Ichigo looked up as two figures stepped through the studio doors. The first thing he noticed was Renji's face. There was a puffy near tears look about him; he seemed exhausted and closed off. His posture was a bit hunched over as though he wanted to disappear. Beside him stiff and strained was Byakuya who kept glancing down at the redhead. Renji held a packet of items close to his chest and moved toward his regular spot in the corner without saying anything. The other band members began to stir and made their way towards the redhead, exchanging worried looks. Ichigo stopped them with a quick motion. Instead, he stood up and made his way to Byakuya.
The man's gaze was still trained upon Renji and did not notice Ichigo who stepped into his personal space. Startled, Byakuya took a few step backs, enough so he was out the door and Ichigo swiftly shut it behind them.
"What did you do to him?" Ichigo asked angrily. "I know about your little morning escapade when Rukia threw that party at your house so if this some sort of sick game, I'm telling you now-STOP! Renji is not someone to toy with. You don't know half the shit he's had to go through."
Byakuya squared his shoulders and glared at Ichigo. "Watch your tongue," he snapped, "I have not done anythi-" Byakuya paused and cleared his throat, "I have not done anything to Renji. I appreciate your concern for your fellow band mate but I believe you should be getting back to work."
Ichigo watched as the other man turned around and walked away. Ichigo turned and slammed his fist into the wall. "Damn it," he hissed. Ichigo leaned his head against the wall and closed his eyes. Easy-going, friendly, shy, timid, emotionally-unstable and occasionally rambunctious; those were the words Rukia had used to describe Renji after she had ripped him a new one for saying something unkind to the redhead when they first met. Ichigo knew about Renji's turbulent past from Rukia but never knew if Renji knew that Rukia had told him. He just hoped her brother wasn't going to one to screw everything up.
Back inside the studio Ichigo sat down across from Renji. The other man glanced up smiled tiredly and pushed a sheaf of paper at Ichigo. Reaching out, Ichigo picked up the stack and leafed through them. As realization dawned he gasped, "Renji, are these new lyrics?"
The other man nodded as Ichigo continued flipping through the papers. Suddenly, he stopped and looked at Renji. "Renji," he began cautiously, "you told us two days ago you hadn't written any new lyrics or music. Did you write these all yesterday?"
Renji glanced away uncomfortably. Raising his hands he quickly signed the necessary gestures. Ichigo gaped, incredulously, "you wrote them all last night and this morning! Didn't you sleep?"
There was no response from the other man who merely returned to his work. Hisagi and Chad surreptitiously looked towards the two. Their focus was, however, on Ichigo who looked furious. Ichigo was furious but not at Renji but rather cursing Byakuya vividly in his mind. Renji only ever churned out numerous lyrics at once if he was upset or frustrated. Renji had never been able to vent sorrows and frustration through conventional ways, instead he would immerse himself in whatever work he had until he crashed. They would need to talk later but for now Ichigo let it go.
Renji could feel the eyes of the other band members on him. Sometimes he wished they weren't so attuned to his moods and would carry on as normal. He just needed time and some measureable amount of space to gather his bearings.
It wasn't until late into the evening the band left to meet their friends at a local and very discrete club owned by Urahara. Renji was very subdued on their walk there. The others kept exchanging surreptitious glances, trying to discern a solution to the problem. Attempting to keep the mood light, Ichigo started a loud, rather obnoxious conversation about practically nothing until they arrived. Relief was evident on the others faces as they were greeted and welcomed rather exuberantly by the bouncers at the door.
They entered the club which was just beginning to fill with people and began looking around for the others. The music was blaring loudly but the club hadn't darkened fully yet. A balled up piece of paper hit Renji square in the face and he saw Rukia waving down at them ecstatically. On the second balcony, Rukia sat with Orihime, Rangiku and the plethora of others. They made their way up the stairs and a round of drinks was handed to them-one reason they loved this club was that it had a tendency to overlook the fact half of them were underage due to Urahara's influence. Ichigo settled in next to Rukia. She leaned slightly into him as they watched the rest of their friends make drunken fools of themselves. Quietly he pulled Rukia off to a secluded alcove leaving behind a chorus of wolf whistles.
"What's wrong Ichigo?" Rukia asked. The sound dampener helped Rukia hear what Ichigo said next.
"It's about your brother," Ichigo paused, "and Renji."
"Oh," Rukia replied bewilderedly, "What's going on? I noticed Renji's kind of out of it and more subdued. Is it because of nii-san?"
Ichigo did not reply for a moment as if gathering his thoughts but he finally nodded in confirmation to Rukia's question.
"I guess I shouldn't have tried to hook them up then?" Rukia sighed, "What did nii-san do to Renji?"
Ichigo shrugged, "he's not exactly opening up about the whole issue either. It's like he's only partially there, just a shell of the Renji we know."
"I'll talk to him, well both of them," Rukia said already moving. Making her way to the rest of the group, she saw Renji was nowhere to be seen.
"Where's Renji?" concern flooding her.
"He went down to the dance floor. From what I got from his signing was that he had some excess energy and wanted to dance it off," replied Matsumoto, who was in the middle of pouring another round of drinks. Rukia thanked her and went off in search of Renji. Down on the dance floor the music was far louder than it had been upstairs. The floor was packed with throngs of young scantily clad men and women. It was proving more difficult then Rukia had predicted to find Renji. The lights had also dimmed considerably and as Rukia fought her way through the crowd a glimpse of red up in the front caught her eye. It was Renji surrounded by a pack of men and women. Renji did not appear to notice anyone else, as he was completely lost in the music. Rukia shoved her way forward until she reached him.
"Renji," she shouted, "Renji, come here! We need to talk!" She had to repeat the words multiple times before Renji heard her. Then she dragged him off much to the dismay of the other dancers. They moved over to the bar even though they were slightly underage. Renji glanced down at Rukia questioningly. She gave him a gentle smile.
"Ichigo and the others are really worried about you. They said you weren't feeling well and it has something to do with nii-san."
Renji rapidly shook his head and looked completely depressed. Rukia smiled at him and shook her head slightly.
"It's okay Renji, you can tell me," Rukia said, "I know nii-san can be a bit of a stuck up prick."
Renji laughed outright at that. He gave Rukia and appraising look and wished he could tell her everything he told Byakuya and what had happened. They had been friends for years, even before her formal adoption into the Kuchiki house. He could trust that she would not overreact to anything he said anymore. There was still some reluctance on his part to tell her everything so he decided to tell her only what she wanted to know, which was what happened between Byakuya and him. He began the tedious process of signing everything to her. At the end, he glanced up at her to gauge her reaction. Rukia's face was pinched and held a look of disbelief and anger, although clearly not directed at him as she began to rant.
"How could he-that callous, egotistical-jerk face. I can't believe the nerve!" Rukia's rant consisted of more half filled sentences and cut off verbal abuse against her brother. She concluded her venting by slamming back a drink that had appeared out of nowhere and saying she was going to call her brother immediately and give him a piece of her mind. Renji chuckled and shook his head in disagreement. Not only would it be humiliating for him, Rukia was half way to drunk and a phone call to her brother would not end well for either of them. Persuading Rukia to put her cell phone back in her bag took longer than expected but they finally joined the rest of the group without any more problems. All of them decided to get smashed especially Renji.
The rest of the night was spent in increasing intoxication for Renji. He was enjoying himself immensely even though everything was a blur. Dancing in the swell of hot, sweaty bodies was almost trance like for Renji. Nearing two in the morning, they all exited the bar to make their merry way home. Stumbling out of a taxi and waving goodbye to Ichigo and Rukia, Renji navigated the stairwell up to his apartment. At the door he fumbled for his keys, cursing his clumsiness and the complicated keyhole. By some miracle he managed to make it inside of his apartment. Pausing in the foyer, he stared around bewilderedly. He could have sworn none of the lights were on when had left the apartment, now lights filtered through the hall and living room. Renji shrugged it off and wandered into his kitchen and poured himself a cup of water. He headed off to his living room, pausing to scratch Kozon by the ear. As he stepped into the living room the glass slipped from his hands, shattering on the floor. He made no move to pick it up because staring back at him from across the room was Byakuya. The man stood gracefully from the couch where he had been reclining and gave Renji a once over. Renji squirmed in discomfort but straightened as comprehension dawned in his mind.
"How did you get into my house?" he gasped as a wave of dizziness washed over him.
Looking at him in mild amusement Byakuya replied succinctly, "your landlord is easily persuaded."
"That bastard," Renji muttered darkly, "what kind of landlord let's random people into a tenet's apartment? I'm going to have to have a little chat with that moron."
A slight clearing of throats caused Renji to refocus his thoughts and gaze on the man currently advancing on him. Even in his alcohol soaked mind, Renji could tell whatever was about to happen would not be to his advantage.
"What did you? Why did you come?" Renji hissed, backing away slowly. Byakuya smirked and pressed forward. Renji hastily took a step back and backed straight into the wall. Byakuya took the opportunity to lean in close and press the squirming redhead firmly against said wall.
"Renji, there's only one thing I want," Byakuya purred huskily, "I want you." With that the raven haired man covered the other's mouth with his own in a heated kiss. Renji's moans were swallowed by the possessive mouth covering his. A tongue slipped playfully against his causing Renji to shudder in Byakuya's embrace. Renji clung to Byakuya weakly, leaning against his broad chest and attempting to regain his breath.
"Did you enjoy that?" Byakuya whispered, blowing lightly into Renji's ear, causing him to shiver. Renji nodded, unable to verbally respond to the question and flushing brilliantly. A gentle finger tilted his face up and dark eyes burning with unmistakable lust stared down at him. Renji shuddered pleasantly, closing his eyes.
"No, keep them open," Byakuya commanded, "I want you to see and feel everything I will do to you." Renji felt a pleasant heat coil through his body at those words. Taking Renji's hand, Byakuya pulled him down to the couch.
"Bya-" he began but was cut off as Byakuya's mouth latched onto his again. Soon Renji found himself divested of nearly all his clothes and all that remained were his black boxers. Warm hands slid up and down his sides in calming motions before they stopped right above the hem of his boxers.
"Should I continue?" Byakuya asked, tracing a finger along the hem.
"Yes," Renji panted, "oh, god, yes."
Byakuya smiled smugly and in one swift motion he had Renji's boxers across the room. Renji gasped in shock as the cool air struck his swollen member. Byakuya slowly made his way down until his mouth hovered above Renji's cock. He lowered his head…and a blaring clamor sounded.
Renji tumbled to the floor and gasped. He was in his room and had just fallen out of bed. He gave a loud groan and flopped to the floor. It had all been a drunken dream. It had felt so real, so personal but it clearly could not have possible. Byakuya was too much of an uptight ass to do anything uncouth like give a blow job in a living room. Renji sighed and rolled over to stare at his ceiling. He needed to reevaluate his love life since he was crushing hard over a man who he had known for mere months. The man in question was also his boss in a way and probably still hung up on his dead wife. Renji wanted to scream. Life sucked sometimes and morning wood was inconvenient before work.
Renji arrived at the studio far earlier than the others as a result of not turning his alarm off. Only slightly hungover, he bypassed security and the girl at the front desk to settle into the quiet studio. As he suspected, no one was there yet. Byakuya had allowed them to come in later as a result of their finishing the first half of their debut album. Recording for the remaining part would start tomorrow. The songs had all been selected prior but the last one was up for debate. Renji decided he would take the time to practice a few of the ones he wanted selected.
Working in relative silence, Renji set about memorizing lyrics and tunes. It was awhile before he grew bored and decided to enter the recording studio. Everything was set up for recording already so all he had to do was sing. A nice a cappella practice would get his blood running. Tapping his feet to an imaginary rhythm, Renji closed his eyes and softly began singing. His thoughts began to free themselves from the tangled mess they had been. Singing had a calming effect on the tense man.
A single clap broke Renji out of his revere. His eyes snapped open and locked on a figure leaning casually against the doorframe. Renji immediately felt discomfited by the man's presence. There was something unsettling about him. Picking up the whiteboard at his side that he used to talk to the techs, Renji wrote a simple 'who are you?'
"Ah, my name is Ichimaru Gin. I work for Sousuke Aizen. You never returned our phone call so we decided to come check up on you."
Renji raised an eyebrow in a manner that clearly meant continue. It was always annoying having to work with someone who didn't understand sign language without a translator. This was one of those times or so he thought. That was why he was startled when Gin signed the words 'let's find somewhere more comfortable to talk.'
Renji stood and followed him into the anteroom. The man smiled genially, however Renji did not feel inclined to return it.
"Well you're probably wondering why I'm here." Renji nodded. "I have a proposition for you that might pique you interest." Renji raised a single eyebrow skeptically. "Corozon de Infierno is a newer music label however, we find that we are more accessible and we appeal to a wider range of people in terms of the music we produce." Here Ichimaru paused. "We believe that your band and your music is just the type of thing that Corozon de Infierno needs. You would do really well with us and it might be better suited for your comfort level."
Renji frowned. This was rather unexpected and not a decision he should be making by himself. Just as he was about to tell Ichimaru this, the other man held up his hand. "Please, don't feel rushed into making a decision now. Take your time. Do keep in mind though; your band's decision need not hinder your own. You are the piece we're looking for."
With that Gin smoothly rose out of his seat, holding out a hand for Renji who shook it robotically. The man swept of the room before Renji could gather his thoughts. For a moment, Renji thought he had imagined the entire scene but a simple white business card on top of his sheets stared blankly up at him. He picked it up; about to crumple but something held him back from doing so. Renji sighed and leaned back into his chair closing his eyes. Too many curveballs and life could really suck. When he next opened his eyes, it was to stare up into Hisagi's face who was shaking him awake.
"How you feeling man?" Hisagi asked, grinning.
Renji gave a thin smile and shrugged. Everything is fine, he thought, just fine.
I'm sorta back
Thank you to all who reviewed. I really appreciated it and those reviews are really great and awesome.
I hope everyone still enjoys the story and are willing to contribute great feedback as they have been doing