HAPPY BIRTHDAY RUKIA-CHAN! WE LOVE YOU!
What I've Always Wanted
"Renji, on your right!" Said man turned in the nick of time to avoid a potentially fatal blow to the torso, and then took a slash. Zabimaru extended, making impact in the hollow's skull, and staying there, yet not quite killing the creature.
"Hold him still!" commanded Rukia, who then proceeded to stab the ground in the shape of a half circle in front of her before raising her katana to the side of her face.
"Tsugi No Mai." At this point the slits which she had made in the ground earlier were glowing brightly.
"Hakuren!" A blast of ice erupted, and Renji pulled Zabimaru back just before it hit the hollow. Almost immediately there was a wall of ice from the attack, and their enemy was frozen solid inside of it.
It was a moment before either shinigami could recover from the excitement and adrenaline rush caused by the battle, but soon enough they had calmed down, and were able to revel in their victory.
"Nice job, birthday girl," chuckled Renji, smirking down at the tiny woman who had come over to stand beside him just moments ago. She returned his gaze with a half-indignant glare, showing both the appreciation for him recognizing the date of her birth and responding to the teasing.
"Thanks." They both turned around and Renji proceeded to open the senkaimon. The large gate appeared, but refused to open.
"Eh?" spoke both shinigami in unicen. Rukia tried this time, but still nothing happened.
"About the senkaimon..." chimed in a familiar voice. Renji and Rukia turned again to be met with Urahara, who was smiling awkwardly as he nervously scratched the back of his head. A quirk of the eyebrow was earned from both individuals.
"You probably want to come back to the shoten with me."
Renji and Rukia stood before the large television-like screen in one of the rooms of Urahara's shop, waiting for it to flicker on so that they could get a grip on what was happening.
Suddenly, as if answering their wishes, it came on and Byakuya was on the other end waiting to talk to them.
"I assume that the both of you are wondering what's going on, correct?" They nodded immediately, wanting to get some answers as soon as possible.
"There have been hostile hollow sightings all around the sereitei," he continued, "and to prevent the hollows from escaping to the real world, we have temporarily closed the senkaimon until the situation is under control."
"I see..." said Rukia, who was the first to speak. She was obviously upset about not being able to be in the Soul Society, as both she and Renji knew that there was a party waiting for her there.
"Rukia?" Rukia tore her now-downcast gaze away from the ground to meet her brother's face.
"I apologize for this happening on your birthday, but rest assured, we shall have a celebration as soon as the senkaimon is re-opened and you and Renji return." The small girl smiled slightly, though she was still slightly depressed, as it wouldn't be the same.
"Yeah, Rukia," joined in Renji, attempting as well to raise her spirits, as he couldn't stand to see her sad another second. "It's not like the cake's gonna get stale or anything." He rested a hand on her shoulder which was opposite himself for extra comfort and smiled reassuringly.
Rukia chuckled a bit at his joke before turning to leave, a smile now stuck to her features as she gently nudged off Renji's arm. "I guess your right...and even if the cake does dry out, we can still shove it in Renji's face." She giggled, before departing.
Renji, who had glared a slightly indignant glare at her due to her "joke", was also about to leave the room before he heard the voice of his captain.
"Renji." The redhead whipped around in a flash, knowing what the consequences were for not following his captain's orders immediately and not wanting to suffer them.
"I wish that you do everything for Rukia's birthday that she asks of you," he continued, and it was as if he was attempting to imply something in his tone. Renji raised an eyebrow.
"Um...okay." Byakuya internally sighed, not surprised at his lieutenant's ignorance.
"Do anything which she asks of you," he repeated, "and possibly even something that you feel she would enjoy regardless of rather she asks you to or not. In that, I trust you, as I do know about your history and assume that you would be the person who knows what Rukia prefers the most without having to inquire her about it." Byakuya tried even harder to make Renji get the hint, as he felt that Rukia's favorite thing to get for her birthday would be a kiss from the man whom the noble knew she held affections for.
"Sure," said Renji, still not getting at what Byakuya was trying imply. The noble almost sighed, but instead bid his subordinate farewell before ending the transmission. Renji, on the other hand, was still confused as hell. He knew that his captain was trying to get something across, but he just couldn't tell what. Had he been hitting on him or something?...nah...
And with that final thought, Renji left the room.
"What's up, midget?" came Renji's voice as he suddenly plopped down beside the small girl on the roof of the shop, where she had come to sit after the talk with her brother.
"Nothing," she answered, unfazed by her best friend popping up out of god-knows-where. "Just sitting here, thinking about the fact that I'm stuck with you on my birthday." The tease was enough to make Renji pout, which made Rukia smirk in satisfaction at her success. In truth, this was a perfect opportunity, she had realized while leaving the room earlier. The perfect time to do, or rather get him to do, something which she had been wanting to happen since before their days in the academy.
"Yeah, well you should be lucky to have me," he fake boasted. "I'm strong, and talented, not to mention a great kisser-" he winked "-and I've got super manly tattoos that we both know you think are sexy. Admit it, Rukia, you want this." He smiled smugly, causing Rukia to break out into a fit of laughter. Renji always had been able to make her laugh when she needed it the most, and even if she knew he was joking, she still couldn't shake off the fact that, yes, she did want that, and that, yes, she found his spiky tattoos surprisingly sexy.
"In your dreams," she lied, turning to face him while still recovering from her earlier giggles. "But there is something that I do want." Renji, who had also been chuckling in amusement, stopped immediately as he remembered what his captain had said.
"What's that," he asked almost immediately after her statement, leaning towards her intently, as they were now facing each other. Rukia, though surprised at his rigid and immediate response, continued.
"Guess." Renji's eye twitched, and he wanted to throw himself off of a building due to her wickedness. She truly was a witch. An evil little witch.
"Chappy?" At the word, Rukia almost wanted to burst into a fangirl rant, but managed to contain herself.
"Well, chappy would be nice...but no." Renji was dumfounded now. What else would someone like her desire besides chappy?
"Uh, shoes?" Rukia snorted indignantly. "Please, Renji. No offense to her, but who do you think I am, Matsumoto?" Another eye twitch.
"Well, most girls seem to go all squealy and stary-eyed around shoes, so I guess that you're just not a girl then," he retorted, smiling as both parties realized that he had the upper hand at this point. But Rukia wasn't done by a long shot.
"No, I'm a girl," she corrected him. "Not that you would know, since I always caught you when you tried to spy on me bathing in the river back in the Rukon and kept you from seeing anything." A blush shot its way up to Renji's face, and he exploded.
"TH-THAT ONLY HAPPENED TWICE!"
"What, two times that I caught you or two times that you tried? Because if it was the latter, then you obviously weren't man enough to try again after I beat the shit out of you the first two times. Ya hear that everybody, Renji's fear outweighed his teenage libido! But I guess he wouldn't have much of that either, since he's just a prissy little girl!" She was laughing hard at his suffering now, extremely hard, and it was hard to tell now where Renji's face stopped and his hairline started.
"But to answer your question from earlier," began Rukia, changing the subject and silencing her giggles, as she had had her fill of amusement at Renji's expense, "Here's what I wanted." Before Renji could realize it, Rukia had leaned over and planted a small, chaste peck on his lips, yet communicated everything she wanted to say to him in the small action.
When Renji fully realized what she had done, she was just staring at him, smiling warmly. Wanting much more, his arm shot out to try and pull her into an embrace so he could give her a longer and more passionate kiss, however suddenly he was met with the sight and feel of thin air.
"Too slow," came Rukia from directly behind him, and Renji whipped around to face her now-standing form, just then realizing that she had used flash step to get there so quickly. Opening his mouth to speak, he was silenced by her index finger over his lips, the same finger then raising up in front of his face to waggle in disapproval of his actions.
"Ah ah ah," she scolded. "You don't get to fail the guessing game like that and then expect for me to just jump into your arms like an obedient little lap dog. You have to earn it." He raised an eyebrow in suspicion.
"And how do I do that?" He tried to be the slightest bit seductive in an attempt to get her to change her mind, but Rukia was a woman with a will of steel who refused to budge even under the strongest of urges.
As if to say, 'nice try, but you failed,' she answered, "Your going to have to catch me before I let you do anything else, Mr. I-actually-think-I'm-sexy-enough-that-I-can-seduce-someone." She chuckled, before shunpoeing away. Renji sighed, silently cursing his captain for teaching her the skill as he stood up and prepared to go after her.
Just before he was about to bound away, however, he smirked. The energy he would would exert would be more than worth what he would be gifted with when he caught up to her. The redhead yelled out a message which he knew she could hear.
"Yeah, well, be ready, 'cause once I catch you, you're gonna get one helluva present!"
END
I had so much fun writing this. ^_^ Well, again, happy b-day to Rukia, let's hope that she and Renji can have a "fun" night in Soul Society. ;) Tite Kubo owns Bleach, not I, and I love and appreciate all opinions!