A/N: Many thanks to all who put this story to their alert and/or favorite lists, and even more so for those who spared their time to review the previous installment. Your feedback made me feel more encouraged to continue this little series. I hope you will enjoy this installment as well.
2: Rain, Training and Umbrella
Since he was on summer holidays and his friends already had their respective plans for the period, Ichigo decided to accept Rukia's invitation to stay in Soul Society. After all, she was right about him needing some training after having lost his power for almost two years. Since he arrived to Soul Society, Ichigo had been staying at the Thirteenth Division's barracks and training with most of the Shinigami he knew. At that time, he was supposed to meet up with Renji in an outskirt Rukongai so that they both could train in their bankai without destroying anything or killing any innocent bystanders. However, Renji was late for their appointment and to make it worse, rain began showering down.
Ichigo hated when it rained, he really did. And he hated it more when it rained without warning because he wouldn't have a chance to prepare an umbrella. Sometimes he couldn't understand why there was weather in Soul Society at all when that place was supposed to be the after world. In any case, the Substitute Shinigami found himself standing under a big maple tree, trying his best to keep himself off Rukongai's rain shower.
"This sucks," he muttered. "Why does it always have to rain when I don't have an umbrella?"
As if to play a prank on the Substitute Shinigami, the rain fell even heavier than before so the maple tree could no longer keep much rain off. If it kept raining like that, he would be soaked in no time; so Ichigo used the best solution he could think of and removed his zanpakutō from his back and then held it over his head, using its huge blade as a makeshift umbrella.
Sighing, Ichigo muttered under his breath, "Man, I'm seriously gonna kill Renji for standing me up."
At that rate, there was no way he could travel back to Seireitei without being completely soaked, yet he didn't know that area well enough to find a place to stay out of the rain either. Therefore, Ichigo could only hope it would stop raining soon so he wouldn't have to be drenched in the rain and risk getting a cold, even though he wasn't certain if one could get sick in one's spirit form to begin with.
"If I didn't know better, I would assume you harbor a strange wish to be struck by lightning."
A very familiar male voice brought Ichigo out of his reverie, so Ichigo turned to the direction of the voice and saw the last man he would ever expect to see in Rukongai's street – Kuchiki Byakuya. The captain was standing in front of him in his full Shinigami uniform, carrying a big white bangasa umbrella to keep off the rain.
"Byakuya?" Ichigo blinked before he deepened his scowl. "What the hell are you on about?"
Lord Kuchiki wordlessly cast his eyes upon Zangetsu's blade in response.
Following Byakuya's eyes, Ichigo uttered a soft 'oh' before he quickly lowered the zanpakutō and then secured it behind his back with the red strap he wore across his chest.
"Well, unlike you, I don't have a fancy umbrella, so I've got to improvise," the teen explained. "Besides, Zangetsu is still sheathed and it's not like there's actually a thunderstorm out here."
Hearing Ichigo's comment, Byakuya moved the hand that was holding the umbrella slightly as if doing so would allow him to see the thing from a different angle. Captain Kuchiki looked up to the white paper panels of the umbrella for a moment before he turned his attention back to the orange-haired teen in front of him.
"This can hardly be called fancy," Byakuya commented.
As Ichigo looked up to confirm the captain's words, he realized that by making a small change in the position of his hand, Byakuya managed to shelter them both from the rain with that white umbrella without having to step any closer to him. It also made Ichigo aware of how close they had been standing to one another. He didn't actually mind the proximity, since he knew that Byakuya usually spoke in a certain volume so it could be impossible to hear the man should they stand any farther apart. However, Ichigo wasn't sure if the umbrella just happened to be big enough to shield them both from the rain or Byakuya actually meant to share his umbrella without bothering to mention it. Either way, Ichigo made no effort to move from his spot.
"Anything that can effectively keep off the rain is fancy enough in my standard," Ichigo pointed with a shrug. "What are you doing here, by the way?"
"I'm under the impression that you have an appointment with my lieutenant."
"Yeah. What's that gotta do with you?"
"When I ordered him to lead a squad to dispatch some Hollows in other district, Renji said he was supposed to see you here to help you train your bankai, so I believe I should let you know why he was late for his appointment."
Ichigo sighed.
"Oh, I guess that can't be helped. We can't just let any Hollows run around in Soul Society, after all," said the Substitute Shinigami. "Still, there's no need for you to actually come here yourself. You could have sent anyone to tell me that."
"I could have," Byakuya agreed. "However, since my order made Renji unable to keep his words, I believe it is my responsibility to come here and assist you in your training in his place."
The right corner of Ichigo's mouth curved up into a smirk.
"If I didn't know any better, I would have assumed you sent Renji to that mission because you wanted to see me."
An amused gleam flashed behind Byakuya's slate eyes.
"Who knows, Kurosaki Ichigo? You could be right," Lord Kuchiki remarked. "However, I believe it is raining heavier, so shall we discuss this elsewhere?"
Ichigo furrowed his brows and looked out to the dull sky. He realized Byakuya was right about the rain getting heavier, so he decided he would just hold on to the thought that Lord Kuchiki might have just teased him until he could get to some place dry.
"Yeah, sure," Ichigo replied.
Hearing the answer, Byakuya turned and prepared to leave Ichigo to his own device should Ichigo choose not to follow him. However, before he could do so, the captain had to be surprised when the Substitute Shinigami suddenly seized the wooden handle of his umbrella. Byakuya turned toward Ichigo and raised an eyebrow as if to question the younger man's intention.
"Allow me," Ichigo stated. "I mean, since you've gone out of your way to come here in this rain and share your umbrella with me, I might as well try to be a little useful and help you carry it."
Byakuya almost said that he could carry his own umbrella, but he decided against it when he saw the sincerity behind Ichigo's umber eyes. He believed that he and Ichigo had one thing in common, and it was that neither of them wanted to owe anyone a favor regardless of how small that favor was. Therefore, Byakuya decided to release his hold on the umbrella's handle.
"Come with me, then."
It took them a couple of minutes of walking to reach to a talus cave underneath a nearby cliff. Once they stepped inside and sheltered themselves from the rain, Ichigo folded the umbrella and pointed it downward to let some water drip to the ground while Byakuya summoned a red kidō orb in his palm to light up the cave before he began exploring the area.
"I've gotta say you surprise me, Byakuya," Ichigo remarked as he followed Byakuya's movement with his eyes, secretly admiring the graceful way the nobleman moved around. "I mean, you seem to know the way around even though you don't impress me as someone who normally comes out to Rukongai."
"I don't often come to Rukongai these days," the captain said, confirming Ichigo's initial assumption. "However, there was a time when my duty was security patrol and, therefore, I had to come to Rukongai on a regular basis. This is one of the areas I used to patrol, and fortunately this area hasn't changed much over the years."
Ichigo shot Byakuya a look of disbelief. "You. Doing a security patrol in Rukongai. You can't be serious!"
"Just because I am a captain now doesn't mean I have never been a rank and file," said the nobleman.
The Substitute Shinigami shrugged. "Well, I kinda thought that with your family's influences in Soul Society, you would have been recruited to better position."
"I suppose that could have been done," Byakuya said, "However, my grandfather wanted me to start from the bottom and work my way up so that when I reached to the top, no one could say I only got the position because of my family name and not because of my ability."
Ichigo furrowed his brows.
"It's not easy being born in a great noble house, eh?"
"If being easy meant wealth and influences, then I suppose you can say I have it easier than most. After all, I was born with certain privileges," Byakuya stated, "However, because of those privileges, I've been under a constant scrutiny from everyone in the society. When I am good at something, I don't get a compliment, since that's something that is expected of me, but should I fail at something, they would not hesitate to criticize me and in some cases, my failure could tarnish my family's name."
Ichigo nodded. Somehow he could understand why Byakuya had such an overbearing personality sometimes. After all, Kuchiki Byakuya wasn't just a pretty face who easily got everything by riding on his family's influences, but he was a man who had to work hard to earn his own stature while being under a type of pressure that not many people understood.
"I guess this is another thing we don't have in common," the teen commented. "For you, people expect you to excel at everything, whereas for me, everyone expects me to fail at everything."
To that comment, Byakuya turned around and shot Ichigo a curious look. Therefore, Ichigo felt he needed to give a little further explanation.
"You see, people don't believe that my hair color is natural," Ichigo said, running his hand through his orange hair. "They think I have it dyed because I'm some sort of punk who only cares about fighting other punks. We don't even have to go far to search for an example, since you yourself have once looked down on me and thought of me as a stupid brat who could never achieve bankai let alone defeat you. I've gotta work hard at everything to prove that I'm better than all those insults."
"You have proved your point well," the nobleman commented before he walked up to Ichigo after he was done exploring the cave.
Ichigo's eyes were widened as he didn't expect to hear something akin to compliment coming from someone like Byakuya.
"Err...thanks?" he replied.
Byakuya acknowledged Ichigo's word with a nod.
"By the way, as deep as this cave is, I doubt it is big enough to be used as a training ground," the nobleman remarked, changing the subject.
"That's okay," said Ichigo, "we're just here to stay out of the rain, after all. It's not like I expect you to help me with my training. I mean, when I think of Senbonzakura, I don't think of something that can be used in training. I think of a way to inflict a horribly painful yet remarkably beautiful death."
The Substitute Shinigami didn't exaggerate when he spoke those words. Being cut by thousands of sharp blades could not be anything but horribly painful, yet the vibrant display of a thousand cherry blossoms would still remain remarkably beautiful no matter how he looked at it.
"Your zanpakutō is too dangerous to use to train anyone, myself included," Ichigo added. "Heck, it's probably too dangerous even for you yourself."
"You may be right, but I do have other skills aside from my swordsmanship."
To the captain comment, the Substitute Shinigami grimaced.
"Your kidō isn't any less dangerous. You've blown a hole through my body once or twice so I could tell. I'll just wait until Renji is free, thank you very much," he said. "Still I've gotta say my words stay correct – you have been uncharacteristically nice to me lately."
Lord Kuchiki didn't confirm nor denied the statement outright when he turned away from Ichigo to look out into the dark sky outside of the cave.
"As I said, I caused Renji to miss his appointment, so as his superordinate, I feel I should do something about it."
The air around them was once again filled with silence, and once again, Ichigo had to think that he would never really understand the enigma that was Kuchiki Byakuya.
"Say, Byakuya," Ichigo began as he, too, watched the rain fall, "you don't really hate me now, do you?"
The statement managed to make Byakuya turn over his shoulder to study's Ichigo's expression, and the nobleman was rather surprised to see that look in the young Substitute Shinigami's chocolate eyes. It was as if the teen was hoping that Byakuya wouldn't say that he hated him, although Byakuya didn't understand why it would matter to Ichigo how he actually felt.
"If a confirmation is what you need; then no, I do not hate you," the noble said calmly before he turned to watch the falling rain once again but not before he saw a relief in Ichigo's umber eyes.
"Then it wouldn't hurt you to stop calling me by my full name, would it?"
After he asked, Ichigo wondered if he was asking for too much. Byakuya might have said that he didn't hate him, but it didn't mean that the noble captain liked him either.
"If you were to stop referring to me by my given name without any honorific, I might give it a consideration."
Although he didn't look at Ichigo when he gave his answer, Lord Kuchiki could practically feel the Substitute Shinigami's scowl being deepened.
"Might?" Ichigo repeated.
"In case you forgot, Kurosaki Ichigo, I never gave you a permission to refer to me merely by my given name," Byakuya pointed. "Whether or not I change the way I address you depends on the way you plan to address me from now on."
"And how do you expect me to call you? Kuchiki-sama? Byakuya-sama?" Ichigo asked, frowning. "If that's what you want, then you can forget it, Byakuya. That ain't gonna happen even after hell freezes over."
Lord Kuchiki closed his eyes as if to hide the amusement that Ichigo's reply caused him. He later put on his most nonchalant expression and noted:
"I would settle for a simple 'Byakuya-san,' but since you already told me to forget it, then I suppose this negotiation is over."
Ichigo groaned. "Somehow I feel you're less irritated by this arrangement than I am."
"Do you think I actually like to be referred to merely by my given name?"
Ichigo shrugged.
"Well, yeah, I mean, there are a few people who called you Byakuya – like Yoruichi-san and Ukitake-san – right? So it can't mean that you dislike being called by your given name per se."
"You do realize, of course, that they are my senpai?" Byakuya countered. "Besides, I know you have no problem using honorifics, so I've been under the impression that you chose to call me by my given name just to irritate me."
To Byakuya's last remark, Ichigo smirked.
"Well, you could be right," said the boy, "but like I said, you might not be as irritated as you should be. Anyway, it doesn't matter. I'm not gonna stop calling you Byakuya, Byakuya, but someday you're gonna refer to me as Ichigo. I'll make sure of that."
Byakuya raised an eyebrow. "Is that a challenge?"
"Of course," Ichigo replied with a smug expression. "And I'm telling you, I'm not gonna lose. Time is on my side, after all."
"Must I remind you that what you have just said may have given me yet another reason never to refer to you by your given name?"
"I've already known that," the teen said, "but this is a matter of resolve, and I don't think you'll be able to keep being cold to me for good."
"We shall see about that then, Kurosaki Ichigo."
Ichigo shrugged, looking more confident about the so-called challenge than Byakuya expected him to be.
The nobleman looked out of the cave once again and realized that the rain had begun to let up although the sky didn't seem any brighter.
"It looks like it will stop raining soon," Byakuya commented, drawing Ichigo's attention to the weather outside.
"Yeah, it looks that way," Ichigo agreed. "Does it usually rain in Soul Society, by the way?"
"Only during rainy seasons," the captain replied. "However, it was forecast that the season would last longer than normal this year, which is why it's still raining even though it's already the last week in July."
"Oh. I see."
With that it seemed they ran out of topics for conversation, so the two settled to stay in complete silence while listening to a spattering sound of the falling rain. Fortunately, it didn't take long for the rain to finally stop even though the sky was still rather dull. Lord Kuchiki reached his hand out to feel if it was still raining, and when he felt nothing falling on his palm, he decided that it was safe to go out.
"Anyway, since my presence here is not needed, I believe it's time I returned to my division," Byakuya commented. "Are you going to stay in this place?"
"Well, since I'm already here, I might as well do some training. When Renji finishes his mission and reports back at your division, can you let him know I'm still around?"
Byakuya nodded.
"Certainly. Good day, Kurosaki Ichigo."
"Okay, then, see you later, Byakuya," Ichigo said. However, as he was about to raise his hand and give Byakuya a quick wave, he realized he was still holding on to Byakuya's white umbrella. "Oh, wait. Don't forget your umbrella."
Byakuya looked at the dull sky before he glanced at the umbrella that Ichigo handed to him and shook his head.
"Keep it," he said. "It looks like it's going to rain again later, so you might need it since you're not leaving."
From the look of the sky, Ichigo had to agree with Byakuya. However, it didn't feel right for him to simply accept the umbrella.
"Wouldn't you need it for later?"
"It won't take long for me to go back to my division, and I have some spare umbrellas there should it rain again. You can return it to me when you no longer need it."
"But I might not see you. I mean—"
"If you can't find me, then you can just leave it with Renji or Rukia," Byakuya said, cutting off Ichigo's protest. "As I said, I have some spare umbrellas, so it doesn't really matter when you return it."
Knowing that he had no reason to refuse unless he wished to buy himself an umbrella, Ichigo decided that he might as well just accept Byakuya's rare act of kindness.
"Oh, well, then I'll borrow it for today. Thanks, Byakuya."
Once again, Byakuya nodded.
"You're welcome," he said. "Good day."
With that, Byakuya was off, using his shunpo, leaving Ichigo alone in the cave.
Still holding on to the big white umbrella, Ichigo couldn't help smiling slightly to himself. It appeared Byakuya could really be nice even if he wouldn't admit it aloud. At that rate, if he made his move right, getting the nobleman to refer to him as Ichigo might not be as impossible a feat as he initially believed it would be.