InsaneJournal

Bleach fic: drabble
Title: Untitled

Author: Me

Fandom: Bleach

Pairing/characters: Ukitake, Byakuya, Kyouraku, Yoruichi

Rating: G

Summary: Onsen. Chibi!Byakuya. Protective!Ukitake. Yoruichi shows herself.

Author's note: I don't know why I'm writing fic in the wee early hours of morning either. @_@ It just...needed to be written.

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Ukitake sighed as he allowed himself to sink deeper into the warmth of the onsen. Practicing Kendo was hard work. Practicing Kendo and Kidou was exhausting work. Practicing Kendo and Kidou in the field was simply inhumane.

When their instructor had finally allowed them to rest, the entire class had jubilantly ran for the nearby onsen, eager to have the sore muscles soothed by the warmth of the heated spring water.

Groaning as his muscles uncoiled with the heat, Ukitake slowly rotated his head, working out the minor kinks in his neck and simply enjoying the feeling of the steamy water lapping at his skin.

“Uwah~! That feels good,” his long time friend, Kyouraku Shunsui, declared loudly as he stretched out in the water beside him. Then, giving his surroundings a leery glance, he observed, “And so lovely this is a kon’yoku (1).”

Ukitake rolled his eyes. Trust Shunsui to be lecherous even when he’s half-dead from a full day of training. Instead of saying anything or reprimanding his friend for his behavior, he merely let his eyes wander through the hazy surroundings, fogged by the hot springs that speckled the area. Then, as his gaze lighted on a familiar shape in the mist, Ukitake asked, “Shunsui, is that who I think it is?”

“Ho? I’d say,” Shunsui confirmed as he stared into he direction Ukitake was nodding to, “that’s the Kuchiki brat.”

“Be careful you don’t let his family hear you calling him that.”

“What? It’s true,” Shunsui defended at the gentle rebuke. “Besides, what’s he doing here?”

Ukitake had been wondering the same when the shadowy shape neared and, through the mist, Ukitake was able to discern the small form wrapped in a simple silk yukata and accompanied by the clear sound of wooden geta clicking against the stone pavement. As the form neared the bath’s edge, the unmistakable white kenseikan gleamed in the soft lantern light. The sharp gaze of Kuchiki Byakuya dispassionately surveyed the men already soaking in the water and, with great carelessness, peeled off the silk garment, dropping it into a soft pile on the ground.

Not bothering with a greeting, Byakuya lowered himself into the bath next to the two bathing shinigami-in-training.

“Byakuya,” Ukitake greeted the young boy pleasantly. His friend offered a raised eyebrow.

“Ukitake…dono,” the honorific tacked on reluctantly as Byakuya returned the greeting. He didn’t spare a glance for Shunsui who was next to Ukitake. Then, possibly in an attempt to be sociable, the young aristocrat floated closer to where Ukitake sat before settling down himself, his small knees barely brushing along Ukitake’s upper thigh.

“What brings you here?” Ukitake asked to the bowed head next to him, painfully aware of the awkwardly strained atmosphere of false sociality between the boy and his friend. He can’t figure out why the two seem to hate each other on sight. Or rather, he could understand Byakuya’s distaste, the boy was brought up among the nobles after all and Shunsui was hardly the most upstanding man of his time, but Shunsui’s hostile attitude was inexplicable considering the man’s usually friendly manners.

“To bathe,” Byakuya responded simply, his eyes blinking at Ukitake as if he thought the reason obvious.

Surely you could do that as well at home, Ukitake didn’t say. Instead he sat and nodded stiffly, feeling the tense atmosphere undoing the relaxation the warm spring had brought.

Before the situation could completely degenerate, the silence was broken by a loud “Ya~h!” and a following splash that effectively caused them to breathe in a lungful of water.

Ukitake was still sputtering from the liquid that was lodged in his nose when Shunsui was greeting the newcomer with an overly warm, “Ah, if it isn’t Yoruichi-san. Looking lovely as usual.”

“Shihouin-dono,” Byakuya acknowledged as he politely avoided hacking up the water that had lodged in his air passageways.

“Yo, Shunsui, Jyuushirou,” Yoruichi nodded to them then turned her attention to the youngest one in the group. “Kya, you’re a stuffy little boy. Try to relax a little, ne Byakuya-bo?”

“It’s unsightly,” Byakuya remarked in the same bland tones as he’d greeted his elders.

“What? Are you saying this,” Yoruichi stood to gesture her now very visible and nude body, “is unsightly?”

Quickly, Ukitake turned his head to the side, averting his eyes politely and noticing Shunsui gaping unabashedly at the presented nubile flesh. He coughed politely to remind his friend of decorum, but Shunsui ignored the subtle hinting.

Meanwhile, Byakuya had responded calmly, “It wasn’t my intention, but I can’t disagree.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Yoruichi demanded good naturedly.

“Your upper body is large, it unbalances—”

Byakuya didn’t get to finish his criticisms as Ukitake quickly slapped a hand over the running mouth in the vain hope that Yoruichi didn’t hear him.

“Children…they really don’t know better,” Ukitake half chuckled in nervousness.

But, as with most women, Yoruichi was not one to take harsh criticisms easily, especially when it came to certain sensitive subjects. She merely reacts to the jabs differently, or rather, violently.

“Did you just say I was…fat?” Yoruichi gritted through her teeth, a demonic aura building around her, amber eyes snapping with a vicious gleam.

“Don’t mind the child, Yoruichi-san. I find you fascinating and your figure is simply perfect,” Shunsui finally broke out of his hormonal stupor to pile praise on the ruffled noble.

Seeing the Shihouin princess’ attention distracted by his friend’s flattery, Ukitake grabbed Byakuya and ran for safety, or at least to put some distance between the angered girl and himself.

“Why are we running?” Byakuya asked from where he was cradled in Ukitake’s arms.

“So she wouldn’t assassinate you,” Ukitake explained as he turned quickly into the halls.

“She wouldn’t dare.”

“You’ll be amazed the things women do when you insult them,” Ukitake advised sagely, mostly from his experience with Shunsui’s disastrous wooing attempts.

“I just told the truth,” Byakuya denied, almost sounding perplexed why someone would consider that an insult. “Her chest sticks out, as if she’ll topple over.”

Ukitake laughed silently at the assessment even as he panted against a dark corner from the previous running. Sometimes children had the most bizarre yet oddly logical perspective on the world.

“You’re just young. Wait ‘till you grow up, you’ll like big chests,” Yoruichi popped out of nowhere to state and startle Ukitake badly enough to start coughing.

“Yoruichi-san…how…” he managed between gasps. In his arms, Byakuya stared at the hanging Yoruichi mildly and unafraid.

“The God of Flash can’t be out run that easily, you know,” Yoruichi winked as she dropped lightly to her feet from where she’d been hanging over head. Then, announcing “it’s too cold to stay out,” she dashed away for the warmth of the springs.

Finally getting his breath under control, Ukitake silently agreed.

“Shall we go back?” he asked the boy who looked on indifferently. When he received no answer other than a patient stare, Ukitake nodded and took the silence as consent.

As he walked back, this time at a more leisure pace than when he was escaping from the manic woman, Byakuya curled imperceptibly deeper into his hold, huddling away from the cold that breathed against his wet skin. Looking down at the small bundle, Ukitake was overwhelmed by a singular desire.

I want to become faster, stronger, better, so I can protect this child.