A/N Hi, everyone! So, this is my first Bleach fanfic. I got into Bleach a while ago, and decided about a month ago, hey, I'm gonna write something for it. I have a love of putting Byakuya in odd situations, and I couldn't get the idea of him and a baby out of my head, and then this happened. This chapter is shorter than I thought it was going to be, but I am still pleased. I have plans to continue, but I will only do so if I think the story has fans. And I will only know if it has fans if said fans review. So review, plz. Thanks. Enjoy!
Disclaimer I do not own Bleach, Kubo Tite does. Heck, I don't even own regular bleach in a bottle. Sad, I know.
Tap.
The sound made Kuchiki Byakuya look up from the book he was reading, his eyes narrowing. It was very late at night; surely no one would be awake in his mansion at this hour? He waited, listening intently, but did not hear anything. Eventually, the noble wrote it off as a simple sound of nature, and continued to read.
Not even five minutes had passed when Byakuya heard it again, not once, but twice in a row. He closed his book and listened again, but, as before, could hear nothing. He could not write it off again, though; nature did not make such sounds in repetition. His eyes narrowed once more as an unpleasant thought occurred to him: was the Shinigami Women's Association building unnecessary frivolities on his property yet again? He stood, about to summon a member of his guard to take care of the situation, when he heard the sound again, accompanied by a strange reiatsu. It was unlike anything he had encountered before – not shinigami, not hollow, not arrancar. Byakuya used shunpo, going outside to investigate with Senbonzakura in hand. When he arrived at the source of the noise, Kuchiki Byakuya was…surprised, to say the least.
A child, a very small child, was banging on a window at the side of the Kuchiki mansion. The boy, he guessed, looked no older than 2, and Byakuya took a moment to wonder how he had gotten into his estate at all. It was clear that the boy did not belong there; he was clad only in an old piece of cloth that had been torn and tied around his small frame as a sort of tunic, and the child's face, arms, and legs were smudged with dirt. Byakuya suspected that the small boy was from a poorer district of Rukongai, perhaps an orphan.
At that moment, the small child turned from the window, somehow noticing Byakuya's presence. The boy looked up at the formidable captain of the 6th division, and smiled. He bounced over to Byakuya, giggling happily, and began tugging on the man's shihakusho.
"Baki!" he squealed excitedly. "Baki, Baki, Baki!"
Byakuya was taken aback. Though he didn't know what he was trying to say, Byakuya saw recognition in the child's eyes. It seemed that the boy knew him somehow, and, as the noble watched him longer, the boy seemed slightly familiar to him. It confused the Kuchiki. Byakuya didn't often associate himself with small children, let alone Rukongai orphans, so there was no reason why the sight of the boy should stir a vague memory in the back of his mind…
Abruptly, the tugging on his sleeve stopped; Byakuya looked down to see the boy yawn widely and rub his eyes.
"Tired, Baki," the child said. He looked up at the captain, and expectantly raised his arms toward Byakuya, wishing to be held. The Kuchiki hesitated. What was he to do with this child? It was very late at night, and there was no one else around. Should he act on this slight familiarity, and take the boy inside? He remembered the strange reiatsu he had felt before, and made a decision. When the boy stretched his arms up higher to Byakuya, the captain tentatively reached down and picked the child up.
The toddler smiled sleepily at the man, and put his arms around the other's neck, leaning his head down on Byakuya's shoulder. Byakuya blinked once, unused to such an open display of affection and trust. The child must know him somehow. He carefully cradled the boy against his chest, holding him delicately as he fell asleep.
Slowly, so not to disturb the boy, the noble made his way back to his mansion. It is okay to take in the boy, he told himself, because there is a potential danger out here. As a shinigami, it was Byakuya's duty to protect those who could not protect themselves. He was simply doing what he should.
He didn't feel any emotional attachment to the child.
That's what he told himself, anyway.
A/N Go, review your butts off! If people like, a certain redheaded vice captain will enter the picture next chapter...