Thank you to reviewers, and also anybody who has actually read this far!

Um... I actually don't have that much to say so...

I don't own Bleach. If I did... screw it. I can't think of a creative disclaimer. I don't own Bleach, this is not for profit! There.

Enjoy =)

Renji glanced over at his captain, wondering whether or not he was asleep. It was hard to tell, since Byakuya's face was turned away from him. He hadn't moved since he'd finished explaining what had happened to them, and Renji was still struggling to figure it out.

"Wait," Renji said slowly, and Byakuya lifted his head and looked at him. The fatigue weighing down his eyelids was almost painful to see. "The world was ending, and nobody thought it would be a good thing to tell us?"

"No time," Byakuya replied quietly. "Not if we wanted to stop it. What did you want us to do?"

"Maybe, I dunno, yell over your shoulder or something."

"Yeah, that would really work." Byakuya must have been really tired. He wasn't usually sarcastic- or at least, not out loud. "The world's going to end soon, don't panic, bye! I'm sure that would have just made you all want to cooperate and not run around screaming." Renji chuckled softly and Byakuya glared at him. Kaili giggled.

Byakuya rested his head on his knees again as though he was too tired to hold it up. Kaili crawled around Renji and tugged gently on Byakuya's sleeve.

"Tell me a story." She demanded.

"Renji, tell her a story," Byakuya muttered, not lifting his head.

"Renji already told me a story. I want you to tell me a story!" she demanded, tugging on his sleeve again. "Please!"

"How can you resist that face?" Renji asked, struggling not to laugh. He knew it wasn't very nice, but the childish note in Byakuya's voice made him want to burst out laughing. It was so unlike him!

"By not looking," Byakuya replied sulkily.

"Pretty please?" Kaili tried. "With sugar on top!"

"Maybe later."

Kaili sighed. "But I want a story now!"

"Then ask Renji."

"But I want you to tell me a story."

"Then wait until later."

"Now!"

"Ask Renji."

"But-" Kaili pulled harder on Byakuya's sleeve. "I want you to!"

"Wait until later."

Renji gently tugged Kaili away from Byakuya, swallowing a snicker. This was priceless, but he had to feel slightly bad for his captain. After all, he looked like shit, and obviously didn't feel any better.

"I think it's time to go to bed," he told Kaili. "You're getting grumpy."

"I wanna story," she whined.

"I'll tell you a story."

"But I want Captain Kuchiki to tell me one!"

"He'll tell you one tomorrow. Isn't that right?" Renji gave Byakuya a look, even though Byakuya's eyes were shut and he couldn't see it.

"Sure." Without opening his eyes, or even lifting his head, Byakuya untangled one of the blankets from around his shoulders and held it out, pinched in between his index finger and his middle finger. Renji took it and lay Kaili down in her corner. Byakuya threw a pillow in their direction, and it landed beside Renji.

"Thank you Captain."

"Huh."

"I'm not tired!" Kaili demanded. "I'm not!"

"Uh-huh," Renji agreed, wrapping the blanket around her body. "Alright. What story do you want?"

"I want Captain Kuchiki to tell me a story!"

"Tomorrow." Renji said. "What about the time that Mayuri blew up the twelfth division?" Renji began to speak, and Kaili was asleep before he'd even completed the second sentence. "Yeah," Renji grumbled. "She was so not tired." He glanced over at Byakuya, who didn't move. "Are you asleep too?" he asked. Silence. "Maybe it's just the story," Renji suggested. Nobody answered him. "Screw this," he informed the two sleeping figures. "I'm going to go play kickball. You two are boring."

When Renji got back to the tent, yawning, darkness had long since set in. He crawled in, finding everybody basically where he'd left them. Byakuya was still sitting, his head resting on his knees, and Kaili was still sprawled on the ground, blankets tucked firmly around her. Renji retrieved his pillow, and lay it down. He was surprised when Byakuya offered him the blanket, still not lifting his head or opening his eyes. The smaller man was still shivering and Renji shook his head.

"Keep it," he told Byakuya. "I'm hot anyways."

"You are," Byakuya murmured, pulling the blanket back around himself. Renji choked, and turned red. Byakuya chuckled softly, the smallest of sounds. Renji stared at him. He'd made his captain laugh. He, Renji Abarai had made his captain, Byakuya Kuchiki, laugh! Byakuya was silent again, and Renji wondered if he had fallen asleep. He stretched out slowly on the ground, giving his captain nervous looks. Did he mean it? Renji wondered. Or was he just teasing me. He hoped against hope that Byakuya had actually meant it, although that seemed unlikely. Of course, if anybody had told him even a week ago that Byakuya would tease him, Renji would have sent them straight to the fourth to have their heads checked.

Byakuya woke up at around noon. His head still ached, but not as much as it had, and he was hungry. He tried to remember the last time that he had eaten, and failed. It had been a long time ago, that much he was certain of. Byakuya stumbled out of the tent and went in search of food. Once he had eaten, and decided that maybe he wasn't going to starve to death after all, he sat quietly on what had once been part of the ninth division's wall, and watched the people passing, content not to move. His whole body still hurt, as though he had been thrown off a cliff and miraculously survived.

"Good… afternoon Captain," Renji greeted him, plopping down beside him. Byakuya looked over at him, but didn't say anything. "You're the first captain up," Renji informed him, stretching. "You could've slept a bit longer."

"I was hungry," Byakuya replied. "And it's…" he looked up at the sky. "One-ish."

"So?" Renji asked. "I sleep until three on the weekends." Byakuya stared at him.

"You're kidding." He said flatly.

"Not this time," Renji grinned. "Come on. Doesn't everybody?"

"I haven't slept past five since…" Byakuya frowned, thinking. "I can't remember the last time I slept past five." This time it was Renji's turn to stare.

"You're insane."

"Just a bit." Byakuya agreed. "It comes with the job." Renji gaped at him for a moment, before bursting out laughing. Byakuya kept his face carefully blank, but inside he felt a quick heat of satisfaction. He liked Renji's laugh. It was beautiful, just like the rest of him. Usually he only heard if from a distance, when Renji was talking with his friends, or out training, and Byakuya heard it float up through the window of the barracks, or just passing.

"Aren't you going to tell them what happened?" Renji asked. "Everybody's pretty confused." Byakuya shrugged. He didn't particularly want to be the one to explain to everybody that they had just narrowly avoided an apocalypse.

"I'll leave that to the last person up," he decided.

"That's very kind of you." He said, and Byakuya could hear the barely contained laughter in his voice.

"Isn't it?" He asked, all seriousness. "I'm a very kind person." Renji burst into laughter again, and this time Byakuya was unable to hold back a small smile. Having Renji this close to him, laughing beside him made him feel warm inside. (I know it's corny. Please forgive me.) He wondered why exactly this was, before deciding not to dwell on it. The fact that it did was enough for him.

Thank you to renjfantoo for giving me the idea for the 'bedtime story' part of this chapter =) Thankee!

Review? Please?

-Stormy

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SQUIRREL!