Impertinent little brat

Chapter 9: Secrets of the Nobles 2

"It's a difficult story to tell." Yoruichi began thoughtfully and took a sip of the sake that Renji had poured for her. Luckily he'd had another bottled stored away in one of his cabinet's. Predictably it was a gift from Ikkaku. And even more predictably Renji had decided to keep it well hidden while the brat lived there.

Renji nodded intently and took a sip from his own sake bowl. He could already tell from the expression on her face and the serious tone of her voice that this was information that she was very careful about. Probably those damn noble business Rukia kept going on about.

"You're too young to remember Genrei-sama, aren't you?"

Renji almost asked 'who?' but caught himself. Genrei was a name he vaguely remembered hearing before, though he couldn't remember in which context he'd heard it. Genrei… Kuchiki? He frowned. "He was the 6th division's captain before…?"

"Before Byakuya, yes. When Genrei-sama died Byakuya took his place as the head of the Kuchiki clan. And later as captain."

"Right." He remembered where he's seen the name before now. In one of the scrolls that listed the captains that had served the 6th division. "His granddad, right?"

Yoruichi nodded, a solemn look in her eyes. "He was a good man. A good leader. Not so good with the family though."

"What do ya mean?" Renji asked quickly. For some reason his first thought was that the man had had done something to Byakuya, hurt him somehow, and he felt an urge to hunt the man down and make him pay. Then he remembered that he was long dead.

"Oh, he was a good clan leader, that was never in question," Yoruichi assured him. "But he made a mistake when he allowed his wife to birth him not one heir but two."

Renji blinked. "Huh?"

How the hell were having kids a mistake?

"You're from Rukongai, Renji. Tell me; how do people there view the noble clans?"

"Like stuck up brats that never lift a finger, even to scratch their own arse." He instantly blurted out, and when he remembered who he was talking to he blushed. "Eh… sorry."

Yoruichi laughed. "You have no idea how often that's actually true. But that's the middle class nobility. Those are the ones that can lean back and just go along for the ride because they really can't move much higher than they already are, and few are willing to try. It tends to get them tossed even lower in the ranks. The high class guards their stature jealously. The higher up you get… the uglier it gets. And to be born as an heir to the Kuchiki house, for a lack of better wording, you're in deep shit."

Yoruichi paused for a second to catch his baffled expression, and then smirked. "To make a long story short; There's a constant tug-o-war of power going on between the ruling classes. The higher up in the hierarchy you are, the more people there will be that wants to stab you in the back to ensure their own fortitude. The person at the top of it all is the clan leader, and there can only be one of those. Because of this it's considered… prudent for the clan leader to produce only one child. One heir. It's the foundation of the clan. The fact that there's only one leader, one true and possible leader, is what keeps the clan united despite all of the scheming going on behind the scenes. When Genrei had a second son he uprooted this foundation."

Not feeling like repeating himself with another eloquent 'huh?' Renji settled for a: "How?"

Yoruichi sighed, as if she was explaining the most obvious thing; "Genrei-sama opened the door to negotiation."

"Huh?" That one just slipped out naturally. Perhaps he was duller than a week old sushi but he just didn't get how having more than on kid could be a bad thing.

Yoruichi sighed. Loudly and theatrically. "With two heirs there was a choice. If you give the clan a choice they will undoubtedly choose a weaker candidate, someone that they think they can control, Renji. Control the clan leader and you control the clan."

"And what? Cap'n was the weaker choice?" Renji asked. That was a horrifying thought. If Byakuya were the weaker candidate… what the heck was that Aki-aki guy like?

Yoruichi laughed. "Kami-sama, no! But I bet those idiots thought he was. Bya-bo was very young when he was made clan leader. Guess they thought he'd be an easy target."

Renji grinned. "Those poor bastards must've gotten the shock of their lives."

Yoruichi nodded, and the grin faded from her face. "And that's what's the problem. I don't think they ever got over that shock. You know Bya-bo well enough Renji; you know he refuse to bow to anyone's will other than his own. It's a trait that make him good leader, a strong leader. It also gave him many enemies, most of whom are from within the family. That's why Rukia didn't want him anywhere near them."

"But… he's their leader! They wouldn't try to kill him!" Renji exclaimed.

"Accidents happen, Renji. " Yoruichi replied. "It happened before."

"But they wouldn't…!" the redhead began but halted. "What happened before?"

"Soujun Kuchiki."

Renji blinked. That name sounded familiar. Where had he heard it before?

"Bya-bo's father." Yoruichi said and Renji realised he must've voiced his last thought aloud. "And his mother. They both died."

He gulped and wetted his lips. Again he recalled the boy crying in his arms and everything clicked into place. "Someone killed them."

"Officially; no. Unofficially; yes." Yoruichi replied.

"What happened?" He forced himself to reign in the building anger. Reign in the need to first go check up on the sleeping brat in his bed before rushing off to slam some sense into every thick Kuchiki head he could find. Save for the one resting soundly on his pillow of course.

Yoruichi shrugged. "They died. Hollow attack they said, but… there were signs of shinigami being present. It was ignored by the clan. Soujun was not as strong as his father or Bya-bo. He was the easiest target. Had he been stronger it might've ended differently."

Damn straight, Renji thought vehemently and slammed his fist down on the table so the sake cups rattled. His cap'n wouldn't have been killed. He'd have slaughtered those hollows and proceeded to do the same damn thing to those bastards! Whoever they were…

Furiously Renji poured himself a cup of sake, only faintly noticing that his hands were shaking with suppressed rage, and downed it in one gulp.

"Damn…" he muttered and poured himself another. Yoruichi watched him silently. "Damn them… damn…damn… damn!"

"I'll toast to that." Yoruichi held up her cup and they toasted in silent understanding.

"I'll just sleep in there." She informed him nonchalantly some time later after he'd asked her where she was staying for the night. Obviously she thought it was the most common thing in the world to exclaim her intent to sleep with Byakuya Kuchiki.

"In there?" He protested. "With… with… him?"

"Well of course, Renji. There's only one couch as far as I can see, and Byakuya don't take that much space. There will be plenty of room for me to snuggle down with him."

"But… but… he'll go mad finding ya there!" he exclaimed, trying hard to not raise his voice too loudly.

Yoruichi laughed heartily. "Don't you think I can handle one little Byakuya on my own? Don't you worry. It'll be just like old times."

Renji frowned in confusion at the image of Yoruichi and his captain sharing a bed. Why would they share a bed anyway? Had they been… like… lovers? But Yoruichi was so much older than Byakuya… right? Although she may look young… there had to be some kinda law against that sorta thing, right?

Perhaps Yoruichi had guessed in which direction his thoughts had wandered because she was sniggering at his face. "Unless you'd rather snuggle down with him, that is?"

Renji felt his face go red, though he wasn't really sure why. He had shared the bed with the brat just last night and that hadn't been anything like… that. It was just something about the way she said it. She made it sound so… dirty. Wrong.

"No!" he blurted out, and she laughed again. Obviously he was amusing her somehow. "It's not… I mean…"

"Well then I'll just see you in the morning, Renji." The dark skinned woman said, turned on her heel and walked into the bedroom.

Renji huffed and flopped back down on the couch to stare up at the ceiling. His life was becoming increasingly difficult with all of these nobles and their damn noble schemes. Not only was he housing a seriously annoying brat, that he at times suspected was off his damn rocker, but now he had an equally confusing were-cat there.

"And they call me a freeloader…" he muttered and lay down to try to catch some sleep.

Somehow he wasn't particularly surprised when he awoke the next morning to the sound of screaming. And loud obnoxious laughing. The loud crash from his bedroom made the redhead roll over with a groan and bury his head in the couch pillow. Damn nobles…

Another crash, probably the sound of his door being slammed open. Renji hoped the hinges hadn't broken. With a growl he bolted from the couch and ran to the hallway.

"…the hell away from me, Baka-neko!" Byakuya's voice roared from the bedroom. The outburst was followed by another round of loud cackling.

"Can't you take a bit of playing, Bya-bo?" Yoruichi's voice asked in a way that clearly stated that she already knew the answer to that question.

"I'll show you playing!"

Oh crap…! Renji thought, his mind rushing back to what Yoruichi had said the night prior about her and his cap'n 'playing' tag. He rushed towards the bedroom door, but before even reaching it he sensed rather than saw two figures rushing past him in the opposite direction. Although he knew that the room would be empty when he reached he couldn't help but cuss loudly when met with the sight of the recently vacant room.

His mind barely noted the broken vase by the window.

"Fuck…" he groaned. "…not again."

"So? You've calmed down yet, Bya-bo?" Yoruichi asked. Byakuya growled furiously, refusing to answer such an inane question, and struggled to get the woman off of him. Of course the hell cat only laughed at this.

"Get off me, Baka-neko."

"What's the magic word?"

"Off. Me. Now." She was not going to make him say it! Not now; not ever!

"Wrong." The stupid cat replied cheerfully and made herself comfortable sitting on his back while he tried in vain to get away. "Say please." She sing-songed back down at him.

"Never!" The nerve of this woman, to think he'd say something like that to her after she had practically molested him that morning and lured him away to Rukongai of all places and then proceeded to wrestle him to the ground to sit on him- and she dared to phantom that he'd say that word to make her release him. He'd sooner cut out his own tongue!

"Guess we're gonna be here for a while then, Bya-bo. Good thing you make a comfy couch." Yoruichi said and grinned down at him.

Byakuya strained his neck to glare at her as hard as he could. She grinned wider and ruffled his hair roughly causing him to try to bite her hand but he couldn't bend that far. Again she laughed and Byakuya felt anger searing in his veins, pulsating along with the thumping of his heart. God! Dammit!

"Baka neko!" he cried in furious but ultimately helpless frustration and renewed his effort to get the stupid cat off his back.

"You lost him?"

It really wasn't so much a question about him loosing the brat. It was more of a question that expressed the captain's bafflement at the sheer stupidity of it all. It all being Renji who was currently standing across the desk of the captain of the 13th division. Hanging his head Renji avoided the white haired man's gaze and nodded.

"Again?"

Apparently even the legendary patience and forgiving nature of Ukitake Jushiro had its limits, but rather than sounding angry the man sounded disappointed.

"Yes, Ukitake-taichou." He admitted, still not looking up. Somehow it seemed worse that the captain showed such blatant disappointment in him than if he'd yelled at him. Anger Renji could handle, but this… it was horrific. It made him want to dig himself a hole somewhere and disappear from sight for the rest of his life.

"But… how?" Ukitake prompted.

"Yoruichi-san came by last night and…" Renji began and glanced up. Almost instantly the other man leaned back in his chair and breathed a sigh of relief. Holding up one hand he motioned for Renji to stop talking.

"Ah." He said, and a small smile tugged at the corners of his lips. "I see. It's all my fault."

Renji blinked. Was he missing something? "What?"

Chuckling Ukitake stood up from his seat and gave him an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, Abarai-fukutaichou. I'm afraid that I had forgotten the nature of Byakuya-kun's and Yoruichi-san's relationship. It really is my fault. I should have warned you before asking her to pay a visit. Old age seems to be creeping up on me. Would you like to sit down and have a cup of tea with me?"

To say that Renji was flabbergasted would've been an understatement of the gravest sort. He was starting to wonder if he was still sleeping, or if the captain had been possessed by… something.

"But… Ukitake-taichou. I need to find my cap'n, I can't just…"

Again Ukitake held up a hand, interrupting him.

"There's no need to worry, I think. Byakuya-kun is in good hands. Yoruichi-san most likely just wanted to have some time alone with him. She will keep him safe from harm." Ukitake smiled encouragingly, but when Renji turned to sit down on the couch the redhead could've sworn he heard the captain add something under his breath. It sounded suspiciously like: "At least the sort that would be inflicted by others."

Renji decided that he must've misheard him. Yoruichi-san wouldn't harm his cap'n, he knew that at least.

The sun was high on the sky by the time Yoruichi finally sighed and stood up from him. Instantly Byakuya was on his feet. He didn't say anything, just glared at her furiously.

"Well I don't know about you, but I'm hungry. What do you say about some food?" She asked.

"As if I'd ever eat your scraps." He muttered.

"I wouldn't dream of it." She grinned that annoying grin again and pointed towards the houses not far from the hill where they were standing. "I was thinking restaurant. There's a good place right down that way."

He was going to tell her that she could very well keep her filthy food to herself but at the thought of food his stomach made a loud grumble and he looked down. He hadn't even noticed how hungry he was until then.

"Sounds like your tummy is agreeing with me, Bya-bo. Come on." She said and motioned for him to follow when she began walking toward the houses. For a moment he debated with himself whether or not to follow. His pride hard headedly told him to let her go on her own, but his stomach told him to follow. Also sense spoke up somewhere in the back of his mind, whispering a sly warning that he probably shouldn't get himself lost alone in Rukongai. He had no guards with him, sense said. The only one around to protect him should the need arise would be Yoruichi. Not that he'd ever admit to that aloud.

Biting back a grumble of annoyance he slowly followed her. She stopped to let him catch up before they continued side by side. There was a moment of silence before Yoruichi broke it with an off handed question: "How does it feel being a teen again?"

"How should I know? I feel the same as I did going to bed in my own room at the estate. I haven't changed." He replied.

"Just everyone and everything else has." She nodded.

Byakuya glanced at her from the corner of his eye and nodded once. "You're old."

Even he wasn't certain whether he'd meant that in an offending manner or not. He knew his grandfather would surely scold him for being so blunt, especially about a topic as delicate as a woman's age. However he'd meant it, it didn't seem to faze the demon cat.

"And you're a brat." She grinned. "Hey, maybe not everything has changed after all."

Byakuya halted momentarily. Stopped to look up on the sun and the fluffy clouds on the sky. For some reason hearing her say that made him feel… lighter. Somehow more balanced. As if there really were something familiar and tangible in this place after all.

A finger poked him on the forehead and he frowned. Slowly he looked back down at the dark skinned woman.

"What are you doing, Bya-bo?" she asked, easily meeting his eye. Few people could do that. Never would he have thought that the fact that she could would make him feel both annoyed and… what? Glad? Renji did that too. Byakuya wondered briefly where that thought had come from, but as he pondered it he realised that it was true. Renji never backed down, and had no problem with chastising him (although the baboon was obviously wrong in doing so since Byakuya knew very well what was best for himself). That was a new experience. Other than his grandfather, Ukitake-san, and the occasional person that were above him in status, no one ever seemed quite comfortable meeting his eye. Except for the stupid cat currently poking him on the forehead of course.

With a grunt of annoyance he swiped her finger away from him and glared at her challengingly.

"Do not think you are allowed to get your fingers anywhere near my person." He said as icily as he could and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Such actions are inappropriate, and I do not wish to be tainted by your touch."

To his astonishment the dark skinned woman took a step back. A sharp and icy feeling of nervousness ran through him and suddenly he was afraid that his words had caused her to turn from him. That he had pushed too hard. The way he always did. Always pushed away those who dared to get close, and watched in silent and painful triumph when they did what he knew that they would. And that was what he wanted. Wasn't it?

Yoruichi tilted her head to the side and gazed at him for long moments. Suddenly her gaze felt heavier than stone on him and he had to struggle not to look away or waver.

Then she quickly leaned forward and gave him a peck on the forehead where she had just had her finger.

His eyes widened. For a moment he almost feared that they'd pop out of their sockets, and then she pulled back quickly, ruffled his hair again and flash stepped away.

Spluttering for a retort of some sort he pushed aside the rush of relief he felt and gave way to the much more familiar sensation of anger.

"Baka-neko!" he cussed and furiously ran after her. Her laughter was ringing in his ears as he chased after her, and he smiled despite himself. Yes, something familiar felt good. Steady. Even if it was an annoying hell cat of a woman.

TBC