When he steps out of Byakuya’s private quarters to retrieve some water, knowing his pack alpha will need a drink when he wakes up, Renji does not expect to turn around only to find a familiar face so close to his own. It’s a testament to her name— Flash Master Yoruichi— that she managed to slip into the room and within six inches of his body without him picking up her scent and being able to react in time. As if reading his mind, Yoruichi smiles slow and proud, her chin lifted in open challenge, but Renji knows better than to pick fights with Byakuya’s friends.

“How is he?” Yoruichi asks, sitting herself down at the table, fingers running through her ponytail and pulling it over her shoulder. “I know he’s probably worn down by now.”

Renji snorts. “You’d think that. By the end of the night he’s exhausted but he’s been holding it together pretty well. I’d hate to know what would happen if it was another alpha, though.”

“That’s why I recommended you in the first place. I knew you’d take care of Byakuya-bo.” Again, Yoruichi appears proud of herself.

The revelation has Renji pausing, his back pressed against the counter behind him as he searches for nothing to anchor himself to the world around him. “You recommended me?”

“Of course I did. Byakuya needed an alpha who could take care of him who also wouldn’t use the opportunity to stab him in the back. There aren’t that many of them that I trust in this pack, which I’m sure you’re aware of.” Yoruichi’s golden eyes flash, and Renji feels the hairs on the back of his neck prick at the sight.

At one point, Yoruichi had been the pack beta, but she stepped down from the position before Renji joined the pack so she could remain with her mate and enjoy a more peaceful life. It doesn’t stop her from keeping her close friendship with Byakuya, and more than once she’s put others in their place for daring to question their pack alpha. As far as Renji knows, Yoruichi never challenged Byakuya for the position of alpha in her time as his beta, which probably made their pack more unusual to outsiders. After all, Renji has no intentions of challenging, either.

“I don’t blame you.” Renji tells her, taking a seat at the table with her. While he has more stamina than Byakuya does in the sex department, the last few days have made his legs rather weak as well. “I wouldn’t trust anyone else with him except for maybe you, but you—”

He breaks off as Byakuya’s words about his first heat partner come back to him, the assertion that he would never ask that alpha again because they had a mate. His mouth falls open, his eyes widening as he looks at Yoruichi. Was she Byakuya’s first heat partner?

“You look like you have something to ask me.” Yoruichi purrs.

The tone of her voice is another reminder that Yoruichi herself occupies a strange position in their pack. Despite being a member, she’s the only one of them who can’t claim to be a wolf. When Byakuya was a child, he’d come home with a black kitten in his arms and all but begged his parents to let him keep her, or so Renji has heard. There are older pack members who were at the scene, watched Byakuya take advantage of being a cute little omega who otherwise was very poised and proper and never asked for anything of his own. His parents agreed, and Yoruichi revealed herself not to be a simple house cat but a werecat shortly after. Byakuya’s father was the pack alpha. He’d unwittingly agreed to adopting her into his pack, and she and his son were inseparable growing up together.

“Taicho said he’d had another heat partner before Hisana, but they had a mate and he didn’t want to intrude on that.” Renji scrubs a hand over his face. “That was you, wasn’t it?”

Yoruichi grins at him, showing the tips of her sharp teeth. “It was me. Byakuya didn’t want to go through his heats alone and I was unattached at the time, so I took care of him. I think his parents died believing they’d left their precious omega son in my hands.”

“But you two didn’t end up together.” Renji says slowly.

“We were never going to mate properly with each other. I assisted him during his heats and he assisted me during my ruts. We had a system, I’m sure you understand.” Yoruichi pauses and Renji nods because this is the first time he’s hearing about a system in Byakuya’s pack like the common ones he’d seen in his old pack. “Once Byakuya met Hisana, Kisuke came to me.”

Renji snorts. “Well, I guess whatever works is what works, right?”

“I was the first alpha in the entire pack to have an omega ask me if he could court me. I think the others are still jealous.” Yoruichi laughs at the thought, shaking her head. “Idiots.”

“So you really knew I’d not hurt Taicho? I’m glad someone else realizes I’m not interested in trying to take the pack alpha position.” Renji runs his thumb around the edge of the water bottle’s lid, the tension seeping out of his shoulders. The last thing he needs is his pack thinking he’s using this as an attempt to put Byakuya on his back and keep him there.

Yoruichi studies him with those knowing gold eyes for a long moment before she stretches out a hand, resting it on top of his own, fingers slotting together with his. Touch is good for their kind, a reassurance all on its own. “Of course you wouldn’t do that. You’re in love with him.”

It feels like all of the air has been sucked out of the room as well as Renji’s lungs. His eyes threaten to bug out of his head at how brazenly she says this, how bluntly. It’s true. Renji loves Byakuya. He has no idea if anyone else has caught onto this, knowing Byakuya himself definitely has not managed to figure it out or else he would have never let Renji see him in such a state or be his heat partner. For Byakuya, Renji is just a safe person to choose and he would probably cease being a safe person if Byakuya knew Renji loves him.

But Yoruichi says this so calmly and confidently, and Renji swallows past the lump in his throat. How did she figure it out? “Well, I guess I can’t deny it if you already know.”

“You’re a bad liar, anyway. I would have seen right through it.” Yoruichi strokes a soothing circle on the back of his hand with her thumb. “It’s okay, you know, to love him. No one would be surprised with how close the two of you are. Byakuya trusts you and that’s unusual.”

Renji sighs softly and nods, running a hand through his own hair. “Yeah, yeah, I noticed that. I know it’s because of Hisana, but it’s still hard to know he doesn’t want anyone close.”

“He never properly mourned for her passing. He cried for her just once when he was sitting at her bedside holding her hand, but that was it.” Yoruichi’s expression is pinched and Renji can pick up the slight agitation in her scent. She’s a good friend to still be upset about her best friend in emotional pain even if it was years ago. “So it’s hard for him to think about moving on to someone else because he hasn’t moved on at all. This situation is a big step for him.”

Though Renji suspected such a thing might be true, it still upsets him to think about Byakuya internalizing all of his pain instead of letting himself deal with it and suffering for years as opposed to letting his emotions flow and working his way around to accepting Hisana’s passing. Omegas who lose their mates tend to suffer greatly as a result, so he can hardly be surprised Byakuya chose to feel nothing at all in order to continue leading his pack, but it still hurts to think about. He’d rather have Byakuya break down and pick up the pieces after then refuse to break and risk shattering when it became too much to bear.

Yoruichi flicks him in the forehead and Renji swears at the sudden pain, swatting her hand away. “Stop that. Whatever you’re thinking about is making you stink. You smell sad. Stop that or he’s going to think something is wrong when you go back to see him, and that’s the last thing you want, isn’t it? You’re supposed to be taking care of him.”

“You’re right.” Renji is loathe to admit it, but he knows better. “I just don’t think the idea that he’s still hurting and he’s not processing it so it’s just gonna get worse.”

“Then do something about it as soon as he gives you an opening. And I think he will, for what it’s worth.” Yoruichi smirks when Renji gapes at her. “What? I’m no fool, Abarai. No one knows Byakuya-bo like I do. I think he’s got a soft spot for you even he isn’t aware of yet.”

Renji presses his lips together. He’s not going to admit that he’d never dared to think of that. “He’s not going to want me around if he’s not managed to get through Hisana’s death.”

Yoruichi gives him a withering stare and Renji crumples under it just a little. Her aura is stronger than it has any right to be. “You have been allowed closer to him than any other alpha other than me, so take the opening he’s giving you. Take good care of him. Talk to him.”

“Is this your roundabout way of telling me we have your blessing?” Renji teases.

“If you say one more stupid thing, I’ll take everything back that I’ve said so far.” Yoruichi lets go of his hand and leans back in her seat, her eyes hard as she stares at him. The teasing smile on his face promptly falls off. “Yes, you have my blessing, not that you need it because he’s the one you have to truly win over. I know you’re in love with him, and I’m so tired of seeing him make himself suffer because he’s still holding onto a woman who’s been dead for years. ”

The sentiment is a familiar one, but Renji is still uncertain. How can he not be? Byakuya has been closed off for longer than Renji has known him, and that closing off chased his own little sister out of the pack when she was finally unable to deal with him anymore. “I’m just… Worried about this. I don’t want to be the one who ends up hurting him.”

“You’re not going to be. God, you’re stupid. If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were purposefully trying to sabotage every chance you have with him before you even do anything about it.” Yoruichi stands and places her hands on his shoulders, leaning so close to him that her scent— spicy and dark and making him think of golden eyes reflecting the moonlight from dark shadows— washes over him and overwhelms him. “Byakuya-bo deserves to be happy. He deserves to have a mate who loves him, cares about him, and is wrapped around his finger. You already are all of those things. Just teach him that so he properly sees it.”

“Are we having an intervention?” The familiar voice combined with an equally familiar scent of jasmine attached tells Renji that Yoruichi’s mate has shown up.

Yoruichi steps away from him and spins in place, her hair smacking him in the face as she opens her arms for her omega. “Unfortunately, it’s become necessary. Hello, darling.”

Urahara Kisuke has been Yoruichi’s mate since before Renji came to the pack and it shows in more ways than one. Their bodies fit together like two pieces made specifically for one another when Urahara steps into her offered embrace. He’s more like the typical omega in terms of appearance and behavior, fitting an old-fashioned alpha like Yoruichi well. There’s just something about seeing a properly mated pair together that makes Renji yearn for Byakuya that much more, as if he doesn’t already spend a fair amount of time doing that.

Yoruichi scrubs her cheek against Urahara’s face before leaning back to kiss him, a hand cupping the back of his head. He melts into her arms, soft and pliant. Wolves don’t scent mark the same way that cats do, but Renji has seen the way Yoruichi marks well enough to know that if he stepped close to Urahara right now, he would smell Yoruichi on his skin before he would smell Urahara himself. It successfully keeps the other wolves away.

“You’re being a pushover about things, aren’t you?” Urahara waits until Yoruichi sits back down before letting himself be pulled into her lap, perched on her thighs with her arms wrapped securely around his waist, her chin pressed into his shoulder.

“I’m not a pushover. I’m just being cautious.” Just what the hell has Yoruichi been telling him?

Urahara rolls his eyes. “Well, if you keep this up much longer, I’m going to win that bet I have with Kira, so by all means, keep it going. I’m willing to enable your bad behavior.”

“What bet?” Renji throws his hands up before Urahara can answer. “No, no, don’t answer that. I don’t want to know what you and Kira have been talking about, actually. Look, it’s not that I don’t want to be Byakuya’s mate properly. You know that. You both do. But it’s like you said, Yoruichi, he needs to mourn Hisana and I don’t want to make it worse on him.”

Yoruichi scoffs at him. “Then don’t. Be his pillar when he needs one, be his shoulder to cry on, be the one who wipes the tears away and tells him it’s okay to be upset. But if you sit on your hands and do nothing, then nothing is going to change. You idiot.”

“I agree with Yoruichi-san.” Urahara says, preening when Yoruichi tilts her head to kiss the side of his neck. “Just do it. You’re so careful of him that I doubt you’d accidentally hurt him.”

“Besides, Byakuya trusts you. That should tell you more about his situation than you’re willing to admit is true.” Yoruichi knocks her calf against his own meaningfully. “He trusts you not to hurt him. You’re just the one who’s too stupid to figure out that might mean something.”

When Renji stares at her, Urahara huffs at him. “Abarai, are you slow? Taicho cares about you. I don’t know if he’s figured it out yet, but he does. Of course he does.”

“Agreed.” Yoruichi murmurs. “I know him better than you do, Renji. I’ve known him for most of his life, and I know what it looks like when he slowly works his way around to falling in love. Just go with it and don’t run away when it gets scary for you. I promise you. It will happen.”

Renji scrubs a hand down his face, then stands, bottle of water in hand. “Okay, okay. I’ll work on it. I should have gone back to check on him before now, actually. Thanks for the advice, you two. Especially you, Yoruichi. And… Thank you for trusting me with his heart.”

“Remember.” Yoruichi croons, “I’m not afraid to kill you if you break his heart.”

“I’d let you.” Renji reassures her, and she looks mollified. “I’m going back now. Thanks, again.”

Urahara waves a hand at him as he leaves the kitchen. The soft squeak that follows his exit makes him jump and wonder if Yoruichi plans on making a creative use of the dining table. Then he starts back toward Byakuya’s quarters, thinking over everything Yoruichi had told him.

He wants Byakuya more than he’s ever wanted anyone else in his life, and though he’s had his fair share of crushes growing up he thinks Byakuya might just constitute his first actual love. The serene omega with the ash grey eyes and the surprisingly deep voice that captivated him the first time Byakuya welcomed him into the pack, taking him in when he had nowhere else to go. It was only natural Renji would come to care about him as more than just his leader, and he’s finally been given a chance to do something about it. Yoruichi’s right. He’s being a fool.

The last few days gave him more than one opportunity to see Byakuya vulnerable, to have Byakuya reaching for him, asking for him, pleading for Renji to touch him. It’s been a heady experience but more than that, it’s put into perspective just how starved Byakuya is of touch and affection and how much he needs it while pretending he doesn’t for the sake of upholding an image. It isn’t fair to him and more than he wants to admit, Renji wants to change that for him. He wants to be the one Byakuya calls his alpha and his mate.

Something that isn’t going to happen if Renji doesn’t do anything about it.

He stands outside of Byakuya’s door, letting the warm and sated cherry blossom scent wash over him, thrilled that he’s the one who’s added those pleased notes to Byakuya’s scent. He smells happy, and Renji knows he’s the reason for that because he’s been working harder than he ever has to make sure Byakuya gets everything he needs from their mating.

Why would he work less hard to win Byakuya’s heart?

With that in mind, Renji slowly opens the door and steps inside, and it does something to his heart to see Byakuya half-awake, soft lidded eyes, wrapped up in the sheets and blankets, warm and content.

“Hey.” he murmurs, fondness creeping into his voice. “You’re awake.”