So, yeah...it turned into a threeshot...
Adapting: Part 2
Kaien entered through the doors of the squad 5 headquarters, determined to obtain the information he desired. Walking up to the large desk in the center of the big room, he was surprised to discover the attendant at the desk fast asleep, snoring as a pool of saliva spread around his head, soaking the various papers that were scattered across the wood.
"Hey, mister," said Kaien, poking the man's head with his index finger. The man's eye cracked open as he let out a small 'huh?...' Said eye traveled upward to the very person who was still poking him, and upon seeing who it was, the man snapped up, both eyes wide open as he violently wiped the drool off of his face.
"I-I'm sorry, Shiba-fukutaicho, p-please don't report me, it'll never happen again..." the man continued to ramble on as he tried to make something of the now-illegible papers, which were covered In spit-smeared ink. Kaien swiftly put his hand up, as if signaling a halt, and the attendant froze, his glasses-hidden eyes raising to meet those of his superior. An amused smile broke out across Kaien's face.
"Don't worry, it's perfectly fine," assured the lieutenant with a laugh. His face became slightly more serious, but his smile retained itself. "But I do need you to help me with something."
"Y-Yes, Shiba-fukutaicho?" asked the attendant, still a bit shook up from his sudden awakening. Kaien's grin simply widened, as he got a kick out of the man's awkwardness.
"I need to know where I can find Abarai Renji," said Kaien. "He was assigned to this squad recently, fresh out of the academy." The attendant pushed aside the ruined papers, grabbing and leafing through the ones that were still usable.
"Does fukutaicho know what his rank is?" asked he man at the desk, his nervousness dissipating and being replaced with focus and concentration.
"I believe that he's an unseated officer," answered Kaien, growing somewhat bored as the man continued to shuffle through various pieces of people.
"Ah, here it is!" exclaimed the attendant, snapping Kaien out of the daydream he had drifted off into. "Hm...it looks like he's due to be transferred to squad eleven in one week." Kaien's eyes widened a bit. So he's a fighter, is he?
"Well...where can I find him now?" asked the raven-haired man, quickly recovering from the shock.
"Well..." the attendant jumbled the papers a little, "He's in barracks 5, room 381." Kaien nodded, smirking at the new found information, and knowing that it would help him solve the Rukia problem much faster. He was about to depart, before another thought struck him.
"Does it say why exactly Abarai's being transferred to the eleventh?" he asked, wanting to get at least a loose grasp on this man's possible personality. Another scan of the attendant's eyes over the documents, and an answer was given.
"All it says here is that he is 'unmanageable.'" Kaien thought a moment, before nodding, and then departing, a 'Have a good day, Shiba-fukutaicho!' coming from the attendant. Alright, thought the lieutenant as the doors closed behind him. I'm gonna go with stubborn, hotheaded, and very, very willful. The simple adjective 'unmanageable' told him that that much was probably true about Abarai.
When Miyako returned to training grounds, she found that they were now mostly empty, aside from a few stragglers her and there who insisted on continuing to spar, the captain watching over them as they whipped around wildly and slashed their swords at each other.
"Ukitake-taicho," said Miyako, arriving swiftly at the captain's side. "Third seat Shiba Miyako, reporting back, sir." The man turned to her with a worried smile, expressing both his happiness to see her and nervousness about Rukia. He quickly asked,
"How is she, Miyako?" Said woman lifted her head from its bowed position to look up at him, and replied,
"She is mostly alright for the time being, captain, however I did not send her home." Ukitake, confused, quirked an eyebrow, his face dumbfounded.
"Why not? I told you it was perfectly alright to do so." As expected, he was not angry in the slightest, only concerned and confused.
"The Kuchiki mansion is not the best place for her to be right now, sir." It was a simple response, said as if it were a normal, every-day gesture, and it perplexed Ukitake all the more.
"Could you explain what you mean, Miyako?" questioned the white-haired man, still at a loss even as Miyako tried to give him a hint.
"If you would follow me to the home that I share with Kaien, sir, I will explain everything along the way," promised the third seat, not wanting Rukia's personal and very emotional story to be overheard and spread around to the whole division. "That is where I have sent Rukia, so if you wish to ask her any questions on the matter, she will be present." A sudden thought struck Ukitake.
"Where is Kaien, by the way?" he asked. "Did he remain at your home to watch over Rukia?" Miyako promptly shook her head.
"No, sir, Kaien is currently searching for someone." Ukitake feared that asking the identity of this person would only confuse him more, but he decided to inquire on the matter anyways.
"Who?"
"That I will also explain on the way," specified Miyako, and Ukitake nodded his head on agreement, the two soul reapers flash stepping off not a moment later.
Kira walked slowly and carefully through the hallways of the barracks, making sure not to aggravate the areas on his body which had become sore during his sparring session with Renji, which had lasted for hours on end. That lunatic was out there even now, after the sun was starting to set, and they had been at it since 6:00 A.M.
That hothead was going to kill himself. Kira was absolutely sure that, one day, that crazy, redheaded hothead was going to die of overexertion. Kira, himself, was still sweating like a pig in the middle of summer, and as soon as he reached his room, he planned on falling over onto his futon and sleeping for a solid 12 hours or so. Turning into the hallway which he had to pass through to reach his quarters, the blonde was shocked to see a man knocking impatiently on Renji's door.
"Helloooo?" called the man, not noticing Kira in the slightest. "Abarai Renji? You there? This is lieutenant Shiba Kaien of squad 13, I need to see you." Obviously, Kaien didn't know that the very shinigami he was searching for was out, because, after receiving no answer whatsoever, he started up again. "Would you come out if I said it had something to do with a girl named Rukia?" Kira's eyes widened.
"Are you talking about Kuchiki Rukia?" asked the younger shinigami. The superior officer snapped up for a moment, shocked that someone had been standing just down the hall from where he was. When Kaien didn't say anything, Kira spoke again:
"Renji's not here." The lieutenant looked down at the ground, and then mumbled something, probably a curse, under his breath, before redirecting his attention back towards Kira again.
"Can you tell me where to find him?" There was just a hint of desperation in Kaien's voice, telling Kira that this wasn't just a silly little matter he was dealing with.
"What does it have to do with Rukia Kuchiki?" asked Kira, wanting more information on the subject. Kaien sighed, before one side of his mouth quirked upwards into an awkward grin, and his hand moved up to scratch at the back of his head.
"Well...you see..." he spoke in between twitches, Kira unable to identify whether they were caused by anger or embarrassment, "I kinda do wish I could tell you, but...I really can't." The blonde was a bit surprised at the lieutenant's behavior. He wasn't acting like a superior officer at all, he was acting like a a little kid who had sworn to keep his best buddy's secret, or else face the penalty of poking his own eye out with a needle and then hoping to die. But, he was a lieutenant...and, to be honest, it really wasn't any of Kira's business in the first place, even if he was Renji's good friend. It was between Renji and Rukia...and they had, or at least once had, something he knew he could never fathom. So, he decided to reveal Renji's location.
"He's training at the fifth squad training grounds." Kaien's eyeballs nearly popped out of their sockets as he replied,
"Huh? He's training at this hour?" Kira nodded, confirming the statement, and all Kaien could do remember back to Rukia's statement about Renji taking his training 'VERY seriously.'
"Well, then..." continued the lieutenant, chuckling, "It looks like I've got an interesting guy on my hands."
"You Abarai Renji?" The sudden question cut through the air sharply, disrupting the concentration in Renji's mind, his body freezing as his sword halted to a stop in mid-swing, his head and eyes turning to meet those of the 13th squad's fukutaicho.
"Sh-Shiba-fukutaicho?" he asked, flabbergasted, his face clearly showing as much. This man was Rukia's superior, the vice captain of her squad. Renji would've delved deeper into this, but then, remembering that he was in the presence of a higher officer, Renji let his sword drop to the dirt ground with a clatter, stiffening up as he bowed respectfully.
"Yes, fukutaicho?" he asked, attempting to sound as formal as possible, even though his physical appearance showed the exact opposite. He was sweating, panting, and exhausted, strands of scarlet falling loose from his ponytail and the hem of his shihakusho lowered almost to his stomach.
"At ease, shinigami," ordered Kaien, and Renji straightened up, relaxing a bit, and attempting subtly to fix his clothing, if only a little. He opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off. "And I'd like it if you'd answer my question," continued Kaien. "I'll ask again: Are you Abarai Renji?"
"Yes, sir," replied Renji without hesitation. To the redhead's surprise, Kaien grinned happily, and then clapped a hand over his shoulder.
"See, now how hard was that?" he laughed, his grin spreading. His face became just a little bit more serious as he continued, "Now, is there any chance I could talk to you about something?" For just a minute, the idea flashed through Renji's mind that this man wanted to talk to him about being moved to squad 11. Sure, he was from squad 13, but he was still a highly ranked officer.
"Of course, Shiba-fukutaicho," he answered promptly, trying to hide his excitement as said man eyed him curiously.
"Why is it you're out here training?" asked Kaien, surprising the younger shinigami across from him. "The sun's almost down. Every other shinigami in the seireitei has gone home to their barracks; even squad 11 is packing it up. So, why are you still out here?" Of course, Renji knew very well why he insisted on continuing to train, but the only person he had confided in about it was Kira, and he didn't really want to reveal to anyone else his eventual plans, lest Captain Kuchiki appear at his door one day with his sword pointed directly towards the ground.
"I want to become stronger," he half-lied, hoping that his answer would suffice. After all, most every other shinigami in the court of pure souls also wanted to become stronger, even if their desires were not nearly as strong as his. Surely the excuse would fool the lieutenant.
"Why do you want to become stronger?" Shit. But, then again, this was a lieutenant...the higher ups were almost never tricked that easily. Renji would've tried to talk back, would've tried to say something like, 'why does anyone want power? Why should I have to give you an excuse?', and in the presence of anyone else asking these same questions, he would have. But this was Rukia's commanding officer...god forbid he go back to her and start spouting out things about what a disrespectful asshole he had become.
"I want to move higher up the ranks," he answered. In truth, he really couldn't have cared less about his rank, as long as he could become strong enough to defeat Byakuya Kuchiki, and to win Rukia back. But, coincidentally, when he did become that powerful, it was almost certain that he would be promoted to captain(when he did, because he was never going to give up until he reached his goal.)
"Why do you want to move up the ranks?" This guy was really starting to piss Renji off.
"I want to earn a respectable position among the gotei 13." Another typical answer, and Kaien gave him a curious glance, wondering if his obvious secrecy had anything to do with Rukia.
"You want respect, eh?" Renji was relieved that the man had decided to stop prying, that was until he spoke up again: "And why is that?" If Renji weren't keeping himself tightly in check right now, he was sure that he would've punched this guy right in the nose. Why did anyone else want respect? Either this guy knew nothing about human nature, or he was just trying to toy with the redhead's mind.
"I want to have merit to my name." Well, it was a lame excuse, but...it was all Renji had without totally giving up his plan. And, as expected the question came again from the older man's lips:
"Why?" That was it. Renji had had enough. He was exhausted, and at this point, he knew there was no way out of it.
"Because..." he whispered, his voice becoming louder in an instant, "Because I need enough merit to challenge Captain Kuchiki to a serious battle! I need to be in a good position so that he will fight me as an honorable warrior, instead of spurning me like the mutt I am!" Now, this one was a shocker. Kaien's eyes widened. He had said it with so much determination, so much passion...and on the edges of his voice, Kaien could also hear the sound of intense heartbreak, of a longing that sounded worse to live with than death. And again, the lieutenant marveled at how much these kids had lived through, and how strong their feelings were for each other. In truth, it almost made the man want to cry, because it was just so...sad.
"Well..." muttered Kaien, as Renji's eyes flitted to the ground, "It looks like it's not unrequited..." Renji's head snapped up, looking at him in puzzlement. It all made sense. The older man didn't need to ask more questions. Captain Kuchiki was Rukia's brother...defeating him on the battlefield would give any man the right to earn a blessing, if Rukia consented to a marriage.
"What...?"
"She loves you too," said Kaien, cutting the younger man off. It did not need to be specified who 'she' was. Renji's brow furrowed in a multitude of things(disbelief, amazement, surprise), and Kaien stepped closer, continuing quietly, "And she misses you. She misses you a whole lot." A piece of paper slipped into Renji's hand, and then the superior was gone in a flash. The redhead glanced down at the paper, seeing that it was and address. And, based on the conversation he had just had with Kaien, he knew that it was where Rukia was.
"Rukia..." he whispered painfully, and he watched as small droplets of water trickled down into the paper, trickled down from his face. His legs shook, and he clenched the paper tightly in his hand, the tears refusing to stop.
"RUKIA!"
END OF PART 2
Well...it ended on an angstyer(know it's not a word, don't care)note than I originally planned on, but I'm actually quite satisfied with it. What do you guys think? I hope you like it. Bleach is owned by Tite Kubo, not myself, and I love and appreciate all comments and opinions!
