Chapter 2:

A Baboon Reaching for the Moon

The scene opened with a view of lush green gardens full of Sakura trees and a sizeable pond. Around the edges were smooth stones and soft grass.

Sitting regally with his back facing the viewers was Kuchiki Byakuya. The man was facing the water and most likely sipping tea from the way his arms moved. His hair was quite long. It was pulled into a high ponytail with the end of the raven locks coming down past his hips to curl just before it graced the blanket he was sat upon. His Kenseikan were made of thin bone and were placed on the right side of his head, above his ear. A sophisticated homage to his childhood hairstyle. A rare sight for all to see, the man was in a casual yukata and not his uniform. His feet were even bare. The man radiated an air of peace most thought the man incapable of.

Byakuya himself stared at his older visage, pondering the causes for such a change in his character.

The man sighed and turned his head slightly to the side to look behind him. The man's face was relaxed, his eyes seemed less cold. Rather, he seemed amused.

"Renji."

The screen jolted.

"Hai Taicho!" The unmistakable voice of Abarai Renji came from what they perceived as coming from the same place as the images they were viewing.

"Please drop the formalities Renji, we are off duty," he said in slight exasperation, as if he was used to telling the man this often. Even more bizarre was the amount of emotion the usually cold and stoic man was letting through his mask.

"H..Hai! Tai…um, Kuchiki…dono?" He stuttered and ended the sentence in a question.

Byakuya closed his eyes and turned back to face the water.

"Just Byakuya, is fine Renji," they could hear the warmth and mirth in the voice and couldn't help but chuckle as the Renji on screen obviously became flustered because the 'camera's' view became shaky.

The Renji in the room with them was turning red, clearly reacting to the exchange in shock and embarrassment.

How had he become so close to his Taicho?

How had he earned the privilege to be Kuchiki Byakuya's equal?

Rukia smiled softly from his side. It was nice to see her Nii-sama in such happy and content spirits.

"Of course, um, B..Byakuya."

The man let his hand casually motion to his side, and the screen opened up to show a flustered Abarai rushing towards his Taicho to sit.

Abarai wasn't much different. He still had the same tattoos and he was still the Division 6 Fukutaicho, but he looked more settled in himself, more mature. He seemed to radiate an air of power not unlike his own Taicho. His hair was much longer than it was in the present. It was pushed back from his forehead by a thick black fabric band and gathered into a loose high-tail and had what looked like a thin bone needle through the securing band.

He sat down stiffly but quickly relaxed after Byakuya handed him a cup of tea.

The view shifted again, now they were viewing the men from the front. They could see the entirety of the kneeling men as they sipped their tea in quiet while gazing at the koi in a pond graced with the touch of fallen petals.

Byakuya once more broke the silence.

"How did it go?" He asked, looking out of the corner of his eye at the other.

Renji became flustered again and brought his free hand up in his signature motion to rub the back of his neck.

"Well…you see…she just, well she was," he looked everywhere but the man he was talking to.

Byakuya for his part waited patiently for the man to make sense.

Renji sighed out loudly, "Hah…I'm still getting' used ta seein' her wear her new look, ya know? I must a stared at her fer 5 minutes before she got impatient and told me ta quit standing around," he laughed sheepishly.

Byakuya let the corner of his mouth tick up slightly in concealed amusement.

"Oh?" He said off-handedly, but the tone seemed all at once teasing, exasperated, and expectant.

"Ah, um…ya, so…" Renji rallied himself, "Well a course I was nervous, and she was standing there and lookin' at me and I just sort off…yelled it at her…" he said the last part quietly and sheepishly.

Byakuya let out a long sigh, an audible sigh and set down his tea.

Both Renji's tensed at the motion.

Everyone else waited on bated breath to see what the man would do. The subject of the conversation becoming clear as the flame-haired man talked.

Byakuya turned to look at his friend and Fukutaicho.

"…What happened," He stated, as if he knew the outcome would not be simple.

Renji exhaled loudly before he laughed outright. "Ha, at first she didn' say anything and I thought maybe she didn' hear me or worse," he swallowed, "that I pissed her off, haha," he sweat-dropped.

The Byakuya on the screen looked up towards the heavens as if asking them for patience.

Rukia chuckled quietly.

Ukitake and Shuunsui were enjoying the scene immensely. Juushiro knew exactly who the men were talking about and he had a feeling he knew just what they are talking about.

"But she heard me all right," he paused again and turned to look Byakuya in the eyes, "Just when I was about ta bolt, she walked right up ta me and said, "'It's about damn time ya idiot,' and then she kicked me in the balls," Renji said matter of fact.

There was silence on both ends of the screen as they processed his statement.

Both Byakuya's eyebrows raised.

"She got me down on one knee, that's fer sure," he chuckled softly.

The party viewing the exchange chuckled along with him.

Rukia, for her part, looked smug.

"After that she told me if I was ever a chicken-shit about anything else in the future she'd freeze em off with Shirayuki," he gulped.

Byakuya actually breathed a chuckle at that.

They both were quiet for another short while and went back to their tea.

Apparently, this was not the end of his ordeal.

"She never did say 'yes' but with Rukia ya know when she's serious about somethin'," he said, and then looked slyly at his Taicho.

Byakuya was humming in agreement and taking another sip of tea when Renji said,

"Ya, that, and she said she expected no less than 3 kids and now was a good time," he said blasé.

The effect was immediate.

Byakuya sprayed tea around his cup and coughed as the warm liquid dripped onto his clothes.

Renji was beside himself with laughter on screen, while the one in the viewing room had his hands over his face in mortification.

Rukia was nodding along with the thoughts of her future self.

Both Byakuya's glared fiercely at the man.

"You have my blessings and my congratulations," his eyes narrowed, "You have 10 seconds to run before I release my Zanpakuto.

The laughing red-head paused wide-eyed.

"1…2…" Byakuya said eyebrows twitching.

Renji was out of there so fast they didn't even see a blur.

After that Byakuya sighed and delicately patted tea off himself. He then set down his cup and reached into his yukata to pull out a pen and pad of paper.

The onlookers leaned forward in curiosity.

Once again, the view shifted to just behind the raven's shoulder.

The stoic man's mouth tilted up to the side in a fond smile as he added a tick mark under the Kanji for 'Baboon.' On the other side of the paper, separated by a bold line down the center, was the Kanji for 'Moon.' The side that must have represented himself, Moon, had a great many tick marks. The Baboon side had much less, but this tick mark was one more.

"Well played, Renji."

There was a smattering of applause and laughter as the scene blacked-out. Everyone was sneaking looks at the future happy couple.

Rukia was positively sparkling.

"Hai, hai. It seems more happy congratulations are in order," Urahara smirked behind his fan.

"Soutaicho?"

"Proceed, Urahara Kisuke," came a wizened voice. Yamamoto was given hope as each of the scenes played out before him. Rather than weary and tired, his tone and manner had lightened with peace.