"Good afternoon!" Rukia went as she hopped into the office of the Sixth Division.
Byakuya, the captain of the division, replied in a stern voice, "Didn't I tell you knock before you enter? And don't keep shriek all the time, members of the Kuchiki family doesn't do that."
Rukia sticked out her tongue and apologised, "Sorry, nii-sama."
Byakuya scolded once again, "Call me Kuchiki-taiichou. I'm a captain!" and returned to doing his paper works.
"Rukia! What brings you here?" Abarai Renji, the lieutenant of that division, interrupted as he stepped into the office. Rukia whipped her head around and lifted the bentos in her hands, "Ukitake-taiichou wants me to bring you bentos. He's treating everybody in Gotei 13," she answered. "The whole of the 13 Protection Squads? He must have killed a lot of Hollows recently," Renji exclaimed. Rukia shrugged her shoulders and looked around the office. Third seat Kurosaki Ichigo was sitting at his desk writing reports. He was ignorant to the scene.
"Ichigo," Rukia stepped in front of him. He raised his head up but remained silent. "Ukitake-taiichou bought bentos for you guys." Ichigo nodded, and sink his head back into his reports.
"Just leave the bentos here and go. Don't you have any more duties to do? It's no wonder you're never promoted," Byakuya commented through his piles of paperwork.
"Yes, nii-sama." she bowed and turned around. Before she stepped out, she turned her head a bit to look at Ichigo again.
It was afternoon and the sun shone intensely. Ichigo was walking back to his lodging after killing a Hollow that appeared in the woods. Suddenly, his gikon fell out from his Soul Reaper costume. The small, green pill rolled along the cemented path and stopped upon somebody's feet. "Oh dear, oh dear, what do we have here?" a really old man bent down to pick it up. "Yamamoto-Taiichou, can I have it back?" Ichigo bowed and tried to ask politely.
"This belongs to Kuchiki Rukia if I'm not wrong?" Yamamoto handed him the gikon. "Yes. Have a good day, Yamamoto-Taiichou," Ichigo made another attempt at being polite, but was secretly hoping time would pass quickly. He hates talking to people.
The old man's knee-length braided beard bounced around as he laughs and walked away, calling back, "I see, I see. Help me say hi to her, yeah?" Ichigo looked back at his back. "He's trying to say youngster stuff again." He thought and went back to his lodgings.
"Yamamoto-Taiichou," Renji was standing in front of the old man in the First Division Office. "Have you called for me?"
"Ah, yes, come, sit here and have some tea," Yamamoto patted the cushion beside him. Renji obliged.
"Yamamoto-Taiichou, I don't see..." he began but was interrupted by Yamamoto.
"Have anything been troubling you, Abarai-fuku-taiichou?"
Renji was shocked and quickly added, "You... You don't have to call me fuku-taiichou. Just call me Abarai."
Yamamoto laughed and corrected his sentence, "Okay, Abarai-kun, what has been troubling you?"
Renji took a sip of his green tea and laughed, "Nothing, seriously! What makes you think something has been troubling me?"
Yamamoto smiled with a twinkle in his eyes, "Really?"
Renji remained silent and stared at the wooden floor. He gulped his tea down his throat again and finally said, "I... I like Kuchiki Rukia."
"Oh, I see, love, is it?" Yamamoto stroked his beard.
"But... Rukia, I think she likes Kurosaki Ichigo," Renji explained, feeling very oppressed.
Yamamoto remained silent for a moment, and then commented, "I understand that Kuchiki and you grew up together?"
"Yes."
"What do you like about her then?"
"I don't know, I suppose it just grows with time," Renji frowned a little.
"And why are you worried about her liking Kurosaki?" Yamamoto drank his tea.
"I... I don't know. I don't want her to be with him. I... I want her to be with me. I want her to like me. I... I can't stand the thought of Rukia being with that idiot Ichigo. I... I..." Renji clenched his fists.
"Are you sure that she likes Kurosaki?" Yamamoto suddenly declared. Renji looked up.
"I... No," he said unwillingly.
"Do you want to win Kuchiki's heart?"
"I do! Of course I do!" Renji was so agitated he stood up.
Yamamoto smiled and took another sip of tea.
"Then go fight for your love."
That night, Renji could not sleep as he kept thinking about the conversation he and Yamamoto had in the afternoon.
"Fight for your love, huh?" He repeated his words before coming to a conclusion what he should do.
"What?" Ichigo asked, not believing his ears.
"I told you, I challenge you to a battle!" Renji pointed his Zanpakutou sword at him.
It was the next morning in the Sixth Division Office. Byakuya had not arrived yet and there were only Ichigo and Renji.
Ichigo ignored him and went back to his reports. "Hey, I'm speaking to you!" Renji yelled. But Ichigo remained silent and wrote his reports.
"Hey! I'm the lieutenant around here!" Renji began poking Ichigo with his Zanpakutou.
"What?!" Irritated, Ichigo stood up, his reports flying about.
"Battle me!" Renji was also losing his patience.
"Why would I waste my time fighting you?" Ichigo shouted.
"For Rukia!" Renji screamed. Ichigo fell silent. "You like Rukia too, don't you. Well, let this battle decide who should have Rukia."
Ichigo hesitated. "You like Rukia, don't you?" These words circled his mind. "I'll take you on!"
"Good."
At the dry land near the Seireitei, Renji and Ichigo were standing there, facing one-on-one.
Renji was pulling out his Zanpakutou, while Ichigo was still thinking about whether he made the right choice.
"Hoero, Zabimaru," Renji called his Zanpakutou. In a flash, a long sword with segments that has another narrow blade sticking out was seen in Renji's hands.
Ichigo pulled his Zanpakutou, whose blade was as big as his body. "Zangetsu." He called his Zanpakutou.
"Ha!" Zabimaru's segments suddenly broke apart. There was rubber band-like strings in between which stretched the blade. Ichigo barely dodged it, which made Zabimaru destroy the ground he was standing on earlier.
Ichigo pulled his guards up and tightened his grip around Zangetsu. He jumped onto Zabimaru's blade and run down, before slashing Renji with Zangetsu. Renji dodged but had a long cut on his chest. Blood spurted out. It stung so much Renji had to clench his fists.
Ichigo returned to his place. He began running towards Renji again and tried to hit him, but Renji defended by wielding his Zabimaru in front of him, blocking his attacks. "I will win, this battle," Renji told Ichigo.
Ichigo just pushed harder. Finally, they could not take it and hopped back. "Zabimaru!" Renji yelled when Zabimaru stretched itself again. This time, Ichigo had no time to dodge and was hit. It cut deep into his right arm. Renji pulled Zabimaru out slowly, blood dripping everywhere as each segment passed Ichigo's flesh. It hurt so much Ichigo could barely breathe.
"That's the difference between a lieutenant and a third seat," Renji rested his hand on Zabimaru. Ichigo was already squatting on the ground, panting. Sweat trickled down his face as Rukia's smiling face suddenly appeared in front of him.
He grabbed Zangetsu once more and stood up, "It's not over yet."
"Did you feel that?" Rukia asked suddenly. "That's Renji and Ichigo's reiatsu!"
"Let's go over." Byakuya led the way.
Ichigo and Renji were still fighting, only the clashing of swords could be heard. They were deep in the battle.
"Ichigo and Renji are... fighting?" Rukia gasped when she arrived at the scene. "Why?"
Byakuya told her, "Observe the fight."
"Grrrr...." Ichigo went as he blocked Renji's attack with Zangetsu. He could not hold on much longer.
Zabimaru soon overpowered him but miss by a few inches. His clothes were slashed. Suddenly, the gikon fell out again.
"The... Chappy Gikon?" Rukia wondered and memories came flooding back to her.
"Gikon? What is that?" Ichigo asked as Rukia passed him the pill.
"It's a pill that contains modified soul designed to fill in for your gigai when you're in Shinigami mode," Rukia explained.
"Gigai?"
"When you go to the Real World, you will be in these artificial bodies call gigai. You can recuperate inside your gigai when you are injured."
"... Thank you," Ichigo said.
"Hey, your thank you isn't very appreciative! This is from the most popular gikon Chappy the Rabbit!
"Ichigo... still has it? I... I thought he threw it away... I... wonder why." Rukia, although in a state of puzzlement, smiled a little.
"Now I get it. They're fighting for you. Gambling their life for a girl, I would do that for Hisana too," Byakuya explained.
"But it's different, nee-san is your wife and..."
"Just watch the fight," Byakuya continued to observe the fight.
Ichigo noticed as well but tried to ignore it. He turned to face Renji. "He is my opponent now," he told himself.
"Haaaaaaa!" Ichigo raised Zangetsu in his hands, as he prepared to strike Renji. Renji also swung Zabimaru over his head.
Just as they were about to strike, they both fell to their knees. They were panting. They were tired from all that fighting already.
"Let... our Bankai decide who's... the winner," Renji said in between breaths.
Ichigo just nodded.
With much effort, they both stood up.
"Ban..."
"...Kai!"
"Oh no! Are they going to use Bankai?" Rukia asked Byakuya.
"Bankai, they are going to use it here?" Byakuya himself was surprised too, but remained his posture as a captain.
"Nii-sama, can't you stop them? You're their captain!" Rukia yelled.
"No, their reiatsu is too great for me to barge in."
"But they are both going to die if they release Bankai here!"
Byakuya lowered his head a little but continued watching the battle.
Tornadoes of sand engulfed both of them as they release their Bankai. After some time, the tornado died down, revealing both of them.
Ichigo was draped in a black cape and holding a small Zanpakutou in his hands. "Tensa Zangetsu," he called his Zanpakutou.
Renji had a fur cape and a red toothed necklace. Behind him was a long monster that resembled Zabimaru and a snake. It had a skeletal head. "Hihiou Zabimaru," he called his Zanpakutou.
"Hyaaaaaa!" They both cried at the top of their lungs as they charged at each other.
"Stop!!!!!!" Rukia was yelling.
Suddenly, there was an explosion of flames. "Ichigo! Renji!" Rukia's eyes widened.
The smoke died down, and there were three shadows. Two of them are Ichigo and Renji, but who is the last one?
The smoke slowly cleared and revealed the person. It was Yamamoto! His coat has been blown off, showing his muscular torso which has not aged with time. In his hand was his Zanpakutou.
"Yamamoto-taiichou?" Renji exclaimed, returning to his Shikai state. All of a sudden Rukia charged at him and embraced him.
"You idiot! Do you know you could have died?" Rukia sobbed. Renji looked at Rukia. Feeling sympathetic for her, he tried to calm her down by stroking her head. He could feel Rukia's jaw trembling as she spoke.
Byakuya turned his back towards them and muttered, "Disgraceful!"
Ichigo, who saw the scene, knew who the winner of the match was already. Unwillingly, he turned back, his eyes staring on the ground, and walked away. Tears welled up in his eyes, and his footsteps were heavy and slow.
"You sure that you're leaving?" Yamamoto suddenly appeared behind him, his coat back on.
"I've lost the battle after all, didn't I? The one Rukia likes is Renji, not me," Ichigo confessed.
"I'm not so sure about that," Yamamoto winked at him.
"Ichigo!" That one word pierced his ears. He turned around and saw Rukia running towards him. Her face had been stained with tears from just now. She put out her palm in front of him. It was the gikon that fell out earlier during the match.
"Don't you want it?" Rukia looked up at him. Hesitantly, Ichigo raised his hand. He took the Gikon with great care not to touch Rukia's hand.
"Thank you," he said coldly. Rukia put her hands behind her and smiled, "You're welcome."
They were both quiet for a moment, as the others watched on. Renji felt very unwilling, but he had to let go.
"We could... start as being friends, can't we?" Rukia finally spouted out.
Ichigo was astonished by her words. And for the first time in his life, his lips crack into a smile.