Why Yumichika wears a neck-guard

Authors Note:

(By neckguard I mean that strange orange scarf-like, polo-neck thing he always wears.)

I was wondering the other day why Yumichika, who is obsessed with his own beauty, would hide his neck and chest under that massive orange neck guard thingy. Surely he would want to show off his awesome sexy chest to everyone?

In flash back episodes he wears a flowery kimono and has that open to show his chest, but since becoming a Shinigami he always seems to have it covered. Then I noticed that even when he was wearing the school uniform he had it buttoned right up to the top and now I’m convinced there’s some sort of conspiracy regarding Yumi’s chest!

So with all that in mind I thought up reasons why he’d want to hide under that orange thingy. The reasons kept getting sillier and sillier, but this one I liked :)

This is Ikkaku/Yumichika of course :)

Oh, and he never wore that purple V-neck that you vaguely remember showed his collarbone. It didn’t happen, you imagined it… XD


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Why Yumichika wears a neck-guard.

They were fighting Hollows. It was just another ordinary mission, but Ikkaku - loving any excuse for a fight - was enjoying every second of it. He ignored everything else around him, oblivious to the other Shinigami and their battles, ignoring the sounds of their conflicts which roared around him as he concentrated only on the Hollow in front of him, swinging his sword enthusiastically and grinning like a lunatic. There was almost nothing that could distract him. Almost.

A blood-curdling scream ripped through the air and Ikkaku recognised who it was immediately. If it had been anyone else he would most likely have ignored it, but there was no doubt in his mind that it was Yumichika, and as this realisation sunk in he felt a bubble of panic swell up inside of him. He could sense the pain in his friend’s voice, and although it would be dishonourable for him to butt in on someone else’s fight, he knew he couldn’t just ignore his friends plight and had to at least check that he was okay. Hurriedly, Ikkaku finished off the Hollow that he had been merely toying with, cutting it down with a single slice of his sword.

He scanned his eyes across the battlefield impatiently, unable to see his best friend anywhere amongst the sea of fighting Shinigami and Hollows, but then he heard the scream again, it was weaker, more desperate, and barely audible amid the chaotic sounds of battle. He rushed in the direction which the scream had come from and found himself on the edge of a small forest. His eyes widened at the sight of broken branches and shattered tree trunks, where something – and most likely someone - had fallen through the tree tops.

As he descended into the obliterated patch of trees he saw glowing particles dancing upwards on the breeze which he knew were from a defeated and disintegrating Hollow. A small wave of relief ran through him at the thought that Yumichika had defeated the monster, but Ikkaku couldn’t feel fully relaxed until he had found his friend safe, especially as he remembered the pained screams he had heard earlier.

Ikkaku found himself in a newly formed clearing, created by the huge Hollow that had fallen down here and he quickly glanced around, looking for Yumichika. He could sense his reiatsu, it was very weak but still strong enough for Ikkaku to know that his friend was in no real danger. He called out his name but got no reply.

He found Yumichika collapsed on the ground amid the dirt, grass and broken branches. He was laying very still, sprawled out on his front and was more than likely unconscious. He was face down in the grass, his dark hair tangled with small twigs and leaves caught in it. Ikkaku carefully plucked a few leaves and twigs from the messy hair and pulled his fingers through the knots a few times to try and tidy him up, knowing how upset his friend would be at his less than perfect appearance. Yumichika’s dishevelled black kimono was covered in dust and was ripped here and there. His left sleeve had twisted and been pushed up, revealing Yumichika’s slender bare arm, which was dotted with bruises and scratches from the fight.

Carefully, Ikkaku turned his friend over onto his back, calling his name to try to rouse him but got no reaction. Ikkaku took a sharp breath in shock, there was a cut across Yumichika’s upper chest that ran across his kimono and across his orange neck-guard, both of which were wet with blood. The tie that linked his neck-guard to his tight orange sleeve had been severed and trailed away into the grass.

Carefully, Ikkaku pulled away the torn and frayed orange material around Yumichika’s neck to assess the damage better, and also to allow his friend to breathe a bit easier without the material clinging to his neck. Even as he did this, he felt a touch of embarrassment. Although what he was doing was entirely innocent he felt as though he were taking advantage of the situation. True, it was only Yumichika’s neck guard, but Ikkaku could not imagine Yumichika ever allowing himself to be undressed by Ikkaku like this, no matter how much Ikkaku would like to. He blushed slightly and sighed, shaking his head, now was not the time to be thinking about his friend in that way, particularly when Yumichika was unconscious and vulnerable.

But there was something else that gave Ikkaku reservations about removing the scarf-like attire. Yumichika never showed his chest anymore, not since the days when they roamed the streets before they even became Shinigami. Back then, Yumichika had worn beautiful flowered kimonos, open at the front, showing plenty of skin and Ikkaku liked to watch him out of the corner of his eye, or when his friend couldn’t see him, so that he wouldn’t know how much he was attracted to him. Ikkaku had tried to get his friends attention by wearing the most ridiculously short kimono he could find, one that clung perfectly to his ass, but he hadn’t caught Yumichika looking at his rear even once. Maybe the beauty obsessed Yumichika didn’t find Ikkaku to be beautiful. Anyway, the point was that Ikkaku hadn’t gotten a nice eye full of Yumichika’s body in ages. Was just a little bit of flesh to drool over really so difficult? Why did Yumichika feel the need to always cover up his chest like that?

So Ikkaku felt slightly uneasy and guilty as he removed the material and draped it to one side over a snapped tree branch. He then turned back to Yumichika, wondering what his friend was trying to hide. He wondered if maybe Yumichika had scars across his chest and throat from a battle and wanted to hide them because he didn’t feel beautiful any more. If that was why then Ikkaku would tell his friend - at the risk of his own manly tough-guy image - that Yumichika was beautiful no matter what and scars were perfectly masculine and attractive anyway. But he’d say it in the straightest, least gay way possible. No point in letting Yumichika in on his little secret, Yumichika would only laugh at him and it would be humiliating as well as heart breaking.

But once Ikkaku had pulled apart the lapel of the kimono somewhat, and dabbed away the blood, he found that not only was the cut not as bad as he had feared, but there was no underlying old wounds or disfiguration of any kind that would explain Yumichika’s reluctance to show off his chest. Ikkaku rubbed away some of the dots of earth from the warm skin and found himself stroking his friend’s chest, which he hadn’t seen in years and had desperately missed the sight of. He realised what he was doing and quickly pulled his hand away, looking across at Yumichika’s face, half expecting to see him frowning at him disapprovingly but Yumichika’s eyes were still closed and his mouth open slightly as he took shallow breaths.

“Yumichika?” Ikkaku asked worriedly. He wiped some dirt from his friend’s cheek and brushed the tangled hair away from his face. His friend’s eyebrows crinkled, the bright feathers swaying with the movement, and when Ikkaku called his name once again, Yumichika finally opened his eyes.

Yumichika groaned unhappily.

“So you’re finally awake,” Ikkaku said, barely able to hide the relief in his voice.

Yumichika shifted slightly and glanced around at his surroundings in confusion, “What… where…” then he remembered what had happened and, with a grunt, he laid his head back down on the ground, tiredly.

“That Hollow was so un-beautiful, it was the ugliest thing,” Yumichika stated, his face scrunching up with disgust at the recollection.

Ikkaku watched in slow motion horror as his friend moved his hand up to his tangled hair, and Yumichika’s eyes widened, bulging in horror. Ikkaku readied himself for his friend’s reaction.

Yumichika made a choking sound of pure terror, “Agghhh! My hair! No! I need to wash it now! I need a comb! This is not beautiful!”

Yumichika moved to sit up but suddenly his face registered pain and for the first time he seemed to feel the cut across his chest. Then, his eyes which had been narrowed with pain suddenly widened as they noticed his orange neck guard hanging on a branch. His hands instinctively went up and pulled the edges of his kimono tightly around his throat and then he shot a look of deep distrust, annoyance and fear at Ikkaku who just stared innocently back with a look of confusion on his face.

Why was Yumichika acting so strangely, did he really not want him to see his chest? There was nothing wrong with it except for the new cut from today, and Ikkaku knew that Yumichika wasn’t worried about him seeing that. Suddenly it occurred to him that maybe Yumichika had known back when they had lived on the streets that Ikkaku had been checking him out and he didn’t like it, and that was why he always kept himself covered up.

“Did you take that off me, Ikkaku!?” Yumichika shouted angrily, pointing at the orange material on the branch accusingly. He glared at Ikkaku, who was beginning to think that he was right about his theory, maybe Yumichika really was aware of Ikkaku’s feeling for him.

“It was covered in blood and it was all cut up. You couldn’t breathe properly in it-” Ikkaku said defensively.

But Yumichika just ignored him and took a deep shaky breath, “Did you see it?” he asked quietly, fearfully, and Ikkaku’s confusion deepened. See what? Ikkaku studied his friend’s nervous demeanour and the way his hands were clutched to his chest. Yumichika’s fingers were still clinging to his kimono but Ikkaku noticed his hands were pulled up awkwardly to his left side covering the area between his collarbone and his heart. Was whatever he was trying to hide in that area? Because Ikkaku hadn’t seen the skin under there, it had still been hidden under Yumichika’s kimono earlier.

The silence got the better of Yumichika who was becoming frantic, “Just tell me if you did. Please. I can explain it. I was really drunk-”

By this time Ikkaku was becoming annoyed. Yumichika was making no sense and Ikkaku couldn’t get a word in edgeways under his friends nervous babbling. Ikkaku didn’t like not being in the know and suddenly his temper got the better of him, and in a bid to find out what the hell his friend was talking about in the quickest, easiest way possible, he reached forward, grabbed Yumichika’s hands and wrenched them away from their vice like-grip on his kimono. Surprised by this turn of events Yumichika let out a wail and then frantically tried to stop Ikkaku from pulling aside the edge of his kimono but it was too late.

Ikkaku’s eyes widened in astonishment at what he saw. He didn’t know what he had been expecting but it hadn’t been this. Just below Yumichika’s collar bone was a tattoo. It said ‘Yumichika loves Ikkaku’ in swirly decorative letters which were remarkably similar to Yumichika’s own handwriting. The curly letters were surrounded by hearts which were coloured in the exact same shade of red as Ikkaku’s eye makeup. Ikkaku stared blankly at the beautiful tattoo and then was brought back to reality by a vicious slap to the face.

“What did you do that for!?” Yumichika screeched hysterically. His face was red with anger and embarrassment. He sat up straight and tried to back away from Ikkaku who was clutching his stinging face and looking affronted. Yumichika wrapped his kimono tightly around himself again. “I was very drunk! I told you!”

Yumichika staggered to his feet, trembling with nerves and a dizziness brought on by his injuries as well as his fear. His face had drained of all colour and he looked like he might quite easily pass out again.

Ikkaku stood up, ready to catch his friend in case he fell back down into the dirt and leaves but his sudden movement instilled renewed panic in Yumichika who tensed as though he thought Ikkaku was going to attack him and his hand flew to his sword hilt defensively as he continued to back away.

“It doesn’t mean anything! I don’t really… feel that way. Not like that. Please don’t be angry-” Yumichika begged desperately, “I was drunk and it won’t come off.”

Ikkaku laughed. He hadn’t meant to but it was kind of funny, and despite Yumichika insisting otherwise it was a relief to Ikkaku to know that he wasn’t the only one with feelings for his best friend. Yumichika was reacting so strongly and guiltily that it was obvious he was lying about not loving his friend.

“It’s not funny-” Yumichika said angrily, but then he seemed to calm down suddenly and his facial expression changed. He saw this as a way out, he would just laugh it off, and then maybe Ikkaku would believe his lies. Yumichika chuckled nervously. “Ha, as if someone as beautiful as me could l... love someone like you.” He stopped backing away and watched Ikkaku warily. He didn’t seem angry, maybe he really did believe that the tattoo meant nothing. Yumichika decided to change the subject. “We should get back – but don’t tell anyone what you saw! They’ll take it the wrong way...” Yumichika trailed off, and then made a pained sound. He sat down heavily on a tree trunk which had fallen on its side. His head was spinning.

“You shouldn’t be doing so much walking around after the damage you took. You’ll make yourself worse,” Ikkaku said walking across and standing in front of him. “We’ll give you a moment to pick up your strength then I’ll take you to the 4th Squad.”

“But I need to get back right now and have a shower! I need to wash my hair and change my clothes! I am not at my full beautiful-ness!” Yumichika complained.

“No, you need to sit still and rest.” Ikkaku knelt down in front of him and reached out his hand and touched his hair.

“What are you doing?” Yumichika asked, leaning back suspiciously.

Ikkaku grinned. “I’m getting these twigs and leaves out of your hair. I thought it might stop you whining about not being beautiful enough. Okay?”

Yumichika nodded and then stared down at the floor whilst Ikkaku continued to play with his hair. Although Yumichika’s face was tilted downwards, Ikkaku was satisfied to notice that his friend was blushing. He reached down and pulled some earth from the shoulder and front of Yumichika’s kimono, he could feel his friend’s eyes watching his hand move. Then, half expecting Yumichika to stop him, he started to wipe the dirt from Yumichika’s bare chest. Yumichika’s breath hitched in his throat and his whole body froze in shock as Ikkaku leant forward and rested his head against Yumichika’s neck. “You really are very beautiful.” Ikkaku whispered.

Yumichika’s hands tightened their grip on the rough bark of the tree trunk. “Why are you mocking me like this?”

“I’m not mocking you. I mean it. I’ve always thought you were incredibly beautiful. I’ve always been attracted to you.” He kissed Yumichika’s neck and then licked the warm skin, revelling in the way Yumichika shivered and let out a little moan.

Ikkaku reached a hand behind his friend and held him tightly. He moved back slightly to get a better view of Yumichika, who stared right back at him with red cheeks and parted lips. Something seemed to alter in Yumichika’s eyes as he suddenly gave in to years of pent up desire and his hands reached out and clung to the sides of Ikkaku’s face, pulling him forward as he urgently pressed their lips together. His arms wrapped tightly around Ikkaku’s neck, holding the other man against him.

Bright-coloured feathers tickled Ikkaku’s forehead as they kissed. Yumichika’s soft lips moved against Ikkaku’s as his tongue pushed its way past his parted lips, and Ikkaku could hear his best friend moaning as the smaller man clung to him desperately. He’d almost given up hope that this could ever happen, and to have Yumichika holding onto him with undeniable need like this was like a dream.

“I love you too, Yumichika,” Ikkaku said between kisses, feeling Yumichika smiling at the words. He stroked a hand across Yumichika’s chest, careful to avoid the cut from earlier, and crept his fingers under the edge of his kimono to rub the tell-tale tattoo.

He heard Yumichika give a little embarrassed laugh. “I would have shown you that tattoo ages ago if I’d known you would react like this.”

Ikkaku laughed and placed kisses along Yumichika’s jaw-line as he pulled Yumichika’s kimono down over his shoulders. He rubbed his bare arms in circular motions and kissed and licked the tattoo, sending Yumichika into renewed breathy giggles.

Ikkaku, still kneeling directly in front of him, moved further forward, forcing Yumichika to part his legs. He could feel the insides of Yumichika’s thighs pressing against his hips. Ikkaku moved his hands down to Yumichika’s waist and pulled the smaller man, still perched on the fallen tree trunk, further forward so that both their upper and lower bodies were pressed together. Ikkaku was so hard and he let out a groan as this movement pressed his arousal firmly against Yumichika’s stomach, only a couple of infuriating layers of clothing separating them. Silently praying that Yumichika was as aroused as he was, Ikkaku pushed his thigh forward against his friend’s groin. He was satisfied to feel a definite bulge and pleased to find that this action drew a whimper from Yumichika, who had thrown his arms tightly around Ikkaku and was pawing at his shoulders, his face buried in Ikkaku’s neck.

Yumichika tugged at Ikkaku’s kimono, pulling it down over his arms and revealing his chest, so that their naked torsos were now pressed tightly against each other.

Ikkaku moved his hands in between them and began untying the white sash around Yumichika’s waist. Ikkaku gripped the top of the hakama-trousers, his knuckles resting against his friend’s stomach. He could feel Yumichika’s heavy breaths against his neck and wondered just how far Yumichika would let him go. A part of him still unable to believe that Yumichika could really be as attracted to him as he seemed.

“Yumi-” he began tentatively, but was quickly cut off.

“Please!” Yumichika begged, his lips against Ikkaku’s ear, “touch it…” he faded off into a deep moan as Ikkaku pushed his hand under the material. He felt soft hair under his fingers and then pressed his palm against Yumichika’s arousal, making Yumichika pant breathlessly. He squeezed the sensitive flesh, and then began pumping it in a steady rhythm, listening all the while to the gasps and whimpers pouring from Yumichika.

Suddenly he felt Yumichika’s hand untangling his own white belt and within a few seconds felt the hand push its way under the clothing. Ikkaku rested his head against the top of Yumichika’s head, feeling his friend’s soft hair against his cheek, and closed his eyes as slender fingers stroked him into ecstasy.

Alone, hidden amongst the trees they touched each other and clung to each other until Ikkaku felt Yumichika cum into his hand, hearing him cry out in pleasure against his neck. Yumichika continued to pump Ikkaku’s arousal, pressing kisses to his neck until Ikkaku came too.

They stayed there a little while longer, wrapped in each others arms. After all, they had decided to wait until Yumichika had regained his strength before heading back, and now he wasn’t the only one needing a little rest.

The End.

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Authors Note: Seriously though, how short was Ikkaku’s kimono in those flash backs? And we all know the only reason he never caught Yumichika ogling him was because Yumichika was just as good at watching him out of the corner of his eye as Ikkaku was ;)

This wasn’t even going to be porn but I got a bit carried away at the end there *blush*

I hope you enjoyed it ;)