AN: I think I'm going through a Bleach fase at the moment… Bah, not really that bad. RENJI ALL THE WAY BABY. He's so awesome, me wants him T.T. But unfortunately, he's Byakuya's so I can't do a thing about it. The title is from something Renji says in the manga (and possibly anime?) about that he's always howling at the stars but that he doesn't have the guts to jump and grab them.

Title: Howling at the Stars
Rating: M.
Summary: Renji doesn't take 'no' for an answer and it was no exception when he applied for the job as a babysitter.
Pairing(s): RenjixByakuya, for now. Based on requests, I might just put in other pairings. Just don't make me put IchigoxInoue in, please T.T Not that I hate her or anything, 'just don't like her. Meh.

Prologue

Kuchiki Byakuya wasn't a man people would often befriend. He was a man people avoided, and he in turn avoided people, which was fine according to him. He had no need for people, he didn't want to let them in and he did his utmost best not to get attached to others; they were nothing but a nuisance to him.

Kuchiki Byakuya was a hardworking man. His family was a noble family, rich and powerful, and he had his own company to run. It wasn't often that he got to spend a lot of time at home; he left at eight a.m. and returned at seven p.m., often locking himself up in his private office to do some more work at home.

There wasn't much else to tell you about Kuchiki Byakuya, for that was all that was happening in his life. At least, at the present; if you would look into the past, you could say he did not have that much of an easy life. As I mentioned before, Byakuya didn't let people in so easily; he was cold-hearted and felt he had no need for others. The only person who had been able to even slightly touch his heart, only with the tips of her fingers, was a beautiful girl named Hisana.

He had found her on the streets of the city, clad in nothing but a pair of messy jeans, a torn-up sweater and a scarf. She looked filthy at the time and looked as if she was about to die from hunger, exhaustion, or perhaps even the cold that night. Byakuya took her in as a servant, proving to others that he wasn't as cold-hearted as he seemed and rescuing her from the hell she had been living in and slowly fell in love with her. They eventually married, and Byakuya couldn't remember the last time he had been so happy, though he rarely showed it to her or others. He was content with her, felt at peace, something no one else had been able to grant him in all the years he had been living.

But then, she changed. She began to get sick frequently, saying that it was alright and that she was going to be fine, even though she knew she wasn't. Byakuya had known it as well, deep in his heart, but he didn't want to acknowledge it and instead always said to himself that it was nothing but a small cold, a little fever, some headache. It wasn't bad, nothing life-threatening—that was what he told himself.

Five years after their marriage, Hisana died from illness, leaving Byakuya to face the world alone once more. He was heartbroken, needless to say, and he was reminded why his distaste for other humans was so big. To his dismay, his late wife had made one request however, something he would grant her for all the wonderful years she had given to him—she told him she had left a baby sister on doorstep of an orphanage. She couldn't take care of the child when she was homeless and was too old for the orphanage herself; she left her sister and now asked of Byakuya to take care of her, like he was her own sister.

It only took him one week to find her and took her in; she couldn't be happier to finally have a big brother to look after her.

Byakuya on the other hand couldn't care less; the girl was only seven years old and he hardly had any time to worry about her when he had so much work to do. She couldn't take care of herself yet, which was obvious, so it was necessary for him to hire a babysitter.

But when he hired him, he really didn't think that he would be able wrap his entire hand around his heart.

Chapter 1: The one where he was hired

"In need of a babysitter for a seven-year old girl. Needs to have experience. Work hours are from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. and perhaps longer. Needs to be flexible." Abarai Renji read out loud, sighing as he folded the newspaper. Ah well, he needed the work—if he didn't come up with money soon, he would get thrown out of his apartment for sure. Beggars can't be choosers, he thought as he tucked the newspaper under his arm and walked off to the address that went with the job-advertisement.

"Che, I hope Ichigo's right about this," he muttered to himself. The street he was headed to was in one of the fancy areas of town, where the rich and/or famous lived; not his kind of place, in other words. It was only because of his friend Ichigo that he was going to apply for the damn job, since he had never thought of himself as a babysitter. He wasn't that good with kids and he didn't like them all that much either, which was probably a downside. Though it didn't say it was a requirement, he mused, grinning slightly. Then again, he didn't have any experience with children either, but he could just lie about that. Not like they were ever going to find out anyway.

He lazily put his hands in his pockets as he walked on, wondering if it was too late to take a bus. According to the directions an old lady had given him earlier, he should be there in another five minutes, so it was pointless now. He hated walking, but he needed to save his money for something more useful.

Like… booze. And food. Though he hardly had enough to buy either. It was only lucky that he was able to leech off of Ichigo occasionally, or else he would have starved by now. It did hurt his pride though; his orange-haired friend hardly ever had the courtesy of just saying 'Sure, it's okay if you have dinner here'. No, instead it was always 'Heh, out of money again? Good thing you have me Renji, or else you would've died three times already'. Damn bastard.

"Is… this it?" he commented out loud as he stopped in front of the most enormous houses he had ever seen in his life. Was it really just one kid he had to baby-sit or were there hundreds in there? In any case… he couldn't wait to try out the pool, if they had one. Then again, most rich people had pools, didn't they?

He shook his head; no need to get ahead of himself. After all, he doubted he would get the job anyway. Who the hell would ever hire a freeloading, tattooed guy to babysit his kids anyway? Ichigo had said that you could never know unless you try, but some things were already obvious to Renji. But then, why am I doing this again? Oh yeah… damn bastard.

Ichigo had basically threatened to never give him food again, unless he would go and apply for the job. Why the hell did he have to be such a good friend anyway? Always looking out for him, helping him when he needed it… Che.

Renji swallowed and walked up to the door, gathering his courage as pushed on the button next to the door. He heard a faint ringing inside and was startled when he heard something coming from the intercom.

"Who is it?" a deep voice sounded, not friendly at all. It sounded so cold that Renji's entire being froze, just by hearing it, and for a moment he wondered whether he should just run away or not. But, he could hear Ichigo's words in his head already when he would drop by for a visit and declare that he didn't get the job. 'Ah, so you ran away, huh? Figures. A coward like you… get some backbone man! Go back there and force him to give you the job! Punch him in the face if ya have to!'. As if that would even work. "Press the button to reply, please," the voice said after a while, when Renji still hadn't answered. I know that, bastard, the man thought, getting a bit angry now. He pressed the button and replied firmly, keeping his voice from shaking.

"Abarai Renji, I came for the babysitting job," he said and released the button, waiting anxiously for the reply.

"I'll be right there," the cold voice sounded after mere seconds. Renji waited patiently, his heart throbbing in his throat. He wasn't that much of a lazy person, but he had screwed up high-school when he was younger. He was called a delinquent, was a problem child and never really went to class. He had always stated that he could just work, cleaning a couple of days a week or something, and that he could take care of himself. It was the only time he didn't listen to Ichigo, who told him he should stay in school and that he would regret it later on.

Naturally, Ichigo was right; where his fiery and short-tempered friend got all that common sense, Renji didn't know. It pissed him off though.

But he was regretting it. He wasn't so stupid, he realised, as he thought he was and regretted it so much that he never did his homework and didn't stay in school. He wasn't content with working in a store, or being a cleaner for a hotel, or any other job that didn't require him to think too much. He got bored with it easily and ended up getting fired, or quitting himself.

This job… though he disliked children very much, and he wasn't good with them, it was the perfect job for someone who wasn't that motivated with anything. It was easy money, he figured. Maybe he could even go to evening school if he wanted to, or study at home so he could find something better for himself. He very much liked that idea.

He stood with his hands in his pockets, absentmindedly fumbling with the keys of his apartment as he waited for his maybe-employer. He scowled to himself as he thought about how long it was taking; it was cold outside and he was already waiting for five damn minutes there. If he was busy, couldn't he at least let him in and, for all he cared, drop him into a closet or something? It sure was a hell of a lot warmer there.

After another five minutes (Renji was by now fuming, steam practically coming out of his ears) the door opened for him. He turned around and was about to scold whoever it was that had made him wait for so long, but stopped when he looked at the man.

The man was scary, to say the least. That was the first thing that went through his head—the second one was that he looked so sad, it was unbearable. He shook his head, ignoring those thoughts and instead focused on his appearance; the guy was pretty tall, and he had long black hair, pulled back in a tail with only a few strings of hair framing his pale and slim face. He seemed like he hadn't laughed for ages and though his eyes held a certain maturity, the rest of his body and face didn't seem a day older than thirty.

Renji looked straight into his eyes, seeming to be a bit braver than before. This man was cold-hearted, he just knew by taking one look at him; he also didn't seem like the type who would have children, but Renji supposed you couldn't judge a book by its covers. After all, he had been judged for his appearance countless of times and he honestly wasn't going to start himself.

The only thing Renji hated about him so far, was that the man seemed to think of himself far more superior than Renji. The look in his eyes, that was flashing with disrespect and disapproval, was enough to confirm that for Renji.

"Are you going to stare at me all day?" he asked him, making the other snap out of his thoughts. "I suppose it does not matter, since you're not hired anyway," he continued, narrowing his eyes at Renji, who glared fiercely at him. Byakuya wasn't that fazed and instead just stared down at him passively, cursing the younger male inwardly. How dare such a filthy thing even think that he was worthy enough of taking care of Hisana's younger sister—it was unbelievable how much nerve he had.

The man on his doorstep didn't seem to back down and instead was clenching his fists, seemingly to try hard to not punch Byakuya straight in the face. And violent too, he observed, his dislike for this boy growing more and more as seconds passed. It wasn't just so much the fact that Byakuya knew that he wasn't from a rich family, but also his appearance. The man had tattoos on his forehead, for God's sake and red hair? There was no way in hell Byakuya would even allow this person to be in the same room as Hisana's sister.

"You didn't even give me a chance!" the man said, practically yelled. "At least give me an interview or a valid reason for refusing to give me the job without even talking to me." Byakuya inwardly smirked a little bit; he was certainly fiery and slightly amusing.

"Shall I give you the valid reasons then?" he asked him, his stoic face never revealing even the slightest bit of emotion. "First of all, your appearance. I will not allow Rukia to be in the same room as a tattooed wonder, like yourself. Secondly, you have already raised your voice to someone you ought to respect. Thirdly, I can smell from over here that you're a smoker—I will not let Rukia be at the mercy of a cancer-stick addict. Fourthly, from the way you have your fists clenched, it seems you have trouble controlling yourself. I would not be comfortable knowing that you could strike Rukia while I am at work—"

"I would never hit a kid!" Renji exclaimed, furiously. How dare this guy insult him, look down at him! Though, he had to admit, he did need to learn how to control himself—the fights he had been in school were rather bad, and people got on his nerves quite quickly. But he was not someone who would hit a child either—that went too far, even for him. And the smoking part was also true, but he wasn't an addict. He only smoked a couple of cigarettes a week, and it just so happened that he had smoked one right before he got the nerve to go and apply for the job, to calm his nerves a little. "And, I could stop smoking if that's really a problem," he added, this time at a normal volume, thinking about the second reason.

"I am sorry, but unless you can also get those tattoos off of your face, learn to respect other people who obviously have a higher social status and take anger management, you will not have the job. Goodbye, sir," he said, about to close the door in Renji's face. He was surprised however, when Renji placed his foot in the doorway, holding back the door with it. He raised an eyebrow amusedly; the other appliers hadn't been so persistent as this one.

"I don't see how me having tattoos has got anything to do with it," Renji persisted, getting pissed off. Damn it, now it wasn't a matter of getting the job anymore; now it was a matter of pride. He would get this job, whether that guy liked it or not! "It's not like it's a disease and she could get infected with it! I could tell her they're just really weird eyebrows or something."

"Do you honestly think a Kuchiki would fall for something like that? She is seven, not four and she possesses much intelligence for her age," Byakuya replied, raising both of his eyebrows at him. Seriously, when was he planning on leaving? His attention was taken away from the strange man on his doorstep, when two tiny hands grasped his robe. He looked down, noticing it was his little sister and gently, with as little affection as possible, patted her on her head. She looked at Renji, blinked, and looked back at Byakuya.

"Who's the man with the funny eyebrows?" she asked him.

Renji snickered.

"I'm your new babysitter!" he exclaimed happily, pointing at himself. Byakuya seemed to show the slightest hint of being pissed of right now, however, and pushed the little girl away from the door.

"Rukia, please wait in your room," he said.

"Yes, nii-sama," she replied, eyeing Renji curiously, but obeying nonetheless. Byakuya turned back to Renji, who was by now staring at him triumphantly.

"See? Told you she wouldn't notice. Now can I have the job?" The older man sighed, running his hand through his black hair. He wasn't one to give up quite so easily, but this person on his doorstep had been one of the few to apply. One of them was an old lady who smelled like cabbage and who had told him she used to use a stick to straighten her children out and the other one was a middle-aged man who wrote pornography books as a hobby. And it had already been several weeks since he started searching for a suitable baby-sitter—compared to the others, Renji seemed like a godsend.

"You can come in for an interview, but I cannot promise you anything," Byakuya finally said, sighing. "Kuchiki Byakuya," he held out his hand for Renji to take, which he did.

"Abarai Renji, boss!" he said happily, grinning like a kid on Christmas morning. Byakuya raised an eyebrow as he stepped aside for Renji to come in.

"As I said, I—"

"Yeah, yeah, you can't promise anything. Got'cha." Renji took off his coat and shoes and followed Byakuya to what seemed to be the living room. He sat down on one of the couches when the older man gestured for him to sit down and waited for him to start the interview.

"Do you have any experience when it comes to children?" he questioned. Well, that wasn't such a hard question—Renji had expected that one to be one of the first, so he had prepared himself to tell some lies. It wasn't as if he liked to tell them, but he wasn't really on good terms with Byakuya, so it seemed to be logical in his mind that he should at least impress him a little with fake experience.

"I worked in a day-care for a year or so," he said. "And when I was a teenager I used to babysit kids all the time, plus I grew up in an orphanage so I had to watch the younger kids often too." The last one wasn't completely false; he had grown up in an orphanage, just not the fact that he had watched the younger kids. He was usually out, causing trouble to other people, instead of staying at the home and be a good boy.

"Very good," Byakuya said, content with the response. Renji breathed out a sigh of relief, preparing himself for the next question. "Are you willing to stay here later when I cannot be home on time? Is that a problem for you?" Renji shook his head.

"No, I'm pretty flexible when it comes to work hours, I don't have that much to do in my spare time," he replied. Byakuya nodded.

"…Can you cook?" he asked, seeming to be uncomfortable by asking this question; he was embarrassed about it, Renji noted, slightly amused. "Our cook has recently quit his job, so we're out of one. I have no time to look for a new one, I barely even had time to find a babysitter. That was a necessity however and a cook wasn't, though I have to admit I have become quite tired of instant ramen." Renji couldn't help but grin; so this Byakuya wasn't that perfect then? There were some things he couldn't do, such as cook?

"Well, I'm not the world's greatest," Renji started, scratching his head. "But I can make some things. I mean, if ya like spaghetti and all that stuff—I can't really do any complicated things."

"That is fine. As long as it is not ramen, though I must warn you that Rukia has a frightening addiction to the food," Byakuya commented. Renji grinned again, shifting nervously in his seat.

"Does that mean I have the job?" he asked. It was silent for a moment, before the other nodded.

"We will give it a try for a week," he said firmly, standing up. Renji kept himself from jumping up and pumping a fist up in the air, crying 'Victory!' and instead just gave him a short nod, and a small 'thank you'. "You will start tomorrow then, be here at seven-thirty. I will see you tomorrow." Renji nodded again.

"See ya tomorrow, boss!" he grinned, not missing the fact that Byakuya's mouth slightly twitched upwards for a moment, before he was being lead out of the house. "Well, that went well," he commented once the door was being closed behind him and started heading to Ichigo's apartment to get some food.

He stopped midway however as he thought about it—the damn brat was right again. You never know until you try, huh? Renji thought, grinning and silently thanking his best friend. Maybe things are starting to get a bit better now.