Who Cares?
Prologue
He couldn't pinpoint the time when his feelings had started to waver. Maybe it had been when he saw Kurosaki's devotion or when Rukia stopped coming to him for help… All he knew was that it wasn't expected.
He always thought that he would love her forever, childish that thought may be. He always thought that even if she didn't love him that way in return, he would pine over her and care for her in secret, much like he had always done.
So he was surprised to say the least, when he found himself overcome with need, at some bar in Seireitei he went to with the other shinigami, for a woman he had seen a few times before but never made anything real of. He chalked it up to his hormones, his need to be with a woman, because it had been awhile.
Ikkaku noticed Renji's staring. He had been doing it since that young shinigami, whom they often fought over, had arrived at the bar with some of her fellow covert ops members.
Not like Ikkaku had been watching her or anything either, he was just very perceptive. He liked to keep tabs on what was going on around him. Perceptive. And he perceived a very nice ass under those mundane, but mandatory, shinigami robes.
"Na, Renji, whatcha staring at?" Ikkaku asked loudly, his voice booming because he was loaded with sake. Ikkaku loaded with sake was always a horror to be around. Luckily for everyone else, they were just as drunk.
Renji pulled his eyes away from the woman and turned to Ikkaku with a glare. "Nothing," he lied. He refilled his little cup with sake, cursing whoever made the cups so small, and took another drink. "Why'd ya wantta know?"
At this slightly undertoned flare of hostility from Renji, Matsumoto perked up.
It had been awhile since Renji and Ikkaku got drunk enough to fight; the last time they did, they demolished a bar and were told to never go again. That's why they moved to the one they're currently in, a little more crowded than they would have liked, but it had a dance floor.
Matsumoto was itching for a bar brawl.
"Because Renji, rarely do we see you eyeing a girl that isn't Rukia. Though, you have been paying attention to Reiko lately." Despite the fact that Matsumoto had drank more than everyone else combined, she was still very composed and spoke as clear, if not more so, as she normally did.
"She's hot," they heard Ikkaku murmur, his eyes glazed over as he too stared at the woman.
Everyone turned to Ikkaku.
He was making ridiculous googly eyes at her and talking to himself about how nice it'd be if he got her alone with him. "Yeah… real nice. I'd show her a good time..."
Renji dropped his head to stare down at the table, fiddling with his empty cup. "I think I'm gonna leave now," he stated, standing with a wobble. He glanced at his shinigami counterparts and gave a wolfish smile as they all made various sounds to acknowledge his statement.
He had made it to the door, stumbling awkwardly, when he heard Ikkaku.
"Na, Renji… I doubt you'd be able to handle her, let alone please her…"
Renji changed his mind. She is too hot to walk away from, he thought to himself. He turned around on his toes and walked over to the bar where she was sitting. He plopped onto the stool to her left and blatantly stared at her.
The shinigami covert op, feeling holes burning into the side of her head, turned to see who was looking her way. Turning left, she came nose to nose with none other than the vice-captain of the Sixth Division. Taken aback, she nearly fell off of her stool, all the while never breaking eye contact with Renji.
"You should come with me," Renji said calmly.
Reiko cocked her head to the side, checks barely flushing at such a direct statement. "Well, hello Renji… What the hell are you talking about, go with you?"
Renji rolled his eyes. Don't tell me she's already drunk, acting dense like Orihime, he thought bitterly of the overly attractive girl with a cup of pudding for brains. Pudding and Tabasco sauce.
"You. Me. Leaving to a more private place."
Reiko was shocked by his bluntness. He never played along when she asked him to leave with her; in fact, he downright shot her down time and again. Renji must be incredibly drunk. "I'd thought you'd never ask," Reiko said, briefly smiling his way before trying to pick up her drink.
Renji got off of the stool and pulled Reiko off as well. He grabbed her hand and dragged her to the door of the pub, ignoring the hollering of "WHY?" and whistles coming from various people of the bar – mainly Ikkaku and Yumichika.
Reiko didn't think that Renji would be that aggressive, so she was surprised when he pulled her away from the bar. Why the hell not? she thought. She'd been trying for months and now here he is in her grasp.
Renji was quite surprised when he woke up in the morning, with a hangover and Reiko half-sprawled on top of him. He really couldn't pinpoint when his feelings for Kuchiku Rukia had changed, but he knew now that it didn't matter.
Now, he was in his room accompanied by the girl he often flirted with at bars.
He shifted to lie on his back, one hand tucked behind his head as the other pulled Reiko more securely to him. She really had grown on him.
And that's all that mattered.
