It had been a long practice, and only got longer when Hatter decided to tease
Genichirou. Renji sighed.

"Enough," Seiichi intervened, at last. He came between the laughing
demon and a bristling Genichirou, and took Hatter’s shoulders, turning her
to face him. "Enough, Belial," he repeated, "I won’t have
this during practice. And you and I will talk, later, about your habit of
trying to destroy the things you want."

Hatter waved a light hand. "As you wish, of course."

Renji observed Hatter’s parted lips and the quick flutter of her lashes down
over eyes gone dark as Seiichi let her go. That was not entirely surprising;
he had spent years watching one person after another fall to Seiichi’s charisma.
What surprised him more was the fire and sharpness in Seiichi’s gaze. That
was not the kind of look their captain shared with outsiders, other than
the very best of his rivals. And even then, only during a full out match.

Renji waited for Hatter after practice.

"Another talk hm?" Hatter asked, looking him up and down. "One
hopes you’re less volatile than Sanada-kun. Not that it wasn’t entertaining."

"If it isn’t an imposition," Renji said, staying polite and noncommittal.

"So?" Hatter prodded, as they strolled through the school grounds.

"What is between you and Seiichi?"

"One could have sworn he explained that some time ago," Hatter murmured,
trailing her fingers through the leaves overhead.

It was an outside chance, but Renji decided to try shock. If nothing else,
Hatter’s reaction should give him a range for the next shot. "He looked
at you, this afternoon, the way I’ve seen him look down at me when his fingers
are stroking inside me," he said, softly.

Hatter’s step paused, and she directed a half-lidded look up at the sun. "One
can imagine," she said, low and husky. She leaned against a tree and
smiled at Renji from the corner of her eye. "You want to know whether
one has been in bed with him, don’t you?"

"I already know you haven’t," Renji corrected. The faint wistful
edge in her reaction had told him that much. "But I would still like
to know just what’s going on."

Hatter blinked, and then laughed. "You’re very good at this," she
complimented him. "One would have thought, though," she added,
mouth quirking, "that what is going on would be fairly obvious to one
of you."

Renji considered that, and added it to his previous suspicions. "Seiichi
does believe very strongly in reciprocality," he essayed.

"One gathered that, yes," Hatter said, dryly. "Generally, a
mortal soul isn’t strong enough to hold one."

Generally, Renji imagined not. So. Seiichi really had decided to gather
Mad Hatter up into the circle of his own. Which left the question of what
the rest of them were going to do with their newest addition. "Are truth
and honesty the same things, to you?" he asked, another thought coming
to him.

Hatter raised her brows. "No, they are not," she answered, softly,
eyes intent on him.

Renji nodded. Knowing that, he could work with it. Genichirou, on the other
hand, wouldn’t deal with such a division so easily. "Could they be?"

"Are you bargaining with one, Yanagi-kun?" Hatter asked.

Renji smiled. "The bargain has already been made, Hatter. Genichirou says
that you’ve tasted Seiichi’s soul. I doubt you can leave us, now. It would
make things easier, though, if you could moderate your use of the team for
amusement."

Hatter stared at him. "One will take that under consideration," she
murmured. She tilted her head and added, "You… don’t mind it?"

"Seiichi shares his soul very freely, once he chooses to do so at all,"
Renji answered, quietly. "It’s one of the things we love in him."

Pain flickered behind Hatter’s eyes before they became shuttered. "I will
consider what you say," she said, and vanished into the rustling shadows
of the leaves.

End