A/N: Another Christmas morning fanfiction! Still not a Christmas theme, but it'll do. This was another one of those ideas where my brain says: "Hey, you're about to fall asleep, here's a great idea that you'll have to get up and write down!" -.- My brain is annoying sometimes, but I love it anyway. Please review! n.n

Seeing Red

If you spent a lot of time around Juushiro Ukitake, you got used to the color red. Having spent most of his life around that particular person, Shunsui was well used to the color that followed his friend. Some days it was strong enough to make him stay home, coughing until scarlet liquid emerged. It was a pattern that was familiar to Shunsui and he had been observing it for many years.

The other people in Juushiro's life were also part of the pattern. Kotsubaki and Kotetsu, always wanting to be the first to help. Unohana-sempai, treating what she could. Before the two of them had gone to the Academy, Juushiro's family did what they could to help him. Shunsui knew here he fit, too. He was always the one who stayed with his friend, giving him company and making him laugh when it was needed.

The color red followed Shunsui now too. The stained haoris, handkerchiefs and yukatas were commonplace to him now. When he washed away the stains, he always held out a futile hope that the last he saw of that red liquid would be the pink-tinged water spiraling down the drain. Yet it always reappeared, a constant reminder of his friend's waning lifespan.

That color was even present in the house. In the tea set especially. Juushiro had four cups but only used three. The fourth he only used when he was sick. That cup was a different color from the others. It had patches of brown where once there had been green. Juushiro had grasped it many times, accidentally smearing it with blood until the color had soaked in. Only Shunsui and Juushiro knew about it, though many had wondered how he kept his teacups so clean.

Whether it was pink, crimson or brown, the color followed the two of them and would until the day they died. Shunsui didn't mind, the color was almost a comfort to him. Almost, but he couldn't shake the fear that both their lives would end in red.