A/N: FIRST OFF I am so so so so so so so so so sooooooo sorry to all those of you who have been waiting an age and a half! Life pulls things on you sometimes, you know? I got stuck with this—majorly stuck, and I warned you lot I didn't have a plot—but I think I'm better now. And I've had no time between school and traveling and grawrghgh—gomen ne!

Numero dos: I KNOW that Renji's letter/text/message/email/whatever-you-want-to-call-it is out of character. There is no way I could get all that info across without that. No, Rukia has never met Hinay. Yes, Hinay is crazy.

Three: Yes, I am adding an OC. I'm terribly sorry to all those of you who may not like this character, but the only reason people don't usually like OCs is because they take the place another character could have filled! This one doesn't do that, I promise! And she is my hero! I've written over fifty pages about her over the past four ish months. . .damn, I need to start updating faster.

Catre: I think I have a plot line for this now :-D

P.S. It's been so long I understand Arrancar and Vaizard now. . .even though I'm still not far enough into the arc. . .the damn Bounts held me up:-P

Onward, brave soul. . .

Chapter 3

Soul Society and Surprises

Rukia's cell phone beeped incessantly in a dark chamber, quite forgotten by its owner and those associated with her for the time being.

- - -

Rukia

I'll back in a couple of days (never tell me you were worried). The majority of my work was done already, so I didn't have much to catch up on. About your straight-ass brother—maybe I was wrong. It's possible that Shihouin Hinay has just been annoying the hell out of him.

I never told you about her, did I?

It's taken me a while to get used to her. She's been the Third Seat for a long time, but she was off on some sort of higher-up pussy-footed noble-ish mission for over six months when I was promoted. I talked to her after she got back of course, which was only a few days after all the freaking ruckus in the Soul Society, but then I didn't believe that she was actually taichō's hallowed Third Seat. I was sure that Shihouin would be boringly quiet, demure, and probably bloody strict when around the captain.

Gods defend, I couldn't have been more wrong.

She's damn insane. She is so happy and lighthearted, it's disgusting. She's always jumping around, never taking anything seriously in the captain's presence, and, worst of all, making fun of Byakuya. She's completely fearless, dammit! I mean, she's childish and uses name-calling, and teases him—him! Of all people!

What's really whacked is that when she's not around your brother, she lets herself be focused, sometimes. And she works hard. She gets everything done, and she can be scary and bitchy when she wants to be. She has a thousand friends, which is why I think it's strange you never met her, who she's not nearly as silly around.

She's also a damn beauty, a fact that I think hasn't been lost on taichō (He would kill me if he heard this. Hell, I think I probably would die).

After I was sufficiently shocked to hell by Hinay, I found out that she's the one who began doing a lot of my work when I was gone. I guess we've become pretty good friends through my visits, actually, and she never skips a beat with administrative details, which I'm pretty much freaking horrible with. She's perfectly capable of being a lieutenant, maybe even a captain, but she doesn't want to, or at least not yet, I guess. She graduated from the academy only a few years ago. I've seen her train, but never fight. She's fast, and I have the distinctive impression that she is training for bankai. Not only that, I'm almost positive that she constantly suppresses her spirit energy, and it's already pretty damn high.

I thought you might want to know, because if there's something wrong with him, it might be her. She's completely over the top.

Or it could be something quite different, because I think he must have gotten used to her by now, but I'd rather tell you about that in person.

Sayonara

Renji

- - -

If Rukia had seen this, she would have called Renji back immediately, demanding some answers. As it was, she missed the beginning of something that would prove. . .potentially problematic.

In truth, Renji had missed it too.

- - -

Shihouin Hinay was walking through the Seireitei. Storming was actually a more adequate term, but everyone knew that Hinay never stormed. Well, she did storm, when sufficiently angry, and she did blow people out of her way with the winds attached to her zanpakutō when annoyed, and she could be completely cold and unforgiving when fighting someone, but on lunch break? Definitely not. Not Shihouin Hinay.

In truth, Hinay was just enjoying pretending to storm, while looking for her captain. Well, that meant she had a reason to storm, but it was more fun to storm than to actually be angry enough to do so. Her captain was getting out of hand, but she wasn't quite angry yet. Worried that the idiot hadn't been in his office that morning, but not quite angry.

Very worried, actually. It wasn't like Kuchiki Byakuya to disappear without explanation, abruptly leave in the middle of an important report or meeting, not concentrate on his work, or appear more expressive than usual (hardly noticeable, but there nonetheless), all of which he had been doing during the past few weeks.

Was it her?

She slowed slightly, her "angry" stalk faltering for a moment, and the unfounded insecurity about her situation washed over her once again. She tried valiantly to push her confusion, frustration, and sorrow aside—and was distracted by the sight of Matsumoto, vice captain of tenth squad. "Rangiku-san!" she called out, purposefully diverting her inner conflict's attention, waving energetically, and immediately dropping the glowering façade. "HI!"

"Hinay-chan!" Matsumoto yelled, just as loud, bounding over. "I missed you at the SWA meeting yesterday afternoon! I barely see you now that I'm stationed in the living world!"

"Yes, well," Hinay tittered. "I couldn't leave poor taichō-chan all by himself! He's been out of sorts for days!"

Matsumoto grinned. "Yes, but you still got that picture for us, my dear."

"Anything to annoy my captain, Ran-chan! You know that!" she laughed gaily. "Actually, it's more like anything that will get the God of Apathy to show something resembling emotion."

"Did it work?" her friend asked gleefully.

"Of course it did! I did it, so it had to work!"

Matsumoto looked keenly at her friend when Hinay averted her eyes briefly, conveying a sense of unease. Many thought Shihouin Hinay was one of the most delightful shinigami to be around. She was apt to change moods at the drop of a hat, but usually she was perpetually happy. She could get somewhat serious when important matters were being discussed, but she was rarely entirely somber. Even in battle she was quirky and could make stupid jokes.

But Matsumoto knew better than to be fooled.

Hinay had been somewhat stressed of late, even if it wasn't noticeable to a lot of people. It was just that her friend could not figure out if it was about the brief return of Abarai Renji, or the recent behavior of one Byakuya Kuchiki. Matsumoto didn't know what was wrong, but she knew that if Hinay was actually worried than she would have to try to pry something out of her. "Hinay-chan," she asked carefully. "Has Byakuya been snapping at you lately?"

"Snapping at me? Are you kidding? He doesn't snap; he delivers cold reprimands. There is a key difference, Ran-chan."

"I know that, Hinay!" Matsumoto huffed. "I just wanted to know if. . .he's been over the top lately."

"He's always—"

"If he's been worse than usual," she hastily amended.

"Of course not!" Hinay exclaimed, feigning shock. But her eyes told a different story. They told Matsumoto that the two of them needed to get someplace private—fast.

"Let's go over there," Matsumoto whispered, gesturing vaguely towards her headquarters.

"What?" hissed Hinay, looking a bit startled.

"We need to talk." Matsumoto glanced around and realized that some of the nearby shinigami were looking at them worriedly. First Hinay storming—or pretending to storm—and now the two most exuberant women in the whole of Seireitei whispering?

"HINAY-CHAN!" Matsumoto suddenly yelled, grabbing Hinay's arm and beginning to skip towards tenth squad. "I have the most AMAZING flowers for your taichō back at my office! He'll love them!" she giggled, knowing that everyone was well aware of the fact Byakuya was not fond of flowers anywhere near his work space.

Hinay seemed ecstatic. "I've been looking for a new kind for an absolute age, Rangiku! Let's go!" the now-bouncing shinigami grabbed her friend's hand and began flash stepping away.

They turned up in Matsumoto's office moments later. "You don't really need new flowers, do you, Hinay-chan?" she asked lightly. "Because I think the snap dragons you leave him are perfect, and they are so like his favorite, those balloon flowers. . ."

"They are perfect," the Third Seat murmured, her back to the busty lieutenant, "because they symbolize my soul. Every time he sees them, he can't help but remember me."

Matsumoto frowned. Was Hinay's voice wistful? "Hinay—" she began softly.

Hinay turned and looked her straight in the eye. "I can only hope that he thinks of me with fondness and not bitterness. If I cannot be his friend," her eyes slid away, but not before Matsumoto saw the dull, aching pain and uncertainty in their crystal depths, "then I do not think that I can remain in his division much longer."

Matsumoto suddenly recalled a brief memory from a few months ago when Renji had just met Hinay, and smiled. "Renji's your friend," she told her firmly.

Hinay smiled. It was true that the hot-tempered young man had grown on her. Matsumoto was right; if she transferred she would miss Renji something fierce, even if she saw him, right now, at most, once a week. Of course, these past few weeks had been different because her superior had come during the living shinigami boy's "spring break" and had stayed slightly longer than the normal "vacation" time. They had gotten closer over these weeks. Renji was her friend, but that didn't change the fact that Byakuya. . . whom she had to work with every day. . .

"I think that Byakuya's your friend, too," Rangiku told her, interrupting her brooding thoughts. The two of them sat down on the couch in Toshirō's practically abandoned office, Matsumoto sprawling casually and Hinay curling up comfortably.

"Why would you think that?" Shihouin muttered, looking away.

It was a good thing that Hitsugaya preferred to report from the living world, because it would have been incredibly awkward if anyone had walked in on them. Neither one of them would have been able to explain why the two most raucously silly shinigami in the whole of the Seireitei were being serious.

"Do you remember—"

Byakuya's main office was sparse but open, a versatile space that he sometimes used to meditate or hold private dinners.

Whenever Renji came to speak with Byakuya, his eyes inevitably sought out the somewhat out of place swivel chair placed near his captain's desk. It was an elegant sort of chair that was dark in color and perpetually empty. Renji always wondered what its purpose was, but he never quite dared to ask.

Of course he had heard the wild stories about Shihouin Hinay's antics in the office, but he had never put two and two together.

He was reporting to Byakuya shortly after Hinay's return, and was surprised to see that his gaze kept straying to the conspicuous swivel chair. He had gradually noticed over the past few months that his captain never ever looked at the forlorn object. He deliberately avoided looking at the seat. Always.

So what was going on?

She suddenly popped up in the—apparently her— swivel chair backwards, hanging onto the back as she leaned away from it, yelling "TAICHOOOOOOOOOŌ!"

Renji just started at her in awe. Byakuya dearly wished he could roll his eyes.

"Taichō-chan! Guess what I did!" she started spinning around, laughing girlishly as she did. "I went through all the gardens today! And even though you decided to ignore your poor little Third Seat," she slowed down to pout there, "I picked you flowers anyway! Eeeee!" she squealed, clapping in delight. Then she spun on the dumbfounded Renji. "Abarai-kun! I picked flowers for you too! And you know what?!" she laughed happily. "They match your hair! You are so much cooler than Kuchiki-chan, if only because your hair doesn't make you look girly," she slid a sly glance at Byakuya, whose eyes had gone wide. She smirked. "Anyway, the flowers are on your desks! Bye!" And she was gone.

"Taichō, she—"

"Is actually quite amusing, on occasion," Byakuya said grandly, one hand subconsciously smoothing his hair.

"But you—"

"Shouldn't be able to stand her?"

"I wasn't going to say that, Kuchiki-san."

"Yes you were. In truth, she took some getting used to."

"I suppose so," Renji sighed, giving up. Then a thought came. "Taichō, how long was she gone?"

"Too long," Byakuya murmured almost imperceptibly.

Renji's brow furrowed. "What?"

"A long time," Byakuya told him tonelessly. "More than six months. She was in the living world posing as an exchange student."

Renji clenched his jaw. "You missed her."

Byakuya merely looked at him expressionlessly. "I missed her help in the office. She has the women's touch that neither of us could ever hope to duplicate. Things run much smoother with her around."

Renji rolled his eyes. That's not what I meant, he thought.

And Byakuya's slightly thoughtful expression and tense posture clearly answered: I know.

There was a brief silence in the office. "How did you ever hear all that?" Hinay gasped.

"It was one of your best stunts. I've never seen you so hyper since (thank all the gods), and at the time I knew I had to see you in action. And I happened to hear and see Byakuya's reaction as a delightful bonus," Matsumoto beamed.

"Well," Hinay sighed, still sounding a bit melancholy, but with a new brightness to her face, "maybe things aren't as bad as I thought. Maybe I can read his emotions after all."

"I'm sure you can," Matsumoto reassured her. "If anyone knows how to deal with your suddenly wayward captain, than it's definitely you."

Hinay immediately looked exasperated. "I don't know what's gotten into him lately! Even Renji's worried! One minute he's perfectly fine, the next he's growling and saying extremely odd things and walking as fast as he possibly can away. It's almost as if he's acting like this in reaction to something—but there isn't anything there!"

"We'd best go find him," Matsumoto said, jumping up. "I can help you for a bit, but I have to do paperwork for taichō, which means I have to be back within in an hour."

Hinay raised an eyebrow. "Paperwork?"

Matsumoto grinned slightly evilly. "Between the two of us we'll get it all done. And then he'll have no excuse when I need to drag him to the random human festival in Karakura."

- - -

Damn it, Orihime, what did you tell her?! I'm not ready for this, the flowers were a stupid idea, and I knew the girls would talk to her. . .I just couldn't stand the thought of someone else being with Rukia tonight. . .if it hadn't been Keigo, it would have been Tetsuo Momohara (what kind of name for a karate jock is that anyway?!) or that other bastard, Takahashi what's-his-name. Those two morons are just the most obvious admirers of Rukia. . .Gods, if Takahashi had gotten his hands on Rukia. . .I woulda kicked his ass.

Ichigo's arms tightened around Rukia, his body stiffening as he thought of another guy holding her. Even the flash of memory that showed him Renji's arms around her brought momentary anger before he reminded himself that there were some men in this world and the next that he had to trust. He guessed that Renji, Byakuya, and Ishida were among them. Chad he never thought twice about, but by God, when had he got so paranoid?

He had gotten paranoid when he had lost Rukia, and later realized that the least suspected could turn on you. The man named Aizen was testimony to that.

He looked down at Rukia, who had buried her face against his shirt just after asking her question. She shifted slightly, rubbing her hips against his, and he briefly imagined her lips against his skin. He couldn't breathe again, and raised a shaking hand to stroke her hair.

Because I want you, he answered her silently. I've seen what eternity is, so I'm not afraid of death in this world. What I'm afraid of is death without you waiting for me. If I can't spend that eternity with you. . .Because I want to be able to hold you, and cherish you. I want you to never be afraid again, because I'll always be there; ready to take the blow meant for you. I want your happiness above all, but I wish that you could be happy with me, as weak as I am.

He looked around, searching for a way to distract her. This was not the time or place, and he knew he wasn't ready to tell her any of this. He also knew that Rukia hadn't come to terms with herself yet, and he didn't want to frighten her.

His eyes lit up with suppressed laughter when his gaze landed on Orihime and Ishida. Could Rukia dance? He really couldn't, but what the hell. . .

"Rukia?" he asked softly. She shook her head, and he realized that she might be crying. Maybe she has sorted her feelings out. . . "You ok?"

"M'fine," she mumbled, and he could have sworn he saw her hand come up to dash away tears.

"Uh. . .how about we go dance?" he asked, a smirk curling at his lips.

"But. . ."

"I'll tell you later, alright?"

"I guess. . ."

"Come on! You can't dance?" he teased.

"I can dance!" she groused. "I am an excellent dancer."

"Good," he grinned. "Because I'm not. Maybe you can teach me."

That made her flare. "I'm not teaching you a thing!" she yelled, hitting him with one small fist.

He grinned down at her. "Why not? You've taught me so much already. Why is this any different?"

"I'm not a good teacher," Rukia said softly, looking away. I taught you to kill and maim. I taught you only the basics, and nothing more. I taught you how to do half a job, and none of the honor in it. I taught you how to maximize your anger. You discovered how to control yourself, protect others, and be sympathetic by yourself. All the important things you learned from other teachers, ones far wiser than me. Your soul being one of them.

Ichigo thought he recognized that look and took advantage of her inattentiveness to catch her hand and tug her towards the dancers.

"Ichigo! I really don't want—"

"Of course you do!" Ichigo growled. "You said you can dance. All girls want to dance."

"Excuse me! Don't—whooooaaa!" she yelled as Ichigo suddenly spun her and caught hold of her waist. Before she could get out the rest of her retort about gender stereotypes, her body was suddenly moving in the familiar steps of a waltz. Damn you, Ichigo, she thought half-angrily.

But her heart was thumping again, and their hands seemed to mold together as both of them moved in time with the other's heartbeat.

Well, that's what Rukia wished anyway. She was rusty, and Ichigo only sort of knew what he was doing.

Their occasional stumbling was rather amusing though, and it made Rukia laugh. She even caught a fleeting, genuine smile on Ichigo's face for a minute.

She also wished that he would smile more often.

- - -

Matsumoto Rangiku put her pen down and sighed, running a hand through her lustrous strawberry blonde hair. It was far too late to be doing anything other than drinking sake, or sleeping, or—her eyes fell on a sprig of cherry blossoms tied together upon her desk and she recalled what she had said to her friend Hinay earlier that day—going to a festival.

Just as she had suspected, between the two of them—with her actually working—the paperwork Hitsugaya had at the moment was completely done.

Not even his genius had predicted this.

She snuck up behind the chair where he was rubbing his eyes, pretending to be tired. She dove on him from behind, yelling, "Taichooooooooooō! There's a festival we should be attending! And all my work is dooooone!!!!!"

"Matsumoto," he growled, raking a hand through his hair and pushing her off of him. "I don't want to go to some damn-fool festival, it's probably worse than the ones we hold in the Seireitei."

"But those ones are fun! Come on, taichō, please?! We'll have fun! There'll be food and games and dancing and—" she paused to think for a moment, "—and watermelon! There'll be watermelon, I bet, taichō!"

Hitsugaya had perked up at the mention of watermelon, but his scowl returned almost immediately. "Absolutely not, Matsumoto," he snarled.

Needless to say, about ten minutes later Hitsugaya Toshirō, Tenth Captain of the Gotei 13, was seen being dragged towards the town square by his vice captain.

- - -

"Please tell me—"

"I didn't do it, alright?! I didn't do it!"

Byakuya shook his head against the sudden onslaught of memories, and sighed angrily. He'd been foolish and had let down his guard, and now he was paying the consequences.

This particular memory came to mind because he knew that the echoing protest, "I didn't do it!" rang true for the speaker even through her guilt, just as it did for him in this instance.

But he felt the same guilt that he had been impatient with that day.

Out here, in a Rukongai district, his clothing changed and the kenseikan hid by a hood, he felt almost free; a desire he always smothered but had been alarmingly evident recently. He knew that he must be causing Hinay worry, and probably Renji, who had been surprisingly observant lately when it came to his captain's life. Or maybe he had always been that way.

But he couldn't go back to his squad's headquarters just yet.

He could feel the storm beginning to break across his consciousness and readied himself for yet another fight.

The voice came on the wind, like a segment from a dream that he'd never had, a reminder of a person that he'd never known, a wish that wasn't his.

And yet it was startlingly similar to—it was high-pitched and callous; biting and ironic in its words—

Surprise.

- - - - - - -

ADVERTISMENT: PLEASE READ HANDPRINTS AND THE RAIN AND BROKEN PINK CODA. THEY CAN BE FOUND FROM MY PROFILE.

A/N: And the plot thickens! -does crazy little dance of glee- I heart Renji and Byakuya. And I apologize again for that stupid letter thingamajig. Let's call it an email.

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, but I do own this story, and hopefully your minds for just a sec so that you will review! If you don't. . .Ichigo will shave his head –gasp–

The more reviews I get, the faster I will update! And I mean it this time! And I also expect around 30 ish reviews!

And yes, this was sorta filler-ish. Sorry!

Oh, damn, I just ran out of ideas for the next chapter. . .XD

Until then,

Conterra-san