LALALALA....don't own anything
happy reading
The next morning Renji woke up to dim light streaming through his window. 'Where's that stupid alarm clock?' he thought tiredly trying to figure out the time. He reached down into his pant pockets to find his cell phone. It was only six o'clock. "To goddamn early," he muttered. He lay staring blankly at the window for awhile. He was mentally and physically exhausted. He had gone to bed without changing but sleep had evaded him last night and instead he was plagued with nightmares of the past. Renji spent most of the night curled around Kozon and regretting ever deciding to appease Byakuya's curiosity.
Renji burrowed deeper underneath his covers. 'Maybe I'll stay home today,' Renji thought absently. Renji knew it was a bad idea to skip any rehearsal since the band was still relatively new and getting used to the way things were but he couldn't bring himself to get up. The idea of seeing Byakuya was rather unappealing. He had probably overreacted last night and was a little more than embarrassed. Still it was rather hurtful to hear that the only reason Byakuya had wanted to know about his past was because of his wife.
'Well, guess it is bad to have crushes on older men who you don't really know,' Renji mused despondently. His crush had been long standing and working close to Byakuya had only caused Renji to feel more appreciation for the man. Kozon suddenly appeared and licked him fully on the face as if sensing his depression. Renji smacked him halfheartedly as the dog leaped up onto the bed. Renji smiled and sat up, watching the dog create his own spot. The dog stared balefully up at him and nudged him back down. Renji grinned again and complied, laying down and soon both of them fell back to sleep.
Awhile later a chiming noise startled the both of them and Renji realized his cell phone was ringing. That was strange because all of his friends knew better than to call him. They'd usually text him. Rubbing his eyes, he picked the phone up gingerly and checked the number. It was an unknown number. Renji frowned at it for a moment and let it ring. After a moment it finally stopped. Flipping the phone open, Renji saw that a message had been left for him. He listened to it for a moment.
"Abarai-san, this is Aizen Sousuke, president of Corozon de Infierno music label. We were wondering if it was possible for you to meet us tomorrow. It's nothing big. I just want to talk. Please feel free to stop by our offices or call us back."
Renji gaped bewilderedly at his phone for awhile. He was confused as to what was going on. Why did another label want to talk with him? This was something new he did not need in his life right now. Then again after last night maybe he did need to start looking elsewhere for a leg into the music industry. Byakuya probably thought he was an overly emotional freak at this point. Throwing himself dejectedly back onto his bed, Renji wished he could just sleep forever.
A few miles away in the downtown city hub, Byakuya arrived at his office in a foul mood, an hour earlier than usual. Even the secretary knew better than to bother him. Last night had been rather unsatisfying and uncomfortable, leaving Byakuya with a sense of guilt and unease at Renji's tale. The case of Hisana's and Renji's parents' murder seemed strange to Byakuya. The account felt abrupt and as though missing information Renji himself did not know. Then again the boy had only been fifteen at the time.
That brought Byakuya back to his guilty feelings. Retelling the story must have extremely difficult for Renji yet he had done it for the sake of Byakuya's curiosity. Then Byakuya had gone and made the young man feel unimportant. He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. Today was going to be a challenge in keeping the peace, especially if Renji was feeling down. Byakuya wasn't worried about Renji causing problems but rather his friends if they caught on to what had transpired.
Arriving in his office, Byakuya decided to get some excess work done before the band arrived and also maybe attempt some research on the case filings that connected to Renji's story. Everything seemed too abrupt and inconclusive in his mind. Last night's story simply confirmed that the ending was inconclusive. Who was the man? Why did he target Moroki? So many questions left unanswered in such a prominent case. There must be something else. There was an unknown factor and Byakuya intended to discover what it was. Thus with those thoughts in mind, Byakuya settled down to work in his office.
The next time he glanced up at his clock it was now eight thirty. He had been in the office for nearly two hours. His findings were minimal but he felt he was getting somewhere. He intended to share his discoveries once he had something conclusive with Renji. For now he would leave things alone. The band would be arriving soon and Byakuya always checked up on them for awhile and then left them to their own devices. Getting up, he began his trek to the elevator up to the top floor where the studio was.
As he made his way to the studio, his thoughts returned to Renji. What could he say to the other without sounding indifferent to his suffering? Anything he said could cause the band's fledgling start to crumble and he'd be left without a project. More than that he felt he would lose Renji, which concerned him more than anything else. It was disconcerting how much he had come to enjoy the presence of the redhead and didn't want to give up their time. He had never felt this way about anyone else besides Hisana and to some extent Rukia.
Renji was a blaze of energy that both soothed and excited Byakuya. Perhaps it was fact that he was so much younger but Renji brought incomparable ideas to the fold and was eager to learn. To Byakuya, Renji was a diamond in the rough and with a bit of polishing he would surpass any others who would cross his path.
Byakuya arrived at the studio feeling apprehensive but he smothered the emotion and strode into the studio impassively. Once inside he realized only Ichigo, Hisagi and Chad were settled on the couches that littered the studio. Looking tensed and concerned, they sat whispering heatedly amongst themselves. As soon as they saw him, the muttering ceased. They all gazed perfunctorily at each other before Ichigo broke the silence.
"Morning Byakuya," he said with a falsely cheerful smile.
"Where's Renji?" Byakuya asked coolly. The others shared a careful look and looked about awkwardly.
"We don't really know," Hisagi replied hesitantly. "Renji won't pick up his phone or respond to any of our texts."
Byakuya frowned and debated on his next course of action. A few plans settled into his brain and he weighed the pros and cons of them. The best possible one would be to go see Renji in person; however, he was not sure what that would accomplish other than to antagonize the other man. But it would have to be done. Shirking duties was not something Byakuya approved of in his musicians. Looking thoughtfully at the men before him, he decided it would be safe to leave them to their own devices while he took care of business.
He turned around and swept out the room but not before calling out to the others. "You three are to continue with rehearsal. I will retrieve Renji."
Striding out of the building, he made his way quickly to his car. But he was waylaid before he could reach his car and a voice called out to him.
"Bya-chan," the voice cooed once more. Byakuya turned sharply to reprimand whoever had called him such an infantile name. Turning fully he saw the last person he ever wanted to see.
"Ichimaru-san, good morning," Byakuya said with frigid politeness. "Is there something you require of me?"
"No, no, not particularly," Ichimaru replied in a placating tone, "but do call me Gin. We've known each other for such a long time after all."
Byakuya tensed, not trusting Gin's manner and the man was a dangerous foe as he realized a long time ago. They had a past full discord together. He had gone to the same university as Gin and both of them had been competitive in every aspect. They both majored in music theory and instrumental arts.
However, Gin was not exactly sane or at least that was what Byakuya thought sometimes. In college, Byakuya had watched Gin silently but surely destroy and humiliate those who crossed him even slightly. Once out of college, Gin was snatched up by Aizen's music label- Corozon de Infierno- as a scout/producer. Even now they still competed with one another. Byakuya had thus far in his career produced and started two bands and each time Gin began to promote his own bands that he produced. Gin was dangerous competition and thus far Byakuya had been lucky that nothing befell any of his bands but now he wasn't so sure. Byakuya's last band had been far more successful than the one Gin produced. Gin's visit most likely had something to do with Renji and the others.
Once again Byakuya inquired politely, "Is there something I can do for you?"
Gin gave a chilling smile that caused Byakuya to shiver imperceptibly.
"Actually, I really just came here to extend an olive branch, if you will."
Byakuya made no acknowledging move, discovering what Gin was up to was the main point of this conversation. It was therefore; best to let Gin finish what he wanted to say.
"I know you currently have a project you're working on and so do I. I just thought it'd be extremely fun if we worked together with them after they debuted."
Byakuya's lips thinned imperceptibly and a single eyebrow rose in questioning. Had the other man finally lost his mind? This was the most preposterous suggestion Byakuya had ever heard from anyone in the industry and there had been some ludicrous suggestions in the past.
"You needn't reply right away. After all you seemed a bit rushed. Problems in paradise or is a certain redhead not letting you get your way?"
That comment froze Byakuya and any thoughts he was having. Did Gin know something? Was he following Renji or did he have someone tailing him? He wouldn't put it past Gin to be watching the competition.
Making sure he revealed no emotions, Byakuya replied calmly. "I'll be sure to give you an answer soon then," he said smoothly. "I will need to talk with the band first of course."
"Of course," Gin replied in kind. His eyes held a glint of danger that Byakuya was wary of. Gin left, leaving Byakuya unsettled and unnaturally paranoid. He shook it off though and got into his car. He needed to take care of the problem with Renji first. Little did he know Gin was trailing him.
Byakuya stood, waiting patiently for the door to open. He had knocked for a few minutes and there had been no response. He heard incessant dog barking though and wondered if Renji had left the premises. Before he could turn around and leave, footsteps approached the door rapidly. The door clicked open and a mass of red-hair poked out and there was a violent struggle for a moment.
"Kozon, stop, get back!" Renji looked a bit peeved as he glanced up at the person at his door. "Sorry about tha- oh, Byakuya-san, I thought you were one of the guys."
Byakuya cleared his throat delicately and Renji opened the door a little wider.
"Would you like to come in?" Renji asked sheepishly.
Byakuya stepped into the apartment slowly, avoiding the large black dog staring balefully up at him. The dog occasionally let out a growl as Byakuya made his way to the now familiar living room. Renji was trying to drag the dog away from Byakuya but the dog was putting up a rather obstinate battle. He finally managed to shut the dog inside one of the spare rooms.
Byakuya took this time to evaluate Renji. The other man looked completely ghastly. There were dark bags beneath his eyes and they looked bloodshot. His hair was pulled into a messy tie which made him look oddly younger and more vulnerable.
"Sorry about that, Kozon isn't used to seeing other people this early," Renji said apologetically.
Byakuya stared at him impassively, causing Renji to squirm uncomfortably under his assessing gaze.
"I guess you're wondering why I'm not at work?" he inquired, looking up at Byakuya. "I wasn't really feeling good and I thought I'd be better off working from home."
"Working from home?" Byakuya asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Uh, yeah," Renji answered, waving a hand distractedly in the direction of his living room. Across the coffee table, papers were scattered haphazardly everywhere. Many of the papers littered the floor and couch too.
"What is all of this?"
"Oh, these are lyrics for songs and some of the music sheets to go with them."
Byakuya stared in amazement at the sheer amount of songs Renji had written. This was a gold mine, assuming they were all brilliant of course.
"This is perfect then. I came to bring you to the studio and you may bring those lyrics with you."
Renji looked reluctant and Byakuya saw he was about to contradict him. It was best to nip the argument that would result, in the bud.
"Renji," Byakuya began slowly, "I would like to apologize for the way I behaved the previous night. It was callous of me to question you for the sake of my own curiosity."
Renji paused in his mission to gather lyrics and straightened awkwardly, unsure of what to say in response to the apology. He did not think Byakuya would do such a thing. Byakuya seemed like the type of person to brush of an incident and forget about it.
"It's fine, my fault anyways, I was a little tired; got overactive you know?" Renji said quickly.
"No, I shouldn't have pushed you so hard to talk about something painful like that and force you to relive it. I hope that you will be able to forgive me for this transgression. I was rude and uncouth."
"It's okay, wouldn't have hurt so bad if I didn't like y-" Renji stopped himself but the damage had been done. Horrified, he looked up to meet Byakuya's surprised stare.
There was an uncomfortably pregnant pause. 'Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit! Did I just say that outloud?' Renji thought frantically. Before he could say anything to cover up the awkwardness and attempt to salvage the situation, Byakuya spoke.
"Renji," he began slowly, "I do not think I can return your feelings at the time."
Have a nice time? Good
Here's another Bio:
Kuchiki Byakuya
Age: 30
Height/Weight: 165lbs/ 6'1''
Occupation: producer/label manger for Gods of Seireitei
Hobbies/interests: creating household names (bands), listening to good music, writing music, yoga and meditation
Goals: Producing bands that will hit the number one spot, find a way to stop Rukia from throwing parties at his house, beat the living daylight out of that cocky brat-Ichigo
Pet peeves: Ichigo, Ichigo, more Ichigo and Gin, people who don't focus on their job
Family: wife-Hisana (deceased), sister-in-law- Rukia,
General: Has an intense passion for music, doesn't like to form many attachments, is annoyed Rukia is dating Ichigo (I don't know why he doesn't like Ichigo-another story perhaps), enjoys tea ceremonies and old fashioned Japanese customs and traditions (he's old fashioned), likes the color pink?