The Substitute
Story intro:
Characters: Byakuya, Ichigo
Pairing: None – No romance at all.
AU: as in Byakuya taking Rukia's spot but otherwise pretty much following the original plot. If I can remember it anyway. Also I completely ignore that Byakuya probably would sooner die than allow anyone to get a hold of his powers. It'd be a very short story if I didn't ignore that, you know.
Also, this is a One-shot – unless I at some time in the future decide to add something, but don't count on it.
How he could've been so careless as to allow himself to loose his power was beyond Byakuya's comprehension, but the hollow he'd been fighting had been of a sort he'd never seen before. That he was now stuck in the world of the living, in a gigai no less, left a bitter taste in his mouth.
The boy who had received his powers went to the very school that Byakuya was standing in front of and the Kuchiki was determined to ascertain that the boy didn't do anything untoward with those powers. Until he could contact Soul Society and untangle this mess he'd have to keep a close eye on the boy.
He stood there for another minute, eyeing the profoundly horrid looking building critically. Idly he wondered how great a fuss the captain-commander would raise if he blew the thing to bits. This so called 'modern' architecture that the living found so very intriguing certainly left a lot to be desired.
The high pitch ring of an automatic bell interrupted his musings, and since he recognised the alarm as the one to announce the beginning of the school day he swiftly made his way inside.
Ichigo sat down at his desk, waving away Keigo's incessant blabber while his other friends crowded around him. Apparently they were getting a new teacher, their regular having taken ill or something, and everyone were gossiping about who it could be. What would their new teacher be like? Would he give them heaps of homework or would it be the laid back type of guy?
Ichigo didn't really care and only listened with one ear while the others talked; the greater part of his mind was busy mulling over the events of the previous night. The monsters that had appeared, the guy with the sword that had saved his life – his sisters' too- he'd called himself a soul reaper, and the monster a hollow, and somehow in the midst of all that it had come down to Ichigo going head to head with the last remaining hollow. The guy had been gone by the time that Ichigo had cut down the hollow and it had taken Ichigo at least an hour to manage to climb back into his own body. After a night like that, was it any wonder that he didn't give a rat's ass about the mundane stuff involving teen hood? Also Ichigo hadn't exactly got a lot of sleep and now he felt scratchy and strangely bloated.
Perhaps that bloated feeling had something to do with whatever that soul reaper had done to him rather than the lack of rest though. At any rate he felt particularly uncomfortable and wanted to get back to the bed he'd left behind.
He became aware of the class settling down around him, everyone craning their necks to get a good look at the new teacher, and Ichigo didn't react until the guy had reached the teacher's desk.
"What the hell? It's you!"
The class had gone from silent to whatever was beyond that, all of his classmates staring at first him and then at the reaper. The reaper who was wearing a suit and looking very… well, perhaps not mundane, but at least not a cosplay model.
"I assure you, Mr Kurosaki, that you're mistaken. I hold no affiliation to your person." The reaper said without batting an eye and if it hadn't been for the steely warning in that gaze Ichigo probably would've argued the point.
"Er – right." He muttered. "My mistake."
"Sit down, Mr Kurosaki." The reaper instructed in the same monotone he'd been using the entire time and Ichigo looked around – for the first time realising that he was standing at all – and sat down quickly. The reaper closed his eyes for a moment before staring out at the class once more. "I am Byakuya Kuchiki and I shall be your substitute teacher until such time that your regular teacher is well enough to return."
"He's really handsome, isn't he?"
"Talks kind of funny though. Do you think he's a foreigner or something?"
"He doesn't look like a foreigner."
"I think he sounds very distinguished."
"No, he looks like a prince or maybe… maybe a model."
"Hey what if this is some sort of reality show and he's not really a teacher?"
Ichigo and his friends were listening to a group of girls talk about their new teacher, mostly because they were talking with such excitement that it was difficult not to listen. Had it been up to Ichigo he'd have gone home and forgotten this day ever happened.
"They're really making a fuss, aren't they?" Mizuiro commented but didn't seem worried.
Keigo on the other hand was red in the face and instantly began to complain theatrically, lamenting the fate of the everyday teen boy in the face of horrific odds. Ichigo closed his eyes and wished they'd all go away – he didn't want to think about the reaper or what his presence at Ichigo's school might mean.
"I wonder how old he is?" Another of the girls said wistfully, but quickly gained a defeated look. "Probably way too old for any of us."
"Of course he's too old for you, you're fifteen and he's your teacher, isn't he?" Tatsuki barked, interrupting the herd of girls. "What kind of perverts are you?"
Grateful for the interruption Ichigo looked up when Tatsuki and Orihime came over, the former looking rather cross.
"I can't believe this. They're all acting as if he's some sort of god or something. He's just the substitute, for crying out loud." Tatsuki muttered and sat down next to Chad.
"But what if he's not?" Orihime asked, eyes wide with- what, amazement?
"Then what is he?"
"He's a soul reaper." Ichigo muttered glumly, earning himself a chorus of strange and pointed looks.
"Come on, Ichigo. He's not that bad. He only told you to sit down when you started yelling." Mizuiro said diplomatically.
Ichigo looked at his friend with a sense of bitter resignation. He wondered whether it'd be worth the effort to try and tell any of them the truth of what he knew, but fortunately Orihime saved him from making an ass of himself.
"Maybe he's a unicorn." She piped up eagerly. She was smiling brightly – likely imagining some sort of centaur soul reaper with a horn in the middle of his forehead, prancing about on a rainbow.
"Alright, this is getting ridiculous." Tatsuki said and heaved a sigh. "Can't we just drop it?"
By the time school was out Ichigo very much looked forward to getting home but before he could vacate the schoolyard he was stopped by a stern voice.
"Mr Kurosaki."
Ichigo looked up, a little startled when he realised that the creepy reaper had just crept up on him without him noticing. The dark haired man stared down at him with heavily lidded eyes, and Ichigo got the impression that the man might as well have been looking at a bug.
"Yeah? What is it?" Ichigo asked, eyeing the reaper with a frown. The reaper didn't change his expression in the slightest but unless Ichigo was mistaken the look in the man's eye changed into something sharp and cold – well, sharper and colder at any rate. Why though? What was wrong with this guy? Except for the fact that he wasn't human but for some reason had decided to take up the role of their substitute teacher.
"With me." the man said curtly, turning on his heel and walking away as if he expected Ichigo to follow. Ichigo pulled a face and glared at the man's retreating back – he didn't want to follow that bastard anywhere, but hell if he wasn't curious about why the guy wanted him to. He had many questions that needed answers and he knew for a fact that this guy was the only one able to provide them, so with a muttered cuss he stood up from the stair and hurried after the reaper.
He caught up with him on the sidewalk. The man was walking in the direction of the shopping district and Ichigo idly wondered what a soul reaper could possibly want to shop for.
"Alright, I'm playing along, Mr Reaper man." He muttered, keeping in stride with the other man easily. They were roughly the same height so it wasn't hard to keep up with the guy after all. "What's up?"
The man glanced at him from the corner of his eye and once again Ichigo got the impression that the man was comparing him to something he wouldn't want stuck to the bottom of his shoe. "Mr Kuchiki will do for this scenery. Or, failing that, Professor Kuchiki." The man said without a trace of emotion and Ichigo rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." He muttered. "So that's your real name, huh? I figured you might want to keep a low profile or something. So no one would know who you were."
"Most humans are not spiritually aware enough to see me or my kin, there's no need for subterfuge." Byakuya explained, and walked inside a ridiculously posh looking restaurant. Ichigo hesitated, looking at the stylish sign above the entrance with dread before deciding that no matter how weird it might be to go inside a place like that he didn't have much choice if he wanted those questions answered. With a sigh he followed the man, feeling very aware of the fact that his school uniform needed a wash.
"This way… sir?" A man in a starched, white shirt directed him hesitantly when he stepped inside. The man eyed him, taking in his hair, then his clothes and by the time the man's eyes met his there was a definite sneer tugging on his lip.
"I'm not blind; I can see the guy from here." Ichigo said, brushing past the man and marching across the room towards where Byakuya was already seated. Sitting down across from the man he said: "I hope you're paying for this because there's no way even a year's worth of my allowance would cover it."
Byakuya closed his eyes, and Ichigo decided to take that as a 'yes'. It better be a yes because he sure as hell wouldn't get stuck here washing the dishes or something later.
"What will it be, sir?" Another starched guy from before showed up by their table, and Ichigo saw that the guy had his full attention on the reaper, not so much as sparing Ichigo a glance. The reaper ordered their food without asking for Ichigo's opinion, but he didn't particularly mind because he figured that even if he looked at the menu he'd probably not know what any of the stuff on it was.
Once the waiter scurried off Ichigo refocused his attention on the reaper. "So what's with this place?" And when that only earned him a blank stare in reply he added: "Why'd you drag me into a place like this?"
"I have not eaten since the incident last night, Kurosaki," Byakuya replied, sipping on a glass of water and somehow managing to make the motion seem absolutely flawless. "Even I need nourishment on occasion."
"Yeah, alright, so even soul reapers get hungry, I got it." Ichigo said. "Guess that means you're rich too, huh? A place like this isn't cheap, you know." Byakuya didn't answer so once again Ichigo decided that it meant 'yes' or possibly 'I'm filthy rich you little cur'. Shrugging Ichigo leaned back in his chair, trying to find a comfortable position on a contraption that he was starting to suspect wasn't designed for human anatomy at all. "Thought you said most humans can't see people like you, but so far no one has missed you. As far as I can see, anyway."
"I am wearing a gigai." Byakuya replied as if that was all the information that was necessary.
"A what?" Ichigo asked, eyeing the guy suspiciously.
"An artificial body designed to allow reapers to interact with humans if the need arise." The stoic man replied.
"So why're you here 'interacting' with me?" Ichigo asked and for the first time since he'd met the man did he see Byakuya hesitate. It only lasted for a moment but it was definitely there and for whatever reason it made Ichigo feel like maybe they weren't so very far apart after all.
"Last night when I battled with that hollow," Byakuya replied, closing his eyes again. "I allowed you to absorb my own power when I was too weak to continue the battle."
"Yeah, I remember that." Ichigo agreed, thinking back to the night previous. There'd been several of those monsters, four of which had been grotesque and the fifth looking oddly human in appearance. Byakuya had swiftly taken care of three of them – the grotesque ones – when the human looking one had appeared. That one must've been stronger because the reaper had barely managed to bring him down, bleeding profusely from a wound in his chest when Ichigo had got to him. The fourth one had come down on them then and that was the point they were discussing now.
"Without my own power I am unable to return to Soul Society and so far I have been unsuccessful in establishing a link to them. I shall have to remain in this gigai until I can do so." Byakuya finished, motioning for him to wait when the waiter approached with their food. Once the starched guy had set the food down in front of them and made his retreat Ichigo spoke: "So what's that have to do with me?"
Byakuya gave him a look that made Ichigo suspect that the guy thought him to be stupid or possibly annoying – most likely though, he thought he was both. "You are the holder of my power. I cannot allow an untrained child to run amok on these streets with such reiatsu flowing uncontrolled."
"Hey, who're you calling a kid?" Ichigo snapped, causing several of the other diners to turn their heads around to look at him. Sighing he lowered his voice again – realising that this was not the type of place where you could just start yelling without someone noticing.
Byakuya was watching him with a blank face that just screamed 'stupid little brat' at him. Perhaps it was just Ichigo's imagination but he doubted it.
"I shall have to keep watch over you until such time that my power can be returned to myself," Byakuya said without batting an eye. With precise movements the man cut into his steak, gathering up all of the various ingredients in equal amounts on the fork and making it look like the simplest thing in the world to balance it to his mouth.
Ichigo couldn't help but feel like a clumsy fool when he tried to emulate the motion and failing miserably. He did managed to get some of it into his mouth though so perhaps that was-
"God damn it!" He choked out, coughing and reaching for the water hurriedly.
"I take it that you do not appreciate your food to be spicy." Byakuya commented and put another bite into his own mouth.
Ichigo glared at him over the rim of the glass.
It had been a tiring day; Byakuya decided when he entered the building where he'd made his temporary lodging. The man behind the counter bowed to him when he walked past and stepped inside the elevator. The apartment was small, consisting of only what the humans referred to as a living room, a kitchen and a bedroom with an adjoining bathing area. It was enough to sustain him during his stay in the living world, he decided and according to the person at the agency in charge of these rental matters it was the very best in Karakura anyhow. Humans had such Spartan tastes.
Stepping into the bathroom he began the tiring task of removing the gigai from his person and only when he was free of the tight fitting shell did he look himself over in the mirror. He'd healed somewhat since he first entered the gigai, he decided, but certainly not enough to call himself healed. The bruise on the right side of his face had faded and the slash to his neck would most likely not even leave a scar. But, he thought as he pushed aside the shitagi and kosode to take a look at his chest, the bandaged wound there would definitely scar unless he got proper treatment for it.
If that exiled reaper Urahara hadn't shown up when he did and had stitched him back up, Byakuya doubted that he would've survived the night.
The hollow he'd run into had been stronger than expected, far superior to any other he'd ever had to fight, and the fact that his limiter had been firmly in effect hadn't helped any either. Still, it was shaming for him to have been so close to loosing to such a creature and far more shaming to allow a human boy to absorb his power in order to save his mongrel family.
Taking a deep breath he pushed those thoughts aside. It had transpired that way and there was no use in dwelling on the outcome now. There would be consequences for his actions, of that he had no doubt since he knew the law like he knew the paths of his own division, but none of that he could control at the moment. for now his priorities was to contact Soul Society as soon as possible and also to make certain that an idiot human boy didn't accidentally blow up half of the Karakura town.
With that thought firmly in his head he struggled back into the gigai and retraced his steps into the bedroom and went to bed. He had work to do tomorrow but right now he needed sleep so that he might heal and regain his power.
"That new teacher sure is popular." Mizuiro said softly, and Ichigo was starting to suspect that the guy was only saying it to rile Keigo up. Especially since he timed it to the precise moment when the soul reaper came walking past them. In his wake many heads turned and wistful gazes followed him, but the man didn't seem to take notice. Like the day previously the reaper was dressed in the finest of clothes, grey and black this time and his hair was tied back in a tight ponytail.
"Why though? Why are all of these pretty girls looking at that guy like that when they've got me right here?" Keigo complained loudly. "What's wrong with them? Don't they realise that a guy like that is way too old for them anyway?"
Several of the girls turned their heads his way to glare bloody murder at him and Keigo began complaining louder than ever about the unfairness of it all. Ichigo heaved a sigh, pushed away from the wall and began making his way towards the classroom.
"Come on, guys. You bet your asses he won't like us being late." He said.
It wasn't until lunch break rolled around that Ichigo got to speaking with Byakuya once more. Well, it wasn't much of a conversation really. Ichigo was minding his own business, looking up at the skies as he tried to come to terms with him somehow having absorbed a death god's power when a monotone 'Kurosaki' caused him to turn around. The next thing he knew he was being punched in the chest and he went flying back, and by the time he managed to catch himself he was staring down at his own body.
"What the hell! That's my body! What the hell did you do?" Ichigo yelled, pointing at his prone body on the ground. Did that guy just kill him or something?
"Calm yourself, Kurosaki." Byakuya said as he removed an odd looking glove from his hand. It was red and had a skull-like figure engraved at the back of it, Ichigo noted absently when the reaper tucked it into a pocket. "Your physical body remains alive."
"Yeah, well why the hell aren't I in it?" He asked in frustration. This guy was nuts! Completely damn insane! "And why did you just punch me out of my own damn body?"
"A mission." Byakuya said, glancing down at some device he was holding. It looked like a cell phone to Ichigo but considering all of the crazy stuff this guy kept flinging at him it probably wasn't.
"What?"
"A hollow has appeared." Byakuya clarified, sending him a disapproving glare.
"So? What's that got to do with me? Shouldn't that be your business?"
"It should be the business of the reaper in charge of this town," Byakuya corrected. "I have, however, reasons to believe that that person is no longer here to give assistance."
"What's that mean? He's dead?" Ichigo blurted but Byakuya didn't reply. Once again he took this to mean 'yes'.
"Come." Byakuya said, turning on his heel and stalking off in a brisk pace.
"Hey! What about my body? Hey, get back here! Byakuya!" Ichigo yelled at his back and only stopped because the man did. Byakuya looked at him over his shoulder, a frown on his face.
"Do not refer to me by my given name, boy." He intoned and the threat was evident in his voice. Then he began walking again and Ichigo pulled a face.
"That's all you got to say? You make me have an out of body experience and that's it?" Ichigo called, running after the guy. Damn it, someone better not get their grubby hands on his body while he was gone, he thought angrily. He caught up with the reaper easily enough but the other man refused to stop or turn around, instead leading him to a nearby playground.
"You going to tell me what we're doing here or what? You want to take a ride on the swings?" Ichigo asked dryly.
"I already have given you an answer to that question." Byakuya replied and Ichigo huffed. Right, this guy didn't like repeating himself.
"Yeah, yeah, some mission or something, but you still haven't told me what I'm supposed to do about-" he was caught off by the scream of a child, followed by loud crashing noises and when he looked towards the playground he caught sight of a little boy running away from what looked like a giant spider.
"Kill it." Byakuya said simply but Ichigo was already running past him onto the playground.
Once it was over and Ichigo stood looking at the spot where the kid – the soul – ghost – had disappeared, Byakuya decided to weight in on his performance.
"Your form is atrocious." Byakuya commented once the light died down and Ichigo turned his head to glare at him.
"Yeah? Well fuck you too." Ichigo bit out and stalked past the man and back towards the school. His body better be alright, he thought angrily. If it wasn't he knew just who he'd beat up for it too.
Still nothing, Byakuya thought with annoyance and frowned down at the device in his hand. He'd come out onto the roof of the building where he lived to look upon the moon – it was a beautiful moon tonight – and had tried to once again get a message through to Soul Society but the link wouldn't establish. Those tinkering fools of the twelfth was obviously not tinkering enough or they were tinkering in the wrong places because to allow the connection with the agents in the world of the living to go dead for this long was simply out of the question. Damn that Kurotsuchi . What use was he if he couldn't even keep the connection to the mortal realm running? The man simply had no business being a captain, Byakuya thought rather vehemently – enough so that he startled himself. He had spent a hundred years taming his more visceral reactions; it was telling how much this situation was bothering him if he'd allow them room to move now.
The anger had felt good though – strangely like meeting up with an old lover you had parted with reluctantly – but it was a false feeling. And if left to fester it would ruin him in the end. The only true way was one of rational thinking and planned action, and that was why Byakuya sat down on the edge of the building, closing his eyes and breathing deep. It was more difficult to reign in his emotions – distractions in the form of lights and the sounds of the living filled the air even this high up – but with great concentration he zoned them all out one by one until there was only him and the night. Nothing else mattered – not the electrics, or the honking cars or the yelling- only breathing and allowing himself to find his centre.
"Hey, calm down."
Byakuya opened his eyes slowly and looked around. There was a man behind him and from the look of the uniform he was wearing he was a member of the local police. The policeman was crouching, slowly creeping towards him while he kept his hands up and in front of himself. He looked very nervous sweat glinting off his forehead as he licked his lips.
"It can't be that bad buddy."
Byakuya resisted the urge to arch an eyebrow, instead inclining his head so that he could glare properly at the intruder.
"Leave. Your presence here is not required, officer." He intoned sternly.
"Come on now, you know I can't just leave you up here alone."
"I do not like to repeat myself, officer." Byakuya replied, refusing the urge to tell the man that he was no child in need of a handler.
"Look, if you just come down I promise that you won't have to see me again, buddy."
Byakuya turned his head to stare out across the town again, and nearly as soon as he did so a bright light hit his eyes and he was forced to close them. then came a roaring sound and a lot of yelling from the policeman about someone 'getting the hell out of there', and when next Byakuya could see – spots dancing in front of his eyes – a metal monstrosity flew away from the building. A helicopter, he believed the contraption was called but what business it had there was beyond him.
He glared after it for all but a second before a strong arm closed around his arm and dragged him backwards forcefully. Had he been any other man he likely would've yelped at the treatment, as it was Byakuya turned with the fall and punched the policeman on the nose.
Byakuya watched the proceedings of the hospital with resignation. Granted he couldn't see overly much from the bed where they'd placed him – held fast by a pair of metal bracelets the policeman had called 'cuffs. He'd examined them and had noted that he likely could get out of them fairly easy – Yoruichi had taught him more than shunpo after all – but he'd decided to wait and see how this situation played out.
He was the 28th head of the Kuchiki family after all, and thus he was bound to follow the law. Also, if worse came to worse he might just slip out of this shell and go buy a new one. That ought to clear up the situation adequately.
"Little Byakuya. Don't you know not to lounge about on high buildings? The mortals are very high-strung about things like that."
"I gathered as much." Byakuya replied dryly. He refused to show his surprise – surprise not at her visit, he'd known she'd be in the mortal realm somewhere, but at the fact that he still remembered her so well. It had been a hundred years and still she sounded precisely as he recalled.
Slowly he turned his head to look at her for the first time in a long time. Yoruichi was watching him with a wry grin, arms crossed as she leaned casually against the wall. Not only did she sound the same, she looked the same. One would think a century would show some outward change – he certainly had changed in the interim of their meetings.
"Look at you, all grown and glowerly." Yoruichi jibed, her grin turning sharp. Byakuya suddenly had the uncomfortable feeling that if not derailed she'd be ruffling his hair within moments.
"Why show yourself here?" He asked curtly. He knew that he didn't have to add that he was honour bound to return her to Soul Society under arrest if given the chance, Yoruichi knew the laws as well as he did – although she rarely showed it.
"Something's going on in Soul Society." Yoruichi said, pushing away from the wall. The playful grin had faded from her lips and now she was all business – a fact he was relieved by. He could not – and would not – be openly affiliated with a traitor. "They know about you transferring your power to the human and things are getting pretty tense. Especially since they can't get their Senkaimon working so they can retrieve you. The Kuchiki are raising hell, which is to be expected, and the captains are waiting for Central 46 to make up their minds about the situation. That redhead fukutaichou of yours is holding things together well enough under the circumstances but he seems pretty overwhelmed by it all."
If Renji was stuck with both his own and Byakuya's paperwork that was to be expected, Byakuya mused wickedly and resisted the urge roll his eyes.
"Anything else you'd like to know? Something about that little sister of yours?" Yoruichi asked, studying her nails rather pointedly. When he didn't respond she smiled wryly. "She's fine, by the way, a little banged up but better of than you, I'd wager. Some guys from the eleventh found her and brought her back right before communications went down. It's good to see that you're such a caring big brother."
Byakuya shot her a glare, once which had no effect what so ever on the hell cat of course, and her smile turned sharp in reply. He didn't need to ask how she had got there because he already knew, and she didn't offer to ask Urahara to grant him safe passage, knowing that he would refuse. Strange how they still seemed to understand one another after a century apart.
"What of the Senkaimon? What is causing the problem?"
"No one knows. Someone very clever if you ask Kisuke." Yoruichi replied. "Kurotsuchi is running his squad ragged trying to get things working again."
As he should, Byakuya thought.
"You know, you probably shouldn't talk to me. They already think you're suicidal," Yoruichi said with a teasing grin. "What would they think if they found you talking to yourself?"
Then she waved a hand nonchalantly in his direction and was gone.
Another three days later and Byakuya was back at his apartment, contemplating what passed for entertainment in the world of the living. Having flipped through numerous channels since figuring out how the device – the aptly named flat screen – worked Byakuya was not impressed. Precisely why anyone would place a number of people in a house for too many days to be healthy and then proceed to show the resulting madness to others was beyond him. Not only was it an exercise in futility, it was unsanitary.
His thoughts were interrupted when another device began beeping, the one in his right pocket that Urahara had given to him to gauge out hollow activity. Retrieving it from the pocket he frowned before reaching for a third device and quickly dialled a number.
It took several ring tones before anyone picked up on the other end: "Hello?"
"Kurosaki-" He began but was rudely interrupted by the human boy's cussing.
"How the hell did you get my cell phone number, you bastard?" Kurosaki's voice yelled at him over the line. "What's wrong with you? Leave me alone!"
Perhaps the boy was still sore about the incident a few days earlier, however that hardly mattered, Byakuya thought dryly. "Kurosaki, there's a hollow approaching your location. I would advice you leave your home unless you wish for your family to become its victims."
"What? What do you-?"
"Now, Kurosaki." He cut off what he suspected would be another tirade of tiring nonsense. Then, as an afterthought he told the boy to get to his address as soon as he could and hung up. Looking down at the phone Byakuya closed his eyes, willing away the annoyance that the willful human seemed so very able to produce from him.
Ichigo wasted only a moment to stare down at his phone, angry that he'd just been hung up on, before jumping up from his bed and rushing out.
"Where're you going?" he heard Yuzu calling from the kitchen when he came thundering down the stairs.
"Out!" He called back hurriedly, throwing on his jacket before starting on his shoes.
"Now? Isn't it kind of late to-" Yuzu questioned, coming out to stare at him with a bewildered expression on her face.
"I'll be right back. Just stay here, alright? Don't go anywhere." He said and ran outside.
"Where would I be-" he heard his little sister start but her voice was cut off when he slammed the door shut.
He didn't get far before the hollow came crashing towards him.
"Son of a bitch!" He yelled and turned on his heel, taking off in the opposite direction, fervently trying to come up with the quickest way possible to get to the reaper's location. So long that Ichigo remained in human form he could do nothing but run heedlessly from the hollow and hope that it didn't catch him before he managed to get to Byakuya.
Luckily it wasn't overly far, although Ichigo had to make some roundabout runs through allies and up ladders to avoid the roaring hollow, but by the time he neared the apartment building the reaper was waiting for him as promised. As usual he was dressed to impress in a pair of perfectly tailored pants and turtleneck sweater.
"Hey! Byakuya!" He called but cussed when the hollow came crashing after him, right at his heels. Speeding up he dashed headlong down the street, right for the reaper. "Dammit!"
In front of him Byakuya didn't seem the slightest bit affected by the situation, only reaching into his pocket to produce that weird glove again. Ichigo didn't hesitate to run right for the man, and he didn't hesitate to run right into the man's hand either.
The lurching feeling he'd felt the last time he was thrown out of his body didn't feel as bad this time and when he next found himself dressed in the black uniform of the soul reapers he turned quickly. The heavy weight of his sword was a welcome sensation on his back as the hollow came hurling closer.
"Hey," he said with a smirk and reached for his sword. "You look after my- what the hell, couldn't you have caught my body at least?"
Byakuya closed his eyes, obviously ignoring the statement in the same way the man had ignored Ichigo's soulless body crashing to the ground next to him. Hell, given the trajectory the bastard must've stepped out of the way of it! "You should keep your focus, Kurosaki."
"Dammit!" Ichigo cussed, drawing his sword and only barely managing to deflect the hollow's clawed hand when it came rushing down at him. "I'm going to have scabs all over! How the hell am I-" He grunted when the hollows claws came down on him but pushed back with all his might, throwing the creature back. " – supposed to explain that to my dad?"
Rushing past Byakuya and towards the hollow he didn't catch the response if there was one but Ichigo already had his hands full. The hollow screamed and struck at him again and Ichigo managed to dodge, only once he did the tail caught him across the chest and he flew across the street. He smacked into the side of a red car and lay hunched over for a moment, catching his breath. When a shadow fell over him he swung his sword and barely had time to process that it was Byakuya and not the hollow. With a cuss he managed to stop the swing and the blade stopped just short of beheading the reaper.
"Should you exhibit this level of inaptitude on a regular basis I am certain that your father would be amendable to believe that you fell, Kurosaki." The reaper said and there was no way that Ichigo could mistake the taunt for anything but.
Son-of-a-bitch, Ichigo thought darkly, glaring up at the man's uncaring features.
"Where'd it go?" Ichigo nearly growled, climbing to his feet and looking around. The street was empty except for the occasional clueless passer-by and the small crowd that was beginning to form around his body. "Oh damn, what're they doing?"
When he started off towards the crowd he was stopped by a firm hand on his arm.
"Your priorities are askew, Kurosaki. Your body is of no concern, however the hollow you allowed to escape is." Byakuya said.
"No concern? They're going to cart of my body to God knows where! I've got to-"
"Your duty is to defeat your opponent before it can cause further damage. Your body shall remain how it is until such time that you might re-enter it. Your peers can cause no further damage to it."
"But-"
"If, however, you have so little honour as to leave the matter unresolved you are free to leave." Byakuya said rather archly. He was staring straight at Ichigo and Ichigo did his best to return the stare, but eventually he looked away.
"Fine, but you're helping me get my body back later." He muttered. "Where'd the hollow go?"
If the reaper was placated or not was difficult to tell but Ichigo imagined that he could practically feel the smugness rolling off Byakuya when he suddenly turned and ordered: "Come."
Ichigo glared at the man's retreating back for a moment before reluctantly following.
Byakuya led him into an area that Ichigo knew well because several of his classmates lived in the area. His fingers tightened around the hilt of his sword at that thought – because he was too slow in killing that hollow, his friends were now in danger. He'd be damned if he let any of them get hurt, he thought fiercely and barely registered that Byakuya had stopped walking. In fact he'd already walked several paces past the reaper before he realised that the other man had halted, so he turned around and looked at Byakuya. The other man didn't spare him a glance, his eyes fixed on a house where the lights were still on and- Ichigo started when he realised that he recognised that place. That was where Inoue lived!
"Is it here?" He asked.
"It will-" Byakuya began but a loud crash from within the house cut him off. Ichigo cussed and ran. He could hear screaming from inside, not just from one person but at least two. Dammit.
"Oh man, Orihime's going to be really upset about all this." Ichigo murmured once things had been settled. As it turned out the hollow had been Orihime's brother that had died a while ago and it had attacked both her and Tatsuki. In the end Ichigo had managed to turn the tables on it but not before Orihime hearing the whole thing.
"They will not remember." The reaper said; he pocketed the device he'd seen him use one his friends, and started walking back the way they came.
"What's that mean?" Ichigo asked. "What'd you do to them? What is that thing? Hey, that's my friends back there and if you've hurt them I'll-"
"A kikanshinki." Byakuya replied monotonously. "A device developed for the replacement of memory in such a case that a human has seen a soul reaper or a hollow."
"So it's like one of those flash things from Men in Black? Only lame looking." Ichigo deduced and earner himself a frown from the other man. "Huh, guess you never seen that one."
Byakuya didn't reply.
"So they're going to be alright then?" Ichigo asked, wanting to hear an actual promise out of the man before letting the matter drop. Hell, for all he knew the guy had just fried his friends' brains.
"No harm has befallen them." Byakuya replied evenly, and only paused for a moment before adding: "In spite of your messy sword skills."
"What the hell-" Ichigo muttered and stopped, he glared at the man's back when Byakuya turned a corner to got back to that posh looking place where he seemed to have set up shop. For a moment there they'd actually been having a conversation – of sorts – but then the guy just had to go and get a jibe in at Ichigo's expense. What the hell was wrong with this guy? Had Ichigo's comment about his lame ass devices really got to him or something?
"Kurosaki."
Ichigo pulled a face when the other man stopped and said his surname. "Yeah, what is it?"
"Your body. " Byakuya reminded him, and Ichigo suddenly realised that he was still in his spirit form. The reaper glanced at him over his shoulder in a nonchalant manner before starting to walk again: "Very well, I shall retrieve it and have a servant deliver it for you."
Ichigo nearly choked on his own tongue, staring at the other man's retreating back for a moment while he processed what he'd said. Have a servant deliver it… servant… delivery? What the hell?
"You're not fed-exing* my body, god damn it!" Ichigo barked and rushed after the man angrily. He was really starting to hate this reaper guy.
Once they were back at the apartment building and they'd deduced that Ichigo's body was in fact nowhere in sight, Byakuya went inside and asked the guy at the counter whether he'd seen what had happened to it. As it turned out it had been ambulanced to the local hospital and Ichigo spent the ten minute walk there trying to remember whether he'd had any identification on him. It'd be a pain in the ass if the hospital called his house and worried his sisters with his apparent coma.
When they reached the hospital Ichigo rushed ahead, only to realise that he actually needed Byakuya's help still. The hospital was humongous and there was no way he'd be able to track his body down unless the reaper asked the staff for its location. When the reaper did just that the nurse at the desk looked very uncertain and looked at him strangely but Ichigo waved it off being flustered by the intimidating presence the reaper oozed. By the time they'd been walking down several hallways and they reaper was still receiving those stares from the staff Ichigo was starting to figure out that something was up.
"Hey, why is everyone looking at you like that? I'm supposed to be the ghost, aren't I?" Ichigo queried.
"Plus."
"Plus what?"
"The term is plus, not ghost. Or barring that a jibakurei or tsukirei." Byakuya replied curtly. "Ghosts only exist in mortals' imagination."
"What's the difference?" Ichigo asked with an eye roll.
"A plus is real." Byakuya replied, and the way he said it Ichigo knew that the guy was making fun of him. In a really subtle and infuriating way.
"Yeah, whatever. Then why is everyone here looking at you like you're a plus?"
Of course this time the guy refused to reply at all and only kept walking.
For a guy who seemed woefully inexperienced about humans and Karakura as a whole Byakuya sure seemed to know his way around the hospital though, Ichigo mused. Byakuya was leading him to the coma ward – where his body had apparently been dumped – with an unfailing confidence. It was almost as if he'd been there before.
Just as they were about to enter the coma ward they were stopped short by a man who was leaning against the wall in the corridor. The man was smoking and didn't acknowledge them until they'd nearly walked past him.
"Shinigami." The man said as they passed and Ichigo turned around quickly.
"You can see me?" He blurted out but the man barely awarded him with a glance. Instead his focus turned to Byakuya. "I would ask you not to leave your garbage lying about at my hospital."
Byakuya, for his part, barely acknowledged the man's presence but for a heavy lidded stare. "You may dispose of it at your convenience."
And then he walked away again. Ichigo stood stock still, glancing between the two men and waiting for the new guy to acknowledge him. After a moment the white haired man turned and walked the other way, trailing smoke as he went.
Feeling strangely invisible for a guy who actually was invisible to the general population Ichigo huffed and hurried after Byakuya.
"Alright, what was that all about?" He asked once he caught up, and when Byakuya didn't answer he continued: "And what garbage did you leave here? You do know this is a hospital and not the city dump, right?"
From the glare he received he figured that even the out of place reaper had figured out not to dispose of waste at the local hospital. Still though, that left the question of what that had been all about.
"Hey, wait – how'd that guy even know that you're a soul reaper?" Ichigo asked, pulling Byakuya to a halt sharply. "What's going on here?"
"Remove your hand from my person Kurosaki." Byakuya intoned and now there was a definitive threat in his tone of voice. Once Ichigo let go of him he opened a door and went inside, leaving Ichigo to follow at his convenience apparently. Muttering a cuss Ichigo did follow, because what choice did he really have?
He breathed out in relief when he stepped inside and found his body lying on a bed. It was hooked up to a variety of machines that beeped, but apart from the scratches he must've received when he crashed to the ground it looked to be in good shape.
Then Ichigo's eyes spotted the man lying in the bed next to it and he startled.
"Eh-" Ichigo pointed to the man lying in the other bed. "You got a twin or something?"
"Return to your body, Kurosaki."
Time passed in the world of the living and as it did Byakuya found himself growing more adaptable to the world around him. In the past month he'd taught himself the usage of several of the appliances in the cupboards in the kitchen and prided himself on only having caused a minor fire during the experimentation phase. The ability to feed himself anything other than canned foodstuffs he felt was important particularly since the so called ready-made meals they sold at the local market were truly abysmal. Whoever made those meals obviously had no understanding of proper cooking or nutrition.
A knock on the door interrupted his latest cuisine experimentation and when there came no announcement of whoever was seeking his attention he sighed and put the frying pan to the side. He already knew that it was Kurosaki on the other side – even weakened as he was Byakuya had the ability to tell that much- but the reiatsu signature was moving away after interrupting his cooking and it irritated Byakuya.
Opening the door he stepped out into the corridor and stared at the boy's retreating back. He'd expected Kurosaki to be apt enough with reiatsu by now to notice his presence but as usual the boy proved inept.
"Kurosaki."
The boy looked up with surprise, turning towards him quickly.
"Hey, I thought you weren't home. Why didn't you open the door when I knocked?" he asked and started back towards him. The boy walked with a lazy slouch, his clothes askew as if he'd been in a battle already, but that last bit he'd said made Byakuya take notice.
"You did not announce your identity, nor did you announce your reason to visit." Byakuya replied.
"You're supposed to open the door first." Kurosaki argued. "Who wants to talk to a closed door? Especially if no one's on the other side."
Obviously mortals did things differently; Byakuya thought and filed away the information away for later use. Or perhaps it was merely that commoners did things differently.
"Very well," He murmured. "What is your reason?"
Kurosaki didn't reply at first, his eyes looking Byakuya over with something very like awe. "Are you… cooking? God, you're even wearing an apron."
"It is the culturally accepted approach to the activity." Byakuya replied, failing to comprehend the stunned reaction.
"Right." Ichigo drawled, a smirk tugging his lips up sharply. "But a purple one with rabbits? It's just so-"
"Your reason, Kurosaki." Byakuya ordered. He had no inclination to hear the boy's philosophy on aprons and their proper usage.
"Wanted to ask you some questions about this whole thing, that's all." Ichigo replied with a shrug.
"I have given you any information needed for the duration of this situation." Byakuya replied and fully expected the boy to leave once he'd made that clear but Ichigo sighed audibly.
"Look, can we just get out of here for a bit? I don't understand any of this shit and you're the only one I can ask, you know. I bet there's loads of stuff you'd like to ask me too, right?"
"You're wrong, Kurosaki." Byakuya said, staving off the rising annoyance. "I am capable of adapting to your cultural idiosyncrasies without assistance."
"You're kidding, right?" Ichigo huffed and when the noble gave him a stern stare he continued. "I mean, yeah, you're cooking – obviously – but it's clear you're not from around here. There's got to be things here that you don't get either – like how you talk. You sound like a damn Vulcan." Perhaps some faint expression of confusion crossed Byakuya's face at that because the boy heaved another sigh. "Right, you don't know what that is. See? I made my point, now come on!"
"I am cooking, Kurosaki." Byakuya reminded the boy and stepped back inside the apartment. "I believe my current hosts would not be amendable to another fire."
There was a pause and then Ichigo followed him in. "Another fire?"
"So let me get this straight," Ichigo said, leaning back against the bench where they were sitting. "You're in some sort of military for the undead and you run around down here investigating paranormal crimes."
Byakuya closed his eyes, wondering how the words he'd spoken could've been dumbed down to such an inane degree. "No."
"Huh? But that's what you just told me." Ichigo argued and Byakuya resisted the urge to swat him over the head. "Fine. You're from Soul Society," Ichigo said, parroting Byakuya's earlier words in a mocking tone of voice. "And you guys got some mighty military that keeps souls safe or whatever, it's the same thing."
Byakuya decided not to argue the point, mainly because it appeared that it'd be useless, and anyhow the boy had moved on to other things already, asking about hollows. With an internal sigh he answered as well as he could, having come to the conclusion that it didn't seem like he'd be getting his powers back anytime soon and obviously Soul Society were still unreachable. Until the situation could be corrected he'd have to make sure that the boy knew what he was up against.
"So that's why it went after Inoue, because it was her brother's spirit and they had this bond thing." Ichigo finally said, nodding as if finally having figured something out. Not like Byakuya had had to spell it out for him.
"Correct." Byakuya replied. Perhaps he was being rather harsh with Kurosaki. The boy had been a human like any other just a month ago, he mused, but since he'd been doing a – adequate job of disposing of threats when needed.
"Huh."
There was a pause while the boy mulled that over and Byakuya busied himself with tasting the ice cream that Ichigo had insisted he should try. One spoonful was all it took for him to come to the conclusion that it was not to his taste.
"So… is he alright? I mean – did I kill him or-"
"He is in Soul Society. You performed the proper ritual that allowed his spirit to cross over."
"I did?"
"Indeed."
"When?" Kurosaki asked pulling a confused face and scratching the back of his neck. When Byakuya didn't reply but only offered a stony stare the boy pursed his lips. "That was what the whole thing with the hilt and the light was, right?"
"It would serve you well not to speak before thought has had a chance to process, Kurosaki." Byakuya said.
"That's a yes, right?" Kurosaki asked, eyeing him with narrowed eyes. Again when Byakuya refused to answer he leaned back against the bench and nodded to himself. "That's a yes. Aren't you going to eat that?"
"It is not to my taste."
"Not to your taste? It's everyone's taste – it's ice cream. Everyone likes ice cream."
"It's sweet."
"Yeah, that's the point."
"The matter is settled." Byakuya said and stood. Without further comment he walked away and didn't bother to reply when Kurosaki yelled after him that 'if he wasn't going to eat it, he would.'
Getting information out of the soul reaper was like pulling teeth – no, actually it was more like pulling your spleen out through your nose, Ichigo thought with annoyance. During the month that had passed since the hollow attack Ichigo had learned; a) Soul reapers were real, b) they lived in Soul Society and c) they were glorified Ghostbusters who occasionally kicked monster ass. Well, there had been that one occasion about a week back when the reaper had decided to lecture him a bit on the Ghostbusters gig, but mostly Ichigo was still reminded of the spleen/nose conundrum.
Fortunately he wasn't the only one with a lot of questions and no answers because recently he'd realised he wasn't the only one around with superpowers. Ishida had made that pretty clear when he suggested the stupid hollow contest – a contest which had had even Byakuya in a visibly foul mood. Ichigo had suspected that if Byakuya had had his powers the guy would've strangled both Ichigo and Ishida – especially when the giant hollow had appeared and they… got a little silly. The soul reaper had seemed somewhat placated when Ichigo actually did manage to drive it back, but Byakuya still had stopped long enough to critique his swordsmanship before striding off.
After that incident Ichigo hadn't seen the guy for two days – apparently even peevish soul reapers took the weekend off from terrorising their students. Come Monday the guy had barely acknowledged Ichigo's existence and pretty much seemed to avoid him. Knowing what little he did about Byakuya Ichigo knew that the guy would never admit to avoiding him, but that sure as hell seemed to be the case.
Meanwhile Ishida and him had reached a truce, of sorts, and soon after Ichigo had realised that Chad and Inoue also were in the superhero club – a club which they seemed to have agreed that he was the chairman of.
"Ichigo!" Inoue's cheerful voice halted him on his way to school, and he let the girl catch up. "What're we going to do today? Should we fight monsters?"
She mimed hitting some invisible foe – exposing the fact that she had no idea of how to throw a punch in the first place – and looked at him eagerly.
"Er, you probably shouldn't talk about that stuff so openly." Ichigo protested and Inoue stopped, tilted her head thoughtfully and nodded.
"You're right. We should stay undercover so that no one knows about us."
"Or throw us in the loony bin." Ichigo added gruffly as they began to walk again.
"Maybe we should wear disguises like Ishida does. Where do you think he buys those? Is there a store that carries secret identity clothes?" Inoue continued. "Or, maybe, he makes them himself. Perhaps we should ask him to make us matching ones too and-"
"No way." Ichigo said quickly, determined to end that thought before it could take root. There was no way that he would dress up like – well, whatever it was Ishida dressed up as. Besides, he was invisible to most people so that was that.
Inoue looked disappointed for a moment, but then she quickly perked back up and began chattering again. It wasn't that Ichigo minded her chatter – so long that it didn't involve loud exclamations about monsters and tights – but he found himself hard-pressed to keep up with her line of thought. Eventually – as was often the case – he gave up and let it wash over him while his mind turned to other things.
One of those things was how to convince the reaper to give up some more information, but no matter how he tried to come up with a plan Ichigo couldn't quite figure out one that would work. Eventually he decided that he'd wing it – preferably after dropping by unannounced and perhaps, just perhaps, catching the guy off guard.
As it turned out that was a crappy lack-of-plan to begin with because when Ichigo knocked on the reaper's door, and then when it didn't open added a reluctant: "It's Ichigo.", it still didn't open. Eventually Ichigo had to concede that perhaps the guy wasn't home. When the reaper didn't show up for class but a new substitute teacher walked in Ichigo knew something was wrong. Particularly since no one in school - apart from his super friends- seemed to even remember their former teacher.
Apparently, Ichigo thought, the reaper must've managed to get back home after all. And it wasn't so much that he begrudged the man going home, but after the past month he figured that he at least warranted a damn 'good bye'.
It was on the second day after Byakuya's disappearance that Ichigo was stopped on his way from school by a guy that leered too much for anyone's comfort.
"Hey, kid. Wanna take a walk with me?"
"Not really." Ichigo replied, eying the newcomer with suspicion. He didn't look like a reliable sort of guy to Ichigo – rather green and unkempt, and also the majority of his face was covered by either his hair or the hat on top of it.
"Come now, Kurosaki. We'll have a lot to talk ab-"
"How do you know my name?"
"I keep my ear to the ground and make it my business to know what happens in this town. I'm Kisuke Urahara, the proprietor of Urahara Shop." The man introduced himself. "And you're the human Byakuya Kuchiki was arrested over."
"Arrested?" Ichigo echoed.
"Well, of course," Urahara nodded. "What he did, giving his powers away to a mere human, that is a grave offence indeed in the eyes of Soul Society."
"So what're they going to do with Byakuya?" Ichigo asked.
"Byakuya Kuchiki," Urahara mused aloud, as if savouring the moment, "the head of house of the noble Kuchiki clan and captain of the sixth division of the Gotei 13. It's funny hearing anyone speaking about a guy like that in such familiar terms."
"Yeah, well figures he was such a hotshot." Ichigo muttered. "You still haven't told me what they're going to do with the guy though."
"An execution seems to be on the agenda."
A/N: Just exploring a thought. Don't know how well that went. Anyways I don't plan on continuing this, at least not anytime soon, but I'm leaving the end open just in case I feel inspired in the future.
* Also is fed-exing a term? Anyone who knows? It feels like it could be, but what do I know, it's not like I'm a native speaker.