Ch. 3(Sorry for the wait! Old people need me to feed them so, yah! Try working at a nursing home! You end every day smelling like coffee and bananas:)

"Taicho?"

Who is that? Who is that speaking? Who is he speaking to? I know him; at least, I should know that voice. Hair red like blood. Black lines against skin. What's his name?

"Taicho?"

"R-Renji?"

"Ah, thank Kami, you're awake."

"Where am I?"

"The fourth squad barracks. Taicho, do you remember what happened?" Renji waited but got no reply so he continued. "I found you passed out in the middle of nowhere. What were you doing so far from the city?"

So I'm just back here. Now what do I tell him. 'I went running off after you because you left.' That sounds stupid, even to me.

"I don't remember why?"

"Well it was stupid. You weren't healed yet and you just go running off to some place you've never been and get lost and-"

"I've been to the Rukongai before, Abarai."

"Oh, right. When you found her…" Byakuya knew that the 'her' mentioned was his late wife. Normally the ignorance of her name would have insulted him but after the attempted execution, her name only brought him pain so many avoided it. He focused in on Renji's words again. "-still should have had someone with you."

"But you left."

The simple statement of those words hit them both. Renji felt awful and Byakuya felt the urge to apologize to his subordinate and try to comfort him. "Yeah. I just… I'm sorry."

"Renji, I-"

The door slid open and Unohana walked in with her usual cheerful smile. "Well, look who's awake. You gave us quite the scare there, Kuchiki-san. Although you didn't suffer too much damage, your wound reopened. I'm going to have to ask you to stay home and rest more. I'll speak to the head captain about extending your work leave."

"Ah, I appreciate the offer, Retsu, but I can return tomorrow."

"I'll speak to the head captain about extending your work leave, Kuchiki-san." A strange glint came into her eyes that told the noble what she wouldn't, that, If you try to come to work, I'll have the secret remote squad keep you in your manor, kind of look.

"Uh, p-perhaps rest is the best thing for me…"

"I'm glad you agree. Well, I'll get the paperwork for your release. Just have Abarai help you home." And with that, she left.

!#$%^&*

The two walked in silence toward the Kuchiki manor, Renji standing close enough to catch his captain if he collapsed. The raven's health had been awful for the past two weeks and it showed. He looked paler than the redhead had ever seen him. Black circles under red eyes and tender steps told Renji that the man couldn't sleep because of the pain he was in.

Renji paused at the threshold to his captain's room, uncertain of his being there. When Byakuya noticed he was walking alone, he turned back. "Are you coming in?"

"Into your room?"

"I won't hurt you and I could use the company."

"Hai. Umm… Then I'm coming in." He took his sandals off at the door and watched as his captain lay down. "Uh, I know! I'll make you some tea, just the way you like it!" He took off out the bedroom door only to return a few seconds later, his face flush.

"Down to the right, passing two hallways on the left hand and you'll take the third to the very last door."

"Heh, you know, you should have a map or something." He left again and after ten minutes, he was at his captain's side with the drink. "Here you are, Tai-"

"I really hate that."

"Huh?"

"Please call me Byakuya."

Renji didn't know what was stranger, the fact that he wanted to be referred to by his first name or by the fact that he said 'please'. "Why? Why the sudden loss of formality? If this has to do with me finding you and saving you then-"

"It doesn't."

"Then explain this. Why the hell were you out there?"

"Abarai." His reiatsu fluxed but Renji raised his own.

"Don't 'Abarai' me! I'm your lieutenant. I have a right to know what the hell you were thinking! You've just recently been stabbed! You nearly died! And when you were supposed to be healing, you ran off like you were after something!"

"Or someone." The noble knew that this was getting beyond personal. He didn't want to see Renji's eyes as they blazed through him so he looked down at his hands.

"Someone? Who was out in the Rukongai that you were looking-" Shock spread over the tanned face as he finally got it. "You were looking for Hisana, or at least, the place you met her." Or not.

"No, not her, YOU! I was looking for you, Abarai. You said you were going to stay by my side and then you ran away! Like everybody else in my life, you left!"

"Taicho… I-I'm sorry… I d-didn't know that it mattered. After the Aizen thing, I felt like I betrayed you; no, I know I betrayed you! I should have been there. It should have been me at your side when you faced Gin. I should have taken that blade to the heart. It was my duty to protect you and I tried to cut you down."

"You still can." At the redhead's confused look he continued. "When Aizen Sosuke revealed my mistake, I felt my heart rip apart more than when Gin pierced it. I felt like I had let everyone down. My parents, my wife, my sister, and you."

Renji stared wide-eyed at the man he had always known to be impossibly cold, the same one who was pouring out his heart. His chest heaved silently as an invisible weight settled in him. This broken man who sat before him was calling on him for help. "Wh-what do you want me to do?"

"Renji, I am not telling you all of this lightly. I need you to do something for me."

"Yes?"

"I need you to protect me, especially my heart. Renji, I-I think that I am beginning to feel something toward you that is more than friendship. I just don't know what to do about it."

"Y-You like me? Is that what you're saying?"

"Hai. It is."

"I… That might explain the flutters" This time it was the noble's turn to be confused. "I mean that fluttery, light feeling in my stomach. It kinda tickles."

"Does that mean-"

"Hai, I like you too. More than a friend."

Renji barely had time to blink as his captain grabbed his robe and pulled him into an awkward kiss, considering the distance they still sat from each other.