Disclaimer: Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo and the Viz media company, all rights belong to them.
A/N: Hello everyone! It's been a while and some of you thought I was either dead or just giving up on this thing. I've apologized countless times on my notes, and for those of you who really know me you know that I do value my readers and their opinions/praise. When I first began it was fun and exciting, and I feel ashamed that my life in the real world has managed to affect me in so many ways including the part of me that belongs here with you guys. I tried so many times to write this chapter and almost every week I've added a few words trying to rebuild the part of me that broke apart. With that said, I hope you guys enjoy the final chapter.
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Chapter 24: Something Changed
"Drinking?" Byakuya looked up from his paperwork. His lieutenant was casting his gaze towards the side; in fact, those brown eyes have not looked at him for the past few days. Perhaps that moment in the teashop had something to do with it; however, it's been weeks since that day. Ichigo Kurosaki was definitely acting out of the ordinary lately, and his lieutenant wanting to go to a bar just confirmed it.
"I don't drink alcohol," he looked towards him with his lips thinned, "Rangiku invited me to go with her, and she wouldn't take no for an answer."
"A vacillating lieutenant is unacceptable Kurosaki, and you of all people should know that. I not only represent my squad, but you represent it as well," the captain reminded as he dipped his brush in the ink bottle again. He noticed his lieutenant twitch from what he had just said to him (must have taken it as an insult). Imagining his words as a crushing boulder that weighed heavily on Ichigo's shoulders was simple; however, he did not expect the glare in his brown eyes that could rival one of his own.
"Oh, so I guess you really do want Rangiku to print these?" the teen said. He took something from the folds of his uniform and slammed it onto his desk. At first he was about to reprimand his lieutenant for doing so when he noticed exactly what it was. "To think I of what I went through to prevent her from doing it only to have my ungrateful captain calling me a coward," Ichigo scoffed, "Maybe I should let her go ahead and-."
Byakuya immediately grabbed his sword and cut right through the middle of the photo before Ichigo grabbed for it again. That moment had been out of his mind since they had both agreed to never speak of it again, but it seems that they had a witness to it. How unfortunate that it had to be Rangiku, that woman caused all sorts of problems. Another question popped into his mind of how she had even managed to capture a photo of both of them in such a... problematic situation with the luck she always had; however, what puzzled him the most was the problem she had been in the Soul Society at the time this had happened. For now the noble thought he eliminated the problem of the evidence, and with it his lieutenant wouldn't have to be blackmailed, but the young man continued to glare.
"Captain Kuchiki," Byakuya didn't know that Ichigo could have such a glare in him. "Haven't you learned by now that to deal with a problem like this that involves Rangiku you have to destroy all of the photos?"
The man flinched, he would show his gratitude, but a Kuchiki like him doesn't apologize very often, "It may have slipped from my mind…"
He sighed and returned to his normal demeanor, "Sorry about that… I haven't been sleeping lately." Instantly his attention turned towards the dark circles instead of the eyes for once. Why didn't he take that into account earlier?
"I can talk to Captain Hitsugaya about this," he offered.
"No!" they both widened their eyes at the sudden outburst. Ichigo sighed and explained his action, "If I do that then she'll just go ahead an print them anyway. I have a pretty simple plan that could work."
"Very well then just remember to arrive on time for dinner," Byakuya returned to signing papers again.
"I can always just eat something while I'm there," Ichigo suggested.
"You're not to eat anything Kurosaki. Given the chance of you consuming alcohol I don't want to put my servants through the trouble of cleaning your mess," the noble explained. It may have been seen as an insult, but he didn't care as long as he could have some way of giving Ichigo a reason to come home early.
"I told you earlier that I'm not drinking," the young soul reaper felt his irritation starting to build again.
"This is Lieutenant Matsumoto, and from what I've heard she can either be a drinking partner or a nightmare," he reminded.
"I didn't know you like to gossip," his lieutenant chuckled.
"I do not waste my time on such things; however, I was forced to listen when my former lieutenant would complain of his hangover the next morning as he tried to find an excuse," the captain said.
"Well you don't have to worry about me developing a frequent drinking problem. Even if something happens I'll probably be too traumatized to come within two meters of a bar," Ichigo assured.
"I trust your word then," Byakuya then continued to work silently. Despite having Ichigo's word he couldn't suppress the famous "Kuchiki intuition" of the teen returning late and drunk because they would either sneak it in a drink or force the alcohol on him. He pressed a hand to his forehead and thought, "He's a young man, not a child that needs to be watched over…"
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"Thanks for coming with me Renji," Ichigo sighed in relief as he walked with best friend to the bar. They were both late, yet Ichigo wanted to make use of Byakuya's suggestion earlier to give himself an excuse to leave early. There was no way he was sticking around with the possibly of having alcohol shoved down his throat.
"No problem, you've helped me get home lots of times when I was drunk so I owe you some favors," Renji nudged him in the arm. "I can't believe you're actually drinking."
"I'm not going to, and I have my reasons why," the orange haired teen explained as he rubbed the spot.
"Can't you tell me why though? I've already told you that I don't drink so much because I'm dating Rukia now. Why can't you tell me?" his friend questioned.
"It's called personal for a reason Renji, and I'm not the type of person who tells because someone asks," he explained.
"Fine I'll drop it," the red head groaned. He did wonder what kind of story went with it, but Renji left the ideas alone before he grew too curious.
"You'll keep an eye out if I'm distracted won't you?" the younger soul reaper was growing nervous as they got closer to the bar.
"Don't worry, I practically know all of Rangiku's tricks from being one of her drinking buddies for so long," the older soul reaper gave him a pat on the back to confirm it.
"Thanks," Ichigo allowed a weary smile on his face. As soon as Rangiku got rid of any copies she had on hand while Yachiru was destroying the rest he could go home knowing that he wouldn't have to think of what had happened on that rainy day. Maybe he could finally get a decent night of sleep tonight instead of worrying about anyone else seeing that picture. He tried thinking of something else, anything to distract him as they both entered the bar when Rangiku noticed them. There was no way he was giving Rangiku another opportunity to blackmail him in front of everyone just because he was thinking about what had happened with Byakuya on that day.
"Hey! It's about time you showed up Ichigo, and you brought Renji too! Good job!" Rangiku gave him the thumbs up from the table she was sitting. She had brought (or dragged) most of the soul reapers she knew with her to her drinking party. As Ichigo had predicted they had eaten mostly everything and they were now beginning their first minutes of drinking, and since this was Rangiku as the hostess most of them where all ready fully drunk.
"I told you I would come late because of work didn't I?" he sighed. Ichigo took a spot in front of Rangiku that she had saved for him while Renji sat a little farther down the table with Izuru, Momo, and Hisagi. It wasn't that hard to figure out that Rangiku wanted him drunk so she could get a story or two out of him, she was a woman of gossip after all.
"You missed all the food, and they just started cleaning up!" she pouted as she put her head on the table. He apologized, ordered a non-alcoholic drink (basically juice), and talked with the rest of his friends normally. Once in a while he would talk with Renji so they wouldn't make Rangiku suspicious with the occasional scratch of the neck or shoulder roll following a complaint of the amount of increased paperwork a captain received. It worked perfectly as a signal not to drink anything while it was covered up with people caught up in the conversation, some of the captains agreeing with him on the subject. Luck was for the most part on his side until the moment he decided to leave the bar.
"Come on can't you stay for a little while longer?" she whined seeing as she had failed in attempting to get the young soul reaper drunk.
"Sorry, but I really can't stay much longer. I haven't eaten and I promised I'd be back at the manor for dinner," he explained his reason for leaving. He honestly thought the reason would be enough when he stood up and started walking away. All of a sudden Ikkaku and his shikai slammed him down on the floor while the others bound the poor lieutenant with a kido spell.
"Way to go Ikkaku!" Rangiku cheered as she pumped her fist in the air.
"Come on Ichigo who needs to eat when you've got good sake?" the drunken man hiccuped.
"Hey guys back off! Ichigo needs to-," Renji stood up but was knocked out by Ikkaku's shikai staff.
"There goes my last hope," Ichigo thought sarcastically. He started to take it seriously when he saw that most of them were too drunk to help him out or were cheering. The sensation of teeth grinding together in frustration tightened in his mouth when he realized that Rangiku had him outsmarted in the beginning.
"Open up~." Rangiku said in a singsong tone. She held out a freshly poured glass of sake, and the mere smell of it had Ichigo cringe. He hated alcohol, but he didn't have the choice when his back was hit and gasped at the sudden loss of air. Rangiku took the opportunity and shoved the glass in his mouth. Once she pulled it away she was about to pour more as he was choking when she noticed something.
"Let me go already!" Ichigo yelled. He tried rolling on the floor instead of doing something sensible.
"No way, you're drunk all ready!" she laughed.
"S-Shut up!" he hiccuped. Some of them laughed when he tried sitting back up but failed to do so. "You're a horrible woman for forcing me to drink something I never wanted!" A pout and the hiccuping made it look like he was just a mere child again.
"Come on Ichigo this is a drinking party! Live a little and relax!" she encouraged with a flap of a hand.
"B-But I promised Byakuya that I would-," he was interrupted
"Orders smorders, you never have any fun!" the woman countered.
"Don't care..."
"Oh, so you want this little gem to be printed out in every paper in the Soul Society huh?" she blackmailed. Immediately curious heads started turning to witness Ichigo diving towards it as best as he could only to crash on the floor behind of Rangiku as she pulled it out of his reach. Instantly he remembered the last time he had stumbled this bad.
His face had been flushing as he looked straight into gray eyes and soaked strands of his own orange hair falling into his sight. When he exhaled he could smell his own breath with the scent of apples in it from the pie he had eaten earlier. He had been stupid enough not to catch of the signs of dizziness or Kukaku insisting that he finish the rest of the pie or else it would have been considered rude. They had both fallen for it seeing as how both women had taken advantage of Byakuya not eating sweets, both of them having good enough manners, and Ichigo's guilty conscious (and fear of Kukaku's power). By the time he realized how dizzy he'd gotten after finishing, Yoruichi snickered and asked how good the liquored apple pie was. Byakuya's eyes glared at both of the laughing women when the first few drops started coming though the canopy of leaves and branches.
There was nothing but regret when he had insisted that he could walk on his own when a tree root caught his foot so it could send him tumbling into the ground. Byakuya had tried to catch him, yet the rain had succeeded in making the grass slick enough to send them crashing into the earth with their limbs tangling together. Ichigo never would have thought he could be that physically close to the older soul reaper in his life as they were both shocked how flushed their bodies were to each other. Thunder continued to roar in the sky above them, but to him there was nothing but the faint sound of Byakuya's breathing.
"Kurosaki?" his captain's pale hand touched the heated skin of his cheek. There was a bright light... oh, so that was the flash of a camera, not lightning. The memory of Yoruichi's and Kukaku's laughter mixed with the people currently surrounding him.
"Ow..." Ichigo muttered. A headache started forming from the sake and felt the restraint of the kido spell fading away. Rangiku had started playing a few penalty games while his brown eyes searched the room for Renji. With his red haired friend no where in sight the hopes of at least going back to the manor in his current state were diminishing, and anyone responsible who would have disapproved of this had all ready left. Just as he wondered how much time had passed she noticed that he was finally out of his daze and forced him to play the stupid truth or dare game. His penalty of course, was drinking sake.
"Ichigo! Truth or dare?"
"Eh? Uh... dare?" he said cautiously.
"Drink another shot of sake!"
"What? My penalty is drinking sake! No way!" the orange haired soul reaper refused.
"Yeah, but you're still thinking all logically and stuff!" Rangiku slurred. "Hold him down and make him drink twice as much!"
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Byakuya ate the last of his rice then put his chopsticks down in an elegant manor. His gray eyes flickered over to where Ichigo usually sat only to be reminded that the seat was empty and not a single dish had been placed there. Rukia quietly sipped her tea with her delicate fingers tightening around the cup from the unsettling feeling of Ichigo not eating dinner with them. It wasn't that she nervous around him anymore, but she had also received an explanation from Renji earlier that he would be accompanying their orange haired friend to the bar. His sister must have been growing both curious and anxious from the other soul reaper's absence. She relented when she put her teacup back down and looked at him with her dark blue gaze.
"Brother, may I ask you something?"
"Yes Rukia?"
"I was wondering why Ichigo went to the drinking party earlier with Renji. Did he tell you his reason for going in the first place?" she questioned.
"He did not precisely say his reasoning..." Byakuya said. He inwardly calmed himself down with a sip of his green tea, noting how he had his outward expressions controlled yet failing to control his inward turmoil of emotions. "Kurosaki showed me a photo Lieutenant Matsumoto is currently using as blackmail."
"What?" both of the Kuchiki nobles where shocked to hear a different shocked voice other than Rukia's. At that moment Renji slammed the sliding open and gaped at the fellow captain who had said in such a way that it was a normal everyday conversation.
"Abarai," the noble narrowed his eyes, inwardly thinking of threats to tell the man if there was any damage to the door.
"Renji!" she blinked when she noticed his appearance. "Why are you wet and what happened to your head?"
"This?" he hissed when he touched the bruise. "Got it when Ikkaku decided to knock me out."
"Come over here and sit down, it looks bad," she gestured then politely told a servant to get a bag of ice. When the ice came Renji clenched his jaw when the cold temperature touched his forehead.
"Abarai, explain your reasoning for coming here without Kurosaki," Byakuya questioned coldly.
"Don't blame me," he flinched, "When I woke up they threw me in the nearest river and Rangiku said something about a truth or dare game. Since it was late I thought Ichigo was all ready here, so I came to check."
"Did you not once think of checking the bar before you arrived?" the noble felt his irritation rise with each second.
"Not really," he rubbed the back of his neck. "I didn't see him being dragged around by them when I got out, so that's why..."
"I'll go see where Kurosaki is and bring him back," he announced before leaving to go get his lieutenant. After remembering what Ichigo had told him before the young soul reaper left he decided to bring his sword along (the bars in the Soul Society allowed blades inside) as a precautionary measure, and didn't take gossip to know that Rangiku never brought her zanpakuto along because of the limited drinking if someone decided to bring it. He tightened his hand around the sword as he entered and was greeted by a young woman. After she answered the question he offered to be led, yet politely refused when he could hear the loud laughter coming from the back of the area. When he turned the corner he could hear some of the conversation going on.
"All right truth or dare!"
"T-Truth," he sped up when he heard the familiar voice. Chills went down his spine as he remembered what had happened in the forest. He was frustrated that Ichigo had broken his word from earlier, yet quickly remembered he had been doing this for the both of them. Still, he shouldn't have been foolish enough as to keep it to himself the whole time. How many important things has he been hiding all of this time? It was maddening!
"All right!" he could hear everyone becoming quiet all of a sudden. He paused wondering what had happened when he heard the question, "Who are you in love with?"
"W-What me?" Ichigo's voice panicked.
"Come on tell us who it is or you're going to have another drink!" Rangiku slammed something on the table, the bottle of sake he presumed. Anger started overcoming him as he reached the door when Ichigo began saying the first few words.
"No! Okay... okay... I-I love..."
"Kurosaki," he said as he slammed open the door. The group of surprised soul reapers turned towards him, and after seeing who it was they all seemed to snap out of their drunken trance.
"Bya...kuya" Ichigo fell backwards after Ikkaku had let him go to stare in shock at the captain who was standing at the door way as the zanpakuto was being unsheathed.
"Scatter," he commanded, "Senbonzakura." Everyone one of them left screaming and shouting with the exception of Rangiku. After slamming his sword back in after merely drawing out two inches of steel he turned towards the one who had been the cause of all this.
"Blackmail Kurosaki again Lieutenant Matsumoto, and I'll not only only have you suspended. You'll be running from my bankai instead of my shikai. Understood?" he threatened.
"Y-Yes sir!" she saluted then quickly went out. He knelt down and gently shook the orange haired teenager.
"Mm... Byakushi?" after an involuntary twitch Byakuya calmed himself down.
"How much did they give you?" he questioned.
"Eh?"
"To drink Kurosaki," he clarified.
"Mmm..." Ichigo rubbed his head lightly as he searched for an answer. "All I can remember is they bound me with a kido spell then forced me to drink it in a normal teacup. Afterwards, I blacked out then woke up to find that Renji was gone and they were playing some weird game."
"That cup appears to be seven to eight shots worth of sake if it were half full, and with your low tolerance it's no wonder why you lost consciousness," Byakuya analyzed. He muttered the last part, yet it reached the young soul reaper's ears.
"I'm not drunk!" he protested with a scowl. Ichigo winced at the headache and realized that he actually had a hangover, which had to be one of the most embarrassing things he's done in front of his captain.
"You would be fortunate enough to at least have eight shots of sake in your system Kurosaki, only eight," the noble informed. It was then that Ichigo stood up, slightly impressing his captain as well, until he slightly leaned forward into his face then gently exhaled on his skin. A smirk appeared on the teen's face in response to his wide eyed reaction as quiet laughter registered in his ears, the sound was beautiful.
"Beautiful?" Byakuya thought. Using such a word to describe his lieutenant; he was about to go into shock over using the word when a hand waved in front of his face.
"Byakuya! Snap out of it! You're starting to make me worry. My breath smelled that bad?" Ichigo sighed.
"Nothing of importance Kurosaki, let's get back to the manor," he said.
"Nothing? If it smells that bad then just tell me!" the lieutenant fumed. Byakuya was about to say something when Ichigo ran into the wall defeating the purpose of the statement; however, it did earn a sigh from the normally expressionless Kuchiki along with putting him in a better mood. Instead of saying anything else he intertwined their hands to lead the intoxicated soul reaper from this place while making sure to avoid Rangiku who was still out front paying her bill. Eventually the pair did receive a few stares from a few people who were passing by, but no one ever caught them holding hands while the Kuchiki noble was trying to race back with his lieutenant. A short distance away from the manor was when Byakuya finally noticed the slight tugs on his arm, so he looked back at Ichigo who had been completely silent this whole time then noticed the disappointment in the brown eyes.
"Is there something you would like to tell me Kurosaki?" Byakuya questioned.
"Yeah, slow down for a bit will you? There's no one around so there's no need to feel embarrassed," he sighed.
"Embarrassed of what?" his tone of voice suggested a challenged.
Ichigo untangled their hands then slapped him on the back, "Relaxing, duh."
"You're drunk," it was a lie. Whenever Ichigo was drunk he would possess the hyperactivity of a child, yet seeing how the young man was becoming annoyed was always a pleasure. Seeing anger expressed in so many different ways was amusing since he had never used so many of them since growing out of the adolescent stage, and the only few he kept were rarely shown like his disciplinary glare. Ichigo had caught onto it of course by challenging himself to be calmer; however, he guessed that they both knew about the strange, silent lessons they where giving each other. Perhaps one day about learning about outward emotional expressions he would learn how to smile again.
The orange haired teen crossed his arms and turned away from him after making a small sound. Maybe that smile would come sooner than expected, because inside he could feel something that made him relax. The silent treatment this time? Apparently the youth forgotten how easily it was to break it after learning a precious secret. When he noticed an opening, Ichigo loosening his shoulders, he used his speed with precise movement to apply a gentle pressure with his fingertips on Ichigo's sides. Immediately brown eyes widened and knew what was happening, but Byakuya quickly cut off Ichigo's route of escape and proceeded to tickle the orange haired soul reaper. For someone in his position it was the least expected of him, yet this small action that had Ichigo bursting out with rich laughter was the greatest freedom he had felt in years. Discovering this treasure was something he treated himself to whenever the young man decided to make things difficult between them with tense moments. Perhaps if he had done this earlier the younger soul reaper would have kept to his personal word to never drink again after the experience at Kukaku's, but it was under this moonlight that Ichigo decided to continued to smile in between his laughter. He was attempting to push the noble away when they both realized they led themselves towards the nearest wall and were about to be pressed against each other if they had continued. Both soul reapers momentarily looked at each other then expressed their own ways of showing their silent happiness, Ichigo smiling with a hint of white teeth and Byakuya's gray eyes becoming softer, rather than feeling awkward or embarrassed.
"Hn, sensitive as ever Kurosaki," Byakuya backed away and led again.
"How did you find that out anyway? No one has done that to me in years," Ichigo panted from the hard laughter, "They would normally back away after one look at my best glares."
"Call it an educated guess," he brushed away the question to keep his lieutenant guessing for a few centuries.
"I'll find out eventually," the young soul reaper said. A nice conversation started between them with a few pauses so they could think of a good answer without any overcomplicated explanations. It was mostly life experiences they were both curious about, but nothing too personal like most people would try to persist in talking about in order to understand each other. Byakuya found this to be a breath of fresh air as he realized how much Ichigo could understand him without having to use words most of the time, and he couldn't help to just exhale aloud for once. Ichigo commented, "The air's nice isn't it?"
"Yes, a night like this should be enjoyed with sake," he teased with his cool tone.
"Don't remind me," the orange haired groaned, "I was starting to forget. Please I do not need you becoming like Shunsui." Byakuya silently chuckled, which was rare to hear, and following that was a surprised look from Ichigo who's eyes lit up with his lips slightly parted. It was something that entranced the raven haired man, and found it... adorable. Without another word he gently placed the palm on his hand against the tan cheek as the skin colored slowly with each passing second. A silent question filled brown eyes as they shone with something different from anything he's ever seen.
"Byakuya?" his voice sent him over the edge. With a gentle touch he began moving their heads closer until there was a voice.
"Hey! They're over here! I can feel a bit of their spirit pressure!" Renji's voice yelled. Byakuya and Ichigo casually stepped away from each other without a hint of bashfulness to any romantic's surprise, and instead they were both thinking, "What just happened?"
"Brother! Ichigo! You two didn't come back so we were both wondering were you two were," she said.
"She was mostly worried about you guys," the red head explained before being elbowed in the gut.
"Let's get going, are you okay Ichigo?" she questioned.
"Um... fine I guess," he scratched his head still in a slight daze, "My head still hurts a little from the alcohol Rangiku forced into me."
"Don't worry I'll give you some painkillers when we go home," she offered. They started a quiet conversation with each other with Byakuya trying to listen as they kept stealing glances towards him and his former lieutenant, yet the raven haired man could not hear with Renji's groaning from the pain from the earlier hit. He fixed the problem with a simple solution, asking a question.
"Abarai, explained to me how you started caring for Rukia," Byakuya suddenly said which shocked the pair.
"W-Well I..." he stuttered at first but composed himself after Renji began to explain. How they first met in the Rukongai, and at the time he though she was cool and clever. When they started growing older he noticed her kindness towards others along with how beautiful she had grown up to be. The story had the pair blushing with Ichigo giving them one of his average smiles to encourage them, after all Byakuya had given his friend a harsh time because of what happened. He didn't notice how Byakuya's attention was divided between him and the story the red head continued to tell as they made their way back.
"T-That's why I can't love anyone else," Renji finished.
"Very well then, I consent," Byakuya stated.
"Huh?" the three of them looked confused.
"To clarify, if you ask for my sister's hand in marriage then you have my consent," he said then casually walked ahead of the shocked pair with Ichigo following behind him.
"Wow, that was pretty nice of you Byakuya," Ichigo commented.
"Time passes quickly in the Soul Society, a decade or so is not such a long wait," Byakuya wagered. Knowing Renji it would take a few of them...
"Seems long to me," he said referring to the human life he left behind not long ago.
"You'll grow accustomed to it," the raven haired man said.
"You're not worried about Rukia then?" Ichigo asked.
"Rukia is perfectly capable of taking care of herself, she's a Kuchiki after all. If something happens Abarai will have to answer to me," Byakuya said. It made the younger soul reaper smile slightly as he looked at the spark of confidence in the gray eyes. Byakuya had changed quiet a bit when it came to expressing emotion in his eyes.
"That would be interesting to watch," the young soul reaper glanced back at the pair that was slowly following behind them. They seemed to be discussing something, but Ichigo immediately recaptured his attention when the teen groaned and started to rub at his forehead.
"Still have a headache?" he questioned.
"It's okay, we made it here anyway, " he turned around. "Rukia! What were you talking about before about the painkiller? I'm starting to have a really bad headache." She turned with a faint red on her cheeks and waved Renji goodbye as he waved to them before walking away to get to his own home. Rukia quickly caught up with them at the gates as she began speaking to Ichigo who tried to pay attention as much as possible with his headache.
Byakuya left the pair of friends as he went back to his own room to calm his own mind down. Something was different in his behavior when he was around the orange haired teen, and there was the strange suspicion that some of the people knew something that he didn't. After arriving in his room he tried to sort the thoughts in his head when the strange feeling returned and tightly yanked the strings of his heart. It was something to be described as the equivalent to fear; however, this only occurred when he was afraid of becoming too close too anyone. There shouldn't be a reason for this ever since Ichigo had brought him out from the barriers surrounding his heart, yet it still loomed over him whenever he thought about Kurosaki. They were considered friends now, weren't they?
"Oh Kami..." he heard Senbonzakura sigh from his inner world.
"What?" he lightly snapped.
"Byakuya, do you honestly think you should be questioning your friendship? The whole Soul Society might not know it because of they way you act, but those closest to you know how both of you feel towards each other," the zanpakuto said.
"It's not that," Byakuya thought, "Kurosaki is usually straight forward with his emotions, yet lately I have started to realize that I don't recognize some of them. Then I start reacting in such an absurd way that it does not befit my personality."
"All right then I'll help you with this. Think back to when you two were walking back home today. What were you doing?" the zanpakuto questioned.
"Bringing Kurosaki home," the raven haired man answered.
"You've said before that it's always an inconvenience for you to interfere with someone's life," Senbonzakura stated.
"He's my lieutenant," Byakuya justified.
"You never did it for Abarai," the samurai recalled.
"I wasn't as strict as I should have been, and I also live with Kurosaki," the captain said.
"You didn't scold him like you use to with Abarai," he reminded.
The noble paused, "It's different."
"How?" Byakuya was quiet this time, "Tell me, what else did you do other than just walk home. Wasn't there something else?"
"Nothing in particular, we merely walked home, started talking, I made him laugh, then Kurosaki said something to make me laugh..." he was trailing off when he started to remember. The unrecognizable emotion in those brown eyes showed itself once again, one that would appear occasionally when they made eye contact, yet this time it stayed there instead of flickering away like the speed of a flash step. Under the palm of his hand he could feel the rush of heat that was quickly coloring his face, and then this sudden urge to becoming closer.
"He made you laugh!" his zanpakuto yelled in his thoughts.
"Senbonzakura..." the soul reaper was getting a head ache.
"Forgive me but... I can't believe I missed that," the samurai added, "That would explain the amount of cherry blossoms."
"Cherry blossoms?" it confused Byakuya for a moment.
"Oh, it's been a while since you've visited. You should see it for yourself," Senbonzakura suggested.
How long has it been since he had seen cherry blossoms on the trees? Thinking of how the flowers were blooming again made him anxious out learning the truth about his feelings, but when he closed his eyes the scent washed his fears away. Gray eyes looked at the delicate flowers falling to the ground while there was an abundance of cherry blossoms on the branches. A sign of overflowing emotions, something that could not be tamed, he felt that as he was surround by this beautiful scene of the inner world. In a blink of of an eye the vision ended and it was over, even the last wall of obliviousness had crumbled.
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It was the next day.
The orange haired teen was breathing hard and the beat of his heart continued to try to keep up again. Sweat rolled down his tanned skin as he told himself to relax and control his breathing. There was no use in rushing things as it took a level of concentration. This took focus and practice, and there was no way in speeding or slowing time. Focusing on this moment was important while continuing to remember the words, yet as he held out a hand he felt a moment of doubt along with-
"Hado 73, Soren Sokatsui!" a blast emitted from his arm and rammed into the mountain. It absorbed the blow with the sekkiseki rock embedded inside and vaporized the spirit energy. Ichigo on the other hand received the damage instead by his arm gaining burns from the blast and crashing into the ground with a lot of force. The inside of his head was ringing and his eyesight had gone blurry from the fatigue, it wasn't enough. As he struggled to move he saw a pale hand in his vision immediately he sat up quickly and felt the pain in his muscles. A small hiss managed a way through his teeth, yet when he looked up he noticed it was his zanpakuto, not the raven haired noble.
"Right, even he couldn't sense exactly where I am in this place," Ichigo though as he sighed out loud.
"Do you intend to exhaust yourself to death here because of last night?" Zangetsu question. He started to fist his hands when he was tapped on the forehead by a bottle of water. Ichigo scowled before taking the water gratefully and swinging it down until it was halfway empty.
"You're half right," the zanpakuto blinked in surprise as if he hadn't expected an answer. He sighed then continued, "I just feel like I need to be ready."
"For what?"
"I don't know," he lied down and placed his arms behind his head. Brown eyes watched the clouds as the passed by slowly today. "It feels like something is going to happen to my heart, something that I can't handle. Every time it's like this when I'm around Byakuya, so I guess it's a good thing he's giving me some space today. Kido is giving me a sense of focus."
"A distraction," Zangetsu added.
"Basically," he got up again and put his arm out. The zanpakuto put his hand over is arm while shaking his head, saying it was better to start out small then build his way up with a Sokatsui. Ichigo huffed as he demonstrated a decent spell, not too powerful, but enough to leave scorch marks on the rocky wall. Knowing that he couldn't argue any longer the zanpakuto left the young soul reaper on his own to practice at whatever pace he deemed right. Ichigo began to practice the seventy third spell again, but this time reciting the incantation to at least do something to satisfy both of them. It still blew up in his face and make him jerk violently, but it was better than before. When he looked at himself a few minutes later his clothes were dirty and tattered, so he quickly made his way to the manor where he cleaned himself with a quick scrub and changed into a new uniform. His shoulders relaxed as he recalled dipping into the warm water and could feel his muscles relax, yet it quickly disappeared when he heard a calm voice.
"Kurosaki," he instantly stopped and looked to see his captain right in front of him. One more step and he would have bumped right into the noble.
"Oh, sorry Byakuya. What are you doing here?" Byakuya lifted an eyebrow making Ichigo chuckle, "I didn't mean it like that, I know this is your house so-."
"Speaking of which," the raven haired noble showed him a small book making his eyes widen.
His breath hitched for a moment, "Where did you get that?"
"The reason I gave you an extended break was because you had arranged the paperwork earlier than expected. I was looking for some of the documents and suspected they may have been in your room," Ichigo interrupted him.
"What, so that gave you permission to look around my room?" he scowled.
Gray eyes glared back, "It was right next to it Kurosaki." The young soul reaper looked away and turned his back. Silence, there was nothing but silence filling him on the inside and he didn't even hear the sound of his heart breaking anymore. Maybe it had all ready stopped the moment he started to assume Byakuya wanted him to leave, but hadn't he all ready discovered that the feelings were mutual? "Are you still considering on living on your own?"
"Want to help or something?" he scoffed. It was then that the man before him something unexpected. The orange haired teen was wrapped into the noble's arms from behind and Byakuya then proceeded to bury his head into the crook of his neck. Ichigo mentally slapped himself for being a jerk, something like this shouldn't be messed around with, and it only seemed crueler the way he knew Byakuya's feelings while the noble still hadn't know about his. "Sorry, I'm not acting like myself am I?" Ichigo asked.
"No, but your actions are reasonable enough. I've been selfishly relying on your promise that you will stay by my side; however, what I didn't realize that by keeping you here and adding to your pain that it's only made the distance between us that much greater," Byakuya let him go.
Ichigo quickly turned around, the noble clearly seeing the regret in his eyes "Byakuya I was just angry, and I didn't mean to string you along or even hurt you I'm just so confused."
"Kurosaki slow down," he was quickly yanked away by the arm and shoved into the nearest empty guest room that was rarely used. Byakuya nearly stumbled, "Kurosaki!"
"Sorry Byakuya," he slammed the door behind him. "You're not selfish at all, just say the word and I will stay. In fact I'll prove to you right now that you're not the selfish one here." Confusion was written all over the steel gray eyes when it changed to shock when he started to unwrap his bandages on his arms to reveal the scratches and minor burns. Ichigo began to explain everything clearly, the way he distanced himself and the harsh Kido practice. How he had tried to run from his own feelings just to prevent the truth from coming out to keep anything from changing, but instead it caused far worse pain, suffering, and confusion than he was feeling. Ichigo dug his fingernails into his palms, "Things need to change between us now or we're not going to move forward, good or bad."
"Before you say anything else step over here Kurosaki," he walked over towards the noble. Nervous and wondering what Byakuya might say he watched as the noble's hands reached out and took both arms into his gentle hold instead then started glowing with a healing Kido. They didn't move unless every tiny injury had been healed, one arm taking longer than the other until there was nothing but his hand to heal. The glow faded away and he was speechless as he looked at his freshly healed arms that held no trace of the Kido practice earlier. Anyone that was good Kido could do the same thing, but no one could leave the same burning sensation except for the man standing before him. Ichigo could almost feel his legs giving out when Byakuya closed his eyes and placed the young soul reaper's fingertips on the soft pair of lips. That electric shock jolting up his arm and went straight into his veins, the Kuchiki noble had no idea how much effect the simple gesture had on him. When they were both gazing into each others eyes again it was intimate with passion burning. "It seems we have been having the same problems. We were causing each other pain, so can we agree on something here?" he got the hint.
"We both need to share the blame equally, but we need to work together to fix it," Ichigo pulled his hand away then gently reconnected and intertwined his hand with Byakuya's. They slowly shifted into holding each other, and with each second that passed their emotions came clearly to each other. There could be fights or arguments between them occasionally because of the personality clash, yet if they remembered that they both equally loved each other then they would be fine.
"Kurosaki," he replied with a slight hum as Byakuya started placing light kisses against his forehead, "Will you stay with me?"
"Yeah, I will," without another word he wrapped his arms around the noble's shoulders as he shared his emotions with a first kiss. The orange haired teen was nervous to do anything else in fear of doing something clumsy; however, Byakuya had made it a kiss to remember when he could feel the lips against his turn into a smile. He gasped and opened his eyes only to feel a hand being placed at the back of his head to deepen the intimate touch between them. His eyes started to close again and then trapped a moan in his throat, when he exhaled sharply after breaking apart the raven haired man refused to be satisfied with his silence. They met again with a passion that rose along with the beat of their hearts. It was sending them both into a frenzy that would spiral out of control if they didn't stop right now. Ichigo moaned as their bodies desperately tried remove any space that was left between them and grabbed at the soul reaper's clothing to keep himself in check. He tried saying the noble's name when they finally needed to breath, yet there was nothing but stutters as he inwardly cursed himself for acting like such a fool. From this space he felt intoxicated by the sound of the other man's voice, the warmth of his arms, and the scent of cherry blossoms.
"Worried?" Byakuya asked. Still out of breath, he nodded then placed his head on the other man's shoulder. "Mm, so was I. Did I scare you?" he shook his head, a wave of relief washed over him as another kiss was placed in his hair, "I won't do anything you don't want me to."
Ichigo chuckled, "Is that a promise?"
"Only if you want it to be, Ichigo," he froze in the noble's arms. "Ichigo?"
"I'm not hearing things am I?" he gripped the other soul reaper's shihakusho even harder.
"Should I stop using your first name then, Ichigo?" Byakuya purred. It sent volts of electricity down his spine, worst of all the young soul reaper knew this was just the beginning of the noble's teasing. Well then, he would just have to counter it.
"Mm..." he brought his mouth closer to the shell of the pale earlobe. "Only when we're alone like this, Captain Kuchiki." Ichigo slightly blew against it then laughed a little when he saw Byakuya's gray eyes widening.
"Byakuya is just fine, Kurosaki," the strict tone returned.
"I thought you wanted me to be formal," he laughed. "All right, I get it then. Byakuya?"
"Yes?"
"I love you." He was silenced with a strong kiss and they both moaned at the contact. Ichigo was glad he had told the noble his feelings, it was like the inside of his chest was fluttering with joy, and the best part was he knew that Byakuya was truly happy now after all of those years of isolating himself. He could hear himself repeating those important words as the noble held onto those words like a lifeline. They were now taking the first step into their future together after breaking the final shell that was keeping them apart. Had he realized that the barrier had been so fragile in the first place Ichigo would have rushed to Byakuya sooner, but seeing as how this moment was perfect he wouldn't have had it any other way. He smiled again as he saw the gentle happiness shining in those gray eyes.
Something had changed for the both of them, and the young soul reaper realized they were both happier after so many years of cloudy skies.
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A/N: Okay I've been reading a lot of reviews and there were a lot of requests for multiple ideas. Since I know that I can't satisfy everyone I decided to send everyone into a fluff overload for the Epilogue. Yep! There's still an Epilogue to go through. Don't worry though I have my writing impulses back and I can say that I will have it finished (cough- late) this month. From now on I'll be replying to reviews on my own pace due to my busy schedule, but if I manage to write another story (hopefully with better upload speed) I'll be doing review replies on my profile from now on. Including this chapter and some other notable reviews from previous ones. For now I'm just going to post this up seeing as how it is late at night. I'm proud of what I've written so far seeing as how I haven't had a lot of inspiration to power me through like the other chapters. Thankfully I found it again and it started flowing from my fingertips. I hoped my loyal readers have enjoyed this final chapter. Thank you for being with me whether you were reading from the beginning or if you're reading this right now. It means more to me than you could ever imagine.
This is ShadowWolf XIII signing off for now. (P.S. Please tell me about any mistakes you've spotted, this was written really late at night...)