Kiyone and Sentarou had let him sleep in again.
Ukitake held a hand to his chest, pressing against it lightly to force his breathing back into the range of normality. He'd had that dream again. The one he always had on rainy nights like the one before.
There were many things he regretted about his time as captain, just as there were many decisions he wished he hadn't made. There were times when he reassured himself he didn't regret that night. Ukitake knew his decision had been a correct one. Kaien would have never been the same had he interfered with his fight. What Kaien had to Miyako was a dedication that could not have failed, even in that dark night.
But, even that dedication could not have prevented Kaien from what happened. Ukitake drew a hand slowly back through sweat-soaked white hair as he stared down at his futon. He could still almost touch the abomination that Kaien had turned into. He could still smell the thick scent of hollow blood though the heavy rain and the smell of smoke fizzling from the sole firework Kaien had tried to use against the hollow.
And, more than anything else, he remembered his failure for the youngest of the Kuchiki clan. Kuchiki hadn't been the same since taking the man's life and, in part, Ukitake blamed himself.
Ukitake folded his futon aside and began to dress for the day. It was bound to be a long one. Recruits were just starting to filter into the divisions they had applied for acceptance to and many were still getting used to the climates of each.
His office, not at all far from where he slept, was just as busy as he expected and the greeting he received was just as he expected.
"Ukitake-taichou!" Kiyone's voice was almost louder than Sentarou's as the pair glanced up from their work.
A fatherly smile broke slowly over Ukitake's face as he brushed into the room, calming the pair as he settled to start looking through the work for that day. It wasn't half as bad as he expected, but it was a welcome relief from the images that had haunted him through the night before.
Neatly written reports, sometimes scrawled in crayon and sprayed slightly with blood depending on their divisions of origin, soon helped the over-enlarged tongue and soulless pits where eyes had once been fade.
It wasn't until a large hand pulled the final report of the stack free, sending a shadow across Ukitake's desk. The thirteenth division captain glanced up at the intrusion, "You needed something, Kyouraku?"
Shunsui chuckled, "So, old friend, I heard you slept in today."
Ukitake smiled, somewhat less widely than when he had entered the office that morning, shaking his head.
That over-large handle, sprinkled with dark hairs came down on Ukitake's shoulder, "Drinks tonight. On me."
Ukitake shook his head and realized this was an offer he didn't want to refuse. "Always, Kyouraku. Always."