Title: Sakura
Rating: PG-13

Fandom: Bleach

Disclaimer: As per usual, sadly the pretty boys aren't mine!

Word Count: 615

Summary: From a prompt I found on a comm:

"1AM = Focus is on wholeness of self and the banishing of any shadows"

A/N: Brief background info – Byakuya is Captain of the 6th Division, Renji is his Lieutenant, and itaicho/i means captain in Japanese ^_^

Renji sighed as he forgot all pretences of sleep and pushed the covers cautiously off himself, careful not to wake the sleeping figure beside him who, even in sleep, wore a guarded expression.

This is the man I would die for, and yet, really, I hardly know anything about him, Renji thought to himself as he looked at the sleeping figure beside him. He stood up slowly, slipped on a silk robe by the bed and walked to the doors out onto the veranda, where the night sky was chill but with a hint of the summer to come and the sakura trees threatened to bloom in a matter of weeks, if not days. Renji moved out into the night, the hem of the robe trailing over the floor with a soft sound and he leant over the railing around the edge of the platform and looked over the expanse of water below.

It's beautiful here, he thought as he looked up to the sky, the moon almost full and hanging in the sky like a ripe peach. I'm glad I'm here, even thought I'm not even sure why. With that last thought, he turned to glance back into the room, the sleeping figure a shadow in the dark. The respect he had for his Captain went beyond anything he had felt before; though he would never have seen him in any other light had the other man not made the first move. Even then, Renji had been too ignorant to notice it.

Why change the habit of a lifetime? he snorted softly. Time was, he wasn't interested in anything he couldn't hack, stab or kill. The rush he got from fighting was greater than anything and he lived for the high. In his untamed youth, he thought there was nothing that could compare to that feeling, of being wild and free. Now he knew he could be brought to his knees with just a few whispered words and touches.

Am I getting weak? he wondered, as he turned back to the darkness beneath him, the night sky reflected in its shimmering surface. The reflections danced and played across the rippling water and Renji was momentarily lost in it, his thoughts being pulled down into the murky depths.

"If you stay out there with the door open much longer, one of us will catch ill. And regardless of who, I will not be happy."

Renji started. "Uh… Umm, sorry!" he stammered, and he felt the heat in him rise, even just from that short sentence.

He heard a sigh from the room in front of him. "Renji, come to bed. Whatever's bothering you, let us deal with it in the daytime. This is not the time to give form to shadows of your heart."

Time was, such words would have spurred him to argue and shout, to try and deal with such transient emotions as he would a blood-and-flesh opponent in front of him. But now he just lowered his head and gave a small smile.

"How can I refuse, Taicho?" he said, smiling, as he moved back into the room and closed the door behind him, letting the silk robe slide off him as he stalked across the room to the bed.

"You can't if I make it an order." The words delivered low and exact.

"And what if I disobey?" he replied, in a hoarse whisper as he slid between the sheets in the dark, his heart hammering in his chest, feeling as though it would burst out any moment.

He almost heard the smile in response and shivered as the words touched him.

"Then I would have to punish you, my Lieutenant."