Children of the Stars

RECAP:

A hiss slid through her teeth as she struck the side of a bed, landing ungracefully atop it. ‘Better this than the floor I suppose.’ He was already leaving, completely disregarding her now. Before the door shut behind him she managed to squeeze in the last word with satisfaction.

“My place lies high above your own, little man.” The last thing she saw was the dark look on his face, the vehemence seeping through into the open now.

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Chapter 4

Rolling his shoulders, Renji mentally shook himself. The sooner he got home and into bed, the better. He should stop by the 4th to have his shoulder looked at, but he really didn’t want the hassle. ‘Tomorrow’ he told himself. Maybe a good night’s sleep would help him forget this incident. She would stay safely locked away in the tower and he could go on with his life, removing her and her sister from his mind. He had to admit though, she got the Captain good.

The man was quietly fuming, his fists clenched together tightly. There was something a little satisfying about seeing the great head of the Kuchiki Clan brought down a peg. It was something he was only allowed to do in his mind, actually voicing it would get him killed. So he hid the smirk, forcing his face to remain blank when Byakuya turned around to glare at him. Of course, he would turn to the most convenient target since she was now safe from his ire.

“Return to your quarters Lieutenant Abarai. You are dismissed.”

A tattooed brow twitched, threatening to rise in surprise at escaping his wrath so easily. He managed a curt nod before fleeing from his sight. He did not release the breath he had been holding until he was well enough away from the other man and then it came out all in a rush.

“Man, this has been one hell of a night…” he muttered to himself as he ran home, skipping from roof to roof.

“Could use some freakin’ sake, and lots of it!”

High above him, well out of sight, a dark form floated in the sky. It followed his movements with a watchful eye, using the black shadow of a moonless night to its full advantage.

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‘How dare that woman speak to me in such a way! I do not care who she thinks she is, she will learn to show me the proper respect! The nerve of her…the gall. She cannot expect to get away with attacking high ranking officers. Surely Yamamoto will have her executed. He would be upholding the law, as he should. I will gladly see to it that both women are eliminated as expediently as possible. They have only brought chaos, violence and dissent with their arrival.’

Byakuya’s thoughts raged on in his head as he sped towards home, unfinished work on his desk completely forgotten. That cocky smile of hers burned into his mind, fuel for the fire.

It also helped him ignore the fact that she seemed much like a Shinto goddess, like Tsukiyumi, only as a woman. ‘Tsuki-san’ he thought to himself with a smirk. They both seemed to deplore nicknames. She would despise that and never see the hidden compliment in it. He frowned at himself. Why would he even think of complimenting her?

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“Oi! Renji!”

He had almost made it to his quarters when he heard his name. Groaning, he skid to a halt, turning towards the voice. He was hungry and tired, wanting nothing more than to shovel down some rice and curl up in bed. Instead he waved at his friend, forcing a smile to appear on his weary face.

“Konbanwa, Shuhei” he called back. His friend popped up in front of him now, a jar of sake in one hand and two cups in another.

“I heard Captain Kuchiki kept you late, figured you could use some of this.”

He couldn’t help but smile at that. Shuhei Hisagi had always been such a good friend to him. Clapping him on the shoulder, his smile came naturally now.

“You don’t know the half of it my friend. Not even a fourth!” Grinning, the two men walked into his apartment, Renji already filling him in on the events of the night.

Finding a perch outside his window, the crow landed softly, peering inward with curious golden eyes. The other man’s appearance had put a kink in her plans, but it allowed her time for reconnaissance. ‘Know your enemy like you know yourself’ she thought, black head bobbing up and down lightly as she watched.

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“So what you’re telling me is you and Captain Kuchiki stumbled across two lost, beautiful women and you threw them in a jail cell.” the dark haired man said with a chuckle.

“With Kuchiki-Taichou, that shouldn’t surprise you, Shuhei” replied the redhead.

“Good point. That guy has a permanent stick up his ass.”

Renji stared into his empty cup, a moment before refilling it. “I don’t know why, but I feel like shit for it. Like it could have ended better for them if we hadn't hunted that Neko woman down, or at least if I hadn’t kicked her like that. I did attack first, she was only defending herself.”

Outside the window, Tessah muttered inwardly ‘Its Tessah you idiot and damn right I was defending myself! What did you expect me to do after planting your foot in my hip?!’

“Not much you can do about it now Renji. You know how Captain Kuchiki is. He’s so in love with the law you’d think he sleeps with it.”

Renji snorted in response.

“Too bad the law doesn’t love him back. He needs to get laid” Shuhei continued.

Renji laughed now “Don’t we all?”

A wicked grin appeared on his friend’s face. “Maybe you do, me, I’m more than happy with what I’ve got.”

A tattooed eyebrow rose along with the corner of his mouth. “I don’t even want to know about it.”

Renji sighed and stared at the wall. “The Neko chick…you should have seen her Shuhei. She looked like Marisha-Ten reborn or something. Just fucking perfect. Her face, her body…had lots of spunk too.”

Now Shuhei had to laugh. “Sounds like you’ve got it bad if you think she looks like a damn goddess.”

“She does! You didn’t see her, didn’t fight her. She’s pretty damn strong too. Old man Yama had to release a good bit of reiatsu to slow her down.”

Shuhei rocked back on his elbows “Damn. That’s pretty impressive. That guy can just look at you and fry your brain. Hn. Maybe she is Marisha-Ten. You said she didn’t look like anything you’d ever seen, right?”

Renji nodded, taking another gulp of sake. “She was taller than me, her skin made me think of sunset, you know when the sky gets this strange mix of blue and purple? It looked like there were two tattoos of wings draped over her eyes and cheeks too.”

“Well you and I should know that tattoos on your face aren’t unusual” Shuhei said, tapping the number sixty nine on his left cheekbone.

“Yeah yeah, but they weren’t quite tattoos I don’t think. Looked like she was born that way, ya know? They were just barely a different tone from her skin, a few shades darker.”

His friend shrugged and poured the last drops of sake into his cup. “Did she have eight arms and a bunch of pet boars?”

Renji snorted and finally laughed “Nah, none of that shit.”

“Just be careful Renji. Don’t go getting yourself into trouble like you did last time. You know Captain Kuchiki wouldn’t even think twice about throwing you in a cell with them.”

He blew out a deep breath, as if he needed to be reminded of that. “I know, he’s done it before. I just need to get my mind off of them. I figure I can just pretend it didn’t happen and move on with my life.”

“Hn. Fat chance of that Renji. I know you. It’s going to eat at you until you can’t stand it anymore. That’s when you go off and do something stupid.”

“I prefer to call it ‘honorable,’ thank you.”

“Whatever. We’re outta sake, want me to go get more?”

He waved the other man off “Nah. I need to eat something and get some rest. Kuchiki-Taichou wants me back at the office before the suns up. We never did finish that paperwork…”

Shuhei nodded, rising from the floor after mussing his friend’s hair playfully. “Alright then, take care of yourself.”

Growling, Renji tried to straighten his hair, sarcastically responding “Yes Hisagi-senpai.”

Shuhei grinned and waved at him. When he reached the door to leave, Renji called out to him. “Thanks, Shuhei. I appreciate it.”

“What are friends for?” he called back.

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The sake had worked its magic on him, relaxing his tense muscles and helping soothe the turmoil in his heart, though not as much as he would have liked. In the very least, Shuhei had used healing kido on his shoulder, leaving only a dull ache where wounds had once been. Pulling his kimono out of the hakama he wore, he cast it aside, adding to the clutter that was scattered about his room.

“Gotta clean this shit up some time soon” he muttered to himself, slipping out of his tabi and tossing them on the floor as well. He wasn’t sure what caught his attention, but he idly glanced at the window. The lone candle he lit made it somewhat difficult to see, but he could swear he saw a large bird flying low.

Hastily he blew out the candle and let his eyes adjust.

“It is a bird…” he whispered.

Not bothering to think of calling for back up, or the possible consequences of going on alone, he leapt out the window and into the night.

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He followed the bird quietly, keeping well back and to the shadows to avoid notice. It was moving towards the woods from what he could tell, as she glided on the currents. ‘Has to be her…damn well better be. My feet are killing me. Gonna suck if I’m on a wild goose chase and end up losing sleep over some stupid bird.’ He grumbled silently to himself.

He could remember a time when he did not even own shoes, running through the Inuzuri district of the Rukongai barefoot. ‘I’ve gotten soft…or at least my feet have’ he chuckled as he flew into the woods behind the bird.

He kept to the trees, struggling to keep her in sight through the branches. ‘I would have lost her by now if I was on the ground…’She dropped down lower, scanning the area now. Making sure to move with the utmost stealth, he leapt into the crook of another tree, doing his best to keep one eye on his landing spot and the other on the crow.

They were deep in the woods now, further in than most patrol groups bothered to go unless on heightened security alert. Because the events were so recent, he doubted he would run into any of the Squad Two patrols that were responsible for monitoring the area.

Stopping suddenly and pressing tightly against a tree, he saw her circling above, searching. ‘Shit…did she hear me? See me? Or is she just double checking herself?’ Her circles grew smaller, tighter and lower until she at last descended, landing beside a small lake. With a ruffle of feathers, she gave one last look around before transforming. The wings became arms, talons became feet and eventually, she returned to her natural body, crouched low to the ground.

He watched those golden orbs glow brightly, moving from side to side as she checked the area yet again, pointed ears straining for sound. Holding his breath, he remained absolutely still, wishing he was still wearing his kimono. The bare skin on his chest might draw attention, standing out in the dark. The black kimono would have allowed him to blend much easier. ‘Who am I kidding? My hair would probably be noticed first.’

Apparently she felt certain she was alone. Still crouching, she began to unlace the elaborate shin guards that wrapped around her leg. Carefully setting them aside, she removed the sandals that were underneath them. Next went her bulky shoulder pads, black feathers fluttering in the breeze.

Renji let the breath escape him slowly, almost painfully so. Danger be damned, he was grateful he decided to follow. He could feel his heart rate increase the more armor fell to the ground. Bracers next, then hip guards, the armored loincloth and at last the breastplate.

His only disappointment was that she was still wearing undergarments beneath it all. It provided little covering, scant bits of leather that held her breasts in place and covered her femininity. ‘More of a show than I thought I’d get though!’

There was something about watching her strip down, not knowing she was being watched. It was gratifying and exciting to be the voyeur, hiding in the shadows. He barely caught himself saying aloud “C’mon…take the rest of it off.”

He had to bite his tongue to keep the words from spilling out and alerting her. He saw her fingers resting hesitantly on the tie that held her top together on her back. She fiddled with it a moment, debating before shaking her hand and pulling her hand away. Yards away Renji’s hands clawed the air in silent protest.

Pulling her hair free, she cast the strip of leather down atop her breastplate and strode into the water. A small gasp of pleasure escaped her lips as the cool water hit her skin. Tessah loved the water. It could be so peaceful, still, serene. And when Elune was angered, it could easily change into something more deadly, crashing waves threatening to pull down the unsuspecting or the foolish.

When the water grew too deep for her to stand, she swam out into the middle. She could hear the quiet roar of a waterfall nearby, another of Cenarion’s blessings of nature. With lazy strokes, she made her way to it, occasionally rolling over in the water and swimming on her back. Before she reached the falls, she decided to dive downward, soaking her hair and enveloping herself in the sweet arms of the water.

As soon as her head vanished beneath the lake, Renji moved from his hiding place, rushing quickly through the trees. He wasn’t about to let her out of his sight. ‘There’s a waterfall up ahead with a small cave behind it. I can hide there and she won’t be able to see or hear me, but I should have a good view of her.’ He knew the layout of the area well. The small cave actually had supplies stashed in it to be used by any shinigami who chose to train out here as some did.

As he drew closer, another thought came to him. ‘Shit, what if she plans on bathing in the falls themselves? She’ll spot me for sure then and I’d be cornered. Better if I stick to the trees.’ So instead he chose a tree above the falls themselves, its lush foliage providing a perfect hiding place. He waited for her to surface.

One minute had passed since he moved from the other tree. Another passed and she still had not surfaced, and then another and another. He was beginning to worry that she spotted him and fled somehow but he couldn’t figure out how she would have done that without him noticing.

Directly below him, just in front of the waterfall, something dark swam under the surface. There was a shimmer of light and then she burst free of the water, dark hair flying back in a dramatic arc. He almost sighed with relief. ‘She can either hold her breath for a really long time, or she can change into a fish. She did swim over to this spot a lot faster than I had anticipated.’

The rambling in his head dwindled as he watched her move. A sweet smile graced her face, the details much clearer to him at this range. ‘So beautiful…so dangerous’ his brain added the last bit as a reminder. She was dangerous, he knew, but that didn’t stop him from being entranced. He could take her on if need be, and would if the opportunity arose.

He wouldn’t back down from a fight, but this time he wouldn’t hold back on her like before. She wasn’t going to for him, she had no reason to. After all, he was the reason she was in this predicament. Sort of. ‘…I’m sure Kuchiki-Taichou would have attacked her eventually if I had not. Why else did he follow her? Why am I following her?’


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Ahh Renji, you naughty pervert. God I love him! hahah Well, I hope everyone enjoyed this, WannaBe in particular. After all, this chapter was posted swiftly due to her review. ;) BOW TO THE MASTER! bows

By the way, feel free to look up Shinto if you are wondering about the god and goddess references. They won't be the last. :)