*Bleach and all its character's belong to Tite Kubo.
Tatsuki nearly trampled her teammates to get to Renji. She heard the resounding "oof" in his chest as she knocked the breath from his lungs. They won the first tournament. She hugged him hard. She knew that asking him to be her partner a month ago would work out. Three days before their tournament at their last practice he had finally managed to catch her and pin her to the ground. She found herself being crushed against the foul smelling mat.
"I'm really sorry about all those times I made you eat pavement."
Renji let go of his strong hold and helped her to her feet, a grin in place, "Smells don't it?"
And now here she was, a first place metal tucked safely in her back pocket as she walked around downtown Karakura. She was beyond pumped. Both she and Renji won each of their bouts easily, moving on to the finals. She was extremely proud of Renji. He didn't throw an illegal move once.
"Where are we going anyway Tatsuki?"
She grabbed his wrist and drug him along the street. "We deserve to celebrate."
She turned a corner and lead him into a brightly colored restaurant. She pulled him after her as she found an empty table.
"La Casa de Sol?"
She plucked a menu between the habanero sauce and the napkin bin. "It means "The House of the Sun." Chad's family owns it. It's Mexican food."
"I've never had Mexican food before."
Tatsuki stopped looking at her menu to stare at Renji, "You lived in L.A. and never had Mexican food?"
"Yeah and?"
She dropped the subject when she heard him get defensive. Tonight was a night for fun not for a pineapple head's moping.
"Fine then I'll order for you."
"Alright."
She was just about to ask him if he liked guacamole when a sultry voice pulled her from exploring the menu. The blonde waitress was basically undressing Renji with her eyes. Tatsuki fought back the laugh in her throat at Renji's placid bored look.
"Hello my name is Haru. I'll be your waitress this evening. What would you like to drink?"
Tatsuki watched amusedly as he completely ignored the waitress and pointed to her, bored face unchanged. "She's ordering for me."
The blonde turned to her now, scowl in place, "so what is it that you think your brother wants?"
Tatsuki snapped her menu closed, "He isn't my brother. And I think we'll want two glasses of water. And I'll place our orders now. I want the taco platter, the Sante Fe Burrito Feast, and a small bowl of vanilla ice cream."
"Your order will be right out."
Tatsuki rolled her eyes behind the waitress's back who was putting too much swing in her hips. Renji shook his head dismissively not even glancing in the retreating waitress's direction which any man would have drooled over.
"Why do they always look at me like that?"
"Look at you like what?"
"Like I'm a piece of meat."
Tasuki was wary of his question but she felt like she owed him something. He had just secured her place in another competition.
"Honestly, it's the tattoos."
She watched as Renji scowled, pointing out a man at the bar in back of the restaurant, "He has tattoos."
Tatsuki shook her head, "But yours… they just belong to you, like they were always a part of you."
The intensity in his eyes unnerved her so much that she started to play with the napkin in her lap. Tatsuki was never unnerved and she never fidgeted. She rushed on.
"That and the fact that you can't really tell how far down they go. Like that waitress. She was totally undressing you with her eyes."
She watched him as he looked down at the v neck of his t-shirt then back to her. He pulled the zipper up higher on his purple hoodie giving her a curious stare before resting his head on his propped up hand.
"I try to ignore it but it gets annoying."
Tatsuki couldn't help but laugh. "I thought guys liked to have the girls all over them."
"Not me."
She smiled at him, "Well then stop being a badass and maybe they'll go away."
Renji smirked at her. "If I was a badass then you wouldn't have had me flat on my back for an hour last week."
As soon as the words left his mouth the waitress set their glasses down. Tasuki tried not to smile at her obvious discomfort. She placed both dishes within their reach a left without another word.
"I think that she may have gotten the wrong impression."
"You think?"
The blush on Renji's cheeks pushed her over the edge. Her laughter pulled some on the restaurant goer's eyes towards her. Renji waited patiently until the laughter stopped. But she was sure that it was because he didn't know what to eat. She poured some hot habanero salsa on two of the six tacos. She picked one up and bit into it while he watched her. Before she could warm him about the spicy heat he had already taken a huge bite out of the crunchy shell. She could almost hear his brain sizzle as the sensation tingled his senses. He immediately grabbed his glass and downed all of it.
"My tongue's on fire."
She immediately shoved a spoonful of ice cream in his mouth. He sagged against the table as it cooled his tongue. She smiled at him as she pulled the spoon away.
"That's what the ice cream was for?"
She nodded her head after putting the ice cream closer to him. "The lactose reacts with your taste buds. It neutralizes the heat. If Chad didn't order it for me my first time I probably still wouldn't be able to taste food."
She hefted the other half of his taco out of his plate. He looked at her with shocked eyes. Traditionally in Japan sharing the same chopsticks or even food was something extremely intimate. It was basically the food version of a kiss. The first time she borrowed Ichigo's chopsticks he had almost had a heart attack. And Renji wasn't looking too well either.
"You don't have cooties, besides I'm used to the spice."
She watched him as he eyed the rest of the shelled goodness on his plate. She picked up his already bitten into taco and added another mouth sized hole. She chewed happily as he watched her, a mixture of fascination and confusion on his face.
"Go on. It won't bite… much."
She smiled as he picked up the salsa free taco and bit into it. This time he didn't have tears welling up in his eyes. Instead she got a smile out of him. And she was thrown back to the day that he met her brothers. That morning that she helped him out. It was those same eyes. They were full of life. It wasn't like his eyes were lifeless before this but now it just seemed like he wasn't holding back, like he wasn't hiding something in those deep brown eyes.
"It's good."
She was pulled from her unknown staring, luckily without being caught. "I knew you'd like it."
She moved onto her burritos. They were massive in size coming three on the plate but they had both worked up quite an appetite. They took on three opponents each after all.
"What's that?"
She gestured to the burrito now in her plate. "This is what we call heaven in a tortilla, a burrito."
She was surprised to see him demolish all of his tacos. He picked up a burrito and bit into it.
"Dis if mah favite."
She tried to swallow before laughing at his amazed face.
"Told you."
"Couldn't you have told me sooner?"
She laughed some more before getting down to business and finishing off her burrito. She finished up her last taco while Renji revisited heaven and devoured the last mean, bean, rice, and cheese filled tortilla. She pretended not to notice. She reached for some more hot sauce while he eyed a withered looking pepper on the side of his plate.
"What is it?"
She sipped from her glass, "Something too hot for you."
"Really?" He leaned forward over the table, a grin creeping into place, "Can you handle it?"
She didn't like where this was going but she wouldn't back down. Not from him. "Yes, I can."
He dangled the vegetable in front of her, "Prove it."
She plucked it from his grasp and chewed it whole. The heat was astounding. She could see the redhead get blurry from the tears forming in her eyes but she swallowed the fire down. She wouldn't lose to Renji. Even it felt like her head would explode. She opened her mouth for him to see that she had in fact swallowed it. Renji gave her a sly smirk.
"Ice cream?"
"Yes!"
He spooned a big glob of it onto her mouth. She could feel it working but it did nothing for the fire in her throat.
"More."
He gave her an even bigger scoop. And the waitress walked up at the exact moment that he was leaning across the table, spoon feeding it to her to give them their bill. If Tatsuki wasn't in pain she would have laughed at the waitress's envious face. But right now she was working on restoring her normal body temperature. She let Renji pull the spoon from her mouth. He put it back into the half melted bowl, crossing his arms as he leaned back into his chair that damnable grin still in place.
"I still did it."
He smiled nodding his head eagerly, "Yes, you did."
She crossed her arms, "Don't placate me."
She rolled her eyes as he just kept smiling. She stood up and dug out some cash but Renji had already laid some on the table.
"I wanted to celebrate, I should pay."
He shrugged as he put his wallet away, "Call me old fashioned."
She still pulled out a twenty and left it on the table. As they walked out of the restaurant Renji asked, "What was that for?"
She grinned at Renji ignoring her numb mouth. "For Haru. I think she needed a consolation prize. She seemed really put out."
"Hn."
She wrapped her arms around herself as she looked up toward the sky. Rain was coming and it left a chill in the air. She hadn't thought ahead to grab a jacket. She was too amped up for the match when she left her house to even remember her brother telling her about the chance for rain.
"You cold?"
She didn't look at Renji for fear of his smug grin, "No."
"You're really stubborn you know?"
She was about to come back with a "look who's talking" remark when she felt him put his jacket over her shoulders. This whole chivalrous side of him was unexpected but not unwelcome. But that didn't mean she'd let him just get away with it. She turned her head in his direction to goad him about white knights when she caught sight of the end of his tattoos just peeking out of the sleeves of his t-shirt. She turned her head forward.
"Why did you get those tattoos?"
They walked in silence down the street. When they were nearly two blocks from home she didn't think he'd answer.
"I got one every time I met a goal I set for myself. Another accomplishment meant another tattoo."
She peeked at him from the corner of her eye. He had those hiding eyes again. She wished that he didn't have those eyes.
"Maybe you should get another one. I think we accomplished a lot today. First competition won. First Burrito devoured."
He laughed, his eyes sparkling in the streetlight as they stood outside her door.
"I dunno about you though. You kicked ass at the competition but I think that pepper won."
"Yeah, I think my tongue is still on fire."
He tilted her chin up to see the pink tongue she stuck out. He smiled down at her, "Nope I think the ice cream did the trick."
She thought that he'd drop her chin but he didn't. Those damn eyes came back. But this time they were dull and far away. Those eyes made her more sad than they should have.
"I should go inside and tell my brothers."
It was like he had just realized he was still holding her chin, gazing down at her. He let her go and took a step back. "Goodnight Tatsuki."
She had her hand on the door handle when the purple sleeve fell in front of her fingertips.
"Oh, Renji your jacket!"
He waved over his shoulder, "just hang onto it. It'll get it from you later."
She watched for a while as he walked down the street. Now she wanted to know what exactly made his eyes look so haunted. And once Tatsuki set her heart on something she worked for it until she got it.
Isshin knew that he was late but cardiac arrests and surgeries where never fun. It was nearly two in the morning when he set foot into his home. He crept to the kitchen for some of his daughters wonderful cooking only to nearly have a heart attacked himself.
"Renji what're you doing up so late?"
When he opened the refrigerator light spilled over red hair altering him to the boy's grim face. He was slumped down on the barstool at the island, his chin resting on the table as the rest of his body was slouched forward.
"My heart hurts."
Isshin crept closer to the boy, "Did you and Tatsuki-chan have a fight?"
"Yeah we won the first competition today and then we went out for Mexican food."
His head lulled to the table. Now his uncovered forehead rested against the cool marble. The boy was not acting like himself.
"What happened?"
Renji's head popped up. He looked bad almost like he was… heartbroken. Isshin was overjoyed for a second before Renji spoke again.
"I think the burritos gave me heart burn!"
Isshin bit his lip to stop from laughing. The shinigami was in pain all right but not how he originally thought.
"There should be some antacids in the medicine cabinet in the clinic."
Renji picked his head up. "I should have figured that out. Thanks Isshin."
He smiled at the red head's back. He waited until he couldn't hear his footsteps on the stairs to laugh. He turned to his wife's ceiling to floor portrait even though he remembered her beauty well.
"I thought that he realized what I saw. It's why I asked him here for in the first place. I felt bad for Ichigo taking Rukia away from him. I set it up for those two to meet. I think I'm losing my touch my beloved. It's been a month and I have nothing to show for it."
He kissed his hand and placed it on the glossy frame before finding the leftovers to eat in the kitchen. He ate in the silence under his true love's eyes.
Renji was grateful to be out of class if only for half an hour. Math was killing him. Who was the genius that came up with something called imaginary real number?! He dug around in his lunch bag to find his apple. If he could have had a little sister he wished that she would have been half as nice as Yuzu. With his sandwich devoured he sat in the warm sun and listened to Ichigo argue with Ishida about who was right in their government debate. He ignored them as he bit into his apple. Those two bickered like an old married couple. He lifted his face up to the sky as he leaned back against the roof's railing. Tonight was he and Tatsuki's second Martial arts competition in Nagoya.
"Renji stop moving your head. You're messing up my shade."
He banged his head against the fence as he looked down to find Tatsuki sitting in between his legs.
"What the hell?"
Tatsuki didn't even bother looking at him. He was grateful for that because he was sure the shock on his face of having her basically sitting in his lap would have led her to teasing him about it.
"The grounds are still too wet to eat lunch on and Rukia and Orihime have a club meeting right now. I got tired of listening to Chizuru and the rest of the girl's talk about y-"
He thought that he saw her cheeks redden as she looked back at him. He blinked thinking that he had been looking into the sun too long.
"- you know girl stuff."
"No not really."
She shrugged turning around. He watched as her shoulders rose and fell. He was still amazed that this girl was able to beat him every time they sparred. The only reason he ever pinned her was because she was tired. And he knew it. It was astounding how strong she was. As a soul reaper he could match her fifty times over but in his spiritual container he was the one who was left drenched in sweat and breathing raggedly. He watched as the smooth muscles of her arms stretched, sinew moving elegantly with her body as she opened her lunch.
"Renji are you listening?"
She wasn't looking back at him. Thank Zabimaru for small mercies.
"What?"
"Where's Chad?"
He shrugged his shoulders and then he realized that she couldn't see him.
"Yo, Ichigo! Where's Chad?"
The orange haired teen broke a heated glare with Ishida to spare him a glance only to turn his head back sharply. He watched as Ichigo's eyes landed on Tatsuki and her tree. Renji hated the smirk he got from him and wished he hadn't bothered to ask about the giant's whereabouts.
"He's in the culinary club."
"I thought he was in the poetry club?"
Ichigo shrugged and turned back to Ishida who was waiting patiently to continue his argument, "Nobody said you only had to join one."
Renji crunched into his apple as he leaned forward to look over Tatsuki's shoulder. He pointed to a round object in her bento box.
"What's that?"
Tatsuki poked at it with her chopsticks. "It's called a peanut butter delight. Orihime gave it me before they left for their meeting."
Renji peered at it closely for fear of it coming alive. He had bad experiences with Orihime's food in the past. Horribly bad experiences that involved the cold tile floor of the bathroom he shared with Ichigo and a having her odd meals revisit him all night. He watched as she picked up the tan and white goo sandwiched between crackers and placed it in her mouth. He knew that he was staring directly at her but he couldn't look away from her as small perfectly symmetrical lips pulled into a smile as she chewed.
"That wasn't half bad."
Renji pulled away and looked at her closely, inspecting her for some sort of mind influencing food poisoning.
"How can you eat Orihime's food and not throw up?"
She patted her stomach and grinned at him, "Stomach of steel. And besides I've had my whole life to get used to it. You've only known her for a few months."
As she said that he found the smile he had on his face slipping away. He quickly recovered by biting into his apple. He leaned back into the railing. He hated lying to Tatsuki. In her circle of friends she was the only one left out. And she had been completely honest with him. Hiding things from her was getting harder the closer they got. Fighting with someone did that. Or at least it did that with Ichigo. They were friends but he would never admit it to anyone. He slumped against his resting spot only to be yelled at by Tatsuki.
"Hey sit up straight. You don't want your partner to get heat stroke the day of her second competition do you?"
He hunched over slightly to hook his wrists over his bent knees bringing his face to the back of her head.
"Why should I be your shade? You can't beat me up today. I have to fight too you know."
In one swift motion his hair band was snagged from his ponytail and flicked over the railing to the cement below. She hadn't even looked back. He ignored the sniggering Ishida and the howling laughter from Ichigo as he leaned into the railing and glared at the back of the pixie's head. He took another bite into his apple, making sure to keep his massive frame in the way of the sun's warm rays to block his partner from the heat ignoring the curtain of red hair cascading down his shoulders.
Tatsuki was supposed to be preparing for her next bout but the collective sigh of the audience drew her attention to the other side of the gymnasium. She followed the wave of onlookers toward the fighting ring marked by the dark blue mat. She shouldered past a group of female students from Nagoya High School. There was an obscenely large amount of girls here today. More than any match she had ever been too. When she finally elbowed her way to the outskirts of the ring she knew why. Somehow during his match the thin brown haired boy fighting Renji had tore open his white Gi. Tatsuki stared blankly at his exposed chest, his perfectly sculpted exposed chest. She could see that the tattoos went even further down her chest than she thought but before she could tell exactly how far they went the referee threw a red flag. Renji had used an illegal move flipping his opponent over violently. He helped him back up and bowed as required to end the match that was now in favor of the hosting school because of Renji's mistake. Tatsuki knew that all the girls starting at him had made him uncomfortable. He just wanted to get the fight over with so he could close his uniform even though he didn't need to. Tatsuki blinked trying to understand where that thought had come from. She didn't have much time to debate what was hidden in her own mind because Renji was making a beeline straight for her. The whispering of the girls around her rose considerably before it stopped altogether when he stood before her.
"Sorry Tatsuki."
He had his eyes focusing directly on her. She turned away before she looked at his bare chest. Now was one of those times that she wished she was taller. Then his magnificent chest wouldn't be in her line of sight. She shook her weary thoughts away.
"Come on."
She felt all the girl's eyes on Renji as she lead him to the boys locker room.
"If you don't want a girl to see you naked you had better get the hell out! NOW!"
She watched as half dressed fighters rushed out with surprised faces and whispers of her name. Being well known had it perks. People didn't challenge her much. She pointed to a bench.
"Sit down."
She rummaged around one of the lockers and found a roll of breathable cotton bandages used to protect the hands when bare knuckle boxing.
"I'm sorry Tatsuki. The second I realized what I was doing I couldn't stop it."
She sighed as she crossed the room and stood in front of him. He really did look sorry. She sighed.
"Take off your uwagi."
He stared up at her blankly, "take off your jacket. I'm not mad."
He slowly peeled off the white uwagi and put it on the bench next to him. Tatsuki kept her eyes on his.
"I would have wanted to get out of their too. I've never seen this many girls at any Martial arts tournament. I figured if it wasn't a wardrobe malfunction then your hair came undone. Stand up."
He did as he was told and Tatsuki finally saw the full design of his tattoos. They spanned down his chest, across his abdomen, and they tapered into the waistband of his pants. She pulled her eyes to her hands as she started to wrap his well toned abdomen with the bandage. Now was definitely not a good time to get caught staring.
"My hair?"
Her arms wrapped around his back to smooth the bandages around his body.
"Today at lunch I said that I got bored of the girl talk."
She moved further up on his torso with her wrapping. The warmth of his body was heating up the scent of his skin. It was musky and salty and Tatsuki found that she didn't dislike it. She immediately breathed through her mouth, cleaning the scent from her head.
"What's that got to do with my hair?"
She almost cringed. He couldn't just let it go like Ichigo could he?
"They were talking about you and how good you look with it down."
He was quiet as she made yet another loop around his body, pulling it tight enough so it wouldn't slip but still allow movement.
"What do you mean how good I look with it down?"
She instantly regretted saying that now. She wanted to hide in one of the lockers but Renji was always honest with her. She should at least be honest with him even though it made her a nervous wreck. She sucked in a breath of damp air.
"Their exact words were: You look like a sexy piece of ass when you wear it down."
She tried not to fidget as she secured the bandages around his chest as silence filled the smelly room.
"Well… what do you think?"
What did she think? She wanted to run her fingers through it. And as for the sexy piece of ass… he could be a model if he ever wanted to. She had no doubt that he had an amazing body because she was wrapping half of it in bindings and it was always pressed up against her when she sparred with him. But she wouldn't admit that to him. Ever.
"I think they were talking about my partner. And I think that you need to be quiet so I can finish this."
Thankfully Renji kept quiet enough for her to finish his wrappings, that is, until he she glanced up to see him smiling down at her.
"What?"
"You took my hair down today."
She pulled the white cloth tight around his chest causing him to jerk forward.
"That's because I know it annoys you to have your hair down. But at least it wasn't in braids today."
She smiled up at his scowl as she tucked the end of the bindings in place just as they heard the loud speakers crackle to life to call her name to the ring. She took one last look at Renji. His tattoos where still visible on the very top of his chest, on his collarbones and his neck but the jacket would cover that.
She nodded, "Congratulations you're now oogle proof."
He snorted as he slid back into the white jacket of his uniform. "You never answered my question, what do you think?"
She stopped in front of the door and turned back to him, "I think you had better not lose your next match."
With that she left him in the locker room to win her own match praying that he would just forget that she was evading his question. She ran from it at lunch today when her friends asked because she didn't want to admit it to herself. She liked his hair down almost as she liked being the only girl here today to see his tattoos up close.
Renji stretched his legs out on the bus. The last match went on longer than expected which meant that they were late to leave Nagoya. He was exhausted and so was Tatsuki. She was fighting off sleep as they boarded the last bus back to Karakura.
"Renji what time is it?"
He still didn't answer her. Whatever she said or asked he chose not to answer her. If she didn't answer his question then why should he answer hers? He watched as she grumbled in her seat crossing her arms while vigorously blinking sleep away.
"You know what," she yawned, "You win."
"You'll answer my question?"
"If you tell me the time first."
Renji smiled at her sleep heavy eyes, "its 10:30."
She nodded slowly falling to the side in her seat.
"mhmm."
He felt himself smile at Tatsuki and her display of complete loss of control. It was funny to see her this way.
"Now answer my question."
He felt her head gently collide with his arm, "I like your hair down. It makes…. your eyes prettier… but when it's up…. I can see…. your tattoos…better."
That threw him for a loop. She thought his eyes were pretty? He didn't know what to make of her sleep induced slip up. Because he sure as hell knew that she didn't want him to know that she thought his eyes were pretty. Somehow the warmth radiating from her cheek pressed against his arm was enough to keep him awake the whole trip home. Nearly an hour later he still hadn't thought of anything to say so he chose to ignore it completely. He nudged her awake which only caused her to bury her face further into his sleeve. The bus was nearly empty and he wasn't just going to leave her there. He gently lifted her into his arms and carried her off the city bus. He knew that this wouldn't fly well with her but there wasn't anyone around to see them. The school grounds were deserted. As he carried her home he was reminded of the time he had carried Rukia to safety. He looked down as the soundly sleeping girl in his arms. This wasn't Rukia. This was Tatsuki, the girl that could beat him to oblivion, and match him word for word, threat for threat, the girl who was staring up at him with wild eyes. He put her down the second her fist met his head. He stumbled to the side for a few seconds as stars clouded his vision.
"WHAT THE HELL?!"
She stormed up to him, "You scared the crap out of me! You looked like some rapist with those tattoos staring at me like that in the dark."
He still had one hand on the side of his throbbing head. "I thought you said you liked my tattoos and my eyes!"
The moonlight allowed him to see the blush rise on her cheeks. She immediately turned on her heel and stalked off in the direction of her house.
"Shit."
Why the hell did he throw that back in her face? She hadn't even realized what she said. And hadn't he decided to let it go? He really was as much of an idiot as Ichigo thought. He hurried after her.
"Tatsuki. Tatsuki! I'm sorry."
She kept walking, "yeah, whatever."
"At least let me walk you home."
"You, of all people, know that I can take care of myself."
He still followed her. There were other things in Karakura town that she couldn't take care of alone.
"Tatsuki."
"Renji if you don't go home right now I'm going to be one partner short."
He stopped walking. He knew that she wasn't bluffing, not with that angry clipped tone. Tatsuki never fought anyone outside of the competition ring without a damn good cause. He remembered the stories Ichigo told him about meeting Tatsuki. She was defending Orihime against some bullies trying to cut her hair because they were convinced it was fake and she dyed it for attention. Ichigo himself had been bullied like this before because of his unruly strawberry blonde verging on orange hair. That is how they all became friends. Renji shoved his hands in his pockets and turned in the opposite direction. But after nearly going a block out of his way he turned back around and picked up his pace. She might not want him as a partner right now but he didn't want to lose his.