Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story. The character's thoughts, beliefs, actions, behaviors etc etc do not necessarily reflect my own.
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Byakuya rubbed the spot between his eyes as he stared at the blank document. He'd been doing so for the past two hours & still, he could only come up with the first sentence. While his next chapter deadline wasn't going to be for another two weeks, he was beginning to stress out because sometimes it took well over a week to get a chapter out & this was his second to last chapter so it had to be perfec-
"Gold all in my chain….gold all in my rangs….gold all in my watch….don't belie' me just watch…"
The dark haired man rolled his eyes. He was absolutely sick of that tenant upstairs blasting his or her stupid music like he or she was deaf. Even Helen Keller would hear it! The bass caused his cup of tea to vibrate & the pictures on his wall to shake. He couldn't work with this racket!
Sighing, Byakuya stood & left his apartment to head upstairs, grumbling unhappily the whole time. Just because the rooms beside & across the hall were empty didn't mean that gave this idiot the right to blast their music!
He stopped at the room & banged on the door with the flat of his palm. It was a minute before the door unlocked & opened, revealing a very attractive red headed man. He was tall & lean with a swimmer's body, sporting only a pair of loose fitting jeans.
He smirked. "Hey, what's up?"
Byakuya swallowed before answering. "You need to turn down that God-awful music. It's…it's preventing me from concentrating"
The man's mouth made an O & he put the side of his fist up to it. "Damn, my bad, shawty"
Byakuya raised an eyebrow. Shawty? He was much too old for such a ridiculous pet name. "Just…keep it down please"
"Alright, boss"
The dark eyed man only rolled his eyes & headed back down to his apartment, thankful the music had been either turned completely off or down very low. Now he could work on his story.
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Byakuya set his groceries on the countertop before opening the bags & putting the food away. He was so thankful he'd gotten that chapter done when he did; having it done so ahead of schedule resulted in a pretty check which he really needed. He was tired of surviving off of grits & scrambled eggs.
As he finished up & sat down to enjoy a book, he sighed in contentment & curled around his mug of tea, inhaling the peppermint scent. It could only get better than this if he was able to have a big bathtu-
"Strip clubs & dollar biiiills….I still got my money. Patron shots, lemme get a refiiiill…I still got my money. Strippers going up & down that pooole…& I still got my money. Four o' clock & we ain't going home….cause I still got my money"
Byakuya rolled his eyes hard & slapped his book down on the armrest. What the hell was wrong with this guy?! He didn't act or speak like he couldn't hear well, why did he have to turn that music up so damn loud?!
Byakuya stomped his way up the stairs. If their landlord wasn't so damn lazy & uninterested in everything that had anything to do with anything that went on in the apartments, Byakuya would've had to report this guy. The only time music being that loud was acceptable was when you had on headphones, damn it!
He banged on the door again, harder than last time. He didn't have time to stand here & remind this guy to use his manners; he had a book just calling out to him at his place.
No answer. He banged on the door again & waited.
'Ugh…what the hell was taking so long?!' he thought to himself.
He kicked the door, making sure it was hard enough to be heard over the music, which was ending & within moments the man opened the door, dripping wet & something between a hand towel & a bath towel wrapped half way across his waist. Byakuya could see a sliver of his hip which was adorned with some kind of tribal looking tattoo.
"Oh hey. Sorry, I was taking a bath" the guy said, "What can I help you with?"
Was this guy dense? Did he not understand how loud his music was?
Byakuya squared his jaw. "Your music…"
"Oh shit, my bad man. I didn't think you were home & I wanted to be able to hear it from the bathroom…" he trailed off as he glanced over his shoulder, "Hey, speaking of which are you good with the plumbing?"
"Why?"
"My tub's like stopped up. I don't know what's going on but I need that shit drained ASAP"
Byakuya crossed his arms. "Why don't you just get liquid pumbing like Drain-O or something?"
The red head smirked, leaning against the doorframe & resting the fist that was holding his towel on his hip. "Someone's a little sour puss…"
"Well of course I am! You won't turn & keep your damn music down!"
"Oh yeah, that's right. Listen, my bad. I don't mean any trouble"
He was so damn handsome. It would be a shame if such great looks were wasted on with an asshole personality.
"Just keep it down" Byakuya said with finality & turned on his heel to walk away.
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Today was Byakuya's day off. Like…a day of absolute relaxation. No chapter writing, no grocery shopping. He didn't even need to brew any tea because he brewed a little more than necessary yesterday; all he needed to do was warm it up & put his cream & sugar in. Yes, today was going to be perfection.
At that thought, he tensed, thinking that idiot's obnoxious music was going to shoot down his hopes of having a quiet, relaxing evening. But instead he was only met with silence & he sighed, relaxing & sitting on his couch.
An hour & a half & still quiet later, Byakuya set his book down with a sigh & got up to prepare dinner. That book was really great & he was beyond elated he hadn't been interrupted or disturbed. He chopped up some onions & bell pepper, sautéed it & poured seasoned eggs on top of it. He let that side cook & flipped it over, his mouth watering. If he could just get through dinner without the loud music he would be able to sleep happy tonight.
He sat to enjoy his omlette while he watched one of his favorite television shows & sure enough, he was interrupted.
"I love bad bitches, that's my fuckin' problem. & yeah I like to fuck, I gatta fuckin' problem. I love bad bitches, that's my fuckin' problem. & yeah I like to fuck, I gatta fuckin' problem. If finding somebody real is your fuckin' problem, bring 'ya girls to the crib, maybe we can solve it"
Byakuya angrily pressed the pause button on his remote & slapped it down on the armrest before he stood abruptly & stomped his way upstairs where he kicked the door harshly.
"I don't have time for this utter bullshit" he hissed between clenched teeth.
After more kicks & heavy knocking the door opened & this handsome devil was wrapped in an even smaller towel than the day before, his red hair dripping wet.
He smiled. "Oh hey, man. Good to see you agai-"
"If I have to tell your deaf ass one more got damn time to turn your music down, I am going to bring a bat next time & bash your stereo system" Byakuya warned, his voice deadly calm.
The man blinked a few times before he put his fist up to his mouth like he did the last time. "Oh man, I am so sorry-"
"Just go turn it down!" Byakuya snapped & the man complied. Because his towel was just ridiculously short, he would have to decide if he wanted to cover his crotch or his ass but not at the same time. Apparently the guy was very comfortable in his skin because he simple tossed the towel away & strutted to his sound system to turn the stereo completely off (Byakuya was ashamed to admit he'd been watching that ass the entire time).
"By the way, I'm Renji. You are?"
"Going back to my place" Byakuya muttered & turned on his heel.
"Hey wait! I need to ask you another plumbing question!"
The dark haired man sighed. "Did you try Drain-O like I told you?"
"Yeah man. The shit never went down the drain, it was so clogged up"
Hm. He'd never heard of a drain being quite that clogged up. Either this Renji guy was lying or his drain was stuck with a rat or something. He didn't doubt either suspicion; for two years now the apartment complex had an invasion of rats in the summer. He was just itching for the day when he saved up enough to move the hell out.
"By the way…" Renji said, walking closer, "You still haven't told me your name"
"Byakuya" the dark haired man said, crossing his arms & trying very hard not to let his eyes wander.
"Byakuya, eh? Nice. So are ya gunna help me with this drain? I'd really appreciate it; I'll even cook you a nice dinner at no charge"
"You'd just better hope I don't charge you! Now where is this drain?" Byakuya snapped. He really was not an irritable person but after only running on a few hours of sleep, every man had a breaking point.
Renji smirked & jerked his chin towards a tiny hallway off to the side of the kitchen before heading in that direction. Byakuya tried his hardest to resist the temptation of watching his ass the whole way & succeeded in watching it only half the way. Hey he had to start somewhere….
Renji opened the door to a neat, humid bathroom. The shower curtain was pulled to the side, revealing a tub halfway full of soapy water.
"Do you have a plunger?" Byakuya asked. He really didn't want to have to reach in used water, even if it was soapy.
The red head handed him one & he went to work on forcing whatever was clogging the drain down. It seemed as if it moved but then got stuck again & wouldn't move anymore. After a few more forceful pushes on the stick, Byakuya gave up & handed the punger back to Renji.
"You need to get a plummer out here or something. There's some serious clogging down there"
"Well is there any other access to the drains?"
Byakuya thought about that for a minute before tapping his chin with his finger. "We'll check in the basement"
Renji nodded & Byakuya tossed a towel at him.
"The least you can is put on some clothes while I go grab a flashlight & a screwdriver"
Once Byakuya came out of his apartment, Renji was standing there in pajama pants & a wife beater, smirking arrogantly. The dark haired man almost, almost blushed but instead he only rolled his eyes.
"Come on you moron"
It was cool & damp down in the basement & full of spiders webs. When they flicked on the lights they could've sworn they heard little feet of maybe rodents scattering everywhere.
"Let's make this quick so we can get out of here" Byakuya said quickly & strod over to a wooden door, unscrewing all of the bolts out.
"You think this will take some time?" Renji asked, grabbing each screw before they fell & bounced out of sight.
"It shouldn't be more than five minutes" the dark haired man responded & took off the cover before grabbing the flashlight, "I just have to find the pipe to your apartment, screw it open &…."
He trailed off as he searched. There were a whole lot more pipes than he expected & though he wasn't exactly expecting them to be in numeric order, he didn't anticipate it being the pipes making a complicated maze either.
"You see it?"
Byakuya didn't answer. Why answer such a dumb question? If he found it he wouldn't be just sitting here, staring at the pipes! Instead he sat back on his haunches & frowned in concentration. "Bathtub pipes are thicker than sink pipes…"
"Yeah"
"Was even a little water able to get down the drain?"
Renji thought about that for a minute before he nodded. "Yeah, a little bit"
The dark haired back shined his flashlight at the maze of pipes again. "Then I need to look for a thick pipe that has a little moisture around it…"
& not too long after that he found the pipe he was looking for. He grabbed the screwdriver & screwed the nuts off, handing them to Renji who was beginning to shift anxiously as if he was uncomfortable & ready to go. Byakuya pulled the two pieces of pipe apart & peered inside one before doing the same to the other. One of them had a large obstruction in it that was just out of his finger's reach. If he could pull it out with the screwdriv-
"You almost done, man?"
"Will you stop rushing me?!"
The red head smirked but it didn't reach his eyes. This place must be really freaking him out.
Byakuya shook his head in irritation & tried to use the screwdrive to slide whatever the object was closer to him so he could pull it out. It was the strangest thing; all wrinkled & pale looking. For a split, he wondered if it was a dead animal or something & he panicked. He didn't want to touch something that gross. He almost failed biology because he didn't want to dissect that pig's foot!
"Hand me your shirt" he ordered the red head.
"Why?"
"Give it to me!"
Renji sighed & pulled it off, handing it over. Byakuya pulled the object closer to him before he brought it all the way out with his hand wrapped in the shirt. When he got a good look at it he threw it on the floor & took a step back, slapping a hand over his mouth.
"What is it?" Renji asked, sounding more nervous than panicked.
"It's…it's a hand!" Byakuya said, pointing, "It's a human hand!"
Renji took a closer look &, to Byakuya's surprise, threw part of his shirt that the amputated hand wasn't resting on over it, covering it up. "We should go back upstairs"
Byakuya frowned. "What? There is a hand down here, Renji! There was a human hand in a damn pipe! If no one knew about it then obviously whoever this hand belonged to is dead! We have to report this to the police"
"I can't let you do that…."
Byakuya frowned & prepared his mouth to retort angrily but could only choke & suffocate on the blood that was quickly filling his throat as Renji shoved the screwdriver in his neck. The redhead's facial expression was dead, as if this was…as if this was something he did all the time….
'He…he was so fast…' Byakuya thought, his vision darkening, 'I never saw it coming…'
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Renji dragged Byakuya's cold, lifeless body over to the opening to the maze of pipes & stuffed him in a bag, along with the other two bodies that used to be his neighbors, one of who was missing a hand. Obviously hiding the hand in the pipe was not a great idea but he didn't honestly think it would clog up his drain like that. But had the stupid guy not attacked him, Renji would not have cut his hand off in the first place & he wouldn't have had to kill Byakuya.
"He sure was nice to look at…" Renji murmured to himself & ran the back of his fingers over the cold cheek before closing the bag. Later on he'll come back down here to cut out the guy's organs so that they didn't stink up the place. There was no telling when he'd have the money to get the acid he needed to melt the bodies down.
