Chapter Text
They do in fact move to Kyouraku's office, and Ichigo is almost expecting it to evolve into another fistfight as soon as they're there, but there’s only a few tense moments where they are eyeing each other up before Shinji quietly asks if he’s okay.
And Ichigo hates it when Shinji is an asshole because he cares, goddammit, because then he can never manage to stay mad at him. Like now.
“You’re an absolute bastard, I hope you know that,” he says instead, and replies to Shinji’s answering grin with a raised middle finger.
“But ya still love me.”
Ichigo keeps up the glare for another few seconds, but then gives in with a sigh. “Sadly, I do. Obviously the biggest mistake of my life.”
“Best decision of yer life,” Shinji counters easily, still grinning, before he sobers a little. “But ya really are okay?"
“You’re the one who literally tied me up and left me there,” Ichigo feels the need to remind him. “Isn’t it a little late to worry about that?”
“It was for yer own good, and it doesn’t mean I don’t worry.” Shinji says haughtily, and then he switches gears. "So, what did happen? Tell me ya at least kissed. Would'a been yer first kiss, wouldn’t it?"
Before he can do more than inhale, there’s arms wrapping themselves around him and a warm body at his back, and Ichigo — unsuccessfully — tries to muffle his squeak when Kyouraku leans down to whisper, “none of that now, beautiful,” against his ear. Then Kyouraku straightens and turns to Shinji.
"Now, now, Hirako-taichou, please behave yourself. I'm the one who's going to have to deal with the consequences if you tease him too much, you know, and I'd like to repeat the experience sometime soon."
Ichigo feels distinctly faint. This is it. This is officially it. He is going to kill everyone in this room and then himself. They're all dead.
"Does that mean Kurosaki finally confessed, then?" Byakuya asks, and the question stops Ichigo cold in his tracks. What?
He finally confessed? He finally confessed ...? Does that mean Byakuya knew? Why would he know, Ichigo hadn’t told him— oh fuck. Oh double fuck. Was Ichigo that transparent? Had Byakuya just been able to tell? Had other people also been able to tell, oh my god—
“Oh my god,” he groans, hiding his face in his hands.
"He did, with some gentle encouragement," Kyouraku agrees, skillfully maneuvering around Ichigo’s pointy elbows to put a hand on each of his shoulders and spinning them both around. "But I think you might have just broken him, Kuchiki-taichou, so I say we continue this another time. Please bring Hirako-taichou with you on the way out."
"As you will."
Shinji's indignant protests at being grabbed by the back of his haori and dragged out of the office are easily ignored, as Byakuya pulls him along and leaves without another backward glance.
Kyouraku steers Ichigo forwards and deposits him in his office chair, seating himself on the edge of the desk in front of him. “Did you not want Byakuya to know?” he asks, reaching out to tug Ichigo’s hands down and away.
Ichigo blinks, caught off guard by the question. “What? No, that’s … I don’t mind. He would’ve found out eventually anyway.”
(He doesn’t add that he probably would have told him himself sooner rather than later, because despite his aloof and often cold behaviour Byakuya is still one of his closest friends and Ichigo would never have kept something like this from him. That is just embarrassing to admit.)
And speaking of embarrassing—
“Then what’s the matter?”
At this point in time, Ichigo figures he should probably just come clean straight away, instead of having the truth be coaxed out of him later anyway. He leans forward to rest his forehead against one of Kyouraku’s knees. “I just didn’t think people could tell,” he admits.
The way Kyouraku cards a hand through his hair is really nice. “Couldn’t tell what?”
“That I was, y’know...” he makes a vague gesture between them without looking up. “... well.”
“You didn’t think people could tell you had a crush on me,” Kyouraku realizes, and his amusement makes it plenty clear what his thoughts are about that.
Ichigo groans. "I was trying to act normal so nobody would know," he protests, because he had been, and therefore it makes sense that he thought people wouldn’t notice. Kyouraku laughs and leans down to wrap his arms around him.
"I'm sorry, beautiful, but you're not exactly subtle. That's adorable, though."
Ichigo groans again before the words register and he jerks back to look up at Kyouraku, barely avoiding breaking Kyouraku’s nose. Or jaw. “Wait. Does that mean you also knew? Since when?”
Kyouraku considers it for a moment. “Remember that time I bumped into you and Shinji and we went to a bar, but you only had tea and then left really quickly?”
It’s not a good sign that Ichigo actually has to think back to remember the episode he’s talking about. He feels his jaw drop. “That long ago? But that was barely after I had—” he cuts off, coughs, and avoids Kyouraku’s suddenly interested gaze. “Nevermind. But since then? Really?”
“No, no, let’s not ignore that,” Kyouraku insists. “That was barely after you had what, Ichigo-chan?”
“Barely after nothing that’s important right now,” Ichigo protests, and then another thought strikes him and he stares at Kyouraku. “If you already knew about it way back then, does that mean you've been doing all these things on purpose?”
“What things?”
“You know! With the— the sparring, and always showing up out of nowhere, and the meals...”
Kyouraku raises both eyebrows. “Well, I certainly didn’t ruin your clothes and make you walk around Seireitei in my kimono by accident.”
“You—” Ichigo gawks. “Even that?”
“Of course.” Kyouraku hooks his foot behind one of the chair legs and pulls it closer. “You weren’t exactly taking any of my hints, so I figured I should step up my game a little. Besides, it was a nice and easy way to make my intentions clear to other people who were interested in you.”
Ichigo squeaks. “There’s nobody else who would be—”
“If you don’t think there’s a hundred shinigami who’d go out with you in a heartbeat, gorgeous, then I don’t know what to tell you. You clearly haven’t been paying attention or heard any of the gossip that circulates Seireitei.”
Ichigo gapes for several seconds before deciding that he’s not gonna ask. He doesn’t want to know. “All of that just by wearing your clothes though?” he says instead, maybe a little more desperately than intended. Kyouraku leans forward with a grin.
“Nothing ‘just’ about it, Ichigo-chan; do you know how many people have been seen wearing my kimono before? No one. Not a single soul, ever.”
Oh.
That’s … that would probably make it a kind of big deal, yeah. Ichigo flushes as Kyouraku leans closer still, until their noses are almost touching.
“Not until you.” A breath. “And you looked beautiful.”
And then he blows straight into his ear, the asshole, and Ichigo jerks back with a curse, slapping a hand over his ear as he shudders from head to toe. “What was that for, you jerk?!”
“Because you made that face and it’s super cute,” Kyouraku says, grinning, and Ichigo is sorely tempted to just headbutt him clean off the desk and go home. Also sorely tempted to hide his face and never look at Kyouraku again, because he might have no shame but Ichigo does, and he really has no idea how to react to being called cute. Or the ear blowing-thing, which isn’t even the first time, now that he thinks about it. Maybe he should headbutt him. It would at least make Ichigo feel better, most likely.
This, of course, is the moment that Kyouraku reaches out to cradle his face, tilting it up until they're eye to eye, and then just looking at him. All soft and happy and for such a long time that Ichigo’s face is practically on fire by the time Kyouraku finally opens his mouth again.
"Can I kiss you?" he proceeds to ask, and oh god. How can he just say that? And why is he asking?
Ichigo is pretty sure he can hear his blush intensifying. Can't Kyouraku just... do it, or something, and save Ichigo the embarrassment of having to reply?
"Yes," he grits out anyway.
Kyouraku laughs softly, leaning down to give him a quick peck. “Easy, beautiful,” he murmurs when Ichigo flinches, resting their foreheads together and simply breathing for several seconds. “Okay?”
Ichigo nods, embarrassed, but Kyouraku doesn’t give him time to worry about it, just smiles and kisses him again — soft, slow kisses that leave Ichigo’s limbs feeling like liquid, melting against Kyouraku as he keeps kissing him. Keeps kissing him until Ichigo is tingling from head to toe and his lips are sore. And despite that, it still feels like a loss when Kyouraku finally pulls back. Or, it does until he nips at Ichigo’s bottom lip before separating completely, and then he has lightning racing up and down his body instead, and isn’t that familiar.
“Oh.”
Surprisingly — surprisingly? — Kyouraku doesn’t tease him about the few seconds he spends wheezing, trying to catch his breath. Instead, he slides his hands down his neck and around his shoulders, drawing Ichigo close until he can tuck him under his chin and then just stays like that. Not moving. Hugging Ichigo, face nuzzled into his unruly hair, and Ichigo’s ear resting almost directly above Kyouraku’s steady heartbeat.
(Which, first of all: isn’t it itchy to have hair all up in his face like that? But also, more importantly, why the hell, or even how the hell, is he still so calm after all ... that?! What they just did? Ichigo probably hasn’t been even close to his resting heart rate in weeks, and Kyouraku sounds like he’s just been out strolling in the park. It's seriously unfair.)
When it becomes obvious that Kyouraku isn't planning on moving anytime soon, Ichigo takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly.
Okay, this is— this is fine. Whatever is going on. They’ll just ... stay like this then, relaxing and breathing and not moving for however long this lasts. He can do that. Just chilling, taking it easy, not thinking about how his lips are still sore, and definitely not fighting against the urge to reach up and touch them, to see if they are as swollen as they feel—
Kyouraku huffs and Ichigo freezes, hand halfway to his face. “You’re really restless, aren’t you,” he says, pulling away, and Ichigo has a second to panic because he fucked it up, shit— before Kyouraku grabs him around the waist, lifts, slides into the now empty chair, and neatly deposits him back on his lap. "There."
Ichigo blinks down at him. That was so smooth it was kinda impressive. It doesn’t stop it from being embarrassing, obviously, but pretty much all of his interactions with Kyouraku are, so Ichigo thinks he might be starting to get used to it at this point. Why, though?
“What?”
Kyouraku grins at him. “Because you’re adorable when you’re blushing like that—”
Well, fuck him. Getting used to it, yeah right. What a joke.
“—but also so I could better do this.”
And then Kyouraku wraps his arms around him and squeezes, which is surprisingly — surprisingly? — nice. It feels a little like the tension has been squeezed right out of him, and Ichigo lets himself lean down to rest his forehead against Kyouraku’s shoulder. It’s comfortable.
“Yeah, okay.”
Kyouraku laughs. “Okay?”
Ichigo gives a small shrug. “It’s nice. I like it.” Because it is, and he does, and he figures he can at least be honest about this one thing for a change.
Kyouraku hugs him harder instead of replying, tight enough that Ichigo is pulled all the way close, pressed chest to chest with his head still resting on Kyouraku’s shoulder. It feels good in a way Ichigo isn’t used to at all, but he thinks he might like to do it again. If he can ever admit that out loud.
(Not likely.)
He clears his throat a little awkwardly after a few minutes. "So… what now?"
Kyouraku hums ominously, which Ichigo didn't know was a thing that people could do, but Kyouraku totally just did, and it’s kinda terrifying.
"Well," he continues, and Ichigo gets the very distinct impression that he should be backing away, but with the table behind him and Kyouraku's arms around him there’s nowhere for him to go. "While I would love to spend all day with you like this—" and there it is, Ichigo thinks, feeling his blush return with a vengeance at Kyouraku's teasing tone and the way he squeezes his waist, "I do actually have to go back to work soon if I don't want Nanao-chan to come in here and wring my neck. And you should probably go have that talk with Shinji before he does something else stupid and I'm forced to help you hide his body."
That's … equal parts sensible and awful, actually, and does very much sound like something Ichigo should do. He immediately hates it.
(And he could totally get rid of a body on his own, no problem. Why would he need help?)
“Don’t want to.”
Kyouraku laughs. “What would you rather do, then?”
“Stay here until Shinji stops being a bastard,” Ichigo says, and means it.
He will talk to Shinji, really, he will, but not now. Most likely not today, not tomorrow, and not the day after tomorrow. Which is partly because Ichigo still hasn’t had time to process what happened yesterday to begin with, and now there’s a whole bunch of things from today to work through as well. But also because Shinji was being an ass, because he absolutely does know better, so Ichigo has no problem leaving him to stew for a couple extra days. Serves him right.
In the meantime, he’s brought back to the present by Kyouraku’s suspiciously cheerful, “oh?”
Uh-oh. What did he do?
"What?" Ichigo might be reacting a little too strongly, but that tone, and especially that smile, spells trouble.
"You would rather stay right here, huh?"
And Ichigo still doesn’t get what he’s grinning about, not until Kyouraku tightens his arms around him and Ichigo is very clearly reminded of exactly where he is currently sitting. Or more accurately, on who.
Logically, he understands that Kyouraku is just teasing him, and they both know he didn’t mean it like that.
Irrationally, the embarrassment hits him so hard all he manages is a strangled wheeze, before Kyouraku is guffawing and crushing him to his chest. Again.
“You are just too cute, Ichigo-chan!”
Ichigo immediately thinks of a hundred ways he wants to deny that, and is unable to voice any of them. Instead, after a few seconds of floundering, he brings back an earlier idea and headbutts him. Gently, of course, but also twice for good measure. And Kyouraku just chuckles, but it does make Ichigo feel a little bit better. Violence might not always be the answer but it certainly is satisfying.
“You’re awful,” he grumbles, and Kyouaku pulls back enough to grin up at him.
“But you still like me.”
And Ichigo can’t deny that, can he? But he can be grumpy about how unfair it is that Kyouraku can throw that around all smug and self-satisfied, while Ichigo still blushes half the time when thinking it to himself.
(Yes, he likes Kyouraku. No, he still isn’t done freaking out about it. Leave him alone.)
“So do you, though,” he grumbles, which is the best he can manage as a counter.
Kyouraku has no problems easily admitting, “I most certainly do,” though, and Ichigo’s attempt at a neutral expression goes up in smoke. It’s almost as embarrassing to be told that as it is to say it himself. He should have known trying to turn that back on Kyouraku was a mistake.
Especially when he’s within reach for Kyouraku to grab, tilting his face up so he can, presumably, take in Ichigo’s burning cheeks in all their glory.
“You’re beautiful,” Kyouraku sighs, running his thumbs across Ichigo’s cheekbones before pressing a quick kiss to his lips. “Don’t show this face to anybody else, okay? I’ll be jealous.”
And that’s Ichigo’s cue to get moving before he literally catches on fire. “Sweet-talking bastard,” he hisses, wriggling backwards until he can use the desk to push himself off Kyouraku’s legs and to his feet.
Kyouraku grins as he lets him go, letting his hands trail from his face to his arms to his waist as Ichigo steps over his legs, and then catches his hand before he moves out of reach and tugs him back around to face him.
"What?"
"You are still welcome to stay, even if I have to work," Kyouraku says, and Ichigo pauses.
He doesn't really have somewhere to go, does he?
The original plan today had been to just take it easy and relax at home after yesterday, but Shinji managed to ruin that and it’s not particularly tempting to go back now.
He could go hang out on Byakuya’s couch, like he often does when he wants to be left alone, but after the whole spectacle that was his arrival and subsequent relocation to Kyouraku’s office — not to mention what was actually said and done in the office — that’s embarrassing. Sure, Byakuya won’t judge him for any of this, but it doesn’t change the fact that Byakuya now knows, and Ichigo doesn’t want to deal with that right now.
Urahara is the sneakiest sneak ever and would have Ichigo spilling the beans within five minutes, so that’s also a no.
Kyoutaku’s gaze is soft as he lets him think about it, and Ichigo has to admit that it sounds really nice. As long as Kyouraku behaves, of course, but he doesn’t think that will be a problem. Kyouraku does have work to do and he does take his job seriously, despite his easygoing attitude.
(Just a little less seriously than his predecessor, which Ichigo thinks is healthy for everyone, honestly.)
Nobody would dare bother him here, in Kyouraku’s office — or those who would know better — and he could finally get some time to just … breathe.
Kyouraku doesn’t tease when he agrees to stay, just gives him a gentle smile and tells him to make himself comfortable, and Ichigo wanders over to the only other furniture in the room, a comfortable-looking couch over by the windows. It’s wonderful to curl up in, soft and plush and cozy, and he lets his mind drift, looking out the huge windows at the blue sky and the rare cloud drifting by.
And occasionally also over at Kyouraku, but the man is really attractive and Ichigo is allowed to do that now, right? He thinks he should be, at least.
It’s quiet, and peaceful, and Ichigo has pretty much completely forgotten that other people exist when the doors suddenly slam open and Ise comes marching in, startling him enough that he almost jolts straight out of the couch. Kyouraku doesn’t even twitch.
“What can I do for you, Nanao-chan?”
She opens her mouth to reply, spots Ichigo in the background, and gives him a deeply suspicious look before turning back to face Kyouraku.
“I hope you’re actually doing your paperwork, Kyouraku-soutaichou, and not just staring at Kurosaki-san because he’s pretty,” she says sternly, depositing yet another stack of papers on the desk, and grabbing several more to bring back.
Kyouraku’s only reply is bright laughter, which answers precisely nothing, and Ichigo hopes he is far enough away that Ise can’t see his face go bright red in mortification.
Why is this his life?