Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. If I did, there'd be canon pairs—a lot of them.

A/N: This previously-angsty-one-shot got converted to a full-fledged TatsuRen hate-story. I had an abstract idea as to their encounter so yeah, this was the product. It's just coming in absolutely random tidbits.

Insane

"What the hell, crazy woman?" the red-head twists her arm behind her back. He wouldn't just let her walk away after being punched like that. Forget humiliation. Abarai Renji has always been the curious kind. Besides, it's been quite a while since he's been punched like that. Sure, it hurt like bitch. Last he remembers, it was Rukia—that midget sure is a monster—who punched him this hard. Oh, Renji can so make people mad. But, wow, this time it didn't even take effort.

"Let go of me," the girl growls, trying to wriggle out of his hold. Maybe one punch wasn't enough to vent out the frustration she's been keeping bottled up for so long. But that just made her decide things. And now, she's really so damned eager to walk past the Kurosaki house. If only the delinquent, red-haired, tattoo-freak, shinigami scum would take his filthy hands off of her.

"You don't just crash into random strangers and punch them when they offer you help," he says, twisting her arm just a bit harder. Not that he enjoys bullying people. But he just doesn't understand what to make of this kind of bizarre human behavior. "Last I checked, that's downright rude."

"What do you want?" oh, that's a stupid question indeed. After all that they have taken away, there isn't much they should be needing, is there? And he calls her rude. Hypocrite. That's the kind of company Ichigo's been with… no wonder he's become one of them. But she has decided… she isn't giving a damn anymore. Now, if only the monkey-face would let her go.

"What do I want?" he grimaces. Women in the world of the living are strange creatures. Really. Not that he knows many. There's one he knows… who makes almost impossible food—if you can call it food at all—with god-knows-what ingredients. Now, there is this one, who punches random guys—and punches them real hard—and tries to walk away, nonchalant. It's settled then, he really doesn't need to know more than two. Now, what he wants is something very simple—not just in human terms. "An apology maybe…?"

"Forget it," she says, voice steady. Though there's so much of anger seeping in in her acid voice. So much malice. She almost didn't know it existed there. And she's so, so bitter… it's as if she's a different person altogether. Almost can't recognize her own self. "I will never forgive you Shinigami scum."

"What the… I ain't apologizing, woman. I'm asking for your apology," uh-huh, there's been an apparent misunderstanding with the words. But then—oh… Renji has always been a little slow on the uptake… but this has to be complete foolishness. He's been talking to a human girl, not even realizing the fact. "You—you can see me…"

"News flash!" she mutters, tugging at her arm but he's still gotten such a freakin' tight grip on her, it's almost starting to hurt.

"I—I mean… you can see me and… wait you know about shinigami?" he wonders if his brain's rusting. So, so slow on the uptake. "How…?"

"Just my luck I happen to know a certain strawberry," she rolls her eyes. She didn't really need to tell him. But the guy looks so clueless, she almost feels sorry for directing all her hate on him. Almost.

"O-oh…" he stares at her. Yes, now he realizes why she looked kind of familiar. He's seen this girl around with Ichigo and Orihime. She goes to the same school. It's almost like that one punch has rather brought her out of that background he associated with Ichigo and his pack of unusual friends. So… Renji has only been to their school like—what—once or twice…? Now, he's an expert when it comes to making people mad… but he has to think back on what he could have possibly done to piss this midget off. There isn't any particular incident he can place her with. Heck, he doesn't even remember her name— "Kurokawa… Ayuzawa?"

She just about wants to punch him again but then there is this deafening roar that completely throws them off. And then the monster materializes ten feet away. One of those kinds that she's seen them fight once in a while. Oh, she hates those ugly creatures.

"Hold on," the red head hauls her up easily with one arm. The revenge for the punch could come later. He'd just completely forgotten about why he'd been there in the first place. The hollow alert. Apparently Ichigo and Rukia had been quite busy. So the responsibility falls on him. Right. Need to take care of the hollow first.

"Put me down, you…" she struggles, throwing him off-balance and landing on her knees.

"Wait, you need to get away from here," he shouts. The girl just hardly throws him a glance. So defiant. So, so freakin' stubborn. Renji has to admit, if anything, she must be as good at getting onto people's nerves as he is. Ichigo sure has some tough luck. "You don't know those creatures…"

"Sure I do," she says, nonchalantly. She wouldn't really want to appear stupid. And before the guy can reach out, she's already launched herself at the hollow, throwing all the kicks and punches that she can. That frustration that she's let build inside for so long. Great time to get rid of it. The red-head just gapes with open mouth as she climbs up and up, hitting the hollow with all the power. If she were a shinigami, he could swear Sui Feng taichou would love her. And her punches must hurt like bitch. Because the monster is howling and getting more agitated by the minute.

She's just almost exhausted all her punches on the ivory-hard mask of the hollow, she's sure she's gonna hit the sidewalk—hard—as it flings her off like a fly that's been persistently annoying for a while.

Only, the impact she's bracing herself for never comes. The red-head catches her clean against his chest as his other hand swings the zanpakutou—now extended in its crazy jagged shape—and slashes the hollow in half.

"Has anyone ever told you…" he says as they watch it crumble to dust and fade, "… that you're insane?"

Tatsuki could grunt, punch him again, or just walk away—each of which sound like equally good options. The last thing she wants right now is a lecture on how stupid that was. Sure, she's insane. Ichigo must tell her that. Orihime must tell her that. It was just so hard to stand there doing nothing after seeing that monster. The whole episode of Orihime protecting her flashed by and Tatsuki has decided she's so, so done with that. Done with being so incapable. Done with being the protected one all the time. Nonetheless, they must say she's insane.

Only, when she actually looks at him, the shinigami is grinning ear-to-ear as if he's seen, like, the most amusing show this world had to offer. So, she guesses there isn't any lecture about her being careless coming straight out of that mouth. She decidedly likes insane better. Very well, she can do insane.

"Or you could just say… I'm strong," she throws a casual punch but the element of surprise must not be on her side any longer. Or maybe the red-head just has good instincts because he dodges it without wasting a wink.

"Yeah, well…" he grins. Strong. That's one thing Abarai Renji respects. Well, some habits from the eleventh division just always remain with you. Strong can do. That settles it then. He's been so, so bored cooped up in that tiny room of Ichigo's and killing hollows for any fun. Yep, he decides strong can do. "Care to demonstrate?"

Tatsuki has to admit she's never been so impressed by anyone cracking his knuckles at her. Only, it's the middle of a street and he's a goddamned shinigami. Not to mention, she just barely has enough energy to take the shortest way back home.

"Sure," she says and there's this glint in her eyes that completely does him in. He doesn't know why or what it is that she has against shinigami… but she must really, really hate his race so much. Which means he better prepare for it or he's going to get his ass kicked—and kicked real hard. "Come find me at the dojo when you want."

"Right," he smirks as the spikey-haired girl starts walking away, not once looking back at him.

"The name's Arisawa, by the way. Arisawa Tatsuki,"

"Abarai Renji."

"Right."

"Insane," they mutter under their breaths as they walk away in opposite directions, not sparing another glance.

A/N: well, that was more conversation than I'd really expected. I'm wondering if Tatsuki is a bit OOC here—what with all that angst and all. I guess, that's my own frustration for her character coming out.

In any case, yay to my first multi-chapter TatsuRen! It's been long overdue, considering I ship these two so hard. And I love hate-stories.

Well, anyway, thank you for reading.

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