Holy shit guys, it's the last chapter. So there was a teeny tiny loose end I wanted to tie up and here it is. I hope you've enjoyed reading my story. It's been good and difficult but I'm so thriled to have finally completed my first ever multichapter fic. I think I'll let the last chapter speak for itself so here goes:
"Hey Taicho, we've had a report of a disturbance at the Eleventh Division. I know it's not usually our place to stick our noses in but I think you may find the culprits of some interest." Renji grins as he holds up a file.
Raising an eyebrow, Byakuya stood up from his seat and takes the file from Renji. After a cursory glance over the contents, a faint smile appeared on his face. "I see, so there has been a rather loud dispute between Madarame and Ayasegawa."
"Yup, seems like they had this fight earlier today. Wanna play them a visit?"
"Well, since things have been rather peaceful as of late, we've managed to get ahead of ourselves with the paperwork. Thanks for that by the way, Renji. I don't see the harm in reminding them that their brawls are to be kept under control." A shrug of his shoulder was given as he passed the report back to Renji. "This has nothing to do with wanting revenge is it, Abarai?"
"Oh no, my intentions are purely honourable."
"I will believe that when I see it. The way I see it, I suppose I should give them my thanks." Byakuya flashed a smirk towards Renji.
Oh yes, he's definitely going to play along. Renji grins and tucks the file under his arm. "I suppose that's settled then, now's a good time?"
"Well we cannot neglect our duties. It would be prudent to act on this promptly." Byakuya straightened his haori. "Keep up."
"Yes sir!" Renji grins as he gets out of his seat and follows Byakuya as they make their way over to the Eleventh's barracks at a leisurely pace.
"I shall leave the talking to you, Renji. I'm sure you will handle it with tact and grace."
"Now there're two words I'd never associate with me." Renji guffaws as he plucks the file from under his arm and flicks through it again. "…Yanno, those guys are normally really close so it's kinda odd they fought the way they described. Sure they spar together a lot but this was a full-blown argument."
"Odd," Byakuya noted. "Perhaps we may need a tactful approach after all."
"Well if they're arguing like I think they are, they probably won't want to see each other for a while. We'll deal with them one-on-one?" Renji suggested.
"Very well. Which of the two will you speak to?"
"Well Ikkaku's prob'ly gonna be defensive if I talk to him so I reckon he's more likely to explain things to you because of yer higher rank. I've known Yumichika for a long time so I guess Ikkaku must've said something insensitive so, if I ask along those lines, he's likely to want to explain it to me."
"Sounds reasonable, do I need to act a particular way with Madarame?"
"Not really, he's a bit intimidated by you but I think that'll work well. Just show you're as understanding as I know you to be and I reckon that'll do the trick."
"Renji, you make a good interrogator." Byakuya smiles faintly.
Renji blushes and clears his throat. "Yeah well… I just know these guys really well. I don't really wanna see them fighting seriously."
They neared the barracks and there was yelling coming from within. It sounded like a full-blown fight had broken out and there was a clashing of steel.
Renji heaved a sigh and pushed open the gates and raised his spiritual pressure, Byakuya's reiatsu echoed his. As they entered, a silence soon engulfed those in the courtyard and the combatants stopped their fighting.
"As you were." Byakuya spoke up simply and the spectators soon fled the courtyard with much awkward shuffling and the two fighters remained where they were. Of course they were none other than Ikkaku and Yumichika.
Yumichika straightened his ruffled uniform and Ikkaku wiped the side of his mouth and both sheathed their zanpakuto.
"We're here because of a report of a dispute between the Third and Fifth Seated officers, Madarame Ikkaku and Ayasegawa Yumichika respectively." Byakuya looked them over.
"Madarame, with me." He commanded and waved for the man to follow and they left to find a more private place to talk.
This left Renji and Yumichika in the courtyard and Renji approached the other man with an awkward smile on his face. He looked over Yumichika and noticed there was something different about him.
"Oh, new haircut?" Renji asked curiously.
"So you fucking noticed!" Yumichika bristled. "That idiot sees me every day but does he see it? No he does not!'
"I see." Renji looked at him with a wry smile. "You know he's not the sharpest guy, don't ya?"
"I didn't think he was that stupid but I suppose you can be very wrong about people!" He huffed and Renji put an arm over his shoulder.
"Yanno, jus' because he doesn't notice doesn't mean he doesn't think you're beautiful." Renji laughed softly. "Just come with me and we'll talk it over with Ikkaku. Taicho is talking to him right now to get his side of things."
"Oh I bet he's loving that." Yumichika smiled wryly.
Renji raised an eyebrow. "I'm the one that suggested it. You know Ikkaku's not the type to talk about his feelings much. Whilst Taicho can seem intimidating, he's the best listener."
"Still all doe-eyed about your Captain, I see."
Renji heaved a sigh. "I was hoping you'd have dropped that by now." He started walking towards where Byakuya left with Ikkaku and they caught a bit of their conversation.
"…And then he just went nuts! I think it's got something to do with his hair. Dunno why but it looks kinda different." Ikkaku was explaining to Byakuya.
There was a silence before even tone of the reply: "It does look different to how I recall his appearance." Byakuya affirmed.
"Shit… But he's Yumi, ya know? He's always gonna look nice no matter what he does with his hair, face, arse, whatever!"
"…Maybe you should have omitted that last part." Byakuya clears his throat. "Besides, we have got company."
Renji and Yumichika step forward so they can be seen and Renji makes his way over to Byakuya. He leans down to his seated Captain and brings his mouth to Byakuya's ear.
"We heard that last little bit but I think that's probably what Yumi wanted to hear." Renji explains in a low whisper.
"If you knew, just fucking say something!" Yumichika huffed and ran over to Ikkaku, kicking him in the chest and knocking him off the bench. "You idiot!"
"Yumi I-"
With another annoyed grunt, Yumichika stamped on Ikkaku's stomach making the man curl up and groan with pain. "Don't say you're sorry, moron. Just take notice next time."
Renji and Byakuya watched the exchange and Renji was smiling softly and stood behind his Captain with his hands on the man's shoulders. He laughed softly.
"Well I think we are done here." Byakuya glances up at Renji, not commenting on the contact. "The report can be closed now."
"Yeah, I think they're good now." Renji grins. "I'll get that sorted when we get back."
Yumichika watched them closely and the pretty shinigami laughed. "Well isn't that just adorable." He commented as he pulled Ikkaku to his feet.
"Huh? What? I'm missing something aren't I?" Ikkaku grumbled as he regained his footing.
"Only some not so subtle flirting going on between these two." Yumichika gestured towards Renji and Byakuya.
Steely grey eyes looked over Yumichika for a moment and Byakuya allowed himself a smirk. "Abarai, come closer."
A little flustered after Yumichika pointed it out, Renji found himself leaning over without argument to Byakuya's command. Shock paralysed him for a brief spell as Byakuya pulled on Renji's hair, yanking him closer as he brushed his lips over Renji's.
"Do you want jasmine tea when we return to the office?" Byakuya asked him in his normal calm tone of voice that completely belied the fact he was in a very compromising position with his junior officer.
"A-Ah um… Eh…" Renji stuttered, brain seeming to have shut down.
"I shall take that as a 'yes I'm very grateful for your offer, Captain' then, shall I?" He didn't skip a beat as he smoothly took the report from Renji's slack grip.
It wasn't only Renji that was flustered by the display.
Seemingly having gone into shock, Ikkaku and Yumichika were rendered speechless and motionless at the display. Watching the unruffled noble seize Renji like that must have completely short-circuited their thought processes.
Their eyes were drawn to the slowly reddening cheeks of the lieutenant as he was pinned in his awkward pose.
Having acquired the report and sufficiently silencing the Eleventh Division officers, Byakuya released Renji's hair and stood up, brushing off some non-existent dust from his uniform.
"I trust we will not be hearing of any more disputes between the pair of you." Byakuya finally paid their spectators some attention. Renji stood straight, unable to fight down the blush.
"N-No sir." Ikkaku stuttered.
"Then we are finished here. Let's go Abarai." He departed gracefully and Renji fumbled to catch up.
"W-Was that really necessary?" Renji asked him in hushed tones, clearly still flustered.
Byakuya merely hummed in response, inciting a flash of irritation in Renji's chest.
Feeling brazen, Renji decided to exact revenge with a cheeky hand, squeezing Byakuya's rump.
"Renji!" Byakuya gasped and retaliated with a whack upside the head with the report he'd lifted from Renji.
Laughing, Renji took off, flash stepping away from Byakuya. Byakuya heaved a tired sigh before chasing after him.
"…Well, I didn't expect that." Yumichika mumbled after a moment of stunned silence, red in the face.
"Yeah… I need a drink," was all that Ikkaku could add, also furiously blushing at the display.
And that's it! Thank you so much for reading this to the end.
If any of you are interested, I have a tumblr account and you can find the link for that on my profile. I'll be on there quite a lot and you'll probably see little extra bits from time to time.
