He stepped through the gate feeling slightly disoriented but better than he had felt in years. Actually he hadn't felt anything except emotions for years. The first thing he noticed though was that the long chain embedded in his chest was no longer there. That comforting pull no longer exerted itself against his chest making him wonder what happened. Then he looked at his hands and saw that they looked whole and not ghostly any more. He patted his face and even went so far as to pinch himself to see if it was real.
Soi Fon watched him with a trace of amusement gracing her features. She enjoyed watching Ren come to terms with his new reality. "I'll bet you didn't exactly expect this did you?"
"Well to tell you the truth, about five years or so back a young man and his new wife stopped by and chatted with me for a time. His name was Ichigo and his wife was Rukia. They both could see me so I figured that they were just shinigami looking for a little free time on their own. Rukia explained Soul Society to me in detail and I thanked her for the information. Ichigo just nodded as I explained that I still had something to do and left it at that. He said that he would look in on me from time to time and see how I was holding up and since then he has visited several times. He never asked if I was ready. He just asked how I was doing. He would joke with me and tell me about things going on in his life. I think that he helped keep me from going insane. I hope to tell him how grateful I am to him."
She almost giggled which caused Soi Fon to blush at her near loss of self control. "That sounds like Ichigo. He has a soft spot for ghosts that's as wide as the ocean it seems. He's the captain of the fourteenth division. He stays down in the real world with his wife, Rukia, and oversees operations there. If you decide to become a shinigami then you will no doubt meet him some day."
"Oh, so you're backing out of the job offer?" Ren's face had a playful look about it. "Well I never…." He left the rest unsaid as he watched Soi Fon struggle with her emotions trying to figure out what to say.
"No…I meant… Ah…. ARGH! What did you just do to me! I sound like a simple school girl!"
"It's called banter and I was shooting for a laugh not frustration. You don't get out much, do you?" Ren felt a touch of sadness at seeing her like this.
"Oi Soi Fon, Who's the cutie? You just bring him home?" Ren looked to the voice and saw a stunning looking dark skinned woman with long purple hair.
"Ah… Ummm…Shihouin-sama. It's not what you think. I was just…
"And just who are you young man? To be escorting the former head of my personal guard and making idle chit chat with her?" Ren was somewhat shocked at the change in attitude of Soi Fon and looked at Yoruichi just in time to see her wink at him.
"I beg pardon Shihouin-sama, Captain Fon was just being kind enough to show me around since I'm new here. If I offended anyone it was not my intention." Soi Fon had kept her eyes down during this exchange and Ren winked back at Yoruichi.
"Well in that case please continue showing this young man around Soi Fon." She turned on her heel and strode away.
Soi Fon looked up with a surprised look on her face, not moving until Ren cleared his throat. "Um, yes, let's show you around a bit then figure out what we are going to do with you."
They started to walk away towards the second squad when Soi Fon felt a ghostly touch at her shoulder and the whispered words from Yoruichi. "I like him. You look good together." She turned to look but Yoruichi was nowhere to be seen. Her eyes were huge as she blushed several shades of red and tried to continue talking.
"Um, about what I said earlier, I do hope that you want to become a shinigami, but even if you don't I would like to still be able to talk to you. You were right back in Karakura town I don't have many people that I call friend and sometimes I really do get in a sour mood because of it."
"It's been well over twenty years since I died. I was twenty five then. I have watched my wife raise my children and have another man's child. I have watched her age and finally move away to live with our children. I know all about sour moods and I will always be there if you want to just talk. I learned how to listen a long time ago and I think I'm pretty good at it. Besides you brought me here and for that I'm grateful. And from the looks of some of the people here I think it might be a good idea to stay with you anyway." This last said as they passed the eleventh squad and observed Kenpachi stroking a honing stone along his zanpakutō and hearing an almost lustful sighing coming from the blade. It didn't help seeing the huge man talking softly to it either in Ren's mind.
She pointed out some of the different things along the way including the community bath house.
"I have not had a bath in so long." Ren sighed.
"I'll make sure that you get to take a bath soon. Come let's continue." Soi Fon continued along with a small smile that Ren couldn't see.
They arrived at the massive records repository and they entered. Ren just looked at the huge number of scrolls that filled the place and felt like he was in the ancient library of Alexandria. Soi Fon walked up to the head librarian and asked for the daily record. She took the record and inscribed the name of Ren Davis noting the date of death and the date of soul burial. She also made a couple of side notes on the execution of an evil hollow that had been taken to hell. She left the name blank not wanting to have Ren linked to someone as evil as that. She returned the record and motioned for Ren to follow her.
The last bit of their walk took them to the Second Squad. At the gate the two watch shinigami snapped to attention then fell to their knees before their captain. Their faces partially covered leaving their eyes only showing, both of them locked eyes with Ren and their glare hardened to the consistency of stone. Ren noted this and smiled at them with his face but his eyes turned to steel.
Soi Fon noted this little silent exchange and wondered how it might turn out. The two guards started to flinch under the returned glare coming from Ren as his face never twitched. Finally she had had enough of testosterone from the two guards. "Is this how a guest of mine is treated?" Her voice could have shattered stone it was so hard, but the volume was that of normal conversation. Both guards dropped their eyes and opened the gate to the compound.
"They're well trained. They're suspicious of anyone they don't recognize aren't they." Ren asked mildly.
"Yes, I suppose they are. It helps considering that there are hollows that can enter and consume a person from within them. They should have know though that if you were with me that you were alright." She said mildly irritated.
"Did you ever think that maybe they were slightly jealous? I mean here I am walking alongside a beautiful woman who just happens to be their captain. Maybe they wished that it was them instead of me."
Soi Fon's eyes shot open for the second time that day and her cheeks tinged again with shades of red. She had never thought of anyone in her squad as having any feelings for her that way. Even the thought that there might be someone who would look at her in that way gave her an uncomfortable feeling deep in her belly. "Is what Ren saying true? Can I be that blind to those around me?I know that each and every one of them would die at my command but to think that there is anyone here that….. What am I doing?"
Her inner turmoil was evident on her face. "Soi, I'm sorry, I was speaking out of turn. Please act like I never said a thing." Ren felt genuinely sorry he had made the comment.
"No Ren, you just said something that I never considered before and I'm not upset. Actually, I feel sort of relived to hear it out loud." She smiled a small demure smile at him. "Come, let's have some dinner. I bet you would love to finally eat something." She had a slightly mischievous look on her face.
"Now that you mention it I am feeling a bit hungry. Odd I haven't felt hunger in a long time." He scratched the back of his head in some confusion. "I thought that spirits didn't need sustenance to survive."
"That is true for the most part. Those who have a high spiritual strength though need to eat. Otherwise you will fade away and pass back into the pool of souls for rebirth some day. This is not an exactly pleasant method of passing. Many each year pass this way in the Rukongai. We try to help as many as we can but there are so many that some slip through our grasp. So let us eat."
The simple meal that was brought for them did fill his stomach and made him feel more human than he had felt in a long time. He patted his belly and remarked. "Well it was filling but not what I'd call terribly interesting. What say I prepare the next meal? I was a pretty fair cook back in the day. Some of my undercover work had me as a chef for some crime lords. I had to do a pretty fair job to pass it off."
"So you want to become my servant?" her eye arched
"Hell no. You clean your own bowl. I just want to eat something with a little flavor. I was just offering you something with a little pizaz to make the meal something to look forward to. Not just simple mass in the stomach."
She laughed a genuine laugh. "You are the first person since Yoruichi that has even dared to speak to me like that. I am enjoying it completely."
"Oh? And why are you such an ice princess? You seem like a normal person to me even if you are a captain of a group of shinigami who dress like ninjas. You still haven't told me about Soi Fon. Who are you aside from Captain of the Second Protection Squad? Who is the real Soi Fon. I promise not to tell."
They talked long into the night about their pasts and during that time started to build a friendship based on trust.
The following morning Soi Fon woke to the smell of something delicious wafting through the dojo. She rolled out and dressed quickly and headed for the small kitchen. She found Ren working over a hot stove fire handling cooking utensils like a master.
He noticed her and smiled. "I told you that I'd give you a taste of my cooking. Go sit down and I'll bring it out in a moment."
Her eyes were large as she turned away from the kitchen and had a seat at the table. "So this is what it's like having someone cook for you. I guess that I could get used to this, as long as it tastes as good as it smells."
The meal was all that he had promised and then some. She looked at him with a sideways glance. "You are going to make me fat."
Red started to laugh. "As if I could put enough calories into you to do that. From what I've seen you burn energy like an oil fire; fast, furious and very explosively. I doubt that you will ever get fat from my cooking."
"Well just don't you try and fatten me up." She humphed bending over her remaining rice and scarfing it down.
"Matsumoto started out like this too. She brought back her husband from the real world. From what I remember though they had a pretty rough time of it at first. Both of them ending up in the Fourth infirmary." "Ren, do you know how to fight?"
"Well, I wasn't so good at hand to hand at the police academy, but I was top in my class is firearms. I don't suppose that you use them here and honestly I really don't have any interest in using a gun ever again."
"No, here we use spells for explosive effect and swords or zanpakutō for fighting. That and some hand to hand for stronger shinigami. From what I saw when you hit that hollow as just a ghost, you might actually be a very strong hand to hand fighter."
Ren thought for a moment "For right now let me get used to being alive again. I didn't have any luxuries in my death other than my memories and watching over my family. Now I can eat once again and sleep. These are luxuries that I cherish and I also want to pay you back by helping you in what ever way I can."
Soi Fon looked down at her plate that was now empty and thought. "Well he can cook and it isn't like he has to go strait into the academy to learn how to be a shinigami." "Fine, cook and clean the dojo and you can stay here as long as you would like. Just don't make me fat."
"I promise, now don't you have a squad or division to run?" He smirked.
The daily meetings went fairly well considering how tightly she controlled her shinigami. They gave her the latest intel that they had gathered from Hueco Mundo. In the middle of one briefing she suddenly noticed that Ren was standing at the door with a tray with a cup of tea.
"What are you doing here?" She asked in one of her coldest voices.
Ren ignored the tone having heard it when she talked to his brother just before his death. "I'm bringing you some tea and some sandwiches seeing that it is noon and you haven't taken a break yet." He placed the tray beside her and smiled.
Her eyes bulged as she digested this simple gesture. She was not used to having someone that could ignore her icy glare with impunity. Her face heated up and she dismissed the scout curtly.
"What makes you think I needed something to eat?" She asked in a cool tone.
"Oh I don't know, maybe the way your head bobbed during the report or the rumble of your tummy just now." He smirked at her again.
"I'm sorry, I'm not used to having someone look after me. I am more used to watching over someone." She hung her head for a moment. She took the sandwich and bit into it then washed it down with the tea.
"I know a lot about you already Soi. Yoruichi stopped by a few times at the request of Ichigo to check up on me. She talked about you a lot. She considers you like a younger sister. She told me how you drive yourself to exhaustion and are somewhat crabby as a result. She only wants the best for you and for you to be happy. I would like to make her dream for you come true in some small way. Now, if you will excuse me. I will go and start on dinner. What would you like?"
Soi Fon's eyes were wide open to learn this piece of information and she hadn't a clue as to what to do with it. She mumbled "Make what you like. I'm sure that it will be fine. If you need anything just ask the vice captain to have it delivered." She resumed munching on her sandwich. "Cucumber, this is good. The tea is excellent also."
The rest of her day passed without any further interruptions, not that she minded so much. She was making her way back to her quarters when she smelled the distinct aroma of something cooking. She had never smelled anything like it before. She followed her nose as she went to the kitchen. "What are you making? It smells wonderful."
"Just a little dish Mama Davis taught me. Go and clean up and have a seat. It'll be ready in a moment." He shooed her out of the kitchen.
The following day she had a captains meeting and was standing around waiting for it to begin when Rangiku approached her. "I heard that you have a house keeper now." She tittered.
"I have nothing of the sort. Davis-san is just repaying me for my kindness in bringing him to Soul Society, nothing more." She tinged at the cheeks slightly. "I see that you're waddling more each day. When are you going to give birth?"
Oh I'm not sure. Unohana said that it should be in a month or so. You're right though I do waddle a bit. That's alright though. Can you feel the strength of this child already? Kira wants to name her after his mother or sister. Sophia or Justine. I'm not sure but I think Sophia would be nice. What do you think?"
"And you are asking me, why? I have no motherly instinct and don't want one either. Go ask Unohana what she thinks or Momo. Asking me is a waste of time." Soi Fon was seething.
"Well I didn't ask about sleeping arraignments with your boyfriend now did I?"
Rangiku had turned and gone back to her spot for the meeting leaving Soi Fon shaking and red faced at the implications of what she had said. Soi Fon's concentration for the day was shot. The word "boyfriend' kept replaying in her head over and over. The words of Yoruichi also came back to her mind "You look good together" Her mind kept replaying everything from the moment she first spoke to him and she never noticed how he treated her like an equal and a friend from the beginning. She had felt a sort of comfort around him that she had never felt around any of the shinigami in her life. What was she feeling. "Damn you Rangiku, and you too Yoruichi. You did this to me and now I want it. I want that feeling of being wanted and loved!" She shunpo'd to the execution grounds noting that they were empty of people. She screamed out at the top of her lungs. The scream was inarticulate and ragged but it was all that she could do. The foreign emotions had built up to the point that she had to find a release.
Her throat was raw by the time she made it back to her dojo in the second squad. Ren met her at the door with a glass of ice tea. "I could hear you. I asked what was happening and no one would tell me. I don't think that they knew. They all just wanted to stay away from you. They wouldn't tell me where you were either. Damn it Soi, I was worried about you."
She took a deep drink of the ice tea and let it sooth her damaged vocal cords. "I was coming to terms with something Ren. I'm glad they didn't tell you where I was. I needed to do this on my own. If you really want to know what I was doing I'll tell you over dinner."
He let her finish her meal in silence but he wasn't about to let her off the hook. "So you were going to tell me what that screaming was all about." He put to her simply and directly.
"Since I have met you, you have treated me as an equal and without fear. You speak your mind and you are kind. You're thoughtful and for some unknown reason you seem to care what happens to me."
"Why wouldn't…" She cut him off.
"Let me finish. I have had exactly one person in my life that I ever considered a friend until I met you. I think that she is a very good judge of character. She likes you. That says volumes to me. Here is the problem, I don't think that I'm worth the trouble for you to take care of me."
It was Ren's turn to silence her. "First off, let me say this about your last statement. BULLSHIT! Now that I have that off my chest let me tell you how I feel. I think you are an amazing woman or shinigami or what ever you want to call yourself. No matter what it is you do you are fantastic. I'm not asking for your hand in marriage Soi Fon, I'm asking for your hand in friendship. Looking out for friends is what friends do. I want to look out for you. And I'm sure that I'll require some looking after too. I'm new to this sort of thing. I might have been married but that was longer ago than my lifespan was. I want to be your friend. What ever else happens I will be your friend."
The emphasis on the word 'will' struck home like a shot through the heart of the normally cold woman. The tears started to well in her eyes as she finally realized that this person was not about being there for duty or honor but about being her friend. She started to tremble as her walls came crashing down around her. She looked at Ren and had nothing but thanks in her eyes as he put out his hand and she took it. This simple man who in such a short time had completely taken her off guard had become someone that she would always hold dear.
A/N: A nod to magicsmith for the fic "Zanpakuto?" A great insight into Kenpachi. I was going to make this into chapter eight of "Real World" but felt that maybe Ren and Soi Fon needed their own story arc. I'm not sure how far they will go but I hope people like it.