A Test of Faith

 

Thanks for reading! Do let me know how you're feeling about the story so far! ;)

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Chapter 2

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"So?" Akari demanded, hands on her hip. She had waited for hours to hear from Rikichi, but he hadn't contacted her. So she simply went over to his quarters and banged on his door.

Rikichi looked sheepish. Scratching the back of his head, he said, "Looks like it's not happening tonight. Hisagi-fukutaicho is not here."

Akari snorted. "Or maybe you just made up the whole thing," she said in a challenging tone. She actually wasn't really here to see her vice captain, and she was not usually so confrontational; but if there was one thing she couldn't tolerate in the world, it was liars.

The truth was, she felt awed by Abarai-fukutaicho. When she first set eyes on that fiery red hair and those fierce tattoos as a new recruit in the division, she was intimidated by the large man. But in the past few months, she had begun to see him in a different light. He may be brash and rough, but he was gentle and surprisingly patient. She noticed the way his eyes shined with pride when new recruits improved under his guidance, and her respect and fondness for him grew.

So when she heard those increasingly ridiculous rumors about Abarai-fukutaicho, she was furious. What had started as a harmless piece of gossip grew into a joke, and the younger division members began to make fun of the vice captain. Oh, you need a pole to reach the top shelf? Go borrow one from Abarai-fukutaicho!

When she eventually traced the rumors back to Rikichi, she confronted him. The young officer was apologetic; he hadn't expected things to go so out of hand when he told a few of his close friends. Like Akari, he revered his vice captain. He had been so excited to have witnessed something so special about his idol that he couldn't help confiding in his friends. Obviously, he had misplaced his trust. But even as he regretted ever telling his friends, he stubbornly stuck to his story that he did witness it. Words were not enough, and Akari challenged him to prove that he was telling the truth.

She was certain that he would try to worm his way out of this, and sure enough, he couldn't prove it tonight. He had sounded so confident that morning, and now he had nothing to show for it.

"Well, they don't do it every night!" Rikichi said defensively. Beautiful as she was, Rikichi disliked the condescending look in Akari's eyes. The way she looked at him made him feel small and useless. He felt looked down upon.

"How convenient," Akari said dryly.

The lights in Abarai-fukutaicho's room were out, she noticed. In fact, it looked like he wasn't at home. Perhaps he slept over at the 9th division sometimes?

"A-abarai-fukutaicho!"

Akari turned sharply at Rikichi's surprised voice. She immediately recognized the familiar red hair and the stark outlines of dark ink against tan skin.

"Hey Rikichi..." Abarai-fukutaicho returned the greeting. He looked troubled for a split second, then his face lit up with recognition and he added, "Hi, Akari."

Akari blushed. He remembers my name! she thought in delight. Who would've known? There were so many members in the 6th division, she didn't expect someone as high-ranked as the vice captain to know everyone by name. But somehow Abarai-fukutaicho knew hers!

She suddenly realized that she was blocking the vice captain's door, and, with an embarrassed smile, she stepped aside. Abarai-fukutaicho gave her a nod and proceeded to fumble with his keys to get inside. It took him a few tries to finally unlock the door, and as he did so, Akari caught a faint whiff of alcohol.

She was surprised. It was a weekday, and it was almost midnight. For someone who had to wake up early the next day to lead a training exercise, this was unexpected. She searched her vice captain's face. No, he wasn't drunk, not even close. But his eyes looked tired. He smiled, but his smile did not reach his eyes. Akari was good at reading people. Abarai-fukutaicho was troubled, but she had no idea why.

Suddenly feeling guilty, she decided to leave. Seeing her vice captain in a sombre mood had killed her intention to pry into his private affairs, at least for tonight. Shooting a glare at Rikichi, she turned around and left hurriedly.

Rikichi stared after the girl. What a pain in the ass, he thought unhappily. But he liked her. Her haughtiness was annoying, but it also intrigued him.

"Goodnight, Rikichi."

Rikichi looked up in surprise at his vice captain's voice. Abarai-fukutaicho was looking at him with a hint of amusement. The man didn't comment on it, but Rikichi felt himself blush. He knew his senpai must have caught the way he had looked at Akari.

"Goodnight, Abarai-fukutaicho," the young man said with an awkward grin. Then the door opened, and Abarai-fukutaicho disappeared into his room. Rikichi continued to stare at the door for a moment. He sighed. It sucked to be put down like this by Akari, but he also sensed that something was off tonight. Rikichi wasn't good at spiritual pressure manipulation yet, but he could tell that his vice captain's spiritual pressure seemed a bit weaker tonight. Well, perhaps weak was not the best description. Dreary, Rikichi decided, a little lifeless. After a few more seconds, he, too, disappeared into his own quarters.

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Renji undressed numbly, dumping his robes on the floor then kicking them aside to clear a path to the bathroom. He had been looking forward to tonight for a whole week. Shuuhei had promised that he would join the guys for dinner, then spend the night at Renji's. They haven't seen each other for a while—what was it, three weeks?—and this was supposed to be a special night for them. It was Renji's birthday.

Renji wasn't big on celebrating birthdays. When one lives for as long as shinigamis, birthdays really didn't hold much meaning. He never cared for it until he knew Ichigo and all the others at Karakura town. Birthdays were apparently an important event in the world of the living; your friends give you presents, bring you a cake and sing songs, and you get to live like a king on that day. It wasn't the material things that appealed to Renji. When Ichigo celebrated his birthday, Renji could see the happiness and sense of belonging in the boy's eyes as he was surrounded by friends and family.

He had felt a little jealous when he saw that. For an orphan like him who grew up in Rukongai, family was a foreign concept. True, he had Rukia and the three friends with whom they grew up, but he never really felt like he belonged anywhere or to anyone. Since he became a shinigami, Gotei 13 was the closest thing to home that he knew. Even Rukia had a family; even though Kuchiki-taicho had rather unconventional ways of showing his brotherly love, Renji knew that his captain loved Rukia with all his heart. Over the years, Renji had come to accept that he would never have the chance to feel like this—to be loved and accepted so unconditionally.

Then, he found it in Shuuhei.

He remembered how silly he had felt when he first told Shuuhei about celebrating their birthdays, which happened to be only two weeks apart. He would kill himself before introducing this...social tradition...to Ikkaku and the rest, plus, he felt that it could be something special that was shared just between the two of them. Shuuhei had been surprised and amused, but seemed fond of the idea. So they agreed, weeks ago, that they would celebrate both their birthdays together, and they would celebrate it on Renji's birthday.

Sure, Renji thought, feeling both a little bitter and embarrassed. Shuuhei had probably regarded it as a frivolous matter and never took it seriously. And here he was, all excited about it like a child. His face burned as he chided himself for being so silly. What with the war and constant work, he shouldn't have even thought of something like this. What did he think he was, a simple, carefree human? He had even gotten a gift for Shuuhei; a custom-made guitar pick in the shade of blue like the tattoo on Shuuhei's face and a tiny jagged pattern on it like Renji's tattoos.

Oh well, he thought. Shuuhei was probably right to not waste time on something insignificant like this, and he really shouldn't, either. They had more important things to do, like training for the war. He should be thinking of matters of life and death, not something small like celebrating birthdays. The more Renji thought about it, the angrier he felt at himself. But still, he couldn't shake off the feeling of disappointment.

With a sigh, he quickly cleaned himself and resigned himself to a night alone.

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To be continued...

NOTES:

If you're wondering "why a guitar pick?", this is based on a reference about Shuuhei in Kubo's "Mask" Bleach character book. It is said that Shuuhei was so intrigued by guitars that he actually bought one and took lessons from Chad.

And for anyone who's new to my stories, I highly recommend reading "Till Death Do Us Part" and "Pride" as they provide more background on how Shuuhei and Renji first got together. References to what Rikichi "witnessed" is explained in "Noisy Neighbor".