Authors note: Hey guys! First of all, I'd like to thank you all for your lovely reviews (: They mean so much to me!

To nlsdn5: Yeah, in my head canon they've gotten together too (: Pity my head canon is so weird (:

Um, yup. This is chapter four, so enjoy! Thanks for reading, and cookies to those who review!

~Rainbow Fruit Loop! x


Blossoming Romance
~Chapter 4~
F i g h t i n g F o r T h e T r u t h?

"Are ya ready, Captain?" Renji asked, bouncing around.

"Indeed. Abarai, stop bouncing. It's rather distracting." Byakuya said, furrowing his eyebrows.

He unwound his expensive, silver-white, windflower light silk scarf.

"Y-yes. Sorry." Renji couldn't help but to grin.

It was Monday morning – the day that Renji and Byakuya trained together.

Although he would never admit it, Byakuya actually looked forward to Monday mornings – it was a time where he could 'let himself go'.

Abarai seems… rather enthusiastic today.

Well. More so than usual.

Byakuya looked outside. It was exceptionally windy today, and his hair would get in the way whilst he was fighting.

I need to confine my hair.

"…Abarai."

"Yes, Captain?" Renji asked, looking up from his sword.

"I don't suppose that you have a spare hair tie? It is exceptionally windy today." Byakuya commented, his face straight.

"Oh! Uh, no…." Renji looked shocked. "But you can have this one." He reached upwards, and pulled his own out, causing his own red hair to fall down his shoulders.

"No, it's fine, Abarai. Keep your hair tie." The raven haired Noble said.

"No. I insist!" Renji said, holding out his hand.

Byakuya sighed inwardly, and took the tie out of Renji's large palm.

"Thank you."

Renji grinned, and brushed his vivid red hair out of his face.

Byakuya looked down at the thin, black band in his hand. One of Renji's strands of hair was tangled around it.

I have always thought that he has…beautiful hair…

Now is not the time to be thinking about my Lieutenants hair.

In fact, I can't think of a good time to think about Renji. Period.

Renji? I mean Abarai. Abarai.

The Noble sighed in frustration, undid his intricate kenseikan, and tied his hair up; Renji's scarlet hair becoming entwined with ebony.

"Ya look way different with your hair up, Captain." Renji observed.

To his great surprise, Byakuya felt his face flush slightly, but he quickly concealed it.

Why am I blushing?

What an un-noble thing to do.

"Yes." The Kuchiki Noble said simply.

"Hm." Renji made a noise of agreement.

"Let us set off towards the training grounds." Byakuya said.

Together, the Captain and the Lieutenant walked out of their office, towards the Sixth Squad Training Grounds.

Usually their 'duals' gathered a small crowd, but today was different. The training grounds were empty.

Hm. That's peculiar.

"Shall we begin?" Byakuya asked, turning to face Renji.

"…Huh? I mean, I beg your pardon, Captain?" Renji asked, snapping out of his apparent daze.

"Shall we begin?" Byakuya repeated coolly.

"Yeah." Renji reached for his sword.

"Howl, Zabimaru!" he yelled, his Zanpakutō becoming unsealed.

The sword was released. Its large, extendable blade, with the blunt spikes was quite an impressive sight to see.

Abarai really is proud of that Zanpakutō of his.

Byakuya could only imagine the immense pain of having the blunt sword being dragged through his body.

He focused his attention back on the training.

The Kuchiki Noble never unsealed his sword in his training battles with Renji. His Lieutenant was a 'hands on' fighter, and Senbonzakura wasn't a 'hands on' type of Zanpakutō.

It wouldn't do Abarai much good if all he was doing was defending himself from Senbonzakura's blades.

Renji was the first to start. He ran towards Byakuya, and swung his sword around.

Easily, Byakuya dodged.

Renji's sword was sent crashing into the nearby wall.

"Too slow, Abarai." Byakuya commented.

Renji growled, and, again, swung his sword in the direction of the Captain.

Abarai uses his Zanpakutō as a whip. A method he uses to his advantage.

Byakuya defended himself this time, and the two Zanpakutō's hit each other; a loud 'clang' emitting.

Using bare strength, Byakuya drove his sword in the direction of Renji's chest. Renji barely managed to dodge; he was sent skidding across the dusty grounds.

That was a narrow miss, avoided only Abarai's agile leap to the side.

However, he should have counterattacked me.

"You've got plenty of openings." Byakuya told him.

He seems… distracted today.

Renji grunted, ran forward, and, again, attempted to bring Zabimaru down on Byakuya's shoulder. Byakuya shunpo-ed out of the way, and sprung behind the red head; ready to drive Senbonzakura up against his Lieutenant's back.

So he was relatively surprised to see that Renji had already spun around, and had his sword held tightly in a defensive position.

"That was slightly faster."

"Yeah."


After half an hour of continuous fighting, Renji was becoming very distracted.

All he could think about was how elegant his Captain was.

Every movement he made was precise. Even when he was dodging, he seemed to move gracefully.

…And noticing these small things about his Captain really annoyed Renji.

"Focus, Abarai." Byakuya said, suddenly appearing. He stood with his sword resting against Renji's throat.

"S-sorry." Renji murmured.

I really need to focus.

Renji moved awkwardly, the cold metal pushing against his throat.

"If this was a real fight, you would be dead." To emphasize his point, Byakuya pushed the tip of his Zanpakutō into Renji's throat. Not enough for Renji to yell out in pain, but just enough to draw a little blood.

"Point taken, Captain." Renji mumbled, feeling embarrassed.

What did the Noble think of him? Renji was supposed to be a Vice Captain, for goodness sake, and here he was, becoming distracted and not even putting up a fight for Byakuya, who hadn't even unsealed his Zanpakutō.

"Would you like to stop?" Byakuya asked, lowering his sword.

"No. I'm fine." Renji breathed a small sigh of relief.

"Then I advise you to focus on your training." Byakuya said coolly. "I do not wish to waste my time."

Renji nodded in vague agreement.

The Noble shunpo-ed backwards, and held his sword up.

Renji sprung at Byakuya, who dodged. Renji was just turning around, when Byakuya slammed the hilt of his Zanpakutō into Renji's shoulder.

The red haired Lieutenant staggered back and hit a wall, the force of the 'attack' causing him to almost fall onto his hands and knees.

"Abarai, what is the problem?" Byakuya asked, sighing.

"Problem?" Renji asked, scratching the back of his head.

"You seem very distracted. You were almost on your knees because I prodded you with the hilt of my Zanpakutō. If I had used the blade…" Byakuya didn't need to say anymore.

How embarrassing.

"Forgive me, Captain. I'll focus. One more attack?" Renji asked.

"One last attack. Don't make me regret it." Byakuya warned.

The two men flew at each other. Byakuya shunpo-ed behind Renji, and got ready to push the blade of Senbonzakura into his Lieutenant's body.

"Here it comes." Byakuya deadpanned, expecting Renji to leap upwards.

Renji turned around, just in time to see Byakuya; the Noble's Zanpakutō coming towards him.

The red head was too busy admiring his Captain's cool demeanor, to think about dodging.

His Captain's sword tore into his stomach. The shock of the cold steel slashing through his body caused him to yell out in pain.

"Argh!"

Byakuya pulled his sword out of Renji's stomach hastily; the blade covered in thick, dark blood.

I guess I should'a dodged, huh?

Renji fell to the ground, clutching his body, his hands becoming stained in blood.

Damn.

He's gonna think I'm such a klutz.

Renji looked downwards. His lower body was covered in blood – and was getting thicker rapidly.

And it hurt.

A lot.

It felt like his body was on fire – a feeling he was not unused to.

The Lieutenant looked upwards, and noticed that his Captain's eyes had widened in shock.

Look at that. Captain Kuchiki actually does have emotions.

"Abarai, you're losing blood rapidly." Byakuya commented, frowning.

"Ouch. Yeah. C-Could I be rude enough to ask if ya could get someone from the Fourth Squad?" Renji asked, closing his eyes. "Even Hanatarō will do."

So it surprised the red head when his Captain knelt down beside him, and said – "I, being a Captain, can use healing kidou. Would you allow me to tend to your wound?"

"Oh! Uh, yeah. Please. It… really hurts." Renji said pathetically.

Byakuya pulled Renji's shihakusho off his shoulders, revealing his bloody upper body.

Gently, he placed his cold hands on his Vice Captain's stomach.

Byakuya's hands started to glow green; an indication that the kidou was starting.

Renji felt shivers run down his spine.

It was worth being injured to feel his hands on my body…

Wait, what? I shouldn't be thinking these things with him right here!

Renji felt his face starting to heat up.

Oh God. Please say he doesn't notice… Please say he doesn't notice…

Renji closed his eyes, and felt the kidou start to work. The burning in his stomach was starting to subside, and he no longer felt completely drained.

"T-thanks, Captain."

"Whatever for?" Byakuya asked, sounding surprised. "It was I who accidentally injured you."

Yeah, but I should have dodged.

"For…For making it better." Renji said quietly, blushing.

"Oh." Byakuya seemed at a loss for words. "Why did you not avoid the attack?" he asked instead.

"I was thinking about you. Er, your ability as a Captain. And your skill. And how easy ya made everything look." Renji said hurriedly, trying to fix what he had let slip.

I really need to learn to keep my mouth shut.

Byakuya was silent.

Damn. I hope he didn't notice my mistake.

"I am finished." Byakuya said, taking his hands off Renji's stomach. "But try not to move around too much."

"Thanks!" Renji stood up slowly, and looked down at his stomach.

There was a very faint scar.

Hm. He's left a mark on me.

The thought made Renji flush.

He pulled up his shihakusho, and screwed up his face at the sight of all his blood.

He glanced over at Byakuya.

"Captain, I got blood on your Captains haori." Renji said, an apologetic look on his face.

"Yes, Abarai. I can see that." Byakuya commented coolly.

"Sorry."

"It's fine."

Woah. Did he just… not get angry at me?

"We should head back to the office. You're in no state to be training." Byakuya said, changing the subject.

"Alright."

Slowly, the two men from the Sixth Division headed off towards their office.

They were just about there, when Byakuya spoke up hesitantly.

"I'm… sorry, Abarai."

"A-About what?" Renji asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

If anyone, it should be me who is apologizing.

I ruined his battle, made him have to heal my wound, and got blood all over his Captains haori.

"For stabbing you."

"O-Oh! Well, I should have dodged. I was just… distracted." Renji said, tugging at his hair.

"Very well then. I will allow you to have the rest of the day off, if you so wish." Byakuya said.

"Thanks!" Renji bowed to his Captain, and the two men went in different directions; Byakuya to the office, and Renji to his room in the Lieutenant's barracks.

Renji glanced back at his Captain, as he walked off.

He looked… how he always did. Even without his expensive scarf and his kenseikan, it was obvious that he was someone important.

Renji sighed.

I really must learn the art of being discreet about my feelings.


It has been a long few days.

Byakuya sat on the edge of his large bed, pondering over the day's situations.

Accidentally slicing through Renji had been a horrible experience. Although he had tried to keep his face at its usual expressionless state, he had been panicking on the inside.

Byakuya didn't like injuring his Vice Captain.

At all.

And then, when the Noble had healed Renji's wound…

It left him feeling strange.

The feelings he had received when he had placed his hands on Renji's warm, toned body… were similar to the feelings he received when he had first held hands with Hisana.

And it confused him.

I couldn't help but wonder where those tattoos of his end…

Nngh… I shouldn't be thinking inappropriate thoughts about my Vice Captain.

So Byakuya did what he always did when he was confused or distressed.

He sketched.

Not many knew that Byakuya was artistic. It wasn't something that he had ever flaunted.

Not that I flaunt anything I do.

He reached for his sketch pencil, and his sketch book.

His sketch book was half filled with his drawings. Usually he drew things he could see, like his koi pond, or a sakura tree. But today Byakuya drew from his memory.

Half an hour later, the Kuchiki Noble looked down at his work with satisfaction, until he realized just what he had drawn.

A half naked picture of his Lieutenant.

Renji's hair was down, and draped over his shoulders. His body looked just as Byakuya had seen it – and the tattoos were as bold as ever.

Byakuya had drawn Renji with his eyes half closed, making him look… well. The word Byakuya would have used, had he not been a Noble, would have been sexy.

It is very lifelike.

Nngh!

This isn't a good sign.

I should not have memorized the exact location and style of his exotic tattoos.

No. I am missing the main point. I should not have drawn a half naked picture of my Lieutenant, tattoos or not.

Since Byakuya was alone in his room, he allowed himself to scowl.

This is definitely not a good sign.

Byakuya went to rip up the picture into a million tiny pieces, but stopped.

Although he didn't want to admit it, it was too beautiful to destroy.

"What do I do with it now?" he asked himself out loud.

It should be obvious, shouldn't it?

I show no one.

No one at all.


And that is the end of chapter four! Please review (:

Next chapter - 'Captains Meeting - Byakuya to the Real World!'