I couldn't stop thinking about it! It turns out that I, too, love seeing an insufferable man face his own comeuppance. This takes place about twenty years after the first part

There was a horrible gurgling sound every time Byakuya tried to breathe.

He wondered if he was going to die.

A Kuchiki was always ready to lay down his life for the protection of the Soul Society, but Byakuya had to admit he had not, in fact, been ready to get killed by some guy who showed up at his office at 8 in the morning and demanded to fight him.

"Hold on, I'm going to roll you over!"

The world spun, and then Byakuya was looking at blue skies and fluffy clouds instead of a widening pool of his own blood.

That was nice.

"This is going to hurt quite a bit, but I need you to stay conscious if you can. Try to take shallow breaths. This will be the worst part."

There was suddenly a burning, blinding pain in Byakuya's back that sent fireworks into his retinas.

"Great job, sir! I've reattached your spinal column. Now, hold tight, I'm going to put your abdominal cavity back together next."

As the hot, prickly sensation of a kaidou washed over him, Byakuya squinted at his savior.

"You're the man I fought. The man who did this to me," Byakuya mumbled.

"Abarai Renji, sir," the man repeated. "You're going to remember that name."

"I want to go to the Coordinated Relief Station," Byakuya slurred out.

The man sighed. "I understand, sir. But as it happens, I am actually the chief of the Trauma Department, so you'd be getting me either way, and you really shouldn't be moved in your current state."

Byakuya couldn't seem to put together a coherent image of the young man in front of him. It wasn't just the blood loss, because Byakuya had noticed it even before they fought- the fellow seemed more like an agglomeration of pieces that didn't seem to fit together correctly. He was large- tall and heavy with muscle, but his demeanor was calm, businesslike. He'd arrived in a modified, one-sleeved shihakushou that showed off the sharp, angry tattoos that appeared to cover most of his body, but his wrists and knuckles were neatly wrapped with athletic tape, and he also sported a supportive elbow brace. His hair was an atrocious color, but it had been tied back in a practical plait. He wore glasses, of the sturdy, horn-rimmed variety, which gave him a strangely studious mien, perched on a nose that had clearly been broken more than once.

And he had bankai. This stranger, that Byakuya had never met or even heard of, had bankai.

It was a good bankai, a horrifying bankai. A floating constellation of bone and fang of immense strength and speed, white-hot with Abarai's spiritual pressure. Byakuya had managed to destroy a few of the segments, only for Abarai to effortlessly fuse them back together. He'd been knocked off his bearings from the start and never managed to regain a solid footing. Stupidly, given how much of him was currently lying in puddles, Byakuya desperately wanted another go. The thing was impervious to Senbonzakura in shikai, he should have gone to bankai much sooner. He was sure there was a way to crack through its defenses, he'd just had no time to think.

Who was this fellow? And-

"Why?" Byakuya croaked.

Abarai didn't look up from his work, which Byakuya supposed he appreciated. "Why…? Am I healing you? Or did I want to fight you in the first place?"

"Both."

"Oh. Well, you're a captain, sir, of great value to Soul Society. I'd probably get in trouble if you ended up out of commission. I don't actually mean you any ill, to be honest, I just wanted to get your attention. You have a reputation, Captain Kuchiki, for not having much respect for those you see as beneath you." There was a very unpleasant squelching sound. "There we go! Okay, I'm gonna do a sterilization kaidou before I close you back up, this is gonna feel cold and it might sting a bit."

There was the sensation of ice water sloshing over Byakuya's midsection.

"I hope…you are competent…" Byakuya groaned.

Abarai, the bastard, laughed. "Sir, you do know that Captain Unohana watched our entire fight? I woulda fought you five years ago, but she wouldn't let me until I was completely confident in my ability to put you back together afterwards. My yearly performance review depends on this."

"Is…she still here?" Byakuya asked, not sure if he wanted to know the answer or not.

"He's doing a wonderful job, Captain Kuchiki! You're in excellent hands!" Unohana's cheerful voice floated over.

"You wanted my attention," Byakuya wheezed. "You have it. Talk." Some warmth was starting to return to his trunk as Abarai changed over to the kaidou that would knit his flesh back together.

"Are you sure you want to do this right now?"

"I will kill you later, so talk now."

"Oh, I hope not!" Abarai took a deep breath and let it out again. "Captain Kuchiki, I would like to ask permission to court your sister. She's a very important person to me and I admire her deeply. Pending her own agreement, of course."

"Rukia?" Byakuya tried to think of his adopted sister as little as possible. He couldn't remember the last time he had even spoken to her. "You know my sister?"

"I used to. We haven't spoken in a long time, but I've never stopped missing her and thinking about her. She's a very special person."

"Who are you again?"

Abarai sighed. "Abarai Renji, sir. Third Seat of Squad Four. I know how important titles are to you. I had initially hoped to make at least vice-captain before I challenged you, but I've gotten really attached to my work at the Fourth, and I'm still a far ways from catching up with Lieutenant Kotetsu. Sorry about that. I am a doctor, though! I hear that some people consider doctors very good marriage material."

Byakuya groaned. His aunts loved a doctor.

"Are you all right, Captain Kuchiki? Did I hit a tender spot?"

"Never…mind." He squeezed his eyes shut for a long moment. "If my sister wishes to be courted by you, you have my permission-if…"

"If…?"

"Once I have recovered, you will fight me again, so that I can properly defeat you."

There was a long silence. "Is the me-dating-Rukia contingent on you beating me?"

Byakuya considered this. It might give Abarai incentive to throw the fight. "No. But I will defeat you."

"Sounds great, sir! Say, I've got you in a good enough shape to move now, you ready to go to the Coordinated Relieve Station?"

"Please," Byakuya begged.

He hadn't really thought this out all that well, because the world shifted again, and then he was being carried, princess-style, his head cradled against a warm pair of pectorals that were, admittedly, better than his own. Byakuya hoped against hope that they didn't pass anyone he knew.

"I have to say, I am very proud of you, Renji," Captain Unohana's voice emanated from somewhere off to the side. "You made a plan, you applied yourself to it, and you've really manifested your own success."

"Thanks, Captain! I feel pretty proud of me, too!"

"I think Kuchiki Rukia must be a very lucky girl."

"Well, I just hope she thinks that, too. Oh, hey, Captain Kuchiki, if Rukia isn't into the courting thing, would it be okay for us to just be friends? I mean, I do have romantic feelings for her and all, but I don't want to project any expectations on her, and I'd honestly just be happy to have her back in my life, at whatever capacity she's comfortable with."

"Fine," Byakuya managed. "May I pass out now?"

"Go right ahead, sir," Abarai replied.

Note: I feel like canon Renji is a walking pile of untreated medical afflictions, and the reason his eyes are so squinty is because he's nearsighted. Also, I was looking at that colorspread where he's at the library wearing glasses and I thought he was cute in 'em, so I gave him glasses. :P