Impertinent little brat (IMP)
Chapter 2: How did this happen?
Byakuya was confused as to why Ukitake-san would wear such a face of worry when he saw him. Prior to that moment he had scarcely seen the tall, gentle man look so worried. A pang of worry shot through him as he stood outside of the closed doors that lead into the chamber where the captains held their meeting. What if that look meant that something had happened to his grandfather? His grandfather had not been among the captains to enter that room, and Ukitake-san had come to the office that morning looking for him. Had he gone missing? What if his grandfather had fallen victim to the same mysterious disease that had plagued Rukongai lately?
Byakuya bit his lip, and absentmindedly picked up a small rock from one of the flowerpots lining the windowsill. As he considered this possibility he let the smooth rock roll between his fingers. No, he decided. It could not be so. His grandfather was much stronger than any weakling from Rukongai. Surely he would not allow himself to befall such a disgraceful fate. And if he had, why would the captains gather between closed doors instead of giving him their condolences and send him home to his so called loving family? When his father and mother died they did not even send one captain to deliver the news, but just one of the lower ranking shinigami. Of course his father hadn't been a captain, but he had been the heir of the Kuchiki house.
Yet the thought did little to calm him.
When the door to the room opened he jumped a little, quickly pocketing the rock as if he had been caught stealing.
"Byakuya-kun," Ukitake-san said with a gentle although still somewhat strained smile on his face as he motioned him closer. "Please come inside."
Renji regarded the brat's face as he was lead into the captains' meeting room, expecting something but not quite sure what. Perhaps a look of recognition? Or failing that perhaps astonishment for entering one of the most closely guarded rooms in Seireitei. He could see traces of neither on the boy's pale face. If anything he looked slightly bored. And possibly peeved. Whatever that hell raiser had to be peeved about Renji had no idea, the redhead thought and grudgingly thought back on the stapler that had been hurled at his head that morning.
Renji heard a sharp intake of breath from his left, and turned his head to see Rukia staring at the slight figure of her brother. She hadn't had a chance to see him prior to this, as both she and Ichigo had only just arrived from Karakura. In fact no one other than himself, Ukitake-taichou and Yamamoto-taichou had thus far met the brat in person, seeing as Yamamoto-taichou had decided to inform the other captains of the situation before letting them meet Byakuya.
Now the captains and their lieutenants, who had been asked to join the meeting, were staring, leaning forwards curiously to get a better look at the brat formerly known as the sixth division captain.
"Holy crap…!" he heard Ichigo exclaim with a snort. "He's just a kid. Ouch! What the hell Rukia, why are you…?"
"Shh, Ichigo!" he heard Rukia snap irritably, though in a hushed voice.
"Or what? You'll elbow me in the ribs again?" Ichigo replied, although he too kept his voice lower this time.
"What do you think?" Rukia answered in an icy tone.
"Yeah, shut up, Ichigo," Renji grumbled, sending a glare at the substitute shinigami.
"Hey, you gonna side with her?" Ichigo glared back.
"This is not the time to act like a dumbass, ya moron. Just shut up." Renji growled. As if this meeting wouldn't be tense and awkward enough as it was without Ichigo adding insult to injury.
Ichigo opened his mouth as if to answer, but just then Yamamoto-taichou cleared his throat loudly, and his friend quickly shut it again. Although even in doing so he shot both him and Rukia an annoyed glare.
"Ken-chan, is that Byakushi?" Yachiru's childlike voice spoke up, obviously ignoring the fact that Yamamoto-taichou had sternly cleared his throat. Turning his attention away from his friends Renji turned just in time to see the little pink haired lieutenant leap from her usual spot on Kenpachi's shoulder, which was shaking from restrained laugher, and rush over to a baffled looking Byakuya. "Gah, he's cute!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around the boy's middle in a fierce hug. "Can I keep him?"
Renji felt a headache growing, and he had to fight the urge to groan in dismay.
"Let go of me," Byakuya bit out, while trying to unbend the girl's arms from him, which in turn only seemed to make Yachiru more adamant about holding on.
"Ah, he is cute," Rangiku chimed in throatily. "It's not fair of Yachiru-chan to keep him all to himself."
"Matsumoto…" Hitsugaya-taichou muttered in a warning tone.
"My, my, even at such a young age he's having females flock to him. What chance is there for one such as I?" Kyoraku-taichou commented with a lazy, amused smile.
"Are you saying you wish Yachiru-san to hug you, taichou?" Renji heard Nanao ask dryly, and the flamboyant captain quickly sent her a quick, still somehow lazy, smile.
"No other female's embrace hold a penny to that of my Nanao-chan."
"This is ridiculous," he heard Soifon muttering. She had her arms crossed and, if possible, looked more annoyed than usual.
"Enough." That one word, spoken from the stern, unwavering Yamamoto-taichou was all it took for everything to come to a halt. As the captain commander of the Gotei thirteen stood from his seat, towering over them, all of the other shinigami in the room stopped. For a second Renji thought the whole room held a collective breath. "This meeting will begin now. Let go of Byakuya Kuchiki, Kusajishi-fukutaichou. "
Slowly, looking perpetual, the child fukutaichou's arms slid away from the brat, and she looked at the captain commander with huge, pleading eyes.
"Go back to your station," the old man ordered sternly.
With a small sigh Yachiru did as she was told, reclaiming her seat on Kenpachi's shoulder.
"Now," Yamamoto-taichou continued. "There are important matters that need to be discussed. I do not believe that I need to remind everyone in here that what we shall now speak off is not to leave this room."
Renji, along with everyone else in the room, nodded, but even as he did so he couldn't help but notice the confused look on Byakuya's pale face. If he really didn't remember who he was, or rather who he was to become, Renji realised, and he doubted that he did considering his very un-Byakuya like behaviour, it was no wonder that he was confused. He almost felt bad for the brat.
Now turning his attention to the boy standing in the midst of the captains and the lieutenants gathered, the captain commander surveyed him for a moment before speaking; "Do you know who you are?"
Renji saw a brief furrowing of the boy's eyebrows, as if he was annoyed by the question, before he tilted his chin in that arrogant manner which Renji recognised so well. It was one of the few things that seemed to not have been lost in Byakuya since his childhood days, no matter how different he was as a person.
"I am Byakuya Kuchiki, heir of the Kuchiki clan," the boy answered with a clear voice. Not too loud to be considered raising his voice, but still not too low for anyone to miss his words. The perfect little lord from top to bottom.
Yamamoto peered down on the boy, and the boy met his stare evenly for a few moments. It was a feat Renji doubted he'd have been able to pull off, and no way that he'd look that calm and collected even if he tried.
"Indeed you are," Yamamoto finally concluded, turning back to his seat and sitting down. "Do you know what happened to you?"
Byakuya's gaze shifted uncertainly, if only for a second, before steadily returning to gaze at the elderly man. "Happened to me, Yamamoto-taichou?"
"The reason for why you appear before us now, as a child."
"I am not a child," Byakuya said icily, and as the brat's eyes narrowed in indignation, Renji's eyes widened in shock. Was he going to talk back to the commander-general? The brat had to be nuts!
"The brat's got balls," Ichigo commented beside him, and Renji could almost hear the smirk that no doubt was spread on his face. He could also hear his friend's sudden gasp for air, followed by a wheezed out "…what the hell, Rukia?"
Renji didn't turn to look at what Rukia had done to Ichigo, as his eyes were staring alternately between the idiot brat and the commander-general. Neither of which seemed inclined to speak at the moment, but seemed to have settled on a staring contest. A battle of the wills.
To his surprise it was the commander that eventually backed down, saying: "Perhaps not as childlike as your appearance, but never the less younger than last we saw you."
Again a confused look dawned on Byakuya's young face. "I do not know what you are speaking of," he finally admitted, crossing his arms over his narrow chest. "I am no younger now than I was yesterday."
"I see. In that case you may leave, but…"
"Why should I leave? I want you to explain why…" the brat interrupted, an angry scowl on his face.
"You will leave, Kuchiki." Yamamoto-taichou said sternly in a voice that gave no room for argument. "And you will wait outside for us to address you. This is a captains meeting, and no place for someone not yet in the Gotei thirteen."
Although it was obviously an order, and one spoken very sternly at that, the brat didn't seem inclined to back down. His slight stature straightened angrily, and dread crept up Renji's spine when Byakuya opened his mouth again to protest. Fortunately he halted when Ukitake-taichou's hand fell on his shoulder. Byakuya looked up at the white haired captain, who bent down and whispered something to him. Whatever he said seemed to appease the brat, for the next moment he let himself be lead out the door. However when the door closed behind him Renji could've sworn that he heard a thud against the wood, followed by a yelled out cuss, and he wondered if the kid had kicked the door.
"It would seem that Byakuya-san has no memory of what might have happened," Unohana-taichou said. She at least seemed as calm as ever.
"So it would seem," Yamamoto-taichou nodded, looking grim.
"In that case I think we should consider what might have happened," Ukitake-taichou spoke up. "And more importantly; how we reverse it."
"Could it be some kind of virus?" Kyoraku-taichou asked, turning to Unohana-taichou.
"I doubt it. I've never encountered a virus that would have such an effect on the victim," she answered serenely. "But I'll run some tests."
"If it's a virus he probably got it from Toushiro," Kenpachi grumbled, eyeing the small captain with a grin. Hitsuagaya-taichou sent him a cold glare, before proceeding to ignore him and instead spoke up: "If it was a kido of some sort, we should consider who was responsible."
The room went silent for a second, everyone's minds drawn to the same conclusion. Renji saw that Ukitake's two seated officers Sentarou and Kiyone exchanged a look of dread. Those two, though loyal to their captain, never did strike him as the fiercest of warriors.
"Aizen." Rangiku voiced all of their worries.
"Possibly, or at least one of his cronies. And if it was Aizen's doing we all know that that man would have an agenda behind it."
"What could he have to gain from turning Byakuya-kun into a… youngster?" Ukitake asked aloud thoughtfully.
"Who the hell cares?" Kenpachi snorted.
"He'd be easier to kill," Hitsugaya-taichou said grimly. Renji ground his teeth angrily. Like hell he'd let that happen!
"I hate to say it but that does make sense." Kyoraku nodded slowly, and a murmur of agreement was heard from the other occupants of the room.
After that they didn't get much further in the discussion even though it lasted for hours until the commander-general finally announced the meeting to be over.
When they finally exited the meeting room Renji made sure to find his brat captain quickly. It wasn't very difficult as he had dutifully waited outside of the room for the remainder of the meeting, seated on a windowsill while he stared off into the distance with a thoughtful look. It was a look that he recognised. He'd seen Byakuya wear that look many times since becoming his fukutaichou. Though normally he wouldn't be biting his lip while doing it, making him look more like a child than ever.
Although he may look like a child, Renji corrected himself as he approached the boy, he was still his damned captain, and if there were any damn hollows or espadas out to get him now, Renji would make it his business that they didn't get within ten feet of that brat.
"Well that was a huge waste of time," Ichigo said, stretching his arms as he walked up to Renji.
"Keep your voice down, you moron," Renji snapped at him, feeling… unsettled, and thus also feeling the need to bark at someone.
"It was, idiot," his friend barked back. "Instead of talking for hours about what might have happened to that brat, we could've been out trying to get a lead on what the hell did happen!"
"And how'd we do that, moron, if we don't know what to look for?" Renji growled, feeling the urge to draw Zabimaru and work off some of the tension he had been feeling since that morning.
"By looking, idiot!"
"Who are you calling a brat?" Byakuya's cool voice cut through their argument, and they both turned their heads to see the lean little lord glaring at them from his seat.
"Who do you think?" Ichigo smirked at the dark haired boy.
"Back off, Ichigo. He may be little now, but he's still my goddamn cap'n."
Before Ichigo had a chance to retort Byakuya did.
"I am fifteen, you baboon!" he snapped, glaring at Renji indignantly as he climbed back inside.
Renji blinked, and instantly found himself apologizing to the brat. "I didn't mean any harm, Kuchiki-ta…san," he finished, and considered it to be a valid excuse.
Obviously the brat didn't agree, as his eyes narrowed into a piercing glare. It was something akin to the kind of glare that usually would send other shinigami scrambling to get away when the captain was his adult self. Still he found that it didn't have the same effect on him now as it usually did, and Renji furrowed his brow, glaring back.
Just as he was starting to think it'd turn into an all-day staring contest, the brat nonchalantly turned on his heel, waving it away and said: "I forget myself. I keep expecting more from a fukutaichou of the Gotei thirteen, but then I remember that you are nothing but a common gutter rat, and little can be expected of such."
For a second Renji feared that his eyes were going to pop out of his sockets from sheer fury, as he watched the brat begin to walk off down the hallway.
"Hey! Who the hell do you think you're calling a gutter rat, ya prissy brat?" he roared at the boy's retreating back, taking a step forwards to go after him.
At the sound of his voice the boy's back stiffened, and he slowly turned to look at him, a look of disbelief in his angry eyes. "What did you call me?"
"A prissy brat, ya prissy brat!" he yelled back. "'cause that's what ya are!"
Next to him Ichigo keeled over, roaring with laugher.
"Do not dare to beseech names upon me, baboon," the boy countered in a hiss, fully turning and walking back towards him swiftly. "You ought to learn how to address those above your stature before opening that filthy hole you call a mouth."
"Oh yeah? So what? Yer the only one who's allowed to call people shit, just 'cause you're too tight to take one?"
Byakuya's eyes grew wide, as if he couldn't believe the words coming out of Renji's mouth, but Renji didn't care. The brat started this, dammit! The rage in those grey eyes never left, though it seemed momentarily stunted by shock, and for a second Renji expected the boy to attack him. And then Byakuya's face grew calm, though his eyes still blazed with rage.
"May I remind you, baboon," he said in a clipped tone. "of whom you are speaking to: I am not one of your lowly gutter thrash friends that you can address as you please."
"No, just some prissy brat, too damn short to…" he never got to finish that sentence as the boy picked up a rock from his pocket at hurled it at him, hitting him on the forehead.
"I am fifteen!" he heard Byakuya yelling at him even as he groaned and rubbed his forehead.
"Well I'm fucking sorry, ok?" he screamed back. "Now would ya stop throwing things at me?"
Glaring at him Byakuya still seemed more inclined to attack him, then snorted and turned his back at him.
"As if it's my fault he's short for his age," he muttered to Ichigo who continued laughing. He must have said that last bit a tad too loudly, because once more the brat stopped and turned towards him.
The fight was back on.
Rukia watched, transfixed as the argument progressed. Not because she found arguing particularly interesting in itself, but rather because of who was doing the arguing. She had never seen her brother like this, so openly angry… leaving his emotions to play openly on his face, in his voice, even in his body language. It was disturbing.
How could this argumentative young man have become the stoic, chilling presence that she had grown so accustomed to?
"Why have you not yet left as I ordered, Kuchiki?" Yamamoto asked grimly, as if wishing nothing more than to send her away.
Turning her attention away from the furious Renji, and the equally furious brother of hers, as well as the laughing Ichigo, Rukia faced one of the eldest and decidedly the sternest shinigami in Seireitei. As always she was forced to realise that she didn't have a clue of how to speak to this man, or how to convey the urgency and importance of the request she was about to make. Swallowing down the lump in her throat, she bowed to Yamamoto respectfully before speaking.
"Yamamoto-taichou, forgive me for my rudeness. I did not mean to offend you, but," Rukia began, tuning out the arguing voices from the hallway. "I have a favour to ask of you."
The elderly shinigami peered down on her, his brows wrinkling as he regarded her thoughtfully.
"Go on, Kuchiki," he finally stated in a grim voice, as if he did not look forward to granting any favours that day but still was reluctant to deny her the opportunity to ask for one.
Nodding as well Rukia drew a deep breath, and then looked up at the man with steely eyes.
"Yamamoto-taichou, I implore you to not send my brother back to the Kuchiki household. "
TBC