Ooookay!! Hello, my lovely readers!! I just wanna thank everyone who read, reviewed, and added me to their faves and story alerts lists; THANKYOU!!!
I'm spread pretty thin at the moment, between school, Fanfictioning, and all the other stuff a normal teenager has to deal with, so sorry if it took me a while to update.
I only just realized that I had neglected to do the disclaimer last time. Oops!
Disclaimer: this fic, yes…..Bleach, no.
On to the story!
The day was already gone and Rukia was beyond tired. After her meeting with Ichigo and Megumi, she felt physically and emotionally drained. But another thing she felt was better; Rukia felt better…about her situation with Ichigo, about herself, and about her future.
The Urahara Store was completely dark when she got there; not a spark of light could be found in the place. Entering the Urahara store quietly, Rukia restocked the fridge before taking her leave; she didn't want anyone to see her tear-stained face and puffy eyes. She also didn't want Renji to get up; he needed his rest.
But she nearly jumped out of her skin when a hand rested upon her shoulder.
Renji chuckled at how, even after all these years, he could still scare Rukia by hiding his reiatsu and sneaking up on her.
Spinning around, Rukia almost slapped Renji out of reflex, but remembering his condition, opted to frowning and shaking her head.
"I couldn't even sense you Renji. It was like you weren't even there" she said, confused. Before, she could kind of sense him near her, but this was different. She also hoped her comment would bring their conversation away from herself.
"Gotcha." he murmured, flicking on the lights.
Rukia turned her back on him, hoping he wouldn't see her face. "Whatever." She muttered, childishly.
"You heading home?" he asked, sitting on the kitchen bench.
"Uh-huh." She said curtly, still not letting him see her face.
He was silent for a moment before speaking, "Rukia….uh……I need to thank you. I kinda have the feeling—wait, now, I know that you helped me get through my whole coma-thing." Renji said, leaning his head a little to try and get a look at Rukia's face.
"Oh, don't worry about it Renji. I have the feeling that you would have done the same for me." Rukia said.
"Yeah, I would have….a hundred times over." Renji said, Rukia knowing he meant it.
Rukia needed to get out of the store, because at that moment, Renji had slid off the table and was heading her way. There was no way that she wanted Renji to see her the way she was, even if everything was okay now. she knew how he would react; he would react angrily.
"Renji, I have to go….its so late. I guess I'll see you later, then." Rukia said, gliding out of the store.
Of course, Renji was beside her in seconds, causing Rukia to stop. "Renji! What are you doing?! You're not meant to be working yourself too hard!"
He heaved a deep sigh, rolling his eyes. "Rukia, I'm not a human, okay? We heal faster than they do…we heal way faster than they do."
The smaller, woman crossed her arms over her chest.
"I'm walking you home; it's getting late." Renji said, already walking ahead of Rukia.
He had known Rukia longer than any other human, or shinigami; he had known her longer than her own adopted family.
Right now, Rukia was hiding something…..something big or important enough for her to attempt to hide it from him.
Renji knew a few minutes of his 'tactics' and Rukia would spill the beans. He would begin by asking her if she was hiding anything, making her feel guilty, then he would act all hurt and mad because she wasn't telling him. As crazy as it sounds, this had worked in the past; she felt guilty and told him whatever it was that she had attempted to hide form him. But then again…that was when they were kids.
The apartment was only a short walk away from the Store so it didn't take long before the pair found themselves in Rukia's apartment.
Keeping her head down Rukia sighed; she needed to get Renji out. "Bye, Renji!" she said, waving, but stopped when she realised how rude she sounded.
He knew what she was doing; she was trying to get rid of him. He would begin his 'tactics' on her. "You got something on your mind, Rukia? Something you wanna tell me?"
She looked up at him a fraction. "Wha—why?...Why would I have something on my mind?" she asked all too innocently. Renji was well on his way to finding out about her encounter with Ichigo and she knew it.
Now that Rukia was looking up at him for the first time that evening, Renji saw her puffy eyes and stained cheeks. He clenched his jaw tight, reaching out to Rukia. Placing his hand under her chin, he made her look at him, gently pulling her closer to himself.
"Why….what happened Rukia? If it had anything to do with….him…" he sighed, and then spoke through his teeth. "I'm going to kill him."
"No, Renji! It's okay now—"
"Really? Is that why you cried?" he asked, not even close to being convinced.
"Yes, Renj. I ended it for good with him; no more contact with him or anything like that." Rukia said with a small smile. "Cold turkey." She whispered.
He looked at her for another minute, and then frowned. "I don't like the way you keep letting him hurt you, Rukia."
"He won't hurt me anymore, Renji. I won't let him….and I feel great!" she said with a smile.
"Really? You feel…better?"
She smiled at him, taking his hand from her chin and squeezing it gently with both of hers. "Better than I have for a long time."
He nodded at her, taking both her small hands in his larger ones. "I'm glad."
The two stood there silently, just looking into each other's eyes and all too soon, Renji cleared his throat and released Rukia's hands.
"I better be getting back. Urahara wanted to run some tests on me, early tomorrow. He thinks I should be back to normal in a week or so." Renji said, opening the door to leave.
Rukia nodded, but before Renji could disappear behind the door, she called out his name, making him stop and look at her questioningly.
"Thanks….for helping me through it." she said, mumbling the last bit.
"…a hundred times over, Rukia." He grinned, "See ya."
"Yeah." She said, barely a whisper.
"Get up, you stupid freeloader-san! Jeez, people would think you were dead with the way you sleep." The red haired boy yelled.
Renji groaned, but rolled out of bed. "What did you say, runt?"
"You have a problem with people that are smaller than you?....last time I checked, you seemed to love them….especially Rukia-san." Jinta said smugly.
The next thing the kid knew, he was on the ground with the pillow (that had been thrown at him) lying comfortably on his belly.
"That hurt, you dick-head!"
"Good."
"Damn, freeloader" the much smaller red head grumbled.
"And proud of it." Renji muttered with a grin.
Jinta growled at the disappearing form of Renji who could be seen grinning the whole time.
As Renji went to the underground basement, he could see that Urahara had a bunch of machines set up, ready to run tests on him.
"Ahhh, Abarai-san. I hope you woke up alright." Urahara said from behind his opened fan.
"Did you have to send the brat?!" Renji grumbled.
"It was the only way to get you up in a hurry. He angers you quite quickly, so I figured…" he let that statement hang in the air.
Renji rolled his eyes. "What do you need me to do?"
Urahara used his fan to point at what looked like a hospital operating table, the same one Renji had woken up from his coma on. "Just lie on that and I'll begin my testing."
Renji hopped up onto the table and lay down on his back. He shut his eyes, feeling Urahara connect different wires to his chest and head.
A few moments later and he heard Urahara sigh; Renji's eyes snapped open, landing on Urahra who stood a few feet away, looking at the stats a machine spat out at him.
"What?" Renji asked.
Urahara dropped the paper, snapping his fan open and brought it up to his face in one swift movement. "Its seems….."
Renji nearly growled at the man for dragging the explanation on for a long time.
"….everything's fine."
The red head blinked a few times before the news registered. "Really?"
"Yep. Its seems that you're a-okay." He said with an exaggerated thumbs up. "It also seems, however, that your reiatsu has been completely zapped. But it's nothing to worry about. Give it a few months and you should be back to your old lieutenant level."
Renji's eyes widened as he sat up hurriedly. "You mean I'm powerless? How bad is it??"
The hand holding the fan in front of his face dropped, revealing Urahara's solemn expression. At the moment, I'm guessing you are the level you were before you enrolled in the Shinigami Acadamy."
Renji jumped off the table, dragging all the wires with him. "WHAT?!? What the hell do you think my Captain is going to do when he finds out?! He'll remove me as his lieutenant…..he'll remove me from his division! Shit!"
"Now, now, Abarai-san—"
"'Now, now,' my ass! This is bad." He heaved a deep sigh, composing himself. "I'm no stronger than a first year….I'm probably even weaker." he shook his head, and then looked at Urahara. "How long did you say?"
"A few months at least." He replied, curtly.
Renji suppressed a groan. "Is there anything you can do?....anything I can do?"
Urahara thought for another moment, and then brought the fan back to his face. "Ask Zambimaru; he is an extension of your soul; of your power; of you. Make a pact with him of some sort….but nothing you can't handle."
Renji raised an eyebrow. "How do you know this will work?"
Urahara smirked behind his fan. "I don't. But Benihime and I have a lifelong contract other than the one every other shinigami has with their zanpaktou. If I want to release her, she has to have some of my blood….literally."
Renji thought about that for another moment, contemplating what his Baboon King zanpaktou would want from him. "Okay, Urahara, I'll see how that works out for me."
Renji turned to all the machines that Urahara had set up, then to the wires still connected to various parts of his upper body. "Do you need anything else?"
"No, no, you can go now Abarai-san." Urahara said, ripping off the wires from Renji.
Renji frowned. "This pact; how would I go about asking Zambimaru?"
Urahara smiled his usual, annoying smile. "That….is up to you." With that the man turned his back on Renji and began packing up his machines.
Renji, taking this as his cue to leave, went back up to the Store. He needed to find somewhere quiet where he could talk to Zambimaru.
Opting to go on the roof, he walked past Jinta and Ururu on his way out. "Don't disturb me; this is important."
The two silently watched him go out to the front of the store and then jump onto the roof.
Ururu looked at Jinta. "You heard Abarai-san."
"I'm not deaf, Ururu!" Jinta shouted back at her, grabbing one of her pony tails and yanking it really hard.
She flailed her arms around but didn't wail; she didn't want to disturb Renji.
***
Renji shook his head; Jinta was such a brat!
He sat cross-legged on the roof and closed his eyes, slowing his breathing and heart rate. He would feel Zambimaru's presence before he would see him.
"Renji." He called out.
Renji's eyes snapped open. "Zambimaru, we need to talk."
Wow. This is not how I envisioned this chapter to be. I think this is not one of my best chapters. I had to rush through this chapter, so sorry if there are mistakes or stuff like that.
I found Rukia and Renji's little conversation a little awkward. I'll work on that next time. And is it just me or is it time for me to get things going with Rukia and Renji? Let's cut the crap, already! I'll start moving things along a lot quicker now.
Please review?? Good, Bad and anything else you wanna say!
~Sewa-san~