Chapter Text
The sounds of the party going on just inside the Kuchiki Estate filters out into the silent night. From here, Ichigo can still hear the plethora of creatures that create a symphony of sound to compete with the noise of the party. They had won. Against all odds they had won. They had survived. He survived. Ichigo's heart could rest easy knowing that his loved ones had a better outcome in this timeline than they had in the last. Though they may not know him as they once did and he may be a different kind of man to them than before, he had protected them and they were still alive and breathing. Most of all the man that held so much of his heart was still alive. Though he may never again be with him in that way, he could rest easy knowing that he wouldn't have to see the man heave his last breath for some time.
"Are you not feeling celebratory?"
"Huh?" Ichigo turns sharply. At the end of the porch just outside a different door to the one Ichigo slipped through, stood Byakuya. He wasn't dressed in his normal shinigami attire but instead donned a sophisticated looking yukata. His hair was pulled up for a change and the kenseikan was nowhere to be found. He looked far younger. It made Ichigo think of all the nights he would spend with the noble in his timeline just sitting in the garden. It made him think of his Byakuya. It also made him think of the young boy Byakuya had been when this all started. The soft, welcoming smile on his face made him think of his best friend. Each version of Byakuya somehow made him fall even more in love with the man. "Oh...I suppose not. I just needed a moment alone. I'll join the others in a bit."
Byakuya hums softly and steps closer. He turns to look out across the gardens. They hadn't been too terribly destroyed. Their war hadn't been quite as destructive or as extensive as the war he fought in his timeline. Shifting it to the wastelands of Hueco Mundo had also nullified a great deal of damage especially since the wastelands are already wreckage to begin with. Byakuya is so close that his sleeves brush against Ichigo each time the man inhales. This closeness was something he once had dreaded. He cannot fathom why anymore. Wouldn't it hurt more to have never gotten these moments with his best friend even if they never ventured fully into being lovers?
"Would you like to join me for a walk through the gardens?"
It wasn't an odd request for the noble. Even though Ichigo expected that same odd distance that occured after Ginrei left to eventually return it never did. They often toed the line of propriety with one another long after Hisana's death. They never crossed it into anything more than too close friendship, until the other night. They were friendly, that much always remained but somewhere along the way they had only grown closer. It had only grown more present as Ichigo's part in the war with Yhwach unfolded and his real identity was revealed. They were in a limbo that Ichigo could never quite understand. It was clear they both wanted for something more but neither took that last step forward. It had felt like an unknown but wholly unmovable force stood between them for so long…waiting for something unknown. When they kissed in the baths it felt right but also not. It wasn't time, it felt like.
"Yeah, sure."
Byakuya tilts his head toward the direction of the koi pond and begins a slow walk toward it. The more steps they take away from the party the quieter the night grows around them. Like this, Ichigo can almost imagine that nothing at all had changed and it was just him and his Byakuya. But that's not quite it either. He and his best friend in this life also shared long nights together and walked amongst the gardens in the Shiba and Kuchiki estates before the war broke out. This was comforting to him.
"You seemed lost in thought." Byakuya doesn't pause in his steps but he does glance toward Ichigo while folding his hands in his sleeves. "Does the war still weigh heavily on your mind?"
Ichigo hums noncommittally. He wasn't so sure if it was the war that hung on his mind or the outcome that did. "In a way I suppose it does. I'd be lying if I said it didn't but…" Ichigo trails off unsure of how exactly to put his thoughts into words. He wasn't sure why he felt so melancholy. He told himself from the beginning that so long as his loved ones lived he would be happy. Why did he not feel happy then? Byakuya's fingers lace with his own, offering him a gentle squeeze of reassurance.
"That's not all though is it?"
"No. No it's not." Ichigo releases a long sigh from his parted lips before tugging a rough hand through his hair. It was far longer than it had ever been since arriving in their time. It's longer even than Byakuya's and that's saying something considering that he had not cut it off in this timeline as far as Ichigo was aware. "There is someone whom I miss dearly that I wish could be here with me."
Byakuya hums quietly once more and comes to a slow stop in front of a large cherry tree. "I see. Sometimes those we love that are left behind can somewhat make up for the empty spaces but some space still remains." Byakuya catches a cherry blossom as it falls from one of the overhanging branches and studies it in his palm.
"Hn."
"I often think of those I lost as small petals from the many sakura. Each time I draw my zanpakuto they surround me." His Byakuya had never told him that before. Though they shared many things with one another, namely their barest selves, they had never had enough peace to allow themselves to truly be free with one another. Maybe it had also been in part fear. They didn't know how the war would end. If they gave up the darkest, most hidden part of themselves to each other and one of them was lost the despair would be unyielding. His best friend has never been so shy with his thoughts. Byakuya often told him bits and pieces that he would never reveal to anyone else. "Perhaps it helps me feel as if I still carry a piece of them with me?"
Ichigo knows that the other man is not looking for a response. His slate colored eyes just stare at the blossom until a passing breeze lifts it from his calloused palm and carries it away. Ichigo also knew that his Byakuya had always struggled with the acute feeling of loneliness after Yoruichi left. So many people that loved him had left him. His parents died and then his only other family member that cared took up a position in the zero division before Byakuya was barely old enough to become a Captain himself. This time around Ichigo had made sure to stay by his side so that his loneliness was never so horrible. He made sure that Byakuya knew he was there no matter what he may need from him.
"Did you want to ask me something? That's why you invited me out here right?"
"You're far more intelligent than most give you credit for. It's annoying." Byakuya turns slightly to eye Ichigo and chuckles softly. This teasing banter was comforting and normal by now. However, there was something in those slate colored depths that spoke of things Ichigo could not decipher. Byakuya was a man of many mysteries and this version of him, despite having fewer, still had far too many. "There is something I've wanted to speak with you about for some time but I felt it was never the right moment. I find now to be an acceptable time to convey my thoughts."
"Go on...spit it out."
"Impatient." Ichigo could almost recognize that tone. It was one his version of Byakuya had used many times when calling him a pest or a brat. It was startling to hear. Even through all their years of teasing and taunting that tone had never occured. Ichigo liked to think that tone evolved from true annoyance to unwilling acceptance and then became adoration. His best friend had never felt true annoyance with him. "Your hair has grown quite long since I first met you. I remember it only hung past your ears."
Ichigo stares at the other man. When he had woken up here his hair had been far past his collarbones. It had never been as short as it was when he met his Byakuya that rainy night in Karakura. That night even with the rain weighing it down, his hair had barely hung past his ears. "You want to talk about my hair?" It was the only thing he could think to say as his mind became disordered.
"Perhaps." Byakuya stares out at the pond where several koi swim in lazy circles. This part of the garden had always been Ichigo's favorite. He and Byakuya trained here quite often as the door to the left led directly to Byakuya's private wing of the estate. "If I remember correctly when you woke up here the first time you were wearing that same leather band around your wrist."
Ichigo unknowingly places a hand on the leather band wrapped around his wrist. It had seen many battles since it was gifted to him and still held a patch of staining from when he held Byakuya's dying body in his arms. "Hn. It was a gift from someone I loved dearly." Byakuya nods slowly as if he had already known that. Ichigo knows in all their conversations he had never explicitly stated that someone important gifted him this band.
"As was mine." Ichigo freezes. He had not known that. His Byakuya had never told him that. "I often wore my hair tied up as a young boy as you well know. My father would pull it up for me every time we trained together. He had several leather pieces commissioned for me during his lifetime. When I stopped wearing my hair up when I became clan head, I kept all of his gifts in a trinket box beside my bed. One of them was exactly the same design as yours."
Ichigo is frozen solid. His heart is hammering inside his chest. Could Byakuya really be saying what Ichigo thinks he's saying. If so, why now? Why not when Ichigo first woke up? "I-I don't understand." He could feel his chest aching with that pain that he was so closely intimate with. It was desperation and hope all rolled into one agonizing feeling.
"Do you remember, Ichigo?" Byakuya's voice had taken on a different tone. There was something hidden just beneath his phrase that struck a chord in Ichigo. This wasn't the noble child he'd 'grown up' with talking. This was his Byakuya. "This is exactly where we were sparring when I gifted you that."
Ichigo can do little to stop his tears as they fall rapidly down his cheeks. He clearly remembered Byakuya silently crossing the garden and entering his room. He remembers just how gentle the older shinigami had been while pulling his hair up and tying it back despite his somewhat harsh words. That had been so early in their friendship that he had never hoped for anything more but his heart still had given an embarrassed thump.
"I...you...how?"
Byakuya turns sharply upon realizing that tears had flooded Ichigo's face. He hums softly and reaches out a hand to gently brush his fingers under Ichigo's left eye. "Did you really think fate would be so cruel as to truly take me from you? I told you I would move heaven and hell for you didn't I? An act of fate is no different." Ichigo sobs harder at the man's words. They truly had promised that once in their time together when Ichigo had finally asked him why he said what he said to Tsukushima. Byakuya had loved him then and Ichigo the same but neither were ready to tell one another just yet.
Ichigo grasps tightly at Byakuya's wrist as if tethering himself to reality. If only he could touch him then he knew this wasn't all a cruel dream. "It's been over a century! Why now?" Byakuya's other hand joins his left hand on Ichigo's cheeks. He tuts gently while wiping away the unending tears flowing down Ichigo's cheeks. Ichigo rarely cried but he had always been the more emotional of the two of them something his lover had always found amusing.
"I'm sorry I made you wait so long, my love." Ichigo chokes slightly on his next breath upon hearing the older man call him such a brazen term. They had never been so forward. Fighting a war never gave them that much freedom. "I remembered fragments the older I grew. At first you were just familiar to me as if my soul called out for you but didn't know why. Then as I grew older I began to remember you but it was only bits and pieces that never made much sense. Then after Hisana I started remembering much more but all the important pieces were still missing. It wasn't until after Aizen's betrayal that I truly began remembering everything and things began falling into place. By then we were into a war and you were busy preparing in Hueco Mundo. It would be better to wait. I still hadn't remembered everything until the morning after our kiss."
"That's why you really stopped me...isn't it?" Baykuya nods slowly while rubbing gently at the skin just beneath Ichigo's eye. His steel colored eyes are focused on Ichigo with an intensity that would have once made the orange haired man blush. "That's why you gave me part of Senbonzakura?"
"Yes."
Ichigo tightens his grip on Byakuya and pulls a deep lungful of air into his chest. He had never thought he would get this. He had always braced himself for the inevitable awkward friendship of nobility and then later he had accepted that they may never cross the line into lovers and would always dance just shy of lovers but too close to be friends. "Why didn't you say anything?" Byakuya smiles ruefully. There was an agony unlike anything else in his steel colored gaze. It was an agony that Ichigo knew all too well. He felt it every day for an entire century.
Byakuya brushes a stray strand of orange hair behind Ichigo's ear before speaking
"I couldn't bear the thought of your suffering if I were to die again and you knew that I was here with you again…once was enough. At least if I were to die again this time it wouldn't be as your lover." Byakuya falls silent. Ichigo cannot fault him for his logic. He probably would have done the same thing if the roles were reversed. Still...
"Idiot!" Byakuya hisses at the harsh tug to his dark hair. His slate eyes narrow in annoyance. He probably would have smacked Ichigo roughly if it weren't for the look Ichigo was sure was painted all across his face. "You self-sacrificing, over-thinking, dumbass!"
Byakuya glares sharply the more insults that Ichigo pairs with sharp tugs to his hair. "I fail to-" The older man's words are abruptly cut off when Ichigo mashes their lips together in a fierce and unforgiving kiss. Byakuya melts into the kiss without hesitation. He even goes so far as to drop his hands to Ichigo's waist and draw Ichigo closer. Ichigo opens his mouth to the older man greedily drinking in every sound and taste that is gifted to him. He had desired this so greatly the last century. There was nothing else in this world he would rather be doing than being held in his lover's embrace.
When they finally part, Ichigo gently tugs on Byakuya's hair. The silken black strands feel glorious in his hands. "If you ever do something like that to me again I will quite happily flay you open with both of Zangetsu's blades...are we clear?" Byakuya grins softly down at Ichigo before nodding just once and drawing him into another more tender kiss. The sounds of the party rage on behind them but out here in the garden it is just them. Out here the rest of the world ceased to exist. Even as Byakuya pressed another lingering kiss to his lips.
"I love you."
Byakuya's words are pressed into his lips like prayers. His hands smooth down Ichigo's back and pull him ever closer. Ichigo fists his hands happily into Byakuya's hair. Finally…finally he would return the sentiment. "I love you too." Ichigo whispers back just as reverently into Byakuya's mouth. Byakuya sighs into the kiss, tightening his grip on Ichigo's waist and drawing him a step closer until there is no room left between them. Ichigo shudders at the tight hold and wraps his fingers more firmly in the elder noble's hair causing a quiet groan to pass through Byakuya's lips.
They both startle slightly when a set of doors slam open across the garden from where they are hidden away together by the pond. Light falls across the lawn stopping just a few feet from where they are standing together by the edge of the pond. Renji and Rukia stumble out onto the deck together followed closely by Rangiku. Kaien shuffles worriedly out behind them while huffing around a drunk Shinji. Kaien's eyes dart around the garden as Renji nearly stumbles off the porch. His hand darts out to catch the other lieutenant before he topples over. Miyako kindly grabs onto Renji's shoulder offering Kaien a warm reassuring smile. Rukia appears at her shoulder and takes Renji's hand in her own to guide him off the porch.
"My love," Byakuya presses a dangerous kiss to Ichigo's neck giving a short pulsing suck to the skin there. "How much time do we have until they find us?" His chuckles are muffled by the skin of Ichigo's neck. This wasn't the first time they hid away together from the world in their own little game of hide and seek.
Byakuya flicks his eyes up toward Ichigo. A devilish smirk lights up Ichigo's face as he turns his gaze back to the elder shinigami. "I don't know...how quickly do you think you can shunpo to our bedroom, old man?" Byakuya raises an eyebrow at the silent challenge. He wasn't trained by Yoruichi twice over to be questioned about his stealth skills.
Ichigo swallows sharply at noticing the glint that flashes through his lover's gaze. "Hmm...I think this scenario depends more on how well you think you can control your reiatsu once we get there, brat." Ichigo doesn't even get a chance to retaliate before Byakuya is scooping him up into his arms and flickering away toward his private chambers deeper in the manor. After a moment he giggles into Byakuya's neck before the older man tosses him back into the bed of pillows and follows shortly thereafter.
Byakuya is on him in a moment presses a searing kiss to his lips before biting down harshly on Ichigo’s bottom lip. A sharp moan pulls from Ichigo’s chest at the dual sensations of pleasure and pain. “f*ck.” Ichigo’s fingers scrape down Byakuya's neck to hook around his yukata and pull. The fabric makes a beautiful sound as it tears apart under his hands.
“Brat.”
Ichigo moans softly into the heated kiss Byakuya pairs with the soft admonishment. Ichigo was a brat in every way that counted. “Your brat.” Byakuya bites down roughly on the edge of Ichigo’s jaw pulling away to watch the pretty bruise begin to form on the skin. It wouldn’t last beyond morning due to Ichigo's healing abilities but that didn’t mean they both didn’t like the thought of the bites staying for a bit longer.
“Yes. My brat.” Byakuya hooks his fingers in Ichigo's top and slides it off with much more dignity than Ichigo had done with his. Byakuya’s mouth follows his hands biting roughly at each new inch of skin revealed to him until his lips and teeth find Ichigo’s nipple clamping down hard in it. Ichigo’s body rocks up into his lover with a startled shout. “Mine to do with as I please…f*ck however I please…ruin to my hearts content. No one else gets to have you like this. A king spread out like a common whor* all for me.”
Ichigo’s eyes flash gold at being called a whor* and he flings his body toward Byakuya effectively toppling the laughing noble. “You’ll f*ck me how I say, lover, and then bow to your king.” Byakuya’s chuckles are teetering on taunting and Ichigo f*cking loves it. He wants to sink his teeth into his mate until their imprints are left behind. He wants to draw blood and watch as the crimson slowly covers Byakuya’s chest. Then he wants to lick it all away and repeat the process again and again.
“Careful brat…don’t get ahead of yourself.” Ichigo growls and lunges forward to sink his teeth into Byakuya’s pectoral preening at the hissing moan that falls from those pretty lips of his mate’s. Byakuya allows the sucking of the bite for a moment before his fingers knot in Ichigo’s hair and tug him back with a borderline painful yank. “Now, now pet, don’t go biting yet. Our fun will end too soon if you do that.”
“f*ck. Me. You. Prick.”
Ichigo growls each word out with a hiss as Byakuya digs the heel of his free palm into Ichigo’s lap stimulating his already leaking dick. “Ask nicely or I won’t.” Ichigo could give two sh*ts about asking anything nicely. He wanted to sink down onto his mate's co*ck and take what he was owed. The man had made him wait over a century. He will f*ck him and he will f*ck him now.
“Tired of f*cking wating mate.” Ichigo could tell the hollow in him was chomping at the bit to be let entirely loose on his mate. He wanted to f*cking eat Byakuya whole. He cared about nothing else until his desires were satiated. “Waited a century. Give me what I want…now!”
Ichigo releases a startled shout as Byakuya curls a leg around his hips and rolls them. Then he’s pressing an arm to Ichigo’s windpipe, fully ignoring his snapping teeth, and meeting Ichigo’s gaze. “You’ll get what I give you, impatient little mate. You’ve waited this long…you can wait a bit more.” Ichigo groans softly when Byakuya’s fingers dip down into his pants and give his dick a sharp tug. He was beginning to grow desperate. Byakuya’s biting kisses return, making a beeline for his waist.
“If you bite my dick I’m beating your ass.”
“I find I quite like your dick.”
“I like it unbitten, f*cker.”
Byakuya rolls his eyes having heard it all before, tugs Ichigo’s pants down sharply, and proceeds to take Ichigo down to the hilt in one smooth move. Ichigo’s shouts and rakes his claws up into Byakuya’s hair, careful not to cut any of the beautiful strands. While his mouth is at work his talented hands are equally as occupied as they somehow found oil and are slowly dipping into Ichigo’s ass. Those long lean fingers stretch him open as Byakuya’s mouth sucks Ichigo like he’s trying to suck his soul out through his dick. He might be, the f*cker.
“Beg for me.”
The murmured words are followed by a harsh bite just near the base of Ichigo’s dick. In retaliation, Ichigo rakes his nails down Byakuya’s back, careful not to shred his lover. He didn’t feel like playing medic tonight. “f*ck. Me.” Byakuya halts all motion and Ichigo whines high in his throat. It was a demanding sound. Move! Move damn it the whine said.
“I said beg.”
Ichigo tries to push up into his mate and upend them once more to simply take what he wanted but Byakuya knew all his tricks. Byakuya locks his muscles tight and pushes Ichigo further into the bed with his weight. Another whine, this one much more pitiful, passes Ichigo’s lips. “Please…please f*ck me. Mate me. Take me please. Stop toying with me. I need you! Please!” A soft breathy moan passes Byakuya’s lips and he leans forward to seal his mouth over Ichigo’s. His fingers resume their stretching but at a much faster pace punching a moan out of the orange haired king.
“That’s all I wanted, my love. Was that so hard?” Ichigo hisses out a sound that was a mixture between fury and a begging whine for more and Byakuya does just that. Byakuya shifts slightly, grabs Ichigo’s chin with oil slick fingers, and presses into his lover for the first time in a century. Ichigo’s entire frame wracks with a shuddering sobbing whine which Byakuya carefully nuzzles away. For all their playing…they both knew this moment would be overwhelming. “Ichigo…breathe for me, my love.”
Ichigo sucks a sharp inhale into his chest and allows his head to fall to the side exposing his neck. Byakuya leans forward to nuzzle his nose along the skin there. Ichigo shudders softly at the claim. His neck, his very life, belonged to his mate. “Please move.” Byakuya does as he’s asked, shifting a bit more to begin moving within his lover. He can remember the first time they f*cked hot and angry after a fight. It had always felt like something clicked into place between them in moments like this. To Ichigo, it felt like falling into the warmest ocean and happily drowning.
Byakuya’s hands find Ichigo’s hips and pull, tilting them dangerously back. Byakuya’s strong hands keep Ichigo balanced as he straddles his mate’s hips. Like this they’re nose to nose and Ichigo finds himself lost in his mate’s gaze. “I love you…more than words.” Ichigo feels his eyes burn with the threat of tears. He didn’t really want to cry emotional tears while ass deep on his mate’s dick. He’s cried for other reasons while ass deep on his mate’s dick…which were all pleasurable and completely enjoyable. These were not pleasurable tears and so he sucks them down and nuzzles into Byakuya’s neck while grinding maddeningly down into his lap.
“I love you too. So f*cking much.” Byakuya catches his lips in a fierce kiss pouring all of his love and devotion into it. Ichigo gasps and speeds his hips up effectively bouncing on Byakuya’s lap and Byakuya’s hands tighten on his hips helping to guide him with each bounce. f*ck. Ichigo can feel his stomach start to coil in pleasure knowing that their shared release was close. “Missed this…missed you. Want you to mark me as yours all over again. Paint me in your cum and plug me so full that it will show everyone that I belong to you. Mate…my mate.” Ichigo knows he’s babbling for lack of something else to do with his mouth but he also knows that Byakuya adores his sex-addled babbles. It was endearing apparently but also sexy as hell because Ichigo said whatever came to mind.
“Mine. My mate. My beautiful powerful mate.”
Byakuya bites down roughly on the skin of Ichigo’s neck, rolling it between his teeth, and flexes his hips up to meet Ichigo’s. Ichigo falls apart in his arms. White explodes behind his eyelids and he knows he must sound obscene with the throaty whine that leaves his lips as white paints their heaving chests. Byakuya’s mouth slants over his stealing what little air he had and taking it all for himself as he c*ms deep inside of Ichigo.
“Love you…so much.”
Byakuya chuckles softly and shifts so they’re lying properly on the bed but not dislodging himself from Ichigo. He knew his little hollow brat enjoyed the connection post sex. It made him feel wanted and satiated. “As I love you.” Byakuya watches sleepily as Ichigo nuzzles into his neck and presses a few sleepy kisses to whatever skin he can reach. They made it. They survived.
