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The Ties That Bind Us	By : KaiBlueOtaku Category: Bleach > Yaoi - Male/Male > Renji/Shuuhei Views: 3623 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: Bleach and all its characters are owned by the talented Tite Kubo. I own only my story, and am merely borrowing them to tell it. I receive no payment for my writing.

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SUMMARY: Renji Abarai and Shuhei Hisagi are close friends. But is it possible there’s more than mere friendship there between them, simmering just beneath the surface? What will come ultimately of the changes happening between them, and what effects will it have on those around them?
                DISCLAIMER: Bleach and all its characters are owned by the talented Tite Kubo. I own only my story, and am merely borrowing them to tell it. I receive no payment for my writing.
                WARNINGS: A fair amount of coarse language, especially after Grimmjow makes his appearance in later chapters, because we all know what a mouth he has on him. This is M/M Romance, and has mature, adult lemon content. Later chapters, there will be a threesome, so that will be M/M/M and I will also list this story with a Voyeurism warning, because there is a known spectator to that scene. Vaguely implied MPreg this chapter. You have been warned.
                A/N: Some Angst, some WAFF, collages of some little ‘moments’ of them together and with friends, just to sort of cement their relationship together, and because sometimes, I need those precious little moments just as much as they do. Enjoy.

WWWWWWWWWW
                They settled into a comfortable rhythm with one another quickly, which only further confirmed for them both how right everything was between them. During their lunch breaks, Shuhei would usually come over to the Division 6 office. They would share their meal together, which they took turns in preparing, surprising each other with delicious exotic recipes and silly, sweet things like sandwiches cut into the shape of a heart, or vegetables arranged on a bed of rice to resemble a certain obscene piece of anatomy.

                Some days, when Byakua planned to stay at his desk and work through lunch instead of returning home, Renji would meet Shuhei halfway, and they would go back to the Division 9 office for a hurried romp together in the storage room, then an even more hurried lunch.

                In the evenings, they traded off whose house they stayed at, mainly dependant on who had gotten over to do grocery shopping after work that week, or who had the most laundry built up. Renji, true to his word, kept up on the washing. Shuhei usually made them dinner, and Renji had started to pay attention as he did so, in an attempt to pick up some pointers on his cooking. They talked and laughed and drank into the late hours, and then, most nights, made love until the sun came up. Or, other times, fucked each other until they passed out from exhaustion, curled up in each other’s embrace. It was a very comfortable sort of arrangement, and it suited the two of them just fine. They were happy together, and life was good.

                One evening, lying together in bed, Renji was reading and Shuhei was playing with his hair, putting it in long thin braids just for fun, and because Renji loved to have his hair played with. “Oh, shit, I just remembered something,” Renji announced, closing his magazine. “I talked to Kira today.”

                The color drained from Shuhei’s face. Izuru Kira was their mutual best friend, and had been completely cast aside and forgotten in their torrid, all-consuming obsession with one another. “What did he say?” the dark haired man asked, propping himself up on his elbow, not sure he wanted to hear the answer.

                “He just was complaining that it’s been too long since we all got together. So, I invited him over to my place tomorrow night.” Renji gave a lopsided smile. “He said he’d bring the sake… I hope that’s okay.”

                “No, no, it’s fine,” Shuhei assured his lover, chewing on his thumb in thought. “We’ll just have to behave ourselves and go back to our own places, so things don’t look suspicious.”

                Renji wrapped his arms around the bare chest of his boyfriend and grinned, pulling him over on top of himself. “It’ll be lonely without you here in my bed… I’ve gotten used to having you next to me,” he confessed with a blush.

                Shuhei leaned in and kissed him deeply. “I know, Ren, me too. We’ll manage, though.” He rested his head on the broad chest, and Renji lay his magazine on the nightstand, flicking out the light.

                The next day after work, they met at Renji’s. Things were a little awkward and tense as they prepared dinner and waited for Kira to show up. Gone was the usual playful banter, and Renji hoped that things perked up once their friend arrived, and the sake started to flow.

                A knock at the door caused the two of them to look to one another, eyes wide in apprehension. Shuhei took a deep breath and exhaled, Renji following his example, and nodding as if in agreement to begin what they both knew might be a challenging performance.

                “Kira! It’s been too long,” Shuhei cried with genuine enthusiasm upon seeing his friend, and realized just how secluded he and Renji had become in their routine.

                “I know, I was just telling Renji that yesterday,” Kira said with a pitiful smile. He was always so sullen, but the three of them seemed to understand each other most of the time, and it never bothered the other two. “How have you been?”

                “Good, and you?”

                Kira unslung the large satchel from his shoulder, dropping it to the ground with a resounding thump. The other two went wide-eyed. “I am swamped,” Kira told them, flashing them a pile of forms stacked neatly inside the bag. “Weekend reading. I’ve been stuck doing all of the paperwork for the whole Third Division. I must be days behind.”

                Shuhei chuckled. “I feel your pain on that. I’m probably more than a week behind on mine.”

                Kira’s eyes widened. “Oh man, that’s right, I forgot… You’re the only one leading the Ninth now, huh?”

                Shuhei shrugged. “Yeah. It’s okay though. If I wasn’t screwing around so much, and maybe if I worked through my lunches once in a while, I’d be more caught up.” He glanced quickly over at Renji, who pursed his lips in a tight grin, staring hard in warning. Kira missed the look because he was digging still in his bag.

                “Gentlemen, I brought the sake,” he said, pulling out a massive earthen jug and setting it with weight on the low table in front of the couch.

                Renji’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head. “Fucking shit, Kira, you sure as hell did! You didn’t have to bring a whole gallon… There’s enough there for the whole Gotei Thirteen to get drunk!”

                “Not if Shunshui Taicho shows up,” Shuhei snorted.

                Kira smiled. “Well, it’s been a while since we got together. I figured we had some catching up to do, and we do have tomorrow off…”

                Renji and Shuhei were surprised as the evening progressed, at how much everything felt just like old times between the three of them, except for the occasional veiled comment or inside joke that blew right over Kira’s head. They didn’t finish the whole bottle, but had put in a valiant effort before Shuhei stood up, stretching. “I think that’s it for me, guys… It’s been really fun. We seriously need to do this again, soon.” He smiled at Renji, showing the sincerity of his words. He really had had a nice time catching up with Kira, and he could see by Renji’s nod that he had as well. He embraced Kira, clapping him on the back in camaraderie, and there was an instant of awkward tension between him and Renji before he decided better of it and just waved his farewell to his lover, and headed out the door.

                Kira stood, corking the jug. “I should probably get going myself. Thanks for inviting us over, Renji. I really had a nice time.”

                “Hey, any time, Kira,” Renji told his friend with a smile, and watched him stagger slightly as he toted his jug out the front door on his way home.

                Renji stretched out on the couch, and tugged his bandana down over his eyes. He didn’t want to sleep in his bed tonight; it just felt too weird to him without Shuhei there. He was just starting to doze off when he heard a floorboard creak. He sat up abruptly and was shocked to see Shuhei creeping across the room, a sneaky smile on his face. “Is he gone?”

                “You’re a jerk for not giving me a goodbye hug,” Renji scolded, opening his arms to welcome his lover to join him on the couch. Shuhei happily complied, nestling his hips between Renji’s thighs as they kissed heatedly, oblivious to anything but each other.

                “Hey, Renji, can you believe I walked off and forgot my… paper… work…”

                They both looked up, horrified to see the form of Kira in the doorway, just staring. Neither of them knew what to do, frozen in terror. Kira moved slowly across the room, suddenly seeming to have sobered a bit, and retrieved his satchel from the floor. His eyes narrowed, and he looked back and forth between the two. “Just… Just how drunk are you guys?”

                Shuhei sat up slowly at last, pressing himself off of Renji and settling on the end of the couch with a sigh. “Not that drunk, Kira...” he admonished.

                Kira continued to scrutinize the two of them in silence for a time, waiting for an explanation that no one was willing to offer until finally the tension was too much, and Renji spoke. “Kira, there’s something we should probably tell you…”

                “I think I saw enough to know,” Kira cut him short, looking hurt. “If this is why we haven’t been hanging out lately, I wish you’d said something. I can leave earlier to give you two more time alone, if that’s what you want. Just don’t turn me into a third wheel, okay? I thought we had a pretty nice time tonight.” He smirked at their wide-eyed disbelief, and crossed his arms. “Honestly, I’m not surprised.”

                “You knew?” Renji demanded, sitting up and planting his feet on the floor.

                “I had my suspicions. We’re too close of friends for you two to be able to hide something like this from me for very long.”

                Renji pursed his lips, staring hard at the floor, and finally bit the bullet, addressing the proverbial ‘elephant in the room.’ “…Are you freaked out by it?”

                “Are you guys just fooling around, or is it serious?” Kira countered the question with one of his own.

                They hadn’t been expecting that, and stared at one another blankly. Finally, Shuhei smiled softly. “Pretty serious,” he admitted.

                “Do you love each other?” Kira challenged, searching their faces and, one at a time, they both nodded. “Then no, I’m not freaked out. If you guys were just messing around, then hell yes, that would probably freak me right out. But if this is something that grew out of your friendship and turned into something more…” Kira sighed, shaking his head in pity at them. “You two are my best friends. I want you guys to be happy… Just… No details, ok?”

                They all broke into relieved laughter, and Renji and Shuhei agreed to his terms. Kira slung his satchel over his shoulder and gave them both a knowing look. “Have a good night, then,” he said, and left them alone to their devices.

WWWWWWWWWW

                So that was how Kira found out.

                Honestly, it made things much easier on them, having him know. They were able to hang out with him again without things getting too awkward. Well, most of the time, anyway. There were still moments, and they came up from time to time, because whenever alcohol is involved, there’s always the potential for things to get awkward. But on the whole, having Kira find out as he did was a good thing for all three of them, in the end.

                Renji and Shuhei were taking their lunch break one day with Rangiku Matsumoto in the courtyard under the cherry trees, which were in full bloom.

                Matsumoto smiled knowingly and nodded toward Renji as she swallowed a bite of her sandwich. “You should be more careful with your curling iron, Renji,” she said in a mocking tone.

                He started dumbly at her. “What?”

                “You neck,” she said, nodding again, smirking. “The ‘curling iron burn’ there on the left side.”

                He reached his hand up. “I don’t use a curling iron,” he said, still confused.

                Matsumoto sighed in exasperation. “You are so dense sometimes, Renji. I was trying to be delicate. It’s a euphemism for a hickey. You have one that’s peeking out from under your collar. You should probably cover that before your captain sees it.”

                His eyes widened and he looked at Shuhei, who just averted his gaze, embarrassed. They had been getting a little rowdier than usual, but he thought they’d been careful not to leave any visible marks. Apparently, they’d been mistaken.

                “Looks like your girlfriend is a real wildcat,” Matsumoto chuckled, taking another bite of her sandwich, oblivious. Shuhei looked to Renji at that comment; his face flushed wildly, fists balled at his sides in silent rage.

                When she’d swallowed, she craned her neck to the side. “Uh oh, you too, Shuu?” she teased. Renji looked up and sure enough, there was the slight hint of teeth marks he knew were his own, barely visible along the edge of the collar of Shuhei’s shihakusho. “They must be twins!” Matsumoto laughed. “Imagine that, dating twin sisters… That would really be something, for a couple of close friends… like… you…” She trailed off as her eyes were opened by what she saw before her.

                Renji was trembling, visibly, in fury. And Shuhei… The quiet, gentle concern in his eyes, and the soft lay of his hand on Renji’s thigh… The way that gesture seemed to appease him, if only the slightest bit… The pained look that passed between the two of them…

                “Oh, my gosh,” Matsumoto whispered, letting her sandwich fall into her lap. “I am so sorry, you two… I… I didn’t know.”

                Shuhei sighed. “It’s ok, Matsumoto.”

                Renji started calming himself, and Shuhei slipped his hand into that of his lover, giving it a squeeze. Matsumoto picked her sandwich back up, and took a bite, looking thoughtfully back and forth between the two of them. “Hey, Shuu?” she asked. He looked up at her, and she hesitated for a moment before asking, “Is he any good?”

                Shuhei had never been so thankful for his quick reflexes as in that moment. Renji exploded off the ground, catapulting forward with a guttural war cry of, “I’m going to fucking kill you, Rangiku!” Shuhei tackled Renji, encircling his chest and holding his arms pinned down to his sides and they fell together at Rangiku’s knee, struggling. “Let me go, you bastard!” Renji snarled, struggling against the sinewy embrace.

                “Renji, I wasn’t talking to you,” Matsumoto said with calm contempt. He glared up at her, unbridled violence boiling in his eyes. “Get yourself under control. I just asked a simple question.”

                Renji pushed Shuhei off and sat up, still seething, but under his own self-restraint again. Matsumoto chewed her sandwich and looked back and forth between the two of them still, waiting.

                “Yes,” Shuhei said simply. “He’s good.”

                She smirked, and stopped chewing her sandwich for a moment, then took another bite, and nodded. They ate in silence for a while, Renji and Shuhei exchanging anxious glances all the while, until Shuhei finally asked her, “So?”

                “I can see that you two make each other happy,” she said, smiling. “That’s not easy to find, in life. You both deserve that, so I’m happy for you.” They were flabbergasted, and Renji calmed instantly.

                “Geez, Rangiku… Thanks,” the redhead said sincerely, rubbing at the back of his neck.

                “Of course.” She smiled, and gave them a coy wink. “And besides, you two make a really cute couple,” she added, giggling and leaning away from the swat that Renji aimed at her shoulder. “But really, you should cover those hickeys. They’re tacky.”

WWWWWWWWWW

                So that was how Matsumoto found out.

                …And, everyone else.

                The next morning, when Renji showed up at the office, Byakua was staring at him, making him a little uncomfortable. He glanced at the clock, but he was a few minutes early this morning, so he knew it wasn’t that, and his uniform was clean, so he wondered if he had food on his face or something. He sat at his desk, nervously trying to focus on his paperwork.

                “Stop fidgeting, Abarai,” Byakua commanded. “Shudo (*1) was considered a very noble practice in ancient times, by samurai and Lords alike. You’re a bit old for a Wakashu (*2), but that becomes your prerogative, after coming of age.”

                Renji was horrified. He wasn’t sure which was worse; that Byakua knew, or that he was so matter-of-fact about it? His captain had gone back to his paperwork, seemingly done with saying his piece, and so Renji was left to stew in his own thoughts until lunch time, when he hurriedly excused himself, and rushed off to the Ninth Division office to talk to Shuhei.

                “My captain knows!” Renji lamented, bursting through the door on Rukia and Shuhei, who were seated at the desk, chatting. He backpedalled, trying to take back the words before he had to offer an explanation to yet another person.

                “Rukia, too,” Shuhei said with a shrug. “We should have knows that as soon as Matsumoto found out, it’d be all over Seireitei.” He turned back to Rukia and chuckled. “Thankfully, I run the Seireitei Communication, so it’s not as though she can actually put an article in the paper, announcing it to people…”

                Renji fell on the couch, in a daze. “What are we going to do, Shuu?” he wailed, his head falling in his hands. “People are going to talk…”

                “Let them,” Rukia said, pushing her chair back and smiling at Renji as he turned his despaired face up toward her. “I’ve known you since we were young, Renji. You’re a good person. You two aren’t hurting anyone. And you love each other.” She looked to Shuhei. “We were just talking about that, and it’s evident from the way you act together. Don’t worry about anybody else, Renji. Let the talkers talk.”

                Renji was blown away. “You really mean that, Rukia?”

                She shrugged. “Well, sure. Why not?”

                He smiled at her, pulling himself back together some. “Thanks, Rukia. That means a lot coming from you.”

                “Yeah, well, don’t get all misty-eyed on me,” she said sternly, crossing her arms, but then grinned. “I had better be invited to the wedding, though.”

                Renji grabbed his head. “Shuu, you gotta stop teasing me about that,” he whined.

                “I didn’t say anything to her, I swear!” Shuhei insisted.

WWWWWWWWWW

                Things calmed down, after a while. Some of their more casual friends mostly ignored the fact that they were dating. Most of their closer friends, when visiting with one of them, would ask after the wellbeing of the other one, just out of general courtesy. Matsumoto was a little nosier than most, but they knew she was harmless in that respect, so they sometimes obliged her with more detail than usual, depending on the circumstances.

                One day, Renji was out on a mission, and Shuhei was stuck eating lunch alone, so he sought out Matsumoto, who was in the Division 10 break room, napping on the sofa. Shuhei prodded her with his toe. “Oi, Rangiku, wake up.”

                She peeked up at him, and smiled. “Oh, Shuu, it’s you.” She yawned and stretched. “How’s your boyfriend doing?”

                “Fine. He’s out on a mission today, so I was bored.”

                Matsumoto sat up, pouting. “I am not entertainment, Shuuhei Hisagi,” she proclaimed, jutting out her bottom lip as she crossed her arms beneath her ample bosom.

                “You sure seem to think we are sometimes,” he countered teasingly, and her jaw dropped in shock.

                “How could you say that, Shuu?” she whined, seeming actually hurt by his joke.

                “I was just playing, Rangiku, I’m sorry,” Shuhei apologized. “You just seem overly curious about our personal life sometimes, you know?”

                “What do you mean?”

                Shuhei settled down on the opposite end of the couch from her, sitting on the arm of it and resting his feet on the seat. “Well, like last week, when you asked Renji how sensitive my nipples were…”

                “You just got them pierced!” she cried in self defense. “That is a legitimate question! Next,” she barked, indicating that she intended to take these points of contention on, one by one, and settle the issue once and for all.

                Shuhei chuckled. “Okay, how about the other day, when you asked me how often we ‘do it’?”

                “Regular sex is part of a healthy relationship,” she insisted. “I just want to be sure that you two have a healthy relationship together.”

                Shuhei shook his head, realizing he was not going to win this argument with her easily. “Alright, what about when you asked if we had any weird fetishes?”

                She opened her mouth to speak, but then shut it again. Shuhei started to gloat, but she silenced him. “Quiet, I’m thinking,” she shushed, and chewed on her thumb, looking distant for a moment. “You might have me there, but you have to admit, you two make a pretty hot item.” She grinned, but then her brow furrowed in concern. “Besides, you’re not worried that I’m looking for something on the side or anything, are you?”

                Shuhei’s eyes widened. “No, the thought never crossed my mind, actually, until just now.”

                Matsumoto’s massive chest heaved a sigh of relief. “Oh, good. I don’t want you boys getting any strange ideas about me like that… Gin keeps me plenty satisfied, thank you very much.” She giggled, and flashed a coy look at Shuhei. “Now, if you want to talk about fetishes…”

                “I don’t!” Shuhei assured her, laughing as he waved his hands in refusal. “I absolutely do not want to know about what a kinky pervert Gin is. I can imagine, and I don’t even want to know.”

                She pouted playfully, a little put out by that, but then something occurred to her, and she asked, “Shuu, do you like girls?”

                “I’m not interested in couple swapping or anything weird like that, Rangiku,” Shuhei insisted.

                She turned to him earnestly. “No, seriously, Shuu. I’m just asking… Are you into girls? Or just guys?”

                Shuhei blinked at her. “Oh, I see what you mean. Umm, well… I find women attractive, yes. I was never attracted to guys before Renji. He’s just…” He thought for a moment, and sighed wistfully, smiling. “Renji’s different. I don’t know how to explain it.”

                “And Renji… Does he like girls?”

                Shuhei nodded. “It’s the same with him as for me. We just got really close as friends, and somewhere, things went beyond that for both of us. Neither one of us had been with guys before, but… I just wanted him, if that makes sense. It didn’t matter what his body was like, that he was a guy, or a girl, or whatever… It was his soul that I fell in love with, and that transcends something as simple as physical forms.”

                Matsumoto was enrapt. “That is so beautiful, Shuhei,” she murmured, breathless, clutching her hand to her chest. “So you’re, like, soul mates or something then, huh?”

                “I guess you could say that, yeah.”

                She smiled warmly. “See, that’s what I love about you two… That special closeness you have.” She sighed. “Sorry if I’m a little nosy into your extracurricular activities sometimes. I don’t really mean to be, but I just don’t believe it’s something to be ashamed of.”

                “Well, I’m not really ashamed of anything, per se,” Shuhei said, “It’s just kind of… I don’t know. Nobody else asks us that kind of stuff.”

                “Well, I’m a little different like that,” she admitted with a grin, and Shuhei chuckled. “Apparently, ‘different’ is okay with you, am I right?”

                He nodded in concession. “Yes, yes, alright, I get you.”

                “It’s sexual expression,” she said thoughtfully, and Shuhei perked up, suddenly very interested in what she had to say. “You and Renji are sort of private about that type of thing. I’m not, really. I’m sort of a touchy-feely kind of person, you know? And I don’t shy away from those kinds of conversations. Maybe some people don’t consider them to be appropriate, but if I ever get specifically inappropriate and cross a boundary for you, please, tell me, okay?” She smiled warmly. “I don’t want to make you guys uncomfortable, but it’s just how I am.”

                “I know exactly what you mean there,” Shuhei said in complete agreement.

WWWWWWWWWW

                “I love it when you’re home,” Shuhei said, busily brushing Renji’s hair as he sat on the floor in front of the couch. Shuhei had his legs drawn up, and was wearing some black leggings and an oversized, grey knit sweater that hung canted to the side, exposing one or the other of his shoulders at all times. On lazy days at home together, this was what he loved to wear. They were his ‘comfortable clothes,’ the same as Renji’s white and pink-floral-print yukata that he wore around when they were alone together.

                “What do you mean by ‘home’?” Renji asked. “Where is that? Your place, or mine? Because, you know, we kind of switch back and forth.”

                Shuhei smiled warmly. “Home isn’t a place, Ren. It’s a feeling. It’s not really either place, because it’s not so much a building. It’s wherever we are together.”

                Renji tipped his head back and smiled up at Shuhei, who leaned in for a kiss. “It’s like your yukata,” Shuhei added, pulling the brush through the long, cardinal locks.

                “Hey, don’t knock my fucking yukata,” Renji snapped. “This thing is comfy as hell.”

                Shuhei laughed, tugging on his hair. “I’m not, baka. I’m just saying, it’s not women’s clothing, because you’re wearing it. My outfit isn’t specifically ‘masculine’ or ‘feminine,’ per se, neither here nor there. Not my place or your place. It’s just because they’re comfortable. It’s the feeling that makes them right for us.”

                Renji nodded. “I can see what you mean there, I think. So, would it still be ‘home’ to you if we were living in a cardboard box down in District 80 of Rukongai?”

                Shuhei thought for a few moments. “Circumstances would suck, for sure… But yeah, because as long as we were together, it would be ‘home’ with you. Home could be under a bridge, it wouldn’t matter.”

                “It’s love,” Renji told him. “Love is what you’re talking about, not ‘home.’”

                “Isn’t it kind of the same thing?”

                Renji nodded. “I guess, yeah. Cuz even in a nice house, if we didn’t have our love, it wouldn’t be the same. But with the love, it doesn’t matter where we are.”

                Shuhei smiled, and continued brushing. “Ren?”

                “Hn?”

                “Did you ever want kids?”

                Renji chuckled. “I dunno. I never thought about it. I don’t think I have the patience to be a parent. Why,” he asked, looking up at Shuhei. “Did you? I mean, do you?”

                Shuhei smiled. “I don’t know. Maybe. I think you’d be a good father.”

                Renji straightened his head back out so Shuhei could continue the brushing. His hair was long since free of tangles, he just enjoyed the feeling of it. “Hn. I think I’d be an asshole dad, who’d beat a kid to death.”

                Shuhei gave him a thump in the back of his head. “I’m being serious, baka,” he said in a petulant tone, tugging on his hair softly. “I think you’d make a good father.”

                “You’d be a better one,” Renji insisted. “You’re more patient than I am.”

                “Shit, what would our kids look like?” Renji asked, laughing. “My build with your hair, he’d look like Ishhin Kurosaki. Your build with my hair…”

                “That would be beautiful, in a daughter,” Shuhei said. “You’d have to learn how to braid hair.”

                Renji snorted. “Did you not just hear me say that you have more patience than me?”

                Shuhei chuckled. “I know.” He was quiet for a while, and all that could be heard was the quiet whoosh, whoosh of the hairbrush as it carded through Renji’s hair.

                “You know, you always tease me about getting married,” Renji said. “Are you serious about that?”

                “Why, are you?” Shuhei asked, surprised. This was usually a topic Renji avoided like the plague. Shuhei loved to tease him, but this was a subject he never harped on too heavily, because his lover always seemed to panic at the mention of it.

                Renji shrugged. “Maybe, some day. I don’t know. I mean, are you serious about it?”

                Shuhei had to admit, he’d never really given too much thought to it seriously before. “Well?” Renji asked, and Shuhei shushed him.

                “I’m thinking,” he said as he brushed the vermillion cascade running down Renji’s back.

                Whoosh. Whoosh.

                “We don’t have to,” Shuhei finally said. “Not if you don’t want to.”

                “That’s not what I asked, baka,” Renji said, looking up at him. “I asked if you were serious about it.”

                Shuhei smiled at the distinction. Even though Renji could be dense at times, he had plenty of moments like this, where he was deep and thoughtful. “Maybe,” he said. “I could do this for the rest of my life. Just be with you.”

                Renji reached his hand up and took Shuhei’s, tangling their fingers together. “I love it when I’m home, too,” he agreed, giving a gentle squeeze.
WWWWWWWWWW

(*1) (*2)Shudo/Wakashudo- Known also as “the way of the youth.” Definition of “Shudo” from Wikipedia: “same-sex love spread to the warrior (samurai) class, where it was customary for a boy in the wakashū age category to undergo training in the martial arts by apprenticing to a more experienced adult man. The man was permitted, if the boy agreed, to take the boy as his lover until he came of age; this relationship, often formalized in a "brotherhood contract", was expected to be exclusive, with both partners swearing to take no other (male) lovers. This practice, along with clerical pederasty, developed into the codified system of age-structured homosexuality known as shudō, abbreviated from wakashūdo, the "way (do) ofwakashū". The older partner, in the role of nenja, would teach the wakashū martial skills, warrior etiquette, and the samurai code of honor, while his desire to be a good role model for his wakashū would lead him to behave more honorably himself; thus a shudō relationship was considered to have a "mutually ennobling effect". In addition, both parties were expected to be loyal unto death, and to assist the other both in feudal duties and in honor-driven obligations such as duels and vendettas. Although sex between the couple was expected to end when the boy came of age, the relationship would, ideally, develop into a lifelong bond of friendship. At the same time, sexual activity with women was not barred (for either party), and once the boy came of age, both were free to seek other wakashū lovers.”
A/N: OMG, I can’t believe I wrote this all in one day. I’m sick. I have to take a break, seriously. These two are cooking my brains, in addition to any fever I may or may not have. But I can’t get enough. Next chapter is already started, no promises on when I’ll update, but if it’s anything like it’s been, it won’t be long.
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The Ties That Bind Us