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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
- 8
- 9
- 10
I'm writing as fast a I can! Thank you all so much for your patience! ^.^
Previously on "A Test of Faith":

Renji's heart sank. How did things get so bad so quickly?

Chapter 9

With an ear-splitting boom, the tree exploded; chunks of charred wood and leaves flew everywhere, hitting other trees in the vicinity. The ground shook for a few seconds. The tree sat there, smoldering, as debris gradually settled around it.
Up on a branch in another tree, Renji stood among leaves. He held onto the trunk for support and took in ragged breaths as he rested. His sweat-soaked shihakusho stuck to his chest and back, and sweat ran in rivulets down the sides of his face.
Since he had nothing to do after Shuuhei left, Renji decided to use the time to escape into the edge of Seireitei to blow off some steam by doing some extra training with Zabimaru. He tried to ignore the mixed feelings brewing in his mind from his exchange with Shuuhei, but he wasn't having much success.
Sure, he shouldn't have been so impatient. If he hadn't gone and said something stupid like that they'd probably still have a good half a day left to spend together after Shuuhei settles the fight in the 9th division. It really was just a schoolyard fight in Renji's mind. Fighting amongst junior members was very common; he'd lost count of how often he'd done it when he was in the 11th squad. Even though he felt bad about being rude about the 9th division, he felt that Shuuhei had totally overreacted. And that made him pissed.
Was it so hard for Shuuhei to be a little bit more understanding of his feelings? This was the second time Shuuhei let him down about the same thing. It wasn't like Renji didn't know the importance of their work, the guy didn't need to get so angry. And to take it out on him in front of a member of the 9th division? Renji gritted his teeth at the memory. He may not be Kuchiki Byakuya, but he had pride too.
And so he took out his frustration on the poor, innocent trees, blasting them to bits one by one, not caring if he would get into trouble for causing so much destruction to the grounds in Seireitei.
His breathing slowed down enough for him to go for another round. Gripping the hilt of his zanpakutou, he mustered his energy and jumped off the tree branch. "Hoero, Zabimaru!"
Zabimaru's whip-like Shikai form exploded forward and sliced through the thick vegetation, aimed straight for another tree not too far away. Suddenly, Renji caught a slight movement in the corner of his eye. Whatever that was, it was heading right into Zabimaru's path.
"Watch out!" Renji shouted a warning, just in case it was a person. At the same time, he leapt up in the air and flicked his wrist to change the direction of his zanpakutou. As he soared above the trees, he looked down and saw, to his horror, a small figure barely darting aside in time to avoid direct contact with his blade. He immediately recognized the ponytail and the purple obi.
"Akari!" he yelled, his heart pounding in his chest. Shit shit shit shit! The minute his feet touched the ground, he rushed forward to check on the girl, who was on her knees with her left hand clasped tightly over her right arm. Her zanpakutou lay on the ground next to her.
"I'm okay, I'm okay," Akari said, her voice trembling slightly. She didn't think she was badly injured, but it was quite a scare. If Renji hadn't change Zabimaru's direction at the right moment, she would have been seriously hurt, if not sliced into two. She let go of her right arm and looked down at the tear in her sleeve. Lifting it gingerly, she sighed in relief to see a small cut on her arm. Blood was seeping out from the wound, but it wasn't full-on bleeding. It looked like this was her lucky day; thanks to her vice captain's quick reaction, the blade had only managed to nick her.
Renji bent down to check her injury. "Thank god," he said hoarsely, relieved beyond words. If he had wounded his subordinate...
"Sorry for the scare," Akari said sheepishly. "I heard you training in the area but I didn't expect to get so close." She looked at her vice captain, who was still breathing heavily from the sudden rush of adrenalin. He looked at her, and she immediately blushed and averted her eyes.
"What were you thinking?" Renji demanded fiercely. "If you can hear me, that means you're too close! It's common sense to keep a distance from other people when you train! I could've killed you!"
Akari's face turned a deeper shade of crimson, this time in shame. "I-I'm sorry," she said in a small voice. "I'll be more careful next time."
Renji immediately regretted his harsh words; she was young after all, he could've been gentler. He kicked himself for letting his bluntness hurt someone for the second time that day. "I didn't mean to yell at you," he said in a kinder tone. "I was just...you could have..."
"I know," Akari hastily said. "It's my fault." She picked up her zanpakutou and stood up. Her eyes widened in surprise as she nearly toppled over; she didn't expect her legs to be so wobbly. Looks like she was more frightened than she'd thought.
Renji caught her as she fell. Akari flinched as if his hands burned her. Surprised, Renji let go and watched as Akari straightened up and regained her composure. He had no idea what the hell that was about. He'd probably accidentally touched her wound, he thought.
"Thanks," Akari muttered, hoping that her vice captain wouldn't notice the pink spots in her cheeks. His hands had been so warm and firm even through her sleeves; for a split second she was reminded of the touch of those hands on her breast in the dream, and she clenched her fists in frustration. Stop!
Renji stared at the girl's odd facial expression in amusement. Probably still embarrassed about the incident, he thought. Must be a girl thing that he didn't get, because he would've just dismissed it as sheer good luck and moved on.
"Well, I'm glad you're okay," he said, sliding Zabimaru into its sheath. "I'm going to continue training for a bit, you take care of yourself and don't get too close again."
Akari nodded. "I wish to continue as well."
Renji's eyes widened in surprise. He didn't think she would resume training so soon after the close call; she had looked so distraught after all.
"In that case, I'll give you some pointers about using suriage-waza," he said. "I know you tried to use it when you sparred with Kazu, but you didn't get it right."
Akari felt a moment of panic but tried to keep her face neutral. She needed to stay away from Abarai-fukutaicho before she did anything stupid. "Umm, I was actually thinking of practicing...uhh, kido," she lied. She'd heard that her vice captain was very bad at kido, so she hoped that this would get him to leave her alone.
"Oh, come on," Renji said good-naturedly. "It'll take just a few minutes." Then he gestured for the girl to follow him into the clearing.
Not knowing what else to do, Akari followed him numbly.
"Okay, now, the key to this technique is to keep the point of your zanpakutou forward," Renji began, holding Zabimaru in its unreleased form and making sure that Akari was mimicking his pose. "Good. Now, you shouldn't have to step back or to the side when you do this. Relax, don't tense up your shoulder like that, yes...okay, now, when your opponent's sword is against yours, use gentle pressure to slide yours up. The key is to be gentle."
Nodding, Akari mimicked her vice captain's slow motion upward slide moment. Renji smiled at her reassuringly, and she immediately looked away to stare intently at her sword.
"Okay, now, let me see you do this," Renji said, pointing his sheathed sword at her. He gestured with his head for Akari to place hers—sheathed, of course—against his sword as if she was blocking an attack.
Akari complied. Holding her sword firmly against her vice captain's, she gritted her teeth and swung it upwards.
"No no no...that's too much! Remember, be gentle. Don't put so much pressure on your right hand. That's why you hurt your wrist that day, you see," Renji explained patiently.
Nodding, Akari repeated the action, determined to get it right this time.
"Nope...still too hard," Renji said, shaking his head. He scratched his head, thinking of how else he could describe it to make it her understand it better. "Okay, umm, here, let me demonstrate." He moved to stand behind her, then, before Akari could react, he reached from both sides and gripped the hilt of her sword, wrapping his hands over hers, essentially hugging her from behind.
The girl froze as her heart jumped to her throat. She trembled as the man's body heat enveloped her, and fought to keep her hands steady. She wondered if he could feel how cold her hands were. Don't freak out don't freak out don't freak out...
"There, do you understand now?"
Akari blinked. Had he been talking all this while? She hadn't heard a word since his hands touched hers. Her face flushed deeply in shame as she realized that she had no idea what he had just taught her.
Renji took her reaction to mean that she didn't understand, so he moved towards her to show her again.
"No!" Akari blurted, her voice in a higher pitch than usual. She looked at her vice captain's confused expression and added quickly, "I mean...I got it."
Renji shrugged. "Okay," he said. He thought that she was acting kind of weird, but didn't see a reason not to believe her. "Here, practice it with me one more time," he said, bringing up his sword and positioning himself in a fighting stance.
Heart beating wildly, Akari took a deep breath and mimicked the pose.
"Here I come!" With a loud yell, Renji swung his sword down.
In a flash, Akari brought hers up to block her vice captain's attack and heard a satisfying thud as the sword sheaths crossed. She forced herself to relax and waited until the attack was almost complete, then with a swift lift of her arms, she slid her sword up. To her delight and surprise, she managed to deflect the blow and Renji actually lost his balance for a split second.
"Good job!" A voice called out.

To be continued...
Again, I don't know kendo, the technique and tips mentioned here are thanks to KENDOINFO dot NET. Please forgive any inaccuracies.
Sneak preview of the next chapter:

"Shuuhei, meet Akari. Akari, this is Hisagi-fukutaicho from the 9th division."
- 8
- 9
- 10
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A Test of Faith