Black-and-Red Conflict

as always thanks so much for the reviews! hina88 i think there's been a review from you for almost every single chapter?! aww.... you're really sweet thanks so much XD
lances, thanks very much *blushes*
kitkattcassy: LOL and Muahahahahaha! yes, the envelope with the evil plan.. i left it somewhere on my desk... dammit, i knew i still had it yesterday... and where i take this is actually planned out til the end at least generally, but of course, both of them tend to act up a bit ;)

but now, chapter 17! betaed by MarinLiliz from y!gallery


~~~Seventeen~~~
Training

As a wave of Byakuya's Reiatsu washed over him, Renji's reflexes acted before his mind could ask any more questions. Speed was necessary now and that came best instinctively, thoughts would only be in the way. The whole situation was strange enough though, and the redhead found himself more than once hesitating and receiving the punishment for it in numerous small cuts from the tiny blades that he had not been able to evade or deflect.

After some time Byakuya called back his sword, but did not yet bind it back into its sleek form, letting the cherry blossoms settle around his form slowly. They fell like snowflakes, brushing his jet black hair, pale skin and clothes harmlessly, until they rested softly on the ground. They looked innocent enough, like true cherry blossoms just blown from the nearest grove of trees in spring.

A strange thought crossed Renji's mind at the sight and he almost chuckled. For a moment Kuchiki Byakuya seemed not unlike a certain other captain, who was always in for dramatic effects, though of course nobody in their right mind would ever think of comparing the 6th squad's Taichou and Kyouraku Shunsui. In any case, there was no time to dwell on something like this now.

“It seems you still have not overcome your Shikai's handicap. Why is that?”

The lieutenant frowned at the critic, but then realized that this was Byakuya's normal tone and not necessarily an insult, just the statement of a fact. He lifted Zabimaru slightly, wondering what exactly the other meant.

“Ya mean the three consecutive attacks?”

“Yes. Was this not already the reason Kurosaki Ichigo was able to beat you?”

Renji winced slightly. This sounded as if Byakuya thought him still on the same level as then, which of course, Renji was not. The redhead had gotten much better, or so he told himself, but he had focused his training on his Bankai after he had finally been able to call it forth and had been beaten so terribly while using it for the first time. His eyes narrowed at the one who had done that, before he finally nodded reluctantly and averted his eyes.

“Yeah... kinda. But ya know, he doesn't like it. It...” Renji wasn't sure if he could formulate what he was about to say the right way. He was never sure how to talk about things concerning his sword, about how he knew something but could not place that knowledge anywhere in this dimension. But he remembered how serious Byakuya had taken the fact of his own blade being abducted and decided to go on.
“It hurts him. Zabimaru I mean. The forth attack. It... hurts.”

He braced himself for a harsh retort, something about discipline and making the blade one's servant, but when it did not come he looked up at his captain to see the other nodding. One tiny, light pink blade hovered over a pale hand that had been lifted absent-absentmindedly “They have to grow with us, and have to be understood and cared for well to agree to cross certain borders. To overcome their... fear, if you can call it that.”

A rush of angry energy brushed against Renji's mind, getting the point across that the baboon king and the serpent obviously did not agree with that choice of words at all. But the redhead was too amazed to actually notice much of it. It seemed Byakuya understood him better than he would have thought the captain could. With the way he mastered that beautiful sword of his, people around him somehow tended to think Kuchiki Byakuya had never had problems to make the blade do whatever he wanted. But of course, he had also had to train, had to communicate with his Zanpakutou, had to understand it to reach the point both of them were at today. It seemed he encountered the same problems as Renji, and everybody else, for that matter.

“I... yeah, I-I guess so.” But before Renji could say much more or try to defend Zabimaru, which was shifting slightly in his grip, humming to be send out again for an attack, Byakuya pulled Senbonzakura together with one swift motion of his hand, then sheathed her and stepped closer.

“Well, do not forget your Shikai over your Bankai. Mastery of the first will help you greatly with the second. What about your Kidou?”

Now Renji did really cringe. He called Zabimaru back and then scratched the back of his head and looked sheepish. Byakuya couldn't be serious. Kidou? What the hell!
Somehow the lieutenant had never really managed that part of his trade. The Demon Arts had been one of the few things he was really bad at, and of course Rukia had made sure to remind him that she had always felt those techniques working rather naturally for her. Not for him. Ever.

Of course he had gotten better at the stuff eventually, he could use them if he had to and as long as he remembered the incantations, but he preferred not to. He'd had nasty backlashes when he'd lost focus on his energy before and he preferred to just push it all out by fighting normally. He'd never really seen the sense in molding his Reiatsu into anything but raw power.

A thin and graceful brow, which was lifted upwards slightly, told the lieutenant that Byakuya knew this very well, but was not going to simply let it go like that.

“C'mon... why d'ya even ask? Ya know I suck at it.” He hated having to say that, but he knew it was the truth and he'd rather not burden himself with Kidou right now. It seemed even his ambition was limited. Maybe the captain would let him go if he just swallowed his pride and admitted it outright.

“That is exactly the reason I asked you. And exactly the reason to change that fact.”
So much for being let off easily.

“Awww seriously... Taichou. Why do I have ta bother with it? I get along without it, too.” Renji actually gave an exaggerated sigh, rolling his eyes in a rather childish fashion. The slender eyebrow rose even higher, the corners of the aristocratic mouth rose a tiny bit. The noble wondered for a second when he had stopped being annoyed and started being amused by that tone of voice, that nobody else was allowed to address him with.

“Kidou can make a fight easier. It might end it before you even have to call forth your Shikai. It can help you against more than one opponent at the same time, if you succeed in mastering it. It is unacceptable for the Fukutaichou of the 6th squad not to be able to properly employ Kidou.”

Byakuya spoke like a patient parent might to an unreasonable child. And Renji was acting exactly like that. Now two well-muscled arms were crossed over his chest and he had turned his head to the side, straightened his back and lifting his chin so he could glint down at the dark-haired man from narrowed eyes. Of course he knew his captain was right and that he should train those techniques, but he did not want to spend his time honing a skill he could live without if he reached much better results by working on his Bankai instead.

“Ninth restraint, Geki. Show me.”

Renji stared. “What?... Now? Here? On... on you?”

“Of course.” Byakuya now crossed his arms and cocked his head in turn, mirroring Renji's posture, just, of course, in a much more mature way.

He smiled inwardly. Even though it would never show on his face, he in fact enjoyed this. It wasn't that he liked teaching, not at all. For him time spent teaching someone was, as long as it didn't somehow assist his clan or career, time wasted. But here, now, with Abarai Renji he felt something like satisfaction in it. He did not do it to put the other down, or show him his place or make their difference in level clear, he did it because...

And there, suddenly, suitable words did not come to him and the confusion about it even showed on his face for a moment, just that the redhead was too occupied shuffling around and groaning in annoyance to have noticed.
Because he enjoyed spending this time with Renji. Because he wanted the other to become stronger. Because he cared about him.

As much as Byakuya tried to envision both of them solely as captain and lieutenant now, here, just for the sake of the outer picture, there was no way he could convince himself into believing they were not more. Not after what had happened, not after feeling Renji like he had. Not after they had, overcoming so many conflicts, finally decided to start anew. And to start anew meant, without doubt, to explore that which was not work-related.

Byakuya searched for the usual trace of fear and resentment that should have followed a thought like this, but found only calmness and a hint of curiosity. He had made the first step, he noticed. He had shed the first layer of the armor that kept him separated from the rest of the world. The fact did leave him feeling slightly itchy, but he knew he had the discipline to deal with it.

All the while Renji had decided that there was no point in trying to resist and his face was screwed in concentration as he attempted to comply.

Only the ninth restraint, something that basic shouldn't be a problem even for him, right? He was lieutenant, for heaven's sake, he had managed spells much harder already, though he had to admit luck had always played its part on those rare occasions. But now, being scrutinized by those deep gray eyes, he suddenly found it much harder again to hone the Reiatsu of which he had plenty, into something more than a raw surge of power.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, trying to push away the feeling of being watched. There inside him it was, churning, flowing strong. The energy to which he only needed to give the right form. The enchantment wasn't so simple and he needed some more moments to remember the words, but then held them fast in his mind, until a shape had been created through which he could channel the power. He extended his hand and opened his eyes, then called out, “Ninth Restraint, Geki!”

At first he even believed it had worked. The energy shot out over the few feet distance between them and, wrapping around Byakuya's form, took on the reddish hue that was typical for this spell. Then it pulled together around the other tightly, supposedly paralyzing his movement. But mere moments later the 6th squad's captain lifted his hand and, with a short, wiping motion, dispelled the energy around him with a sudden, heavy burst of his own Reiatsu before he sealed it away again completely.

“Not strong enough,” he said simply, and Renji huffed.

“I told ya before! How could I bind ya anyway? You're a captain. You're... you.” His arms were back in front of his chest defensively and he glared. This was no use at all.

Byakuya's head was cocked slightly at the last two words and he almost smiled.
“That is without relevance. If you let lose the same amount of power you use when you fight in Bankai, you should bind any captain for at least a few seconds. If you don't manage that, your Kidou really is useless.”

Any captain? That estimation sounded like a great overstatement and the lieutenant's reddish eyes widened in disbelief at their truth, as well as at the fact that his captain would say something like that, if he didn't really think so. That left two possibilities: either Byakuya really thought Renji was that strong, or he was trying to... encourage him?

The redhead opened his mouth and closed it again as he didn't find any words to say. He tried to read the dispassionate face and just as he noticed that it was, as usually, futile, Byakuya turned to the side.

“I thought you were so eager to get stronger, Abarai-Fukutaichou, but you avoid training Kidou, because you are not as talented in it, because it would take so much more work for you to improve.”

His voice was not accusing, not cold, but not encouraging either. It wasn't anything, and hence the worst it could be. It made Renji's heart sink. The positive side was, the noble probably really meant what he had said before, about Renji having enough power to restrain a captain, but somehow, right in this moment Renji would have preferred the encouraging lie.

“I'm not,” he replied, and let his arms sink to his side, hands in loose fists, but Kuchiki-Taichou had turned around completely and was slowly walking away from him.

“I'm not,” Renji repeated, growling in frustration and took one step after the other. If the noble was trying to make him feel useless and stupid again, he was definitely doing a great job, as with everything he ever did. He had actually complimented Renji on his good work with the teams today and now he was putting him down again?

The lieutenant swore quietly and closed his eyes, and there, as soon as the darkness of his lids had covered the outside world, he could feel it. The energy he knew so well was burning brightly and clashed heavily against the boundaries experienced Shinigami like him build around themselves automatically. It was there. It waited to be let out, it begged for it, it only needed to be let loose. And the words of the former enchantment were still fresh in his mind, their clear form still remained and all he had to do was push a little bit here and probe a little bit there and suddenly, everything felt right.

“Ninth restraint: Geki!”

His Reiatsu shot out, bright red, and with such force that Renji gasped and for a moment thought it would rebound on him as it had done so many times before. But the enchantment held without fail and the redhead realized in awe that this was true Kidou. As complete control over something raw and strong, it was not unlike the feeling of when he had held Zabimaru's Bankai for the first time. It was breathtaking.
And it worked.

Byakuya stood motionless amidst the red light that had surrounded him in only moments. The power seemed to crackle over his skin, it seemed to hum through his bones and flesh, and as much as he should have expected it, the fact that he could feel Renji in it made his breath hitch, his skin tingle and his heart beat heavily against his chest.

This should have been unpleasant. Restraints generally were. Even if this spell didn't actually injure its target, it sent shocks through the body when it hit and then pulled around its victim so tightly that it became very hard to breath. But this... Byakuya hissed, too quietly for Renji to hear. There had been the shocks of course, and the paralysis, but beyond that was so much more. There was Renji, his essence. His fire, wild passion, strong pride and heat. And the memory of the pleasure of having him.

It felt like hours until the noble was able to resist and raise his own spirit energy high enough to break the spell. But he had only been restrained for slightly more than half a minute and as he turned his head around, careful not to let the other notice how shaken he really was, a wide grin greeted him. For a second Byakuya was worried that the redhead might have noticed about the noble's reaction to the restraint, but then he reminded himself that this wasn't possible. Renji was simply proud he had succeeded and Byakuya agreed. That had probably been better than anything the lieutenant had managed in Kidou before. Now that he had crossed this border, it shouldn't be too hard for him to go further and become stronger in this discipline as well. The noble felt proud.

He nodded, and then, slowly, smiled.
“Yes, Renji.”

A voice deep and full with emotion and praise. Alluring and dark.
The moment that his name was said like this by Byakuya, Renji realized that he did not care anymore what had happened between them before. He would do anything to have this man.


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