Title: Then Go
Rating: T
Pairings: Implied Byakuya/Izuru, one-sided Tōshirō/Izuru
The topic of conversation wasn't anything ridiculously embarrassing, like the one Ichimaru-Taicho had given him the day before. Kuchiki-Taicho was calmly addressing the topic of his Zanpakuto which Izuru had asked about. It was simply Senbonzakura as the main focus. She was sitting across the kotatsu, between the Sixth Captain and the Third Lieutenant. Izuru was staring at it with pure admiration; from afar he'd always thought Senbonzakura was a gorgeous sword and up close, she was even prettier. Though no one's beauty could match that of Kuchiki-Taicho, but those thoughts belonged to Izuru and Izuru alone and no one was to know.
"Now," continued Kuchiki-Taicho from his previous lecture that Izuru was paying rapt attention to, "Senbonzakura has already reached her final stage."
Izuru's eyes lit up. Bankai. "Bankai, right Kuchiki-Taicho?" asked the blond before sipping his tea.
"That is correct, Kira-Fukutaicho," answered the beautiful raven. "Now, Senbonzakura may seem beautiful," for Izuru had said so at the beginning of the conversation, "but she is deadly, Fukutaicho."
Izuru nodded. "Yes, but no matter what," he smiled innocently; he was the epitome of innocence, "I shall continue to think the best of Senbonzakura-Sama." Kuchiki-Taicho took a sip of his tea and fixed Izuru with an amused stare. Izuru blushed under the Captain's scrutiny.
"Alright then," answered Kuchiki-Taicho. "Now, her Bankai," he continued. However, Izuru's mind went off course from there. That one simple word, Bankai, sent his head reeling. How did Kuchiki-Taicho do that? Why did he do that? He missed the confused then understanding look that danced across Kuchiki-Taicho's face, but some of the other occupants of the tea shop did not. "Fukutaicho?" inquired Kuchiki-Taicho. Izuru's face darkened to a tomato red.
He stood abruptly, bowing deeply to the Sixth Captain. "Excuse me, Kuchiki-Taicho. I forgot; I have some paper work that must be turned in to Ichimaru-Taicho post haste." Kuchiki-Taicho gave an amused look to the younger that fled the scene. Izuru, face flushed darkly, dashed from the tea shop and into the streets of Seireitei, his head bowed as he ran through the throngs and throngs of bodies mashed together doing some shopping or rendezvousing with friends. He didn't know where he was running to, just not the tea shop and not the third division barracks. There was no one he could confide in. Ichimaru-Taicho would laugh at him and pat his head, treating him like a child, Renji would get offended and demand to know why Izuru had been with Kuchiki-Taicho and not Renji, Rangiku would try to get him to go drinking with her to wipe the memories of Kuchiki-Taicho away. So there was essentially no body. Of those tree choices, which one seemed best?
His conscience scoffed at him. Of course, none of them outweighed the other in goodness. Ichimaru-Taicho would be rude, Renji would scream and throw a fit, and Rangiku would laugh and ignore his problems, focusing on the ones of hers that revolved around 'Gin-Chan' ignoring her. Rukia was under 'house arrest', she was locked in the thirteenth division barracks, so she was essentially useless because if Izuru went there, he'd be faced with Ukitake-Taicho who would treat him like a child but not as rude as Ichimaru-Taicho. Kuchiki-Taicho was the being he had just fled, Soi Fon-Taicho was a bitch, Unohana-Taicho shouldn't be pressured with his problems, Aizen-Taicho would treat him worse than Ichimaru-Taicho, Komamura-Taicho wouldn't understand, Kyōraku-Taicho would ask why he cared then shove him off, Tousen-Taicho wouldn't even bother, Hitsugaya-Taicho… Hitsugaya-Taicho would listen! No, he would probably tell Izuru to go back to his own barracks and get back to work… Zaraki-Taicho would laugh and ask him if he wanted to fight, paying no heed to Izuru's problems, and Kurotsuchi-Taicho… Well, Izuru didn't really want to go down that road at all. He shifted through all of the captains; Father knows best, Mother knows best, symbolizing the captains knew best. His best bet was to go for Hitsugaya-Taicho and ask why Kuchiki-Taicho made the word Bankai sound… So… Dirty.
He altered his course slightly; he had been nearing the entrance to Squad 11's barracks. No. He turned slightly to the left and began his walk toward the tenth division barracks to speak with Hitsugaya-Taicho. All the while, he pondered how, how on earth had Kuchiki-Taicho made 'Bankai' sound like… A sex toy? Izuru shivered although whether it was in disgust or pleasure could be debated. It was most likely the latter. He kept his head down as soon as he entered Squad 10's home. Not a lot of people were fond of the Third Division, so voluntarily entering enemy territory was suicide. Although they probably assumed he was there for Rangiku… He was safe. He entered the main building and began wandering through the halls aimlessly; he forgot where the captain's office was… Oh yeah, other hall way. Hesitantly, Izuru made his way towards Hitsugaya-Taicho's office. The door was open, revealing the child prodigy diligently working. The blond knocked hesitantly and winced at the glare he received as greeting.
"Oh," murmured Hitsugaya-Taicho. "I thought you were Rangiku. Come in, Kira-Fukutaicho. What can I do for you today?" Izuru stepped in, still hesitating, and he gently shut the door behind him, keeping his gaze firmly on the ground.
"Um," began Izuru softly, "I… I have a problem, but… I didn't know who to talk to and I figured you could help me best, Hitsugaya-Taicho. If you're busy, I can… I can leave…" He stared shyly at the ground and peeked up at the white-haired Taicho as he laughed lightly.
"I've been meaning to take a break and get Rangiku to finish the paper work, so I guess you can talk to me," he said, setting his pen down. Izuru blushed and stepped forward, sitting on the edge of the seat across from Hitsugaya-Taicho. "So, what's the problem?" Izuru's blush darkened and Hitsugaya-Taicho raised a brow as the blue eyed Fukutaicho refused to look at him.
"K-Kuchiki-Taicho is… Confusing." Hitsugaya-Taicho tilted his head to the side. "Okay… Um, I don't know!" whined the blond before he slapped a hand over his mouth; whining always got him whacked –hard- by Ichimaru-Taicho. "Gomen, gomen, gomen Hitsug-"
"Kira-Fukutaicho. I have to deal with Rangiku on a daily basis. Whining is nothing new to me," Hitsugaya-Taicho cut off. "And, call me Tōshirō. It's easier for polite conversation." Izuru blinked and peered at the child captain. "Now, what has that man done now?" Izuru hid his face in his hands.
"I don't get how Kuchiki-Taicho could… say that… Like that…" The poor innocent adult. Izuru briefly wondered if Hitsu- Tōshirō would have had trouble saying what happened. He also wondered if the child prodigy would have even caught the implications of Kuchiki-Taicho's words. He shoved those thoughts away as he struggled to phrase what happened so Tōshirō could help figure out what was wrong. Tōshirō watched on in patient confusion; he was confused which Izuru noted through his bang. "I… He… The way he said it made it sound… So…" He let out a sigh of exasperation and slapped his hand –once again- over his mouth. It was a hard habit to break, one that had been going on for many years. It wasn't going to stop any time soon. He stared fixedly at the pen Tōshirō had set down as he spoke hurriedly. "He said it like it was a dirty thing…"
The captain sighed. "Kira-Fukutaicho, tell me what he said and I can possibly sort it out for you." He was rarely this kind, but seeing the poor Lieutenant in such a tussle made him want to help the child.
"I… I don't know how he did it, Hitsu-Tōshirō," murmured the Fukutaicho. "He just… He said 'Bankai' and made it sound so… Dirty…." Tōshirō sighed. Izuru, his face a dark red, looked up at the captain.
"Izuru-Kun," began the white haired child, "he probably likes you." At Izuru's confused look, he explained, "He likes you, Izuru-Kun, as in, he wants to go on a date with you." Clearly, Tōshirō wasn't that good at explaining things. Izuru blinked up at him with a confused expression that slowly turned to understanding and the blush that tainted his cheeks began to bleed onto his whole face. The younger stared before tilting his head to the side, voicing his thoughts. "Do you like Kuchiki?" Izuru squeaked and covered his face with his hands. That was a yes, then. Izuru blushed darker, shaking his head at the voice of his conscience.
Tauntingly, his conscience chanted Kuchiki-Taicho's named repeatedly. "N-n-no!" stuttered out Izuru. Tōshirō raised a brow in an 'Are you serious?' sort of way. The blond looked away immediately. "M-maybe." A scoff reached his ears, asking, again, if he was serious. "Y-yes, alright, I do like Kuchiki-Taicho!" whined the blond before slapping a hand over his mouth. It really was a bad habit.
"Then," said the child, "go." He smiled as the blond ran out to search for Kuchiki-Taicho.