Author's Note: I'm so sorry to everyone who I told that the update would come in the last two days! This chapter went through a couple re-writes, but I wanted to make sure I was happy with what I was posting =) Thank you to all the story followers, and especially to everyone who submitted a lovely review!

Enjoy!


Unfortunately, sitting down and speaking with Byakuya was not something that seemed to come easily. For the next three days, the enigmatic nobleman barely spent any time in his estate at all. He was gone throughout the day, leaving Ichigo to wander about the gardens, or re-read some of the get-well cards he had been given, trying to scrounge up a sense of familiarity from them. It wasn't as if Byakuya's estate was a terrible place to be. The large house and the gardens were vast and regal, everything pruned and polished to perfection. As well, Byakuya left Ichigo several new garments to wear, fine and elegant robes and kimonos which allowed him at least to look the part of fitting in at this place. But as he had before, Ichigo couldn't shake the sensation that this was not the sort of life he was accustomed to. More than anything, the lonely spirit hungered for answers.

Ichigo's soul was still terribly weak, and try as he might, he was unable to stay awake too long after sundown. Ichigo could only imagine Byakuya returned late at night, only to rest for a few hours and be off again before he woke in the morning. It was a terribly lonely time for Ichigo. Though it seemed that the estate was teeming with servants and attendants whenever there was work to be done, for the most part they stayed out of Ichigo's way, humbling themselves before a guest of their lord.

Really, the only company Ichigo had during this time was a handsome black cat which appeared over the wall of Byakuya's garden one day. It watched Ichigo for a short while (he was certain it was watching him. Its big green eyes looked a little too intelligent to be staring off into space) before heading off on his way. The next day, he had even trotted right up to Ichigo as he was sitting out on the porch by his room, re-reading some old cards.

"Ah, hey there." Ichigo said awkwardly, unsure why he was talking to the cat. Loneliness perhaps. The cat straightened up, his eyes widening with a look that Ichigo strangely enough was sure to be revulsion. This naturally made Ichigo wonder just what a cat had to be repulsed about, but all the same tried to make amends by offering the animal the rest of his lunch, which was graciously accepted. The cat never stayed for long, but was an intriguing addition to this strange place. He could be seen running along the wall, or darting through hydrangea bushes looking around until he could spot Ichigo, at which point he would head off with a satisfied swish of his tail.

Ichigo liked to think that the black cat was checking up on him, though he imagined that it was impossible.


When Byakuya finally returned to Ichigo on the third day, Ichigo's hopes dipped a bit lower when he learned that it would not be Byakuya who would be explaining things to him, but the Captain of squad five.

"I just don't understand why it couldn't be you telling me these things, Byakuya." Ichigo said stubbornly, looking out the wide windows of a garden-viewing room. "You were there for most of these things I did as a Soul Reaper, weren't you?"

Byakuya closed his eyes, trying to formulate an appropriate answer without giving away too much that he might be ashamed of, especially around the start of Ichigo's adventures.

"This individual is a close friend of yours. He was present for much more of your most recent hardship than I was... a captain's duties can be very restrictive at times." He added, seeing Ichigo's questioning look. "As a former lieutenant, he had much more room to maneuver at the time." This seemed to mollify Ichigo a bit. By now, most of the flowers that had filled his room were beginning to die, and the invisible servants of the household were beginning to spirit away their withered stalks whenever Ichigo left the place. Though it seemed there were a great deal of people who cared about him here, he had yet to see any of them in person.

So far, the only people who seemed to know him were Byakuya, and the two crazy individuals who had hunted him in the Rukongai.

Time ticked on, and finally Byakuya grew impatient and began, "your father was a soul reaper, your mother was a human." Renji was late, and he was not going to wait indefinitely for him to arrive. Ichigo was restless, and would need some time for this all to sink in properly.

"With the help of my sister Rukia, you were able to access your powers as a human."

"You have a sister?"

"Yes."

"How come I haven't seen her?"

"At the moment, she is with your family back in the human world." Byakuya elaborated. "With your father and two sisters. She is... helping them through their loss."

A somber silence settled in, as Ichigo realized that he was referring to him, his death. Byakuya frowned, seeing the distress surfacing in Ichigo's expression. He quickly continued.

"When you were alive, you mastered a great deal of spiritual power, and saved both the human world and the Soul Society from a disaster of epic proportions." As heavy as it was to say it so bluntly, Byakuya wanted to be as frank and concise as possible. He had put some thought into it, and realized what a tangled web Ichigo's life was to the observer. The more answers one tried to provide, the more questions came up instead.

A servant entered at this point, bringing them a tea set to enjoy before lunch. Ichigo's was a special herbal mixture prepared by Captain Unohana. Byakuya's, a Jasmine green.

"Four years after that, we are still living in the wake of the peace brought about by the defeat of Aizen Souske, which you helped to cultivate, Ichigo." Byakuya picked up his cup gently, breathing in the scent. "Then, from what I understand, you contracted an incurable cancer."

"I thought I was hit by a bus." Ichigo said quietly, clearly not caring about the answer. The specifics didn't matter much to him, he simply wasn't ready to go back to the immensity of his past at the moment.

"Yes, that is how you ultimately died."

"Yo, Ichigo!"

The screen door slammed open, and a wild redhead with elaborate tribal tattoos on his face and shoulders appeared. His grin was wide, nearly stretching his face. Like Byakuya, he was wearing a black kimono with a white haori.

Ichigo looked him up and down with distant skepticism.

"Ah, I know you. You saved me from that giant down in the Rukongai. Thanks."

Renji's face fell, turning quickly into a fantastic glower.

"What? Captain Byakuya told me that you lost some memories. I figured you'd at least have the common courtesy to remember your friends!" Renji demanded, storming in front of Ichigo.

"I think I'd remember someone who looked as silly as you." Ichigo said flatly, glaring up at him.

Renji's temple throbbed, and he lunged forward so the two were practically grinding their foreheads together, sparks flying between them.

"You're one to talk about looking ridiculous! I see that stupid gawking expression of yours hasn't changed! Besides, I'm a captain now, you can't talk to me that way, you great strawberry!"

Byakuya sighed, sipping his tea. As much as Ichigo had changed, it seemed that the core of his personality, and the way he interacted with others, remained constant.

"Ichigo, Abarai."

The squabbling immediately stopped, Renji froze in the middle of tugging Ichigo's hair, while the boy was grabbing Renji's ears, tugging at them fiercely.

"That is enough."

Though Renji was technically Byakuya's equal now, the years spent being groomed to be Byakuya's lieutenant still held firm, and he sat obediently next to Ichigo.

The conversation was stilted and awkward. Though Byakuya had originally intended on letting Renji and Ichigo speak on their own, Renji was doing such a dismal job at explaining things coherently that he found himself staying for almost the entire time. He had knowledge of plenty of things Byakuya was ignorant about on Ichigo's life, but would often forget to explain key details, such as Aizen Souske being the previous captain of squad five. The three moved slowly backwards in time, starting by briefly going over Ichigo's death, then to the Winter War and the events proceeding and leading up to it.

"So then how did I know about the Soul Society before this?" Ichigo asked some time later. "Did my father train me as a Soul Reaper?"

"No," Renji grinned. "You were known here before Hueco Mundo. You and your friends tore the place apart about a year before to save Rukia."

"Rukia?" Byakuya's sister. One of his friends. The one whose card he had kept, even after all of the flowers had died and been disposed of. "What happened?"

Renji cast a nervous glance at Byakuya, who was still staring calmly ahead.

"She was going to be executed."

"What?" Ichigo leaned forward, his hands gripping his knees. Quite an intense reaction, seeing as how he had yet to meet Rukia again for the first time. Still, she was Byakuya's sister, the girl who had introduced him to this world. The one whose get-well card had made his heart ache with warmth.

"Who would want to kill her?"

"Lets save that for another day," Byakuya said, to Renji's surprise. "It's growing late, and I don't doubt that Captain Abarai has left his paperwork to be filled out at the last minute."

"Ah, yeah." Well, that was true. Renji was notorious for leaving his work undone, though Momo was always excellent at picking up the slack and getting everything in on time. Really, she was the sort of Lieutenant that Byakuya was in sore need of now that Renji had gone, but there was no denying that the new squad five captain needed her talents more.

"Thank you for your assistance."

"No problem."

Renji looked a bit unsettled though as they left, Byakuya walking with him to the gates of his estate.

"Ah, Captain Byakuya?"

Although Renji had been the new captain of squad five for nearly a year now, he still could not bring himself to call his former leader by his name.

"Yes, Renji?"

"Did you... say something to Ichigo?"

Byakuya paused, a sharp eye trained carefully on Renji.

"Why do you say that?"

"Well... ah, it's hard to say." Renji rubbed the back of his neck, he seemed to have regretted even bringing it up. "But Ichigo... he's different now."

"Oh?" Well, that was obvious enough to anybody who looked. Ichigo's entire demeanor had changed now that he had lost his memories.

"Around you, I mean."

Byakuya paused, taken by surprise now.

"Well, you two got along well enough after... Aizen's betrayal." He worded it carefully. "But, you were never really close. It's not like you ever really looked at each other. But now..."

Byakuya looked at Renji, his expressions carefully withdrawn, though he was clearly expectant of a proper explanation.

"Well, he keeps glancing at you, when he thinks you're not looking."

"Does he now?"

"Yeah. It's like... he's trying to figure you out. Something like that." He shrugged, unable to find the proper word for it at the moment.

Byakuya didn't find that to be too odd. After all, Ichigo was a lost soul where everything familiar had been stripped away from him. Byakuya was the one giving him sanctuary from a Soul Society which, from his point of view, seemed more keen on hunting him down than anything else. Of course he would want to know more about his host.

"Very well. I will talk to him."

Renji nodded, and headed off on his way.

Byakuya didn't pause much to ponder on those words, however. As terrible as Renji was at reading Byakuya's expressions, the squad six captain was equally as terrible as listening to his former subordinate.


Byakuya returned to the garden-viewing room, only to find that Ichigo had left already. A few minutes of light searching found him to have wandered out onto the grounds of the estate, to a small pavilion in a secluded part of the garden. It was a quiet place, overlooking a serene koi pond. The trees were just beginning to don their autumn colors, the summer warmth not quite gone.

Ichigo was sitting in quite a different stance out there than he had in the viewing room. There, he had been sitting stiffly, his back straight, reacting to the atmosphere in the room. Here, he was relaxed. One arm was slung over a knee, and he was leaned back, supported by the other. In this casual way, the expensive silk had slipped a bit low on his shoulder, exposing the dip of his clavicle, down to expose a sculpted pectoral. He seemed to be dreamily focused on something very far off, his eyes in a haze.

"I imagine that was a lot to take in."

Ichigo jumped, startled by Byakuya's sudden appearance.

"Ah... yeah." He shifted a bit, looking away from him quickly. "I just... It's not easy, being suddenly told you're someone special... when you can't remember any of it."

It was tough enough trying to wrap his mind around the fact that he had an edo-era prince for a lover... and now he was some sort of otherworldly hero? The only memories he could recall were those of him playing soccer with friends after school, and those were only blurry apparitions that appeared in his dreams.

"Hearing about your past failed to bring about any memories of your old life then?"

Ichigo nodded reluctantly.

"To be honest... it sounded a bit like hearing about someone else." He shrugged, crossing his arms in his sleeves. The story of his past had rolled off of Ichigo like rainwater, not seeping in or bringing anything to life.

"Byakuya," Ichigo spoke carefully, deliberately, "you told me before that my lost memory is something that happens after a successful sending." He fumbled with his sleeve a bit. "Why didn't you try to preserve my memory? Try sending me some other way?" This had been bothering him for a little while now.

"It's not impossible, but it is considered a dangerous thing to do. Your body could have easily been lost, weighted down by your life on earth." Ichigo didn't seem to be very satisfied with that answer. Though he didn't say anything, his lips had formed the slightest pout, his expression distant again. When Byakuya realized he was beginning to stare, he tore his eyes away. "The technique of sending souls over was developed to cleanse a soul of their memories in the human world."

"Why would anybody want to do that?"

"Your life here will be ten times the length of your human life." Byakuya faced Ichigo again. "When you consider the immensity of it, you will realize that a human's life is only a dream. It can be beautiful, but it is also fragile and fleeting. This will be your true life, Ichigo."

Ichigo gaped at Byakuya, clearly struggling to get his head around things. After all, he had none of his previous knowledge of the way life and death worked to help him through it. A gold autumn leaf drifted by, fluttering into the clear, still pond.

Ichigo had come out here with Byakuya with the intent of finally learning just what the two meant to one another. Now... it seemed to him like the moment passed somehow.

"I'm sorry, Ichigo."

"For what?" The boy looked up at him, surprised to see him morose.

"I should have given you answers to these things days ago."

"It's all right." Ichigo leaned towards him. "You've been busy."

Busy, yes. That was a good word for it. After all, he had a celebrity of the Soul Society living in his own house. At least that was the way that all of the people who had arrived to see him had thought of things.

They didn't see that Ichigo was an emotionally distraught, weak and sick boy who needed time to recuperate in peace.

With his security staff working overtime to patrol the borders of his estate, Byakuya appealed to the Captain-General to make an official statement of cease-and-desist, giving Ichigo at least two weeks of undisturbed peace to heal, safe from the rampant fluctuating spiritual pressure which would interfere with Ichigo's own healing reiatsu. Like with his feinting spell after being exposed to Zaraki Kenpachi, Ichigo was simply not strong enough to withstand the spiritual energy of the Seireitei.

The Kuchiki estate was therefore an ideal solution. Byakuya was perfectly skilled at keeping his spiritual pressure in check, and the noble ground proved an effective border at keeping out intruders who might interfere with Ichigo's recovery or mount another effort to 'recruit' him. On top of this, a Captains' meeting was held to specifically order that no member of any squad was to interfere in Ichigo's healing (a distinct look was given to the captains of squads eleven and twelve). There had been some slight dissent over this. Some of the captains seemed to believe that having Ichigo recuperate for a month in the Kuchiki residence would give him an unfair bias to squad six when the time came for him to join the court guard squad. They believed, rather, that a recovery station with squad four would be much more suitable (mostly because nobody believed that Ichigo Kurosaki was destined for squad four in the slightest). It was quite a lot to gain permission for, but Byakuya had plenty of energy to devote to his job all of a sudden. Or rather, he wanted to expend as much as he could, to keep from facing what was waiting for him at home.

Confusion.

It all stemmed from the most innocent of actions. Ichigo himself probably would not even be able to recall it.

Such as that first morning, after Byakuya had returned from reporting Ichigo's successful recovery.

By that point, Ichigo had woken up and discovered the new clothing Byakuya had selected for him.

As usual, the servants who appeared chanted their greeting to the master of the household before fading back into the background. This was so common a happening that Byakuya didn't even notice it anymore, blandly passing by like one might walk over a particularly uninteresting floor pattern.

"Ah, welcome home, Byakuya."

Four words, one simple phrase.

It shouldn't have meant anything to him when Ichigo stepped out into the hall, clearly happening upon him by accident.

It was the simply fact that it had been... quite a long time since someone had greeted him like that. So close and unafraid. A greeting which was casual, yet still so sincere, so very happy to see him. Even when Rukia greeted him there was still that choke of hesitation. She humbled herself before him as any younger sister properly should. She was sure to let Byakuya know that she was beneath him. Byakuya had not been greeted this way... since Hisana. Ichigo lit up in that moment, his smile bright and lovely.

"Byakuya? Is everything all right?" The smile faltered for a minute and Ichigo took another step forward, his coffee-amber eyes were large and unassuming now. Because it was indeed Ichigo Kurosaki, Byakuya hesitated to think of them with the cliché term "puppy eyes," but there it was. Ichigo didn't mean for it, of course, but without the memories of his hardships, his triumphs and tribulations, he was... innocent. When he looked at Byakuya, he simply had nothing to scowl about.

It took him entirely off guard.

"I have to go."

Byakuya curtly excused himself, and spent the next three days trying to get a grip on himself.

It was not that Ichigo Kurosaki was a man, no. This was the farthest thing from his mind. When Byakuya married, he had loved Hisana for who she was, rather than her gender. No, the problem here was that it was Ichigo Kurosaki. Did he even need to explain that to himself?

No, no, this was not something that he would indulge himself in. Byakuya would dutifully bury himself in his work. It was merely a quirk, or perhaps an oncoming illness that caused his heart to swell and ache in a way which was so painful but also intriguing and wonderful...

Byakuya naturally responded by burying himself in his work. He tore through his duties, and that of his nonexistent Lieutenant (currently, his third and fourth seat squad members were picking up the slack of this role). Byakuya did not go home until late at night, when he was certain that the ailing Ichigo would be asleep. Just to make sure however, he took a slight detour down the hall each night, pausing at his door, listening for steady breathing, sensing his calm reiatsu, the unique pattern of its radiance.

He simply wanted to make sure that Ichigo was at ease, that was all.

By noon on the third day, Byakuya had gotten his head on straight, or so he believed. There was nothing unusual about feeling... drawn to Ichigo. After all, this was the boy who had saved his precious sister. Saved him from becoming her murderer. Though Byakuya had always considered Ichigo to be something of a naughty, arrogant child in need of a good scolding... there was no denying that he had also pulled Byakuya back from the precipice of a very dark place.

It was a feeling of being indebted, not enthralled.

Gratitude, not... desire?

No! Certainly not that!

When Renji began talking about Byakuya and Ichigo acting differently around one another, the man had, for the first time in years, felt something akin to panic.

He had always considered himself so carefully guarded. Was it possible that he had been seen through? Had Renji noticed any of this somehow?

He calmed down only when he remembered that Renji was an idiot, and that this would be impossible.

Yes, Byakuya was much calmer now, sitting on the lovely pavilion with Ichigo. It seemed that there was nothing to worry about at all. After all, the two were sitting and speaking like any normal two people would.

Byakuya could pull this off just fine. It seemed he had gotten worked up over nothing.

"Besides," Ichigo continued, skipping a little pebble into the water. "I have it pretty lucky, you know. Most people who come to the Rukongai are never reunited with the people that they knew during their lives in the human world." Ichigo glowed. "But I've got you..."

Byakuya glanced over at him, intrigued. Yes, they did know one another from before. This was true. What put him off guard was Ichigo's hand on his cheek.

"I have someone who loves me." Before he could react, Ichigo's soft, sweet lips were pressed against his.

"And I look forward to falling in love with you again."


(As usual, I love to hear what you think =D)