Chpt IV

A Good Man

Infidelity sticks to the bones of the disloyal stronger than flesh. It moves with the faithless like muscle contracting, relaxing, but always a part of its host. Worse, the face of those that were offended carves a place on the eyelids of the offender, who prays for blindness. Betrayal hides in the slow breath of a man, the blush of a woman, in their itchy fingertips, their agitation. Unleashing it is so easy.

As Orihime stood in front of Renji she thought about what it would be like to touch him. She could guess at the hardness of his muscles but not the texture of his skin. She knew what it would be like to hug him, but not where he would put his arms on her or how tightly he would hold on. She could imagine what his lips might feel like pressed to her forehead but not how warm his breath would be, how long he would linger there.

Renji stood looking down at the darkness that veiled the top of Orihime's head. He could feel her breath against his chest come in a steady rhythm, and wondered how it was she could even breathe. He clutched at the soft pants Ichigo had given him to wear and called his friend's face to his mind. Ichigo laughing. Ichigo talking about something pointless. Ichigo eating with his mouth open like a heathen.

IchigoIchigoIchigoIchigo.

But just as he was about to move away from his beautiful friend, she made a soft whimper. His muscles tightened and his nails dug into his palms. He forced his eyes up to the dark ceiling when he felt tiny fingers lay gently on his abdomen. He was going to rip a hole through Ichigo's pants.

Orihime had only wanted to feel his skin. Though she was now familiar with the geography of men, this particular map intrigued her. As she touched her fingers to Renji's abs, she knew that it would be a long road back from here. His skin was soft…remarkably so. Warm and tight, but smooth like he had just put on lotion. Her palms gently joined her fingers on each side of his belly button and she heard his breathing stop. Something got a hold of her, a curiosity that wouldn't let her stop. She leaned forward slightly and pressed her hands into his belly.

Renji immediately closed the space between them, stopping when he felt her breasts press against his ribcage. He thought he heard her moan softly. He bent his head towards her. His fingers hovered just over her forearms; he could feel the fine hairs rise to meet his treacherous fingertips.

"Orihime," he began.

"Renji, I…"

"Please, I can't…"

"No, no I knew that, and then I just couldn't, but you…I.."

"Please don't make such sad noises," he whispered, finally saying something coherent.

"Please go back to Soul Society…"

"What?" he breathed.

"…knowing that I am a faithless woman, and a horrible friend," she sobbed.

Renji grabbed her arms and pulled her against him hard, burying his face in her hair.

"Orihime…I'm sorry…" he whispered. Orihime immediately lurched forward throwing her hands up to catch herself but feeling only air. She turned to look at the open window Renji had shunpoed through, and let herself hit the floor without bracing her fall. Ichigo found her there a few minutes later. Thinking she must be sick he pulled her into bed with him and held her, assuming that her apologies were because she had something planned that didn't work out. He wondered where Renji had gone.

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Urahara Kisuke kissed Yoruichi's shoulder before he left her in his bed. He walked out of the room with an open robe and troubled mind, knowing that that spike in reiatsu had been Renji's. Outside of the shop, he stood looking at the sky waiting to see if Renji would come back. Ragged breathing from behind told him Renji had indeed come back, and was getting better at moving quite quietly. The handsome ex-captain turned to his young friend.

"Abarai-kun…what happened?"

Renji didn't move from his kneeling position on the ground. He continued to gasp for breath.

"Abarai-kun, is Ichigo ok?"

Renji looked up through his long, unbound hair. "I'm leaving for Soul Society tonight."

"Why?"

"Your tests of strength are nothing compared to this. This I can't overcome."

"Did something happen?"

"Almost."

"Almost isn't something. So nothing happened."

"I wanted it to. I wanted to do something. I wanted to do something that would destroy our relationships."

"But you didn't do anything?"

"If I stay, I will."

Urahara considered this. When he answered, he spoke slowly. "Then leaving is the right thing to do. You cannot compromise your friendships. You're really very brave, and I'm proud of you. Orihime is a remarkable woman, but no one can take the place of your friends, and their trust in you. I'm glad to have gotten to know you."

Renji looked down at the dirt. "Thank you, Urahara-san. I'm glad to know you too, even if you are a dirty bastard sometimes."

Urahara couldn't think of any way to refute Renji's assertion. "Come on. I'll help you with the gate back home."

Renji nodded and stood up, leading the way back into the shop.

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Orihime crawled out of Ichigo's arms later that night and walked home. She hated a lot of things. If she didn't have these powers Ichigo would never have had any use for her and they never would have become friends. If she weren't so childish she would realize that Ichigo was the right man to be in love with and that Renji was not. She hated Renji for being so wonderful, Ichigo for being so blind, and herself for everything else. She kicked the sidewalk gently as she walked, the most violent she had ever been in her life.

"Watch out, my love. That sidewalk might get hurt."

Orihime gasped and flung herself around. Ichigo stood behind her with his hands in his pockets, smiling.

"I-Ichigo! What are you doing here?"

"Making sure you get home alright. You don't know what kinds of things happen at night."

Looking down, Orihime spoke softly. "You didn't have to follow me. I'd be just fine. I just felt like going home. So…so your dad wouldn't find us together, because that would be bad."

Ichigo cocked his head to the side and grinned at his uncomfortable girlfriend.

"You're beautiful when you lie."

Orihime's eyes jumped to his. "What? No…I…what?"

His grin faded into a wince. "Orihime, I know what's going on. I believe that you should be honest with the person you love. So I don't blame you for not telling me about how you felt for Renji. I'm not the man you love."

"Ichigo, no, please…"

"Renji hides it better than you do. He's back in Soul Society right now. I caught him before he left. He didn't even try to lie, but I already knew anyway. I thought I could make you love me again like you used to, when you didn't think I noticed. But my timing has always been a little off. I thought if I showed you how much I loved you, you would realize that I was the one to be with. But I still saw stare at him, and him stare at everything but you. I still noticed that he never looks at himself in a mirror anymore, and that you hide your face against me when we make love," Ichigo stopped and looked away at some bushes.

"You are the woman I love, Orihime, even if you do love my best friend and he loves you. So I'll just wait and see how things go. Renji is pretty broken up by it all. If he is what you want, I can't do anything about it. I love you, but I want you to love me…" his voice broke and he looked down. After a few moments he looked back up at her, smiling. "Please, Inoue. Turn around and walk home. I'll just stay behind and make sure you get there alright."

Orihime stared into the eyes of her broken-hearted lover and felt her stomach lurch.

"Kurosaki…"

"Inoue, please."

Orihime turned and began to walk, listening to his footsteps like the beat to song. It was a slow rhythm that her tears felt compelled to follow. She wondered why, if she did not love Ichigo, she had to keep her hands over her heart to prove to herself that it hadn't stopped beating.

A world away, the Vice-Captain of Division Six of the Gotei Thirteen stood staring at the white walls of the buildings around him. His arm burned where Ichigo had held it when Renji had confessed everything to him. His eyes burned from holding back tears of utter shame. Ichigo had done nothing but listen, thank Renji for telling the truth, and then say that everything would be ok, that he would definitely be ok no matter what. Then he had left. Urahara had followed.

Why, Renji wondered as he thought about his last weeks in the real world, was Ichigo the only person whose face he could clearly recall?