Impertinent little brat

Chapter 12: Hat-and-Clogs

What was Byakuya Kuchiki without his power?

The question had plagued Renji since it first reared its ugly head. Since Unohana-taichou had told him and Rukia that Byakuya may never fully recover from the Senka. But there were more to Byakuya than his power, wasn't it? The redhead stubbornly argued against his own inner voice that kept giving him a headache due to all the fearful thoughts that kept raging through his head.

Even with less power he was still… what? Prideful? Secretive? Temperamental to the point that most volcanoes would appear calm? Stubborn as an old goat?

Renji sighed and slumped down heavily on the chair next to his captain's bed. The boy still lay there. Unconscious and pale. Silent and still. If it weren't for the slight rise and fall of his chest he would appear dead.

Renji chewed on his lower lip and slowly reached out towards Byakuya, only to hesitate. His hand lowered and settled on the sheets, crumpling them and smoothing them out respectively.

But there were more to him, right? Not just the traits that would drive Renji half-mad with frustration. There had to be more qualities to his cap'n. There were more, it was just that Renji himself never saw them. No, that wasn't true, the redhead admitted. It wasn't that he didn't see them. He just didn't acknowledge them. He chose not to.

He had seen Byakuya's loyalties, and his sorrows. He had seen a boy who put up a front of strength even when the world crumbled around him, and he'd seen what lay beneath. The deeply and deftly hidden vulnerability.

And that was why he was suddenly certain that Byakuya would come out of this alright. His captain's strength was not limited to his reiatsu.

The redhead smiled, somewhat relieved by his own thoughts for once, and he gently extended his fingers to softly touch the skin of Byakuya's limp hand. He couldn't help but to caress the warm, smooth skin, probably more to calm himself than the unconscious boy. It felt good to be able to touch him, to somehow determine that he was there and…

The door opened and Renji quickly pulled his hand away and whipped his head around to see Rukia come inside. For some reason he felt embarrassed, as if he had been caught doing something he shouldn't.

"He's gonna be alright." He blurted out to his friend and hoped that she didn't notice the blush that he could feel burning on his cheeks.

Rukia gave him a bemused look and sat down on the chair on the other side of the bed. She attempted a smile but it looked strained. "I know. "

She didn't look as if she fully believed her own words but desperately tried to. There was a silent 'he has to be' hanging in the air.

"Have ya heard anythin'?" the redhead murmured. Again he felt his hand draw closer to his captain's and he quickly stopped it and tried to disguise the movement by raking it through his own unruly hair. He needed to wash it, he thought absentmindedly.

"Not… no. Yamamoto-taichou has sent scouts into Seireitei. Yoruichi-sama and Soi-fong-taichou has not come back. I don't know where Ichigo went."

"No one's seen him?" Renji asked. He wondered where Ichigo had gone. When had he disappeared? He'd been with them until they reached the fourth division, the redhead was sure of that, but then everything had seemed to go by so quickly. Everyone running around to save his captain's life and somewhere in the midst of it all Ichigo had gone missing. "He can take care of himself." He stated.

"Yeah." Rukia nodded. Another not-quite-there smile touched her face and then dropped suddenly when Byakuya moved. "Nii-sama?"

"Byakuya?" Renji echoed and bolted to his feet to hover over the boy.

Byakuya's impassive, pale face twisted in his sleep and his breathing sped up suddenly as if fighting against some invisible force.

"Renji!" Rukia cried out in alarm. "Get Unohana-taichou."

Renji cussed under his breath and ran.

It hurt to open his eyes and even when he did the eyelids felt swollen and sore. He had never hurt like this before and for a moment he lay there in shock. He had never imagined that anything could hurt this much. Or that he'd be too weak and tired to scream.

"Hush, Byakuya-kun." A gentle voice said. Calm and steady. "You're in a great deal of pain I know. You were attacked by assassins. Do you recall?"

He didn't, but he knew it to be true.

He tried to swallow, tried to clear his throat to speak, but he couldn't. It hurt.

"Here, have some water." That gentle voice said again, and a brown-haired woman came into view. She tilted his head up and held a glass of water to his lips. When it poured into his throat it felt like liquid ice but he savoured it. He was vaguely aware of that the glass was removed and he was lowered back down but he could no longer keep the sleep at bay. It crashed down on him like a mountain.

"There's no need to worry, Kuchiki-san, Abarai-fukutaichou. Byakuya-san is as fine as the circumstances allows. As expected he's merely confused and in pain." The captain of the fourth division said. Despite the calm tone of her voice Renji couldn't help but feel as if she chastised them for overreacting.

Renji nodded. He didn't care if he was being chastised so long as Byakuya was alright. Or even as alright as circumstances allowed.

"Unohana-taichou." Rukia spoke up suddenly, and Renji looked over to see his friend stop the captain from leaving the room. The brunette turned her head and nodded to Rukia to continue. "Are there… any other… things we need to know about?"

"He will be very tired and very weak until the damage is healed properly. The only thing you can do is to let him rest." The elder woman replied gently. Then before she left she added: "Don't upset him unnecessarily."

Renji couldn't help but think that that was easier said than done. He'd lived with Byakuya long enough to know that upset was something that came easily to him. The only way not to upset him would've been to not say anything at all. And even then that would probably irk the br… Byakuya. Well, maybe they could knock him out.

Renji sat back down on the chair by the bed and watched as Rukia did the same. He wondered if she was thinking the same thing as he was. Probably not.

"Well…" he began in an attempt to lighten the mood. "…at least we know he's doin' alright. Right?"

"Considering the circumstances…" Rukia finished bluntly. They sat in silence for a while, both in deep thought. Then suddenly Rukia spoke. "Renji?"

"Yeah?"

Rukia hesitated. For some reason whatever she was thinking about was making her uncomfortable. It was so unlike her that he couldn't help but feel worried.

"Nii-sama doesn't know me. Yet." She muttered. "I think… maybe I'd upset him if he woke to find me here."

Renji blinked. "What? Why would that upset him?"

"Because he doesn't know me, Renji." She insisted with some bitterness. "And if he found out…"

"He'd be happy." He interrupted. Of course he'd be happy to have a sister. Right?

But Rukia shook her head and stood up. "He never approved of me, Renji. He never looked at me until after Aizen's betrayal."

That baffled him and for a moment the redhead was speechless. He knew that Byakuya, at least not the adult one, wasn't much for being social or loving or caring (or most other things that came naturally to other people) but he'd always figured that Byakuya had showed at least Rukia a slightly warmer side of himself. She'd been adopted into the family for more then fifty years, for crying out loud!

"That's…" he began, but then shook his head fiercely and stood up from his seat. "He saved you from Gin. He… he loves you, Rukia."

Rukia didn't respond and wasn't looking at him, but kept her eyes averted. "I think it'd be better if I left, Renji. He knows you. He'd feel safer with you." She said slowly. Something in her voice told Renji that she had already made up her mind. "I… I'll go back to the Kuchiki household. Maybe one of them was behind this attack. I'll be more useful there."

Swiftly she walked past him and when he called out for her to stop she only paused in the doorway. Without looking back at him or her brother.

"Promise me that you'll look after him."

"Rukia…"

"Just promise me, Renji."

"Yeah… alright." The redhead promised. There was nothing he could've said to make her stay, was there? Was she right? Would her presence have upset Byakuya? Renji growled in frustration. He didn't know the answers to those questions.

Suddenly he was furious with Byakuya. The adult Byakuya version. How could he have treated his friend like that? Taking her away from him only to ignore her? He and Rukia had been like family, and Byakuya had just swooped in there and tore that to shreds, and for what? To treat her like he treated everyone else – like she didn't matter?

Glaring down at the unconscious boy he muttered: "We'll talk 'bout this."

And they sure as hell would, once the brat had turned into a bigger, taller brat.

Rukia felt disheartened when she left the fourth division. Her own words rang in her ears, and she only wished that they hadn't rung so true. She knew that she had made Renji angry with her brother, but she also knew that he'd protect him regardless. She only wished that she could be there when Byakuya awoke too, but at the same time the thought scared her. If he'd reject her… like he had before…? That would've hurt. And she didn't want to feel that sort of pain again. Maybe she was being selfish, or a coward, or…

"Rukia!"

Her head snapped up and her eyes widened when she heard that familiar voice. And just as she had expected she saw Ichigo come barrelling down the street towards her.

"Ichigo." She murmured, and when he stopped in front of her she frowned at him. He looked a mess, all sweaty and ruffled. "Where did you go? Did you go after the assassin?"

"Yeah. I figured I couldn't do much at the fourth so…"

"Did you get him?" she interrupted eagerly. "What did he say? Who did this to my brother?"

"I didn't catch him. Yoruichi told me to go get Hat-and-Clogs." Ichigo motioned towards the Kisuke Urahara who came walking towards them in a leisured pace. "She and Soi-fong went after the assassin."

"Urahara-san." Rukia greeted the blond man who responded with a lazy smile.

"Kuchiki-san. My, my, I hear you got quite the problem here."

"Yes," she nodded. "My brother…" she began and then remembered that she was not supposed to let people know exactly who the boy in the fourth were. She caught herself, glanced around and hoped that no one had heard the slip. At the same time she wondered how many times since coming to the fourth with her brother's bleeding body she had made that very same slip without realising it. Clearing her throat she told herself that it was not something she could worry about now. What was done, was done.

"I hear he's… reverted back into his former cheerful self." Urahara commented, making her instantly aware of a certain familiarity in his voice. Had he known her brother when he was younger?

"Yes." She replied lamely and peered at the former captain. "Did Yoruichi-sama send for you to help with his condition?"

The man leaned back on his heels in a thoughtful manner. "The growing instantly younger and losing of all memory part is an oddity." He said as if speaking to himself. "And oddities are my talent. The other part." He continued softly, obviously referring to the Senka. "I'm afraid is not within my power to help."

She nodded. Anything was better than nothing.

"Well then…" Urahara tilted his ever present hat at them. "I'll go check on… the patient."

"Where're you going?" Ichigo asked. It took Rukia a moment to get that he was talking to her and not to Urahara.

Straightening herself she made herself ready to have a rerun of the conversation she had just had with Renji.

"I'm going back to the Kuchiki compound. I need to find out if they had anything to do with this." She told her friend briskly but determinedly. Making sure that there was no room for argument although she knew that Ichigo never cared if there were room or not. He just made room if he needed it.

To her surprise he just nodded. "Yeah. I'll see if I can find Yoruichi and that assassin guy."

"Good."

Renji groaned and fought against awareness for a while, trying to go back into his dream which he had a vague inkling had been a pleasant one even if he couldn't recall what it had been about. Eventually he had to give the fight up, and he rubbed his eyes tiredly.

It was dark in the hospital room. The only light was coming from the moon that cast a pale square of light into the room.

He must have been asleep for a good while, he noted. The sun hadn't set when he fell asleep on the chair next to his captain's prone form. Right after Urahara's visit he guessed.

The blond man hadn't said much that made sense. He had "uhu"-ed and "ah"-ed while he had listened to what Renji could tell him about what he knew about Byakuya's condition. Which wasn't much.

Then he had proceeded to come up with some annoying gibes that did nothing to lighten the mood and walked out with a half-assed promise to… do something. Still it was a bit of a relief to have Urahara there: the man knew stuff, and what he didn't know he could figure out.

Groaning again the redhead stood up from his seat and stretched his arms above his head in an attempt to loosen his sore muscles. After sitting hunched on that chair for so long they felt like someone had stomped on them. Hard.

He glanced down at the boy on the bed. He was lying on his side now so Renji assumed that he had rolled over in his sleep. Was that a good sign? Was he getting better? But he hadn't woken up since that first time when Unohana-taichou had checked in on him.

Sighing Renji sat back down on his chair and leaned his head against the bedside. At least that gave his sore muscles some relief, and he refused to leave until he knew that Byakuya was well on the way on getting better.

The pain wasn't as severe as when last he opened his eyes but the fatigue made it difficult to open his eyes, or to even think for that matter. Quietly he came to the conclusion that he must be dying. There was no other way to explain this. Had he been poisoned? That would explain why he felt like this.

Frowning Byakuya opened his eyelids ever so slightly and stared into the face of the redhead baboon. He wondered briefly why this was the case. Had the man lost his mind completely?

His throat ached. Burned. He was thirsty, but was at the same time too fatigued to voice it or to even try.

Instead he lay motionless and stared at Renji who was drooling a bit on the sheet.

He was going to die. That was a numbing thought and he struggled quietly to come to terms with it in a manner that would've made his grandfather proud. Still there was a part of him that struggled fervently against it and screamed at him how unfair it was. Fair? You want fairness? He argued with himself bitterly. Life is not fair. Life just is. And then you die.

And that was what he was doing.

Thoughts of all the things he'd never see again, or do again made themselves reminded and he felt his eyes burn with tears. He tiredly blamed them on the poison. And then there were the things he'd never get to do, and those thoughts drew an even greater bitterness.

He'd never rise to Head of House and lead his clan as was his birthright.

He'd never become a shinigami.

He'd never get to see that wayward sister of his that Yoruichi had told him about. Where was that stupid cat anyway? Abandoned him, had she? Bitter though that thought was he quickly chided himself for it. He didn't need her.

And he'd never get to kiss anyone. Though that shouldn't be his greatest concern at the moment, as he lay dying, it suddenly felt like something very important. Probably the poison addling with his mind again. It was stupid, he told himself.

It was a simple act of lips pressing against lips. Hardly an important moment in one's life on the whole.

And still the fact that he'd miss out on it made him feel almost as bitter as the thought of loosing his birthright did. Almost.

Maybe it was just that it was the only thing he would have any chance of doing anything about. Because it was so insignificant maybe he had still some control over it?

If he died here though… he may die at any given moment. Poisons worked that way.

Renji.

Would he be his one chance?

That hardly seemed fair; he thought and was instantly reprimanded by himself with the usual argument about fairness.

Using whatever little strength that still resided in his dying body he scooted closer to the redhead. For a moment he just lay there, looking at the man in silence. This is stupid, he argued with himself. And he didn't care. If he couldn't have his birthright he could have this, however insignificant it may be on the greater scale of things.

So he closed the distance and kissed Renji's slack lips gently. He held still and analysed the sensation, and was surprised that the baboon's lips were soft against his own. It wasn't… an unpleasant feeling.

Then Renji groaned in his sleep and moved, cutting the kiss short.

"Stupid… baboon…" he whispered, though the words could hardly be heard even by his own ears. Yet he couldn't help the light tugging on his lips when a sense of satisfaction flowed through him and he went back to sleep.

TBC