i don't know if you can hear me...
Characters: Renji and Isane
When: Friday 05Mar, after office hours
Where: Kiyone's grave
Rating: PG at worst, i should think
Summary: Renji realizes he forgot to talk to an important person about his fledgling relationship with Isane...
Well, he supposed all things considered that could have gone worse. Sure, Hinamori wasn't too happy he was planning on running off to face the Octava again, but she at least understood why it was so important. And why it was just as important she keep it under her bun. He still wasn't sure when the opportunity was going to present itself, when he and Ichigo and Kensei all had the right timing to go take care of this, and he didn't want it getting out to certain other people sooner than necessary. Rukia was already probably going to punch him in the face--he didn't want to get punched in the face every day until it happened. And Isane would probably fret herself sick, if he knew her. And he liked to think he did know her a bit by now. After the pain of losing her own sister, the last thing Renji wanted to do was put her through the worry of potentially losing someone else she cared a great deal for. It was going to be hard enough on her without significant forewarning.
His thoughts lingered a moment on Kiyone, and he realized he'd neglected to do something very important. He hadn't spoken to Kiyone about all this. Er--about dating Isane, not about Szayel. Some people would have argued it was silly to talk to a grave, but Renji was convinced that his friends up on that old hill in Inuzuri heard him when he spoke to them, and he figured Kiyone at least deserved to know he was serious about this thing with Isane.
After locking up the office for the evening, he paused outside the front doors of the admin building, then turned down a side street and headed for the sprawling cemetery where Seireitei's fallen were laid to rest. It had been bugging him for the whole afternoon--better take care of it. He remembered vaguely where Kiyone's grave was, but it still took a few minutes of searching to find the right one. There was an old flower arrangement still in the cup beside the headstone, but it was fully wilted, the grave littered with old petals now wrinkled and brown from being snowed on and thawed multiple times. He quirked his mouth a little, glanced over his shoulder, then quickly brushed all the soft brown debris away into the grass, plucking the dead stems from the cup and tossing them into the nearby waste receptacle, and grabbing a stick of incense from the covered box beside it. Lighting it with a very carefully restrained tiny ball of shakkahou, he returned to the grave and stuck the incense stick in the little groove beside the cup the flowers had been in. Then he took to one knee in front of the headstone.
"Yo, Kotetsu-sanseki," he said quietly, haltingly. "Ah...s'me, Abarai Renji. You remember me, right?" Hadn't they had this discussion last time. "Look, I...dunno if your sister's said anything about it yet, but...well, as it turns out, we kinda wound up becoming more than just friends, and I guess I wanted to come by and let you know." He cleared his throat. "I mean, I ain't sure you can even hear me, to be honest," he said with a wry grin, "but better safe than sorry, right?"
He shifted, draping one arm over his drawn up knee, the other palm on his thigh. This felt kind of odd, but right at the same time.
"So I wanted to make sure you know," he continued then, frowning a bit, "that I do care about her, and even if things are kinda awkward right now, she means a lot to me, an' I wanna try an' make this work." He canted his head. "And since you're a lot less intimidating, I figured maybe I'd try an' get your blessing before I went for Unohana-taichou's."
Since he was pretty sure it was going to come up at some point...
"So yeah, that's...that's about it," he said, taking a deep breath. "Your sister's somethin' else, and I was really surprised when she told me she wanted to be more than just friends. I never thought in a million years she'd be interested in a hooligan like me, you know?" He shook one finger at the headstone. "But--hooligan or otherwise, I just want you to know, I'm takin' this seriously, so..." He shrugged. "Well, I'd appreciate it if you didn't like smite me or somethin'. My intentions are honorable, okay?"
He had seen what the wrath of a little sister could to do Ichigo, and he wasn't keen on incurring Kiyone's.
When: Friday 05Mar, after office hours
Where: Kiyone's grave
Rating: PG at worst, i should think
Summary: Renji realizes he forgot to talk to an important person about his fledgling relationship with Isane...
Well, he supposed all things considered that could have gone worse. Sure, Hinamori wasn't too happy he was planning on running off to face the Octava again, but she at least understood why it was so important. And why it was just as important she keep it under her bun. He still wasn't sure when the opportunity was going to present itself, when he and Ichigo and Kensei all had the right timing to go take care of this, and he didn't want it getting out to certain other people sooner than necessary. Rukia was already probably going to punch him in the face--he didn't want to get punched in the face every day until it happened. And Isane would probably fret herself sick, if he knew her. And he liked to think he did know her a bit by now. After the pain of losing her own sister, the last thing Renji wanted to do was put her through the worry of potentially losing someone else she cared a great deal for. It was going to be hard enough on her without significant forewarning.
His thoughts lingered a moment on Kiyone, and he realized he'd neglected to do something very important. He hadn't spoken to Kiyone about all this. Er--about dating Isane, not about Szayel. Some people would have argued it was silly to talk to a grave, but Renji was convinced that his friends up on that old hill in Inuzuri heard him when he spoke to them, and he figured Kiyone at least deserved to know he was serious about this thing with Isane.
After locking up the office for the evening, he paused outside the front doors of the admin building, then turned down a side street and headed for the sprawling cemetery where Seireitei's fallen were laid to rest. It had been bugging him for the whole afternoon--better take care of it. He remembered vaguely where Kiyone's grave was, but it still took a few minutes of searching to find the right one. There was an old flower arrangement still in the cup beside the headstone, but it was fully wilted, the grave littered with old petals now wrinkled and brown from being snowed on and thawed multiple times. He quirked his mouth a little, glanced over his shoulder, then quickly brushed all the soft brown debris away into the grass, plucking the dead stems from the cup and tossing them into the nearby waste receptacle, and grabbing a stick of incense from the covered box beside it. Lighting it with a very carefully restrained tiny ball of shakkahou, he returned to the grave and stuck the incense stick in the little groove beside the cup the flowers had been in. Then he took to one knee in front of the headstone.
"Yo, Kotetsu-sanseki," he said quietly, haltingly. "Ah...s'me, Abarai Renji. You remember me, right?" Hadn't they had this discussion last time. "Look, I...dunno if your sister's said anything about it yet, but...well, as it turns out, we kinda wound up becoming more than just friends, and I guess I wanted to come by and let you know." He cleared his throat. "I mean, I ain't sure you can even hear me, to be honest," he said with a wry grin, "but better safe than sorry, right?"
He shifted, draping one arm over his drawn up knee, the other palm on his thigh. This felt kind of odd, but right at the same time.
"So I wanted to make sure you know," he continued then, frowning a bit, "that I do care about her, and even if things are kinda awkward right now, she means a lot to me, an' I wanna try an' make this work." He canted his head. "And since you're a lot less intimidating, I figured maybe I'd try an' get your blessing before I went for Unohana-taichou's."
Since he was pretty sure it was going to come up at some point...
"So yeah, that's...that's about it," he said, taking a deep breath. "Your sister's somethin' else, and I was really surprised when she told me she wanted to be more than just friends. I never thought in a million years she'd be interested in a hooligan like me, you know?" He shook one finger at the headstone. "But--hooligan or otherwise, I just want you to know, I'm takin' this seriously, so..." He shrugged. "Well, I'd appreciate it if you didn't like smite me or somethin'. My intentions are honorable, okay?"
He had seen what the wrath of a little sister could to do Ichigo, and he wasn't keen on incurring Kiyone's.