands were soapy.
Aikawa grumbled his thanks as he carefully attempted to pick up his teacup with said soapy hands. “What’s in the bucket?”
“Something for your hair,” Rōjūrō answered casually as he poured his own tea. “But you have to wash it first, so go scrub it out under the water and I’ll let you get up and rinse.”
“Scrub it out,” Aikawa shook his head with a roll of his eyes. “You’re going to make me do this every day ain’t you?”
“It’s in the rule book, especially if you are enrolled in hakudo…which we are,” The blond gave a delicate sip but Aikawa knew it was for looks, the noble drank his tea like it was sustenance. The sip had probably drained half the cup. “Plus it just feels better.”
“Right.”
“Like the difference between sleeping on the ground and having a futon,” Rōjūrō teased, knowing his roommate had fallen in love with his pillow.
“Y’a got me there,” Aikawa acknowledged with a nod. “Still ain’t wearin’ a fundoshi.”
“I’ve decided to just let you reap the consequences of that decision,” Rōjūrō gave a wave of his free hand as he moved to dangle his feet in the water, leg almost touching Aikawa’s arm. “I’m not going to go so far as to say it should be worn at all times, it’s just wiser at certain times.”
“Not interested.”
“Mm-hm,” The noble twisted to retrieve the teapot to refill his empty cup and top off Aikawa’s half-full one. He only let the other man take one drink before nudging him with his submerged leg. “That’s enough get going, I don’t want to be up all night.”
Getting his teacup jostled in front of his face didn’t make Aikawa move any faster, he griped and carefully set the cup down before pushing away from the edge, lowering slowly into the water until he was out of sight.
Rōjūrō sighed and shook his head as he waited for him to resurface as he enjoyed his fresh tea. He checked the bucket he’d brought, a sealed wooden one that happened to be filled with a few extra ingredients from the kitchen. Noboru hadn’t minded once the purpose had been explained, taking notes as Rōjūrō threw things into a small pot on the stove.
“I was gonna ask exactly what’s in there.”
Since the noble had been firmly distracted Aikawa saw him jump a little and dart his lavender gaze from his brew to soft brown eyes. “You’re going to get soap in your eyes again, Love.”
“Gonna ask about that too,” Aikawa admitted as he squeezed his eyes closed and moved back to the edge lifting his face toward the noble.
“Baby,” Rōjūrō shook his head and grabbed the washcloth to wipe his face. “Go rinse off.”
“I ain’t done soakin’,” Aikawa protested.
“Don’t just sit there it’ll get cold…You can get back in, just get the soap out of your hair first,” Rōjūrō explained patiently, refilled teacup back in his hand. “It has to sit in your hair for a little while anyway--”
Soapy dark skin flashed before the noble and lavender eyes fastened on the tremble that ran along the surface of his tea. “Get a few towels while you’re up will you?”
Since he’d lost the one he’d started with Aikawa was sure he’d need a few more before the blond was done with him tonight.
#
“So I wanted to apologize.”
Aikawa was in the midst of unfolding one of the towels to wrap around him, using a shake of one arm whilst reaching up to get a couple more when the voice took him by surprise. Trying to keep more soap from dripping down into his eyes he slowly turned just his head to look over his shoulder catching sight of Lisa leaning in the bath entrance door behind him. “Oh?”
“Was just going to come peek my head in and see if I could call for your attention,” There was no glare obscuring beneath her glasses, but teal eyes didn’t seem to mind showing the obvious path they took over him. “My apologies.”
“Yer apologies for comin’ in here? Or for earlier?”
“Earlier of course,” She lifted her head a little and there was the glare again, the corners of her mouth tilting upward ever-so-slightly. “Why would I apologize for standing in a door?”
Aikawa chuckled, “My delicate sensibilities?” He finished pulling the towel around his hips before turning to face her, noticing the disappointment on her face.
“How about sorry for having an ulterior motive?” She moved to remove her glasses to press fingers to either side of the bridge of her nose.
“Huh…a woman with an ulterior motive…” Aikawa tucked the other towels under his elbow. “I’ve never met one of them.”
“If it helps my ulterior motives have changed into one with a much more beneficial endgame for you than the first one had,” Lisa lowered her hand and lifted her naked gaze to meet his, to show the self-hatred in the girl’s eyes.
“So instead of makin’ that Kuchiki guy jealous I’m…?”
“You are not doing anything, I’ll do all the work,” The little grin returned, but it did little to soften the look in her eyes. “Don’t worry about a thing.”
“I ain’t lazy y’know,” Aikawa returned, moving closer.
“I can tell,” Lisa nodded, eyes getting a good look at the lines of his abdominals before returning to his face. “Before I start I have to figure out how much I want to reveal of myself.”
“This is a little one-sided ain’t it?” He said, tugging the towel a little high up on his waist.
“It is, but I meant something else entirely,” Lisa nodded with a grin.
“I gotcha,” Aikawa copied her nod, his smile easy, not of one uncomfortable in a towel and soap suds. “Yer makin’ my mind spin with all the secrets you could be keepin’…I guess you’ll tell them to me if y’want.”
“Don’t go figuring the secrets out before I decide I can tell you,” Lisa said half-serious, eyes finally growing curious when confronted with the ideas she could see forming behind those brown eyes. “I hope you don’t think I’m not attracted to you,” She reached out when he came close enough, fingertips skimming down his jaw.
“Y’make it obvious even for me,” Aikawa teased.
“I do not,” She lowered her hand, the other pushing her glasses back on; as if she knew the weakness they could cover at times.
“You do.”
They were both quiet a moment as Lisa saw things swirling in those eyes that told her, he was figuring them out already. “Aikawa--”
“Love!” Rōjūrō froze in the doorway, as the two turned to face him. “Sorry.” He held up his hands in supplication a moment before stepping out of the doorway. “You, wash now.”
“Oi…” Aikawa turned back to Lisa for help and found her snickering and doing a bad job of covering her mirth with her hands. “Damn,” He frowned and moved back into the spring, not even looking Rōjūrō’s way as he did so, ire in every step.
“I’m sorry I interrupted, I only wanted to apologize to Aikawa-kōhai about a disagreement earlier,” Lisa gave a small bow of her head.
“I’m only helping him with his hair,” Rōjūrō nodded, his tone indicating how unimportant it was and that he hadn’t wrestled his large roommate into submission in the soapy water, even if his yukata wasn’t dry yet.
“I’ll let you get back to it then,” Lisa turned to go, but then turned back to deliver a parting line. “I don’t know how you can say you’re attracted to men and not interested in him.”
#
Even with his unknown level of spiritual pressure to back him up it wasn’t the noble’s wrath that motivated Aikawa into returning to the spring soon after getting the soap from his hair.
Really.
“That girl,” Rōjūrō’s voice caught his attention as he turned to pour more tea, it was as if the blond had a sixth sense about it. “Sometimes…”
Aikawa agreed as he avoided the noble’s slapping hands and gave up pouring his own tea lowering himself into the spring up to his shoulders. “You don’t mind her hangin’ around do you?”
“No,” Rōjūrō moved to sit with both legs in the water, gesturing with a wave of his hands that Aikawa should come back toward him. “Sit right here on the bench in front of me,” He ordered softly, reaching back to drag the bucket closer to his side.
“Y’gonna tell me what’s in that?”
“It’s a conditioner,” Impatient the blond made grabby hands as Aikawa slowly drifted toward him. “It helps fix the damage to your hair from being dehydrated.”
“I drink plenty of water,” Aikawa protested as he turned his back to the noble and backed up until he could lean on the edge one of Rōjūrō’s feet on either side of him on the submerged bench. “’Nd contrary to popular belief I bathe as often as I can.”
“It’s not a bath without soap,” Rōjūrō argued and suddenly something warm and heavy splattered onto the top of Aikawa’s head.
Before Aikawa could yelp protest and move away, the blond gave a warning squeeze of his legs. “Yer tellin’ me you use this stuff on yer own pretty scruff?”
“Scruff!” Huffed out as fingers began to move the conditioner over the rest of his hair.
“I said ‘pretty’.”
“I guess that saves you,” Rōjūrō said carelessly, as if it were barely enough. “I usually use coconut oil it makes my hair smell nice, but yes I do.”
The soap that was still left in the spring was enough to mask any scents that were being worked into his dark hair by deft fingertips. “I don’t mind coconuts.”
“You don’t hm?” Rōjūrō massaged diligently and eventually Aikawa relaxed until he was slouched back onto the wall of the spring, a noble knee pressing against either ribcage. “But roses aren’t your thing?”
“Don’t know that one,” Aikawa shook his head.
“A rose…s’a flower,” Rōjūrō’s fingers stilled. “That’s such a shame.”
“That I’ve never seen one?”
“I’ll bet you have and you just didn’t know the name of it,” He argued in Aikawa’s place. “You recognized the smell as a flower.”
“Maybe, I’ve seen lots of flowers…now what are you doing?” Aikawa muttered as the noble draped a towel over his head.
“It has to sit and stay warm,” Rōjūrō adjusted the towel until it was more like a hat, twisted and piled. “Now soak.”
“Already doin’ that,” Mumbled and instead of trying to get up, or make the relaxed man move the blond reached for a towel to dry off his hands and picked up his teacup.
“I can finally do that pedicure I’ve been meaning to do since…forever,” Rōjūrō voiced his thoughts, so he wouldn’t start thinking about the warm relaxed man between his legs. “I could do yours…although…do you know what a pedicure is?”
“No fuckin’ idea,” Mumbled.
“Oh, Love.”
“That bad’hm?” Aikawa tilted his head back a little, trying to catch a lavender eye.
“Mhm,” Rōjūrō murmured as he glanced down at his roommate’s searching gaze, the level of his head not helping with the errant thoughts Lisa had planted and continued to cultivate with her damned suggestive questions and observations. “I’m missing a few tools I’ll have to do your pedicure later.”
“Few tools,” Aikawa turned his head a bit laughing and the hot puff of breath skittered over the inside of Rōjūrō’s knee, thankfully the other man was still sitting a bit too high for it to do any more than that.
It was easy enough to imagine those lips lowering to kiss that same spot, just above the bend in his leg. “Yes,” He tried not to hiss the word but couldn’t really tell if it was a little more sibilant than it should have been, his imagination running away with him.
Aikawa’s only answer was a drawn out, “Hmph,” as he did a full-body stretch, sliding a bit into the water before he used his leverage against the blond’s legs to pull himself back up, wherein he relaxed again. “How long do I have to keep this hat on?”
“’Nother ten minutes.”
“I dunno if that’s enough soakin’,” Aikawa sighed.
They were the longest ten minutes of Rōjūrō’s young life.
Onward to Chapter Ten!