Disclaimer: All of the characters belong to Tite Kubo. I just love messing with his characters!

Authors note: Hey guys! Alright, well, this is a RenjixByakuya fic. Rated T to be safe. Contains spoilers for the Soul Society Arc (: Hm, this story takes place... at the end of the Arrancar Invasion Arc. So, there is an increase in Hollow activity in Karakura town, but Orihime hasn't been kidnapped, and Tōshirō's little group isn't in Karakura town. Confusing much?

Also, I have English-inized the story, cause I haven't been to Japan, and don't know what things are like (:

Reviews are love! :P

~Rainbow Fruit Loop

Blossoming Romance
~Chapter 1~
L a t e

He was loud, and he was passionate.

He liked drinking, and he got irritated often.

He was enthusiastic, and he was excited easily.

He was the complete opposite of the Kuchiki noble.

Byakuya Kuchiki thought that he would never, ever love again.

So the Captain was completely bewildered when he realized that he had done something stupidly human, and fallen in love with his red headed lieutenant.

~Two Weeks Earlier~

The door to the Sixth Squad office burst open.

"Captain Kuchiki! I'm sorry for being late!" Renji Abarai apologized, hastily bowing.

"Abarai, that is four times this week that you have been late," Byakuya informed him coolly, not looking up from his paper work. "And it is only Thursday."

Renji chuckled. "Yeah. Sorry 'bout that." He flopped down on his soft desk chair.

It was ten thirty in the morning - and Renji was supposed to be at the office at ten o'clock. How he managed to always be so incredibly late, was beyond the Kuchiki Noble.

"I trust that you will try harder to be punctual tomorrow?" Byakuya enquired.

…I somewhat doubt it.

Renji mumbled in reply, sank further into his chair, and scowled at his own large stack of paperwork.

The two men - Captain and Lieutenant - shared an office. At first, Byakuya hadn't been too pleased - Renji was a loud worker, and very easily distracted. But, as time went on, Byakuya found that he didn't particularly mind, and that sharing his office with his lieutenant made the day pass much more quickly.

Byakuya shook his head slightly, and focused on his work.

The two men sat in silence – the only thing breaking said silence was Renji's oddly loud puffing.

Why is he so breathless?

Whilst the red head was grumbling to himself, Byakuya took the opportunity to inspect his lieutenant.

Renji's long, vivid red hair had been hastily tied up – numerous strands were escaping. Renji took pride in his hair, so Byakuya presumed there was a reason why it looked slightly messed up.

The tattooed man's cheeks had a faint red tinge on them – possibly indicating that he had been using Shunpo?

He must have been running exceptionally late, if he needed to use Shunpo in order to be here.

"What is your excuse this time, Abarai?" Byakuya asked, looking back down at his paperwork.

"…Huh?" Renji asked looking up, a frown on his face.

…As attentive as ever, I see.

"Your excuse. For being late." Byakuya said slowly, almost as though he was speaking to a child.

"Oh, yeah. I bumped into Rukia, actually." Renji grinned sheepishly.

Byakuya was silent.

"We had a bit of a chat, but then I realized that I was gonna be late. So I left. She told me to say 'hello' to you from her." Renji continued, when Byakuya gave no response.

"Very well." Byakuya said, nodding at his vice-captain.

"Yup. S'nice that she's back in Seireitei with us." Renji murmured.

Come to think of it, Abarai always did have a slight crush on Rukia.

"Indeed." Byakuya said in response.

"Did you miss her when she was in the 'real world', Captain?" Renji asked.

"I don't think that is any of your business, Abarai." Byakuya said, his face showing no emotion.

Renji merely nodded – he knew that his Captain never spoke about anything personal.

Byakuya looked down at his paperwork.

He had, on his desk, a great number of documents that needed his signature on them. He also needed to write a few reports.

Where are those release forms?

Byakuya frowned slightly, and started to search through his desk drawers, looking for a few release papers that he needed to sign.

I couldn't possibly have misplaced them.

Byakuya thought for a moment, before realizing that the Tenth Squad Captain Tōshirō Hitsugaya had taken some papers from him the previous day.

They must have been caught up in the pile he took.

What a hassle.

"Abarai, would you fetch for me the release documents from Captain Hitsugaya, please?" Byakuya asked.

"What release forms?" Renji asked, sitting up straight in his chair.

"Which release forms," Byakuya corrected. "And just ask Captain Hitsugaya for the release papers. He will understand which ones you mean."

"…'Kay. I'll be back soon." The red head promised, using Shunpo in order to get to the door.

Byakuya shook his head slightly, thankful that he would finally be able to get some work done in peace.

Renji smiled to himself as he spotted Captain Hitsugaya's office.

S'nice to be outside. The weather is so warm.

He sauntered up to the door, and didn't bother knocking as he stepped inside.

Rangiku Matsumoto was sitting in the office, humming a song. Her golden hair hung loose down her back, like it always did. She looked about as focused on her work as Renji felt (which was not very).

"Hey, Matsumoto." Renji greeted, stifling a yawn.

Surely it's illegal to be up this early…?

"Good morning, Abarai!" Rangiku said cheerily.

"How are ya?" Renji asked, priding himself on being polite.

"Bored. I hate paperwork." Rangiku said, giggling.

"Same here. I'd rather be outside fighting, kicking butt."

'Kicking butt' was one of Renji's favorite things to do. Whether it was training a bunch of newcomers, fighting against Ikkaku Madarame from the Eleventh Division, or training with his Captain (which he did every Monday), Renji loved it.

Paperwork bored him, and the feisty man found it hard to concentrate on trivial things for such a long time.

"I'd rather be drinking!" Rangiku said, happily.

Renji smirked.

Of course she would…

"Right."

Rangiku grinned, and leant forward. "Can I tell you a secret, Abarai?"

"Sure." Renji, too, leant forward.

Rangiku reached out, and pulled Renji's hair tie out of its place.

"Hey! What did ya do that for?" Renji huffed, a hand flying up to touch his soft, red hair.

"You should wear you hair down! It looks so much hotter!" Rangiku gushed.

Renji cursed himself for blushing like a silly schoolgirl at the unexpected compliment.

"…But then it gets in the way." Renji complained, brushing a strand out of his red face.

"Aw, don't be such a spoil-sport, Abarai!" Rangiku countered, pursing her lips.

"So, what's the secret?" Renji asked, shaking another strand of hair out of his face.

"There was none." Rangiku smiled sadly.

"Right…" Renji was slightly confused.

She really wanted to see me with my hair down, huh?

…Heh.

What can I say?

Rangiku grinned.

"Gimme my hair tie back now." Renji said, trying to gather some authority.

Six is closer to one than ten is.

…That makes me the lieutenant with the most authority, right?

So she should listen to me.

"No way!"

Or not…

Rangiku stretched out the thin, black hair tie until it snapped. "Oops." She said cheekily.

Renji rolled his eyes. "You owe me a new one, Matsumoto." He said under his breath.

"So, Abarai, why are you here? Did you just want to visit me?" the Tenth Squad lieutenant said, fluttering her eyelashes flirtatiously.

I think she's mocking me…

"No. I needed to see your Captain. Is Tōshirō around?" Renji asked, remembering why he had come to the Tenth Squad office.

Rangiku tapped her chin with her index finger. "I think so. I think maybe-"

She was interrupted by the Captain himself walking through the door.

"Abarai." Tōshirō nodded his head in acknowledgement. He looked slightly surprised to see the red head with his hair down – Renji was always known to have his hair up.

"Hey, Tōshirō." Renji said casually.

"That's 'Captain Hitsugaya' to you." Tōshirō said, scowling.

"I'm sorry, Captain Hitsugaya." Renji snickered.

"What do you want?" Tōshirō demanded.

…I think I annoyed him.

Ah well. What's done is done.

"The release papers. For Captain Kuchiki." Renji said, hoping that Tōshirō would know which papers Renji needed.

"The ones I accidentally picked up yesterday?" Tōshirō asked, walking over to a large stack of papers.

"Uh, I s'pose so." Renji said, scratching the back of his neck.

Would it hurt my Captain to not be so vague sometimes?

"Here." Tōshirō said, shoving a few dozen sheets of paper into the lieutenant's face.

"Thanks, Tōshirō, er, Captain Hitsugaya." Renji corrected himself.

Tōshirō nodded, and raised his eyebrows at Rangiku.

"When I left you three hours ago, the pile of papers on your desk was the exact same size as it is now. What have you been doing for three hours?" he demanded.

Knowing her, not much.

Rangiku folded her arms. "Well, first of all, I started to do some paperwork. Then a fly came into the office, and it was really annoying me. So I had to 'shoo' it out of the office. It took ages! Flies are so fast!"

Renji snickered to himself.

"…So, anyways, I got the pesky fly out of the office. But then I needed to get a drink. So I went to go and get a coffee. I made my coffee, and drank it. But then I needed to stretch my legs. So I locked up the office, and went for a little walk. On my way, I bumped into Shūhei Hisagi …We got chatting and stuff." Rangiku finished.

Yeah, 'cause that's a likely story…

"And? Surely you could have told him that you were too busy to chat." Tōshirō snapped.

"Yeah, but I hate paperwork!" Rangiku complained.

Tōshirō scowled, and shook his head. "Get back to work, Matsumoto." He commanded.

The Tenth Squad Captain wandered over to his desk, and sat down. He looked up, and noticed Renji still in the corner of the room, looking amused.

"You're still here?" he asked, furrowing his brow.

"…Yeah." Renji said, grinning.

"Why?" Tōshirō asked, looking annoyed.

Renji opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Rangiku.

"Maybe he's trying to get out of doing his jobs?" she suggested.

Well, maybe that's sorta true…

"Should I be having words with Captain Kuchiki, Abarai?" Tōshirō inquired.

"No! He'll get annoyed at me." Renji said.

"Leave then." Tōshirō instructed.

"Fine," Renji grumbled. "Thanks for the release papers."

Tōshirō nodded.

Renji strode over to the door, opened it, and stepped outside.

As he shut the door, Renji could hear the golden haired woman laughing. He could also hear Tōshirō chuckling, which was a rare sound to hear.

…Not as rare as the sound of my Captain laughing.

Renji started walking in the direction of the Sixth Squad offices.

He sighed as he thought about his Captain.

He's never happy.

As Renji thought, he realized that he had never seen his Captain even smile.

Ever.

I wonder what he looks like when he smiles.

…Probably really nice.

Renji sighed, once more, although, this time, in frustration.

About one month ago, he had realized that he, Renji Abarai, had an enormous crush Byakuya Kuchiki.

The thought made him shiver in both pleasure, and horror.

For a while, Renji had debated whether he should tell his Captain how he felt.

But then he had decided otherwise.

…If he found out, I'd probably get Senbonzakura'd.

Renji shook his head. He thought about the other Captains and their relationship with their lieutenants.

Before Sōsuke Aizen, Fifth Squad Captain, had turned out to be an evil traitor, his relationship with Renji's old friend, Momo Hinamori, had been brilliant. Momo had completely trusted Aizen, and had admired him a lot.

Renji's other old friend, Izuru Kira, also had had a very good relationship with his Captain, Gin Ichimaru, who was the Third Squad Captain. Izuru had been one hundred percent loyal to him, and, Renji presumed, the feeling may have been mutual, had Ichimaru not been a part of Aizen's heinous plan.

Rukia was always telling Renji how wonderful Jūshirō Ukitake was as a Captain – and she always loved working with him.

To Renji, it seemed as though all everyone had a good, happy, and loyal relationship with their Captains.

Apart from himself.

Byakuya frowned to himself.

What could be taking Abarai so long?

…He has been gone for forty minutes.

Just as Byakuya was thinking about retrieving the release papers himself, the office door burst open.

Renji's scarlet hair was down, and was draped around his broad shoulders.

Byakuya's heart beat quickened at the sight, although the Kuchiki noble had no idea why.

He certainly looks…different with his hair down.

…He looks…

"I have the papers, Captain." Renji said (seemingly pleased with himself), interrupting the Captain's thoughts.

"Well done, Abarai," Byakuya said sarcastically. "It only took you forty minutes."

"I'm sorry! I got talking to Matsumoto and Tōshirō."

"I suggest that, in the future, you put your work before your social conventions." Byakuya said coolly.

"Uh, yup." Renji said, looking down at the floor.

The red headed lieutenant handed Byakuya the release papers, and sat down at his desk, his red hair covering his face.

"Do I have to finish all of this paperwork today, Captain?" Renji asked in dismay.

Byakuya sighed.

I doubt that he will be able to finish it.

"Do as much as you can, Abarai. I'll take care of the rest."

Renji blinked, and looked surprised.

"R-Really?" he asked incredulously.

"Yes. However, that doesn't mean that you can disregard your work, and waste time." Byakuya said, scowling slightly.

"Yeah. Thanks, Captain."

Byakuya nodded, and continued to work.

He noticed, out of the corner of his eye, that, when Renji was concentrating, the lieutenant would furrow his brow slightly.

Hm. I never noticed that before.

The two men worked in silence – the way they did every day. Byakuya liked the silence, although he got the feeling that Renji felt slightly awkward in said silence.

After ten minutes, the red head cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Yes, Abarai?" Byakuya said, looking up to see Renji staring at him.

Renji flushed slightly. "...Ya know, Captain, there's somethin' I've been meaning to say for a while now." he said, sitting up straight in his chair.

Byakuya exhaled slowly.

I had better hear him out.

"What is it, Abarai?" Byakuya asked, putting his expensive brush down.

"I'm sorry." Renji said simply.

Byakuya waited for the red head to explain what he meant.

He didn't.

"Please elaborate." The Kuchiki noble said, pursing his lips slightly.

"Uh, for that time before. During Rukia's execution. When…I fought with ya,"

Byakuya raised an eyebrow slightly.

"…I wanted to apologize. And…to ask why I am still lieutenant." Renji finished.

"You're a strong, determined person, Abarai. I…I wouldn't dismiss you for doing something in which you thought was right…"

Renji hid a frown. He had wanted the Captain to say 'I enjoy working with you, Abarai, and I am fond of your company.'

But he didn't.

So, instead of frowning, Renji grinned. "Thanks, Captain."

The two men continued working in silence.

"…And, Abarai?" Byakuya said hesitantly.

"Yeah?"

"I forgive you."

And suddenly, everything seemed just that little bit better.

This concludes chapter one! Please be a good egg and review (:

Next chapter? 'Renji gets hung-over, and may or may not fall asleep.' Anyone surprised? Stay tuned, haha.