Chapter 20:

Kensei tapped his pen on the desk as he looked over the paperwork. He wasn't reading any of it. He was lost in thought.

Yesterday was still on his mind and he couldn't understand why. He thought he would be over it by now. Something as minor as this shouldn't have been on his mind after this length of time.

He didn't know what it was, so he kept replaying the incident over and over again in his head, trying to figure it out.

He spoke with Byakuya, then Shinji showed up. Simple and plain. Nothing that should linger on his mind for so long. But there was more to it than that. It was the conversation, he thought. He didn't remember much of it. No, now that he thought about it, it wasn't so much what Byakuya said as how he said it. He felt drunk when Byakuya was talking to him. Better than drunk. He felt serene.

He was never one to meditate, no matter what his friends advised for his temper. He didn't see the point. Specifically, he thought it was stupid. He couldn't see himself doing something like that. Outside of talking to his Zanpakuto, he thought anybody who sat cross-legged on the ground with their hands in their laps and eyes shut looked ridiculous.

He knew he had a short fuse and he always had a scowl on his face but he wasn't always angry. But he was never that calm either. He hadn't felt like that before. So empty and willing. Tranquil and euphoric.

What had caused that feeling, though? It couldn't have just come on all of a sudden. Something caused it, but what? Was it how Byakuya was speaking or Byakuya himself?

In that state, he saw Byakuya differently. He felt as though he couldn't disobey him even if he tried. He was so willing to do anything he said. He couldn't think, his mind completely blank. However, in that state, Byakuya was the most charismatic man he had ever known. He wanted to be near him. Follow him everywhere. Even now, he felt this pull. This attraction.

Kensei crushed the pen in his hand and pushed away from his desk. "No, no! Hell, no!" He got up from his chair and started to pace the room, trying to outrun those thoughts. "I'm not like that. I am not like that! No way! That is not how I see him."

Attraction was the only word that seemed fitting, though. There was no other way to describe Byakuya nor his feelings about him.

"I don't swing that way! There is no way. I know I'm not like that!"

Then why did he feel like this?

"Kensei?"

"What, dammit?!" he screamed as Rose popped his head in, hearing his shouts from the hall.

Rose was used to Kensei's bouts of anger and stood his ground, though he did give him a timid look, not wanting to make his tantrums worse. "Is everything alright?"

"Just peachy," he said through his teeth. "Why?"

"I could hear you outside. What's going on?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing!"

"Ok." Rose looked away. "Sheesh, now there's two of you acting weird…"

Kensei calmed down. "As long as you're here, I got a question."

"Yeah?" Rose looked at him. Kensei rarely asked for advice, so this must have been important.

Kensei tried to think of the words, initiating before he had thought things through. "Let's say you can't get something off your mind. Say you have these feelings that are good feelings but you don't think they fit with you. Damn, I'm an idiot. This isn't coming out right. Forget it!"

Rose still tried to answer his question. "Well, sometimes we associate positive feelings with something we enjoy."

"Duh. That's obvious."

"But if someone were to have the item which you enjoy in their possession and offer it to you. Like giving candy to a child. Soon, the child begins to associate the giver of the candy with the positive feelings the candy gives them. They like this person not for any deeper reason than the fact that they bring them candy whenever they see them."

Kensei paused, finding that this actually did help him short things out. "So you're saying that it's the feeling you're chasing, not the person. Right?"

"Basically," Rose said with a shrug. "It's like music. I've come to enjoy certain instruments simply because they're featured in certain pieces I enjoy. Without them, the piece doesn't sound the same. Even with bands. If they happen to play a song you like, you end up liking the band. Or say…"

"Alright. I got it." Kensei cut him off there. He got his answer.

Maybe it wasn't Byakuya he was attracted to but the feeling he gave him. That tranquility he had never felt before. He wanted to experience that feeling again, if only to understand it. If someone else could cause it, then the source was irrelevant. However, so far, only Byakuya had inspired the feeling within him.

Which meant he had to find Byakuya.

"Everyone is acting weird lately…" muttered Rose as he walked back to his Division. He was going to talk to Kensei about Shinji again, which was why he was in the hall in the first place. However, Kensei was quick to throw him out, on a mission of his own. He didn't specify but Rose knew it must have been imperative for Kensei to be in such a hurry.

Kensei was only rushing because he wanted to get the ordeal off his mind so he could focus on other things, but Rose was unaware of this. He hated the idea of himself daydreaming about Byakuya like some lovestruck schoolgirl. It wasn't an image of himself he wanted any part of.

Rose caught the back of Shinji's head and jogged over to speak with him. As he got closer, he realized Shinji wasn't his usual self. He was being very distant, which was unusual for someone who was either serious or playful at any given moment.

"What's the matter?"

Shinji wouldn't look at him, worried about what he might do. A part of him still believed he could only be friends with Rose if he bit him and made him a werewolf, too. He knew he shouldn't, but…

"Between you and Kensei, I don't know who's weirder."

"Why?" Shinji asked, curious. It was good to know he still cared about his friends, despite their differences.

"Oh, he was pissed off about something and asked a roundabout question and got pissed again. Then he took off somewhere, so he's probably dealing with whatever that was. But you? You're acting really off. Is everything ok?"

Rose might be fun as a werewolf. They would have to train him, of course. Rose might like being a werewolf. What would happen if he bit him during a full moon?

"Shinji? Shinji, I asked you a question."

Shinji swallowed. "Yeah?"

"Is everything alright?"

"Yeah. Yeah, everything's good."

Rose didn't believe him. "There's something going on, isn't there? You can tell me. I thought we trusted each other."

"Oh, don't start that."

"Well, I do get the feeling you're hiding something from me. You disappear a lot, you told us to stay away from Byakuya out of the blue and now you're acting like talking to me is a chore."

Biting him would be easy. He could do it right now. He would have another werewolf buddy to bond with. They could have a lot of fun together.

If he thought like that, maybe he should be alone. Shinji couldn't trust himself. What if Rose didn't want to be a werewolf? What if he didn't like Rose being a werewolf? It might be easier to be alone and do things himself. Stay away from everyone, even if there was something inside him telling him he needed to be around people.

What was he supposed to do?

"Rose… I-"

There was a loud, skull-splitting screech coming from one of the buildings and every window in that building burst at the same time.

Rose flinched and looked around to see what it was, sounding unlike anything he had ever heard before. Shinji, however, had a worse reaction to the shriek than his friend, it being louder from his perspective. Shinji fell to his knees, clutching his ears with both hands and howled in pain. He could feel the noise run through his entire body, shaking him.

Rose turned away to check on Shinji, missing Yumichika leaping from one of the broken windows and fleeing on foot. Rose put his hand on Shinji's back and held him, recognizing the amount of pain Shinji was in.

He asked what was wrong and tried to get him to stand up. Shinji snapped at him with his teeth, agitated. When he saw Rose pulled away as if stung, Shinji dropped on all fours in horror at what he had almost done.

"Rose… I- I'm sorry." This day of the full moon made him a mess and he didn't know how to handle it. He felt pulled in different directions and now this. "I have to go."

"Wait, Shinji!" Rose reached out for him but Shinji was already down the street, faster than Rose expected him to be.

He wasn't alone in this, Shinji realized. He should have gone to them from the start.

"What the hell was that?" Hisagi asked, looking out the window.

Hitsugaya grit his teeth and growled. "It's sooner than expected."

"What?" Hisagi asked, looking over his shoulder. "What is?"

"Yumichika." Hitsugaya looked out the window, hoping and knowing he wouldn't see him at the same time. "He's a harpy, remember? Their screech is horrible."

"Yeah, and with our hearing, it's even worse…"

"In my dream, Yumichika was about to be fed upon by Byakuya and managed to escape by screaming. It broke all the windows, letting sunlight in and giving him a means of escape."

"But that was a dream, right? Similar or no, it's different. You even said the timeline's off, so…"

Hitsugaya clenched his fists. "Regardless of it being a dream or not, this is big. Now that Yumichika'a displayed his powers, Byakuya knows he's not the only one who's changed. He's going to be on alert for other magic beings from lore such as ourselves. It'll be harder to hide. And he can use us as bait. If someone starts to close in on him being the blood thief, he can just pin it on us now."

Hisagi moved away from the window, disheartened. "Ah, man…" he breathed. He ran his hand through his hair. "Ok. Ok, so what do we do?"

Shinji arrived at that moment and looked at the two of them. He was immediately relieved to be in the presence of others who understood him but couldn't bask in it, knowing something was happening. "You guys heard that, too, right?"

"Yup."

"I think it came from Byakuya's office, but I can't be sure."

"Pretty safe bet," said Hitsugaya.

"The harpy, right?" Shinji clicked his tongue. "Great. Now we got that to deal with."

"Yumichika's harmless, other than his screech. He's a scavenger. He won't harm anyone. As long as we don't threaten him, he has no reason to scream," Hitsugaya reminded him. "It's Byakuya I'm worried about. If he came from Byakuya's office, that means he tried to feed off Yumichika, which is why he used his screech."

"And now Byakuya knows there are other magic creatures out there other than himself," Shinji added.

"Been there, covered that," said Hisagi.

"Well, sorry I was late to the party." Shinji had to put his feelings aside for now to figure out what they were going to do now that Yumichika displayed his powers.

"If we make a fuss about this, it could backfire," advised Hitsugaya. "Anyone who finds out about anyone who's been transformed puts the others in danger as well. Finding one means there could be more so people are more likely to look for them."

"And if Byakuya feels cornered, he'll attack," said Shinji."

"Maybe we should have tried to get Byakuya on our side from the start," said Hisagi. "One of those we're-in-this-together type of deals."

"It's too late for that now," said Hitsugaya.

"Even if we started early, it wouldn't have made a difference," said Shinji. "Vampires are pretty solitary, from what I know about them. They might have a harem but that's about it, and those are all vampires, as well. They tend not to trust other creatures or think themselves superior. Besides, according to the lore, vampires and werewolves don't get along."

"But that's lore," argued Hisagi. "It could be different."

"It could not. We don't know and we'd be risking everything on the off chance that it isn't. Then we've got a problem." Shinji pointed out the window in the direction of Byakuya's office. "If we reveal ourselves to him, he could turn on us. We would be confirming that we are like him but since we're not vampires, he's under no obligation to help us. I wouldn't hold my breath for him doing it even if we were vampires, too. Less food for him."

"Competition. Yeah."

"He could frame us or just turn us in and then what? There'd be no one to stop him. Not that we're doing all that much in that department."

Hitsugaya shot him a look. "We're helping cut down on those available to him in order to keep his army from growing. I'd rather sacrifice a few blood packs to save a few Soul Reapers. I'm not trying to stop him from getting the transfusion bags. I'm trying to stop him from feeding off strong Soul Reapers. But I'll admit, it is contradictory to keep him away from the thing that keeps him alive. Blood or starve. Live and gain a new minion who may or may not end up drained of all their blood."

"It is a tough call," said Hisagi, hanging his head sadly. "Now that Kira's one of them, I'm worried Byakuya might accidently take too much from him and kill him. But limiting his supply will make that more likely to happen."

Shinji folded his arms, thinking. "Telling people about Byakuya's a no-go, either. He'd just target them and if we told them directly, once they're a minion, they'll tell him who else knows his secret. If we do it anonymously, same issue. Byakuya will target the ones who know, but he might not know we know. And too many minions is a problem for us and him. People will start to take notice, drawing even more attention. So, even at this juncture, I'd say we can't make a move. It would put too many people in danger."

"Plus, if Byakuya fights back, he'd be in danger. In order to stop him, they might try to kill him."

"And if he is in any sort of danger, his minions will protect him, even if it means sacrificing themselves. They're basically assassins and hostages."

"So attacking Byakuya would put those attacking him in danger, put Byakuya in danger and anyone who's become loyal to him."

All three let out deep sighs.

"Then nothing's changed," said Shinji. "We still can't do anything without causing harm. Caging him is the same issue. Plus, we don't know this change has affected his body. If we try drugging him to keep him still, would that work? What if he's immune? What if it hurts him? Hell, it'd be easier to drug his subordinates."

"We could do that," said Hisagi. "Knock them out so they can't do anything and then worry about Byakuya."

"But same issue remains. Can we do anything to Byakuya and expect the desired results?" Shinji used his hand to shrug, arms still folded. "And he could still fight back and end up making new minions. It's a stalemate."

"We got enough things to worry about as it is," said Hitsugaya. "The situation remains the same, even with this new information. We can't take action against Byakuya. It would be pointless without a cure anyway. Right now, we need to get through the full moon. That is priority."

Shinji looked down, worried. He was certain that the moon was affecting him emotionally and mentally more so than physically. The physical change would probably happen at night. He thought that would be the most difficult part, considering all the uncertainly and preparation they had to go through, but the transition wasn't very pleasant either. He couldn't wait for it to be over with.

"This full moon's already messing with my head," he muttered. "Hope this isn't how I'm gonna be after the moon's gone."

"Eh, they say everyone acts weird during a full moon," said Hisagi dismissively. "I'm sure it'll pass."

"It better." Although, he had to admit that being with these two was already improving his mood. He wanted to stay in the office to ease some of his anxiety.

Kensei stood outside Byakuya's office, torn between going in and leaving. He could not stop thinking about the Captain of Squad 6 and it was making him uncomfortable. He wanted answers. He wanted to know what it was that was making him feel drawn to Byakuya. Why, when he spoke to him, he felt so at ease. He hoped by seeing Byakuya again, he would either get his answers, or lose interest.

A part of him hoped it was like getting a new toy. It was built up in their mind and the anticipation was through the roof but once they got it, they quickly lost interest. Then again, some things did meet expectation and interest wasn't lost so quickly. He wanted it to be like one of those other times. He thought the feeling would wear off as soon as he saw Byakuya.

He was conflicted for several reasons. The main two were that if he did see him, it wouldn't solve anything, and the second one being that he still had to make a move, which he found embarrassing.

Awkward was an understatement. He didn't even know what he was supposed to ask him. Standing there awkwardly wasn't his thing but if he didn't know what to say or how to say it… He had to find the words. But if he did, he still had to ask which, no matter the question, was going to be embarrassing.

It was probably better to walk away and forget this whole thing. This was stupid. He was being an idiot. What was he thinking?

If he did, he would never get his answers. He would still have Byakuya on the brain. If he saw him, there was a good chance he'd tire of him immediately and be able to concentrate. He came all the way here, he might as well.

Kensei knocked on the door before he could stop himself. Once he did, he regrated it. He was about to leave when the door opened. He flinched but it was only Kira.

"Kira?" Kensei asked gruffly. "What are you doing here? Ain't this Kuchiki's office?"

"It is," said Kira. He wouldn't open the door all the way.

"You hiding something in there?"

Kira's hand pushed the door slightly as if to close it on reflex but stopped. He didn't answer the question, lips tightly pressed together.

"It's alright, Kira," came Byakuya's voice. "Let him in."

Kira opened the door and stepped aside.

Kensei stopped into the office and looked around, the first thing that snared his notice being the broken windows. "What the hell happened here?"

Ikkaku and Renji were in the middle of hanging curtains with duct tape to hide the large openings when he asked that question, causing them to stop what they were doing and stare at him. Some of the blinds were broken, hanging from their frame with several slats missing and others twisted and bent. Broken glass had been swept up and disposed of in the trash. It seemed most of the glass was outside but some Soul Reapers had already taken care of it so Kensei hadn't noticed on his way in. Not that he would have, considering he hadn't realized every single window on the building had been broken.

Byakuya stood in the corner where the sun couldn't reach him. Now that there were curtains hung up over two windows, he had a safe path to walk in order to reach Kensei.

"It's not important," said Byakuya, referring to the mess. "What brings you here, Kensei?"

Kensei quivered slightly, hearing Byakuya say his name. Thankfully, he hid it well. There was just something about Byakuya that seemed to have an effect on him. It must have been his voice. He couldn't recall Byakuya ever speaking so suavely to him before. Then again, they didn't really talk.

Collecting himself, Kensei said, "About the other day. When you spoke to Rose and me in the hall…"

"Rose and I," Byakuya corrected.

"Whatever." Kensei tried again. "Well, we're kinda having trouble remembering what we talked about."

"You don't say."

"I was wondering if you could remind me. Just 'cause it's buggin' me, so…" He hoped this would lead to whatever happened in the hall. He wanted Byakuya to speak again to confirm whether or not he was a factor.

Byakuya smiled knowingly. "I see," he said slowly. "Very well."

He had no intention of reminding Kensei about their conversation, wanting him to forget in the first place. However, he was going to indulge him, realizing that he had an effect on the other Captain without having to bite him. It seemed Kensei wasn't charmed but intrigued by him. Kensei wasn't under his spell yet, so he couldn't command him. However, there were two ways to make someone compliant.

"Kensei," Byakuya said, adjusting his vocal pattern to soothe him. "In regards to the other day…"

The feeling had returned. It seemed to be Byakuya's voice that was doing it, although the look Byakuya was giving him was strangely hypnotic. Those eyes seemed to glow, pulling him in like a moth to a flame. He had to keep looking at them.

Byakuya ran his finger down Kensei's cheek and under his chin, following his jaw bone. "Do you understand?" he asked softly.

Kensei had no idea what Byakuya was saying. He hadn't been paying any attention, too absorbed in his eyes, so he just agreed with him. "Yes."

Byakuya took another step closer, standing toe to toe with Kensei. "Good. That's very good, Kensei."

"Yes," Kensei said absently. Everything in the room faded away, leaving only him and Byakuya's eyes. He didn't care. He didn't care about anything.

Byakuya eyed Kensei's neck for a moment. He looked back at Kensei, deciding. He cupped Kensei's face in his hand and spoke to him gently. "Your eyes are feeling heavy."

His eyes began to droop.

"You are…"

"Big Brother?"

Byakuya pulled away from Kensei immediately and looked behind the muscular man. "Rukia."

She wandered into the office through the open door Kira had yet to close. He was about to when Byakuya held up his hand, signaling for him to stop, so instead he hid behind it. She looked at all the broken windows then at Byakuya.

"I heard there was some kind of accident and came to see if you were alright."

"I'm unharmed," Byakuya told her. "Everything is alright. We're cleaning up right now."

Rukia saw Renji mending the blinds and said, "Good to see you're ok, too, Renji."

He nodded, looking from her to Byakuya and back at the twisted blinds in his hands. Normally, he would have complained she checked on Byakuya's wellbeing before his own, being an afterthought, but he didn't care about how Rukia felt about him. Not anymore. The only person's opinion that mattered to him now was Byakuya's.

And now, Renji only cared about Rukia because of her relationship with Byakuya. He understood that Byakuya would be devastated if something were to happen to his adopted sister and reminder of his late wife. Rukia was precious to him beyond words which was why he cared what happened to her.

His servants understood his feelings toward Rukia but to make sure there was no mistake, Byakuya made it clear that she was off limits. She was not food, she was not a threat and she was not to be harmed in any way. Byakuya's orders were absolute, so they could not disobey him. Their knowledge of their relationship and his orders kept them from taking any action against her.

"What happened exactly?" she asked Byakuya, wanting to know the cause of the damage.

"Oh, it was nothing. Someone misfired a Kido, that's all."

Rukia breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, good. I'm glad you're not hurt."

"No need to worry yourself." Byakuya had to make her leave, otherwise he would start to look at her as his next meal. "There was no need for you to come all this way for such nonsense. As a Lieutenant, you must have your own work to do. You don't want to be accused of being irresponsible."

Wanting to win Byakya's favor as always, Rukia bowed to him and said, "Yes, I understand. I just came to see if you're alright after what happened. Now that I know you're ok, I'll get back to my Division. Sorry to bother you."

Byakuya didn't say anything as she left. Kira quickly closed the door. She didn't seem to notice him.

Kensei rubbed his head, waking up. He had heard most of the conversation, but it was like white noise to him. Without Byakuya working his magic, Kensei returned to his senses quickly but the sense of serenity lingered. He felt like he just woke up from a peaceful nap.

When Byakuya turned back to finish what he started, Kensei was already moving towards the door. Kira stood in front of it to block his path. Kensei kept coming his way and Kira stood his ground, though he did look nervous, as if expecting Kensei to walking through him to exit the room.

"Kensei," Byakuya said to his back and he slowed to a stop. "Was that all you wanted?"

It was tempting to stay but Kensei made up his mind to go. "Yeah," he told him without turning around.

Byakuya gave him another taste of his velvety voice, teasing him. "If there's anything else I can do for you, don't hesitate to ask. Stop by anytime you wish."

Kensei nodded and hurried to the door. Kira moved aside only when Byakuya instructed him to do so. Kensei practically threw himself out into the hall and slammed the door shut, leaning his back against it.

"What the hell was that?" he asked himself.

That tranquil feeling was wonderful but that wasn't the issue. Aside from the repose of his stress and temper, there was another feeling. A feeling he was disgusted at himself for feeling.

Byakuya's vampiric allure had been mistaken for something else.

Kensei put a hand to his chest, feeling his racing heart and trying to muffle it. He refused to believe he found Byakuya attractive. Yet, what else could it be? Even now, after deciding to leave on his own accord, he wanted to go back. He wanted to be with Byakuya.

"It's the feeling I'm after, not him," he told himself. "I gotta go splash some water on my face."