Written for the March Challenge on Prompt Bingo, LJ.

Prompt: #1

The Morning After

Sunlight crept its way through translucent curtains, and he felt the burn as it pierced through his eyelids. The morning burst with nature's splendour as birds left their nests to catch the worm and the sun rose to fill the streets with generous light.

It was time to wake.

Jushiro had always been a morning person, and his waking early despite his health had never changed. But, during this particular day, he found it rather difficult to rise. Maybe it was because of the heavy arm draped carelessly over his chest, or the heaviness that had been eating away at his heart since he awoke about three hours ago.

It hadn't been a very fine night to begin with. Jushiro's aching muscles and limbs were solid proof of that. He felt like he had been forced to run around the Seireitei for hours on end, only to be given respite when he finally reached his limit and passed out.

He did reach his limit, though it took a rather long time, but he didn't fall unconscious. It would have been all the more embarrassing if he had.

But still, Jushiro reasoned with himself, it was worthless to remain lying there engulfed in regret with a façade that exhausted his mentality.

Shunsui gave a snort as Jushiro lifted his arm off himself. Quietly, he slipped out of his embrace, carefully placed the limb back down, and padded to the bathroom. It hurt even to walk, but Jushiro ignored it. If he were to give into pain caused by a shameless act which he had regretted ever committing, he wouldn't be able to face himself – or Shunsui, for that matter.

Looking in the mirror, examining himself from head to toe, Jushiro found several scratch marks on his shoulders blades. They weren't deep, but indeed noticeable. Nonetheless, they would be hidden out of sight when he donned his uniform, but the bruise on his collarbone wouldn't.

Jushiro let a sigh escape, running his fingers through his dishevelled hair. It was a bad morning to begin with, and though he hadn't expected his skin to remain unblemished after last night, he still wished Shunsui had the decency to not leave marks where they could be noticed.

But it was too late to muse over such things. Nothing he did would change the fact that he had just slept with his own best friend, the one man with whom he had spent most of his days with since childhood.

Jushiro rubbed his temples with his fingertips, trying to chase away the impending headache, and exited the bathroom. Shunsui lay sprawled on his stomach with the side of his face buried in the pillow, snoring away.

As Jushiro watched the man, a sudden softness overcame him. Shunsui had been kind and gentle, stopping every time he noticed something amiss, and asked for permission before taking it to the next level.

They had been together so long that they hadn't realized the growing affections between them. Shunsui had taken the initiative to seek Jushiro out regarding the matter, and Jushiro, clouded with doubts, had faced difficulties in accepting him.

But there was something in Shunsui's character that always made him relent in the end, and for the first time in their friendship, Jushiro cursed that special trait.

Feeling the morning chill run up his spine, Jushiro wrapped a fresh towel around his waist and went over to kneel beside Shunsui. Hesitantly, he reached out a hand and brushed the smooth, wavy strands out of his face. The man appeared drunk when he was a asleep, particularly with that little satisfied smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

Eyes on those lips, Jushiro bent down. The action seemed to have taken a course of its own, for time seemed to have slowed. But, when he was just a breath away, Jushiro pulled back with eyes squeezed shut. The pounding in his chest resonated in his ears while the headache he had predicted finally struck him.

Jushiro exhaled, slowly and steadily. Thankfully, that did something to quell his racing heart. He let his eyes settle upon Shunsui once again, and, with his doubts finally washed away, Jushiro withdrew altogether.

He didn't know just what to do, what to say to Shunsui when he woke, but one thing was for certain: one way or another, Jushiro was going to end it.