HI everyone! Sorry I haven't been updating tbh but yeah. Things in life get in the way. This is a promise that I made to do so here you go, Levath. I hope you enjoyed this despite my rusty writing lmao. Oh, also lowkey the ending is for Carla as well. Hope you enjoy this Byaichi! Warning: not that edited xD

Kurosaki Ichigo was no coward. He wasn't then and he doesn't plan to start now.

But there he was, freeloading in Kuchiki Rukia's office, who is the 13th Division captain, as he occupied the whole couch that was right across from her table. At first, she decided to ignore him as he was left alone with tea and his preferred cookies but now that she thought about it. Why was he there?

She put down her pen once she was finished with her current paper and looked at him with curious purple eyes, "Ichigo?"

"Yeah?" the man replied as he stuffed another cookie in his mouth.

"What are you even doing here? Weren't you supposed to go to Kyouraku-soutaichou's office to have tea with him and Ukitake-san?"

Rukia raised a brow when she saw the orange head contemplating for an answer but after a few moments, he replied, "Well, I decided to come later instead."

When he felt the woman eyeing him, he continued, "Byakuya was there about somethin' but I didn't stay too long to find out."

She frowned, "Why did you leave?"

Ichigo merely shrugged, "I didn't want to annoy them."

The orange head chanted that in his head. He wasn't a coward. He never was. Sure there might be times where he felt unsure about many things but he never runs away.

Until now.

He wasn't experienced in this kind of thing but he knows that he has a… thing for Byakuya. Yes, the Kuchiki Byakuya, captain of the 6th Division and ultimately the one who has the coldest aura compared to the other captains but the orange head finally realized that there was so much more to the man despite him being so cold to him.

He doesn't even know when he started liking the noble. He couldn't imagine how many times Byakuya looked down on him, how many times he tried to kill Ichigo and almost succeeding and how he got mostly the cold shoulder and he still liked him.

Maybe he's secretly a masochist after all.

Perhaps it was the fact that he was part of the people that went to the World of the Living to help him as he returned his powers, how he felt that even the noble helped by fusing his reiatsu within the sword. It could also be how they managed to have some less hostile tea time together. It was still awkward but definitely no murderous aura like before.

Or was it because he felt anger, dread, sadness, and more all in one when he saw how broken the man was when he discovered him as he entered Soul Society. How his chest tightened as Byakuya said his presumably and supposedly dying words.

He was too mad at the enemies and situation to even reply to the man at the time.

Realizing that he had a thing for Byakuya now is quite hard for him and he thought that he should avoid him at all cost to stop this weird feeling that was swelling up in his chest.

"Ichigo. Ichigo!" Rukia called out that made Ichigo snap out of his thoughts.

He scowled, "What?"

"Don't give me that look," she warned but then raised an amused brow, "I was asking if you were… afraid of nii-sama."

This made Ichigo rose to his feet, "What?!" He snorted, "I am not afraid of Byakuya. What the hell are you talking about?"

"Why did you run away then?"

"Well, I-" The orange head blinked. He couldn't think of a reasonable explanation. It's not like he could say to the noble's sister that he has a crush on him. He would rather die first than admit it to her.

He just sighed, ignoring her judging stares as he grabbed his zanpakuto that was resting at the side of the couch, "Nevermind. I'm leaving."

"Where are you going?"

"Away from you, midget!"

"You ungrateful ass-"

Ichgio didn't hear the rest and used shunpo to get away from the office as fast as he could before he got murdered by the woman's zanpakuto.

"Thank you for accompanying the 10th Division, Kurosaki."

Ichigo looked directly at those sharp teal eyes of the 10th Division captain, Hitsugaya Toshiro. The orange head was requested by Kyouraku when they had their tea the other day that he should join the 10th Division in the outskirts of Rukongai for the hollow activity that the 12th Division noticed.

He tore his eyes away from the captain as he looked around. It was mostly abandoned run down houses and broken wooden materials in this district. He nodded, "No problem, Toshiro."

The said captain sighed as he started to walk around, "You never learned how to address your superiors properly."

Ichigo snorted, "You guys were never my superiors."

"That's true," Toshiro looked back at Ichigo, "Although I'm surprised Kuchiki-taichou hasn't instilled you with calling him with a proper title."

"Do you think I'll listen to the guy?"

A small shrug, "You never know. After all, I think you two are getting close."

Ichigo's eyebrow twitched at that. He wasn't sure if Toshiro was implying something or what. He gulped silently. Or maybe he was obvious with his feelings and the captain knows.

But he merely chuckled, "Me and Byakuya are getting close? That's weird, y'know. He clearly hates my guts."

"Hated," the white haired captain corrected with certainty as his eyes scanned the area, "He seems rather fond of you over time. Although, it isn't obvious. You seem rather fond of him as well."

"Me?" Ichigo repeated with an astonished tone. Their voices weren't so loud because the troop Toshiro brought wasn't so far behind.

"Yes," Toshiro said, "I heard you had tea with him a few times already."

Ichigo shrugged, "Doesn't everyone?"

"Kurosaki, are you being a smartass or are you that clueless?"

"I am being neither!"

The orange head could hear the sigh and said a simple fact, "Barely anyone got invited by Kuchiki-taichou to have tea with him in his manor."

That made the orange head freeze in his spot. He was definitely right and he honestly wasn't sure what it meant. Renji and Rukia usually had tea in the manor and Kyouraku and Juushiro would often make themselves at home lately to have tea with him so he thought he wasn't exactly special but Toshiro had a point.

After a few more searches, they found the hollows that the 12th Division noticed in their radar and disposed of them quickly. It was easy for both Ichigo and Toshiro so they wondered why they needed two powerful individuals to kill a few of the normal hollows.

But the both of them agreed that something felt off.

As if on cue, a large Garganta opened up not so far from them and suddenly it spilled multiple hollows of different levels that even some Gillian and Adjuchas levels were there. What made the two tense was the presence of a Vasto Lorde approaching slowly among the hollows as well.

"What the hell?" Ichigo frowned. They just finished a war a few weeks ago so the Soul Society is simply starting all over again and slowly building itself from the ground up. A small invasion wasn't the way to go.

Toshiro clicked his tongue in annoyance. He has already lost a lot of men and with the amount of hollows coming at them, he wasn't sure that even Ichigo and himself were enough to fend off the hollows and defend his men.

He turned around to bark an order to the closer shinigami, "Quick. Grab any available captain right now and bring them here immediately!"

The few shinigami close to him saluted and immediately used shunpo to leave. He glared towards the others, "Go and fight the hollows that you can handle."

The rest of them immediately followed his orders and scattered around to fight the hollows that were drifting away from the Vasto Lorde's presence. Toshiro then looked over at Ichigo who surprisingly looked calmer than ever.

"Let's go while we wait for back up," the captain said as he drew his zanpakuto.

Ichigo grinned as he did the same, "We can always beat them before they arrive."

Toshiro simply shook his head and dashed towards the front where a huge mass of hollows were slowly gathering and Ichigo did the same.

After killing at least half of the adjuchas, Ichigo clashed with the Vasto Lorde. It wasn't as tough as the arrancars he fought in the past but it sure was a fucking pain, the orange head admitted. When he was pushed back, he was back to back with the captain as they were surrounded by the hollows.

"Damn, when will the stupid back up arrive?" Ichigo grumbled. He wasn't tired but he wants to get the job done already.

"Are you getting weak, Kurosaki?" Toshiro asked amusedly.

"Hell no."

Ichigo was about to charge again when a stream of pink passed in front him which made multiple hollows turn to shreds. Both of them looked up and saw Byakuya looking at the situation with calculating eyes as he controlled his zanpakuto with grace.

"Oh, look who's here."

Ichigo's eyebrow twitched when he heard the underlying tone of teasing from the white haired captain. Now the orange head was sure that Toshiro knew.

"Shut up."

They weren't surprised that even a single number of back up, they were able to diminish the numbers very quickly due to the quick maneuvering of Byakuya's zanpakuto. All of them met up in the middle. Some of Toshiro's troops looked very exhausted while some sported small injuries but nothing severe.

When he was sure that everyone was there, Toshiro spoke, "I'm glad to see you all well. All of you should go ahead and rest up in the 4th Division right now." They all followed their captain without question and left immediately, leaving the three individuals there.

Toshiro then nodded towards Byakuya, "Thank you for coming, Kuchiki-taichou."

Byakuya nodded back, "It was no problem. Your men seemed frightened when they came to me."

"It was a lot for them to handle."

"So it seems."

Ichigo was frozen in his place. The last time he saw Byakuya was when he saw him in the 1st Division's office and bid him an awkward and quick goodbye. Not a good way to part but it's not like he could do anything about it now.

He noticed immediately that those slate gray eyes looked at him worriedly, "Kurosaki Ichigo-"

"Right. Thanks again for the help, Byakuya," Ichigo quickly said and pointed at a random direction, further ignoring the way the noble looked at him, "But I need to go to the 70th district to check on something now. Bye!"

He used shunpo before he could hear what the two were saying to him. Of course he fucking knew that Byakuya's eyes showed more emotion than his entire face lately.

Toshiro sighed and rubbed his temples, "I sure hope he knows that he went in the wrong direction."

The shorter captain didn't miss the way the noble's lips pressed into a thin line and was looking at Ichigo's direction with a hint of disappointment.

Byakuya then merely turned away and let out an inaudible sigh, "I doubt the fool knows that."

"Stop laughing!"

Ichigo kept his glare as he watched Abarai Renji, the 6th Division lieutenant, clutch his stomach as he laughed loudly. He told the red head about the situation the other day with the 10th Division and Byakuya and Ichigo can't tell why it's so funny to the other.

They were at the 6th Division training grounds and Renji was training the others in fighting with their zanpakuto. Ichigo went there for a visit and hopefully wanted to catch up with him after weeks of repairing Soul Society.

Renji wiped a tear from his eye, "Kami, that was fuckin' hilarious."

The orange head folded his arms to his chest, "It wasn't that funny."

"Hell yeah, it was," the other countered with a chuckle, "If only I could've seen the look on your face when you ran away from them."

As Ichigo grumbled, Renji asked, "Why did 'ya even run away from taichou, anyways? He even ran there as fast as he could."

This made Ichigo raise a brow, "He did?"

Renji shrugged and looked over his men, "Yeah. When the guy from the 10th said you two needed help, he didn't even let him finish and dashed out of the office already."

"Huh," was the only thing that Ichigo managed to say. He didn't expect that scenario to happen.

Renji looked back at Ichigo, "So, 'ya want to help the guys and train?"

"That means I have to hold back, right?"

"Of course," the red head shrugged, "Or else you'll be killin' them."

"Or I could beat you up in front of them."

Renji glared, "Hey!"

Ichigo chuckled as he ignored the death stares from the other, "Okay, okay. Let's start, then?"

When Ichigo was about to ready his zanpakuto, he felt the presence that he had been avoiding all this time. He looked over the direction where he could see Byakuya gracefully walking towards their direction and saw how each subordinate of his bowed in respect.

He then darted his eyes at Renji, "You know, what? I think I'll help you another day."

Renji looked at him, confused, "What? But Ichigo-"

He didn't listen to the red head despite his worried tone and a disappointed look that was directed towards him and left with shunpo once again.

Ichigo planted his face on the wooden table that was in the middle of a room in the Kuchiki manor. Rukia invited him for tea when he kept taking on missions that Kyouraku requested him to do for the past few days.

Why was he making himself suffer when he could just stay in Soul Society to relax or do menial tasks? Well, he knows the answer to that even if he kept denying it. He has been avoiding Byakuya for a while now, after he realized that he liked him.

It was childish and probably some people would hate him for being… cowardly so he has no choice but to focus his mind for something else.

But here he was, literally in the man's home with his sister because he was forced by Rukia herself to come there.

"What's wrong with you this time?" Rukia asked as she sipped her tea.

"Nothing," the orange head mumbled as his forehead was still on the table.

She set down her cup on the table, "Seriously, though. What's wrong? You've been busy this whole time.

He groaned in response, "I was taking my mind off of things."

"What exactly?"

"Things."

"Ichigo-"

"Okay, fine. Fine!" Ichigo sat back up again and raised his arms defensively, "Don't kill me."

The woman huffed and crossed her arms, "Let's hear it, then."

Ichigo lightly scratched his cheek, "Ah, well. Iwaskindofavoidingyourbrother."

It took a few moments when it fully dawned on Rukia, "Wait, What? Why?"

Ichigo looked away when he felt the heat rising to his cheeks in embarrassment. He really still would rather die than tell her directly.

Rukia eyed him for a moment. He kept darting his eyes away from her and still had a tense position as he drank his tea and something clicked in her mind that let a mischievous smile graced on her lips.

"You like him, don't you?"

Ichigo immediately spat out his tea when he heard it and coughed harshly. He wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his shihakusho, "What?"

Rukia's smile went wider, "So, you do."

"I don't!"

"Sure, you don't," the woman said and drank her tea, "It's now clearly written on your face."

The orange head groaned, defeated, and buried his face in his hands, "Don't tell him."

"I won't," she assured him, "But you avoiding him won't fix your situation, you know."

"I know but I don't know what to do."

"How about talking to him for once," she said as she rolled her eyes, "I think he's pretty hurt that you have been avoiding him on purpose."

The orange head pursed his lips. He didn't know that Byakuya was actually hurting because of his actions. He should apologize and start over again.

"So, will you be a man and face him?"

Scratching the back of his head, "Okay."

"Good," Rukia said as she stood up, "I'll head for the office first. You can stay here and relax if you want."

She nodded once more and left to Ichigo's own devices. The orange head couldn't help but look back down at his cup that was filled with warm tea. He sighed. Now he wished Byakuya was home so he could talk to him. He drank up all his tea and set his cup down. He stood up from his seat and proceeded to head outside. He stared at the pretty garden of the manor for a moment.

"Kurosaki Ichigo?"

The unexpected deep voice made Ichigo freeze in his spot. When he recovered for a second, he looked to his right and saw Byakuya still in his uniform but most of his garments like the kenseikan and the scarf were gone.

"B-Byakuya." The orange head cursed himself when he stuttered.

"What is your business here?" Byakuya asked as he walked towards him. It had no ill intent despite the words.

"Ah, well," Ichigo rubbed the back of his neck, "Rukia invited me for tea."

"I see," the noble replied, "I haven't conversed with you for awhile now."

"Yeah, it's been awhile."

The two were now beside each other as they both looked at the garden. It was quiet but to Ichigo, it wasn't awkward. Well, maybe he felt a tad bit awkward because he was being an asshole to Byakuya for the past few days. And unsurprisingly, he wanted to run away again.

As if the noble sensed that, Ichigo froze once more when he felt strong hands gingerly wrapping around his wrist but at the same time, he couldn't help but look at the man beside him.

"What-"

"It seems like you were about to leave again."

Ichigo's chest thumped when he felt the underlying tone of sadness from the noble. It seemed like it did affect him.

"I won't."

The noble eyed him suspiciously, "And yet, you have ran away from me the moment you feel or see my presence."

The orange head flinched. The man wasn't wrong there. "I'm sorry."

"You don't need to apologize."

This made him face the noble, "I need to, Byakuya. I was being an asshole to you."

"Aren't you always?" He said amusedly.

"Hey, I'm being serious here!" Ichigo said as he scowled which earned an amused expression from the other.

"But, really. I'm sorry, Byakuya. I didn't mean to avoid you," the orange head grumbled as he looked away, "I.. have my reasons but I can't say it now."

"I see."

"So, to apologize. I will do anything you want."

An amused brow was raised, "Anything?"

Ichigo gulped but held strong, "Yeah, anything."

Shivers went down the orange head's spine when the noble approached him slowly and had a certain look in those slate gray eyes which made him stagger backwards until his back hit a wall. He gulped when Byakuya planted both of his hands on each side of Ichigo's head, trapping him.

"Are you sure?" the noble asked as he leaned in, "I believe you won't agree if you knew what I like."

Despite the shivers, Ichigo grinned challengingly, "Try me."

His grin fell and was replaced with a nervous smile when the noble leaned in even closer so that he could feel their noses touching and felt the noble's breath on his lips. His mind assumed what Byakuya wanted was what he wanted as well.

"Are you really sure?" Byakuya asked once more. He didn't want to take advantage of the man.

"I am," the orange head replied. He was amazed at himself for not stuttering.

"I won't do it unless you tell me otherwise."

Ichigo held back a groan. He wanted the man to do it already and even contemplated on just pulling him by his uniform to kiss him already but he held back.

"I want you… to kiss me."

This seemed like the response that the noble wanted when the orange head saw the corner of the man's lips tugged to a very small smile.

"With pleasure."

The noble then closed the distance even more and pressed his lips firmly against the younger man's lips. It took a moment for Ichigo to slowly kiss back. Their kiss was innocent, almost as none of them did anything to do it a step bit further except when Byakuya wrapped his arms around the orange head's waist to pull him impossibly closer and deepened the kiss.

Maybe Ichigo's method of solving the problems head on wasn't as bad as they thought.

Thank you for reading! Hope you all enjoyed.