Title: Speak
Pairing: Renji x Hinamori
Rating: K
Warnings: Spoilers for chapter 51 and beyond
Summary: Renji seeks comfort from Hinamori when he's handed a difficult task.
Disclaimer: I am not Kubo Tite, thus I do not own Bleach. I do not own these characters. I am only borrowing them for my own enjoyment.

Hinamori sat with Abarai, hugging her knees to her chest as she stared at the sky, watching cotton candy disguised as clouds drift over the horizon.

He was unusually quiet, withdrawn into himself--like a turtle, she thought. Sensing danger, he drew into a protective shell to save himself. His protective shell was his silence, his emotional distance from everyone around him.

Hinamori didn't know quite what to say to her fellow vice-captain to get him to pull free of his self-imposed stillness. He'd been like this for weeks now, trying to hide how worried he was, how scared, how upset. There had been no word from Kuchiki Rukia, and Hinamori had heard today that he and his captain, the cold Kuchiki Byakuya, were to leave soon for the human world to retrieve her.

She turned her gaze to him, watching as a muscle in his jaw twitched, his whole body tense with what he was holding in.

Hinamori couldn't figure out how to coax him out of his shell. She opened her mouth, not entirely certain what she would say, but before she could make a sound he snapped. His body jerked as he turned to her, eyes blazing, the very air in his lungs burning as he forced the words out of his being. His fingers convulsively fisted then stretched, the joints popping audibly.

"It's like I'm chained to her! I can't...I can't escape from her! I've tried--" He grabbed Hinamori's shoulders, his grip first loose then tight, as if clinging to her might make whatever he was saying easier. "I've tried, Hinamori-san, tried so hard to escape her...and I can't. She holds me captive...chained to her, unable to save myself from...from--"

The words stuck in his throat, burning, eating away at him. She saw him struggle, saw him fight to rid himself of those words. She reached up, curling her fingers around his elbows. She squeezed, offering silent support, holding him up with the power of her soul, the strength of their friendship.

"...from loving her." It seemed to have taken everything in him to let the words slip free, the confession draining him. He slumped, his forehead coming to rest on her shoulder. She stretched out her arms, hugging him tight, trying to comfort him. His arms shook as they came around her, holding her in the kind of grip that made Hinamori think he might have been trying to save himself from drowning...or from a broken heart.

How could you offer comfort to someone who'd thrown their heart away to someone who refused to accept it, or even acknowledge it?