Title:
Be Still My Heart
Fandom/Community:
Bleach / 15minutefic
Characters:
Ichigo, Rukia, Renji
Pairing:
IchigoxRukia, One-sided RenjixRukia
Rating:
G
Word
Prompt:
Compete
Word
Count:
539
Summary:
Renji will always
be the second love.
Author
Notes:
I can't write Renji without writing angst.
He didn't know exactly when it became a game with Kurosaki.
It was never a game to him.
Whenever Rukia would give him those looks, make him feel that warm feeling inside his heart, he knew that it could never be considered a game. Her feelings were meaningful, they meant something to him, and for once in his life he wished that they didn't mean something to Kurosaki.
It would have been easier if Kurosaki just thought that he was fucking with him.
Rukia turned and smiled at him, before laughing as she turned to Ichigo, leaning forward to punch him in the arm, even though what he said wasn't funny. Her eyes were all for him, for Ichigo; and Renjihated it.
When the girl turned away for a moment, to pull at her bento, Kurosaki turned and put a finger up.
Ichigo – 1; Renji – 0.
They sat on Kurosaki's bed, but even though Renji was closer to Rukia, she leaned forward slightly more towards Ichigo— who leaned against the wall, one foot on the bed and another on the floor; anchoring his awkward position. She laughed louder at his comments than she did at Renji's. Smiled bigger at Ichigo's face than Renji's.
He could kill him for it.
The only problem was that if Renji killed Ichigo (if you can even manage that, you dog), that would make Rukia sad. And seeing Rukia sad, let alone cry – let alone crying for that moron. . .
Renji couldn't deal with it.
It made his head hurt more than his heart already did.
"I'm gonna go grab a soda," he heard himself saying, as Kurosaki's eyes found his over the girl's head and laughed in his face at what he had and Renji didn't.
Rukia glanced up from her juice box, where she still had yet to manage fitting the straw into place, offering him a small smile that tugged on his heart harder than if she would have screamed she hated him. If she hated him, he could deal with her anger, knowing that it was what she was feeling. It was when she loved him, but loved Kurosaki more, that he learned he couldn't deal with the rapid shattering of his heart into a thousand pieces.
When she loved him less.
When he returned to the room, he opened the door slightly, peering in, almost afraid to see her turn and greet him with that bright smile she always did when he came into the room. A smile somehow dulled by Ichigo's sudden presence.
Ichigo remained leaning up against the wall.
He stared at the substitute shinigami's arms around the girl that was pressed with her back against his chest, watching as the boy kissed the girl on the neck as he took the juice box from her pale hands and slid the straw in cleanly before he handed it back to her.
As she took it, she pressed a kiss to the palm of his hand.
Renji returned the soda to the refrigerator before excusing himself from the house, refusing to look back. He'd rather be a freeloader tonight than interfere. He just hoped this crack in his heart wouldn't shake him.
Ichigo – 2; Renji – 0.