The day of the picnic dawned hot and miserable. By the time Renji and Orihime left for town with a heavy pie and several dozen cookies the day was scorching.
They parked in the lot at the park where it looked like everyone in town had turned out for the annual event. Sounds of instruments warming up for the entertainment promised that afternoon and evening were heard over the few carnival rides and general milling of visitors. Renji and Orihime crossed past the wooden posts planted in concrete and other lumber rail barriers that had been set up to direct traffic near the parking lot. Some of them were roped off with burly wire cables to direct the parking, and a few of the concrete buckets holding the wooden posts had been moved by some of the more rebellious of guests for easier parking. They quickly dissolved into the festivities on the oak and elm treed park where music and delicious smells lured them.
Orihime held the pie close, smiling at the prospect of a busy day. Beside her Renji was carrying a double stacked plate of cookies. Already the crowd was noisy and eating at the local concessions set up near the stage area.
"Hey! You made it!"
Renji and Orihime looked to Silvi as she met them with a hamper hooked under her arm. Her attire of denim shorts and shade of purple tank top was similar to Orihime's, although lacking in volume.
"Hi," Orihime said, nervously looking to the hamper. "Are we supposed to pack baskets?" It hadn't occurred to her to do so.
Silvi shook her head. "It's not necessary, but most competitors do." She looked to Renji. "Guess it doesn't really matter, does it?"
"Nope. She's eating with me." He saw the blush slip over Orihime's cheeks, and for some reason it made him grin wider. "When is this pie auction?"
"This afternoon, at four." Silvi pointed to where the stage was setting up. Instruments warming up picked at the air. "That's the first entertainment." She squealed a giggle, startling both Renji and Orihime. "It's the Georgia Satellites! Geez, they're like the biggest band we've had in years! Except tonight." She fidgeted with excitement. "George Thorogood and the Delaware Destroyers! Can you believe it?"
Neither Renji nor Orihime got it, nor did they understand her excitement.
"Funny, two George bands and two states." Silvi composed herself. "Anyway, we've got to go check in, Orihime. We've got the regulations to read," she said, rolling her eyes, "about food safety and all that stuff. Ladies Auxiliary, you know."
"Oh, okay." Orihime looked to Renji. "I'll take the cookies."
"I'll go with you," he said, managing the plates on one hand to put the other arm around her shoulder.
"Are those for the bake sale?" Silvi asked.
Orihime nodded. "Individually wrapped."
"Those go over there." Silvi pointed to a canopied table where there was a line already forming one on side. On the other, people were eating baked goods as a clown tried to sell them helium balloons.
Renji's fingers tightened on Orihime's shoulder. "We'll drop this off and Orihime can meet you for the check in. Where is that?"
Silvi nodded to a table near the stage that was wrapped in multi-colored grass skirts. "Widow Mayes is there already. Catch you there?" she asked Orihime.
"Okay." Orihime waved a few fingers from under her pie plate. "In a few minutes."
Renji and Orihime moved off to the canopied table as Silvi left. He didn't like the idea of Orihime's baked goods being auctioned off, and possibly not to him. It hadn't seemed like too much of a chance a few days ago, but now, as his eyes narrowed on the large number of teenage boys and twenty-something men in the mass of people, he liked it even less. Some of these males she'd be going to school with, and all would get a good look at her during the judging.
He had a little more confidence in the fact that he'd taken out a large chunk of cash at the bank ATM before they got to the picnic, and a little more assured that, failing out-bidding any other interested parties, he could always pound them into disinterest.
As they moved through the crowd, however, some of those assurances were in question. There were a lot of teens and young males present, and some were rather large, wearing football jerseys.
Orihime looked up at him as Renji's hand clamped harder on her shoulder.
He saw her look and eased his fingers to a gentler hold on her skin. "Don't be smiling too much at the bidders," he said, only half joking.
She smiled, leaning a bit closer as they reached the canopied table. "I don't think anyone will know what my pie is. Maybe they won't have heard of mock sweet bean paste."
"Yeah, well, that's fine with me," he said into her ear, watching her smile more. He didn't say the bidding may have nothing to do with knowledge of sweet bean paste.
She turned her head as a plump woman in a yellow dress came up to them, and Renji got a face full of Orihime's auburn ponytail that smelled faintly of peaches.
"Bake sale?" the woman asked, giving Renji and his tattoos a long look.
Orihime nodded.
"Ooh, what did you bring?" a girl at the table asked. She was about Orihime's age, with a yellow tank top and blonde hair streaked with pink. She hopped up from her chair with the other older women. She gave Renji a wide smile and he recognized her from the newspaper photo.
Orihime knew who she was, too. "Hi. Yes, it's cookies."
"Oh, good. I'll take care of them," the girl said to the older woman, and then gave Orihime a lengthy look, as if sizing her up, and then sent Renji a sideways glance. "You're new here?"
He nodded.
When he didn't expound, she gave a flip of her hair, turning back to the table. "Welcome." She leaned over the table to find a few index cards and a pen among the baked goods and other filled out cards, giving them – Renji, actually – an opportunistic angle of the back of her white shorts as she did.
Orihime felt an odd sensation pass through her, something she hadn't felt in a long time, and this wave of selfishness was rare to her, a different feeling she wasn't quite used to.
The girl smiled, handing them the cards and pen. "I'm Charlotte Myers," she said, reaching for the plates in Renji's hand. "I'll take those."
Moments later they had dropped off the cookies, and both Renji and Orihime left the table and baked goods feeling uneasy; Orihime because Charlotte was prettier in person than in her black and white newspaper photo, and Renji for reasons he couldn't quite identify.
Orihime pushed the twinge of unease from her mind and focused instead on walking with Renji through the shifting crowd to the table set up for the auction pies.
Silvi was already there, Delmar with her, trying to sample the pie she had brought. She batted his hand away. "At least we don't have to worry about Charlotte this year," she said, nodding to the other table where the blonde and pink haired girl was checking in baked goods. "That should make bidding easier. I think the whole football team bid on her pie last year."
Orihime shot a glance to Charlotte. "She's popular?"
Silvi nodded. "Yeah, among the guys anyway."
Delmar grinned, giving Silvi a nudge.
Renji crossed his arms at his chest as Orihime moved down the table with Silvi where the other pies were already labeled and arranged with baskets and colorful gingham napkins. Window Mayes was behind the table, moving items around, grumbling with several other auxiliary members who were equal in age and temperament.
Renji waited until the girls had moved away, leaving him with Delmar at the end of the table, before speaking.
"How well do you know this Reese from Widow Mayes' place?" he asked.
Delmar frowned, shrugging. "He's okay. Used to drink a lot; Widow made him clean up. He does odd jobs around the Hollow. No trouble really. Widow keeps him in line." He glanced around, and then waited out a blare of the loudspeakers to continue. "Ya got trouble with him?"
"No; just curious."
Delmar nodded. "Yeah, well, I think I know what ya mean, man. I'm leaving for school and that puts Silvi on her own her senior year." He looked fondly to where she and Orihime were speaking with Mayes. "Never realized how many guys there were in her class."
Renji watched Orihime nod as she spoke to Mayes, giving the old woman half a bow. He didn't much like her starting school either, but it was in the works, so long as the paperwork from Soul Society came through. He couldn't hang around the school like last time in shinigami form; he was supposed to remain in gigai as much as possible.
"This auction," he said, moving to subject, "how does that work?"
Delmar grinned, watching Silvi speak to Mayes. "Like any auction, really; highest bidder gets the pie and to sit with the pie maker."
Renji nodded.
Several moments later Renji and Orihime were off to explore the park grounds. The sunny day was crowded with people and sounds, petting farm animals and carnival games, and music. Over the next few hours they sampled most of the food fare at the concession stands and local project goods, with Orihime adding to an ever increasing stash of homemade jams. At the Hit-the-Clown booth he won her a stuffed raccoon. She immediately cuddled it under one arm, beaming and blushing.
They also had a following. Renji noticed it, the few teen boys who followed at a distance, three of which wore red and white jerseys, another who looked a little older than high school.
"Is that Reese over there?" Orihime asked, breaking Renji's attention on the four guys slowly nearing in the crowded lanes of the park vendors and visitors.
He looked to where she pointed. It was Reese, standing on the other side of a concession, smoking.
Orihime's fingers closed over Renji's arm, leaning to him to be heard over the concert warming up on the stage.
He chuckled. "So much for breaking bad habits."
Half hidden at the back of two vendor trailers, Reese was nearly enveloped in a cloud of smoke.
"Shit, he's smoking two cigarettes," Renji said, cocking his head to one side to see the handyman better between the trailers. "He's got two in his mouth and he's lighting another one."
Orihime sighed, peeking at the nicotine-deprived handyman. "Poor guy."
Renji didn't think it was poor guy. They watched Reese inhale from the two cigarettes, fingers shaky as he tried to put the third between his lips.
"Come on," Renji said, taking Orihime's arm and turning her away. "Let's get ice cream before the auction."
She nodded eagerly, slinging her bag over her shoulder and anchoring the raccoon beneath.
He picked the bag strap off her shoulder and slid it from her arm. "Damn, how much jam did we get already?"
She giggled as he tested the weight of the bag. "You liked the apple and raspberry," she said, "and we both liked the blueberry." This time when he took her hand she had no hesitation in falling into the role they'd led others to believe in. "And the pumpkin and peach preserves. We can have it over ice cream at home, too; not just on bread and pancakes and fish."
Renji's thoughts screeched at her mention of jam laden fish. He glanced back to the teen boys following them, who were either not doing a very good job of hiding their presence or did not care that he knew they were there. Renji decided he'd make them care the first chance he got, especially with school beginning the next week.
Further conversation was drowned out in the burgeoning sounds of the Georgia Satellites singing their signature song about being too handsy, which put a bit of a damper on some of the thoughts running through Renji's mind.
Not that he'd take any advantage of his – their – circumstances about the living arrangements at the house he and Orihime shared.
He didn't know whether Orihime thought much about the lyrics to the song blasting from every speaker in the park, but her fingers did tighten in his, a bit of pink touching brighter over her cheeks. It was hard to ignore with a reminder of keeping one's hands to one's self was being driven into their heads in song, even in English.
They found a stand selling ice cream and got double scoop cones, which helped extinguish part of the flaming feeling that made Renji more conspicuous than usual in the Living World. By the time they were almost done eating, the song had turned from abstinence to Battleship Chains, and some of the crowd had parted before the stage area to partner up for impromptu dancing.
"I think the pineapple was better than the banana," Orihime said, finishing her ice cream cone as Renji glared at the teen boys still hanging around the hot pretzel stand nearby.
He nodded, crunching through the last of his cone. "Are you ready for the pie auction?" He glanced to the group of older women slowly making their way to the side of the stage. "It'll be starting soon."
She nodded. She was going to speak, but her gaze shifted to where Charlotte had sidled up to the teen boys at the pretzel stand. The blonde girl offered them a plate of something Orihime couldn't distinguish, and with big smiles the boys helped themselves to the plate. A sudden pressure came to Orihime's chest, and she rubbed her fingers there, trying to press against the welling ache.
"Are you all right, Orihime?" Renji moved to block her view of the guys. This time he didn't pretend not to watch her hand at her violet shirt. "Something bothering you?"
Her hand dropped and she coughed a little. "No." She cleared her throat and looked to him. She let her fingers go back as the pressure stubbornly remained. "Just a little, Renji."
He nodded. "You want to go home?" He pulled her nearer, partly to be heard over the music and partly to hide her from any prying eyes. "We don't have to stay if you don't feel like it."
She smiled at his words, his low tone warm on her cheek as he bent to her ear. Whether it was that or something else, she felt the constriction in her chest ease away. "It's okay, Renji," she said, letting her fingers rest at the belt loop of his jeans. "It was just a little twinge, that's all."
He nodded, gaze going from her eyes to her lips as she spoke. "Okay."
It was another half hour, four pieces of pizza, several wads of cotton candy, and a six-pack of donuts later that the concert was over and the stage was cleared of the band and set up for the pie auction. During that time Renji and Orihime had run across Silvi and Delmar a couple times and spent a few minutes at the Pal'O'Mine Stables temporary paddock to watch the injury-challenged riders make their rounds.
Renji left Orihime in line with the other teen girls at the stage where the contestants were awaiting the pie auction. They weren't the only ones waiting.
He waited out the announcements made onstage by Mayes about the time and effort and love that the girls had put into their baked goods, barely hearing her as he watched Orihime stand in the line of contestants. There were fourteen entries with Orihime and Silvi, most in high school.
Renji also noticed that most of the crowd was men, ranging from mid-teen to late twenties, and all had their hands stuck deep in their pockets, postures slightly hunched as if expecting to launch to the stage. An old man was standing at the stage, introducing himself, but Renji missed hearing who he was.
The man pushed his baseball cap back, giving the crowd an aged smile, and pulled the microphone stand closer to him as he gestured a hand to his side at the line of girls holding pie plates or hampers, all smiling.
"Get the bidding goin'!" a man to Renji's side hollered. "Come on, Will! We got pie to eat!"
A cheer roared through the gathered crowd, a deep sound from mostly males.
Renji gritted his teeth, realizing too late the magnitude of the pie event.
On the stage, Will consulted a clipboard in his hand. "First up is Ellie with her walnut praline honey pie!"
A round of whooping went through the crowd.
"What the hell is praline?" Renji muttered beneath his breath, eyes still on Orihime holding her pie on stage.
"Forty!" someone called.
"Forty gets us going," Will said with a smile, pointing to someone in the crowd. "Anyone for forty-five?"
Renji couldn't see who had bid; the crowd was thick and the day getting hotter.
"Forty-five!"
"Forty-five. Do I hear fifty?"
Renji looked back to the stage.
"Fifty-five!" came a man's call.
Orihime smiled at Renji as the bidding continued, wiggling a few fingers in greeting beneath the pie dish. He grinned and waved back.
"Seventy dollars to the man with the red hair!" Will cried.
Renji slowly lowered his hand, looking to where Will onstage was looking back at him. Pointing.
"No," Renji said.
Will was already looking out over the crowd. "Anyone care to top seventy for Miss Ellie's walnut praline honey pie?"
Renji realized his mistake. His attention snapped to Orihime. She looked back at him with clear disappointment and near disbelief. She glanced slowly to Ellie, and then back to Renji.
He shook his head, but it didn't undo the bid.
Onstage, Will was smiling at him, still searching the crowd.
"Seventy-five!" a man from the crowd called out.
Renji sighed, relieved but still aware of the meek look on Orihime's face. Her arms had settled lower, the pie in her hands tipping.
"Don't drop it," he mumbled, pushing his way a few people closer to the stage. He shook his head again at her, and she smiled a little.
"Seventy-five...Seventy-five? Seventy-five once..."
A moment later Will pronounced the pie bought for $75. The next pie and girl were presented and Renji made certain he didn't make any movements that could be mistaken for an interested bid. Silvi was up next and Delmar won it within three bids. Two pies later it was Orihime's turn, and Renji was ready to rush the stage, if need be.
Another figure made her way up to where Renji stood.
"Oh, I see you like walnut and honey," Charlotte said sweetly, pushing her way through the boys and men to where Renji stood. She carried a large platter of assorted baked goods.
He gave her a quick glimpse, watching Orihime step up to Will at the microphone. "Not really."
"No?" Charlotte held the platter closer to him. "Hmm, well, I've got peanut-butter cookies, too."
He shook his head, eyes still on Orihime speaking lowly to Will.
"Chocolate?" Charlotte asked. "I have double chocolate brownies."
"Nope." He watched Will grab the microphone stand and begin to speak.
"Miss Orihime, a new entry this year," Will was saying, "has brought a mock sweet bean paste pie!"
Renji had expected an uncomfortable silence of confusion, but instead a bellow of hoots and loud, appreciative whistles came from the crowd. He looked out over the bidders. Every man and male youth was grinning, waving, money in their tight fists as a chant of "O-ri-hi-me!" began.
"What the hell..." he said before thinking.
"Orihime!" the chant rose. "Orihime!"
Renji looked back to the stage. Orihime was wide-eyed in surprise, her pie clutched closer to her violet shirt, a nervous frozen smile on her lips.
"Seventy bucks!" a man yelled.
The chanting subsided.
"Seventy-five!" cried another.
Renji sent a glance over the crowd, unable to locate either bidder.
"Eighty!"
He looked to the stage. Will was pointing in two directions at the bidders.
Renji's arm shot up. "One hundred!"
Will pointed to him, and then in another direction as someone yelled "One-ten!"
Renji put his hand up and kept it there.
Charlotte smiled at him, taking a spot at his side, letting one hip lean to his. "You better get a cookie while you can," she said with a light giggle. "They're going fast. Dozens already." She held the plate closer to him. "How about molasses and raisin?"
He shook his head, not understanding her persistence. He stepped away so she wasn't touching him. "You're wasting your time. I don't want any."
"Sure you do." She took a step closer, this time without making contact. "Everyone likes cookies. Lots of the guys already had three or four."
He waved his hand so Will looked his way. "One hundred-fifty!" Renji expected that to cut the bidding.
Instead, someone called out, "One-sixty!"
"One-seventy-five!" Renji glanced to the other side of the crowd as a few people moved.
The other bidder looked to him. It was the tallest of the four teens who'd been following them, from the pretzel stand. The dark-haired teen was still with his jersey-clad friends, and they were all nearly huddled, pooling their money between them.
"Dammit," Renji growled, dodging Charlotte as she stepped closer.
"Try this one," she said, holding a cookie out to him. "It's made with love."
He glanced at her sharply, glimpsing the cookie she held in her palm. One finger was wrapped with a pink adhesive bandage. "Find someone else."
She sighed. "But these are –"
"I don't want any," he said, looking back to the stage, seeing Orihime watching them. "Beat it, Charlotte."
"Two-hundred!"
Charlotte smiled at him, and this time there was something conspiratorial in her manner. "You can't beat them, Renji."
He glanced to the tall youth with his friends in the crowd. He didn't look back at her, instead waving his arm to Will. "Two-twenty-five!"
On stage, Orihime had watched the small group of teen boys bidding against Renji, but it was the blonde girl with the pink highlights that worried her most. She wasn't sure what Charlotte was doing, but she did not like it. She could tell by Renji's posture he was trying to elude whatever conversation the blonde girl was making.
"Pretty and nice," Silvi had told her in line as they readied for the auction a few moments ago. "That's what Charlotte Myers has going for her. If she was just pretty but not nice, okay; but pretty and nice? None of us other girls here have a chance against that."
And Renji had bid for the first pie. Orihime didn't understand that. Maybe he's really hungry, she had thought in consolation at first, but as the auction continued, she realized it was a mistake.
"Two-forty?" Will was asking as a bid of $235 came in.
Orihime smiled hopefully at Renji.
He waved his hand.
"Two-forty!" Will called.
For a moment there was silence among the bidders and onlookers. The collection of teen boys had re-huddled, counting their money, shaking their heads.
Will gave Orihime a smile. "Anyone?" he called.
Renji looked out over the crowd, daring anyone to bid again, ignoring Charlotte still beside him.
"Sold!" Will sang out. "Sold to the red-haired fella for two-forty!"
Renji started through the crowd of people, hearing Charlotte say something, but not pausing to listen. By the time he got to the front of the stage the crowd was murmuring about the amount for the pie, some chuckling, others making other comments about the curvy girl holding the mock bean paste pie onstage.
Renji climbed onto the platform where Will and Orihime were still standing with the other contestants awaiting to take their turn. He looked from Orihime to Will.
"Uh, you gotta pay the ladies at the table, fella," Will said as Renji reached into his pocket for his wallet. "You bought yourself one costly dessert."
Renji's scowl turned into a grin at Orihime's smile. "It's worth it. Come on, Orihime."
Will put a hand over the microphone, voice lowering. "Y'know, it's likely a new record for the auction, as well as the winner, so you folks will have to come back for a spell."
Renji nodded and took Orihime's arm and ushered her down the short stairs from the stage.
"I'm sorry it cost so much," she said as they went to the table. "I didn't think it would, Renji."
"Don't worry about it." He kissed her cheek lightly as they stopped at the grass skirted table where Mayes was chuckling with the other older women. "That was some popular pie, Orihime. Good thing you didn't smile at those idiots."
She giggled, looking to Mayes.
The widow pushed an index card to Renji. "Long way to go for a homemade pie, young man."
He nodded.
Moments later Renji and Orihime were heading back into the thick of the crowd, the pie in her arms, and with sounds of the next auctioned pie blaring over the loudspeakers. She sighed, content that he'd bought the pie, but still with a nagging feeling at the edge of her nerves.
"Can we just go home, Renji?" she asked after a moment of maneuvering through the crowd.
His attention immediately went to her chest. "Are you feeling bad?"
"No," she said, a little embarrassed at his attention, lifting the pie higher before her. "But I've had enough outdoors for now. If you have, I mean, if you don't mind. We can stay, if –"
"I'm ready to go," he said, letting his arm snug around her shoulders and steer her toward the park side where the cars were parked. "We'll pick up some dinner and go home."
She smiled, watching him grin wider.
They found a bucket of fried chicken and filled dumplings and eggrolls from a couple vendors on their way out of the park and headed to the truck in the lot, waving a goodbye to where Silvi and Delmar were eating at one of the picnic tables under the elm trees. Sounds of the auction continued, but none of the prices matched what Renji had paid.
They crossed the cable and post barriers roping off the parking lot and found the truck. Renji stowed their dinner and purchases in the cab as Orihime waited, still holding the pie at the open passenger door.
"Hey!" a male voice called out across the lot.
Renji and Orihime turned to see the tallest teen of the youths from the competitive bidders at the auction. He was the dark-haired teen, with a lanky build beneath his red and white jersey. He glanced from Orihime to Renji, crossing the lot quickly.
"I figure I bid enough for a consolation piece of that pie, sweetheart," he said, a threatening grin on his face at her. He held up a buck knife in one hand. "I'll take that now."
Renji kept his eyes on the teen, one hand going to Orihime's shoulder. "Get in the truck and keep the doors locked."
She nodded, wordlessly climbing into the truck. Renji shut the door, hearing her roll up the windows and lock the door as he turned to the teen.
"Leave her alone," he said. "Get lost."
The teen shook his head, looking to the truck.
Orihime had set the pie on the seat and was now looking through the rear window at them.
A near rabid grin spread his face. "Step aside, import. You can take her home when I'm done!"
Renji met him a few cars away where the vehicles were sparsely parked. "I said leave her alone," he warned, watching the knife in the teen's hand.
Without another word, the boy lunged at him with a quick slash. The knife edge slit Renji's t-shirt, missing his abdomen. Renji cuffed the teen under the chin, a jolting motion that snapped his head back. The knife flashed again, this time cutting through Renji's sleeve and barely grazing his shoulder.
Renji sent a low kick to the teen's stomach and he dropped the knife, which slid under a car.
The teen remained hunkered over, watching Renji, and then spit a mouthful of blood against a car tire.
"Walk away," Renji told him. "You so much as speak to her at school and I'll personally take you to hell," he promised, grinning as the teen straightened. "And I know how to get to hell, shithead."
The teen backed up a few feet. "You think so?" He laughed, a chilling sound in the late afternoon that seemed a contrast to the merry sounds of music and the auction coming from the park. He grabbed one of the wooden posts in a cement bucket, easily snapping it off with a kick to the base. He pulled it free of the wire cable and brandished the wood at Renji, a new vigor seeming to overtake him.
Renji's eyes narrowed on him, something about the teen and his uncanny strength out of place. Behind him he heard the truck door open. "Stay there, Orihime!"
The teen brought the post across, missing Renji as the shinigami stepped back, and followed through with a backhand swipe that caught Renji on the ribs. Renji stifled a gasp and sent a hard kick to his chest.
Instead of going down, the teen coughed and stepped back, his hand tightening around the post.
Renji grabbed the loose cable at the other post and ripped it free of the metal ring. He wound the end around his hand, watching the teen circle to his side. "All this for a piece of pie?"
The teen laughed, throwing back his head as a fiery glint came to his eye. "Why, yes, import. This and more!"
He swung the post, cursing as Renji evaded, and rebounded with another quick blow.
Renji reeled back the cable and let it hurl toward the teen, catching him at one hip. The boy howled in pain as his jeans ripped, replying with a crash of the post that tore off a side-view mirror of the nearest car. Renji let the cable snake out whip-like, hitting the teen at his knees and cutting his feet out from beneath him.
The teen went down in a heap on the pavement, head bouncing off the painted white lines.
Renji stepped to one side, waiting for him to rise, but the teen stayed down. Renji pulled the length of cable closer, alert for any sign of life, but the teen didn't move. From his temple, a small trickle of blood oozed onto the pavement.
"Dammit," Renji muttered, nearing the boy. He paused, kneeling to see the damage at the teen's dark hair.
"Renji?"
He looked over to see Orihime standing at the back of the truck, minus the pie.
"He's all right," he called back, hoping it was true. He pushed the teen's head to the side. "Stay there."
"I will."
The blood was no more than a scrape on the boy's temple, not serious, but hopefully a reminder. Renji put a finger to the teen's neck, relieved yet still irritated there was a pulse.
He stood and looked to the fence post near the teen's relaxed hand. It was a four-by-four, not something easily snapped by a full-grown man, no less a teenage boy.
He coiled the cable into several loops as he started across the parking lot to Orihime still at the truck. His ribs were beginning to ache, the tight swelling there starting to burn.
"Are you okay, Renji?" She put a hand to his chest, then his shoulder where the slit had opened, showing a bit of red below. "Oh! He cut you?"
"What the hell is wrong with the guys here?" He tossed the cable into the truck bed and opened her door. "Let's go home, Orihime."
"Hai, uh, yes." She climbed in, pausing to move the pie a bit more and rearrange some of their dinner take-out containers that had shifted during her movements in the truck from earlier.
Despite his injuries, Renji found himself grinning at the denim backside of Orihime as she hovered over the seat, moving food items.
An arc of pain at his side made his grin subside. "Damn sore loser," he said as she settled at the seat. This time, he noticed, she was in the middle and the dinner and pie were at the door side. He grinned again. "If you have any trouble with that guy at school, or anyone else, you tell me, Orihime."
She nodded, smiling as he shut the door.
Renji got in the driver's side, grunting from his injuries as he sat behind the steering wheel and started the engine. He looked down at her, liking that her timidity was disappearing. "Do you know him?"
"Silvi said his name is Dan, but she was just naming off some of the people we'd see at school." She looked to the slit in his shirt on the sleeve nearest her, some of the smile fading from her lips. "I'm sorry you got hurt, Renji."
"Don't worry about it."
She leaned up and kissed his cheek, blushing less than at other times.
Renji liked the scent of peaches hanging around her as she moved. He backed the truck out of the parking space and they left the lot.
Minutes after they were gone, Charlotte Myers' shadow fell across the fallen form of Dan on the pavement. She gave him a disinterested look, rubbing her fingers together where she'd cut herself during baking cookies the day before. Her eyes went to the broken post.
She kicked Dan's shoe. "Get up."