Title: A New Breeze
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Renji x Byakuya, of Ichigo x Rukia
Dislaimer: BLEACH is not mine...
Warning: Angst, character death, un-beta-ed... and perhaps slight spoiler for the 'Turn back the Pendulum' arc, about Byakuya and Yoruichi's relationship... but it's rather insignificant though
A/N:The sequel I intended to make for my other story 'When the Flower Withers'. I intended to make this a three-parts story... this was set more than ten years after the prequel, Ichigo and Rukia was married here and they had a son named Yuuichi. And yes, this sequel was a lot more happier than the prequel. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it...
"I am the Gundam pilot! BuzzZZzzZ!!!"
Byakuya sighed, and kept his eyes on the little whirlwind who happened to be his nephew. The little boy was currently occupied in his own world, feeling like he was a pilot destined to save the planet or something.
Little Yuuichi actually did a somersault, shouting happily and swinging his plastic toy sword around. Byakuya had to make sure that the little boy didn't break anything in the living room.
The first thought that came to Byakuya's mind was how parents and children were so much alike.
"Hey, Yuu-chan! Don't be so noisy like that! You'll disturb your uncle!" Rukia frowned down on her son, a tray of tea balanced on her hands.
Yuuichi stopped abruptly at the arrival of his mother, pouting at being cut off from his fun. "But, Mom---"
"Look, why don't you go and play in your room for awhile? Mom wants to talk with your uncle for a bit," she patted the orange-haired boy and ushered him to go upstairs and into his room.
The boy, though a bit reluctant, finally went running up to his room, probably to find other things to play.
"I am sorry about that, Nii-sama…" Rukia smiled apologetically at her brother. She placed the tray of tea on the table, serving a cup for Byakuya, who took it with a nod of thanks.
"It's fine," Byakuya said simply. "He looks healthy…"
"He's going to be seven this year!" Rukia was practically gleaming with fondness. "I can't even believe that little noisy boy was so tiny and fragile when I first brought him home. I remember that he used to cry a lot! Not to mention that he was loud… well, he still is, just like his father and----"
Rukia blushed when she realized that she was blabbering on and on about her son. She stopped short and apologized yet again to Byakuya, who dismissed it with a simple inclination of head.
"Ah--- it's rare for you to visit us, Nii-sama… I'm sorry that Ichigo is not home yet, he usually comes home at around seven," she steered the topic.
Byakuya took a sip of his tea. "I just felt like it. It has been quite awhile since the last time we met, Rukia."
She smiled at him, and nodded. "Yes. It's been… almost a year?" she frowned her brows as she recounted. "Well, I'm glad that you visited, Nii-sama."
"So did I."
"How is everyone in Soul Society?" Rukia asked.
"The same as always." Byakuya simply said.
After the Winter War, everyone slowly began to reshape themselves. Slowly, steadily, everyone recollected the pieces of themselves and restored the broken ones. They knew that none of them would stay the same, not after all that loss happened in the horrible war. Everyone held a certain wound, but at least, they would try to live anew, and seek again the happiness within.
Rukia and Ichigo had married six years after the war. They had a son named Yuuichi the two years after. Orange hair and a pair of blue eyes, the little kid resembled his parents in so many ways. Byakuya was a proud uncle, but more than that, he was glad that the light and happiness had shone again in his sister's eyes. He couldn't forget how broken she was after the death of her childhood friend.
"I guess I'll visit sometime soon anyway…" Rukia stared at her lap. "It's Renji's birthday next week right?"
"Yes." Byakuya nodded.
"Sometimes… I felt weird… celebrating a dead person's birthday…" Rukia smiled bitterly. She was never absent on that annual occasion. They would visit Renji's grave, bringing fresh flowers with them, and stayed there for awhile. Mostly, they would reminisce, and if she felt like it, she would talk to the grave as if she was talking to him, telling how things were going.
"But you cannot stop doing it anyway…" Byakuya said, more to himself than to Rukia.
Rukia sighed.
"Yes… I can't."
Byakuya had stayed for a few more hours after that conversation with Rukia, mostly keeping the conversation light. They talked about Rukia's new family, or rather, Rukia did the talking and he did the listening.
One thing she mentioned though, that Urahara had said that he wanted to meet Byakuya.
When asked why, Rukia only shrugged, saying that all she knew was she had to relay the message to Byakuya. She also mentioned that the shop owner seemed to have something on his mind, judging from his mischievous smile when he told Rukia the message.
Actually, Byakuya didn't feel like visiting Urahara, especially if Yoruichi was there. That tanned woman took too much pleasure in bullying him, even when he had come to this age. But somehow, Byakuya could feel that this was somehow important. The shop owner wouldn't call him otherwise.
Anyway, visiting Urahara sounded so much better than returning to the Kuchiki Manor. There was nothing inside the luxurious house he could feel comfortable in nowadays. There were only gloomy hallways, cold rooms, and memories of how things used to be.
"Hmm… so that Byakuya was here?" Ichigo dumped himself on the sofa, the day's tiredness were starting to take its toll on him. After he had come home from work and had dinner, his son had practically forced him to play with him. And a sword battling, at that! And now, after finally tucking that active boy to bed, Rukia said that she wanted to talk about something.
"Ichigo! How many times I have to tell you that he's also your brother now! At least treat him with some respect!" Rukia scolded her husband, standing with her arms crossed. No matter how small she was, the black-haired woman was indeed menancing.
"Fine, fine!" Ichigo huffed. "How's he?"
"Always the same I guess…" Rukia shrugged, she then sat herself beside the orange-haired man. "But I can't help but feel that he's growing more and more distant."
"Well, at least he didn't completely shut down and detached himself like he did with after your sister's death…"
"I heard that it was Renji who requested that from him…" Rukia squeezed her thighs. "But it feels like he does that just because Renji told him to… not because of his own will to maintain the relationship he has with us…"
"...." Ichigo fell silent. Man, that Byakuya was far too complicated for a guy.
"I'm just... I feel helpless... I thought that at least I could be someone Nii-sama could talk to, after Renji's..." Rukia's voice was uncharacteristically quiet and filled with sorrow. "But... I guess, I can't even be that... I was the one that cause Renji's death.... and now I can't even be a companion for the people he cared the most... I can't even compensate... his death..." her head was now hung down, ashamed.
"Rukia, look," Ichigo automatically wrapped his arms around Rukia's petite figure, tucking her head on his shoulder. "Don't you go and blaming yourself like that!"
"But---"
"Listen. Nothing can compensate someone's death, Rukia. Death is not something you can measure like that..." the orange haired man whispered to Rukia's ear.
Rukia was silent, hiding her face on Ichigo's broad shoulder. "I wish Renji is here..."
"I know..." Ichigo mentally cursed his red-haired best friend for dying so fast. His hand started stroking Rukia's hair in a hopefully soothing gesture. "Me too..."
"Kuchiki-san! What a pleasant surprise!" the shop owner welcomed the noble with a bright blinding smile.
"I heard that you wanted to meet me," Byakuya went to the point, accepting the blonde haired man's invitation to come in.
"Hmm? Ah, yes, yes, I wanted to meet you indeed! Come in, and sit down please!" Urahara flapped his fan cheerfully. "Tessai! Could you prepare tea? We had guest!"
Byakuya sat down on the tatami with practiced ease, his feet folding into a perfect seiza. He couldn't feel Yoruichi's reiatsu around, so it was a good thing. From the opened sliding door conjugating with the living room, he could see Tessai busily prepared tea with the now teenage Ururu.
"How are you, Kuchiki-san?" Urahara started with pleasantries, covering his mouth with his fan. There was no doubt that he was smiling widely behind it.
Byakuya narrowed his eyes. He wasn't the type to chit-chat and Urahara knew exactly that. "What do you want from me?"
"Hm? No small talks? That's so like you…" Urahara sighed heavily.
"I don't like repeating myself, Kisuke."
"Okay, okay," Urahara put his hands up in a defeated gesture. "Sheesh, can't you at least wait until the tea is served?"
Byakuya's gaze deepened into a glare.
"Well!" Urahara snapped his fan shut, still with that wide smile of his. He was rather unaffected by that infamous glare. "I just want to know if you're willing to help me in my research!"
Byakuya raised a brow.
"You see, I'm in the middle of making this new device---"
"And you want me to be the guinea pig?" Byakuya cut off, already tempted to refuse the offer.
"Close, but not quite…" the blonde's eyes clearly said that he didn't want to be disturbed in the middle of explaining. "You see, I started this research years ago, so I had my guinea pig. The thing I want from you is to help me search said guinea pig… and can we not call him that? My subject is clearly human being" Urahara finished with a smile.
The imposed question only made Byakuya wanted to ask back. "So you lost your subject?"
"Not exactly, you see… it's included the procedure. I just need to find my subject back to see if my invention worked just the way I predicted. And since I figured out you were great at tracking reiatsu, you're the one suitable for the job. Oh, and not to mention you were already familiar with the reiatsu pattern…"
Byakuya's brows knitted into a frown. Urahara had explained quite a lot but somehow he still managed to be vague. "Did you imply that I know that subject of yours?"
"'Know'? My, Kuchiki-san… I'm sure you're way past just knowing each other…" Urahara snickered, snapping his fan opened again and coving the lower half of his face with it.
"It's Abarai Renji."
*TBC*
A/N: So how was it? I intended to explain about Urahara's invention in the next part, so I didn't make it too clear here XD. R&R please!