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A Test of Faith	By : honeyMellon Category: Bleach > Yaoi - Male/Male > Renji/Shuuhei Views: 1155 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: No underaged beings, humans or otherwise, are involved in this work of fiction. Bleach and all its characters belong to Kubo Tite, I just "expand" them for fun. I do not make any profit from these work of fiction.

Chapter List
- 14
- 15
- 16
Previously on "A Test of Faith":

"Sometimes," she said slowly. "Life isn't about fairness. It's just...whether you think the price is worth it."
A big thank you to all of you who have been following the story. I especially want to give a shout out to Cuzosu, Nila101, Cole-Hyuuga, Eva Galana, BarbaritaS, and noname12321 for leaving comments! All your comments and reviews are precious to me and keep me motivated, so thank you thank you thank you!
Here's another giant chapter!

Chapter 15

It was now the day after Kira asked him to talk to the redhead, but Shuuhei had decided to wait for a day to allow more time for both of them to calm down. He waited till after official work hours, and had fully expected Renji to be back in his quarters. Surely after their argument, the man would not continue his coaching lessons with Akari, right? After all, they had had such a bad fight over that, and if Renji could simply go on as if nothing had happened, it would mean...
His heart sank a notch when he arrived to find Renji's quarters dark and empty. Shuuhei closed his eyes and focused on searching for Renji's spiritual pressure. There, he found it—right at the very edge of Seireitei, where he had gone to vent out his anger after their last fight. He clenched his fists in nervousness, then flash-stepped to the Renji's location.

"Fuck, I give up on this!" Renji threw up his hands after pricking his finger for the fifth time that afternoon from just trying to thread a needle. Why did they have to make the needle so fucking small? His hands were made for holding swords and fighting, not for dainty, prickly little bastards like these.
Akari stifled a giggle, not wanting to infuriate the red-haired vice captain any further. They were sitting at the same clearing where Renji had gave her a little bit ofzanjutsu advice, except now they had a light teal, flowy silk kimono across both their laps. The fabric was ripped along the seams on one of the sleeves, all the way down the side of the kimono. Akari could guess how this happened, but decided that she would rather pass on the specifics.
She took the needle away from her extremely frustrated vice captain before he could stab himself to death with it, threaded it, tied a small knot at the end of the thread, then handed the needle back. Renji stared at the needle in disbelief. How did she do it so quickly?
"Here," Akari held up a small piece of fabric, which she had brought for practice purposes. She folded the fabric and ran her finger along the side. "Imagine this is where you need to reattach the seam. Now, you'd want to poke the needle through here..." A howl immediately followed. "No! Don't put your finger underneath that part of course!"
Renji hissed as he flung his arms in an attempt to soothe the pain from the needle stab. Cuts from Senbonzakura he could handle, but this fucking needle...He gripped the practice fabric with renewed determination. Abarai Renji, vice captain of 6th division of Gotei 13, would not be defeated by a 2-inch stick of metal!
"You're bleeding," Akari gasped as Renji's finger stained the little piece of fabric. Renji growled in annoyance and stuck his wounded finger into his mouth to suck on it. Akari giggled at his fierce expression; it was hilarious to see this large, muscular man being rendered helpless by this.
As Renji cursed under his breath and nursed his finger—it felt as though he had stabbed himself to the bone judging from the pain—Akari ran her fingers over the silk kimono. It felt divine; she had never felt something so soft in her life. She touched the tear in the fabric; it looked like someone had ripped it, and she could think of plenty of scenarios how it got ripped. The image of her vice captain tearing the kimono off of Hisagi-fukutaicho disturbed her. He must've been flushed in the face, probably his hair was down. Would he be in a kimono too or would he be naked? Were they lying on the bed? What had Hisagi-fukutaicho looked like? She shook her head to snap herself out of that train of thought. It was already hard enough to be here to support the man she loved to in his relationship issues, she really did not need to get herself emotionally involved in it.
"Are you okay? It can't be that serious," she said with a roll of her eyes as Renji continued muttering curses and sucking his finger. "Let me see that." She reached over and grabbed Renji's hand and pulled it towards her. There was a tiny red dot in the middle of his index finger. "You're such a big baby," she chided her vice captain, but she couldn't help giggling out loud when he scowled.

Shuuhei navigated carefully through thick vegetation as he moved towards the clearing where he had found Renji last time. Renji is training, he told himself. He's just training, venting his anger, why else would he be here, right? He's not having a training lesson with Akari. Yes, he must be just out here by himself, training with Zabimaru, that's all. Shuuhei kept repeating this over and over in his head, reassuring himself.
When he finally parted the last bit of tall grass separating him from the clearing, his mind went blank as he took in the sight that greeted him. There they were, sitting side-by-side in the shaded area in the clearing; the girl holding the redhead's hand and examining his finger, giggling as she did so, while Renji had a grimace on his face. The girl said something—Shuuhei was too far to make out the words—and Renji scowled, pulling his hand away.
Shuuhei desperately wanted to tear his eyes away from the scene but his body defied him. They looked like a happy couple, laughing and talking softly, their heads together looking at something in their laps. The girl was clearly guiding Renji to do something, and Shuuhei watched numbly as the redhead nodded and followed her instructions. His heart sank, and sank, until it hit the pit of his stomach and he couldn't handle it anymore. His legs gave out, and he stumbled forward and crashed through the foliage into plain sight.
Renji was instantly on his feet, dropping whatever he had in his hands. His eyes went wide in shock as he locked eyes with the raven-haired man standing several feet away. The hurt in Shuuhei's eyes was clear even across the distance. The man's fists were clenched tight and held closely against his body, his chest heaving as if he was struggling to breath.
Renji stepped forward to explain, because obviously the man had thought the worst given his reaction. But before he could take the second step, Shuuhei stepped back, eyes staring at Renji as if he were a stranger.
"How could you..." Shuuhei's voice broke, as did his heart.
"Shuuhei, this isn't what you think—" Renji began, walking towards the man.
Shuuhei immediately held up his hand defensively, as if to hold up a barrier to separate himself from the redhead. "How could you..." he repeated in the same hoarse, heartbreaking voice.
Renji felt a stab of panic. He had never seen Shuuhei like this before; Shuuhei's face was pale, even his lips appeared to have lost its color, and his eyes had a wild look in them.
"Shuuhei, please, let me explain," Renji said, his heart pounding in his chest.
Akari stared at the two men, confused and afraid. Why did Hisagi-fukutaicho react like this? Her pulse raced as she sensed the building tension between the two vice captains. It didn't make sense. The most serious scenario she could think of was that Renji won't be able to surprise Hisagi-fukutaicho with his gift, what's the big deal?
"How could you do this to me!" Shuuhei yelled, pointing at Akari. "Is she really that important to you? You can't even wait for us to resolve our problem before running to her?"
What? Akari blinked in confusion. What has this got to do with her?
Renji glanced at her, and she was surprised to see alarm and fear in his eyes. "This has nothing to do with her," he said. "I asked her to—"
Shuuhei cut him off before he could finish his sentence. "This has everything to do with her!" he cried, his finger stabbing the air in Akari's direction. "Why do you keep defending her? Is she such a good fuck that you have to—"
"Watch your words!" Renji roared. "I asked her to teach me how to mend your clothes, okay? It was supposed to be a surprise! Why do you always have to jump to conclusions like that?"
Still rooted in place, Akari swallowed. What the hell is going on? She was apparently the source of their problem? What's this about her being a good fuck? That totally did not make any sense whatsoever. Unless...unless...somehow Hisagi-fukutaicho figured out that she had a crush on Abarai-fukutaicho? But that still didn't make sense, she hadn't done anything inappropriate with her vice captain. She shrank back in fear from Hisagi-fukutaicho, wishing that she could just disappear.
Instead, she found herself saying in a very small voice, "I was just teaching Abarai-fukutaicho how to sew."
Shuuhei turned to look at her and made a sound that sounded like a mix between a laugh and a sob. "Teaching him how to sew?" he echoed. "Come on, at least make up a story that's more believable."
"That's the truth," Akari said, looking at the man right in the eyes. "He wants to mend your kimono to give you a surprise."
Shuuhei looked back to Renji, who nodded furiously. For a moment it looked as if Shuuhei was going to calm down and accept their words, then he suddenly threw his head back and laughed. It wasn't his usual good-natured, deep laugh. It sounded more like an eerie howl, which trailed off into hoarse chuckles. Renji and Akari stared at him as he bent over and grabbed his knees, his shoulders trembling from laughter.
"Oh, this is precious," he said finally, straightening up and wiping his eyes. "Un-fucking-believable, guys."
"Shuu—" Renji only managed to get a word out before Shuuhei stopped him.
"Don't bother," Shuuhei said, his eyes gleaming with what Akari suspected were tears. "I...I'm sorry I intruded. Do carry on, please." He began to walk backwards, stumbling a little from the uneven ground. "Don't let me stop you," he said with a scary smile on his face.
Renji flash-stepped in front of him and grabbed his collar. "Stop it Shuuhei! We're telling the truth!" he said between gritted teeth. "Snap out of it!"
There was a flash of metal and Renji stared down at the blade of Kazeshini at his throat. "Don't. Touch. Me," Shuuhei growled, pressing the blade against Renji's neck.
Renji looked at him pleadingly. "Shuuhei..." he whispered desperately. When the man did not remove his zanpakutou, Renji had no choice but to let go of his collar. Then he watched helplessly as Shuuhei turned around and walked off, Kazeshini gripped tightly in his hand.
"Hisagi-fukutaicho..." Akari murmured in a shaky voice as she stared at the man's back. Hisagi-fukutaicho had always come off as a calm, mellow man; she could not believe what she had just witnessed. She had heard from people that Hisagi-fukutaicho detested violence, and that he even disliked his own zanpakutou because of its power to bring destruction. Yet, that very same man had just pulled his weapon on his lover.
Akari lost track of how long she continued to stare even though Hisagi-fukutaicho had left. When she finally tore her eyes away, she risked a sideways glance at her vice captain. The redhead was biting his lower lip, so hard that she could see small beads of blood on cracked skin. She suddenly felt sharp stab of fear in her chest; she was very, very afraid.

"Yo Ikkaku! Come on, you can't stop now!" Renji sang, his words slurred. His eyes were half lidded, a crooked smile plastered on his flushed face. "Come, have another!" he said, shoving a bottle of sake in the bald man's face.
"Dude, how many have you had?" Ikkaku asked with a laugh. But who was he to judge; his face was equally flushed and he spoke with an air of giddiness that was entirely out of character.
The small private room in the izakaya restaurant was thick with the scent of alcohol. Next to Ikkaku, Yumichika was slumped against the wall, half asleep. Across the table, next to Renji, Matsumoto giggled while she examined the empty sake cup in her hand like it was some sort of rare archaeological find.
"One more one more!" Renji yelled, waving his arms drunkenly while attempting to get up to talk to the waitress. He tripped over Matsumoto's leg and crashed into the door frame, attracting the attention of all the other customers in the restaurant. "Sorry! Sorry!" he said with a giggle. Ignoring the dark looks from some of the customers, he stumbled into the main hall in the restaurant and made his way to the bar.
"Renji-san, you've had enough." The head waitress, a middle-aged, motherly-looking woman touched his arm and said in a firm tone.
"But I just got started!" The redhead protested loudly, causing more heads to turn. The waitress bowed to the customers apologetically and turned back to tug at Renji's arm. Just as she was frantically wondering how to handle the tall man who towered over her, a loud voice called out from the entrance of the restaurant.
"There he is!" Rikichi yelled, gesturing to Akari. "I found him!"
The girl burst into the restaurant, and the eyes that had been focused on the red-haired vice captain turned to her. Akari blushed slightly, but walked inside anyway. She reached Renji at the same time as Rikichi, and the waitress gladly handed the man over to them.
"Abarai-fukutaicho!" Rikichi said loudly into Renji's ear, waving his hand in the man's face. The only reaction he got was a hiccup, followed by giggles. Rikichi shot Akari a frightened look.
The girl gave him a determined nod, then they each took one of Renji's arm and heaved him onto their shoulders together. Akari gasped at the sudden weight, then gritted her teeth and straightened up. She would not let her vice captain drink himself to death tonight.
It took her and Rikichi almost half an hour to get their extremely intoxicated vice captain back to his quarters; Akari nearly tripped over a few times, but Rikichi managed to hold on to the large man, giving her enough time to recover. They didn't have the key to Renji's door, so Akari simply kicked the door in—seriously, who would dare to break into a vice captain's room—and together, she and Rikichi somehow managed to drag the man to his bed and hauled him onto the mattress. Rikichi sat down on the floor and wiped his brow while Akari tried to wake their vice captain up by gently slapping his cheeks.
It was useless; the man was out cold by then, no amount of shaking and slapping could make him stir.
"What should we do?" Rikichi asked in dismay. Was it okay to just let Abarai-fukutaicho sleep like this?
"He'll be okay," Akari said, watching the man snore away. "Come, we should go." Rikichi nodded, still looking uncertain. But he let Akari guide him to the door, then, throwing one last worried look at the unmoving figure on the bed, he went into his own room.
Akari looked at Rikichi's door. Once she was certain that the boy had gone in far enough, she stole a quick look down the hallway, then darted back into Renji's quarters. She did her best to put the broken door back into the frame, then made her way slowly to the sleeping man.
Abarai-fukutaicho looked surprisingly young as he slept; his eyelashes rested against his flushed cheeks, his frown gone, and his mouth was slightly open. It hadn't been easy to get the man onto the bed, they had had to tug and push with all their strength. In the process, the man's shihakusho had become slightly undone, exposing much of his chest. Akari couldn't help staring at it as the chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm, her eyes lingering on the tattoos. She thought back of the night when she had spied on her vice captain at Rikichi's place and remembered that the tattoos extended all the way down the toned abdomen.
Before she could think of what she was doing, her hand reached out to touch the rumpled cloth barely covering her vice captain's chest. Her fingers trembled as they brushed the edges of the fabric, and her pulse quickened when she felt the warmth of the body beneath the robes. Then, realizing how inappropriate her actions were, she pulled her hand away.
A big, burning hot hand shot out and grabbed her wrist.
Akari yelped in fright and looked up, right into the wide-open eyes of her vice captain. He stared at her silently, his eyes still glazed over from alcohol. She froze, unable to pull her hand away or tear her eyes away from the smoldering gaze.
"Abarai-fukutaicho..." Akari whispered, her heart pounding wildly in her chest. Something about the way he was looking at her made her shiver. She finally managed to find the willpower to move, and tried to tug her hand away from the man's grip, but his hand remained wrapped firmly around her wrist. Her skin reddened from her efforts, and she gave a frightened whimper.
"Why are you afraid?" Renji asked softly.
"I'm not," Akari lied, her voice trembling. "You need to let go, you're hurting me." She pulled her arm again, but instead of pulling away, she was suddenly pulled towards the man. She gave out a surprised yelp and fell forward—straight onto Renji's chest. The strong aroma of sake immediately hit her, and she coughed.
She felt herself being tugged again, this time towards Renji's face. When her eyes fell upon his, she went still. The only sounds in the room were from their quick, loud breaths.
"Abarai-fukutaicho, please..." Akari pleaded.
Ignoring her, Renji pulled her even closer, until her face was directly on top of his. Then, before the girl could struggle, he pulled again. Their lips crushed together, and Renji immediately began to pry her lips apart with his tongue.
"Mmmph!" Akari screamed, but her scream came out muffled. She struggled to break away but was instead thrown onto the bed next to her vice captain. The man rolled over and pinned her onto the mattress.
"Do you love me?" Renji asked, looking into Akari's eyes.
Akari stilled. All she could do was blink. Tears began to pool at the corner of her eyes as she stared into the face of the man above her. It was her vice captain, yet it was not. The images from her dreams rushed into her head and she blushed deeply.
"You're drunk," she said weakly. Her body felt strangely limp under his weight, and her wrists hurt where his hands were holding them to pin her down.
"Shuuhei thinks you love me," Renji said, slurring his words.
Akari turned her head to the side, unable to look at him in the eyes.
"Do you?" he asked again.
She remained still and silent.
Renji chuckled softly. "Well, I guess that's a yes," he whispered. He lowered his head and pressed his forehead against Akari's. "Shuuhei was right," he murmured, more to himself than to Akari. "Shuuhei was right and I didn't believe him...I didn't believe him..." His words gave way to sobs, and his shoulders shook.
Akari winced at the pain from her wrists. Her vice captain's grip had tightened as he became more and more emotional. Then the weight on her forehead lifted and she felt droplets of water on her cheek; some trickled down and got into her mouth. It tasted salty. She turned her head back to look at Renji. His eyes were clenched shut but tears were flowing freely from them, and he bit his lips to muffle his sobs. Her heart broke at the sight.
"Abarai-fukutaicho, it's not too late to tell him that you're sorry," Akari whispered.
Renji laughed through his tears. "He wanted to kill me, don't you remember?" he said softly. "I can still feel Kazeshini against my skin..."
Akari didn't know what to say. What was she supposed to do? Her wrists had begun to go numb.
"He doesn't want me anymore," Renji said hoarsely. "But you do, don't you, Akari? You want me."
Akari froze at those words and her blood went cold. Her instincts screamed at her to run, to fight, but all she could do was stare into the pair of scarlet eyes on top of her.
Then Renji pressed his lips onto Akari's. This time, he sucked gently on her lips, almost lovingly. He tasted strongly of sake, and despite of her dislike of alcohol, Akari felt warmth begin to spread through her limbs. She felt his tongue trace her lower lip, asking for permission to enter, and she shivered. She was vaguely aware of her inner voice yelling at her to stop, but her body caved. Closing her eyes, she parted her lips and allowed herself to melt into her first real kiss.

To be continued...
Please don't kill me!
Sneak preview of next chapter:

He looked around the room in confusion, then looked down at himself. He was clad in his sleeping kimono, but he didn't remember putting them on. Then, it all rushed back to him.
- 14
- 15
- 16
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A Test of Faith