It is September 2, the closest Saturday to both August 31 and September 3, which means it is Renji and Orihime's Birthday (observed). I started writing this fanfic two years ago, I think, and got stuck, but I found it recently and it seemed Extremely Finish-able, and it turns out that it was. So, hey, please enjoy this story about parallel pining (when you and your buddy to together to pine about your love interests).
Title from the song Moscow, by Autoheart.
Orihime sat on the front steps of the Urahara Shouten, waiting.
She wasn't sure exactly what she was waiting for, but it didn't feel like there was anything for her to do at the moment. It did feel like she had screwed up her big shot at being a hero, at being helpful to Ichigo, at being… at being something. But it was okay, because Rukia had shown up, just at the perfect time, as always. She had given Ichigo his powers back, and all was right with the world once again. Orihime felt like she was an extra, playing a bit part, sitting on the side, waiting for the famous actors to come back for their big scene so the cameras could start rolling again.
"Yo! Orihime!"
Orihime looked up suddenly at the familiar friendly, booming voice. "Oh! Hi, Renji!"
Her second-best shinigami friend was striding into the weird, tucked-away courtyard in front of the Shouten.
"Rukia about?" he asked casually.
Orihime's jaw twitched. "She and Ichigo went to look for Riruka. I… don't think they're going to find her." She felt sad about that, of course, but she also had a feeling Riruka would turn up again eventually. Sometimes you just needed a little time to lick your wounds.
Renji threw himself down on the steps next to her, stretching out his long legs. "Eh, it's been two years. They need the time to catch up on insultin' each other." He interlaced his fingers behind his head. "I could use a sit-down anyway. 'Join the Sixth,' they said, 'It's classy', they said. But then they need a body dragged through the dangai, and it's good ol' Renji for the job, eh?"
Orihime was quiet. She had never really warmed up to Ginjo, but she still hadn't decided how she felt about the way everything had fallen out in the end.
Renji tipped his head down to look at her. "Good to see you, too, by the way." His eyes skimmed over her for a moment, and Orihime wondered what he was looking at. "You been lifting?"
Orihime straightened up, rather surprised that he had noticed. "Yes! Tatsuki and I joined Chad's gym!" She pushed up her sleeve and flexed her bicep. It bulged very distinctly, which Orihime was quite proud of.
"Nice!" Renji exclaimed, flashing her a big grin.
Renji had always been a big guy, but it occurred to Orihime that he was huge now. When she had first met him, when she and the boys and Yoruichi went to Soul Society to rescue Rukia, Renji had exuded a sort of lean gangliness, always slouching, always scowling. There had been a change in him by the next time she saw him- he stood straighter, smiled more, seemed to take up more space. Now, he was positively massive. Hulking, even.
"You too?" she asked.
Renji looked a little insulted. "Orihime, I've been lifting since before you were born."
Oops. "Well, it's paying off!" she declared.
Renji chuckled, his irritation short-lived. "Thanks. I think. I probably just look bigger because I been growing hair."
He definitely had been growing hair-it was halfway down his back now- but Orihime was sure that wasn't all it was. Rukia had told her once, when they were training in Soul Society, that gaining strength in a soul body wasn't simply a matter of exercise and diet, but of will and self-confidence. Byakuya, for example, wasn't confident because he was strong- he was strong because he was confident. He believed, with every ounce of his being, that he was better than everyone else, and so it was true. Rukia said that it was possible to become strong out of a desire for revenge, or a drive toward a goal, but that there was also a lot to be gained just by surrounding yourself with people who loved you, by finding your place in the universe. Orihime wondered… if maybe…
"How are things in Soul Society?" she asked, her voice masked with false brightness. "How are you and Rukia doing?"
A strange look passed over Renji's face and his arms fell to his sides. "Ah, we're, uh, good! Everyone's good! Rukia's a lieutenant now! That's, uh, that's been fun." He rubbed at his right wrist absently. "She's, uh, been helping me with my kidou. I'm the world's slowest learner, but I haven't had a misfire in months."
They weren't together.
Orihime wasn't always good at reading other people correctly, but she would recognize that stammering attempt to put a sunny face on things anywhere. It could have come out of her own mouth.
"How 'bout you?" Renji asked. "What else you been up to besides gettin' swole?"
"Oh, uh, I have a part-time job now," Orihime replied. "At a bakery! I get paid to make cookies, can you believe it?"
"Sounds like a pretty good deal," Renji agreed. "Do you get to bring home leftovers? Jeez, I'd be anglin' for best friend status if I lived closer."
"You would think, wouldn't you!" Orihime exclaimed, and abruptly flushed bright red. "Some people aren't appreciative of their good luck."
Renji snorted and chuckled. "Never count on a teenage guy to appreciate what he's got. Believe me, I used to be one." He leaned back on his elbows thoughtfully. "I wanna amend what I said earlier. The last year. It's probably been the best year I've ever had."
"Were you not being properly appreciative?" Orihime asked, trying to sound judgemental.
"I am a fully grown old dead dude and I was not being properly appreciative," Renji agreed.
Orihime loved Rukia with all her heart, she really did, but somehow, she had a hunch that Renji was not the one who was not being properly appreciative. Orihime nudged her toe in the dirt. "You're very patient," she said very softly.
"Ain't got anywhere else to be," Renji shrugged. "The other thing that happened in the last year is that my captain has decided his sister is the most perfect person in the whole damn afterlife. He won't even yell at me if I tell him we we took so long gettin' back because I was waiting on her."
"That wasn't what I meant," Orihime replied.
"I know," Renji replied. "Hey, Orihime?"
"Yes?" Orihime responded glumly.
"I heard that you got a new move."
That wasn't what she had expected. "Huh?"
"An attack shield?"
"Oh, yes! Shiten Koushun!"
Renji gave a little head jerk toward the shop. "Can I see it? And by see it, I mean, do you want to fight?"
Orihime sat up straighter and gave a little eep! "You want to…fight... with me?"
Renji rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Here's the thing. In the Gotei, especially in Squad 11, where I learned most of my fightin', everyone puts a huge emphasis on offense. But I've found lately that I'm actually a lot more useful fightin' with a partner- usually my captain, but Rukia, too- when I hold the line for 'em. It's not fancy or flashy, but it's important, and it… it suits me, I guess. I don't much meet other people who specialize in defense, and I like to pick stuff up where I can."
Orihime's eyes went wide. "You think you're gonna learn something from me?"
"If you don't mind. I understand if you're too tired or-"
Orihime grabbed his elbow and leapt to her feet, hauling him up with her. "Let's GO!"
Orihime grinned and gritted her teeth as the red blasts of energy pounding against her shield began to fade. That should be the end of- abruptly, a huge snake vertebra bounced off in the aftermath of Renji's Hikotsu Taihou. Orihime laughed as three more followed.
"Stop cheating!" she hooted.
"It ain't cheatin', it's desperation!"
The fact was, the first time it knocked him on his ass, Renji had discerned that Shiten Koushun had a big weakness. In the moment after it exploded, Orihime's fairies were scattered, and it took a few moments to reform her shield. This did not stop him from letting it knock him on his ass a second time, but he'd immediately started peppering her with secondary strikes. She'd never really considered it before, but Orihime then realized that she didn't need to trigger the explosion on the first strike. In fact, the more kinetic energy her shield absorbed, the more riled up Tsubaki would get.
Another vertebra came winging in from the side, and Orihime swept an arm around to extend her shield to block it. It lost some strength the more she stretched it out, but she didn't think Renji could pull off another Hikotsu Taihou without reforming Hihiou Zabimaru. Orihime was pretty sure she could refocus her shield more quickly than he could do that. That might be fun to test, actually.
Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Renji swinging his arm forward. This is it, she thought, "Tsubaki, NOW!"
A waraji bounced off her shield, and it detonated, sending a bundle of flaming straw zinging backwards, directly into Renji's face.
"Renji!" Orihime howled. "Why would you throw your shoe at me?!"
"I ran out of things to throw!" Renji howled back, clutching his sides, he was laughing so hard. He fell backwards onto his rear end, slapping the burning sandal against the ground, trying to put it out. "You didn't have to set it on fire! Ah, shit!"
Orihime ran up to him. "My shield had too much kinetic energy stored in it! I'm sorry! I can reject the damage!"
Renji started wheezing. "You… you can reject it!"
Orihime sank into a squat next to him. "Please don't make fun of me. I said I was sorry."
Renji abruptly stopped laughing. "I wasn't making fun of you," he replied, very very seriously. "I was making fun of me." He punched her lightly in the shoulder. "You're amazing, kid."
Orihime's cheeks burned. "That's not true! You saw the flaw in my attack right away."
Renji looked surprised. "I'm a trainer, Orihime. I spend three quarters of my time picking apart peoples' attacks and trying to help them get better. You started compensating for it almost immediately, which shows better initiative than the dumbasses in my squad who would rather double down and argue with me over it. I mean, you've had that move, what a month or two?"
Orihime nodded self-consciously.
Renji cracked his neck. "'Sides, you're a team player. In a real fight, that attack would knock me back and then Ichigo would stab me in the face. Me reverse-engineering your shield would be less of a concern."
"Oh, Ichigo doesn't really need my help!" Orihime squeaked. "I mostly wanted to develop this so he didn't have to worry about me, you know! I suppose I could probably cover Uryuu, though. That might be helpful?"
Renji regarded her for a moment, his brown eyes very level and serious. "You want some old guy wisdom from someone who has just rediscovered partner-fighting in the last two years?"
"Okay," Orihime agreed, her voice smaller than she would have liked.
"It's possible I learned this playing futsal, but it applies, either way. The defense has got to be trustworthy. Everyone knows that. We gotta be absolutely solid, Orihime, you an' me, because when people like Rukia and Ichigo go all out, they cannot be thinking around angles and watching the exits, y'know? They're goin' too fast, firing on all cylinders. But. We gotta trust them, too. The defense doesn't win the game, the offense does. It's hard, you see, because they don't have time to look back at us and be reassuring. It's their job to win. So us defense, we just gotta have faith in 'em." Renji's eyes took on a faraway look, and his mouth quirked up on one side. "Fighting with Rukia is the greatest thing in the heckin' world. She's gotten so fast and so strong and she fights so beautiful, it's like she's dancin'. She's incredible."
"I bet," Orihime said softly. She remembered watching Ichigo in action, moving like liquid fire. It was awesome, she thought, how Renji could just appreciate Rukia without being scared for her.
"Don't get me wrong," Renji went on. "We still lose sometimes. We lose a lot, actually, because we're idiots who pick fights with people bigger'n us, but even if it doesn't always go the way I might hope, I know that Rukia wouldn't hang me out to dry. She pretends she doesn't, because we gotta look like tough guys, but she knows full well how much skin I got in the game. Does that make sense?"
"Not exactly," Orihime confessed.
Renji nodded. "I'm saying you're more useful than you think. I'm sayin' that you can't really know how useful, until you let someone depend on you." He tipped his head toward her. "I'm sayin' that you and Ichigo would make great fighting partners, and I think you should give it a try."
Oh.
"The thing is," Orihime said, poking her index fingers together, "I don't… I don't know how to get there. I would… I would love to be Ichigo's backup. I know how he fights, how he always steps off from his right foot and that his eyes aren't quite as fast as the rest of him when he's in bankai, so he needs help looking out for things, and that he gets really hangry when he's been fighting. I like him so much, Renji, and I just want to be helpful to him, but I don't know how to say, 'I am a good and strong person, you can depend on me!'" Her shoulders slumped. "But I don't think I am strong enough. Not yet."
Renji was quiet for a moment, and when Orihime looked up, there was a look in his eyes she couldn't read.
"You probably think I'm being silly," she mumbled.
He frowned and came back to himself. "No! No, absolutely not! I mean, I think you're wrong. The problem with waitin' to feel strong enough is that your bar for 'strong enough' is always gonna keep getting higher, no matter how strong you get. But also, I get it. I think everyone feels like that sometimes. That's why we train, right? And that's why we train together? I mean, Ichigo just got his powers back, he's gonna be all outta practice. And as a guy who spent one million hours lettin' Chad punch my bankai in the face, I tell you, your powers are super useful for practicing attacks against! That was interesting, right there at the end, by the way, the way you stretched your shield like that. Do you think you could split it into multiple shields?"
Orihime blinked at the sudden redirection. She didn't know if he was trying to distract her, or if his brain just jumped around like hers did, when she got excited about things. But also- "I don't know!" she exclaimed. "But I noticed that it got weaker the more I stretched it! I wonder if multiple small shields with space between them would get me the same coverage for more strength!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" Renji agreed. "And for something like Ishida's twelve-thousand, three hundred and seventeen arrows attack, you'd probably want the more solid coverage, but for something like a giant bone snake comin' atcha, it's gonna be the strength of the shield, not the size, right?"
"Well, it all depends on how it scales," Orihime replied, scrunching her forehead. "I don't even know if I can do it yet!"
"Don't you want to find out?" Renji jumped to his feet. With a snap of his wrist, all the segments of Hihiou Zabimaru jumped into the air and abruptly reassembled themselves with a very loud CHNK-CHNK-CHNK-CHNK-CHNK.
A thrill chased down Orihime's spine. She loved it when Renji's bankai did that. She stood up, cracked her shoulders, and formed a Shiten Koushun. She contemplated its faceted form for a moment. Even though she didn't need to manifest her fairies anymore, the individual points of power still formed the vertices. How could she split her shield into parts? Tsubaki, she thought inwardly. You can access both sides of my shield. Can you…put a twist in it? Like a Mobius strip?
A perturbed grumble came back, and suddenly her shield split into something that looked like an airplane propeller, with three slices of shield separated by three triangular gaps. "Oh!" she exclaimed.
"It looks cool!" Renji called out. "Does it feel strong?"
Orihime tried to gauge her power flowing into the shield. "I'm…I'm not sure!" she admitted. "I'm not actually sure this is useful at all!"
"One way to test it!" Renji crowed, and Hihiou Zabimaru made a little- well, big- chompy motion.
"Maybe you should throw your other shoe at me or something first!"
"That sounds boring! Also, I can't be losing two shoes in one day. This'll be fun!"
"Renji, nooooo! I'll die!" she wailed dramatically, as she tried to keep from cracking up.
"Aw, c'mon, the worst that'll happen is you'll go for an unexpected Zabi-ride!"
"What the hell are you doing, Lieutenant Dumbass?!"
The laughter abruptly died on Orihime's lips as Ichigo's voice echoed through the underground training area, and she really did let her shield dissolve.
If Renji made any attempt to explain, Orihime missed it, because Ichigo was examining her up and down as if he expected her to be missing a limb or two. She realized it had been a long time since she had seen that doofy looking scowl on his face, utterly ruined by the concern in his eyes.
"We were just goofing around," she reassured him with a giggle. His face was so cute and funny like that, she couldn't help it.
"If he's in bankai, he's hardly goofing around," Ichigo scolded, but his anger was mostly directed over his shoulder. "I can't believe that guy. Are you okay, Inoue?" Ichigo looked back at her, and Orihime was momentarily struck speechless by how soft his expression looked.
"I'm in bankai 'cause she was kickin' my ass!" Renji called back plaintively.
"Looks like you got the start of a shiner there, buddy," Rukia added, poking at his face.
"Ow, ow! My wound, Rukia, my wound!"
"And what happened to your shoe? Cripes, I can't take you anywhere."
As hard as it was to tear her eyes away from Ichigo, Orihime slowly leaned to the side to peer past him. Despite their teasing words, there was an easy comradery between Rukia and Renji. Maybe it wasn't everything Renji wished it could be, but he was right- what they had was pretty good. Orihime sure wouldn't mind having something like that herself.
"Are you?" Ichigo pressed. "Okay? Inoue?"
Orihime's attention snapped back to him. "Of course!" she announced, summoning up all of the Good Battle Partner Energy she could manage. "I was just giving Renji some defensive tips!"
Ichigo's head whipped back and forth between Orihime and Renji, like he thought they were pulling one over on him. "Really?"
Renji dismissed his bankai and sheathed his sword. "You don't need to look so shocked about it," he sniffed. "We've been trying out a split offense-defense thing lately, both me an' Rukia and me an' Captain Kuchiki. It's working pretty good, but you start to give a Kuchiki a little back-end support and they just start going even more apeshit than usual. Don't tell the captain I said that."
"I am definitely going to tell him you said that," Rukia declared.
"Anyway, I'm trying to up my game. Of course I'm gonna ask Orihime for tips."
Ichigo pressed his lips together in a flat line. "Well…well! She's just been through a lot! She's supposed to be resting!"
"Oh, I've had enough rest," Orihime flapped a hand at him. "I'm strong as a horse."
Behind Ichigo's back, Renji suddenly flexed one arm and pointed to his bicep frantically.
Orihime immediately made a very serious face and flexed both arms.
Ichigo's eyes went wide and his face turned progressively pinker. He looked like he might fall over.
"Wow!" Rukia exclaimed. "Have you been lifting?"
"Yes! I have!" Orihime announced.
Ichigo pressed his lips together and looked like he was trying not to explode.
Rukia smiled, but it seemed a little sad. "You'll have to tell me all about it next time, okay? I wish we could stay longer, but we've already stayed longer than we were supposed to."
Ichigo took one last, lingering look at Orihime's sick guns before recomposing his Angry Eyebrows and turning the full force of them on Rukia. "'Next time' better be a lot sooner than seventeen months this time!"
"It will. I promise."
"You tell Yamamoto what I told you to tell 'im!"
"I will tell Captain Ukitake and Brother what you told me to tell him. I'm not using language like that to the Captain-Commander's face."
"I might have more things to tell 'im. I'm not done figuring out all the things I'm mad about."
"Take your time. Things still move pretty slow in Soul Society. I'm sure Urahara will be happy to pass it along for you."
Ichigo sucked his teeth for a long moment. "Okay. It was good to see you."
Rukia's eyes softened, and as usual, Orihime couldn't believe how pretty she was. "Take care of each other, okay? Sado and Ishida, too."
Ichigo glanced back at Orihime. "Ah, yeah. Of course. Um, same to you two."
"Pfft!" Rukia scoffed. "Don't waste your worries on the Gotei-13's Greatest Lieutenant Team-up!"
Ichigo shook his head. "Why do you always follow up your 'don't worry's with the most horrifying combination of words possible?
Rukia snorted. "Goodbye, Ichigo."
Renji waved. "See ya, 'Hime! Keep up the hard work! It'll pay off, I know it!"
Orihime waved back. Her heart still felt a little tender, but maybe that was just a hazard of having a big, squishy heart. And maybe that wasn't such a bad thing to have. "Thanks!" she said. "You, too!"
As Rukia and Renji headed for the exit, Orihime could already hear Rukia pestering Renji for details on what they had been practicing.
Ichigo shook his head. "Weirdos. At least they put up with each other."
"A solid battle partnership is not something to take lightly," Orihime declared solemnly, putting her hands on her hips.
Ichigo looked at her for a long, long moment before one side of his mouth tipped up into a half-smile. "Yeah. Yeah, that's for sure. Maybe that's something that I…" He trailed off uncertainly before abruptly clearing his throat. "Renji said something about splitting up into offense and defensive capabilities? That sounded kinda interesting."
"You know," said Orihime, "I thought so, too."