"Renjiiiii!" He only just managed to turn round before I slammed into him. I must have surprised him, otherwise he wouldn't have almost fell over. Renji is rarely taken off guard so I was feeling rather smug when I locked my arms around his neck in a chokehold.
"Look at you, newly promoted captain of squad five!" I said excitedly, swinging on his neck. He was a good foot higher than me so my feet didn't even touch the ground. His gruff laugh rippled from his throat as he lowered me to the ground.
"Whoa, you're getting pretty good at shunpo. I only sensed you at the last millisecond. Even then you almost knocked me flat." He grinned wolfishly as I looked at his face. His dark brown eyes had the smallest tint of red in them, making them look a dangerous burgundy colour. And his shock,-red hair was tied up in his original, spiky ponytail near the top of his head. He was wearing his new high-tech glasses around his forehead. They were almost opaque from the outside but he let me look through them once, it was like looking through clear glass. I smiled back and embraced him hard.
"Congrats Ren. It's nice to see friends achieve their goals." He chuckled quietly and hugged me back twice as hard, squeezing the breath out of me.
"Well it should be me congratulating you. Miss Lieutenant of squad six. You moved up an entire seat. An entire class! Welcome to captain-class Rue!" I could hear the smile in his voice. I grinned when I said.
"Hey, you'll have to get another tattoo. Where you going to put it? There's not much space left." Renji had this tradition for when he got promoted of did something of great importance. He got tattoos. Most of his chest and back were covered in them. Beautiful black tribal patterns wound their way across his muscular skin. He even has some on his eyebrows, which completely made Renji…Renji I suppose.
"Well, I ain't gonna show you where I'm getting my next one," he chuckled. "Too private."
"EWWW! Ren, that's gross. How much torture do you want the guy that does them put through," I squealed, laughing at the same time. He unlocked me from his embrace and put his strong arms around my shoulders.
"I'm just kidding Rue. I'm not that brave, or stupid either."
"The last part can easily be detested," I interrupted. He grinned and tightened his hold momentarily.
"Hey, little squirt." He grinned and carried on. "I'm not getting any more tattoos, I have enough to be honest and my vanity is quite content for a while. I'm not gonna get anything. My pride's full to burst with this promotion." We sat down on a bench in the squad five barracks, or Renji's barracks to be utterly precise. The sun was setting over the sereitei, casting a beautiful golden glow on the buildings around us. Renji sat down in the middle of the bench, stretching his long arms over the top of the wooden frame. I sat on his left side, leaning my head on his shoulder and gazing out onto the glittering roof tiles of the surrounding buildings.
"What colour silk are you going to have on the inside of your captains Haori?" I asked quietly. A haori was a special white cloak captains of the court guard squads to signify their rank. All the captains had different colours on the inside. Captain of squad 13 had burgundy, and squad 11 had a dark violet and squad two had orange. I couldn't remember the others, nor could I care to. The sunset was almost hypnotic, making me feel sleepy. Renji thought for a moment before he answered.
"I'm going to get a sleeveless haori, with blood red silk the same colour as Zabimaru's hilt wrap." Zabimaru was the name of Renji's zanpakuto. It was very powerful, he didn't have it with him, but I could feel it's presence. But I could feel the lingering power of the previous captain of squad five. Sosuke Aizen. Betrayer of the soul society. He had almost killed Renji when he had escaped with the Menos Grande he had made a pact with. It chilled me. I unconsciously shivered before I had chance to stop myself. I saw glanced up at Renji as he rubbed my shoulders.
"You cold?" He asked, looking down at me. I shook my head.
"It's just, I can feel his presence. His power still lingers here," I whispered. I didn't need to elaborate on who "he" was. I felt Renji's body go very tense next to me. Renji whispered thorugh his teeth.
"His presence is going to be obliterated. One day, we'll find him and kill him just like a traitor like him should be." I glanced slowly at the small patch of grass in front of us. Waiting until his seething anger dissipated before I spoke again.
"What is Captain Kuchiki like?" Renji chortled for a second.
"Captain Kuchiki? Well, he can act very cold, noble, pompous and arrogant at times. He's a truly amazing soul reaper. I'm glad I got to serve under him, he's…"
I cut him off quickly.
"Shit, I was supposed to meet him in the squad six barracks ten minutes ago." Damn, my first day and I'm late! I kissed Renji quickly on the cheek and said quickly.
"I'll tell you if I get demoted tomorrow." Renji just chuckled, it was the last sound I heard before I used shunpo to make it to the barracks.