Pre-Chapter A/N: Once again I have failed to update in the time period that I promised, which makes me feel guilty! Trust me, I want to post as often as I can, but once again school is stupid. So no more promises! I will post whenever I finish a chapter hahaha.

Disclaimer: Since Tite Kubo-sensei is much more dedicated than I am about releasing new materials, I think he deserves Bleach more than I do. So he still owes everything =). Also, Tara-Animegirl, I stole one of you description of Byakuya from our many talks! 'Prominent Cheekbones' it was too nicely phrased for me to leave it out =P. Even the 'Queen of the Naming Convention' needs help sometimes!

Lets Recap!: This is the start of a new 'arc' since the Rescue Rukia one is over with. We ended the last chapter the way the canon story did, which means Aizen is a bastard and gone, and our heroes now begin to congregate to take him down!

Chapter 10_

Betrayal is always something hard to accept, even more so if it effects millions of people, not just one person. Soul Society learned this lesson well. Impressively though, there was no outright signs of distress. On the contrary, it was only the day after the big shock, but a sense of determination to remain strong to rebuild its power was adapted by all the shinigamis. First on the 'to-do' list were orders from the Sotaicho to repair the massive destruction to the buildings in Seireitei, which ironically, were not even done by the 3 defectors of Soul Society. Aizen has definitely left his mark behind by manipulating everyone so that they would turn against each other to destroy Soul Society, and the participants of the fights were not please with being puppets for his plan. This is why many were out this morning to make amends with their comrades or training to become stronger; all except for a blue haired woman who was just beginning to regain consciousness.

Gingerly, the female pushed back the covers atop her body to move into a sitting position. Her first attempt to get into said position proved very painful and she doubled over with barely concealed suffering. That is, if 'barely concealed' meant cursing up a storm and emphasizing words that a noble woman like herself should not even know in the first place. This trend continued a few more painful times until she was finally upright.

"Ugh…The effort it took to get up like this is making me want to lie back down again." She muttered while closing her eyes tiredly. A low scoff to her right jerked her attention to the owner of the sound. The sight was definitely not what she'd expected.

"Yah, it's you! Stay away you evil man!" Instinctively, she leaned backward and crossed her arms in front of her in the universal sign of 'Evil begone!'

"Just what about my current position suggests that I intend to get anywhere near you?" Byakuya replied regally from his bed, which happens to be only 3 feet away from her own. Like her, he was wrapped up in bandages, which gave her the clue that they were currently in the 4th division barracks, and it did not look like he was in any condition to move freely either. Still, that doesn't mean she trusted him not to try anything fishy though.

"Oh I don't know? Maybe you're blood thirsty as that one big scary captain guy and is going to take advantage of me while I'm in a weaken state." Her emerald eyes narrowed at him suspiciously and Byakuya had to summon his greatest level of self control as to not roll his eyes at her.

"Rest assured that I will not 'take advantage of you' Mizuro Hatomi. As for your comparison between Zaraki and myself, I think you are more akin to him. You surely have the crass vocabulary to match his." He commented with a slight frown.

"Well excuse me your highness," Hatomi deliberately rolled her green eyes at him, "I did not mean to make you listen to my commoner's dialect." Now that she'd fulfilled her preferred quota for talking with Kuchiki Byakuya for the day, her azured colored head turned away from him.

"Commoner's dialect…" he repeated the words with masked bitterness, "If you are a commoner, then I suppose the Yamamoto Clan's manor is to be considered a lowly adobe too."

If she was surprised or upset that he found out her lineage, she did not show it, for a light laugh was her first response. "Oh good, you finally figured it out. I was wondering how much investigation you would have to go through before arriving at the conclusion. So how does it feel to break the mystery?" she asked mischievously.

"I do not feel anything." Byakuya supplied blandly. There was no need to tell her that he did not figure it out until Unohana-taicho had spelled it out for him, this would just give her unnecessary ammunition.

"You are no fun Byakuya. And here I thought you were obsessed with me for a while there." Her pink lips curved into a frown.

"Kuchiki-taicho."

"Pardon?" Why did he just say that? She wondered. 'He didn't deny the obsession either!' This realization disturbed her somehow.

"You should address me properly. We are not close acquaintances." Despite how serious he sounded, Hatomi wanted to laugh because it was quite comical for a man in hospital shrubs to requests something so nobly. 'Goodness, he even has the upward-chin-tilt move down to a tee!' she observed amusedly.

"Kuchiki-taicho is much too formal don't you think? Seeing as how you almost killed me, shouldn't that give me the privilege to call you something more familiar?" Byakuya was sure that no one could ever play the guilt card on him, but apparently he was wrong, because he found himself saying,

"Kuchiki-san then." But she shook her head in contradiction and the blue locks made low swishing sounds.

"Iie...nothing with your last name in it." There was a faraway look in her eyes as she continued to think of a proper title to address him as.

"What is wrong with my family name?" he demanded, pride in hand.

"Betsuni betsuni, don't get your hakama tied up in a bunch Byakuya-kun," came her saccharine reply, she even added fluttering eyelashes for the full effect. Then, uncontrollably laughter erupted from her when the man blanched and even choked a bit. The dumbfolded look that accompanied his color-drained face was too much to bear, so she covered her mouth before the merriment could insult him further. [A/N: Betsuni= Nothing]

"Are you okay?" there was not even a hint of concern in her voice, just pure amusement.

"Ahem…" he cleared his throat after the choking episode, "I am fine. Just…never call me that ever again." The request was said in a very disturbed tone.

She nodded her head in accord. "Byakuya is good then?" came a cheerful offer.

"Hai…" As soon as the word left his mouth, Byakuya realized that he'd fallen for her trick. 'Evil, conniving, and manipulative woman…'

"Great. Then you can stop calling me by my full name too. Hatomi is more than fine."

"I was thinking more of 'witch'…" he said very quietly to himself.

"Did you say something?" the question was a genuine one, since she only heard mutterings but not the content.

"Iie, it is nothing." Byakuya inwardly smirked at his private joke. Silence then ensued, but it was not an uncomfortable one. Both were enjoying the quietness that has been lacking the past few weeks due to chaos and bloodshed. No doubt there will be more battles to fight in the near future, but the future is not here yet, so now was the time to relish in tranquility. But since tranquility was never a word often associated whenever Hatomi is concerned, their moment was short-lived and interrupted by several knocks on the door.

A muffled voice asked from the other side "Hatomi-sama, are you up?"

"Yes I am, come in Kidanji."

When the lieutenant entered his female commander's room and found the presence of the most unexpected man, he was stunned to immobilization.

"Uh….." this was his intelligent reaction because what else was he supposed to say? 'Hatomi-sama, did you know there's a man next to you?' That would not go so well.

"Kidanji, this is Kuchiki Byakuya. You remember him right? He's the man who almost chopped me up into pieces and was the main character during my 'I-hate-that-man' rants." Said man narrowed his dark eyes at her odd introduction but said nothing.

"Ah…Hai, I remember. Yamanashi Kidanji, pleasure to finally meet you Kuchiki-taicho." The new arriver's greeting was polite and accompanied with a curt bow even though he hardly meant his words. Byakuya was not fooled either.

"Likewise." He replied with the same falseness. Then, in the manner that is usually adopted by all men, the two sized each other up with an intense glaring match. One could almost feel the air sizzle from the energy produced from their blue topaz and sphalerite colored eyes.

'Kuchiki Byakuya…the living ice cube, he fits the description well.'

'The vice-captain of the Kido Corps is a boy who does not even look old enough to be a shinigami, how unbecoming.'

"Okay…" Hatomi droned while switching views between the two males "let me know when you are done admiring each other's beauties…" This certainly got their attention and their gazes broke.

"How are you feeling?" Kidanji spoke first after taking a seat next to her bed.

"Like crap. I don't think I even have energy to kill a fly right now." She confessed with a loud sigh.

"Even if you had energy, you still do not possess the ability to kill a fly." His mild insult made her frown.

"Hey, I'm not in tip-top condition right now, so no verbal wars until I get better."

Her vice-captain leaned back on his chair and answered easily, "when have we ever played fair? I think I'm going to take advantage of this opportunity to up my score if you don't mind."

Byakuya sat silently on his sickbed and observed the interaction between Hatomi and her fukukidosho. They were close he noticed right off the bat. The man spoke comfortably with her even though she was his commanding officer, and even took liberty in saying offensive things. Apparently her methods on dealing with subordinates were as unorthodox as everything else that she does.

"That's a bit greedy don't you think? You are already ahead by two thousand points!" whined the green-eyed woman.

"Tough luck." The lieutenant stated before turning his attention to Byakuya. "No offence Kuchiki-taicho, but I feel an immense amount of pity for you because you have to share this room with her, quite the handful she is." he finished sympathetically as an attempt to bypass their first impressions in order to gain an ally against Hatomi-sama.

"None taken," was the captain's quick reply. "I was feeling the same sentiment myself when I woke up to see her on the next bed." Byakuya almost, almost, smirked when he saw her narrowed eyes in his peripheral vision.

"Oh joy, I am so glad the two of you are getting along so well," sarcasm dripped from her voice. "Maybe with your combined forces, I will finally be driven into insanity."

"As if you are not there already, Hatomi-sama."

"I agree," Byakuya concurred automatically to add salt to wound. Truth be told, he was a bit impressed that the lieutenant had the ability to rile the woman so easily, whilst he'd been the one who'd been irked by her antics. This, according to Byakuya, made Yamanashi Kidanji perfectly fine in his book.

"I hate men." The female stated firmly in response to their duel assault on her mentality.

"Well now that you've made such an intriguing statement, you'll have to enlighten us with your reasoning; it's only fair that we know why you hate our gender so much. Isn't that right Kuchiki-taicho?" Her supposedly loyal and adorable little brother sent her arch nemesis a conspiratorially look, and said nemsis answered with a slight nod.

"It's because of this," she gestured irritably between the two male shinigamis. "First they all start off as mortal enemies until the initial staring contest is over, then they find a common interest and suddenly a bond is formed even quicker than super glue to my fingers."

Byakuya sent Kidanji an inquisitive look after her amusing analogy on male tendencies, and for someone who was well verse in deciphering unspoken gestures such as the rising of eyebrows, the vice-kido captain understood right away. "Ah yes, her knowledge of how fast super glue adheres to skin does come from personal experience." He supplied frankly, which furthered vexed his bedridden commander. 'Traitor! We promised never to speak about that incident again!' her inner thoughts were accompanied by some subconscious punching of fists. When the 6th division leader opened his mouth to voice his opinion she effectively halted his advances with a risen index finger.

"Don't even say it! Keep your condescending thoughts to yourself Byakuya."

Kidanji was a bit surprised by the absence of any honorific to the end of the captain's given name, but decided not to say anything on the subject. He could always ask about it from Hatomi-sama later.

It was at this moment that Byakuya's own adjutant decided to make his loud arrival. This meant a series of heavy pounding on the door to announce his presence.

"Taicho?! It's Renji! I'm coming in!" Renji's distinctive voice box rang out and inside the room all three occupants cringed in various degrees. Without waiting for permission to enter, the vice-captain entered his captain's room hurriedly.

"Taicho how are yo-" His eyes widen when he saw who else were in the room.

"Hi fake-eyebrow." Hatomi greeted him conversationally from her bed.

"Stop calling me that!" came his habitual reply. 'One day, ONE DAY, I'll get her to stop using that name!' he promised himself. "What are you doing in Kuchiki-taicho's room anyways shorty?" demanded Renji with a large frown as he seated himself beside his captain.

Hatomi decided to ignore his endearing nickname. "I'm waiting for a chance to assassinate him." Her reply was almost immediate and the straightforward manner it was said in was actually very convincing. Only the mischievous gleam in her eyes gave away her joking nature.

"You're a crazy woman, I wouldn't be surprised if you are serious. Watch out taicho." Renji shook his head at her daring statement and for once Byakuya agreed with his lieutenant.

"I've been trying to get her diagnosis." Kidanji informed the group which earned him Renji's attention and Hatomi's familiar glare.

"Hey...you're that guy...." Up till now Renji had forgotten about the room's third person.

"It seems like it. Good to see you again." The kido vice-captain answered with a little nod.

"You two know each other?" Hatomi questioned curiously.

"We fought against Tosen-taicho together for a bit before Rukia was taken back to Sokyoku Hill." Renji explained. If it wasn't for the other man's interference, he would've died trying to protect Rukia by himself.

The mentioning of her friend made Hatomi jolt upright, and she winced from the sudden assault of pain coursing through her body. Pushing aside the burning sensation of her opened wound, the female turned towards the red-haired lieutenant and demanded, "Rukia! How is she?? Is she still alive??" The last thing she remembered before the blind captain's sword impaled her was the image of Rukia being held by Aizen Sousuke. This was after he had opened the black box using her spiritual energy and removed the Hougyoku from Rukia's body. For all she knew, the female Kuchiki could be dead.

"Whoa, calm down woman." From his seat between the two beds, Renji reached over to her side and pushed her injured body down to the mattress. Following his movement, her own vice-captain stood to assess the damage that her sudden jerk had done, all the while muttering about her carelessness.

"But Rukia-"

"Is fine." Renji finished her sentence exasperatedly. "If you want to be worried about anyone, it should be Kuchiki-Taicho; he's the one that got stabbed by Ichimaru when he stepped in to save Rukia." Silence followed his conclusion.

Byakuya was looking at the wall on the other side of the room and purposefully avoided her eyes. He knew how shocked they would look and was not in the mood to receive her astonishment. Renji needs to learn when to shut his big mouth, the annoyed captain thought.

As he predicted, Hatomi's green eyes were fully visible as her eyebrows shot up in surprised after hearing Renji's admission. 'He saved Rukia…?' Just the thought was too impossible for her to voice her opinion.

"Renji." Byakuya sternly called out.

"Hai, taicho?"

"What are you doing here? Who is taking care of the division paperwork if you are here wasting time?" Byakuya's tone suggested that the problem better be rectified soon.

"O-oh! Uhh I was just on my way to do them…just wanted to see how you are doing, that's all!" Renji's mood deflated when his captain looked unconvinced. "Hai hai…I understand...guess I better go now then…" he finished depressingly with a long sigh. With a short good bye the tall man exited the room. Kidanji was then left with a still wide-eyed female and a seemingly detached captain. Due to how well he could read the situation, or perhaps latent clairvoyance powers, that gave him the feeling that he should also make a quick departure.

"I should be going too. The corps will be wondering about your condition. I better go tell them the bad news." he told Hatomi while standing up.

"What bad news?" her face scrunched in confusion. Kidanji waited until he was half way out of the door before answering "That you're not dead again," and shutting the door quickly before a well aimed pillow could contact his pretty face. The sound of his soft laughter fading in the hallway and a few indistinguishable numbers being called out signified his successful getaway. Inside the room, Hatomi was glaring daggers at the door that had granted Kidanji his escape while muttering retributions, which is why she missed the entering of a hell butterfly through the room's solo window.

"That ungrateful little…! Wait until I get out, I'm going to lock him in the 'stink room' for a whole week with the strongest barrier that I know,"

"Hatomi."

"Then I will assign him the obnoxious rookie who likes to expel unnecessary spit whenever he talks,"

"Hatomi." The name was a bit more stressed this time.

"or maybe I'll tell Fukui Ayano that he has perverted dreams about her, we'll see if she still likes him after that! Yes, that's what I'll do…muhahaha…" Hatomi rubbed her hand deliciously together.

"Kidoshu Soshi," Byakuya could no longer keep the irritation he was feeling from slipping into his speech. 'She talks too much for her own good, even when no one is conversing with her.' He realized.

"What is it, Rokubantai Taicho?" she copied the way he emphasized her title while looking at him irritatingly since he was interrupting her moment of evil planning.

"This is an order from the Sotaicho for us." He showed her the black creature on his finger. "We are to report to his division at our own convenience. But I'm guessing you understand what that means."

"Means right now…" she supplied dryly. "Goodness, he's an impatient slave driver who does not know how it feels to be bedridden because no one has ever given him the need to. Fortunately, I was never technically his subordinate, or else there'd be nothing but small spirit particles left of me after he is done ordering me around." Yet, even as she was complaining about her grandfather's less than stellar qualities, Hatomi moved to do his bidding. This meant several awkward maneuverings of her arms and legs so that she could leave the bed painlessly. Her tiny gasps of pain and hissing told Byakuya that she was failing miserably.

On one hand, his normally dormant sadistic mind found it was rather satisfying to see her struggling and suffering. After all, he practically deserved this show, since this is the woman who'd been tormenting his dreams and reality for the past several weeks.

Regrettably though, Byakuya was never one to indulge his rebellious track of mind, and usually opted to following his rational inner voice instead. This same voice was currently telling him to help her so they could both arrive at the Yamamoto Genyuusai's office promptly. He stood up to do so.

From her side vision, Hatomi saw Byakuya stand up easily. He did not look like someone who'd been an invalid due to fatal injuries. In fact, he even did a small stretch to release the tension in his unused muscles, just like someone waking up from a well rested sleep! 'The world is so very unfair…'

Byakuya then picked up his shihakusho and captain's haori that were folded and placed neatly on a nearby table. With perfect grace, and not even a wince of pain, he made his way to the room's adjoining bathroom to change. Hatomi had to slap herself mentally when she realized how obsessively her eyes were following his steps. Even more disturbing was her wondering of what he was doing in there. 'Don't even go there Mizuro, don't even think about anything behind those doors.' She berated herself. Satisfied that her traitorous mind would not be supplying her with any mental pictures of a changing Kuchiki Byakuya, Hatomi returned to her task of getting her second leg off the bed and onto the ground. It was a slow and agonizing process, which tired her body and tested her patience. 'Just one quick swing and my leg can be on the ground…the pain can't be that bad right?' Wrong.

The site that greeted Byakuya when he emerged from his wardrobe change had him frowning disapprovingly. The woman was on the ground clutching her heart tenderly, all the while rocking back and forth to subdue the excruciating pain her little stunt had given her. One short shunpo later placed his crouching form beside her fetal-positioned body.

"You are an idiot." Her knight in shining armor commented needlessly. Then he placed one hand on her arm and straightened out her position to check if any wounds had reopened, thankfully none were, or they'd have to call in a healer. Slowly one, then two, green eyes were staring up at him tiredly.

"Can you not look down at me with so much disdain when I'm already feeling more and more pathetic? It sort of makes things worst." She asked hopefully while looking up at his displeased face.

"You need to get dressed." He ignored her request and said instead.

"Right. Give me a few hours, I'll be ready to go then." To prove her point, she closed her eyes again. Further irked, Byakuya continued to stare down at the laying woman. 'This won't do. The commander is awaiting our presence.' He thought. After a quick debate with himself, he took the matter into his own hands by sweeping her lifeless form up and into his arms. Immediately her eyes shot open by the feeling of being carried in such an unfamiliar manner.

"H-hey, what are you doing??" A part of her was mortified by the squeaking sound her voice made, and the other part tired to bury itself in shame when a rush of blood made itself present on her pale cheeks. Luckily, he was not looking down and couldn't see her out of character reaction yet. She felt weightless in his strong hold, because he was walking normally, and without any heavy breathing. Then, when her eyes traveled up the aristocratic column of his neck, past his prominent cheekbones, and found his own orbs, she found that it offered no clue to what he was feeling. Like always, it was devoid of emotions. How could he act so unaffected when she was sure she could be mistaken for a relative of a tomato at the moment? Could he feel the heat of her body through the thin (make that extra thin) material of her white yukata? She certainly could feel his, and fought hard to surpress the desire to shiver from the additional warmth entering her body. Things couldn't have been more awkward, but thankfully, seconds later, she was deposited unceremoniously inside the bathroom with her own pair of shinigami uniform shove in her arms.

"Change." He ordered stiffly and shut the door with a firm snap. She would've followed his instructions if one, she wasn't still experiencing the shock of being held in such way by Kuchiki Byakuya of all people, and if two, her body was in any condition to step into her clothes without falling flat on her face like an idiot again. It would be maddening, embarrassing, improper, and every other word to denote 'uncomfortable' in existence, but she knew there was no other option. Taking a deep breathe, she took the dive.

"Byakuya…?" She knew he was probably still in the room waiting for her.

"What is it?" his muffled voice replied.

"I uh…" she paused dramatically due to nervousness, "IthinkIneedhelpdressing."

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A/N: My preemptive attempt to answer all your brewing questions:

1. I forgot to mention this, but my sneak peaks, like the one from last chapter, doesn't necessary mean it will appear on the succeeding chapter. It's a sneak peak in general. Sorry if it got some of you guys all worked up =P

2. This arc will start out slow at first with little action or suspense, so don't expect anything WOW to happen just yet. The new characters that will bring with them the new plot will come in a few chapters! So please tune in for more updates. Patience is a virtue! hahaha

3. If you're wondering, 'why can't a female nurse come in to help her change instead of Byakuya?' well my answer is...because I said so =D. Where's the fun in that??? If you really want a rational reason, it's because everyone else is busy since the 4th division is overpacked with patients! There, end of story.

4. Mini smut next chapter? Oooohhhh I don't know....maybe not smut, but definitely mini-fluff! How can you NOT have fluff when he's going to help her change?!?!

That's all I think, since this was a lighthearted chapter =). Thank you for still reading this story! And I want to say WELCOME to all the new readers! Don't forget to leave a review if you are new!

Love,

RainDrops