Misunderstanding

Hate leaves ugly scars, love leaves beautiful ones. - Mignon McLaughlin, The Second Neurotic's Notebook

"You're checking in on him?" Captain Unohana asked.

"I merely wanted to know if he was available to answer questions. If he could give me a better understanding of where it was that he left my lieutenant, it would be helpful," Byakuya answered.

"You can try to talk to him. He should be lucid. He used a lot of spiritual pressure keeping his wounds closed for as long as he did and is now very weak, though."

"I wouldn't have thought that he had that much control over his spiritual pressure. Captain Ukitake must be training him," Byakuya responded.

"I think it was purely instinctual. It's a possibility that he could have just laid there and bled to death if he hadn't reacted. Everyone in the party aside from him and the two who came back with him is dead or perhaps captured. Have you found everyone left behind yet?"

"No," Byakuya replied, not elaborating.

Captain Unohana wasn't offended. No matter what he said, the man seemed like he really did want to see Ichigo. Why he couldn't admit to having a friendship with the boy was beyond her. "He's in the room at the end of the hall on the right," she said.

Byakuya took his leave and walked down the hall. He entered quietly, seeing that Ichigo seemed to be asleep. 'He's so pale', he thought. 'It's odd seeing him so quiet.'

Ichigo must have sensed his presence because he began to stir and slowly opened his eyes.

"Byakuya?"

"I've told you to not refer to me so familiarly," Byakuya said.

"Oh come on," Ichigo said with a smile that turned into a grimace. He groaned slightly and felt at his ribs with one hand. "Ouch," he said simply.

"I don't mean to keep you awake long. I merely want some details on what happened on the away mission," Byakuya stated, pulling up a seat next to Ichigo and taking out a notepad.

"You haven't found Renji yet?" Ichigo asked.

"No."

"What about the others?"

"We found a few dead bodies, but we haven't recovered the whole team."

"All dead?" Ichigo asked quietly.

"So far," Byakuya hedged, "aside from the two that came with you."

"Damn it," Ichigo replied, closing his eyes. "I would have stayed if I had sensed anyone alive, but I didn't. I had hoped it was just because of how crappy I am at sensing things and that they had left when I ordered them to."

"You ordered them to leave?"

"The arrancar we faced were privaron espada, all very powerful. I don't know how they found us so quickly. We didn't even start in the right place. Somehow the coordinates that the gargantua dropped us off at was too far north. We were heading back towards our originally plotted location when we were attacked. There were four of them, too many for Renji and I to take on at once and protect the team at the same time. We ordered them to leave, but I could feel that some of them had stayed. I was hoping that at least one of them was Squad 4, so I headed their way.I only found two, men from my own squad. I was so weak that they were able to force me to leave. I barely knew what was happening, and then we weren't in Hueco Mundo anymore."

"I've talked to those two men. They say that they didn't sense any spiritual pressure from my lieutenant."

"They don't know him like I do! You know that you can sense peoplethat you are close to better. He was weak, but he was definitely alive. I…I guess I don't blame them if they thought he was dead and that I was hallucinating from blood loss or something. But you know me better. I wouldn't lie about something like that. I wouldn't lie to myself to make myself feel better. He was alive, and I promised him I wouldn't leave him there." At this point, Ichigo was beginning to get agitated. "I left him there!" he said, his voice trembling with emotion. "Byakuya, I can't believe I left him there alone."

Ichigo had been a lieutenant for only about a year, so he hadn't had to deal with losing a friend in battle yet. He had seen loss, but had always been removed from it. Byakuya remembered how ithad felt the first time he lost a comrade in battle, and he knew how close Renji and Ichigo were.

"I sent people back for him, Ichigo," Byakuya assured him. "If he's there, alive or dead, we'll get him."

"Thank you," Ichigo said, grabbing onto his hand. "Thank you for understanding."

"He's my lieutenant," Byakuya said, trying to ignore the slight tingling in his hand where Ichigo was touching him. "I want him back as well. To leave him dead on a field, or alive and waiting for rescue, isn't something I'd ever do."

"Thank you," Ichigo repeated, his eyes getting hazy.

"I'll leave you to your rest."

"Let me know the second you find anything…good or bad," Ichigo beseeched Byakuya.

"Of course."

It was several hours later that Byakuya returned. The away team he had sent hadn't managed to find any more of the missing men, so he had gotten a map and wanted Ichigo to show him where it was that he thought they might be since the original coordinates given for the mission weren't where the team had initially wound up. The mix up still hadn't been properly accounted for, but Byakuya was waiting on accusing Squad 12 of incompetence for the time being.

"I didn't want to leave him, Rukia," Ichigo told her.

"I… There's something else, something that I wasn't sure about before he left, but I am now," Rukia said.

"What?"

"I'm pregnant."

Ichigo's eyes widened and he grabbed her hand. "Oh Rukia… Congratulations, first of all. I've always heard that it's hard to conceive here in the Soul Society."

Rukia nodded. "It is, except for two people who have high spiritual pressure, like Renji and I. I…thank you," she said, tears in her eyes. "I don't know what to do now, though. What if he doesn't come home?"

"If that happens, wouldn't you be happy to have something as wonderful as this to comfort you? You two made a baby. No matter what happens with Renji, you can have something…you can have a part of him," Ichigo consoled her.

Rukia was still crying though, even though she was nodding in agreement with Ichigo.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Renji…he…always regretted how he was born. He was upset about not having a father, about 'being a stray dog' he'd call it."

Ichigo drew her into a hug. "Don't cry."

Byakuya walked in slowly and quietly, not wanting to disturb Ichigo if he was resting. Instead he saw something that made him move quickly back out the door, his back resting against the wall as he took in what he had seen. Ichigo holding Rukia close. Maybe he was just comforting her because of Renji?

"No matter what, I will always stand by you," Ichigo said, his words clear to Byakuya. "If the baby needs a father, then I'll be his father."

Byakuya wondered how things had gotten to this point. Not to this point with Rukia and Ichigo, because it was fairly obvious to him that the two had always been close. Why else would the boy have risked his life for her? She had lived in his house for months too.

No, he wondered how he had allowed his emotions to get so caught up in the boy. 'Why do I hurt right now?' He thought to himself. 'How did I let him slip in to my heart?'

He had been aware of his…slight fascination with the boy immediately, but it only got worse as he got to know Ichigo. It seemed as though Ichigo was around all the time; around the estate with Rukia or around his squad hanging out (or training) with Renji.

No matter how he hard he had tried to get Ichigo to give him some distance, Ichigo had never budged. When Byakuya walked into a room, Ichigo would give him a smile and welcome him. "Hi, Byakuya!" Byakuya wasn't used to being warmly greeted; not by his own household, his own family, or his own squad. Only Hisana and his parents had greeted him that way. Mostly, people grew stiff around him, or greeted him formally and with respect, but not with happiness. He knew that Ichigo walked around with a scowl most of the time, so it was always surprising to him to get that brief smile out of him when they met. Ichigo went out of his way to greet Byakuya, coming over to him when they walked around the Seireitei or if he saw him at a festival. Byakuya remembered surprising himself when he broke into laughter at finding Ichigo in one of the hallways of his estate, dressed up (very well too) as a geisha.

"It…it was a dare," Ichigo said, red faced under his white powder. "I was hoping you wouldn't see me." The poor boy looked ready to die of embarrassment, but had joined in Byakuya's laughter when he couldn't help himself. Byakuya couldn't remember the last time he'd laughed before that point.

Somehow, during all of the forced time together, his "annoying" traits endeared him to Byakuya. So much so that he would think of Ichigo often during his day. So much so that he had been worrying a great deal about him since he got injured. And evidentially, so much so that it felt like he had just been stabbed when he saw his sister in Ichigo arms, and felt the pain sinking in as he heard that…that…

Byakuya straightened his shoulders. He wasn't the type of person to hide. He was the head of Kuchiki clan, and this obviously concerned him. He steadied himself and walked back into the room.

"Byakuya," Ichigo said, seeing him.

'I think I would miss it at this point if he didn't say it', Byakuya thought. 'How foolish I've been to allow my heart such free reign.' Instantly he regretted what he was going to say and decided to leave the two alone to their own machinations for a while. Obviously the boy had just learned of Rukia's pregnancy. He should leave the couple to work out what they wanted to do.

'If he married her, the child would be considered a half breed, part human and not really one of us,' Byakuya thought to himself. 'I'm sure it's the step that Ichigo will take, but I don't think it's the right one. It's not just because of my own feelings that I think this,' he assured himself. 'No, instead I'll give them some time and then I will offer myself as a substitute. The child can be raised as a Kuchiki and given respect and honor, instead of being gossiped about. It's been suggested to me before. The clan is so desperate for me to have a child that they don't even care who it is with anymore. At least Rukia is someone they know, someone that they feel that they can control.'

"Are you ok, brother?" Rukia asked, seeing Byakuya's strained face.

"I'm…just tired…," he lied. "Ichigo, I was wondering if you could show me on this map where your team got ambushed," Byakuya held out the map.

As Ichigo circled the location, he was thinking to himself, 'I won't let your child grow up fatherless Renji. I know you consider yourself a bastard child and hated the fact that you didn't have a family. I'll provide a family for your child. If we can't find you, I'll marry Rukia and we'll give the kid a family. I told you that I'd watch over her exactly like you would, and I meant it. I'll protect her from her family too, protect her honor. I'll make sure everything is taken care of. I'm so sorry I left you behind.'