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Ukitake Juushiro woke up to a futon drooled over, his hair in his face. And a massive headache. He peered out of the shelter of his white hair but the world didn’t seem a nice welcoming place. Everything moved a little bit. Especially when he turned his head to check if it’s his own room or not.
Well, it was his room at the lake house but it didn’t look like he left before Kaien and Miyako’s wedding ceremony last evening.
Wrinkled clothes were thrown down the floor which was forbidden even for Shunsui and his bed was a mess. Last night he didn’t bother to set up his bed properly or use any sheets to cover himself with. He slept in a wrinkled kimono without anything else. He laid on his belly, his perfectly round cushions out in the thin air, free to inspect. To be honest he was a mess too, not just the room.
He growled quietly as he turned to his side. Leaning on his arms he slowly sat up. Very slowly. He felt like his brain could fall out from his head to any sudden movement.
As he finally got up suddenly it wasn’t his head he worried for the most. His stomach grumbled and moved furiously. It felt like two fighting cats trapped inside of him. It sounded like that too.
‘Oh fuck.’ he whispered as the realization hit his foggy brain: he gonna throw up.
He looked around helplessly for the first thing at arm’s length which would be suitable for puking into it. It was the pot of the crane flower he got from Shunsui for their anniversary. He knew he would regret it later, but currently he had much more urgent things to do.
The next few moments weren't his most glorious ones. The pot was too heavy to lift up so he just pulled as close to the futon as he could and said goodbye to the last crumbles of his pride.
He helplessly threw up while he hugged the pot with both hands and tried to keep away his hair. It wasn’t the easiest task considering the fact that he lost his hair tie at some point of the night.
‘Oh fuck.’ he heard from behind him.
Somebody entered the room with quick steps, then a shadow appeared over Ukitake and two big hands gently collected his hair on his nape.
Ukitake needed a few more moments and coughs before he finally could look up at his savior.
‘~Morning!~’ Kyouraku cooed with a stupid smile.
The world was still spinning with Ukitake so he answered with his ugliest glare possible, still holding on to the flowerpot like his life depended on it.
‘Your ass is out.’ Was the next statement his lovely husband felt worthy to mention.
Ukitake gave him a grimace and turned back to the flower to finish his brand new morning routine.
Kyouraku held his hair and gently patted his back all along the way. He even mumbled some shooting words and congratulated to an exceptionally big burp. Ukitake hated him so much.
‘You have a hangover.’ Captain Obvious declared when his husband’s stomach finally calmed down a bit.
‘No shit Sherlock.’ Ukitake answered
He accepted the fabric Kyouraku gave him to clean himself up. He could tell by the smell that it was one of Kyouraku’s fundoshi waiting around the bed for who knows how long. This thought didn;t really help his nausea.
He finally had the strength to look up to his partner. Shunsui was in one of his blue kimonos which was barely closed around his waist. He didn’t wear anything under it. His hair was messy and he had some dark circles under his eyes but nothing else showed if he suffered at least half as much as Ukitake.
‘You don’t seem wrecked.’ He ascertained
‘I have some practice partying.’
‘Did you sleep here?’
‘Nah, you snored horribly. I took the pillows in the diner.’
‘Like that?’ Ukitake asked back with a horrified face.
Shunsui was barely clothed and the dining area was the busiest room where several members of the 13th entered without any notice to deliver things or report on duties.
‘Oh no, it was a hot night so I was naked.’ Shunsui said casually but immediately continued as he saw his husband’s face pale out in record time.
‘But it was okay, everybody is still getting sober from the party, so I only scared the shit out of Kiyone. Who knows, maybe she will thank me later.’
‘Shunsui!’ Ukitake scoffed and carefully let go of the flower to straighten up in his sitting. His stomach was better but his head hurt so much keeping his eyes open was a difficult task.
‘You need to apologize to her in the afternoon. And you are not a jackpot waiting to be winned.’ He said while he very carefully tried to massage his own temple.
‘That’s not what you said yesterday evening.’ Shunsui cut back with a wide grin
Ukitake froze, his hands still on his temple. He tried to remember back to the evening but it was foggy. He remembered the ceremony. He remembered Kaien’s happy face and how beautiful Miyako was. And the dinner was clear too. And then he remembered that other divisions started to drop in, the music started and alcohol was served. This was the point where things started to get blurry. He tried to concentrate but his headache didn’t help at all.
‘Oh you don’t remember much from yesterday, do you?’ Shunsui asked with a thrilled voice.
He clearly had fun. Finally it wasn’t him who was needed to be nursed back to life and had no idea what stupid shit he did the night before.
‘Did I do anything stupid?’
‘It depends how you define stupid.’ His husband giggled.
He giggled . Ukitake was sure he did something he will regret as soon as he will feel better.
‘Do I wanna know?’ He asked back with a deep sigh, which wasn’t a good idea. His stomach started to grumble again.
‘Sooner or later you will know. If not from me then probably from somebody from the Shiba clan. Isshin will tease the shit out of us.’
‘Us?’ Ukitake’s eyes rounded. The world started to spin again.
‘Yeah we may or may not sing a duet of Baby it’s cold outside . But don’t worry, you were amazing. But anyway, I brought this to you.’ Shunsui chatted while he snached a small jar of something from the floor.
Ukitake inspected the untrusty content of the jar with a wrinkled nose. It was pickled plum, the worst thing that can happen to somebody with a sweet tooth.
‘Umeboshi helps with the hangover.’ Shunsui explained ‘I thought you would need it but I didn’t know you would need it this much .’
The white haired man made an ugly face. He hated sour plum so much. He looked up at Shunsui and started to shake his head without any more comment.
‘Yes, yes, yes, you need to eat one.’ His husband protested as he opened up the jar. ‘Look, I will eat one with you, okay, I promise it will help.’
Ukitake felt like he could do a tantrum fit right now. He watched the taller man fish out two pickled fruits from the glass and his stomach flipped again.
‘I might throw that up too.’
‘That’s okay, nothing I haven’t seen yet.’ Shunsui said, handing over one of the wrinkly snacks.
‘At three together, okay?’ He asked holding up his piece of sour plum.
Ukitake wanted to cry. He hated this so much and his head still hurt! He looked up at Shunsui to plead for mercy. His husband still help up his ballsack counterpart fruit thingy and he looked at him with his special puppy eyes he always held back for special occasions. It melted Ukitake’s heart immediately. He hated it so much that it always worked on him.
‘Okay.’ He sighted and Shunsui’s face perked up immediately.
He counted in and when he got to three they both eat up their umaboshi. Ukiatke’s mouth filled with saliva right away. By the sour taste. Tears filled his eyes and he bent forward to protect the bed for more body fluids. Kyouraku next to him coughed up too and suffered from the taste but striked down the plum.
Ukitake tried really hard not to puke. After a few seconds of fighting against his instincts he finally swallowed with a big gloup. He looked up to Kyouraku, opened his mouth and even stuck out his tongue to prove he ate the fruit of the devil.
Kyouraku let out a whistle as his adoration and clapped his husband on the back. Which was a bad idea. Ukitake started to cough. He bent over and tried to cover up his mouth as his husband hugged him and tried to give some comfort.
‘I am sorry, I am sorry, it’s okay.’ He whispered and his big hand drew shooting circles on his back.
The white haired man tried to even his breathing but his lungs had other ideas. His nausea returned and he had to hold onto Shunsui to brace himself.
‘It’s okay, I am here. I am here with you.’ His husband mumbled with a scared face which Ukitake didn’t register because he buried his face into the broad shoulders.
After a good minute the coughing finally calmed. Ukitake triedly closed his eyes and leaned into Kyouraku’s embrace. There were only two of them in the room, so they didn’t need to act like besties. His husband lovingly hugged him and still drew shooting circles on his back without a word. He knew Ukitake needed a few moments. When the white haired man finally started to wiggle in his embrace Shunsui let him go and scanned him over with attentive gaze. He fixed his hair with a fond smile and petted his pale cheeks.
‘You look shit.’ Kyouraku diagnosed
‘I feel shit.’ Ukitake agreed with a half laugh half caugh.
‘Kiyone, Sentaro, what about stop stalking us and start a bath, would you?’ Kyouraku called out the room
Two dull thuds sounded from the sliding door left open and the called officers technically fell into the room. Ukitake stiffened and leaned away from Kyourakou with a hurried move.
‘We heard the coughing, Sir…’ Sentaro started
‘…and we just wanted to check if everything is alright, Sir…’ Kiyone continued with the same volume.
‘… because we are in charge of taking care of you today, Sir….’ Sentaro cut in
‘… Liteuant Shiba and third officer Shiba are on leave today, Sir, because they got married yesterday, Sir!’ Kiyone continued trying to shout over Sentaro
‘He knows that!’
‘I know he knows that!’
‘Then act like that!’
‘I am acting like that!’
Ukitake watched the scene without a word. Sentaro and Kiyone’s little act wasn’t a new thing in the division but this was definitely a new level.
‘Okay, okay, could you stop shouting, and get some towles to the bath please?’ Kyouraku shooted them off with a tired look.
The two officers disappeared with a loud ‘YES SIR!’.
‘The bath is the next thing that can help a body tired of partying.’ Kyouraku said with a mischievous smile on his face and this time Ukitake didn’t protest. He needed that bath so badly.
The taller man carefully helped up his husband from the futon. Ukitake’s head still hurt and he felt dizzy so he didn’t complain. When he heard his subordinates arguing voices closing in he tried to keep away from Kyouraku, but to his surprise, his husband’s arm stayed on the small of his back, and drew him close to his side.
That was the pose his two officers found them in. At first they froze into the argument they just had about what kimonos they should have brought. It took only a glimpse of time, for an outsider maybe it was nothing but Ukitake felt the awkwardness in the room and his own shyness about the situation but the two officers jumped back to their usual roles immediately.
‘Towels and fresh clothes are in the bath, Sir!’ Kiyone started this time
‘We brought you a kimono for you too, Sir!’ Sentaro shouted over her without hesitation
‘Thank you for your kind help.’ Kyouraku said to them with his iconic calmness in his voice before they could start a new fight.
‘I take it over from here.’ He continued and Ukitake felt his arm squeezing his hip
‘Today I am in charge of taking care of Mr. Handsome.’ He finished looking at Ukitake with a very open expression.
Ukitake couldn’t decide if he was still dreaming of the world just broken last night. Kiyone and Sentaro stopped for a moment again, they clearly didn’t know how to react at first. But then they bowed and left. Truly left, not just hiding behind a wall or in the next room. Which was something Ukitake couldn’t manage to achieve for most of the time.
‘What is happening?’ He asked Kyouraku while his husband slowly guided him over to the bath at the end of the corridor.
‘I help you bathe.’ Shunsui hummed ‘Maybe I will join you too.’
Ukitake frowned. They never bathed together in the Ugendō. Maybe in public bath houses where they had an excuse to share or in hot springs, but not in such an intimate place. Especially when others were around. He was about to protest when Shunsui opened the slide door and the warm air of the bath hit them.
The bath room was built around the hot spring that nourished the lake around the Ugendō. It was basically the heart of the small lake house. It was nothing fancy, just a small pool for a few people and some stools for cleaning. Juushiro still loved this small sanctuary. The dim light immediately aided his headache and the humid air helped him breathe easier. Kyouraku guided him to the small wooden stool and sat him down.
‘I know you will protest but I will help.’ he said in a non-contradictory voice then he gently peeled off the thin layer of fabric from Ukitake’s shoulders.
The yukata gave in and fell on the floor. Ukitake sat there butt naked in front of his barely clothed husband and let him gently clean up his face with a damp washcloth. He closed his eyes to the tender touch and maybe even leaned a little bit into the towel. He opened his eyes to Kyouraku’s satisfied humming. This was a rare intimate moment between them and even through his massive hangover Juushiro sensed that something very special was happening right now. He quietly watched his love face for a few moments when Shunsui finally made eye contact.
‘So…. what happened yesterday? And what is happening now?’ Ukitake asked quietly
A sheepish smile spread on Shunsui’s face and he continued to clean up his neck and shoulders as he answered.
‘I can’t tell you much about the ceremony because I wasn’t there. But you probably remember that. The fun part started after other Divisions started to crash the party.’ he said with a grin and freshened up the washcloth in a bucket of water.
He moved behind Juushiro and gently started to rub his back.
‘Everybody got pretty wasted and somebody brought a record player with a megaphone and that was the time when the singing and the dancing started. When I got there you were quite tipsy but my mission to make you a giggly and bubbly drunk succeeded in a few hours. You were adorable.’
Kyouraku’s voice was warm and happy and he pecked a small kiss to the nape of his love. It was so unreal that this whole intercouse was happening. In his embarrassment Ukitake picked up another washcloth and started to clean himself on the front just to keep himself busy. The water felt good on his skin and his head started to clean up.
‘Why do I feel this is not the end of the story?’ he asked carefully.
‘Yeah, you got quite sentimental after a few toasts and I was drunk too. You started to become cuddly and I didn’t protest much.’
The washcloth stopped in Ukitake’s hands. Drunk cuddling was very thin ice. He always got a bit touchy when he drank alcohol but he was always very careful not to bust their relationship. Kyourkau didn’t stop washing his back and after he damped his towel again he moved to his hips.
‘We sang a few funny duets and fooled around for everybody’s joy. But then somebody put on love songs and we just didn’t stop singing and dancing.’ his husband continued as he rubbed the small of his back. Glimpses of the last night returned to Juushiro’s memory by the story. He swallowed heavily. He knew where his story headed.
‘So we started slow dancing after a while. We weren’t alone on the dance floor but definitely we were the only same sex couple and your affection was pretty obvoius.’
Ukitake’s stomach clenched. This was bad. Very very bad.
‘How obvious?’
‘Relax, we didn’t make out in front of everybody.’ his husband answered as he finished up cleaning his back and trailed back into Ukitake’s field of view. Meanwhile he roughly rubbed himself over in the front, dropped the towel into the water bucket.
‘All we did….’ Kyouraku continued taking Juushiro’s hands and luring him up tenderly.
‘... was standing very close….’ he said and mimicked the move and stepped into Ukitake’s personal space.
‘.... holding each other…’ he but his hands on the small of his husband’s back and lured him even closer
‘.... and danced to some mushy music.’ he finished finally and slowly started to move around in the small bath room.
The pace was very slow and comforting. Kyouraku guided them around the little stool while keeping eye contact. Juushiro felt a very different flutter in his stomach than before in the morning. His husband and his ways were still so mesmerising after so many years.
‘It isn’t so bad, is it?’ Shunsui hummed into the small space between their faces
‘No it isn’t.’ Juushiro admitted with a light head. He still didn’t feel alright, and started to get dizzy.
He rested his head on the taller man’s shoulder and buried his face into the loose brown hair. He felt more like heard a satisfied humm run over his husband’s throat.
‘Yeah, you did just that last night too’ he said while he slowly rocked him.
‘Maybe because I felt dizzy yesterday too.’
Kyouraku stopped the slow dance, but didn’t let go of him. He guided him to the pool.
‘Sir, your bath is ready.’ He said with a smile and sat him at the edge of the pool. ‘Get in, I quickly clean myself and join.’
Ukitake didn’t need to be asked twice. He still watched the very minimal stipping Kyouraku needed to do, then turned his back and crawled into the hot water.
The water was just right. It shooted away the pain from his muscles and the warm steam over the water cleaned his throat and lungs. He got comfortable at the small sitting step at the edge of the pool, only his head sticking out of the water. His long white hair spread out underwater and floated around him. He heard Shunsui humming a song while he cleaned. A lot of unwelcome things can be said about his husband but one thing must be admitted: he was very good with hangovers. He had a few hundred years of practice after all.
Ukitake smiled at this thought and closed his eyes to give himself over to the nice feeling of the warm pool. Now that he knew what happened yesterday he tried to call back his own memories of the night. He remembered mostly feelings. He remembered that he felt a very special happiness. It felt good to goof around with his husband without caring about others. And he remembered that amazing feeling when he held him in his arms and they swinged around in the dancing crowd. He hadn’t felt such deep happiness in a long time. He liked to be open and show his love. It felt right.
Small waves wrinkled the water and he heard some gurgle and his love accompanied him in the pool. Juushiro opened his eyes and watched him slowly crawl closer and sit next to him. Kyouraku was beautiful with his toned muscles, broad shoulders and the perfect amount of hair. He was calm but confident, his moves were gentle but radiated power. It was so nice to finally be with him in the same pool without worrying about the polite way to behave or the appropriate sitting distance. He even sneaked a little bit closer so the sides met.
‘So I basically acted like a teenage girl in front of the whole Seireitei.’ Ukitake summed up what he heard earlier.
‘Yeah, you can phrase it like that.’ Shunsui agreed with a half-smile ‘But I didn’t complain and neither did they either.’
‘Didn’t they?’ Juushiro asked back uncertainty.
‘No, they really didn’t. Everybody was so kind, Kaien even came just to clap my shoulders while you dozed off in my arms.’
Ukitake felt heat run up into his cheeks in embarrassment. He took a deep breath and dived underwater for a few seconds just to hide his frustration.
‘Ah, this is so embarrassing.’ He summed up when he appeared again.
‘No it isn’t.’ Kyouraku answered with an unexpected gravity in his voice.
Ukitake looked at him warily. Shunsui held his gaze with a seroius face.
‘It was really okay Love, everybody thought it was a new thing between us and nobody had anything against it. To be honest most people were so happy for you I started to become a little bit jealous. Nobody cared about my happiness, only Isshin took the time to give me some crude tips for the rest of the night.’ He finished with a childish pounting.
‘Oh, stop that, you know people know your reputation.’
Juushiro splashed him playfully just to make him drop the act. He knew Kyouraku goofed around to cheer him up, but what he heard already made him feel better. Even a little bit thrilled.
‘So….’ He started unsecurely after a few seconds of silence ‘Do you think they would welcome the idea that we are not just besties anymore?’
‘I think the women’s association would be thrilled to report about our first few dates.’
‘We have been married for a hundred years now.’
‘We can sell it like we are new lovebirds. I don’t mind taking you out for dinner.’ Kyouraku leaned in and nudged his husband's shoulder playfully.
‘We could go to our favourite place as a couple and I could sit next to you instead of in front of you.’ Ukitake played with the idea.
‘We could walk home without minding the distance between us.’ Kyouraku joined in to the daydream.
‘And you could spend the night here actually sleeping in my room not crashing at some random point of the house.’
‘I like the pillows in the diner, they are very comfy.’ Kyouraku admitted with a cheeky smile.
‘My bed is comfy too.’ Juushiro cut back playfully
‘Ooooh, is it? I never actually slept in it.’ His husband answered with a devilish grin and in leaned closer
‘Maybe we should try that too.’ Ukitake whispered and his eyes shot down to the full lips lingered dangerously close.
‘Maybe we should.’ Kyouraku admitted and closed the gap between them for a long, hot kiss.
Butterflies fluttered up in Ukitake’s stomach as the strange mixture of happiness and thrill flooded his body. They never did this. Kissing in a bath. And now they have the opportunity to do so much more.
Shunsui finally broke the kiss but stayed in Juushiro’s space and rubbed their noses together.
‘You taste like umaboshi.’ He said with a smile
‘You made me eat that horrible thing.’
‘That’s true.’ Kyouraku laughed. ‘It looks like after all I have to face the consequences of my acts.’ He mused while studying Ukitake's face with a curious look.
‘What do you think, are you ready to live with the thought that you pushed us out of the closet?’ He asked.
‘What about if we take it more like a new chance to start?’ Juushiro asked back fondly.
‘A new start.’ Kyouraku summed up lifting up his eyebrows
‘A new start.’ Ukitake echoed.
They watched each other for a few seconds, but they both knew what the other thought. They both knew they wanted this.
‘Okay.’ Shunsui said quickly as he leaned in for a new kiss
‘Alright.’ Was the last words Juushiro could say before his mouth got very busy with very different things.
They sat there for a good thirty minutes and just enjoyed being together. They kissed, and cuddled, and invaded each other’s space without any words till the water got cold. It was just good to be together. This was something they needed for a long time. And this was something they craved to do till the end of the times. Together.