Sweet Naivety Chapter 6: The Drawing, a bleach fanfic

Chapter 6: The Drawing

After I had gotten home, I had taken a shower and gone straight to bed, ignoring my phone and going right to sleep. When Rukia questioned on our walk to school, I had told her that we had played board games and that I had cooked them dinner, leaving out the awkward ending to the night. And I had told everyone else the same exact thing when I got to school. Renji had backed my story, even going so far as telling everyone how amazing my cooking was.

And Renji had said that Mr. Urahara had come back, so he asked if we could go to the park after school… and I had agreed. So after school dragged by, we walked to the park and he dragged me over to the gardens. He made me sit on a park bench where the flowers would be in the background. And then he sat down on the ground in front of me, pulling out his sketchbook and propping it up on his knee.

"So I'm just supposed to sit here?" I mumbled, feeling uncomfortable.

"Yeah. Just like that." He nodded, pulling out some colored utensils.

I sighed. This was awkward… I tried to stay still, watching as he looked back and forth between me and his sketchbook. He was focused on his work, giving me a glance every now and then as he colored over the paper. I let my thoughts drift as I watched him… He was so absorbed in what he was doing. A gentle breeze blew by, ruffling his spikey red ponytail and the tie on his school uniform. It made me realize that he'd undone his tie, as well as the first few buttons on his shirt… and I could see a portion of his muscular chest… I quickly averted my gaze, trying not to blush. Then I focused on the way his hands moved… the way he held his sketchbook and made careful strokes along the paper… and the way his muscles moved in his arms… and how his tattoos stretched over his skin…

"What are you blushing for?" He sounded amused.

I snapped my eyes up to his face to see him smirking. "I, uh…"

"Well?" He grinned, teasing me now.

"No reason…" I mumbled.

He chuckled at me, then went back to drawing.

We sat in silence for a while, and this time I distracted myself by watching his vibrant, red hair… nothing about his hair would make me blush… right? It was hard to sit so still… and it felt like forever before he spoke again.

"Ya know…" He drew my full attention, a suspicious smirk on his face. "You're really freaking cute when you're staring off into space like that."

The blush rose to my cheeks. "R-Renji…" I mumbled his name, looking away from him.

He chuckled. "You have to look at me! I wanna draw you with a blush on your face…"

That only made me blush more, which I supposed was his goal. "You really enjoy teasing me, don't you?"

"I'm sorry, Juna! I just really wanna get this right." He gave me an impish grin...

And I couldn't help but giggle at him. I wanted to make him happy, so I did something kinda weird… and I'd never admit it to anybody… but I went ahead and let myself look at the top of his shirt, where the buttons were hanging open to show his skin… and my blush stayed heavy on my cheeks. His collarbones were so sharp… and I caught a glimpse of black ink, and realized that he must have more tattoos hidden beneath his clothes. And that just made me blush harder as my mind involuntarily wandered to consider where these tattoos might be. I had to keep myself from biting my lip. Just what the heck was I doing?

Finally, after hours it seemed, Renji gave me a big smile as he stood to his feet. "I'm finished." He seemed very happy and proud of himself.

I was suddenly very excited to see what he had done. "Let me see!" I scooted over on the bench so that he could sit next to me.

He sat down, but he kept the sketchbook hidden from my view. "Are you sure you wanna see?" He smiled playfully down at me.

I struggled not to bounce up and down. "Yes, Renji! Lemme see!"

He laughed. "Alright… but don't laugh if you hate it."

I rolled my eyes at him.

And then he turned the sketchbook to show it to me. And it was amazing… He had drawn me with a soft expression on my face… a breeze lifting my pink hair around me… my green eyes lit up with sunlight… and a blush on my cheeks that was just a few shades darker than my hair. The flowers behind me were blended together in a bunch of different, vivid colors, surrounding me in an aura of vibrancy. I couldn't believe that he had actually drawn me this way. I was breathless with awe.

"Wow, Renji… this is… this is absolutely breath-taking…" I mumbled, still lost in my amazement.

"I'm glad that you like it." He smiled, watching me as I looked at the drawing.

"It really is incredible. I mean, it's just so awesome that you can draw something like this… I'm so jealous." I was gushing over it, practically squealing with my admiration.

"It's not that big of a deal…" He scratched the back of his head, a dusting of red on his cheeks. "But, ya know… this really is my favorite drawing." He leaned in closer to me. "And it's all because you're a magnificent muse."

I blushed, nervous by how close he was. But he was blushing, too… so that made me a little less uncomfortable. "I'm glad that I could help…" I mumbled.

He just stared at me for a few minutes, not saying anything. And then he made direct eye contact with me. "So, uh…" He grinned sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head. "Do you remember your first day here… when I asked you to borrow a pen?"

I tilted my head, thinking back on it… I did remember, of course. But I didn't want him to know that I remembered that easily. "Yeah, I remember."

A slight blush formed on his face and he looked away from me. "Well, uh… I kinda broke my pencil on purpose… so that I'd have an excuse to talk to you."

I blinked, feeling a fluttering in my stomach when his warm, brown eyes looked back to meet mine. He had broken his pencil just so that he could talk to me? "That's really sweet, Renji…" I muttered softly, feeling embarrassed… though I wasn't sure why.

His eyes lit up, and he shifted so that he was a little closer to me. "You really think so?"

I couldn't help but smile at how cute he looked. "Yeah… but if you wanted to talk to me, you could have done so without breaking anything."

He grinned at me. "So if I wanted something from you… what would I have to do?"

I frowned in confusion. What could he possibly want now? "Well, you'd have to ask, of course."

He took a deep breath, and his blush deepened to a dark red… but he looked really determined and he maintained eye contact. "I wanna kiss you, Juna."

I gasped, completely caught off guard. He wanted to kiss me? My head was swimming… I had no idea what to say. And before I could say anything, Renji leaned down and pressed his lips to mine. I froze, not sure what to do. His lips felt so soft and warm… I felt myself closing my eyes… and kissing him back… His arms wrapped around my waist to pull me closer, and I lifted my arms to wrap around his shoulders. My heart was fluttering and my head was spinning. I nearly panicked when his tongue brushed across my lower lip, but I liked the way it felt… so I opened my mouth, and his tongue swept inside. I acted on sheer instinct, moving my own tongue to touch his… and he seemed to like it, because he moved his tongue back against mine. And, wow… it felt amazing… I didn't want to pull away, and I didn't think that he did, either… but we had to when it became apparent that neither of us were getting enough oxygen.

I leaned my head against his chest and struggled to catch my breath. I could hear him breathing heavily above me, his chin resting on the top of my head. My lips felt tingly from where they had been covered by his. My tongue felt lonely in my mouth, like it missed the touch of his. My stomach was filled with butterflies and I kind of felt dizzy. That was my first kiss… my first kiss with Renji… and my first kiss ever.

I laid in my bed, head swirling with thoughts of Renji. What the hell was happening? After the kiss, Renji had walked me home and I had practically rushed inside, not even inviting him in. I was just so flustered… I had never even held a boy's hand… much less kissed one! And my first kiss had involved tongue… his tongue… in my mouth… and then my tongue touching his… I felt a strange tingling just thinking about it. I sighed.

I needed to talk to someone about this… but it had to be someone that I could trust not to tell anyone else… and someone that wouldn't make me feel uncomfortable… I groaned. Even though she might mention it to the other girls, Rukia was the oldest and the best friend that I had. So I sent her a text.

TO RUKIA: I need to talk to you about something… and I need you to promise that you won't tell anyone else.

She answered me right away.

FROM RUKIA: Sure thing! Your secrets are safe with me ;)

I took a deep breath, mustering my courage… and then I sent my next message.

TO RUKIA: Renji kissed me.

Her answer was practically instantaneous.

FROM RUKIA: I'm coming over.

And just a few minutes later, my uncle was letting her into the house and she was rushing into my room. She bounced onto my bed, sitting across from me so that she could see my face. She looked so serious and so excited at the same time.

"Tell me all about it!" She just about squealed.

I sighed. "What do you wanna know?"

"Well, first… did you kiss him back?" She leaned in, an obsessive grin on her face.

I could feel my blush already forming. "Yes, I did."

She giggled. "And what was it like?"

"Well…" I tilted my head and looked up at the ceiling, thinking about it. "It was really warm. And his lips were really soft…"

She was literally bouncing up and down, completely absorbed in the story. "Tell me more!"

I bit my lip. "He held onto my waist to pull me closer… and it was like I got completely lost in the moment. My arms wrapped around him all on their own… and he felt so sturdy and just… so warm…"

"Awww, that sounds so wonderful!" She squealed, hugging a pillow to her chest.

"And then… I felt his tongue…" I laughed when she started squealing louder. "And I opened my mouth… and touched my tongue to his…"

She was really excited at this point. "And what did it feel like?!"

"Really, really good…." I giggled.

"So what happened next?"

"Well, we kept kissing until we couldn't breathe…" I shrugged. "And then he walked me home."

She seemed disappointed. "That's it?"

I looked down at my blanket, fidgeting with it uncomfortably. "To be honest, I was kind of freaking out… it's all kind of a blur after the kiss… 'cause I was too busy worrying and overthinking, I guess…"

She gave me a sympathetic look. "That was your first kiss, wasn't it?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

Then she smiled. "Well don't be so stressed out about it! At least now you don't have to worry about whether or not Renji likes you… because now you know for sure."

Wow. She was right. "You're totally right!"

"Of course I am!" She grinned. "And we already know that you like him, too. So really, there's nothing to be freaking out about. You can just let things play out."

I suddenly felt better. She was right… I had no reason to panic. I could just let things be the way that they were… and it would be alright. I grinned back at her. "Thanks, Rukia."

"No problem, Juna."

After Rukia left, my uncle had called me down for dinner. He looked worried about something, and I wasn't sure what… Of course, Uncle Shunsui was there, too… and even he looked a little concerned. It made me uncomfortable.

Uncle Juushiro let out a sigh before speaking. "Juna, dear… I know that you've only been here for a little while, and I hate to leave you…"

I knew where this was going. "Don't worry about it uncle. I already feel bad enough that you've put off so much of your work for me. Please, don't let me hinder you."

Uncle Juushiro came to sit beside me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. "Juna, you are my niece. You are in no way a hindrance."

I managed to smile at him. "I'll be okay, uncle. Really."

He nodded, smiling back at me. "Shunsui and I will both be gone for a week. We'll be leaving in the morning and coming back next Saturday morning."

Uncle Shunsui took a swig of his sake before grinning at me. "She'll be fine, Juushiro."

Uncle Juushiro sighed at his friend before turning his attention back to me. "You have your credit card. No limits. And Shunsui and I both will have our cell phones, so you can call us if you need anything. Just make sure that you're safe. Byakuya and Hisana are right across the street. And if you need a ride anywhere, I'm sure that either one of them will be happy to give you a lift."

I nodded, letting him know that I understood. "I'll be okay, uncle. It's just a week."

He pursed his lips, but eventually he seemed satisfied that I would be alright while he was gone.

As I was getting ready for bed, I felt something strange… like someone was watching me. I shrugged it off, but it was persistent. After I had changed, I stepped out onto the balcony… and I caught a glimpse of a dark figure standing on the opposite balcony. My breath hitched. So, I hadn't been imagining it… I peered over the stretch of yard that separated our houses, trying to get a better look at the figure. But I could only make out the silhouette of what seemed to be a man. The shadowy figure didn't move, but I could feel it staring. Goosebumps rose on my skin. After a while, it became too much, and I went back inside, closing the balcony doors behind me.