A/N: As you can tell I live for crack pairings and this is my new favorite one. I honestly didn't see this one coming.
Theme: Nine Inch Nails- Sunspots
Renji had been lucky to escape with no broken bones or flesh wounds.He had no idea that just talking to Yachiru would cause Kenpachi to go completely mental. Yet he had heard about those guys a few weeks back that had gotten the shit beaten out of them just for staring at her.
He made his way back to the 6th Division headquarters keeping an eye out on any wild reiatsu that would signal Kenpachi's presence. It surprised him how quick that man was and how violent he could get over the smallest things.
"I see you made it here alive," said an icy drawling voice.
Renji looked around to see his captain leaning against the entryway, his arms folded over his chest. "You heard?"
"No, I felt it. Captain Zaraki has never been able to control his spiritual pressure and the sudden increase of it was a tell-tale sign that he was engaged in a battle. Yet it wasn't a battle. You have not a single cut on you. I would like to hear exactly what happened?" Byakuya said as he walked into his office with Renji close behind.
Renji walked over to a window while Byakuya took a seat at his desk. "It was nothing really. I just took Yachiru to lunch and then walked her back. Nothing unsavory happened if that's what you're wondering."
Byakuya shook his head. "I wasn't. Just curious as to how you inspired such a murderous rage in the man, that's all."
Renji sighed. "Maybe I should have let her go back alone, you know."
"Maybe."
"But I didn't want to. I liked being near her and...oh, shit. Why am I telling you this?"
Byakuya shrugged his shoulders and went about working on his reports. "Why are you telling me? Why don't you tell Assistant Captain Kusajishi?"
Renji's eyes nearly fell out of his head. After what happened he wasn't going to go anywhere near her. "No way in hell is that happening!" he exclaimed.
Byakuya looked up at him. "I think when the time comes it will. Until then there's a stack of paperwork for you in your office."
Renji was thankful for something else to occupy his thoughts. If he let them linger too long on Yachiru he wound up thinking about the smell of her hair (vanilla and sugar) and then he thought of Kenpachi's sword slicing him to pieces. It just wasn't worth the trouble.
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Kenpachi watched Yachiru out the corner of his eye. For the last two days since he pretty much scared any sense out of Renji, she had been acting distant. This didn't sit well with Kenpachi for he was used to the bubbly, albeit slightly mellowed, Yachiru. Instead he was dealing with a Yachiru who sat at her desk, worked on her reports like a good assistant captain and barely acknowledged his presence.
"Are you going to stare at me all day, Ken-chan?" she suddenly asked. "Do I have something on my face?"
"Nah, just...was...just thinking that's all," Kenpachi replied as he dipped his brush in some ink and began to write up a follow-up report. "You've been acting different lately."
Yachiru didn't look up from her reports. "Have I?" There was a sarcastic tone in her voice that Kenpachi didn't like.
"Yeah, you have," he snapped. "Ever since I went after Renji."
Yachiru nodded, half-listening. "Now that you mention that, Matsumoto said something to me that I want to ask you about."
Shit, Kenpachi thought. What the hell did that woman say to her.
Yachiru put her brush down and stared at Kenpachi with bright crimson eyes. "Ken-chan, are you jealous?"
Kenpachi snorted then began laughing loudly. After his laughter died down he looked at Yachiru, who wore a stoic expression. "You're serious aren't you?"
"Very."
"Why would I be jealous?" Kenpachi got up and moved over to her desk, staring at her the entire time.
Yachiru tilted her head and shrugged. "Oh, I don't know. You've been lashing out at anybody who so much as looks in my direction and you don't want me around any males. That sounds like jealousy."
"Is that what Matsumoto told you? That I'm fucking jealous? Well, she can take it and shove it," Kenpachi growled. "I'm not jealous of anybody. Why should I be?"
Yachiru frowned. "Renji said you're overprotective and he said he would be too if I were his girl. I told him I'm not your girl."
Kenpachi furrowed his brow and glanced down at his petite assistant captain. "He would be too if you were his girl." It wasn't a question, it was a statement. One that hit home with the captain. His bells gave a soft jingle to fill the silence that followed. "Yachiru," he finally said. There was something teetering on the edge of being spoken, something he had been thinking about. He found himself losing the nerve as her gaze bared down on him.
"Yeah?"
"Nevermind."
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Renji had tried to stop thinking about Yachiru but he couldn't. Every time he spotted her going one way and he another, he would let his eyes follow her until she was out of sight. To top it all off he had started getting stomach cramps when he saw her. When he told Rukia about this (who was better with this kind of stuff) she told him that he was probably falling in love.
Ha! Falling in love with Yachiru? That had to have been a joke. Rukia assured him that no it wasn't and that he better be careful because Kenpachi was still on the warpath. That was one of the reasons that Renji had tried to stop imagining how Yachiru's lips would feel against his. That and the fact he remembered when she was a small girl and used to run around terrorizing half of the Seireitei.
"She's older now, Renji. Besides when was the last time you had a girlfriend," Rukia said one night while Renji and her were having dinner with Izuru, Momo, Shuuhei, and Rangiku.
"Rukia's right," Izuru chimed in. "It's been a long time and Yachiru is cute."
Shuuhei chuckled. "Cute? Izuru, she's gorgeous. Don't try to save your ass. Kenpachi is nowhere near here."
Momo looked around, worry creasing her face. "Not right now at least," she murmured to Rangiku.
Renji shook his head furiously. "You're all fucking crazy. Not happening."
"Oh, look!" Rangiku said her eyes on the door. "Hey, Yachiru! Come join us!"
Renji's face paled quickly which caused Shuuhei and Rukia to laugh at his expense. Yachiru walked over to them and took a seat next to Renji who was trying hard to avoid looking at her.
Rangiku asked," What brings you here, Yachiru?"
Yachiru smiled. "I needed some fresh air and something to eat." She turned her gaze to the redhead beside her. "Hiya, Renji! I haven't seen you in awhile."
"Beentryingtostaybusy," Renji said quickly.
"What was that?" Yachiru asked.
"Been trying to stay busy."
"Same here. It seems like Ken-chan finds more and more reports for me. I think he's having Yumichika make fake ones just so I won't leave the office."
"That's horrible," Rangiku said as she poured Yachiru some sake. "Have a drink. It'll help to alleviate any stress."
It was Momo who asked, "Where's your captain at? Aren't you two normally together?"
At this Yachiru nearly spilled her sake all over her hakama. "Not tonight. I had to get away from him. He's been acting so weird lately. Not like the Ken-chan that I know."
Renji found his sake to be incredibly interesting suddenly. The sound of Rukia's voice saying his name though roused out of his stupor. "Renji, are you going to the Sakura Festival?"
"When is it?"
Momo rolled her eyes. "Everyone has been talking about it for weeks and you don't know when it is? It's next weekend, silly."
"Yeah, I guess so. Don't have anyone to go with though."
"What about you Yachiru? You going?" Momo asked the surprisingly silent pink haired girl across from her.
Yachiru shrugged. "I'm in the same boat as Renji."
Rangiku's eyes lit up mischievously as did Rukia's and in unison they both said, "Why don't you two go together!" This caused Shuuhei to nearly spit out his sake, Izuru to laugh so hard he turned red in the face and Momo to give Renji a motherly smile.
Renji and Yachiru exchanged embarassed glances and Yachiru said,"Ken-chan would go crazy."
"Too late for that," Shuuhei laughed. "He lost his mind when you grew up, Yachiru. I don't see what harm it'll do if Renji takes you. He was once in the 11th Division, so there shouldn't really be a problem."
Yachiru gave Shuuhei a look that said that there was plenty of problems. Her reply was an inaudible noise. It would be nice to go with Renji. She wanted nothing more than for him to ask. She had been thinking a lot about him lately and wanted any chance she could steal to be around him. Kenpachi kept her busy though and had ensured that she had no contact with anyone of the male persuasion. Something had to give and Yachiru was hoping it would be Kenpachi.
end of part 2