Author's note: I'm moving back to Japan in a few days, so if updates become delayed at all that is why. Please enjoy another chapter where B+R get closer... will there finally be a kiss?! I am the king of slow-burns at this rate, lol. Please don't forget to comments, subscribe, etc., it really helps me to hear your feedback on this story.
Chapter 10 content warnings: tobacco use, implied alcohol abuse
Disclaimer: Bleach and its characters are the intellectual property of Kubo Tite. I do not own Bleach or its characters.
Rukia had taken over Renji's apartment within the last thirty minutes. The small woman had rearranged his furniture even, not bothering to ask for help as she dragged around the couches and chairs so that the space felt more open. She was now in the kitchen. She had deep-cleaned the entire thing before starting to cook.
"How about this?" Renji came out of his bedroom to show off his outfit, which consisted of a loudly patterned shirt and distressed jeans.
"No, no, no. You look like a douche, again."
"Oh, come on! These are my best jeans," Renji groaned, throwing his hands up in the air.
"And your hair, really, with that headband on your forehead again?"
Renji reached up, touching the fabric covering his forehead tattoos. "Well, I'm kinda insecure about my hairline."
"Lemme see." Rukia strode over, motioning for him to hand over the headband.
Renji sighed, reluctantly removing it to reveal his widow's peak. Rukia hummed as she looked him over. "Looks fine to me. The tattoos kinda fill the space out on your forehead. It looks fine. Now, these clothes, though, they will not do. Don't you have anything nicer?"
"Yeah, my dress pants which I only wear to funerals, basically."
"Perfect." Rukia perked up before shooing the redhead away. "Go iron those pants. And for God's sake, please put on a button-up without an obnoxious pattern on it and braid your hair."
"Thanks, Mrs. Judgmental." Renji dejectedly headed off to his room to make the necessary changes to his outfit.
Renji splashed his face with cold water inside his bathroom, looking himself over harshly in the mirror. He frowned as he examined his hairline. Then he began brushing through his long crimson mane which had now grown well past his shoulders. He carefully put it into one tightly knit french braid, which Rukia had taught him how to do years ago.
He looked himself over again, using some tap water to keep any flyaways at bay. He rummaged through his cabinet, applying extra deodorant to his already sweaty armpits. He picked up a few different colognes, sniffing a few of them before settling on a warm sandalwood scent which he lightly sprayed on his wrists and then rubbed onto the nape of his neck.
Next, he had to settle on a shirt. He trotted back into his bedroom in nothing but his boxers, tossing a few shirts from his closet onto his bed. He finally settled on a silky grey button-up; it was understated but still a bit over the top given its shiny material. Still clad in only his underwear, he pulled out his dress pants and got to ironing them as per Rukia's request.
About fifteen minutes later, he had finished dressing. He added a few finishing touches, a necklace, and a watch. He looked over himself in the mirror again, re-tucking his shirt and rolling the sleeves up.
"Renji?" A knock at the door disturbed his thoughts. "Are you ready yet?" Rukia opened the door without waiting for a response, smiling when she saw the man standing before her. "Wow! That's more like it. You look great."
"Are you sure?" Renji's insecurities reared as he messed around some more with his rolled-up sleeves.
"Yeah, just let me fix one more thing." The petite woman reached over, unfastening an extra button on the other's shirt, exposing a bit of the tattoos on his chest. "Oh, yes, that's perfect."
"Rukia," the flustered man fumbled.
"I just thought Byakuya might like to see some of those chest tattoos, no?" She arched an eyebrow wickedly.
"This should be a nice dinner, not a strip show."
"Oh, don't be a prude. Since when were you a modest man?"
"Since Byakuya was involved," he admitted. He then wiped some of the sweat that had already formed on his brow.
"Oh, man," Rukia looked at him with concern. "It'll be okay. I'll make sure tonight goes well. Don't worry."
Just then, they heard the doorbell ring.
"Rukia." Renji panicked and grabbed his friend by the arm. "I'm not ready, please."
"Listen," she began, holding her friend's hands in her own, "you got this." She squeezed his hands once more and gave him a small smile of encouragement before she went to get the door.
"Rukia, no," he called out after her in vain.
His anxiety heightened as he went to the mirror again to fix anything that looked out of place. Finally, he took a deep breath to steady himself before he headed out of the room. Rukia had turned on some soft jazz in the background, which helped settle the redhead's nerves as he walked out to greet his friends.
"Byakuya, welcome," he barely managed to speak when he took in the sight of the noble, dressed in his finest black suit.
He noticed the thin pinstripes in the suit's design that seemed to accentuate the angles of his body. Byakuya adjusted the Rolex on his wrist before looking up at Renji with storm grey eyes that made the redhead's heart race.
"Good evening," his silky voice cut through the tension in the air.
Rukia smiled warmly. "I'm so happy we could all finally get together. Thank you, everyone, for agreeing to meet tonight."
"Thank you for the invitation. It smells wonderful in here." Byakuya was finding it easier nowadays to look at Rukia as he spoke.
"Oh, thank you." She seemed embarrassed, something Renji hardly ever saw from her. "I hope you like it. I know you like spicy food, so I thought I'd try my hand at making some."
"Spicy?" Renji piped in with a nervous glint in his eyes.
"Oh, hush, Renji." Rukia shot him a look out of the corner of her eye. "You two, please have a seat while I finish up here."
Renji huffed, "I can have a seat in my own home? Thanks."
The taller man led the way to the dining room area. His apartment wasn't huge, but it also was much larger than any other place he had ever been able to afford. The decorations were eclectic; music memorabilia, posters, and old records lined the walls of his modern apartment.
"I like what you've done with your place," Byakuya complimented before taking a seat across from Renji at the dining table.
"Oh, it's nothing much. Just things I like."
"Have you been here long?"
"Nah." Renji smiled sheepishly. "I just recently could only afford to live without roommates, I know, pretty embarrassing for someone nearing middle age."
"Quite the opposite," Byakuya interjected, "I find it admirable."
Renji looked up only to find Byakuya's eyes searching over him. His throat went dry as he seriously contemplated buttoning up his shirt again. He had the sudden urge to run and hide.
"Dinner is served," Rukia called out as she entered the room. She sat a plate of steaming curry and rice in front of both men. "Tonight's menu, Thai-style curry. Extra spice for our special guest."
"It looks divine," Byakuya said while folding and placing his napkin neatly in his lap.
"Why thank you, I only hope it tastes just as good."
Renji stayed quiet while he was folding his napkin. He tentatively took his first bite, only to almost choke on the amount of spice. He quickly tried hiding his mess by taking a large drink of water.
Rukia giggled. "Easy there, cowboy. Don't hurt yourself."
Renji glared at her from across the table before taking another drink from his cup.
"This is delicious," Byakuya interrupted the bickering duo.
Rukia's cheeks turned pink as her eyes lit up with joy. "I'm so happy to hear that. I was worried it wouldn't be to your liking."
Renji resisted the urge to call her an ass-kisser and instead tried again to eat the insanely spicy dish.
"Nonsense. You seem to be skilled at all things you try. What a bright young woman you are." Byakuya almost smiled at her.
Renji sank in his seat a bit. He felt left out of their conversation with nothing of his own to add. He spent most of the dinner listening to the other two engage in small talk, and he only occasionally offered updates about his work and art, but that was about all. He was grateful when they had all finished eating.
"How about dessert with drinks?" Rukia offered with a warm smile as she gathered up their dishes. She seemed truly at ease. "I prepared a little something for dessert if anyone has room."
"Of course, do you need a hand?" Byakuya offered as he gave Rukia his empty dish.
"No, you're our guest. Please relax with Renji for a while." She glanced over her shoulder as her smile faded, and instead, she shot Renji a rather fierce glare. You're fucking this up, her eyes seemed to say.
Renji shrugged at her in reply, placing his dish onto the pile. "I need some fresh air. I'll be right back."
Outside on the balcony, Renji could finally breathe. He pulled at the collar of his dress shirt with a sigh. He had no idea what kind of small talk pleasantries he could possibly make with the man he no longer had anything in common with. This whole idea was moot, after all.
He reached into his pocket, pulling out an almost empty pack of cigarettes. He'd been trying to quit for years now without prevailing. At least now, he'd cut back to only a few cigarettes a week when the stress overwhelmed him. He lit up and breathed out the smoke into the night sky. He felt some of the anxiety in his tight stomach loosen up.
"So you're a smoker?" a calm voice surprised him, making him jump.
"Fuck," Renji swore as he regained his composure, "could you not just sneak up on me like that?"
"I am not sneaking; you were just lost in your thoughts." Byakuya glided to the other man's side, standing next to him as they looked out on the cityscape.
After a moment, Renji spoke, "I've been trying to quit. It's not easy."
"I'm just a bit surprised," Byakuya mused, resting his chin in his hand as he leaned languidly on the balcony railing. "I didn't smell any smoke on you or in your house."
Renji blew another puff of smoke as he quietly admired how Byakuya looked with the city lights bouncing off his obsidian hair.
"What's on your mind?" the noble questioned, still gazing at the skyline.
Renji sighed deeply, leaning on the balcony next to his friend. "Well, what the hell do I have to offer to the conversation, anyway? We have nothing in common anymore."
"On what basis did you come to this conclusion?" Byakuya's eyes shined like diamonds in the night, making the redhead's heart skip.
"Well, we ain't kids anymore. We used to talk about how much we hated stuff, make jokes, and play night games. So what are we supposed to talk about now? We have completely different interests and lives."
"Giving up before you've even tried?"
Renji's gaze hardened. He took another drag on his cigarette. "I never said I'd given up already."
Byakuya turned, and his nimble fingers swiped the cigarette out of the other's hand. "Just like your will to quit smoking?"
Renji scoffed before reaching out to take his cigarette back, but Byakuya had already brought it to his own lips. He inhaled in a sinfully slow manner before he let the smoke pass through elegant, smooth lips. Renji secretly wished he could've been that cigarette.
"Ask me something, then." The dark-haired man cradled the cigarette between two slim fingers.
"How do you make everything look so fuckin'...easy?"
Byakuya practically smirked around the cigarette between his lips.
Renji pressed on, inhaling the smoke that had left the other's lips as he leaned in closer. "You better give up those secrets, Kuchiki. You look like divinity in motion. It ain't fair."
Byakuya casually blew a cloud of smoke across Renji's face. "Nobles mustn't give up their secrets."
"Bullshit." Renji reached for Byakuya's free hand, holding it down against the banister as he inched closer. "Teach me."
"I'm not sure you're ready for the lesson, Abarai," Byakuya's tone taunted him. He took another drag off the smoke.
Renji bit his lip, resisting the urge to speak the unfiltered thoughts in his mind. "I'll be a good student. Always have been."
"So eager, too." Byakuya flicked the smoke in his hand, sending ashes flying off the balcony's edge.
Renji's hand reached up, knocking the cigarette out of the other man's hand as he seized his wrist, bringing him in closer. "Stop fucking playing with me."
"Or what?" Byakuya's voice was barely a whisper. He didn't fight off the redhead who pulled him in closer. Instead, his steely eyes swirled in the darkness with something mischievous.
"I've wanted to recreate that night when I last saw you all those years ago. Can you remember it?" Renji's lips pulled upwards into his signature wolfish grin as his grip on Byakuya's wrist tightened.
The noble let himself release his inhibitions for just a moment. He was so close to Renji he could smell the smoke on his breath. He was a mixture of cigarettes, spice, and sweat. The idea enticed him more than he'd like to admit.
"As if I could ever forget," the noble confessed quietly. Their noses brushed against one another. They shared in the tension of each other's breath and their heartbeats racing.
Renji threw caution to the wind as his arm wrapped around the other man, gently pulling him in to close the distance between them. The heat and the longing of their reunion danced on their lips as they kissed. Soon both of Renji's arms had made their way around the lithe noble, not allowing any space between them as their chests pressed together.
They sought almost desperately for purchase on each other's lips, a far cry from the brief kiss they had shared as teens. Byakuya's pale fingers wound into crimson hair at the base of Renji's neck, taking a quick breath before diving back into the warm, enticing lips of the other man. They held onto the kiss until their lungs burned for air. When they pulled away again, lidded amber eyes met galaxy grey. The wind tousled Byakuya's hair and the stray strands tickled Renji's cheek. Renji smiled, tucking the hair behind the other's ear.
"Oh no!" Rukia exclaimed from inside the house in a purposefully loud and overly-dramatic way in an attempt to be heard. "I have to go home now and finish my homework." She then gave the two men time to separate before knocking on the glass. "Byakuya, Renji, I just realized I have some work that needs to be finished. So I have to go."
"That's unfortunate," Byakuya said with a disappointed frown. "Let me take you for coffee on Monday, instead?"
"I would love that." Rukia nodded goodbye in Byakuya's direction before turning to Renji and winking. "Have a nice evening."
Then it was just the two of them. The sounds of the city below served as a distraction from their thoughts. Honking horns and industrial ambiance filled the silence between them.
"Please just have a drink with me before you run away," Renji spoke as if Byakuya were a startled animal that might try to make its escape at any moment.
The restrained black-haired man seemed lost in his thoughts. He stared out at the cityscape with a complex expression written on his face.
"Fine," he managed after a long pause.
The host poured a drink for his guest inside Renji's apartment. Renji broke out the sake Rukia had brought over, serving a glass of it to Byakuya before he sat down with his own chilled glass of sparkling water.
Byakuya inhaled the scent of the aged liquor before turning to his host. "You won't have a drink?"
The brawny man looked a bit ashamed. "Cigarettes aren't my only vice, surprise. I really try to stay away from alcohol, though. I had a pretty bad problem with drinking in my twenties."
"I'm sorry to hear that. I won't press the issue then." The nobleman drank his sake in silence after that.
"Are we," Renji interjected after some time, "going to talk about what just happened on the balcony or sit here in ignorant bliss?"
"I prefer the latter."
"It's gettin' to be kind of annoying dancing around the bush all the time with you."
"Well," Byakuya set his cup down, clearly on the fringes of irritation, "what would you prefer I do then?"
Renji folded his hands in his lap, leaning forward. "Well, for starters, we are two 'friends' or maybe not even friends, who keep 'accidentally' putting our lips together. Seems a bit ridiculous to me."
"Must I spell everything out for you? Or is it possible for you to read between the lines?" a sigh left Byakuya's lips as he spoke.
"Sorry, I'm too fucking stupid for your mind games," the redhead scoffed before leaning back into the couch, propping his feet on the table.
"You know where this leads, though, don't you? Must I remind you what happened the last time we kissed publicly?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Renji droned on now, clearly tired of the conversation, "you and your family are homophobic as fuck, I know."
"Me?" Byakuya muttered as his disapproving glare deepened.
"Oh, sorry. I meant to say your internalized homophobia. Against yourself, that is."
"You incredulous idiot," the pale man's voice was sharp. "You have no idea what has happened to me in the last fifteen years, so don't you dare speak to me like that."
"I mean, you're right. I don't understand. I don't understand you at all." Renji put his head in his hands, resisting the urge to have another smoke. "I've wanted to be near you since we were kids. I just knew I wanted to be someone special to you."
"Renji," Byakuya's tone softened.
"Don't talk to me," Renji interrupted sharply. "Don't talk to me if you aren't going to explain anything or talk about anything."
Byakuya leaned back and took a long swig of sake. He closed his eyes. "I wanted to see you again. All this time. Didn't you know that was the hardest part?"
Renji tilted his head up a bit, studying the expression, or lack thereof, on his friend's face. "Why is that?"
"That extravagant overseas boarding school I was sent to when we were seventeen. That was not a boarding school."
Confusion twisted the tattooed man's face. He sat upright once more at full attention. "What… what does that mean?"
Byakuya's eyes fluttered open. For a brief moment, Renji could see the hurricane of agony whirling within his eyes.
