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They had kissed once.
Well, they had kissed on multiple occasions, but they’d only kissed with romantic intent once.
It has been a strange experience for the both of them. They had met at the Academy and become friends instantly, and by the end of the year it was as if they had known each other for multiple lifetimes. They loved each other immensely, and it was a confusing situation, to love another person with such intensity but not have the means to define such a love.
Both Jūshirō and Shunsui had siblings, so they knew what that type of love was like. Both had parents and other friends whom they loved, but the love between them was an entirely different phenomenon.
The kiss itself was awkward. A mere hesitant brushing of lips. A bad kiss by all accounts. The tension in the air was palpable when they pulled back and finally opened their eyes. They regarded each other awkwardly before Shunsui finally cleared his throat and he spoke up.
“Anything?” He asked.
Jūshirō let out the breath he’d been holding and shook hid head fractionally.
“Nothing. You?”
“Nothing,” Shunsui echoed.
Jūshirō sat back on his heels, frowning lightly as he thought through what had just occurred.
“So what now?” Jūshirō asked after a moment.
Shunsui shrugged, his typical easygoing nature returning and erasing any signs of uneasiness he’d previously been feeling.
“Maybe we don’t need to figure this out right now…we’ll just continue as we were and if something changes later on we’ll deal with it then.”
Jūshirō’s face gave away some of the trepidation he’d been feeling, but Shunsui’s instincts were good and there was nothing else they could really do.
Later on, Shunsui found himself talking to Yama-jii about the situation. The man had become like a father to him ever since Shunsui had been sent to the Academy, and he needed someone to talk to about what he was feeling.
He hadn’t mentioned Jūshirō, of course. He’d made up a female classmate to take Jūshirō’s place.
When he’d finished telling the story, Yama-jii had grunted and given Shunsui a look that had made the hair on the back of his neck rise.
“Yama-jii?” Shunsui asked tentatively.
“Is sex the only thing you think about?” Yamamoto’s voice was harsh.
“What? No!” Shunsui spluttered.
“Well then you must be using the wrong brain if you thought that relationship between you and Jūshirō would be made better with sex.”
Shunsui wasn’t sure whether to laugh of cry. “This has nothing to do with Ukitake,” Shunsui asserted quietly.
Yamamoto rolled his eyes, “Of course it does. You’d never come to me to talk about some girl who turned you down. That happens every other day, despite my efforts to get you to focus on your studies.”
Shunsui scowled, but refused to show any other signs of frustration in Yama-jii’s presence.
Surprisingly, Yamamoto laughed and cuffed Shunsui lightly over the ear, making Shunsui’s scowl break ever so slightly.
“Your friendship with Jūshirō is something unique. Don’t try and confuse it by adding in romance or sex. There are other types of love, Shunsui.”
It wasn’t the answer he’d been looking for, then again, he hadn’t really been looking for any specific answer. Deep down he’d known that Yama-jii wouldn’t have any magic solution for him, but he did feel better despite not coming to any concrete solution.
Throughout the years people had come and gone. People had died, changed divisions, got married, or they’d simply grown apart. The only constant in Shunsui’s life had been Jūshirō, and the reverse was just as true. They’d learned to stop trying to define their relationship long ago, it didn’t bother either of them in the slightest when people thought they were in a relationship because in a way, they were. It was just a different, and possibly deeper type of relationship.
It worked for them, and that was all that mattered.