Characters: Renji, Rukia
Summary: All he wanted was a smile.
Pairings: onesided RenjiRuki
Warnings/Spoilers: no spoilers
Timeline: no timeline needed
Author's Note: No one complain about the length, okay? That's the last thing you should be complaining about.
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.
Renji can't count the number of nights he's spent howling at the moon, hoping for some sort of sign, maybe some signal that she can even hear him, let alone understand what he's saying and that she feels the same way. But, as ever, he's thwarted: the moon remains the moon, remote, silent, and utterly untouchable.
And Renji still tries, still chases after her, even though she's either completely oblivious to him or simply ignores him, unable and unwilling to deal with this.
That wouldn't be so out of character for Rukia.
He just wonders what it will take to get Rukia's attention. Renji has tried since they were children—always chasing after Rukia, always doing stupid things to impress her, and always being rebuffed or ridiculed or scolded when he wanted just a little praise, just a little bit of her fickle approval.
All he ever wanted was a smile. That would have been enough to last Renji for the rest of his life until memory forgot it and he wanted another.
But whenever Rukia smiles, it's either not at him, or when it is, he feels like she shouldn't be smiling.
When she smiles, those sad, gentle smiles are hard and cruel and set ready to break a heart. His heart.
Renji keeps waiting for a happy smile, though—a happy smile just for him, something only Renji can call his own—so he keeps on howling at the moon.
And, invariably, the moon ignores him.
