Touch the Horizon

-Chapter Two: Souring The Strain-

By: Light of the Firefly

Nanao glanced up as the office doors slid open, and the young captain walked in. His bright red strands pulled messily back into a ponytail, sticking out in several directions, his clothing looking more disheveled than usual. Nanao's eyebrow quirked up at his sloppy appearance, but said nothing about it to him.

"Good morning, Captain," she greeted as per norm.

"Ise," he grumbled, in his own usual early morning mood swing. "I woke up a little late today. Sorry."

She glanced at the clock, surprised to see that he was in fact late. Three hours, three whole entire hours. She hadn't even noticed. Her eyes widened slightly. Was she slipping in her attention span? It wasn't like her to not notice details like that. Perhaps that's how much she really noticed his presence in the office? She was so oblivious to him that she never realized his absence? For three hours? No way.

"It's quite alright," she mumbled, still trying to rationalize her slip up. Had he ever been late before? She couldn't give an answer to that. How disturbing, she thought.

While she pondered her lack of attention, Renji went through the usual routine, sitting at his desk, drinking the now cold tea his Lieutenant had left for him. He stopped mid-swallow. Grimacing, he forced himself to swallow the rest of the bitterly cold brew. He shoved the full cup to a far corner of his desk, unable to wipe the sour look from his face while doing so.

"Oh," she said, and he glanced over at her as she rose quickly. "It's probably cold now. I'll get you more."

"It's fine, sit back down," he said, already turning his attention back to the work in front of him. "I'll get my own tea in a while."

"You work better with the added caffeine," she said nonchalantly. Picking up her own empty cup from her desk. "I need a refill anyhow."

Damnit, he thought. Now she was waiting on him. This wasn't starting off the way he had wanted it to.

Letting out a breath, he shook his head at himself. He had no idea how to just 'talk' to this woman. She operated so differently than he did, her quiet mannerism a harsh contrast to his own personality.

He was pissed off as it was, having woken up so late in the day. Rukia and him had stayed in the real world until well into the night, so he had been aware he wouldn't get much sleep when he went to bed shortly before the sun came up.

The awkward silence filled the office as she prepared two fresh cups.

Renji sat, watching her as she did so.

Her back to him, he looked her over carefully. He never noticed how slight she was, really. She was such a tiny little thing, now that he thought about it. Thin like Rukia, but with a slightly more mature figure.

Nanao turned back to him, and walked to his desk with a new steaming cup. Setting it down in front of him, he stared at her small, feminine hand on the cup and up to her small wrist. Renji winced a little. She was truly delicate looking, really. He wasn't so sure now about attempting to pick a fight with her. He certainly didn't want to see her end up hurt, that would defeat the whole purpose all together.

"Something wrong?" She asked, catching his odd mood. Renji blinked at her in surprise.

"Ah, no," he said, flustered. Hoping she didn't catch him staring. The last thing their strained relationship needed was her getting the wrong idea about his looking at her. Not that she wasn't pretty, he reasoned, now that he was on this line of thinking.

Renji blushed lightly at his own line of thoughts.

Where the hell am I getting this from suddenly, anyhow? He wondered.

Ultimately, he chalked it up to never really looking at her until Rukia made him feel like a uncaring jerk of a captain last night. He never paid attention to her much at all, really.

She gave him a silent questioning look, but turned back to her own desk. She shuffled around some of her papers, before sitting back down and picking up the brush again.

Renji sipped the fresh tea, and wanted to sigh at the hot beverage. The woman really did make some of the best.

"This is much better, thanks," he said, taking another gulp. Leaning back in his chair, he stared idly at the wall, the paperwork long forgotten. His mind just wasn't in the shape to do them right now, and he would be the first to admit to his ADD when it came to office duties.

Nanao glanced at him every so often, but continued on with her own share of the work. He was reclined, gazing off at nothing in particular. She wasn't sure what it was exactly, but she knew he was gearing up to ask her something. The man was obviously uneasy about whatever it was, so she let it ride out. She wouldn't push him. Something she has come to learn was that people tended to speak more when there is no one pestering them.

About an hour ticked by this way, Nanao working while Renji stared off in his own thoughts.

"Fight me," he blurted suddenly, louder than he meant to. Nanao was startled by his sudden exclamation in the stillness of their office and jumped at his voice.

"I…what?" She stammered, her jaw slack with surprise.

"Shit, that didn't come out how I wanted it to." He had been thinking over this for the last hour, and decided he needed to see her fight. As her captain, it was certainly something he needed to see and know about. Renji turned his chair so he was facing her, meeting her eyes, looking a bit embarrassed. "What I meant was, I want us to spar. To…you know, get a feel for one another's combat skills…and all that..?"

His voice had wavered off at the end in uncertainty.

Nanao stared at him for a long moment, not shocked, not really. It was what he did with the other members, she supposed it would only be a matter of time before he requested her to do so. He no doubt was curious about her, as her skills weren't seen often. Not many shinigami would be able to tell him accurately what she could do. Only one man could tell him accurately. Or once could, anyways.

"You want to spar with me," she stated, knowing she sounded stupid, but was making sure she was clear on this. How long had it been since she sparred with anyone, really? Wincing, she realized Captain Kyouraku had been her only partner in that aspect over the years.

"Yes," he said with a slight smile and jerky nod.

"To feel out our battle techniques." Still, she was trying to clarify his reasoning. It was logical. But painful, as a million little memories of doing the same thing with another captain in another time flickered through her mind.

"Yep," Renji agreed, scratching the back of his head nervously now at her odd behavior.

"You don't look like you like the idea much," she observed, stuffing the suffocating emotions deep inside of her and slamming that door firmly. She turned her attention back to her paperwork, resuming the paragraph she had been writing.

"I don't. I don't much like messing with girls on the field." At her sharp glance at him, he flustered instantly. "I didn't mean that the way that sounded, either!"

She turned her eyes back to her work, not commenting.

"Look, Rukia hands my ass to me all the time, I'm not saying girls aren't tough!" He carried on, trying to smooth over the line he crossed. "I just, prefer to fight with the guys, you know?"

"Sir-"

"-I don't feel bad about it like I do with the girls! Attacking a man is different than attacking a woman!"

"Sir-"

"I'm not sexist or anything like that!"

"Sir!" She bit out, turning her famous glare in his direction. Renji was shocked enough to snap his mouth shut.

"Stop rambling, please," she spoke calmly, repositioning her glasses slightly. "I knew what you meant."

"Ok…so, um…" Renji felt ridiculous, but he wasn't sure why. A part of his lieutenant put him in mind of his days in academy, being reprimanded with little more than a look from the instructor. It was a look that made you feel small and a little stupid. She had that look down to an art, apparently.

"So…when can we start?"

"Thank you for the request, but I will have to decline, sir." Nanao spoke in her soft, firm tones. She had always trained on her own. The only exception had been her previous captain. And both of them had looked forward to those sessions. She was reminded suddenly how he would nag and wheedle her all day long to get her to practice with him in the evening. She put up good arguments, but always caved in to him.

"But…Ise…really, this is something we need to do, right?" He argued, after all duty was duty. This was in fact something that they needed to be familiar with. SHOULD have been familiar with several, several years ago, in fact.

"I am well aware of your capabilities and fighting style," she said, brushing him off once again. Nanao felt the beginnings of irritation that he wouldn't just drop it.

And, Renji felt a flicker of frustration at her casual dismissal. He didn't get the feeling that she was intimidated by him, rather that she simply didn't want to.

"Well, I'm not aware of yours, Lieutenant," he pushed, in the bossy way that he managed so well to drive people mad with. "I'm your captain, you know damn well as I do this is something that we should have done a long time ago! What the hell is the big deal?"

He watched her absorb his words, caught the stilling of her hand over the paper. He tensed, sensing a flare of temper in the air around them. He felt the atmosphere around him stirring with the turbulence she was holding on to firmly.

Nanao stood suddenly, gracefully unfolding from her chair.

Renji watched her movments warily. She settled everything into a neat and orderly fashion about her desk.

When she was done shuffling things around, she turned on her heel and briskly walked out the door without a word.

"Wha-" Renji stammered, stunned by her actions. He saw her dark form disappear around the corner through the screen of the office wall.

He was left alone, his second in command having just walked out on him in mid-conversation.

"What the hell was that!"

After yelling into the empty office, he felt slightly better, but not much. He was absolutely stewing now.

That certainly wasn't how his request was supposed to go. He didn't know how things turned bitter over this simple conversation, but he was pissed off regardless.

Just what was her problem, anyhow?

He had never seen so much life stirred out of her since he took this seat, now that he thought about it. It was like working with a robot for the last thirty years, who always was polite and did her duties. Then one day flashed her simmering temper, snapping her out of her coma-like state to join the world of living once more, and exploded in silent rage…all aimed at him.

The worse part was, of course, that she simply walked away from him in the middle of it.

"Why that…" he grumbled to himself hotly. He hated not getting the last word. Hated even more to get brushed off by someone. "Who does she think she is, anyhow?"

He tracked her signature, and noticed it stopped on the roof above. She seemed to be staying put there, and he thought over his options.

Leave her alone to settle down? Their relationship will worsen if he did that. They would fall into an uneasy tenseness with each other if they didn't resolve the frustration now. It would become a cold war between them, both dealing with each other out of duty, but resenting quietly.

Pondering a moment, he knew he only had one option, really.

He figured now would be the perfect time to pick a fight with her.

After all, as mad as she was, he bet she would certainly come at him if pushed a little more. It was always the best to fight these thing out, in Renji's opinion.

He rose swiftly, his paperwork forgotten as well as hers and headed for the door.

Nanao stood in the middle of the barren expanse of the rooftop above the 8th offices. Her fists were clenched at her sides, and she tried to take some deep breaths of fresh air to sooth her nerves.

She was downright mad, and she wasn't even sure why. She couldn't remember the last time she was mad, or felt much of anything besides the deep rooted cold inside of her.

Nanao was mad at her captain, and it startled her a little.

Of course Captain Abarai didn't know the inner hurt he dug up at the mention of training together. He couldn't know how the memories stirred around with every word he spoke, conjuring up one hundred year's worth of little scenes in her mind's eye. Even Renji's nagging made them come faster.

"Come on, Nanao-chan, you know you want to smack me around…"

She could hear her previous captain's favorite line he used, as plain as if he were standing there whispering into her ear right now.

"I've certainly deserved it…you know you want to…"

She drifted back to those times, even now. Of endless afternoons spent in the large open field in the Rukongai, covered in each other's sweat and dirt. If it was hot, the outer layers of clothing were slowly lost over the course of their sparring. She could picture the way he stood, with that cocky smirk on his face, bare-chested, his twin zanpakto gleaming in the sunlight, and ready for her next attack.

They went home bruised and battered, with pulled muscles and skinned knees, but always laughing. It was the source of some of her fondest memories of him. Nanao had loved those afternoons, although she would have sooner cut out her tongue than tell him that.

She could be herself, and not hold back because he was powerful enough to take her attacks. She knew he could do the same, as she was quick enough to avoid, and strong enough to block. They had moved so effortlessly with one another, it was more of a dance then a fight. They could predict the other's moves, and countering them just as flawlessly. It was hardly a fight, more like a game of chess.

But it wasn't about a challenge, or about winning or loosing to each other. It was more about-

"There you are!" The angry voice of Renji's tore the bittersweet scenes right in half, she could practically hear the rip of her mental images. His voice yanking Nanao back to the present and causing the lump in her throat to rise a little higher.

She turned to look at him, his features twisted into a scowl. She cocked an eyebrow, waiting for him to explain his interruption on her self given alone time.

"When I came up here, it was to relieve myself of your presence," she said, a bit colder than she probably should have. She saw the shock cross his face at her words, and she turned away from him once again. She wasn't good with words, so she reasoned that it was not her fault if he took that wrong.

"Listen, Ise, I don't know what the hell your problem is all the sudden, but I'm gonna beat it out of ya!" She heard his zanpakto pulled from it's sheath. "Come on, we ARE doing this!"

Nanao snorted at his words. Well, he obviously took it wrong.

"Captain," she began, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I have already declined your offer."

"Doesn't matter," he said, shrugging. "You'll fight back eventually."

With that, he rushed at her back.

Sighing heavily, Nanao wondered what she ever did to deserve this rash kid as her new captain. As she wondered at this, Renji started to get worried.

He was close, so close, and she hadn't even turned to face him. At the last second, he stopped his swing, his zanpakto frozen a few inches from her neck. Her uniform ruffled slightly from the movment. His biceps quivered slightly from the amount of force he had put into stopping the down sweep.

"Damnit!" He yelled, jerking away from her angrily. "You would just stand there and let me attack you?"

"You weren't serious, she said, not in the least bit sounding overly worried over her almost beheading. He felt like completely loosing it over her confident statement.

He stomped around Nanao, coming around to her front, and stopping to glare down at her.

"Fight with me."

"No," her unwavering calm was even more irritating.

"It's an order, then."

She saw the triumphant smirk on his lips and wanted to roll her eyes.

"The answer is still no."

"Wha-Hey!" He sputtered as she turned away from him again, another move to brush him off. "Get back over here Ise!"

"I have work to do in the office," she said, as she reached the door to the stairwell. "Fight someone else."

"I want to fight with YOU!" His voice put her in mind of a child with a temper tantrum.

"Duly noted," she said, the door closing behind her with a clap of finality.

Renji stood there for several moments, jaw clenched and anger boiling.

Several hours later, Nanao stood up from her desk. She was finished with the paperwork and more than ready to leave this floor. She went about, putting things away and headed for the hallway. She said her greetings to the secretaries, and handed off a few stacks of papers to them.

She wished them well, and headed through the building. She made various stops on her way, checking in with different members to see that all was well before she left.

She wondered idly where Renji had went off to. The office had remained empty of her red haired captain since the little episode earlier, and she was thankful for it.

She moved down the hallway towards the exit at the end, when she felt it. If she had less self control she would have cursed out loud. Her captain was waiting outside the door for her.

She considered being a coward and going out another way, but he had probably picked up on her moving towards him at this point.

Stopping at the door, she let out a sigh and pushed through.

This exit was shadowed, having another building so close.

He stood propped against the building across the alley from her, scowl still in place, and arms crossed tensely across his chest.

"Captain," she greeted blandly.

"Ise," he mumbled, just as dry as her tone.

She watched him for a few moments, he looked like he wanted to start talking several times but stopped himself.

"Well, if this conversation is over…" She turned with the sarcastic comment and heard a quiet growl from her captain.

"Just, tell me why."

"Why?" She asked, turning back to face him.

"Why not try to get to know me?"

"I thought you wanted to spar, not get to know me?"

"Same thing," he waved off. "I…listen, I'm just as guilty. I know we have been doing things this way for many years. But…don't you think we should try?"

"I'm just fine with the way things are, sir. I hope your not trying to do this for my benefit. Honestly, my feelings are not hurt over it."

"I…" Renji stopped. He didn't honestly know which of them he was doing it for. "It's more for the fact that we are supposed to, you know?"

"I know. But we haven't," she stated in her calm, even tones. "So, it's fine. It's us, it's how we are, it's what we have become. Why try to change now?"

"Come on, its just a little spar. I know nothing about your fighting styles!"

"No. I prefer to train on my own, sir," she answered honestly.

"That's a lie, you just don't want to fight with me!"

"A lie?" She said, her own temper rising yet again. Twice in one day for him, she thought.

"Yes! A lie! I know you used to fight with Captain Kyouraku all the damn time!" He snapped, missing the wince the name caused in his lieutenant. "I know you used to spar with him! He used to sport bruises from those fights all the damn time! He TOLD me HIMSELF you were sparring so don't tell me you don't-"

Before Nanao knew what she was doing, she grabbed Renji by the collar of his uniform and jerked him hard towards her. Once at eye level, she met his wide surprised ones with a nasty glare of her own. He saw a slight blue glow starting behind her glasses, her eyes flaring dangerously.

"Listen, Captain Abarai, you don't know anything," she seethed. Most of what she was suddenly angry over was the fact that he spat her previous captains name in her face to use as leverage. "How dare you."

"Ise-"

"-Enough. This conversation is over. Don't bring it up again," she snapped, and he shut his mouth.

With a hard shove, he fell back into the wall behind him, and she walked off down the alley without another word.

Renji stared, shocked at her retreating form.

"Bitch…" he breathed, surprise still holding tight to him. Pulling himself off the alleyway wall, he straightened out his ruffled clothing. He glanced in the direction she had just stormed off in and frowned darkly.

Honestly, though, he was slightly pleased. He just saw another side to his quiet little lieutenant after all.

Perhaps there was more to her than he originally thought.

He grinned suddenly. He was defiantly going to get her to fight with him now. He just got a glimpse of her fire.

It would be his mission from this point on to get her to do it.

AN: Ah….men. What thick headed morons they can be sometimes, eh?

Renji is actually a lot of fun to write, he's just so irrational it's a blast.

Thank you to all who reviewed, they were all lovely. And very appreciated, of course.