Byakuya closed his eyes and tried to find inner peace. It was incredibly hard at the moment, when his wife and his son were fighting.
He hadn't wanted to marry Lady Solina Shihoin. He hadn't wanted to marry anyone, after Hisana. But the Council of Elders had finally given him an ultimatum and he had accepted his fate, allowing them to choose the woman he would be paired off with, forever. Byakuya had thought it wouldn't matter. He could not love any of them.
And he most certainly did not love Lady Solina, but he was wishing now that he had taken a more active hand in the selection. Simple peace would have been good to have, and he hated it when she tormented their son this way. Solina was crying now, and he knew her tears were completely false. Their son knew it as well.
"Fuck you, bitch!" Byakuya winced as Gyomaru stormed out of the manor. His son was a beautiful young man, and the one truly positive thing that had come out of his marriage. Fortunately, the boy's mother did not follow him into the garden. She had stopped pursuing him that far after he had started 'training' and nearly hit her with a kido. As a father and husband, Byakuya had to disapprove, but as a man… well, he understood. "Blahblahblah, I know I'm not good enough for you, stuff it!" For a moment Byakuya thought Gyomaru was speaking to him, but then he realized he was continuing the conversation with his mother to himself.
"Gyo, please don't call your mother that." He said softly and saw his son scowl, fingering the hilt of his sword. "What was the argument about?" Perhaps there was something he could do to help, although he doubted it. Gyomaru's scowl increased.
"She wants me to go to another one of her damn tea parties. I am done with them! I don't care what kind of guilt trip she gives me, I am DONE! I'm not a little boy she can dress up to show off to her friends anymore!" He snarled and Byakuya closed his eyes for a moment. He wished he could tell the boy that his mother was just proud of him. But it would have been a lie.
"Your mother is… strange. We just have to adapt." He said carefully. The truth was, Byakuya was fairly sure that Lady Solina was a sociopath. She cared nothing about her son and her husband, only the image they presented to the world. She only parented Gyomaru when it was convenient to her, so he effectively had only one parent. When he'd realized the problem, Byakuya had cut his duties to as little as possible to give him more time with the boy. He wasn't sure it had been enough. "Gyomaru, we need to discuss your appearance before the Council tomorrow."
"Not you too!" His son ran a hand through his hair, blue eyes widening in genuine distress. Byakuya winced at the look. "Dad, I don't care what the Council thinks of me, they can go sit on a tack! And I'm only seventeen anyway." He added with a scowl and Byakuya sighed.
"I know, Gyo, I know." He also thought the Council was pushing his son too fast. But he had to admit that Gyomaru was completely wild. Byakuya had been a free spirit as a youngster, but Gyomaru was completely beyond him. He sometimes wondered if it was his fault for not disciplining the boy more. But he'd found it hard to mar their time together with harsh discipline, when Gyo's mother was ignoring him or displaying him like a trophy. "But I just thought we would go over what you were planning to wear." Byakuya said as mildly as he could. Gyomaru's taste was atrocious. Renji had given him some horrible glasses from the Living World, and the boy wore them all the time. He wouldn't put it past Gyo to wear them to the Council meeting.
"Oh, alright. I'll put up with it from you, dad." Gyomaru gave in with ill grace and Byakuya thanked the stars for small favors. "I'm going to wear that white and black outfit I just got, the one you said makes me look like an arrancar. It's not like the Council will notice anyway. And I was going to wear my silver hair clips, just for you." Byakuya couldn't help but smile at that. Gyomaru hated his hair. If the boy had had his way, he would have chopped it all off. But his mother loved it, and Byakuya actually agreed with her on that point. Gyomaru had the same flowing black tresses as his father, and they were absolutely beautiful with his lovely blue eyes. Byakuya sometimes wondered where those eyes had come from. His mother's eyes were brown and his own were grey. Except for Rukia, who was adopted, no one in the family had eyes like that.
"That would be perfectly fine. Thank you, Gyo." His son flashed him a grin and Byakuya couldn't help but admire the bright life in his blue eyes. "Now, I think you could do with some physical effort to wear out your temper." Gyo's grin widened and he could see an astonishing bloodlust in his boy's eyes. Gyomaru had a fighting spirit, and for him, practice was a pleasure.
"That would be great, dad! C'mon!" And Gyo ran out ahead of him, the elder Kuchiki following more sedately. It didn't do for the clan leader to be seen running around the gardens, unless there was actually an emergency. Really, he shouldn't let Gyo do it either. But it was so hard to discipline his son, especially with such minor things.
Hopefully, he would grow out of it with time.
Byakuya winced to himself as he saw Gyomaru slumping in his chair. The Council business was taking longer than expected, and the boy had very little tolerance for boredom.
Although, Byakuya knew that was not entirely fair. Gyomaru could handle boredom that he chose. He was fully capable of working very, very hard to master something he cared about. He could lie in wait for hours to spring an ambush, handling that boredom with ease. But he hated meetings and disliked the elders of the clan. This was precisely the kind of situation that gave him the least comfort. But eventually, they did get to the part that directly concerned his son. Byakuya could sense Gyo's attention sharpening as the elder's brought up the question of his career path and education.
The simplest thing to do, of course, would be to send him to the Academy. And sooner or later he would go there, if only to complete the exams to verify that he was worthy to be a shinigami. But there were many tensions between the clans at the moment and no one was entirely thrilled by the thought of sending Gyo to the Academy. It should be safe, but accidents did happen, and Gyomaru was the heir to the Kuchiki clan. He also burned with potential and everyone was certain he would achieve bankai. There was no one else in his age group with such power. So they were considering private instructors.
"I would like Kenpachi Zaraki." Gyomaru suddenly said, making his father quietly choke. Kenpachi? He hadn't even been included in the list, since his manners were absolutely appalling and Gyo didn't need any help in that area. His son could be remarkably crude when he chose to be. "Really, I might like to be in his Division someday. Drinking, fighting and fucking, where could I go wrong?" Byakuya put a hand over his face as a dead silence fell over the Council. Then it gave way to outrage.
"Absolutely unacceptable! Gyomaru, if you cannot contain yourself you will be removed from this debate." The head council member looked at his son with ill-disguised disgust. Gyomaru seemed to sulk for a moment, scowling.
"Well, if I can't have Kenpachi, I want Kurosaki Ichigo. I've heard so many stories about him and his remarkable achievements. I would like to be like him someday." That soothed the Council's nerves considerably. Ichigo was over forty years old now, and had calmed down considerably from his youthful days as a substitute shingami. He was still alive and still in the Living World, but in some ways that was all to the good. It would be much harder for another clan to strike out at Gyo there, particularly with such a powerful man looking after the boy.
Byakuya glanced at his son and blinked as Gyo gave him a crooked smile. And he suddenly realized that the boy had just attempted to manipulate the Council. It had been very basic, of course, but offering someone completely unacceptable – Zaraki – then amending it to the person he actually wanted was a good tactic. If Gyo had asked for Ichigo immediately the Council might have objected. But compared to Kenpachi, the orange haired man was a saint. Byakuya felt a combination of sadness and pride as he looked at his son. Sadness, because his ability to manipulate partly sprang from his mother's treatment of him. Pride, because he would need that ability to deal with the clans. Byakuya made a mental note to himself to try to bring out that ability and properly train it.
Eventually, simple little tactics would not be enough.
Ichigo looked at himself in the mirror, then glanced out his window with a faint sigh.
He looked exactly the same as he had when Rukia had impaled him with a sword and his spiritual powers had been returned. The process had likely started well before that, but the final infusion of reiatsu had stopped his aging. Mentally, he was forty-three. Physically, he was seventeen and always would be.
It was turning into a problem. Some people were remarkably preserved, so he just pretended to be as baffled as everyone else, but sooner or later it was going to be too much. And it would be sooner rather than later. Ichigo thought he would have to admit defeat by the time he hit fifty. And then… what? He wasn't entirely sure.
There were a few options. He could fake his death and start a new life. Urahara could help him with that, he'd been dealing with the problem for his own group of misfits for quite some time. The Visored's would also likely have some ideas. Another option was to leave his body with Kon, who could start a new life, and he could depart for Soul Society. Kon would likely enjoy that and truthfully, Ichigo wouldn't be leaving much behind.
Except for family, his personal life was largely empty. Ichigo had faced the fact that he was gay some time ago, and he'd had a few lovers, but no one who had truly touched his heart. He sometimes wondered if there was anyone for him out there. He worked as a doctor at a small family clinic, and he had friends there, but no one he was truly close to. He was an uncle to Yuzu's children, and that was nice, but she'd moved away to be near her husband's family. Karin had never married.
The one person who had truly touched his heart was dead. Ichigo felt a pang as he thought about it. It had been the most bizarre romance in the universe, if you could even call it that. They'd spent all their time beating the living hell out of each other, but he'd still felt closer to Grimmjow than almost anyone in his life. The insanely aggressive arrancar had seemed to understand him in a way no one else could. He'd loved seeing the fire in those bright blue eyes, hearing the curses from those lips.
But Nnoitra had taken that away. He'd blocked the other Espada's final strike, and for a while he'd thought Grimmjow would live. But after Kenpachi saved him from Nnoitra and Tesla, he'd gone to check the Espada and found he was gone. Looking into those blank, empty eyes had been hard, and it had been harder when the body had just faded away. There had been nothing for Orihime to bring back. He only took comfort in the fact that the Gates of Hell had not opened for the Espada. Hollows were judged on the deeds they had committed while living, and apparently Grimmjow's had not warranted damnation. Someday, he would be reborn.
Ichigo probably wouldn't be alive to see it, though, and even if he did he'd never recognize the Espada. Pushing aside the thoughts of the one man he thought he might have loved, he blinked as a hell butterfly flitted into his room. Reaching out, he accepted the message.
Greetings, Kurosaki Ichigo. This is Byakuya Kuchiki. Could you please come to my manor to discuss a matter of some importance? A key to our seikamon is enclosed. Ichigo blinked in surprise, but accepted the reiatsu key. This was very interesting.
"Hey, Kon? It's showtime." The little stuffed toy yawned, sitting up. He'd been napping on Ichigo's computer. "Remember, nothing too perverted." Ichigo had loosened up a bit since his teenage days. Some perversion was allowed, just nothing that would stain his reputation too badly. "Cough up."
"Sure thing, Ichigo." Kon's soul came out, a little pill, and Ichigo swallowed it before popping out of his body. Activating the seikamon, he stepped through and entered Soul Society.
This private gate led directly to the Kuchiki manor, and actually opened into a private sitting room. Byakuya was sitting on the cushions while drinking a cup of tea, and Ichigo blinked as he saw the noble wasn't alone. A teenager was with him, and the kid gazed him over frankly as Ichigo returned the favour.
It was pretty clear from the hair and silver clips who the boy was. Ichigo knew that Byakuya had finally remarried and had a child, but he hadn't realized the boy was almost grown up. Incredibly blue eyes met his, and Ichigo had to suppress a shiver. He hadn't seen eyes that particular shade of blue for decades.
"Hi Byakuya." Ichigo took a seat on the cushions, smiling as Byakuya just looked at him, expressionless. He knew the noble hated how he didn't use any honorifics, but that was just too bad. Surprisingly, the kid grinned at him. "I know who you must be, but I'm sorry, I don't know your name." He said to the boy. The shape of his face was pretty much identical to Byakuya, so there was really no doubt at all.
"I'm Gyomaru, but you can call me Gyo. Hi." The kid flipped something out of his pocket and Ichigo choked as he put on bright pink and blue sunglasses studded with rhinestones. "Renji got me these on a trip to the Living World, aren't they spactastic?"
"Gyo, please." Byakuya sounded pained and his son laughed as he put the glasses away. "Ichigo, I have a proposition for you." Byakuya paused to pour him some tea, and Ichigo tilted his head to one side, curious.
"What sort of proposition?" He asked before sipping his tea. He noticed that Gyomaru was making some pretty impressive inroads on the snacks. But he was probably still busy growing. It had been a long, long time since Ichigo had suffered an appetite like that.
"You probably aren't aware of the tensions between clans in Soul Society." Byakuya said quietly and Ichigo decided not to point out that he was very aware. After the Quincy had been defeated, things had quieted down, but he still kept his ears open for trouble. His best guess was that the next crisis was going to be something internal, and Byakuya's words seemed to be confirming it. "The Kuchiki clan is currently one of the most powerful, and Gyomaru is showing early signs of powerful reiatsu." Ichigo nodded. He could feel it radiating from the kid. It rather reminded him of himself, before he'd learned a bit of control. "We could send him to the Academy, but he would not be allowed any personal guards there. In the current situation, the Council feels that that would be unsafe. Instead, we are wondering if you would be willing to take charge of his education."
"Me?" Ichigo blinked, considering it. It was an intriguing proposition, but… "Byakuya, I do have a job and patients. How much would this pay?" The patients were not an insurmountable difficulty. Things at the clinic were actually a bit slow, so he could probably shift them to other doctors and take a leave of absence, if he wanted to. Ichigo was surprised to find that he did want to. This was interesting, and there was something about Gyomaru that intrigued him. Byakuya named a figure that was pleasantly high and Ichigo quickly made a decision. "I'd be interested. You mentioned guards, though. How many and will they be staying with him?
"Three, and yes, they will. I would suggest that you should use my manor in the Living World, it has many protections." He said and Ichigo nodded thoughtfully. That sounded logical. Gyomaru sighed.
"My own personal chastity belt." He muttered and Ichigo snorted his tea. Byakuya shot his son a look and Gyomaru grinned. "What? He should know what I'm like."
"I'm sure he will discover that very, very quickly." Byakuya said drily. "Kurosaki Ichigo, my son is a horrible brat with no manners and an unspeakable vocabulary. I hope you will be able to civilize him, or I fear for the future of the clan." Ichigo stared at the noble in disbelief, then glanced at his son, who was still grinning.
"Tch. Just for that, I'm going to make sure to lose my virginity before I'm eighteen. I don't care if I have to seduce a guard to do it." Gyomaru took his tea and pounded it back like it was hard liquor. Ichigo couldn't help but wonder if this was a good idea, but then he met those bright blue eyes again. Eyes that particular shade of vibrant blue.
He didn't know where this was going, but he knew it would be interesting.