A/N: Hey, all! Just one thing before we get started; for those of you who don't remember exactly who Kuchiki Masa is, check back to chapter 24, Continued Evolution, of Red Duty, Black Honor. He's the Council member who objects so harshly to Byakuya and Renji's union, due in part to Renji's history, and he'll be a name to keep in mind for a little while yet.
Mind you, there's another, much more familiar name that will be making itself clearly present within a few chapters...
BONDS OF HONOR
Chapter 10: Escorts and Expectations
"Ah-CHOO!"
His eyebrows raised in concern, Abarai Renji glanced up from the ledger he'd been reading to look at the young archivist. "Y' all right there, kid?"
"I beg your pardon, Byakuya-sama, Renji-sama," Kuchiki Fumio sniffed, wiping his nose on the cuff of his left sleeve. His right arm was laden with a half-dozen leather-bound volumes, similar to the ones scattered across the surface of the table in front of the two Captains. "No matter how many protective kidou we place on this portion of the Archives, it always seems to attract dust."
"That ain't so surprisin'," Renji grumbled, shoving away a few of the books that had already been looked through, so that Fumio would have room to deposit his burden on the already-overflowing table, and glancing around the gloomy basement library. "Who the heck actually wants t' read this stuff?"
Sitting beside his red-haired partner, Byakuya raised his eyebrow the merest fraction, not bothering to lift his gaze from the journal in front of him.
"Oh, shaddup," Renji grunted, without glancing in the other man's direction. "I said 'who wants t' read it,' not 'who reads it.' An' I don' think even you want t' be down here, Byakuya." Glancing down the labels of the newer books, he inspected them for a brief moment before sighing and picking up the ledger again.
Byakuya didn't respond beyond a very faint, entirely noncommittal hum, accompanied by the quiet turning of another page and a quickly-written notation on the half-filled sheet of paper at his elbow. "You are unfortunately correct," he answered after a long moment, scanning the last few pages of the book before setting it aside. "However, our investigation has lead us here."
"Your investigation," Renji shot back, as Fumio sneezed again. "Diggin' through a century's worth a' dust-covered books -"
" - is, however irritating, an entirely valid investigative procedure," Byakuya finished, straightening up and setting his brush down with a sharp clack. "The financial records and household steward's journals may well reveal hard evidence of complicity in Aizen's conspiracy, as opposed to the dubious ramblings of a questionably sane man suspected in that selfsame conspiracy."
Even though the tone of his voice remained steady and level, it didn't take Senbonzakura's silent, worried prodding for Renji to know that Byakuya was genuinely upset. A careful touch against the spirit's energy reflected some of that turmoil back to Renji, and he hissed softly at the sickening swirl of cold fury, agonized betrayal, and genuine hurt that tumbled through him.
Six weeks ago, Hitsugaya Toushirou had come to the painful realization that Aizen's agents in the Soul Society continued to serve their vanquished master, and his confrontation with Ichimaru Gin had resulted in the names of almost two dozen conspirators, a handful of whom were among the noble classes. After a rush of arrests and a staggering round of interrogations, more names had been given up in hopes of bargaining. One of the most recent identities to be put forward as a conspirator was Kuchiki Masa, one of Byakuya's uncles and a former member of the Kuchiki Council.
Not bothering to fight back his scowl, Renji pushed his way clear of the table and rose from his chair, stalking the few steps to where Byakuya sat, mouth tight and hands trembling with the anger he could barely suppress.
Very slowly, Renji leaned against the back of Byakuya's chair and wrapped his arms around the noble's shoulders, exhaling a sigh into the softness of the black hair. Byakuya sat rigid in his seat, his shoulders wire-tight under his partner's arms.
" 's not your fault, y'know," Renji said softly, resting his cheek carefully against the head below his. The upper set of kenseikan scraped lightly at his cheekbone as he moved his head to speak. "Aizen lied like a rug, y' know that. Bet ya he promised that idiot uncle of yours everythin' he ever wanted in return for his support, an' Masa was dumb enough t' believe him," he added, trying to lighten his tone. When that received no reaction, he resorted to pursing his lips and blowing a cool stream of air over the noble's sensitive ear.
That earned him a faint squirm and an admonishing 'Renji!', but Byakuya's hand also came up and settled over the back of Renji's wrist, cool fingers steadying against his skin, and Renji allowed himself a tiny smile of triumph as he felt the shoulders in his grasp relax slightly.
"What I really want t' know," he grinned, making sure to aim the words so that they tickled Byakuya's ear with every syllable, "is why Hitsugaya an' Soifon ain't sittin' here with us, pawin' through these damn dusty books, if they're the ones that got the damn names in the first place."
Byakuya exhaled what would have been a snort in a man of lesser breeding. "I believe you will find that Hitsugaya is previously occupied today," he murmured, "escorting his wayward Lieutenant's daughter to the Academy trials." It didn't need to be stated that Soifon was continuing the interrogations of the suspects, something Renji was perfectly well aware of and perfectly happy to leave her to.
"Oh," came the sudden exclamation from the corner, and Byakuya and Renji both turned their heads enough to regard a furiously-blushing Fumio. Although neither had forgotten the younger man's presence, he was trusted enough by both of them that they felt comfortable overlooking his presence.
"Somethin' the matter, Fumio?" Renji asked, straightening up slightly, but keeping his arms firmly around Byakuya's shoulders.
"Ah, no, not wrong, but - you said the Academy trials are today?" the young man asked, silver eyes wide behind his glasses. When both of them nodded, he asked in bewilderment, "Who is escorting your two wards, then?"
The faintest of smirks crossed Byakuya's face as he relaxed enough to settle his head against Renji's shoulder. "We've sent them in the care of our Lieutenant."
Snickering, Renji dropped his own head, resting his chin against the top of Byakuya's shoulder. "Not sure who I feel sorrier for."
Over the last couple of years, it had become something of a running joke in the Gotei that Kuchiki Byakuya and his sworn consort, Abarai Renji, shared everything. They were among the staggeringly small number of Zanpakutou-marked, both respected as prodigies, and their policy of 'sharing' responsibilities between their Divisions for patrols and training had somehow also expanded into sharing a Lieutenant.
It wasn't that Ise Minori minded being shared. Both Divisions had perfectly competent third-seats and supremely competent Captains, which was the only reason it was possible for her to assume Lieutenant duty for two Squads at once. Training, combat drills, and signing off on the occasional item of paperwork that wasn't taken care of by other parties was quite enough to keep her busy, and she genuinely enjoyed the work.
Some of the more... atypical duties, however...
"Why the hell're you takin' us?" Haru had demanded, upon answering her knock on the small but sturdy Inuzuri hut the two siblings shared. His sister had promptly kicked him in the ankle and apologized while he was still hopping around and cursing, and Minori merely shook her head, already familiar with the boy's ill manners.
This was far from the first time she'd met the pair - she'd occasionally brought their weekly food packages down when her Captains were otherwise occupied, and twice she had ventured down to Inuzuri to spar against the children, helping to familiarize them with the swords Kuchiki-taichou had gifted them.
"I'm afraid all of the more familiar faces are occupied," she'd answered flatly, "but I assure you I'm quite capable of finding the Academy."
"You don't look that far out of it," the boy muttered sourly, jumping over Ko's second kick and stomping back into the house to retrieve his gear.
"Thank you," Minori answered with carefully measured sarcasm. "I'm not."
Haru snorted in reply as he strode back to the door, katana slung over one shoulder. "So how does someone wind up a Lieutenant, anyway?" he asked, as the three of them moved off.
Ordinarily, she would have dismissed the question as more of the boy's habitual snark, but a little of the edge had come out of his voice, and when she glanced towards him, his eyes were fixed steadily on the ground beneath his feet, watching the hard-packed dirt and dusty grass flicker by as they ran.
"You have to be good at the job," she answered, after a long moment of thought. "I study the Shinigami arts closely and make sure I can lead and train others in their performance. I learn the needs of the Divisions and the Captains I serve and try to anticipate them. I uphold the strength and honor of my Divisions and of Seireitei with respect to my fellow officers and the people we are sworn to protect."
A long moment passed with no sound but the rhythm of their feet and the rush of the wind against their ears, until Minori finally glanced back at Haru, one eyebrow at a questioning angle.
The boy had his face set, a strangely quiet determination burning at the back of his eyes, and, for once, was utterly silent.
Minori and Ko exchanged a glance as they kept running; Haru's docile silence seemed rather too good of a thing to last very long.
Unfortunately, they were right.
"Who's the kid playing dress-up?"
Not even ten steps onto the Academy grounds, and he has to come out with something like that...
"The 'kid', as you so eloquently put it," sighed Minori, pinching the bridge of her nose as she easily threaded her way through the milling throng of waiting students, sponsors, and loitering officers, "is Hitsugaya Toushirou of the Tenth Division. And he's not playing dress-up; he is their Captain. The youngest Captain in the history of Seireitei, as a matter of fact, as well as the strongest ice-wielder ever encountered. Calling him a child to his face will earn you a very serious case of frostbite, just so you're aware."
"He doesn't look that scary..." Haru countered, but his gaze turned wary when Minori shifted her path to join the young Captain and his silent shadow, a thin, pale girl with a black scarf tied tightly over her hair.
"Captain Hitsugaya," Minori nodded politely as their respective groups fell in beside one another. "I didn't realize you were on escort duty today. Hello, Kin."
"Matsumoto is somewhat indisposed," came the young Captain's rather exasperated reply, as Kin nodded her greeting. "A slight misunderstanding concerning the importance of her paperwork."
"Ah," Minori answered, amusement and distaste warring on her features for a moment. "Paperwork, the most prolific and least enjoyable part of duty."
"And in Matsumoto's case, the least productive," Hitsugaya snorted, before finally flicking an incurious glance over the two brown-haired children. "These are Kuchiki's?"
Without missing a step, Ko nailed her brother neatly in the back of the ankle with her toe just as he opened his mouth to object to Hitsugaya's careless address.
"Yes, sir," Ko answered, as her infuriated brother hopped several steps on one foot, hissing under his breath and trying to glower over his shoulder at her. "My name is Ko, and my brother is Haru. Please excuse him in advance for anything offensive he's certainly going to say."
"Bitch sister!"
"I rest my case."
"Why don't you both rest your tongues, and we can go get you lot checked in with the proctor?" Minori suggested, the faintest edge of irritation in her tone. Quite wisely, the pair fell silent, and the group wound its way to the entrance of the Academy courtyard.
Half an hour later, Hitsugaya and Minori had settled themselves on a pair of sun-warmed boulders at the edge of the treeline, resigned to a waiting period. As sponsored students, the three children were guaranteed acceptance to the Academy, but they were still required to go through the trials in order to determine their class placement. Because the three of them were the only applying students of the year being sponsored by Gotei Captains, they would be in the first round of those tested, a fact for which Hitsugaya was particularly grateful.
Over two hundred students sought admission for this year of the Academy alone. It was a good number, well above what it had been even a few decades ago. What was a little strange about it, though, was that almost three-quarters of the applicants were either Rukon stock, like Haru and Ko, or the 'unblooded' - Seireitei citizens of non-noble descent, like Kin. Not even seventy of the youths that had shuffled nervously into the courtyard were of noble blood.
"Times are changing," Minori murmured softly, the direction of her thoughts obviously following his own. "When I was there, the majority of the class was comprised of nobles..."
Hitsugaya nodded faintly, staring at the walls of the Academy as thoughts ran ragged through his mind. The War against Aizen had left the Gotei damaged; morale crushed, ranks depleted, the customs and traditions of two thousand years shattered in its wake. This new generation of Shinigami had grown up with the terror of war over their heads, the knowledge that collateral damage from a battle could destroy everything they had fought and struggled for.
His conversation with Gin rose, dragging sharp-edged memories through his thoughts, and he grimaced, almost sick with the thought of the horrors beginning anew.
"Is something wrong, Hitsugaya-taichou?"
Minori's voice, quiet and polite as it was, jerked him out of his contemplations in a way very few people dared to. Raising his head, he turned enough to shoot the woman a narrow-eyed glare, and she immediately ducked her head, expression contrite.
"I apologize, sir. I'm afraid I've gotten used to Abarai-taichou, and he rather prefers me to be direct. It wasn't my place to question you."
"No, it wasn't," he answered, a bit sourly, then sighed as Gin's words began circling his head again. "How much do you know about Kin's situation?"
"What Abarai-taichou told me, which is, I think, everything," came the shrugged answer. "Sixth is helping with the investigation of the ward-matron's murder, so I received a full briefing a month back, and I met with the rest of the children at the Fourth when I went in with an injury." A faint smile flicked across her face as she added, "Unohana-taichou's gotten quite attached to them, hasn't she? I think the Fourth has essentially adopted the lot." Pausing for a long moment, she frowned hesitantly before asking the next question. "Is it true, that the attack on the ward-house was aimed for Ichimaru?"
"That's the current conclusion, yes," Hitsugaya sighed. "He seemed quite sure of it when I spoke to him last."
Minori's face was quiet, but it wasn't difficult to watch the flashes of emotion behind her eyes - sharp anger, a flicker of disgust, the faintest thread of fear. "If only," she whispered, more to herself than to him, "Aizen's influence had died when he did."
Even after six weeks, Gin's words were still too fresh on his mind for Hitsugaya to answer.
"There are times," Hitsugaya growled after a moment, "that I wish Aizen were alive again, so that I could kill him myself, in the most lingering, painful means conceivable."
"Ain't ya ever heard tha' human phrase, 'be careful wha' ya wish for, ya jus' migh' get it?' "
For a moment, Hitsugaya simply stared at Gin, his brow creasing in bewilderment, until horrified realization began to dawn in his eyes.
"Ichimaru, you don't mean -"
"Men like Sousuke," Gin interrupted, his voice quiet and his face oddly still, "gener'lly don' take kindly t' havin' other people mess up their plans, s' they tend to make contingencies, hm?"
For one brief second, the surging rush of horror choked Toushirou's throat, stealing his breath away. Ghost-memories of pain flashed over him - the injuries he had taken, the agony he had felt when the illusions had cleared and he saw who he had impaled on his blade -
"He's alive?" The words, just two tiny words, so small and so enormous, so overwhelming, so terrifying -
Sighing softly, Gin rolled onto his side on his narrow futon, turning his back to Toushirou and shuffling the blanket up over his shoulders. "Got no proof, no evidence. Just a bad feelin' tha' I shouldn' have. Got no way a' knowin' if 's even real, yanno. Could jus' be me goin' crazy..."
"Ichimaru!" Hitsugaya snapped, seizing the man's shoulder and shaking him. "Ichimaru!"
"G'night, Toushirou-kun," was the only reply he received, even when he sank to driving a kick into Gin's shoulder in a frantic fury, and finally, he stormed out of the room and into the massive training cavern in the basement of the shop, where he took nearly ten minutes to rein in his turbulent reiatsu and drag his heart rate under control.
Aizen... alive...?
"Sir?"
Frowning to himself, Hitsugaya slowly shook his head.
It had shocked him when, on the eve of Gin's trial at the end of the war, he had realized that he gained a measure of Rangiku's faith in the man. It was not something deep enough to be called trust, nothing that strong - simply an assumption that Gin did have, somewhere in his body, a fraction of a gram of decency.
It had shocked him even more when his few encounters with the former Captain after Gin's neutralization and permanent parole with Urahara enforced that instinctive assumption, rather than disabusing it.
However... the number of ranking officers that still had any faith in Gin's word would be few, particularly with Gin questioning what was left of his own sanity. The older Captains, with the possible exception of Urahara, would be unlikely to believe any of the man's assertions without evidence, and the younger - Renji, Hisagi, and Kira, as well as Hitsugaya himself - while likely to be more receptive to Gin's suspicions, had less impact on the decisions of the Gotei than their seniors. Thus far, he had not even told Matsumoto of her former lover's theory. He couldn't, in good conscience, give voice to a rumor that would spread panic throughout Seireitei without proof, and repeated questioning of Gin had given him only silent, helpless refusal.
"Never mind, Lieutenant. It's nothing."
She might have ignored propriety enough to object if the low, clear sound of the Academy bell tolling hadn't echoed across the campus at that precise moment.
"First group's examination is finished," Hitsugaya said tersely, slipping down off his rock. "Let's collect the brats and get out of here."
They found the three children lingering by the door of the examination hall, watching a bit blankly as the next batch of students trickled in. Kin looked mildly shell-shocked, Ko faintly smug, and Haru... looked utterly furious.
"Results?" Hitsugaya asked blandly, stopping in front of the trio, and Ko smiled a little, gently tapping Kin's elbow.
"Kin-san and I were admitted to the first class," she told them, clear pride and relief on her face. Beside her, Haru gave an incoherent exclamation of mingled anger and frustration, and Ko shook her head with a sigh. "Haru would have been admitted to first class as well, if he had listened to my advice and not started swearing at the proctor."
"Swearing at the proctor..." Shaking his head, Renji dismissed the Hell Butterfly with a snort of laughter. "Fuckin' typical. Zaraki's gonna love him."
"Love whom?" Rukia asked, voice amused, as she maneuvered eight-months-pregnant-self awkwardly around the table and into one of the wrought-iron chairs. Kiyone fussed over her Lieutenant for a moment before trotting off to the counter to order a small army's worth of food for her superior.
"Haru," Renji answered. "Proctor at the 'cademy exams dropped him to second class 'cause the kid called 'im a 'fuckin' troll-faced jackwit,' " he explained, snickering until he caught a better look at Rukia's face. "Hey, you all right?"
"I'm fine," she answered, a little bit too quickly, and tried to turn her face away. Renji, however, was too quick, and rough fingers gently caught her chin before she could do so, gently raising her head again. Dark amber eyes scrutinized her, slowly, taking in the faint dark circles under her eyes and the lines of tension on her face.
A few years ago, he would have half-panicked, overwhelming her with questions. Now, he slowly released her chin and sat back in his chair, folding his arms across his chest and leveling a stern glare at her. "Talk."
"Nii-sama is rubbing off on you way too much," she informed him irritably, slumping as best she could in her chair and mimicking his posture.
"Ain't a bad thing," came the muttered response. "Spit it out, Rukia. What's wrong?"
"It's nothing -"
He didn't actually need to say 'bullshit' out loud - the glower he sent at her spoke it quite clearly enough. Scowling, Rukia folded her arms a little tighter over her swollen midsection and turned her nose up with a huff. "Fine. If you must know, I've had a few early contractions - they're not serious!" she added sharply, when Renji almost jumped out of his seat. "I told Unohana about them the minute I felt them, and she said I'm fine until they become severe. It might still be days before I go into labor," she added, her voice dropping to a whisper as Kiyone trotted back, well-laden with an overflowing food tray.
"Eight months is kinda early, isn' it?" Renji asked in an undertone, and Rukia shook her head slightly.
"Unohana-san said the babies are both healthy, and given that I'm carrying twins, it wouldn't be unusual for me to deliver slightly premature," Rukia answered with tired patience. It was not the first time this had been repeated - it seemed like one or another of them was badgering Unohana with questions at least once a week, but that was significantly less often than it had been in the first weeks of Rukia's pregnancy. Back then, it seemed as though they couldn't get through a single day without a dozen questions cropping up, all of which had to be appealed directly to the Captain of the Fourth, regardless of how competent her officers were.
"Besides," Rukia repeated patiently, "I was checked out early this morning, and she said it will probably be at least another day or two -"
She broke off abruptly, and Renji looked up, not exactly surprised to see Rukia, white-faced, double over with a gasp, clutching at her abdomen.
"An' then again, might not," he said dryly, getting to his feet just as Kiyone came scrambling back to the table, tripping over several chairs in the process.
"Rukia-fukutaichou! Are you all right? Can I help you? Let me help you! Are you having pains?"
"I'm having a pain, all right," Rukia gritted back, but the comment evidently missed the mark, as Kiyone fluttered around the table, growing more frantic by the minute. Renji, meanwhile, was calmly scanning the other tables, looking around for source of the familiar pair of reiatsu he felt enter a few minutes before. Ah, there. Far corner - and already on their way over. Good.
"What do I do? How can I help? Oh, no, Rukia-fukutaichou, don't stand up! You shouldn't stress yourself! What are you -"
"Kiyone," Rukia snapped, bringing her subordinate to a screeching metaphorical halt, "in an emergency situation, you follow the orders of the highest-ranking officer present, remember?"
"Ah, yes!" the girl exclaimed, eyes brightening for a moment before panic stole across her face again. "Where do I find a ranking officer?"
Renji had to bite down on his tongue to stop himself from bursting out laughing, but the strangled sound that escaped him could have doubled for a polite clearing of the throat. Kiyone's gaze immediately swung to him, and she stared for a long moment at the pristinely white haori he wore before finally exclaiming, "Captain!"
"Yes," Renji answered, amused, and shook his head slightly when she snapped off a salute to him.
"What are your orders, Captain?"
"Return to the Thirteenth, and inform Ukitake-taichou that Rukia's goin' into labor and will be down at the Fourth 'till further notice," he said, shooting Rukia a sharp look when she opened her mouth to protest - only to be doubled over again by another contraction, which left her swearing breathlessly. "I'll handle her, a'right?"
"Yes, sir!" Kiyone barked, snapping off another salute before vanishing in a whipcrack of Shunpo, leaving a swirl of disturbed air behind her.
Shaking his head in amusement, Renji turned to face the familiar duo that had ventured over from the corner of the pavilion. "Rikichi, Hanatarou, 'm glad you're here."
"Sir," Rikichi answered quickly. "What can we do to help? Does Kuchiki-taichou need to be alerted as well?"
Renji blinked, turning his mind inward for a brief moment to focus on the cool scent of Senbonzakura's energy. The blade-spirit reached out to him instantly, and Renji saw a flash of vision - Byakuya at his desk in the Sixth, suddenly jerking his head up - no doubt as one of the Zanpakutou informed him of the news - before springing up so quickly he nearly upset his chair and vanishing from the office, leaving his bewildered third-seat behind.
"Nah, Byakuya knows," Renji answered, shaking his head slightly to dislodge the uneasy sensation of being somewhere he wasn't. "He'll meet up with us a' the Fourth. Rest of Sixth is gonna be pretty confused, though, he took off like a bat outta Hell and didn' tell Dayo where he was goin'. You head back there an' get things sorted. Hanatarou, you an' I are gonna escort Rukia down t' the Fourth, an' then I'll go track down Urahara."
"U... Urahara, sir?" Hanatarou asked, bewildered, as Rikichi took off. "Why Urahara?"
"Put me in touch with Ichigo, a' course," Renji answered. "Gotta let him know he's about t' be a father."
O
Tee hee. Yes, I am a highly evil authoress. Waste half the chapter on OCs and then cut off before Rukia delivers? Although I do finally explain why Gin hasn't flat-out told anyone about Aizen's return...
Well, no worries, we're back to the real cast next week, and you get to meet Ichigo and Rukia's twins for the first time! And since I already have them picked out, can anyone guess what their names are going to be?