Traitor (Renji Yomo x Reader) [Continued in a second book!]

One Step Closer

Hearing him proclaim that he found a place for us, meant the world to me. We finally had our own place, something we could customize together and adjust to our liking. But most of all, it meant that we could get away from everyone. We had a better chance at starting our own family and to live in peace. Now the only thing left to do was clear my name.. Somehow. I knew that would be my next step.

"You.. Found a place for us?" I repeated, being in disbelief.

He nodded, giving me a small, reassuring smile.

Those words were something I had hoped to hear, it was the one thing going right on this day. It immediately lifted my mood through all this pain.

"Now let's get you cleaned up, we need to cleanse those burns and then apply a bandage over them."

"O-okay" I stuttered, still in surprise but smiling a bit as well.

Did he really manage to find an apartment in such a short period of time? This is insane.

Renji walked over to the bathtub and turned off the water tap before he sat down on the side of it and checked the temperature of the water.

"The temperature should be fine, it shouldn't hurt you and it's not too cold, so it won't increase the pain and cause damage to your skin" he informed me as he put the towels down on a small rack behind him.

"S-sounds great" I nodded as I approached him.

There was still a lot on my mind but it suddenly felt like everything was brushed aside and my next goal would be to see Renji and I's apartment. The dark tunnel started to have a bright exit. The rollercoaster within me was not coming to an end just yet, but I felt so much lighter knowing that this trouble with Touka would be over soon. One of all my worries was lifted off my shoulders.

"You uh.. Need to.. Remove your clothes. - Keep your bra on though, part of it seems to be stuck to your skin and pulling on it, like you already did with your shirt, is a bad idea. We'll remove it once it's soaked enough, it'll almost fall of by itself. You can keep your lower part on, if it makes you too uncomfortable to remove it. I won't mind. I just don't want you to be embarrassed."

Processing his words, I just shrugged. For this split moment, it really didn't matter to me. All I wanted was for the burning sensation to stop and to be close to him. The slight argument from just a few moments ago was off my thoughts. Without any warning, I removed my clothes and then prepared to go in. Glancing down at my own body, I saw that even part of my stomach was reddened. However, at least my legs were fine.

Renji didn't stare at me blatantly, he turned his gaze away from me, giving me privacy while I slowly climbed into the tub. As I felt the lukewarm water embrace my skin, I started relaxing entirely. While I carefully sat down in the water, I still groaned as it touched my scalds. It only hurt for a few seconds before the sharp pain stopped, though, and I slowly leaned against the back of the tub.

Feeling him tug on my hair, I turned my head around, wondering what he was doing. My hair slipped out of his grip and he was left only holding a hair-band.

"I wanted to tie your hair up so it won't get soaked" he told me, resulting in a smile from me.

"Thank you" I mumbled as I turned my head away again and waited for him to do so.

He was very careful, making sure not to tighten it too much or pull out any hairs.

"Do you want to wash yourself or should I do it?" he asked, leaning closer to my face and holding a washcloth in front of my face.