Thank you to everybody who told me their preferences on the whole seme/uke thing! I think it's about even...

If I owned Bleach the seasons wouldn't be split in half and sold for way too much. It really is too bad that I don't own Bleach...

Kaili had clung to Byakuya's hand all day, except for the times when she was clinging to Renji's hand, or one of them was carrying her. By evening, when the three of them were sitting in the tent, Byakuya and Renji were both about ready to strangle Unohana, and Kaili was still grumpy. She didn't like the medicine, because it tasted icky. Renji agreed with her on that one, but it was hell trying to explain to her that she had to take it anyways. In the end Byakuya had gotten that one. Renji wasn't quite certain what he'd said, but it had worked. And that was all that he really needed to know.

Now Kali was snuggled up on Renji's lap, clinging to his shirt with one hand, the other hand holding Byakuya captive. The two of them were kneeling with their knees touching, Kaili pulling them both forwards, and keeping them as close to her, and each other, as their dignities would let her. Both Byakuya and Renji were waiting for the small child to fall asleep, so that they could get some rest, and get out of their position. Unfortunately for them, Kaili didn't seem to be in any mood to go to sleep. Instead she just curled up between them, occasional switching between their laps.

"Well, this is degrading," Byakuya whispered.

"Being held captive by a little kid," Renji agreed, shifting a bit. "Nobody hears of this."

"Agreed." Byakuya attempted to lean back and Kaili yanked on his robes again, pulling him forwards.

"No." she commanded, as though he were a bad dog. Renji bit back the urge to laugh at the look on Byakuya's face.

"Now what?" Renji asked.

"I don't know." The two of them stared at each other over Kaili's head, and they were so close that Renji could have kissed him. Unfortunately, with Kaili clinging to his shirt, he doubted that he would have been able to get away if Byakuya didn't like that. So he contented himself with memorizing every little bit of Byakuya's face, so that when the mask went back up, Renji could remember what he looked like when he wasn't hiding himself from the world.

They ended up playing twenty-questions for a while, before it got boring, and then they played I spy. That didn't work out very well, given as they were in a small tent, furnished with nothing but three blankets, and three pillows, and only the three of them. It ended up even more boring than twenty-questions.

"I spy, with my little eye, something black."

"My robes."

"Yep."

"I spy, with my little eye, something red."

"My hair."

"Correct."

"I spy, with my little eye, something brownish."

"The tent."

"Uh-huh."

"I spy, with my little eye, something… beige. I think it's beige. Or something very similar to beige."

"The blankets."

"Yes."

"Do you want to do something else now?"

"Please."

So, they went back to playing twenty-questions, which once again got very boring, very fast. But they were still stuck sitting together because every time that one of them tried to move, Kaili would pull them forwards again with a very sharp 'No.'

Renji yawned, letting his head hang forwards. "What time is it?" he asked sleepily.

"Late." Byakuya told him. How could Kaili not be tired if the two of them, both adults, were falling asleep? This was getting ridiculous.

"Wonderful," Renji muttered. "Is there caffeine in that medicine or something?"

"Must be. Ask Unohana in the morning. If there is…" Byakuya trailed off, yawning.

Half an hour later, both of them were asleep. Byakuya had his head on Renji's shoulder, and Renji's head was tilted to the side to rest on Byakuya's. Kaili was still awake, and she smiled sleepily, and curled up closer to Byakuya, too hot now. Byakuya's skin was always cold, and Renji's was always hot. It worked perfectly to her purposes to keep both of them close. It also offered them bonding time. Kaili shut her eyes, nestled against Byakuya's chest, and fell asleep.

Byakuya woke up in the middle of the night, and straightened slowly, being careful not to wake Renji. Kaili was asleep, her grip on his robes loosened. He gently settled her on the ground, and pulled a blanket over her. Renji was still sleeping, slumped over. Byakuya carefully undid his ponytail, and untied his bandana. He pushed him down until he was sprawled on the ground, head resting on a pillow. Then he just watched Renji sleep. He liked the way that Renji's face relaxed in sleep, and the way that his hair pooled around him. Absentmindedly, Byakuya pushed a long red strand of hair off of Renji's face. His hair was soft under Byakuya's fingertips, and his skin was warm. He was gorgeous, and Byakuya longed rest his head on his shoulder again, and go to sleep close to him, soaking up his heat, but he couldn't. Byakuya jerked away. He couldn't. He was a Kuchiki, and he wasn't allowed to be anyone but what the Kuchiki model dictated him to be. He wasn't allowed to do anything except that which a Kuchiki should do. And curling up close to the Rukongai rat next to him, especially since this particular Rukongai rat was male, was definitely not something a Kuchiki should do. Byakuya went to his corner of the tent, and lay down, staring at the ceiling of the tent and trying to get to sleep.

A sleepless hour later, Byakuya crawled out of the tent, and went for a walk. The moon tracked his progress across the rubble that had become of the Seireitei. Dawn found him standing by the ruins of the Sixth Division. They would start rebuilding the Seireitei soon, starting with the barracks, and moving on. He really hoped that somebody in the Sixth knew how to build, because he sure didn't. They'd just have to learn as they went, he supposed. It would be mass chaos, he figured. But it could be amusing.

Never mind Vikings and light bulbs. The real question was how many Shinigami does it take to build the Sixth Squad Barracks?

For anybody who didn't get the last two sentences, you know the joke, 'How many Vikings does it take to light a light bulb', or something along those lines. Yeah... I turned it into Shinigami.

IMPORTANT

There is a poll up on my profile, concerning the classification of this story. Please go vote- should it stay hurt/comfort, or should I change it to humor? Vote please! Be responsible citizens! Practice for when you're eighteen, or if you're already eighteen, practice for the next election! Please!

Another, slightly less important note, I am now taking commissions. I'm going to put the guidelines up on my profile, but if you want a commission, PM me =)

-Stormy