baroqueworks | brass pt 1

Brass
Series: Bleach
Characters: Ikkaku/Tatsuki; lots of others
notes

Ikkaku has: twelve developing bruises, a twisted ankle, and a real bad case of road rash all over his left shoulder.

They can all be attributed to: getting punched (repeatedly), having his head slammed into a brick wall, tripping over untied shoelaces, getting kicked, landing on his shoulder, then skidding for two meters on asphalt just from the force behind the kick.

By the time he staggered back up (he'd forgotten how much worse everything hurt in a gigai--), he got a faceful of Arisawa Tatsuki yelling at him not to underestimate girls, or she'd kick his ass.

Again.

They'd been pretty evenly matched at first. Ikkaku blocked a lot and did some shoving; he's not the sort of guy who'd hit skinny girls just 'cause they challenge him to a fight, regardless of how hard they kick. His arms were sore by the time he got bored of sounding her out, and he'd slugged her in the stomach and side a few times. It wasn't until he stepped on a shoelace that Yumichika's words came back to bite him in the ass:

"You're supposed to tie shoelaces. Humans do it for a reason, Ikkaku."

A lot of things Yumichika says, admittedly, come back to bite him in the ass.

Granted, he wasn't used to being in a gigai. It was slower, weaker, and couldn't channel reiatsu well. Which was why he'd needed practice in the first place; challenging the delinquents behind the school had been a pretty decent warm-up, but challenging the entire student body to a fistfight probably wasn't the best idea.

"Alright, anyone not too chicken ta fight me better step up!"

"Hey. I'm Arisawa Tatsuki, I'll fight you."

Ikkaku doesn't know what vale tudo is, but it hurts. A lot.

He later heard from Keigo that vale tudo translates to anything goes and that pretty much means Arisawa opened up a can of her karate background with a dash of added brutality and really sharp elbows on a gigai designed to withstand a hell of a lot of punishment.

That said, Arisawa was merciless. She saw the chance and took it; the part of his brain that screamed NICE COMBO beat the part that screamed CHEAP SHOT to death with a rock, then set it on fire.

He found Yumichika before heading back to the Asano house. After all, Mizuho would probably make a fuss over his ripped up, bloody shirt and Keigo would be hysterical about having delinquents in the house. Again. Yumichika mocked him for a while, then helped wrap up his shoulder.

The next time Arisawa saw him, she sent a decidedly masculine acknowledgement-nod his way and turned back to yell at Chizuru. Orihime-chan also looked his way, smiled and waved. He had lunch with Yumichika and Renji while Matsumoto and Captain Hitsugaya disappeared to do official stuff, and the three of them ran into Ichigo's lunch crowd on the roof.

"Hey, Ikkaku," Ichigo flashed him a sympathetic grin, "heard you ran into Tatsuki."

Ikkaku shrugged, "Yeah."

"You mean 'got his ass kicked by' Arisawa-san."

Mizuiro interrupted his Yumichika-strangling with a sympathetic sort of laugh; "Well, I'm not surprised. She is the second-highest ranked martial artist in Japan. At least in the women's division."

"Yeah, Tatsuki's a monster." Ichigo smiled, "She used to beat me all the time."

Ikkaku shrugged again and flopped to the ground next to Renji.

"Are you gonna challenge her to a rematch? Arisawa only came in second 'cause she had a broken arm, y'know! Not even I stand a chance!" Ishida almost casually leaned back to avoid Keigo's flailing arms.

"Just beating the thugs behind our school is a pretty big deal. Ichigo's been raising the bar since he got here." Mizuiro quipped, then tossed him a can of melon soda.

Before Ikkaku had a chance to make a dumbass of himself trying to figure out how to get the can open, Yumichika had already reached across his arm and snapped it open. "Let's change the subject before Ikkaku sulks some more, hm?"

In gratitude, Ikkaku didn't elbow him in the face.

It was 11 o'clock at night and Ikkaku had: 3,000 yen and a map to the local convenience store scrawled on a napkin.

Ikakku does not have: a good sense of direction. Or a very comprehensive map.

After being stopped twice by thugs (probably not the right direction), he decided to start heading the other way down the street. The map indicated that he only had to walk two blocks to reach the store, and he's pretty sure he'd already passed Ichigo's house.

Twice.

He thought about dropping in on Ichigo (and maybe getting some directions) but he couldn't pick up a fresh trace of his energy. Probably training with Urahara, then. He wasn't sure how to get to Urahara's shop, either, and that was even more out of his way than Ichigo's place.

Ikkaku shut his eyes and slowly spread his reiatsu around; Yumichika back in the Asano house -- if nothing else, he could always head back there and try again. Rukia in Ichigo's room; Matsumoto suppressing her reiatsu and relaxing in Orihime-chan's house; Captain Hitsugaya patrolling the neighborhood. Renji halfway across town, with -- Yasutora Sado?

That... really didn't help at all.

11:15 p.m., and Ikkaku refused to head back until he buys Keigo's goddamn Weekly Shounen Jump, tomorrow's lunch and the rice Yumichika had very heavily implied he should also pick up.

11:15 p.m. and Tatsuki thought that the weird guy with the shiny head has been leaning against Ichigo's gate for about ten minutes too long (though really it was more like three -- but who's counting?). She pulled on a light jacket, some socks, her sneakers at the door, and leaned on the rail on the steps outside on her porch. "If you're waiting for Ichigo, he's not here."

"I'm not waiting for Ichigo."

"Oh. You're from yesterday afternoon. What are you doing?"

"Tryin' to figure out how ta get to the convenience store."

"Where'd you come from?"

"Asano's place."

Tatsuki pointed back in the direction he'd come from and took a second to wonder how the hell he ended up with Keigo. "You're about half a kilo in the wrong direction."

"Great."

"When you reach his house again, turn left, go straight three blocks, turn right, then left again. Store should be about halfway down that block. It's open all night."

Ikkaku nodded once, pushed off the gate and rubbed the back of his neck. "Hey, thanks."

Tatsuki made a face. "Don't get lost again."

"Won't."

"Yeah? Repeat my directions."

He scowled back. "I'll find it."

"Oh man, you're gonna get so lost."

"Said I'll find it!"

Tatsuki shrugged, stuffed her hands in her pockets and started down the street. "C'mon, I'll just take you."

Ikkaku stood his ground. "Just give me the directions again."

"I don't have time to repeat it twenty times until you memorize it."

"Who says you'd need to repeat it twenty times?"

"'Cause if I just repeat once, you're gonna act like you got it and then wander off and get lost again."

Ikkaku was about to dispute the 'get lost again' part, but decided against it. "You don't have time to repeat directions, but ya got time to lead the way?"

"I dunno, I have a hard time leaving helpless guys to get lost on their own and die of starvation in the street. I'm going whether you like it or not, so you might as well."

Ikkaku sputtered, then jogged to catch up. "You're -- not fuckin' funny."

Tatsuki flashed him a look that reminded him a bit of a smirking shark. "Madarame, right? Your name's easy to remember."

"Ikkaku."

"Arisawa Tatsuki."

"Yeah, I know."

They walked the rest of the way in relative silence, and Tatsuki left him at the front of the store when they reached it to check out the magazine rack. Ikkaku found everything and paid within ten minutes, at which point Tatsuki had gotten engrossed in whatever karate mag she had started on. He loitered around the drinks section until she put the magazine back onto the rack, then shouted across the store that he was done.

"I'll take you back to Asano's."

"I know how to get back there, I'll walk ya back to Ichigo's."

"And get lost again on the way back? You weren't even paying attention on the way here."

Ikkaku hadn't been paying attention because he knew he could pick up traces of Yumichika's spiritual pressure and follow it back. But he wasn't about to tell Tatsuki that, since he had no idea whether or not the idea of reiatsu was still foreign to her. He tried one more time.

"I know where it is, ya just... missed my payin' attention."

Tatsuki raised an eyebrow and brushed past him out the store. "It's on the way back to my place anyway."

Ikkaku wasn't compelled to obey or anything, but they were headed in the same direction and he couldn't shake her off anyway. They stopped on the sidewalk in front of Keigo's apartment building, and Tatsuki tilted her head back to get a better look at one of the higher floors. "This's your stop."

Ikkaku fished out some brightly colored can of soda and lobbed it lightly at her stomach. Tatsuki caught it easily and checked the label, then raised it to bump the rim against her forehead. "Thanks."

"Hm. You too."

"And if you try to follow me back or something, I'll know and I'll turn around and kick your ass. I know how to get around my own neighborhood."

He swung the plastic grocery bag over a shoulder and scowled back. "Like I would!"

"Uh huh. Don't get lost walking into the building!"

Ikkaku scowled even deeper at her retreating back adn stomped up the steps.

Yumichika looked up from the couch and one of Keigo's magazines as Ikkaku stepped inside. He stood up to meet Ikkaku at the door, then asked what took him so long.

"Went the wrong way."

"So you didn't buy the stuff?"

"I got it."

"So you found it in the end?"

"Yeah."

Yumichika grinned, took the bags off his hands and headed for the kitchen. He fished out another can of soda, chucked it at Ikkaku's head and started sorting through the rest of the goods. "Did my map help at all?"

"Nope." Ikkaku grinned and popped the can open, then settled on the couch.

Yumichika shut the fridge door a little harder than strictly necessary and joined him in the living room. "Was that Arisawa-san I sensed otuside?"

Ikkaku wondered how low the chances were that Yumichika didn't see him snort soda up his nose.

"I was right? Ikkaku--"

"Ended up in front'a Ichigo's house! Think she lives next door."

"Ikkaku!"

"What?"

"You didn't even walk her home? It's almost half a kilometer from here to Ichigo's."

"I tried!"

"You should've followed her!"

"She can take care'a herself!"

"It's your duty as a man to make sure that no cute girl walks home alone!"

"What? Just cute girls?"

"Ugly girls have a much lower chance of being accosted."

"Yumichika."

"What?"

Yumichika lounged on the sofa in front of the television while Ikkaku sprawled out on the floor with one of the couch cushions over his face. Yumichika prodded his knee with his foot and cheerfully flapped one of Mizuho's magazines in his face.

"Ikkaku, your favorite color is red, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Okay. And you feel your best at..."

"Night. What the hell are you lookin' at?"

"This quiz thing! Humans are so weird. You often dream that you are..."

"Fightin'! If ya know the answers, just answer 'em."

"Believes most in--"

"Captain!"

"Not a choice. Yourself?"

"Works."

"To unwind after a long day, you... exercise."

Yumichika couldn't see Ikkaku's face, but he was fairly sure he had heard a laugh.

"True love: truth or legend? Fake, I think. Soulmates?"

"Hoozukimaru!"

"That's because he is your soul, Ikkaku. I think the question means someone else."

He muttered something Yumichika didn't hear, but he leaned over and said teasingly, "I'll take that as a yes?"

"Hm."

"It says that you're an 'independent but reliable friend; you know, the sort of girl that everyone else looks up to.'" Yumichika dropped the magazine onto his chest, stepped over his legs and headed upstairs with Keigo's Shounen Jump. "I need to look into this 'spring colors' thing. They're supposed to suit you."

Ikkaku hoped to hell that pink wasn't a spring color.

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