"Ah! Free-loader! Ichigo!" Urahara greeted the two men as they made their way into the back room of the shop.
A look of frustration crossed Renji's face and Ichigo grinned as he sat across the table from Urahara. Renji plopped down beside Ichigo and tucked his legs under him.
"We need your help, Urahara," Ichigo said to the man fanning his face.
"I thought as much," Urahara said with a wave of his fan. "Tell me."
After explaining the details of Ichigo's dreams and the incident at the field, Urahara listened with a not-so-pleasant expression as Renji told him his theory. Urahara bowed his head before shaking it and cursing quietly.
"What? Do you know what this is?" Ichigo asked, staring at him.
Urahara called for Tessai before speaking to the two men in front of him. "We will have to do some tests to be sure."
"Be sure of what?" Renji blurted before Urahara could continue.
Looking at Ichigo, Urahara's face was stern. "I'm afraid Renji may be correct, and someone is trying to manipulate your reiatsu. If this is the case, then we need to find out why, who, and how they are avoiding detection."
"Well, yea, the dreams are killing me." Ichigo pulled his hand through his hair.
"Not just for you, Ichigo. If whoever this is succeeds, it would mean that no one – not here, not in the Soul Society – would be safe."
The statement sent a shiver through Ichigo. "What do you mean?"
Urahara continued, "If someone has found a way to siphon your spirit energy and contain it, there are no ends to what could be done with it."
"Well, what do we do about it?" Renji asked as Tessai entered the room.
"We need to do the tests first, to find out exactly what is going on." Urahara looked up at Tessai and spoke directly to the large man. "We need to extract some spirit particles from Ichigo."
Tessai nodded and headed back through the door.
Renji looked over at Ichigo and found him with his head down and his eyes shut. When Ichigo quickly stood and left the room, Renji looked at Urahara.
"This could get really bad for Ichigo, huh?" he asked.
Urahara nodded slowly. "Yes."
Ichigo strode out of the shop's main entrance and began running. He had to clear his head. If he could just –
"Ichigo!" Renji's voice startled him out of his thoughts. Using his limited shunpo, the vice captain was now in front of him. Renji stopped and put a hand on Ichigo's shoulder to slow him down.
"Go away." Ichigo said, brushing the hand off and continuing to run.
"You're the one who called me here, remember?" Renji ran along beside him.
"Just leave me alone, Renji." Ichigo stopped, dropped his hands to his knees and took several quick breaths.
"Ichigo…" Renji stood and watched the strained expression on Ichigo's face for a moment. "What's goin' on with you?"
"I can't," he panted, the panic rising in his chest and stealing more breath from him than the short sprint from Urahara's shop.
"Can't what?" Renji's brow furrowed as he watched Ichigo try to calm his nerves.
When Ichigo finally stood, he pulled his hands through his hair and groaned. Propping himself up against the wall of the building behind him, he looked at Renji. "I was finally getting used to having a normal life."
Renji scoffed. "With your kind of power, you'll probably never have a normal life."
"But it's what I need, Renji! I wish I could just forget about it all," he snapped. He saw the hurt flash quickly over Renji's face before his eyes turned cold. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"
"Nah, I get it. You'd rather pretend it ain't there and go on about your life. Forget us and all that." Renji was better at getting mad than getting soft.
"You know I didn't mean it like that," Ichigo started.
"Then how did you mean it, you piece of shit?!" This time, it was Renji who snapped. He felt his temper flaring. He'd been understanding when Ichigo decided to pursue the "normal" life of a young man, going to college, maybe getting married and having a family, but now, he just wanted to shove all of that shit down his throat and make it burn.
"You sit there and act like it's such a burden. Yes, you're powerful. But you had a choice to walk away from being a shinigami. I don't have that choice, Ichigo. And it pisses me off that I had to bust my ass to get where I am, and you just throw it away like it's trash. But I'm still here, I'm still willing to help you. Any one of the shinigami you fought beside would be willing to risk their lives for you, and you just want to forget it?!"
Ichigo stared at Renji in shock. The red head spit and looked at him with a stone gaze, daring him to say something else to piss him off. Ichigo tried to wrap his head around the words that just came from the vice captain's mouth.
"Is that how you really feel about it, then?" Ichigo finally asked.
Renji spit again and shook his head with a scoff. "You're a fucking idiot."
"What did you say?" Ichigo said, pushing himself off of the wall and shoving Renji in the chest.
Renji didn't even look up at the push, but instead he turned and starting walking back to Urahara's Shop.
"Renji –" Ichigo felt the guilt pull at his gut. "Renji, wait!" He ran up to the shinigami and walked beside him, his hands in his pant pockets. "I didn't mean I wanted to forget you – or any of the other shinigami. I just meant that, for the sake of my sanity, I need to live a normal life before becoming one, that's all."
"I know," Renji said quietly, shifting his gaze to the concrete as he stepped.
"Then why'd you go off like that?"
He shook his head. "I don't know. Just the thought that you-" He stopped.
"What?"
"Nothin', forget it. Let's get back to Urahara's," he said as he quickened his pace. They walked the rest of the way in silence.
After a few hours, Urahara had all that he needed to begin his research and dismissed Renji and Ichigo rather suddenly.
"It will be difficult to narrow down the results of the energy if you're here, Ichigo. These samples need to be exclusive from your remaining reiatsu."
"When will we know something?" Renji asked.
"If there is anything to learn, it will be in a couple of days."
They said their goodbyes to the occupants of the shop and headed for Ichigo's car. The drive back to the apartment was quiet, both of them lost in thought.
Two days, Ichigo thought, gingerly biting his lip. What if something happens by then? He looked at Renji, thinking of the damage he'd suffered from their battle the night before.
When they got into the apartment, Renji reported in to the Soul Society. Ichigo listened as he explained to Kuchiki Byakuya the "severity of the situation," and the "threat to Soul Society."
Ichigo could feel his chest grow heavy at the monologue, his thoughts suddenly drifting to their conversation that afternoon. He knew Renji took great pride in his role as a shinigami, and he sure as hell knew what he'd had to go through to get there. He felt selfish for his decision, but that wasn't anything new…
"Yo, Ichigo."
Ichigo blinked, suddenly back in reality. "Huh?"
His eyes narrowing, Renji scowled, "You didn't hear a word I just said."
Ichigo scratched the back of his neck. "No, not really."
Renji scoffed. "Rude."
"What?! I'm rude? You come over here and drink all of my sake, eat all my food, trash my bathroom and I'm rude?"
Renji smiled. "I'm the guest remember? The invited guest. I'm allowed to do that."
Ichigo was too tired to argue. "Yea yea," he said as he pushed himself up from the couch. "I think I'm going to try and sleep."
"Um –" Renji murmured.
Ichigo turned and looked at him. "What?"
"Do you need me to like stand guard or something?" Renji's face was a bit flushed from the question, and Ichigo laughed at the nervous expression.
"If I scream, come wake me up. If I don't, then don't."
Renji nodded. "Yea, ok."
His nerves were a mess as he lay in his bed, fighting to relax enough to sleep. A familiar voice rang in his head, tormenting him.
"You're pathetic, Ichigo… You can't be a real shinigami, and you can't be normal… You're just a regular ol' freak, aren't you, Ichigo? You're weak, and you're a freak… Poor Ichigo."
"Alright, enough, Shirosaki. Enough," Ichigo sighed, putting a palm to his temple to block out the sound of the hollow's laugh. "No way I can sleep like this."
Ichigo pushed himself from the bed, pulled on a pair of sweatpants and made his way to the living room.
Renji had fallen asleep on the couch. Half sitting, half lying, both of his feet touched the floor while his head rested on the cushions. The TV was still on, though the volume was extremely low. Probably listening out for me to scream, Ichigo thought as he walked over and turned it off.
He sat down beside the sleeping man and ran his fingers through the puff of hair that was still held by a blue band. Renji shifted, turning over and pulling himself up into Ichigo's lap, still asleep. His arm wrapped around Ichigo's waist as he nuzzled into the warm skin of his abdomen.
Ichigo rested a hand on Renji's head and sighed. Ah, everything is always so complicated, he thought as he rested his head on the back of the couch. It wasn't long before he finally slipped into the oblivion of a dreamless sleep.
Renji could feel the warmth before he opened his eyes. How did I end up here? He felt Ichigo's breath, his heartbeat, his bare stomach against his face. He stayed still, fearful of waking Ichigo and listened to his heart, trying to focus on the reiatsu around him. There was a gentle calm in the energy, something unusual for Ichigo. While he was grateful for the stillness, he was still puzzled as to how he ended up with his head in Ichigo's lap. Didn't he go to his room to sleep? Is he sleepwalking now? When did I fall asleep?
Renji laid there as the thoughts ran through his mind. While he didn't mind waking up to this, it was still puzzling to him.
We haven't been this close since…
Renji felt the heat rush to his face as he thought about that night. He couldn't deny that he'd thought about that night when Ichigo had asked him. He also couldn't deny that he thought of it whenever the scent of jasmine touched his senses, whenever someone mentioned Ichigo's name. And he couldn't deny that he'd been with no one else since that night.
There had been something about his night with Ichigo that had left him completely breathless and unable to stop reeling in the feeling of their bodies joined together. Renji was nowhere near close to a virgin, but never before had he felt so much in so little time.
His thoughts drifted to the morning when they awoke in each other's arms on Ichigo's bedroom floor. There had been no awkward silence, no jumping up and grabbing the closest thing to cover their naked bodies. There had been contentment and peace.
But it was soon over as they heard the noises of the awakening household. Ichigo had stood and entered his physical body while Renji put on his uniform, neither of them speaking until Ichigo grabbed Renji's arm and looked at him with saddened eyes.
"I can't. I'm sorry," he had said, quickly grabbing his keys and leaving Renji alone in his room.
Neither Renji nor Ichigo brought it up again, but their relationship took a drastic turn. After that night, their conversations involved less and less argumentative banter and more substance.
Ichigo was a mortal, but in his short life he'd fought with all of his heart on more than one occasion. Ichigo was the savior of the Soul Society and he'd risked everything he had to fight. Renji respected him more than anyone he'd ever met, even more than Kuchiki-taichou, but rather than wanting to surpass him, he wanted to support him.
When Renji had received Ichigo's message saying that he needed him, Renji did not hesitate to ask for time off to come to the real world. They had not seen each other for six years, but the friendship they held would last forever.
I've missed him…
As the words echoed in Renji's mind, he moved his head slightly to look up at Ichigo's face. When he saw the brown eyes looking down at him, his heart stopped.
"How long were you gonna just lay there?" Ichigo asked, his voice still thick from sleep.
"Um," Renji searched for an answer as he sat up. "Hey, how the hell'd you get out here anyway?" he demanded, changing the subject.
"I couldn't sleep so I came in here. You were passed out, and just kinda curled up like a kitty cat in my lap," Ichigo grinned. "You looked so cuuuute."
Renji scowled. "You ain't funny." He grabbed the remote and chucked it at the orange haired man who was still grinning wildly.
"That hurt, you bastard!" Ichigo rubbed his arm as his bicep twitched under his palm.
Renji shrugged and stood. The thoughts from before were still lingering and he really didn't want to get into a wrestling match with all the images and feelings floating around in his head.
"I'm gonna take a shower," he said, stretching his back.
As Ichigo prepared the soup, Renji emerged from the bathroom in a fresh pair of jeans and a towel around his shoulders.
"So, how'd ya sleep?" he asked, sitting at the small breakfast bar.
Ichigo shrugged as he stirred the soup. "Pretty good, actually. No dreams at all."
"Huh." Renji sipped at the tea that Ichigo had laid out. It was still entirely too hot, but Renji needed something to wet his dry throat, his head still cloudy despite the shower.
"Ya know, I just thought of something," Ichigo said, turning to face him.
"What's that?"
"The other night when we got drunk and passed out on the floor, I dreamed, but it wasn't one of those dreams. Then, at the field, as soon as you grabbed me, it went away - and today, on the couch, no dreams at all."
"Think it has something to do with my reiatsu?" Renji asked, taking another sip.
"Yea," Ichigo turned around and began to stir again. "Or something like that. Hell, I don't know."