#red pineapple

The next few nights yielded Renji’s dreams fruitless. Youless. During the days he found himself thinking about you inordinately, tumbling the lapis lazuli around his long fingers. Not seeing you in his dreams was lonely enough, but being around you for just those few real minutes hit different. Same woman from his dreams or not, he wanted to see you again. Soon. No amount of seeing you in his dreams would quell his desire to be around you and your spiritual pressure again. It was more intense than that of most humans. And it was elegant. Too elegant to be human, he’d daresay.

At the end of another long day of patrolling the area, Renji returned to Urahara’s shop. Inside, he found its owner sitting on the tatami with his tea. “Oh great, the moocher’s back”, Jinta said walking past, bemused. Renji cut his eyes to him and growled.

The two male Soul Reapers settled into idle chit-chat while waiting for Ichigo and Rukia to join them. Renji casually brought up the trip to the shop they’d made a few days prior. “The woman with (color) hair that was working that day…do you know about her?”

Kisuke stopped his fan mid-wave and raised an eyebrow under the shadow of his hat. “No, can’t say as I do”. He grinned, “Why do you ask?”

The redhead stiffened as the tops of his cheeks coordinated with his hair. “N-no reason!”, he answered just a bit too quickly. “Just curious is all”.

Looking at Renji from the corners of his hidden eyes, a suspicious smirk graced Kisuke’s face as he resumed his lazy fanning. “I see”.

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Renji sat at the table with Kisuke, Ichigo, and Rukia, discussing an upcoming mission for the exiled Soul Reaper. As it had taken to doing recently, his mind again drifted to thoughts of you...

Something you’d said that day stuck in his mind:

“Do I know you?...You seem familiar somehow”.

As unlikely as it was, he couldn’t help but wonder if you’d had the same dreams he’d been having. It stood to reason. If he recognized you, why wouldn’t it be feasible that you’d recognize him back? Stop it, Renj! It’s probably just coincidence.

It had been a week and he'd been debating with himself as to whether or not he should go back there in hopes of seeing you again. While it wouldn’t be a good idea to tell you about his dreams, wouldn’t it be perfectly normal to just pursue you as he would any other woman he might crush on? The way he’d felt around you the other day was eerily similar to what he'd experienced in his dreams, but it was so much stronger in waking life. He was eager to feel again what he now understood to be your intoxicating spiritual pressure.

He was torn from his inner dialogue when he heard Kisuke say, “Shame I’ll be out of pocket and won’t be able to go by the little tea shop next week to replenish my supply”.

Truthfully, his hidden tea stash was fully stocked, but he watched Renji from under the brim of his hat to see if he would take the bait.

The table nearly flipped when Renji’s long legs sprang up. “I’ll go!” Rukia and Ichigo sat back and looked at him in bewilderment of his sudden outburst.

“Ah, Renji, of course! I know you'll come through”. Kisuke chuckled quietly.

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When the reiki shop came into his view after rounding a corner, Renji’s palms started to sweat and his fingers went ice cold in spite of the early summer warmth. He wasn’t sure if it was nervousness or excitement about seeing you again, but decided it was probably a combination of both.

He stopped at the side of the old building. He pumped his fists at his sides a couple of times before shaking his hands out then smoothing them over the black robe of his shihakushou. Finally, he checked his reflection in a window, making sure his hair looked okay and adjusting the folded over bandana that was tied on the side of his head.

Finally, after realizing he was acting like a prissy diva about to take the stage, he rolled his eyes at himself. What are you, seventeen? Pull yourself together, Abarai. With that, he mustered his usual level of confidence. A level which flirted dangerously with cockiness. Ready. Armed to the teeth with his charm.

The faint scent of sage and lavender wafted over him when he pulled the door open and walked inside, a tiny bell ringing in the process. He breathed in the air, remembering it from the first time he’d been here, calming his nerves considerably. A familiar voice called out from elsewhere in the store, “I’ll be right with you!”

His eyes lit up at the sound of your voice. “Take your time, I’m in no hurry!”

“How can I help y- oh hey!”, you chirped, a smile spreading across your face upon setting your eyes on the tall, handsome Soul Reaper who was presently smiling back at you.

"Hey..." He crossed his arms and leaned back against the desk. “...remember me?”

You averted your eyes and laughed. “Hmm, I don’t know…you’re a bit nondescript”, you said cheekily. “A tall Shinigami with a big, red, spiky ponytail and rad tattoos?” You shook your head. “Never seen ‘im”.

Shit, you were so fucking cute. And that smile slayed him. A deadly weapon such as that should be illegal. “Y-you like my tattoos?”. Renji mindlessly pulled the top of his shihakushou open, exposing more of his chest.

Damn. The cut of his pectorals made it hard not to stare. I wonder how far down his ink goes… A part of you wanted to ask him to show you more, but…”Yeah, they’re cool”.

“Seriously? You really think so?” ...because I’ve got more where that came from, he thought, his confidence getting the boost that it needed.

You nodded, "Totally". “So, what brings you in today?”, you asked as you looked up at him, prying your (color) eyes away from the dip above his collarbone.

“Oh, well”, he cleared his throat. “Urahara-san couldn’t make his tea run this week so I’m here in his stead”.

“Gotcha. I’ll get his usual order together. Wanna walk with me?”, you asked.

“Yeah, sure”.

He slowly followed behind you as you began picking packets of Kisuke’s favorites from their respective shelf slots. “I uh- also wanted to ask you about that rock you gave me…”

“Oh, yeah? You still have it on you?”

“Got it right here”, he said fishing it out of his pocket and placing it in your outstretched hand, his body heat trapped in the thing.

“Wow, I’m impressed you’ve kept up with it. What do you want to know about it?”

“What’s its significance?”

“So, lapis is the stone of wisdom and vision. It’s associated with the third eye chakra. I got the impression that you’ve been trying to reconcile a vision or idea, but you’re stuck? Maybe you keep having a recurring dream and you’re not sure what it’s trying to tell you?”

Maybe I've been projecting all of this onto him?

But the look on his face said it all. You were spot on, as usual, though you couldn’t recall a time when anyone blushed like he did now. His wide eyes drifted from your face down to the blue stone in your hand.

“Is it helping?”

His voice hitched, “Wh-what?”

“Has it brought you any clarity?”

He swallowed hard. “Y-yeah, I guess you could say that, haha”.

“That’s wonderful, I’m happy I could help”.

Renji nearly flinched when you touched his wrist to turn his hand up, giving the lapis back to its keeper. You placed your smaller fingers over his, closing his hand around the stone, allowing yours to linger perhaps a little too long. You couldn’t help it though. His warm skin begged to be touched, and yours responded in kind. Without pulling his hand away, he lifted his brown eyes to meet yours, searching for something. Your heart quickened as his god-like spiritual pressure engulfed you. Something deep within both of you lost in wordless conversation. An archaic language that neither of you could consciously fathom.

The sharp tinkling of the doorbell split the palpable tension like a sheet, tearing the fleeting soul connection asunder and hurtling you both back to the world around you.