Ichigo sat up like a shot in his bed, only to smash his head against something equally as hard. "AHG!" a voice groaned from right in front of him. As Ichigo took in his surroundings, he brought his hand up to his sore forehead. Renji was leaning over him, backing away as he too rubbed his forehead. "God dammit Ichigo, why in the hell did you have to do that?"
Ichigo collapsed back onto the pillow. "You're alright," he mumbled as he covered his face with his hands. His sheets were soaked from sweat, from the nightmare he'd just had.

"What the hell? Of course I'm alright, you idiot," Renji said, his voice getting softer as he observed the distressed boy. "But are you?"

Ichigo kept his face covered. "I dreamt about that night, when I first fought you here in the Seretei. I killed you."

Renji was silent for a moment. "It was only a nightmare Ichigo. You never killed me, though you were mighty close if I do remember clearly. Don't stress yourself over that, we've both moved on from the time when we wanted to do each other in."

Ichigo nodded once. "What time is it?"

"We need to be ready in an hour. I'm going to go get breakfast ready; you go have a shower," Renji said as he tossed a towel at the boy. "Look at your side Ichigo."

Ichigo opened his eyes and moved the hand from his face, turning down to look beside him. Inhaling sharply, he reached forward to grasp the hilt of Zangetsu. His blade was back. Now that he thought about it, he was able to sense the spiritual pressures around him. With a small grin, he placed the blade by his bed and headed towards the bathroom, while Renji went to the kitchen to make breakfast for the pair.

The shower was nice, but Ichigo made sure not to use all the hot water as he knew Renji still needed to get in. Rinsing off his hair, he shut off the water and wrapped his lower half in a towel. As he stepped out into the hallway, Renji darted into the bathroom. "The food's in the oven staying warm; don't touch it until I get out!"

Chuckling, Ichigo dried himself off and changed into his shinigami robes, before picking up Zangetsu. He felt so relieved to have his Zanpakuto back with him. Picking it up, he placed it in its rightful place; strapped to his back. He quickly made his bed and hung his towel up on one of the hooks as Renji stepped out of the bathroom, with the a towel wrapped low on his waist. Ichigo gulped.

Renji's hair was down, vibrant red and soaking wet, leaving trails of tiny water droplets that slid down his massive chest. They slid down his pectorals, and into the creases of his abs, only to disappear down the defined v and into the towel below. It took all of Ichigo's will power not to follow those drops with his eyes, and keep his eyes locked on Renji's. "Just lemme get changed and then we'll eat," the lieutenant said. Not wanting to stick around to see that and potentially cause damage, Ichigo turned and went into the kitchen, trying to get the blush in his cheeks to disappear.

Grabbing some plates from the cupboard, as well as a few glasses, Ichigo set the large table for himself and Renji. The red-head walked in just as Ichigo was placing the silverware on the table. "Alright!" Renji said with a grin. "Let's eat."

Putting on a pair of oven mitts, Renji opened the oven door and pulled out a pan covered with food. There was bacon, eggs, waffles, toast, and in a bowl on the countertop was an array of cut up fruit. As Renji placed it all on the table, Ichigo could only gawk. "You made all of this while I was in the shower?" he gapped.

"Impressive, huh?" Renji said smugly, as he crossed his arms and lifted his nose, looking mighty proud.

Ichigo nodded. "I'll give it to yah Renji, this looks pretty amazing." The two sat down and dug into the food, too busy eating for any sort of conversation. The orange-haired boy had to give it to Renji, the food was pretty damn delicious. Who knew Renji could cook like this, and so fast too? Ichigo was looking forward to learning new things about Renji, that would surely be learnt from living under the same roof. He just hoped that he could control his attraction to the lieutenant. God he'd be so humiliated if Renji found out.

Shaking the thoughts away, he helped Renji finish of the food. When they finished, Renji was about to stand up and grab the plates, but Ichigo beat him to it. "No way," Ichigo said with a grin. "You cooked, you do not have to clean." Renji looked like he was about to argue, so Ichigo snatched the dirty dishes and immediately set to cleaning them in the wash basin filling it up with warm water and dish liquid. Who knew the Soul Society had so many human-like things?

"At least let me dry," Renji said as he grabbed a dish towel and began to wipe dry the clean dishes Ichigo laid out.

"Alright," he nodded, liking the normalness of just standing in a kitchen cleaning dishes with his best friend. Hopefully things could stay this way. He liked living with Renji. It was the most he could have, since he could never even begin to wish for the red-haired lieutenant to reciprocate his feelings.

Once the dishes were dried and put away, Renji strapped on his Zanpakuto. "Come on," he said, "let's go start the day with our squad."

"Right!" Ichigo agreed, as he followed Renji outside and to the Squad Six main building.