Aaaalright - I thought it was just about time I'd update this story. It's true I said I can't update very soon, but still, once a month or such seems an agreeable deal to me!

As usual, the chapter is rather unbetaed - or better, I have beta readers, but no mother tongue one, actually. If some of you finds any mistake, please let me know!

Info about the story:

writing status: beginning of chapter 11.

reviews received: 4

hits: over 400

As usual, dedications - since I received just 4 reviews, that means I can mention you all in my dedications!

MacabrePuppet - for being such a faithful reader!! Arigatou! And because you partially guessed right about this chappie...

FunnyNeko because...well, because, honey, there's no need for a real reason for you XD

HontoKawaiiNekoChan - SISSIJJEEE!!! (glomps)

Flamer Cerberus because...°° Wait...don't kill me...I'll update I swear! (runs away)

Yumi-chan


CHAPTER TWO: DAY ONE

One day after.

Three days before the party.

' Balloons? Done. Drinks? Done. Food? Almost done, you just need to buy some pop-corns and nuts…'

Renji sighed, deleting from his to-do list all the things he had already bought, arranged and completed for "the great event that would have been remembered for ages as the best party ever held in Soul Society".

He scratched his head with the back of his pen, then pondered about the list of things he still had to improve and set, underlining a couple of them and circling other two.

'Priority number one: a freaking place to set this party in'

he frowned, trying to think about a good and quite big locality to hire or "(il)legally occupy" for that purpose.

And he pondered.

And thought.

And squeezed his fatigued brains to find a proper solution.

He couldn't spend other three days with all those goods packed everywhere in his small house (that now looked more like a storage-room), could he? It wasn't his fault if he was so happy that, in half a day, he had practically emptied half of Soul Society's shops down in the Rukongai, right?

And no, sleeping while holding stashes of chips and coke was not an option. He had never had a Teddy Bear to hug, why should he start with a bottle of fizzy thing?

He shook his head and grabbed another piece of paper, scribbling on top of it, in messy letters, the word "Options". Then, he started writing down every single place his mind would acknowledge as big and suitable, comprehending also the Kuchiki Estate – erased from the list in less then two (milli)seconds – and the Headquarters of the First Division, gone as well in a few moments.

'Okay…what's left? Let's see…We have the quarters of the following 6 divisions: the Sixth, the Eighth, the Tenth, the Eleventh, Twelfth and, last but not least, the Thirteenth'

he quickly eyed at the paper, then promptly erased the fifth option, drawing crosses and writing various curses over the number "12", just to be sure he had exorcised it properly.

'Ok, the following 5 divisions…'

He narrowed his eyes and concentrated on his "impossible assignment", trying to figure out what was the best decision and progressively deleting the useless options

'The Sixth? Mmmhh…No way, Kuchiki-taichou would leave to you the whole cleaning-task and you'd spend the next 48 hours regretting the idea of having had a party…So…the Eighth?'

The sudden thought of a Bohemian atmosphere full of flowers and opium enchanted his mind and dragged him to images of absolute "peace-and-love-make-love-don't-make-war" with Rukia-chan. The thin smoke spreading around, the perfume of incense and flowers filling the air, Ise-fukutaichou showing up with a bar of steel and beating the living hell out of half of the guests, yelling words like "No drugs, you idiots!"…

He shook his head forcefully and erased the Eighth as well.

'The Tenth?'

Sure, if the decision was on Matsumoto-fukutaichou, that Division would have been turned into a branch of the nearest discothèque and party-house a long time ago. But giving that the Captain happened to be Hitsugaya Toushiro and Hitsugaya Toushiro was as icy as Hyourinmaru's Ban Kai, that opportunity was out of choice.

And yes, he was essentially a child and he was less tall than half an apple, but he was a Taichou. A short one, but still a Taichou. And you don't measure power on centimetres, right? Of course, if you did, Renji and Zaraki-taichou would have been the commanders of the whole Soul Society for a long, long time…

He sighed, then went on with his "research".

'Good, now we have the Eleventh…' he pondered for a long moment, then bit on the pen he was using, glancing at the calendar once again. 'It is large indeed…'

As large as the Taichou's shoulders, surely…

Was it really safe to organize a party in Zaraki's dominion? Renji's mind suddenly provided him the memories of his nice years spent in the Eleventh division. The happy moments when he chased Mandarame Ikkaku down the corridors and they got caught by their Taichou, finally experimenting the "long awaited" sensation of being bedridden in the Fourth division for two whole weeks with half of your body aching and the other half just refusing to show you signals of life…

Renji deleted that item with an approving nod.

'So, we just have the Thirteenth left…Rukia's Division, by the way…'

He circled the last option with a solemn motion and stared at those two numbers with a concerned face

'She will surely feel at home there…' he tapped with his pen on his own lips, raising both brows and looking at the ceiling.

He suddenly frowned in concern.

'Too much at home...how am I supposed to impress her and show her my love if she is with her Taichou and all her fellows?'

He glanced again at the paper

'Maybe I should start considering the Fourth Division. It is big, Unohana-taichou is always so kind and she will probably allow us to celebrate Rukia's return in…' Renji sighed 'In a hospital…Bathing in the smell of medicines…No, definitely not good…So…' he scribbled on the sheet ' You need to ask permission to Ukitake-taichou…and then…oh gawd…'

He narrowed his eyes, virtually burning to ashes the following item on his list which said "Contact Urahara Kisuke to get alcoholic drinks".

A desperate expression took control of Renji's face, his brows frowning and his teeth playing with his lower lip.

'Ok, like Kotetsu-fukutaichou said when you got that cavity cured: "the sooner I do it, the sooner it's over"…'

The overwhelming pain, obviously, wasn't included in the quotation. He drew his Hollow-mobile phone out of his kimono and dialled Urahara's number, hoping he was already – or still, it depends from your point of view – at work at…

He threw a glance at the clock. 12.03.

..at midday. He patiently waited for the mobile to connect with Earth and for Urahara's phone to ring. Then, after a few seconds, the older man's gleeful voice resounded in his ears.

"Hello!"

"Hel-" Renji didn't manage to finish his sentence.

"This is Urahara's shop service for Soul Society's members! Welcome into the world of "Earth- made-handy-for-a-Shinigami!" If you need a gigai, please press number one…."

The read-head raised a brow suspiciously 'Since when does he have an answering machine?'

"If you need some books press number two. For magic objects, the appropriate button is number three…."

'Gawd… Who did suggest him this idea, now?' he sighed 'Ok, maybe I don't really want to know…'

"Button number four, instead, is to have private information about the mysteries of life, such as sex, women and how to hide a deep relationship with your Taichou's daughter. If you want to personally know my assistants and talk to them, press number five and wait hopefully for Ururu to notice your call…."

Renji started tapping his fingertips on the desk

'Why do I sense I'm lucky that telephone numbers just have 10 ciphers and not a whole bunch of 25 letters?'

A sudden pause in the speech made the boy grab a hold back on reality.

Then, Urahara's voice echoed again.

"CONGRATULATIONS! I CAN FEEL YOU DIDN'T CURSE AGAINST ME YET! Anyway, I'm sorry, but there are not prizes for this record. If you need a new Shinigami uniform, press number six…."

'Did he already sell his sanity?' he thought as he almost regretted the idea of buying some good alcoholic stuff

'But, it's obvious: no alcohol means no fun'.

He sighed.

'And no guts to declare to Rukia-chan…' he decided it was wiser to wait online for a real person to talk to him.

"If you need your Soul Cutter to be fixed and/or polished, your button is surely number seven!" a sigh could be heard "If you just wanted to talk to me, I'm sorry I had you waiting so long. Just press zero and go ahead." Renji finally sighed in relief pushing that button.

If he hadn't been a God of Death himself and living is Soul Society, he would thank someone in Heaven from having helped him.

o-o-o

"So, in name of the power I have received from Yamamoto-taichou himself, I order you to go out with me!"

Byakuya solemnly pronounced.

An awkward silence, then, spread around as the black-haired man frowned at his reflection in the huge mirror of his own room. He didn't exactly know why, but he sensed something wrong in that poor attempt of "expression of his feelings".

He cleared his throat and arranged his Kenseikaan, then started again

"I, Kuchiki Byakuya, 28th heir of the noble Kuchiki clan, officially want to declare…"

Silence filled the air once more. He, Kuchiki Byakuya, 28th heir of the noble Kuchiki clan would declare what exactly?

He sighed and sat down on his bed.

'I can't do it. I can't possibly manage to go through all of this!' he looked down at SembonZakura's blade lying next to him. 'Continence and abstinence! Those are the keywords, Kuchiki Byakuya!'

And spend the rest of his life changing his nightly kimono and his blankets every single day?

No thanks. No, no thanks! He had a male pride and a family name to honour in any case.

'My Clan's hopes rely on me and me alone!'

Surely.

But who could he rely his hopes onto? His blade vaguely shone in the dim light, almost apologizing for not being useful in such a situation.

The noble man shook his head then raised up again and stood in front of the bed.

"Renji, we have known each other for a long time and…" he suddenly frowned "Not good, not good…"

'Can't you come up with something better? I don't mean anything exceptional, but at least something to convey the common standard of decency…'

How could he expect his fukutaichou to accept – or, rather not to faint because of the news if his proposal was a complete nonsense of words with an utter lack of originality and, so to call it, "passion"? How could make Renji pay his love back like that?

'I could buy him flowers…Or take him out for dinner…' he dryly considered, recalling to his mind all the good, polite things his manners taught him about "how to start a relationship".

But were that rules also comprehending the hypothesis of a "man-to-man" bond?

Surely not.

So, that basically meant, once again in his life his beloved principles and promises weren't so much of a help.

Why did he keep on clinging onto them, then?

If this question would have been asked by someone else, Kuchiki Byakuya would have probably shrugged and archived the matter under the label of "because it's the right way things must be done".

But, since he himself was the one proposing such a crucial and hard problem to his subconscious, the only rational reply couldn't be other than "Who knows? I've been told to act like that, and I simply stick to the orders".

Good.

Following the rules because his rules indicated him to do so.

He stared at his expressionless face reflecting in the mirror, trying to get out of that trivial and pointless speculation – since he had more important things to care about.

In fact, given the previous "attempted failures" in declaring or, at least, spill out his feelings, it was time for him to work hard and intensively.

It was like a "Ban Kai" of his soul.

With the only difference that, this time, he didn't have ten years to improve his technique. But, if Renji and that Kurosaki ryoka achieved their real Ban Kai in three days, it automatically meant he could in any case try to get a hold on his pride and suppress it for the necessary time to free his soul from that burden.

Possibly without pathetic scenes and over-sentimental pronouncements involving the words "I", "love" and "you" said all in a row.

As he arranged again a handful of rebellious hair, a sudden idea flashed through his mind.

'What about writing it all down?'

He (almost) nodded to himself and (almost – it was no un-noble-like!) rushed to his desk, drawing out a paper and his black, polished fountain pen.

'From: Kuchiki Byakuya-taichou, Sixth Division

To: Abarai Renji-fukutaichou , Sixth Division

Subject: . . .'

He shook his head and folded the sheet, tossing it in the trash bin – scraping wasn't really an option for a noble man – then looked again questioningly at the mirror, as if the shiny object was somewhat expected to give him some suggestions.

'To be or not to be' his aristocratic reminiscences of Shakespeare hinted him 'Or rather: to say or not to say. That is the question.'

He had always had a deep understanding and respect for Hamlet's doubtful speculations and, back at the Academy, while the others students were sleeping and shamelessly drooling all over the desk during the class concerning Foreign Literature, Kuchiki Byakuya had always been attentive and carefully took notes on how hard it was to decide between a known nightmare called "life" and a mysterious uncertainty called "death".

But now, quite a few centuries later, the feeling was different: what would have Hamlet done if he was to decide between declaring to a person of his same gender which, as if that wasn't enough yet, was also his direct subordinate?

Kuchiki-taichou sighed in defeat, finally realizing not even his literary memories were much of solace. He felt somehow a sort of precursor, the first male being ever doomed to move his uncertain feet over that big, black, swallowing abyss.

Was that a sort of mission?

Probably.

Or, at least, if he tried with all of his being to consider things that way, maybe he would have avoided half of his useless thoughts.

So, full of this new, titanic spirit, he stood up again and glanced with nobility and pride at the big mirror.

"Renji" he started again " As you probably noticed a long time ago…"

He was forced to pause.

'Did he really notice something?'

Memories of his fukutaichou talking about Rukia, thinking about Rukia, writing and scribbling Rukia's name all over the official reports and probably even secretly drooling over Rukia, started playing in his mind. No, definitely Renji didn't notice a single thing…

'Anyway…'

He cleared his throat then began again to speak

"Renji, as I would have liked you to notice a few weeks ago"

'So my task would be easier now…' he thought

"even if it wasn't my intention at all…"

'I had tons of wet dreams about y-'.

Kuchiki Byakuya shook his head with a certain violence, swallowing hard

"I started to develop feelings about you and I just thought it was about time to…"

'Convince you to be a bit more submissive towards me…No, not that!'

"…to confess it all to you, so you can.."

'Effectively lay down in my fut- …Please, get a hold on yourself, Kuchiki Byakuya!'

"… freely decide about what to do."

A heavy sigh followed his last sentence, then a sort of self-pleased smirk crawled on his face as he glanced again at the mirror.

'It looks like I did it…'

Sure.

Too bad the mirror wasn't Renji.

Or Renji wasn't the mirror, it depends on how you decide to consider it.

But still, it was a beginning, right? If he managed to confess to an evil mirror, what could have possibly stopped him to spill it all out to Renji?

'Probably the fact Renji doesn't shine but breathes?'

What a hard task!

But the strangest thing was that he was about to violate all his beloved rules again – and, possibly not just the rules – and he didn't even feel sad or scared.

He was about to try and hook up with another man and he felt happy and, if the word could convey with his nobility, even excited. There was definitely something twisted in that lustful vice that, matter-of-factly, was little by little assuming all the shades of the addiction.

A sinful addiction, if he had to choose an adjective. But still, his mind soon returned to his original dilemma: confessing or living a shameful life sinking in the chasm of wet dreams and – who knows? – maybe, drowning in the most sinful of all sins – pleasuring himself, that was?

No, he could not surrender to such a dishonour! If the matter consisted in choosing the lightest problem, he was ready to pick Renji for sure.

He sighed, frowning and observing his Kenseikaan.

'Almost for sure…'

Byakuya hated it.

The indecision, that is.

If it was black or white, why did he always have to end up in grey?

'Stop indulging! That's not like you!'

As if falling in love with his male fukutaichou actually was like him…

He needed a solution – and a bit of resolution.

Things were slowly getting worse and worse and, if the concept wasn't still clear enough, even worse.

If the rumours – yes, rumours, since no one ever bothered himself with communicating the news to the only one who had the right to know… - spreading around his Division that morning were right, now Renji was even organizing a sort of party to celebrate Rukia's arrival.

Sticking to the mathematical and logical principles of brotherhood, if Rukia was going to a party, there was no way in Heaven or Hell to prevent Byakuya to go along with her; but this time, that wasn't just a "fulfilment of his brother's duties".

If Renji organized that thing, he surely decided to confess to his sister all his feelings.

And that was bad. Very bad.

Honestly, Byakuya thought Rukia wasn't in love with – his – Renji, given that she was around that Kurosaki ryoka every now and then, but still it could be awful for Renji's mood to be rejected like that. Declaring to a dismissed boy wouldn't ease his task at all.

Anyway, if it was a war, he was ready to fight it until the end, which more or less meant that, if it was necessary, he would have delayed until the very end Renji's proposal and he would have used every tool he had – SenbonZakura included – to steal his fukutaichou's attention.

And hopefully also something more than that.

Alright then.

He had to restore his noble pride and, at the same time, try to conquer Renji?

That was the perfect occasion.

He would take advantage of that party to declare to him.

To be continued...

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