#renji's birthday 2k21
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So I just saw your post about Renji's birthday and I thought of that time we talked about Rangiku trying her new deep wave iron on Renji and what Rukia's reaction to his new looks would be(? ahaha if this speaks to you feel free to write a fanfic, draw something or to write your headcanons about it! Whatever is fine as long as you enjoy it!!! đâ€ïžđ„°đâ€ïž
Btw don't worry if this idea is not of your interest in these moments!! Please don't overwork yourself đ„ș Ily! đâ€ïž
This idea is very much of my interests, it turns out.

Bonus!

#renruki#renji abarai#rangiku matsumoto#rukia kuchiki#toshiro hitsugaya#my fanart#renji's birthday 2k21#please appreciate all the work i put into the soulstagram ui#and also my shoujo bubbles
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For Stuff For Renji's Birthday Prompts: 1) time travel turn back the clock nonsense, bc I'm an enabler and Karakura teens plus shithead Renruki teens has *Byakuya voice* strong comedic potential OR 2) Hisana lives but due to wacky circumstances, nobody notices Rukia's existence at the Academy... until they've graduated and Renruki have joined Squad 11. Dealer's choice! (Honestly whichever you pick, I might try writing the one you don't. I am not a writer these 2 just live in my head rent free)
Why would you make me choose between these, whyyyyyyyyyy?
To be honest, I almost did them both, but this was the second one I did, and I figured that I should probably do some other peopleâs prompts, and then I ran out of time. I might do you some time travel shenanigans later. (This should in no way stop you from writing these, I would flip my chips if you wrote something, let alone something based on my horrible ideas)
In any case, I couldnât resist the second options and I have spun it out into a delightful bit of Byakuya-torture. Please enjoy!!!
Special thanks to @kaicko for helping me come up with the clerical error, because you all know me, I canât just say âa clerical error.â đ
Read on ao3 or ff.net
đ  đ  đ Â
âHow is the tea?â Aizen Sousuke asked smoothly.
The tea was excellent, but Byakuya wasnât in the mood for Aizenâs needy attempts to ingratiate himself. âAdequate,â he replied dryly. âYou said you had something to discuss with me.â
âAh, diligent as always, Byakuya,â Aizen sighed, âalways eager to get back to work. Iâll get to the point: I happened to speak with your wife recently at a fundraising event. Sheâs very interested in the people of the deep Rukon, and said she travels to South Rukongai frequently.â
Byakuya narrowed his eyes. âWhat is your point?â
âWell, I thought it was a bit of a strange occupation for a woman of your wifeâs noble standing, but then Gin reminded me that she was actually from there herself, that there had been a bit of a to-do when you two married. I donât tend to follow gossip myself--â
âI repeat, what is your point?â Byakuya gritted your teeth.
Aizen made a pissy little throat clearing noise and fiddled with a folder on his desk. âThe fact is, Byakuya, your wife reminds me a great deal of a young woman who served in my squad a few years ago, whom I recalled also hailing from the Rukon. I wondered if there might be a.... connection.â
Byakuyaâs shoulders stiffened. Impossible. He had put watches on all immigrants to the Seireitei. He would have reviewed anyone who came from the South 78th.
âInuzuri Rukia,â Aizen read from his file, and Byakuyaâs blood ran cold. âShinâou class of 2066. Unseated. Petite, like your wife. Dark hair. Very striking eyes. Unfortunately, an unremarkable shinigami. Potential for a good kidou user, but didnât take direction well. More interested in sword combat, although she had little aptitude for it. Ah, here it is. Hometown: District 48, South Rukongai.â
âThat doesnât make sense,â Byakuya said flatly. âInuzuri is the 78th district of South Rukongai. Why would she carry a surname from a different district?â
Aizen made an exaggerated frown. âVery strange! A clerical error perhaps? Hold on a moment.â He stuck his head out of his office door and said something to the shinigami on reception duty. âFortunately, thereâs an easy way to clear this up. Itâll just be a minute.â
Byakuya gripped his teacup, unsure of how to feel. A clerical error. Class of 2066⊠she would have enrolled in 2060, in the middle of Hisanaâs worst turn, when she had been bedridden for nearly four years. Their attention would have lapsed. It made sense.
âShe does not sound like your usual recruit,â Byakuya accused. Aizen was constantly finding ways to skim the highest performers from the Academy, all the gifted children.
Aizen looked sheepish. âAh, well, you see, there was a young man of some talent that I was eager to recruit who was⊠attached to her. I thought she might have some potential if properly guided, but it never panned out.â
Aizenâs good deed was suddenly beginning to make sense. The girl had transferred out and taken Aizenâs prize with her. He wanted Byakuya to go fetch her away in hopes that the talented one would come home. Byakuya actually felt much better now that heâd identified Aizenâs ulterior motive, and further, that it had more to do with his own petty recruiting schemes than Byakuyaâs family (specifically, Byakuyaâs wife).
There was a knock at the office door, and upon being bid entry, a young woman walked in. Although indeed petite and dark-haired, she looked nothing like Hisana, and Byakuya remarked as much.
âOh, no, this is my Seventh Seat!â Aizen chuckled. âMiss Hinamori, you were friends with Inuzuri Rukia, isnât that correct?â
The young womanâs eyes had gone wide when she recognized Byakuya. âEr, yes, sir,â she said, her eyes darting between the two captains. âWe shared a room while she served here.â
âDo you happen to remember what district she was from?â Aizen asked in an overly friendly manner.
âOh, sure, it was South 78,â Hinamori replied. âInuzuri, of course.â
âIâm afraid I donât know all the outermost ones,â Aizen said in his goofy voice again. âHer paperwork says 48.â
Hinamoriâs brow furrowed for a moment and then her face brightened. âShe and Abarai had very heavy accents when they first came to the Academy, and used a lot of deep Rukongai language quirks. I donât remember all of it, but they both used to use âshichiâ instead of ânanaâ for seven, especially when referring to their district. They werenât very fond of their home district. I wonder if the registrar misheard.â
âWell, there you go!â Aizen said, slapping his hands on his desk. âA very logical explanation!â
Hinamori beamed.
Byakuya found Aizenâs need to be liked by his subordinates very unprofessional and off-putting, but he tried to push it aside. He was trying not to be too eager, but this was probably the best lead heâd had on Hisanaâs sister in all the years they had been searching. âWhere is she now?â he grumbled.
Aizen turned his doe eyes on his fawning subordinate once more. âI donât suppose you still keep in touch? She couldnât have lasted very long there, they must have transferred again?â
Hinamori made a face like she didnât want to say the answer. âIâm afraid that Kira and I had a bit of a falling out with Abarai and Inuzuri when they left. I havenât talked to them in a few years, although we still have some mutual friends. As far as I know, though, theyâre both still at Squad Eleven. I heard they were doing fairly well there, actually.â
The room seemed to retreat around Byakuya. All he could hear was the blood pounding in his ears and the reverberations of the most horrible words he could possibly think of: Squad Eleven.
---
Byakuya knew it was poor etiquette to visit another captainâs squad when the man was out, but he absolutely could not stomach the idea of discussing the matter of his wifeâs sister with the Kenpachi, so he waited until Zaraki and his miniature lieutenant were sent out to go trample half of East Rukongai before visiting.
He also knew that he probably should have said something to Hisana, but he couldnât bring himself to get his wifeâs hopes up, only to dash them, should this turn out to be nothing, like so many leads before it. So, the secret sat in his stomach, heavy and acidic, jostling with the guilt of his breach of etiquette.
âIs there someone here,â he gingerly asked one of the gentlemen on gate duty, âwho takes care of administrative matters for the squad?â
The man swiveled his head, which appeared to grow directly from his torso with no need for an intervening neck, to his fellow guardsman. âWhat?â
The other fellow had been busy trying to remove wax from his ear with a pinky. âWHAT?â he shouted back.
âPaperwork!â Byakuya said a little louder. âIs there an office of some sort? A person who knows whatâs going on?â
He supposed he could have asked for the girl, Inuzuri, directly, but he didnât feel⊠ready.
âI think he wants Ayasegawa,â the neckless guard hazarded.
âWHAT?â
âIâll be right back.â
Eventually, the burly gentleman returned. With him was a strangely elegant person with a silky curtain of hair cut severely to chin length and piercing violet eyes. âIt really is you,â the lovely man said with a level of disdain that Byakuya almost had to admire. Before he had a chance to get offended, the man dipped into a respectful bow. âWelcome to the Eleventh, Captain Kuchiki. Fifth Seat Ayasegawa at your service. What in Soul Society can I possibly do for you?â
âApologies for visiting while your captain is abroad,â Byakuya replied, not meaning a word of it.
âOh, heâll be very sorry to have missed you,â Ayasegawa frowned. âBut Iâm sure you could make it up to him later.â
Byakuyaâs eye twitched. âPerhaps. I have come to enquire about a young woman whom I am told transferred to your squad three years ago.â
âDoes she have a name? That might make it a little easier.â
âInuzuri Rukia.â
Both of Ayasegawaâs eyebrows shot up, and his mouth curved into a feline grin. âNinth Seat Inuzuri, of course!â
Byakuya blinked. âNinth Seat? Captain Aizen told me she was middling at best.â
Ayasegawa's face suddenly went stiff. âShe was not well-served at the Fifth, but she has bloomed here most beautifully. Inuzuri is my personal protege, you know.â He stared at Byakuya under hooded eyes. âWhat is your interest in her? Captain?â
Byakuya took a deep breath through his nose. âMy wife is also from Inuzuri. She is trying to locate someone she knew there. It is possible this Rukia is that someone.â
Ayasegawa frowned. âWell, I can introduce you, if you like. I should warn you, though, Rukia doesnât have a lot of lost love for her hometown.â
âMy understanding is that there isnât much to love about it.â
âMmm,â Ayasegawa agreed. âWell, come along, letâs go find her.â He concentrated for a moment, clearly trying to find her reiatsu. She must be a woman of some power, after all. âUgh! She and Abarai are at it again! Every day!â
Byakuya swallowed stiffly.
âWell come on! Sheâs out at the training fields, clobbering our Tenth Seat, yet again.â
Oh. That kind of âgoing at it.â
Ayasegawa was shaking his head. âThe two of them are literally an unstoppable force and an immovable object.â
âAbarai was also at the Fifth?,â Byakuya probed cautiously. âI was told they were close.â
âOf course theyâre close!â Ayasegawa scoffed. âTheyâre partners!â He thought for a moment. âAbarai is from the 78th as well, you know. If Rukia turns out to not be your girl, perhaps one or the other of them knew the person youâre looking for. Abarai is one of those people who just⊠knows everyone. Heâs the personable half of the pair.â
ââPartnersâ?â Byakuya echoed. âWhat⊠kind of partners?â
Ayasegawa stared back at him like he was insane. âPartners.â
This path of inquiry clearly wasnât going to get him anywhere, but wasnât particularly relevant, either. âI did not think kidou-type zanpakutou were permitted in the Eleventh,â Byakuya sniffed. âAizenâs records indicated Inuzuri wields an ice-and-snow type.â
Ayasegawa gave a little shrug. âZanpakutou classifications are arbitrary. Obviously, if she had a bunch of showy blizzard attacks like Matsumotoâs little prodigy friend, it would be a no-go. Rukia can take the blade of her sword down to sub-zero temperatures. She has a weapon-shattering attack and she doesnât feel pain when sheâs fighting. Itâs fundamentally no different than a zanpakutou so massive that only the wielder can lift it, or a whip sword thatâs controlled with oneâs reiatsu.â
This sounded like a quibble to Byakuya, but itâs not like he had come to the Eleventh looking for sound logic.
âSheâs incredibly fast, probably the fastest person in the Eleventh, although no oneâs really sure what Yachiruâs top speed is,â Ayasegawa continued on. He glanced at Byakuya slyly. âI hear you are very fast.â
âYou have heard correctly.â
âThatâs why Abarai canât beat her. If he could land one really hard hit on her, sheâd go down, but heâs not fast enough and sheâs just too agile. Heâs my partnerâs protege, you see, so I have to take their little scraps very personally.â
How did this man talk so much?
âWhat did you say your wifeâs relationship was to her again?â
âI did not.â
âAh, right. Oops, look out!â Ayasegawa abruptly dove to one side as a giant mass of shihakushou and pink hair and what might be a sword came crashing through the split rail fence surrounding the training field.
Byakuya was not in the habit of ducking, so he merely plunged the force of his reiatsu down into the earth like a piton. It was almost, but not entirely sufficient. Byakuya gritted his teeth as he was driven back, dirt piling up behind his heels as he skidded backwards.
When they finally came to a halt, Byakuya looked down at the meaty youth lying at his feet. This must be the infamous Abarai, although he certainly didnât look like one of Aizenâs usual simpering overachievers. The first thing Byakuya observed was the eye makeup. Most shinigami applied at least a little eyeliner, on grounds of tradition, but few bothered to blacken the entire eye socket, as in the skeletal facepaint of old. The second thing Byakuya noticed were the tattoos painted across his forehead and neck. They were black and spikey and horrible. The third thing was the hair, which was bright pink and spikey, and utterly at odds with the makeup and tattoos. The fourth thing was the big, sheepish grin, which honestly just tied the whole hideous tableau together.
Byakuya glared down at the lout, and in a moment of pettiness, flared his reiatsu to a level that should have sent blood spurting out of his ears.
âIâm afraid thatâs not going to do much to someone who has a weekly sparring slot with the Kenpachi,â Ayasegawa commented dryly.
âSorry âbout that!â the lummox cheerfully apologized as he sat up and brushed himself off. He had an Inuzuri accent so thick you could spread it on toast, an accent that Hisana tended to slip into only when she was extremely bent out of shape. Abarai snapped the sword hilt in his hand, and the tangled pile of steel on the ground neatly retracted into something that looked a little more like a weapon, if a weapon were designed by a creative and overly violent child.
âThatâs a captain, you buffoon!â another voice rang out, and every muscle in Byakuyaâs body locked. âShow your respects!â
The voice clearly affected Abarai as well, because he leapt to his feet, spun, and slammed into a bow. âMy apologies, CaptainâŠâ his eyes glanced up and abruptly widened, âKuchiki.â
âGreetings, Captain Kuchiki! Welcome to the Eleventh Division! I apologize very profusely for throwing Tenth Seat Abarai at you!â A second young person had come to join Abarai in his bow, and they both rose in unison, Abarai looking suddenly pale and nervous, his companion looking calm and confident.
So this was Inuzuri Rukia. She had Hisanaâs voice. She had Hisanaâs stature, and standing next to Abarai made her look positively childlike. She wore the same dreadful eyeblack, but the eyes that shone out of it were a variation on Hisanaâs, harder and three shades more purple. The rest of the face was Hisanaâs. Her hair was dark, shaved on the sides, arranged into porcupine spikes on top, although one lock hung down stubbornly between her eyes. Her ears glittered with silver piercings. At least she was free of awful tatt-- wait, no. Byakuya had missed them at first, because they were white. Abaraiâs tattoos were spiky and sharp, but Inuzuriâs were graceful swirls, like ribbons wrapping lazily down her forearms. Even her reiatsu was like Hisanaâs-- but instead of a cool, refreshing wintergreen, Inuzuriâs was the bone-deep cold of winter, a cold so harsh it burnt in the lungs.
There was no doubt.
This atrocious delinquent was his long-lost sister-in-law.
âCan we help you with something, sir?â Inuzuri prompted. âAbarai hereâs a big fan of yours.â
âShut up, Rukia,â Abarai managed through gritted molars.
âInuzuri Rukia, you died as an infant thirty-six years ago and were sent to the 78th District of South Rukongai, is that correct?â Byakuya said stiffly.
Inuzuri and Abarai both bristled, a pair of mongrels raising their haunches. âThat seems about right,â Inuzuri replied slowly. âMy early years are a little hazy.â
âMy wife, Hisana also died thirty-six years ago and was sent to Inuzuri with her infant sister,â Byakuya went on. âThey were separated. My wife has been looking for her sister ever since. You⊠resemble her greatly.â Byakuya let the implication hang in the air. He couldnât bring himself to say it.
There was silence for a moment. Then there was the distinct noise of a laugh that, having been held in, had escaped through someoneâs nose. âSorry! Pardon me!â Ayasegawa wheezed, clapping one hand over his mouth and looking away. âBit of. Dust. In my throat.â
âI told you! I told you, you looked like that picture of her in the Bulletin!â Abarai was hissing.
âI thought you were lying because you thought she was pretty!â Inuzuri hissed back.
âI thought she was pretty because she looks just like you!â
âNow is really not the time, Abarai!â She cleared her throat and tried to stand up a bit taller, a futile effort. âSo, uh, so what? What does that mean, if I am her sister? Does that⊠does that make me noble?â
A higher pitched wheezing came out of Ayasegawa. The level of impudence was extraordinary.
âI would like you to come to my home to meet her, first,â Byakuya put off making any promises. âWe can discuss what comes next. As a family.â
âIâm at work right now,â Inuzuri excused.
âInuzuri, I need to know how this pans out, you can have the afternoon off,â Ayasegawa informed her.
Inuzuriâs confidence seemed to be draining out of her. She took a tiny step closer to Abarai and groped for his hand. âIâm bringing Renji,â she declared.
âIs he compulsory?â Byakuya asked. Inuzuri was absurd looking too, but at least she was small.
âHeâs my family,â Inuzuri insisted.
Byakuyaâs brows furrowed. This could prove problematic. âIn any sort of legally binding sense?â
âWeâre engaged!â Inuzuri announced.
âWe are?â Abarai goggled.
âI told you Iâd marry you if you could ever manage to beat me in a fight! What else would you call that?â Rukia hissed at him in a voice that was still, unfortunately, perfectly audible.
âIâve been trying every day, and honestly, Rukia, itâs not looking good for me!â
âCan you just go with it for once, instead of arguing with me every time?â
âIf you want to leave and never tell anyone you found her,â Ayasegawa put in, âI am very bribable.â
Byakuya was sorely tempted.
---
End note: To further explain the number mix-up, as I understand it âsevenâ in Japanese can either be said as ânanaâ or âshichiâ. People usually say ânanaâ for two reasons-- 1) to avoid confusion with 4 (âshiâ, although you can also say âyonâ) and because âshiâ is a homophone for death. Given how shitty the districts in the 70s are, I rather liked the idea that they residents use the âshichiâ pronunciation as a bit of gallows humor. (And if you donât have a rude nickname for the town you grew up in, well, congrats for not growing up somewhere shitty)
I donât actually speak Japanese, tho, so forgive me if this is all nonsense. đ
#renji's birthday 2k21#my writing#i loved writing this with my entire being#thank you so much#all i ever want in the way of prompts is cursed suggestions that come out of conversations i have in the bowels of my ao3 comments#strictly speaking this isn't very renji-centric but he does reach new peaks of himbo-dom in this au so i will allow it#the byakuya - yumichika interaction in this fic is so powerful#also a i z e n
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Renji prompt: The Vice-Captain exam combat exhibition. Who was there to witness it? Who was he fighting? Did anyone have a snide remark? Did Aizen show up to tell him he was proud of Renji overcoming his early troubles? Did Kenpachi ask to do the exhibition and pout when he was told no?
I hope you donât mind if I take this one as more of a meta than trying to write a fanfic around it. Writing fight scenes is not my favorite, and one extended Vice Captainsâ Exam description was enough for me. đ
I had already decided ages ago that Ukitake and Komamura were the proctors at Renjiâs exam (thereâs even a mention of this waaaaaaay back in Not Broken, Just Bent).
I love the idea of Aizen lurking around, being Peak Snide, but when he corners Renji during the Soul Society Arc, he says they havenât seen each other in a long time, so I donât think he was there. A thing thatâs important here is that Hisagi, Hinamori, Kira, Iba, and then finally Renji must have all taken the exam in a fairly tight period (by which I mean a few years, but also everyoneâs semi-immortal). I think Aizen tried to have his thumb in most of these, and at this point, Sasakibeâs gotta be like, âyouâre always so helpful, Captain Aizen, but I think some of the other captains should be contributing, too!â In any case, I am positive he wrote a long, unsolicited letter of his Renji Opinions that was probably extremely carefully worded to look supportive, but put his âdoubtsâ on record for when he eventually needed to frame Renji for racketeering or something, like you do.
In any case, Aizen didnât come, but I think Gin did. Youâre allowed to invite your friends, and since Renji loves a cheering section, he asked the whole gang. When Kira was like âhey, Captain, Iâm gonna go see Abaraiâs examâ, Gin was like âOh, that sounds fun, Iâm comingâ and he hovered behind Kira the whole time and was Creepy. Fortunately, Iba and the Squad 11 gang are 100% Immune to Bad Vibes and also Very Loud and everyone except Kira basically forgot he was there.
I headcanon that Kenpachi does not give a shit about any sort of Gotei procedures or exams or certifications. I donât even know how they even get him to go to Captainsâ Meetings. I often wonder what Kenpachi even thinks about Renji and Iba, who are good officers and follow his rules, but have career aspirations which frankly, he does not vibe with. Ultimately, I think Zaraki is a live-and-let-live sort of guy. He enjoys having them while he has them, and while he thinks transferring to another squad for a promotion is a dumb idea, he respects that they have their own goals, and he signs whatever forms they ask him to sign without trying to talk them out of it. Anyway, Zaraki can fight Renji any time he wants, under proper Squad 11 rules (one-on-one, no kidou bullshit, fight until someone canât get up). Zaraki probably has a weekly slot on his schedule for fighting Renji. Zaraki did not attend.
So, who handled Renjiâs exhibition fights then? As per my fanfic, Call Me Back When the War is Over, there are 5 demonstration portions of the Vice Captainsâ Exam (6 if you choose to do kaido, which Renji did not). The kidou and shunpo demos are solo. The other three are zanjutsu (swordsmanship), hakuda (hand-to-hand) and an anything-goes overall combat readiness demo, each of which is overseen by a volunteer Vice Captain.
As I said earlier, a difficulty that presented itself during Renjiâs exam is that a lot of the Vice Captains were brand new, and also his close friends, which closed off a lot of options, but Nanao got it figured out.
For zanjutsu, his opponent was Lieutenant Shirogane, his predecessor at Squad 6. Shirogane had been planning out his retirement for a while, and had been attending and helping with the last few exams, scoping out his own potential replacement. Squad 6 likes well-rounded soldiers, but they do put a heavy emphasis on zanjutsu, particularly formal swordsmanship. Renji was known to be a strong fighter and a good swordsman, and Shirogane (and Byakuya) were very curious to see if he had any actual knowledge of the subject, or if he was just an undisciplined thug like most of Zarakiâs men. Suffice it to say, Shirogane was very impressed, and passed on a glowing recommendation to his boss.
For hakuda, Renji had to go up against Nemu. Nemu doesnât often help out with exams, but like I said, there had been a lot of exams recently, and Nanao sent a bunch of increasingly nasty memos to Kurotsuchi until he gave in and let her help. This was actually a pretty decent draw for Renji-- he is strong and fast, and decent at hakuda, but itâs not his strongest subject, and he spent a bunch of time boning up on the standard moves for the test. Nemu is also very strong and fast, and very by-the-book. In other words, the test was very predictable and true to form with no surprises, and Renji was able to make a good showing, even if she did pin him in the spar.
I hope youâre ready for this, but Renji had to do his overall combat demo against⊠Matsumoto. Matsumoto likes to act like a lazy slob, but she is actually very strong and smart and well-rounded and tricky. She is significantly older and more experienced than Renji and also, I headcanon that she has a lot of fighting skills that she holds in reserve (in particular, some absolutely brutal hakuda that Isshin taught her). Renji had been trying to get her to fight him seriously for years and she never would, so he got really hype when he found out who he was going up against. Rangiku was prepared for Renji to be tough, but as it happens, Haineko is a lot like Senbonzakura in terms of techniques one might use against them, and Renji turned out to be smarter than she expected, too. That being said, it was an incredible fight, and they ran out the time without a clear winner (although Renjiâs hair was on fire, which probably would have become a problem eventually). Renji had a great time and is dying to fight her again; Matsumoto spent the following week refusing to do anything because she was âtoo tired.â
The upshot is that Renjiâs exam was super fun to watch (except for the kidou section, which was Sad, but everyone cheered for him anyway, and at least it was over quickly). The other captains who showed up to watch were Kyouraku (because Nanao and Juushirou were there and also because he loves shirking) and Hitsugaya (because he likes to watch Rangiku fight and he vaguely knows Renji through Hinamori). Renji made a really good impression both with his skills and his enthusiasm, and I think that is one of the reasons he is later noted to be âwell-liked by all the captains.â
Thanks for the ask, this one was a lot of fun to think about!
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For the Renji birthday prompt: A fic where Renji discovers that he can't go tits out anymore now that he's married (maybe with some jealous Rukia thrown in perhaps)?
I maintain that the new tits-in regime is self-imposed; I present to you my thesis. (I did not attempt to take on The Vest; I assume it came later, and I eagerly await more Vest Lore from Kubo himself)
Warning that I sincerely hope deters absolutely no one: This fic is about boobs. It contains many, many synonyms for boobs. Some of them are rude.Â
Read on ao3 or ff.net
---
âIâm telling you, youâre jumping to conclusions. Sometimes he puts them away when he fights. He told me this.â
âI havenât seen them in weeks.â
âItâs been winter.â
âThat has never stopped him before. And itâs April now. Open season. And yetâŠ?â
âI think we should just ask him.â
âYou canât just ask a guy, âhey, where did your tits go?ââ
âI could, but I refuse. Abaraiâs aesthetic is his own business.â
âSince when?â
âOkay, heâs here, someoneâs gotta do it.â
âNot it!â
âAlso not it!â
âMatsumoto, you have to do it. Youâre the one who talked him into letting them hang out in the first place.â
âI agree with Yumichika. Renji knows what heâs doing, and if he has decided that the puppies are off-limits, thatâs on him.â
âHey, guys!â Abarai Renjiâs cheerful voice rang out over the din of the bar. âSorry Iâm late!â
âJust means you have to catch up quick!â Rangiku declared, pouring him some sake.
âNo missus tonight?â Shuuhei asked.
Renjiâs entire face went pink and he got the same moony look in his eyes he always got whenever someone mentioned his wife or his marital state generally. âShe sends her regards and says Iâm supposed to drink extra for her. She goes over to the Manor on Wednesday evenings now to hang out with her brother.â
âHave you actually managed to call him by his given name yet?â Iba asked. âNow that youâre related?â
âHis given name is âCaptainâ and I call him that all the time,â Renji replied snottily.
âSo. Renji,â Izuru said, leaning forward on his elbow. âAre you doing something different? With your look? I feel like thereâs something different about you.â
Renjiâs face lit up. âYou noticed!â He swung his head around, his long braid swinging over his shoulder. âIâve started braiding it!â
âOh, no, itâs permanent?â Yumichika moaned.
âThatâs not new,â Iba scoffed. âYou slept with it like that the whole time we were roommates. I just figured that you didnât have time to fix your hair in the morning anymore because you were too busy taking care--oof!â
âIt looks very nice, Renji!â Momo said sweetly, extracting her elbow from Ibaâs rib cage.
âItâs different,â Renji glowered at Iba. âI braid it loosely at night to prevent breakage and lock in moisture. This is an action braid.â He wheeled on Yumichika. âAnd Iâm only French braiding it for now, because itâs shorter in front than in the back, you know, because of the accident. Once Iâve grown it out to all one length again, Iâll just do a regular braid.â
âYou could just cut it to the length of the shortest part and go back to the pineapple hair,â Ikkaku suggested. âI always liked the pineapple hair.â
Renji turned pink again. âAh, well. Rukia likes it long.â
âYeah, I donât think the braid is⊠what I was thinking of,â Izuru soldiered on.
Renji sucked his teeth thoughtfully. âI got a new tattoo? A pair, actually.â
âOh! Did you?â
âOn your chest?â Shuuhei asked hopefully. A healing tattoo would be a good excuse to cover up.
âNah, on my thighs.â
Izuru sighed. âSince when do I look at your thighs, Abarai?â
âI have good thighs, Izuru.â
âHe probably just looks different because heâs so happy now,â Rangiku suggested. âBy which I mean getting your back blown out every night.â
âThat could be it!â Renji agreed cheerfully. âOh, I was wearing a scarf for a while there, when we had that cold snap! Is it the scarf? Or maybe the lack of scarf? Itâs a nice scarf, Captain gave it to me for a wedding present. He says a man of quality should own a scarf.â
âI give up,â Izuru sighed.
âHey, jocks, whatâs going on?â a new voice interrupted.
âAkon!â half the table chorused and Renji scooted over so Akon could slide in next to him.
âGlad you could make it!â
âYeah, sorry, I had an experiment I wanted to get finished up.â
âWe were just talking about how thereâs something different about Renji,â Shuuhei pressed.
Akon surveyed Renji for a moment. âWell, heâs got his tits tucked in for once. Arenât you hot? You told me once you did that for ventilation.â
âThat was very much a lie,â Renji clarified. âAnd Iâm a married man now, my cans are closed for business. Speaking of which, Rangiku, fill âer up again, please, Iâve gotta keep up my wifeâs reputation.â
---
Momo couldnât believe this was happening to her. Out of their entire friend group, she was pretty sure she was the least interested in Renjiâs⊠bosoms. There was a time⊠long, long ago when she had thought he was pretty hot stuff. She still counted him among her closest friends and favorite people, but had long ago come to the conclusion that big and beefy just wasnât her type.
âWhy, Lieutenant Hinamori! What brings you to my office?â Acting Captain Kuchiki Rukia leaned back in her chair, steepling her fingers. She must have been practicing, because the last time Momo had seen her do that, she had nearly fallen backwards out of the chair.
Momo sighed. âI have to tell you, this isnât business.â Not exactly. It sort of was, in the sense that Shuuhei and Matsumoto (who apparently did care very much about Renjiâs chest situation, so long as she wasnât the one who had to confront him about it) had come over and dramatically draped themselves all over the Squad 5 couch and complained about the dreary state of affairs to Captain Hirako until he ordered Momo to go do some investigating.
âGood, because I have been filling out Nanaoâs new skills-inventory-for-seated-officer forms all morning and Iâm about to lose it,â Rukia said with an overly cheerful grin.
âWe could go out to the yard and fight?â Momo offered hopefully. Maybe she could tell Captain Hirako that she got distracted and forgot to ask about Renji.
Rukiaâs face fell a little. âEr, Iâd love to, but I really shouldnât today. Sentarou just made me this pot of tea, though. Do you want some? Itâs lemon ginger, itâs really good.â
âSure,â Momo agreed.
âSo whatâs up?â Rukia asked again, once Momo was perched in the guest chair, a fragrant cup of tea cradled in her hands.
Well, might as well just rip the bandage off. âI need you to know that I was put up to this by⊠you know. The idiots. The cowards we go drinking with.â
âUnderstood,â Rukia agreed.
âThere is⊠some concern⊠about your husband.â
Rukiaâs eyebrows shot up. âMy sweet pumpkin pants?â
âIâm leaving,â Momo announced.
âIâm sorry, Iâm sorry!â Rukia waved her hands, laughing. âIâll be serious. What has that lunkhead done now?â
âThis is so dumb,â Momo muttered. She cleared her throat. âHeâs stopped going around with his bazongas hanging out all the time, and everyoneâs losing their minds over it.â
Rukia stared at her. âExcuse me, his what?â
Momo made a vague gesture at her own chest. âYou know. His⊠boobies.â
âThatâs what I thought you meant,â Rukia nodded, her brow creased in thought. âBazongas. I like that.â
âNot that I care!â Momo excused. âI mean, I agree, he should be allowed to dress how he likes, but you two seem to have a very equitable relationship and I said that I was sure he wasnât doing anything that he hadnât agreed to--â
âHold on,â Rukia interrupted. âYou think I had something to do with this?â
âYou didnât?â Momo asked. âHe said he was keeping them tucked in because he was married now. We assumed it was at your request.â
âI didnât even know!â Rukia replied. âI mean, I came home yesterday, and he was just--â she made a hand gesture like she was pulling her kosode open, â--completely out--â
âI donât need to hear this,â Momo begged.
âWell, I tell you I had nothing to do with it,â Rukia assured her. âNo one is more supportive of Renji acting slutty in public than me. Everyone knows I have that locked down, and honestly, it just makes me seem more powerful.â
Momo squeezed her eyes shut. âIâm going to punch Shuuhei so hard.â
Rukia rubbed her index finger over her chin. âItâs possible this came down from BrotherâŠâ
Momo whimpered, although, honestly, having a conversation with the other Captain Kuchiki about Abaraiâs pectorals couldnât possibly be more awkward than this.
â...or it might be⊠something else.â Rukia frowned. âIâll talk to him, okay?â
âYou will?â Momo asked hopefully.
âYeah, Iâll take care of it. I canât promise to bring the jugs back, but Iâll make sure itâs just Renji being a doofus and not Renji hiding his anxieties under aesthetic choices or Renji being oppressed by his brother-in-law.â
âThank you, Rukia,â Momo said. Rukia could be bossy at times, but it wasnât necessarily a bad thing. âSometimes, Renji has to be bullied into taking care of himself.â
âYouâre telling me!â Rukia exclaimed. âThank you for caring about him,â she added warmly.
âFor the record, I care about him,â Momo replied. âEveryone else just misses the view.â
âNoted,â Rukia replied.
---
Renji had his nose stuffed in his cookbook, which lately, wasnât a good sign. Renji only owned one cookbook, an encyclopedic tome that he only cracked open when he was trying something new or otherwise wasnât sure what he was doing.
âI hope you arenât making that kale curry again,â Rukia noted dryly.
Renji jumped three feet in the air. âAaah, shoot! Rukia! I didnât hear you come in! Iâm so sorry!â
Rukia hopped up on her kitchen stool and leaned across the counter to give him a kiss. âWeâve been married for four months now. You donât have to greet me at the door every single day, you know.â
âSixteen weeks, three days,â Renji replied. âAnd I can still be sorry about it.â
âJust tell me weâre having something normal for dinner, and Iâll forgive you,â Rukia replied.
Renji jerked a thumb toward the stove behind him. âI made oden,â he explained. âItâs simmering, probablyâll be another ten minutes.â
âOhhhhhh, I love your oden!â Rukia stretched her arms across the counter and did grabby hands at his hands until he laced his fingers through hers. âDid you make enough for me to take some for lunch tomorrow?â
âDepends on how much you eat tonight,â he replied. âYour appetiteâs been really hit or miss lately.â
âYeah, well...â Rukia agreed. âSo whatâs with the cookbook, then?â
âOh,â Renji said vaguely. âIâm thinking about learning to bake cookies?â
âIâm in favor of that,â Rukia agreed, although her mind immediately went back to the conversation sheâd had with Momo that afternoon.
âIâm not sure this book is helping,â Renji admitted. âIf I was any good at baking, it would be one thing, but itâs too different. Iâve always been better at learning stuff from other people. Do you think it would be weird if I asked Ibaâs mom to teach me? She used to make these little sesame biscuits for Iba. I would always steal them from him. They were so good and he didnât properly appreciate them anyway.â
âIt would absolutely be weird, and I think you should do it anyway,â Rukia proclaimed. She paused. âBut maybe you could wait a few more weeks until we tell everyone weâre pregnant so all your friends will stop asking me whatâs wrong with you.â
Renjiâs eyes widened. âDid your brother say something last night? Because he told me he liked the braid!â
Rukia snorted. âNo. Heâs worse than you are anyway, heâs been reading books. Please make him stop, if you can. Actually, Iâve been getting complaints about,â she circled a finger in the vicinity of Renjiâs chest.
Renji glanced down, and realized that his kosode was still neatly folded up to his collarbone. âOops, sorry! I told you I didnât hear you come home.â He immediately began untucking it.
Rukia leaned her chin on her palm, watching his progress. âI realize that making emotionally constipated people face their feelings is usually your department, but it seems youâve got something heavy rattling around in there. Wanna talk about it?â
Renjiâs eyes slid to one side. âTalk about what?â
Rukia cocked an eyebrow and waited.
Renji heaved a sigh. âDo you remember that time, back in Inuzuri, the first time I used my reiatsu in public? When I blocked a lead pipe with my arm?â
Rukia almost choked. âWhat do you mean, do I remember it? Of course I remember it.â
âWell, not so much that, but do you remember afterward, when you said I was too big and mean to be a sneakthief anymore? That it was better to confront the world and show it what we were made of?â
âI do remember that. I did not call you mean.â
âYou probably didnât. Itâs probably just something I thought about myself.â He looked pensive for a moment. âIn any case, it was something I really took to heart, especially after we split up. At first, I just wanted to make myself as big and loud and scary as possible. I liked the way people shied away from me. Later on, after I started hanging out with Yumichika, I realized that walking around sexy could be intimidating in a different sort of way, and I liked that, too.â
Rukia had a comment for that, but she decided to just listen, instead.
Renji smoothed the page of his book with his fingers. âI donât want to look scary anymore.â
âYou donât look scary,â Rukia reassured him. âYou havenât looked scary in a long time.â
âI want to do better than that, though,â Renji frowned. âHas your brother ever talked to you about his dad?â
Rukia blinked, surprised, mostly that Byakuya had talked about Soujun with Renji. âA few times.â
âI, uh, asked him what his dad was like. Since I never had one myself. I expected him to either blow me off or start bellyaching, like he does about his granddad, but he didnât. He said his pop was very gentle and kind. He said he was a good dad.â
âByakuya loved his father a lot.â
âYeah, that was pretty clear.â
âI hope he finished by saying what a good father you will make, but itâs my brother, so Iâm sure he didnât.â
âHe said something about how he was sure I would proceed in my own way.â
Rukia sighed again. âRenji, youâll be a great dad. Itâs super obvious. Iâve only told half a dozen people that Iâm pregnant and all of them who arenât Byakuya have immediately reacted with âRenji is going to be such a good dad.â You donât need to change anything about yourself.â
Renji sucked his teeth for a moment. âWell, all my good dad instincts are telling me our kid is gonna wanna fight the world bad enough as it is, that the last thing they need is a dad who wants to fight the world, too. Iâve fought the world long enough. Iâm probably never gonna be gentle, but I can try my best to be kind, and I can dress like a normal person in public for a change and⊠maybe I can make a cookie? Itâs worth a try, I think.â
Rukia flashed him a sad, but fond smile. âYouâre such a dork. A sweet, thoughtful dork, though, and I will support your experiment, even though you know I love your bazongas more than anyone.â
ââBazongasâ? Oh no, did those assholes make Momo come and talk to you?â
Rukia shrugged and tried to look innocent.
âAnyway, youâre my wife, I will take them out for you whenever you want.â
âYay!â
Renji furrowed his brow into its âdeterminedâ configuration. âDo not get me wrong. I am actually upping my chest day routine. I am going to keep them immaculate, and when my shirt gets ripped off in a fight, people are going to lose their minds over how lush my boys are.â
âI love you so much,â Rukia replied.
#renji's birthday 2k21#my writing#this was a lot of fun i got to use all my favorite horrible synonyms for da tiddies#ok maybe not allll my faves
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[Renji birthday] Hey, hi. What about Orihime does smt to surprise Renji for his birthday, a thank-you him helping her at New Year celebration? Include fireworks that Renji secretly enjoys? Thanks. Anything (fic, hcs, sketch..) is fine.
Iâm sorry this is late, but itâs still the Renji - Orihime Birthday Weekend, so I think itâs okay!
I love the idea of the Renji - Orihime BroTP, but somehow itâs so hard for me to write, I always do a bunch of false starts or get stuck. For this round of prompts, I was trying to do the ones that inspired me the most and I liked the idea a lot more than I had ideas, if you get my drift. Anyway, I love them both too much, though, so I muscled through.
Iâm sorry if this is a little ramble-y and quite silly and I didnât manage to squeeze in fireworks (Iâve written several fireworks scenes in the past and didnât want to repeat myself), but what it is is four thousand words long. Also, I managed to remember that Kon exists, this is possibly the first time I have ever put Kon in anything. I hope you like it!
Read on ao3 or ff.net
đ   đ   đ
âInoue,â Renji hissed. âWhy am I here?â
Orihime took a quick step backwards as Keigo ran past, screaming. Ryo followed a second later, also screaming. Renji, who had served at Squad 11 for many years, managed to leap out of the way just in time. âItâs Ichigoâs birthday party,â Orihime explained. âHe wanted you to come.â
âItâs not though,â Renji pressed. âItâs Arisawaâs birthday, and weâre at Arisawaâs house. I donât think Arisawa even knows who I am.â
âYes, she does, silly,â Orihime replied. âI told her lots of stories about you and she said she wanted you to come. Thereâll probably be a football match later, and Ichigo told her we could have you on our team, as long as he got Rukia.â
âI got hauled in all the way from Soul Society for football?â Renji asked, sounding not-at-all upset about this.
âNo, I told you! Ichigo wanted you to come.â
âBut itâs not his birthday.â
âBut it is his party. He and Tatsuki share, you see, because their birthdays are so close and they have all the same friends. Itâs Tatsukiâs year to host the big friend party. Ichigo just had a little family party on his actual birthday.â
âOhhhhh,â Renji replied, finally understanding. He nodded for a moment. âWhatâs a family party?â
---
Orihime cleared her throat, and tapped her in her palm. âThank you all for coming to this very important meeting.â
Chad, Ichigo, and Tatsuki were all crammed together on Orihimeâs couch. Rukia sat on the arm, next to Chad, Kon in her lap. Uryuu sat in Orihimeâs desk chair, which she had hauled in from her room.
Orihime thwapped her pointer against the large pad of paper on an easel that she had borrowed from the Student Health Advisors Club. On the first page, she had drawn a large picture of Renji and written his name. âIt has come to my attention that Our Friend Renji has never had a Family Birthday Party.â
âQuick question--â Tatsuki interrupted. âIs he wearing a⊠fur bolero in that picture? And is the bone dragon an actual thing or just...Orihime artistic spice?â
âItâs a cowl,â Rukia said, at the same time as Chad said, âItâs a stole,â and Uryuu said âItâs a capelet.â
âThank you, that cleared up nothing,â Tatsuki replied.
âItâs his bankai form,â Ichigo said, grumpily. âHis sword turns into a giant flying snake skeleton that screams like a pterodactyl. Itâs super sick and he let me ride on it twice and that cape thing is really soft, actually, but he says it gets hot. As far as I know it has nothing to do with his birthday.â
âEr, no, I just got carried away while I was drawing,â Orihime admitted. âYour bankai is very cool, too, Kurosaki-kun.â
âGot it, right,â Tatsuki nodded, sounding very much like she just wanted to move on. âHe doesnât have a family?â
âI think youâre worrying over nothing, Orihime,â Rukia said, sounding a teensy bit defensive. âMany people in Soul Society donât have families. If thereâs anyone in Soul Society whoâs good at scraping up friends to spend a holiday with, itâs Renji. Everyone likes him. Half the Gotei turns up at the bar for his birthday parties.â
âI know that,â Orihime said quietly. âI know that because last New Yearâs, when I was lonely, he played badminton with me, even though he was very, very hungover and pretending like he wasnât, and then he went and rounded up all my friends in the middle of the night, and before he left, he told me there was nothing wrong with making your own holiday. But family birthdays are different! Family birthdays are about the people who love you most doing special things, just for you!â Orihime set her jaw. âWhen I was little, Sora always tried to make my birthdays super special! We didnât have a lot of extra money, but he would take the day off just to spend it with me and we would go to the park or watch movies or he would let me paint his nails and braid his hair. He would take a picture of me and put it in my special birthday album with my height and weight and current favorite food.â Orihimeâs mouth snapped shut. Everyone was staring at her. Sheâd said too much, just like she always did. Her cheeks started to burn.
âWhen I was little,â Ichigo suddenly said, a little bit too loud, âmy mom told us that we could have whatever we wanted for dinner on our birthdays. One year, IâŠâ he paused, his eyes darting over to Tatsuki. âI had just seen Kikiâs Delivery Service, and I was obsessed with that fish and pumpkin casserole the old lady makes?â
Orihime gasped, and clapped her hands over her mouth.
Uryuu rolled his eyes. âWho wasnât, Kurosaki?â
Ichigo snorted, but his shoulders relaxed a little. âAnyway, it took her most of the day, and I think she mustâve gotten really frustrated at some point because me and my sisters got sent over to Tatsukiâs house so the Old Man could help her. It came out kind of lumpy and huge, but it was delicious, it was exactly what I had imagined it would taste like.â
âI remember that thing,â Tatsuki added. âShe made us come over for dinner because there was so much of it. It was incredible.â
âWe didnât do Birthday Dinners for a few years after she died,â Ichigo said slowly. âBut then after Yuzu got good at cooking, she said she wanted to try doing it again. My dad really likes the Godfather movies and he always used to ask for spaghetti for his birthday, which it turns out isnât that hard to make. Karin and me helped out, and weâve been doing it again ever since. We donât usually do fancy stuff, itâs just nice to get to pick.â
âIchigo made me omurice on my birthday and let me use his body to eat it!â Kon announced.
âYou didnât have to tell everyone that,â Ichigo stammered, turning pink. âItâs the only thing Iâm good at making.â
âMy abuelo always used to sing Las Mañanitas on my birthday,â Chad put in. âFirst thing in the morning. Sometimes he would come into my room and wake me up. Sometimes I would come down for breakfast and he would be there, with his guitar. He wouldnât even say âgood morningâ until heâd sung Las Mañanitas.â
Orihimeâs spirits lifted a little. âSee? Thatâs exactly what Iâm talking about!â
Rukia crossed her arms over her chest. âRenji gets up at the crack of dawn. Iâm certainly not going over to his place to sing at him while he mixes up his horrible protein beverages.â
âWell, it wouldnât have to be exactly that,â Orihime went on. âI just thought, since his birthday was coming up in a few weeks, maybe we could throw him a party here, in the World of the Living that was⊠I donât know⊠a little more heartfelt than just going out drinking.â
âI think thatâs a very thoughtful idea, Inoue,â Uryuu said.
âOh! I was worried you wouldnât want to help, because⊠you know.â
âI had a row with Ryuuken last week,â Uryuu sniffed. âIâm honestly in the mood to do something nice for a shinigami. Besides, itâs Abarai, he doesnât really count anymore.â He paused for a moment. âYou either, of course, Kuchiki.â
âYou wanna have it at my house?â Ichigo offered. âSince me and Tatsuki are the only ones with backyards, and I donât imagine Tatsuki would want to explain this to her mom.â
âI appreciate that,â Tatsuki put in. âI can help though, if you want. In my family, we like to decorate, and I still have a bunch of streamers and balloons left over from last week.â She gestured at Orihimeâs drawing. âWe could probably make him a banner or something out of that. Itâs pretty good!â
âOh, thatâs such a good idea!â Orihime exclaimed. She should have known her friends would be helpful. She flipped to a new page on her notepad, and began to write things down.
âI can help decorate!â Kon piped up. âI am very artistic, you know!â
âI can bring my guitar,â Chad offered. âI donât know if Abarai wants to hear me singâŠâ
Ichigo shoved him in the shoulder. âShut up. We always want to hear you sing and you never do. If Renji doesnât want to hear you sing, heâs got no taste and also, he can suck it.â
Rukia rubbed her forehead, like she felt a headache coming on. âRenji goes to all his friendsâ poetry readings and community theater and open mic nights. I am sure he would be overjoyed to be serenaded by Chad.â
âWhat about you, Uryuu?â Orihime asked. âI know you and your father donât get along, but is there anything that you associate with feeling special on your birthday?â
Uryuuâs face contorted for a moment. âAh, there is, but Iâm sure itâs not helpful.â
âMaybe it will give us an idea,â Chad prodded.
Uryuu frowned. âWell, when I was very small, my mother used to make me a new kimono every year. She was⊠a very skilled seamstress.â He frowned. âI donât have Abaraiâs measurements, and besides, he couldnât take it back to Soul Society anyway.â
Kon perked up. âIchigo! Ichigo, are you thinking what Iâm thinking?â
Ichigo jabbed a finger Uryuu. âYuzu just got a bedazzler and she has a ton of t-shirt paint! We could bedazzle him a t-shirt! For his gigai! Iâll even keep it in my closet for him with all of Rukiaâs crap!â
âKurosaki, no,â Uryuu insisted.
âKurosaki, yes,â Ichigo insisted. âItâs like youâve never even met the man. Iâm gonna make the most Renji t-shirt youâve ever seen and heâs gonna love it so hard heâll make me his new best friend.â
âI want to help,â Chad put in.
âYou may,â Ichigo replied magnanimously.
âIt was my idea-- whoa, Rukia, watch out!â Kon cried as he went tumbling to the ground.
Rukia was practically crawling over Chad, trying to punch Ichigo in the head. âHeâs my best friend, you ass!â
âHe is for now,â Ichigo replied ominously.
âYou are my beloved protege, but I will end you, Kurosaki.â
âKuchiki-san?â Orihime asked tentatively. âDo you think you could come up with a way to get him to come here? I think it should be a surprise, so you would probably have to make up a story...I understand if you donât want to.â
Rukia looked up from where she was half-hanging over Chadâs shoulder. âOf course I can do that. I love lying to Renji. He can usually tell when Iâm lying to him, but heâll go along with whatever I say anyway.â
âOh, good!â Orihime replied, a wave of relief washing over her. She had no idea how they would get Renji here otherwise. Mr. Urahara, maybe. Maybe.
Rukiaâs brows creased as she rearranged herself to sit on the back of the couch between Chad and Ichigo. âDid you think I would say no?â
âWell⊠it didnât seem like you thought this was a very good idea.â
Rukiaâs cheeks colored and she waved her hands. âNo, no! Itâs not that at all! I think itâs a great idea! Itâs really sweet of all of you. Renjiâs so easy-going, people always⊠never mind! Iâll help however I can!â
âTry to find out what meal he might like,â Uryuu suggested. Kon was now sitting on his head. âThat sounded nice and I can help cook.â
âThatâs a no-brainer,â Rukia replied. âHe hasnât stopped talking about Chadâs burritos since the Advance Team mission ended.â
âBurritos are easy,â Chad agreed, âespecially if Uryuu helps.â
âWhat about you, Rukia?â Tatsuki asked. âYou have a brother, right? What do you do for family birthdays in Soul Society?â
Ichigo made a Big Yikes face, and Rukia shoved him in the head again. Orihime had stayed with the Kuchiki siblings when she was training in Soul Society, and while Byakuya could be pretty stiff, she was under the impression that he and Rukia were both working to have a better relationship.
âKuchiki birthdays are very formal,â Rukia said regally, and then frowned. âMostly, a bunch of Honored Relatives come over for dinner and you have to wear fancy clothes and itâs kind of a pain.â She thought for a moment. âBrother gave me a beautiful set of colored pencils for my last birthday. Itâs hard to buy him presents, because heâs so particular and he usually just buys the things that he wants. He writes a lot of letters, though, so I went to my favorite stationery store and bought him some pretty paper I thought he would like. I figured that if I picked wrong, he could just use it to send letters to people he hates.â Rukiaâs eyes softened. âHe really liked it, actually. I guess heâs not very used to getting gifts that people have spent any time thinking about.â
âThoughtful gifts are such a nice idea!â Orihime nodded eagerly.
âItâs hard, though,â Uryuu added, âbecause of the whole matter conversion issue.â
âWhat,â Ichigo bit off, âis not thoughtful about a t-shirt covered in rhinestones?â
âIf all of you help me think of something, I will buy it for him back in Soul Society,â Rukia promised. âNot sunglasses, though. I already bought him sunglasses.â
âIsnât his birthday, like a month away?â Ichigo frowned.
âSometimes I plan ahead! Shut up!â Rukia scowled. âBrother and I also like to make each other cards. Brother is an amazing artist, obviously, mine hardly compare to his, but he is very gracious about my efforts.â
âOh, thatâs a wonderful idea, Rukia!â Orihime agreed, writing down âcardsâ on her notes. She looked over her list. âI think this is shaping up to be a very good birthday!â
---
âThanks for agreeing to come along,â Rukia said to Renji when he showed up at her front door on the morning of August 31. âHowâs your head?â
âI feel great, but I hydrate tirelessly and also, I wasnât the one who got into a drinking contest with Captain Komamura. Howâs your head?â
âI donât want to talk about it,â Rukia replied.
âAre you sure you donât want me to just go? Iâm sure I can-- did I read your text right? Ichigo got his soul stuck in Konâs lion body and we have to go get him out? I⊠can probably handle that if you need to stay home and sleep it off.â
âLearn to read, oaf. Ichigo got his soul stuck in Konâs lion body and we are going to laugh at him. Obviously, I wouldnât miss that for anything.â
âAhhhh, okay, that makes a lot more sense!â
âCâmon, we should get moving before Orihime takes pity on him or something.â She waved him inside. âDonât worry, Brother said it was fine to use the family senkaimon.â
âAh, good morning, Captain!â Renji said, his voice bright with nervous energy.
Rukia turned around and blinked. Sure enough, Byakuya was looming in the foyer. He had definitely not been in the entry thirty seconds ago.
âGood morning, Lieutenant,â Byakuya replied. âHow delightful to see you in my house on a Sunday morning.â
âBrother, we talked about this,â Rukia pressed. âWe had a whole discussion.â
Byakuya ignored her and plowed on. âI did not expect to see you today, but since you are here, I have something for you.â He held out a handsome, hardcover book. Gingerly, Renji accepted it and frowned at the cover. âIt is the next book in the Tales of the Iron Army series,â Byakuya explained. âYou are a fan of that series, are you not?â
Renjiâs mouth gaped a little. âThis isnât⊠out⊠yetâŠâ
âThe publisher is an acquaintance of mine,â Byakuya said, looking off into the middle distance. âHe offered me an advance copy, so I asked for two.â
âUh, um, thanks, sir!â Renji managed.
âThink nothing of it,â Byakuya said stiffly. âNow, if youâll excuse me, I am extremely busy this morning.â
Rukia stared, gape-mouthed at the spot where Byakuya had been standing a moment previous. She wasnât allowed to use shunpo in the house.
âWhat?â Renji choked out.
âSometimes people just give him things,â Rukia shrugged, trying to play it off, but secretly fuming. She had told Byakuya that Renji was coming over and to (1) not mention his birthday and (2) not be weird. 0 for 2, Brother.
âRukia,â Renji reiterated, and when she finally looked over, he was holding up a little slip of cardstock that had apparently been tucked into the front cover of the book. On it was painted a little watercolor Wakame Ambassador. He was wearing a humorous hat. In Byakuyaâs immaculate calligraphy were the words âCongratulations. You are now older. You will still never defeat me.â Renji stared at Rukia, as if this were somehow her fault. âW-h-a-t?â he mouthed very slowly and deliberately, no actual sound coming out of his mouth.
âGive me that!â Rukia snapped, grabbing both the book and the card out of his hand. âI told him we were going to the Living World, I donât know why he couldnât have given you this when we got back. Mikan!â
Rukiaâs loyal maid immediately appeared at her elbow. âYes, miss?â
Renji blinked. âHow does everyone in this house move like that?â
âHold onto this for Renji until we get back, okay? You can put it with the, um, other stuff.â
âYes, miss.â
âWhat other stuff?â Renji asked, a grin tugging at the side of his mouth.
âI donât know what youâre talking about.â
âYou just said âput it with the other stuffâ?â
âNo, I didnât.â
âYou must have misheard, Lieutenant Abarai,â Mikan added sweetly.
âMaybe you should clean your ears out once in a while, dummy,â Rukia suggested.
âAre we really going to the Living World today, or was it just a ploy to get me over here?â Renji asked, doing a double take when he realized that Mikan had disappeared again.
âWeâre really going!â Rukia protested, marching into the bowels of the house. ââA ployâ, ha! You wish.â
âIt is my birthday,â Renji pointed out, sounding a little suspicious.
âAnd we had your birthday party last night! What more do you want?â
âNothing, actually! Very good birthday, as birthdays go!â He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. âThanks for coming, by the way.â
Rukia rolled her eyes. âAs if I wouldnât come.â
Renji shrugged. âWellâŠyou didnât, for a long time. And those werenât as fun. So thanks. For coming.â
Rukia opened her mouth and then closed it again. She didnât know what to say to that.
Fortunately, Renji had a keen instinct for changing the subject when things got awkward. âWere you there when Rangikuâs boob fell out? She says that since it was the right one, itâs a sign that this is going to be an auspicious year for me.â
âI did! I was talking to Momo and we were basically at Ground Zero when it happened! I canât believe Hisagi was in the restroom.â
âHeâs probably still sobbing about it.â
They continued to recap the best parts of the party as they traveled through the senkaimon and picked up their gigai from Uraharaâs, but there was something nagging at Rukia, something that had been nagging at her ever since Orihime, with her giant, squishy heart, had suggested that Renji deserved something better on his birthday, something which Rukia knew was unequivocally true.
âOi, Renji,â she said suddenly as they turned onto Ichigoâs street. Renji was in the middle of a story about Ibaâs sideburns, but sheâd heard it before, and they both knew he was only telling it to fill the time.
âEh?â he replied.
âI, uh, I just wanted to say, Iâm sorry that our birthdays were so shitty growing up,â she said quickly. âSorry in the sympathy sense, not the guilt sense. We were just kids, itâs not like thereâs much more we could have done. Just... it sucked and itâs not fair and Iâm sorry.â
Renji was staring at her with a look of mild horror on his face. âYou thought our birthdays sucked?â
Rukia stared back at him. âThey werenât great, thatâs for sure.â
Renjiâs face fell a little. âOh. Iâm sorry you feel that way. We⊠we did try, you know. I remember stealing blankets for your birthday, to make sure we had enough for all of us. We always used to try to make sure we had something to eat that day, too.â
Rukia flushed. âI wasnât talking about me, dummy!â She paused. âYou did? Crap. Now I feel even worse.â
âMy birthdayâs in August,â Renji shrugged. âWe didnât need to worry about freezing our asses off. And we almost always managed to do something fun that day. Going fishing or making a bonfire or lying on the roof and looking at the stars.â Renji gave a rueful little chuckle. âYou know, itâs fun when everyone gets together to get smashed on my birthday, but there are so many people and you can hardly hear what anyone is saying. Those old days⊠I dunno. I guess maybe they just felt a little more personal. When we were here on Tatsuki and Ichigoâs birthday, Orihime was telling me about family birthdays, and I think our old birthdays were a lot like that. Just some nice time spent with the people I like best.â
âYouâre such a sap,â Rukia said, trying to keep her voice from wobbling.
âLike you didnât know that,â Renji snorted. âIâm definitely gonna give Ichigo a hard time, but Iâm actually kinda glad he managed to pull this bonehead move on my actual birthday. Itâs a good excuse to come see him, and I got to spend a little quality time with you, to boot. Was kinda nice to see the captain, actually, even though he made a quick exit.â Renji sucked his teeth for a moment. âAfter we get Ichigo sorted, I donât âspose youâd mind taking a little stroll around town and seeing what the other kids are up to today?â
Rukia had her hand on the gate that led to the Kurosaki back yard. âThat⊠could probably be arranged.â She pushed the gate open.
âSURPRISE!â
Confetti filled the air. Someone was blowing an air horn. Everyone (except Uryuu) was wearing very bedazzled t-shirts. Even Kon, sitting on Chadâs shoulder, wore a tiny one with an even tinier lion on it.
âHappy birthday, Renji!â
âHappy birthday, you old geezer!â
âWe made you burritos!â
Rukia looked up at Renji. He had one hand clapped over his mouth and his eyes were wide. âHappy birthday, dumbass,â she said softly.
âExcuse me, I will be right back,â Renji said, turning on his heel and walking out the gate.
Orihimeâs eyes went wide. âOh, no! What did we do?â
Rukia held up her hands. âJust give him a second, heâs fine.â
The Karakura kids barely had time to exchange worried glances when Renji burst back in through the gate, at full volume. âWhat the Hell is this?â he roared. âAnd where did you get those t-shirts?â
âWe made them!â Ichigo shouted back, and thrust a poorly wrapped bundle into Renjiâs hands. âWe made you one, too!â
Renji enthusiastically tore open his present and held up its contents. âRukia,â he gasped. âRukia, look.â
âChad drew the Hihiou Zabimaru,â Ichigo explained proudly. âI was the one who wrote âOH YEAH!!ââ
âItâs so beautiful,â Renji sniffed. âHere, Rukia, hold this!â He shoved the shirt into Rukiaâs arms and immediately began to wrestle off the one he was currently wearing.
âUh⊠buddyâŠâ Tatsuki frowned, trying to throw her hand up in front of Orihimeâs eyes, but also unable to tear her eyes away. âThat is⊠a lot⊠of tattoosâŠâ
âItâs okay, weâve all seen it,â Orihime reassured her, pushing Tatsukiâs hand away.
âNever mind seeing it again,â Kon added philosophically.
âHow does it look?â Renji asked, once heâd gotten dressed again. He was flexing his biceps for good measure.
âItâs a little tight,â Rukia replied, but it didnât stop her from looking.
âThatâs how hot people wear their clothes, Rukia,â Ichigo informed her. âGet with it.â
âI love this so much!â Renji declared, looking down at his own torso again. âI canât believe you all made this for me. I am so happy!â
âBrace yourself, Abarai,â Uryuu said, âbut this is about 1% of the birthday festivities Orihime planned for you.â
Orihimeâs cheeks turned pink and she waved her hands frantically. âEveryone chipped in, I hardly did anything!â
âWe know you donât like cake, so we put a candle in a burrito for you,â Ichigo said, jerking his thumb toward the picnic table. âCome sit in front of it, so Chad can sing you your birthday song.â
âWe saved you the lawn chair without any wobbly legs,â Kon added generously.
On his way past, Renji slung his arm around Orihimeâs shoulders. âThanks, kid,â he murmured.
Orihime looked up at him. âYouâre our friend and I just wanted you to know how special we think you are on your birthday.â
Renji stared at her for a moment, an expression on his face like he wasnât sure how to make words come out. Suddenly, he tightened his elbow around his neck and crashed the knuckles of his other hand fiercely into her scalp. âI love all of you, too!â he laughed.
âYou canât noogie Orihime!â Ichigo and Tatsuki yelled at the same time, and promptly tripped over each other in an attempt to tackle him. Uryuu flung a pinecone at Renjiâs head. With his typical perfect aim, it would have been a direct hit, except that Kon had leapt from Chadâs shoulder directly into its trajectory and got beaned in the face instead.
Orihime was laughing and shouting âThat tickles, that tickles!â Renji was cackling. Chad stood, dumbfounded, his guitar hanging around his neck.
âRukia⊠avenge usâŠâ Ichigo groaned from the ground.
âOn one hand, itâs his birthday and Renji should get to noogie whomever he wants,â Rukia declared loftily. âOn the other hand, Orihime is a precious angel. On the third hand, suck it, Abarai!â
She launched herself at him.
#renji's birthday 2k21#my writing#please excuse my kon liberties#i've read too many murderlight fics
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This started out when I was complaining on Twitter about how the amnesia plot in Fade too Black could have been good but in fact, was not and then somehow this happened:
Anyway, we had a very nice Renjiâs Birthday, thank you everyone, and I think itâs very appropriate that we close out the day with some awful smut. Truly dreadful.
A Very Convenient Case of Amnesia (ao3 only!!)
Summary: What is even the point of being married if not to roleplay plots from your favorite soap operas?
Characters: A man with a very bad head injury who has no memory prior to waking up in the Coordinated Relief Station an hour ago? Who is he? What is he doing here? Also, a beautiful and mysterious woman who may hold the secrets to his past. But why do her eyes hold such sadness??
Rating: Explicit sexual content.
#renji's birthday 2k21#my writing#that's it friends i'm calling it a day#i hope you had fun i had fun#i could have blamed this on dont-look-up but i won't this was basically inevitable
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iâm gonna try out my luck for the renji bday thingđ
- renji being a mediator between rukia and ichika(idk why i feel like rukia and ichika would get into rly dumb arguments and just fight like theyâre the same age)
- renji and ichika get a tattoo
- jealous rukia(of course)
- anything that takes place in inuzuri, i loved your âdumb teens stealing kissesâ snippet so much đ
- more of the tattoo artist renji falls for a client AU
I hope youâll forgive me for cheating a bit, but when I saw this, I said, âwhat if I just gave you more of the dumb teens stealing kissesâ fic? because honestly, itâs just sitting here.
For people who donât obsessively follow my incoherent ramblings about my own WIPs, this is an excerpt for i canât believe i found you in that town, a story that takes place during Renji and Rukiaâs last year in Inuzuri. Two out of their three friends have passed away, their powers are growing steadily stronger, and they are starting to face the fact that they arenât children anymore. I have two more parts of Heart is a Muscle to get through first, so I never work on it, but it is very close to my heart.
PS: This is not going on ao3 at this time, because I really do intend to finish it eventually, so consider this a Tumblr exclusive.
â   â    â
In a strange confluence, all three of them have found gainful employment at the same time.
Renji is guarding crates. He does not ask what is in the crates. He does not want to know what is in the crates. He stands next to the crates and his size deters most people. Occasionally, he is called upon to punch someone in the face. Itâs good work.
Fujimaru got him this gig, actually. Mameji was good with numbers and he taught Fujimaru a lot, and now Fujimaru has a gig keeping the books for the guys who own the crates. That seems like pretty good work to Renji, too. Fujimaru says he wishes it involved more punching people. Renji wishes his job involved punching fewer people. Everyoneâs got complaints.
Rukia has found work in a shop. This is charming and hilarious to both boys. Itâs a pawn shop that paradoxically seems to buy about three times as much junk as it sells. Itâs obvious that the only reason the owner hired Rukia is because the clientele likes to come in and look at her, but the fact is, sheâs an amazing bargainer, and sheâs making him a ton of change.
Renji stops in one late afternoon when his own shift is over, and watches her sell a man a knife that looks like it will break if he looks at it funny. She offers to throw in a shitty ball of twine and the man agrees to pay what is easily four times what the knife is worth, and leaves smiling. Amazing.
The shop owner eyes Renji warily. Renji never starts trouble, and heâs even stopped it once or twice, but at the same time, his presence is cramping the appeal of the pretty shopgirl.
âIâm off,â Rukia tells her boss.
âSee yâtomorrow,â the seedy man grumbles.
âYou donât get paid every day?â Renji asks Rukia loudly. âI get paid at the end of every shift.â
âShe gets paid at the end of the week,â the shopkeeper grouses.
Renji flexes one arm experimentally, admiring his own bicep. âItâs nice getting paid every day. Makes you want to come back the next day, yâknow.â
âShe comes back every day so she can get paid at the end of the week.â
Rukiaâs eyes dart between them.
âAh, you must be a great boss, very trustworthy,â Renji comments, stretching his back. âAlthough gettinâ paid every day is a nice way to show trust, too. Hey, Ru, you wanna stop at Takahashiâs on the way home? I heard they got in some dried mackerel and I,â he winks at Rukiaâs boss, âgot paid today.â
âPfft,â Rukia huffs, wrapping her shawl around her shoulders. âIâm sure itâs a scam. We need rice, though, and more water.â
âHey, girl,â Rukiaâs boss spits out. âYou had a good shift! Hereâs your pay for today, as a reward for doing so well. Come back tomorrow, okay?â
âOf course,â Rukia agrees, taking the coins with a sly smile.
As they head out of town, she jabs him in the ribs with her elbows. âYouâre so obvious.â
âGot you paid, didnât I?â
âYou did, thank you. He hates you, you know.â
Renji sighs dramatically. âHow can I live with myself?â
Rukia snorts. âHeâs gross, I hate him. I hate that whole job. Smiling at people. Acting kind to horrible people. Itâs so fake. I donât know why you like working so much, Iâd rather just steal.â
âIâve seen you working, what you do is not much different from stealing.â Renji rubs his hands together. Itâs getting cold, especially with the sun setting. âI appreciate the effort, though. I mean, we do. Me and Fujimaru. I like this. Having money, that is. Itâs nice.â
Rukia regards him out of the corner of her eye.
âDo you? Do you appreciate it?â
Renji frowns. âYeah, of course I do. I know you donât like it.â
Rukia stops walking and turns to him. âCâmere.â She gestures toward herself and makes the pointing motion she does when she wants him to bend down to her level. Even though this results in a cuff to the back of his head more often than not, Renji obeys. âIf you really appreciate it, I think you should do something nice for me.â
Renji should know by now to be wary of such an ominous statement, but he falls for it anyway. âSure. Name it.â
âI want to kiss you again.â
Renji tugs at his ponytail. âAgain? Really?â
It was probably six years between the first and second time she had wanted to kiss him, but the second time had only been a few months ago, last spring, after he broke his arm saving her from a large, angry man she had attempted to pickpocket.
âYou said you were open to the idea,â Rukia scowled.
âI...did,â Renji stammered. To be fair, he had been in immense pain at the time and probably would have agreed to just about anything. He could have used that as an excuse. It seemed like Rukia was thinking the same, he could tell she was already getting herself wound up to be hurt at his rejection. That stung a little, the idea that she expected so little of him. âNo problem. Anything for you. Go for it.â He bent his knees a little deeper and squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for impact.
âYou gotta relax a little, man, itâs not a punch in the nards,â Rukia scolded, grabbing ahold of his ears and laying one on him.
Renji didnât fantasize about kissing girls. He liked girls well enough, but he liked guys more. There was one exception to that rule, and that was Rukia. He liked her more than anyone. It wasnât right to fantasize about Rukia, though, in his opinion, because he lived with her and it wasnât respectful and also⊠also, if he spent too much time thinking about things like kissing her, he might want to do it. So, he avoided the slippery slope of girls in general, and restricted his spicy kissing fantasies to the lean, knife-eyed Rukongai punks that hung out on street corners and had really sexy ways of saying âheeeeeey.â Renji was perpetually working on his âheeeeeeys.â
But Rukia was kissing him now, and it seemed equally disrespectful to pretend she wasnât. Her lips were soft against his, and curious. Her fingers relaxed their painful grip on his ears and snuck around to rest on the back of his neck. She must have been keeping her hands in her sleeves, because they were warm, and they felt so good and this was good, this was so, so good and it occurred to Renji that maybe he was meant to kiss her back, she had never mentioned anything about--
âThere, that wasnât so bad, was it, Abarai?â Rukia was saying.
It was over.
Renji blew air out his cheeks. âNaw, it was fine. Ah, did you, uh⊠was it everything you hoped and dreamed?â
âIt was okay,â she shrugged, but her eyes twinkled. She started walking again and Renji had to do a little skip and a jump to catch up. âFujimaruâs probably home already. How come he didnât come with you to pick me up?â
âOh, there were extra crates today, so heâs working late. But we can have the rice ready and surprise him!â
âMm, yes, that sounds nice,â Rukia agreed. She hummed a little as she walked. âHey, Renji?â
âYeah?â
âBack at the shop-- did you call me Ru? What was that?â
Renji made a face. âI dunno. I thought it was cute.â Youâre cute, his brain added, and suddenly, he couldnât unsee it. She was unbearably cute, wrapped up in her shawl, that little piece of hair hanging between her eyes, those beautiful eyes. âIf you donât like it, Iâll--â
âYouâve known me for nine years and you decide, just now, to give me a nickname?â
He shrugged. âThings can change, right? Even out here in the ass end of Rukongai?â
She regarded him for a moment. âIt is cute. I will allow it, but only from you, and donât do it around gross people like my greasy boss.â
âYeah, no prob,â he agreed, squeezing his hands under his armpits. He had a bad feeling that they were in for a brutal winter this year.
âHey!â Rukia said, and he realized she was holding out his hand to him. Gingerly, he took it, hoping she wouldnât mind his own cold fingers. She didnât seem to.
#renji's birthday 2k21#my writing#i was strongly tempted to do another chapter of the tattoo artist au on top of this#except that the next chapter doesn't even have renji in it#it has rukia and orihime TALKING ABOUT renji if that counts for anything#and then i ran out of time#i know i have posted an excerpt of this excerpt before i am sorry i just love it TOO MUCH
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This is probably a terrible idea, but since when has that ever stopped me?
I always like to do stuff for Renjiâs birthday (Aug 31) and I havenât taken any requests in a while, so here it is:
Requests are open from now until... I dunno, Aug 28 or so. Here are the rules!
I will fulfill 3-5 requests, more if I have time/energy, less if I donât:
You can request fanfic, fanart, or meta.
I will do the ones that speak to me the most. Itâs not first-come, first-served! If you have a good idea, send it in!
I will delete requests that I donât accept! Itâs nothing personal, but I burned myself out really bad last year, so I gotta set this as a boundary.
Must feature Renji
The only romantic Renji ship I will accept is Renruki. Friendships are fine!
Otherwise, no restrictions! You can request AUs, missing scenes from canon, missing scenes from other fics Iâve written, or whatever you like!
Everything will get posted on Aug 31!
Here are some tips:
Usually my short fiction comes out between 1k and 2k, so weâre usually talking just a scene or two.Â
You can see all my previous short fiction here, which includes the 2020 Renjiâs Birthday Requests. Try not to request things that Iâve done before, unless itâs explicitly a continuation.
The best requests are specific enough to be inspirational, but not so overconstrained that the request gives away the whole thing. Just specifying a set of characters is too generic, try adding a setting or a scenario or a mood. Think about what the description would be if you had to post it to ao3 yourself.
This goes double for kidfic. Kidfic is not my favorite thing to write and people always request it, so if you must, try to make it compelling.
If you read my blog and/or my fanfic, you will probably get a good idea of which characters I love and the kinds of things that delight me and the things that do not. I primarily do these requests for the benefit of my regular readers, so it works out if this process is biased towards them.
You can request romantic sideships to appear, but please know that I will not write: captain/lt, Karakura kids/shinigami, Toushirou/anyone (because I think heâs ace and also his age thing makes it weird for me), or Sternritter/anyone. The only romantic Rukia ship I will write is Renruki and the only romantic Byakuya ship I will write is ByaHisa. Once again, friendships and other kinds of non-romantic relationships are very, very welcome!
I am not explicitly ruling out NSFW, but you gotta give me a good hook, Iâm only good at writing smut if itâs weird. Also, my smut is always super consensual, no exceptions.
#reader requests#renji's birthday 2k21#polynya are you just doing this to have something to think about one that trip you don't want to go on?#we all have our coping mechanisms
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In tHiaM, Renji mentioned a fictional fateful encounter in which he and Rukia met in the circus. I can picture this deeply. The Rukon has circuses. It has gritty knife throwers, it has scrappy beast tamers, it has a lovely doe-eyed tightrope walker who does stunts so dangerous your hair'd turn white just watching her. It is for Renji's birthday so he should get Rukia being extremely badass and saving his life from a rampaging circus bear. Ideally, Kenpachi is there.
A lot of times, Iâll have some idea for a story, and Iâll do a bit of research and find out that the thing I wanted to do absolutely does not exist in Japanese culture, and I was completely sure that when I dug into it, Japanese circuses would not be a thing, or they would be extremely different from Western circuses, but as it turns out, circuses were absolutely a thing in the Edo era, and they had acrobats and strongmen and horseriding and more. I had so many tabs open about circuses, and almost none of it actually made it into this fanfic.
Anyway, THANK YOU ALOPEX, you know what I like to write, and what I like to write is Renji telling rambling stories of questionable veracity. I put in some lifting for good measure. This might be the most perfect Renji birthday story.
If it isnât immediately evident, this takes place in the middle of the Advance Team Arc, or more specifically, in the middle of my Advance Team Arc story, See You on the Other Side, where Renji tells Chad a different RenRuki origin story thatâs basically the desert bandit subplot from Crouching Tiger, and also a story about bees.
Read on ao3 | ff.net
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Renji hefted the last bumper plate onto the end of the barbell and tightened the collar. Chad watched him with narrowed eyes.
âYou sure you want to try this?â Renji asked. âOne thousand pounds. Itâs the weight limit for this bar. Once you beat this, we gotta go back to Uraharaâs place and pick up big rocks.â
Apparently, Chad worked part time at his gym, which meant he had a key, which meant that he and Renji could go in at two a.m. so that Renji could teach him how to lift absurd amounts of weight with his reiatsu. It was pretty convenient, as long as you didnât mind lifting weights at two a.m. Renji loved lifting weights at two a.m.
âYou just donât want to tell me another story,â Chad replied, flexing his shoulders in anticipation.
âWhatever, I got a million of them.â Renji took a few steps backward.
Chad flared his nostrils and stepped up to the barbell. He squatted down and curled his fingers around the grip. He took three deep breaths as he stared straight again. Leading with his hips, he straightened up in a smooth, textbook perfect movement, the sinews in his neck popping out, the air around him boiling with power.
Renji wished he could drag Chad over to Squad Six, so those spoiled weenies could see what hard work actually looked like.
Chad dropped the weight and a huge breath burst out of him, his eyes widening in relief. âI did it,â he gasped.
âYou did it, buddy!â Renji shouted, pointing at the barbell. âYouâre a machine! You didnât even make it look hard!â
âIt was hard,â Chad managed.
âI donât believe it!â Renji continued. âOne thousand pounds! Youâre incredible, dude!â
âWhat do you mean, you donât believe it? You told me to do it.â
âI mean, when I told you we were gonna work for the big one-kay, it was, you know, a stretch goal. I didnât expect you to get there so fast!â
âYou said you would tell me another story when I hit it! I assumed it was a reasonable goal.â
âI keep making unreasonable goals and you keep hitting them, so Iâm just sort of winging it, now, tâbe honest! Iâm actually really bothered how much you are motivated by my dumb stories. If I had any human money, I would just offer to buy you tacos or something.â
âI can make my own tacos. I like the stories.â
Renji sighed. They didnât have tacos in Soul Society and he was determined to eat as many tacos as he possibly could while he was stationed in the Living World. âGo get cleaned up, and Iâll put the weights away and try to decide which story to tell you this time. I did bring us some protein shakes. I canât vouch for them, because theyâre made out of stuff I found in the Shouten, but itâs important to get some calories in you after lifting. â
âIâm sure theyâre fine. I like your protein shakes. Oh, and I know which story I want to hear--how you met Rukia.â
Of course he did.
Renji was a man of many stories. He had so many good stories. He had Inuzuri stories that were full of mischief and dirtbaggery. He had Squad 11 stories that were full of headbutting and idiocy. He had interesting stories about his clever friends Izuru and Momo and funny stories about his goofy friend Shuuhei and horrible stories about his horrible friends Iba and Madarame. But Chad had asked him once how he met their mutual friend Kuchiki Rukia, a very reasonable and natural thing to ask, and Renji had responded with a ridiculous story that was very obviously not true. Now, all Chad wanted to hear was ostentatious lies about how he, Abarai Renji, had met the incomparable Kuchiki Rukia.
Renji racked his brain as he racked Chadâs weights. This would probably make the eighth or ninth Renji-Rukia origin story, heâd honestly lost count. He was running out of material. There was a bulletin board next to the weight storage rack, covered with flyers for a weightlifting tournament in Naruki City, the Karakura High kendo team, tumbling lessons. Renji stared at the picture of the girl in the sparkly leotard on the last one. He thought about how he and the gang used to make up stories of how they were gonna make it out of Inuzuri some day. He thought about Rukiaâs absolute favorite, the one she told over and over, the way it got bigger and sparklier every time she told it.
Chad returned, a tracksuit zipped overtop his workout clothes. âNeed help?â he asked.
âThis is the last one,â Renji replied, hefting it up onto the shelf. âYou can put the bar away, though.â
Chad did.
It was kinda nice, Renji thought, being in a gym in the middle of the night with Chad. It reminded him of hunching over his dorm room desk across from Izuru, cramming for written exams. It reminded him of achy muscles in a dim Fifth Company dojo, trying to figure out the mechanics of Zabimaruâs shikai deep into the wee hours. It reminded him of long runs with Ikkaku as the sun was just peaking over the city walls. The hours between dusk and dawn were a pretty good time for doing things, in Renjiâs opinion.
âSo, did you remember? How you met her?â
âOf course I remember!â Renji protested. âYou think I would forget something like that?â
âYou do get hit on the head a lot,â Chad rumbled gently and it took Renji a moment to realize he just got dragged. Chad was actually a really funny guy, you just had to pay attention.
Renji plopped down on a pile of mats and started rummaging around in his backpack for the two bottles of questionable nutritional substance he had mixed up earlier. âWell, I certainly remember the time I ran away from home and joined the circus, Iâll tell you that.â It was a good opening line, and he paused a few seconds to get the full effect.
âThe circus?â Chad echoed skeptically, sitting down next to Renji and accepting his smoothie.
âThe circus,â Renji replied after taking a long swig. It was very, very strawberry flavored. âSo. I think I mentioned once that when I died I got sent to the shit-end of Rukongai. District 78 of the Southern Quadrant, where your best hope is to die soon and catch an express trip back to the Living World. I was too dumb and stubborn for that, though, so I was always on the lookout for a way out. Now, itâs pretty hard to move between districts in Rukongai-- itâs illegal without a special permit, see, and special permits get harder to get the further out you go. But there are a few kinds of permits that allow you to travel all up and down Soul Society, and one of those is for entertainers.â
This was more-or-less true. It was true in theory, but travelling shows never made it out to the deep Rukon-- there was no profit in it. Rukia used to swear up and down that a circus had made it to Inuzuri once, basically just passing through on their way to capture wild animals from the magical wilderness past the end of District 80, but she had seen it. Rukia was older than the rest of them, and she used to talk about it in such nauseating detail that they had no choice but to believe her.
âWhen I saw the posters plastered up all over town, my first thought was that it was an opportunity to pick up some quick kan as temporary labor. My primary job skill at the time was picking up heavy objects, you see, perhaps moving them from place to place. Circuses always need help with set up and tear down. I mean, do I look like a theater kid?â
Chad stared at him pointedly.
âI donât know why I asked that,â Renji quickly corrected, âbut also, keep in mind that I am Like This because I was in the circus, not the other way around. Anyway, my instincts were correct, and I found myself gainfully employed, carting crates and also tying and untying knots, another of my many talents. But then two things, or rather two someones made me decide that I needed to hitch my star to this ridiculous pageant. The first, I will admit, was a complete castle in the sky, but what is being an adolescent boy about if not chasing after hopeless dreams?â
Chad frowned. âWell. Thereâs school.â
âThere is no school in Inuzuri, actually, and perhaps that would have kept me out of trouble, but instead, I became absolutely entranced by the glittering star of the show-- a tightrope walker of exceptional agility, grace, and beauty. Her most defining characteristic, though, was her audacity. There was no trick too dangerous for her. She somersaulted through hoops of fire. She juggled daggers. Sheâd stop halfway across the tightrope, pull out a tokkari, and pour herself a saucer of sake and drink it, while the audience gasped.â
âIt was Kuchiki,â Chad guessed, the corner of his mouth tipping up into his shy grin.
âIt was Rukia,â Renji agreed, âbut imagine Rukia in head-to-toe spangles, with bells in her hair and glitter painted around her eyes, 20 feet in the air. She was unreal. She was an apparition, a spirit. I was desperate to meet her.â
âDid you?â asked Chad.
âChad,â said Renji.
âWhat?â
âDid you just⊠did you just ask me if I ever managed to meet Rukia? Your friend and mine, Kuchiki Rukia? In the middle of this story about how I met Rukia?â
Chad thought for a moment. âItâs two a.m. and I just deadlifted a thousand pounds.â
âThatâs fair, and the answer is yes, eventually, I did meet Rukia and she saved me from being eaten by a bear, but weâll get to that. Are you drinking that protein shake?â
âOh, sorry! Itâs really good, I just keep forgetting because this story is a good one.â Chad took a long sip. âHey, Abarai?â
âYeah?â
âSorry to interrupt again, but I have a question about the bear.â
âThe bear is later.â
âYeah, I realize that, but does the bear die?â
âHuh?â
âIâm just asking up front, because I donât like stories where animals die, and if the bear gets hurt or dies, maybe could you skip over that part?â
âOh! No, the bear is fine. Well, heâs probably reincarnated back into a living bear by now, he was pretty old even then. I exaggerated a little to make it sound dramatic, he probably wouldnât have eaten me in any case.â
âOkay, you can go back to the story now, I just wanted to make sure. Thank you.â
âNo, no, itâs cool. Iâm glad you checked in.â Renji took a deep breath through his nose and mentally rearranged his story so that Rukia no longer defeated the beast in a dramatic knife fight. âRight. So, as I said, there was a second person at the circus who influenced me greatly and that was the most famous strongman in the entire Rukon, Zaraki Kenpachi--â
âWait, Captain Zaraki? Big guy? With the bells in his hair?â
Oh, shit. âUh, yeah. Thatâs a circus thing, you know. Hair bells. You, uh, know Captain Zaraki?â
âYeah, Orihime made friends with him, and he broke us out of prison, but then we split up because there was someone he wanted to fight.â
âThat sounds like him. Anyway, yeah, heâs in this story, too. I used to be in his squad, you know?â
âI gathered that from the way Madarame and Ayasegawa talk to you.â
âHe helped me get in the Gotei, you see. Because of our time together in the circus. Thatâs a different story, though, weâre focusing on circus times, here. He wasnât even the Kenpachi, yet, actually. One of the reasons heâs so strong is because before he was a fighter, he lifted things, heavy things. He did all the typical strongman stuff-- bending iron bars, biting through teacups, tearing packs of cards in half, but his most famous trick was balancing bamboo poles on his shoulders and then various acrobats and other performers would scramble up on them and do tricks from on top of him. He was wildly popular, pictured on all the posters. People would come to the circus just to see him. I did not have a lot going for me at this point of my life, but I was strong, and when I saw this guy, it occurred to me that if I could get him to take me on as some sort of apprentice, I might finally be able to use my strength to get out of that shitty town.â
âSeems like a good plan.â
âIt did. It seemed like a good plan, except that Zaraki had a very busy schedule of getting drunk and napping when he wasnât lifting things, and he was absolutely not interested in Inuzuri punks who had been hired to move crates around.â
âSo, what did you do?â
âWell, speaking of Inuzuri punks, I may have been a fairly honest and hardworking fellow, but one day, a couple of my reprobate neighbors decided to sneak in and try to get a glimpse of some of the wild animals. The fellow who looked after the menagerie was a little guy by the name of Mameji. Very kind and loved the animals deeply, but not very good at standing up for himself. I barely knew him, but I donât like bullies, and I owed most of those guys a punch in the nose anyway. Mameji was pretty grateful for the solid I did him and asked if there was any favor he could do me in return. Naturally, I asked if he knew Zaraki, but unfortunately, he was terrified of the guy, so I told him I was just happy to do a good deed and make a friend.â
âYou should have asked him if he knew Rukia. Rukia likes animals.â
âYouâre very smart, Sado, but remember that this story is about me, not you. It didnât matter anyway, because the next day, he comes to find me and says thereâs someone who wants to talk to me. I canât imagine who he means, aside from holding out hope that maybe he did know Zaraki after all and was just slow-rolling me.â
âBut it was Rukia.â
âIt was. Mameji leads me over to the area where the animals are kept, and there, in a blue kimono embroidered with silver stars and crystals in her hair, was The Fearless Rukia.â Rukiaâs circus stories were usually at least seventy-five percent descriptions of her outfits, and Renji felt obligated to keep up that detail. ââYou helped my friend out,â she says to me. âI appreciate that.â And I replied something very smooth and suave, like, âI like the way you do cartwheelsâ or possibly just âGuuuuuuh.â And then she says, âI hear youâre interested in Zaraki, whatâs up with that?â and as you know, Iâm much better at talking about muscle stuff, so I explain about picking up heavy things and Inuzuri and my ambition to join the circus and she just listens carefully, nodding from time to time. She makes me pick up a few barrels and then Mameji, for good measure, and finally, she nods and says, âYouâre pretty strong and I like your hair. Come back here tomorrow. Iâm going to help you impress Zaraki.ââ
Chadâs eyes sparkled with anticipation.
âSo, the next day, I came back, like she said, and Mameji was there, too and theyâve got this big sack of yams. Iâve told you before about eatinâ in Soul Society, right?â
Chad nodded and belatedly took another gulp of his shake.
âMy initial thought was that they were gonna try to bulk me up. Raw yams may not sound very exciting to you, but after years of living on near-moldy rice and the occasional sad vegetable or bony fish, I was watering at the mouth. âYouâre gonna feed these yams to Sunny,â says Rukia. âWho?â says I. âHis stage name is Brawler,â says Rukia, âBut heâs a good boy so Mameji and I call him Sunny. Itâs a joke. Because heâs a moon bear.â Brawler, you see, was the second scariest thing in the circus, right after Zaraki-- the biggest, ugliest moon bear you can possibly imagine, probably 200 kilograms. A lot of circus bears do tricks-- balance on balls or some shit, but Brawlerâs only trick was looking mean as Hell. Sometimes theyâd throw him a deer haunch and heâd eat it in a real gross way, I guess people like seeing stuff like that. I, like most people growing up on the southern border of the Rukon, had a healthy fear of large carnivores, but I had a much larger fear of looking like a weenie in front of Rukia, and I was determined I was gonna do whatever she told me to. The first time wasnât so bad-- I just tossed the yams in and he snuffled over and gave me the hairy eyeball before snorfling them up. We did that the next day, too, but the day after that, Mameji took me into his enclosure to give him his yams. I was a little surprised, you see, because I would have expected a bear like that to eat meat or something like that, but he sure did like those yams.â
âMoon bears are omnivores,â Chad supplied. âThey like sweet things.â
âYouâre right, and I later found out that Sunny did get meat and other stuff at other times of day, but yams were his absolute favorite thing. Again, Rukia did not tell me this, because Rukia often neglects to tell me important things. I found all of this to be absolutely terrifying, and I probably would have given up and stuck to my crate moving, except that Rukia and Mameji were just about the nicest and amazing people I had ever met. They let me hang out with them for a bit and they told me stories about traveling with the circus and I told them about Inuzuri. They introduced me to their other friends, Fujimaru, who could do all sorts of knife throwing tricks, and Kosaburou, who had the most beautiful singing voice you could possibly imagine. By the time Rukia asked me to give Sunny the yams right out of my hand, I was doinâ it, not because I was desperate to get out of Inuzuri, but because I was desperate to do anything to stay with my new friends.â
Renji paused and pretended to be interested in his protein shake. Usually, he tried to fill these stories with a lot of daring-do and badassery, but heâd gotten a little off-track when had to junk his big exciting Rukia versus Bear fight scene. All he could think of was lying around the squat on miserable rainy days, one-upping each other with stories about their ridiculous circus acts. He hadnât thought about those days-- hadnât let himself think about those days-- in years. What a sap he was turning into. Maybe it was because Rukia was back in his life. Maybe it was because there was a war coming, a war he might not make it through. Maybe it was because it was two a.m.
âI know how that feels,â Chad said very quietly, so quietly that Renji almost didnât catch it, and it occurred to Renji that maybe sometimes it helped to hear a sappy story at 2 a.m.
Renji snorted softly. âSo, the day before the circus was set to pack up, Rukia explains her big plan to me. Up until now, Iâve sort of been assuming that this is all an exercise in building courage or some gonzo shit like that, but it turns out itâs very straightforward. Zarakiâs dream the whole time heâs been in the circus is to pick up Sunny as part of his act, except that Sunny has zero interest in being picked up and ends up chewing on Zarakiâs head every time he tries. If Zaraki had ever bothered asking Mameji for help, maybe he could have tried the old yam trick himself, but then this wouldnât be much of a story.
âI wait âtil the big guy is done with his nap and is prepping for the nightâs performance, inventorying his lead pipes and such, and I go up to him and I say, âZaraki the Great, I am very strong, you should take me on as your apprentice!â Now, Rukia had seen people do this to him before, and she knew that he always came back with âOh, yeah? Do something to impress me, then.â Of course, I was prepared, and I said, âI am going to pick up Brawler, would that do it?â and Zaraki laughs in my face and says âIf you can do that, I will definitely take you on, kid.ââ
Chadâs face had split into a huge grin and he leaned forward in anticipation.
âWe go over to Sunnyâs pen, and of course, Mamejiâs already given him his dinner and heâs feelinâ real fat and happy when he sees his old yam buddy Renji coming. I slip him a yam that I had tucked in my sleeve and I start rubbinâ his side, which is a thing weâd been practicinâ. He leans into it, âcause he was a big, itchy boy, and I just⊠flipped him and picked him up like a baby.â Renji made a scooping motion to demonstrate. Chadâs face absolutely lit up. âHe was incredibly heavy and also he did not really like that,â Renji continued, âbut I put him down right away and gave him another yam and he forgave me. Zaraki was laughinâ his ass off, but he kept his word and got me signed on as a Strongman-in-Training. We went on to have many more adventures, both me anâ Zaraki and me anâ Rukia anâ Mameji anâ Kosaburou and Mameji.â
âAnd Sunny.â
âSunny continued to be a hideous, angry bear for the crowds, but I kept giving him yams and never picked him up again and we were great friends for the time we spent together in the circus.â
Chad sat back, smiling his usual inscrutable smile. âThank you, Abarai. That was a really good one.â
Renji cocked an eyebrow at him. âWas it?â
âYes. It had friendships and a nice bear and I felt like Rukia would really appreciate the effort you put into describing all her outfits. Iâm pretty sure it wasnât true, but it was a good story.â
Renji heaved a big sigh, as though heâd honestly thought Chad was gonna buy it this time. He stretched his arms and legs out in front of him. âLetâs go home. I could go for a few hours of sleep before the Shouten Shouting starts. Youâre taking a rest day tomorrow, but donât forget to stretch.â
âThe last time I had a rest day, you came over and you taught me some stuff about reiryouku.â
âDid I?â Renji frowned.
âCan we do that again? You said you would try to explain how flash step works.â
Shit, he did remember promising that. Heâd just gotten overenthusiastic because it was nice to be the guy who knew things for a change. On the other hand, he also remembered the enthusiasm of going to school for the first time and wanting to know everything, and could hardly fault Chad for the same. âSure,â he agreed. âAfter noon.â
âLetâs make it noon,â Chad amended. âIâll make you tacos.â
âThat,â replied Renji, âis a deal.â
#renji's birthday 2k21#my writing#chad-renji brotp#i honestly hope that over in soul society rukia shot awake#she gets a +2 to badassery every time renji tells a story about her
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Tokusatsu Au where Rukia plays the lead actress in a superhero action show. Renji plays one of the villains and they are The most popular ship in the fandom. Bonus points if Orihime plays the main villain and loves every second of it.
This was the very first prompt I got, and I fell in love. Unfortunately, aside from a brief period of being grotesquely fascinated with Power Rangers as teen, I know almost nothing about tokusatsu. I did as much research as I could and I attempted to watch an episode of Kamen Rider, but my eyes glazed over halfway through. Anyway, please forgive my inaccuracies, I wrote this with my heart.
ao3 | ff.net
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âUh, looks like weâre almost out of time,â the panel moderator for âHigh-Spirited Battle Clairvoyant Tomoe!: A Sneak Peak at Season 5â declared, âbut would you be willing to take just a few audience questions?â
Head Screenwriter Kurosaki Ichigo glanced at Leading Actress Kuchiki Rukia out of the corner of his eye, and she gave a tiny nod.
âYeah, sure!â he replied.
There was already a young woman waiting at the microphone, practically vibrating with anxiety. She was wearing a t-shirt that had ZabiTo4Ever!! handwritten in marker on it. Rukia knew, deep down in her bones, what the question was going to be.
âHi, yes, hello, big fan of your work! My question is: are Tomoe and Zabimaru going to kiss this season?â
âNo,â Rukia started to say.
âAs you probably know,â Ichigo said loudly on top of her, âthe show holds close to the core plot points of Kuna-senseiâs manga, although, because of her minimalist style, we do expand a lot of the dialogue and filler scenes. She has said in several interviews that High-Spirited Battle Clairvoyant Tomoe! is not a romance manga, so the odds of Tomoe and Zabimaru ever kissing on screen are very, very low.â
The young woman stared at Ichigo grumpily. âDoes this also count Zabimaruâs secret college student identity, Satonako Takeru?â
Ichigo stared back at her. âYes. It does.â
The next question came from a person wearing a full suit of HellKnightâs plasma armor made out of overlapping plates of cardboard. Rukia was kind of impressed by it. She wondered if he could sit down.
âHi, Kurosaki-sensei, I am a huge fan of your work,â a voice emanated from deep within the cardboard. âI was wondering if you are influenced at all by fanworks, and if Episode 73: Pride is on the Line!: The Bake Sale Must Go On! was based in any way on the classic fanfiction, âTell Me All Your Best Liesâ? Itâs the top story by kudos in the ZabiTo tag, which I might point out is the most popular shipping category on AO3.â
Ichigo cleared his throat gently. âI am contractually not allowed to read fanfiction, although I do enjoy fanart! There are some incredibly talented artists in the fandom, although for some reason, no one ever wants to draw pictures of Lead Screenwriters.â
âIâll draw you, sleeping on the set like you always do,â Rukia offered, and that got a pretty big laugh. Rukiaâs Tumblr of behind-the-scenes doodle comics was beloved among the fandom.
The next question was from a nonbinary person wearing a big poufy skirt and a hairstyle that would make their make-up and hair guru, Yumichika, sit up and take notice. âHi, this is a question for Kuchiki-san! If the show is going to roughly keep pace with the manga, as it has done up until now, you should be shooting the storyline where Tomoe and Queen Bloodbuzz switch bodies later this year. I was wondering if you could comment on how you feel about filming that storyline?â
Finally! A good one! âYes!â Rukia nodded eagerly. âI donât usually like to speak for my fellow cast members, but Orihime and I are beyond excited about playing each other. Weâve been studying each otherâs mannerisms and practicing already! Does anyone want to hear my Queen Bloodbuzz cackle?â She wagged her eyebrows as the audience cheered. âHere goes-- bwaHaHaHaHAHAHAHAAHAAAHAAAAAAAA!â
âBonechilling,â Ichigo commented dryly as the audience erupted.
âAmazing, Kuchiki-san!â the moderator exclaimed. âI think there is time for one more, but this will be the last question!â
A tall girl in a full set of High-Spirited Battle Clairvoyant Tomoe motorcycle leathers stepped to the microphone. She was holding a notebook. âHello!â she warbled. âIn a 2020 interview with the Psychics and Sidekicks podcast, Abarai Renji was asked about his opinion on ZabiTo as a ship, and he replied,â she consulted her notebook, ââTomoe is such a cool lady and talented Battle Clairvoyant, and she always follows her heart and stays true to herself. I think that Zabimaru canât help but be impressed with her, even though theyâre enemies, and I always try to roll that into our on-screen interactions.â I know that in the past youâve refused to comment on the ship, but I was wondering if you had any thoughts on, yâknow, his thoughts?â
âWell, heâs correct, of course, Tomoe is very cool and admirable,â Rukia replied, which drew a few laughs, although it seemed like the audience was leaning forward in anticipation of her answer. âLike I said, I donât like to speak for other cast members. Iâll be doing a big cast panel with Abarai and Inoue and Matsumoto and Ukitake tomorrow afternoon, and I hope you all can make it! See you then!â
The moderator thanked them enthusiastically, and then Ichigo and Rukia slipped out the back guest entrance.
âEvasive as always, Kuchiki,â Ichigo teased.
âWhatever,â Rukia sniffed. âThe higher ups say weâre not supposed to comment on stuff like that, and I was not commenting. By the way, how many secret fanfic accounts are you up to? Four?â
âItâs only three!â Ichigo paused. âI wrote that fanfic the guy brought up.â
âOf course you did,â Rukia sighed. âI do blame you personally for the popularity of the damn ship.â
âMe? Blame Kuna for making up two such sexy, emotionally constipated dumbasses!â Ichigo defended.
âAlso, itâs not Ichigoâs fault that you and Abarai have insane chemistry.â
Rukia spun around, grinning. âOrihime!â
Rukiaâs two co-stars, Inoue Orihime and Abarai Renji, the portrayers of Tomoeâs demonic archnemeses, stood in the hallway behind them.
âWe sat in on your panel!â Orihime beamed. âYou two were brilliant!â
âDonât worry,â Renji added. âWe were incognito.â
âIncognitoâ was relative, Rukia supposed, when you were at Tokyoâs biggest tokusatsu
convention.
Orihime was wearing a Zabimaru outfit so detailed that she probably could have won a prize down at the cosplay hall. She had the gravity-defying ponytail, the eyeliner, the insane widow's peak (complete with forehead tatts), the fangs, the motorcycle boots. The paper mache snake skull helmet was a little lopsided, but it was charming. She had her top zipped a little higher than canon, but that was forgivable, too.
Renji had taken the opposite tack of looking as much like a normal person-- or at least a normal Battle Clairvoyant Tomoe superfan-- as possible. Relaxed fit jeans and an oversized hoodie de-emphasized his ultra-fit physique. He was wearing a t-shirt with a very dramatic rendering of Orihime that said âQueen Bloodbuzz can step on me!â and a ball cap with the logo of Seireitei University, the fictional college Tomoe and Takeru attended.
âYou think youâre in disguise,â Rukia pointed out, âbut there are thousands of teen girls in this place with entire Tumblrs dedicated to your stupid face when youâre out of costume.â
Renji cocked an eyebrow at her. âYou underestimate me, Rukia. I have bought⊠new sunglasses.â With a flourish, he whipped out a pair of the dorkiest wayfarers sheâd ever seen, and flipped them onto his face. âIâve disappeared! Who am I? Where am I?â
âYou look really great, Orihime,â Ichigo said, his cheeks coloring a little bit. âDid you get Uryuu or Yumichika to help you with that costume?â In his continuing theme of doing things he wasnât supposed to, Ichigo had finally started dating Orihime on the downlow around the time they finished up filming last season. It had done absolutely nothing for how shy he still got around her. They were, in Rukiaâs opinion, cute as hell.
âOh, no, that would be cheating!â Orihime replied, wagging a finger at him. âWellâŠmaybe I did cheat, just a tiny bit. Renji helped me make the helmet and he held up references for me while I was painting on the tattoos.â
âOnly the forehead ones,â Renji quickly added.
âHe wouldnât even offer feedback on my booby tattoos!â Orihime frowned. She leaned forward. âRukia, how do they look?â
Ichigo turned even redder.
âPerfect, as in all you do!â Rukia replied loftily.
âWhatâs everyone got coming up next?â Renji asked. âI was thinking of slipping out and trying to pick up some real coffee.â
âIâm judging a villainess-themed cosplay competition,â Orihime chirped. âBut Iâm dying for a blueberry caramel iced latte. Renji, my henchman, pleeeeease!â
âOf course, my liege,â Renji replied in his Zabimaru voice.
Itâs not like it had been a hard decision to accept the role of the motorcycle-riding, badass heroine of one of the most popular manga of the last decade, but it had turned out to be one of the best decisions of Rukiaâs life. not just her career. Aside from a few of the money-obsessed executives, she liked nearly everyone in the cast and crew, but the fact that the fact that the ruthless, homicidal, literally Hell-spawned villains of the show were played by the two sweetest marshmallow people she had ever met just took the cake. Renji and Orihime had already known each other from some voicework they had done previously, and their excitement at working together on a live-action project had infected the entire cast from the start. Rukia wasnât sure, but she strongly suspected that Renji was the one who had hyped Orihime up to ask Ichigo out.
âI have a writersâ workshop Iâm moderating this afternoon, and I wanted to review the writing samples people sent in,â Ichigo said, scratching the back of his head. âIâd love to stop by that cosplay contest, though, at least for a few minutes.â
âYouâll be needing caffeine, too, then, eh?â Renji offered. âHot, black, and in the largest cup they make, as usual?â
âUgh, youâre the best,â Ichigo groaned. âYou wanna power-up this season? Costume update? You know what? Maybe Iâll just have you defeat Tomoe once and for all, no one likes her anyway.â
âCâmon, you know Iâm the worldâs number one Tomoe simp, donât do that!â Renji laughed.
Rukia rolled her eyes. âIâm free and I could use some fresh air. Besides, itâs going to take all your dumb muscles just to carry Kurosakiâs vat of coffee back here.â
âCool!â Renji proclaimed. âWeâll be back soon!â
âThanks, Renjiiiii!â Orihime waved.
âYou need to stop off and put on a disguise?â Renji asked.
âNo point in it, I always get recognized,â Rukia sighed, pulling her sunglasses out of her purse anyway.
âHere,â Renji said, plunking his hat on her head. âMaybe this will help.â
âThanks,â Rukia replied, and then did a double take. âWhaaaaaat is on your head?â
âShut up!â Renji laughed. He usually shaved his head when they were filming, because it made it easier to deal with the make-up and wigs, but since they were between seasons, heâd grown his hair out into a short, tousled mop of reddish-brown waves. He looked, for the lack of a better word, dreamy. âI shot a movie over the summer, and they wanted me to look softer.â
Rukia looked at him over the top of her sunglasses. âYou didnât tell me you were doing a movie!â
âOh, it was just a little indy romcom thing. I wasnât sure it was gonna pan out, I didnât want to make a big deal out of it.â
âYou were in a romcom? Youâre kidding me!â They ducked out of a side door of the convention center into the bright sunshine.
âYeah, itâs about a guy who goes to the gym to try to get ripped to impress a girl, and makes friends with me, this nice, already ripped dude who gives him lifting tips and encourages him a bunch. By the end of the movie, it turns out we have crushes on each other.â
âOh, no, that sounds really cute, actually!â
âIt was written by a woman who graduated from one of Ichigoâs writing workshops. The script was really snappy and Ichigo thought having someone like me as the gym guy would give it just a bit of campy cachet. You know what a good sense heâs got for stuff like that.â
âThat was cool of you to go out on a limb a little,â Rukia replied.
Renji rubbed the back of his neck. âIâd been wanting to try something like that for a while, actually.â
Rukia blinked. âYou arenât⊠you arenât thinking of leaving the show, are you?â
âHuh? No. No! No, the show means the world to me, I would never. But⊠itâs not gonna run forever, yâknow?â
âI would have guessed youâd want to be a big action star or something!â Rukia said, throwing a few air punches. âThatâs my dream!â
Renji stuffed his hands in the pockets of his hoodie. âYeah, thatâs what I thought I wanted when I first got into acting. Iâd read the Tomoe manga, and I thought playing Zabimaru would be a good jumping-off point, besides just being a cool character overall.â
âIs that⊠not true?â Rukia frowned.
âOh, I mean, I guess so! I didnât really know about the fandom, though and⊠to be honest, Iâm kinda into the idea that there are all these fans who think Iâm complex and redeemable?â
Rukia regarded him out of the corner of her eye. âThey just want to fix you.â
âMaybe! Ichigo made me read this one fanfic that was eight thousand words of the reader getting sick and Zabimaru making them soup? And feeding them the soup? I still havenât decided how I feel about it.â
âHow does he have time to find these things? Does he even sleep?â
âAnyway, it doesnât hurt to be well-rounded and it was fun. Iâm still mostly an action guy, but I wouldnât mind doinâ something with a romantic subplot. A period drama or something like that. I look pretty good in hakama, you know.â
âI bet you do,â Rukia laughed. She squinted at him, but his expression was unreadable behind the shades. Renji didnât have the classic leading man looks, not like her ridiculously famous older brother, but she could definitely see him as the best friend, the B-plot romance, with his cute, messy hair and that big doofy grin.
âBy the way, Iâm sorry you had to field that question about me spilling my romantic sensibilities on that podcast.â
Rukia laughed. âYou didnât even answer the question, either! These people are relentless!â
Renji stopped at a street corner and peered down the various possible directions they could go. âWhich way feels like it might have a coffee shop?â
âYou didnât have one in mind before we left? I thought you knew where we were going!â
âNah, I just like to go out and see what there is.â
âI can look up a map,â Rukia said, reaching in her bag for her phone.
âLetâs just go this way,â Renji said, stepping out into the street in the direction that had the WALK light. Rukia sighed and had to scramble to catch up with him.
âSo, what do you think about it?â
âHuh?â Rukia asked. âThink about what?â
âOur ship. ZabiTo.â
âI canât believe you just said that word out loud. And you know weâre not supposed to give our opinion on it!â
âAw, câmon, weâre not supposed to give public statements on our opinions. I donât think thereâs any harm in talking between ourselves. Weâre in disguise, even.â
ââDisguiseâ,â Rukia sniffed.
âYou donât like it, I can tell.â
âHeâs a bad guy! Everyone always talks about chemistry, and that may be true, but I just donât think that Tomoe could ever get over his acts of violence and cruelty.â
âQueen Bloodbuzz is cruel. Zabimaru is not cruel.â
âOkay, thatâs fair, but still. Heâs kidnapped just about all of Tomoeâs friends and or turned them into monsters at one time or another. Heâs always setting Karakura Town on fire or flooding it with magic lizard goo. He ruined the sports festival.â
âMaybe the sports festival deserved to be ruined,â Renji muttered under his breath.
âOkay, youâve got a point on that one,â Rukia admitted.
âItâs really clear though, that heâs got some agenda beyond just simping for Queen Bloodbuzz--â
âThe simping for Queen Bloodbuzz is the most relatable thing about him, to be honest.â
âGranted. But, what if heâs got a good reason for everything he does, actually? What if heâs doing all of this against his own moral code as a means of infiltrating Hell itself and getting himself into a position of trust so that he can bring down the Lords of Hell from the inside?â
Rukia slipped her sunglasses down to the tip of her nose. âDoes Kuna give you Zabimaru spoilers?â The reclusive creator High-Spirited Battle Clairvoyant Tomoe! was only barely involved with the television show, but she did privately meet with each of the cast members about once a year. Most of Rukiaâs meetings consisted of Kuna giving her constructive criticism on her battle poses.
âNo, mostly we practice sneering,â Renji replied. âBut I gotta play the guy, so I gotta think about this, you know, what motivates him? I mean, youâre probably right, it would never work out. But unlike Tomoe, whose principles would call for her to ignore any attraction she has to him, Zabimaru has the freedom to pine for her, perhaps because his love is futile and he doesnât think he deserves it anyway.â
âThatâs kinda dark, dude,â Rukia frowned.
âYes, well, that is the kind of character acting that netted me the 2019 Nickelodeon Kidsâ Choice Best Villain Award, Foreign Language Category.â
âThatâs literally whatâs going through your head when youâre shouting that if I canât make some sick motorcycle jump, youâll turn all my friends into stuffed animal versions of themselves?â
âNo, of course not! At those times Iâm thinking about how much I love my job. OH! and what is that I see!â Renji struck an extremely Zabimaru pose. âA MISTER DONUT!â
âMy hero!â Rukia exclaimed, unable to resist an opportunity to shout dramatically. âIâm sorry I doubted you!â
âI think we should get some donuts, too. Orihime loves donuts,â Renji declared.
âOh, for sure,â Rukia agreed. She was thoughtful for a moment. It would be easy to move on to a different subject, the subject being donuts, but she wasnât happy with leaving the last conversation hanging. âLook, Renji, just because I donât like the dumb ship, you know thatâs not a reflection on you, right?â
âHuh?â Renji replied. âYou mean you donât mind if I like it?â
âWell⊠I mean, I donât, I guess, but what I really meant was, er⊠we joke a lot, but Tomoe and Zabimaru are just parts, yâknow? Just because I donât think Zabimaru isnât good boyfriend material doesnât mean IâŠâ Rukia trailed off, suddenly realizing what she was saying. âUm. What I mean is. Youâre very nice and probably one of my favorite people Iâve ever worked with and if someone I knew wanted to ask you out, I would definitely encourage them to, A+ guy, Iâd say, probably would make a great boyfriend.â
Renji pushed his sunglasses up onto his forehead and regarded her for a long moment. âFor the record, Kuchiki, I think that both you and Tomoe would make excellent girlfriend material.â While Rukia stood there and gaped like a fish, he turned and pushed open the door to the coffee shop. âIchigo likes crullers and Orihime always wants the most colorful thing theyâve got. Do you know what you want?â
âI need to think about it,â Rukia squeaked. She wasnât talking about donuts.
đ   ⥠ đŹÂ
Bonus: Here are my notes from when I was making up the show. I hope this wasnât too confusing!
High-Spirited Battle Clairvoyant Tomoe!
based on a manga by reclusive mangaka Kuna Mashiro
Head Screenwriter: Kurosaki Ichigo
đ Starring: đ
Kuchiki Rukia as Yukimura Tomoe, a spunky college student who can see ghosts and fights demons from Hell! She rides a motorcycle!
Inoue Orihime as Queen Bloodbuzz, a Lady of Hell, who seeks to gather energy from the Living Realm so that she can become the Supreme Ruler of Hell. Very aesthetic. Much bees.
Abarai Renji as Zabimaru, Queen Bloodbuzzâs ruthless henchman. He leads a double life as fierce-looking, but gentle-hearted college student Satonaka Takeru! What is his long game??
#renji's birthday 2k21#my writing#this was really hard to write actually#because i had to make up SO MUCH STUFF#i hate making up stuff#astute readers will notice that i just recycled rukia and renji's fake names from between tides#i am so in love with this au tho#especially ichigo and his false pretenses ao3 accounts
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Programming Note
Hey, sports fans, tomorrow is Renjiâs Fucking Birthday, which is like Christmas here on the Polynya blog. I know itâs been Renjiâs birthday for like 12 hours already on Twitter, but Iâm on EST, so weâve got a few hours left.
I queued up everything for between 6am and 8pm my time, because I prefer to post during my waking hours, even when itâs automated. ao3 doesnât have a queuing function, so I will try to post my stuff there over the course of the day, if I have time, but if I donât, I will catch up in the next few days. I will post the erotic fanfic after dark, because I am classy like that.
I said I would do 3-5 things and I ended up doing 10, and nearly all of them were significantly more involved than I had planned, and somehow, I still feel bad that I didnât get to more of them. I have a couple half-finished ones that I will hopefully get finished up in short order. Itâs not that I *forgot* I had to proofread and edit everything, but I just refused to acknowledge how much time it was going to take, and yesterday, I just had to cut myself off from writing more stuff. Itâs fine, I wanted to have something to post in the Renji-Orihime Ides of Virgo anyway. Thank you to everyone who sent in prompts and please forgive me if I didnât get to yours this time.
Anyway, Iâm tagging everything #renji's birthday 2k21, and I will also use that for any other gratuitous Renji content reblog over the course of the day. Iâve been working really hard for the last three weeks and Iâm really excited to finally post all of this and I hope you like it!
Happy Birthday, Rukiaâs husband!
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Hey this is for our Redhead's bday. Its like a fluff and angst with a happy ending. Is it possible to make a Renruki based on Hanahaki disease? Do you know about this fanfic trope? Its like a person who doesn't know or think their love is requited, will cough up petals. They can only be saved with a confession or accept that they cannot be together with their love interest. I don't want it to sound too morbid. Let me know if its possible.
Wikipedia description for better understanding:
Hanahaki Disease is a fictional disease where the victim of unrequited or one-sided love begins to vomit or cough up the petals and flowers of a flowering plant growing in their lungs, which will eventually grow large enough to render breathing impossible if left untreated. There is no set time for how long this disease lasts but it may last from 2 weeks to 3 months, in rare cases up to 18 months, until the victim dies unless the feelings are returned or the plants are surgically removed. There is also no set flower that blossoms in the lungs but it may be the enamouredâs favourite flower or favourite colour. Hanahaki can be cured through surgical removal of the plants' roots, but this excision also has the effect of removing the patient's capacity for romantic love. It may also erase the patientâs feelings for and memories of the enamoured. It can also be cured by the reciprocation of the victim's feelings. These feelings cannot be feelings of friendship but must be feelings of genuine love. The victim may also develop Hanahaki Disease if they believe the love to be one-sided but once the enamoured returns the feelings, they will be cured. In some literature, other symptoms can be fever, uncontrollable shaking, loss of appetite, low body temperature, and hallucinations. Even after curing, with or without surgery, there can be irreversible damage to the lungs and, although very rare, in some cases the disease cannot be cured.
Ha ha ha, of course I have heard of Hanahaki disease, my brain is 100% rotted by fanfic.
I. hate. Hanahaki disease. It is probably my #1 most hated trope, up there with every single soulmate thing that treats love like some sort of inescapable destiny and strips the characters of any agency. To me, falling in love may be more or less involuntary, but the choice of whether or not to pursue it is the very crux of romance.
In any case, I was just going to... not do this one, except that I walked around mad for half a day and then wrote this up in, like, two hours. This sounds terrible, but this is actually an ideal day for a writer! I am really happy with how it came out! Thanks for the prompt!! I mean this with absolute sincerity!
Warning: Bad language, because Renruki arenât any happier about any of this than I am.
Read on ao3 or ff.net
đșÂ Â đș Â đș Â
âHow the fuck,â asked Rukia, âdid you get that into my house?â
Sitting on Byakuyaâs good tea table was a heavy green glass bottle of Rukongaiâs worst rotgut. And two saucers.
Sitting cross legged and cross on the other side of the table was Abarai Renji.
âI told the captain it was necessary. Sit down.â
Usually, Rukia would take being ordered around like that as an invitation to call him names, but there was something angry and serious in Renjiâs tone, so she sat instead, and let Renji pour each of them a saucer of something that smelled like lamp oil. Silently, they tossed back their drinks.
âYou want to tell me what this is about?â Rukia asked as Renji refilled.
Without speaking, Renji pulled a carefully folded handkerchief out of his kosode and slid it across the table.
Rukiaâs hands clenched into fists.
âGo ahead,â Renji said offhandedly, sipping his sake.
She didnât want to. She knew what it would be. But she did it anyway, reached over and flipped open the handkerchief to reveal a handful of mangled, half-rotted flower petals. Hot rage ran through her veins. âAre you going through my trash now?â she demanded.
âNo, I asked the captain to,â Renji replied coolly. âI assume he had someone do it for him, but he didnât say.â
âFuck you,â Rukia snapped.
Renji stared at her, his eyes cold and angry. âThat night we camped in Hueco Mundo. Before we caught up with Ichigo and the others. You coughed up half a camellia and a good inch of stem in your sleep. I⊠figured we had more pressing concerns at the time, but I asked your brother to keep an eye on you after we got home.â
Rukia took a gulp of her drink. âWell, congratulations, Detective Abarai, you cracked the case. Youâre so smart that Iâm sure you know how these things end, so we donât need to discuss it.â
Renji squeezed his eyes shut for a moment and then opened them again. âIt doesnât⊠it doesnât have to be a death sentence, you know?â
âItâs complicated,â Rukia grumbled. âIâm not explaining it to you, but itâs not⊠solvable, and I canât⊠I wonât give up. Not this time.â
âI didnât mean that,â Renji continued, his voice quieter. âThere are ways to⊠manage it. Live with it.â
Rukiaâs brows furrowed. âWhat are you talking about?â
âItâs a disease of the soul, yâknow, not the body, which is why humans donât get it. With a strong enough will, you can keep it in check. The key, the thing that really lets it get ahold of your lungs, is when you start to lose hope.â
âYou want me to live in denial, then?â
âNo, not quite. But thereâs some⊠techniques. We live a really long time, Rukia. Things may seem one way now, but⊠but whoâs to say how theyâll be in sixty or seventy years, right? I mean, itâs not easy, but if you can imagine sort of⊠jarring up your feelings and packing them away for later.â
âLike pickles.â
âYeah, like pickles.â
Rukia finished her saucer and reached for the bottle.
âAnother thing that works sometimes is to try toâŠâ Renji gestured helplessly. âReframe it. Iâm sure youâve read poems about courtly love.â
Rukia made a face. âI fail to see how reading old-timey thirst poetry about wasting away from wanting to sleep with someone elseâs wife is going to help anything.â
Renjiâs face took on a pained cast. âYeah, I guess some of them are like that. But being in love with someone who doesnât love you back doesnât mean your life is...meaningless. There can be something really beautiful and noble and sorta romantic in and of itself about loving with no hope of reciprocation. That you can still be of⊠of service to a person, even if they never notice you.â
âRenji, thatâs fucking nonsense,â Rukia informed him, topping up his drink as well. âWhere do you get these ideas?â
âOr you can just really absorb yourself in some goal. Be so busy you donât have time to worry about love. Time passes quickly when--â
âRenji, just stop. I know youâre trying to help, but Iâm⊠Iâm sick and no amount of made-up wishful thinking is going to make me better.â
Renjiâs face rapidly cycled through a number of emotions, like he kept coming up with things to say and then biting his tongue instead. âItâs not fucking made up, okay? People have lived with it for years, you know. Decades. Fuck, Rukia do you know selfish this is?â
ââSelfishâ?â Rukia echoed incredulously. The alcohol was starting to hit, and it made her feel unmoored, a raft floating in a sea of her own grief and anger. What did he know anyway? He was married to his job and his duty. The truest companion, the most generous soul, so free with his heart to everyone he called friend, but he didnât know jack shit about being in love. Renji was the most transparent person in Soul Society. If he had ever fallen in love, it would have been public knowledge. Maybe his heart didnât even work that way. What the Hell did he know?
âYeah,â Renji spat back. âSelfish and cruel. How can you love someone-- even if they donât love you back-- and-- and-- let yourself die from it? What kind of a monster would do that? You can hold on, Rukia. Youâre so strong, I know you can. Just⊠just listen to me, for once. I can help you.â
Rukia felt her eyes burning, so she grabbed the bottle and took a long drink from it until her whole face burned. âFuck. Off,â she replied, slamming it down on the table.
âI wonât,â Renji growled. âIchigo cares a lot for you and it would kill him, Rukia, you hear me? You canât do this to him, or-- or the rest of us, either.â
Rukia stared at Renji uncomprehendingly. The room was starting to swim. âWhat the fuck does any of this have to do with Ichigo?â She suddenly felt very tired, so she folded her arms and put her head down on them. âYou fucking dumbass.â
#renji's birthday 2k21#my writing#why isn't there a camellia emoji?? i used hibiscuses because they kinda look like camellias but imagine they are camellias#i think the primary driver behind me writing this was just an excuse to get back on my camellia bullshit
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FYI, if youâd rather read todayâs fanfics on a different platform (maybe because... you want to leave me a comment???) you can now find them on ao3 or ff.net
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[Renji Birthday Content] Renji's tie-dye koi hoodie. Where did it come from and WHY DID IT SPEAK TO HIM. (It speaks to me. In a big way.) What do his friends think about the koi hoodie?? Open to fic, art, meta/HCs, whatever!
Okay, I realize that I was supposed to wait until Renji's birthday, but I cannot, I cannot even wait twenty-four hours, I am going to explode.
Let me back up. So, I knew what you were referring to, but the koi hoodie pic wasn't one I had on hand, so I had to go fistfight Google Images for it. If you've ever tried to find a picture of a Bleach character wearing a very specific outfit on Google images, you will know what a pain this is, and my brain was a little glazed over when I found it:

The koi hoodie is Objectively Good, but my mind was just in such a state that the first thing I noticed was his pants, and as usual, I found myself muttered "Renji what the hell is going on with your goddamn pants?" Why are they brown on the top and teal on the... on the...
No, I said. Surely not. It cannot be. BUT IT IS. The tie dye koi hoodie outfit IS THAT FUCKING OUTFIT FROM OP 4: Tonight Tonight!!!1
LOOK AT IT. It is unquestionably the same outfit! The ombre hood! The black jacket, which isâŠa blazer, apparently! Same bandana! The pants are drawn a little simpler and the wallet chain is missing, but it's clearly the same idea! I had thought from the visible hem of the hoodie that it was maybe paisley print, but it's definitely just the bottom of this elaborate fish graphic.
In fact, it's very hard to tell because all of these shots combined take up less than 3 seconds, but Byakuya and Toushirou are also wearing their outfits from the above pic (mortician suit with kenseikan for some reason, and suit with pink dip-dyed scarf, respectively)
Back to Renji's outfit! Long-time Polynya readers will know that I have spent TWO YEARS shouting about this outfit. I used a frame-by-frame viewer because I couldn't tell if those were fur-fringed thigh boots, or bootie shorts with tights (I was pretty disappointed when they turned out to be cargo pants, and I habitually refer to them as "my old nemesis, Renji's cargo pants from OP4"). I did, in fact, draw this once. I think I once declared that if I could ask Kubo a single question, it would be "what does Renji's outfit from OP 4 look like from the front?" Not only do I know now, but it's actually even better than I expected.
Chester Whipplefilter, my beloved, I cannot believe we were independently obsessed with two of Renji's outfits that turned out to be the same outfit. You were probably already my favorite new person I met on the internet in 2021, but I hereby proclaim us Two Halves of One Whole Idiot.
Anyway, I promise you I will draw him in this outfit again, although it may take awhile because I want to do a really good job on it and also that fish looks really hard to draw. I have a feeling this hoodie is probably gonna find its way into one of my fanfics too, this always happens.
In the meantime, here is my koi hoodie provenance headcanon:
Obviously, this has to take place during the Bount Arc, because OP4 (Bount Arc haters can move this to the Advance Team Arc if you must). Rukia found it for sale while they were in the Living World. She wanted to get it for her captain, because koi, Renji, koi!, and she made Renji try it on for her, because Renji and Ukitake are built very similarly. (I am not making this up! Ukitake is 1cm shorter than Renji and Renji is a few kg beefier, but they're pretty close). It turned out to be extremely soft and comfy and it gets cold in the World of the Living in the fall and to make a long story short, Renji and Ukitake have matching tie dye fishie hoodies because Rukia loves them both (and has access to Byakuya's credit card, routed through Urahara's currency exchange).
#renjiâs birthday 2k21#renji abarai#renji's tie dye koi hoodie#renji's cursed cargo pants from op4#i feel like this is my life's work#i made my husband look at this#he called me 'a genius'#i am literally LOSING MY MIND over this#time is a flat circle#finding outfits from bleach color spreads in the anime
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