A Time of Rice-Wine and Kindness Unheeded
Written for the 1sentence community on lj. Initially a lot of fun, but the last few were a bugger to work out! Thanks once more to tasteslikemiso, who's committed enough to check several dictionaries for a drabble. Yay me, I learnt lots about my own language!

On rare occasions, Ukitake will allow himself to be held in Kyouraku's strong arms whilst vulnerable.

#02 - Kiss

He wonders if consumption can be passed on by kissing, but Kyouraku assures him it isn't a problem, and so he tries to ignore the niggling terror that takes hold every time they touch.

#03 - Soft

Shunsui loves nothing more than winding his thick, calloused fingers in his senpai's fine, silky hair.

#04 - Pain

Sometimes he wonders whose pain is worse; that of Ukitake, who can escape by passing out, or his own as he watches in impotent desperation- but then, these are selfish thoughts.

#05 - Potatoes

The last time Ukitake was confined to Fourth Division, Shunsui tried to make him Aloo Saag, a spicy potato recipe he found in a book- and in an extraordinary act of heroism, Ukitake finished every bite.

#06 - Rain

When it rains, Shunsui often catches Ukitake looking out of the window with a distant look on his face, and wishes he could share the burden.

#07 - Chocolate

Shunsui doesn't actually see the point in chocolate, but he has never told Ukitake this.

#08 - Happiness

Happiness, thinks Shunsui, is a warm dish of sake, shared with a friend.

#09 - Telephone

News of the invention of the telephone brought a sinister gleam to Shunsui's eyes, and terror to Ukitake's heart, as he envisioned himself losing his few precious moments of peace.

#10 - Ears

A nibble on the earlobe is all it takes for Shunsui to make Ukitake call foul play, as he caves forward into his lover's warm arms.

#11 - Name

The first time Shunsui saw 'Jyuushirou' written down, he couldn't suppress a giggle- what a poor imagination his father must have had!

#12 - Sensual

Ukitake delights in Shunsui's absolute helplessness beneath his nimble fingertips.

#13 - Death

Shunsui and Ukitake never talk about death- however, this is not a question of denial, but acceptance.

#14 - Sex

For hundreds of years they denied their desires as Shunsui pursued others and Ukitake dedicated himself to his study, and subsequently work.

#15 - Touch

Sometimes in the night Shunsui reaches out to make sure Ukitake is still warm and real, and hasn't been replaced with an ivory angel.

#16 - Weakness

Shunsui has been known to slap Ukitake soundly for referring to his own "weakness".

#17 - Tears

Even fifty years on, on rainy nights Ukitake sometimes comes to Shunsui's room to share in his warmth, with visible streaks down both cheeks.

#18 - Speed

Ukitake adored the swiftness he discovered in shunpo, and soon Shunsui decided he had to master it too, to share in his joy.

#19 - Wind

Ukitake now knows better than to cook with legumes.

#20 - Freedom

Freedom can only be found when the spirit passes between plains and leaves all ties behind, and so with good grace Ukitake endures his captivity in a body that won't always do what he tells it.

#21 - Life

Shunsui remembers watching in abject terror and bewilderment the first time he saw Ukitake's life spilling away onto the floor, his death sentence written in crimson splashes.

#22 - Jealousy

Ukitake wonders that he can accept Shunsui's womanising, but in his heart he knows the girls won't last.

#23 - Hands

Shunsui's hands are warm and large and hairy, whilst Ukitake's are slender, pale and (all too often) cold, so when they touch the two average out quite nicely.

#24 - Taste

The worst think about his becoming taichou, thinks Ukitake, is that Shunsui is now allowed to get away with that shade of green with that shade of pink.

#25 - Devotion

Shunsui would give up drink to find a cure for Ukitake.

#26 - Forever

Their forever could be ten times ten thousand years, or it could be wiped out in a single frantic night.

#27 - Blood

At the academy, Shunsui used to pretend he couldn't see the handkerchiefs that poked out from Ukitake's sleeves, dreading the answer he might get to the question permanently on his lips.

#28 - Sickness

People find it difficult to believe, but it's really not a big deal to them, just something they have to plan ahead for and work around.

#29 - Melody

When he gets to work, all day Ukitake will have the last tune he heard Shunsui whistle stuck in his head, whether he knows the song or not.

#30 - Star

The cold night air does Ukitake's lungs no good, so they always wait for summertime to roll around before they'll lie on the roof all night, watching the stars do nothing alongside them.

#31 - Home

At home, Ukitake can find peace and contentment; home is in Shunsui's arms.

#32 - Confusion

Nobody would ever realise how long Ukitake has considered Shunsui to belong to him alone- least not of all the women Shunsui pursues.

#33 - Fear

Only when he is honest with himself will Ukitake acknowledge his true worth, and admit how afraid he is of what will happen to Shunsui when he has to leave him.

#34 - Lightning/Thunder

As a boy, Shunsui was frightened of the chaotic, intemperate thunder, but now he knows it to be merely Ukitake's power thrashing in the night, and is heartened to hear how strong he still is.

#35 - Bonds

"Put that down, Shunsui- ten minutes before work is not the time to spring new ideas on me."

#36 - Market

Whenever Ukitake recovers from a bad spell, he needs little coaxing to be brought to the crowded markets of Rukongai, where they feed each other frighteningly greasy junk food, and don't care that people are staring at both their intimacy and their insignia.

#37 - Technology

First the coach and four, and now the bicycle... Shunsui thinks he will never be able to get a grip on Ukitake's updates regarding developments in the human world.

#38 - Gift

Admist the trappings of wealth and refinement, Ukitake's favourite birthday present was the large bowl of umeboshi-chazuke (when his siblings pried, they found that the label read merely "See you later").

#39 - Smile

Shunsui's favourite thing about his lover is still that thousand-watt smile, which he knows his dear senpai will turn on in a flash to warm the heart of anybody who he believes needs it.

#40 - Innocence

Ukitake likes to watch children with Shunsui by his side, but secretly Shunsui can't wait to corrupt them.

#41 - Completion

The students lay upon the dew-damp grass with four Zanpakutou beside them, knowing that things could only get more exciting from here.

#42 - Clouds

Shunsui loves to lie on warm rooftops and watch the clouds; occasionally he can tear Ukitake away to join him.

#43 - Sky

Drifts of petals fall from the sky every time Ukitake visits the Eighth Division headquarters.

#44 - Heaven

Walking hand in hand with Shunsui under the swaying sakura trees, Ukitake decides that if Soul Society is the foil to hell, then it could well be called heaven.

#45 - Hell

"Hell is being alone!" shrieks Shunsui in the nightmares that plague him while Ukitake is in Fourth.

#46 - Sun

The room lit up when Shunsui walked in, thought Ukitake as he looked up from his paperwork.

#47 - Moon

Shunsui believed that there was no sight more beautiful than moonlight gleaming soft from snow-white hair.

#48 - Waves

The coughing comes in waves, but Shunsui wishes the waves would protect his Ukitake.

#49 - Hair

Though Jyuushirou's eyebrows are black, Shunsui still can't imagine the rest of his hair that colour- well, the hair on his head, that is.

#50 - Supernova

Ukitake still remembers their first days together, as Shunsui's effervescent personality had exploded through the academy, sweeping up everything in its path; soon Ukitake had resigned himself to a life of frantic joy.