Disclaimer: Bleach © Kubo Tite No copyright infringement intended. Just borrowing the boys for non-profit fun. All characters depicted in sexual situations in syren pan's fan fiction are fictional and are intended to be and considered to be by the author of said material of the legal age of consent regardless of what age these characters may be in the material they are derived from.

NB: The 'Tenten' and its owner as well as the owner's family are the products of my imagination.

~X~

Yume ni yume ni yume

Prelude

Renji contemplated the various reasons why his life presently sucked.

On top of the list was definitely being on his last bottle of sake. An excellent sake it had been, too. Drinking alone was no fun either. But given that Kira and Shuuhei were presently overstretched what with them having to fulfil the duties of acting captains for their respective divisions and all that, and the rest of his friends being off on special missions, it couldn't be helped. Therefore, Renji had squared his shoulders, and decided to carry on their weekly tradition all by himself.

Or at least that's what Renji told himself. Quite frankly, any excuse to get very, very drunk would do at the moment.

He had gotten a raised eyebrow from the owner of the 'Tenten', their usual joint, when he had ordered the full supply of alcohol minus pickles without being accompanied by his 'energetic, and when do they intend to pay off their tabs, thank you very much,' shinigami friends.

So, here he was: Abarai Renji, lieutenant of the the 6th Division of Gotei 13, blowing a month's salary on hard liquor which was unfortunately as previously stated by now almost gone. That was first class suckiness!

Followed closely by number two: he had no-one to confess to why his life presently sucked. Big time!

That, and oh yeah, maybe he should make that one number one really: he did not know whether he would still have a job come tomorrow, or a life for that matter. Because he... he had...

At this point his brain thankfully shut down because it simply refused to ponder the reason why his hypothesis of impending unemployment may very well be a valid one.

~X~

Not too far away from the 'Tenten', the 28th Head of the noble house of Kuchiki and current captain of the 6th Division of Gotei 13, haunted his own manor while contemplating what heinous crime he must have committed in his previous existence because his current life tortured him with challenges that were definitely disproportionate to his transgressions in his present incarnation.

Or as Renji would undoubtedly put it: his life presently sucked!

Renji...

Without meaning to, Byakuya increased his pace as if he could outrun the memory of his lieutenant leaning in, the feeling of chapped lips against his own, the hint of the tip of a tongue lapping at the corner of his mouth.

Renji had kissed him. And worse, Byakuya had permitted it. For ten seconds the insurmountable difference between them had evaporated into thin hot air as their breath had mingled and just by a fraction Byakuya had brushed his lips against Renji's in return.

At first he had tried to reason that it had been by accident when he had tilted his head to glare at his insolent lieutenant but he knew it was a lie.

What was it about people from Inuzuri that they kept invading his life? Worming their way under his skin just to make it all the harder to be Kuchiki Byakuya and bear the responsibilities that came with the name.

First Hisana, then Rukia and now Renji.

'Byakuya-sama,' the voice of his family's steward suddenly stopped him dead in his tracks. Nothing about his posture betrayed the fact that the man had actually startled him. But he immediately reprimanded himself for the lapse in vigilance and added it to the ever increasing list of why Renji was an unacceptable and dangerous distraction.

To be continued