Rise of Renji
Renji gets tired of being treated badly, so he challenges the other lieutenants to prove his worth
I don't own Bleach
A/N: The final duel will be decided in this chapter.
They stepped out on the ground just outside the Urahara Shop. Nemu had brought a gigai made by her father, but Renji still needed to pick his up from Hat-N-Clogs. Ururu was outside sweeping the store front. She turned and greeted them with, "Hello, welcome to the Urahara Shop, Miss. Oh... Hey Mr. Moocher, I'll go tell Mr. Tessai to make extra." Renji blushed. Even if it was Nemu, he was still there with a girl. He made a mental note to never bring a girlfriend here, ever.
"Actually, Ururu," Renji told her hastily, "I'm just here to pick up my gigai. I don't need anything to eat." "No really, it's okay. You must be hungry from the journey here. Come inside and eat, Mr. Moocher," Ururu assured him. Renji was hungry, but he decided a long time ago that he wouldn't ever mooch off of them again. Then she added, "I think you friend over there might also be hungry."
Before Renji could answer, a voice came out from inside the shop, "Hey, Ururu, who's there?" It was Urahara's voice. Ururu called back to him, "It's just the moocher and a quiet girl." Urahara walked out of the shop to meet them, signature fan in hand and held in front of his face so that it covered everything below his eyes. His hat covered everything above his eyes and his hair covered everything else.
Urahara looked at both of them, but Nemu seemed to grab his attention. "Oh, and who might you be?" he asked cheerfully. Nemu bowed and stated her name, "My name is Nemu Kurotsuchi. I am here with Renji Abari on official soul reaper business." This really interested Urahara. "Kurotsuchi huh? You're Mayuri's daughter, aren't you?" Urahara asked. "That is correct," Nemu responded. "So, what kind of business are you here for?" Urahara questioned. "We're here to court humans," Nemu told him. "And this is official soul reaper business, how?" Urahara asked skeptically. Renji jumped in, "Look, can you just give me my gigai so we can go?" "Alright," Urahara agreed, "But when you bring it back, I want details."
Renji and Nemu got into their gigais and headed over to the school. Renji's gigai was still wearing the school uniform from last time, and Nemu had borrowed a uniform from Rangiku. It was early morning when they arrived in the world of the living, so classes at Karakura High hadn't started yet. They walked over to the school and were there before the first bell.
Most of the other students had already arrived, and Renji and Nemu attracted a lot of attention when they walked onto the campus. Groups of students whispered to each other as the two soul reapers walked past. "It's that tattoed guy from last semester." "You know him?" "Yeah, he was in my class." "Who's that girl? She's really hot." "That guy with the tattoes is really sexy." "I know, right?"
Renji and Nemu walked into the classroom just as the bell rang. All the other students were in their seats. Ichigo was surprised to see Renji, but Uryu nearly had a heart attack. "N-N-Nemu!" he stuttered, "What are you doing here!" "Wait, you know that babe!" Keigo asked. "Hello Uryu, I'm very pleased to see you again," Nemu said after she took her seat. Keigo asked, "Just how close are you two?"
Flashback:
"Oh, very good Nemu. Stay on top of him until he suffocates."
"We've met a couple times," Uryu answered.
Renji and Uryu took their seats in the back of the classroom. Ms. Ochi had seen Renji before, and since Uryu knew Nemu, and Uryu was one of Ichigo's friends, she decided Nemu could stay too.
During lunch break, Ichigo, Chad, Uryu, Rukia, Renji, Keigo, and Mizoru were all sitting up on the roof. "So what's up Renji?" Ichigo asked, "You haven't told us why you're here yet." Keigo and Mizoru were present so he couldn't tell them it was a soul reaper duel. "Well, long story short, I have to convince Michiru to kiss me," Renji told them.
Rukia did a spit-take. Renji was now soaked in apple juice. He suddenly regretted opening the box for her. "Why!" Rukia asked. "It's complicated. But I need to get Michiru to kiss me before Nemu can get Uryu to kiss her," Renji explained. "How did I get dragged into all of this!" Uryu shouted. Renji sighed and told him, "Nemu picked you, I picked Michiru."
Nemu was sitting under the trees with the girls in the class; Orihime, Tatsuki, Chizuru, Ryo, Michiru, and Mahana. "So, Nemu. How do you know Uryu? He seemed to recognize you. I think I've seen you around before." Orihime and Nemu were aware they couldn't discuss this in front of the other girls. "Can we speak in private ," Nemu asked. "Sure," Orihime answered. "No way!" Chizuru shouted, "I'm not letting you go anywhere with my precious little-" Chizuru was cut off by Tatsuki's foot in her ribs. "Go ahead, Orihime," Tatsuki told her, "I'll hold her off."
Orihime and Nemu were now separate from the other girls and able to speak freely. "So what's up, Nemu?" Orihime asked. "I'm trying to get Uryu to kiss me," Nemu told her, "It's part of a lieutenants duel. We each chose a human to court and whoever can get their target to kiss them first is the winner. I chose Uryu and Renji chose Michiru." "Oh, he doesn't know," Orihime said with concern, "Michiru already has a boyfriend."
The bell rang to signal the end of their lunch break and everyone went back inside for afternoon classes. It wasn't until after school that Renji and Nemu got the chance to flirt with their selected individuals.
Renji caught up with Michiru on the way to her house. "Hey, Michiru," he called out to her, "hold up a sec." Michiru stopped and turned. "Uh, hi Renji. Why are you here?" Michiru asked. "Michiru, would you go out with me?" Renji asked. Michiru was surprised. "Oh! On a date? I'd like to but I kinda already have a boyfriend," Michiru told him. "Really, who?" Renji needed to know. Michiru hesitated then told him, "It's Yasutora, Yasutora Sado."
Renji thought for a moment. The name sounded familiar but he couldn't quite remember whose it was. "Sorry, I don't think I know anyone named Yasutora," Renji apologized. "But you were eating lunch with him," Michiru responded. Renji remembered now. "Have a safe trip home, Michiru. I need to go have a talk with Mr. Sado."
Uryu was walking back to his house the same way he did every day, but something about Nemu being there at the school bothered him. It could have been that he couldn't think of any reason she would need to go to a high school, but it was probably the fact that she was following him home.
"Nemu, where are you going?" Uryu asked her. "I'm going to your house," Nemu responded. "Why?" he asked. "I intend to spend the night there," Nemu replied. "Well what makes you think it's okay to stay at my house?" Uryu demanded. "You are a good man, Uryu, and I have nowhere else to stay," Nemu explained. Uryu couldn't turn her down. "Alright, you can stay, but you can't tell my dad anything about who you are or where you're from," Uryu told her. "I understand," Nemu stated.
After ten minutes of running, Renji finally managed to catch up with Chad. "Chad, are you in a relationship with Michiru?" Renji asked between pants. "Yeah," Chad answered. "Well why didn't you tell me at lunch when I said I needed to get her to kiss me!" Renji shouted. "I didn't think it mattered," Chad said calmly. "Chad, this is why people think Mexicans are stupid," Renji sighed.
The next day went poorly for Renji. Nothing had happened between Nemu and Uryu the night before due to the "honor of the Quincy" and Ryuken standing guard in the hall, but Uryu agreed to go on a date with Nemu the evening of the day in question. On their date, Nemu convinced Uryu to kiss her, winning her the duel. Also, his back still hurt from sleeping on Ichigo's couch.
With the duel over, Renji and Nemu said goodbye to their friends and headed back to the Urahara shop. "Well, hello there," Urahara greeted them. "Hey Urahara," Renji replied. "Well, how'd your official soul reaper business go? Anyone get laid?" The shopkeeper asked with a sly grin. Renji scowled. Urahara was taking things out of context again.
"Look, I'm just here to drop off my gigai. I'm not going to tell you what happened," Renji responded impatiently. "If you don't tell me, I'll have to charge you for storage space," Urahara teased. Renji reluctantly told him, "I struck out." "Well I knew that would happen. How about you Nemu?" Urahara asked. "Uryu kissed me," she responded. "Really? How did that feel?" Urahara inquired. "Nemu paused for a moment before responding, "It felt warm." "Excellent! Excellent! Just come inside and we'll get everything arranged," Urahara told them.
After exiting their gigais, Renji and Nemu went through the senkaimon back to the soul society. Nemu went back to the labs on her own. Renji was relieved he didn't have to go with her, but he still needed to tell his captain that he lost.
Renji hesitantly stepped into Byakuya's office, but before he could say anything, Byakuya said, "You lost, didn't you?" Renji just nodded. "I'll go talk to the head captain about your replacement. There are several other soul reapers who are qualified for this position. I doubt it will take long. You should prepare for the lieutenants meeting tomorrow. Even though you will be demoted and replaced, it isn't official yet, so you'll still be on active duty for the next few days," Byakuya informed him.
A/N: I did not include the date that Uryu and Nemu went on because this fic is about Renji. Though I will probably write it as a oneshot. The story's not over yet! Next chapter will be Renji's final lieutenant meeting!