Ah, good morning Abarai-kun!" Urahara waved at the Shinigami as he shuffled tiredly over to the table. Renji groaned as he sat down, rubbing his back. "For you maybe. I can't believe how sore I am from yesterday. Chad's pretty tough." he remarked, taking the bowl of rice Urahara pushed over to him. He looked around, noticing that someone was missing. "Where's Hitomi? She still asleep or something?" he asked, mumbling slightly as he ate.
"Ah, I-I'm right here." Renji turned slightly to see her entering the room, carefully holding a cup.
"I um...brought you a cup of coffee, Abarai-sama..." she said quietly. Renji smiled at her. "Oh, thanks. It's just what I need." He replied. Hitomi set it down lightly on the table and was about to leave the room when Urahara called her name.
"Please sit down Hitomi. I'm sure Abarai-kun will want to ask you something after this." Hitomi nodded and imedietely obliged, taking a seat at the table. Renji looked from her, to Urahara.
"What's this about? Keeping a secret or something?" he asked, looking at Hitomi. Her face turned frenzied and she shook her hands in dissmisal. When Renji grinned at her, she realized her panic and looked down, blushing about her behavior.
"It's nothing much. You're just going to fight Hitomi-san."
"I'm going to what?!" Renji coughed on a bite of rice, not believing what he heard. Urahara chuckled, then smiled.
"You're going to to duel against Hitomi-san! Finish breakfast up so you can get to it." Urahara looked over at Hitomi. "I'll go look around and find one of the spare katanas we have lying around." Hitomi nodded, then said a small thanks. Renji looked over at her.
"Do you actually want to do this?" He asked, doubting that she had come up with the idea. Hitomi looked over at him.
"Ah, well Urahara-sama said that he needed to see any abilities I had...fighting included. So as long as I um...have your consent on the matter I shall." Her eyes suddenly widened and she looked panicked again. "B-But if you wish that I not duel against you, I shall not! Though I wouldn't know what to say to Urahara-sama about it then..." she mumbled something to herself and Renji laughed. "Easy there, it's alright. It doesn't matter to me anyway. I'm just..." He paused, rubbing the back of his neck and thinking of how to word it so not to offend her. "I'm just a little worried that I'll get really into it and hurt you or something." Hitomi opened her mouth like she was going to say something, but stopped when Urahara called her name.
"Hitomi-san, can you please come here? I found a few katanas that I want you to try." She turned in the direction of his voice and nodded. "Ah, coming Urahara-sama!" Hitomi stood up and bowed quickly Renji, then hurried out of the room. He watched her leave, then turned back to the table. Out the corner of his eye, he spotted the coffee. Picking up the cup, he brought it to his lips and tasted the drink. It was still warm, and tasted wonderful with whatever she had put in. Renji chalked it up to most likely just be milk and sugar, something he had never really added. He enjoyed the liquid right down to its last drop, then put down the mug. As he finished his rice, Urahara called to him.
"Abarai-kun! We'll be waiting on the training grounds!" the shopkeeper reported. "Alright! I'll be there in a minute!" Renji replied, standing up and stretching. He flinched at the slight pain from his soreness, but simply let his limbs drop as he relaxed.
"Guarantee I'll feel like a jackass by the end of this..." he muttered as he walked into the room that held the entrance to the training grounds and began to descend the ladder.