A cool breeze blew through the room as the Senkaimon appeared on the other side of the room. As the doors slip open and the fog cleared, he saw black robes and a white coat, adorned with gold trimming and tassels around the collar. Captain Kuchiki stepped into the room, a solemn, neutral expression gracing his features. Two black butterflies were flitting around above his head, but he paid them no mind. Gnawing at the inside of his lip absently, he turned towards Ichigo and grabbed both his hands, keeping his eyes fixed to the floor. He started rubbing circles on the back of the teen's hands, waiting for the other to say something, just so he didn't have to.
"Who is it?" Ichigo asked quietly.
"Captain Kuchiki," Yumichika replied, not taking his gaze away from the floor.
"Hey Byakuya. Can you tell Rukia and Renji I said hi?" Ichigo said, and Yumichika could hear the smile in his voice.
"I shall, on one condition, Kurosaki. Refrain from calling by my first name," Captain Kuchiki said coolly. Yumichika stifled a giggle, took a deep breath and looked up at Ichigo's face.
"He said he would, but only if you stop calling him by his first name," he said, a sad smile growing on his face.
"Come on, you know the likelihood of that happening," the teen replied, turning to look in the general direction of the Sixth Division Captain. After a moment he sighed and looked back at the shorter man. "So…this is goodbye?"
The sadness that was pooling in the boy's eyes made Yumichika's heart clench uncomfortably, and it took all his will not to grab the teen and run. "How about, 'see you later?'" he said quietly, leaning forward on his toes and planting a soft kiss on Ichigo's lips. "I'll do my best to come and visit you."
"You better," Ichigo replied, just as quiet.
"I promise," he said, voice barely more than a whisper. For a few moments they simply stared at each other, before they both leaned in to kiss again. This one was more heated but just as loving, and from the corner or his eye, he saw the Captain in the room turn away, knowing that they were sharing an intimate moment.
It had to end though, and all too soon Yumichika was letting his hands fall from Ichigo's and stepping back. He then quickly turned on his heel and marched to the screen in the corner of the room. Behind it was nothing more than a red glove sitting on a chair. He swallowed nervously and cautiously picked up the glove, staring at it pensively. He knew what it was before he picked it up, and after studying it, he couldn't even fool himself into believing that it was a normal glove. The skull in blue flame on the back confirmed that.
Disheartened, he slipped the glove on and lowered himself into the chair, gripping the arms tightly and gritting his teeth. He was torn – eager to go home and back to work, but not wanting to leave Ichigo and their budding relationship. He knew he only had one choice and after a few deep breaths, with his eyes closed tightly, he pressed the glove to his chest. Moments later he had the feeling of being pulled upwards and when he opened his eyes again, he was on his feet, the vacated gigai now sitting limply in the chair behind him.
Refusing to turn around and see the dead-looking body, even though he knew it wasn't real, he took a deep breath and stepped out from behind the screen. Ichigo was staring at the screen, a desperately sad expression on his face. His own face fell, knowing that he was the cause of such an expression. He walked up to the teen, brushing past him ever so slightly as he did.
Ichigo spun on the spot, his eyes wide, as if hoping to see something he knew wasn't there. Blinking away the beginnings of tears, he tentatively reached up and gently placed his hand on the teen's shoulder. Ichigo stretched his own hand out, coming into contact with Yumichika's chest. The Soul Reaper leaned forward and brushed his lips against the boy's cheek, then turned his head slightly to connect their lips in a lingering kiss.
His resolve already weakened, he pulled away and moved past the teen quickly, knowing that if he looked at him again he wouldn't be able to leave. He felt Ichigo turn as he moved past him, and he focused on the floor a few steps in front of him, stopping when he reached the Captain. One of the Hell Butterflies moved over to him and hovered around his head.
"Are you ready to go?" Captain Kuchiki asked coolly. Yumichika merely nodded, not looking away from the floor. He heard a sword being drawn, and a few seconds after heard the Senkaimon opening. He saw the Captain's feet in front of him moving towards the gate, and he silently followed, not taking is gaze away from the ground. It was only when the gate was closing behind him did he finally turn to look at the teen. It was only for a moment that he saw Ichigo, and he had never seen someone look any more devastated than the boy did now. An instant later he was gone as the doors of the Senkaimon closed behind him.
Taking a shaky breath, he wrapped his arms protectively around himself and turned back to the Captain. The Noble was looking at him impassively, but Yumichika could see a myriad of different emotions and thoughts flicker through his cool grey eyes. It was obvious that he wanted to make a comment, but seemed uncertain as to whether or not he should say anything. His mind seemed to be made up when he turned abruptly and started leading the way through the Dangai at a quick pace, Yumichika hurrying to fall into step behind him.
They ran in silence, the two Hell Butterflies flitting around ahead of them. Captain Kuchiki's hair billowed around in the air behind him, his haori whipping around also, the edge coming into contact with Yumichika's legs when he got too close. Now that he had a chance to look at him closer, Yumichika noticed that the Squad 6 Captain had made some changes to his appearance. His hair for one was shorter and wasn't held in place by the bulky kenseikan he normally wore, and the scarf he was never seen without was noticeably missing. His haori was also different – there was a stiff, lose collar with gold tassels and trim.
Overall, Yumichika thought it was a brilliant improvement.
"If you ever feel the need to escape from your current situation, the doors to both my Squad and my home will be open to you," Byakuya said after a few minutes of running in silence.
"What?" Yumichika said, stunned by the Captain's words.
"Squad 6 would be happy to welcome a man of your talent into its ranks," the man continued, ignoring Yumichika's interruption. "And I will not stand for a Squad member to be abused by a superior, whether they are my subordinate or not."
"You didn't tell anyone did you?" he asked, a cold shiver running down his spine.
"It is not my place, as I am not the one with the issue. It is something you will have to bring up on your own," the Captain answered, the firmness in his tone indicating that the conversation was over.
From that point on they continued their short journey in a comfortable silence, and it wasn't long before Yumichika could see the light ahead that indicated they were almost free of the Dangai. He couldn't be more relieved – the Precipice World was a horrid, desolate place and he hated travelling through it whenever he had business in the World of the Living. Moments later they reached the light and were slowing to a walk in a tiled courtyard. Standing off to the side was a small welcoming party, consisting of several Lieutenants, Ikkaku, his Captain and Captain Unohana.
"Yay! Feathers is back!" Yachiru cried out in delight from her perch on Kenpachi's shoulders.
"We should go out drinking to celebrate!" Rangiku said enthusiastically, draping herself across Shuhei and Izuru.
"Why would we need an excuse to do that? We go drinking every weekend," Shuhei said with a grin.
"Exactly! It's Tuesday! We don't normally go drinking on Tuesdays!" Rangiku pointed out.
"You don't go out to drink, you get drunk in the office," growled the Squad 10 Captain, flash-stepping into the courtyard and glaring at her.
"But Captain-," Rangiku started to whine, but was cut off by her superior.
"I don't want to hear it. You've greeted the Fifth Seat, now get back to work," Toshiro said firmly, turning on his heel and marching off. He paused after a moment and looked over his shoulder at Yumichika. "And welcome back, 5th Seat Ayasegawa". With that, he continued out of the courtyard. Rangiku pouted at him for a few moments before sighing unhappily and heading after her Captain.
"We should also return to work, Lieutenant Abari," Captain Kuchiki said stoically, moving past Yumichika to leave the courtyard also.
"Uh, right…yes Captain," Renji said hurriedly, jogging away from the group to join his Captain. "It's good to see you Yumichika. We'll have a proper welcome back party later!" he called back to the dark haired man.
"Remember, my offer still stands, Squad 11 5th Seat," Byakuya said without looking at him. A moment later, they were both gone.
"The hell is he talking about?" Kenpachi muttered, frowning at the spot where the Squad 6 Captain had been moments before.
"Anyway, unlike the others, we actually got you a present," Izuru said with a small smile, pulling a small package out of his robes.
"Really?" Yumichika said excitedly, hurrying over to the blonde.
"It might not look like much, but it did cost us a pretty penny," Shuhei said as Izuru handed the package to the 5th Seat, who felt it curiously through the paper before practically tearing it open. Inside he found a small box that contained two different sets of feathers. One of the pairs was short and curved, and Yumichika was strongly reminded of the false eyelashes he had seen in some stores in the World of the Living. The other set of feathers were larger and it looked like there were small clips on the ends.
"They're so pretty," he cooed, gently touching the edge of one of the larger feathers.
"The big ones are earrings," Izuru explained. "And the little ones are kind of like the yellow ones you're wearing now."
"Thank you so much! I'm going to go home and put them on now!" Yumichika said happily, closing the box and hugging the two Lieutenants.
"No problem," Izuru said, hugging him back. Shuhei just patted him on the back, feeling very awkward in the group hug.
"Are you girls having a good time catching up? You gonna braid each others' hair next?"
"Huh?" Yumichika said, raising an eyebrow and looking over his shoulder. Two more Captains had just entered the courtyard, and he recognised them as two of the Visords who had taken back their positions after the fiasco with Aizen.
"No, Captain Muguruma, of course not," Shuhei said abruptly, pulling away from the other two.
"Oh, come now Kensei. They haven't seen their friend in months, cut them some slack," the other man said with a soft smile.
"Whatever," the white haired Captain scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest defiantly.
"Captain Ōtoribashi," Izuru said, also taking a step back from Yumichika.
"Izuru, I told you, call me Rose. Everyone does," the long haired man said.
"Right," Izuru said with a nervous smile.
"Shuhei, come on, we've got work to do," Kensei huffed, nodding his head at his Lieutenant.
"Right away Captain," Shuhei said firmly.
Captain Ōtoribashi sighed and let his shoulders slump a bit. "We need to get back to work too Izuru," he said.
"Okay Captain Ōtor- I mean…Rose," Izuru said. "And while we're working, I have a song I want to finish."
The two Lieutenants said their goodbyes to Yumichika and then left the courtyard with their Captains. That just left the three members of his own Squad and himself standing in the centre of the large empty space.
"Captain, don't you and the Lieutenant also have work you need to do?" Ikkaku asked cautiously.
"Huh? Oh…yeah, probably," Kenpachi said, disinterested.
"Yeah! There is so much paperwork you can't even see mine or Kenny's desks anymore!" Yachiru cheered happily.
"Lieutenant! That's not a good thing!" Yumichika said exasperatedly. "I just don't see the point of paperwork when all I want to do his fight," Kenpachi growled. "Have you done anything since I've been gone?" Yumichika asked, almost afraid of what the answer might be. When he was met with silence, he sighed heavily. "You haven't done any work for the past few months, have you?" He was once again met with silence. Knowing that he would have to wait to try out his new feather, he sighed heavily again. "Jeez. Okay, let's go back to the barracks and show me where to start."
With the new feathers, I am just guessing that they're earrings. I mean, they kinda sit at the bottom of his ears… *shrugs nonchalantly*
And I imagine that Rose would want Izuru to feel really laid back and calm around him, which is why he keeps insisting to be called Rose. Plus his real name it too long :S
Anyway, please review! It makes me happy when you do ^_^