Aim Between the Eyes, Rukia
by Lady Kaarii
Rating: T for language
Warnings: Swearing
Pairings: RenRuki
Notes: This is AU, but you can hardly tell. Open to criticism.
Special Thanks: Thanks so much to my beta, EarwenTelrunya!

My breathing was labored. Beads of sweat ran down my forehead. I thought he was the man of my dreams. Turns out he walked out of the worst of my nightmares, and right into the center of my life. I glared at him. "You're a bastard, Renji."

His finger curled around the trigger. The barrel was pointed at my chest. "I didn't want it to come to this, Rukia." Then he did it. He pulled the trigger.

In a split second my white jacket was covered in red; he hit me. I stared at my reddened chest in horror. Then rage.

Son of a bitch!

"God dammit, Renji! This was a brand new jacket! Do you know how much it cost me?"

He raised the paint gun to his mouth, blowing off the top as though it was smoking. "Thats what happens when you eat the last of the ramen," he said in that arrogant manner of his.

In the past few weeks of living with Renji I'd learned there were but three unspoken rules in the Abarai household. One, don't leave guns laying around. Two, leave the bathroom light on at night. And three, never, ever eat the last of the ramen.

But ruining my new jacket. . . He went too far this time. I dove past him, snatched my purse off the floor, dug around in it until I found my pepper spray, and aimed. He jumped away from me, putting the table between us. "N-No fair, Rukia," he said, eyes glued to the small can in my hand. "I didn't use anything harmful."

"Nothing harmful? What about my jacket?!" I took a step towards him, he took one back. "If you don't want your neurotransmitters to be shot to hell for the next half hour you'd better go get me some bleach," I said, my voice low in an effort to suppress my anger. "Now."

He was out the door in the blink of an eye. That was the thing about Renji. He was all talk. Most of the time.

I went to the kitchen sink, slipping the zipper down on my jacket. I turned the water on and pulled the jacket off, leaving me in a bra and jeans as I began washing the paint out.

Renji returned a half hour later, carrying several grocery bags. "Oi, Rukia! I'm back."

"In the kitchen," I called.

He was rummaging in the plastic bags as he walked in. "I did some shopping," he said, pulling out the small bottle of bleach I'd requested. "So stay away from my. . ." His voice trailed off when he raised his head and looked at me.

"What?" I asked, annoyed at his dumbfounded expression. His face turned beat red as I held my hand out for the bleach.

"Where's your shirt?!"

I held up the jacket. "Remember?"

"Don't you have anything else to wear?"

My eyebrows furrowed together in irritation. Just how stupid can one guy be? "What? Don't see anything you like?" I asked, relying heavily on sarcasm to cover up my irritation. But even as I said it I felt heat rising to my cheeks. Dammit. I took my anger out on the jacket, rubbing it mercilessly to get the stain out. Didn't work.

A pause stretched between us, and I thought he was going to say no.

"Of course I do," he said at last, and I almost grinned. Then he spoke again, and there was the usual arrogance and amusement back in his voice. "But you must be pretty cold. Your nipples look hard as rocks."

I threw the soapy sponge I'd been using in his face.

"My eyes!"

Jerk.