Agh! It is way shorter than normal! I'm sorry! But I was out all day at the waterpark with friends which was soooo much fun, and then when I got home I had a boss fight on Zelda but I needed to finish this and... I hope you know how special you are. I postponed a boss fight on Zelda to write this for you. =)

Right. If I owned Bleach, everybody who watched it would get a cookie. If I owned Star Trek, there would be more random ass shots of Kirk and Spock (don't you just love those) and if I owned Death Note, ***SPOILER*** L wouldn't have died. ***END SPOILER*** But you all knew that anyways, right?

The days passed somewhat normally after that. Kaili was clingy until she got better, where she actually gave Byakuya and Renji room to breathe. They began to rebuild the Seireitei- a daunting task. The Shinigami were definitely not handymen. Most didn't know one end of a hammer from another, which led to some confusion and made everything that much more difficult. Just as they were starting to clean the rubble away, some extremely brave Shinigami came to Byakuya with a proposition.

"C-captain Kuchiki?" one of them asked. Byakuya was crouched on the ground, carefully clearing out where his desk used to be. Renji looked up from his spot where his desk used to be, interested. Normally people didn't stutter unless they were afraid that Byakuya was going to go Bankai on them. This could turn out to be extremely interesting.

"Yes?" Byakuya didn't bother to look up at them, instead seemingly preoccupied in freeing a small box from the grips of what had once been the ceiling.

"Umm, well we were wondering… Uh," one began.

"Since uh, well, you see…"

Byakuya tugged at the box, frowning when it didn't seem to want to come free.

"Er, we wanted uh."

"Yeah, um…?"

Finally, Byakuya turned his attention onto the two Shinigami in front of him. Renji leaned back, noticing an evil glint in his captain's eyes. Forget Star Trek and Death Note. This was quality entertainment.

"Sorry, what?" he asked, his voice normal, his face just as bored and uncaring as usual. "I don't understand 'Um'." Both Shinigami blushed. That evil gleam was still there, and Renji knew that if the Shinigami didn't spit it out soon, they would be used as target practice for Byakuya's sharp tongue. (Do not envision that literally. Just don't.)

",maybeahottuborsomething?" the first one spit out quickly. Byakuya blinked.

"Say that again?"

",maybeahottuborsomething?"

"Slower." Now he sounded exasperated. Renji had a feeling that he actually did know what the man was saying, but was enjoying watching him squirm.

"We were wondering if we could have some revisions done like squad two, maybe a hot tub or something?" Both men winced, waiting for Byakuya to draw Senbonzakura and go Bankai on their asses. Instead he looked almost… thoughtful.

Turning back to his box, and finally managing to get it out, Byakuya answered. "Keep it under 5000 dollars." (How much is that in yen? Anybody know, because I don't know the conversion, and I'm way too lazy to look it up) Frowning slightly, Byakuya brushed the dirt off of the box. The two Shinigami just stared at him. Renji did too, not believing what he had just heard. Had Byakuya actually said yes?

"… Was that a yes, Captain?" one asked tentatively, rubbing his ears. Byakuya looked up at them again, fiddling with the latch on the box.

"It certainly wasn't a no," was his blunt reply, before he turned his attention back to the box. He opened it, carefully checking to see if the contents were unharmed. The two Shinigami, recognizing a dismissal when they heard one, ran off.

"That was kind of you Captain," Renji mentioned, standing up. He could just barely see the contents of the box. There was a smooth stone, several photographs- of what, Renji couldn't tell, and the carving that Renji had made when Byakuya had been in the hospital directly after Aizen's betrayal. He'd left it in the hospital room by Byakuya's bed, and had just assumed that he had thrown it out. Now it seemed that Byakuya had kept it. Why? Renji wondered. It was a carving of a bird, its wings spread in flight. It wasn't very good- just a rough outline- but Byakuya had kept it. Why?

There was a sharp snap as Byakuya closed the box and set it down. Taking a risk, Renji approached his Captain. The mask was slipping back up, and with it the unapproachable aura around the smaller man. As much as he told himself that Captain Kuchiki was not going to hurt him, Renji still didn't quite believe it. Were Byakuya's defences that good, that he could change even the air around him in a matter of seconds.

"That was kind of you Captain," Renji murmured, crouching down beside him. Byakuya tossed a bit of ceiling onto an ever growing pile, avoiding eye contact.

"Was it?" he asked distractedly.

"Yes. Most other captains would have said no. Do we even have the budget for it?"

"Yes."

"Really?"

"Abarai, who does the budget?"

"You do."

"Have you ever done the budget?"

"…No…"

"We have the budget for it. Trust me."

"…" Renji still didn't quite believe his captain, but he dropped the subject and went back to his spot, musing over Byakuya's words. Trust me, he'd said. Trust me. I do, Renji thought. I really do trust you. I always have, and I always will.

IMPORTANT

Are any of you good artists? Because if you are, PM me, I have some scenes from this that I want somebody to draw for me... If you do I will be eternally in your debt, will give you virtual cookies, and will write whatever you want, within reason. Yeah, I'd be super grateful...

So, any takers?

Thankee to reviewers! If you didn't review last time... well, why not? Review this time! Your feedback is greatly appreciated. And you get virtual hugs and chocolate bars.

-Stormy

... I had a quote. But now I forgot it. Damn it all, I'm going to bed!