Title: I hate the Rain

By: BloodyTears87

Summery: Ichigo is upset and when Renji show's up he tries to comfort the teen soul reaper.

Warning: implied RenIchi, yaoi, fluff

Ichigo Kurosaki lay on his bed staring at his ceiling. Rukia was out looking for hollows; she had told Ichigo it would be better for him to stay in for the night. It was raining out and she knew how he hated the rain. It was cold and wet and it had no feelings at all. But most of all it reminded him of that day…

His father and sisters were busy with the clinic and every time he offered his help he was turned away. Even Kon was hanging around Urahara's shop more often since he didn't like Ichigo's gloomy state. He was starting to feel lonely now that life was trying to return to normal.

Ichigo glanced to his calendar. Tomorrow was the anniversary of his mother's death again. He wasn't sure how it snuck up on him so fast. It didn't seem like it had been another year already. Heaving a sigh Ichigo rolled onto his side. He tried to make it a habit not to cry but right now he couldn't help it. The quiet tears leaked from his eyes before he could stop them. Not matter how he looked at it, even if he knew who the killer was he still felt that it was his fault that she was killed. They had just had their usual family meeting about the picnic that they went on every year to their mother's grave site and Ichigo was feeling more depressed that Rukia wasn't there to comfort him like she had the previous year.

Renji grumbled to himself as he headed to the Kurosaki family's residence. It started raining lightly and he was getting a little damp but nothing too bad. Rukia had begged him to check on Ichigo for her since she was working on a mission for the soul society. She had mentioned something about the boy being depressed about something but he hadn't really paid attention to what it was. He reluctantly agreed after she started yelling at him for not listening to her.

Ichigo's house came into sight and he jumped up into Ichigo's open window. The carrot-top had his back turned to the window. His shoulders were shaking and he didn't seem to be aware of Renji's spiritual pressure or anything for that matter at the moment.

'Is he crying?' Renji thought to himself as he watched the substitute soul reaper's shoulders shaking hard. The redhead cocked his head to the side not sure if he should do something to comfort him or just leave. There was a knock on the door before Renji could make up his mind. Ichigo made no move to answer it though. They knocked again.

"Ichigo?" came a voice from the other side of the door.

"What is it, Yuzu?" Ichigo asked softly.

"Umm, are you going to be ok?" she trailed off.

"Heh, what kind of question is that?" he asked trying to brush it off. "Of course I'll be ok. I'm your big brother. Shouldn't I be the one asking you that?" he played it off.

"Ichigo…" she whispered but stopped as he tried to stifle a sob.

"I'll be fine Yuzu. You should check on dad and Karin," he told her.

"Right…" was all she said before her footsteps could be heard as she walked away from the door.

'I really wish I had listened to Rukia now,' Renji reprimanded himself. He knew he couldn't leave Ichigo to himself now. He had always felt something for the carrot-top and he couldn't just let him suffer like this. He reached into the room and placed a comforting hand on Ichigo's back. The younger boy was a little startled and Renji could feel him tense up.

"Relax, it's just me," he told the boy. Ichigo's shoulders relaxed at the sound of Renji's voice.

"Is there a hallow?" Ichigo asked trying to discreetly wipe the tears from his eyes.

"No, nothing like that." Renji stated still keeping his hand on Ichigo's back. The boy looked confused. He couldn't figure out why Renji would be there, now of all times if there wasn't a hallow around.

"Then why?" Ichigo asked.

"Hmm, Rukia told me I should check on you," Renji admitted. "Looks like she was right."

"Rukia… did she tell you?" he asked hanging his head.

"She might have mentioned it but I wasn't really listening," the red head admitted sheepishly. "Besides don't you think you should be the one to tell me… if you want to that is." Ichigo took in a deep breath. He might as well tell the soul reaper. It might make him feel better to get it off his chest. Renji shifted his position so that he was lying on his side in front of Ichigo, facing him. A small blush made its way across the bridge of Ichigo's nose at the close proximity.

"It will have been eight years ago tomorrow since my mother's death," Ichigo explained. "I was nine when she was killed by the hallow Grand Fisher. I didn't know it at the time though. If I didn't have all this spiritual pressure I wouldn't have seen its lure and I wouldn't have gone running to the water like I did. My mother ran after me and it killed her instead because it preferred women."

'Wow, that's pretty harsh on a nine year old,' Renji thought to himself.

"You can't blame yourself for that Ichigo," Renji consoled.

"I have to blame myself because no one else will blame me." Tears were once again making their escape from the carrot-top's eyes. The red head frowned at the sight of the boy in front of him crying. He put a comforting arm around Ichigo and pulled him into a tight embrace.

"Hey, come on now there's no need to cry," Renji said trying to stop the tears.

"Sorry… I haven't cried like this since I was nine… not really sure if I can stop," Ichigo admitted.

"I understand do you want me to leave so you can let it all out?" Renji asked unsure.

"No, please stay. I don't wanna be alone…"

"Alright," the redhead said as he pulled Ichigo closer to him and allowed the younger boy to cry into his chest.

"I hate the rain," Ichigo said out of nowhere. It was only a little above a whisper. "It was raining that day too… so now I really hate the rain." he explained. They stayed like that for a while until Renji heard the soft sound of Ichigo's snoring.

'That's right, kid. Get some rest,' Renji thought as he found himself petting the short orange spikes of hair.

AN: hey this is my first bleach fic so let me know if it sucked or not k? and if you like it let me know cuz this could become a two shot if enough ppl like it ^_^