08.

TITLE: The Spirit of Youth

WORD COUNT: 642

SUMMARY: Renji can't help but think about The Spirit of Youth, and how Ichigo displays it.

RATING: R, because of the very juicy blowjob Ichigo gives Renji in this one.

NOTE: Yet again something from the archives. (If it pleases those of you still reading this, though, the last two pieces have been collecting much less dust than the recent few!) Got inspired by Don Kanonji and his "SPIRITS ARE ALWAYS WITH YOU" nonsense, I believe (I mean, he appears in another piece I've posted here despite being such a minor character) - can't remember where the exact phrase, "The Spirit of Youth", came from, though. Might've been Naruto or something else, but given how many silly shenanigans Ichigo and crew've been up to throughout the whole series I thought it was a rather apt phrase to describe everyone's favourite strawberry.

Maybe it's due to the fact that he's at least a few thousand years older than Ichigo, but Renji can't help but think that sometimes, the younger man just happens to do something that catches him completely off-guard.

And most of the time, it happens to be the really, really stupid things.

Take, for instance, Ichigo's throwing Rukia down from the Soukyoku cross.

Even now, her screams still echoed in Renji's ears, even as he recalled how the sheer force that Ichigo had used in flinging Rukia had resulted in him rolling a good distance away from the cross after he had caught her.

Admittedly, that had been the easiest way for him to take Rukia and escape, given the circumstances, though he still thinks that her screams of "Bastard! Are you crazy?! Ichigo!" and his shouts of "Dumbass! What if I didn't catch her in time?!" were perfectly validated and justified. And every time he thinks of the event, he can't help but chuckle a little.

There was, as well, Ichigo's very embarrassing headband speech from when he was fighting Ururu trying to regain his powers for the very first time, which Urahara had all but tricked him into saying, consisting of words like "O great headband of truth!" and "Unleash the powers of justice within me!"

When Renji heard about the episode from Jinta, who had retold it with a mischievous glint in his eyes, he laughed so hard that he wound up with cramps – not as if that stopped him from continuing to laugh, anyway – while Ichigo, seated nearby, merely just sighed and rolled his eyes, resting his cheek on one clenched fist, elbow propped up on Urahara's low table, the expression on his face a cross between annoyance and boredom. He didn't think it was all that funny, given the circumstances back then and how he was certain Ururu would've punched the life out of him, the very same girl who was now nervously standing before him, asking softly if he would like a cup of tea, all while Urahara sat in the corner, a huge grin on his face as he fanned himself.

Then there were the things they did during sex.

Renji couldn't help but blush a little whenever he thought of what Ichigo had attempted on more than one occasion when they lay in bed together, always resulting in Renji panting heavily and whining for more, eyes squeezed shut and a blush rapidly spreading across his cheeks as he lay sprawled out on the bed, Ichigo straddling his thighs and grinning wickedly as he leaned in for the next round.

Especially that first time Ichigo gave him a blowjob. There had been many more equally amazing ones after that, but none ever came close to that one in terms of intensity. Renji could vividly recall how the orange-haired shinigami's very skilled tongue and fingers had glided and fluttered over his erect member, teasing it with butterfly touches and making the larger shinigami gasp and pant, his ragged breath coming in catches, before a smirking Ichigo had taken his by-now throbbing, very red and very wet cock and swallowed its entire length in one mouthful, cheeks hollowing as he worked his way up and down, as the redhead had gasped and moaned and grabbed fistfuls of the orange-head's hair, hanging on for dear life.

Renji was certain that the very hoarse and very loud cry of Ichigo's name that had accompanied his very forceful release had been loud enough to wake up the neighbours a few houses down the street – and yet, it had been somewhat of a miracle that Karin, Yuzu and Isshin had remained fast asleep, the doctor's loud snores reverberating throughout the house long after Renji's breathing had calmed down.

Renji thinks that that must be what they call "the spirit of youth".