The Assignment

A black haired man sat back against the trunk of a sakura tree with a pile of paperwork at his side and an unfinished report in his hands. He'd been struggling to make himself write it for a while now. After a few hours in his dull office he needed a fresh sight and had come outside to one of his favorite places in the Kuchiki gardens. This spot, the one in which he now sat, offered a nice view of the pond in the center of the gardens. Not that he could see the many vibrant colors that surrounded him through its pages. Still, his eyes were far from set, and the sakura that were whisked away in the wind often caught his sidelong glances. As did the walls of anemone down near the pond's edge. He inclined his head slightly and with a twitch of his eye he tossed it aside, letting out an exasperated sigh.

I have a lieutenant who leaves me with all the paperwork and constantly challenges me to organized matches. I hardly have enough spare time to stare at the flowers in my garden…

Byakuya picked the report up again and tried to force himself to concentrate on it. To no avail, the colorful assortment of flowering water plants and the weaving forms of large, colorful, fish drew his eyes and stayed his hand. Leaving the report dead on his lap and his bush stuck in its inkwell.

The clan head made the conscious decision to tilt his head back and put "work" out of his mind. Deep down, he knew it would end up this way, mixing business and pleasure never works, because pleasure always wins you over.

"Byakuya-sama!" A young man shouted running toward him over the garden's plush grass.

The clan head gave his servant a hard look. "What is it?"

"You've been summoned to the first division by Genryusai-sama." He said.

Byakuya rose with a barely noticeable smile. "…Take my paperwork and put it on my desk."

I think I'll have to cancel today's match with Renji. What a shame.

The servant watched his master left but was quick to collect Byakuya's items after he'd gone. The young man wasted no time in heading for the sixth division compound. It wasn't far and soon he was stepping inside the large complex and making a b-line for Byakuya's office.

He was about halfway there when a man with dark red hair and a tattooed forehead walked over to him. "Hey… Do you know where the captain is?" He asked.

"Oh, Renji… I gave him a message just a moment ago; it was a summons from Genryusai-sama." The servant replied.

"Great…" Renji muttered, scratching the back of his head.

"Is there a problem?" The servant prompted.

"For me…" The red haired man said.

"Is it about today's match?" The servant questioned.

"No, I'm hoping he doesn't get sent on an assignment…" Renji admitted.

"Huh?" The young servant raised his eyebrow.

"I'm going to go have some sake…" Renji turned around and waved a goodbye over his shoulder. "Later…"

"Sake? Why don't you use your boredom to try and give him some free time? He wastes too much of his time doing your work and catering to your wants!" The servant yelled after him.

"It isn't "my work" it's the responsibility of the captain to get the paperwork done. I'm only "authorized to aid him." And when he's gone all his responsibilities and the paperwork, will fall on my head and shoulders. I'm not doing paperwork until that happens." The sixth division lieutenant replied, looking over his shoulder.

"If you did do some of the paperwork you would free up his schedule a bit and he might have time to waste on training you." The servant said, clarifying his earlier suggestion.

Renji walked away and the servant heaved a sigh before heading out for his master's office.

…

Byakuya stepped through large double doors and into the captain commander's meeting room. It was empty, so he headed for the stairs in the back of the room. He followed the narrow stair case and it led him to Yamamoto's office.

He looked to his left instinctively; Soifon leaned against the wall, looking board.

"Took you long enough." She said, scowling at him.

"I came as soon as I received my "invite" I'm hardly at fault." Byakuya refuted.

"I've been here an hour and I don't have enough time to waste it letting you play catch up." Soifon argued.

"Enough! When will you younglings learn that bickering won't solve anything? Stand in front of my desk, both of you." Yamamoto commanded.

"…" Byakuya and Soifon exchanged a heated look and walked over to his desk.

"I called you here to tell you that you will be acting as ambassadors for the new central forty six, your assignment is to go to the human world and meet with the Vizard there. See if you can get them to rejoin us. Those are the orders of the central forty six." The captain commander explained.

"With all due respect, I doubt we could find them, let alone speak with them." Byakuya interjected.

"You'll have to negotiate with Urahara first. He requested the two of you personally." Yamamoto informed them.

Byakuya studied Soifon's reaction with a sidelong look. She'd frowned at the mention of Urahara and her eyes practically burned with the desire to kill at the mention of this… "request" of his.

I don't know what the conclusion Soifon has jumped to is, but she's probably wrong, the person most likely to be behind this little "stipulation" would be …Yoruichi. Ever since my childhood she's seized upon every opportunity she's had to pester and otherwise irritate me, usually for fun.

"Urahara said that he doesn't know how long the negotiations will take and has arranged accommodations for you. You leave for his shop first thing tomorrow. Dismissed!" Yamamoto pounded his cane on the floor, signaling to them the meeting's end.

Byakuya descended the stairs after Soifon, her pace was quick, but that wasn't unusual as she never was the type to "drag her feet," in any sense of the term. Still, something seemed off and as they spilled out into the first division's main hall Byakuya increased the speed his stride until he was walking next to her and matching her brisk albeit shorter stride.

"Soifon-taicho, is something bothering you?" Byakuya inquired.

"It's nothing you need to concern yourself with." Soifon told him disappearing from sight mere seconds later.

She reappeared in front of her division with a razor sharp gaze that made her overweight lieutenant cringe. She walked up the entrance, but he wasn't moving.

"Move, you gluttonous oaf!" She demanded, with no intention of hiding her agitation.

"I-I… but-" Omaeda stuttered.

She kicked him out of the way before he had a chance to get his words out. "Silence! I'm going to my private room and I don't want to be disturbed anymore today. Got it."

"Ga-got it." His somewhat dreary response came to her from behind the wooden steps. "And I was going to try to be nice and welcome her back today…" He muttered, rubbing his cheek.

…

Byakuya sat in his families' garden once again, content, but his reprieve was a bit bittersweet. In that he would be deprived of its calming beauties for what could be weeks. On the flipside, Renji would inherit all his responsibilities… such as they were.

He watched the koi swim around under the cover of the pond's flowering water plants. He would need to still his nerves for what was waiting for him.

…

Author's Note: I don't know if an alert will be sent out for this so some will probably be left out in the dark until I send out the next rewritten/new chapter I'm going to do a couple chapters that center more around Yoruichi and Urahara, two of my other favorite characters but worry not Soifon and Byakuya will as usual be the only "point of view" characters.

On the future:

I know that some –probably most– of you want the next chapter –chapter nine– but well… my story is as of now, poorly written and has continuity errors. I can't make myself steam on ahead without fixing these things. So, I will release my rewrites/added chapters, chapter by chapter and not all at once. Anyway, prepare to see some updates!