Title: So Close and Yet So Far
Author: StarbearerTM
Beta:
nerdowl Chapter: 6
Pairing: RenjixIchigo
Genre: Romance, Angst
Rating: MA
Warnings: Lemon/lime, Male/male, language
Spoilers: Lost Substitute Arc
Word Count: 2748
Summary: While Ichigo recuperates from training with Xcution, Renji tries to give him answers though he is sure Ichigo may not like them, and things heat up.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Bleach, Tite Kubo does. It is licensed and owned by Shonen Jump and Viz. I make no money writing this fan fiction.
Not wanting to cramp his friend’s style, Sado decided to take an early train back once he knew Ichigo was settled in a room. If not for Renji’s presence he wouldn’t have even considered leaving. Yet he sensed that invisible barrier falling between them again. While they had remained close friends, some of the intimacy and trust had been lost as a result of Ichigo losing his powers. They confined their conversations and activities to more mundane things such as music, sports, and other pursuits they once shared as mere mortals. Unfortunately the pall of the supernatural hung over them.
He paid for the room and then left Ichigo with takeout when his friend asked him to check on Ishida. That final veiled permission to depart given, he made his farewell.
Ichigo lay down on the double bed, looking up at the ceiling. Hs entire body felt weighed down with lead but it was the loss of spirit energy that was the culprit. Renji cracked open a bottle of sweet sugary iced tea, which Ichigo saw floating in the air towards him. What made it less heart wrenching was to hear Renji say, “Take a swig of this. It’ll help.”
Hooking his elbow over his nose Ichigo blocked out the light still beaming through the blinds of the window. Orange tinged with the encroaching streetlights it masked any stars they could see. For a moment Ichigo thought it was like trying to see spirits when you’d been denied the ability for so long. You knew they were there in the day when the sun shone and blotted out the stars, but in the night you could see them. Yet the lights of a city blocked you from seeing them at night anyhow. It didn’t make them any less real, just fainter.
He scooted up in bed the moment the moist chilled glass of the bottle touched his other outstretched hand laying across the bed. “Thanks, Renji.”
“Just drink it and thank me later,” the gruff disembodied voice answered. Scooting up so his back braced against the headboard he sighed. Already he’d taken a quick shower to rinse off, having his clothes quickly taken by Sado to a cleaners shop owned by someone in Xcution. He now wore the change of clothes he’d brought in the shoulder bag sitting by the bed.
Cold liquid seeped down Ichigo’s chin and lent its refreshing tang through the tissues of his tongue. Tingles along his nerves reminded him of the restorative properties of the beverage his invisible lover helped him to drink. Beside him the bed creaked and the sheets dimpled showing where Renji was sitting on the side opposite Ichigo.
“Hearing you I thought would be the most awesome thing, but it almost kills me not to be able to see you,” Ichigo murmured, reaching out to the direction of the open air.
Around his hand squeezed unseen fingers and a low grunt in a throat not far away. “I know what ya mean. But I’ll take what I can get.”
“Why didn’t you come in a gigai stupid?” Ichigo then asked, sipping more iced tea.
“Because ya ran off too quick for me to go back to Urahara’s and get it,” Renji replied.
Once he finished off the beverage Ichigo plunked the bottle down next to his watch and wallet sitting on the nightstand. His young face wrinkled into a scowl as he turned to the direction of Renji’s voice. In a low tone he asked, “So, is there something else you’re not telling me? About Rukia and Soul Society.”
“What do ya mean?” Renji’s voice began before Ichigo yanked hard on his hand.
“Don’t bullshit me!” Ichigo snapped, pushing himself to sit upright. His hands scrabbled in the air somehow finding the invisible outline of Renji’s kimono front so he could yank on it. A muffled grunt of surprise told him he’d reached the target.
“Ichigo! If ya mean the fact we both heard Rukia’s voice during that fight, I’ve got no damn idea what that’s about,” Renji protested.
More fine lines creased under Ichigo’s cheeks and above his brow, transforming his scowl into a look of repressed fury. Now he almost dragged Renji forwards by his clothes, feeling the resistance of a body sagging and a hand pressed against his chest trying to push backwards. Ichigo’s amber eyes grew hard and dark as he shouted, “Bull fucking SHIT! You know something! Is Soul Society holding something over me?”
“I dunno! Remember I’ve been here for only a month!” Renji shouted back.
“But you got a goddamn soul pager! You must use it!” Ichigo shot back, folding his legs under him to kneel on the bed and jerk the cloth in his hands so he could almost hear the grunt of anger.
“I don’t know anything less Kuchiki taicho tells me! An’ he’s not said jack shit! Don’t you think I’m as confused and shocked as you are?” Renji yelled back.
“Renji! Don’t SCREW with me! Tell me what the FUCK is…” Ichigo snarled, gritting his teeth.
He heard a loud sigh and muffled curse in response. The hands both pressed to his chest as he felt those unseen thighs climb up on top of him and pin his hips down. At any other time it would have turned him on to have Renji sitting on top of him but now it just further pushed his temper to the brink of an explosion.
“All I know about are rumors and half truths! I dunno what’s real and what’s not and yer going through enough crap already!” Renji shouted back.
“If you love me, TELL ME what you know, even if it’s bullshit! Something! Anything!” Ichigo insisted, feeling the gusts of Renji’s hot breath fanning his face. It didn’t help that Ichigo felt his own developing hard on squeezed by the slight motion of Renji’s hips.
“All I know is… that they didn’t plan on ya getting any of yer powers back. They figured ya wouldn’t have anything till ya died. There were plans… to make ya a shinigami when ya passed over into Soul Society,” Renji mumbled, his hands rubbing Ichigo’s chest gently.
That band of tightness squeezing Ichigo’s guts eased the slightest bit but he now grabbed hold of Renji’s wrists, giving them a squeeze. He whispered, “What… what else?”
Another long breath fanned the former substitute's face as Renji mumbled sheepishly, “There’s been other shit going on since we’ve been rebuilding soul society. But I don’t know much about it. Unknown enemies moving in Hueco Mundo and in the living world.”
Unable to resist the urge Ichigo bucked up with his hips, his bulge colliding with an unseen one he was sure tented even through loose hakama. The bit off groan gave him a sense of pride. Around his hips the thighs tightened making it hard for him to move. If Renji was trying to get his attention before he had it undivided now.
“Maybe, but that wouldn’t explain what Rukia was saying would it? Do they know about Xcution?” Ichigo then demanded.
“I dunno. At first they thought that the activity that they’d been sensing may be yer powers activating but now…”
Inside Ichigo’s chest he felt his heart thumping against his breastbone. The lump hardening in his throat made his next question even more difficult to ask. He then queried, “Renji, when you said you wanted to see me, was it because you were actually spying on me to make sure that was true?”
Atop him the mass holding him down seemed to squirm, causing his pants to tighten further. Aroused by their mutual anger and argument Ichigo teetered between desire and disgust. His hormones screamed to keep Renji as close as possible no matter the answer. Then at last he heard Renji confess in a halting tone, “That was the other reason I was here. But I wanted to be the one to come. I asked Kuchiki Taicho, no begged him to let me stay here. There’s been things that central 46’s has been saying but they’re all rumors…”
Again Ichigo’s temper flared but not against Renji. Blinding hot rage towards the even more distant Soul Society that had kept them apart.
He gritted out, “What rumors?”
“Just that ya might be working with the unknown activity and ya may be a threat cause ya resent Soul Society interfering in yer life in the first place?”
To this Ichigo laughed harshly, shaking his head. In one rush the volcanic ire drained from his gut entirely. His head thumped back against the headboard with a dull clunk. For the time being Ichigo’s body slumped over, his eyes covered in shadow. Still Renji’s weight pressed him down grounding him in a sense. The former substitute murmured, “So, they really thing that I’d be so small and petty I’d sink to that? Revenge? What do they take me for?”
“I don’t believe it for a damn second, and when I give my report I’ll let them know that isn’t the case. I’m on yer side Ichigo,” Renji reassured him. After he said this, Ichigo felt warm moist lips covering his.
“But you heard Rukia as clear as I did. They’re accusing me of something! What I can’t believe is that they’d just have you watch me and not… “
“Only thing that I can do at this point is to ask Kuchiki Taicho or someone else in Soul Society and give my first report,” Renji sighed, his taste lingering on Ichigo’s lips. “Unless ya don’t think I should tell them about Xcution.”
“They might already know,” Ichigo surmised, voice laced with bitterness as dullness dimmed his amber gaze.
“It it’s the case I’ll be able to show they’re no threat,” Renji tried to reassure him. “Either way they may be keeping me in the dark.”
Ichigo’s breath hissed out in a long rasp, “Great, just fucking peachy.”
“Whatever happens, I’m gonna continue to stick to ya and see how this training goes. And ya can’t do any more without rest, and relaxing,” Renji said pragmatically.
Bracing his hands up against a hard surface though he could see through it Ichigo complained, “You’re too damn heavy. You been eating too many of those stupid Taiyaki?”
“Shut up dumbass,” grumbled Renji. At the same time Ichigo spotted the movement of his shirt tugged up so a button could slip out of a hole. Little by little the V revealing Ichigo’s chest widened with each fastening undone.
“Oi… you going to do it now? I’m too tired and sore because of what you did earlier, jerk,” Ichigo complained.
Close to his ear buzzed the fukataicho’s voice in a reprimanding but teasing tone, “You need it more than I do, and ya know it. Don’t gimme that. “
Hard thighs that bracketed Ichigo’s hips now released their grip, yet the hard solidness of his invisible body weight down on top of Ichigo from above. Any protests were muffled by a tongue forcefully moving past Ichigo’s teeth, mapping out his mouth. Half frustrated Ichigo’s hand tugged around a corded neck, able to see a blurring shadow in the air where there was nothing before. The dents on either side of his head in the pillow took on the shape of handprints.
Now Ichigo heard a low throaty groan through his mouth that vibrated through the action of Renji’s tongue dominating. He pushed back with his own, nipping and twisting his head to the side, plunging his fingers past a feathery texture to unfasten the hair tie that bound it. A second later he was rewarded by the tickling fall of invisible hairs over his neck and face.
Intense heat crept from the being laying atop him into his body. Parting his legs slightly Ichigo’s knees cradled the hips pushing and grinding down into him. The hungry kiss broke off to allow them both air. Ichigo seized the opportunity to blurt out, “Get off of me you heavy ass and do something else.”
“In the mood now eh?” panted Renji. Weight shifted off Ichigo at the same time blankets beside him peeled back. Invisible fingers grabbed his, pulling them to twist around what felt like a sash so he could pull it. He tugged and pulled at the folds of cloth seeing the grey shadow dimly there, and it almost spooked him. A blurry distortion in the air seemed to boil directly next to him.
Squeezing his eyes shut Ichigo then ran his hand along a sweaty hard muscled chest. He heard Renji purring, “That’s it… just like that…”
His other hand managed to brush over a hard firm object that poked him in the hip. Curling his fingers around it Ichigo smirked mischievously making sure he squeezed it just right. He chuckled, “Don’t you mean like THIS.”
“Stop it! You’ve got too many clothes on, dumbass,” the fukaitaicho snapped. Grabbing Ichigo’s hand it pushed away before seizing his belt. Ichigo cracked one eye open watching the leather belt tab slip out of the buckle. The snap popped open as if on its own followed by the zipper tab tugging downwards to reveal his tight underwear.
“Shit, it’s your fault for wearing these tight clothes,” Renji hissed in his ear. Ichigo couldn’t resist tugging urgently at his pants so he could peel them down his muscular legs. At the same time he yanked his underwear off combining it into a lump that landed next to his discarded shirt.
“If you’re going to do this, get under the covers with me,” Ichigo insisted, squeezing his eyes shut in bliss at the feel of hands wrapping around him.
Those huge hands pushed Ichigo onto his side after the blankets dropped down from above. A hard hot length pushed between his closed legs, brushing the underside of his balls and shaft. Up against his back he felt the hard chest sticking to his spine and large muscular bands enclosing him. Teeth nipped his ear along with the tickle of hair.
His hands barely curled around his shaft and the one rubbing against it. In unison they rocked, struggling to banish the friction that itched them mutually. Renji’s grunts and moans in his ear pounded his heart to a greater pace. He heard his own cries mingling with those of his invisible but now audible partner. “Ichigo… almost there…”
“Renji… if you stop… I’ll…”
“AH!” Renji shouted, voice vibrating them both with the force of its noise. All too soon muscles tightened in Ichigo’s groin. He howled at the burning shot that begged for release combined with the slapping pelvis thrusting his partner’s erection against his. Too hot under the covers his sweat soaked body rubbed into them like fire. At the last moment he twisted his neck around to feel his lips sealed off with a desperate kiss. Behind him the thrusting body shivered and shaked, slamming hard into him.
Ichigo too quaked at the raw white hot surge claiming him. Warm wetness spurted between his legs and seeped around his fingers. His lips released from his lovers with a gasp so he could heave in great breaths. Dizzily he lay sated hearing the thump of his pounding heart along with the labored gasps of his lover hugging him tightly. Now small gusts of chilled air crept through any gaps in the sheets and along any exposed skin such as Ichigo’s face and shoulder.
He could hear the kisses on his shoulder. Twisting over Ichigo slid his arms around the invisible companion nestled next to him and ignored the sticky feeling between his hard thighs. Softly he brushed his lips against those of the other, daring to crack open one eye to see any glimpse. All he noticed was the dark shadow barely discernible. Nevertheless he didn’t fear the darkness that showed a hint of where the fukaitaicho lay.
“Renji,” the former substitute murmured.
“I’m right here, Ichigo,” he answered.
Perhaps it didn’t help that darkness had already transformed the dim room to shadows painted in contrasts of orange and black. Scant streetlight beamed through curtains and venetian blinds. Ichigo hadn’t bothered to turn the lights on. Only the red numbers of the digital clock gave any other light showing a red tinge to his own features.
Falling lazily against the mass of shadow, Ichigo surrendered to sleep. For the time being pleasure hazed the questions that demanded answers. Able to hear the steady breathing of Renji was enough reassurance for now.