Disclaimer: Yes, it's been over a year but I still do not own Bleach or any of its characters.

P.S: Thank you for the R & R's.

"Y-Yumichika," Ikkaku forced the name out with what was left of his strength. He could barely breathe and he could feel his heart beating slower than normal. If it had been a normal fight he'd take the pain with ease but this situation was not normal; his foe was not normal. He looked steadily into his best friends eyes hoping Yumichika would be able to talk some sense into his fucked up Zanpakuto spirit. Yumichika always had the answer, he always kept his cool.

"Fuji Kujaku put him down now!" Yumichika warned as he began approaching his Zanpakuto and best friend.

Ruri'iro rolled his eyes. "You're in no position to tell me what to do, master."

"You have no business with him." Yumichika continued, doing his best to avoid eye contact with his best friend. "Fight me, Fuji-"

"Dare to call me that again and your little friend here will be dead instantly!" Ruri'iro snapped. He threateningly tightened the vines around Ikkaku's wrists.

"Calm down Ruri'iro," Hozukimaru, who was now standing idly behind Yumichika, sighed, "you're nonsense is making me tired. How am I supposed to have sex with this little bugger if I'm tired…"

"This isn't about sex for me," Ruri'iro said matter-of-factly, "I want revenge."

"Then fight me!" Yumichika shouted rushing for his katana which was still on the ground. Unfortunately, before he could reach it Hozukimaru took a step forward and with one swift movement clasped his large hands around Yumichika's petite wrists and yanked Yumichika back.

"Oh," Ruri'iro sighed, lowering his vines until Ikkaku- completely naked- was at his own height, "I said I want revenge. That doesn't mean I'm interested in a fight anymore. I think i'd rather play with my new toy, as un-esthetically pleasing as he his, instead; that should annoy you shouldn't it?" Ruri'iro flashed a smirk in Yumichika's direction before walking behind Ikkaku and clasping his mouth around the bald man's neck.

"Stop it!" Yumichika shouted as he struggled to free himself from Hozukimaru's grip.

"I just don't know what you see him." Ruri'iro said, as he teasingly nuzzled his captive's neck, "There are much more attractive people in the Seireitei. Take that Kuchiki Byakuya, for instance, he's absolutely beautiful, well, for a Shinigami. If only you had been in love with Kuchiki- then I could be having my way with someone like him instead."

"Shut up," Yumichika said, nearly snarling.

Ruri'iro smiled. For all the effort he put into his cool act Yumichika was very easy to anger. He hoped his former master would become angry enough to kido his way out of Hozukimaru's hold and they could fight properly.

"Okay, enough talking," Hozukimaru, still holding him by the wrists, picked Yumichika up and threw him back onto the bed.

"Oi!" Ikkaku shouted but his words were not acknowledged.

Ruri'iro frowned. What the hell was that ape man doing? If Yumichika was pinned down to a bed there was no way he would be able to see him perform sexual activities with Ikkaku. He sighed in annoyance. Perhaps the noises alone would spur Yumichika into action. He needed to get Yumichika alone. The stubborn fool would refuse to fight him properly if others were around.

"Well are you going to finish me off, or fight me like a man?" Ikkaku said, frustrated with the situation.

"Hm," Ruri'iro huffed, not believing there was any reason to give his captive an answer. How was a man supposed to fight, anyway? Get dirty? Become smelly? Was he supposed to sweat like a pig before he'd be considered 'fightin like a man'? That was not his style. Why put in so much effort when you could do something swiftly and efficiently with minimal effort. Why should he be scrutinized just because others who couldn't outdo him on their best day thought it wasn't right? He forced Ikkaku down onto his knees with a blunt kick to his back. "I'm going to show you what a Zanpakuto's hilt is good for other than fighting."

Yumichika was in near panic as Hozukimaru covered him with sloppy kisses but as soon as he heard Ikkaku's grunt of pain he knew he needed to get out from under the beastly Zanpakuto Spirit and get his own Zanpakuto to release Ikkaku as soon as possible. He knew Ikkaku better than anyone; he knew his dreams, fears, strengths, and weaknesses and if Hozukimaru was Ikkaku's inner self then he should have similar weaknesses.

"You fucking bastard, stop!" Ikkaku screamed.

Yumichika closed his eyes trying to not think about what Ruri'iro was doing to his best friend. "Hozukimaru," he cleared his throat, "D-don't you want to fight?"

"I'd rather fuck right now."

Yumichika swallowed hard. He'd have to talk Hozukimaru into it. "But…look at him. Ikkaku, your master, is becoming weaker by the second. He might die if he's not released from the vines."

"If he dies guess he was too weak to put up a good fight anyway." Hozukimaru said as he yanked at Yumichika's hakama.

"That's not true!" Yumichika said defensively, trying his best to keep calm and his pants on, "you know as well as I do it's almost impossible to escape from Fuji- Ruri'iro's vines. If I were you I'd take the opportunity to fight Ikkaku now and take care of my sexual needs after. There's no way Ruri'iro will kill me- he likes slow torture, as I'm sure you've noticed, so you might as well fight Ikkaku now unless, unless- Oh!"

"What?"

"I suppose, you might be afraid to lose." Yumichika put on a face of realization, "I mean, if your afraid of losing, that's a perfectly logically reason to want to postpone or avoid confrontation."

"I ain't afraid." Hozukimaru hesitated. He knew the Yumichika was right. If he didn't move soon Ikkaku would be dead and he wouldn't get a chance to participate in the fight of a lifetime. "Shit." He sighed, "I'll be back for you, pretty boy."

Yumichika sighed, relieved, as Hozukimaru jumped off the bed and ran toward Ruri'iro Kujaku and Ikkaku.

"I'm taking your victim, Ruri'iro." Hozukimaru hollered as he yanked Ikkaku free from Ruri'iro's reiatsu draining vines. Ruri'iro stared in shock.

"Hozukimaru." Ikkaku said in questioning astonishment as his giant Zanpakuto Spirit brought him to his feet.

"Put on your hakama and let's fight, Ikkaku." Hozukimaru grinned down at his former master before quickly heading out of the room.

"Right." Ikkaku also grinned, seemingly rejuvenated. "See ya, Yumichika," He shouted as he grabbed a pair of hakama from his drawer and ran after his Zanpakuto spirit.

It was quiet for a moment but as soon as Ikkaku's currently low reiatsu was clearly far enough from their room Yumichika sat up from the bed and addressed Ruri'iro Kujaku. "That's not like you," He scoffed, "letting your victim go."

"You're more concerned with that than with the fact that I was molesting his ass? That's not like you, Yumichika."

"Leave Ikkaku out of this."

"Fine. Unlike to you that man means nothing to me." Ruri'iro said, leaning against the wall. "I'll admit it was quite clever of you to use that dim-witted Hozukimaru's weakness against him. That man would never say no to a fight."

"Clever? It was nothing a logically person wouldn't think of doing."

"Oh Yumichika, so prideful." Ruri'iro smiled gently, "Beautiful, yes, but so prideful it's almost ugly."

"You're full of pride yourself, Fuji-"

"Yes," He admitted, "but at least my pride fits with my aesthetics perfectly. Of course that's something I'm sure you know nothing about. You do, after all, follow that bald creature around like a pet. Are you a pet, Yumichika?"

"Leave Ikkaku out of this," Yumichika warned.

"I don't understand why you're so dedicated to that man." Ruri'iro shook his head as if he really wanted to understand.

"You don't understand?" Yumichika said, narrowing his eyes in annoyance, "Then you fail at being a Zanpakuto. You fail to understand your surroundings, Fuji Kujaku. You cluttered my inner world with your presence for decades and yet you don't understand my reasons for following Ikkaku?"

"You're wrong." Ruri'iro sighed, almost sadly, "I understand you better than you understand yourself. You hide from your true self. But I live it! You think it does nothing to your inner beauty to hide who you truly are but you're wrong. Your inner world is becoming more hideous everyday and I'm the one who had to live within it. I have to see it all fall apart while you just live day to day as if your inner world is not being destroyed. I hate you, Yumichika. " He closed his eyes for a moment before he turned to his former master and calmly said, "Fight me."

"No problem, however, before we go on," Yumichika said firmly, "I suggest a change of venue."

Ruri'iro smiled ironically, "I wouldn't expect anything less."

Ikkaku walked with a limp as he made his way back to his living quarters. He was glad to have his Zanpakuto back. He hated to admit it but he enjoyed being a shinigami and using a Zanpakuto and the way he figured it the more powerful he and his Zanpakuto became the stronger the opponents they could fight and the closer he'd come to Zaraki. It had nearly been an hour since his fight with Hozukimaru ended and he had finally regained enough strength to lift himself up and head home. He knew he probably needed a check up by the Forth Division but he'd wait until later; he had a few things to talk to Yumichika about first.

Ikkaku could see Yumichika sitting on the steps outside their shared room resting from his own barely won fight. "Oi!" He called to get his best friend's attention.

Yumichika looked up and nervously smiled as his companion limped toward him. He had been completely relieved to sense his partner after his fight with Ruri'iro Kujaku. Despite how much he wanted to torture Ruri'iro, and as much as his pride did not want to allow him to use kido he was too worried about Ikkaku's state to take things slow with his Zanpakuto Spirit so he finished their fight quickly hoping to go to his bald friend's side. However, Hozukimaru's reaitsu had already faded by the time Yumichika had the chance to look for it and so instead of going to face his best friend he had come home to wait for him instead.

"You hurt?" Ikkaku asked, suddenly grinning form ear to ear.

"I'll live. You?"

"Me too," Ikkaku said. He sat next to his friend wondering what to say next. There was a rare awkwardness between them. This had been by far the strangest night since their first meeting all those years ago.

"About my Zanpakuto," Yumichika began, "I'm sorry I never told you- I wish it wasn't a kido type but…"

"Idiot." Ikkaku said, stopping Yumichika mid-sentence, "You think I care about something like that? You are who you are, Yumi. You always have been and you always will be. Dumbass." He beamed as he looked up at the sky, "Besides you've never even had to use it in a fight. That's pretty cool. I guess you're stronger than I thought but someday, Yumi, I'll get stronger and I'll fight you so hard you'll have to release your true power. I guess now I got someone to beat before I even dream of fighting on par with the captain."

Yumichika looked down at his feet, "Yeah."

An awkward silence fell upon them again. Ikkaku watched his best friend out of the corner of his eye. After their fight Hozukimaru had brought up some good points to him. Even though he was the sort of person to do what he wanted, eat what he wanted, and generally lived life according to his desires. He had completely denied himself from one of the things he wanted the most. Yumichika was supposed to be his best friend, and had very rarely denied going along with one of his plans and yet Ikkaku didn't have the guts to admit to him that he had feelings beyond just being friends. Ikkaku sighed annoyed with himself and annoyed that his Zanpakuto Spirit was right. He wasn't sure how to tell Yumichika he loved him. He wasn't good with words.

"We should go see the healers," Yumichika said, standing up.

"Ya," Ikkaku agreed, quickly getting up to his feet, "but-"

"Hm?"

"Uh," Ikkaku inwardly berated himself. He may not have been good with words but he was a man of action so…

Yumichika was completely shocked when his best friend kissed him. After everything that had happened that night he expected a scolding or loss of friendship, but certainly not a kiss. Still, he was happy and eager for it so he leaned into it and closed his eyes.

After a moment Ikkaku pulled away from the kiss and smiled. "Let's go, Yumichika."

"Go?" Yumichika asked in a daze.

"Forth Division." Ikkaku said holding out his hand and nodding in the direction of the Healing Division.

"Right." Yumichika said taking the offered hand.

As they walked hand in hand toward to the Forth Division Yumichika decided that the Zanpakuto Rebellion may not have been as bad as he thought even if it had completely ruined his favorite mirror.