Another ByaRen fic! I went on a spree of reading this and felt the need to write a few. If you don't like yaoi or ByaRen, go read something else and don't bother me about it. I wrote this by hand at camp and edited it there too, so any typos are my own fault from not paying attention during typing. Reviews are beautiful things :3 Also, I recently edited something in here and in the process my author's note got lost in cyber space, so I apologize if you enjoy reading my mindless rambling and got gypped because I didn't notice. It's back! Hurray!
Abarai Renji was probably the best vice captain Byakuya had ever had. He was strong, brave and loyal to a fault. He was not, however, always considered the brightest of shinigami and his wild courage in battle often led to unnoticed injuries. So Byakuya was not surprised when Renji walked into the 6th division headquarters after daily training with a cut over one eye that, it seemed, Renji had yet to feel.
Byakuya was mildly curious how long it would take the blood to drip into Renji's eye and alert him to his wound. When Byakuya's eyes got tired from the surreptitious glances he kept shooting at his lieutenant, he finally decided to call the matter to Renji's attention.
"Renji," Byakuya said quietly, eyes on his paperwork.
"Hai, taicho?" Renji replied, looking up.
"If you bleed on my paperwork I shall be forced to reprimand you," he said calmly. Renji looked bewildered.
"Er, what, taicho?" he asked, totally baffled. Byakuya stifled a sigh and brushed his hand across his brow. Renji mimicked the motion and made a little noise of surprise when his hand came away wet.
"Damn," he muttered. "Stupid strawberry got me after all." He produced a tissue from somewhere and began dabbing ineffectually at the cut. By now the blood had started to impair both his vision and his depth perception, so all he really managed to do was poke himself in the eye.
Byakuya had returned to his paperwork, but looked up when Renji started muttering curses. Eyes streaming from the poke in the eye, his vice captain was attempting to clean the cut with a blood-stained tissue. Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Byakuya removed a clean towel and a clay jar from his desk. After wetting the towel, he went to stand by Renji's desk, waiting for him to notice his captain's presence. When Renji finally looked up, Byakuya was standing, eyebrow raised, by his chair. Long white fingers beckoned for the tissue, which Renji gratefully relinquished.
"Unohana-taicho was kind enough to make me this salve. It will stop the bleeding and sterilize the wound." Byakuya removed the dried amounts blood from Renji's face with the towel, and spread a small amount of paste across Renji's brow. For such a rigid man, his fingers were surprisingly gentle.
If Renji was surprised by the random act of kindness, he was wise enough to stay quiet. Byakuya threw the tissue away with a look of mild disgust and that was the end of the matter.
About a week later, Renji reported in with a shallow slice across his arm from a particularly brutal training session. Byakuya merely raised an eyebrow, fetched the salve and repeated the procedure.
This happened several times over the course of the following month. The fifth time Renji limped into the office bleeding profusely from one leg, Byakuya began to wonder if Renji had taken to simply standing in the middle of the training grounds, arms spread wide, daring people to take a whack at him. Nonetheless, he cleaned the cut without a word.
The 6th division caption really started to wonder about Renji's mental health when he showed up with a long rip across the belly of his hakama. For his own sake, rather than Renji's, Byakuya offered him a spare uniform. He wasn't going to get any work done with the gaping hole in Renji's hakama not-so-subtly exposing the tattoos that decorated his chest.
Even so, he was almost relieved when he spotted a dark stain spreading across the black cloth.
"Renji," Byakuya said, voice calm as ever. "You're bleeding on my robe." Renji looked down and swore.
"Damn! Sorry, Taicho, I'll just—" Byakuya cut him off, holding up a hand.
"No matter," he said coolly, retrieving his salve. Renji looked a little alarmed.
"I think I can clean this one my—" The words died in his mouth from the look on Byakuya's face. He gave a little sigh and disrobed to the waist.
It took all the willpower Byakuya could muster not to stop and stare at the sight before him. Telling himself he was being ridiculous, the noble knelt beside Renji's chair and treated the cut as fast as he possibly could. He returned very rapidly to his desk. Renji paused, unsure whether he should put his hakama back on, or wait for the salve to dry. Unfortunately for Byakuya's paperwork, he remained topless.
This is getting ridiculous, Byakuya thought the next day as Renji strolled in sporting a split lip.
"What happened this time?" Byakuya asked, resigned. Renji grinned sheepishly.
"I made a joke about Ikkaku. He didn't think it was funny." Then, in response to Byakuya's unasked question, "He punched me. But!" he said brightly. "It happened last night so it's stopped bleeding by now. See?" He pushed out his bottom lip in an exaggerated pout. It took another immense amount of willpower not to laugh hysterically at the picture his lieutenant made.
"Yes," Byakuya said icily, "but if you bite your lip, as you are wont to do, you'll reopen the wound and bleed all over my nice clean desk." Before Renji could ask how Byakuya knew he bit his lip, the captain had walked around the desk and spread the salve across Renji's injured lip. The redhead's brain all but shut down at his captain's sudden and close proximity.
Byakuya paused, apparently examining his handiwork.
"How does it taste?" he asked suddenly, making Renji jump. "Not bad, I hope?"
"Nooo…" Renji said, making a bold attempt not to crack like a boy going through puberty. "Not bad. A little… herby, maybe. Why do you—" Renji quickly discovered how hard it is to talk when your captain's lips are pressed against your own.
A tiny logical voice in Renji's brain observed coolly that as Byakuya was both a noble and his superior, this was probably a terrible idea. The rest of Renji's brain promptly stifled the voice, and roared its approval.
When they finally broke apart, Byakuya studied Renji's face for a moment. "You're right," he mused, licking his lips thoughtfully. "Not bad at all." With that, he returned to his desk.
Renji didn't move for quite some time, still processing what had just happened. Needless to say, he was going to have to pick fights with Ikkaku more often.
This was WAAAAY to fun to write. Hurray for fluff!