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It’s relatively normal for one Urahara Kisuke to be tinkering, always finding things that need improvement or coming up with new ideas for Shinigami to utilize, but as of late, he’s been insisting on improving his training grounds. Considering how used the place has become, it only makes sense to need to tweak it here and there, right?
It’s what brings him to his… first problem, and potentially his biggest. See, he’d come up with the idea to create rain for the place, given that it won’t exactly be produced naturally, and it’d be a good way to alter how others train! The plan is, on paper, rather flawless, but back to the issue. It hadn’t been figuring out how to produce rain — Urahara isn’t a genius for no reason, and creating new techniques for simple purposes is fairly simple — but… how to stop it from falling.
His kidou is a success, and a fairly simple one to procure, but the rain in question is currently pouring overhead. In a moment of desperation, Kisuke had created a barrier above his own head, but it’d been too late to stop his clothes from becoming ruined by the water… and no matter what he tries, the rain isn’t letting up.
“…Goodness,” he sighs in exasperation, removing his hat to shake the rim of the puddle that had formed there. “This is certainly an issue.”
Shinji knocks on the door to the shoten, waiting for one of the kids or even Kisuke himself to answer. He frowns - no answer. Strange. He takes a chance and tries to open the door. It opens and he steps inside. “Yo, Kisuke?” He calls out, “Tessai? Anyone home?”
Silence.
No, wait he can hear a strange noise coming from down below. Cautiously, he walks towards the hatch that leads to the underground training room.
…Only to immediately be met with the top of a familiar hat.
“Oh, Hirako-san! You’re just the person I was looking for, actually…” After being given the space to step up, it’s clear that the scientist is drenched. His hat comes off and he wrings it out with a mirroring twist of his lips; the poor thing doesn’t deserve to be treated so cruelly! “I’ve got a bit of a problem, see.”
"I can see that." Shinji smirks. "Whaddya do, fall in tha spring?" The man is absolutely soaking, dripping over the tatami. “Also, wha’ did I tell ya ‘bout callin’ me that? Call me Shinji.”
“Er, not quite…” Kisuke’s jinbei comes off next, still dripping from the hem as he holds it in a dual pinched grip. “All that rain might’ve ruined the fabric… I don’t usually let this get wet.”
“It’s made o’ cotton, it’ll dry.” Shinji smirks. “So, if ya didn’ fall in ta spring, wha happened?” He pauses for a moment. “Wait, whaddya mean ‘rain’?”
“Well…” He’s got the decency to look embarrassed by the situation as he gingerly wrings the water from his jinbei, soon having it pinned up by the shoulders to dry properly. “I was working on a way to make it rain underground.”
Shinji waves his hand in a gesture for Kisuke to continue. He can’t help but appreciate Kisuke’s half naked form.
“...And now I can’t quite figure out how to make it stop.”
Shinji couldn’t stop the laugh that escapes him. He’s known Kisuke for so long, and yet he still manages to surprise him. “Why?”
“To be prepared for any scenario, of course!” A finger is held up matter-of-factly, as though it should be obvious why rain is suddenly so important. “You’ve gotta be prepared for mud, right?” He turns to Shinji again before adding a less excited, “There’s, ah, plenty of that now.”
That makes sense, Shinji thinks. It wasn’t the first time one of Kisuke’s inventions backfired on him. He sighs, “Come on, let’s go fix ya machine.” He takes a step towards the hatch, but stops. He walks over to Kisuke and swipes the hat from his head, placing it on his own. “Stealin’ this ta protect ma hair.” He says.
“Right,” A sigh leaves his lips as his head remains hatless, and this time he makes sure to snatch his umbrella before taking the next trip down.
Shinji follows the shopkeeper down, softening his fall with reiatsu. The training ground was a mess. Instantly, he is soaking, the orange shirt he wore sticks to him like a second skin. He lands with a muddy splash. He can feel more than hear Kisuke land next to him, the sound of the rain washing out all other noises.
The shopkeeper knows it’s a complete mess, and perhaps that he should’ve set up his kidou a little further away from the entrance than he had. At the very least, his umbrella does well to catch the water still pouring overhead; it’s only natural that he moves closer to the vizard so it can shield them both.
“Almost got it right,” He starts, voice louder than normal so it carries over the roar around them. “But I’m not sure how to turn it off! None of my kidou will work as a nullification, and I don’t exactly have the time to create a counter kidou!”
It’s also proven very difficult to stop by canceling the spell entirely… which is admittedly abnormal, so he can only wonder what kind of door this has opened.
"Is it a machine or just a kidou gone wrong?" Shinji calls back, he steps right up next to Kisuke under the offered umbrella.
“It’s all kidou! Which is why I can’t figure out how to turn it off; there’s no ‘on’ button to begin with!”
The rain pour seems to get even louder so Shinji has to cup his hand around his ear and lean right into Kisuke, just to hear him. "Did ya anchor it somewhere?" He yells.
“Sort of!” The answer is yes, but the anchor in question was a bit broader than what Shinji may be expecting… the sky of his training grounds is faux, designed to imitate light and heat of the sun, and his goal had been for rain clouds to develop and, in turn, rain on occasion. That being said… his anchor of choice had been the sky. How does one turn off the sky, exactly? He hasn’t the slightest clue.
Shinji rolls his eyes, Kisuke, as always, is as vague as can be. To be honest, Shinji doesn’t have a clue how to help. “Jus’ tell me what ya need me ta do.” He says.
Genius he may be, but even he messes up sometimes. Eyes cast upwards towards the source of the rain; it's odd to see it fall without a cloud's presence… and while it may be more visually accurate, generating clouds that self regulate would be a daunting challenge.
“Well,” Kisuke moves closer to the other to keep from needing to yell, arms touching, fingertips nearly brushing against an opposing pair. Another time, perhaps, he'll let them. “I need it to be able to move and disperse, but it's too soon to tell if that'll happen… so I'm really not sure, Hirako-san. We could always wait it out, but it could be awhile before anything promising happens. There's going to be mud here for ages...”
Shinji taps his chin thoughtfully. "Let's go back upstairs, then we can talk without havin' ta yell." He says, turning to go back towards the ladder. Unfortunately, he forgets that the ground is pure mud and slips, arms flailing out to grab the closest thing - which happens to be Kisuke.
…Their fall is inevitable, though Kisuke does try to prevent it— a stray hand reaches out for the Captain’s arm, latching on firmly to help the other’s balance. Rather than keeping Shinji on the ladder, their weights tumble in tandem as gravity pulls the blond down, sending him straight into a muddy puddle with the other shinigami landing atop him. His ass is comically perched in the air, but he finds himself grateful that his cheek is smushed against the safety of an opposing chest and not the muddy ground below.
“Ngh, sorry about that…”
Their clothes are ruined, umbrella discarded on the ground beside them. There's an urge to lift up and hover over Shinji, which he indulges in with hands keeping purchase at said chest. It's a little awkward, but ultimately worth it to see that the rain no longer fell on the other man's face. They're close, nearly too much so, but Kisuke's lips are still upturned in a sheepish, almost guilty little smile.
“We've been bested, Hirako-san.”
“...Ow…” Shinji groans, as Kisuke’s weight lands on him. Luckily, the ground is soft due to the mud. He lays there, feeling the rain landing on his face, before it disappears. He opens his eyes to see gray eyes looking down at him.
"Tha’ we have." Shinji agrees. They stare at each for a moment. Shinji darts his eyes to the sky behind Kisuke's head. "Hey, does it seem like the rain is easin'?" Shinji murmurs.
Urahara’s gaze lifts skyward, observing the pour from above. It’s less abrasive than it had been only moments ago, now seeming to drizzle from the sky as though invisible clouds were finally, finally growing tired of crying.
“It does.” That simper is back again, field by amusement; reaching for the hat still partially on Shinji’s head, the exile tilts it back in order to wipe away a smudge of mud that had somehow landed on a blond brow. He wipes away the evidence on his own attire as though they had since become good as new, like the mess around them no longer mattered. Really, it didn’t– not with Kisuke straddling the man beneath him, at least. He’d much rather focus on how he’s yet to be pushed off, how they both seem content like this. He fails to voice such a thing, though; he’ll likely get scolded for it being the wrong time to get sentimental.
“You know, Hirako-san… it might’ve worked, after all. The goal was for the rain to travel, but… how does rain regulate without a water source? This could’ve been an unintentional way of creating one.”
“Come awn, Kisuke! Ya’re literally sittin’ on toppa me righ’ now, ya can call me Shinji.” Shinji groans. To be perfectly honest, he doesn’t mind the weight of the shopkeeper on top of him. Kisuke goes to speak, but Shinji cuts him off, pulling him down and pressing their lips together. Neither realise nor care that Shinji’s hand is spreading mud though Kisuke’s hair. When they separate, the rain has eased off to a light mist.
The lips against his catch Kisuke thoroughly off guard, but shock wears off quickly enough for the gesture to be returned before they part. It's only afterwards that he feels the thick sensation of his hair being caked together and a hand lifts to lace his fingers in the gaps between Shinji's, humming lightly as the other's palm squeezes around his.
His attention follows the blond's as a gray gaze moves to the sky, finally acknowledging the lack of torrent from above. Kisuke's mouth forms a delighted smile in spite of the mess that had been made, a breath of relief leaving his lungs and pulling a weight from his shoulders. He still seems perfectly content atop the Captain, given the lack of proper complaint.
“Maybe I did something right, after all. Wouldn't you agree… Shinji-san~?” There's a heavy implication that he isn't just referring to the rain, but he'll leave that up to Shinji to interpret.
Shinji smiles widely, “Maybe ya did…” He kisses him again, then sits up with Kisuke still in his lap. There is a kind of suctioning sound when his shirt pulls out of the mud and he grimaces a little. “I think it jus’ needed ta calibrate itself or somethin’.” With the rain all but gone now, he wants to go and get out of these wet clothes. “Ya owe me a new shirt, this was my favourite, ya know.”
The frown at Kisuke’s lips at the sight of such a mess mirrors the other’s own disgust, and hands use the gaudy orange garment to clean themselves of any mud that hadn’t already started drying off. Might as well, since it’s already ruined! “Of course,” he agrees softly against Shinji’s lips, another brief kiss being stolen in the process, “One ridiculously orange shirt, coming right up.” And perhaps something to match the hat, too, if he’s going to be wearing it more…
The End.
Omake:
Ichigo lets himself into the shoten, ready to do a bit of training in the underground training room, since Urahara insists on it. He reaches for the hatch only for it to swing open and two very wet and very muddy figures emerge.
“What the hell?” He asks.
“Oh, Kurosaki-san! Welcome! Here for some training are you?” Kisuke smiles.
“Yeah. Why are you two wet and muddy?” He looks incredulously at the pair. “And why aren’t you wearing a shirt? He asks Urahara.
“No reason.” Shinji answers, wide smile on his face. “Off ya go, Kisuke and I have stuff to do.” He drags Kisuke around the corner then clamps a hand over his mouth to keep him from making a sound.
Kisuke immediately catches on and giggles behind Shinji’s hand, a knowing glint shining in his eyes.
Ichigo shrugs at the pair’s antics and jumps down into the training room.
“3…2…1…” Shinji counts.
SPLASH!
“AHH!” He yells as his feet slip out from under him. “Urgh, what the actual hell?” Ichigo calls, winded from the sudden landing on his back.
Kisuke and Shinji burst out laughing. Kisuke couldn’t be happier, though he definitely needs to shower and change. Grabbing a still laughing Shinji’s hand he heads towards the bathroom.