Hello, hello, hello! I know, I know, its been waaaaaaaaaay tooo long! I'm sorry to you all for making you wait this long :/

my computer was playing up and no one wanted to help me. to make it worse, its assessment week :d

anyways, i think you've waited long enough...on to the story!

Zambimaru looked at the redhead. "Months, you say?"

"Yeah, and only a first year." Renji grumbled.

The Baboon-serpent looked at his wielder. "What you ask, I can do….But as you already know: I will ask for something in return."

Renji frowned deeply. "I don't know of anything I can give you. Is there anything in particular that you want from me?"

Zambimaru thought for a moment, then shook his head. "I will give you a week to think about something you can give me, but if that proves to be too hard, I will tell you what I want."

Renji nodded slowly. "But what if I think of something, and you don't like it?"

"I won't be disappointed…what you give will be accepted, but what I ask may not be given….can you cope with that?" Zambimaru asked, stepping closer to Renji.

A look of determination coming across his face, Renji looked at the fading form of Zambimaru. "I'll think of something."

"And I will await it…" Zambimaru said, his voice fading away, as his body disappeared completely.

Renji thought for a moment longer. This would prove harder than he originally thought. It was then that he became aware of the approaching reiatsu of Rukia.

Jumping off the roof, he walked towards her with a grin on his face. "What's up, Rukia?"

"Nothing much. Just came to see what Urahara had to say about your condition." She paused, waiting for him to say something, but when he didn't, she raised an eyebrow. "Well….what did he say?"

Renji's grin disappeared, a sombre look adorning his features. "It's…not good, Rukia. I think we should go inside."

Rukia looked alarmingly at him. "Cut the crap, Renji. Just tell me what's wrong."

He sighed, knowing that she wouldn't yield. "I'm weak."

She waited for him to elaborate, but was annoyed when he once again failed to do so. "Okaaaay, but that's normal during recovery. You'll be fine soon—"

"No, Rukia. Not weak like that. Urahara said that I'm no stronger than a first year…and I'll be like this for months at least." His face was downcast but his eyes stayed on her.

Her face melted into one of concern; she did nothing but nod. "A first year? Is there anything that can be done?"

Renji nodded. "Urahara has done all that he can, but he said that if I make a deal with Zambimaru, I might be able to get my power back to normal."

"Have you made the deal?" she asked, her features unreadable.

He shook his head. "Still working on that."

She nodded, her eyebrows furrowing, then she looked up at him suddenly. "Have you told nii-sama?"

Renji cleared his throat. "No….I don't want to tell him unless I know for sure that I can't be fixed."

Rukia shook her head. "You aren't some thing that has to be fixed, Renji. You're someone who needs to be helped."

"Ahhh, Rukia-san! So lovely to see you so early in the morning." Urahara said loudly—ignoring the fact that it was already eleven—as he came out of the shop.

She silently nodded in greeting, but looked up at Renji's tall form as he began to talk. "Talked to Zambimaru, but its just like you said."

There was a familiar click noise as Urahara snapped open his fan and brought up to conceal most of his face. "Have you made a decision yet?"

Rukia noted Renji's worried look. "No….but I have a week to decide."

"I must urge you on two things; those things being that you make your decision with haste…and that you make the right one." With that, Urahara brushed past the two, away from the Store.

Renji turned to Rukia, knowing she want answers on the exchange between himself and Urahara. He was not surprised to find her with a look of expectancy and curiosity on her face.

"I want some food. What about you?" he said, scratching the back of his head.

She rolled her eyes, sighing heavily. "I want some answers."

He shook his head in mock annoyance. "That doesn't help me and my hunger, Rukia."

She sighed again, exasperated. "How about this: I give you food; you give me answers."

Liking this arrangement, Renji smiled. "Deal…..where do you wanna go?"

"Where else?" She muttered, walking away from the Store with Renji following close behind.

Now in Rukia's apartment and Renji fed, Rukia awaited Renji to uphold his end of the bargain. He watched her watching him for a while before he leaned back into the couch and sighed.

"What do you wanna know?" he asked, as if it weren't obvious.

She crossed her arms over her chest, looking at him closely. "What were you and Urahara talking about?"

Renji thought silently for a minute, thinking of a way to put it. "Like I told you before, I'm at the level of a first year. Urahara said that if I made a deal with Zambimaru like what he has with Benihime, I might be able to get some of my powers back with Zambimaru's help. So I asked Zambimaru and he said he could do it, but he wants something in return. He gave me a week to think about what I'm willing to give him, but if I can't think of anything by then, he'll tell me what he wants."

Rukia frowned. "This could be dangerous, Renji. You don't know what he may want. There's no telling what could happen—"

"There are a lot of things that could happen to me—I mean, to my reiatsu. I've already thought about those things. I mean, I could hurt myself and maybe even others,—and it may sound rather corny, but—if there's a will, there's a way. "

The raven haired woman looked him through troubled eyes. "I don't wanna be the pessimist, but I just have this nagging feeling that someone is going to get hurt…..badly."

He grinned, gently punching her on the shoulder. "You have nothing to worry about. I'll be fine."

"No one said I was worrying about you." She said crossing her arms across her chest.

"No one said it…..I just know." He said confidently.

"Whatever." She huffed, annoyed that he was right. "It's just a risky operation. People—you could get hurt."

He sighed. "I told you before: you have nothing to worry about."

She nodded, but was still unbelieving. "I won't tell nii-sama, if that's what you want."

"Uh, yeah, that would be nice." He said with a slight grimace. "I don't wanna be kicked off sixth just because of something that may be able to be fixed."

Rukia's eyes widened. "He wouldn't do that…I think….I hope…...yeah, he actually might."

"Whatever, let's talk about other things…like you." He said, lazily draping his arm around her small shoulders. "How've things been?"

She snorted, trying to ignore the warmth that the contact created. "Boring….I don't know what to do with myself anymore. I'm thinking of asking Ukitake taicho to let me be assigned back to Soul Society; I have no business being here."

"That'd be really shitty. I'm not going home til I get my powers back." he said, leaning his head back, looking up at the ceiling.

"Yeah, that would be really shitty." She murmured, watching him close his eyes.

He nodded lazily. "I'd be kinda lonely too."

"You'd have the Urahara gang…..especially Jinta." She added with a smile.

Renji didn't say anything for a while. "How can you….Jinta is just a little bratty piece of crap."

"That's a little harsh, Renji. I'd swear the kid likes you." Rukia said thoughtfully. "And I think you have a soft spot for him too. Did you notice how you said 'bratty piece of crap' and not 'bratty piece of shit'?"

The redhead looked at Rukia through his eyelashes. "The only thing that kid likes is being annoying."

"You're not denying it the fact that you care about him?" She asked, amused.

"I'm not acknowledging it." He said, closing his eyes again. "I'd be bored either way"

"And we wouldn't want that, huh?" she said more to herself than to him.

He peeked at her again. "No, we wouldn't…..it would be nice to have some company that I actually enjoy."

She leaned back into his arm. "I wonder who that company could be…" she mused aloud.

"Yeah, same." He muttered sarcastically.

"Maybe….if you wanted….I could be that company." She suggested, cringing at the thought of him rejecting her.

"No shit, Rukia. Of course I want you to be that company." He said lightly shaking his head. "Why do sound like you're scared I might reject that idea?"

Her eyes widened; Renji knew her too well. "Um…because you might reject that idea."

"I wouldn't do that, Rukia….well, not to you, anyways." He added with a grin.

She let a small smile form on her lips. "I know."

There was a short moment of comfortable silence between them. Then Rukia cleared her throat. "Ummm, Renji?"

"Yeah?"

"Now that I'm staying, what should we do first?" she said nervously.

He opened his eyes slightly. "I don't know, what do you wanna do?"

"Well, we should think about things that you could give Zambimaru….and then we can go to this place." she said, mumbling the last bit.

He raised an eyebrow. "What place?"

"It's just this place I know. It has the best sushi in all of Karakura. Orihime showed it to me some time ago and—"

"Okay."

"Wha—really?" she asked, slightly annoyed that he cut her off.

He shrugged. "Yeah, best sushi in Karakura, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I'll be the judge of that." He said using his free hand to point to himself.

She raised an eyebrow. "You say that like your opinion will change my mind…or like it matters."

"It will, and it does." He said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "My opinion always matters."

"Uh-huh. Yeahhhh right." she said rolling her eyes. "Well, I think it's the best sushi."

"We'll see." Renji smirked.

"Shut up! Jeez, your so annoying, Renji!"

He grinned. "Nawww, if I wasn't so annoying, you wouldn't like me."

"Hah! If you weren't so annoying, I would love you even more!" she said, only belatedly realizing her error.

Renji sobered up, watching Rukia's face, ears and neck turn tomato red. Rukia looked as shocked as he felt. "U-uh, Renji, I-I….Didn't mean—what I meant—like….I meant to say like."

"Ok." he muttered. Renji sat silently, his thoughts racing.

"Renji. I—"

Rukia's voice was drowned out as a loud ringing bellowed throughout the apartment.

"Crap." She muttered. "That's Ukitake taicho calling."

She stood up off the couch and looked towards the 'spare room' where the ringing originated. Renji stood up, not knowing what else to do. "I should, uh, get that." She murmured.

"Yeah." He said. "Umm, how 'bout I pick you up at seven and you show me where this sushi place is."

She silently nodded, watching him go to the door. "See ya then!"

"Yeah. Say hi to your captain for me." he said over his shoulder.

"Uh-huh."

"Seven o'clock. Don't forget." He said before closing the door.

Rukia went to the spare room, cussing herself for making the afternoon so awkward. She found herself in front of the large screen. Pressing the button that flashed in time to the ringing, she answered the call.

"Hello?" she said into the screen.

"Ahhhh, Rukia-san."

It was seven o'clock on the dot and Renji was standing outside Rukia's apartment door. He had spent their time apart just thinking. Could it be that she really did have feelings for him? He argued that she was still hurting from her break up with the Strawberry…but then again, she had told him that it was over for good.

He knocked on the door and only a few seconds later Rukia answered the door with a small smile. "Wow, Renji, you're early."

He blinked. "What do you mean? It only just turned seven."

"Exactly. When was the last time you were on time for anything?" she asked, her smile widening.

"Haha," he laughed sarcastically. "Now show me where this place is. I'm hungry already."

She rolled her eyes as she locked the door. "Surprisingly, it's only around the corner from here."

"Cool." he said, walking behind her as she stared walking. "You look nice, by the way."

He thought he could see her smile slightly. "Uh, thanks, Renji. You don't look to bad yourself. I don't think I've ever seen you this close to being 'dressed up'."

"Gee, thanks, Rukia." He said, his tone seeping with sarcasm.

"You've been very sarcastic lately." She commented. They walked for about five minutes before Rukia turned to Renji. "This is the place."

He sniffed the air. "Mmmm, smells good."

They went in and got a table for two. A few moments later, a waiter came up to get their order. "Hello." He turned to Rukia, "You were in here a while back with one of our regulars, Inoue-san."

Rukia smiled. "That's right."

The waiter ran his hand through his short brown hair and leaned toward Rukia, flirtatiously. "And, ah, what will you be ordering tonight?"

"I'll have what I had last time." Rukia said, her smile wavering at the unwelcome proximity.

"And I'll have the same." Renji added, slightly annoyed.

The waiter stiffened, straightening up, as if just realising Renji was there. "Alrighty then."

As the waiter left, Renji glared daggers into the waiter's back. Was that guy serious? Did he just try to hit on Rukia?

"He was nice." Rukia muttered.

Renji's eyes found Rukia's. "Yeah, a little too nice." He mumbled almost inaudibly.

"He was the waiter that served us last time I was here. I'm surprised he remembered me." the last part was more to herself than Renji.

"I'm surprised you remembered him." Renji said, arching an eyebrow.

She shook her head. "I only remembered him coz he was trying his luck on Orihime."

Putting an elbow on the table, he leaned his head on his palm "Like he was trying his luck on you, just now?"

"He was so not trying his luck on me." she scoffed.

"Really? You really didn't notice? With the gentle smile, the running of the hand through his hair, the soft spoken word; all amateur attempts at flirting with you." He sighed, obviously not impressed. "I'm surprised it worked so easily on you of all people."

She crossed her arms over her small chest. "It didn't work on me."

"Okay, then." He murmured, not convinced.

She shut her eyes and breathed deeply. "This will be a nice evening; I'm not going to let you or you're comments affect me."

"Good. Don't."

She opened her eyes slowly. "Renji I have something to tell….." she trailed off, as she saw the waiter heading toward them.

He set two dishes on the table and began walking away. "Enjoy your meal." He threw over his shoulder, as he winked at Rukia.

Rukia nearly bit her lip. "As much as I hate to admit it, you win, Renji. I guess he was trying to hit on me."

He did nothing but grin at her. On the inside, however, he cussed the waiter with the strongest of profanities.

"Let's talk about something else." she suggested.

Renji, still grinning. "Something like?"

"Something like…oh! Ukitake taicho said hi." She smiled, happily.

"Really? He's a cool guy." He muttered before stuffing his mouth with sushi.

Rukia smiled affectionately. "Yeah…he is.

Renji swallowed, and whether he meant it or not, he closed his eyes. "Okay, we're even Rukia. You were right, this is the best sushi"

She grinned triumphantly, digging into her meal. "Told ya!"

With stomachs full, the two were ready to leave. The waiter came over after they paid, holding the receipt. He looked pointedly at Rukia and half smiled "Your receipt."

She faked a smile. "Oh, thanks."

"I'm Kitamura Benjiro, and come back anytime. I'll be happy to get you anything you want." He said, taking her hand and placing a small kiss on the back of it.

Rukia looked at Renji helplessly and Renji looked like he had had enough. "Okay, that's it." He said angrily taking the waiter by the shoulders and shoving him into the nearest wall. "Are you serious? I mean really! Are you serious? Can't you see that she's with someone? That she's with me?"

The waiter Benjiro held his hands up in surrender. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"You should be!" Renji bit out. "If you ever hit on her or Ori—Inoue-san again, I will find you and I will kill you myself."

Benjiro nodded frantically. "I won't! Ever!"

"Good." Renji said as he released the poor waiter.

Benjiro hurried inside without looking back. Rukia tore her eyes from the retreating figure of the man poor, intimidated waiter. "Pretty harsh, Renji."

"Hardly." He huffed, ignoring the looks of dismay he received from the restaurant customers.

He held the door open for the petite shinigami and followed her out of the restaurant. "But he was cute." She mumbled.

He rolled his eyes, annoyed. "I repeat: hardly."

She stopped walking and crossed her arms across her chest. "Jealous, much?"

He turned to her. "You seem intent on making me repeat that word, Rukia."

"You are so jealous!" she smirked.

"No I'm not." He threw over his shoulder as he began to walk.

"Are too." She argued, following him.

"Not." He lied easily.

"Yeah, you are." She persisted, secretly hoping he was wrong.

"Nope." He shook his head.

"Yep."

"No."

"Yes."

"Na."

She paused for a moment. How dumb was this argument (on her part). If he said he wasn't jealous, then he probably wasn't. "Fine." She sighed gently. "But anyone would've thought you were."

They both said nothing until they reached Rukia's apartment door. Opening it, Rukia led the way in and then watched Renji come in slowly.

They stood on opposite sides of the room staring at each other until Renji cleared his throat. "Rukia, I have something to tell you."

"Um, okay." She murmured seeing that his resolve was set.

He turned quickly and closed the door, then faced her. He took a deep breath, readying himself for what he was about to do. "Rukia, we've known each other longer than anyone else and I think it's about time I came clean."

"Come clean? About what?" she inquired.

"Shut up first, kay? Lemme do the talking for now." He said, annoyed. Leave it to Rukia to interrupt the confession of his life. "I've…..I mean…Rukia, I…." Was this for real? Renji couldn't believe it. It was either now or never. Tell her or forever hold his peace. He took a deep breath and let it out. "Rukia, I love you. I always have, and I have a very strong feeling that I always will."

Rukia froze, her eyes widening. Renji watched her for a few minutes, waiting for her to say something. "Rukia?...uhh, say something?"

She blinked. "You….love….me?"

He scratched the back of his head. "Well, I said it, didn't I?"

Rukia looked at him, still not believing. "Yeah, but…I just can't believe it."

He laughed nervously. "Well?"

"Well what?" she asked, clueless.

"What do you think?...about it…..about me." He muttered

Without even realising she had done it, Rukia threw herself at Renji, hugging him close. He hugged her back; happy but confused. "You still haven't said anything."

"Renji, I….love you too….for a while now."

It was his turn to be shocked. "Wha—"

He was interrupted by the familiar ringing of the communication device that was hooked up in the spare room. Rukia looked in the direction of the origin of the ringing, with a slightly annoyed face.

"I should go." He muttered.

"You don't have to." She whispered.

He grinned a toothy grin. "I really should, or I may never be able to leave again." He stalked over to the door and pulled it open. Turning to her he winked. "See ya!"

Rukia watched the door close, her heart in her chest, before realizing the ringing was still going. She sprinted to the source of the ringing and answered the call. Her captain, surprisingly wasn't on the other end.

"Rukia." A deep, melancholy voice greeted.

She bowed low, then straightened up. "Nii-sama."

I'm sooo sorry again for not updating! and to all of you who have waited faithfully: I LOVE YOU ALLL!

This chapter was definitely NOT what i expected it to be...i'm sorry if you didnt like it :(

REVIEW PLEASE?