***Man With A Plan***
The smile on his face was so much more than smug. It was proud, satisfied and totally fake. Byakuya let his hands fall from their folded position on his chest and hang by his sides, emphasizing the deflation of his noble shoulders. He felt as if he had just thrown his lieutenant off of a cliff; like a bastard. He was in disbelief at how his own genius could make him feel like a piece of crap.
"Hurry up!" A deep voiced boomed from beyond the bathroom door. "I need to take a piss!"
"I am almost finished." The nobleman replied patiently.
Grimmjow needed to learn to share sooner or later and a bathroom seemed like the perfect object to help him practice that skill. Keeping his eyes on the white tower of victory that reigned over the bathroom, the shinigami lathered and rinsed his hands, shaking them dry before grabbing one of the luxurious hand towels. His mouth twisted from contentment to contempt in regards to the shelf that now housed all of the linens related to The Sexta's bathroom. He put the towel on the sink and eyed the furnishing with a sigh, jumping slightly as the door shook with the force of two angry fists falling against it.
"Byakuya," The Espada rumbled irritably. "Get out of the bathroom."
The current occupant pursed his lips at the other's persistence; keenly aware of the other bathrooms attached the suite that was gifted to the Sexta and his followers. With hesitation, Byakuya moved toward the door but found his feet dragging him to the new addition to Grimmjow's washroom. It was sturdy, adorned with tribal carvings that one might find on the side of Viking boat. Each towel that populated the shelf was meticulously folded and painstakingly white, stacked with only the towels of similar dimension and texture on same shelf. He reached to touch the side of the huge, white embodiment of betrayal and let his hand rest on it.
"Who are you really betraying here?" His mind questioned. "Yourself?"
He shook his head to derail where his head was going.
"You would be betraying Ukitake if you stayed here." He let out a huff. "But you are planning on leaving, so who are you hurting again?"
"Kuchiki!" Grimmjow thundered as his hands hit the door again.
Still as a stone, the soul-reaper swung the door wide and opened his eyes only when the gust of his movement had passed. His opponent leaned on his forearm firmly attached to the door frame, nostrils flared and face pulled taught. With all the leisure in the world, Byakuya flounced out of the washroom, past the other to where the wire dinette set rested and plopped down in one of the chairs, straightening his overly conservative get-up.
The blue-haired arrancar growled as he entered the washroom, sound punctuated with the door slamming. Byakuya remained passive, eyes moving across the white room as he avoided the sound of Grimmjow relieving himself.
Moments after the sound of hands being washed and a toilet flushing, the Espada emerged from the bathroom again. He was rubbing his hands together for lotion to ease him from the dry heat that would soon embrace him in the sparring hall.
Byakuya pushed himself from the wire chair as Grimmjow walked past him toward the double doors. For a moment, their eyes connected and the Kuchiki thought that the Arrancar nearly smiled at him. He let the idea fade and kept moving towards the training grounds.
What difference did it make to him? He was supposed to soon slip the grasp of the Arrancars; there were only a few nights left between now and the warning that Ukitake had given; "…or a rescue and retrieve squad…". When Abarai and Ichigo and all the other fools that Abarai would bring came and found him, what would they say of his predicament? A man of his social stature and regality being thrust into the situation of a damsel in distress, treated like some hopeless whore. Okay, not a whore, but maybe some high-priced virgin…maybe the daughter of a wealthy man. If the entirety of the sixth barracks was abreast of what had transpired at the hands of Aizen and his pets, he could never go back to the normality that he missed so much during these past days. No, it had been weeks since he was there. Perhaps months? There was no sense of time in this Casablanca.
Byakuya silently shook his head, quickly turning his gaze upwards to see if Grimmjow had noticed. He was still swaggering ahead, exceptionally unaware of the plan forming in the Captain's head. Sluggishly, he turned back to the pale man and slowed his pace; Byakuya didn't take his cue and matched his deceleration until they both came to a halt. With this, the Espada clasped his hands behind his back and the soul-reaper narrowed his eyes at the blue-haired beast. Their dance took a momentary pause before Byakuya's eyes moved away from the others. There was no maliciousness in the taller man's stare as he raked over the white outfit chosen for the captain today.
"You are going to be late." The raven-haired beauty stated.
"Hm," Grimmjow let a smirk creep onto his face as he moved to lean against one side of the hall that the pair had previously been moving down.
Awkwardly, the Kuchiki clan leader stood, unable to decide which movement would have less meaning and the connotation that he wanted to bestow upon his relationship with the Sexta; moving towards his side of the hall or leaning against the opposing wall and claiming it as his own. Grimmjow enjoyed watching him squirm and both of them were undoubtedly aware of it. Both of them stood with only their eyes moving, one as prey and one as predator.
"What?" Byakuya asked.
As the blue-eyed man took an intake to explain himself, a figure came around the corner from where they were headed. A girl with large eyes and a tiny waist moved between them, instrumented in her movements as to show her attention to the strange moment between them. As she passed, the Arrancar tilted his head to let his eyes fall again on the soul reaper as soon as possible, while Byakuya let his eyes fall to the floor and pushed his body further into the wall.
The Espada grinned, watching the purple orbs as they avoided his gaze.
Grimmjow moved over to him before the figure that had interrupted them rounded the corner and slowly let his hand move up to the Kuchiki's noble head. Byakuya's eyes flashed a warning of defense before the arrancar's fingers glided to pull a small lock of black from behind his ear.
"Go back to the room and wait for me." He commanded, his tone halting the nobleman's breath in his throat.
Ever so lightly, the air caught, just enough for the blue-haired man to hear and narrow his eyes in response. His gazed moved from the lock circling his finger to Byakuya's eyes and then lips. The nobleman copied his movements, looking to Grimmjow's thin lips as they broke into a grin and his menacing canines slipped out. He moved his mouth closer as if about to connect lips with the soul-reaper, but only teased him, rolling his neck back and coming to match eyes again. He let the hair fall from his finger and almost gingerly smoothed the fabric of Byakuya's shoulder.
As the air entered the shorter man's lungs once more, Grimmjow pulled away and started again down the hall, chuckling at the fact that Byakuya didn't seem to have the slightest control over what color his neck or cheeks were.
He turned, glancing back once over his shoulder as he swaggered away, grinning with pocketed hands and the satisfaction of unnerving the smaller man. Byakuya took a moment to gather himself, straightening in the moment before he realized that he even needed to straighten again and stood in the hall with a huff. Closing his eyes and smoothing the fabric over his belly before inhaling to calm himself and then pushing the air out of his lungs again.
"What a jerk." He noted inwardly, slightly shaking his head free of the idea that Grimmjow enjoyed the affection that Byakuya so willingly wanted to give him.
Moving down the hall quickly, he began to find that he had no idea where any of these corridors led and that he probably would have been better off spending his time paying attention to the path that Grimmjow had taken rather than his own thoughts earlier. He spun when he came to the end of the hall he was in and thought about which direction he had come from. Looking to the left he saw nothing but other halls and doorways and looking to the right, there was just another ending with two possible routes. He tried to remember but only found himself recalling the large, white ladder in Grimmjow's bathroom.
He looked to the right and decided that it might be easier to take the path with less options first, there would be less to backtrack if he was wrong. When he came to the end of the expansive, white tunnel he was sure that he had come from the left and began to make his way in that direction. His mind wandered a bit again and he was nearing the end of that hall which turned to the right down another hall that housed a plethora of doors. Stopping again, he frowned and tried to remember for how long he and the blue-haired beast had been walking and decidedly kept down to the edge of that walkway, making a slight right where the tunnel forked and he noticed that he had wound his way to a circular room with three doorways resting at one end of it. Looking behind him, he noted that he had come out of the entrance farthest to his right and started towards the center of the room, which was expansive and lit with a strong beam of pseudo-sunlight casting down from a single window in the ceiling that was noticeably off center in the room.
Byakuya looked around him, taking in the seemingly small library with its humble collection of books that lined the circumference of the room. Nearly a third of what would have been a ring was missing and opened to a set of stairs that bowed with the room and then flexed in the other direction as they neared the top, beginning the floor to what seemed like another circular room. He followed the stairs unthinking and listening as the small piece of jewelry sounded off against his ankle.
When he had arrived, a tiny lavender eye watched him move up and come to stand in the room, waiting patiently as he surveyed his surroundings and then found himself looking into the gaze of another.
"Nnoitra." The nobleman said, as if pointing the arrancar out to himself.
"Hello," The Quinta started, looking at Byakuya with as little surprise as the nobleman had understanding. "How did you get up here?"
Byakuya looked around at what appeared to be a reading room; two circular couches sat stoic, facing each other and surrounded by nothing in the room. On the one to Byakuya's left, sat Nnoitra with his hands clutching a picture book full of photos of bugs that took up entire pages. On the other sofa were two books, both in regards to apprenticeship for geishas.
Nnoitra looked at him expectantly, his mouth hanging open and low in its usual manner.
"I was on my way to the Sexta's chambers." He said, almost embarrassedly.
The Quinta looked around him, waiting for some sort of escort to be following Byakuya. When he was satisfied that there was none, he glanced back at the nobleman, slightly more on edge than the previous moment.
"Why are you alone?" He questioned peering suspiciously at the other black haired man.
Byakuya's face twisted as he realized this was the first time he had not been under the watchful gaze of another in Aizen's castle. He looked at Nnoitra, unsure of what to tell him.
"You shouldn't be wandering around." The skeleton stated. "Grimmjow could get his ass handed to him again."
A grin slowly crept onto the Espada's face.
"Come hang out with me."
If he was trying to be friendly, the opposite effect of that was running through Byakuya's veins and he began to think of a way to get out of being alone with Nnoitra again. The smile waited patiently on his thin, stretched lips and the nobleman squirmed in his gaze.
"Oh, no," Byakuya started, waving his hand feverishly. "I am much too tired, I think I will just go back and take a nap."
His grin faltered just a bit, his lips twitching at the left end.
"Nonsense," He said, commanding. "You can't be alone in this fortress, let me keep you company."
Byakuya's breath hitched at the slight pause Nnoitra had between 'you' and 'company'. He almost took a step back in the direction he had come.
"Grab a book and have a seat." He gestured warmly, still smiling creepily at the captain.
Obediently, he cautiously walked back down the steps, turning to watch the smile leave his face as the pale eye watched him sink down the stairs. As he studied the man, he wondered what was under the eye patch he never failed to sport.
At the bottom of the stairs waited the small blonde man who had glared at him the night Nnoitra had taken care of him. His eye was focused on the soul-reaper now, burning. Byakuya looked back at him, still descending the stairs and stood alert for some type of movement from him, to which there was none. He stood still as a statue, gaze following the nobleman's movement. The black haired man stopped at the base of the steps and looked at the blonde with a blank expression.
The arrancar took in a shuddered breath and made a movement with his arms as if he were about to cover his face in sneezing. He stepped back and continued to look at the pale man, expression plastered in place as if he were about to burst into tears. Byakuya stayed silent, eyes a wild display of confused emotions in what this young man was planning or trying to do. The moment before he spoke, the arrancar's eyes glazed over with a look that Byakuya knew well from his childhood.
"You should stay away from him," The young blonde whispered, almost heartbroken. "Stay away from Nnoitra-sama."
He was jealous that The Quinta treated him with some form of recognition. Byakuya looked at the young man with concern and wondered what it would take to subside his worries.
"There are no wavering loyalties in Las Noches." He stated with his quietest captain's voice, so as not to alert Nnoitra to what he had encountered in the small library.
The blonde looked at him, unmoving, seemingly churning his words in his head. The smaller man moved past him and started up the stairs, stopping when at the top momentarily and then taking his seat on the other side of the room near the books with the geisha related material. The nobleman looked around the dismal library and absentmindedly toyed with his get-up.
He would have felt to be insulting Nnoitra had he walked off and not returned with a book, but sitting in silence in that tense room sounded just as uninviting. He perused the books, slowly moving around the round room until he came upon a title that interested him. Decidedly, he wound his way back up the stairs and sat on the same sofa as the small blonde man, Nnoitra's wandering eye following him. Once seated, he readjusted his hakama and opened the book, eyes glancing over the letters and quickly losing focus in the content.
After some time, Nnoitra sighed and tossed his book onto the couch. He looked around with another huff and crossed his arms. The other arrancar sunk further into the sofa he was occupying and flipped to the next page in the book he held. The Quinta's eye blinked slowly and he closed his lips over his huge teeth, still looking round every time a new thought entered his mind. With practiced movements, the blonde glanced from the page he was reading to the Espada and then back down again at the continuation of the sentence on the next page. His nose was pressed into the book, his single blue eye moving over the words with surprising ease.
"I guess he can read," Byakuya thought to himself. "How many of them can read?"
But the boy's body was at full attention for the Quinta, legs folded over one another and knees both pointing directly at his person, one fully posed towards Nnoitra's hands and the other at his chest. His soft hands were holding up the book, but had the combination of the bend in his neck, upturned palms and book been without the literature, he almost looked like he was in prayer.
"Tesla," Nnoitra called, deeply, lazily.
The blonde looked up at him, pulling the geisha reading from his face.
"Did you spar with Lillinette today?" He asked, popping his knuckles in a not very menacing manner.
"No, Nnoitra-sama." Tesla said quietly, to which the tall man pursed his lips. "I exchanged strokes with Yylfordt earlier though. She was preoccupied with what she described as 'girly things'."
The Quinta nodded, mouth falling open to reveal one of his idiosyncrasies.
Byakuya watched the two of them, waiting for any type of return on Tesla's attention. The Espada gave none, suddenly pushing himself from the couch and standing.
"You need to practice." He said, looking at the blonde. "Let's go."
The nobleman watched as the smaller man gathered his books and went down to the library and returned them to the shelving. He and Nnoitra exchanged glances before Tesla returned and the pair of them began to walk out the doorway on the room opposite the stairs.
Before Byakuya could think to call out to them, they were out of earshot and he found himself just as lost in Aizen's compound as he had been nearly an hour ago. He frowned and moved to lie upon the sofa that he was resting on. Resuming the book he had no idea the story of, he continued to think about the predicament he had landed himself in. Just as quickly his thoughts turned to the comrades that were laying in wait in the desert for him.
He grew irate at himself again, being able to bathe in the luxuries that Aizen afforded his prisoner. For so long now, he found himself without any from of tranquility in solitude or privacy and even in thinking that, there were much worse conditions to be in than accompanied. The arrancar that he had met here were constantly rotating in his eyes between animals and decent people. He didn't know which side of them was the truth. Letting the thought slip from his mind, he wondered about what he would do when they came after him, if they came after him.
"The damsel in distress." Byakuya thought to himself.
He put the book down and his eyes glazed over as he looked into the distance.
There was no way that he could let them send a rescue and retrieve squad.
"'He's got to keep you alive so that they'll come and invade the castle'." He still remembered what Starrk had told him during his first days here.
Was it Aizen's plan to wipe out the Court Guard Squads from inside his own fortress? He couldn't allow for himself or his own indecisiveness to be responsible for deaths of his most beloved. He thought of Yoruichi and Ukitake sitting in the sands with his favourite rambunctious redhead. Rukia would never forgive him if something happened to Renji. He closed his eyes thinking of his sister and the image of Hisana's heartwarming smile crept into his mind, sending a wave of emotion rushing towards his tear ducts and lips. He owed it to Hisana to bring her sister happiness and how could he do that by being responsible for the death of her most cherished friend?
Putting his head on the cushion of the sofa, Byakuya let happy memories of his wife flood his mind and send small emotional gasps pouring from his mouth. She had loved to sit with him in the garden, guarded by her favourite orange parasol and laughing lightly about the incidents that she and her sister got themselves into before she had wound up in the protection of his home. She had always eased him, her hands melting the stresses of the day and providing him with a sense of pride and happiness unrelated to his political or professional success.
Byakuya sighed and resigned to rest his head in his hands, letting defeated sleep wash over him.
Starrk was looking at him.
Just looking, simply standing and looking down at the pale body laying face down on the white sofa. Byakuya had been drooling and his finger was still in his mouth allowing for more saliva to slide out and around his hand and hit the couch. His hair would be matted on one side and his face would have imprints from the folds of the couch on it when he awoke.
The tall man reached out and placed a large, gloved hand on the back of the pale soul-reaper. Sleepily, the nobleman's eyes blinked open and he found himself looking into pewter orbs and pulling his forefinger from between his molars. He made a small sound and readjusted so that both his hands were under his chest and turned into the sofa further. Starrk moved his hand to be atop of Byakuya's head and gently mussed his silky hair.
"It's much too early to sleep," Starrk began. "You haven't even eaten dinner yet."
Byakuya didn't turn back to him but moved so that he could be more clearly understood.
"I'm not hungry, thank you." He mumbled then nuzzled back into the couch.
Starrk retracted his hand and stood erect.
"Well, you shouldn't sleep here either." He put his hands in his pocket and waited for a response.
To which there was none. He stood there a moment and quickly looked over Byakuya from his head to his toes and then scooped him up bridal style. The nobleman slightly protested but not so much as to get Starrk to drop him.
He refrained from moving out of his arms, reflecting on the dream that he had just been woken from and letting his eyes aimlessly watch the ceiling. In his vision, his weapon had visited him. She was geared in the garb of a samurai, prepared for battle but holding no sword. She had looked at him with pressing eyes and held her hands upturned to him with nothing to offer. Sternly, she looked at him for a while and then his mind had shifted to practicing his sword strokes most gracefully in the training garden's lush grasses. His feet had twisted into the lawn and pranced happily into the inviting coolness of the grass. Deftly, he had swung his arm, but he was bladeless instead, twirling about his hand a string of worry beads.
Abruptly, he took in a shallow breath and Starrk peered at him curiously, noticing that he had awoken fully. He continued on, holding Byakuya like a lady. The smaller man readjusted so that he could throw his arms over Starrk's shoulders. Thinking about the Primera, he avoided staring at him.
Byakuya found that he had grown quite fond of Starrk in his time here and was most comfortable in his presence. He was not menacing, nor was he wicked. He seemed very complacent to help others or make them feel more light-hearted than prior to encountering him. Starrk was by no means peppy or an optimist but he was pleasant. The captain gave his far shoulder a slight squeeze as a wave of affection surged in him and he just ever so lightly let the battle for a smile be lost.
The Primera showed the smallest indication of acknowledging the gesture, by letting a small grin tug at his features as well.
They continued walking, their smiles growing exponentially until Byakuya was holding back a laugh. Starrk let himself chuckle, completely at ease with this warm side of the soul-reaper. He knew that underneath the cold exterior to the Kuchiki Clan leader there must be some soft character that he let his loved ones know of. When they came to a halt, Starrk dropped his feet at the threshold of the kitchen that the Espada shared.
"Okay, what are we eating?" Byakuya asked, sitting at the table and attempting to hide his smile.
"Chicken!" Starrk stated cheerily.
He was more than likely European in his past life, he had never been much one for the foods of Japan.
At least he had pulled rice from the cupboards instead of pasta. When he turned back to the Kuchiki, his expression had become stoic again, purple orbs looking almost at nothing.
"What is it?" The Primera asked measuring the amount of rice he would need.
The raven-haired man looked at him and folded his hands before his mouth, his elbows resting on the table. He had been wondering about his weapon, unamused with himself for forgetting about Senbonzakura for so long.
"My sword." He said behind his hands, studying Starrk's reaction without looking at him directly.
The man at the counter inhaled deeply and gave a big nod in understanding, but made no move to respond. Once, the food was prepared, they ate with light conversation, speaking about what they had done that day, the fact that chicken did not measure up to fish and that there was a crippling amount of books for the number of arrancar that were illiterate. Starrk found the last topic hilarious and revealed that much of the literature was actually just picture books.
Byakuya nodded in understanding and found himself in need of a hot bath to calm his thoughts as the concern for his zanpakuto still squirmed in the back of his mind. They stood and both of them washed their plates off before Starrk escorted Byakuya to the chambers of the other man in charge of his stay. When they entered, Yylfordt greeted them, in the midst of what looked like a feverish bout of cleaning as his blonde locks were tied up and he had rubber gloves on that looked absolutely darling with the apron that he found himself. Every item he sported was white, even throughout the act of him cleaning. The bleached image of a maid caused Byakuya to scrunch his nose in disapproval.
Starrk respected him enough to let him wait outside with the wire dinette while he drew the bathe and stacked towels for the Kuchiki clan leader. The Primera tested the heat of the tub and threw lavender beads into the bath, placing a porcelain jar of almond smelling soap on the edge of the tub before announcing that Byakuya was free to bathe. The nobleman bowed politely at the gesture that Starrk had done and waited for him to close the door to the Sexta's washroom before straightening again.
Slowly, he undressed himself, watching the steam rise from the tub as the water still shivered from Starrk's touch, letting his clothes pile on the floor around his pale toes. He knew that the Primera was just outside the door, keeping a lazy guard over him by more than likely napping the Sexta's bed. He pushed the world outside of the bath away and let himself slide into the water.
His troubles poked at him, keeping him from truly relaxing in the tub. There was a part of him that could not allow for his comrades to be forgotten in the desert and simultaneously his mind searched for a possible place that Aizen might be keeping his weapon. He opened his eyes frowning and realized that he wouldn't be able to find a bathroom in this fortress if his life depended on it. Every single hallway was the same, almost no distinguishing features. How would he ever find his sword if he didn't know what was at the end of each hall? Even worse, what was at the end of each hall? There could be beasts lurking that were even more frightening than the Espada or that satanic creature that Grimmjow had introduced him to.
He sighed and splashed water over his face. There was no doubt that he would need to make a friend in Las Noches, if there was ever any hope of him escaping. If he could just get the slightest hint of information from one of the arrancar about where his sword might be held. Or if he could convince one of them to cut the reiatsu binder from his leg. He thought of Tesla, so desperately in need of Nnoitra's attention. He turned from the thought of manipulating the poor boy but found that it might be quite easy to get him to do what he wanted.
"No," Byakuya thought to himself.
He was not here to wreak havoc upon Aizen's underlings. Despite their animalistic qualities, the arrancars had a very involved social structure. They seemed like a hive, with ranks and set roles, both socially and professionally. Tesla's adorations would be easy to use to his advantage, or even Yylfordt's. He seemed to be constantly preoccupied with keeping his master in good spirits, or in the case of Grimmjow, from destroying everything in his path.
The image of the blonde man swirled behind his eyelids and suddenly the maddened, pink-haired scientist came to mind. He sent shivers down Byakuya's spine just as frequently as Nnoitra or Gin did, but much more related to him fearing for his sanity or bodily safety than mortality. Szayel reminded him of Mayuri, thinking that nothing in this world or the other two was off limits to the questions of science and that everything should be under his jurisdiction to experiment on.
Including a zanpakuto.
Byakuya jerked suddenly in the water, looking around the bathroom to make sure that the non-existent other people in the room had heard his thoughts. Szayel's laboratory would be a great place for him to start on his search for his weapon.