I received two suggestions to continue the story, and I just couldn't resist. The opening is right there, and the plot bunny grew.

This chapter and beyond are dedicated to Nila101! Hope you'll like it. :)


"It was a stressful situation."

Ichigo sighed as he stared out into the night sky from the rooftop. For weeks now, that one simple sentence kept echoing in his ears, to the point that he heard it even in his dreams. He wanted nothing more than to forget it, but every time he saw Renji—which was pretty much every day—the memory of what happened in Uryuu's closet flooded his mind. Over and over again, graphic images of Renji haunted him; Renji with his eyes closed, Renji trembling and panting, Renji moaning as he doubled over, Renji's hand on his...it was always Renji, Renji, Renji.

Ever since that day, Ichigo had not been able to "take care of himself" without having his red-haired friend in his mind. Thinking of anything, or anyone, else could not bring him pleasure anymore. In fact, even looking at videos that used to excite him no longer aroused him the same way.

The worst thing, though, was seeing how unaffected Renji was after all that happened. The redhead had been a little awkward immediately after returning from Uryuu's apartment, but after that it was like he had totally forgotten about it. He continued to hang out with Ichigo and Rukia and behaved just like he always did. It was like it never happened.

Ichigo growled in frustration as he hugged his knees. How could someone forget something like this? Ichigo knew he never would, even after he grows old and have kids, or even grandchildren. Renji's hoarse whispers in his ear, egging him on as he touched himself, were forever etched in his mind. He wanted so badly to ask Renji about it, but couldn't bring himself to do it because of the casual way the redhead had dismissed it. Stressful situation, Renji had said. That was all. Just two guys, stressed about being caught by a friend for sneaking around his apartment. Ichigo snorted. That had got to be the lamest excuse ever. He knew it wasn't true on his part; he had been truly aroused. It was unexpected, certainly, but it seemed so natural. He hadn't even felt embarrassed when he offered to help Renji with his...problem at the time.

Of course he had felt terribly awkward after the fact, after getting out of Uryuu's apartment. The walk back to his house was the longest, most difficult thing Ichigo had experienced in his life; both of them too embarrassed to talk about what happened. It wasn't like Ichigo expected Renji to sweep him off his feet and tell him that he was the love of his life or anything. But, Ichigo also hadn't expected the pang of disappointed that he felt after hearing Renji's response. It was a stressful situation. The truth was, Ichigo didn't know what he really expected from Renji. He was just truly confused.

Ugh! Ichigo clasped his hands over his ears. Stop thinking about it! Just stop, stop, stop!

"Oi—" a deep, familiar voice snapped Ichigo out of his thoughts.

Startled, Ichigo whipped his head around, and his heart skipped a beat. Standing there under the moonlight was the object of his troubles; fiery red hair tied up in a high ponytail, the distinctive tattoos on his forehead and neck just barely visible in the darkness, broad shoulders...Renji looked absolutely stunning, and he was now staring at Ichigo with an arched eyebrow.

"Hey," Ichigo said gruffly, shifting aside to make space for his friend to sit next to him.

"What's up?" Renji asked, plopping down on the tiles. With an exaggerated sigh, the redhead stretched his arms and torso.

From the corner of his eyes, Ichigo looked at the toned arms that became exposed when the sleeves of the man's shihakusho slid down. His eyes wandered briefly to Renji's hand, the one that had touched him weeks ago.

"Nothing," Ichigo replied, forcing himself to sound upbeat.

If Renji had noticed that Ichigo was putting up a front, the redhead didn't show it. Instead, he simply sat up and chuckled. "Girl problems?"

What the— Ichigo had the sudden urge to punch his friend in the face. Come on, to act as if nothing had happened was one thing, but to say something like this? This was too much, but Ichigo simply clenched his jaw and held his tongue. If Renji wanted to behave like this, then so be it. He sure wasn't going to humiliate himself by bringing it up. Still, he couldn't stop a sigh from escaping his lips. He could hear the frustration and defeat in the soft sound, and wondered how Renji couldn't detect his mood. Was the guy really that dense?

Renji didn't return the usual insulting retort that Ichigo was expecting. Surprised, Ichigo turned to look at his friend. The redhead was staring off in space with an unreadable expression on his face. For a moment, Ichigo held his breath and allowed his gaze to linger on the outlines of Renji's features; scarlet eyes that easily lit up with mischievous laughter, strong, stubborn jaw, and lips that so often sported a playful grin when Ichigo or Rukia were around, or a scowl as they threw insults at each other. Ah, the lips...Ichigo subconsciously licked his own lips at the memory of those sweet, soft lips on his own.

"You done staring yet?"

Ichigo jumped at Renji's voice. "Sorry," Ichigo muttered, turning away. He looked down at his own feet. What the hell did Renji want anyway? His presence here seemed pointless if all he had to say was a stupid question, yet Ichigo felt too tired to ask him why he was here. Or perhaps he just didn't want to have to hear another dismissive answer from his friend.

"Rukia said you're acting kinda weird lately," Renji said after a moment of silence. His voice was even; it almost sounded like he was merely conveying a message from Rukia rather than asking the question as a concerned friend.

"I'm fine," Ichigo said flatly. He wasn't sure where this conversation was heading, and honestly he didn't know if he was up to any deep, drawn-out conversation at the moment. He had spent most of his afternoon and the entire evening thinking about Renji, and now he felt emotionally drained, especially with Renji's current behavior.

Renji fell silent after that. For the first time in weeks, Ichigo felt tension between the two of them. It was strange, because he had spent time alone with Renji more than once since the incident—albeit only briefly, and none of those encounters had felt like this. Ichigo was tempted to ask his friend what was wrong, but decided that he would just wait it out. If Renji wanted to say something, he'd say it sooner or later.

Seconds ticked by; the tension in the air was so thick Ichigo could almost taste it.

"Are you stressed out about Aizen?" Renji asked suddenly, shattering the silence. "Because, if that's what's bothering you—"

Ichigo cut him off before he could finish. "No, that's not what's bothering me." Ichigo breathed heavily, feeling a surge of anger in his chest. How dare he...how could Renji ask these questions as if everything was perfectly normal? He clenched his jaw to refrain from saying anything else.

"Well then," Renji said, seemingly unaware of the anger that laced Ichigo's words. "Maybe Rukia's just over sensitive." The redhead paused, then added, "You know how she is, always fretting over everything." Then he laughed.

He laughed. Ichigo's tightened his fists as he felt another wave of anger. His resolve to not talk to Renji about the incident threatened to crack under his fury. Ichigo narrowed his eyes and looked at Renji's face. The redhead's laughter sounded genuine, but Ichigo thought he saw that Renji's eyes did not light up the way they usually did when the man laughed. Or was he just overanalyzing?

"What's the matter? You look constipated," Renji said with another laugh. Then he reached over and gave Ichigo's shoulder a playful punch.

That was the last straw. Standing up, Ichigo's hand shot out to grab Renji's collar, and he yanked the man to his feet. "How can you be like this?" Ichigo snarled in Renji's face. His anger only increased when the redhead's eyes widened in shock, making the man look almost innocent. "How can you go around like nothing ever happened?"

Renji winced when Ichigo tightened his grip on his collar. "What do you mean?" Renji asked, reaching up to pull his friend's hand away.

Ichigo's hand shook as he tried to control his emotions, but at the last moment he caved. Bending his free hand at the elbow and drawing it back, he swung it forward into Renji's face. Ichigo felt a searing pain on his knuckles when his fist connected with the redhead's jaw, but he also felt a rush of satisfaction when Renji let out a surprised cry. He didn't give Renji time to recover; drawing his hand back, Ichigo lashed out again and felt another satisfying burst of pain as his fist landed on Renji's cheekbone.

"What the fuck!" Renji sputtered as he staggered backwards, his hand flying to cup his injured face. He tasted a familiar metallic tang in his mouth, and he spat; droplets of blood landed at his feet. When Ichigo reared up for another punch, Renji caught the boy's wrist and held it in the air in front of his face. Ichigo growled deep in his throat and struggled, but Renji's grip was too strong.

"How can you act like nothing happened?" Ichigo cried hoarsely as he tried to pull his hand free. "How!" His voice broke and his shoulders sagged. Unwelcomed tears stung his eyes, so he closed them and lowered his head to keep them out of view from his friend. For a moment he just stood there, chest heaving as he took in ragged breaths.

Renji's voice was serious when he finally spoke. "I don't know what else I can do," he said, almost in a whisper. Ichigo's hand had fallen limp within his grip, but he continued to hold it tightly. "Tell me, how should I act?"

"I don't know!"

Ichigo's voice was so thick with sadness and confusion that Renji felt his chest tighten. The redhead closed his eyes and let go of Ichigo's hand. Rubbing his aching jaw, he sighed. He had been dreading this confrontation for weeks. Oh, he knew it would happen eventually, he had even thought of bringing it up himself, but every time he opened his mouth to say something he would find his courage falter. Never in his wildest imagination did he expect the conversation to happen like this; him injured and bleeding, and Ichigo looking like he was going to cry. Renji didn't need to see the tears to know; he could hear it in the tremor of his friend's voice.

"I'm sorry," Ichigo whispered, cradling the hand which he'd used to hit Renji. The skin on his knuckles had split and blood was beginning to seep out from the wounds. The satisfaction that he'd felt earlier had turned into guilt, and the fierce, boiling anger in his gut was replaced by bitter sadness. Now that he had vented his emotions, he realized that he didn't know what else to do.

"Here," Renji said. He grabbed Ichigo's injured hand and pulled it towards him, ignoring the boy's yelp of pain. A soft glow appeared under Renji's palm as he applied a healing kido spell on Ichigo's split knuckles. A moment later, Ichigo's skin was as good as new, and Renji let go of the boy's hand.

The orange-haired teen ran his fingers over the newly-mended skin. Just a second ago he had thought he couldn't possibly feel any worse, but he could not have been more wrong. He glanced at Renji's face; angry bruises had formed on his cheek and jaw, and a small trickle of blood stained the corner of the redhead's mouth. He looked terrible, yet there was no trace of anger in his eyes.

"I'm really sorry," Ichigo said again. "How about your face?"

Renji waved a hand. "Nah, you didn't do anything wrong," he said, his words slightly slurred due to his swollen cheek. "And I suck at kido, healing your minor injury is already stretching my limit."

Ichigo felt his guilt grow.

Renji sat back down on the roof and motioned for Ichigo to join him. When the boy sat down, Renji began, "I'm sorry I made you feel like crap."

"It's okay," Ichigo said in a small voice. He stared at his own feet, feeling his cheeks burn in a mix of embarrassment and nervousness.

"No it's not," Renji said, then held up a hand when Ichigo opened his mouth to protest. "Let me finish before I chicken out, okay?" When Ichigo nodded, he continued, "I thought pretending like nothing happened would be the best, because...I didn't want to make your life complicated. I mean, I know I already did that by crossing the line the other day, I just don't want you to feel like you're obligated to do anything after that, you know?"

Ichigo scratched his head. It kind of made sense, in a weird sort of way. "Okay," he said.

"So, I've said my part," Renji said, gently massaging his bruised cheek. "Your turn."

Ichigo scratched his head again, making his short spiky hair even messier than usual. "I..." he began, feeling very self-conscious under Renji's expectant gaze. "I don't really know what I want. I just...I just know that I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since it happened."

"Thinking about it...is that good or bad?" Renji asked a little nervously. "I mean, you miss it kind of thinking, or you regret it kind of thinking?"

"I miss it," Ichigo said at once.

"Oh."

Ichigo thought he detected relief in Renji's voice, but couldn't be sure. The last thing Ichigo wanted was to make assumptions. Silence returned after that; but while some tension remained between them, it was no longer filled with anger.

Just as Ichigo was beginning to feel foolish and humiliated, Renji suddenly said, "Me too." The redhead's voice was so soft that Ichigo wouldn't have heard it if he hadn't been waiting for a response.

The rush of relief and joy that crashed over Ichigo left him speechless, and he let out the long breath which he didn't even know he'd been holding. Up till that very moment, he hadn't realized how much he was hoping to hear that. It was ironic; the awkwardness that descended on them now was stronger than what Ichigo had felt during the walk back from Uryuu's apartment. The surroundings suddenly seemed too quiet, the air too heavy, the street lights too harsh, his own breathing too loud.

In the end it was Renji's cough that broke the silence. "Well, I'm glad we've cleared that up," he said, then chuckled softly. He turned to look at Ichigo, and couldn't help but smile at the sight of the boy blushing. It was strange seeing the usually headstrong, hot-blooded teen suddenly quiet—shy, even.

"Yeah," Ichigo agreed, cheeks burning as if he had a really bad sunburn. "So..." he mumbled, staring down at his feet, unsure of what to do. Then he felt the warm touch of a hand on his cheek, and he turned, instinctively, towards Renji. His eyes widened in surprise as the redhead leaned in; he felt Renji's breath tickle his lips, and he closed his eyes.

Renji felt the boy hesitate slightly when their lips touched. The memory of the kiss they shared in the closet flooded Renji's mind, and he smiled against Ichigo's lips. He had "kissed" Ichigo the other day at the spur of the moment, more to shut the boy up than anything else. Well, that was then, this was now, and now could not be any more different. He traced Ichigo's lips with his tongue, savoring the softness and warmth that he had missed so dearly. At the touch of Renji's tongue, Ichigo parted his lips. Renji tasted a hint of mint, and then as the kiss deepened, tasted the unpleasant tang of blood from his split lip. Not wanting to spoil the memory of their first real kiss, Renji pulled away.

Ichigo's hand found its way to Renji's collar, and for the second time that night, gripped it tightly. "Don't," he said simply. Ignoring Renji's protest, Ichigo yanked the redhead towards himself and pressed his lips firmly against Renji's. As Renji slowly relaxed, Ichigo found the small cut on Renji's lip and gently sucked on it as if to soothe the pain. The distinct taste of blood reminded him that it was he who inflicted this injury, and Ichigo's heart ached with regret.

"I'm sorry," Ichigo murmured. Renji muttered something that Ichigo couldn't catch, and the orange-head gave a quiet "hmmm?" before breaking the kiss.

"I said, can we take this inside?" Renji asked, his cheeks flushed. "My butt hurts from sitting on these tiles."

Ichigo snorted. "Lame," he teased. "You're getting old."

Renji scowled, then his mouth curled up in a sly smile. "You can laugh at me now," he said with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "I'll make your butt hurt from something else."

The implication of the words made Ichigo blush fiercely. He felt his pulse quicken as the image of Renji on top of him flashed in his mind. After all the agony and worrying that he'd gone through in the past few weeks, this almost felt like a dream.


Yes, there will be another chapter. :)