For Kanami, for being a sweetheart and giving me this idea! (perdon por tardar tanto)
The ending was a bit rushed, so maybe I'll revise it later. thank you for your reviews! (and remember, their food for the soul of this poor authoress).
Bittersweet
By: Nekare
Cold
To say Renji felt like crap was an understatement.
He had been helping Rukia with her swordsmanship, the one subject in the academy she wasn't getting top grades at; when a sudden downpour had began, getting them both soaked to the bones in a matter of seconds. They both had run for cover, hair getting trapped on low branches and clothes getting ragged; looking desperately for a dry spot in the wet and muddy lands that seemed deserted and tainted gray with the strong rain.
They had found nothing but a rabbit's hole, and Rukia, being the little mouse Renji called her – even if it usually meant to be kicked – had slithered in it, leaving the sour-tempered red-head with no choice but to remain wet and cold on the open, screaming how bad a friend she was when she wouldn't share the same unfortunate fate, every few minutes, getting angrier every time he could hear a chuckle coming from the petite girl hideout.
So neither of them were surprised when Renji awoke the next day with the worst cold he ever remember having.
Rukia had laughed at him, calling him a whiney just as she ducked the pillow he had thrown her way.
He had spent the entire day in bed, drifting in and out from consciousness, barely aware that he had a fever; familiar faces passing right beside him just to fade the next second, his throat hoarse from calling them. By the time night fell he had managed to stay awake for half an hour straight, even if his face was still flushed with sickness and his hair wet with cold sweat. The wooden panel door on his side was partially open, letting him see a part of the nocturne sky, and patches of the moon. Out of sheer boredom, he started to concoct a maddening story of a guy walking on the pale surface of it, lunar dust getting caught on his hero's hair.
He was still staring at the moon when Rukia stopped by for a visit. He sent her on a guilt trip for his sickness, telling her over and over again how everything was her fault. And damn it, but it felt good to let it all out. She retaliated of course, but everyone could see her heart wasn't in the fight. So they fell silent, Rukia apologizing silently as she wiped his sweaty forehead with a wet cloth; since she would be caught dead before telling him directly the words 'I'm sorry'. And Renji let her, so that meant she was forgiven. He told her his crazy story of the man living on the moon, and they laughed together.
And suddenly, as they both gazed at the white light in the dark sky, and enlarged his tale; he realized he didn't feel as crappy.
And well, life (and wasn't that ironical?) could wait a little while.