Title: Right next to you
Rating: T
Pairing: RenKira
Warnings: boys kissing, a sexual suggestion, Renji OOC, generally it's quite crappy and contains a hellfull of fluff; and the ending is VERY CLICHE. And a bit of angst.
A/N: this is placed somewhere between Kira's school times and him becoming a fukutaicho. Kira's in the 5th Division, but Renji's already in 6th. I wrote it after quite a bad experience in my life, thus the bit of angst.
Kira slowly strolled out of the 5th Division's barracks into a pleasantly warm, sunny March evening. Even the nice weather couldn't help him being a little bit sad. It was because Hisagi-sempai totally forgot about his birthday. He didn't even bother to send him a Hell Butterfly, let alone come and pass his wishes in person.
But taking into consideration that Hisagi-sempai was just an acquaintance, the thought of Hisagi-sempai sending him birthday wishes was quite ridiculous, and, after all, all of his long-time friends did send him wishes, so he shouldn't feel sad at all.
Maybe Hisagi didn't know when his birthday was. Maybe he had a lot of work. Maybe he didn't want to disturb Kira. Or maybe…
"Oi, Kira, why do you look so emo?", he heard a familiar voice before experiencing a hard slap in his back. "It's your birthday, so better stop looking like that!"
"Hello, Renji", Kira replied, managing a small smile. This morning, he got a card that Renji had made together with Hinamori-san, along with a bag of sweets. Kira had both presents in his backpack. It was really kind of them and there was even a cute haiku inside the card, written by them especially for this occasion.
They walked together for a while, not saying anything. Kira's thoughts wandered again in the direction of Hisagi-sempai.
"Hey Kira, so what is it about, huh?", Renji asked.
"It's nothing", Izuru replied.
"It's not 'nothing', Izuru", Renji threw an arm over Kira's shoulders. "Just tell me, you'll feel better. You really shouldn't feel sad on your birthday, you know."
Kira was silent. He knew that if he told Renji that Hisagi-sempai didn't even send him any form of birthday wishes, Renji would just go and kick Hisagi's ass for upsetting Kira again. And then he would yell at Kira for not being able to reject a good-for-nothing platonic affection to a guy who didn't even respect him as an equal. The usual blah, blah, blah.
"I see that it can't be helped", Renji snickered. "You come to my place and we drink good wine until morning. Don't even try to say no."
Kira chuckled. He expected that Renji would suggest something like that and, to be honest, he really needed to drink some alcohol. The whole day was just a little bit too stressful.
When they arrived at Renji's place in the 6th Division's grounds, Kira was amazed by the tidiness Renji managed to achieve in his usually messy apartment.
"Well, I thought it'd be rude to invite you to the usual chaos", Renji chuckled, seeing Kira's awe. "Take a seat somewhere, I'll bring the wine and snacks."
Kira sat on the mat in the main room. The setting sun shining through the half-open windows made the room appear cozy and friendly. It smelled of Renji, as well as some burnt food, washing powder and…
Incense? Yes, it definitely was incense. The smell became stronger with each passing second, but it was very pleasant.
"Is it lavender, Renji?", Kira asked, leaning over to see Renji who was doing something in the kitchen.
"Yeah… figured out you like it", Renji replied and soon was back in the main room with a plate of dried fruit, a bottle of wine and two glasses. He put everything in front of Kira and sat beside him, then he uncorked the bottle and poured the transparent liquid into the glasses. Kira took one and smelled the wine. It had a nice, gentle aroma.
"Cheers, Izuru, for your birthday", Renji said, lifting his glass. Kira smiled at him and the glasses clinked.
A few hours later, after a second bottle of the same good wine, Renji and Kira lay sprawled on the floor, not yet fully drunk, but pleasantly warm inside and having talked over what seemed all their private problems.
It was revealed that Renji was quite desperate to get drunk, too, because he got rejected by his new taicho, Byakuya Kuchiki of The Kuchikis. Kira claimed that Byakuya had a stick up his ass and was a fucking princess, and by the way "Kuchiki" meant "rotten wood". As far as Kira's crush problem was concerned, he heard just what he had expected to hear.
But there was one new idea. Renji said Izuru should find himself someone new who was worthy of being with him.
"But I have precious friends", Kira argued, "I don't wanna boyfriend, boyfriends suck."
"Yup, that's one of the advantages of having one", Renji retorted with a huge grin.
"That's not what I meant", the blonde turned over so he was lying on his stomach, looking at Renji. The redhead pulled suddenly at his obi, dragging him to lie almost on top of him.
"You should just look around, Izuru", Renji suddenly got a bit more serious. "There might be a special someone right next to you."
Kira blinked. Then he looked around him.
"You mean… where?", he asked, confused.
"Here", Renji's hand pulled Kira closer to him and their lips met.
It was only a second, but when it ended, Kira immediately looked away and blushed a shade of red that matched Renji's hair.
"Um… I don't know what to say…", he whispered. It all hit him at once, their friendship at school, the way Renji always protected him, their sincere talks with or without alcohol, their support for each other… Renji was always by his side, they saw each other laugh and cry and all.
It was worth so much more than a thousand Hisagis.
Kira looked at the windows that were slowly getting paler. The sun was rising… they talked all night.
"I think I haven't fully appreciated you", Kira began, but Renji put a finger on his mouth. Kira smiled.
"Happy birthday", Renji said warmly, then a grin appeared on his lips again. "And by the way, the thing with Kuchiki-taicho was a joke. Just needed a good excuse to get drunk too, otherwise I wouldn't find the courage to tell you."
Kira chuckled and mockingly hit Renji on the arm, then kissed him like if tomorrow was never to come.