Ichigo stretched his arms into the air, glad to be done with the final exams. It was time for summer break and he couldn't wait to do nothing related to school. Not to mention he could ask Urahara for training space in the underground of his shop now that hollows were showing up again. He was just itching for another fight.
"Oi!" he heard a voice behind him. Ichigo turned to see a vibrant redhead with visible facial and body tattoos walking towards him. A wide grin formed on Ichigo's face. "Renji!" Finally, someone he could spar with.
Abarai Renji walked straight up to him, then gained some momentum and slammed a fist into the side of Ichigo's head. Ichigo yelped in surprise more than pain and got right into Renji's face. "What the fuck was that for, Renji!"
"You've gotten weak," the redhead sneered. Ichigo was about to deliver a punch in return when he heard Rukia squeal with surprise.
"Renji!" Rukia exclaimed, running up to the large man with bright eyes. "What are you doing here?"
Renji shrugged like it was no big deal. "I've got some vacation time to cash in and needed some stuff from Urahara. You know how he is. He'll trade room and board for working in his shop. Besides, now I can save up to get some new Silver Dragonfly Glasses since someone," he motioned in Ichigo's direction, "broke my last pair."
"That was almost a year ago!" Ichigo argued.
"And they cost a half a year's salary!" Renji narrowed his beady brown eyes at Ichigo in rage. The kid could never understand the importance of these sunglasses. "I should make you pay for them!"
"Jackass! It's not my fault that you were too much of a pussy to deal with me!"
Renji grabbed Ichigo by the collar and lifted him off the ground. "Why you little—!"
"Hey! Cut the macho bull!" Rukia pushed them both aside. She was aware they were gathering a crowd of onlookers but the boys could care less. "Urahara's back then?" she asked Renji.
"Yeah. He made me carry supplies back from Soul Society to his shop."
Rukia averted her eyes to Ichigo and they seemed to have a silent conversation. "We should go talk to him," she looked serious now, her short eyebrows forming a tight "V."
Ichigo nodded with the same serious face. "Let's go."
"Oi! What's going on?" Renji didn't like the looks on their faces. If there was trouble in this town, he wanted a piece of the action.
"There's something new here," Rukia explained. "Just…watch your back." The pair retreated, leaving to discuss the recent events with Urahara. Renji was about to go after them, furious that they wouldn't share information, but he was stopped by a sing-song voice.
"Abarai-kun!"
Renji looked over his shoulder to see a bouncy orange-haired girl skipping towards him with a wide smile across her face. Her aqua hairpins sparkled in the afternoon sun. "Hey, Inoue!"
"What are you doing here?" Orihime asked, her bright hazel eyes shining.
"Working in Urahara's shop for the summer."
"That's great! It's good to see you," Orihime grinned, but her grin sloped down when she saw Ichigo and Rukia leaving together. His hand had moved to the small of her back so she could pass in front of him at the school gate.
Renji saw Orihime's reaction and knew exactly how she felt. The only difference was he had come to terms with the inevitable long ago. The brightness from her eyes faded out with a look of longing. Renji placed a large hand on Orihime's shoulder for comfort. "Sucks, doesn't it?" he said.
Orihime was surprised at Renji's actions. He was watching them walk away, too, with sad eyes. "I don't know what you mean," she tried to cover up.
"To love someone who doesn't love you." Renji gave her a somber smile. He moved his hand a shoved it in a loose pocket.
Orihime was taken aback. When did he become so insightful? Am I that obvious? She bit her bottom lip, taken off guard by his comment. She had suspected Renji had strong feelings for Rukia, but she didn't know to what extent. Understanding where he was coming from, she asked him for a bit of advice. "How did you deal with it?"
Renji sighed and kicked the dirt from under the shade of the tree where they were standing. "If she's happy, then I'm happy." He looked up from the ground at Orihime. "Even if that means she's not with me."
Orihime nodded, accepting what Renji meant by his words. She decided that is what she would have to do. If Ichigo was happy—and he was—then she would be happy too. Still, she felt her eyes well up with tears.
Renji tucked his head down and lifted Orihime's chin up to face him. "I didn't say it would be easy. Or that it wouldn't hurt. But eventually, you learn to deal." Orihime nodded and gave him a weak smile. She could feel a lone tear trickle down her cheek.
"Why you slimy bastard!" she heard a female voice cry out from not far away. Without warning, a foot can flying through the air and connected with the side of Renji's face. He fell to the ground unceremoniously and struggled to get his body up. Damn this gigai! he cursed to himself.
"What the fuck!" he yelled at the figure standing over him. The shade parted and a tall, slender teenager towered over him, getting redder by the second. Her dark eyes were throwing daggers at him and her short, spiky black hair wanted to impale him. Suddenly she lunged, fist coiled back to deliver a blow.
"Tatsuki, stop!" Orihime cried out, pulling the girl's punching arm back with both hands. The girl relaxed her muscles at the sound of Orihime's objection, but her face remained scowled. "Abarai-kun didn't make me cry," Orihime soothed, "I did." She looked at Tatsuki with pleading eyes.
Reluctantly, Tatsuki lowered her fist and placed her hands on her hips. She looked straight down at Renji. "So you're Abarai Renji, Ichigo's…cousin?" She seemed to dismiss that last part as a rumor around the school.
Renji stood up, rubbing the side of his face from her kick. "From the way you hit, you must be Arisawa Tatsuki." She sure had some good fighting skills. Ichigo could learn a thing or two from that woman.
The two stood in a staring contest until a tall figure walked by them in greeting. "Abarai," Ishida acknowledged while walking off the school grounds. "Ishida," Renji waved in response. The Quincy coldly kept to his path as usual. No one noticed that Orihime watched him leave.
"Well, I'd love to stay and chat, but we have plans." Tatsuki's voice dripped with sarcasm. "It's the last day of school and all."
"Don't let me keep you," Renji rebutted.
"I won't." Tatsuki's eyes narrowed as she spoke. She turned a bewildered Orihime around and led her off the school property. "See you around, Abarai-kun!" Orihime said over her shoulder.
Renji waved in response and was left alone on Karakura High School grounds. A large shadow nearly made him jump out of his gigai, but he turned and saw the shadow belonged to Chad. "Oi, Sado!"
"Abarai-san," was all Chad said.
"Since everyone's busy, you can keep me company," Renji said with a plan scheming in his head. He put his arm around Chad's shoulders, a futile gesture because of Chad's massive frame. "Sake bomb contest?"
Later that night, Chad walked a drunken Renji to Urahara's shop. "Walked," meaning Chad walked while carrying a passed out Renji. Chad didn't drink, so Renji insisted he took Chad's shots in order to not waste the liquor. Of course, he had been pouring the drinks himself and Chad had learned to stop objecting.
Chad knocked on the door of the shop and Jinta answered, his bright crimson hair standing almost straight up. "Oh great, now we have to deal with a passed out freeloader!"
Chad simply shrugged and unloaded Renji on the front steps. Renji momentarily woke up and staggered in the shop, knocking over stands as he clumsily made his way to the back where he was staying. He barely made it to the room, falling down halfway in the doorway with one shoe still on.
Jinta growled, "I don't care if he has a hangover. I'm making him clean all this in the morning!" He slammed the door shut in anger, the draft pushing back Chad's hair away from his face.
After the eventful night, Chad was glad to get back home to solitary peace, but someone—or something—was following him. He stopped in his tracks and looked behind him, only to see a small garter snake slither into a nearby bush. He furrowed his brow, not sure why he would sense such a small creature that posed no threat, then shrugged and continued on his way.
The snake turned its head to see outside the bush, its eyes following Chad's steps, and smiled.
.
.
PLEASE READ AND REVIEW
Updates on Tuesdays and Fridays!
Hmm...should I change the rating to M for the use of language??
I don't know how many times I can use the "F" word before stepping out of the T rating...
As usual Thank You to Pippin's Socks for Beta reading ::glomps::