AN: So here's another Bleach Fanfiction I started. I'm posting these in the hopes of quieting the inner critic that tells me most of my stories are horrible. I'm hoping that someone besides me will enjoy them :) Again it's written in the first person and the main character is an OC so if that isn't your thing then you may want to look elsewhere. I do welcome reviews or criticism so I can figure out if what plays in my imagination should come out or should just stay up there in my head.

I don't own Bleach.

It all started that summer, right before my last year in high school (well, technically I should have been out of school, but I'd spent most of last year recuperating), when I learned just how different a Hollow attack could make you. Karakura was a new place for me, I'd been sent to live with Kisuke Urahara - some distant family relation from a side of the family tree that was more brambles and tangles than anything else - at his shop to recover (i.e. for my protection) from the night Asano attacked me. The whole situation was odd, working at the shop that rarely got customers, dealing with Kisuke and his vague sayings behind that curious fan, Tessai who looked like a badass brute but was really a teddy bear of a man, Jinta and Ururu who both seemed to flip-flop between acting 10 and acting much older. But it had helped me heal, the nightmares that woke me up screaming from the attack had gone from nightly to once every few weeks or so, and thankfully I rarely ever needed the tranquilizers to smooth out the panic attacks any more. Even the heavy spiritual energy that sometimes accompanied Kisuke's late night visitors had stopped freaking me out. Plus I was in some of the best shape of my life, thanks to the daily (heck, sometimes twice daily) training I got in either quarter staves - my preference- or swordplay.

Then, in the last month of summer, he showed up. Renji.

"Kisuke, we're out of coffee again," I growled from the kitchen, slamming cupboards. My mornings didn't start well without at least one caffeinated cup of mocha heaven.

"There's instant in the cupboard above the fridge," he called back from what sounded like the living room. I sighed, he just didn't get it, instant was like having to eat a la dumpster when you were used to dining in five star restaurants. Refusing to accept that fate, I rummaged through more drawers purposefully making as much noise as I could to communicate my utter disgust about the whole no coffee situation. Someone shuffled in behind me and my spirits soared, hoping it was Kisuke coming to show me some secret stash he had hidden just for these types of emergencies.

"Urahara, you better have some sort of secret stash or-" I whirled around, and my brain short circuited. It definitely wasn't Kisuke behind me, instead it was some sort of male god, still wet from a shower and wearing nothing but a rather arrogant smile and a low slung towel. Blood red hair was still dripping as it fell onto a chest so defined it may as well have been sculpted out of granite. This in turn was framed by a set of symmetrical jagged black tattoos that screamed danger, one pair bisected by that towel and I found myself briefly wondering how far the tattoos went down. Embarrassed by that train of thought, I snapped my eyes back up to his face, surprised that the tattoos continued there in an almost tribal design across his forehead and down his cheeks, and burgundy eyes sparkled with laughter when they met mine.

"Like what ya see?" he asked, his voice rough, and I felt myself start to turn red.

"Y-y-you're not Kisuke..." I stammered.

"No, no I'm not," he laughed.

"Renji! Get some clothes on before you kill poor Eri," Kisuke scolded. He was standing in the doorway, trying to hide his grin behind a fan, and I had a sneaking feeling he'd just set me up. The feeling was confirmed when he strode into the kitchen and brushed past me to open the freezer door. "Your coffee, milady," he handed me the nearly empty bag.

I closed my eyes and tried to collect my thoughts in an all too futile attempt to cool my flaming cheeks and put a lid on my temper. "Ah, don't sweat it, Kitten," hot breath caressed my cheek as the stranger whispered in my ear. "You're cute when ya blush."

I just growled in reply while he walked away laughing. Once I was certain the guy was out of earshot, I turned to Kisuke and snapped my eyes back open. "Who was that?!" I asked, finally feeling myself get back to normal.

"That was Renji," Kisuke replied, still wearing that self-satisfied grin. Rolling my eyes at him, I turned to start the coffee, telling myself it was just lack of caffeine that still had me a little befuddled by Renji's presence. Once the machine was happily making it's bubbly percolating noise, I'd finally managed to stow away my embarrassment and filled a cup straight from the machine instead of waiting for the carafe. I'd started to pour my creamer in when Kisuke broke the silence, "He's right about that Eri, you are cute when you get embarrassed." At that I flushed again, and dropped the creamer, Kisuke walked out of the kitchen laughing.

I was still grumbling later that day when I slipped down into the training room, finally finishing my 'shift' at the store, an uneventful duty that had put me in a sour mood. Mainly because I'd run across a couple of little punks who were bullying another kid outside the store, and I'd always hated bullies. My anger had gotten the best of me, and I'd chased the kids off - earning the title of stupid bitch- and the other poor kid hadn't even been thankful! He'd just kicked me in the shins and told me to mind my own business.

For that reason I was going through my warm ups with a bit more force than I should have, angrily working off the steam from those stupid kids and that incident this morning, mindlessly just attacking instead of following the routine I normally used when Kisuke wasn't here to spar. I'd just managed to work up a sweat and was bringing back the staff for a particularly brutal downswing, when it suddenly jerked to a halt.

"Kitten, ya ain't gonna be able ta fight off anything if ya keep just swingin' aimlessly like that," Renji whispered in my ear again. Flames crept up my face and I dropped my end of the staff, then dropped into a crouch, spinning to hook a leg under his feet and laughing when he toppled.

"I can handle myself," I replied. He lay there for a minute, surprise clearly etched on his face and I felt a bit better about this morning. Part of me was glad he'd opted for more clothes this time, a black tank top that fit almost like a glove, and looser black workout pants, and I studiously decided to ignore the small part of me that was bemoaning the fact that he wasn't shirtless again. That red hair was pulled into a spiky ponytail, and a bandana wrapped around his forehead kept the strays from hanging in his eyes. 'He is really, really hot, even with clothes,' I thought. Brandy colored eyes locked on mine and he smirked again, making me wonder if I'd just said that out loud...

"Ya gonna spend all day checkin' me out, or would ya like to spar a bit?" Renji grinned. "'Cause, if ya keep lookin' at me all hungry like tha' I'm gonna 'spect some f'llow thru." His voice had turned husky towards the end, and the rough drawl had thickened. I shook my head to clear it, then reached out a hand to help the man up, still feeling an impossible shade of red.

"You mind using staves?" I asked as he grabbed onto my hand. I thought I saw a bit of disappointment flicker in his eyes, but he masked it quickly and a friendly challenge crept into his trademark smirk.

"Bit different, ain't used 'em in a while," he shrugged, then handed me back my weapon. Eyes flicked over the small weapon rack, and he picked up the quarterstaff Kisuke had left down here on the off chance that I could convince Tessai to spar with me. The staff was a little large for the man, as Tessai was a huge mountain of a guy, but it still looked right in Renji's hands as he gave a few test swings. I couldn't help but notice that he still held and swung it like a sword, and I realized this was about to get interesting. Whenever I sparred Kisuke it was always him just taking the defensive, encouraging me while never attacking me, but I could already tell that Renji was a more action oriented guy. Plus it was obvious that he planned to wield the weapon like a sword, and I wondered if this was the bit of excitement I was missing from my workouts with Kisuke.

He turned to me and cocked an eyebrow, a signal that he was ready to begin, and I swung down hard with one side of my staff, expecting the block before following through with the other side in a sneakier double attack. He blocked the other as well, and with that we were off. I was surprised, I was blocking most of his offensive attacks (though I had a feeling he was holding back a bit), while he was blocking all of mine, and I could tell that he was a seasoned fighter. After about an hour of all out sparring, he surprised me by hooking the end of his staff behind my knees and sweeping my feet out from under me. I landed with an oomph and just laid there for a moment, breathing heavily.

"Had enough, Kitten?" he didn't even sound fazed. He just stood there grinning at me, hand held out to help me up. Growling, I batted it away, then flung an elbow over my eyes, attempting to catch my breath. When my skin began to tingle a bit, and I peeked up at him, breath hitching at the pure hungry look on his face as his eyes roamed my form. I wondered a bit what he saw when he looked at me, I knew I wasn't an all-out looker, my hips a bit larger than most, and while I was toned I didn't have defined abs, and I wasn't all that generously filled out in the breasts either. But yet, Renji was staring down at me like he definitely liked what he saw. Then I glimpsed it, a bit of sadness and anger flickering in his eyes, and I peeked down, alarmed to see that my own tank top had crept up, revealing scars from where Asano had clawed my hips, torso and stomach. I jerked my shirt back down, and got up, keeping my eyes from meeting his.

"Done for the day," I told the ground. Shuffling movement teased my ears, then a pair of calloused fingers hooked under my chin, dragging my gaze back up to meet Renji's mischievous one.

"Don' be mad, Kitten, you've been checkin' me out all day, had ta return the f'vor now didn' I?" he smirked, and chucked his finger under my chin, setting off my blush again.

"My name is Eri," I growled and stomped off in the direction of a shower.

Later that night we were all gathered in the living room watching a movie, and I was brushing and braiding Ururu's hair for bed. Ok, so I was mostly playing with her hair, but she didn't seem to mind and I missed having long hair. I'd cut my own waist length mahogany strands into a short and spiky pixie, and kept it that way after learning the hard way how easy it was for someone to control you with. About halfway through the movie I'd finally stopped fiddling with her hair, making quick work of the braid before scooting her off my lap. She grinned at me, then continued watching the movie as I set the brush on the end table beside the couch.

"My turn," Renji whispered, and flopped down on the floor in front of me. He wiggled back until he was against my shins, then leaned on them until I moved them so he could rest against the back of the couch, one leg on either side of him. He handed me the brush with one hand, then undid the elastic tie holding his hair up, and I bit back a sigh as the red tumbled down to just beyond his shoulder blades. Tentatively I reached for his hair, surprised when it turned out to be silky soft instead of rough like most men's'. It was the surprising softness that kept me playing with his hair long after I'd brushed the knots out, not the soft rumble of pleased sounds he kept releasing. Or so I told myself, ignoring Kisuke grinning at me like an idiot. When the movie credits rolled across the screen, I looped the band around the tail of Renji's braid, then flipped over the back of the couch to stand up and stretch.

"Goodnight everybody," I yawned, waving away the various goodnights I got back and wandering over to my room. I didn't even notice Renji following until he walked into my room and flopped down on my bed like he owned it. "Wha?! You are not sleeping in here, this is my room!"

"Was mine first," he shrugged. I jerked him back up and started trying to push him towards the door.

"Don't care, it's my room now!" I growled. He just laughed.

"Hey, don' get angry, Kitten," he turned and looked at me, a smirk on his face. "I don' mind sharin' if you don'. Fact I like a nice cuddle." He wrapped strong arms around my waist and buried his nose in the hollow between my neck and shoulder. Embarrassed I half-heartedly tried to push him away, but it felt really, really good when he did that. Thankfully I was saved by the sound of his cellphone going off, and he let out a frustrated growl before stepping back to take a look at the tiny screen. "Look, Eri, I have to take care of this. But know this, if ya sleep in tha' bed, you're gonna be sharin' it with me. So if that bothers ya, ya may want to try the couch."

He turned and left the room. I stood staring for a minute, then scoffed - he was just bluffing. No way would he actually crawl in with me after I was asleep, he was just messing with me! With that thought, I changed into my pajamas and curled up under the covers.

The dream began as it always did, with Asano at my front door, looking like a teenaged James Bond in a tux and holding long stemmed red roses. Sky blue eyes found mine and he leaned in for a sweet kiss before grabbing my hand and leading me to the waiting car. I felt like a princess in a fitted black gown, the risqué slit ending high up on my thigh. My hair was down - Asano liked it that way- and my make-up was perfect, eyes smoky and lips a daring red, and Asano looked like he wanted to ravage me there. Which he did once we got in the car, all wondering hands and hungry lips. When his hands got a little rough, I stopped him, and convinced him to walk with me by the river to cool down. That's when things turned horrible.

There was a little girl there by the river, wandering lost and alone, an odd chain hanging from her chest. She approached us and asked us if we knew where her mommy was, and Asano just kicked at her coldly before moving on.

"Asano!" I exclaimed, yanking him to a stop. He turned to me with an eyebrow lifted. "We should help her!"

"There's no help for her anymore, love," he shook his head. Then he smiled and it was cruel, before grabbing the girl by the chain. "Isn't that right, you're just a piece of soul trash- bait for the next hungry hollow," his voice was condescending and the girl whimpered.

"Stop it!" I yelled, and before I knew it I'd slapped him. He looked down at me in surprise, letting the girl go, before hatred and anger overwhelmed his angelic features. Out of nowhere, he backhanded me, then curled a hand around my throat before the whites of his eyes bled into black and his irises turned a glittering gold. A bony mask erupted from the back of his head, obscuring half his face. Claws erupted out of his fingers, each one sharp as he dug one hand into my right hip. I opened my mouth to scream-

"Shh-shh," a warm voice was whispering in my ear as I jerked awake. Strong arms were around my torso, and someone was murmuring soothing words as they pulled me in to a close embrace, chasing away the vestiges of the nightmare. I felt my breathing even out and I drifted back into a dreamless sleep.

I woke up to birds chirping and a warm heater like presence at my back, something heavy wrapped around my torso. Groggy, I happily shifted back into the warmth, pleased when the arm around my torso tightened and someone nuzzled my neck. Warm breath caressed my ear and I shivered a bit, entwining my fingers with the hand that was gently stroking my belly.

"Wow, ya sure are randy in the mornin' aren't you?" a gruff voice teased, waking me fully up. I gasped and shot of bed, glaring down at a half dressed Renji who was blinking sleepily at me. "Aww, Kitten, come back to bed, I didn' mean to ruin the moment. No funny business, I swear."

"Wha? How?" my mind swirled with questions, but each one died on my lips. I finally picked the most prominent one, "Did we... last night?"

This time the look Renji gave me was pure sin and I nearly melted. "Kitten, I'm hurt. Trust me, if that had happened, you'd remember," he smirked. I turned five shades of red, then raced from the room as he laughed and laughed.

After that it was like that every morning for that last month before school, I'd go to sleep alone after either kicking Renji out of my room or he'd get a text on that mysterious cell phone of his and I'd wake up with him spooning me, or wrapped around him while he lay on his back. The good was that he kept all but the worst nightmares at bay, and even those that he didn't banish he was able to wake me up from before I started screaming. The bad was it felt incredibly good to wake up next to Renji, and I missed it when he left the day before school started.