Guys - ffnet is eating my line breaks. I'm working on it. ;-;
In all honesty, this is shorter than I would have liked. However, I think the stopping spot was perfect, and I wanted to get this published. Enjoy~
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It's a long moment before Byakuya centers himself enough to even think of talking to Senbonzakura, and then still another before Byakuya is able to find the thread connecting himself to his zanpakuto.
Senbonzakura is wary, and Byakuya has to remind himself that just as the Renji he was talking to wasn't his Renji, this isn't his Senbonzakura. Senbonzakura must be all but terrified, having felt his master vanish and be replaced by an imposter. Still Byakuya - Senbonzakura must have felt that much, to let Byakuya wield him against Kurosaki - but different, not the Byakuya Senbonzakura knew.
Byakuya sighs, rests a hand on Senbonzakura's hilt. He doesn't think he can meditate now - he hadn't been able to enter his inner world in a long time, as the constant stress of the war had meant Byakuya and Kisuke hadn't really had the time or safety to let themselves be at risk by meditating. The world Byakuya is in has changed, but Byakuya is still far too hopped up on nerves to let his guard down like that.
"Senbonzakura," he murmurs after a moment. He doesn't need to speak out loud, but it helps him, grounds him.
There's a pause, and Senbonzakura answers, tone guarded. 'Master,' he says, and Byakuya can feel a tentative brush of reiatsu down their bond. 'A pleasure to speak with you, as always.'
It's a jab at Byakuya, and both of them know it. Byakuya had always been far more distant with Senbonzakura than he should have, after Hisana died. Senbonzakura had been fast to anger and slow to calm down and reckless and everything Byakuya had sworn he'd discard in favor of being the Head of the Great and Noble Kuchiki Clan.
But Senbonzakura is a part of Byakuya's soul, and it's a fact he know he'd do well to remember.
"I'm sorry," he starts out by saying. "I haven't given you the respect you deserve."
Senbonzakura brushed off the apology, faintly irritated. 'You know that's not what I want from you,' he says, voice blank as always but impatience pulsing through their bond. 'You are not the Byakuya you were before you entered the Living World. Something changed.'
"Yes," Byakuya acknowledges, and allows himself to open up for a moment, opens the stream of memory he'd been hiding from Senbonzakura. "Much has changed." For a moment, he's swept by a horrible sadness that threatens to pull him under, filled with loss for not just Renji and Kisuke, but for the Senbonzakura that hadn't come back with Byakuya.
Senbonzakura hums. 'You were not lying,' he murmurs. 'Much has changed. You are a different Byakuya.' There's a pause, and Byakuya feels his heart leap into his throat. If Senbonzakura rejects him...Byakuya knows he can't do this without his zanpakuto.
'You are still Byakuya, though,' Senbonzakura finishes. 'There's no need to be afraid of me leaving you behind, master. I am your soul no matter when you come from, no matter what you do.'
That's. That's really nice, Byakuya thinks. "Thank you, Senbonzakura."
A flash of amusement comes from Senbonzakura. 'But of course, Master,' he responds, and Byakuya smiles and shakes his head.
Byakuya doesn't have long until he needs to hand Rukia to the Second, he knows that, but he still can't make himself say something to her. He sips at his tea and ignores Senbonzakura's exasperation as Rukia does her best to make herself as tiny as possible.
It's quite successful, considering the fact that Rukia isn't very tall to begin with.
They sit like this for a while, in seiza on the tatami mats of Kuchiki Manor and very carefully not talking to each other, until Byakuya works up the nerve to say something.
"Enjoying the tea, Rukia?"
Senbonzakura laughs and laughs, and if Byakuya weren't a Kuchiki he'd put his head in his hands. That was...not what he meant to say.
Rukia just about jumps out of her skin, and looks at Byakuya with trepidation, and a bit of fear. That's less amusing, and Senbonzakura quiets. "Of course, Nii-san," she says softly, without a hint of Rukongai accent. "It's excellent." And then she shuts her mouth and takes another sip and doesn't look back up.
Byakuya almost sighs.
"Rukia," he says. "You are under arrest for giving your powers to a human. We have verified this to be true. However, you are a member of the Kuchiki, and as such will not be severely punished. As head of the Kuchiki Clan and your elder brother, I promise that no harm will come to you."
He doesn't tell her about his long-ago promise to Hisana, not yet. He doesn't want to lie to her, but overwhelming her right now would be even worse.
For a moment, Rukia doesn't respond, and Byakuya begins to worry that he'd said something wrong. When she does look up again, her eyes are watery but her face is determined, and Byakuya fights back a fierce grin. "Thank you, Nii-san," she says, voice thick but strong. "Thank you very much."
Byakuya nods, takes a sip of his tea, and they sit together in companionable silence for a long minute.
"Kaname, come here for a moment."
"Yes, Aizen-taicho?"
"Would you mind escorting Kuchiki Rukia to her cell when she arrives to the Second? I wouldn't want Soi Fon to be too hard on her. Be nice to her, of course."
"Of course, Aizen-taicho."
Byakuya releases Rukia into the waiting arms of Soi Fon and her small army of ninjas without a word, knowing by this point Aizen is doubtlessly watching Byakuya's - and Rukia's - every move. He lets his reiatsu tangle with Rukia's for a second, hoping it will convey every feeling that Byakuya can't articulate, but in the end, he lets Rukia go.
It hurts.
It hurts almost more than it had the first time around - the first time, Byakuya had still been able to loose himself in the world of the Kuchiki, had convinced himself he was keeping a promise. This time, Byakuya has no excuses for what he's doing.
He's letting his baby sister go into what very well could be a death trap.
But Aizen is watching, so Byakuya makes sure his face is calm and he turns away.
Ichigo isn't dumb. He knows that rescuing Rukia won't be a walk in the park, and that he needs every ally he can get.
What he doesn't know is why on earth Rukia's Psycho Older Brother would use him as a...a message board, instead of talking like a normal human being.
The upside, if one could call it that, is that Geta-Boshi doesn't think Psycho Older Brother's note will scar. The downside is that, well, that Ichigo doesn't have his powers and Rukia is stuck in Soul Society with her aptly named Psycho Older Brother.
(Which makes Ichigo so freaking angry! Rukia's older brother should protect her, not treat her like trash on the sidewalk.)
But Psycho Older Brother is in another dimension, and Ichigo currently is as powerless as Karin, so instead of marching into Soul Society and beating some sense into Psycho Older Brother, Ichigo climbs down into Geta-Boshi's horrendously oversized and definitely illegal basement and prepares to be humiliated.
Tosen Kaname doesn't like a lot of things.
He doesn't like Las Nochas, with the sand that gets everywhere and the beastly Hollows that have no sense of what it means to be human. He doesn't like cats, because Sajin doesn't like cats. He doesn't like Ichimaru, partially because he's a travesty and the antithesis of justice but mostly because he keeps putting cero me signs on Kaname's back whenever they visit Hueco Mundo. He doesn't like onions, because they make his eyes water. And, he's decided, he does not like Abarai Renji.
Kaname, see, has been given a job by Aizen-sama - that is, Aizen-taicho when they're in Soul Society - and Kaname will see it through. He will provide a steadfast pillar of strength and justice for Kuchiki - Kaname understands Aizen-sam - Aizen-taicho, knows that if Kuchiki Rukia must die, there is no reason for her to be in pain previous to her execution.
And Abarai Renji is making Kaname's job very hard.
See, it's difficult to be a pillar of strength and justice when there's an aggressive child chasing him and demanding to know what will happen to Rukia. Justice does not dictate that Abarai gets involved in Kuchiki's sentence. Abarai is practically a personification of all the things Kaname doesn't like, with his brash behavior and uncontrolled temper and explosive personality. It's like a combination of the Sexta and the Quinta, and Kaname wishes Abarai had just...stayed with the Eleventh. At least there he wouldn't be Kaname's problem.
Kaname bites back a sigh, keeps his reiatsu under control. Kuchiki's is flickering madly - as madly as it can with the suppressors in her handcuffs - and Kaname doesn't want to put Kuchiki under any more stress.
Kaname, see is a good person.
And that's why he stands with Aizen.
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Okay so so so this fic was gonna be just from Bya's POV with the exception of the one Kisuke scene but then Kaname decided he wanted in on the action.
This fic will diverge from canon after the Rukia Rescue arc, start heading off the rails in the Arrancar Appear arc, and should be all the way in Portland by the time we get to the Hueco Mundo arc. It's gonna be great.
Anyways, thank you to everyone who faved, followed, and reviewed this story.
Dalia2 - thanks for your support! I can promise that this will have a happy, Byakuya-positive ending. :)
Guest:Pissedhuman - I'll take this as a compliment :P And yeah, while there are a lot of time travel Bleach fics, to my knowledge this is the only Byakuya one.
Thanks for the support, and remember that reviews are author fuel! Even a keysmash is gobbled up.
(Oh, and if anyone wants to beta this, send me a message! I'm terrible at editing ;-;)