G'day!

Nah, I don't actually say that.

Well, here is Renji's POV as promised, so let us hear what the lovable ass has to say for himself. WHY RENJI, WHY?!

SIDE NOTE: I hope this chapter is believable/plausible re: Toshiro's power.

… … …

Chapter 8: Renji.

"Rukia, I'm fine," Renji grumbled, pushing his friend away lightly, "Let me get back to the fight."

Rukia gasped in worry and Renji's head snapped up. He followed the direction of her gaze and almost gasped himself.

Something was wrong with Ichigo.

His body was convulsing and he had dropped his sword. He seemed to be in intense pain or some kind of extreme emotional struggle as he held a hand over his eye and curled up in the sky. Grimmjow too looked perplexed at what was going on.

Ichigo was threatening and cursing someone they couldn't see. It seemed like he was having some sort of internal battle, as though he was trying to keep some inner demon at bay. It almost looked like he was getting possessed.

Breaking Renji from his stare, Grimmjow suddenly leapt forward. The Sixth Espada was going to use this distraction to land a life-ending strike on his best friend!

Renji stepped forward, preparing to intercept the attack.

But he was too late.

Grimmjow was already in front of Ichigo; his razor-sharp claws now impaled its target.

Wait, no.

Ichigo was still twisting and thrashing about; he was completely unaware that the Espada had even moved. A memory of a black and white flash entered Renji's mind, his brain trying desperately to catch up with his eyes and comprehend what he was seeing. That flash had stopped Grimmjow from reaching the substitute soul reaper. The claws had speared something else.

Correction; the claws had speared someone else. They had pierced right through Captain Hitsugaya's thin body.

Rukia drew in a sharp breath beside him.

The captain had taken the blow. Ichigo's new boyfriend, whom Renji swore would never return the strawberry's love, had just saved his life.

Everyone watching was in shock; nobody could move.

Nobody except Grimmjow and Hitsugaya, who both seemed to be equally as surprised as Renji and Rukia, as they looked down at the wound and then back up at each other.

If the Captain was in pain, he did not show it. Perhaps he was in too much shock to register the physical feeling of being run through. Renji had no doubt that the pain could come soon though.

"Hyoten Hyakkaso!" The captain screamed a second later, albeit a little shakily, and suddenly a beam of light shot out of him and opened a gaping hole in the clouds. Heavy snow instantly began to rain down on a surprised Grimmjow.

The captain began to glow white as his spiritual pressure spiked. He was radiating raw power, and it would have been terrifying if he wasn't on their side. Despite what Renji had said about the man, he respected Hitsugaya's power. His own captain had once told him that Hitsugaya's strength was still to grow, and if given another hundred years or so, he would become the strongest captain below Yamamoto.

As the first of the snow landed on Grimmjow, large ice flowers began to bloom on his skin/armour.

"Frozen Heaven Hundred Flower Funeral," Rukia gasped, wide eyed, "It's only ever been a rumour; no one has actually ever seen Captain Hitsugaya use this ability."

"You know it?" Renji asked, watching breathlessly as more and more ice flowers were silently created, trapping a panicking Grimmjow.

How the captain managed to pull off what was obviously a very powerful attack in his state, Renji will never know. The final petals of his bankai crumbled and his ice wings shattered. He was now leaning over Grimmjow; the arm impaling him was the only thing holding him up.

"Anyone with an ice-type zanpakuto should have," Rukia turned to him, shock and awe plastered on her face, "It's legendary. When the one hundredth flower blooms, the life of the person it has touched will be ended."

And 'end' it certainly did. Grimmjow gave a loud, inhuman screech as the final flower bloomed, and the eerily beautiful spell came to its close. The ice flowers had clumped together to create a giant pillar stretching from the ground up to Grimmjow and surrounded him completely. The claw that had still been lodged in Captain Hitsugaya's midsection snapped off like a weak twig and the Captain ripped it out from his body.

It was a brilliant move on Hitsugaya's part; by the time Grimmjow had discovered that the snow was the weapon, it was too late for him to do anything about it. Renji was not certain it would have worked if the Sixth Espada had not been still in shock from impaling the captain instead of Ichigo.

The captain, who had been relying on Grimmjow for physical support, suddenly released a loud grunt of pain and blood spurted out of both ends of his wound – the agony finally hitting him full force. His blood splattered on Ichigo's face, and the substitute soul reaper was abruptly brought to attention. Whatever his previous struggle had been was over, ending with a jolt when he was unexpectedly hit with his boyfriend's blood.

Renji watched as Ichigo's face screwed up in horror as he realised what had happened during his mental excursion.

Captain Hitsugaya's breathing was severely laboured from his keeled over position as he clutched his stomach. Just as Renji was wondering how he was managing to stay conscious at all, the captain went limp and fell from the sky.

Ichigo recovered from his surprise quickly. He used the speed of his bankai to catch up with the falling prodigy, and only just reached the body before it had come in contact with the harsh and unforgiving concrete. Hyorinmaru kept falling and hit the ground with a loud clatter.

Renji forgot the pain he was previously in, and ran to Ichigo's side as the teenage slowly lowered himself and his precious cargo to the ground. He vaguely registered Rukia calling out to Orihime and she ran one step behind him.

Ichigo was obviously beginning to emotionally lose it now that the disbelief had worn off. He collapsed to his knees, and slumped down into a sitting position, cradling his small lover close.

Renji came to a halt in front of his strawberry friend and watched as tears welled up in Ichigo's eyes. It was a heart-breaking sight, and he didn't even approve of their relationship.

He was surprised to see that the captain was still semi-conscious, having reached up a hand to wipe away the first tear to escape onto Ichigo's cheek.

"Don't cry," He slurred, obviously struggling to stay awake, "I'll be fine…promise,"

Rangiku came out nowhere; she was at her captain's side in a flash. She had put on a brave face but Renji could see the cracks of worry breaking through. It was a lieutenant's worst nightmare to lose their captain and the Tenth Division leaders were known to be as close as family. That had been clear when Rangiku had slapped him earlier. She crouched beside Ichigo and had a hand on each man, trying to comfort them both, although it was now clear that Hitsugaya was unconscious by the way his head lolled lifelessly against Ichigo's chest.

As Orihime's magic healing bubble came over them, Renji looked around at the others who'd gathered beside him. Ikkaku was physically healed, but he looked exhausted; his uniform ripped and dirty. Yumichika was watching the scene before him and dabbing his eyes with a small cloth, weeping at the "beautifulness of love."

Urahara and Yoruichi were there too having finished off the last of the hollows. They were uncharacteristically silent, watching with solemn faces as their student rocked back and forth with the small bundle in his arms. If they didn't know about their relationship before, they sure did now.

"Is it working?" Rangiku asked Orihime softly; it had been taking a lot longer than what any of them had known to be 'normal healing time'.

"Yes, but there is a lot of work to be done," Orihime replied softly, "...it was close."

Ichigo clenched at hearing how close his boyfriend had been to death. He threaded his fingers through the captain's startling white hair and pressed his lips to the captain's forehead.

Renji watched his friend in silence. He had definitely under-estimated the strawberry's feelings for the Squad Ten captain. He cringed thinking back to what he had said earlier that night.

The golden healing bubble was sealed away as the miniature beings that had created it flew back to their home in Orihime's hair clips.

"It's done," Orihime confirmed, "He's been completely healed."

If Ichigo had heard, which Renji was sure he had, he did not look up. His eyes remained focused on the still man in his arms.

"Why hasn't he woken up?" Rangiku asked, her previously calm mask beginning to falter, "If he is healed, he should be awake, right?"

Everyone looked at Orihime expectantly; that is what their previous experience with her power had shown them. She rejected all of their wounds until they were up and about like nothing had even happened.

She opened her mouth to respond but it was actually Rukia who answered.

"Captain Hitsugaya is totally exhausted," She informed them, "He just killed two Espada and one arrancar with two incredibly powerful attacks. It was actually quite incredible to watch; he is very strong."

"But wouldn't that have been 'rejected' too with Orihime's healing?" asked Yumichika.

"Exhaustion isn't just physical; it's a state of mind," Rukia continued, "Orihime's healing abilities only address physical injuries."

"Rukia is right," chimed Urahara, "I've been observing Orihime's powers too and while she can heal almost any bodily wound, mental injuries are another story."

A minute of silence passed as everyone let the information sink in before Orihime stepped forward to place a hand of Ichigo's other shoulder. He still did not look up.

"Toshiro will be fine, Ichigo," She whispered, "He just needs a good rest. He'll wake up in the morning, I promise."

It seemed to help a little as Ichigo muttered a quiet, but very genuine, "Thank you" to his school friend.

Orihime moved away to give him space and came to stand by Rukia. Rangiku moved away too; walking over to pick up a forgotten Hyorinmaru.

Renji could only watch as Ichigo pulled his lover even closer and nuzzled his face into the captain's snowy locks. He was really starting to regret his earlier rant now. He'd made a huge mistake, that was for sure.

It was clear that Hitsugaya loved Ichigo; he would not have instinctively risked his own life like that to save him if he didn't. It was also blatantly obvious how much Ichigo loved the captain in return by the way he was struggling to keep himself together even now that he'd heard his lover would be okay.

Renji was ashamed of himself. He had made a snap judgement based solely on the uneducated opinions of others in the Seireitei. He had spoken that belief out loud. Worst of all, he had hurt three people in the process; his current commanding officer, his long-time lieutenant friend and, of course, his best friend. All in one hit. It was no surprise that Rangiku had hit him, and he almost felt like doing the same to himself right about now.

Rangiku had crouched back down in front of Ichigo and was slowly unclasping the clip holding the stained green sash around her captain. Ichigo didn't seem to mind, leaning back to give her room to work. The sash came off and she started wrapping it around Hyorinmaru's lean blade; the sheath had disappeared when Hitsugaya withdrew his sword so only he would be able to re-sheath it when he woke up.

Rangiku place the sword next Ichigo gently.

"You'll need to take this with you tonight," she told him, "Captain doesn't like to be without it."

Ichigo nodded and thanked her for the subtle insinuation that he would be taking Hitsugaya back to his house tonight. Ichigo glanced up for the first time and Renji had to supress the gasp in his throat. He had never seen Ichigo like this; red, puffy eyes and tear stains down his cheeks, his expression of utter defeat. He was looking around for his own sword. Renji spotted the oversized blade of Zangetsu and moved to pick it up. The sword was very heavy; he briefly wondered how Ichigo lifted this thing over his head at all. Ichigo didn't meet his eye as he placed the zanpakuto next to Hyorinmaru, the difference in their sizes matching that of their owners.

Renji stepped back to stand with Rukia and Orihime to give Ichigo the extra minute he so clearly needed to pull himself together enough to make his way home.

Ikkaku and Yumichika grunted their goodbyes as they turned to leave. Urahara and Yoruichi took their bid to leave as well, and trotted off in the direction of the candy store after giving Renji another list of chores that he 'must get done by dawn, Moocher'; honestly those two were unbelievable, even at a time like this.

Renji turned to see Ichigo using one hand to sling Zangetsu over his back, cloth moving to wrap around it in the process, and then getting shakily to his feet. His other arm supported Hitsugaya with no issues and Renji could tell that there was nothing in the world that would get him to drop his sleeping boyfriend.

Rangiku helped him tuck Hyorinmaru between Zangetsu and his body so that it wouldn't fall out.

"Look after him, Ichigo," She whispered, her voice taint with oncoming tears, the drama of the night taking its toll, "And make sure he calls me in the morning."

"Will do, Ran," Ichigo promised, pulling her close with his free arm.

Rangiku kissed her captain on the forehead and then stretched up to kiss Ichigo's cheek as she wiped away a tear with the back of her hand.

Ichigo adjusted his hold on his lover so now he held him properly in two arms and turned in the direction of his house.

"Coming Rukia?"

Rukia nodded and came to stand beside him, pausing to hug Rangiku on the way. They prepared to flash step.

"Wait, Ichigo!" Renji called, not wanting them to leave without at least trying to make things right, "I'm sorry about earlier…I was wrong."

Ichigo's back was facing him but he slowly turned his head sideways to look over his shoulder at Renji.

"Yes, you were," Ichigo responded sharply, his voice tinged with anger, and with that he disappeared into the night air, bounding over rooftops, Rukia following a second behind.

Renji sighed, he deserved that. He glanced over at Rangiku and Orihime who were the only two left. He pulled Rangiku into a big bear hug and apologised to her too. She hiccupped and forgave him.

"Come on, girls," He said as he let Rangiku go, "I'll walk you back inside."

… … …

I honestly don't believe I've exaggerated Toshiro's strength at all, and I hate it when people say he is the weakest captain because he is far from it. If it wasn't for Momo, he would have finished Gin off no worries, and I bet he could kick Kurotsuchi's ass (unzombified) any day. ANYONE WHO SAYS TOSHIRO IS A WEAKLING FUCKING FIGHT ME. Wow that was crass, baaaad Geishaaa.

I just have a lot of feelings.

*clears throat* Well, I hope you like this chapter; please review and I'll try to get chapter 9 finished ASAP!