Marrying Death

Disclaimer: I wish I owned Bleach, but alas, I do not! I do, however own my two OCs, Dani and Jade.

A/N(s): Thank you to anyone who reviewed. Hope you guys liked the first chapter.

~*~

Last time:

"You want me to marry you?"

Renji blushed harder.

"It's not like it has ta be forever or anything! An' ya can leave Soul Society whenever ya wanna!

Dani smiled.

"Ok."

"An' I wouldn't force ya ta do anything ya don' wanna...wait...'ok'..? Did you say yes?"

Dani laughed and nodded her head.

"It's not like I've got anything really interesting to do now that school's out. I just gotta tell Jade..."

Suddenly, she glanced at her wrist. Panic flew across her features.

"Shit! Two hours! Jade!"

With that, she grabbed her bag and took off across the park. She paused, and turned, running on the spot.

"Come on! Hurry!"

Renji snatched up Zabimaru and chased after her...

~*~

Jade stood under the tree, tapping her foot restlessly. She pulled out a pocketwatch and flicked it open.

"Where the hell is that girl? I said two hours...Dani..."

With a huff, she flopped down against the roots of the massive oak. Might as well just wait. Soon, she was snoozing lightly; Math really was hard work...

...

Renji easily caught up to Dani, who had stopped in front of a tree to catch her breath from running. He didn't see the girl sitting against the tree until he tripped over her outstretched legs. A pair of startled pale green eyes met his own crimson ones, and he couldn't help but stare. The girl had the oddest hair he had seen in the real world. It was black, which was fine, but then there were streaks of vibrant blue, violet, and an almost white blonde.(Note: Of course, Renji doesn't know about hair dye!) The girl leapt to her feet, making him take a step back.

"What the hell?! Don't you watch where you're going?! And why the hell are you staring at me?!"

Renji blinked. She was really loud. And really close. However, before he could do more than open his mouth to reply, Dani stepped between them.

"Er...Jade? This is Renji. I met him today in the park."

Jade's gaze slid from Renji to Dani, then back to Renji.

"Uh...Dani? Can I talk to you for a sec?"

Without waiting for an answer, she grabbed the taller girl's arm and dragged her around to the other side of the massive tree.

"Who the hell is that?! And is he seriously wearing a sword? A real sword? AND what were you doing talking to a strange guy in the park? What if he's some kinda creepy perv or somethin'?--"

Dani cut off her string of whispered questions.

"His name is Renji. It looks like a real sword to me. I don't know though, I didn't ask him. He's not some creepy pervert or something. He's a ghost...well, sorta. He explained it, but it's kinda odd. He just appeared in the park and I was the only one who could see him...so we started talking..."

Jade stared at her friend hard for a minute, before nodding stiffly.

"Ok. He's a ghost. Oi! You're a ghost?"

This last bit was spoken around the trunk of the tree and directed at Renji. Renji blinked at the rather direct question, then nodded.

"Ya, I guess. Sorta. I'm a Shinigami."

The two girls stepped back around to his side of the tree.

"A what?"

Dani smiled and winked at Renji, giving him the thumbs up. Apparently, things were going well.

"A Death god, Jade. He helps souls move on, right Renji?"

Renji nodded.

"Eh...right! Right! I help 'em go to where they need ta go. Soul Society."

Jade gave him an unreadabled look.

"And that's where you're from? Soul Society?"

Renji nodded again.

"Hai. I mean, yes."

"Ok...so, why are you here?"

A light went on behind her eyes, and they widened.

"Is one of us gonna die? Or both of us?"

Renji's eyes widened to match her own.

"NO! That's not why I'm here! Nothin' like that!"

"He's here to find a wife."

Jade stared at Dani, completely ignoring the red haired man standing next to them.

"A wife?"

Dani nodded.

"Yup. Apparently, there's a new law in Soul Society, where Renji's from, saying that all higher ranking Death gods have to marry someone from the human world. And since I was the first person who could see him, I told him I'd help him out."

Jade turned purple.

"You WHAT?"

Both Renji and Dani winced. So maybe things weren't going so well after all. Jade spluttered before finally managing a few comprehensible words.

"You two. My place. Now."

Renji and Dani exchanged confused glances as Jade stormed off.

"NOW!"

Jumping in surprise, both of them followed after Jade at a run.

...

Two blocks and three flights of stairs later, and Renji and Dani were exchanging worried looks in the living room of a small apartment. Jade had gone into the kitchen for food fifteen minutes ago. They could hear cupboards being opened and cutlery rattling in drawers. Dani recognized the sound of the fridge being opened and the clink of bottles. What had her worried was that Jade wasn't talking, and the fact that Dani was worried had Renji worried. When Jade finally emerged from the kitchen, Dani sighed in relief. She was carrying a tray with a plate of sandwiches and three glasses of milk. Food was good. Food meant Jade was going to let you explain things while she just ate and listened. Three glasses meant Renji was invited to stay. All without a single word uttered. Jade set the tray down on the coffee table and placed a glass in front of both Dani and Renji. She looked at Renji solemnly.

"Eat. Explain."

Dani grabbed a peanut butter and peach jam sandwich. Renji picked one at random, not really knowing what any of them really were. Glancing at Dani, who smiled encouragingly at him, he began speaking.

"Er...well, I'm Renji Abarai, Lieutenant of the Sixth Division of the Thirteen Protection Squads of Soul Society. Um...the Protection Squads try ta maintain the balance between souls movin' between Soul Society and the real world. Anyways, like I said, there's thirteen Divisions and each Division's got a Captain and a Lieutenant..."

Renji glanced at Jade who sat quietly munching on a ham and mustard sandwich.

"S'like the army. I'm listenin'."

Dani smiled into her own sandwich. Really, this wasn't going so badly. Jade wasn't yelling or rolling her eyes in disbelief. Renji cleared his throat and continued.

"Er...right...well, we've been fightin' this war for a while, and now it's over...we lost a lot of good Shinigami..and well, Central 46, they're the guys that really run everythin', they decided ta pass this new law ta, ya know, bring in new blood or somethin' stupid...anyways, the new law says every male Captain and Lieutenant has ta marry someone from the real world..."

Jade took a long drink of her milk. She carefully put her glass down in front of herself.

"New blood...does that mean you've got to have kids?"

Renji looked completely stumped for a minute, before sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.

"Ah...I'm not really sure 'bout that..."

Jade nodded gravely.

"Well, given your explaination, I think it's kind of a given. I mean, just marrying someone from the 'real world' isn't going the 'replenish the ranks', as it were. So...Dani, even if you're willing to help Renji out. To marry him. Are you okay with having to have kids with him? Renji, are you okay with that? What happens to the Captains and Lieutenants that don't find a wife?"

Dani stared at Jade with wide eyes and Renji hung his head.

"They lose their place in the Divisions. An', ya, I'm fine wit' havin' kids an' all...but I don't wanna force anybody ta do anything they don't wanna..."

They both glanced at Dani, who was tracing patterns on the tabletop, lost in thought.

"So, Renji, you're saying it's Dani's choice..."

Renji nodded.

"Yes."

Jade sighed and took another sandwich off the tray. This time it was peanut butter and jam. She glanced at Renji's uneatten sandwich.

"Eat that."

Renji picked up the sandwich and sniffed it. Jade snorted.

"It's ham and cheese."

Renji still eyed the sandwich critically, but took a bite. His eyes widened and he took another, larger bite.

"S'good."

Jade rolled her eyes, then glanced at Dani. She was still silent, still lost in thought. Renji swallowed nervously and downed the entire glass of milk. Suddenly, Dani leaned over the table and pressed her lips to his. His mouth fell open with shock and Dani used the opportunity to tentatively slide her tongue along his. Jade smirked at the stupefied look on his face and turned away as Renji finally reacted to the kiss, pulling Dani closer and letting his tongue glide over hers. The two stood up of one accord, stepping closer and deepening the kiss, each one tasting as much of the other as they could. Jade coughed when Dani wrapped her arms around Renjis neck and he wrapped his own around her waist.

"You can't have sex in my living room."

They leapt apart, both blushing furiously. Jade grinned and winked.

"At least, not while I'm still in it. God! Could you guys get any redder?!"

She was laughing as she left the room. Renji shifted from foot to foot.

"Eh...Danica...why did ya kiss me?"

Dani seemed to be staring a hole in the floor.

"To see what it was like...to see if we've got any chemistry.."

Renji grinned stupidly at her. She laughed softly.

"Er...Jade? We're not having sex! What're you doing?"

"Packing a few things. My guitar, my notebook, sketchbooks, brushes, you know, the necessities."

Renji blinked and looked questioningly at Dani.

"Er...why...?"

Jade stuck her head into the room.

"Dani's my best friend. And, regardless of chemistry, this isn't gonna be the easiest thing. If you think I'm just gonna let her go off to some freaky Land of the Dead, and get married and have kids, you've got another thing coming. At least, this way, she'll have someone she knows with her."

"Er...but, living people can't go to Soul Society unless--"

"Then I'll just marry some Captain or Lieutenant when I get there. Problem solved."

Dani just laughed at her friend's logic. It was pretty sound. Jade came back into the living room with a canvas messenger bag and an electric guitar.

"I'm guessing clothes aren't gonna be a problem, right?"

Renji nodded stupidly.

"Okay. You need to bring anything, Dani?"

Dani just shook her head.

"Didn't think so. So, how do we get there?"

~*~

Note: And there it is! Chapter 2! What do you think? Is it ok?