Scraped Knees and Elbows

As children, when he tried to help her, it was an innocent act. As teenagers, they were simply following childhood. But as adults, there are no excuses, and there is no blame when an imaginary rule is broken. Renji-Rukia One-shot.

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

Torn, light pink flesh with just the smallest specks of bright crimson red marred her knees, and he gazed down at the evidence of a fall that had taken its toll on the girl. Large eyes averted their gaze to stare at the dirt and grass that had suddenly become oh so interesting, and pale, cracked lips tightened in a pursed frown as color flushed pale cheeks.

The boy cocked his head to the side, staring at the girl with curious eyes and a blank expression. Why would she be so embarrassed about something as small as a fall? So what she got hurt, that was natural when someone fell, so…But the boy's gaze softened some as he slowly sunk to his knees before her. That was just her, and he was silently proud of himself for answering his own question so easily.

Reaching forward, and ignoring the horrified look on the girl's face, the boy's rough, larger hands grasped around her leg, and lifted it just slightly. This earned him an amusing look from the dark haired girl, but the boy paid no mind, and leaned closer to inspect the seemingly insignificant damage to her knee. He couldn't help rolling his eyes. She was making a big deal out of this? Obviously, she hadn't seen the open blister on one of the other boys' ankles last week. Nonetheless, it bothered her, and the boy was going to remedy the situation.

Only continuing to confuse the girl, the boy leaned his face closer to her knee, and after giving it only a second of thought, his tongue dipped out and graced over the small wound. A slight coppery taste and an odd sensation on his tongue didn't bother the boy, and surprisingly enough, the girl seemed to be blushing harder, yet said nothing. When he pulled away, his hands fell from her leg, fingertips brushing the skin underneath her knee, and he sat back and gave the girl a grin.

A few moments of silence passed, but the girl finally looked up and inspected her knee, looking at it with such scrutiny that she could have burnt a hole through her leg. The boy leaned back on his hands, watching her with amusement, though an almost equally dark blush covered his cheeks when she looked up at him with a shy gaze of appreciation.

"Thank you…Renji…" she murmured, her dark blue gaze quickly falling back to her knee.

"Ah-Forget it, Rukia!" he replied, chuckling as he scratched the back of his neck. "Besides, you shouldn't get so worked up about something as small as that scrape," the red head added with a small grin. Standing up, he extended his hand to the girl, who took it readily. The two children stood for a few moments, staring at each other with the innocent gaze of a child, no thoughts going through their heads except for what was happening at just that moment.

Rukia looked over her shoulder up at the tree, and Renji followed her gaze to the snapped branch, the cause of this entire situation. Smiling bluffly, he nudged the short haired girl towards the tree. She gave him a questioning look for a moment, but after seeing his smile, she smiled too.

"Come on, we'll be more careful if there's another weak branch. Can't let one little fall get you scared of some stupid tree, right?" Renji prodded, knowing full well that Rukia would merely see his words as a challenge. And they both knew she wouldn't refuse a challenge from him.

"Yeah," she answered, looking back up at the tree. "I bet I'll be first to get to the top!" she called, smirking as she made her way towards the tree. Renji was still for a moment, before realizing her own challenge. Calling for her to wait, he too ran to the tree. They were just kids climbing a tree, there was nothing amazing or special about that. And neither was walking along the dirty waters of the wide river in the Rukon district.

When she'd fallen backwards, her foot slipping on a slippery rock, Renji had been truly worried. Her shocked expression and sudden blanched look of fear had made him spring to action, and he'd attempted to pull her towards him by the wrist. But the boy's noble action had merely served to throw off their momentum, and both went crashing down the small rise of rocks.

He'd tried to shield her body with his own, but by the time they'd hit the thick, murky waters of the river, his fingers had already slipped from around her wrist before they were submerged. Rising above the water with a surprised gasp and a heavy set of coughing, Renji tried to ignore the soreness in his body that seemed to wrap around every muscle in his being. Looking over to his side, he saw Rukia dragging herself out of the water and stumble towards the rocks to catch hold of something.

The force of the river wasn't great, nor were the waters deep, but both had the instinctual priority to get out to inspect themselves on familiar dry land, and that's what they did. Though Renji found himself all right, except for a few small scrapes and a cut above his right eyebrow, not to mention the soreness. But glancing over towards Rukia, the young man noticed that she was clutching tightly at her right elbow, a look of pain crossing her face.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked, walking over towards her. He quickly grasped her wrist and forced her arm out in front of her so that he could see what was wrong, and his eyes narrowed at the shallow cut and the nasty wound on her elbow. The skin had been shredded, from the corner by a sharp rock, no doubt, and blood was seeping up quickly. Lips pulling into a frown the boy leaned forward, just as he had all that long time ago when she'd hurt her knee, and his tongue met with Rukia's flesh once again to ghost over the wound. Saliva helped disinfect the wound and along with pressure could staunch the blood flow, natural germs in the saliva making it clot faster. Of course, Renji didn't know all of that, he was still just a young boy, no older looking than maybe twelve or fourteen, though he was obviously years older, but it didn't change the fact that he just knew it helped. He didn't need to know why, just that it helped.

That was good enough for him.

Rukia didn't say anything, though this time color didn't rush to her face so easily. Before, when this had happened in their earlier childhood, it had been embarrassing because Renji had licked her, like a dog would lick its pup or something, even if he was only helping. But now, more mature than she'd been, she wasn't so easily embarrassed. More along the lines of passive, possibly. She knew what it did for her, and she'd never asked for an explanation. It helped, and that was fine by her.

That was good enough for her.

The first time he'd seen a serious wound on his friend was after they'd become Shinigami in training, and he'd been horrified. Though she claimed it was small, Renji couldn't help thinking that the thin slice along her shoulder blade looked like some bloody wound other Shinigami had when coming back after fighting off a Hollow, or one another.

They'd been in a small, empty classroom, since classes had ended that day and they'd planned to meet there to talk, having not had such a luxury in the longest time. He'd noticed the bandages under her uniform haori, and had all but attempted to rip the fabric away to see. But Rukia had simply sighed, turning around, and quickly loosening her uniform so that she might pull the fabric away from her shoulder, and allow Renji to peel the bandages away. She winced slightly, feeling the balm that the member of Squad Four had so expertly put on begin to rub off from the boy's rough removal of the bandages.

She'd even heard Renji gasp quietly when he saw the wound. It had been an accident in class earlier, during a Kidou practice, and the classmate next to her had misaimed. Or at least, Rukia had hoped that was the case. She began to tell the story to Renji, only to stop when she felt his fingertips rub the balm away, which was rather painful, and she hissed quietly.

"Be gentle, okay Renji?" she snapped, her brow furrowing in slight annoyance. Couldn't he have just left it alone? It would have healed just fine if he'd let it be. Now she'd probably have to find another member of Squad Four to ask for help again. But before the girl could make another thought, she froze; her lips parted having been preparing to speak, though her voice was caught in her throat. Feeling a shiver run down her spine, Rukia tried to place the feeling she felt now.

Renji's lips were pressed against the wound on the back of her shoulder, and one hand was resting on the bare skin of her back while the other gently held onto her arm. The dark haired girl's eyes were wide and her lips agape as all words left her throat. Renji's tongue dipped out and gingerly brushed over the cut, the burning from earlier slowly fading, though that was merely because Rukia was trying to adjust herself to the pain. Not to mention, for some odd reason, feeling Renji's lips on her skin, feeling his tongue, seemed so familiar and comforting.

Closing her eyes, Rukia shuddered slightly before dropping her hands from her shirt, allowing it to fall just a little lower. She sat up a little straighter, as though testing the limits of contact with Renji, and she let out a small, quiet moan. Such contact, especially after so long of having not even getting to see or speak with her childhood friend in what felt like forever…just the smallest touch could have turned her to goo in his hands.

"R-Renji," she murmured quietly, her eyes falling halfway closed. Her voice was soft, almost as though she were drowsy. She felt just the smallest bit of disappointment when she felt the contact of his lips on her skin break, though he was still close enough to feel his hot breath on her shoulder.

"Rukia…only let me be the one to help your wounds," the red haired young man said, his tone almost pleading yet still maintaining an almost commanding air. It didn't matter that his request was foolish; it was the stronger promise being asked to be sealed behind the words that truly mattered. And Rukia knew this, and she would not dare to make light of it or joke. "I want to be the only one to touch you," he finally admitted, the hesitance and reluctance in his voice enough to make the girl's lips turn up in just the smallest of smiles.

Turning, she paid no mind to the fact that her chest was exposed, and she leaned in towards the larger male's chest, her cheek resting against the fabric of his uniform shirt. "Alright…" she replied, nothing really else left to say. Just as with Renji's request, her answer merely dressed all of the words she could have said, but didn't have the sense to form them coherently. But both meanings remained clear. He wanted her, and she wanted to be his.

When their lips met, it didn't at first feel awkward. It was far from a first kiss to either of them, both having kissed each other numerous times as children, though they'd been clumsy and simply playful, and not to mention Renji had had those girls in his "advanced" classes, so surely Rukia thought, he'd kissed them. But these thoughts were cast aside, and they experimented slowly, exploring each curve of the soft skin, and feeling the tip of a tongue and the shape of a tooth as they opened their mouths to the experiment.

Having finally pulled away, hearts pounding heavily and tension building in their stomachs, they were at no loss for breath. They hadn't been kissing savagely; it had been easy to breath. Dark eyes met golden hazel, and Renji was the first to blink. There weren't really anymore words to say, nothing more to tell. Just…the empty track of time passing, though to them it seemed as though time were standing still. Surely what felt like hours were only minutes slowly dragging by, and the near silence all around them made the entire situation unreal.

But when Renji's hand found the outline to the collar of her shirt, he pulled it away just a bit more, and the dark haired girl stared at him with the same confused expression from when they were children. But the confusion was rather quickly replaced with a knowing look, and Rukia slid her arms out of the sleeves as Renji's other hand fumbled with the waist of her uniform pants. From then on, it wasn't just when she was hurt did Renji find a reason to touch that skin that had always been so…so coveted, in childhood, and now worshiped in their adulthood. Rukia and Renji had come to an understanding, though it was one without words, and consequently held no spoken rules. But surely, they would both honor their silent agreement, and he would continue to have her, and she would continue to be his.

Until that Kuchiki ruined everything.

Renji didn't know if he ever felt as broken and betrayed when Rukia looked at him with those pleading eyes, asking for his permission to join the Kuchiki family. But, the red haired oaf hadn't enough brains at that one moment to realize that the need in her eyes was for him to say, 'No, you can't go. I want you here.' And like the idiot he was, he told her with a smile to take that deal, that deal from Hell.

And she did…She'd smiled back, and looked away as she left. It was only too late that Renji realized she was crying, and that his chest ached terribly. The door closed behind her, and Renji was left to himself in the darkness, and the young man could only stand there, that smile still stuck to his lips. It slowly crumbled away, just as his composure did, and the young man did the one thing that many men believed one should never do. He cried. She was gone, and he'd opened the door.

It was a long time before he saw her again, and even then it was a fleeting glance. He'd been running an errand and had passed by the Squad Four hospital, where he'd spotted the familiar small body dressed in the black robes of a Shinigami. He watched with wide eyes as Rukia was attended to by a member of Squad Four, who was taking his time to wrap a wound that stretched along her arm with bandages. But the ache that burned in Renji's chest not noticed till later was that he'd been reminded of one of the promises she'd made him. He was supposed to be the only one to…But…the red head threw the thought from his mind as he pressed forward.

It didn't matter anymore…

Rukia hadn't even turned around, having surely felt his reitsu…

But the worst of it was when he saw how she held herself so easily around Kurosaki, so much later. He wasn't one to not notice the stray brushes and bumps their fingers and shoulders made, or the way the damned human would brush his wrist against her waist when they passed one another.

Though what truly made Renji ache with that all too familiar pain was when he had to watch as Ichigo took care of her wounds himself after a Hollow attack. His fingers had so nimbly and gently wrapped the bandages around her, keeping the blood in, and the death out. The way their eyes were locked, loving brown and beloved dark blue, Renji couldn't help the trembling in his fingers.

When he appeared with the wrong timing once, he'd caught sight of them in a lover's embrace, and seeing Rukia with that human made him want to be sick. He wanted to be physically sick, hacking blood, vomit, bile, and whatever else could possibly be upchucked from his body through his throat. Hell, he'd puke his stomach if he could…but he did nothing. He couldn't chase after something that was long gone; there was no use for it. She'd stopped being his a long time ago.

But surely, something was wrong when he and she were alone that time. When Ichigo was off somewhere and none of the family was in the home, and Rukia and Renji were the only living things in that building. There was something unnatural about the way Rukia tripped on the last few stairs and fell forwards with a cry, bringing the red head to her side immediately. There was nothing safe about the way the skin of her elbow was torn, light pink flesh with just the smallest specks of bright crimson red marring the pale, fleshy shell of her Gigai. There was nothing right about the way Renji looked at her, all those memories of decades ago when they, as children, often found themselves in this position.

But there was nothing wrong when Renji left to go into the kitchen to wet a cloth, which he brought back to the girl. There couldn't be anything wrong with the way he handed her the two Band-Aids he'd taken from within one of the kitchen cabinets. And there most certainly was nothing wrong when he did not make any contact with her skin, except for helping her up to her feet after she'd cleaned and treated the small scrape herself.

But when he'd turned away, he immediately realized there was something wrong with the way her eyes stared at him. There was something wrong with the way her teeth were biting into her lower lip, and there was something wrong with the way her eyes had grown somewhat shiny with moisture. She couldn't possibly have been hurt that much from falling down three stairs…could she?

Renji glanced back down at her, the beginning syllable of her name on his lips, but he found that his voice was gone and only air left his mouth. Rukia's eyes were wide and watery, and what the male Shinigami thought was tears were collecting in the corners of her eyes. But before any words could be exchanged, Rukia turned away, and placed a shaking hand on the stairway railing to help her run up the stairs, not a sound made between them.

"I bet I'll be first to get to the top!"

When a bedroom door slammed shut, probably Ichigo's, Renji stared up tired towards the top of the stairs. His gaze was pained, and his hand reached out slowly for the stair railing, but he stopped himself, pulling his hand away from the wood to slowly let it rest at his side once again. His honey red eyes closed, and his lips trembled for only a moment.

"Yeah…you were first…" he mumbled, his eyes opening to spare one last look at the top of the stairwell, before he looked away.

Fin

Well, I loved how it turned out so bittersweet, at least, in my opinion that's what it was. And also, if you think I used 'There' as a sentence title too many times in the final paragraphs, I did it on purpose. Trust me people; I'm usually pretty reluctant to start two or more sentences in the same paragraph with the same word. This just seemed to fit…So anyway, I hope you liked, and I hope I get your reviews! And I'd love opinions, and I'll take request ideas for one-shots, pretty much whatever pairing I find interesting…I love having an idea right there for me for a one-shot and someone anxiously awaiting it's publication.

Love you all! (And hoping to get at least ONE request…)

Sam