The first thing that Byakuya's servant ever saw of the bright haired man was his raw and bleeding back as he was thrown, unceremoniously into the kitchen.
"Do something with him," he told them before walking off, appearing very dissatisfied.
One of the maids, a pretty girl with shoulder length brown hair and glasses approached nervously, gently touching his arm to rouse him, noting the chain still around his leg that seemed to lead off from the way he had come.
At the touch, the chocolate eyes flicked open and he abruptly sat up, crying out as he did. He glared at the two servants surrounding him, pushing himself away from them.
The woman frowned, concerned. "You shouldn't move too much, not with injuries like that. Please, let me help you."
He shifted under the eyes of the help, hand around his chest, clutching his other arm.
"I can't do much when you're so far away from me. Also, if you don't let me treat you, how will you be able to get better? It might get infected."
Narrowing his eyes, he watched the pair of them. "W-why?"
She cocked her head, confused by the question. "Why what?"
"Wh-why would you help me?"
"You're going to live here from now aren't you? I don't want you to die or you to get sick. You work with us now, and I want to help you."
He glanced at the ebony haired man that stood next to her, staring at the rather distinctive tattoo above his eyebrow before looking back to the girl.
"What-what are you going to do?"
She smiled gently, holding up her hands as she slowly approached. "Just clean it and disinfect it. Then I'll put on some cream that should fight away infection and hurry the healing process up. Then I'll bandage you up. Does that sound okay?"
Still a little wary, he moved away almost unconsciously before stilling himself, allowing her to look at his back.
She almost sighed to herself as she came up to him. He was still very tense, as if ready to bolt at any minute. What on earth had Master Byakuya been thinking when he bought this rather stunning man?
Gasping when she finally did see his back, she held her hand over her mouth. Gods, Master Byakuya had not been kind. The poor man's back was almost ripped to shreds.
"What?" he groaned out as she lightly touched his shoulder.
"Uh… nothing, it's fine," she assured him.
He moved his head, turning it slightly to look at her through the corner of his eye. "If it's bad, just tell me."
She shook her head as she gathered her equipment, shooting a concerned glance at her friend when the orange haired boy turned around again.
"Wh-what's your name?" she asked gently, pulling away slightly when he hissed under her cleaning.
"Why does it matter?"
"Well, we're going to be working together, right? My name is Mihane and that over there," she nodded to the boy that stood with his arms crossed in the corner. "Is Rikichi."
He glanced at the pair of them before staring at his hands. "Ichigo," he replied.
Giving a small smile she continued her work. "There, that wasn't so hard, was it? But Ichigo, what did you do to make Master Byakuya so angry?"
He laughed humourlessly. "Why?"
"Well, usually he will stop if you say that you're sorry."
There was a silence before he answered, "I didn't say I was sorry."
Brow furrowed, she glanced down at the man. "Why?"
Ichigo met her look, face almost blank when he replied, "Because I wasn't sorry."
Rikichi gave a sigh as he brought over some bread and water. "You're an idiot, but I guess it can't be helped."
"What did you say, little brat?" Ichigo grinned, brow twitching in irritation. "I'm not an idiot."
"Even if you aren't sorry, you may as well say it so you don't get into more trouble." He knelt, staring at the man who just glared back at him. "How old are you?"
"Older then you, tattoo face."
Standing in indignation, the boy placed his hands on his hips. "What did you just say? I'll have you know, this tattoo represents my undying admiration for Renji Abarai."
Ichigo looked at him, puzzled. "Why do you guys keep talking as if I'll know who you're talking about?"
"Well, you should know that name; he is a famous soldier in the ranks of the Kuchiki clan."
His lip rose in irritation. "I don't even know about the Kuchiki clan, why the hell would I know about some soldier?"
"Rikichi, I think this sort of talk can be saved for later… don't you?" Mihane asked pointedly.
The raven haired boy had gone to argue but he finally sighed, blue eyes staring down at the new help. "Fine, I'll go finish my work."
Mihane finished applying the cream to his back, helping wrap the bandage around his built chest, noting the faint scars that marred the flesh.
At last she pulled away, staring down at him. "There you go, that should be all you need to do for now. I'll check in now and again for infection, just don't do any strenuous activity for a while, I'd rather not have to come back and re-bandage you."
He nodded appreciatively, smiling a little. "Thanks Mihane, I appreciate it."
XXX
Byakuya pulled off his silver-green scarf, finding himself irritated in the extreme. The orange haired boy had refused to cry out, refused to call for him to stop and refused to apologise for his actions. Soon it was clear that he wouldn't be able to whip the boy much longer unless he wanted a dead servant so he had left the boy in the hands of two of his most trusted servants, Mihane and Rikichi.
Mihane was sure to tend to the boy and feed him, though he had half a mind not to let even that happen. Byakuya couldn't understand it. Why was that boy so determined to not bow his head? Surely it was better than the alternative. Running a hand through his free locks, a nervous tick he only allowed seen by himself and he considered his next move.
The boy may have learnt his lesson, and by tomorrow he was sure to be following orders. He hoped.
XXX
Unfortunately, it seemed fate was not as kind to Byakuya as he would have wanted to believe and for the next few weeks; he was forced to try many different tactics to break the boy that his servants told him, was named Ichigo. For that is what he wanted to do now, break him. It had gone past discipline and teaching him a lesson, no, now he wished to crush whatever it was that held that boy's head up, abolish whatever motivated him to continually deny him and destroy whatever it was that kept him from saying that he was sorry.
Sentencing the boy to death had been tempting at first, but somehow, he continually found excuses not to, until he was in such a state that he believed even death would not soothe him. The boy managed to stir such extreme feelings, anger, hate, the desire to crush and break and even more disturbing, admiration. He admired the guts of the boy, admired how he could look him in the eye even when he told him he was to be chained outside on the streets for a week, when he locked him in a dark pit, whipped him… and still he glared back, those captivating depths swimming with hatred and challenge and it stoked a fire in his heart.
Unable to think of any punishment for the boy for the moment, he had allowed him to run free. Run free was of course, a relative term. The boy still carried the chain around his leg, the end of it being secured tightly to a brick wall, but the chain was long and he could visit many rooms before the chain ran out, even being able to almost touch the boundary wall. Byakuya had done it on purpose of course, for the illusion of freedom was a punishment almost more potent then pain.
But it was on a particularly sunny day that he finally found the one thing that could bend the insolent boy to his will.
XXX
Ichigo yelped, sprinting down the hallway, glancing behind him at the huge, black dog that Byakuya owned-Suki-as he chased him down, whining at him to play.
"I'm not playing with you, you stupid mutt!" Ichigo cried out as he sped around a corner. The dog was practically the size of a bear and he played extremely rough. Not that he couldn't handle it, but this was almost the fifth time on a single day that he had been chased down.
Not really paying attention to where he was going, Ichigo glanced behind him, only to find Suki had almost caught up. He sped up, still keeping his eyes on the dog, not realising that Mihane was on a small stool, dusting some ornament on a high shelf.
He only grazed past her really, but it unbalanced her and she toppled forward, her feather duster knocking into a royal blue, ceramic vase, the heavy item wobbling precariously before tipping off the edge.
Ichigo skidded to a stop and Suki ran for cover, the loud noise causing him to skitter away in surprise. "Shit, sorry Mihane."
Mihane was shaking, staring at the shattered vase in fear. "No, no, no, no, no, no!"
Ichigo frowned, approaching her. "Wha-what's the problem? I can help you clean it up if you want."
She turned her wide, hazel depths to him, lip trembling. "That's not the problem. This is a family heirloom!"
He bit his lip as she knelt down, almost crying as she picked up the pieces in shaky hands. "Look, if we just clean it up, maybe he won't notice." He knelt next to her, pushing her away slightly. "Besides, you shouldn't be picking anything up with those hands."
"What's the meaning of this?" Byakuya's cool voice uttered, each word coming out frozen.
"Ma-Master Byakuya!" Mihane cried, standing and bowing hastily, blinking away tears. "I-I'm so sorry Master Byakuya, I-I tripped and knocked your heirloom."
Stoney grey eyes assessed the situation, glancing from Ichigo who was glaring up at him from the floor, picking up broken pieces of vase, and the trembling girl in front of him. "I see. Then you know what you must do. Report to the captain of the guard and he will address your punishment."
He began to turn but Ichigo grabbed his arm, hissing out angrily, "Are you joking me? Who the hell is stupid enough to put precious heirlooms on a plain old shelf anyway? You're just asking it to be broken and secondly-"
"Do you also wish to be punished, Ichigo?"
Mihane shook her head quickly, pushing in front of the angered boy. "No, no he doesn't." She turned to him, muttering urgently, "Ichigo, do you want to get in trouble as well?"
"It was my fault!" Ichigo told him, ignoring the trembling girl. "I was running and knocked into her by accident. I made her fall and hit the vase."
"Then you shall both receive punishment," he replied, gently removing himself from Ichigo's grip before turning around once again.
"Just punish me!" Ichigo cried, wrenching Byakuya back around again. "It was my fault and I'll take the punishment."
His eyes went from the panting form of Ichigo to Mihane who was clutching onto Ichigo's side in desperation. "You don't want… Mihane to be punished… is that how you feel, Ichigo?"
The chocolate depths narrowed, sensing a trap. "I want to take her punishment, because it was my fault," he replied slowly.
Certain in his deductions, Byakuya once again detached himself from the iron grasp of the boy, straightening as he said, "Ichigo, if you don't wish for Mihane to be punished, you will do exactly what I say from now on. Do I make myself clear? From now on you are to report to my office every morning where I will assign you your daily chores."
"What?" he growled out, shaking Mihane off as he stepped closer. "Just punish me!"
Byakuya allowed himself a small smile. Finally, he had the boy exactly where he wanted him. "You will do exactly as I say, Ichigo, or Mihane will be punished for your careless actions."
Ichigo glared at him, gritting his teeth before he snarled out, "Fine," and stalking away, Suki following quietly behind him.