Sorry this one took a little longer than usual to get out! I've been going through a lot lately and it's been hard to get down to writing much. But I finally got it out and I hope you like it!

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of the characters associated with the Anime/Manga. They belong to Tite Kubo and Shonen Jump Magazine. Please support the official release.

-What You're Capable Of-

The rest of the school day went uneventful. After Ichigo and Rukia returned with lunch the three of them ate and talked lightly before it was over and they had to return to their duties. They marched through English and Math, and before long the bell rang and everyone in the class was out, free from the prison known as school.

Renji's attitude hadn't fixed itself, unfortunately, and seemed only to be worse. Ichigo noticed how his friend was more sullen than before, how his eyes wandered off whenever he wasn't being addressed, and how his face remained in a deep, pensive frown. Ichigo was worried for his friend.

The three of them were now in Ichigo's car, heading back towards Rukia's house to hang out for a while. They decided that since no one was at her home that they would practice their new abilities there. They didn't want anyone to see, at least not yet, and the best hiding place was at Rukia's.

"Today felt so slow," Rukia was saying in the passenger seat as she watched the road, taking a small sip from the water bottle she had saved from lunch. "It's like now that we have this exciting new thing I just don't want to do anything else."

"I know what you mean," Ichigo said. "It's all I could think about today."

Renji remained silent in the back seat, his eyes staring out the window as it seemed he was mulling over something serious. Ichigo glanced him in the rear-view-mirror, frowning as he noticed the deep lines of his friend's forehead. He was about to ask him what was up, casually of course as to not let on he may know the reason for Renji's down mood, but he was beat to it.

"Why are you silent, Renji?" Rukia asked, turning in her seat to look at the redhead. "I thought you'd be screaming to get home to play around with our abilities."

Renji looked at her, his eyes easing out of their pensive haze to lock onto Rukia's face. "I am excited," He said unconvincingly. "Just tired from today. School takes it out of me."

"Well wake up!" Rukia said, grinning as suddenly the band on Renji's hair untwisted and his mane of red hair fell about his shoulders. He blushed, looking up as the band floated away from him.

"Hey! Give that back!" He said, reaching for it, but Rukia covered his eyes with his own hair and he couldn't find where it went. Rukia giggled as Renji began to fight with his hair, swiping at it to try and see where the yellow hairband went.

Ichigo couldn't help but laugh as Renji scrambled about in the backseat, rocking the car slightly on its suspenders. "Rukia, don't be mean." He said teasingly, chuckling. "Give him the hairband back."

Rukia pouted at him. "Aww, alright Dad." She giggled as she let Renji's hair fall around his shoulders again.

"You're unbelievable." Renji said, snatching the yellow hairband out of the air to fix his hair. Despite his words, Ichigo noticed the smile now grazing his face.

"You wouldn't have this problem if you'd listen to me and cut your hair." Ichigo said, grinning at his friend in the mirror.

Renji huffed playfully. "I'll do that as soon as you dye that orange mess on your head." He said, smirking as Ichigo scowled.

"Boys, boys," Rukia raised her hands, giggling loudly. "You're both pretty."

All three laughed.

–

It wasn't long before the three of them were sitting in Rukia's living room, lounging on the furniture as they tossed a ball back and forth with their minds. It was slightly mundane, and Ichigo found himself growing bored with it quickly after about ten minutes of it.

"Hold on guys," Ichigo said once the ball was caught by Renji. "I have to go get a drink." He stood from his seat and walked into the kitchen as Rukia and Renji continued to toss the ball back and forth. He poured himself a glass of water, sighing as he watched the faucet drip the liquid into the glass cup in his hand. He took a sip, turning it off and walking back into the living room.

"This is really boring," Renji complained. "We need a better way to practice this."

"How?" Rukia inquired as Ichigo sat back down in the chair, sipping from his water. "There isn't too much we can do inside. We need to keep a low profile."

"I know, but this is just ridiculously boring." Renji snorted. "There's got to be a better way to do this."

Rukia frowned as she turned to Ichigo, looking down at his glass of water in his hand. "I have an idea," She said.

"Yeah? What is it?" Ichigo asked.

She said nothing, just focused on his glass of water. She slowly lifted her hand, her index and middle fingers pointed at the cup as the rest curled into her palm, watching as a sliver of water mirrored her hand movements.

"Holy crap!" Ichigo gasped as he watched the water rise from his cup in front of his face.

Renji just gaped in astonishment as Rukia narrowed her eyes and commanded the liquid to shape itself into a tiny ball, no bigger than her palm. The ball was smooth all around, not a single dot out of place to mar the perfection of what she had done. She then spread her two fingers apart, the ball of water slicing down the middle and floating apart in rhythm with her fingers. She let a slight smile twitch at her lips as the water levitated perfectly in midair, looking like two half moons mirroring each other.

"Rukia, that's amazing!" Renji gushed.

"Please..." Rukia strained to say, her eyes locked onto the two halves of water. "Don't say anything...this is really hard..."

She stared at the halves for a few seconds, debating what to do before she suddenly splayed her hand and forced the two halves to explode into a bunch of tiny dots, dividing the two halves into countless little balls of liquid floating in the air. She breathed in, and then held the breath as she felt a pressure building in her forehead as she focused on holding the multiple droplets of water in midair. She narrowed her eyes to near slits and spread her fingers wider apart, the droplets of water rising and falling and levitating away from above the cup. Ichigo watched in amazement at the droplets, not daring to move an inch as they floated in front of him. He glanced at Rukia and her hardened gaze, her face reddening from how hard she was concentrating.

She twisted her wrist slowly, her fingers so stiff they ached. The droplets of water began to spin, mirroring her movements. She began to shake, the pressure starting to become too much. She ground her teeth together and tried with all of her might to focus. Her hand was completely upside down now, as were the droplets, though none of them could tell the difference. They were like stars in the sky. They could change location and yet look the same no matter what. It was beautiful, and it was in that moment when she stopped to marvel at the beauty did she lose focus and the droplets fell to the floor.

Rukia let loose her held breath and fell back against the couch, panting as her face returned to its natural shade of pink.

"That...was...awesome!" Renji cheered, standing from his seat to laugh at look at the wet spots on the carpet. "How did you do that? I don't have that kind of focus."

"It's...about imagination." She breathed, still panting slightly. "You just pick up the water and then once you have a hold over it you picture in your head what you want it to do and it happens." She said.

"That was so cool," Ichigo grinned. "You're really good at this, Rukia."

Her face turned red again. "T-Thanks Ichigo..." She smiled at him, and Ichigo smiled back, feeling his heart flutter at having such a beautiful smile aimed at him.

A few moments passed, the two just smiling at each other, and Renji began to feel uncomfortable. Why was she smiling at Ichigo and not him like that?

"What else can we do?" Renji asked quickly to cut the intimate air between the two. When they broke the stare, Renji made sure to give Ichigo a quick frown to show he wasn't too pleased with the way he looked at the girl he liked like that.

–

By the end of the night Ichigo had successfully turned a full glass of water upside down without spilling a single drop. It was hard, but after two tries he was able to not only lift the glass and spin it upside down, he was able to split his focus and hold the water in place as well. After a couple of times of doing it it became really easy and Ichigo paraded the glass around the room like a champion.

Rukia had accomplished the same thing, but with two glasses at once. Renji had a little more trouble with it, but eventually got the one glass afloat. Then they practiced lifting the water out of their cups and placing it in each others cups. It was very taxing, but when Ichigo and Renji left Rukia's house to return to their homes Ichigo felt much stronger with his ability.

"It's really like a muscle, you know?" Ichigo said to Renji as he drove Renji back to his apartment. "The more we use it the stronger it gets."

"I'll make sure to do mental push-ups when I get home," Renji chuckled from the passenger seat.

"No, seriously man," Ichigo pressed. "You realize it too, right? The more we use it the easier it gets. It takes less focus to do certain things once you do it enough."

Renji nodded. "I understand it. It's like when you lift a twenty pound weight enough you can eventually lift a thirty pound weight."

"Exactly," Ichigo said. "So if we keep using the ability who knows what we'll be able to do in like a year? Ten years? We'll be very powerful."

Renji turned to look out the window, frowning as he mulled this over. Ten years from now he would very powerful...he liked the sound of that.

"Can't wait for ten years then," Renji said lightly, grinning to himself.

"The possibilities are endless." Ichigo said, pulling up towards Renji's apartment building. "We could probably move mountains even!"

"Whoa, man, you're getting a little over the hill there." Renji said, chuckling. "Let's just focus on the now, rather than the then." He said.

Ichigo frowned. "I'm just saying," He said. "These powers...they're a blessing."

Renji nodded his agreement. Ichigo parked his car in front of the stairway leading towards the upper level of the building, ready to let Renji out and head home. But when he pulled up he saw the stairway was occupied by four burly men in winter coats laughing and drinking from booze bottles in paper bags. It was dark, so it was hard to see their faces clearly, but Ichigo knew who they were already.

"It's those wannabe gangsters," Renji said solemnly, his expression suddenly turning dark as he looked at them. "Shit...I hate those guys."

"Just push past them," Ichigo said. "Don't start anything and they won't have a reason to start anything either."

Renji sighed, nodding at his friend before opening the door and stepping out and walking his way towards the stairs. Ichigo stayed in place, gripping the wheel with white knuckles as he watched his friend creep awkwardly towards the stairs.

"Hey! Abarai!" One of the men called as Renji neared. "What are you doing out this late, huh? Coming home from a hot date?"

"What's his name, huh?" Another called, which made all of them laugh.

Renji said nothing, lowering his head as he tried to push by. But just as he was about to reach the first step the man who had first called out to him grabbed his arm and yanked him back.

"What's the hurry man?" The man asked, grinning at Renji with his yellow teeth. "Why don't you hang out with us for a few moments?"

"No," Renji said, jerking his arm free. "Leave me alone, asshole."

All four men stood from their perches and glared at Renji threateningly. Ichigo cursed as he jumped out from his car and yelled at the men, "Hey! Leave him alone!"

The men turned to Ichigo as he rounded his car and walked up to them with a hard scowl. They looked up at his bright orange hair, and immediately broke out laughing.

"Yo! What's up with the hair?" One cracked up.

Ichigo growled viciously, clenching is fists. "What did you say to me?"

"Your hair, dude," Another chuckled. "It's so gay."

Ichigo was about to retort, but just then Renji struck out at the closest man's head and knocked him to the ground. The other three turned in shock at their friend's sudden fall, and Ichigo took the chance to lunge and slam a fist into temple of the man who had called his hair gay. The man stumbled back into one of his friends, who caught him awkwardly and they both fell to the ground in a scrambling heap. The final man growled, charging at Ichigo head first.

Ichigo was ready for him and braced himself as the man tackled him. He wrapped his arms around the man's neck and lifted him off the ground, using the man's momentum to aid his lifting. He raised him high into the air, and then slammed him back down as hard as he could. The man groaned, his nose breaking as it took the brunt of the force.

"You son of a bitch!" Ichigo was blinded sighted as a fist smacked him right in the eye, sending him back a few steps. The guy he had hit before had took Ichigo's momentary lapse to regain his senses from the slamming to attack.

"Ichigo!" Renji moved to help his friend, but was taken by surprise as two of the men stood and grabbed him by the arms and pinned him to the wall, both unleashing a barrage of punches into his gut and chest.

"Shit!" Ichigo cursed as he tried to balance himself, but was knocked to the ground as the man came and punched him again in the jaw. He groaned, tasting blood on his tongue as the thug stood over him and slapped him hard across the face. The world began to spin from the force of the slap, Ichigo's eyes rolling around in wide circles as he tried to focus, but another punch to the face ruined his efforts completely.

In this new spinning world Ichigo caught a few glimpses of Renji being pummeled against the wall as the man with the broken nose stood to punch him in the face. Blood spilled onto Renji's shirt from his cut lip and cut eyebrow, his shoulders jerking back and forth as he tried to break free.

"Ahh..." Ichigo moaned, not knowing what to do as he was pinned. Every time he tried to stand back up he was knocked back down by the grinning man above him. There was nothing he could do, he was trapped in this brutal grip.

Another punch made blood spurt from his lip as it broke against his teeth. Ichigo was ready to let the darkness take him, ready to just limp against the ground and wait until he would wake up and go home and clean himself off like he has done so many times from fights, but just as he closed his eyes he heard a guttural roar and the sound of yelling as the air stiffened and something inside of Ichigo flickered.

His eyes shot open to find Renji standing above the three men who had been brutalizing him, panting with his eyes wide. The men scrambled on the ground, dazed and confused. The man who had been pounding Ichigo stopped to look, and Ichigo finally had the opportunity to regain his wits and kick the man's legs out to send him to the ground.

"What the hell was that?" One of the men Renji had struck yelled, all three standing to stare at Renji in horror.

Renji panted, spitting out the blood in his mouth as he looked down at his hands, shocked by what he had done. He had been so frustrated with being held down, so angry at the injustice of what these men were doing to him. He had felt a pressure building inside, and when he let it loose the men flew off of him by the force of his will.

Suddenly the memory of what he had done to Ikkaku came to the forefront of his mind. He thought of how he had used his power to hurt the teenager who had made him angry, and how easy it had been. He looked up at the men who still stared in confusion, and realized that, with enough focus, he could do the same to them.

Renji reared back a hand, his hand splayed open, and shot it out at one of the men with all of the force he could muster. The closest man was hit hard by the invisible force and went flying through the air, screaming as he slammed against the wall behind him. Everything stopped as all the men, and Ichigo, stared at Renji in shock and horror.

"Renji! What did you do?" Ichigo yelled in shock, his eyes wide. They weren't supposed to use their powers in public in front of people, especially not to hurt them!

Renji ignored Ichigo as he reared back and sent the other two back with the force of his mind. The air crackled with telekinetic energy and the men slammed against the wall with enough force to crack the brick. The men crumpled to the ground, limp and unconscious. The first one to have been thrown tried to stand, but Renji growled and raised his hand, waving it down to force the man's head to slam into the concrete, a sickening crack echoing out.

"Renji! Stop!" Ichigo pleaded as the man who had been beating him began to shake in fear.

"What the fuck is going on?" The man screamed.

Renji turned to him, his eyes burning with anger. Ichigo's eyes widened as he knew what was about to happen, and tried to jump in front of the man to shield him. But he wasn't fast enough, and Renji balled his hand into a fist and punched the air, sending a blast of telekinetic energy at him to crack his ribs and send him flying outwards into the parking lot. His body rolled, a gash opening up on his forehead as it sliced on the asphalt. He didn't move to get up.

Ichigo stared at the still body in the parking lot, his eyes wide and his heart pounding wildly. He turned to Renji, who was panting with his fist still in the air, as if frozen in time. He slowly pulled his fist back, staring at it as if it had mutated into a three headed snake. He shook slightly, his gaze rising up to the men he had defeated. There was a sense of shock, disgust, and fear at what he had just done, but there was something else...it was morbid satisfaction.

Renji looked up at Ichigo, meeting those shocked amber eyes for a brief moment before looking away.

"Renji...what did you do?" Ichigo asked quietly.

Renji said nothing, once again looking around at the scene before turning and running up the stairs to his apartment.

Yes! Renji kicked those guy's asses! I loved writing that part, because it's so fun to explore the idea of what you can do when you can do things with your mind. Though I toned down the brutality, because I didn't want it seem Renji just up and SNAPS and kills the guys. They're alive, just fucked up.

I want to apologize in advance for the next chapter of this story. I'm currently writing a new one-shot for a friend of mine- pamianime- and I kind of want to focus on that a little more since I'm kind of getting into it. It's a new thing for me, I won't say why but you'll see when it comes out. I'm exploring a different style of writing with it and I'm trying to make sure I don't make too many mistakes!

REVIEW!

P.S. I've posted something on DeviantART that I'd like for you all to check out. The link is at the bottom of my profile so go there and you can see it. Thanks!