Nothing recognizable here belongs to me; all credit goes to their respective owners. Currently rated K, but may very possibly go up later. Concrit is lovely, if you please. I know crossovers like this have been done before, but hopefully this is unique enough to stand out. May add extra chapters as the inspiration hits, which may not be often, as school takes precedence.
-oOo-
Renji knew when he first saw the kid that the midget was different from the many others he had met in his afterlife. Every now and then, during his time in Rukongai and even now in Seireitei, he would get the oddest sense of Déjà vu. He would see a face and think it was someone from before, when he was still alive. Sometimes people did things, from the most outrageous stunts to just a slight shake of the head, disapproval mixing with amusement, and he would accidentally call them a name not their own.
The first time Iba put on those stupid sunglasses, he almost cried. Partner, brother, friend, aibou, I'll find you someday. I'll find you, and we'll take blondie out for a drink. Which one? Hell, both. The boss can hold his drink but she can't and she'll make that frown of hers, and be all "Don't drink on the job". So cute, she was never cut out for that life…but she knew it and we, or should I say "I", teased her for it mercilessly. What I wouldn't give to have you both beside me now.
And the first time he caught a glimpse of shock-white hair, like snow on the walls of the Crater, he thought it was just another one of those. Renji looked over, and stared. Back ramrod-straight with shoulders held taut, the boy's posture screamed confidence, enough to take on the world and win. The kind of back that soldiers would follow into death, onto the battlefield of a country far from their own, and know that they were being led to victory, no matter how gruesome. A feeling of hopeful dread, dreadful hope, spead through him. It can't be…but if it is… The shrimp was talking to Momo, turned his head to give her a brusque retort when she called him Shiro-chan, and the sight of it was like a punch in the gut.
Clean, sharp features, more childish than he remembered, but with eyes as old as the world and icy green, mako green. Eyes that could pierce the heart as readily as a bullet and brought the powers of the world to their knees. Eyes that flicked back to him, then away, like a glimpse from the corner of his eye, but then the gaze was back, if only for a few seconds, and despite himself he was suddenly snapping to attention, confused passerby throwing him odd looks. He may not have been army, much less SOLDIER, but you didn't just stand there in the presence of the General. In the space of a second the tattooed redhead felt himself recognized, appraised, acknowledged, then it was back to Momo and complaining about the nickname.
Nerves still strung high on the adrenaline shock, he only relaxed fractionally before making good his escape. It's all right, he's sane. He was fine before. Weird, but reasonable, before Hojo, before the Nibelheim incident, before Jenova. So long as Kurotsuchi doesn't get his tainted claws in him, we won't have to worry about him potentially obliterating Seireitei.
And so Reno would keep an eye on Sephiroth, because they didn't need a Meteor here too, and besides, Tseng would kill him if he didn't do his job right.
-oOo-