The Sweetest Downfall

a/n: Yay! An update! I meant to get this up sooner but alas, ran out of time last week. So here it is this week!

Much love to readers and reviewers who are all enjoying this pet project of mine. Thanks to Lynzee, Yakumo, shadowkittae (personally, I'm rather fond of Gin. He's an awesome character), satterb, Kuromei, and Anise (Thanks! I'm super-attracted to a strong Kira so I usually try to write him like that. Glad you noticed!)

On to the ficcage! Warnings for spoilers and boylovin' and language and all that jazz.

The Sweetest Downfall – Part Six
Like Puzzle Pieces
 
Renji jogged down the halls of the nearly empty third division, trying not to let the feel of the division drag him down. It couldn't be helped, after all. Morale was low, and no words would easily lift it. Though he had to admit, the place seemed a bit cheerier. Someone had opened a window; fresh air flowed freely through the corridors and there was the distinct shine of the sun gleaming off polished floor boards.
 
The third might be cracked but not broken; they might be bent but they were not skewed. Renji had to admire the third division's tenacity. It held better than anyone would have given them credit. Renji knew the captain commander doubted Izuru's ability to lead the third, as did many of the other captains. But none of them knew Izuru or how he operated. And they wouldn't understand until they knew Izuru as Renji did.
 
As Renji rounded a corner, the vice-captain's office came into sight, and Renji couldn't help breaking into a grin. No doubt Izuru was in there, filling out stacks and stacks of paperwork that had no place to go because there was no captain to sign for them. No doubt he was agonizing over the scheduling of shifts, due to start back in the next month or so. No doubt he was stressing himself unnecessarily.
 
And here was Renji, helpfully providing a distraction. He felt a bit like a good Samaritan, though the saintlike deed wasn't for Izuru's relief alone.
 
He lifted a hand to knock, only to realize that the door wasn't shut at all. Not like it usually was. Things were indeed changing.
 
Instead, Renji skidded to a halt, pausing just inside the doorway. His gaze fell upon the desk, indeed occupied by the vice-captain. Izuru was bent over a stack of paperwork, frowning intently. And as Renji watched, he lifted a hand to impatiently push a strand of hair out of his eyes.
 
“You could always cut it,” Renji suggested, his voice breaking a contemplative silence.
 
As expected, Izuru startled at the abrupt words and nearly spilled an inkwell as his head snapped upwards. “Renji-kun!” he exclaimed. “You should announce yourself.”
 
Renji hadn't managed to get Izuru to drop the honorific, but it was a start, he supposed.
 
Inviting himself inside, Renji grinned, jerking a thumb to the doorway now behind him. “I thought I jes did.”
 
“More formally,” Izuru clarified with a reprimanding tone. But he set aside his brush, Renji noticed, giving the redhead his full attention. “Not that I mind, but what brings you here today?”
 
Renji glanced around the office, still pretty stark as always, but there was a new addition. A haiku printed on pastel paper framed on the wall. Probably one of Izuru's own as he was pretty good at that sort of thing.
 
“Didn't ya hear the bell for lunch?” Renji asked, dragging his eyes back to Izuru, not a wholly unattractive sight.
 
The other vice-captain looked tremendously better than he did last week. The dark circles beneath his eyes had eased to mere smudges of black, and the wan, trembling look Izuru had adopted had faded in the face of his strength. He held a new wariness about him, and shadows still occasionally filled his expression, but it was progress. And that was all Renji cared about.
 
Izuru blinked. “Oh? Did it sound? I hadn't noticed.” His lips curved upwards into a smile. “Why? Were you planning on inviting me?”
 
There was something about that look that made Renji squirm, that nearly caused his cheeks to heat. But he fought both reactions down, wondering when just the sight of his friend smiling made his heart skip a beat.
 
“I thought about it, yeah,” Renji replied, shifting. “Ya can take the time away from the third, right?”
 
Blue eyes glanced down at an array of paperwork as Izuru frowned. He patted fingers over one stack before abruptly rising to his feet. “Yes, I can,” he replied, rounding the desk. “If I look at anything else that needs a signature I can't give, my head is going to crack.”
 
Renji chuckled. “I figured. Ya looked in need of a break. What'cha hungry for?”
 
“You're the one who invited me. I assumed you had a plan,” Izuru countered, following as Renji lead him out of the still quiet division.
 
Renji shrugged. “Nah, not really.” He paused, giving Izuru a hopeful look from the corner of his eyes. “Though I might be in th' mood for some soba.”
 
Rolling his eyes, Izuru shook his head. “All the way out in Rukongai? I should have known you'd say that.”
 
“Hey! I gave ya the chance ta pick fer yourself!”
 
Chuckling, Izuru nudged him towards the main road out of Seireitei anyway. “I know,” he replied, true amusement in his tone. “Do we have time?”
 
Renji scratched at his chin. “We got the same hour everybody else does,” he said. “As for me, taichou ain't in the office today, and you work so long that nobody can say anythin' to ya about getting' back late, if ya do.”
 
Izuru smiled. “All right then. Soba it is.”
 
Lunchtime around all of Seireitei meant that the soba place was so crowded that, without a word said between them, Renji and Izuru placed orders to go. And reluctant to be jostled with the elbows of strangers frantically trying to gobble down their meals, Renji ushered Izuru out of the building and to a secluded location. It was a favorite spot of Renji's, one he had discovered unexpectedly. Even better, no one else seemed to have discovered its location.
 
The fresh scent of running water overrode everything else, even the evident greenery, and a small alcove was hidden behind a massive tree that draped over the pooled water from a nearby waterfall. Perfect for an afternoon lunch.
 
Renji knew that Izuru was impressed by the look in his eyes. The blond nodded in approval as he sat beneath the tree and Renji lowered himself next to Izuru, their thighs almost touching.
 
“How did you find this?” Izuru asked, opening his food parcel and letting the smell of the soba waft into their faces.
 
Renji shrugged, happily breaking open his own parcel and digging in. “Luck, I guess. I went wandering one day and got lost.”
 
“It's nice,” Izuru murmured, and fell silent, concentrating on his meal.
 
Following suit, Renji let the comfortable quiet surround them, finding a great sense of peace washing around him. Despite the fact he knew war loomed on the horizon and out there, all of Seireitei was preparing for a massive confrontation, he and Izuru seemed far removed from it. At least, for the moment.
 
“It's good.” Renji slurped up the last of his soba, setting the bowl off to the side.
 
“Mmm,” Izuru agreed, having already finished his meal. He now watched Renji with an interested expression. “Though I can think of something better.”
 
Renji dragged the back of his hand over his mouth, wiping a few stray drops of juice. “Oh yeah?”
 
There was a mischievous twinkle in blue eyes. “Yes,” Izuru agreed, and then he was there, perched in Renji's lap, his mouth pressed urgently to Renji's. One leg knocked over Renji's bowl, making a dull sloshing noise.
 
Izuru's lips fell over Renji's, urgent and tasting of soba. Much like his own, Renji assumed.
 
With an armful of the blond in his lap, cleaning up the spilled over bowl was last on Renji's mind. His arm curled around Izuru, fingers sliding upwards to cradle the back of Izuru's head, tangling in long blond strands.
 
Renji had only been teasing when he suggested that Izuru cut his hair. In reality, Renji loved the length of it.
 
A tongue pushed hungrily into Renji's mouth, tangling with his own, and a pair of hands shoved between their bodies. Fingers delved into the hem of Renji's hakama, shoving through to find bare, throbbing skin. Renji gasped as Izuru's fingers unerringly found Renji's throbbing length, massaging him to full staff.
 
“I-Izuru!”
 
A wicked smile curled Izuru's lips, one that instantly seduced Renji and made his cock leap eagerly in Izuru's hold. “You like?”
 
“Hell yeah,” Renji groaned, hips rocking up into Izuru's skilled fingers. One hand settled on the blond's buttocks, squeezing and groping the rounded cheeks.
 
Izuru chuckled and pressed his face into Renji's bared throat, flicking his tongue over Renji's bobbing Adam's apple. “You feel good,” he muttered in between laps of his tongue. “Hot and hard, throbbing...”
 
Renji's head fell back against the tree, his eyes squeezing shut. “Kami, Izuru! You tryin' to kill me here?” he demanded with a full-bodied moan slipping past his lips. He wriggled his other hand between their bodies, snaking it through the slit in Izuru's hakama to find the blond's heated shaft.
 
A tongue traced along jagged, dark lines. “Maybe,” Izuru teased, his words a wonderful vibration against Renji's skin, and he sighed as Renji wrapped fingers around Izuru's cock, stroking him skillfully.
 
Izuru, aroused and wanting, was a sight to behold. Renji lamented the fact that he couldn't do anything more at the moment than this careful touching. His lunch break was far too short and this location too open. He wouldn't want anyone to see the sight that Izuru could become, his cheeks flushed and red, blue eyes dilated with desire, a hungry look on his face. An almost predatory gleam.
 
Renji licked his lips, Izuru's hot mouth tracing a path of fire over Renji's throat and collarbone. His hands working magic on Renji's seeping cock. The redhead groaned from the effort of holding back, Izuru too skilled for Renji's restraint to handle. In fact, he couldn't be bothered to try, not with the good sensations shooting through him.
 
His fingers slid out of Izuru's hakama, both hands gripping the blond's hips tightly. With a groan, Renji shuddered, spilling all over Izuru's fingers and in the confines of his hakama, destined to make a mess. But one of Izuru's hands cupped over the head of his arousal, catching his release.
 
Renji's breath hitched as Izuru withdrew his hands, one hand wiping against the grass while he watched Renji slyly. He brought the fingers of his other hand to his mouth, lapping up pearly drops from the tip of them. And Renji growled lustily, just knowing that Izuru had to be teasing him.
 
“I didn't know you were such a tease,” Renji said, his fingers squeezing Izuru's hips.
 
“There's a lot that you don't know.”
 
“Is that so?” Renji growled, and abruptly heaved upwards, switching positions on Izuru in the blink of an eye. The blond had no chance to react before Renji had him lying on the ground, perched between his legs. Izuru grunted as he hit the ground and Renji loomed over him, hands planted to either side of his head.
 
“Seems like I'll hafta find out then,” Renji added, and dropped his mouth, sealing it over the blond's, tasting lingering soba and something vaguely sweet behind. Izuru shifted and twisted beneath him, cock straining the limits of his hakama, one hand already creeping down to take himself in hand. Renji casually batted it away.
 
“My turn,” he said with a cocky grin.
 
Pale blue eyes had darkened to cerulean in the wake of overwhelming need. “My lunch break isn't so long, Renji-kun,” Izuru reminded him, arching his hips upwards, trying to encourage Renji to grind down onto him.
 
It wasn't exactly what Renji had in mind.
 
He pecked at Izuru's lips and sat back on his heels, contemplating the blond's hakama. Renji's palm rubbed down the length of the concealed cock in front of him, watching as Izuru sucked in a breath and rocked up into his hand. Damn, but Izuru was sexy. Too good for a ruffian like Renji.
 
He held his breath and considered, fingers of his free hand lingering on the ties to Izuru's obi. He knew what he wanted to do, what his mind and body were telling him to. And Renji realized that this was the first time he would do it of his own choice and willingly. That he hadn't been asked, but he wanted to. Actually wanted to do it. He wanted to make Izuru feel good.
 
The obi was untied in an instant, and Renji peeled pack Izuru's hakama carefully, leaving him mostly covered. His fingers curled around Izuru's cock, causing Izuru to arch up into his touch, and then Renji leaned over. He breathed hotly over the seeping head, a sound not unlike a whine echoing in Izuru's throat.
 
It made Renji want to stir again. He pushed that thought away. Right now, he wanted to make Izuru feel good.
 
His tongue slipped out, lapping over the pearly drop. The bitter taste fell on his tongue and Renji grimaced. Okay, so he still didn't like the taste. But he could handle it. This was Izuru, after all. Not Ichimaru. And Renji wanted to. Besides, when Izuru made those sexy sounds, how could Renji not want to do something to hear them again?
 
He closed his lips around the spongy tip and flicked his tongue across the head, Izuru's hips jerking beneath him. Smirking around his mouthful, Renji placed one hand on a slim hip, holding it in place. A whine of frustration echoed in Izuru's throat, but he didn't protest.
 
“R-Renji-kun,” he stammered, pleading in his eyes.
 
Renji couldn't resist that. He lowered his lips, taking more of the blond into his mouth. His tongue stroked the throbbing shaft, his lips providing the perfect counterpoint of pressure as he slid his mouth up and down. Again and again. Mimicking the actions of his fingers.
 
Izuru's whimper grew muffled and when Renji looked, he found that it was because Izuru had shoved his arm – and by proxy a handful of sleeve – into his mouth. He twisted, hips churning beneath Renji, and yet the redhead would not cease his actions. He wanted to watch Izuru come undone, the high spots of color dancing in his cheeks
 
The blond was already close; Renji could taste Izuru's seeping essence on his tongue. He throbbed in Renji's mouth, a muffled sound emerging from behind black fabric. Damn, but Izuru was sexy like this, making heat trickle slowly through Renji's body.
 
He curled his tongue around Izuru's length, felt the pulsing on his tongue, and Izuru shouted behind his sleeve. His hips arched as he spilled into Renji's mouth, bitter semen splashing over the redhead's tongue.
 
To be expected, the taste was something Renji still didn't like. But he held Izuru through the last of his tremors anyway. When Izuru's hips hit the ground in satiation, Renji casually turned his head to the side and spat quietly, dragging the back of his hand over his mouth. Izuru was breathing all heavy, his face flushed, and Renji had to kiss him.
 
He crawled up the blond's body and sought out Izuru's lips, pulling the other vice-captain into a deep kiss. Izuru was languid and soft beneath him, his hands grasping to the sides of Renji's shihakushou and holding him in place.
 
Renji chuckled against Izuru's lips. “Good?”
 
“Hmmm.”
 
Renji raised a brow.
 
“Of course,” Izuru amended with a laugh, the teasing brat. “You even have the proof of it right here,” he added, his tongue curling out and sweeping across Renji's chin before it drew back into his mouth.
 
When he realized what it must have been, Renji reddened.
 
Izuru laughed again, and really, it was a sound that Renji rather enjoyed. “You're blushing, Renji-kun. I never thought I'd ever see you do that.”
 
“Shuddup,” Renji muttered, and decided to force him to by kissing him again. Izuru responded with equal interest, their tongues slipping and sliding messily together.
 
Lethargic warmth swept through Renji and he had the thought of falling asleep. Right here in the middle of nowhere with the sun beaming down through the branches of the tree and Izuru smiling like the old Izuru beneath him.
 
Blue eyes fluttered.
 
“Oy,” Renji said with a nudge. “You can't sleep here, you know.”
 
“I'm not sleeping,” Izuru answered drowsily, with his eyes definitely closed.
 
“Liar.”
 
“I'm not.”
 
Despite his words to the contrary, Izuru did drift off into a light doze. Renji shook his head and shifted around, putting Izuru's clothes to rights and putting his back against the tree once more. He carefully eased the the other vice-captain's head onto his lap to serve as a makeshift pillow, and let his fingers card through the softness of blond hair. The soft and quiet of the afternoon surrounded Renji, threatening him with thoughts of a nap of his own. But if he slept, then both of them wouldn't wake in time to return to work no matter the circumstances.
 
Lazy days like this were rare. Granted he and Izuru hadn't been... whatever they were to each other for very long, but with Aizen lingering out there somewhere, the threat of Arrancar on the horizon, and war making everyone look over their shoulder twice, peace was hard to come by. So Renji took what soft moments he could get.
 
The minutes passed by restfully, in that manner, with Renji surprised himself with how long he could sit still and quiet. But if there was anyone who needed some time to sit and rest, it was Izuru. He still looked like he wasn't sleeping much, and Renji didn't stay over often enough to be certain. He slept fine if they were sharing a bed, but Renji had the feeling Izuru wasn't sleeping so well on his own.
 
And it didn't help that the other Shinigami were still watching him like a hawk. As though any moment he would go skipping off to join Ichimaru with their secrets grasped tightly in his hands. Like Seireitei had any secrets that Aizen and his traitors didn't already know. It was utter bullshit, but Renji didn't have the standing to tell them that. So he could only watch, frustration growing, and stay by Izuru's side. It was the best he could do.
 
Sighing inwardly, Renji carefully slid his fingers through Izuru's hair. “Oy,” he said, as not-startling as he possibly could. “Time ta wake up. Can't sleep all day.”
 
Unfortunately, subtlety had never been Renji's strong point. Either that, or Izuru was naturally jittery. Because he woke with a jerk and a start, wide-eyed as he looked all around him. It seemed to take several seconds before he remembered where he was and why before he made a face.
 
“Ah, hell,” Izuru muttered, wrinkling his nose in a way that was too cute for Renji's comfort. “What time is it?”
 
“Ya only slept about twenty minutes,” he reassured the blond, knowing that Izuru was going to work himself into a frenzy if he thought he was late. “Ya ready ta go back?”
 
Izuru rose from Renji's lap and stretched, the motion revealing the slim white of his arms and outlining his muscles. An action that made Renji's mouth water all over again, threatening to stir the desire he'd been trying to fight back. Damn, but he was becoming some type of pervert.
 
“No, but I've got paper to push.”
 
He had a point unfortunately. And Renji forcefully shoved out all thoughts of dragging Izuru down for round two. No, he would save that for later. Tonight even.
 
He collected their garbage and stood, fighting back his own sigh. “Better get on the road then,” Renji said, his gaze lingering on the beauty of their current location.
 
The return to Seireitei and their respective divisions passed more quickly than their escape, much to Renji's disappointment, though he enjoyed the easygoing silence between himself and Izuru. It was... comfortable. And Renji liked comfortable.
 
“I enjoyed this,” Izuru murmured as they stopped at the third division first. He smiled, hand on the door-frame. “Let's do it again next week.”
 
Renji fidgeted. “We have ta wait that long?” he said, his cherry-amber eyes focused on Izuru's cool blue.
 
The blond flushed, the expression a mix of abashment and pleasure. “No.”
 
“Good.” Renji grinned, and though he would have liked to leave with a parting kiss, there were too many eyes. So he simply left it at that.
 
*            *            *            *

“Hey - I get promoted to your mattress?”

The blond made no efforts to move, his body a languorous heat atop Renji's. Izuru was dressed in Renji's favorite outfit – his skin and nothing else. “You're just so ... comfortable.”

The redhead snorted, but Izuru was right: and he himself wasn't heavy, he was comfortable.“Okay then, ye're now my quilt.”

Izuru laughed, and Renji loved the sound of it. Every day, the gloomy man that Ichimaru had molded was vanishing and Renji found himself holding the Izuru he remembered. No, better than that. Izuru was strengthened, renewed, happier than before, and Renji reveled in that. He rolled in that realization like one would a pile of freshly fallen leaves, happy and content.
 
“Sure,” Izuru said with a humming chuckle, the echoes of his laughter reverberating through his body with a tremble. “I must have shrunk in the wash.”

“Nah,” Renji said, “you've always been just the right size.” He flicked the blanket over them both, keeping thoughts of comfort and warmth to himself. No need to get overly sappy after all, even if he did rather enjoy moments like this.
 
Nimble fingers began tracing Renji's tattoos. And he felt a rising tide of contentment, gold like sunlight through his closed lids, threaten to submerge him ... he made no effort to escape it, and allowed the pressure of Izuru's fingers to enthrall him.
 
Renji felt as if it were enough to ease him into sleep, but a thought lingered at the back of his mind, squirming to move to his conscious. He had been batting it around for quite a while, tossing it aside as never the right moment. But Renji also knew that if he didn't spit it out eventually, it would explode at the worst time.
 
He thought about leading around to it in a gentle way, but Renji never had been good at conversation games. And he thought Izuru would easily squirm out of it if he did try to be subtle.
 
“Why Ichimaru?” Renji asked, his voice slipping into the soft, barely lit silence. Only one light spilled illumination over them, but it was enough to see Izuru's expression.
 
His breath hitched, his fingers pausing before picking up their movements once again. “What do you mean?” Izuru asked, his voice rather even for the hesitation.
 
Renji paused, drawing in a deep breath as his hand settled on Izuru's back, fingers pushing gently against the blond's lower spine. “Why'd ya let him... ya know...” Renji trailed off, unable to bring himself to voice out.
 
More so because he wasn't exactly sure what to call it, than that he was to embarrassed to put it into words. Was it a relationship? Was it just fucking? Was it consensual? Was it not?
 
Renji didn't know if he should ... if he could...  ask all those details.
 
Or maybe the problem was that he wasn't supposed to have seen them that day or gone to Ichimaru or let himself be bent to Ichimaru's will. Maybe the problem was that Renji couldn't exactly ask what he wanted to ask because he wasn't supposed to know. At least, not really. A lot of it was easily figured out from implications, and Izuru had to realize that Renji knew some of it in part. But he didn't know that Renji knew most of it, or at least the part that Ichimaru had been willing to reveal.
 
“Would you believe me if I said that I came to him?” Izuru asked, his voice soft, almost too soft to be heard despite the near silence.
 
Renji blinked, startled out of his near-frantic inner monologue. “I... what?”
 
Blue eyes refused to meet his, Izuru watching the hypnotizing motions of his fingers. “Or maybe it would be safer to say it was mutual?”
 
Suddenly, Renji realized that Izuru more than guessed, he knew. Without Renji having to explain it, Izuru knew that Renji knew about him and Ichimaru. Though it had kind of been implied before and one could assume that Renji figured it out from that conversation way back when, but still... Izuru knew of Renji's awareness and had said nothing. Had not thought to ask him why or how, or what he thought about it.
 
Renji swallowed, suddenly unable to meet Izuru's eyes himself, this conversation pulling him in with its necessity, but dragging him reluctantly along. “But why... him?” It took all of Renji's effort to keep the disgust from his voice.
 
“Who else?” Izuru shrugged, but it was far from nonchalant, his shoulders too tight for him to pull it off properly. “Ichimaru's not as bad as everyone says he is. It's all a mask.”
 
Renji wasn't even going to pretend that he understood. Instead, he made a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat. “If you say so,” Renji said, and decided to drop the topic, the evasions settling heavy and uncertain in his belly.
 
Izuru's reluctance to answer Renji completely made him wonder if maybe Ichimaru had been right and Renji had no clue what he'd been doing. That he really had been misunderstanding.
 
Mercifully, Izuru  also dropped the topic. Renji didn't think he was ever going to get it. And he doubted Izuru would ever be able to explain it in a way that Renji could understand. He couldn't see how someone would like a person like Ichimaru.
 
But then, Renji's opinion might be slightly biased.
 
Whatever. Ichimaru was gone, a traitor now, and Izuru was here in Renji's arms. All that bullshit wasn't important anymore. Or at least, Renji hoped it wasn't. He hoped that Izuru could just put the bastard behind him and never worry about Ichimaru again. Never even think about Ichimaru unless they happened to cross paths on the battlefield, and by then, Izuru would be strong enough to stare his former captain down without faltering once. And with any luck, Renji would be at his side, smirking at the traitor, proving that he had not failed.
 
“Renji?”
 
Strange that the simple sound of his own name, said unprompted without the honorific, could make something inside Renji flip with immense pleasure, and leave him oddly giddy. He kept his reaction inside however, lest the blond think him mad.
 
His hand crept further up Izuru's back, contemplating switching things around so he could trace this very path with his tongue. Izuru had the sexiest back Renji had ever seen.
 
“Yeah?”
 
Izuru's palm flattened around Renji's upper arm, warm against his skin. “I want to become stronger.”
 
“So do it.”
 
Those blue eyes turned up towards him, earnest and strong. “Will you help me train?”
 
“You know I would,” Renji answered with a wince, cursing loudly in the back of his mind.
 
He hadn't meant to tell Izuru in this way. In fact, he'd meant to bring it up tomorrow. Now it would seem like he had been trying to hide it. Or disappear without saying a word.
 
Izuru heard his hesitation. “But?”
 
Renji sighed, throwing his head back against the pillow as slender fingers grabbed at his unbound hair, carding carefully through it. When Izuru had initially loosened it, a part of Renji had stiffened, always associating unbound hair with a voice rasping in his ear and a body pushing against his over and over. Guilt-laced pleasure and disgust, always a lingering disgust with himself.
 
“I've been ordered to the Living World,” Renji explained to chase away thoughts he didn't want to recall. “Me and about three others under Hitsugaya-taichou's command.”
 
Izuru blinked, looking more startled than angry. “What? Why?”
 
“Yamamoto-soutaichou thinks that the Arrancar will attack there first. We're like the first line of defense.”
 
“Hmmm.” Izuru returned his head to Renji's shoulder, his leg sliding against Renji's in a such a way that was certain to stir him back to life. “Sounds important.”
 
Renji shrugged, trying not to let the words affect him like they wanted to. “I guess. They probably just picked me because I know Ichigo the best.” He nudged at Izuru's forehead with his nose. “But you could get Hisagi-senpai to help you. I know he's not one of the ones assigned.”
 
“Hisagi-senpai has better things to worry about. Like running the ninth division,” Izuru answered quietly. “Don't worry, Renji-kun. I'll figure it out on my own.”
 
For some reason, Renji couldn't quite shake a feeling of guilt. And he wasn't sure why. Izuru wasn't so weak that he couldn't grow stronger on his own. Renji had the utmost faith in him in that regard. Still, Izuru in battle was also a sight to behold, and Renji had the feeling that a determined, resolute Izuru was just as enticing.
 
He hated to miss such a sight.
 
Lips pressed against his collarbone, a warm and careful kiss, even as a knee moved upwards, nudging at Renji's quiescent length.
 
Renji sucked in a careful breath. “If you're tryin' to start a fire, you'll succeed, Izuru.”
 
Blunt nails scraped over his chest, dragging over a single exposed nipple. “Maybe I am,” Izuru all but purred, and just like that, the atmosphere abruptly switched to something a bit more lustful.
 
As Renji grabbed a handful of Izuru and dragged their mouths together, he didn't mind the change one bit. And obviously, neither did Izuru. There were better things to concentrate on right now than impending wars, and forcing oneself to get strong. Things like the squirming blond in his arms who was already working Renji into a frenzy. After all, Renji would leave for the Living World tomorrow and he didn't know when he would get to return. Best to stock up on the happy memories while he could.
 
*            *            *

a/n: Just a somewhat fluffy moment for the two of them. The calm before the storm, one could say.

Next Week: Chapter Seven: Drowning in Whispers, in which canon happens, Renji makes a choice, and Ichimaru just loves playin' with Renji's mind.

See you then!