Renji hurried down the hall from his room clutching the note Hisagi in his fist. He had found it under his pillow this morning. It has asked him one thing; Help Me.
Renji picked up his pace until he was sprinting towards Hisagi's room. What could possibly be wrong? The 6th division vice-captain ran faster, wondering if it had to do with Aizen's betrayal. Hisagi had accepted it without coming undone like Izuru and Momo, Renji wondered if he had finally cracked…
The red head came to the 9th division barracks and knocked. The door opened immediately and a flustered looking soul reaper waved Renji through, "Hisagi-san is in his room, you better hurry!"
Exchanging a startled look with the rumpled soul reaper Renji flash stepped to Hisagi's room. "H-Hisagi?"
CRASH!
Renji jumped back as an unidentified flying object of Hisagi's wrath (UFOHW) smashed into the door. "GO AWAY!"
"Hisagi! It's Renji! Please let me in!" Renji yelled.
Silence, and then the door opened slowly revealing a pale man with black circles under his eyes. Hisagi. "R-Renji?"
"Yeah, can I come in, please?"
Hisagi nodded and opened the door, once Renji was in he slammed it shut and sat down on his bed. "Thanks for coming…."
Renji nodded and looked at the room, it was a disaster. Like the famous mom saying of 'it looks like something blew up in here!' it really looked like Hisagi had activated a cero just minutes ago.
Hisagi gave a twisted grin, making his scars seem lopsided. "Oops."
Renji looked at him in alarm. "Oops? That's my line when I spill the captain's tea! You should be giving me an explanation!"
Hisagi shrugged "I needed to remodel…"
The room was in shreds. Scraps of paper littered the floor, along with glass from the broken window. Hisagi's bed had been thrown to pieces and the mattress was sticking out from the bathroom door. Clothes were strewn everywhere and Hisagi himself was only wearing a pair of jeans Rangiku had gotten him for his birthday.
"Hisagi….." Renji whispered, shocked. "Hisagi what happened? What's wrong?"
The scared vice-captain shrugged again. "Dunno…"
Renji raised a tattooed eyebrow. "Dunno? You mean this just magically happened!"
Hisagi shrugged for a third time, this time accompanied with a pathetic sort of smile.
Renji grabbed his wrist and dragged him to the door, "Come on, were going outside."
The red head dragged the limp man out of division 9, ignoring the looks he was getting. "Little help here, Hisagi."
Hisagi straightened up and began walking along with Renji, tripping every few steps of so. Finally, after about 14 trips, Renji had enough. "Stop being so damn pathetic!" He snarled, yanking Hisagi's arm, making him stumble. 'What?' Renji thought and tugged on him a little, sending Hisagi sprawling, "Whoa! Jeez, have you been eating!" Renji helped Hisagi to his feet and half dragged him to the woods bordering the Rukon district.
"No."
"What?" Renji asked, distracted.
"No, I haven't eaten." Hisagi said, in a hollow voice.
Renji sat him down on a fallen tree and settled next to him. "Why?"
Hisagi frowned, "I just can't…I end up barfing it back up…"
Renji grimaced. "Charming, have you been sleeping?"
The dark haired man gave him a look.
"Didn't think so." Renji muttered. "You want to talk?"
Hisagi shrugged.
"Stop shrugging! That's got to be the 8th time you shrugged!" Renji complained.
"4th time, actually." Hisagi replied, a small smile tugging at his lips. "Renji, what was it like when Rukia was about to be executed, before you tried to rescue her?"
Renji sighed and leaned back, "Terrible, to be truthful. She's a great friend of mine—I couldn't just watch her die. But I had a duty. Duty to my squad and a duty to my captain. In the end you know what I choose. And it was the right thing. But before I did that…it felt like I was being ripped apart. It hurt."
Hisagi nodded, "How did you know what to chose?"
Renji grinned at him, "I did what I thought was right!"
Hisagi sighed and shook his head, "No, I mean how you chose between duty to your squad and captain to duty towards your friend?"
The red head thought about it for a bit, "Well, guess I didn't really need to choose, I knew all along."
Hisagi gazed off into the distance, lost in thought.
"Hisagi, do you wish you had gone after Tousen-Taichou?" Renji asked, blunt as always.
Hisagi flinched and crossed his arms, "Yes. No."
Renji raised his eyebrows, stretching his tattoos. "Which is it?"
"I don't know, I want to know why he did this…I need to know."
Renji watched him and sighed, "So you don't wish you had gone after him?"
"Not really, I probably would have been killed immediately anyway…" Hisagi muttered.
Renji put his arm around Hisagi, "Don't dwell on it; it's bad for your health."
Hisagi snorted but a small laugh escaped his lips. "Like I need my health to plummet even more."
A small stretch of comfortable silence followed, Hisagi glanced at Renji and watched the sun shine off his red hair. 'Wow, I wonder if Renji's hair is soft…?' Hisagi's eyes widened 'D-did I just wonder if Renji's hair was SOFT!'
Renji watched Hisagi's eyes widened and a blush smear across his face, "You ok, Hisagi?"
"F-fine!"
"Like the 'not actually fine' kinda fine?" Renji snickered.
Hisagi chuckled, "No, I feel better—thanks Renji."
Renji laughed and glanced at his watch "OH SHIT!"
"What!" Hisagi exclaimed.
"I'm late! Taichou needed me to do something—! AGH HE'S GONNA KILL ME!" The red head flustered, jumping up and looking around wildly like Byakuya was about to jump out from behind a tree and kill him then and there.
"Woah, Renji, calm down, I'm sure Kuchiki-Taichou will understand!" Hisagi said, trying to calm the panicky red head.
"LATE!" Renji howled, bolting for the 6th division barracks.
Hisagi laughed as Renji ran, "Wow, he's fast!" He leaned back with a chuckle and felt like a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders. "Well, Renji did help anyway." Hisagi smiled and felt his vision cloud over, "Helped…" he murmured.
(Much later)
Renji walked out of Byakuya's office with his head attached. "Jeez…" Byakuya had given him an hour long lecture about being late, and then launched right into what he needed Renji to do without waiting for Renji to properly apologize. "Oh well…"
Renji walked towards the woods where he had left Hisagi and cocked his head, "Why is his spiritual pressure still there…?" Renji jogged towards the fallen tree and saw a leg draped over it, "Hisagi!" Renji reached the tree and looked at the 9th division vice-captain.
Hisagi had fallen asleep and drifted slightly so that his head was on a branch and his body was on the trunk. His mouth was open and he looked so peaceful that Renji felt a small smile play around the corners of his mouth. "Look at that bastard, passing out here where he could catch cold…" Renji lightly shook Hisagi's shoulder, "Come on, wake up."
Hisagi grumbled something and went deeper into sleep.
"Hey! Wake up!" Renji said, shaking him a little.
Nothing.
"Hisagi? Wake up!" Renji called.
Nothing.
"Jeez! Now you're going to freeze out here and I'm the one who has to suffer because I couldn't wake your dead ass up to get you inside!"
Renji glared at Hisagi for a second then laughed, "Well, I can't blame you!"
Hisagi tossed his head a little.
The 6th division vice-captain caught himself looking at Hisagi's lips. Ripe and juicy, like a fresh fruit just waiting for someone to take a bite…"
Renji's eyes traveled to the 69 on the man's cheek, "Hmm, I still wonder what that means…" 'Besides the obvious.' Renji's mind replied snidely.
Growling, Renji smacked himself in the forehead, and then lectured himself about checking out his own friends. "God I'm a prev…"
"Why?" Hisagi asked, blinking awake.
"Ack!" Renji yelped, jumping a foot in the air.
Hisagi raised an eyebrow.
"Erm, how long were you awake?"
The dark haired man shrugged, "Why are you a perv?"
Renji grinned sheepishly. "Uh, no reason…."
Hisagi sat up and ruffled his hair, "Did I fall asleep?"
Glad of the change of subject, Renji nodded, "Yup, totally conked out. You needed it."
Hisagi scrunched his eyebrows together, making his scars look wrinkled, "Hmm, I guess I did…"
Renji's eyes followed the scars, "That's where the hollow got you, right?"
Hisagi flinched slightly, "Y-yeah."
The red head frowned slightly, "Do they still hurt?"
The 9th division vice-captain twitched and made a face, "Sort of…I still haven't been able to touch them…"
Renji sat down next to Hisagi and studied his scars; slowly he reached his hand out so it was a breath away from Hisagi's old wound.
Hisagi froze, his eyes wide, and staring ahead. He felt his heartbeat quicken and jump into his throat.
Renji didn't move, watching his friend tense up. "Hisagi….."
The man closed his eyes and hung his head, "I know. I'm weak." Hisagi slammed his fist down into the tree they were sitting on, smashing a splintering hole in the trunk. "I hate that…"
Renji put his arm around Hisagi, "Listen to me, Hisagi! You are not weak! You're just…..scared." The red head paused and remembered something Byakuya had once said to him; "When you get injured, no matter how good the medicine is, the only way you will completely heal is if you have the will to get better."
Hisagi clenched his teeth, trying not to cry.
The tattooed vice-captain smiled gently and hugged him tighter, wrapping both arms around him. "I know you have that kind of will power. You just need to use it."
The scared man rested his head in the crook of Renji's shoulder and shivered slightly, "Renji, please, touch my scars."
Renji's eyes widened and he lifted his hand to Hisagi's chin, titling his head away from him, baring the scars. The red head put his hand an inch away from his friends face and glanced at Hisagi.
He nodded, reassuring the red head, and took a deep breath.
Renji's hand slowly brushed against the marred skin, tracing the claw marks down to Hisagi's jaw.
Hisagi gasped slightly as Renji's hand caressed his face, feeling a wave of emotion flood through him.
The red head brushed against the scars lightly again, leaving a feather light touch tingling Hisagi's skin, then drew away. "You alright?"
Hisagi just nodded, trying to keep his mind together. "R-Renji…"
Renji looked at him and moved so that Hisagi was sitting in his lap. "Yeah…?" He leaned up so their noses where almost touching.
The scared man swallowed, trying to form words of appreciation, but could barley even breathe with Renji this close. "…"
Renji smiled slightly as a blush spread over Hisagi's face, leaning up he pressed his lips against Hisagi's lush ones. "Mmmmnn."
Hisagi blushed like crazy and his hands flew to Renji's shoulders and shoved him off, he then toppled backwards off his lap. "W-w-w-what was that!"
Renji grinned. "A kiss."
Hisagi's eyes bugged. "B-b-b-but—!"
Renji sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "I just figured out something important."
"W-what's that?" Hisagi asked, scooting away on his butt.
Renji looked him in the eye, his brown eyes glistening slightly. "Hisagi, I love you."