Author's Note:

Well, it's time for another part of my meandering, slow-burn Renruki fill-in-the-blanks story! Remember in the end notes from the last one where I was like "gee, I hope this doesn't take me seven months to write, like the last one?" Yeah, well, it took more like two years. I'm not gonna apologize, though, I'm just gonna say: I did it. It was hard, and I pushed through, and here it is. I hope you like it.

There are thirteen chapters. I plan on posting one per week, but given the time of year, I can't always promise it will be the same day of the week.

Continuity: This is the fifth installment in my series, The Heart is a Muscle ( doesn't support series, but it starts with Not Broken, Just Bent). It picks up just a few weeks after the previous story, Call Me Back When the War is Over and is very much a sequel, but if, for whatever reason, you don't want to read the previous parts, it's pretty canon compliant. It takes place in the first April of the 17-mo timeskip, and the only thing you really need to know is that Rukia has just passed her lieutenant's exam and been appointed the Vice Captain of Squad Thirteen.

Rated T for language, rowdiness, and comedic violence.

The theme song for this fanfic is Snow is Gone, by Josh Ritter

Many thanks to my hard-working beta reader, Luna12, for making this better, but also for keeping my spirits up. Thanks also to all my readers who have been patiently waiting for this. I hope you are still out there!

A note on Ginrei: Bleach and its ancillary materials seem deeply devoted to Keeping it Ambiguous as to whether Byakuya's grandfather is still kicking around. I was 95% of the way through writing this when I found out there there's an episode of the anime where it *says he is dead* in the dub, but *doesn't* in the sub, I almost flipped a table. I'm pretty sure the Brave Souls mobile game maintains that he is alive. Anyway, he's alive in this fanfic, and if that bothers you, you should probably find something else to read.


Renji waved his hand in the air. "Juniper-y, with hints of melon," he proclaimed.

"I like this one," Rukia announced, motioning for the bottle back.

Renji took another swig and handed it over. "Yeah, it's not bad. What's the name of it again, Chrysanthemum Pond?"

"Chrysanthemum Lake," Rukia read off the label, and took a long draw.

It was a common courtesy for dinner guests at the Kuchiki household to present Lady Rukia with a bottle of fine sake as a welcome gift. She had long despaired over what to do with this surfeit of high-end booze, until her good friend and partner-in-crime had noted that he wanted to "know more classy stuff." Rukia had hauled a few bottles up to the hill that overlooked the Thirteenth Division training grounds, so they could get ripped while making a lot of utterly uninformed hoighty-toighty commentary.

"Hey, Renji?" Rukia asked, examining how much sake was left in the bottle.

"'Sup?"

"I got a… a question for you. Important question."

"Hit me."

"When is your next um, stripeys? Tattoos. When are you getting more tattoos?"

"That," Renji said, pointing a finger at her. "Is a good question." He leaned back in the grass. It was late March, not yet really spring, but the night was warmish, and they were making the most of it.

"You get 'em when you do cool stuff, right?"

Renji scratched at his stomach. "Yeah. I used to get them to mark my achievements. First Hollow I killed, every seat I climbed, every certification I got. But then I kinda fell behind."

"Fell behind?" Rukia echoed.

"Yeah. It's your fault mostly. I mean, I got the ones for bankai."

"The butt stripes are for bankai."

"They're not really on my butt! They are on my very upper rear thighs!"

"That's just the lower butt."

"There is no lower butt. That's a thing you made up."

"Lower butt."

"Arright, arright, shut up. Anyway, got my butt stripes, noted. I also fought your brother, that was a Big Deal."

"You didn't win."

"It's true. I didn't die, though, that's kind of like an achievement. To be honest, everything after that was the same sort of mixed bag. I led the Advance Team, but it was kind of a circus."

"No one died."

"It's true, and we came in under budget, also very important. Uh, we went to Hueco Mundo. I fought an Espada and once again, did not die, also did not win. I helped back up Ichigo, along with you and everyone else. Which doesn't sound like much, but if all of us hadn't fought our hearts out, Ichigo might not've made it and if Ichigo hadn't made it, we might all be dead now. Might be the most important thing I ever did. You an' me went on a mission to the Living World and got commendations for it, but then we got our memories wiped, so we don't know what the commendations were for. I got invited over to your house for fancy dinner. That was like an achievement."

"That was not a fancy dinner. That was just regular dinner."

"It was the fanciest dingdang dinner I've ever been to. Anyway, my point is, I don't know how to count anything anymore. I thought once I made vice-captain, there would be all sorts of very clear-cut milestones, and I was wrong."

"You should just go get some more dingdang tattoos," Rukia suggested, taking another sip from the bottle.

"Yeah, maybe I should." He stretched out his legs. "You've been achieving stuff. Vice-Captain Kuchiki. Who actually killed an Espada. And has summoned her zanpakutou spirit. Maybe you should get some dingdang tattoos."

"Well," said Rukia slowly. "That's actually why I brought it up."

Renji abruptly sat up, despite the fact that it sent his head spinning. "Let's. Talk."


What We Do with Our Hearts

a fanfic by polynya


"Very good, Lieutenant, let me know how it goes," Byakuya nodded, handing back Renji's drill plans for the week.

Renji frowned. Byakuya usually pored over this sort of thing, returning it covered in suggestions and annotations, many of them exceedingly particular.

"Something on your mind, sir?"

Byakuya looked up, somewhat startled. "Ah, yes, I have been a bit distracted. My apologies." He set his jaw. "That reminds me, actually. We have spoken before about you taking on certain… family-related duties."

Traditionally, the lieutenant of the Sixth Division was also the Kuchiki Heir. Renji's predecessor, who had some actual familial ties to Byakuya, used to fill in on some of the more quotidian tasks an Heir would normally be expected to take care of. And now, to the horror and dismay of many of his squadmates, some of that was starting to fall to Renji.

So far, he had attended a moderately interesting Historical Society lecture at the library, trailed Byakuya around at some sort of Seireitei business-development meetup, and thoroughly embarrassed himself at tea with one of Byakuya's more-hated aunts. Renji had no idea why Byakuya wanted him to do these things, and he wasn't going to ask. It seemed like Byakuya took on an awful lot of work, being the head of a noble house on top of leading a division, and he lacked both spouse and Heir. If Captain Kuchiki needed a little help now and again, and it got Renji anywhere near what passed for Byakuya's good side, he was here for it.

"What can I do for you, sir?" Renji offered, trying to look very serious.

"I am planning a party," Byakuya replied. "In a little over a week. It is a bit of a to-do, I'm afraid. I would... appreciate your assistance."

What the actual heck? rang through Renji's head. Didn't Byakuya have servants for this stuff?

"I thought it was the Ohnos' turn to do the big Hanami stuff this year," Renji asked gingerly.

Byakuya looked mildly surprised. "It is, and I would usually only hold a modest viewing of the Manor grounds on an off-year, but I wished to take advantage of the timing to honor Rukia's promotion."

Renji sucked his teeth thoughtfully. "Well, I'm happy to help, sir. Anything for Rukia, as you know. But I don't know too much about fancy parties, not sure how much good I'm gonna do."

Byakuya regarded him with narrowed eyes. "I have people for that, Lieutenant. No, I need you as a… a Lieutenant. A personal Lieutenant."

Renji raised one eyebrow. "Not sure I'm following, sir."

"Think of this party as the Soul Society. And we need to defend it. Except that instead of defending it from a horde of Hollows, or say, Aizen, we are defending it from a cantankerous, narrow-minded old relic whose only joy in life is to diminish my accomplishments. I am not sure my own efforts will be adequate. I require a co-conspirator. I would ask Rukia, she would be ideal for this, but this is her party and I do not wish to intrude upon her enjoyment of it."

Renji nodded slowly. "Ah-ha. Can't you… just not invite this person?"

"I cannot," Byakuya scowled. "He is my grandfather."


Renji showed up at Kuchiki Manor at 9am on Saturday morning. It was when Byakuya had asked him to come. Renji was a habitual early riser, and, in fact, had already been to the gym and showered by this time, but it still felt strange calling on someone at such an early hour on a weekend.

"Good morning, Lieutenant Abarai," the footman greeted him. "I've been instructed to escort you to Guard Captain Kamata."

"Really?" Renji asked. "Captain Kuchiki asked me to come over."

"Yes, and he's set out a whole schedule for you," the footman replied. "Starting with Guard Captain Kamata."

"Oh. Ah. Great," Renji agreed. What the Hell was happening?

Kamata Dai was the head of the Kuchiki House Guard. Renji had a few dealings with him, back when Rukia had lost her powers and Byakuya assigned Renji to act as her personal guard if she wanted to leave the manor. Kamata was a serious, middle-aged man who had a 5 o'clock shadow at any time of day or night, and seemed, in Renji's opinion, perpetually in need of a stiff drink.

"Morning, Lieutenant," Kamata greeted, as the footman dropped Renji off at his office. There were numerous papers spread out over the man's desk, which he was rearranging thoughtfully. "Have a seat. Thanks for coming by. His Lordship suggested I might pick your brain regarding security for this shindig he's throwing."

"Umm," Renji hemmed, pulling out the chair across from him. "I've never even been to one of these things. I'm not sure how much of a help I can be."

Kamata leaned back in his chair. "Let me be more specific: Lady Rukia. I have been guarding Kuchiki for longer than you've been dead, and I have never seen anyone evade a guard detail like she does. Prior to now, she's lurked at the edges of these things. Usually, we just put out a bunch of shrimp somewhere, and she'll stay near it, but when she decides to ghost, she's just gone. She shows up again eventually, which is good, because otherwise, I would be long fired by now."

"Does, uh, Captain Kuchiki know this?"

"I've told him that she's difficult. He doesn't know the extent. He suggested I talk to you. Look, she's the guest of honor at this thing. It's my job to protect her, and that's really hard to do when I can't find her half the time."

Renji scratched his head. "You can't protect her."

Kamata just stared at him.

"You can't. She's unprotectable. If there's danger, she'll jump right in it. And the more you try to tie her down, the more she gets pissed off. She probably just does this out of principle. But also, you really don't need to worry about her, she's tough as Hell."

Kamata nodded. "I know that. That's one of the reasons I haven't worried more about her stupid disappearing act. The fact of the matter is, anything that could pose a serious threat to her or his Lordship is honestly not something my men and I are capable of stopping. But that's not my job. My job is weeding out the nuisances and aggravations–keeping the peace, so the Kuchiki don't have to worry about that stuff and can enjoy themselves. As much as anyone enjoys themselves at these things."

"Oh," Renji replied. That made sense, actually. "Have you ever explained that to her?"

Kamata looked at him like he was crazy. "I don't talk to Lady Rukia. I barely talk to Lord Kuchiki, mostly I deal with Mr. Nobutsune, he's the head of the household staff."

"That seems inconvenient."

"It is, actually. I hope you don't mind my frankness, Lieutenant. I often worked closely with Lieutenant Shirogane, and I miss having him on my side."

"Naw, naw, I'm all about frankness," Renji waved a hand. "Look, I'll talk to Rukia for you, tell her to behave herself at her own party."

Kamata cocked his head. "Do you think she'll listen to you?"

Renji shrugged. "Maybe? Either she will, or she'll give me an earful of everything she hates about you and your people, and I can get back to you with that. Maybe we can come up with a compromise."

Kamata looked like he wanted to be reassured, but didn't entirely trust Renji. "Okay. Worth a try, I guess. There's a second matter, as well."

"Arright."

"Lady Rukia requested that we invite the other Vice-Captains of the Gotei 13, which Lord Kuchiki felt necessitated inviting their captains as well. I understand that some of them may represent additional security risks. I was hoping you could give me the run-down."

"Ah," Renji agreed. "Which end you wanna start with?"


An hour and three cups of tea later, and they were still barely halfway through.

"Wait, back up to Squad Seven, again, I almost forgot. So, you know Captain Komamura is a werewolf, right?"

Kamata stared at Renji. He'd been putting up a brave front, but it looked like part of him had just died inside. "He's a what?"

"A werewolf."

"You- what- how could you forget something like that?" Kamata sputtered.

Renji rubbed his chin. "You just kinda get used to him."

Kamata rubbed his hands over his face. "All right. The captain of the seventh is… a werewolf."

"Right. I don't know if this is your jurisdiction or not, but you're gonna need to make sure that people treat him respectfully and aren't dicks about it."

"You mean he'll rip someone's face off if they aren't culturally sensitive enough?" Kamata asked, peering at Renji from between his fingers.

"No, I mean he's, like, nine feet tall and he's got a lot of teeth so he kinda stands out, and he gets a lot of crap for it. He's a super nice dude and he's real polite and I'm good friends with his vice-captain. You told me that part of your job was makin' sure the Kuchiki have a nice time at their own parties, and I should think that would go for their guests, too. Don't guess Captain Kuchiki would be real happy to hear that one of his one of his peers wasn't treated with the correct hospitality." Renji wasn't actually sure about that one, but Kamata narrowed his eyes and nodded slowly. "Oh! And make sure you got a real big chair for him with a place for his tail to go.

"'Big...chair…'" Kamata wrote down in his notes. "'With hole for tail.'"

There was a polite rap on the door; the footman from earlier had returned to drag Renji to his next appointment, even though they'd only made it up to Squad 7. Renji promised to return later to continue the conversation. He liked Kamata, actually, and he rather liked contemplating the neatly packaged challenge of keeping a single, contained event running smoothly. When he was much younger, he had considered bodyguarding as a possible career option, if he could ever make it up to a district where someone had a body worth paying to guard. He probably would have been pretty good at it, he suspected.

"Mr. Koshino is on a tight schedule, you don't want to keep him waiting," the footman warned Renji.

"Uh… who is he?" Renji asked. "And for that matter, I'm real sorry about this, but I don't think I ever caught your name."

The footman looked a little taken aback. "It's, uh, Saejima, sir. But you certainly don't need to-"

"I like to know people's names," Renji excused. "What district you from?"

"Ah, Hokutan, sir," Saejima managed. West 3. "How did you-?"

The kid's accent was pretty good, but it still had just a trace of upper Rukon vocal fry. Renji didn't want to make him self-conscious about it, so he just plowed cheerfully ahead. "Mm, the Carps had a good run last season! You a football man, Saejima?"

"Oh, we sure did, Lieutenant. Who's your team?"

"I go for the Firebirds, usually, but I'll watch any good match-up."

They chatted amiably about next year's prospects for a few minutes while Saejima led Renji through the labyrinthine halls of the manor.

"He's set up in here," Saejima waved toward a closed door.

"You never told me who this guy is," Renji pointed out.

Suddenly, the door opened, and Rukia stepped forth, her face still facing back into the room. "I don't care if long sleeves are the big thing this season, if I can't draw my sword because I can't find my hands, I'm not wearing it!" She turned and stopped short as she nearly ran into Renji's chest. Her eyes wandered upward, and she shot him a sly smile. "Abarai Renji. You're unexpectedly in my house. Again."

Renji would have liked to stammer out an excuse, but he was too distracted by the fact that Rukia was in her bathrobe. It wasn't that it was immodest, it covered all the usual parts of her, but it seemed strangely intimate to see her in it. It was a deep plum color, embroidered with lighter purple peonies. It looked very silky. It was probably silk, actually, now that he considered it. Renji stuffed his hands in his hakama slits, and tried, unsuccessfully, not to think about what it would feel like to touch it. He glanced back at Saejima, who had managed to mostly fade into the woodwork, and did not look at all embarrassed or perturbed to see the lady of the house in her nightwear.

Rukia raised one eyebrow. "Hello? Soul Society calling, is Renji there?"

Renji shook off his daze and tried to focus his eyes on a whorl in the wallpaper about three inches above Rukia's head. "Ah, uh, good morning, Rukia, hi."

"Do you… need me for something?" she asked, one eyebrow quirked up in amusement.

"I'm actually here to see this Koshino guy," Renji admitted.

"Really?" Rukia asked. "What in Hell for?"

A figure appeared in the doorway, an older gentleman with piercing blue eyes and a perfectly trimmed white mustache. "One hundred, eight-eight centimeters, seventy-eight kilograms, you must be Lieutenant Abarai."

"I'm him. That's me, I mean," Renji blathered.

The man turned his gimlet gaze back on Rukia. "Lady Rukia, you are holding up my ten o'clock. I am on a very tight schedule, so if you hope to have a gown in time for your fete instead of a burlap sack that I pull out of the garbage for you, you will be on your way."

"My deepest apologies, Mr. Koshino," Rukia consoled. "He's all yours." She whapped Renji with the back of her hand on the way past. "Don't leave without catching me again."

"Sure," Renji coughed out, as Koshino waved him into the room.

"Ah, she is such a beautiful, tiny person! I love to make dresses for her, but her priorities!" Koshino sniffed.

"Don't I know it," Renji sighed.

Koshino looked Renji up and down, and consulted a clipboard. "It says here you require one set of dress shihakushou in the Sixth Company style.

Renji shrugged. "I guess that's what the captain wants." He had gathered this guy must be a tailor or something similar. He'd never met one before. Suddenly, something occurred to him. "Uh, how much is this going to cost? It's probably rude of me to ask, but I've never-"

"It is to be billed to the Manor," Koshino replied. "You are new. Have you just married into the family?"

"I'm not in the family at all, I'm, uh, Lord Kuchiki's adjutant. I'm, um, a commoner."

"Ahh, you're the one. I heard that story. Of course, I remember now. Disrobe, please."

Renji rubbed the back of his neck. "I wear a standard large, extra tall."

Koshino looked him up and down critically. "Yes, I can see that you do, and it is a crime. Disrobe, please."

Reluctantly, Renji loosened his sash, and shrugged off his kosode and shitagi.

Koshino hauled a stool over to him, stepped up on it, and started measuring his shoulders. "You have an excellent physique, Lieutenant, you are not flattered by the baggy standard cut, made to fit any old slob."

"Uh, thanks?"

"Arm out."

Renji found himself obeying automatically.

"That is an interesting item you have on your head."

"My bandana?"

"Yes, that. You will not wear that with your dress uniform."

"Well… there's sort of a reason I wear it, at least in polite company." Renji hesitantly reached up and pulled off his bandana. He had a new one he'd been trying out lately, black instead of white. Wider, and tied in the back. True, it wouldn't do with formal wear, but he thought it looked pretty good.

Koshino stared at his forehead tattoos for a moment. "Ah. I see. That is a problem. You will require a more formal version."

"I, ah, I got one, actually," Renji remembered belatedly. "Friend o' mine made it for me. It's a little too fancy for everyday. Black silk, got a blue and silver lining, for my squad, y'know. Y'think that would be nice enough?"

Koshino was regarding him oddly. "Blue with silver camellias. A remnant left over from the kimono Lady Rukia requested I make her to 'support the endeavors of her brother's company,' as she put it. You are a friend of Inoue Orihime."

Renji blinked. "Sure am."

"A most intelligent and charming young woman," Koshino remarked, fondly. "With a wonderful eye for color. She was a bit lonesome during her stay in Soul Society, and Lady Rukia asked for a bit of help outfitting her with sewing supplies to stay busy. I enjoyed her company immensely. I recall that particular project. You should wear it, with proper affection."

Renji worked his jaw. "Y'don't think it would be a little weird? Wearing something of Rukia's?"

"Lady Rukia will be in the colors of her own company," Koshino replied. "It will not be obvious. She will know, of course. I imagine she would find it flattering for someone to wear her token, on an occasion in her honor, although, of course, that would depend on her opinion of you."

Right. Of course it would.

"But," Koshino went on. "As she was the one who suggested using that particular piece of fabric, I can't imagine she would take offense."

"Oh," Renji said, his cheeks turning a bit pink at the idea of Rukia and Orihime talking about him.

"Unless, you are worried about his Lordship growing suspicious of your affair," Koshino went on.

Renji made a gagging noise in his throat. "My what now?"

"Are you not carrying on a dalliance with Lady Rukia?"

"No!"

Koshino sighed. "Ah, what a pity! The two of you would make a very striking couple. His Lordship's sworn sword falling for his sister, or perhaps the other way around, very romantic. Have you considered having an affair with Lady Rukia?"

"Maybe we could go back to criticizing the way I dress," Renji suggested.


Renji paused for a moment in the doorway of the dining room, watching Rukia shuffle papers. She was dressed now, which was a bit of a shame, in his opinion. She was wearing a pretty red and white kimono that he'd never seen her in before. He liked seeing her at home, he decided, out of her uniform. Renji tried not to envy Byakuya, generally; that was a steep, slippery slope that he would do best to avoid altogether. He did begrudge the man this one thing: seeing Rukia in all her states, from morning until night. Of this, Renji was incandescently jealous.

Rukia looked up from her papers to tap her brush against her chin, and noticed Renji. Her eyes lit up. "Hey, you! I'm glad you're here!"

"Oh, yeah?" Renji asked teasingly.

"Yeah, which do you like better, sakuramochi or Hanami dango?"

"Why are you askin' me? You love Hanami dango and it's your party, go with that."

"I like sakuramochi, too and Brother finds dango too sweet."

"Have both. You're rich, right?"

She grinned at him, before bending over her notes again. "Give us the works," she said as she wrote. "Lieutenant Abarai says 'go wild'."

"Speaking of going wild, this place is nuts today. Is it always like this? Or just because of the party?"

"Come sit," Rukia waved him over. "And no, not usually. We're usually more organized at parties, too. But Brother decided, sort of at the last minute, that he wanted to do this, so everyone is scrambling. The party is next Saturday, and we have guests arriving mid-week, so we have to get all the planning out of the way this weekend."

Renji sat down next to her. "You okay with all this? I mean, it was nice of your brother to think of you, but I know you don't much like being the center of attention, unless it's 'cause you're punching someone's lights out."

"I'm okay," she reassured him. "It's a party celebrating my ability to punch someone's lights out. Also, Brother said I could invite all the other lieutenants, and I thought it would be a nice way to thank everyone for helping me study for my exam."

"Good," Renji nodded approvingly. "As long as you're happy."

"Which reminds me, you never told me what you're doing here. What has my brother roped you into doing?"

"Oh, all sorts of things, but primarily, I'm on distract-Granddad duty."

"Oh, no! Oh, you should have turned that down. Resigned your commission. Gotten a new job entirely."

Renji shrugged. "How bad is he? I mean, I read his book. I'm half looking forward to meeting him actually. He's obviously at least as brilliant as the captain."

Rukia goggled at him. "You read. His book."

"Well, sure, I've read it two or three times, actually. If you haven't, you really should, now that you're a vice-captain. I was surprised to hear Captain Kuchiki say that his grandfather doesn't approve of him, when we run the squad to about 98% of his specifications."

Rukia shook her head. "Yes, well, you've hit the nail on the head." She glanced around, checking for lurking Byakuyas. "They're nearly, but not quite exactly the same person," she said in a low voice, "except one of them is a million years old and the other one just acts that way. I mean, just try to picture Brother, if he had to retire and be replaced with an exact duplicate of himself. That's Grandfather."

"Yeah, but… gosh, what am I even supposed to call him? Can't call 'em both Captain Kuchiki."

"That's exactly what you're going to do." Rukia sighed. "Ugh, if anyone can keep the two of them from killing each other, it's you. Good luck. I hope neither of them kills you, instead. And they might, so watch your back. In any case, Byakuya owes you big time for this. New sunglasses big time."

"How, uh, how do you feel about the old guy?"

Rukia blinked. "Oh. Well. To be honest, I feel a great big nothing about him. He's never even acknowledged that I exist. For a long time, I didn't even know why, and I was terrified that he was going to have me thrown out or executed or I don't know what."

Renji frowned. "Well, now I don't like him, either. I take it you eventually found out why he doesn't like you?"

"Yeah." Rukia played with her brush. "He didn't like Hisana. He really didn't like Hisana. The fact that he ignores me is… well, it could be worse, shall we say. And in fact, it has nothing to do with me, at all, or Hisana, I think. It's all about Brother and his life choices."

Renji snorted. "Still sounds like some bull to me. Here's what I know about Hisana," he started to tick off on his fingers. "She was from our side of town, which means she was either an outright criminal, or she was extremely smart and tricky."

"The second, of course," Rukia replied loftily.

"She supposedly looked a lot like you, but even more beautiful, which sounds made up to me, but that's what I hear."

Rukia rolled her eyes, but she was smiling.

"And she was into orchids."

"I didn't tell you that! Did Byakuya tell you that?"

"I don't need people to tell me these things. Your brother's named, like, three different orchids after her. It's so obvious his entire orchid deal is based around her."

Rukia gripped her head. "Why are you like this?"

"Am I right or am I not?"

"You are correct," a cool, male voice responded.

Renji shot to his feet. "Greetings, sir, I will just see myself out!" he barked in horror.

Byakuya, looking weary, waved a hand as he entered the dining room. "Sit down, Lieutenant, it's lunchtime. Rukia, get your papers off the table." Some servants had begun bustling about in the background.

"Of course, Brother," Rukia nodded, scooping them up and passing them off to a young woman who magically appeared at her elbow.

"You were wrong on one count," Byakuya continued, sitting down across from them. "Rukia is more beautiful than Hisana was."

"Brother!" Rukia scolded.

"She was already ill when I met her, and had spent much of her existence undernourished and plagued by the sundry poverty-related ailments with which I am sure you are both familiar. Had she been born to the class she deserved, I am sure she would have been so beautiful, it would have been impossible to gaze upon her." He frowned. "Why are we speaking of my departed wife?"

"I was trying to explain the relationship, or the lack thereof, between Grandfather and myself," Rukia replied.

"And I was just saying that it seems crazy to me that anyone could not like Lady Hisana," Renji added.

"Ah, well, Hisana could be quite unlikable, when she set her mind to it," Byakuya noted, sounding a bit off his game. "Did I eat breakfast? I cannot recall. Goodness, that Koshino is the worst gossip I have ever met. Don't believe a word he says, Lieutenant."

"Good to know, sir," Renji nodded, relieved that Byakuya wasn't about to come away from his own fittings with any strange ideas about Rukia and himself.

"Did he tell you the one about Lady Itakura?" Rukia asked, wagging her eyebrows.

"No." Byakuya glanced at Renji and then back to Rukia. "Tell me later."

"Hey, Captain," Renji asked, as a servant placed a bowl of rice in front of him. "Ah, shoot, I can't stay for lunch. Um, do I owe you some money for the dress uniform?"

"You are staying, I wish to fight you this afternoon before I go utterly mad. And no, of course not. You would have no need of one if I weren't constantly imposing on your inexplicable good will. Besides, I know what your salary is, and you can't afford it."

Renji felt his ears burning with embarrassment.

"You're getting a dress uniform?" Rukia asked eagerly. "The one with the short haori?"

"It looks foolish when all the Seats have them and he does not," Byakuya sniffed.

"I feel bad for Cousin Isao, having to stand between you and Cousin Choei when you're all dressed up like that. He's never going to get a girl to talk to him."

To Renji's abject horror, Byakuya gave a mirthful snort through his nose. "Be fair, Rukia," he scolded. "Surely his sparkling personality speaks for itself." Cousin Isao, better known as the Sixth Squadron's Third Seat Ohno, had roughly the charm of a dust mop, except that he complained more.

Renji had been to the Manor before. He'd even been invited for dinner once, a rigid, formal affair that he had almost, but not quite completely botched. But despite their busyness, Rukia and Byakuya seemed more relaxed today. Perhaps they were so over-stressed, they had come out the other side.

"Eat something, Brother," Rukia scolded back, although she was having trouble not laughing. "Listen to you, cracking wise in front of Renji."

"Indeed, I am downright slap happy. Itadakimasu!"

"Itadakimasu!" Renji chorused cheerfully together with Rukia.

"Thank you for joining us," Byakuya looked at him, and added tiredly. "And apologies for the chaos."

"No problem at all, sir," Renji replied and to his surprise, he meant it.