Burning Love
By Spunky0ne
(LOL, this really did start out as a oneshot. It was just a oneshot, right? I can write a oneshot, really! It's only that so many readers asked for more, so now it's more. A little not a oneshot anymore to honor the VERY UNBELIEVABLY SEXY AND NOW (spoilers) HELPING THE SHINIGAMIS BAZZ-B! Whew! *wipes brow* As soon as I saw that luscious pic of battered but proud Bazz-B, I had to honor him with his own little burning love story...with Renji, of course. I loved when Renji said "You mean, you really think my eyebrows...are cool?!" Yeah, this just had to happen. I was waiting for the right time and it's time. Here ya' go, you Bazz-B/Renji shippers. These two are getting busy! An even hotter MA version of this is now on AO3! Cheers, Spunky)
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Chapter 1: Red
"Renji," Byakuya said quietly, looking up from where he sat at his desk in the newly rebuilt sixth division headquarters.
"Sir?" the redhead queried, looking up from the stack of papers he was reading.
"I'll be leaving in a moment for the captain's meeting," the noble informed him, "While I am gone, you need to mind the prisoner."
Renji felt an unexpected flutter of guilt for a moment, and to his surprise, his normally serene, removed superior seemed to notice.
"Renji," Byakuya said, even more quietly, "I understand your mixed feelings. However, we were given orders to hold the surviving quincies in our custody while Central 46 is rebuilt to accommodate the after-war trials. The remaining quincies who helped us will be given the chance to earn their freedom, and certainly those who played a part in our victory will earn the new council's lenience."
"You think so?" Renji said, frowning, "Captain, you know that, prior to the war, those guys weren't so fair in all of their decisions. You've said it a few times, yourself, that they tend to let their politics interfere with the fair practice of our laws."
Byakuya sighed.
"I did say that, and it was a correct assessment, however, I am hopeful that the lessons of the quincy war will inspire our new leadership to reconsider their choices."
"Yeah, I hope that happens too," Renji agreed, glancing into the hallway that led to where the quincy waited in his cell, "Bazz-B and the others really got screwed by their leader, and they did come down on our side once they realized their leader didn't give a shit about them."
Byakuya blinked in surprise at the weight in his subordinate's troubled expression.
"Are you all right, Abarai?" he asked in a concerned tone.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine," Renji lied, sighing and turning back to the papers in front of him.
He placed his chin on his hand and tried to read, but the heavy feeling in his chest and belly made him read without comprehension. And as distracted as he was, he didn't feel Byakuya's approach until the noble was right in front of his desk. It was finally the little breath of sakura that touched his senses and made him look up into his captain's dark grey eyes. To his surprise, Renji found only concern and sympathy in their clear, calm depths.
"Captain?" the redhead said, swallowing hard.
Byakuya observed him silently for a moment before continuing.
"I think I understand what is bothering you," the noble said, holding Renji's gaze steadily, "You were born in the lower Rukongai, as my wife and her sister were. You had to struggle just to survive, and you fought your way into the place you now hold at my side."
"Y-yeah," Renji said in a mystified tone, "What does that...?"
"And even once you left the Rukogai and entered the shinigami academy, you quickly realized that the noble children at the academy weren't going to let you forget they were above you. Isn't that right?" Byakuya inquired.
Renji was speechless for a moment.
"Uh...yeah," he confessed, "To be honest, a lot of the noble kids were spoiled brats, who never had to struggle to get into the academy or to do anything else really. Sorry...I..."
"You speak the truth," Byakuya said calmly, "The situation was unfair. You dedicated your efforts to going to that place so that you could be a part of the society here, but those 'noble brats' made you feel that not even being strong was enough to make you accepted."
"Eh...sir, I don't..."
"It's fine," Byakuya assured him, "You have every reason to look at the noble class with some amount of anger and mistrust."
Renji looked back at him wordlessly.
"Are you surprised?" Byakuya asked.
Renji considered the question carefully, then shook his head and smiled.
"No, not really. You saying something like that makes sense. You aren't like that, so when the 'noble brats' act like that, I can see it bothers you too, sir."
"Then...there are exceptions, ne?"
"Yeah," Renji agreed, nodding, "And I just hope that the new council is made up of exceptions who think like you do."
The edges of Byakuya's lips curved upward slightly. He started to speak, but paused and genuinely smiled as the door opened to admit his lovely, blue-eyed cousin. Renji's eyes softened and his heart flickered in his chest at seeing his usually reserved superior treat someone with such open affection.
"Tetsuya."
It's even in the way he says the guy's name. He really loves Tetsuya and he's glad that his cousin's actions in the war, protecting the family, finally earned him the place he deserves.
"Byakuya."
It was strange hearing his friend address his leader so informally, but that was the privilege that went with being made the Kuchiki leader's future clan wife.
So, maybe it isn't going to be like it was before. Maybe, at least now, after having to fight elbow to elbow, more of the nobles will look at mixed bloods like Tetsuya, and peasants like Rukia and me with more respect. War sucks, but it does remind us we're on the same side.
He glanced down the hallway again as Byakuya slipped an arm around Tetsuya and fed him an affectionate kiss that left him blushing sweetly.
But some of us weren't so lucky. Tetsuya was lucky to find that, although the elders looked down on him before, when it really came down to it, they recognized just how much he brought to the clan. Bazz-B and the others who were left behind only learned that they meant nothing to Ywach.
"Arashi is waiting ouside," Tetsuya informed the Kuchiki heir, "Are you ready to go?"
"I am."
Byakuya glanced at Renji and nodded.
"Please take care of things, Abarai. I will be taking the afternoon off to work on wedding arrangements, so I'll see you in the morning."
"Good afternoon, Captain," Renji said in farewell, "See you later, Tetsuya."
"Goodbye, Renji."
The redhead watched as the two exited the headquarters together, then he sighed and started to look back at his work. He stared at the papers sightlessly for a time, hearing Bazz-B's shattered voice as Ywach took back the power he had granted his quincy officers.
"What the...! What's going on, Bazz-B?" he asked, staring at the light came down and swelled around the reeling quincy.
"That's what I wanna know!" Bazz-B screamed, "Your majesty...is that how it is then?"
Renji blinked and felt his heart pounding. The quincy's voice repeated in his mind and he glanced at the hallway again. He looked back at his work, but sighed in defeat.
I'm not going to be able to concentrate anyway.
He took a shaky breath.
And Captain Kuchiki's gone for the day. No one's going to be here until morning.
So...it won't hurt if I just...take the guy some tea. He's gotta be bored, just sitting in there, staring at the walls.
He left his desk and walked down the hallway as far as the kitchen, where he made tea and snacks for the two of them. He set food and drink on the tray and left the kitchen, then walked further down the hallway to the locked cell where the quincy sat on his cot, staring blankly at the wall and looking both bored and deflated.
"What do you want?" he asked in a low voice as Renji paused outside his cell.
"I thought you might be hungry and bored, so I brought some tea and snacks," Renji answered, watching as the quincy stood and stretched.
"That's a lot of food and tea," Bazz-B observed, "You plan on joining me, then? That's a little weird, isn't it? Us being on opposite sides?"
"On opposite sides of what?" Renji mused, "The war's over."
"So, what? Are we all supposed to join hands and sing Kumbaya now?" the quincy asked sarcastically.
"Naw, I don't sing that well."
"I find that hard to believe," Bazz-B objected, "You've got a pretty deep voice. Girls like that. I bet you can sing."
"You have a pretty good voice, yourself," Renji complimented him, opening the door to the cell and stepping inside, "Now, just so you know, if you attack me, I will defend myself, and the alarms'll go off if I'm hurt, summoning the soldiers from the barracks."
"I'm not gonna attack you, Red," Bazz-B said off-handedly, "I know you're not the enemy."
"Is that right?" Renji mused, "That's not what you said before?"
"Eh, before?" Bazz-B repeated, "You mean, when you called me a chicken head? You think I've forgotten that, do you?"
"Uh, no," Renji chuckled, "But you know that was just battle talk. It didn't mean anything, and actually, that majestic mohawk of yours is pretty cool."
"You think so?"
"Yeah. But I wasn't going to say that to an enemy."
"Heh, I still won't forgive you for calling me a chicken head, you fool!" Bazz-B said, smirking, "But I have to admit, I really do like those tattoos above your eyebrows, and I could see you have more of them. It made me kinda curious, you know?"
Renji's heart skipped and he set the tray down with a little more force than he meant to, making the tea in the cups slosh a little.
"What? You got a problem with me appreciating something hot like that?" the quincy said, moving closer.
"Hey," Renji said, stepping back and frowning, "Don't try anything, okay? You won't get far, even if you get out."
"I know that," Bazz-B answered, moving closer, "I just really want to see more of those tattoos. Do you have them all over?"
"Y-yeah," Renji affirmed, opening his top, then removing it to reveal the handsome array of bold markings on his neck, shoulders, back and chest, "My zanpakutou puts'em there to reward me for getting stronger."
"Does it hurt when he does it?" Bazz-B asked, gazing curiously and reaching out to touch one of the redhead's tattooed eyebrows.
"Yeah, but usually not as much as the shit I went through to get stronger, so I don't care so much."
Renji flinched and went silent as the quincy's gloved fingers traced a marking on his neck, then a jagged tattoo on Renji's muscular shoulder.
"You work out a lot," the quincy officer commented.
"I'm a vice-captain," Renji explained, "My captain has me out there, busting my ass every day. He's really helped me a lot."
"Huh, that's kinda weird, you know," Bazz-B mused, "You and that noble. Don't nobles usually look down on peasants? Even powerful ones?"
"Yeah, usually," Renji admitted, his mind briefly seeing the lovely mixed blood Tetsuya and how sad he had looked when his own family seemed to think of him as beneath notice, despite his captain level abilities.
But the war changed that...at least, for now it did. It may go back to the way it was before if we don't do something to keep the camaraderie going. Bonds like that need to be supported constantly.
He realized suddenly that Bazz-B was standing much closer to him and that the quincy had removed one of his gloves.
"What's that? What are you doing?" the redhead demanded, starting to back away.
"Why, are you scared?" Bazz-B asked, looking amused, "I can't escape. And I said you're not an enemy. I don't have a reason to hurt you, Red."
"I-it's Renji," the redhead corrected him.
"Not to me, it's not," Bazz-B teased him, smirking and reaching out his ungloved hand.
Renji watched wordlessly as the other young man's bare finger made contact with one of the markings on his muscular breast, then caressed it gently. He felt a hard jolt in his belly and his mouth went dry as the quincy's fingertip brushed against a proud, dusky nipple.
"A-ah!" he gasped, stepping back, only to be followed by the advancing quincy, "H-hey, what're you d...!"
He froze as he was pressed up against the wall and Bazz-B's defiant mouth clamped down in his. At first, it felt like an attack, but the next moment it turned into the most powerful and beautiful sensation the stunned redhead had ever felt.
Everything about this guy is really, really hot! His lips feel like they're melting mine! He tastes like fire...DAMN!
He tried to pull away, but remained paralyzed under the spell of that hard, wanton mouth that bit hungrily at his. He tried to object verbally, but only found his mouth assaulted by a fierce, thrusting tongue that burned as hotly as the rest of him.
Holy hell! What's this guy doing to me?
Is he gonna kill me?
"It feels dangerous, right?" Bazz-B panted softly, breaking away from Renji's lips for a moment, "It is. Ywach may have taken back the added power he gave me, but inside my body, I still have the natural power I was born with. I could melt your insides before you could scream. You sense that, don't you...and you're still here. Why is that? You think I won't kill you and escape if I have the chance?"
"You could," Renji agreed, "But where would you go? Besides, you said we weren't enemies."
"And you believed me...an enemy?"
"A former enemy. You were also an ally."
"For which I'm being held prisoner, which makes me pissed at you shinigamis."
"At all shinigamis?" Renji asked, "Or just the ones who made the decision?"
"Huh?" Bazz-B said, blinking.
"You seem like someone who's pretty perceptive," Renji explained, "I think you know who it is who is behind your incarceration."
"You saying you don't think like that? You think they should let me go?" Bazz-B asked, "What makes you so sure that I won't just go on a killing spree, hunting shinigamis?"
"I don't think you're like that," Renji said, shaking his head, "We fought alongside each other, at least for a while. I watched you."
Bazz-B reclaimed his trademark smirk.
"You were watching me, Red?"
"It's Renji!" the redhead insisted, "and yeah, I was watching you. You're a hard fighter, but you're not a backstabber unless your opponent is too. You're brutal sometimes, but you're honest...even with your enemies."
"That's pretty perceptive, Red."
"Renji!"
"Bazz-B chuckled and sought his lips again, leaving Renji speechless all over with a long, scathing kiss that weakened his knees.
"Any chance you'll let me see more of your tattoos?" the quincy coaxed him, sliding a hand down the redhead's tattooed belly and beneath his hakama.
"O-oh! I don't know if that's a good idea," Renji objected, blushing as red as his hair and squirming as Bazz-B's bare hand found his reactive member.
"Holy shit, Red! That's pretty impressive," the quincy complimented him, "But uh...is that tattooed also?"
"N-no! That asshole wanted to, but I wasn't about to allow it!" Renji snapped furiously.
"Why not? I think it would be hot?" Bazz-B laughed, "You want me to do it?"
"What th'fuck? NO!" Renji yelled, turning even more red, "D-don't...hey, don't do that!"
"Don't do what?" Bazz-B asked pressing up against him and trapping him against the wall as his hand provided sinfully delicious stimulation, "I made you hard. I'm not going to do something like that and not take care of it."
"Uh-ungh!" Renji gasped, unable to hold still as the wonderful caresses and blazing kisses continued, "S-stop it!"
"You really want me to?" the quincy asked in a low voice that excited more dampness in the redhead's nether region, "I will stop if you want me to. After all, I'm not your enemy, right?"
Renji swallowed hard, gazing into Bazz-B's seething eyes and going breathless for a moment.
"What do you say, Red? You wanna taste some lava?"
Renji shuddered as Bazz-B ran his fingers down the redhead's sweating chest, then deprived him of his hakama altogether. He stood, unmoving as Bazz-B slowly undressed, revealing a slim, hardened body and an extremely large and flushed erection.
"You want me to put that in my mouth?" Renji asked, scowling, "How do I know you won't blow my head off?"
"You don't," Bazz-B laughed, "But I don't know you won't bite, right? I guess we have to trust each other...just like we did against Ywach."
"Ywach? Not his majesty?"
"Fuck no, not anymore," Bazz-B spat, "He's not my king."
"Mine either," Renji agreed.
"So, we're not enemies."
"No."
Bazz-B's lips found Renji's again and the two shared a barrage of biting kisses as their hands caressed each other. Renji's mouth moved on to suck and nibble at the quincy's soft throat before sliding downward to tease his nipples and moving gradually closer to his alert nether region. Bazz-B watched with deeply aroused eyes as Renji lowered himself to his knees and placed his hands on the quincy's muscular thighs. Bazz-B smirked and yanked the tie out of the redhead's long hair, loosing it to fall around his shoulders in bright crimson waves.
"Damn..." the quincy mused, losing his breath as Renji's mouth began to pleasure him.
He tried to hold still, but he hadn't anticipated how adept the red-haired shinigami would be in stimulating him. His fingers sank into Renji's hair and tightened as he encouraged the heated contact to continue.
"Oh...oh kami, that feels so good!" he panted, moving his hips slightly to intensify the feeling, "Oh...ah! You're really good at this! I think you're a little too good!"
He grabbed the redhead and dragged him onto the cot, pushing him down on his back and glaring into Renji's hazy, desirous eyes.
"Burner finger number one," he hissed, making Renji's eyes round.
"What the...!"
"Shh, it's okay," the quincy chuckled as the invoked finger began to prepare the shocked redhead, "It's not at full power. I just did that to intensify things. Take it easy."
Renji found himself unable to answer as extreme warmth flared inside him and flooded his tensed body with lovely, mind-numbing sensations. He groaned as his state of arousal heightened and felt euphoria pass over him as the quincy spoke again.
"Burner finger number two!"
Renji howled at the sudden increase in heat and sensation, writhing uncontrollably as the quincy continued his preparations. Nearly overcome, he barely heard the proclamation of the third burner finger and was so enthralled, he couldn't move as Bazz-B ceased his preparations and positioned himself to join their bodies. He moved slowly, carefully holding the redhead at his limits, then he looked into Renji's almost sightless eyes and grinned.
"You know," he breathed into the redhead's ear, "I have ten burner fingers...but...I also have something else that's burning."
Renji stared back at him uncomprehendingly as power throbbed through the quincy's body and sank deeply into Renji's where the two were joined. Their bodies glowed with vicious red light that seethed around them as the two thrust wildly against each other, their open mouths gasping and panting as they kissed and writhed together.
This is it, Renji thought as climax approached, If he's going to kill me, it'll be now. I'll just melt from inside before I feel a thing.
But hell, it's not the worst way to die, is it?
His mind went blank and his body seized, surrendering to the blaze of fire that seemed to hit him everywhere at once, sending him into sweet oblivion. He wondered for a moment if he really had died, then his heart throbbed in his chest as he heard Bazz-B's howls of pleasure.
I didn't know it could be this good.
Whether it's orgasm or I'm dying, I never felt anything like this!
He came back to earth slowly, his eyes unseeing as he caught his breath and laid, completely immobilized in Bazz-B's arms. He drifted off for a while, and when he woke, found the quincy sleeping with a cute, please smirk still on his face. He extracted himself slowly and started to dress, shaking his head at his foolishness for getting involved with a former enemy and a prisoner of war who hadn't yet been tried.
He paused as he started to put his pants on and saw the new markings.
Renji's jaw dropped and he stared at the quincy, who was now awake and smiling at him. Bazz-B gave him a cocky wink.
"I think it looks good," he complimented the redhead, "Don't you, Renji?"
The redhead started to yell, then stopped himself and grinned instead.
"Yeah, it looks good...and it's Red...to you."