He looked up from his little corner when he heard some sounds. The soft sounds of footsteps on wet grass. Jerking awake, he tugged the blanket closer, over his head, curling up into a little ball. He did not like this at all. The sounds sounded like they were made by someone who should not be there. The shadows cast by the trees outside the room danced over the floor, the flickering flame in the middle of the room not helping matters. He did not like this, not one bit. Okaa-san was not here, and she could not help him. Otou-sama was not around either. He was all alone! Shaking slightly under the blanket, he held his breath as the high window creaked slightly. He watched, horrified as the shutters creaked open.

A silhouette, a dark one, dark because the background was light, entered through the window. Byakuya bit back a whimper, not moving a muscle, for fear of being found out. He heard a "Tsk", and the footsteps approached the pile of blanket in the corner of the room. A finger reached down to poke the blanket, meeting his rib and he bit back a scream when it was whisked off him in a flurry.

Blinking in horror, he found himself staring back at a person with black cloth wrapped around his face and himself like the Second Division Special Forces that Otou-sama had shown him the other time. Said person bent down to his head height. There was an almost maniacal look in his eyes. "Hm… What do we have here? A little biddy?" Byakuya backpedaled away from the person as fast as he could, moving away from him, to the other corner of the room. He had a feeling that this was not good, not good at all. Especially when the person followed him, something like a sneer behind the cloth. "Say, little biddy… What's your name?"

"K-K-Kuchiki…" He was cut off by a rough hand to his cheek. There was a sharp sting, and he was pulled to his feet by his collar. He whimpered slightly in pain, trying to shift to a more comfortable position. This hurt and he did not like it at all. The person looked shocked at first, but then his eyes narrowed, and Byakuya saw him smile behind the cloth covering his mouth. He did not like the look of the smile. It was scary.

"Eh? Looks like I got lucky." Byakuya's eyes widened in horror, trying to pull away from the rough hand, only to be pulled even closer, now that he was almost nose-to-nose with the person. "I'll be back for you, just you wait." He was released, and scrambled back to his little corner, hyperventilating and watching in shock as the person leapt out the window, pausing to turn around and wave. "Ja ne, Kuchiki!"

He tugged the blanket over himself, shaking. He could not go back to sleep, no matter how much he tried. Every time, he would sit back upright, feeling his collar being tugged by the rough hand that was not there, taking in short, shallow breaths. And his face hurt a little. He hugged at his knees, trying his best not to cry. Okaa-san was no longer around, and the bad guy was going to come back. He sniffed and wiped his eyes on the blanket. He could hardly wait for Kyouraku-san to come back. Kyouraku-san was big and nice and warm, and would be able to fight off the bad guy.

She slid open the shoji door, taking a step into the room, meeting the eyes of a very frightened Kuchiki Byakuya. It was him alright. She definitely recognized that face. "Yo, Bya-bo." He muttered a weak "Demon Cat," in return, and she frowned. This was very unlike him. Was it the knowledge that his parents were not going to come back that was doing this to him? Moving over, she made to give him a hand, but a flash of fear came into his eyes as he shied away from her hand.

"What's the matter?" He shook his head, obviously startled, chewing nervously on his lip as widened eyes looked around the room. "K-Kyouraku-san?" His voice was soft and pleading, as though something had just happened which had nearly frightened the life out of him. Yoruichi's eyes narrowed. There was something more to what Shunsui had told her, and if she found out that he had deliberately left out something, he was going to pay.

"Yes, Bya-kun?" The pink haori stood in the doorway, and a second later, found himself with an armful of sobbing kid. Patting him awkwardly, Shunsui met Yoruichi's questioning gaze, shrugging. The last time he had checked, the little one had been asleep, or at least, had his head resting on his knees, and as far as Shunsui was concerned, that was asleep.

The kid was muttering something through sobs, but Shunsui could not quite catch whatever he was saying. When the little one gradually calmed down, he was clutching onto Shunsui so tightly that it stunned all the people in the room. It was then that he noticed the open window. He was absolutely sure he had closed it before he had left the room, and the window was way too high for the boy to reach. Something was wrong. Eyes narrowing, he gently placed Byakuya back on the floor. "What happened, Bya-kun?"

There was a sniff, and the boy moved to rub his eyes on the blanket, to be hastily interrupted by a handkerchief courtesy of one Shihouin Yoruichi. Taking it and mumbling his thanks, he sniffed again, and found another handkerchief his nose. "Blow." When he was done, he looked up at Shunsui, chewing his lip nervously, eyes darting around the room in apprehension.

There was a small cut on his face that had not been there before, and Shunsui was about to get very, very angry at whoever had done it. (Unless of course, it had all been an accident and he had merely fallen, trying to open the window. That was not likely, seeing as there were no props with which the boy could even try to open the window with.)

Yoruichi gave him a reassuring hug, and he began. "There… there was this sound outside the window, and I woke up and this person wearing all black came into the room and I covered myself with the blanket and he came over and took the blanket off and grabbed my collar and he asked for my name and I told him and then he looked angry and hit me and then he looked happy and then he left."

A pause, before he flung himself at Yoruichi. "And he said he was going to come back for me! I'm scared, Yoruichi-san! What did I do this time? I don't know who that person was but he was scary and Okaa-san's not around anymore." He whimpered softly, burying his head in her stomach region.

Shunsui cursed. If it had been anyone with reiatsu, he would have sensed it. He had not been drunk, merely sleeping lightly in the next room. As such, any minute change in reiatsu would have been sensed by him. He was pretty damn sure about that. The fact that he had not sensed anything meant that there had not been any reiatsu fluctuation. Now, why and how would any non-reiatsu possessing person be in his house? Something was going on that he did not like. He needed to talk to Jyuu, and soon.

Could he leave Bya-kun with Yoruichi? He trusted her abilities completely, but he was not sure if the boy did. However, given the way he was currently attempting to hide away in Yoruichi's stomach, which was not really working, it would be safe to assume so. "I'm going to go look for Ukitake, okay? You'll be alright with Yoruichi, Bya-kun?" A slight nod as the little one wiped at his eyes, slightly embarrassed but still pale and looking half frightened to death.

Whoever that was, he was going to pay.

"What do you mean, Kurotsuchi taicho?"

"I mean exactly what I said, Unohana taicho. His reiatsu levels should be back to normal by now, so there technically should be nothing preventing him from returning to normal."

"Then what is preventing him from returning to normal?"

"If you ask me, I'd say some mental problems, perhaps? Or maybe he's just plain unwilling to go back. Very simple really. There's a possibility that he just doesn't need that level of reiatsu yet, so he hasn't drawn upon it, which would be the reason why absolutely nothing has happened."

"And this would have nothing to do with the side effects of your invention that I heard about?"

"My liquid was meant to suck the reiatsu, and perhaps his body ended up overcompensating. I assure you, Unohana taicho, there was no conscious effort on my part, or any of my staff, to cause such problems. I prefer all inventions to have few side effects, or if possible, none at all."

"You are sure about this, Kurotsuchi-san?"

"Perhaps… There is a possibility that both the Hakusui and Saketsu were disturbed, possibly damaged, but I have not encountered this in the numerous trials conducted. Of course, the trials were conducted on specially modified rats, so there is a possibility for error."

"And it was still accessible?"

"The liquid was in its developing stages, and was not ready for release or usage yet. What happened was an unfortunate incident which would not have happened if the bastard had kept his reiatsu down a few more notches instead of blowing up the device I just spent four whole weeks working on."

"I am referring to the source of reiatsu, Kurotsuchi-san."

"My apologies. Yes, even if the Hakusui and Saketsu are disturbed and possibly damaged, they should be accessible. Since Kuchiki Byakuya does not seem to be dead, then it is most likely that they were not severely damaged. As such, after time, it would be natural for them to heal back to their original states, as you well know, Unohana-san."

"Ah. I thank you for your time, Kurotsuchi-san."

"The pleasure was all mine. I thank you for the data, Unohana taicho."

"And your report?"

"There was nothing remotely interesting in the Kyouraku manor, sir. However, the Kuchiki kid was in one of the rooms, completely unguarded."

"The Kuchiki kid, you say?"

"Yes, sir."

"Absolutely sure?"

"The faint reiatsu was unmistakable, sir."

"If I find out you are lying to me..."

"No, sir. I would never dare to lie to you, sir."

"You had better not."

A short pause.

"If I make take my leave, sir?"

"Granted."

"Thank you, sir."

"Well done."

"My life to serve, sir."

"As it should very well be, Akiyama. As it should very well be."