Chapter 3: Blossoming

(You know, Grimmjow and Ichgio are getting jealous with me romping off into early bouts of Renjiness before it's even August. But this one's like a steam train, rolling along and refusing to leave me alone. Cute interchanges and bits of story keep popping into my head. And the response has been so good, I think some lovely readers are as hooked on this as I am. Thanks a million to everyone reading and reviewing! My gratitude to TokenAsian (I'm really into this one too. I may have stepped away from Bya/Ren for a little while, but they are my favorite duo.), Bijective and Invertible (Thanks so much! But I have to credit my good friend Walkure for teaching me that keeping romance and characters at the heart of the story, and adding an edge of excitement is the best way to enjoy these two.), Scarlotte O'Hara (That's so true! I think that the character Iwaki in the manga Haru Wo Daite Ita expressed it best in saying that although his lover, Kato, was usually dominant, he wouldn't hesitate to be taken by Iwaki, if his lover wanted that. I think what matters is the respect between partners, the providing of what one needs and being able to rely on that other person when needed. Give and take is important in the balance of any relationship.), MilkPowah (You've got it, kiddo! I got up early to finish this chappie!), Alabirdie (You've got a good point about Rukia. I've written her in het with Renji before and a few times with Orihime. I've never tried her with Toushiro. Hmmm...And who needs to wait for August. I am feeling that ol' Ren/Bya/Ren itch again, so I'm leading off with this and writing on several others for the launch of 'Redstravaganza' in a few days!), MissLilly2012 (Okay, you can wake up now! Cuteness alert!), Airenya (You are spot on about so many things! I hadn't decided how to proceed with bringing in Renji's squad assignment, but I do think the eighth is the place for him, and Lisa has the oomph needed to give him swift kicks when he needs it to keep it together. I've never included her before, but I think it will be fun to do that. I have to go back and watch her a little more to make sure I have her character down. Ah yes, and it is true that Renji doesn't need tinkering to become pregnant, which will come out soon in a funny way. Oh, the awkwardness! Yeah, that will be fun.), Stephanie Rie (I love Renji this way too. I usually write him as streetwise and sexually dominant, but he's adorable bumbling his way into first love!), Snowflowersister of Toshiro241 (Okay, but I warn you, the cuteness is going to increase and may cause sudden heart flutters and uncontrollable 'squees.' Just a little warning...), Dragonprincess01 (No need to wait. More is here and in the works!), Shenigmatic (Panic is an understatement and freaked out doesn't begin to cover his reaction. Now, I'm hot to write the council gathering! Aww, and I was just about to go grab a burger for lunch. *sighs* Can't eat now. Must write obsessively!), Demain Matin (Well, here you go!), Dramamelon (Aww, glad to have you along!), Kikiah Abarai (You are so sweet! *hugs*), Princess Moon Shadow (Thanks!), Clobojojo (Heehee! JePi requested lucky seven, so it's going to be seven! I think he and Bya-sensei will faint upon hearing the news. And the elders Kuchiki will sing a round of the Halleluiah chorus!), And the lovely JePi, who got me started on this (Did I tell you how much I love you for that plot bunny you clobbered me with?) Off to write more! Enjoy the fluff. Love Spunky)

Renji paused, a short way from the entrance to Kuchiki Manor, noting the position of the house guards, then slipping into the brush and seeking out the one vulnerable point he could find. He quickly scaled the fence and dropped down noiselessly on the other side, pausing as it struck him that the moon was full, and colored a pretty pale blue...perfect for moongazing. And that meant that his former captain would not miss the opportunity to leave the confines of the house, and seek out his favorite place, under a large, lovely sakura tree, near the waterfall that splashed down into the large lake by the open meadow, where they had often trained before the redhead had promoted.

He sighed softly, remembering how much he had enjoyed the long hours he had spent on the sharp end of Senbonzakura, focusing deeply on every aspect of fighting...firm stances, careful footwork, reading his opponent and anticipating his moves, timing, and everything else under the sun. And the best part was listening to Byakuya's calm voice, capturing each thing he had mastered and noting it, then moving on tirelessly to the next of the billion things he had to learn.

At some point, it stopped feeling like he was a captain, training his subordinate. He was giving over, not just fighting moves, planning and strategy, but part of himself.

He wondered how many times Byakuya had stood in that same field, practicing each of those elements, himself, first under the eye of his gentle father, then with the well respected Ginrei and, he noted with a smile, Shihoin Yoruichi.

It was strange to think that Byakuya Kuchiki could ever have been a little boy or an awkward teen, or that he could have been awkward at all...ever. Renji had only ever seen him as powerful, graceful and extremely lethal. But when he wasn't using those skills on behalf of the Gotei 13 or his clan, he was quiet, introspective, even a little childlike in his careful concentration on the beauty of nature. Renji had been known to capture the daydreaming noble, dressed in a simple yukata, barefoot and staring endlessly up at the full moon and stars, oblivious to everything around him, glowing under the natural illumination of starlight, and easily the most beautiful creature that had ever inhabited the Seireitei. But sometimes, he would see something else beneath the calm in those wide, gray eyes that suggested loneliness.

It would have been natural enough, considering he hadn't had a romantic partner in all of the time Renji had known him. His only foray into love seemed to be Hisana, and Rukia's sister had passed away over fifty years before. Yet, despite encouragement from every quarter to avail himself of the fine choices for another wife, he remained single. And while Renji remained happily single, himself, it seemed wrong for someone like Byakuya to be that way.

Renji blinked and shook his head, realizing, all at once, that he had stopped walking and lost himself in the beauty of the night sky, daydreaming at a time when such a thing could quickly become dangerous. Tetsuya was fastidious about house security at the manor. And had he actually been there, Renji wouldn't have been able to set foot on the property without the young man quietly appearing and greeting him casually, as though unruffled at the fact of a Rukon-born Gotei captain, invading a noble captain's home without so much as knocking. But Byakuya's half-peasant cousin had a great amount of insight into Renji's personality and treated it as just an idiosyncrasy of his formerly uncivilized lifestyle that had trickled over into his adult life.

And indeed, there were some parallels.

Just as he had enjoyed using his skills of perception and timing to know just when to slip in behind an inattentive or distracted vendor to steal food as a child, now he enjoyed toying with the tight security at his former captain's home, with the intent of catching the highly intelligent and always vigilant man off guard. But on this night, he had another reason for being there as well.

He sighed softly, warmth creeping into his heart as he remembered Daisuke's visit to his apartment, earlier that day. It had given him an odd tickle inside, hearing those words...

"He is very fond of you and he is very proud."

Renji wasn't sure when he had gone from wanting to surpass the man to needing to please him. It was a fine line between the two, but he had crossed it without even realizing it was there, and now he was infatuated with causing Byakuya's normally passive eyes to express that spark of deep pride and affection. It was so subtle a thing, really, that he wondered if other people noticed. It was obvious to Renji, of course. But only because he had been obsessed, first, with defeating the man, then with impressing him. Just as long as he stirred a reaction, it was like eating dark, rich, warm chocolate. It made his heart beat faster, piqued his senses and caused that enjoyable twinge inside. That, he decided, was why he continued to persist in silly things like trying to sneak into Kuchiki Manor.

But, as long as that silliness had a point, he could dismiss it.

A flicker of reiatsu brought Renji out of his thoughts again, and he flash stepped into a cluster of trees as a young guard passed by. Almost snickering, he moved on, paralleling the trail that Byakuya would have taken up to his favorite moongazing place. He could already feel the noble's strong presence, and made sure to mask his own, so as not to be sensed too soon. He worked his way carefully around two more guards, then found himself nearing the top of the waterfall. The soft swish and splash of water grew louder as he approached, covering the sound of his footsteps, but leaving him more vulnerable in that he would not hear an approaching guard. He looked around cautiously, then began to close in.

A smile crawled onto Renji's handsome face as he spotted the noble, kneeling silently under the large sakura tree, as Renji had expected. Dressed in white, with a gentle night wind fluttering the edges of his sleeping yukata and the bright moon and stars lighting him, he looked angelic. Freed of the usual decorations, the long, black strands of his hair flitted about intermittently and his eyes glinted softly. He breathed so slowly that he might have been a lovely, pale statue. Still smiling, Renji abandoned stealth and emerged from his hiding place, enjoying just that momentary flicker of surprise, then the look of recognition and acceptance.

"Abarai," Byakuya intoned, his voice low and relaxed, very different from the way it usually sounded, "Is there some reason that you felt the need to break in to my home and disturb the peace? I assure you my staff would let you in, even at so late an hour, if you had reason to see me."

Renji smirked and shrugged nonchalantly.

"This was more fun," he chuckled.

"You knew Tetsuya was not here."

"Right," the redhead agreed, "I've never gotten around him once."

"He reads people very well...understands the way they think. His powers of perception make him a very capable bodyguard...but that isn't what you came here to talk about, ne?"

"No," Renji confirmed, "I came to thank you."

"That is unnecessary."

"I know. But I'm saying it anyway. It's more than just the fact that I'll have something to wear to the council gathering, it's that you are watching out for me."

The noble arched an elegant eyebrow, but confessed nothing.

"If I thought that becoming a captain was new territory, this is off the charts, crazy," Renji went on, "I can't wrap my head around it. I can't picture myself as anything but the uncivilized peasant kid from the poorest part of the Rukongai."

Byakuya studied the handsome lines of his face in the starlight, then motioned towards the place beside him.

"Sit down."

Renji dropped down next to him, then noticed the tray, bearing a bottle of fine sake and two cups. Laughing to himself, he watched the noble's pale hand as Byakuya lifted the bottle and tipped it over each cup, then set it down again.

"You don't usually indulge in sake," Renji said, picking up his cup and taking a sip.

Then, it struck him what night it must be.

"I thought it would be soothing."

"Yeah? For you or me?"

"Both."

"Right. I'm sorry if I picked the wrong night to disturb you," Renji said, more softly.

"I don't find your presence disturbing. You are welcome here."

"Even uninvited?"

"Yes."

Renji went quiet, then, following the path of his former captain's eyes, up to the brilliant stars and moon, and wondering what he could possibly say. But even not knowing what to say, even in the silence that opened up between them, there was perfect comfort, no awkwardness. He sipped slowly at his drink, watching out of the corner of one red-brown eye as Byakuya did the same. He began to see it then...the slight flicker of sadness in the noble's large, dark eyes, the almost imperceptible tremor of that usually perfectly steady hand and the fact that his breathing had quickened.

"Are you going to be able to sleep?" Renji asked finally.

"After a bit," Byakuya said, finishing his drink and pouring a second, "But during the arrival of spring is a lovely time to be unable to sleep."

Renji measured his words carefully.

"You must have really loved her."

"Yes."

It was all of the acknowledgement that Renji expected from him. But a moment later, Byakuya surprised him completely by continuing.

"She was my closest friend."

He couldn't help but think of Rukia, then, and how bad he would have taken it if she had died along with all of their other friends. He decided quickly that he couldn't go that way, and abandoned the thought.

"But then," Byakuya went on, "You have lost more than a few friends, yourself."

"But I've never lost a lover. I've never even had one."

The sudden spark of curiosity the words caused in the noble's eye send a twinge through Renji' belly. And Byakuya's next words inflicted the numbness of complete shock.

"Hisana was not a lover. I have never had one either."

The words left the redhead completely speechless. He struggled to think of something, anything to say as Byakuya noted the redhead's cup was empty and refilled it. Both men were silent for some time after, grappling with the words exchanged and what to say next.

"But you were married."

"Let me ask you something," Byakuya went on, "If you were me, and you were sent to patrol the streets of that town. And among the ones despairing and being swallowed up by their hopelessness, you met one who still fought valiantly, one who brightened the lives of others around her and gave them hope too. And if she saw past the trappings of power and privilege and looked at you through the same accepting eyes as everyone else. If she offered you something of the little she had out of kindness and made you feel at home, even there, could you have walked away?"

Renji looked back at him wordlessly.

"I was stationed in Inuzuri to keep the peace there for a time. It was late at night and cold, but I could not sleep. The sky was clear and the moon was full, like this. Her reiatsu was so low that I didn't even know she was there, watching me.

"You look cold," Hisana said softly, offering him a cup of hot tea.

He blinked in surprise and studied the poorly dressed girl in the moonlight, then extended a curious hand and accepted the tea.

"It is dangerous to be about so late," he chided her gently, "and alone. But...thank you."

"Hisana," the girl said quietly, "And I am not alone, nor am I in danger. Not as long as you are here. I can feel that you are very strong. Someone like you would never hurt me."

"No," he agreed.

"I am glad you are here," Hisana went on, "People get desperate in the winter. Food is already scarce and warmth is even harder to find. But your arrival with the Seireitei relief team came just in time. You've made things calm again. Thank you..."

"Byakuya."

The girl's eyes widened and she moved back a step, catching her breath in surprise.

"I'm sorry I disturbed you."

"Come. Sit down, Hisana."

She hesitated, staring at him for several minutes, before hesitantly closing the distance and sitting down at his side. Byakuya's hand moved and his cloak wrapped around her, bringing sudden, unexpected warmth.

"Tell me about yourself."

"I was stationed in the town for several weeks. And when the time came to return home, I could not leave her there. She was weak in body and I knew better than to leave her behind. But I could not bring her back without casting shadows of suspicion about why. So, to protect her from that, and to avoid the approaching unpleasantness of an arranged marriage, I married her before returning home."

"That must have gone over well," Renji chuckled.

"There was absolute chaos in the family. But I refused to back down. And finally, the elders realized there was no choice but to accept my decision. It wasn't the easiest path to follow, but it gave her the medical care and comforts she needed, while offering me her continued companionship. Our friendship was not so different from yours and Rukia's."

"Without the stealing," Renji joked.

"Without the stealing," the noble agreed, "My grandfather knew what was really between us. He was kind to Hisana and never once blamed her for what I did, even though it meant that my father's legacy would end with me."

"You didn't...erm...try to have kids?"

"Hisana was too weak for pregnancy. As it was, I had to manage my reiatsu in her presence so as not to overwhelm her. And sexual behavior undoes the ability to hold back those forces," Byakuya explained, the words making a blush rise on Renji's skin, "I wore a limiter at night so that it would be safe to sleep next to her."

"Damn," Renji mused softly, "I had no idea it was like that. I thought that you married her because you loved her. You certainly act like you loved her, remembering her this way."

"I did love her," Byakuya said, closing his eyes for a moment, "A heart can love passionately without it being sexual love. We fulfilled each other without joining physically. But one like you, who experiences the world so much through touch might not be able to comprehend such a thing. That is understandable."

"No, I think I get it. It isn't the way I think of love, but it worked for you and Hisana. And it's more than clear that you couldn't call what was between you 'just friendship.' It was obviously way more than that. I'm sorry you lost her, Byakuya."

"Thank you."

They went quiet again for a time, listening to the splashing of water, scenting the pretty blend of water and sweet sakura.

"I think I will be able to sleep now," the noble said finally, "Would you like to stay here tonight?"

"Oh, I don't want to cause trouble," said the redhead.

"Says the man who broke into my home," Byakuya commented, looking amused, "But it is no trouble. I can have a room prepared for you."

"Don't worry about it," Renji laughed, "I'll just stay here a little longer, if you don't mind, then go on home. What good is that great apartment you helped me find going to be if I don't use it?"

"Indeed," Byakuya said, rising and turning towards the trail, "Good night, Renji."

"Good night, Byakuya."

Renji sat, for a long time afterwards, taking slow sips of sake and gazing up at the stars, still feeling the warmth of the other man's presence. He was so comfortable where he was underneath the softly whispering branches of the sakura tree, listening to the soothing sound of the waterfall and surrounded in the light scent of flowers and sakura blossoms, that eventually, he just laid down and fell asleep there.

He woke in the early hours of the morning, covered warmly in one of Byakuya's cloaks and decorated in a fall of pink petals.