Tradition

Chapter 1

Byakuya Kuchiki, captain of squad 6, had been feeling slight changes in his spirit energy ever since he and the others and returned from hueco mundo after the Aizen incident, but it wasn't enough that anyone would notice, and as he began to prepare some tea for himself in the squad 6 barracks he let his mind wander for a bit over everything that had happened since the appearance of a certain brash orange headed substitute soul reaper. Ichigo didn't care anything about traditions and rules, so to him Byakuya was just another soul reaper and his behavior reflected it quite openly, but since the appearance of that boy Byakuya had noticed that the other soul reaper captains and lieutenants had been subtly changing their attitude towards him. None of them disrespected him, after all Byakuya's reputation for swift and brutal retaliation lately preceded him, but they had softened towards him in such a way that Byakuya was beginning to actually feel that he was part of the Gotei 13 and not merely a member of it.

Renji especially was becoming a different man around him.

The squad 6 lieutenant had improved by leaps and bounds with his powers, even managing a bit better in his kido use though he'd much rather use his zanpakuto if it was up to him, and he'd begun subtly teasing Byakuya which had the odd effect of making Byakuya relax instead of the opposite which would have been true only a year ago. Byakuya was just getting ready to pour his tea when there was a knock on the door and he glanced over as Renji entered with a serious look on his face and Byakuya was instantly alert

"Head captain Yamamoto has decided that Aizen's fortress cannot just be left alone for the hollows until we conduct a thorough sweep through the ruins to see if we can learn anything more about what he was doing there," Byakuya turned back to his tea

"I had thought that was obvious, he was using the Hōgyoku to amass an army to one day destroy the soul society," he heard Renji move over to Byakuya's desk where he was no doubt propping his hip as Byakuya had asked him not to at least a hundred times

"Well I would agree except with whatever he's done to captain Ukitake it seems that he was messing around with other things we're not aware of yet," he said and Byakuya moved back to his desk with his tea as he mused

"Yes, I suppose that does leave more questions than answers," he said and reached over and pushed Renji's hip off his desk, much to the other soul reaper's amusement "how is the training with him going, by the way?" Renji grinned outright

"He put Yoruichi through a building yesterday and she about killed him when she finally managed to get her ass out of the rubble," Byakuya smiled at that and sipped his tea as he looked over the paperwork that Renji had brought with their orders which stated something that made Byakuya raise an eyebrow

"They managed to open a senkaimon directly into Aizen's old fortress, that should cut travel time by quite a bit," he felt Renji's spirit energy spike suddenly and he took another sip of tea as he arched an eyebrow that Renji pretended not to see "We'll be leaving in the morning as part of the advanced unit; you should go and pack and be ready to leave for hueco mundo at sunrise, but it seems other than scouting this mission should be a fairly straightforward one," he rubbed at his temple when an ache began to spread and he felt Renji lean over the desk to get closer to him, not needing to open his eyes when his nose was twitching faintly at the closer proximity of the wild lieutenant "Yes, Renji?" he said with a tired sigh and his eyes snapped open when Renji laid his hand over Byakuya's forehead to check his temperature, Byakuya smacked his hand away instinctively but he noted that Renji didn't seem offended

"Is there anything I can get for you, captain?" he asked and Byakuya frowned at him and waved him off

"Get off my desk and leave me to my tea," Renji stayed leaned over the desk for a moment longer then sighed and straightened

"You know, if you're not at your best when we go to hueco mundo it'll only cause problems for the rest of us," Byakuya's spirit energy spiked this time due to annoyance

"If you need me to remind you of my capabilities I would be glad to shred you to ribbons again," Renji backed off with a resigned sigh and scratched the back of his neck as he wandered towards the door "Sunrise, Renji, don't be late," Renji waved over his shoulder to acknowledge he'd heard and he left as Byakuya sipped his tea and continued to look over their orders for a while before he heard someone land rather heavily in the front of the barracks. He stood and wandered over to the window and had to blink a few times to be sure he was seeing what he thought he was, but as he changed back into a more familiar appearance Byakuya had to acknowledge that Ukitake was striding towards the barracks without a shirt and with his white hair pulled up high on his head. Byakuya shook his head, still a bit disoriented to see the formerly ill captain looking so wild and strong, and when he slid the door open Ukitake grinned the same old grin and waved in greeting

"Hey, captain Kuchiki," he said and hopped up onto the entry way after shedding his shoes "captain Yamamoto sent me to run over some particulars with you," at Byakuya's arched brow Ukitake surprised him with a jab at his chin that he barely dodged and after driving him back a bit he straightened again "I can see why he's worried, when's the last time you fought hand to hand?" Byakuya was aware that his chin tilted up a little, but the mere mention of such a direct method of fighting immediately made him feel defensive

"With Senbonzakura a direct confrontation is unnecessary and beneath me," he said, his blue blood rising to the surface, and Ukitake rolled his eyes in a way Byakuya was startled to see reminded him of Renji

"Yeah, that works great until you're knocked unconscious and your zanpakuto is stolen," he said and Byakuya frowned at the very idea "look, I just need to run through some basics with you. Trust me, it might save your life one day," Byakuya thought of outright refusing but he recalled that he had said that the head captain had sent him and would no doubt be told if Byakuya were to refuse. He sighed and turned to go to the training ground with a wave to get Ukitake to follow him

"Just don't put me through any buildings," he muttered and heard Ukitake chuckle.

Renji watched with amusement as Ukitake put Byakuya through his paces, amazed anew at the transformation of captain Ukitake from mostly pacifist and sickly to this… beast. His skin was dotted with leopard spots and with his claws and fangs he should have looked frightening, but Renji was very envious of Kyoraku who had claimed such a man for himself. He supposed he shouldn't be surprised, after all they'd been together for years before they'd finally decided they wanted each other romantically about a year ago, but watching Ukitake move was truly a thing of beauty. He'd done a bit of training with Yoruichi to help him out with some of his more technical skills and now he was the soul society's first hand to hand combat instructor, unheard of before his return, but again Renji wasn't surprised. Head captain Yamamoto had loved Ukitake and Kyoraku like sons for so long that he would have moved space and time itself if it meant giving Ukitake a chance. Byakuya landed a punch to Ukitake's jaw suddenly and Renji's eyebrow twitched upward in surprise as Ukitake nodded and said a few words, no doubt coaching Byakuya even in the midst of their fight. Renji had never seen his captain so intent on inflicting bodily harm, and part of him wondered just what Ukitake must have said to get him riled

'I'll have to ask later,' he thought, amused, then felt a familiar energy appear behind him and he didn't bother looking up as Shūhei stood behind him to watch the fight

"The head captain is aware that if Byakuya loses his sword, he's dead right?" Renji snorted at that

"He's not bad considering it's his first time," he said, feeling strange having to not only say that but in defense of his own captain, and he heard Shūhei shrug

"Well, you have a few hours so you want to get some of that work done that you've been too busy for lately?" Renji lumbered to his feet and cast one more glance at the fighting pair before following after Shūhei with a bit of a sigh; Shūhei had become a pretty well know tattoo artist in the seireitei, he'd done most of the work on Renji's body and a few smaller ones on some of the other soul reapers who weren't as keen to display them for everyone to see. Renji had been thinking for some time of doing what he was about to do, but part of him still flinched at the thought of anyone seeing it if he wasn't awake or able to explain the simple yet extensive design that he had in mind "You know, there's easier and less permanent ways to commit yourself to one person," Shūhei suddenly pointed out "like, actually talking to him?" Renji snorted at that, refusing to dignify that with a response "He might be receptive, you never know, especially lately he's loosened up quite a bit," Renji laughed outright

"Oh yeah, I can see that going really well," he shook his head "he'll never loosen up that much, Shūhei. He's still the head of the Kuchiki clan, and no matter what he has to carry on his name and do you really see him marrying some woman and keeping a gay lover on the side?" Shūhei gave a bit of a sheepish smile

"Well when you put it that way no, he's too honorable to do something like that," he glanced back at Renji as they entered the small business that Yamamoto had approved of to be Shūhei's working space when he had some free time "but then why mark yourself in commitment to a man you will never be able to have?" Renji shrugged from his shirt as he thought of how best to put it before deciding on the simple truth

"Because he's all I've ever wanted," he said and sat on the bench before leaning forward with his elbows perched on his knees "I am his, even if he will never be mine," Shūhei was silent for a long while as he got everything ready before he ventured

"Just making sure, but you really are alright with this color?" Renji smiled, amused by his reaction but a bit sad too as he reached up a hand to gather his fall of crimson hair over one shoulder and out of Shūhei's way

"Yeah, no other color will work," he confirmed and felt Shūhei begin the painstaking process that Renji had requested, his mind wandering back to watching Byakuya fight as he mulled over how the next few days in hueco mundo would play out.