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Chapter broken in to two parts just so it can give me time to figure out what exactly I'm doing with this thing.

Title: Come What May – Limit Break (pt 1)
Fandom: Bleach
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 5734
Characters: Ikkaku, Nemu, Kaien, Lady Shiba
Summary: Following Rundown, Top of the Caste, Smile for Me, Setting Stages, Daily Reprieve, Odds Against, One Step Beyond, Seating Arrangements, Distances Between, Time Misspent, Burnt Bridges, Ties that Break and Impulse. An experiment, if you will. When you’re alone.




Nemu had thought that being vice-captain and having strict rules in place would make things easier. She wasn’t avoiding Ikkaku, exactly. She just… it was almost… nerve wracking, really. The thought of seeing him made her fear that something would happen and Mayuri-sama would find out and…

But then she became vice-captain. And she found out that she’d see the other divisions’ vice-captains for monthly meetings. That on it’s own wasn’t so bad until she found out that the 11th division’s 3rd seat sat in on the meetings.

“Of course.” Said the 8th vice-captain, Ise. “Kusajishi-fukutaicho is still a bit too young to fully understand her job as vice-captain. And until she has matured enough, the job will fall to the 3rd seat.”

She wasn’t avoiding him. Not exactly. But Mayuri-sama would be upset if she didn’t return straight after a meeting so she’d always have to hurry back after they were dismissed. And Ikkaku would always be caught up by one of the other vice-captains in some playful argument or being dragged off for a drink. He didn’t have time for her either, she reasoned.

It was best for both of them, really.

Until the time when he managed to get a seat next to her. He plopped down, crossed his arms across his chest and glared straight ahead. Throughout the entire meeting he paid her little- if any –attention. It was the first time Nemu hadn’t been able to focus on the meeting. And when she tried to leave directly after, he snagged her wrist.

“Why are you ignorin’ me?” He said quietly, still seated. Nemu couldn’t look at him, bangs bowed before her face. “What’d I do this time?”

“….” She turned her head away. “Why do you think you did something?”

“Because I always manage to fuck somethin’ up around you.” He gave her wrist a sharp tug, just enough to unbalance her slightly, but she caught herself and she was caught in his eyes. “Tell me.” He said so deeply his voice was a soft rumble she felt through his hand. “Tell me what I did and I’ll tell you I’m sorry.”

Slowly, almost afraid of what she’d do if she touched him again, Nemu pulled his hand from her wrist, trying to forget the hewn roughness of his hands that had kept her safe and had comforted her.

He snatched her fingertips. “Nemu-“

“Don’t.” She said softly, but he still quieted immediately. “It’s…” She couldn’t think of what to say to that lost, weak look in his eyes that she hated so much. “Please let me go.”

Nemu didn’t expect him to hear her, barely even whispering. Expected even less for his hand to slide away from hers. She hurried out of the room, and her hand felt too cold, too soft around the one she held to her chest.

Not having yet gotten up, Ikkaku slid down in his seat until his head rested on the back of the chair and he was glaring at the ceiling. “Dammit…” He probably would’ve spent the remainder of the day there grinding his teeth except that someone else got in the way.

“Yo, Ikkakun!”

His eye twitched. “Kaien-san.” Ikkaku said carefully. “If you don’t mind, I kinda wanna stew over here.”

“Sure, no problem.” But the dark haired man pushed him to the edge of the seat, giving himself barely enough room to sit on the other edge. He propped his elbows on the table and grinned at Ikkaku. “So.” Kaien said slowly. “You and Nemu-“

Ikkaku cut him off with a snarl. “Stop right there.”

“Stop what?”

“That thought.” He snapped, standing abruptly. “We’re not like that, okay? I just… She-“

“You’re trying to be friendly but she keeps trying to distance herself and you don’t know why. But you know she’s not as cold as that and you know she likes your company but it’s like she can’t stand having you around anymore even though you know that’s not true.” Kaien smirked between his knuckles. “Is that it?”

Ikkaku deflated. “Yeah… somethin’ like that.”

“Ya know,” here Kaien stood up and started herding Ikkaku out of the room, “I think I know the perfect solution for you. If Ikkakun needs tips on how to deal with women, I think I may know the perfect person for him to talk to.”

He couldn’t help that hopeful note in his voice. “….Really?” Then he scowled. “And would ya knock it off with the stupid nickname?”

~*~*~*~

The perfect person, as it turned out to be, was Kaien’s wife. Ikkaku felt out of place not only on a noble’s estate, but sitting unattended across a table from a very powerful, very influential vice-captain’s (who, and Ikkaku was too proud to admit this, he respected very much) rather attractive wife.

She smiled at him kindly at him as her husband shuffled in the cupboards for some snacks. “So, Madarame-kun,” (she had even asked if it was alright to refer to him as that, as if a noble needed to ask for permission!) “Kaien tells me you’ve been having some troubles with the female persuasion?” She had the same sort of the smile that Unohana-taichou did. Bright and warm and secretive and all too amused at whatever problem had revealed itself.

“Er, yeah. For the most part.” He said gruffly, nodding his head as she passed a saucer of sake to him. He didn’t know what it was about this woman that made him feel clumsy and completely out of his league. “We used to be friends in the academy and we got split into different division but we still talked every once in a while.” Ikkaku shifted uncomfortably under her patient gaze, thinking that a grown man shouldn’t be feeling like little kid. He tossed back the sake, hoping the burn of alcohol would give him focus. “We’ve kinda drifted apart, I guess. But every time I try to talk to her, she ignores me.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” She replied, refilling the saucer with a delicate dip of her wrist.

He gave her a grin that wasn’t entirely certain what it was supposed to be doing so it turned out to be a little nervous. “Yeah, so, uh…” Ikkaku cleared his throat. “Kaien-san said you might be able to suggest something. You know, to, uh, help me out. Uh…” He looked away, feeling a blush crawl from the tips of his ears and working across his cheeks. He felt like a pre-teen again- WORSE than a pre-teen because he never went through something this embarrassment before.

To make it worse, she giggled before cupping her hands over her smile. “Kaien!” She called to her husband. “He’s so adorable! Where ever did you find him?” To which Ikkaku only blushed harder.

Kaien entered the room with that big, warm laughter that everyone automatically associated him with. One hand carried a platter of sweet bean buns and the other tenderly touched his wife’s cheek and jaw. “Vice-captains’ meetings, actually.” He told her, sitting at the table and giving Ikkaku a grin. “He’s been moping about and I finally decided he needed someone to knock him into action.”

She turned on Ikkaku again, her expression curious. “Oh? Are you a vice-captain? Did you get promoted recently? I don’t recall the name-“

“Ah, no.” Kaien took her hand in his. “He’s the 11th division’s 3rd seat. Filling for Yachiru-chan.”

“11th division? You mean he’s the one-“ Kaien nodded. “Then that’s also-“ He nodded again and she put a hand to her mouth. “Oh, Madarame-kun, I’m sorry! I’ve been so rude to you!”

Ikkaku jolted. “Huh? No, no you haven’t! I mean…” He flailed briefly, trying to figure what was going on.

“Calm down, calm down.” Kaien said, reaching out with one hand to snag Ikkaku’s wrist and pushing a bun into it with the other. “She just realized what the problem was.”

“Yes. I’m terribly sorry for that. I should have known.”

“Er.” He still looked lost on the subject. “It’s okay?”

She poured out another saucer of sake, taking a small sip before she slid it in front of Kaien as he munched on a bun. “I see why you’re having such troubles, though.”

Deciding to chalk this up to some sort of ‘marriage couple ESP’, Ikkaku lifted his own saucer again. “Do you think you could help me out, then?”

“I think who really needs to be helped out isn’t you, Madarame-kun.” Kaien handed her the bun as he gulped down the sake, filling it up again as his wife nibbled daintily at the bite. Somehow they didn’t seem like they were sharing, it looked more like what it would look like if one person had two bodies. The almost thoughtless way the saucer and the bun passed between the two without a glance at either each other or the objects at hand. Ikkaku couldn’t help feeling like an intruder.

Kaien swished his saucer once or twice and threw it back. Before it even hit the table, his wife had filled it again and his hand came up to take the bun. Watching this Ikkaku figured the best way to keep it from messing with his head was just to keep drinking. His, too, was filled up almost immediately.

“You believe in keepin’ a guy well inebriated, don’t you.” Ikkaku teased lightly. His grin was given back in double.

“So long as no one makes any trouble, there’s no problem in being comfortable, Madarame-kun.”

“You needs to relax more often.”

“It would help if you didn’t keep tryin’ to get me to buy you drinks.”

Kaien’s grin broadened. “Ah, but Ikkakun knows all the best bars.”

Ikkaku made a face at the name and downed the saucer. When they made to refill it, he just put up a hand. “No thanks. You keep lettin’ me drink and I’ll be crashin’ here, tonight.”

“If you insist.” She moved the sake bottle back and Kaien took it from her and put it by his own elbow. “But as I was saying before, I don’t believe you are the one who has wronged.”

“What do you mean?” He tossed the bun in his hand, finally taking a bite out of it. “Mm! These are good!”

“Aren’t they?” Kaien grinned. “My younger siblings send them out to me whenever we’re too busy to go see them. They’re the best you can get.”

“What you should do is keep trying to reach out to her. She is, after all, your friend, is she not? But don’t try to pressure her into a decision, she’s been placed in a hard situation. What she needs, I believe, is some outside help.”

Ikkaku’s brow crinkled, mouth full of sweet bean paste.

“A third party.” Kaien explained, holding up his own bun as his wife took another bite from it. “I could talk to her, try to nudge her in a direction where she could make an unbiased decision.”

She nodded, taking another small sip of sake. “It will have to be in a place where she won’t fear repercussions, though. If she thinks that any sort of talk or interaction not on a strictly business level will be observed, she’ll close up.” But she smiled warmly across the table and told Ikkaku, “I can take care of that part, at least.”

He ogled at them. “You two would be willing to help me out?”

“Of course!”

“It’s no trouble at all. After all, Aizen-taichou is often inquiring about the 12th division’s research. I’m certain requesting Kurotsuchi-fukutaichou’s presence would not appear too suspicious.”

“Then I’ll just whisk her off to a place where she can feel safe and at ease and try to convince her to make her choice. No problem.”

For a moment, Ikkaku’s jaw worked soundlessly. Then his entire face lit up with an almost disbelieving smile. “You-You would? Really? Th-Thank you!” He put both hands on the table and touched his forehead to it. “I- Just, thank you!”

Kaien laughed again and his wife’s lighter, softer laughter made it sound even warmer, more complete. “Aw, stop that.” Kaien chided. “You’ll just owe me a drink, later.”

“Screw that!” Ikkaku said, jumping to his feet. “I’ll owe you ‘til you pass out!” He bowed once because it was like there was only one full person there. “Thank you, again!”

Kaien’s voice followed him out the main house. “I’ll be holding you to that, Ikkakun!”

The entire trip back to the 11th division, Ikkaku’s steps were light and his grin broad upon his face. He couldn’t help thinking things were really going to start going his way.

And in the back of his head he thought, even though it seemed a little cheesy, how much Lord and Lady Shiba seemed so little like a married couple and how strange it would be from now on whenever he’d see Kaien without his wife around.

Date: 2005-10-12 07:14 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] starswing.livejournal.com
Just one thing... isn't the 8th division vice-captain Ise Nanao and Isane's 4th Division's VC? ^^ I got confused.

Secondly... for sticking Kaien and his wife in this, I LOVE YOU FOREVER. Ikkaku and Nemu's brief interaction broke my heart, though... ;.; those poor people... good job!

Date: 2005-10-12 07:37 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] idiosyn.livejournal.com
Bah! They're names are too alike, they keep getting me mixed up *grrr*

I wanted so bad to fit Kaien in there, somehow. And I couldn't get him in without his wife. For characters with such little screen time, I love them so much...

And, man... I told Ikkaku to ATTEMPT some sort of... pseudo-emo for me and he's been channeling Shakespear-level 'tragic hero' at me for this and the next chapter. Last time I ask for anything other than 'badass' or 'dork' from him :P

Date: 2005-10-12 08:02 pm (UTC)
ext_97775: (Default)
From: [identity profile] renuki.livejournal.com
Oh this is getting good. :P

Ikkakun? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHH!!!!!!!! Let's hope Nemu doesn't decide to use that nickie. :P

Kaien and his wife are coooooooool! ^_^

(...I thought his wife works for the 13th. o.o)

Date: 2005-10-12 08:33 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] idiosyn.livejournal.com
Kaien seems like the kind of guy that would give people dumb nicknames :P I'm glad they both came out well, I never tried writing them before.

I don't think it ever specified what division she worked for, but I figured that if she were in the 5th, it would implicate Aizen dismissing the failed hybrids even further. Because, yeah, I don't want to kick that guy enoug, yet^^

Date: 2005-10-12 09:05 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] lily22.livejournal.com
Your Lord and Lady Kaien are so wonderful! I love how Ikkaku talks about how they act like one person in two bodies... Uh... yeah.

‘marriage couple ESP’
Should that be "married couple ESP"?

“You needs to relax more often.”
Right, extra s.


Oh, and the last line! FORESHADOWING OMG. *loves on*

Date: 2005-10-12 11:36 pm (UTC)
ext_97775: (Default)
From: [identity profile] renuki.livejournal.com
True.

The only time where they said she was in the 13th was in the anime...

........I think. o.o

I see.*Nods her head* make sense. :P

Date: 2005-10-12 11:53 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] furato.livejournal.com
Ikkaku angst is difficult to grasp at first, but once you tap his potential, he angsts like no one's business. Or at least that's how it was to me when I started drawing him.

Lovin' Kaien and wife here. The 'marriage couple ESP' feels just right, the kind that would make anyone around them uncomfortable.

Date: 2005-10-13 05:47 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] myuki-chan.livejournal.com
Ah! You're lovely for putting in Kaien and his wife.
They're so well written too :D Very adorable with the "one-person-in-two-bodies" thing XDXD

Date: 2005-10-13 08:55 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ex-rong.livejournal.com
I love the last line, and how you portrayed Kaien and his wife. Although the last line also made me rather sad...

Date: 2005-10-13 08:41 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tsukishine.livejournal.com
Much love for sticking Kaien and his wife in here. Everything you wrote with them was wonderful--I loved how you wrote their synergy. It fit with how little we saw of him to display them as two beings so in tune with one another it was almost as if their individual boundaries had faded into insignificance. Beautiful.

I am caught up on your stuff! Yes! as always, very good.

Date: 2005-10-13 10:40 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] idiosyn.livejournal.com
I've been around ESP couples before. It kind of weirds you out at first, but after a while it just sort of seems right.

Ikkaku's just emotionally constipated. For all his bluster and pissed-offness, he hasn't hugged his inner child yet ;_;

Date: 2005-10-13 10:42 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] idiosyn.livejournal.com
I'll have to change that when I get more time, thank you!

Unfortunately, yes... *sighs* Kaien could've been one of the best characters of all time. I hope there'll still be more memories on him, but I doubt it as Rukia seems to have come to terms with his death.

Date: 2005-10-13 10:44 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] idiosyn.livejournal.com
Like I could keep him out. He seems like the type to make damn-near everything his business and Lady Shiba is so his partner in crime XD

Date: 2005-10-13 10:45 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] idiosyn.livejournal.com
Thank you^^

I wish they didn't die, either, but... *sighs*

Date: 2005-10-13 10:46 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] idiosyn.livejournal.com
I'm glad I'm not the only one that caught how they seemed more like one entity than two seperate ones. I know it was a good idea to get you into this series, I have someone on the same wavelength!

You were behind? Oops?

Date: 2005-10-13 10:47 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] lily22.livejournal.com
Yeah, he really doesn't get much screentime, does he. D:

Date: 2005-10-13 11:18 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] myuki-chan.livejournal.com
lol XD He does! And they seem like helpful people too.

Date: 2005-10-14 12:18 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tsukishine.livejournal.com
Meh, not your fault. I'm behind on everything right now! Finally caught up with you, now it's time to catch up with school.

Date: 2005-10-14 02:46 am (UTC)

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