Edited and Rewritten

I don't own Bleach

Renee tried desperately to keep up with all the names she'd been told, to go with the faces before her. Only to become really confused. Even though their thoughts didn't get passed the barrier the female doctor had in place, she was still able to enter into their minds to a degree. That's how she kept up with their names and the conversations they had. She did more watching then she did talking though. Mostly watching the way Renji interacted with this group of people. Noticing quickly the way he was with the short ravened haired girl. Her name was Rukia, and from what she could gather from her mind, her and Renji had grown up together in the 78th distract of the Rukongai. Whatever that was.

The way this group laughed and joked with one another, made her long for home, and her friends. She missed them deeply. She might not have fit in back home with her powers, but she didn't fit in here either, she was just as much an oddity here as she was there. The difference being, more people here knew and accepted her talent then in her world.

She didn't realize she'd sighed until everyone's eye's were starring in her direction. "What's wrong, Renee," asked the busty blonde, Rangiku. "Don't you like us?" she pouted.

"Huh," Renee, looked around at them, then laughed, "No, I'm mean, yeah I like you guys. It's just that you're reminding me of my friends back home, and it makes me miss them."

Renji frowned down at her, then looked at the untouched food. "Aren't you hungry?"

She shrugged, "Not really,"

"You're still worrying over everyone back in the World of the Living, aren't you?" He crossed his arms, and leaned back against the wall.

Another shrug, "Maybe."

His hand landed on her head, effectively messing up her ponytail. "Damnit Renji, you're messing up my hair. Back off." she swatted his hand away.

He gave his own shrug. "Whatever, just trying to get that worried look off your face."

Looking away from him, she blushed remembering the statement he'd made coming in. She still didn't know if it had been to cheer her up or if he'd really meant it. Either way, her stomach had dropped, and had been replaced by a horde of butterflies. That were now back in full force. If Toni were here she'd say Renji liked her, to which Renee would reply, ''Yeah, right', and wave it off.

Besides, she didn't have to read his mind to know he had it bad for that Rukia chick. When the foreign feeling of jealousy came over her, she decided to shake it off and think more about it later when she was alone.

A thought came to her and she glared at Renji. "By the way, when I woke up, I couldn't find my ipod. Where is it? I'd like it back." He dug through a pocket and pulled out her black ipod and headphones. "You had it this whole time?"

"You didn't ask," He said tossing it to her. "So it slipped my mind."

Catching her personal treasure, she quickly put the left ear bud in and turned it on. Three Days Grace's 'Time of Dying' filled her ear. She gave a relieved sigh, before glaring at Renji. "That's because it's full of hot air." Renji's friends laughed as the look of horror came over his handsome face. 'Wait, did I just think that?'

He growled and reached for her ipod. A fork came flying at his hand. Just before it could reach it's destination, he snatched back his hand. The fork dropped harmlessly to the table. "What the hell, Renee? You were going to stab me with a fork."

"Shouldn't have reached for my ipod." She said smiling at the laughing group.

"What are you listening to?" Asked the blonde male Kira. He reminded her of a friend she used to have before her mom died. Real quite and never really one to cause trouble. But she could read his loyalty to the people who surrounded him. He would die for any of these people.

"It's a band from back home. They're pretty popular in the group of friends I hang with." Renee said, full blown smile on her face. She loved her music and would've died without it. Not only did it help her focus on something other then the thoughts of people around her, but it worked to cheer her up when she was down. With one song, her mood could change.

"Can we hear it?" This coming from Rukia. "I've been to the World of the Living and while I was there a friend introduced me some of his music."

She shrugged and pulled the earphones out, the speakers on the back filling their area with the sound of the next song and artist on her playlisy; Nickelback's 'How You Remind Me'. Luckily her father was a rich son-of-a-bitch and spoiled her rotten, so she could afford the more expensive ipod.

The group listened to the song. When it finished, Rangiku frowned, "That wasn't a very cheerful song."

Renee laughed, "No but, it's a good song anyways." She looked over at Renji who was strangely quiet. The look on his face, had her wishing she could read his mind. It looked as if the lyrics had really gotten to him and not in the good way. Placing a hand on his clinched fist she caught his attention, and gave him one of her best smiles. Instantly the frown left his face and his eyes brightened.

"You got anything better then that depressing music or what?" He asked nodding towards her ipod.

She smirked, "You're kidding right, this thing can hold hundreds of songs. Give me a second to find something." Scrolling through her play list, Renee searched for one of her favorite songs. Finding the one she wanted, she looked up and smiled, "I told my friend Juan once, that if I was to ever get into a down and dirty fight, and he was able to get to a speaker, that I wanted this song to be played in the background." She pressed play and bobbed her head to the beat as the song started.

'Define your meanin' of war
To me it's what we do when we're bored
I feel the heat comin' off the blacktop
And it makes me want it more
Because I'm hyped up, outta control
If it's a fight I'm ready to go
I wouldn't put my money on the other guy
If you know what I already know'

When the song ended, Renee was laughing, and shaking her head. "That song always gets my blood plumping. Alas, I've never been in a real fight so I've never needed it for anything other then a mood booster." She looked at the group, who looked back at her. "What?"

Renji shook his head, "Your taste in music is gonna rot your brain one day."

"What the hell is that suppose to mean. My music is the only thing that gets me through the school days." She folded her arms and looked away from the red head. "You're just jealous."

"Of what?" He laughed.

"My taste in music is better then yours." She stuck her tongue out at him.

"You're kidding right? That crap you played can't be considered music."

She shrugged and turned her attention back to the group, who were all starting to stand. "Did I do something wrong?"

The black haired guy with a tattooed 69 on his face shook his head. Unfortunately she couldn't remember his name, and his mind was too strong so she couldn't just pluck the information she wanted. "No, it's getting late and some of us still have paperwork to do."

She stood with Renji, "Oh ok, guess I'll see ya'll around."

Renji said his goodbyes to Rangiku, Shuhei, and Kira. Rukia stuck behind to talk to him, while Renee said her goodbyes. He smiled at the way she and Rangiku laughed together, his friends had taken a liking to her, and he was glad for that.

"She seems really nice." Rukia said from his left side.

Renji looked down at his long time friend, then looked back at Renee. He smiled when she laughed at something Rangiku was saying. "Yeah, she's alright."

"You like her." It wasn't a question but a statement.

He scoffed, "What makes you say that? She's just my charge."

Rukia shook her head, and looked up at him. "She's more then that to you and you know it. Stop playing dumb."

"What if she is? What's it to you?"

"I just want to see you happy, Renji. You deserve it." Looking down he saw the flash of sadness enter her eye's, and knew she was thinking about Ichigo. With a sigh, she placed her hand on his forearm and smiled up at him. "Remember that she's only human, don't push her too far when you train her."

"She may be just human, but she's got a strong mind, and amazing powers. She just needs to learn how to use them properly." He shrugged and started walking towards Renee, looking back he gave Rukia one last wave before retrieving his charge. "Come on midget." Taking her hand he began walking away.

"Um, alright," She waved to Rangiku and Kira. "Bye guys." Walking beside him, she stayed silent for most of the way back to Squad 6. Her hands in her pockets, and the sound of her music could be heard coming from the ear bud hanging over her left ear. He figured she did that so she could hear him if he said something, but at the same time still hear her music. "So Renji, where are we going?"

He answered without looking down at her. "We're going back to the squad 6 barracks, we've got an early start tomorrow."

He felt her eye's on him. "What do you mean?"

"I'm going to attempt to train you in controlling your powers."

"How are you going to do that? I'd have to be able to read your mind."

"That's why I've asked the squad to help out." He looked down at her, "Don't look so scared. It's not like you're going to be there on your own. I'll be there and wasn't it you who said my presence helped you control what thought's you heard."

She stopped, "Well yeah, but how will learning to control it with you around, help me when I go back home. You won't be there."

"Well, I'll just have to teach you to control it when I'm not around." He smirked down at her. "See I told you."

"Told me what?"

"That you missed me."

"Whatever," She said with a smile.

Arriving at the squad 6 barracks, Renji lead the way to his room. He opened the door and let Renee walk in ahead of him. "It's not much, but it is away from the others. You can sleep in here and I'll go stay with the other men. I asked Rukia if you could barrow some of her clothes. You're both about the same size, so they should fit fine. The bathroom isn't very big, but there's a shower so you can bath."

"Why aren't you sleeping here? There's a couch that I could sleep on. You don't have to go out of your way for me." Renee stated, as she walked over to the green couch and sat down next to the pile of clothes. "We're both adults."

He leaned against the doorframe, "Figured you'd want your privacy."

"Yeah, because I'm used to privacy." She gave him a 'duh' stare. "Listen, I don't care if you sleep here or not. It's your room, I'm just a guest here." Picking at Rukia's clothes, she tried not to look at him as he walked towards her.

He was right in front her when he spoke again. "Renee, do you want me here?"

She shrugged, "It's your room Renji."

"That's not what I asked." Bending down he took her chin in between his forefinger and thumb. Making blue eye's meet brown. "Do you want me to stay here, with you?"

Her breath caught in her chest. He was so close that their nose's almost touched. When she finally breathed in, she took in a lung full of his scent, before whispering a soft, "Yes." He moved so fast, she didn't know what happened until she felt his firm lips pressing against her soft ones. At first she was shocked, and didn't respond as fast as she could have. He took it as her way of rejecting him.

He pulled away from her, starting to apologizing. She didn't let him get a single 'sorry' out, before she pulled him back in for another kiss. He stiffened for just a second before kissing her back.

Song used was: You're Going Down by Sick Puppies

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