Impertinent little brat

Chapter 8: Secrets of the Nobles

Renji jerked awake when a crash interrupted his sleep. Looking around with bleary eyes he was surprised to be back in his own bed. For a second he wondered about that, as he had been banished from said bed ever since a certain brat had moved in with him, but then he recalled the night prior. He had found Byakuya drunk and upset, for reasons that remained unknown to him. The kid had cried, mumbling something about someone being killed, and Renji hadn't wanted to leave him alone in such a state. He had eventually managed to coax the kid into going to sleep. He must have fallen asleep in the bed with him.

Turning his head he found the kid still sound asleep, pale limbs sprawled out in all directions and with his head buried in the pillows so that only his black hair was visible. For a moment he was certain that whatever that crash had been it must have sounded from outside. Then he caught sight of the alarm clock on the floor. Or rather what was left of his alarm clock.

"Man…" he muttered to himself and crawled out of bed.

The clock had been standing on Byakuya's side of the bed. If that wasn't damning evidence he didn't know what was; he thought in annoyance and lifted his gaze from the pieces of black plastic on the floor to glare at the brat who was sound asleep.

Renji figured that he should probably yell at him for destroying his things, however much hated this particular thing was, but he found himself unable to disturb the brat's slumber. Especially when the brat shifted in his sleep and rolled over on his back. Byakuya's face that had been so sad last night was smooth and relaxed, and Renji found it difficult to bring him out of that small reprieve.

So instead he glanced at his wristwatch and opted for taking a shower and get ready for work. Then he looked back up at the sleeping kid, and he couldn't help but snigger.

He didn't need to yell at him, he decided. The brat was bound to get a hangover of a lifetime, and in all fairness that was enough of a punishment. Suddenly feeling cheerier he quietly walked out of the room.

Sometime later he was standing over the bed again. Predictably he was yet again arguing with the kid. Byakuya didn't even bother to turn over on his back again so that he could look at him. Must be one nasty hangover he was experiencing.

"Come on. Get up." Renji coaxed him again and frowned when he glanced down at his wristwatch. He still had time but if the kid didn't get up soon he'd be late. His cap'n would… oh, right… no he wouldn't. Unless he remembered him being late once he was back to his adult self and still decided to hold it against him. He wouldn't put it past him.

"Leave me be." Byakuya replied, his voice muffled by the pillows.

"Can't leave ya here alone and I gotta get to work. So yer coming with."

He had been expecting some sort of retort to that, but there was none. Renji scoffed and glared at the back of the kid's ruffled, black head.

"Get up."

"No."

"Get. Up."

"No."

Thud.

"How dare you lay a hand on me?" Byakuya snapped, although the snap lacked the icy coating it usually contained. No wonder really, Renji thought, as he watched with some mirth as the brat struggled to get up from the floor. He wasn't very steady on his feet, and he was as white as a hollow in the face.

"I didn't. I pushed yer ass off the bed is all." Renji replied and he had to suppress his smirk. "Not my fault the floor got in the way of yer face."

Byakuya sent him a chilly glare, but from the look on his face he was in no condition to carry on an argument. Not that that had ever stopped him, though when the response came Renji had to admit that it too lacked the usual finesse he'd expect.

"Bastard." Byakuya muttered, brushed past him and stalked into the bathroom in a tightly controlled yet hurried manner that made Renji snicker. The door slammed shut behind the boy. Had Renji known that all it took to get his taichou to surrender an argument was to get him a pain in the ass hangover he'd have dragged him on a binge years ago.

He was not feeling well, Byakuya thought dimly when he lay on the couch of the office that Renji had dragged him off to that morning. His head felt dull, too big and heavy yet oddly empty. The rest of his anatomy didn't exactly feel too well either. His stomach churned, but he was yet to decide whether he was hungry or not. One minute he felt like he could eat anything in sight, the next the mere thought of food made him want to vomit on the floor. No. Definitely not well, he thought again and shut his eyes in an attempt to keep the sunlight at bay. Not well at all.

This was probably what his grandfather had meant when he told him about the down side of liquor. Of course he had never told him of these exact repercussions, Kuchiki etiquette wouldn't have allowed it. It made him wonder what other small but no doubt important bits of information that hadn't been passed down to him due to etiquette.

What was it they called this? He wondered, feeling his dull brain trying to work out an answer that he knew was stored somewhere in it. There was a word for it, he knew there was, but it eluded him. Mists and smoke; that was his mind at the moment. He did not like this experience on bit.

Ah, he thought just before he felt himself drifting off into sleep again and he smiled with drowsy satisfaction, a hangover…

Rukia knocked on the door to the office to the 6th division's captain, and when there was no response she frowned. She knew Renji was working today, and she knew that if he was her brother would be there too and she felt an intense urge to check up on him. She hadn't seen him since the meeting the other day, and the insinuations brought forth by Akihiko the other day had caused her to worry.

She couldn't visit her brother outside of the office. She knew that Akihiko and his horrid sister was sensing that something was up, and she didn't want to lead them straight to the source. The only time she knew that there was little chance of them finding out was when she was at the Gotei. Neither of the twins had any connections to the Gotei, at least none that she knew of.

Knocking again she thought that she heard a muffled sound from within and when no one called for her to enter nor opened the door for her she reached out and did so herself. Knowing Renji it was entirely possible that he was taking a nap, and if he was while on brother-duty she was determined to catch him in the act and make him suffer for it.

But it wasn't Renji who was sleeping on the couch.

"Nii-sa…" she began but caught herself. Looking around quickly she was relieved that there was no one within earshot to catch her slip. Stepping into the office she gently closed the door behind her before turning her gaze towards the sleeping boy.

Walking across the room she studied him closely as she approached. It was difficult to imagine this boy, so quick tempered and bold, to be the same man that would grow up to be the reserved head of the Kuchiki clan. But it was easier to imagine whilst he slept and all of that temperance had melted from his young face.

Frowning she leaned over him and studied him closely. He didn't look too well. In fact he didn't look well at all. He was pale as ghost and now that she looked closer she could see beads of cold sweat on his brow. Was he ill? She gasped for breath when she felt a pang of worry at that thought, but the initial dread was overridden a second later when her own temper flared.

"Renji…" she hissed lowly and it sounded almost like a curse. Fisting her hands she fought down the urge to hunt that idiot down and… as if summoned by her voice the door to the office opened behind her.

"Rukia." Renji sounded surprised, but also much too cheery for his own good.

Turning her head slowly she caught a startled expression fly across Renji's face before he seemed to settle for suspicious dread. He shifted the tray of food in his hands and set it down on a table. "Is something wrong?"

Not answering his question Rukia briskly dragged him out of the office and closed the door behind them. Squaring her shoulders she glowered up at him and bit out; "What did you do to him?"

"Who? Him?" Renji quickly replied and nodded his head towards the office. Catching the fury on her face he frowned and gulped visibly. "Me? I didn't do anythin', it was him drinking all my sake…!"

"You got him drunk?" she wanted to shriek but instead forced her voice down to a deadly hiss.

"No!" Renji hastily denied her accusation. "I got home and found him on the floor drinking."

"For no reason?" She asked suspiciously. She had never seen her brother drunk. Not once in fifty years time, and the notion that he'd drink himself into oblivion for no good reason didn't seem to fit.

"Yeah… well I dunno…"

"What do you mean?"

"Well he was… I dunno… pretty messed up. Acted a bit off ever since we ran into ya and that Aki-Aki-somethin' guy."

"Akihiko." She corrected him primly.

"Yeah. And…" he continued, and then paused uncertainly causing Rukia to look at him. "…he said somethin' last night, after I wrestled the bottle away from him and all. He said somethin' 'bout someone dying, or getting killed. You know anything about that?"

Slowly Rukia shook her head and she bit her lip in worry.

"We need to talk to Captain Ukitake." she said quickly and grabbed his arm as she began to drag him away.

"Wait! What?" Renji protested in confusion. "Why?"

"Because he's a noble too, Renji, and as horrible as it may sound the truth is that the nobles may share Seireitei with other shinigami, but they don't live in the same world. What's heard of the nobles doings and goings on the outside is just the tip of the iceberg." she explained hurriedly while she continued towards the thirteenth division, ignoring the odd stares they were receiving. "If anyone knows what the thing about someone getting killed meant, it's another noble. And Ukitake-taichou has been a noble for a very long time."

They arrived at the thirteenth division quickly. Walking through the same walkways that he and Byakuya had walked down they passed several other shinigami, all of which seemed to be busy. It made Renji reflect on his own division. Ordinarily work was done quickly and efficiently but he had noticed that a certain… genteel attitude towards work had developed over the past few days when neither he or the captain had been present. Well to be honest he was damn sure that it had more to do with that Byakuya was 'absent' than that he had been off during the weekend.

Damn. He'd have to have a talk with the guys. If nessecary he'd even have to stoop to threatening them with the concept of their captain returning to find the division in disarray. That was just one of those things that no one would want to experience.

Turning a corner he nearly walked into someone.

"Woah! Hey, sorry Kiyone. Didn't mean to…" He started to apologise but halted when the woman gave him a startled look. She stuttered something that might have been an apology of her own before turning and quickly vanishing behind another corner.

"Er… she doesn't always behave like that, right?" He asked Rukia but found that she had already continued on her way. She shot him an impatient glance over her shoulder.

"Renji, hurry up."

"Yeah, yeah… I was just…" He muttered but Rukia had already turned away again. "… never mind."

They found the thirteenth division's captain in his office, studiously going over paperwork. On the desk in front of him stood a cup of tea and every now and then while he worked he'd reach out and take a sip. When Rukia and he walked in and bowed to the gentle man, the captain looked up and an inviting smile spread on his face.

"Abarai-fukutaichou, Rukia." He greeted them fondly. "Would you like some tea?"

"Yes, thank you, Ukitake-taichou." Rukia took the lead while she straightened up. "May we speak with you in private for a moment?"

Ukitake tilted his head to the side, a look of worry tugging at his features and he nodded. As soon as the door closed he stood up from his seat. "Is there something wrong? Did something happen to Byakuya-kun?"

Renji and Rukia exchanged a look.

"No…" Rukia began, shaking her head. "At least not in the sense that there's an imidiate danger involved."

The white haired captain nodded although the look of worry never left his face Renji though a certain tension did fade from him at Rukia's words.

"Sit down, please." He motioned towards the couch by the wall with a slender hand, while he busied himself with walking over to a cabinet and pulling out two cups that he set down on the table in front of them before filling them with sweet smelling tea. He then retrieved his own cup and sat next to them on the couch before nodding at them to continue.

"Last night my brother told Renji something," Rukia began. "Something about someone getting killed."

The captain blinked and then frowned slightly. Fixing Renji with a concerned gaze that clearly stated that he had some doubts. Perhaps he didn't think that he was lying per se, but it seemed to lean more towards the assumption that he must have been mistaken. "I must confess that that doesn't sound like Byakuya-kun at all. To be so openhearted about something like that."

"Well…" Renji mumbled, avoiding the captain's gaze.

"He was drunk, Ukitake-taichou." Rukia explained, not giving her friend a chance to smooth that little information over, and Renji felt himself flush.

"Drunk?" Ukitake questioned, and Renji could hear the calm but steady judgement in that tone.

"He stole a bottle of sake from my kitchen, Ukitake-taichou," Renji tried to explain and looked back up with determination. It wasn't his fault dammit, and he'd be damned if he'd let anyone think it was.

"And you were where?"

Renji blushed a brighter shade of red. "Out. I needed to get groceries and he refused to come along so…"

Slowly the white haired captain shook his head, but this time the judgement was gone from his voice when he spoke; "Tell me what happened."

And Renji repeated the whole incident to the captain, not leaving out any detail he could think of that might give the captain an idea of what may had been going on. When he had finished his tale the captain stood up and stood frozen on the floor whilst staring out of the window. There was a light frown on his face.

Renji and Rukia exchanged a wary look.

"Ukitake-taichou?" Rukia questioned lowly.

The white haired man didn't respond right away but kept his gaze firmly locked on something outside the window. When he finally glanced their way again Renji could easily see the edges of worry on his face.

"You should give him a name, before you accidentally call him by his real one in front of someone who shouldn't hear." The tall man said in a low tone of voice. Clearly he had decided to end the conversation, and Renji wondered why. He had to bite down on his tongue to keep from asking. Something about the way the captain had reacted told him that this was not the time to ask. "I need to get back to work, as I am sure the two of you also should. A division doesn't run itself."

A polite yet firm manner in which to ask them to leave, and coming from a captain they had little choice than to oblige.

"How about… Yoshi?" Renji tried for what felt like the hundredth time to pitch a name to Byakuya. Just like he did every time Renji suggested a new name the boy gave him a disgusted look. The red head was seriously beginning to consider just calling the brat "Dumb-ass" and be done with it.

"My grandfather had a dog called Yoshi once. It was fat, lazy and ugly. " Byakuya replied and ate a spoonful of soup. It was the only thing Renji had been successful in coaxing the brat into eating and he was now starting to look less green in the face.

"So… no?" Renji said and received a blank look from the boy.

"Indeed." Byakuya responded a moment later. "I'd have thought that at the very least was obvious, even to you, baboon."

It seemed that recovering from the hangover also had the snarky remarks coming back.

Taking a deep, calming breath the redhead resisted the urge to respond to the insult. They'd never get anywhere if all they ever did was fighting, and, he added to himself, he still wanted to try to get Byakuya to explain what he had said the night prior. Ticking the brat off wouldn't aid him if he wanted to interrogate him.

"Alright, alright. Yori?"

"Do I look like a servant to you?"

"A servant? It's just a damn name." Renji groaned.

"A name fit for a servant." The dark haired boy concluded and continued to eat.

The red head watched him in silence for a while. He couldn't help but to wonder why the kid was being so difficult. Not just about this, a seemingly simple task of taking another name for a while, but about everything. He questioned anything and everything, refused to compromise and took no account for anyone else's feelings. Was he doing it on purpose? Was he trying to get a rise out of him? Or was it just his nature?

His captain had not had any problems with following orders supplied by Yamamoto; but this kid seemed to have no such qualms. What had changed him? Or had he changed at all? Thinking back Renji realised that when it came down to it his captain never seemed to just do as anyone said. He'd follow Yamamoto's orders, yes, but he'd also seemed to add to them so they fit his own needs.

Maybe he had been staring at the boy, who'd, hopefully, become his captain again soon, for too long because suddenly the youth's grey eyes locked with his own. There was a steely annoyance in them.

"It's rude to stare at someone who's eating, baboon. I knew you were lacking in manners but I assumed that even you knew as much. Apparently I made a grave miscalculation." Byakuya said.

Renji once more fought down the initial urge he had to fight back; he bit his tongue, again reminding himself that there was no use getting into another argument. There was no arguing with Byakuya Kuchiki anyway – teen or adult.

"Well." The redhead said instead and decided to promptly change the subject." We gotta call ya somethin'. Can't go 'round callin' ya Byakuya and let everyone know 'bout this... thing. Just pick a damn name will ya."

Byakuya gave him a levelled look, pressed his lips together almost unnoticeably as if contemplating what he had said and hating the fact that Renji was right. Eventually he nodded his head once and said; "Soujun. "

"Soujun? What kinda dumb name's that?" Renji chuckled, and was rewarded with an icy glare.

"It was my father's." The boy responded with a voice even colder.

Renji bit his tongue. "Oh… er… sorry." He hesitated for a moment but then shook his head. "Anyway Soujun won't work."

"Why not?"

"'cause yer relatives would figure it out, right? And ya don't want that to happen do ya?"

Byakuya pressed his lips together again; a stubborn look crossed his face and for a moment Renji was convinced that he was about to be dragged into yet another fight. But the kid inclined his head.

"How 'bout Keita?" Renji suggested and was sure that that too would be scornfully rejected and objected to ridicule, but to his surprise Byakuya tilted his head to the side as if considering it carefully. Then he nodded once.

The matter was settled.

Renji felt relieved and almost wanted to throw his arms in the air and cheer with joy and glee. 0000000000

Renji gently shut the door to his bedroom after checking up on his charge that was deep asleep in the midst of an array of sheets and pillows. It didn't come as a surprise to Renji that Byakuya, or rather Keita from now on, he reminded himself, had fallen asleep early. Hangovers tended to do that to you. He knew this from long and dedicated personal experience.

Padding into his living room the redhead settled down on the couch and glared at the stacks of papers. He hadn't counted on this. Or maybe his brain had just tried to protect his sanity by not letting him consider the inevitable. In the end it had been a rude wake up call and he blamed his thick head for it. If he'd only been allowed to prepare himself for the horror maybe it'd have felt less… horrible.

Paperwork. Not only his own share, but his captain's too. Obviously Byakuya, Keita, was in no position to do paperwork, and Renji hated him a little for that. Damn… if he didn't know any better he'd think this whole thing was just a ploy by Kuchiki-taichou to bully Renji into doing paperwork.

"Man…" he muttered with a groan and gave the stacks of paper another hard glare. He fiddled with the thought of 'accidentally' setting fire to them, but decided against it. With his kido skills he may burn down the building in the process. "…I need coffee." He took another look at the stacks and added. " Strong coffee."

Rising from the couch he walked into the kitchen. While he prepared himself a cup of coffee, the strongest he could muster, his thoughts irrevocably went back to the boy sleeping in his bed.

Not for the first time his mind went to the night prior when he'd had the boy tightly wrapped in his arms, the small frame trembling with tears that soaked into his clothes.

"He killed them." Those words. Every time he thought about them it sent a chill down his spine and just like then he now felt the urge to interrogate the kid about it. Who died? Who killed them? And who was that person or persons to this boy? He wanted to ask all of those questions, but so far hadn't been able to. Byakuya had been so distraught last night, had seemed so small and… weak… and despite it all Renji didn't want to bring him back to that. He didn't want to see this boy, or his captain like that.

Another question was lingering in his brain too; Had this killing been what had had caused his captain to become the cold person that Renji knew?

Maybe it was just something that came with him being a noble?

It was baffling to the redhead, no less now than it had been days ago, how this fiery and stubborn brat could be the same man that would look at him with such a cold, detached gaze, and against his better judgement Renji found that he wanted to know. Wanted to know about the link between them, because they really seemed like two separate people.

"What the heck happened, cap'n?" he mumbled aloud, mostly to break out of the whirling mess these thoughts were making of his mind.

"Yo, Renji. Do you often talk to yourself, or is this a special occasion?"

Renji yelped and damn near spilled coffee all over himself. Whirling around toward the voice he blinked when he found a familiar woman standing in the entrance to his kitchen. There was a look of amusement on her dark features.

"Yoruichi-san… How did ya…?" he breathed in surprise and caught himself. There was no use asking how she got in, she was the former 2nd division captain. Of course she'd be able to get in without him noticing. "What are ya doing here?"

"Ukitake sent for me." She answered casually and shrugged. "Seems he think you got a problem with Bya-bo."

"Bya…bo?" Renji repeated, feeling dumbstruck.

Yoruichi laughed. "Yeah, it's what I always called him. Drives him off the bend."

"Bya…" Renji repeated again as the realisation started to hit him. "…kuya?"

Yoruichi laughed again, the laugh of someone remembering something particularly funny.

"Yep. He calls me Baka-neko, you know. Silly thing."

Renji shook his head, still reeling over the not so subtle hint that Yoruichi and his captain seemed to at least at one time have known each other well enough to address each other by nicknames.

"Where is he?" Yoruichi interrupted his thoughts and looked around as if the aforementioned Bya-bo would suddenly plop out of a cabinet.

"Oh… asleep. He… ain't feelin' too good." The redhead answered, scratching his neck sheepishly as he avoided to say why exactly his charge wasn't feeling well.

The quick teasing smile on the woman's face told him that she already knew though and he scoffed. Damn, Ukitake-taichou liked to gossip?

"So he's really back in the teenage years, huh? I can't wait to wake him up in the morning." The woman said thoughtfully and leaned against the doorframe with a snigger. "It's been a while since we played tag."

"Tag?" Renji asked and felt his eyes widening. "Ya played tag together?"

"How did you think he learned shunpo?"

"Oh." Man, no wonder his captain was good at that if he'd learned from playing tag with the frickin' Godess of Flash as a kid. "So ya've known each other for a long time. That's why Ukitake-taichou sent ya?"

She nodded and her expression grew serious. "He told me about what Bya-bo said. What I wonder is why you're so interested. Why are you so curious? What is he to you, Renji? A puzzle to solve? An enigma to figure out?" her voice was low and deadly serious. There was an almost angry glint in her eyes, as if she was accusing him and Renji blushed in anger.

"No!" he blurted out. "Or… yes… I dunno. I just don't get it. All of this is fucked up and… hey I gotta live with the guy, and he's freaking out and… I kinda feel like I…" he trailed out, not really knowing how to continue. He was curious, he'd admit that, but there was something else too. He felt that he needed to know. He wanted to…

"You want to protect him." Yoruichi finished his thought aloud. The anger had drained from her face somewhat, and he thought that he could see something else flash in her eyes now. It was a heavy look, and it faintly reminded him of regret but he wasn't sure it had been there because the next second it was gone.

Again he felt himself blush, but he wasn't sure why. Instead he merely shook himself and tried to act casual when he shrugged and said: "I'm his fukutaichou. Kinda my duty."

Yoruichi looked up at him with her arms crossed over her chest. For long moments they stood just like that, and Renji was reminded of the fact that she once had been the 2nd division captain. He wondered what it was she was trying to gouge out of his expression and he fought down the urge to pull a face just to break the stalemate.

"You can't protect him from something that already happened, Renji."

"Nah, I know. But… ya know, if I at least knew what the heck's going on… I could help. Or at least not hurt him." He mumbled and felt a sting of guilt shoot through him when he thought back at that moment he raved at the brat and told him his grandfather was dead. He had hurt him then and Renji didn't want to cause him pain like that again.

Yoruichi nodded slowly.

"I'll tell you."