Newfound Love- Renji/Byakuya

The moon shone brightly over the Soul Society, and nothing could be heard but the gentle rustling of leaves. It was 2 am, and most shinigami were fast asleep in their beds. Most. Byakuya Kuchiki, sixth division captain, was sitting at his office desk, staring down at his paperwork. He'd been staring at it for many hours, but staring at it didn't get it done. Now, Byakuya wasn't a slacker. Quite the opposite. He usually got his paperwork done at least two days early. He said by doing it and turning it in early, there was no possible way for it to get messed up before it got to the office. He, of course, would never mess it up. But his lieutenant, Renji Abarai, was another matter, and Byakuya didn't want to take any chances. So why was he just sitting there and not working? Because, once more, he was thinking of his sister. Rukia Kuchiki had been killed a week ago while fighting a very powerful hollow in the living world. By the time others arrived to help, it was too late, and the girl was lying in a pool of her own blood. When Byakuya heard the news, he was devastated. She had reminded him so much of his wife. Her hair, her eyes, and even her personality. She and Hisana could have almost been twins. Rukia had been everything to him, even though he never showed it. She was all he had. And now, since she died, he was left alone once more. It was like losing his wife all over again. Byakuya never showed how deeply affected by Rukia's death he was. He wore a cold, blank expression as usual, and many people thought he didn't care, that Rukia meant nothing to him. How wrong they were.

Renji Abarai walked slowly through the Soul Society, stopping every so often to gaze up at the stars, at the beautiful sky. He didn't usually take walks this late, but tonight he was restless. In fact, he'd been pretty restless ever since Rukia's death. She had been his best friend, and it was hard to believe she was gone. Renji let out a soft sigh and shoved his hands in his pockets. He would never meet another person like Rukia.

As Renji rounded the corner of his division, he noticed the light was still on in the office and stopped. What could his captain be doing at this hour? He frowned and walked closer, debating whether he should knock or not. What if Byakuya was mad? He really didn't want to get a lecture. Byakuya's lectures were extremely long and boring. But was the thought of a lecture the only thing that was stopping Renji? No. There was another reason as well. And that reason was, he was afraid he would say something stupid if he spoke to Byakuya. He had been avoiding the man for several days now for that very reason. It had been pretty easy too, since Byakuya really hadn't been around much. Usually, Renji didn't care about sounding stupid. He always spoke his mind, no matter what anyone else would think. No one but Byakuya. Lately he'd been feeling rather strangely toward his captain. He found himself listening more carefully to Byakuya's instructions, and doing his best to please his captain. In fact, he'd been going out of his way to please his captain. And sometimes, sometimes, when Byakuya looked right at him, straight in the eye, he found himself extremely flustered, and tried to make a quick exit. Hell, one time he even blushed. That was very un-Renji like behavior indeed. Also, sometimes he caught himself looking at Byakuya, studying him. And noticing just how good looking his captain was. Damn, he was blushing again. He really had to stop that. Men shouldn't blush.

Renji bit his lip and continued to stare at the office door, unsure of what to do. His captain had been acting rather odd lately, at least in the few times he'd seen him in the past week. More distant than usual. Of course, his sister had just died… but did Byakuya really care about that? He never seemed to show much affection toward Rukia. But then Renji remembered that time when Aizen, Gin, and Tousen had just betrayed the Soul Society and were trying to kill Rukia. Byakuya had stepped in the way of Gin's sword. Would he do that if he didn't care for her? And then, in Hueco Mundo, he had saved her again. Renji groaned. He was so stupid! Byakuya's feelings for his sister had been so obvious… but he had over looked them like he over looked many things. And if Byakuya cared about Rukia that much, how must he be feeling right now? Renji shook his head in exasperation. He should have been more aware. From now on he would pay more attention to people's feelings. Especially his captain's.

The sixth division lieutenant walked toward the office door purposely and tried the handle. It was unlocked. Slowly, he opened the door and stepped inside, then inwardly scolded himself for not knocking. Luckily, Byakuya didn't seem to have noticed. Renji's captain was sitting at his desk, staring off into space. Renji gently closed the door behind him, and moved closer to the raven haired man. Byakuya didn't move. Renji's eyes were glued to the man, studying him intently. Something was different about the other, something he hadn't noticed before. Byakuya's eyes were wary, stressed and… lonely.

Renji moved closer, until he was standing next to his captain, and, he saw with alarm, a tear run down the man's cheek. Renji couldn't help his next move. He gently wrapped his arm around hiss captain's shoulder, leaned in closer, and kissed the other softly on the lips.

Byakuya nearly jumped out of his chair. He hadn't noticed anyone come in the room, he'd been thinking so intently about Rukia. And now, here he was, a few feet away from his lieutenant, and Renji was kissing him. The first thing that registered in Byakuya's mind was how soft Renji's lips were. He wouldn't have expected his rough, rowdy lieutenant to have such soft, enticing lips. Wait, what? Why the hell would he care about Renji's lips?! And why wasn't he pulling away? As soon as he realized he hadn't pulled away, he did so quickly, twisting around in his chair and putting his hands on Renji's shoulders, pushing the red-head back. Renji's face was flushed, and, to Byakuya's annoyance, so was his own.

"Lieutenant Abarai, what is the meaning of this?" he asked icily, glaring at the other man. That glare was different from his usual glare, for his usual glare was normally just a look of annoyance or dislike. This glare was one of anger and embarrassment. With this glare, Byakuya was trying to cover up his true feelings, trying to cover up how much he'd enjoyed feeling Renji's lips on his, trying not to show how flustered he was, and hoping Renji wouldn't notice the furious beating of his heart.

"I… I'm sorry, Captain," Renji muttered, looking down at the floor. "It was just… you looked so lonely and sad…" Renji bit his lip in a way Byakuya found rather cute. "I'm sorry about Rukia, you know," the redhead said quietly, this time raising his eyes to look into his captains. Byakuya looked back, not able to full away from Renji's intense, searching gaze. "I know how much she meant to you. She meant a lot to me too. She was my first friend, my best friend. We've been through so much together. She was the only one who stuck by me all these years, through everything. She was always there for me. She was an amazing girl, who cared greatly about her friends and would have done anything for them. She cared a lot about you too, captain. She talked about you a lot. I know you meant a great deal to her… she always worked hard, wanting to make you proud."

To his dismay, Byakuya felt a tear slide down his cheek again. He hadn't cried since his wife died. Kuchiki's weren't supposed to cry. It wasn't noble. But now, he found he couldn't stop. He turned his head away from Renji, not wanting his lieutenant to see him in this manner.

Renji watched as his captain's mask finally crumbled. He had wanted for so long to see the man beneath the cold, gallant face, and now he finally did, but seeing this, seeing his captain like this, didn't make him glad. It saddened him, and even scared him a bit. He wanted his old captain back, the one who never showed this emotion. Well no, that wasn't exactly true. But he didn't want his captain to be upset like this either. It broke his heart. And, at that moment he realized, how much of his heart belonged to Byakuya.

A surge of confidence struck the lieutenant, and he moved forward once again, not caring if his captain pushed him away, and wrapped his arms around the other man. Byakuya didn't pull away. In fact, he leaned against Renji, buried his head in Renji's shoulder, and hugged him tightly. Renji slowly ran his fingers through Byakuya's raven hair, holding him close. This, he realized, had been what he wanted for a long time, to be so close to this man he'd come to care about so deeply. When Byakuya raised his head and looked at Renji with tear-stained eyes, Renji took a chance and leaned closer, once more touching his lips to his captains. Byakuya sighed softly and closed his eyes, kissing his lieutenant back. The two stayed like that for a while, lost in the kiss, which was getting more heated every few seconds. Then they pulled away, breathing heavily, but both looking much happier. Renji's eyes ran down his captain, taking in every detail. God, the man was so beautiful. How could he have never noticed before? Or perhaps he had, and just tried to tell himself he hadn't.

Slowly, he reached his hand toward Byakuya, and unwrapped his scarf. Byakuya made no move to stop him, his eyes clouded with lust. The man's neck was so pale, so incredibly perfect just like the rest of him. Renji's slowly ran his lips over the creamy skin, kissing a trail down Byakuya's neck, feeling the other man shiver under his touch. He nipped at his captain's throat, not so hard to break the skin, but hard enough so there would be a bruise there tomorrow, and the another man gave a small cry, his hands tightening on Renji's shoulders. Renji smirked, and ran his tongue over the abused skin, soothing it gently.

This play went on for a bit longer, until Byakuya reluctantly broke away from Renji. "We need to rest, Renji," he said quietly, and Renji realized this was the first time his captain had called him "Renji." The lieutenant nodded half-heartedly, and smiled at his captain. "I hope this wasn't a one-time thing," he said teasingly, but still quite serious. Byakuya gave his lieutenant a stern look, but then his lips slowly curled upward, and Renji was once again amazed at his captain's beauty and how it especially was noticeable when the man smiled. The redhead bowed quickly, and walked toward the door and outside, turning back to give a short wave, then started toward his house. Byakuya followed the other's exit a few minutes later, smiling softly to himself as he recalled the moments he and Renji had shared. Oh no, this certainly wouldn't be a one-time thing.