Im back! Didn't mean to leave this alone for so long, but I was away for awhile, and school just started again and I think I might suffocate under the miles of stuff ive got to do already… but I found some time to write, so here it is…
Ichigo groaned as he looked up at the bookshelves decorating the Kuchiki Manor's library. There had to be at least 50 shelves, all stretching up all the way to the ceiling, probably around 100 feet up.
"so many books…" Ichigo mumbled, walking up to one. "I've got to clean all of this?" he inquired, scanning the room. He sighed, and started dusting the shelves. Right after breakfast, he had been instructed by Byakuya to clean the house, starting with the library, which, according to him, hadn't been cleaned in years due to its vast size.
Ichigo looked around and tried to decide on a decent spot to start his cleaning duties. He tried to find the dustiest spot, running his fingers along the rows of books. He stopped when he felt his finger collide into about a centimeter of dust buildup.
"Dust… he muttered, eyes widening as he looked at shelf. This one shelf looked like it hadn't been touched in around 50 years, as opposed to the rest, which were just a bit in need of a touch up. This shelf looked like it would need to be completely remodeled.
He picked chose one out of the copious volumes, and flipped it open, watching the dust fly off the book and into the air. Ichigo easily blew it away from his face, and turned his eyes down to the book.
Family records- 1700-2000
Family records, huh? Perfect. Ichigo smiled maliciously as he flipped through the pages. It would be rather interesting… and possibly helpful… to know a bit more about his foe before he stepped onto the battlefield… He searched the pages until he finally found the name he was looking for.
Kuchiki Byakuya
Ichigo had found it. Byakuya's personal info. This could be useful…
28th head of clan
Captain of sixth squad
Born 31st of January
No siblings
Wife-Kuchiki Hisana- deceased
Sister(adopted)-Kuchiki Rukia
Wife died of unknown disease after 5 years of marriage
Sister was adopted year after wife's death
Both marrying and adopting the two were against the traditions of the clan, making Byakuya have gone against the clan's wishes more than any other clan leader.
So… his birthday was on the 31st… that's was only a week away. Ichigo's smile widened even more as an idea came to mind…
Surprise party.
If he could just get Rukia to go along with it…
"Hey ichigo!"
Speak of the devil.
" Yeah, rukia?"
She ran over to him and looked around at the shelves.
"You… haven't done anything, have you…?" She said, looking at him with a frown. "You'll never be able to pay Nii-sama back if you don't actually do any work, ichigo!"
"Rukia…"
What was this, a party? Or will anyone who's name you say appear?
"Ukitake-taichou wants you back at the squad barracks…" Byakuya's eyes wandered to the book in ichigo's hands. "Kurosaki… You are supposed to be cleaning, not reading… Or do I have to keep a watch on you?"
Byakuya could swear he saw the boy's eyes roll back into his head when he recommended watching him. He inwardly smirked. It was a childish thought, yes… but he was winning, if you considered that ichigo had yet to aggravate him even once…
No… nonononononono! He was not, absolutely NOT having Byakuya following him around 24/7! It would just be… creepy!
Byakuya's eyes darted down to the volume in ichigo's hands once again, this time more carefully reading the label. Quicker than ichigo could react, Byakuya had snatched the book away from him and was looking at the page Ichigo had been studying. He looked up from the book frowning, and closed it.
"What on earth were you doing reading that?" He inquired, showing an almost unnoticeable hint of anger in his voice. Ichigo took a step back, eyes wide, and picked up his feather duster and began to work. "that's what I thought… said byakuya, replacing the volume, and then turning to leave, said one last thing. "If you refuse to do what you are told, then perhaps I should ask interest on your debt…"
Ichigo felt himself begin to sweat, and then finally answered byakuya.
"I'd rather not pay you any more than I have to, byakuya…"
Luckily, Byakuya had already left.
Ichigo finally took up the task of cleaning the shelves with his feather duster and rag.
It was not a pretty sight.
Ichigo was trying to work at such high speeds that the all the dust he got off of the shelves either fell on the ground or in his hair. So far, he was about halfway done with Shunpo-cleaning the library. Amazingly enough, it had only taken a half hour to finish this much…
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Back in his room, Byakuya sat planning. He knew that brat was up to something. Why else would he be reading his records? It was useless to guess what he was trying to do, but he could at least prepare himself…
Whilst at the same time, rukia sat pondering the same thing.
She had seen ichigo reading the records, but didn't care to inquire as to why. Of course, she was curious, but she wasn't going to ask him. It wasn't any of her business what he plotted against her Nii-sama anyway… Or was it?
The idea hit her pretty quick, and she tried best as she could to find an answer. Whose side was she on, anyway?
Should she try and stop ichigo from damaging Nii-sama's reputation?
Or should she encourage him because it would be;
A: amusing
B: worth it
And C: Byakuya was wrong and was just torturing ichigo for amusent
… … … … … … … … … … … … ?
Gah. It was so hard to figure out…
Maybe she should just sit back and watch them claw at each other's throats?
Nah. She wanted to be involved for some reason. If something interesting was going to happen, then she was going to be included!
Next chapter will be interesting, I swear! …… Maybe… I dunno, we'll see!
Oh and sorry this chapter was kinda short, but I wanted to separate it from the next part, which will be written shortly. Maybe.