It was a Friday night and after finishing up with school paperwork and grading exams, Renji lay back against the sofa and stared at the TV. He'd put it on mute while he was working but now it was too quiet in the apartment. A little more than a month ago, he would spend an evening like this with Ichigo in his arms.
He still wasn't over it and the teen still avoided him. He honestly had no idea why Ichigo changed his mind, and to that measure that he wouldn't even talk to him anymore. It hurt. It hurt more than it hurt him to send Byakuya to France alone, when he still cared about him.
He really had it bad. He'd promised himself that he wouldn't cry about it and get all depressed, but that was easier said than done. He missed the little twit terribly. If he could have only talked to him, maybe to explain something that the kid had gotten wrong, straighten things up. What was the reason for Ichigo to break it off just like that, over the phone?
Renji was feeling extremely down. They've had an exam at school that day and while observing the classroom and the potential cheaters, his eyes went to the strawberry blond-haired boy too often. And on top of that, he noticed that Ichigo was rapidly withdrawing into his old, silent self.
It hurt Renji to witness that.
While they were together, Ichigo's feelings were evident. What happened inside of his head? Maybe he'd gotten overwhelmed, too young for a relationship, or was it too early for him to accept his sexual preferences? Renji would have let him go if he'd really wanted to go because of that. He would have understood. Sort of. But he would. What bothered Renji the most was that everything was fine between him and Ichigo... And then it wasn't.
His cellphone brought him out of the morose thoughts. He didn't recognize the number, but he answered anyway.
"Hello?"
"Um, hi... Abarai-sensei?" The voice sounded familiar.
"Yeah. Who's this?"
"Ishida Uryuu. I apologize for calling you this late..."
Renji had to concentrate to understand; the background noise was way too loud.
"What's the matter, Ishida-kun?"
"You have to come and get him..." Ishida sounded worried and a little panicky.
"Who..." Renji asked even though he already knew it was about Ichigo. Ishida wouldn't call him otherwise.
"It's Kurosaki! You have to come, sensei... He's out of it..."
"What do you mean?" Renji felt dread creeping into him.
"He's totally wasted! I don't know, but it's too much, way too much... Please, sensei... I don't think he's well... "
"Where are you?"
"In a club next to the construction site, a block away from our school."
"I'll come right away," Renji said, already getting up. There was no need to think it through. His Ichigo was in trouble.
"Thank you," Ishida sighed and ended the call.
As he hurried to the club, Renji's stomach was already tightening up nervously. He had no idea what he'd find there. What condition was Ichigo in?
The music coming from the club was too loud and Renji didn't like the sight of the entrance. Too many skanky-looking girls and inebriated guys. He wondered what Ichigo and his friends were doing there in the first place. There were no bouncers or security of any kind, only drunken and otherwise affected young people. Too young, Renji mused.
As he got in, he frowned, trying to find a familiar face. There. He saw a few familiar heads close to each other. Ishida looked extremely worried, while Inoue seemed to be seconds from starting to cry. The others were somewhere in between. Renji had to push his way through the crowd, receiving a few unfriendly grumbles, but as soon he'd made eye contact, people would close their mouths and look away. He really could look vicious when he wanted to.
"Oi, Ishida," he yelled over the music as he approached the teen. "Where's..."
His eyes fell onto the orange haired boy that was placed into a booth, resting his arms and head over the table. Renji hurried over and gently caught his shoulders, shaking him.
"Ichigo, can you hear me? Look at me."
The boy didn't even blink, just kept his eyes half closed, his head lolling to the side as Renji straightened him up. He didn't seem receptive at all. Renji held his head between his hands, forcing him to look at him. His pupils were so dilated that the brandy color of his irises was barely visible. The redhead knew immediately that he'd been drugged.
"Who bought you drinks?" He asked the kids, already knowing that scenario from his college days.
"H-how did you know," Inoue asked with eyes wide with surprise. "There were some guys that bought me a drink..."
"And?" Renji was impatient. That girl could ramble on and on without exactly getting to the point.
"I had my own drink already, so Kurosaki-kun... He... Took it..." Her lower lip began to tremble. "There was something in it, wasn't it?"
"You got lucky," Renji frowned at her.
"Is he going to be alright?" Ishida asked, his face a bit paler than usual.
Renji sighed. "How much did he drink?"
"Five... No, six shots and that drink that Inoue-san got."
"He'd be mildly affected from six shots... It was the drug that knocked him out," Renji murmured more to himself than to Ichigo's friends. "Good thinking, calling me, Ishida," he patted the boy's shoulder.
"A-Abarai-sensei," Orihime tugged at his sleeve, making him face her. "There's one of the guys that bought me a drink," she pointed across the smoky room, towards a guy that was pointing and laughing right back at them.
Renji's vision went red.
In seconds, he was in the guy's face, grabbing his shirt and slamming him into the wall. "You think it's funny, you twisted fuck?!"
"It was a joke, dude!"
"You wanted to drug that girl, that's not a joke," Renji snarled, barely containing himself from punching the other man.
"She's not your girl, man," the guy mocked on purpose.
Just as Renji made a fist, preparing for a fight, he heard Ishida calling in alarm. He slammed the guy into the wall once more and let him slide to the floor. "Make sure I never see your face again."
Luckily, the punk's friends were intimidated enough not to try and go after Renji as he hurried back to the booth where Ichigo was.
"What happened?"
"H-he tried to get up, but his legs are useless," Inoue was now outright crying, large tears forming in the corners of her eyes, dissolving her mascara.
"Ichigo, stay still," Renji ordered.
"Nnn... hah..."
"What is he trying to say?" Ishida asked.
Renji took in Ichigo's features again. He didn't seem to be aware of anything or anyone. 'Maybe for the better,' Renji thought. 'He'd probably bolt if he knew I was here.'
"I dunno, but I'm taking him with me," he said to Ichigo's friends.
"Are you sure," Ishida asked a bit sharply and the two shared a look. He must have known, Ichigo must have told him about the break-up.
"I'm sure, Ishida. He's safe with me and I'm taking him home tomorrow morning. I think he wouldn't want his dad or sisters to see him like this."
"True..."
"Okay, then we're off," Renji took Ichigo's arm and wrapped it around his neck, hauling the teen up effortlessly.
Ichigo grumbled in protest, a small burp escaping his mouth.
"Shit, I gotta get him outside, now!" Renji hurried towards the club entrance.
"Wha-?" Ishida squawked.
"He's gonna hurl!"
Just as Renji predicted, and it was sheer luck, Ichigo's stomach had decided to empty itself on the sidewalk the moment the redhead dragged him out. The rest of his friends followed them and Inoue started crying again.
"It's fine," Renji grunted, helping Ichigo stand while he continued to heave. "It's better to get rid of it all."
"Are you sure?" Inoue sobbed.
"It makes perfect sense," Ishida nodded, trying to look away. The sounds were a bit too much for him.
Renji studied Ichigo. His face was covered in a sheen of sweat and was sickly pale. He knew that the nausea was far from over, but he needed to get the kid home. He can't spend half of the night hurling in the street.
"Ichigo, can you hear me?" He asked the blond. No response. Just panting and grunting. He affectionately petted the back of his head and neck, not caring at the moment that he had an audience of worried teens. "Gonna take you to my place now, okay? You'll be fine."
"Do you need help, Abarai-sensei," Sado asked.
"Uh… Sure. We can walk him together. Thanks." Renji carefully gripped around Ichigo's upper arm and gently straightened him up. Sado did the same on his other side and they slowly began to walk towards Renji's apartment. The group quietly followed.
The walk took about thirty minutes and several puking stops. Luckily, it seemed to diminish and, honestly, Ichigo had nothing more to puke. Sado helped Renji drag Ichigo to his apartment and then greeted quietly.
"Take care of him, sensei."
"I will. Thanks, Sado."
"No problem."
Now alone with Ichigo, Renji adjusted his hold and led the teen to his bathroom. He desperately needed a shower and clean clothes.
Ichigo murmured something, his head lolling on one side.
"What was that, Ichi?"
"Toilet…"
"Need to puke again?" Renji hurried him to the toilet, but realized what's going on when Ichigo started to fumble with his zipper.
Cursing inwardly, Renji helped him with that too. As the teen relieved himself, Renji became aware of a thing that most people (thankfully) realise when they're older. When you love someone, you absolutely get to see them at the lowest of their lows, when they're most open, most vulnerable. Be that illness or embarrassing situations like this one. Ichigo would surely be mortified if he knew that his ex, his sensei nonetheless, was helping him to take a piss.
"Okay, done," Renji awkwardly stated the obvious. "Now shower, and then bed."
Ichigo just followed along, like on auto-pilot.
Renji slowly undressed him, feeling guilty all the while. He remembered when taking his clothes off was for a whole different reason. It really hurt, but he needed to do it. Ichigo just stood there, holding on to his shoulders for support, his eyes closed. Renji wasn't sure the kid even knew where he was or who he was with.
With Ichigo completely naked, Renji steered him slowly towards his shower cabin and tried to get him inside. The teen almost fell when he lost Renji's support and the redhead figured he'd have to get in the shower as well. He lowered Ichigo to sit on the toilet while he hastily stripped himself down to his boxers. Those were easy to change later and he thought it would be just wrong to get completely naked with Ichigo at his current state.
"Come on, now." He picked the teen up again and walked him inside the shower. Ichigo shivered and clutched onto him when he turned the water on.
"No…"
"Shh, it's alright. You'll warm up."
The teen coughed and dry heaved a couple of times. Renji couldn't tell if he then sobbed or took a really loud breath. He held him up and slowly rinsed his skin with the warm water.
"I can't stand…"
It was the first partially coherent thing that Ichigo said.
"I've got you. Relax."
"No…"
"We'll be out in no time and then I'll put you in a nice, warm bed."
Ichigo whimpered and hung onto Renji, pressing his forehead against the older man's shoulder.
"Hey, there's no reason for crying. You're safe." Renji petted the soaked strawberry blond hair affectionately, even though it hurt him. Who knows what had been going inside of that head of his.
"Renji…" The teen sobbed and tightened his hold.
The redhead wasn't sure if Ichigo was aware that he was there, or was it just a cry for help in his drugged up state.
"I'm here. Come on. Let's get you a towel." He turned the shower off and reached for a big towel in which he then wrapped Ichigo up.
He led the kid to his bedroom and sat him down. "Gonna find you some clothes." Renji opened a few drawers and found a shirt and a pair of sweats.
Ichigo was still shivering but he seemed a bit better. He still wasn't making eye contact and kept tugging on his towel to get some more warmth.
"Come on, legs in, butt up." Renji dressed him patiently, first sweats, then shirt and tucked him into bed immediately. While leaning over him, he noticed that Ichigo was watching him.
"Hey."
"Uh…" The warm brandy eyes filled up with new tears.
"Don't cry. Sleep now." Renji caressed his cheek. "You'll feel better in the morning."
A cold hand came up from under the blanket and gripped Renji's wrist. He kept it like that until his eyes fluttered closed again. Renji stayed by his side until he was certain that the teen had fallen asleep.
"I miss you so much, Ichigo." Renji whispered, freeing his wrist from Ichigo's hold and kissing the boy's knuckles softly.
Maybe, just maybe, Renji thought that they would talk in the morning now that they are alone, and that Ichigo would maybe tell him what's going on. Clearly, the kid still had feelings of some kind for him.
Renji quietly changed his clothes and curled up on the bed next to Ichigo, just listening to his steady breathing.
