I finished the chapter! This one was probably the hardest to write... The daily updates are killing me. But in a good way. Like eating brocolli and going to bed on time. Or like going for a really long, hard bike ride. It hurts a lot while your doing it, but it feels way better after. Yeah... Daily updates are going to continue.

Anyways, I don't own Bleach. I still don't have any good ideas for creative disclaimers, so we'll leave it at that.

Enjoy =)

The last person up ended up being Hitsugaya. The captains had gotten together in a quick group, and then shoved Toshiro to the wolves, sat back, and watched the show. Nobody wanted to be the one to tell a whole bunch of freaked out shinigami with swords that the world had nearly ended the day before. Unfortunately for Toshiro, every other captain had stuck with Byakuya's 'last person up has to do it' philosophy, and now he was standing on a piece of wall, which didn't really make him taller than everybody else, but it was the closest thing that they had to a stage. The rest of the captains were a great distance back, watching. Now he was being shot at with questions ranging from 'how'd you stop it' to 'why the hell are we still alive' to 'you're kidding us, right?' In the end, Hitsugaya decided that it wasn't worth it and pulled authority on all of them. It was an effective way to shut them all up, and Byakuya applauded him for it when he joined the other captains, who were watching with pity, amusement, or a bit of both.

"I hate you all," Hitsugaya muttered grumpily. "You couldn't have joined me, by any chance?"

"Sorry," Unohana replied kindly. She was back to her usual, unzombie-like self. "But nobody wants to go through that."

"Wonderful," Hitsugaya groaned. "It's good to know I can count on my fellow captains."

"Nobody was going to try and kill you," Soi Fon pointed out.

"We would have stepped in if they had," Ukitake promised.

"Great. The wonderful Gotei Thirteen. They'll fight, anytime, anywhere. But they can't handle a few questions."

"That basically sums it up," Shunsui agreed.

"That should be our motto," Ukitake suggested.

"I like it. Who needs words when you've got a sword?" Kenpachi grinned maniacally, one hand going to his zanpaku-to. "I can't see what all the fuss was about. Why'd we tell them anyways? It's not like they really had to know."

"They did." Byakuya's voice was soft, but everybody turned to look at him all the same. He had been so quiet that some had actually forgotten that he was still there. "They were worried, and frightened. To have all of the captains disappear, after acting very strangely before, and acting even more strangely when they got back, on top of everything else that has happened…" he trailed off. "They had to know. Not because of the knowledge, but for a reason why the people they look up to, and respect, were acting… odd. To say the very least."

"You," Komamura spoke up at last, "should have been a public speaker."

"Aren't I?" Byakuya asked, looking him in the eye. Even though Byakuya was over three feet shorter than the other man, it was immediately obvious who was stronger. "It's part of the job. Maybe we don't think of it like that, but it is." The other captains stared at him again, but Byakuya wasn't paying them any attention. He was wondering whether or not he'd be held to his promise to tell Kaili a bedtime story. He sure hoped not. He really wasn't any good with stories.

The captains drained away, leaving only Hitsugaya and Byakuya remaining. Byakuya gave Hitsugaya a sudden look.

"Do you know any good stories?"

"… huh?"

"Do you?"

"Um… why do you ask?"

Byakuya sighed. "I have to tell a bedtime story to Kaili. But I don't know any."

"You have to… How'd you get roped into that?"

"Well, it was either tonight, or last night."

Hitsugaya winced. "Ouch."

"Yes. So, do you?"

"Maybe you should just tell her something funny, or unusual that happened here, instead of the generic children's stories," Toshiro suggested. "That way you don't have to make anything up, and she won't have heard it before." Byakuya gave the smaller man a sideways look.

"I'll go with that," he replied. "Thanks." Hitsugaya grinned.

"No problem."

Renji was sitting cross-legged, cuddling Kaili when Byakuya crawled in. Kailli was grumpy, and tired, although she refused to admit it. Giving Byakuya a relieved look, Renji gently settled Kaili on the ground.

"Here. Captain Kuchiki's going to tell you a story, alright?" Kaili nodded, and Renji ducked out of the tent as Byakuya took his spot. Kaili clambered onto Byakuya's lap.

Breathing the cold night air in with relief, Renji went in search of his friends. He knew that there was absolutely no sake left in the Seireitei, but he needed some desperately. Kaili was grumpier than normal, the world had almost ended, the Seireitei was in ruins, and he was pretty sure that he'd fallen in love with Captain Kuchiki. His life was in utter turmoil, and he needed something familiar to steady it. And the only familiar thing that he could think of at the moment was hanging out with a big crowd of friends and getting very, very drunk. Unfortunately, the last part wasn't going to happen. He did, however, have a very good chance of the first part. After all, he had lots of friends, and all that he had to do was talk to one or two. The rest would happen by itself.

"Hey, Rangiku!" Renji called. Rangiku was a master at gathering a lot of people together for parties. Renji really did wonder how she did it sometimes.

Soon there was a big crowd hanging out a ways away from the tents, but it didn't feel quite the same as it usually did. Did the location and absence of sake really change things that much? Renji wondered. Or maybe it had just been him that had changed.

Kaili was snuggled as close to Byakuya as was possible. Her small body was warm against his chest, and her breath tickled his neck. Byakuya spoke softly, telling her of Yoruichi's many annoying escapades when he was a kid. Kaili giggled sleepily at some parts, clinging to consciousness in order to hear what happened next.

"Another one," Kaili begged sleepily when Byakuya was finished. "Please!"

"It's time for you to go to sleep," Byakuya told her, gently settling her on the floor of the tent.

"But I'm not tired!" Kaili protested, even though she could barely keep her eyes open. Byakuya ignored her protests and tucked a blanket around her small figure. Sensing that Byakuya wasn't going to cave, she tried to negotiate. "Tomorrow?" she asked.

"Maybe," Byakuya murmured. Kaili stared at him for a moment, as though she were trying to dredge up the energy to tell him that 'maybe wasn't good enough'. But then she shut her eyes, and cuddled into the blankets. She was asleep almost immediately.

Byakuya retreated to his corner of the tent, trying to glean a bit of comfort from the soft breathing beside him. All that he wanted was something normal. His life had been unceremoniously dumped into chaos. He was taking care of a little girl, which he had absolutely no clue how to do, the Seireitei was wrecked, he'd had to stop the world from ending and his head still hurt, and he had fallen in love with Renji Abarai. Really, a little bit of normal just then shouldn't have been too much to ask for. But apparently it was since normal still evaded him. This, for lack of a better term, sucked.

Haha! They realized their feelings! It had to happen sometime...

Sixteenth chapter, and they're only just now figuring out that they're in love... Is it just me, or is this moving really slowly... Oh well.

Reviews are appreciated. Thank you to anybody who has reviewed. You make my day. I literally check my inbox at least five times a day, just to see if I've gotten any new reviews. Yeah... I'm obsessed. So review to make me happy! =)

-Stormy