Stress Relief

Author’s Notes: So I've been reading fic's on aff.net for a while and I thought it was about time I gave something back. This fic, plus a few of the others I hope to post if people seem to like what I write XD were originally posted on live journal, so I apologise if you have seen this before.

Thanks and love to gogochan who betad this for me.

Comments and/or constructive criticism very much appreciated!

*****

Shuuhei had been watching Renji all night, not in the way most of the rest of the bar probably suspected. To the casual observer, the redhead was nothing less than his usual brash self, but Shuuhei didn’t need Ikkaku’s none-too-gentle nudge to notice his long time friend switch his barely touched jug of sake with Yumichika’s almost empty one. The pretty fifth seat didn’t notice, he was too busy eyeing up the new barman in what was possibly east Rukongai’s most notorious bar.

“Won’t drink, won’t fight, kid’s been away from the eleventh too long for his own good,” Ikkaku muttered as he shoved away a stumbling local with a grimace.

Shuuhei nodded and knocked back the last of his own drink. They both knew the source of their friend’s black mood, it had been hanging over the redhead like an oppressive summer storm for weeks and if it didn’t break soon they both new Renji would. Kuchiki-taichou pushed his fukutaichou harder than he had any right, but Renji pushed himself harder. Sometimes he wondered what would happen if he was to tell the Kuchiki heir how Renji really felt about him, or if he already knew?

As a way of shaking their friend out of his dejection, this was the eleventh squad’s method of last resort. There was something to be said for Ikkaku’s theory of the therapeutic nature of an all out fist fight, but if Renji couldn’t find a bar brawl to loose his frustration on in this part of Rukongai, it wasn’t going to happen.

“I’m going to head home.” He knew Ikkaku was watching him as he put down his now empty jug, but the usually fierce eleventh squad warrior was unusually reluctant to meet his eye as he looked back up. He knew there were some things that the third seat couldn’t really understand, as much as he tried for the sake of his friend. Sometimes it wasn’t the fight that Renji needed.

Ikkaku grunted out a reply, his attention back on Renji and Yumichika. “Yeah, I guess so.”

---------------------------------------

It wasn’t like Renji hadn’t known where he was heading, but for some reason it was still a surprise when he saw Shuuhei’s door loom up in front of him. It was late, but he knocked anyway, it wasn’t like Shuuhei wouldn’t be expecting him. They both knew where he would end up tonight when they had parted ways in Rukongai earlier.

Shuuhei pulled open the door, letting out stream of yellow light, his hand resting high up on the frame. He had already discarded his gi and Renji found his eyes trailing down the long line of his one-time senpai’s body. Shuuhei smirked and Renji turned his head away, trademark scowl pulling the black lines of his brow together. After a moment, Shuuhei turned, pushing the door open fully as he walked away, leaving it up to Renji to decide if he wanted to cross that final boundary. For a moment his pride clawed its way to the surface, but his body was already buzzing with an anticipation--which was at the same time very close to what he felt before going into battle, and completely different to anything he felt at any other time.

Shuuhei’s home was the same small, single floored place he had lived in as long as Renji had known him. The plain walls and warm wood of the well trodden floor gave him an instant sense of security he had never felt in his own sixth-squad provided rooms. Shuuhei had disappeared into the small kitchen and Renji pushed the door closed behind him as he let his eyes adjust to the hazy lamplight. Beside the anticipation he could feel something close to apprehension coiling around his usual hard won confidence. It wasn’t like he knew if he really wanted this, it was more that he needed… something, and right now Shuuhei was the only one who could give it to him.

Shuuhei’s hand on his chest came as a surprise, the shove that forced him back up against the wall enough to push him off balance. He forced down the instinct to push back. They had played this game before; he knew the rules. He lowered his gaze, letting his eyes trace the grain of the wooden floor. He managed not to flinch as Shuuhei’s open hand hit the wall next to him, but he could barely stop the shiver that ran up his spine as he felt his senpai’s breath brush across his ear.

“What do you want, Renji-kun?”

Renji let out a breath, the heat of the taller shinigami leaning over him pulling up a myriad of conflicting desires.

Shuuhei shifted his hand from the wall to tug Renji’s hair from its tie, his fingers tangling at the base of the shaggy red mane, his lips inches from Renji’s ear. His fingers tightened. “Is this what you want Renji-kun?”

This time Renji couldn’t conceal the shudder that ran though his body. “Yes, senpai,” he breathed, as Shuuhei nuzzled in closer to his neck, his grip increasing.

Shuuhei pulled Renji’s head to the side as he trailed a string of gentle bites up his exposed neck to the sensitive spot just below his ear. “Safe word?”

Renji bulked, trying to pull away from the firm grip. “Don’t need one.”

Shuuhei pulled him back, slamming him back to the wall, his hold on Renji’s hair tightening in a way that set the redhead’s body on fire. Finally he let Shuuhei pull his head up so that could see into his senpai’s eyes. There was a heat there in the usually calm black eyes, an intensity that reminded Renji just why Shuuhei was the one he came to for this.

Shuuhei’s gaze remained locked on Renji as he moved in closer. “Safe word,” he whispered, breath ghosting over Renji’s skin, “or you can walk back out of that door.”

Renji licked his lips. “Nashi, but don’t hold back Shuuhei. I… I need this.”

Shuuhei nodded, letting Renji’s already abused hair go after one finally tug. “Strip.”

Anticipation caused Renji’s fingers to fumble with his hakama. There was something about knowing how closely Shuuhei was watching him that threatened to turn his body against him, but he wouldn’t shame himself. He folded his hakama and slipped his gi from his shoulders, turning his back so that Shuuhei could follow the lines of his jagged tattoos as they were revealed.

Shuuhei murmured appreciatively from his unrolled futon across the room. “Come here.” The dark haired shinigami was still wearing his own hakama.

Renji’s heart was already racing as he knelt in front of his senpai, body tense despite his efforts, eyes downcast. Right now, it was an effort to submit even as much as that. Slowly he felt the first strands of Shuuhei’s kidou slip around his arms like strands of silk, soft and strong, pulling his shoulders back. Endless lines bound his body, layer after layer tightening against his already heated skin, moving gradually downwards though his legs until he was straining to hold the form of the seiza. His breathing began to speed up, instincts born of life long struggle and a childhood on the streets of Rukongai, telling him to how dangerous this was, how much he need to break free. He was on the edge, but Shuuhei was there with him, soothing, whispering against his ear.

“Tell me what you want, Renji-kun?”

Renji shivered as the velvet words slid across his skin, but his reply remained stuck in his throat. Shuuhei sighed and Renji felt the bonds that wrapped his arms behind him tighten until he gasped out loud.

The sound seemed to please Shuuhei, a smirk playing across his lips. “Tell me, is this what you want?” Renji shuddered as he felt something thicker than the silk strands flick across his skin, leaving a hot welt across the top of his thigh; the first sharp caress was followed by another, then another. “Tell me, Renji…”

The muscles in Renji’s arms were burning, the sinews pulled to their limit. He was so close, he could feel the edge of the release he craved, the floating high that lay just beyond the pain; he just needed to let go. The air around them seemed to throb with anticipation. He threw his head back as another round of whip-like strands of kidou snapped against his skin, his hair catching in damp clumps against his back. He could feel Shuuhei’s kidou sliding along the edges of his reiatsu, looking for the opening he needed. Shuuhei couldn’t bind his reiatsu by force, they were too close in strength, but then, that wasn’t what he wanted, he was waiting for Renji’s own freely given submission.

Renji gasped as Shuuhei reached around to grasp his hair, the first time his senpai had physically touched him since he had knelt before him on the thinly padded futon. Pulling Renji’s head up, Shuuhei brought his lips to the damp skin of his neck, his tongue darting out to taste the salty film. “Let go for me, Renji.”

Despite Shuuhei’s grip, Renji managed to shake his head. “Can’t…” his words were little more than a breath. He felt Shuuhei’s smile against his neck, the twist of his hand in Renji’s hair coming at the same moment as his teeth grazed Renji’s over-sensitised skin.

His control slipped just a fraction as he let out a stifled cry.

“Yes…that’s it,” Shuuhei virtually groaned into Renji’s ear, his kidou pressing harder against Renji’s reiatsu. The combination was finally too much for the redhead to take and he gave into his aching need, surrendering the last vestiges of his restraint and allowing Shuuhei to seal away his spirit energy. The sudden feeling of release was almost too intense, and he collapsed into his kidou bonds. Shuuhei’s grip softened in his hair, the other hand coming up to sooth across his heated skin as he struggled for breath.

Gradually, Shuuhei started to loosen the bonds that bound his legs, slowly helping to lay him back down on the futon, wary of the pain that would come once the blood started to flow back into his abused muscles. He left Renji’s hands bound, knowing that he would still be craving the security of the bonds for a while yet.

Renji’s eyes fell shut as Shuuhei finally removed the last of his own clothes and dragged the blankets up over them, the heat and weight of the other’s body against his serving as the reassurance he hungered for. “We don’t have to sleep yet?”

Shuuhei grunted against Renji’s skin. “You might not have to, but I’m exhausted.”

Renji smirked, not giving any resistance as Shuuhei adjusted his position so that he was laying against him and not on his still lightly bound arms. “Arigatou, Shuuhei.”

The dark haired shinigami grinned, tugging at the ends of Renji’s hair. “Anytime, Renji. Anytime.”