"Have you at all considered that it could be Renji who's after the Captain? After all, he was the one who flushed red first."
Matsumoto waltzed into the room, a huge innocent smile on her face as she not-so-casually snuck a bowl of food into her hands. She had heard rumors, oh, don't ask, and so had calmly made her way over to the Sixth Division.
After all, she was never one to miss out on all the fun.
Twenty thousand yen as a bet was nothing, really, especially not with this kind of situation at stake. She did have a larger sum going that… Never mind that.
Captain Kuchiki was rich, hot, and most importantly, single.
Now, why on earth was he not attached? Yes, his poor wife had passed away fifty years ago.
But that was fifty years ago, and fifty years was a pretty long time for someone who was probably bordering on the other side of two hundred.
There was only one reason for it.
There was only one reason he had not looked twice at any of the young, pretty and eligible ladies throwing themselves at his feet. [He had a fan club, after all.]
He.
Was.
Gay.
There was no other reason. There could be no other reason.
After being deprived of a woman's touch for so many years, after being deprived of his one true female love, it stood to reason that he would turn to the other other gender for comfort.
And who better than Abarai Renji?
Renji who had been cast aside by his one and only true female love, Kuchiki Rukia, who was most definitely heartbroken and trying to fill that gaping chasm in his heart…
Really, this was a guy who was also pretty good looking and single. Man, the sparks that must go off every day in their office.
Matsumoto gave herself a contented smile, never mind that things were not exactly working out the way she was imagining them to be.
When Byakuya caught up with Renji, the latter was busying washing his mouth out at a tap with copious amounts of water and panting like a dog, face flushed completely red to match his hair.
He smirked.
"Perhaps you are unaware that it is entirely your own fault that you are in such a state now?" Renji's head shot up and his eyes met a pair of too-amused grey ones.
He glared hotly back at his senior officer, mouth still on fire and him still unable to formulate a nice logical response that went beyond "AAARRRRGHHH! I HATE YOU CAPTAIN KUCHIKI!"
When he finally spluttered and lifted his head from the faucet, when his mouth was finally Not-Burning, he looked up and he saw said senior officer leaning on the ledge of the tap area, bent over, body shaking with silent laughter.
Renji then proceeded to splash his senior officer with two handfuls of water.
His shocked face was priceless.
That stunned look and the dripping hair, the way he squeezed his eyes shut and brought an almost disbelieving hand to his face was hilarious.
The look of sheer cunning malice afterwards was not.
They were both dripping wet when Seven, Five and Nine came across the Captain and the Lieutenant standing opposite each other, one with haori folded and placed on the nearest ledge, and the other with uwagi hanging down near his hips.
Seven fainted at the display of abs while Five wolf-whistled very quietly.
Nine merely grinned and took down some more notes.
[Some sketches of a topless Lieutenant Abarai found themselves in the hands of the Shinigami Women's Association some time later, but how that happened, no one quite knew.]
It was safe to say that no one got between the Captain and the Lieutenant for a very long while afterwards, which made the Sixth Division a very quiet place to be in.
Both most senior officers were clueless about why their staff suddenly seemed to like leaving them in a room alone, but work got more productive now that people did not come bursting into the office [and the adjoining Captain's office] every so often.
The awkward situation continued for about three more days before the next earth-shattering event occurred.
This time, no one, no one, not even Matsumoto Rangiku saw this coming.
To be perfectly honest, Shuuhei had not, for a moment, considered that Captain Kuchiki would have anything remotely constructive to say about the monthly paper, seeing as he was one of the few captains who did not have a subscription.
[He obviously had the cash to pay for it, so why he did not subscribe must then be by his own choice.]
So, when said captain had summoned him to his office at seven am in the morning just before the paper was published, [it always underwent last minute changes till nine and was distributed by noon], he had braced himself for some nasty tongue-lashing.
[Polite tongue-lashing, of course, because Nobles were never rude. They were condescending, because everyone was supposedly below them, but they were never rude.]
He had knocked on the door with great trepidation, hesitant to go in. When he finally did, he had been presented with a piece of paper [with very elegant writing on it], that described what appeared to be a tournament of some sorts.
A martial arts tournament, which involved people trying to beat the crap out of each other.
His brow furrowed. It did not seem like something the relatively calm and serene Captain Kuchiki would think up.
[But never mind that.]
He read on.
Donations would be required to run this tournament, and…
Wait.
Wait.
Wait.
WHAT?!
And, it said in relatively small print somewhere in the middle, that Captain Kuchiki would match each donation yen for yen, up to a maximum of one billion yen.
Hisagi had almost fainted.
ONE BILLION YEN? How rich was this man to be able to throw away one billion yen like this?
[Did Soul Society even have one billion yen?]
Hisagi gulped and read on, aware of the captain's eyes on him. Overall, this was a pretty good proposal. It was incredibly detailed, made perfect sense, and was a great way to bond the different divisions by having shinigami pay to request their senior officers face off against each other.
So… It was not quite a tournament, but more like an avenue for the display of skills, with the added bonus of capitalizing on the popularity of various shinigami.
Hisagi's respect for Captain Kuchiki just went up one notch when he realized that the presence of the Eleventh Division, and especially of Captain Zaraki more or less guaranteed a minimum of two hundred and forty million yen.
[Captain battles required a minimum of twenty million yen to begin, ten million for each captain, and since Zaraki hardly spent his money on anything except for the occasional drink, he had plenty of cash. Of course, wreckage caused by his division was never paid by him anyway, always claimed out of the division budget. Thus, Zaraki Kenpachi had cash. And what better way to spend that cash than to get the other captains to fight him?]
His respect went up yet another notch when he read about the one thousand yen registration fee. So money could also be squeezed out of those with too big egos who felt that surely, surely, people would request for them to fight.
And then there were the ticket prices. [Hisagi was beginning to suspect that Captain Kuchiki had been to a real world concert or something, because his pricings were remarkably similar.]
And the venue, just off the Kuchiki grounds, in what was most definitely one of the more beautiful spots in Soul Society where mortals were highly discouraged from treading.
And the time, just after dinner, when most of the shinigami were impossibly free and had nothing better to do.
Something was wrong.
Hisagi paused, flipping the paper over to the other side.
It was blank.
He frowned slightly, trying to wrestle with the idea that Captain Kuchiki would be willing to pay for something that looked like it was going to cost thereabouts of several million yen [because he doubted that Soul Society had, excluding the Kuchiki Clan, one billion yen amongst itself] and a whole crapton of prestige, for no gain at all.
It made no sense whatsoever.
There was no way that he was such a nice guy. [If he were, Renji would complain a lot less when they went out drinking and he was utterly stoned. And a lot less about how the Captain was being particularly queer, something which Hisagi was witnessing for himself.]
Even if he were a nice guy, why the heck would he do this?
"It's for charity," the person in question replied, not looking up from his work as Kuchiki Byakuya, Captain of the Sixth Division, Head of the Kuchiki Clan and recent challenger of the entire Eleventh Division [Using kido, not particularly fond of dogfights, the Captain's mere existence went against the Eleventh Division mantra.] dipped his calligraphy brush into the inkwell and continued those smooth sure brushstrokes of his.
Hisagi Shuuhei's jaw dropped.
[He could read minds?]
Kuchiki-taicho continued doing that fancy writing of his in perfect silence, head bent slightly, eyes seemingly closed in that posh way that only true Nobles could manage.
Posters started appearing all over Seireitei in surprisingly prime spots over the period of the next week.
Ise Nanao was a little miffed that someone had managed to place all these advertisements all over the place, and in all the places that would definitely disrupt the workings of any Captain's office.
It was truly annoying the way this person knew exactly how to make her stop work and simply have to look at the not-gaudily-colored but instead rather tastefully designed poster.
Hisagi-san must have found a rather interesting client this time around, she mused as she skimmed through the poster, eyes widening fractionally at places.
Right.
"Is Nanao-chan not doing work?" A sing-song voice appeared from the doorway as Kyouraku Shunsui emerged into the shade from the sun.
He frowned at the lack of any response, sweeping over to her and bending over the chair the way only a person of sufficiently large height could. Spotting the poster in her hands, a wide grin emerged.
"Why, is my Nanao-chan plotting something? Something to do with me perhaps?"
"Yes, sir." He raised an amused eyebrow, a truly goofy grin going to his face, only to pout when he heard her next sentence. "Only your demise, sir, so if you will excuse me, I have papers to deliver to the Sixth Division."
"How cruel you are, darling Nanao-chan." He sighed slightly as she left the room. Scooping up the poster, a decidedly dastardly look came to his face. He still had one more person to bother.
"Jyuuuuuuu-chaaaaaaan…"
"May I see Kuchiki-taicho for a moment?"
Renji looked up from his work, surprised. Hardly anyone ever wanted or needed to see the Captain. He could count on one hand the number of times that anyone not from the Sixth Division had requested an audience with the Captain himself in the past three days. [Rukia was not counted.] Hell, the number of people that entered the office was at an all-time low. Something was going on, he was sure of it.
[Of course, he was unaware that that something had already gone on, and that something new was now going on.]
"Ise-fukutaicho." Renji placed his brush down, blowing on the ink as he shuffled the drying papers to one side. He stood up, pushing his chair aside. "Yes, this way please."
Nanao nodded primly, gathering her papers in her hands as she followed after her much taller counterpart.
Renji was strongly resisting the urge to eavesdrop outside Kuchiki-taicho's office. The captain was a force to be reckoned with on normal days, and if he was plotting a way to get out of their deal, especially after that incident yesterday which had definitely embarrassed Renji more but still was rather demeaning to the Captain's reputation…
If Ise-san was helping him plot a way to get out of the deal, then Abarai Renji was most certainly a dead man. He would need to know what they were plotting so he could get out of the way. Pronto.
However, if he was caught…
Renji shuddered at the thought of being simultaneously emasculated by Senbonzakura and vaporized by that stare of Ise-fukutaicho's.
The risk was not worth taking, so he settled himself with retreating to the office where he resumed paperwork duties, trying very hard to not think of the various things that the two senior members of Seireitei could be speaking of which might involve him and any bodily harm in the same sentence.
Nanao stood near the doorway, silently watching the captain and waiting for any indication at all that he had seen her enter the room.
There was none, and she had to consciously remind herself that this was not the Eighth Division, no matter how similar that desk was to hers, all neat and proper and paperwork stacked high but being processed at an astonishing rate.
She cleared her throat slightly, and the brush paused for a short moment before continuing on. She blinked at the lack of any other response, inwardly bristling at the disrespect with which Kuchiki-taicho was regarding another human being, namely herself.
The brush dipped into the ink one more time before a quick flourish and it was placed silently onto the rest, not a single drop of black ink dripping off and staining the table. [She recognized it as something that only the very experienced could pull off, because she had only mastered it after a long time.]
"You requested my presence, Kuchiki-taicho?" Said person calmly placed the drying papers into a small stack, moving it to the side before looking up, dragging his eyes up slower than his head lifted, in an act that was characteristically Noble.
"So I did," a quirk came to his lips, and had she blinked, she would have missed it. He had not actually called her, per se, but the thinly-veiled advertisement had required a certain amount of intellect to decipher, and the job scope fitted her a little too perfectly. "Have a seat, Ise-san." He gestured to the wooden sofa set and low coffee table as he stood up.
She sat down, placing the papers on the table. Perhaps he had not noticed it, or not had expected her to notice, but she noted the lack of the proper honorific. Was there a reason why he was not using their proper titles? Various scenarios and possibilities flashed through her head.
She did not like any of them.
"Tea, Ise-san?" He leant over the table, placing two cups of steaming tea down on the table before sitting down.
First shock of the day. He was not sitting ramrod straight as she had envisioned, but was instead leaning casually against the backrest. "No?" He arched a black eyebrow, reaching for his own cup and taking a sip before placing it down and looking over at her.
"If it is what you wish," she replied, picking up the teacup and taking a sip. This was in part due to her inclination to follow authority, as well as the sudden urge to have something between her eyes and his. She did not like people looking at her for no apparent reason.
Ooh, smoked tea. She liked smoked tea. Most people hated the strong flavor, but that aroma was precisely what kept her awake, and was even oddly comforting. Kuchiki-taicho was either very similar to herself in habit, or had done his homework well. She shuddered to think what the latter would, or could mean.
It must have shown on her face as an unreadable look flickered across his face, an expression which she was sure she had never seen before. [It might have been a smile, but Kuchiki-taicho never smiled, so there was no way that could be.]
"Do you have anything to ask me, Ise-san?" Even though he was relaxing in what seemed to be a casual manner, his face was as serious as it normally was… Wait. No. He was calm. Not serious. There was a slight difference, but it was visible.
Oh yes, she had half a gazillion questions to ask him, but most of them were hardly appropriate. She merely took another sip of that delightful smoked tea, looking back at him. There was a certain glint in his eyes that was rather… different. She was not sure she liked the look of it.
"No?" An amused tone, if she was not severely mistake, was injected into his voice. "Are you sure you are perfectly clear and aware what you are getting into?"
He was definitely amused now, and had Nanao not been interested in someone else, this would have been an immediate winner. Coupled with the manner with which he was conducting himself, if she had not seen the captain before he had changed his mannerisms, Nanao would swear that these were two very different men.
As it was, she was getting increasingly confused and apprehensive. There was something not quite right to this conversation. Something felt wrong. Something felt out of place. It was a feeling she had not felt in forever.
Something clicked in her head.
He was not much older than she was, at most a visible age difference of an equivalent of five real world years.
He was not of a lower rank, good heavens no.
He probably thought her capable of sustaining good conversation.
He had not used the normal honorific.
That something was blaring a large, impossibly loud siren in her brain, which took its time to process the information.
When it did, she took a large gulp of the thankfully-not-scalding-hot tea, looking incredulously at him.
His other eyebrow raised, only serving to confirm her rather traitorous thoughts.
Going on the defensive, she immediately shot out, in a manner very much like she would have if that had been Kyouraku-taicho, except a little less abruptly, "Are you flirting with me?" She immediately flushed red.
Kuchiki-taicho's expression of wide-eyed shock was priceless as a hand clamped over his mouth seemingly to prevent the tea from spilling out. He swallowed, a look of extreme amusement coming over his face.
"Am I what with you, Ise-san?"
Taking another sip, she calmed herself, shooting him one of her famed looks. "Is there any possibility that you are attempting to flirt with me, Kuchiki-taicho?"
He could not help it; she was the one who had put that idea into his head. He had not intended to choose her, actually. To be completely honest, he had toyed with the idea of doing the same thing to someone else… Someone a little closer to home, someone completely unexpected.
But well, she was practically asking for it. [She could take a joke, hopefully, and even not, it was still promising to be incredibly fun.]
A look of calm and serenity returned to his face as he stood to get the teapot.
The silence was almost palpable.
He could almost feel her insecurity.
He sat back down, an unreadable expression on his face as an eyebrow raised before slowly falling back down.
"I could be."
He flashed her his winning smile.
I was laughing my butt off by the time I got to the last line, so I'm sorry if I made tiny little errors here and there.
I actually had the second part done before the first, before I realized that I actually needed to make the story flow. XD.
Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I'm really sorry for the long break.
Cheers,
Tan