Glimpses and Misfits: Mission

Title:     Mission
Series:  Bleach AU / Glimpses and Misfits
Rating:  PG-13
Pairing: Shuuhei/Kensei

I'm starting to accumulate an ever increasing number of scenes that do nothing more than tickle my brain and clutter up Prospects and Job Hunt. So I've decided to just pile them into a drabble directory and leave them there until they decide to co-operate or grow up.

Mission
Kensei was inclined to ignore the doorbell.  He wasn't expecting anyone. Besides, he had already spoken to Lisa that morning and knew that Shūhei was alive.  Lisa was good about passing on news promptly, but these small nuggets of reassurance couldn't fill the void in Kensei's heart.

Nothing could, least of all the knowledge that Shūhei taking that undercover assignment hadn't been a snap decision. Neither had it been Shūhei's decision alone. They'd talked about it, they'd planned and discussed and agreed.  They both thought they knew what they were doing. But Kensei hadn't expected to miss Shūhei the way he did.  Like an eye, or an arm, or a warm blanket at night.

Nor had he expected Shūhei to be away for both their birthdays and their first anniversary.

Kensei rose with a sigh when the doorbell continued to annoy him. He wanted peace and quiet and the opportunity to mope, and whoever was determined to bother him better had a damn good reason.

"Shūhei?" The figure on the doorstep was a dead ringer for his lover. And Kensei could do little more than stare at the face he'd only seen in photographs and his dreams for far too long. "Did you lose your keys?"

Shūhei shuffled his feet and didn't look up. "I didn't want to presume," he replied eventually. "It's been three months, Kensei.  All sorts of stuff could have happened."

The exhaustion in Shūhei's voice stopped Kensei's anger before it had time to gather strength. It was so like Shūhei to doubt. He took in the tired droop to the younger man's shoulders, the dark shadows under the eucalyptus eyes and held out a hand. "Could have, but didn't," he said softly, guiding Shūhei inside and closing the door against the world outside. "I was sitting here celebrating our anniversary. I even got your favourite single malt."

"Islay?" Shūhei's tone was dry. "Mind if I have one?"

Glimpses and Misfits: Message

Title:     Message
Series:  Bleach AU / Glimpses and Misfits
Rating:  PG-13
Pairing: Shuuhei/Kensei

I'm starting to accumulate an ever increasing number of scenes that do nothing more than tickle my brain and clutter up Prospects and Job Hunt. So I've decided to just pile them into a drabble directory and leave them there until they decide to co-operate or grow up.

Message
"I thought I had asked for all phones to be turned off," the CEO of Kuchiki Industries complained when frantic beeping interrupted his presentation of the company's financial results.

A chair crashed to the ground in answer, knocked over in Kensei Muguruma's heedless sprint from the boardroom. The door slammed, leaving Byakuya Kuchiki to frown in consternation.

Kensei, head of Kuchiki Industries Corporate Security, might display the occasional streak of temper, but he was not usually rude. Walking out on the man who employed him, in the middle of a board meeting at that, did not fit Kensei's profile. Not at all.

"We're taking a ten minute break," the CEO announced and left the room, not surprised when Zaraki Kenpachi fell into step beside him before he'd even reached the stairs. Kenpachi had a nose for trouble that beat even Kensei's. And he'd been quivering all morning.

"What do you think happened?"

Byakuya shrugged. "That was a pager," he said slowly, trying to unravel the mystery. "Kensei doesn't have a pager."

Sounds of desperate sobbing greeted the men as they exited the stairwell on the 13th floor. The reception area outside the corporate security office was deserted, but the door to the large open plan office stood ajar. Byakuya reached for the handle, only to have it yanked out of his grip from the inside, a quick sidestep saving him from being bowled over backwards by a frantic Don Frazer.

"What's happening, kid?"

Donald Frazer stopped in his tracks and his head tilted backwards, meeting Kenpachi Zaraki's questioning gaze. He turned back toward the centre of the room, where Kensei stood still as a statue watching a smartly dressed blonde sob into a crushed handkerchief, as if to remind himself of events and reasons before he considered the men who had accosted him. He bopped a short nod as if both Byakuya and Zaraki had passed some test before he spoke.

"Shūhei Hisagi has been kidnapped."