Chapter 12:

Now that the mess was cleaned up and Ichigo's stomach had settled, things were winding down a bit. Rukia sat on the couch with Ichigo snoozing in her lap. The nurse warned that the medicine they gave to him might make him a bit drowsy but that was good. He needed to sleep this off. Now he was laying on her lap, his head on her chest, her arm wrapped around his waist. Hitsugaya was still crawling around playfully and Yumichika was chasing him happily. He even tried teaching the baby how to make pretty drawings, but all he wanted to do was nibble on the pen given to him. He was a little too young for drawing.

Byakuya on the other hand was staring at Rukia and Ichigo. He wanted to be on her lap, too. So far Ichigo was getting all the attention and he wanted Rukia to notice him. He stood at her feet and stared up at her.

She looked down. "Yes?"

He wordlessly started climbing onto her lap, shoving Ichigo aside.

"No, no, no. Don't do that. He's sleeping."

Byakuya slid down pouting bitterly. "I wanna be up there, too."

"Ichigo's not feeling well. You can be on my lap later, ok?"

He turned away and walked across the room. In his tiny brain, Byakuya had come up with a brilliant plan. Maybe if he was hurt, too, Rukia would pay attention to him and dump Ichigo. He didn't really want to hurt himself, but he had to make her believe that he was really injured. He took a book off the shelf and dropped it on his foot. It didn't hurt very much, but he started to carry on like it did.

"Ouch! Oh, my foot! Oh, no! Rukia help me! Help me!"

She turned and saw him standing there looking at her expectantly with a thin book on his toes. "What kind of game are you play, Byakuya? You shouldn't call for help when you don't really need it."

He kicked the book aside. Plan B. He went over to the plant in the corner and tipped it over. Once the plant was on its side, Byakuya laid down beside it and called for Rukia again. "Oh! Oh, help! Rukia, help! I'm hurt! I crashed and broke my leg! I need help!"

Rukia wasn't buying it for a minute. His calls for help sounded so fake. He wasn't even screaming or crying and she didn't hear a crash of any sort. She ignored him.

Byakuya lay on his back for another minute and then sat up, looking at the back of her head. He stood up and stomped over to her and stood in front of the couch where she was. "Hey! I said I'm hurt!" He stomped his foot on the ground, hard. "My leg. Is. Broken!"

She looked at him skeptically. "Really?"

"Yeah! See!" He stomped again. "It's broked! Help me!"

Ichigo started to slip off her lap and she held him tighter to keep him from falling. She brushed his orange hair out of his face and cradled him.

All in front of her brother.

Jealous and frustrated, Byakuya threw himself onto the floor and started throwing a tantrum. "It's broken! My leg's hurt real bad! It hurts! Help me, help me help me!" He kicked and pounded the ground with his fists. "Ow! Owie! Owie, owie ow!"

"Byakuya…"

"Just help me already! Love me, too! I need help!"

"You want help or attention?"

"Yes!"

"Yes what?"

"Yes!"

"Yes to which one? Help or attention?"

"Yes!" He banged his head on the floor. "Ow!" he held his head and started crying. "You don't even care!"

Rukia sighed. Poor Byakuya. There just wasn't enough of her to go around. "Would a kiss make you feel better?"

He blinked and stared at her. He swallowed and looked away. "… Maybe…" he mumbled.

"Should I kiss it and make it better?"

He pouted. "I guess so…"

"Ok, where does it hurt?"

He didn't answer.

"Is it your head?"

He didn't say.

"How about your foot? Or is it your butt?"

He started giggling. "Yeah…"

"Yeah what?"

"Kiss it."

"Kiss what?"

"Kiss my butt!" he laughed.

Rukia played along of course. "Where?"

"My butt!"

"Your butt?"

"Yeah! Kiss it! Kiss my butt!"

"Oh, ok… But I get to kiss your head first."

"No, my butt! Kiss it first!"

"No, give me your head."

He crawled under the coffee table and stuck his butt in the air. "Kiss it!"

"That's not your head. Where's your head?"

"Here it is!" Byakuya laughed, wiggling his butt. "Kiss it! Kiss it!"

"Oh, I don't think so…"

"Do it!"

There was a loud pop and all the children changed back at once. Byakuya's body grew and he hit his head on the bottom of the table with a loud thunk. Ichigo grew back to his normal size and crushed Rukia under his taller, heavier body. Yumichika changed back giving Hitsugaya a piggy back ride and fell face-first into the floor. Hitsugaya, being on top, was unharmed but slid off Yumichika's back and onto the floor.

"Finally…" Rukia breathed and began to shove Ichigo. "Get off me already!"

"Huh?" He looked down and spotted her under him on the couch. "Oh, sorry."

Too big to stay under the table, Byakuya, lifted it up with one hand and slowly backed out from under it. "How did I get under there? And why?"

"You were playing a game," Rukia told him. "You were smaller then so you could fit easily."

Ichigo stood up brushing himself off. "Why was I on top of you like that?"

"You were taking a nap."

Ichigo's cheeks started to turn a slight pinkish color. "Oh." When he was younger, he had a habit of sleeping on his mother's lap whenever she was sitting down and he felt tired. He cuddled in her lap regardless if he felt tired or not just to snuggle on her lap. If she was reading something, he'd sit right there and ask her to read it to him. If she was watching TV, he'd plop down right there and relax on her lap or sit beside her and cuddle up under her arm. To think that he did the same thing to Rukia was kind of embarrassing.

"For crying out loud!" Everyone turned and looked at Yumichika. "He ditched me again, didn't he? I was with Ikkaku before and I know I was with him when I changed. Now I'm here. Did he dump me off on you guys? Can't I relay on him for anything?"

Byakuya noticed the overturned plant. "What happened here? Who was roughhousing?"

"You," his sister answered.

"Me?" he looked surprised.

She explained. "You wanted attention so you threw a bit of a tantrum."

"Me?" Byakuya looked very surprised. "Are you sure?"

"I watched you do it."

He blinked. "But… why? A tantrum is so… so childish."

"Hello?" Ichigo raised a brow at him.

"I only mean that it's not very…"

"You're a little kid. Who cares about appearances at that age?"

"I was raised better than that."

"At two years old you're not really listening at a strong level. And you don't really understand why. You just think 'if it feels good, do it' at that age. Forget reason."

He faced away from Ichigo. "I know better than that."

"At that age you're lucky if you can spell 'cat'. You're still figuring out that there aren't monsters in your closet and stuff like that. You think you can reason about honor and nobility and things like that? You can't even get dressed by yourself."

"Calling me an idiot, Kurosaki?"

"No, no. I was just…"

Someone knocked on the door and a nurse from Squad 4 entered with a small bag. "Pardon me. Ichigo's clothes are all cleaned…" She spotted the teen standing in front of the couch. "Oh, nice to see you back. These are yours. Bye now." She left giggling a little.

Ichigo opened the bag and took out a pair of small pants with a hole in the left knee. It was hard to believe that he was really that small at one time. These pants were barely the size of his forearm. He fished around in the bag of something else. The only thing left were a pair of small Velcro shoes. "What the..?" He pulled them out for all to see.

Yumichika giggled. "So tiny… And what a hideous design. No sense of taste whatsoever…"

But Ichigo wasn't interested in fashion tips. He remembered these shoes, oddly enough. He flipped them over. Exactly how he remembered them. They had a soccer ball design on the heel of his soles. He loved that design as a child and would deliberately step in the mud just the see the treads left behind. He thought they were cool looking. He remembered playing with them, too. Turning his shoes into rocketships and racecars whenever he could. He would stick his toys in them and fly them around, running around in his socks. They finally had to get him a new pair when he filled them with dirt and filled it with water, trying to grow a tree like he saw on TV. He didn't know why. He just loved this pair very much. Seeing them again brought back a lot of memories. And they were just shoes.

Hitsugaya then asked the same question everyone else had been since this whole thing started. "Is there a cure yet?"

"I don't want to bother Yurima. I think it's best if he comes to us with the answer," said Rukia. "What if he's close to a breakthrough and we mess things up by going in at the wrong moment? He could be sealing the deal and then bam! We interrupt him and he has to go through it all over again."

For Byakuya, this was something he hadn't thought of. Rukia was pretty wise. She managed to think of something that never occurred to him.

"Even so, shouldn't we just see how it's coming along?" Yumichika asked.

"Be patient."

"I don't know about the rest of you, but I for one am tired of this. I just want this whole thing to be done and over with."

"And we don't?" Hitsugaya looked offended. "I drink out of a bottle for God's sake! At least you don't have to wear daipers… and deal with changing back right in the middle of it." His face turned pink.

Yumichika chuckled. "True, true… That would be pretty awkward…"

"Don't look so amused."

The 5th seat began to make his way toward the door. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a bone to pick with Ikkaku for ditching me."

"You ok on your own?"

"I'm no child."

"… Just give it a minute or two," Ichigo muttered.

Hitsugaya sat on the couch and slumped down, appearing to be exhausted. "What's taking him so long?"

"He'll get it, he'll get it."

"Not soon enough. It's only a matter of time before we change back again. So far, I've been my normal age for short bursts, spending most of my time as an infant."

"Same as the rest of us," said Byakuya.

"I'm aware of that. But still… Work is piling up and I feel so handicapped. No one will let me go off on my own or do anything without supervision. My own Squad members don't want me to do paperwork out of fear that I'll change and hurt myself on the pen or fall out of the chair and hurt myself or something. The changes come with no warning and they're so abrupt."

The others agreed. Byakuya would change in the middle of his sentences and then change back with no warning, having to figure out where he is and the situation he was in. It was difficult. Even Ichigo was beginning to understand what they were going through.

The captain of Squad 6 looked around the room. "Where's Renji?"

"He ran off," Rukia told him quite honestly.

Hitsugaya turn away with a scoff. "Couldn't handle it, huh?" He muttered the word 'puss' under his breath.

"I know, I know. But it may have been for the best. I mean, he was about to throw Byakuya out the window."

"He was about to what?" Byakuya looked up.

Ichigo sighed looking around. "How much time do you think we have until we change again?"

"Hard to say. Last time it was about five minutes or so. Before that, Captain Hitsugaya changed in a few seconds after changing back to normal."

"So no one knows? I figured as much." Ichigo was apprehensive about doing anything. What should he do; just sit here? That wasn't very productive. But he couldn't do too much now that he was in the same boat as everyone else. "Can we get some lunch or something?"

Hitsugaya glared at him. "How could you think about food at a time like this?"

"Please, you're turning into children, not dying. How's starving going to help anybody?"

He didn't say anything.

"Should we try to find Renji?"

"Leave him," said Byakuya. "We'll deal with him later. It's not important at the moment. Now then…" He got up and moved across the room to right the potted plant on the floor and picked up the fallen book. "We should at least be somewhat productive. What are our options?"

Hitsugaya frowned. "Paperwork is piling up, but no one thinks we should do it for the reasons I just explained. Everything we would be able to do normally may prove to be a problem if we change back abruptly."

"True. We need an escort wherever we go anyway. I would prefer to keep our distance from Yurima for the time being. Let's wait for him to speak to us first just in case he's nearing a breakthrough." He sighed. "We could do as Ichigo suggested and find something to eat."

"I'm not up to it. I'm not hungry," said Hitsugaya.

"I'm fine as well." He looked back out the window. "Would reading something cause a problem or is that safe?"

"I don't see why not."

"Can I eat at least?" asked Ichigo.

"You're gonna get fat, Ichigo," stated Rukia.

"Then I won't swallow. How's that? Point is, I'm hungry."

"Ok, then go eat."

"Where? I don't know where anything is around here now that everything's everywhere."

"So you want us to feed you, is that it?"

"Why are you starting an argument?"

"I'm not starting anything."

"Yeah, you are."

"No, I'm not!"

"Me being hungry has to start something."

"Don't be such a brat."

"I'm not being a brat! I just wanted to eat something!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"Hey!" Hitsugaya sprang off the couch and ran between the two arguing, spotting something in the hall. "Get back here, Matsumoto!"

Rangiku stopped and smiled at her 'grown-up' captain. "Oh, hi, Captain! How are you doing?"

He stood in front of her looking outraged. "Where exactly have you been?"

"Um…" She avoided his eyes, looking guilty.

"Well?" He wasn't happy. "You were supposed to be watching me. I was in your care! What happened? Did you just dump me on someone else? Can't I relay on you for anything? Where were you?"

"Nowhere!" She took a few steps back, hiding her hands behind her back.

He knew. "Did you go to a bar?"

She looked away.

"You did, didn't you? You went out drinking and left a helpless infant behind! What were you thinking? I can't relay on you at all, can I?"

"Well, the thing is…"

"What?" he spat.

"I sort of did go out for a drink, but…"

"You thought that just because I couldn't talk made it ok? I have rules you know!"

"I just… When I went out I… I sort of…"

"What? Got hammered? Threw up again? What?"

She pulled something out from behind her back. It was a small brown bag with a ribbon on it. "I did go out for a drink, but I passed by a shop on the way there and I decided to pick you up something instead. You've been really stressed out over this whole thing and I felt bad for you and what you're going through so I wanted to get you something."

The rage left his face being replaced by stunned surprise. She handed him the bag and he unraveled the ribbon to look inside.

"It's jelly beans. I know you like them. Little sugared beans." Rangiku smiled.

He looked into the bag, saying nothing.

"Captain?"

"… Thank you," he muttered. "Just… thanks."

"Oh, you're welcome, sir."

He almost started to smile. "I'm glad that you… I'm sort of proud that you went to pick these up rather than go out drinking. Very nice. And here I thought you had gone out drinking and left me behind."

"Oh, I did go out drinking for a bit. I just picked these up first. I only managed to get a few drinks because I spend the rest of my cash on those. So I didn't get to drink as much as I wanted."

He clenched the bag tightly, rage back on his face. "Matsumoto!"

Two hours passed. Ichigo got his lunch like he wanted. He looked out the window. The sun was beginning to set. The skyline was a purple and orange color, making the white buildings look a faint yellowish color. It still had a ways to go before it became dark. There was still no word from Yurima. However, it seemed that Checkers was doing alright in his cell. The Soul Reapers were being pretty nice to him, overlooking the fact that they were keeping him locked up like a prisoner. But he thought it was a fair deal to stay put until everyone was cured and the mess was fixed. He had agreed to it. He only hoped that his friend would be able to find a way to fix all this.

Ichigo looked at Byakuya who was spending his time reading a book like he had suggested to the others. It passed the time. There wasn't any real danger from him changing back randomly with a book in his lap. The most that could happen is if he were to get hit in the head with it when he changed. Byakuya had stopped turning pages. He looked tired.

He looked up when he realized that Ichigo was staring at him. "What is it?"

"Nothing." He looked away.

"It's not polite to stare you know." He adjusted the book on his lap. "Find some other way to entertain yourself."

"Find some other way…" Ichigo mocked under his breath.

Byakuya heard. "What's that?"

"Nothing. Go back to your book."

Byakuya turned the page and cleared his throat.

Ichigo entertained himself by looking out the window and playing with the things on the bookshelf. He picked up a shiny rock that looked a lot like a paperweight.

"Put that back, Ichigo. We mustn't touch was isn't ours."

Ichigo lowered the rock. "I was just looking."

"Do you always look with your hands? Then what are your eyes for, I wonder?"

"I could do without the attitude, Byakuya."

He turned another page.

Ichigo sighed and looked around. "Where's Rukia anyway? I thought she was supposed to be watching us."

"She had to use the bathroom. Is that alright with you?"

"What's your problem?"

He turned another page, no longer reading. "While in my office, you'll show me some respect."

Ichigo leaned against the bookcase. "Respect…" he muttered.

"Mocking me again, are we?"

"No."

"Then speak up or no one will hear you. If you have something to say then say it."

Ichigo looked across the room. He changed the subject. "So when is she coming back?"

"When she finishes."

"How long's it take?"

"Why are you so interested?"

"What? With what? Who?"

"You in Rukia?"

"You make it sound like…" He frowned. "I'm not! I was just wondering what was taking her so long. Don't make this into something."

"You're the one who's doing that, Ichigo."

"Oh, and you're just sitting there?"

"What has you so agitated?"

"I'm not agitated!" Ichigo snapped. "I'm just bored! I'm not allowed to do anything either now that I've been changing."

"Then you can also sympathize with the rest of us. I'm not allowed to do anything either, which is why I'm here reading. You on the other hand have done nothing but complain this whole time."

"Not true! I only started a minute ago."

"The point is you started." Byakuya flipped another page.

Someone knocked on the door. Ichigo hoped it was Rukia.

Close. It was her captain.

Ukitake entered the office and looked around, eyes pointed to the floor. He seemed to be looking for toddlers. "Oh." He looked up. "Just you two? I heard that you changed."

"A while ago. We're back now."

"Oh, good." He looked happy at first. Then a bit disappointed. "Shame, though. I brought all these toys for you to play with. It's a shame you're not children anymore."

"Give it time. We will be."

"Ah, wonderful!" Ukitake moved into the room and sat down on the couch beside Byakuya who slammed his book shut and shot him a look. "I'll just wait here then."

Byakuya, still glaring at him, had to asked. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Waiting for you to change," he smiled. "I love children. It's rare for me to get to play with them and even more rare within the Seireitei."

Byakuya opened his book again, looking away.

"And it's been so long since I've last seen you as a child, Byakuya. You were so cute when you were young. But a bit of a brat, too, at times."

Byakuya raised the book to cover his eyes.

"You had a bit of a temper when you were younger. Remember that?"

He said nothing and hid behind his book.

"I remember this one time…" Ukitake started chuckling. "You were in the yard, playing in the pond. No, no, you said you weren't playing, but it looked like it to me. Anyway, you said that you were trying to feed the fish all by yourself. You had some food in your hand and then when the koi fish came close, it was so big, you were frightened and threw the food as far as you could and ran off screaming. It was adorable. Your voice was so high back then."

Byakuya's knuckles were white. Something told Ichigo that if that book wasn't there, they would all be able to see his red face. Was he embarrassed?

Ukitake started laughing again. "Oh, yes, yes! I remember another time… You were young at the time, a preteen I suppose. You were doing your little training in the yard again and snagged your sleeve on a low branch and couldn't get loose. You started to panic a little and started using your wooden sword to swing at the tree and ended up hitting your own head when it bounced off the branch. Hahaha..! You dropped it and kept trying. Ha! And then Yoruichi came and she-"

"Enough!" Byakuya snapped. He slammed the book down and rounded on Ukitake. "Stop with the stories, would you?"

Ukitake, not used to seeing Byakuya respond like this in a long, long time, cringed slightly and backed off. He gave Byakuya little pout. "Oh… But you were really cute back then. Why are you so angry?"

"Just keep it to yourself!" He turned back and opened his book again, pretending to read.

Ukitake sigh, sitting close beside Byakuya again. "I didn't mean anything by it. I was only..."

"Stop it."

"I apologize. Did I embar-"

"Stop."

"I thought-"

"Don't."

The older captain sighed again and faced forward, moving away from Byakuya. "I just like children. They're so innocent and adorable. You were, too, back then. I was just reminiscing. You did things back then that you would never do now. Like eating soup with your hands. You liked playing with your food from time to time. Your father was ok with it. It helps me to feel young again, too. You can't really play those kinds of games with adults who are always busy and doing work and getting stressed out. Kids have not a care in the world. It's nice to unwind with them, you know?"

Byakuya kept the book close to his face.

"You did cute things, you know. Like I said, you'd never do some of those things nowadays. Like playing with your food, as I've said. Or that time you wet the b-"

"Didn't you hear me the first time?" Byakuya snapped again. "I thought I told you to-"

POP!

A toddler version of Byakuya fell into Ukitake's lap. "Aw!" The captain picked him up happily in his arms and placed him gently on his lap, patting his head.

The toddler was confused. He didn't expect to be picked up by a strange man like this and patted. He twisted around to look. He tilted his head to one side.

Ukitake looked down, smiling. "Do you remember me?"

He blinked.

"What if I do this?" Ukitake shifted his long white hair to one side and over his shoulder in the same fashion he used to many years ago. Though back then his hair was shorter and tied off to one side, it seemed to help Byakuya remember.

After staring at him for another minute, he smiled and jumped into his chest. "Ukitake!" He nuzzled his neck and hugged him. He remembered. This was the man who would stop by every so often and play with him and give him treats. He was sort of like an uncle to him.

Ichigo grinned. Byakuya was kind of cute like this when he was all happy. It looked like those two would have some fun together.

POP!

Make that the three of them.

Ok, I decided! The next one will be the last chapter unless it runs long. It hate ending it on the number 13 and wanted to end it at 12, but hey.

I could always make it 14 ^-^

Please review!