When I think about you, it's like I can't breathe.
Title: Starting Point
For: someone over y!gal
Pairings/Characters: Byakuya/Renji
Word Count: 909
Summary: Sometimes, the best thing to do is to be honest. With yourself and with others. Sometimes, people can surprise you.
Author Notes: Soooo, this was my first try at Byakuya/Renji and I wasn’t sure where to even begin. Ah well, I hope it’s semi-enjoyable at the very least. ;_; Also, I’m going back to the whole ‘first to comment gets to pick the next request from the unlimited thread’ thing now that I’ve finally finished this. ^^
Fascination was right up there with infatuation. Renji wasn’t about to admit it, but those two terms described how he felt concerning his captain most of the time. Infatuation was easy enough to understand. When there was the strong desire to beat someone, usually there was going to be infatuation. Infatuation with the way that person moved. Infatuation with the sophisticated drawl that taunted him so, tone indifferent and as unfeeling as always. Infatuation with anything and everything that concerned the stupid noble Kuchiki. The infatuation was fairy simple to explain, but what of fascination? When had respect changed to admiration and admiration into something more?
Thinking back, Renji figured it was probably around the time Byakuya had almost killed him that his feelings started changing. And, as strange as that sounded, it made sense. Byakuya had had the perfect chance to kill him, to rid the world of Abarai Renji, but that hadn’t happened. Mercy, it was a respectable trait even if coming from Byakuya it was utterly humiliating. After that, Renji hadn’t been able to look at his captain as merely someone to surpass. The man … was just so much more than that. Underneath that cold exterior, Kuchiki Byakuya actually had a heart.
With that realization, Renji had found himself more and more drawn each and every day to this complicated enigma of a captain. There was great deal he wanted to know about the man, so much he had left to learn when came to Byakuya. From Rukia, he had learned of Hisana, which had led him to question why he had even wanted to know that particular information concerning Byakuya’s past. He began to question why every time he thought of that woman, long gone as she was, he felt jealous for no real reason at all. Everyone deserved a shot at love, even the iceberg formally known as Byakuya. At first, Renji had suspected he had been jealous of the fact that someone like his captain, someone so unfeeling, had been able to find that kind of love and he hadn’t. But that hadn’t made any sense.
After all, why was this jealousy only invoked when it came to Hisana? It occurred to him later, when things had quieted down after the betrayal, that it was Hisana he was truly envious of, not what she had represented. He had been jealous because he wanted to be the one Byakuya spoke of with that loving tenderness. He wanted to be the center of his captain’s universe, no one else. He wanted Byakuya to love him to the point where he would do anything to be noticed as something more than a subordinate.
It was absurd thinking, of course. Someone as high-standing as a Kuchiki … falling for a street urchin like him? Things like that only happened in fairytales. Absurd and wishful thinking was all it was and would forever be. Not to mention, the man obviously favored the fairer sex. And who could blame him? It was normal; it was what was expected from an up-standing man like Byakuya. Still, it wasn’t like misgivings or anything of the sort were going to stop Renji from acquiring what he wanted. It was just how he worked. When Rukia had been accepted into the Kuchiki household, he had climbed his way to the top just to see her again. That had led him to his current vice captain status in the sixth division, and that had led him to Byakuya. If Renji had believed in fate, he would have made a joke about it being a destined affair.
Renji had never been good at jokes, admittedly, but he was good at getting what he wanted. His first endeavor to ask his captain out, however, had been disastrous. Rukia had suggested subtleness, and it hadn’t gone over well. Somehow, Byakuya had ended up thinking the redhead was ordering them take-out for the night so they could ‘work late’. It had turned out to be anything but a date, what with all the paperwork and all. That was the last time he took advice from Rukia. Attempt number two, while it went better than his first try, still hadn’t turned out quite like he had expected. He had enlisted the help of Rikichi for this particular plan, but that, in retrospect, had been the worst idea imaginable. Rikichi was dependable, that was a given, but he was also foolhardy. Instead of just delivering the flowers like Renji had asked, the boy had went that extra unnecessary mile to tell Captain Kuchiki who exactly had sent the flowers. Renji figured he should have explained what ‘your anonymous secret admirer’ meant.
With everything he did coming back to bite him in the ass, Renji finally decided enough was enough and confronted Byakuya directly.
“You. Me. Back closest.”
“When?”
The redhead openly gaped at his calm, unaffected captain. “Wait, what?” Is this his strange humor kicking in? ‘Cause it really ain’t funny …
“I am not as ignorant as you seem to think, Renji.” The man shrugged, signing his name on yet another report, and then put his pen down to give his lieutenant his full attention. “Now, when?”
Well, this was kind of weird … “Right now.” Renji grinned - because even if he hadn’t expected this, he had ended up getting something bordering on what he wanted. This was as good a starting point as any.
“Let’s go.”
For: someone over y!gal
Pairings/Characters: Byakuya/Renji
Word Count: 909
Summary: Sometimes, the best thing to do is to be honest. With yourself and with others. Sometimes, people can surprise you.
Author Notes: Soooo, this was my first try at Byakuya/Renji and I wasn’t sure where to even begin. Ah well, I hope it’s semi-enjoyable at the very least. ;_; Also, I’m going back to the whole ‘first to comment gets to pick the next request from the unlimited thread’ thing now that I’ve finally finished this. ^^
Fascination was right up there with infatuation. Renji wasn’t about to admit it, but those two terms described how he felt concerning his captain most of the time. Infatuation was easy enough to understand. When there was the strong desire to beat someone, usually there was going to be infatuation. Infatuation with the way that person moved. Infatuation with the sophisticated drawl that taunted him so, tone indifferent and as unfeeling as always. Infatuation with anything and everything that concerned the stupid noble Kuchiki. The infatuation was fairy simple to explain, but what of fascination? When had respect changed to admiration and admiration into something more?
Thinking back, Renji figured it was probably around the time Byakuya had almost killed him that his feelings started changing. And, as strange as that sounded, it made sense. Byakuya had had the perfect chance to kill him, to rid the world of Abarai Renji, but that hadn’t happened. Mercy, it was a respectable trait even if coming from Byakuya it was utterly humiliating. After that, Renji hadn’t been able to look at his captain as merely someone to surpass. The man … was just so much more than that. Underneath that cold exterior, Kuchiki Byakuya actually had a heart.
With that realization, Renji had found himself more and more drawn each and every day to this complicated enigma of a captain. There was great deal he wanted to know about the man, so much he had left to learn when came to Byakuya. From Rukia, he had learned of Hisana, which had led him to question why he had even wanted to know that particular information concerning Byakuya’s past. He began to question why every time he thought of that woman, long gone as she was, he felt jealous for no real reason at all. Everyone deserved a shot at love, even the iceberg formally known as Byakuya. At first, Renji had suspected he had been jealous of the fact that someone like his captain, someone so unfeeling, had been able to find that kind of love and he hadn’t. But that hadn’t made any sense.
After all, why was this jealousy only invoked when it came to Hisana? It occurred to him later, when things had quieted down after the betrayal, that it was Hisana he was truly envious of, not what she had represented. He had been jealous because he wanted to be the one Byakuya spoke of with that loving tenderness. He wanted to be the center of his captain’s universe, no one else. He wanted Byakuya to love him to the point where he would do anything to be noticed as something more than a subordinate.
It was absurd thinking, of course. Someone as high-standing as a Kuchiki … falling for a street urchin like him? Things like that only happened in fairytales. Absurd and wishful thinking was all it was and would forever be. Not to mention, the man obviously favored the fairer sex. And who could blame him? It was normal; it was what was expected from an up-standing man like Byakuya. Still, it wasn’t like misgivings or anything of the sort were going to stop Renji from acquiring what he wanted. It was just how he worked. When Rukia had been accepted into the Kuchiki household, he had climbed his way to the top just to see her again. That had led him to his current vice captain status in the sixth division, and that had led him to Byakuya. If Renji had believed in fate, he would have made a joke about it being a destined affair.
Renji had never been good at jokes, admittedly, but he was good at getting what he wanted. His first endeavor to ask his captain out, however, had been disastrous. Rukia had suggested subtleness, and it hadn’t gone over well. Somehow, Byakuya had ended up thinking the redhead was ordering them take-out for the night so they could ‘work late’. It had turned out to be anything but a date, what with all the paperwork and all. That was the last time he took advice from Rukia. Attempt number two, while it went better than his first try, still hadn’t turned out quite like he had expected. He had enlisted the help of Rikichi for this particular plan, but that, in retrospect, had been the worst idea imaginable. Rikichi was dependable, that was a given, but he was also foolhardy. Instead of just delivering the flowers like Renji had asked, the boy had went that extra unnecessary mile to tell Captain Kuchiki who exactly had sent the flowers. Renji figured he should have explained what ‘your anonymous secret admirer’ meant.
With everything he did coming back to bite him in the ass, Renji finally decided enough was enough and confronted Byakuya directly.
“You. Me. Back closest.”
“When?”
The redhead openly gaped at his calm, unaffected captain. “Wait, what?” Is this his strange humor kicking in? ‘Cause it really ain’t funny …
“I am not as ignorant as you seem to think, Renji.” The man shrugged, signing his name on yet another report, and then put his pen down to give his lieutenant his full attention. “Now, when?”
Well, this was kind of weird … “Right now.” Renji grinned - because even if he hadn’t expected this, he had ended up getting something bordering on what he wanted. This was as good a starting point as any.
“Let’s go.”