Taken from a previous fic called Understanding
Confessing to Rukia - Just make a wish
How did it all started? … Maybe it was that time… It seemed like ages ago, and it'd been a few weeks only… Flashback
After all this time, even after he helped in her rescue from Soukyoku hill, even after the heavens granted his long forsaken wish of getting a bit of intimate friendship back between the two of them… It had been months since the Soul Society events, and days since they had left Las Noches… wounded, but alive. Thank God the captains were able to rescue them.
Renji watched the crimson skies above him. Behind the wall he was leaning on, Rukia was slowly recovering. A miracle he hadn't, not even in the slightest, helped create. He wanted to protect her so bad, and sometimes he would even fantasize about saving her from a thousand perils, earning his captain's respect and enough guts to start speaking to her in different terms… upgrade their relationship to a new one… get promoted to being a lover… be with her.
The redhead laughed bitterly under the crimson skies. "Don't you hate it…" Kira used to say… God , if only he could know how he freaking hated it! He hit the wall, fists clenched hard. Sometimes he just wanted to hurt himself. Tear his own flesh into tiny bits to tell the stupid world just how much he hated it. "Why in the world does it have to be like this?!!" he shouted without thinking. Suddenly, he realized he wasn't alone. Not that he had been very swift, shouting like that out of the blue… He looked at the figure a few feet away; it was Kuchiki Byakuya. The last person in Soul Society he wanted to see now.
"Cap…"
"You really have the ways of the rude, Renji. You look miserable." Byakuya interrupted him. The younger shinigami froze, a confused look on his face. He knew Byakuya would be furious at him for letting Rukia get as hurt as she'd been, but he had once again underestimated the ability the proud Kuchiki had of shooting words that pierced through people like arrows.
"…Capt…"
"Renji." Byakuya interrupted him again. "I don't want losers in my division, especially not my vice-captain; it's embarrassing." Renji choked at the word "loser".
"Losers go around crying on lost battles", the captain continued, slowly. "Winners make sure disgrace never comes their way again. It's true on the battlefield, and so it is in real life. I don't want to find you sitting in the dust shouting that kind of nonsense ever again."
And he walked away.
These words got to his brain, leaving certain uneasiness, but he knew they were true. If he really wanted to protect Rukia, he should be training 24 hours a day until he was strong enough. "…and so it is in real life…" Train, and throw himself in the toughest battles, until he conquered a hundred victories. That was what he should do. Throw himself in the toughest battles… Could it be that he had been a coward? Afraid of not being worthy? More or less expecting to fail… "…You really have the ways of the rude and uneducated…" The ways of a stray dog… These needed to change. He needed to change his ways.
He watched Rukia, lying by his side. Her eyes were half open already, but she was still sleepy. With a ravenous smile, he buried his head in the sheets, heading for her neck to which he slowly blowed the most erotic kiss. He had dared, and he was being rewarded for his boldness. He brought his lips to hers, passionately, and she returned his kiss with a little laugh. The sun wasn't rising yet, they still had some time to themselves… His mouth traveled, slowly, over her body, taking the time to enjoy the trip. They were used to early morning love anyway. Which better way to start the day? Which better way to watch the sunrise than through half open eyes, bright colored butterflies in their eyes making the scene almost irrealistic, almost trance-like. She was laughing at his tease. It had been a month. One month and more than a few encounters. Half a dozen times that she would come to his room. In his bed. She was burying her hands in his messy hair. "Shhh", he half-laughed, half-growled in her ear, before nipping it with his teeth. The butterflies were there already, obstructing their vision as the sun started his course at the horizon. She grabbed the sheets with her toes, and her back arched harder as they became one. God, she tasted so good… He grabbed her hips, strongly, but gently, and led their bodies in a hypnotic dance… He knew she was biting her lips now, like she always did. She whispered his name, so desperately it gave him chills. He knew he was driving her crazy, and he was afraid he'd lose his mind too. She tasted so good…
The sun would be up soon, but another evening would come. And he would be there to treasure it.
