Day 28: Bus 1

[accursed_rock]

Zelgadis was not happy, at all. Not that this was any change, but the events of the past few hours had given him more to angst about than usual. Nightshift had been dreadful: first he was attacked by a small green man and then covered in leeches, neither of which lead to warm fuzzy feelings

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[stray_shinigami]

Well, Renji thought, it could have gone worse. He was tired, but that was just leftover fatigue from other nights. And, if he was going to be honest with himself, emotional exhaustion more than anything else. He was getting tired of worry and uncertainty and... everything else. So it was best to just not think about it.

The nurses gave him some different clothes to wear, and they were okay. A long sleeved, green shirt, a warm vest thing, and some pants that were way too tight, in his opinion. He also talked them out of a real bandana, with the logic that he didn't want to scare any kids in town with the tattoos on his forehead.

They handed him a bread thing and a...box? He almost went to the wrong bus, but caught himself at the last minute when he saw Rukia looking out the window of another of them. He headed that way, and sat down next to her, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. He really didn't like the pants (jeans? that's what they called them). He shook the little box, and it swished like there was water inside. "The hell is this?" he asked, scowling. It wasn't an angry scowl, just a confused one.

[haiiro_no_chou]

Rukia was just glad to see Renji in one piece. Though, she had to admit, he looked kind of cute in the jeans.

She offered him a tired smile, then peered down at the juice box he was indicating. If she'd had more energy, she might have messed with him, but right now she just wanted to go back to sleep. "Here," she said, showing him the drink she had been given. "You use this thing - a 'straw'. Well, first you have to get it out of the 'plastic wrapper'." She felt rather superior, knowing all these technical terms from the modern world. "Then you poke it through this little hole, but be careful not to squeeze the box, or all the juice will come out and make a mess."

Finished with her explanation, Rukia sipped her apple juice, looking up at him as she waited to see what he would do.

[stray_shinigami]

Renji listened intently to her explanation. Why did people make something as simple as drinking horribly complicated? He got the straw unwrapped and had to shake his hand to get the little plastic wrapper off - it clung to his skin for some reason. When he cautiously poked the straw into the box, a little of the juice squirted out, but it just hit the floor instead of him. At least it still tasted like juice when he drank it. "Thanks," he said. "I don't think I coulda figured that out on my own." And he wasn't joking.

He squirmed a little in his seat again. It felt like the jeans were trying to crawl up his ass. He wasn't used to his clothes being that friendly. Even the ridiculous "uniform" for the "patients" was a lot looser than these things.

[haiiro_no_chou]

Rukia shrugged, sinking down into the seat a little. "To be honest," she said, yawning, "Ichigo had to show me how to use one of these."

Glancing sideways at Renji, she arched an eyebrow. "Gotta pee or somethin'?"

[stray_shinigami]

That made him feel a lot better. He laughed. "Knew he had to be useful for something." At her next words, he forced himself to stop squirming. "No," he muttered. "The pants are just kinda... tight." He gave her a sideways glance, a wicked little smile on his lips. "And they're touchin' me places that only you should."

[haiiro_no_chou]

Rukia rolled her eyes, elbowing Renji in the side. "He's a good kid," she said, "And he's really strong... I don't know how, but he is."

At Renji's comment, she snorted, but thankfully she didn't choke on her juice. "You're a pervert," she hissed, glaring up at him.

[stray_shinigami]

Ichigo was a subject he decided to leave alone for now. He was tired and his neck hurt; and he really just wanted to enjoy a little almost normal time with Rukia.

Still, Renji smirked. "That's not what you said a couple nights ago," he murmured. Before she had a chance to hit him, he grabbed the hand nearest to him and wove their fingers together. He leaned his head back against the seat cautiously; it didn't hurt too much.

[haiiro_no_chou]

Rukia made a disgusted noise, blushing a little. Renji grabbed her hand before she could retaliate, though, and she just didn't feel like it. Nibbling on the last couple bites of her muffin, she leaned her head against his shoulder.

"Like I said," she muttered, "You're a pervert."

After a few more minutes, curled up next to Renji - who always seemed so warm - Rukia dozed off. Soon they were both asleep, even after the bus got moving.

[stray_shinigami]

The bus hit a bump; normally that wouldn't be enough to wake Renji up, but it jolted his head, and that sent a jolt of pain through his neck. He sat up, grimacing as he noted a wet spot on his shoulder. It'd been a long time since Rukia had drooled on him, and he didn't find it all that charming even now.

He was about to poke her in the side, so he could give her shit, when he noticed something a lot more important. And scary. It felt like all of the warmth drained out of his body.

He shook Rukia's shoulder, urgently. "Rukia," he hissed, as quiet as he could. "Your brother's sitting... a couple seats ahead of us."

[haiiro_no_chou]

Rukia had been sleeping quite soundly, considering the fact that she was riding in a moving vehicle. The hiss of Renji's voice in her ear, though, as well as the shake, roused her quickly. She sat up with a start, reaching for a zanpakutou that wasn't there. After only a moment, she remembered where she was, and hastily wiped the dampness from the corner of her mouth with a sleeve.

Renji's words, however, took a little while to register. When they did, Rukia's eyes went wide. "Huh?" she hissed back at him, starting to sit up and peer over the seats. She quickly reversed her posture, though, hunkering down as low as she could get. "Shit! Do you think he saw us?" she asked as quietly as she could.

Maybe her brother hadn't seen them sitting together. Maybe he hadn't noticed their hands linked. Maybe he hadn't seen her drooling on Renji's arm.

...

Maybe Captain Zaraki would show up wearing a pink dress and singing show tunes.

[stray_shinigami]

His grip on her hand tightened, partly because he was nervous and partly from his knee-jerk protective instinct. "Maybe?" he said, but he obviously didn't believe it. They'd never been that lucky. "He was already there when I woke up. I didn't see." He gave the back of Byakuya's head a nervous glance, then his jaw set. Hell with the man. It wasn't like he had any business making decisions about Rukia's life anyway.

"What should we do?" he asked. He already knew what he wanted to do, but he doubted that Rukia would approve of his normal course of action, here, in spite of everything. Though maybe he'd get lucky.

[haiiro_no_chou]

Rukia's heart was thudding in her chest, and she felt vaguely queezy - the sort of queezy that came from guilt, or from really disappointing someone. She squeezed Renji's hand, biting her lower lip in thought.

She could just sit there and pretend that nothing had happened. Maybe nothing had. But she had promised Renji that she would talk to Byakuya. She still wasn't sure how far she would go with the explanation, but she owed it to herself, as well as Renji and her brother, to be honest.

The thought was terrifying. Byakuya would not be happy, and Rukia desperately wanted his approval. She didn't want to be the disappointment that she felt like in so many ways. She remembered the day she had been inducted into the Thirteenth Division, reporting to her brother that evening. He had asked her which Seat Position she had taken. Being fresh from the Academy - and having bypassed all the tests due to her new social status - there was no way she could have already been assigned such a position. But Byakuya seemed disgusted by the news nonetheless, coldly dismissing her.

Had his recent change of heart made any difference?

Taking a deep, shaky breath, Rukia finally looked up at Renji. "I'm gonna go talk to him," she whispered.

[stray_shinigami]

If anything, his grip on her hand got tighter. In his experience, Rukia wasn't one to run away from problems, but he wouldn't have blamed her if she'd come up with an elaborate scheme so she wouldn't have to deal with this one. He didn't want to deal with it either. "Okay," he whispered. "I'll stick with you."

He didn't know if she'd want him too, and really, he wanted to be as far away from his Captain as humanly possible right now. But he also didn't like the thought of leaving the two of them alone, because he didn't trust Byakuya, not in the slightest. He'd been ready to let Rukia be executed, and kill to make that happen, for something not nearly as damaging to the family name as a relationship with a commoner.

It made him feel like shit, and like scum all over again, because Rukia wouldn't be in this position at all if it weren't for him. He didn't know how to deal with it; he couldn't let her go, and didn't want to, and would happily die fighting to stay with her, but at the same time she had already suffered enough because of him, and might suffer even more shortly.

He looked down at their hands. "It'll be okay," he said, though more to himself than to her. "We won't back down." He'd gone down fighting Byakuya once, and maybe it had made a difference, somehow. He'd do it again without a thought, because she was worth it. Always. And maybe this time, he'd be strong enough.

[haiiro_no_chou]

Rukia shook her head. "No, it's... I think I need to talk to him by myself," she whispered.

This was something she had to do on her own. Rukia was coming to realize that, no matter what she told her brother about her relationship with his vice captain, the issue ultimately boiled down to the fact that she had to live her own life. It was selfish, and she couldn't help but feel guilty for smudging the Kuchiki name, but some things were more important than her brother's pride.

She loved him, and didn't want to hurt him, but she couldn't live her life for him any longer.

Rukia summoned up her bravest smile, gently laying her free hand on Renji's cheek. "I'll be okay," she murmured.

[stray_shinigami]

It was strange, he thought, that a simple touch could actually hurt, and for reasons he didn't understand. There was too much confusion about everything at this moment. He didn't trust Byakuya. But he had to trust Rukia. He'd promised, in his own way, that he would. He wanted to be as far from his Captain as possible, but he also didn't want Rukia out of his sight. He didn't know what to do.

He gritted his teeth, shutting his eyes tightly for a moment as he fought to make some sense out of the situation, gain some idea as to what he should do. "I don't want to leave you alone," he finally said. This mess was his fault, wasn't it? How could she expect him to just run away and leave her to deal with it? "What if..." he ducked his head, not finishing that thought. She already had to know what he was thinking, and it'd no doubt piss her off, because he simply couldn't understand her relationship with her brother from where he stood. "I don't know."

[haiiro_no_chou]

She stroked her thumb over Renji's cheek, leaning forward to peer up at him when he looked down. "Hey," she whispered, "I'll just be a couple seats away. Not like I'm gonna disappear or anything." She tried to keep her tone light and joking, even though she felt like crawling under one of the seats and hiding.

Nudging his knee with her own, Rukia said, "Scoot back so I can get out."