Chapter 16:
It was the day of the training exercise and Shinji felt no more prepared than he did yesterday after his own training. No matter what, he and Hisagi always ended up wrestling on the ground, nipping at each other's ears. Perfectly normal behavior for wolves, not so much for Soul Reapers. He hoped that by doing this, he would realize when he was about to start acting like a wolf and prevent it since he couldn't control himself completely.
Redirection seemed to be the best option in this cause. Even when he knew what he was doing was wolf-like, he failed to realize it until after he performed the behavior. Hopefully by knowing which action would trigger that reaction, he could do something else before it got to that point.
Shinji stood in front of the gathered members of his Division. It wasn't everyone, just the seated members. Momo stood beside him, ready to act as his sparring partner. Taking a deep breath, he began.
"Alright, I will now demonstrate what I've been going on about. Probably better to see it than hear me yammer on." He also wasn't sure how else to explain it, having lectured them for almost twenty minutes in an attempt to stall.
He stood in front of Momo with his wooden sword. She took her stance, ready. He took another breath.
Momo made the first move, as intended. He blocked and performed the maneuver perfectly. They went to the next step and again executed it as planned. Despite her size, Momo was strong. He could tell she was only holding back a little for the demo, knowing she wasn't supposed to overpower him.
Gaining more confidence, Shinji continued with the demonstration. They were able to do every move perfectly and moved on to an actual sparring match. These moves would be unchoreographed, which was the part Shinji was most concerned about.
Eventually, Momo came at him with a strong attack and Shinji's first instinct was to ram himself into her body but refrained. He outmaneuvered her and attacked with his sword. Again, she was on the offensive and Shinji could feel himself getting ready to attack. He knew he was going to do the same thing he did with Hisagi and start play-biting. In an effort to avoid this, Shinji made a different move.
He turned his body to the side to face the onlookers and lowered his sword. Momo came to a sudden halt, seeing Shinji leave himself wide open.
"Well, that's enough for today. I think you guys got the gist of it."
Knowing his wolf half would take over if the fight continued, Shinji thought it was best to simply quit. He didn't consider this giving up or throwing the match. This wasn't something he wanted to risk, knowing the consequences would exceed the confusion of having stopped early. He played it off as nonchalantly as possible and thanked Momo for helping him.
"We got work to do, so let's get back at it."
A male Soul Reaper raised his hand in the air. "That's it?"
Shinji gestured to the space between himself and Momo with the tip of the wooden sword. "What, that wasn't enough for you? I thought it was pretty straight forward."
"It's just, uh… Seemed kind of abrupt."
"We're not in a dojo, so I'm not breaking a sweat. We're in the yard. Besides, I think you guys got the point of it and I'm not gonna get a sore wrist before going back and doin' paperwork. Idiotic."
The Soul Reapers seemed to accept this and bowed, thanking Shinji for the demonstration.
Momo was still confused, not understanding why Shinji seemed to give up right in the middle of their match. "Is everything ok?" she asked when everyone left to return to work. "It's just… Did I do something wrong?"
"No. Why do you think that?"
"You just stopped. The match wasn't over."
"Well, as Captain, I say it is. I got tired of it and felt that was enough."
Momo wasn't satisfied with that answer. "That's it?" she asked with a shrug.
"Pretty much," answered Shinji. "It's not like it was a real match. We were both holding back, weren't we? It was just a demo. No reason to go all-out. I just felt like stopping there. No deeper meaning behind it."
"Well, alright… If you say so."
"Yup. Anyway, great job out there." Shinji patted her on the shoulder and retreated into the building. He thought his acting was better than that. He wondered why Momo seemed suspicious of him while everyone else accepted it.
"If she's suspicious of anyone, it's herself," said Hitsugaya when Shinji asked him about it. "She expresses self-doubt at times. It's nothing personal."
Shinji scratched his cheek, looking at the corner of the room. "I did get the impression that she seeks the approval of others as soon as I met her. I guess I should have followed my first instinct and take her response as more of a comment about herself than me."
"Pretty much," said Hitsugaya. "She's probably worried you thought she was weak or disappointed in her which was why you stopped the match early."
"I did it so I wouldn't bite her, but it's not like I can tell her that."
"Then tell her something else."
"I did and she didn't buy it."
"Blame it on your garlic breath. That you didn't want her to notice."
Shinji shot him a look. "Is it that noticeable or are you just pickin'?" When Hitsugaya didn't respond, he added, "It's your fault I have garlic breath in the first place. Who told me to eat a whole clove? Who told me to have it for breakfast?"
"Hisagi should be cooking something with it."
"Don't change the subject."
Hitsugaya looked up. "What do you want me to say? I don't think you offended her, but if she's got hurt feelings, try talking to her. What you did wasn't that bad but she can be sensitive and blow it out of proportion, so if you feel bad about it, talk to her."
"And say what? I told her I ended the match early because I felt like it and it had nothing to do with her. She's still pouting."
"Then complement her."
Shinji hung his head dramatically and spun on his heels like a child being asked to do something they didn't want to do. He even whined, but not like an animal. "Fine, I'll play therapist for a day. Lord knows we need one."
"And if you see my Lieutenant, tell her I need her to take over for me," said Hitsugaya, rubbing his wrist.
"Aye-aye, Cap'n." Shinji saluted him on his way out the door.
Hitsugaya muttered under his breath and returned to his work.
Yumichika couldn't stop staring at himself in the mirror. His hair looked softer and shinier than ever before. His complexion was just as astounding. He seemed to be getting more beautiful by the day.
"Are you going to stand there all day or what?" asked a Squad member. "Between you and Ikkaku disappearing, I don't know which is worse."
Yumichika tore his eyes away from his reflection to look at the man. "Come to think of it, Ikkaku has been disappearing a lot lately. Wonder what's going on?"
"Kenpachi wants us to run drills with him. Let's move."
"What's the rush?" Yumichika asked, playing with his hair. "It's just two hours of him throwing us through a wall until lunch. We get it, he's strong. I think drills are just so he can get his combat fix followed by his ridicule fix. He's always going on about how we're not challenging enough for him."
"Yeah, and I don't want to be the only one getting in line for that. Move your ass."
Yumichika started to follow, then got distracted by the mirror again. "So beautiful." He started fussing with his hair again.
Hisagi distributed the snacks he prepared to different Divisions, including his own. He loaded them with garlic, just as Hitsugaya recommended he do. He made a large batch of fried rice for the Women's Association meeting and rice balls for others. Kira and his own Captain got a box of them, containing three each. Kira accepted it but didn't eat them, in the middle of running around delivering papers. Kensei tried one and immediately complained.
"Damn, that's a lot of garlic. You trying to kill me?"
"Not you," Hisagi muttered quietly, thinking about Byakuya.
Kensei took another bite, made a face then went back for more. He finished the one rice ball, saying, "That is disgusting," but didn't throw away the other two.
Hisagi just sighed.
"You working or what?" Kensei asked him, pointing a pen at the adjacent desk.
"Oh, uh, actually, I had some deliveries to make. I'll be right back."
"Sit your ass down," barked Kensei and Hisagi sat down at the other desk. The other deliveries would have to wait.
Kira stopped for a quick break outside. The box containing the rice balls kept sliding on top of the files in his hands so he decided to eat them before they could spill. He took a big bite and tasted garlic. It became overwhelming at the center. He wondered if in lieu of fish, Hisagi and put a clove in the rice ball instead. It was still tasty so he kept eating.
When he finished, he tossed the box and continued with his work. He bounced from office to office and Division to Division. At one point, a Soul Reaper chased him down to return one of the files which had been delivered to the wrong office by mistake. He had to backtrack to get it to the right place.
Just when he thought he was finishing up, the pile in his arms grew as Soul Reapers gave him more files to deliver. "Let's see, this one goes to 4th and 5th. No, wait, 5th and 6th. This office gets this one and the Captain gets this one and he needs to sign it. This one is ready for filing, which means I have to go to the archives. Ugh, it never ends!" It was a nightmare just to keep track of who got what, especially with all the Soul Reapers giving him more and not telling him what they were.
Halfway through the pile, he reached Squad 6 to deliver two files and probably get more in exchange. He was going to go to the Captain's office last. First, he needed to deliver these to the other offices within Byakuya's Division. Normally, they were delivered to the Captain and he sorted it out but some complained and Kira, endeavoring to be a people-pleaser, tried to make things easier, even if it meant making his own work harder.
At last, he could go to the Captain's office. Going up and down the stairs to deliver the files had his knees shaking on the steps to Byakuya's office. He pulled himself up on the railing and stopped at the top to catch his breath. He wanted to sit down and rest his legs so much. The pile in his arms was getting smaller but it felt heavier.
Taking a deep breath, Kira hoisted himself up and walked down the hall to Byakuya's office.
Unbeknownst to him, Byakuya hadn't had his morning meal today and was feeling especially hungry. With it came an intense desire to hunt. The thrill alone was addictive but Byakuya enjoyed everything about it. To ease his hunger, he decided to grab the next person who came to his office.
Kira dragged his feet to the office door and knocked. "Captain Kuchiki, I got some paperwork here for you."
"Enter."
Kira opened the door and squinted. "It's pretty dark in here, Captain. Is something- whoa!"
A pair of strong hands grabbed him and pulled him off his feet. The door was kicked shut, plunging Kira into darkness. The files flew out of his hand as Kira was thrown against a wall and pinned down.
At first, he thought it was a prank or someone in desperate need of help. Sometimes his friends would grab him dramatically, especially when hiding from someone and they didn't want him to give them away. But this was more violent than someone wanting to talk in private. Being slammed into the wall like that alone was jarring and painful.
He frantically tried to take a look around. His eyes were just starting to adjust when a head blocked his view. He saw a red glowing eye glance at him briefly before disappearing, the head moving away from his face and towards his neck.
"What? What's going on? What are you-"
Byakuya covered Kira's mouth with his hand. "Be quiet." Opening his mouth wide, he bit down on Kira's neck, drawing blood.
Kira shrieked and kicked, his cries muffled by Byakuya's hand. The more he tried to cry out, the harder Byakuya pressed his hand against his mouth. Kira only stopped because he was afraid Byakuya would break his jaw. He tried to pull Byakuya's hand away but his arm wouldn't move. He tried to get Byakuya's head away from him but no matter how hard he pushed Byakuya's forehead or pulled his black hair, Byakuya wouldn't budge.
It hurt. It hurt so much! What was Byakuya doing to him? Why was he doing this to him? He wanted him to stop. He needed him to stop. It was too painful but he couldn't get away.
He stopped fighting it. There was no point.
That was when Byakuya took his hand off Kira's mouth to support the blond's head, making it easier to get at his neck. He cradled Kira, drinking.
The tongue brushing against his neck was oddly soothing. Byakuya felt so strong. His hands were so warm and comforting. Kira's vision was getting blurry. He didn't know what was happening. He felt so weak. Perhaps he'd take a little nap and figure it out later.
Byakuya lowered Kira to the floor, licking his lips. There was an odd taste in his mouth he just couldn't place. Kira's blood had a strange flavor to it. Everyone tasted different to him but Kira was especially strange. He wasn't sure if he liked it.
Ikkaku arrived shortly after and found Kira's lifeless body on the floor behind Byakuya's desk.
"Take care of him for me, would you?" Byakuya asked him, not even glancing up from his work.
"Yessir." Ikkaku picked Kira off the ground and carried him over his shoulder out the door. He was just going to bring him to the sickbay like all Byakuya's unconscious victims and have them deal with him. He would tell them that he found Kira like this.
Kira started to move. "Wha' happen'?" he slurred hazily.
"You're fine," Ikkaku told him, carrying out the plan. "Just bringing you to the sickbay. Must've collapsed from too much work."
Kira lifted his head with great difficulty. "I feel weird…"
"Go back to sleep. I got you."
Kira rubbed his neck. "I feel… different."
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