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A Modern Courtship	By : crunchysalad Category: Bleach > Yaoi - Male/Male > Byakuya/Renji Views: 7953 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or its characters. I am not making any money off this piece of fanfiction.

Chapter List
- 4
- 5
- 6
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A/N: In this chapter Renji does laundry, and I must confess that scene was the whole catalyst for this fic. I just wanted to write about Renji doing Byakuya's laundry. It didn't turn out exactly how I wanted it to, but that's okay.
satterb: Byakuya's anger was abrupt, wasn't it? I tried toying with the scene to make it more gradual, but couldn't really get it to work right. Ah, well. At any rate, I'm glad that you're enjoying the fic and that you're enjoying Renji and Byakuya's personalities. They are complex, aren't they? Especially Renji, who's always struck me as a mixture of bravado and intense insecurities.
Shere: Oh man, you're checking this thing daily? That makes me feel super flattered and super bad that it took so long to get this part out. Feel free to sign up on my twitter to get updates - the only thing I post there is fic updates, you so won't get weird personal life tweets from me. Thanks for reading and reviewing!
KiraRaven: Man, your insights are spot on. You'll see them play out a little bit in this next chapter ^^ Thanks for taking the time to read and review, sorry this next chapter took so long to get up.
qwerty: Yes, it is too bad, isn't it? Don't worry, they'll figure things out, those two crazy kids ^_^
Youko-nii: Hahaha. I'll take a generic compliment any day of the week! Thank you!
Dragonprincess01: Thank you for saying so. The fic came about because I wanted to write something about what Renji and Byakuya were doing in the parts of the manga where we didn't see them around, and the dream thing seemed like it might be a good catalyst for their relationship. Plus I love Japanese folklore, so putting some twisted version of the Baku demon in here was fun (also, I think it makes a little bit of sense in the Bleach universe that the creatures humans called demons were actually hollows, no?)
anon: Thank you! And here it is. . .

Chapter Four
Renji stared out his bedroom window, eyes listless. He was just so pissed at himself. The morning had been so amazing. Byakuya had been more open than Renji had ever seen him, sharing stories and listening to Renji's own stupid comments. Renji felt like they were getting to know each other, and then he had gone and spoiled it all by going one step too far. And for what? The chance to tease Byakuya a little bit? God, he was such an idiot.
He still remembered how Byakuya had looked at that moment, too. His usually sharp features had looked almost. . . soft. Maybe it had been because of the dim morning light, just breaking through then dawn, but Renji had never seen him like that. And those slate gray eyes had looked almost warm. Renji rolled over on is side. He didn't think he would be seeing that side of Byakuya again anytime soon.
The sound of the front door opening filled the house. Renji shot up and ran to the door of his room, looking out into the main room. Byakuya was entering the house, and Renji stood up tall as he waited for his captain to say anything. He could feel his heart racing a little bit, could feel his palms sweating. That hard, cold look was back on Byakuya's face, and that didn't bode well for Renji.
"Renji."
Renji jumped at the sound of his name. "Yes, Taichou."
"I have made contact with the hollow; it is, indeed, a pseudo-arrancar. I have found out new details about it and have devised a plan in dealing with it." Byakuya was barely even glancing at Renji as he spoke, his eyes focused instead at some point behind Renji's head.
Renji nodded and waited for Byakuya to continue.
"I have found that the arrancar enters dreams by joining threads of his zanpakuto with the victim's mind. When he does so he has to be asleep himself, and the process takes a bit of time. I assume that is because he must trap the victim before consuming his soul. From now on we will take turns sleeping, and will conduct patrols sporadically day and night. If one of us falls under the control of the arrancar, the other will not wake him."
"What? But why?" Renji didn't see the logic in that. Wasn't it important not to become the arrancar's last meal?
Byakuya held up a hand, halting any further complaint. "The dreamer may be able to get information from the arrancar while in the dream world. The one awake will cut off the thread only if there is a dangerous drop in reiatsu; in that case, the one awake should go find the arrancar as soon as possible, in order to capture him."
Renji nodded, finding no major fault with Byakuya's plan, as risky as it seemed. But then Byakuya turned to head back outside. Renji quickly stepped forward, not wanting Byakuya to leave when there was so much tension between them.
"Wait, Taichou, I just wanted to say sorry about this morning. I'm reflected on my actions, and I realize that they weren't appropriate."
"Your apology is accepted," Byakuya said, not even looking back to answer. "It was my fault for not maintaining a more professional distance between us."
"Taichou, I-"
"I'm going to patrol the area," Byakuya said, cutting Renji off. "I'll make sure to keep track of your reiatsu level, so if you want to get some sleep feel free to do so."
And with that Byakuya walked out and slammed the door shut behind him. Renji stood there, eyes fixed on the closed door. Byakuya had barely looked at him throughout their entire exchange. It had almost been like. . .like the way their relationship was before everything had happened with Aizen. Renji felt his stomach drop at the thought. Was that what Byakuya meant when he said "professional distance"? Renji's hands clenched into fists as he ground his teeth together. He didn't want to go back to the days when his existence was meaningless to Byakuya, not when Byakuya had already acknowledged him, not when Byakuya was starting to see him as a confidant.
Renji turned and slammed his fist into the wall. It punched through drywall, leaving a hole there, though all his frustration and anger seemed to remain tightly wound in his body. He shook his head in disgust as he made his way to his room. Why did he always have to fuck everything up?
Renji pulled out his soul separation glove and hit it against his forehead. As his soul jerked out of his body his gigai crumpled to the ground; there was no one here, he didn't have to bother with a mod soul. He laid his lifeless body on the bed and left the house, heading away from Byakuya's reiatsu and into the forest. He needed some exercise. He needed something physical to do with himself.
Renji trained all day. He didn't go to spar with Zabimaru, didn't want to hear his zanpakuto spirit's taunts right now. He just wanted to lose himself in physical movement as he practiced combat moves in the forest. By the end of it he was breathing heavy and drenched in sweat, and there was a circular area around him newly bereft of trees. Spent and feeling just a little bit better, he made his way back to the cabin.
Byakuya still wasn't back, and the sky was orange with the receding sun. Renji re-entered his body, cringing at the way injuries and sweat seemed to transfer so sharply to the physical body. He stripped his clothes and took a shower outside, enjoying the feel of cold water hit his overheated muscles. When he was done he went inside to find Byakuya sitting at the table, his soul phone in hand. Apparently he had just been talking to Soul Society.
"We'll take four hour shifts sleeping," he said, sparing Renji the briefest of glances. "You should go first."
Renji nodded. He wasn't going to protest, not when Byakuya was upset with him. He went to his bedroom to try to get a few hours of sleep.
The next few days were enough to drive Renji insane. Things didn't change, things didn't get better. Byakuya barely ever acknowledged him unless he had to, sending Renji spiraling back to the time he had first become Byakuya's vice captain. Back when Byakuya made him feel, every time he saw him, like he wasn't good enough. Renji hated it. He hated being in this cabin alone with Byakuya, the silence between them hanging heavy in the air like it was something tangible.
A few days later and Renji found himself in early morning, looking in on a sleeping Byakuya. It was the closest he could get to his captain, really. When they weren't taking turns sleeping Byakuya was always away, either training or meditating or patrolling the area.
Renji sighed. Byakuya looked so peaceful in his sleep, a softness to his features that Renji hadn't seen since that day on the bridge. Then he noticed that there was a stack of neatly folded clothes in the corner of Byakuya's room. Leave it to Byakuya to be neat with even his dirty clothes. Renji frowned as he walked in and picked them up. . . he might as well make himself useful, and it didn't seem like Byakuya was going to do his own laundry. Renji wondered if he even knew how.
He took the dirty clothes outside. There was a wooden tub next to the water pump, and he filled it with water and just a little soap before dropping Byakuya's clothes inside. Then he rolled up his sleeves and kneeled down, ready to scrub them clean. Byakuya's life really was different from his, Renji thought. Byakuya really had no concept of the more mundane tasks of life, could fully expect someone else to take care of those things for him. And here Renji was, doing exactly that. Byakuya probably wouldn't even notice once his clothes were dry and hanging up neatly in the closet, would probably only take it as something that was to be expected. After all, his servants always took care of these things. Renji sighed, wondering what compelled him to take on this task, when Byakuya wasn't even properly talking to him. When Byakuya wouldn't even notice.
Once he was done scrubbing Renji hung the clothes up on the line he had put up a few days ago. Byakuya had just fallen asleep, so Renji had almost four hours to kill before they would both be awake. He started his daily morning walk into the city. Renji had found that he could keep track of Byakuya's reiatsu from the town, and had taken to spending more time there. The coffee shop during the morning, the bar during the night. There was only so many hours of the day he could spend training or watching Byakuya, and this way he could also keep track of any strange happenings in the town.
Renji took his seat at his usual spot, a small table in the darkest corner of the room. He waited there, finger tracing the grain of wood on the table, as he waited for the usual middle-aged waitress. He didn't look up as her light footsteps came closer to the table.
"The usual?" she asked, and he only nodded.
She left, leaving Renji to his thoughts. He stared out the window, noting how gray everything seemed to be this early in the morning. Soon enough a cup of coffee was set in front of him, black, no sugar, along with what the woman had told him the first day was a 'panini.' But the woman wasn't leaving, and he looked up to see the she had her arms crossed and a concerned expression on her face.
"You've been coming around here every day," she said, "and I see you in the bar every night. Moping around like some lovesick puppy. Well, I've got news for you, mister, there are plenty of fish in the sea, and you've just gotta get back up and find another one."
"I'm fine, really," Renji said, wondering if he really looked all that depressed.
"If your fine I'm a donkey's mother," the woman said, all gruff, no-nonsense care. "I've seen plenty of heartbreak in my time, and it's clear as day that's what you're going through."
"It's really not like that," Renji said. "It's just that this person I admire isn't talking to me, it's not like it's a romantic thing."
The woman raised her eyebrow. "Upset because someone's giving you the silent treatment? Sighing into your coffee cup multiple times every morning? Getting drunk by yourself? That's not just admiration, kid, that's love."
The woman bustled off, leaving Renji to stare after her with wide eyes. His coffee cup was frozen on its way to his mouth, and images of Byakuya filled his mind. Scowling Byakuya. Subtly smiling Byakuya. Sleeping Byakuya. Renji wasn't. . . but that was. . . it was normal to watch your Captain in his sleep, right? Fuck. He was in love with Kuchiki Byakuya. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. When the hell had that happened?
As soon as he thought it Renji was ashamed of himself, as though he wasn't worthy of entertaining such emotions for Byakuya. But now that he had realized it he couldn't deny it. There was a reason he always wanted to make Byakuya happy, why his heart raced whenever Byakuya paid attention to him. He had never put two and two together because Byakuya wasn't an option; the whole thought of the two of them together was ludicrous.
Renji lifted his coffee cup to his lips, letting the revelation sink in. But even if it was true, even if he was in love with Byakuya. . . it didn't change anything, did it? Byakuya could barely even stand him right now; there was no way the other man would ever feel the same way. The notion of reciprocated feelings was just one more unobtainable dream for Renji. Just one more way the monkey would never reach the moon.
Renji stared down into the black of his coffee. It tasted extra bitter on his tongue. Or maybe that had more to do with the fact that, now that he had realized what he had been feeling all this time, it really did feel like his heart was breaking.
Once it was time for Renji to head back to the cabin, he felt like someone had just given him a puppy and then had promptly pulled it away and tossed it into the river. He slunk, not walked, back to the cabin, eyes focused on the floor and shoulders slumped. By the time he got back there Byakuya was already awake, but his captain ignored him as he walked out of the house.
Renji made his way to his bedroom. On paper, in its simplest form, his situation was ideal. Alone in an isolated cabin with the object of his affection. But add in all the details of his relationship with Byakuya and all of a sudden it was a different picture entirely. Renji crossed his arms behind his head as he laid down, wondering what he would do with himself today. Byakuya would probably go off to train soon, without saying more than a sentence to Renji about it.
But then Renji heard the sound of running water and he glanced out the window in automatic response. Only to see Byakuya taking a shower. Renji's eyes widened as he sat up, keeping as close to the wall as he could so that Byakuya wouldn't notice him. He knew that he should look away, that he shouldn't watch, but he couldn't help himself. He had never seen Byakuya naked; his captain generally avoided the public sento and onsen that dotted Seireitei, no doubt in favor of the more luxurious ones that must exist on the Kuchiki estate.
Byakuya was facing away from Renji as he stepped into the shower, completely nude. So Renji had a perfect view of defined shoulders and arms, a well-muscled back, a firm, round ass, and thick, strong legs. Byakuya had an amazing body. It was easy to forget, thanks to the voluminous robes Byakuya tended to wear in Seireitei, but Byakuya was a captain after all. He was all lithe, strong muscle, compacted into a petite frame.
Renji gulped, watching the water run like rivulets down Byakuya's shoulder blades and backside. He could feel his cock grow hard, could feel it strain against the denim of his jeans. Without thinking about whether it was wrong or not to jerk off while spying on his captain, Renji reached down and unzipped his pants. After a bit of fumbling (inefficient human clothes, why the hell would you wear pants that were so hard to get out of?) he was pulling his half-hard cock out of the hole in his boxer-briefs and into the air. He started to tug on the head of it, and in no time at all it was completely hard, engorged with blood and flushed pink.
Renji's eyes were focused on Byakuya's ass, wondering what it would look like if Byakuya bent over. What it would look like if Byakuya were to spread those lovely, pert cheeks apart. What would his asshole look like? Pre-cum started to ooze out the slit of Renji's cock at the thought. Would it be tinged pink, or maybe brown? Lined with puckers of relatively smooth? What would Byakuya's ass look like, Renji wondered, with a cock sliding in and out of it. Shit. Renji could just imagine it, could imagine his big dick sliding in and out of Byakuya's ass. Byakuya wouldn't be silent, Renji decided. Byakuya would try, of course, but each thrust would elicit an uncharacteristic moan or cry from those usually reticent lips.
Renji was leaking like a faucet now, he couldn't believe the amount of pre-cum dripping from his cock. And then Byakuya turned around. Renji's eyes focused immediately on his groin, on the limp cock that hung short but thick from a nest of black pubic curls. On the small, round balls that hung low between his legs, colored a darker shade compared to the rest of Byakuya's skin. Renji wondered what Byakuya's cock would taste, like, what his balls would taste like. He wanted to suck one in his mouth and roll in on his tongue, he wanted to hear what noises Byakuya would make as he did it.
He wished that Byakuya was hard right now. Shifting, Renji pulled his pants and underwear to his calves in clumsy, inefficient movements. After they were out of the way Renji grabbed his cock with one hand again, jerking frantically. He wanted to come while Byakuya was still in the shower, wanted to come looking at the man's cock or ass. Renji bent his legs at the knees and reached his free hand down, past his cock, past his balls. He pressed the tip of his finger against his asshole, then pushed the whole thing inside.
Now Renji was imagining Byakuya inside of him, imagining his captain flushed pink as his smaller frame thrust in and out of Renji's ass. Renji moaned at the thought. He watched Byakuya shower as he jerked his cock and fingered himself, getting closer and closer to the precipice. And then he was falling over it. His eyes shut as his eyebrows knitted together. His head fell back as his hips thrust up, ass clenching down on his finger as jet after jet of cum shot out of his cock. Each one shot up in a low arch to land on his t-shirt, to spill over his hand. Renji hadn't come that hard in a long time, and when it was done he was left panting and dazed on the bed.
Renji pulled his finger out of his ass. He rolled onto his side and buried his head in the crook of his elbow. His physical release wasn't accompanied by an emotional or mental one. If anything, Renji thought, he felt even more dejected with his orgasm. How pathetic was he, spying on his captain and turning him into jerk-off material. No wonder Byakuya couldn't stand him. He was the lowest. Maybe he should just confess his feelings. . . Byakuya already despised him, so what was the harm?
After awhile Renji realized the door to his room was still open, and he pulled up his pants and changed his shirt before Byakuya came inside. Not that Byakuya would. Sure enough, as soon as the sound of water stopped, Byakuya's reiatsu started to fade away. He would go out to do patrols, train, or meditate, Renji didn't know. He didn't have the guts to ask and Byakuya generally didn't tell him. All Renji knew was that they would spend their days separately until evening, and then they would take turns sleeping until the next early afternoon.
Renji contemplated going to play football with the local kids, but he wasn't in the mood for physical activity today. He just wished that he had someone to talk to. A friendly voice, instead of Byakuya's continued silence. And then Renji remembered. . . his soul phone. Renji got up and made his way to the kitchen.
He had thrown all his shinigami stuff into a drawer shortly after they had gotten to this cabin. Well, the shinigami stuff that he didn't keep on his person at all times, at the very least. Soul phones generally weren't that handy. . . they only really patched you through to the research institute, in case you needed to request that your limit be lifted or help with a human world issue. Conversational phone calls back and forth between the shinigami and human realms were usually discouraged as an inefficient use of time, especially considering the resources needed to make them. Renji found the phone and pressed the proper number. Pretty soon a perky, somewhat androgynous voice came through the line.
"Hello, Abarai Renji-fukutaichou," the receiver said, "what can I do for you today?"
Thank God it was Rin who answered the phone. "Hey, Rin, do you think you can get Kira on the line? It's an emergency."
"Mmmmm. . . what kind of emergency? Is it, like, really important?"
"It's really, really important," Renji said.
"Ummm, I dunno, you know we're really not supposed to do that."
"But if I don't talk to him," Renji said, thinking fast, "my pet cat might die."
Rin gasped. "No! We can't let something happen to your poor little kitty! I'll go find him right away!"
Renji nodded, realizing that could take forever. It could be hard to track someone down in Seireitei, and Rin's generally ditzy personally wouldn't help matters along. Well. . . he had all day. Renji flopped down onto the couch as he waited. About an hour later his phone buzzed to life and a familiar voice came on the line.
"Abarai-kun?" Kira asked, voice frantic with worry. "What's wrong? Rin was crying about some kind of cat, but that can't be right."
"No, no, that was just an excuse I made up," Renji said. "I just wanted to talk."
There was silence on the phone for a bit. Then Kira's voice came through, all of the sudden cold and harsh. "Just. Wanted. To. Talk. You had me worried sick, wondering what could be so important that you called from the human world. I have a division to run, and unlike some redheaded idiots, I don't have a captain to help me run in. I'm behind in my paperwork and most of my division members don't even like me, and you just called to talk?"
Wow. Kira sounded angry. The stress of running the division must be getting to him. . . maybe Renji should have called Ikkaku instead or something.
"Sorry, Kira," Renji said, "it's just that I'm going crazy here. Byakuya's ignoring me and I just needed to hear a familiar voice. Cut me a little slack already."
"Fine. But what's wrong with you and Byakuya? I thought you two were getting along after. . . " and here Kira's voice turned dark. . . "after The Betrayal."
So that's what Kira was calling what happened with Aizen and Gin.
"Yeah, well, I did something stupid and he's back to not talking to me again."
Kira sighed. "What did you do this time?"
"Well," Renji said, cringing, "maybe I tried to hand feed him a cake or something like that."
"You are an idiot," Kira said, without missing a beat. "What on earth possessed you to do that? He's your captain, Renji, you don't hand feed your captain. Can you imagine Chojiro feeding Yamamoto? Or Ise feeding Kyoraku? Wait, that last one was a bad example because Kyoraku would no doubt love it, but you know what I mean!"
"I know! I don't know what I was thinking, it's just that, well, it was a moment, and I took a chance on it without thinking! Plus," Renji took a deep breath, "I didn't realize it at the time, but in retrospect, it might have something to do with the fact that I'm in love with him."
Silence again. Longer, this time. But when Kira's voice came back it sounded almost. . . bored.
"I'm sorry," Kira said. "Is this a new development? I thought you've always been in love with Kuchiki-taichou."
Now it was Renji's turn to be surprised. He blinked, wondering how long Kira had known this about him. "What the hell are you talking about? I didn't realize I liked him that way until this morning."
"Then what was all that about after you saw him for the first time? Remember? We were academy students, and you spent all night talking about how your heart was racing and you were sweating like crazy. It was love at first sight, wasn't it?"
"No!" Renji exclaimed, horrified that he had given Kira that impression. "I wasn't talking about love at first sight, I was talking about his immense spiritual pressure! His reiatsu was what made me react like that!"
"Oooooh," Kira said, understanding dawning. "Yeah, that's totally not what I got from your description."
"Yeah, well, sorry for not being all articulate-like. Look, Kira, I don't know what to do. Taichou's back to treating me like shit and I just want to push him down and have se. . . make love with him already."
"Okay," Kira said, "whatever you do, don't do that. And don't confess to him either."
"Why not?" Renji asked. "He's already barely acknowledging me, how much worse can it get?"
"Aren't you scared? Don't you think he'll probably reject you?"
"I'm fucking terrified," Renji answered, heart racing at just the thought of it. "Shit. I don't expect him to return my feelings, that's not why I'd be doing it. I just need to say it, get it out in the air, and then maybe I can move on. You know, after all the time that I spent without Rukia in my life, I realized. . . there's no point to leaving things unsaid. You've just gotta say all those important things before it's too late, before you waste away years not saying anything at all."
"If that's how you feel," Kira said, sounding resigned, "I'm not going to talk you out of it."
"Yeah," Renji muttered, "that's how I feel about things."
Getting up the courage to actually do it, however, was another matter entirely.
"Kira," Renji muttered, "I'm out of my depth here, aren't I?"
"Completely," Kira agreed. "Look, Rin's banging on my door saying that he needs to close the connection soon or someone's going to get angry. Are you going to be okay?"
"I don't know, man," Renji said, shaking his head. "I guess we'll see."
"Yeah, well, try to stay upbeat."
Renji couldn't help but scoff a little at that, considering Kira's whole demeanor since Gin had left.
"Yeah," he said, "I'll try."
And then the line was cut off. Renji sighed as he tossed his phone on the couch cushion next to him. It had been so good to hear someone else's voice, even if it had been for just a little bit. After awhile Renji remembered Byakuya's clothes, hanging from the clothesline and no doubt dry by now. Renji made his way outside and, piece by piece, took down the clothes. He was uncharacteristically careful as he pulled them down and over his arms, and just as careful as he made his way inside and hung them up in Byakuya's closet.
Soon Renji only had one article of clothing left to hang up, and he held it between his fingers. The blazer Byakuya had worn when they had first come here. The wool of it felt richer than any article of clothing Renji owned, and Renji thought it was just like Byakuya to dress well even in the human world. He remembered when he had seen Byakuya wearing it, how his breath had caught in his throat. At the time he thought he was just admiring a handsome man, but now he realized that it was something more than that. How long, Renji wondered, had he felt this way?
Renji held the blazer up against his face. It was soft against his cheek, and still smelled faintly of Byakuya's scent. A mix of musk and, of course, cherry blossoms. Renji inhaled deeply as he closed his eyes. Images of Byakuya came unbidden into his head, and he wondered if it would be so awful of him to steal the blazer for himself. Byakuya had already given him a scarf worth much more, after all.
In the end Renji pulled the blazer away from his nose and hung it up neatly in the closet. His fingers ran down the lapels as he let go, and then he was just staring at it. It was just a blazer, Renji thought, shaking his head to clear his thoughts a little. Just a piece of clothing.
He frowned as he made his way out of the room and out of the house, still wondering what he should do with the rest of his day. He had several hours to kill and nothing to kill them with. In the end he decided to go back to town. At least the people there talked to him.
Renji spent the rest of his afternoon in town, first playing with whatever kids there were at the park, then drinking by himself in a corner of the bar. The waitress from the coffee shop showed up for a drink, and he waved at her from across the room. She just shook her head, though her eyes were amused. He didn't go back to the cabin until near nine, which was more than an hour after when Byakuya would take the first shift sleeping. But Renji was keeping track of his reiatsu, and so far it seemed to be normal.
Eventually Renji came back to the cabin, and looked into Byakuya's open bedroom door. Only to have his eyes widen in surprise. He ran into the room, using his soul glove to detach from his body as he did so. Zanpakuto by his side, he took in the situation.
Byakuya was asleep on the bed, as expected, looking as peaceful as ever. But connected to various parts of his body were dozens of vein-like tentacles. The were forced through small, mostly bloodless holes, and burrowed their way just underneath the surface of his skin. Renji was starting to freak out. . . when Byakuya told him about this, he had gotten the impression that there was only one vein. Not a disgusting mess of them.
Okay, Renji thought to himself, calm down. Byakuya's reiatsu was fine. The arrancar hadn't been able to do anything to him yet. Renji tried to think of a plan of attack. The number one goal, besides staying alive, was getting information about the arrancar. Hopefully Byakuya was working on that from within the dream world. Renji would have to work on that too. . . he'd find the arrancar, who should be sleeping at the end of these veins. He'd wait as long as possible. . . if he felt Byakuya's reiatsu in distress, he'd cut the veins and get the information from the arrancar by force.
Mind made up, Renji stepped outside. Only to see that the veins all led in completely different directions, spreading out in a circle around the cabin. Fuck. He followed one of them. It seemed to go on for miles; even with shunpoo, it took him a good five minutes to reach the end of it. And he found nothing. . . the vein was tied off to some small metal object that had been secured to a tree.
Renji hurried back to the cabin. He'd have to follow the next one, and then the next, until he found the one that led to the arrancar. Something in his chest was flaring as his palms got sweaty. . . Byakuya would be okay, right? Nothing would happen before Renji could find the arrancar. It would need to trap Byakuya in the dream world in order to consume his soul, and for that to happen Byakuya would need to stay willingly.
And Byakuya would never do that, right?
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A Modern Courtship