"Ne, taicho…" Abarai Renji grinned widely as he flounced into the office, two hours later than he should have. Seemingly completely unfazed by the total lack of reaction on said taicho's part, he flopped into his seat at his table, kicking back the chair and resting his feet on the desk. A few sheets of paper fell to the floor but neither moved.

Half an hour passed in silence broken only by the swish of brush on paper. Renji was not a patient person, but hey, when faced with something so fun, he could wait. (But not for long, though.) Getting a little annoyed at the lack of reaction, he huffed loudly.

"Whatever is the matter, Renji?" Byakuya was equally annoyed by the lack of action. For heaven's sake, if the lieutenant came into the office two hours late, and then proceeded to sit there for the next half hour not doing any work, then he better have a good reason for it. Inefficiency was intolerable, especially not when it was avoidable.

However, seeing as Byakuya was a walking talking ice block, Renji had no idea that the taicho was annoyed. (Ice blocks do not have facial expressions, by the way.) But he grinned broadly anyway, before turning his head in taicho's direction. "Ya remember the little dinner we had coupla weeks back? When ya invited me over?"

"I did not invite you over. Fish-kun did." Byakuya did not like where this was going at all, nope, not one bit. It was all Fish's fault. Yup, it was all Fish's fault. Damn kid.

"Ya, ya. Same old, same old. That's not important. Anyway, that Fish's been tellin' me all about ya." Renji smirked, leaning back a little further on the chair. Yup, this was going to be fun. Very, very fun. He was already enjoying himself very much.

"I do not recall telling him anything." That was very true. He hardly spoke to the boy, merely exchanging pleasantries occasionally. But Heiji and Obaa-san… Now that was where the real treasure trove probably lay. It really was surprising how much old people could get out of him.

"Ya didn't, but kids have eyes and ears y'know, taicho."

"Get to the point, Abarai."

"Sharp as always, taicho."

"I will not repeat myself."

"Ah, ah, of course, taicho." Renji grinned, waving flippantly. Leaning slightly forward having dragged his chair over to the opposite side of taicho's desk, his smile widened dangerously, a mischievous glint in eye. "I'm going to blackmail you."

"You are?" His voice was understandably skeptical. So that was what Renji had wanted. Hmph. And here Byakuya had been worrying that it had to do with Rukia or something like that. Or Zaraki. Both were bad for several very different reasons. But blackmail? Nah. What on earth could Fish have told Renji that was able to be used as material? And why on earth had Renji been talking to Fish? This was interesting.

"Damn straight I am!" Byakuya raised his eyebrows at the choice of language.

"And over what, pray tell?"

"Why, taicho, Fish did tell me a lot about you. I feel that I now know so much more."

"Cut to the chase, Renji."

"Well, firstly, there's the fact that you got taken out by five thugs the other time." Sure, he had not believed it either when Fish had told him that, but well, Scamp never lied, and he was absolutely sure that yes, the almighty Ice Block had been taken down by five thugs.

"I was not in the correct state of mind thanks to somebody."

Renji just shrugged, before continuing. He was on a roll, and was going too fast to stop to think about the context and reason why Kuchiki-taicho might have been in Rukongai in the first place. It never really occurred to him that it might have been his fault. "And secondly, there's that silly name that you go by in Rukongai. C'mon, taicho. Hasegawa Chojiro? Gee, even I could come up with a better name."

"I'd like to see you try."

"Third's the fact that you were actually in Rukongai." Renji smirked, ignoring the jab as he swept on, feeling better every second. All that waiting had paid off, and especially that enormous sake bill which he had to pay to get Heiji well lubricated.

"And that is blackmail material how?"

"Because I have it on good grounds that you got yourself absolutely stoned before taking out a bar in the Fifteenth District." Heiji had really been a treasure trove of information, and Renji was having the time of his life. Absolutely. He had realized blackmail potential a couple of weeks ago, but had not managed to dig up anything, no scoop, nothing. And so, he had resorted to directly asking the people. Not many of them were close to this 'Hasegawa-san', but Heiji, oh Heiji, that guy was absolutely fantastic when it came to spilling information. Especially since he was a lightweight.

Byakuya merely stared back impassively, though Renji could read the barest signs present that he was not at all amused. Time to push the point then. He was close. He knew it.

"Now, taicho… Imagine what all those could do to your reputation."

An elegant eyebrow raised. "My reputation? And what sort of reputation would that be?"

"Ne, taicho. Don't tell me you don't know? Your reputation is basically equivalent to that of your clan's." There was silence, which in Kuchiki-speak could mean two things. Either he was frustrated, or he was just bored. Renji hoped it was the former.

"And?"

"Now, if that were to be attacked, what do you think would happen to it?" A short pause as Renji held his breath, waiting, waiting, waiting for the response.

"You seem to be very daring today, Renji. State your terms."

YES! Oh yeah! Renji 2, Taicho 1.

Renji smirked.

I have a few of those blackmail ideas, but I'm interested to hear from you guys! Depending on the eventual choice of blackmail ideas, this story will range from 2 chapters to maybe 5. I dunno... We'll have to see. So send those ideas in!

Cheers,
Tan