A/N: Sorry for taking so long to update. I've been swamped with finals and my birthday is coming up. (September 12th!) I hope you enjoy this chapter, I've been fixing up parts of previous chapters.

Chapter Four

Caught

Byakuya, as well as a few other captains, gave Kenpachi a withering look before returning his gaze upon the girl who was still in a heap on the ground before him, ignoring the worried and curious stares from the onlookers. He didn't understand why he felt such defeat emitting from the girl. If anything, Orihime should be proud. No one has ever battled against him in such a way. The amount of determination that Orihime exhibited in that short duel against him reminded Byakuya of Ichigo in an odd way. Suddenly he felt like he needed to train.

Byakuya knelt down in front of Orihime, finally letting go of her zanpakutō in the process, which gave a resonant thump as it hit the ground near Orihime's knees. He placed a hand on her shoulder, noticing her recoil slightly which gave him an odd pang of guilt. He studied her again for a brief moment before giving her some space and calling over Izuru Kira.

"Captain Kira, can you tend to her wounds?" he asked, his tone betraying a hint of guilt he felt. He immediately inwardly chastised himself for showing weakness, his eyes and demeanor growing even more cold as if it were possible.

The tone of Byakuya's voice seemed to grab Orihime's attention, it also didn't go unnoticed by the present captains, lieutenants, and some seated members that were present. Orihime was staring up at the noble who still remained in front of her, if not further away from her now. Her features set in pure confusion. He was guilty?

As Izuru and Isane made their way to the two, Izuru was watching the noble. He had seen the multitude of those who fainted within the division because of both their reiatsu. Their duel was careless and it was extremely uncharacteristic of Byakuya to engage in careless behavior. Izuru began to steel himself, pushing down any fear and uneasiness he held towards the noble. He knew he would need to have a chat with Byakuya, as well as a few others, because it was one of his duties now as a captain.

Once the healers were next to Orihime and Byakuya, Izuru and Isane helped Orihime stand in order to take her inside a building so she would be comfortable as they healed her and restored her reiatsu as well as tend to the noble's injuries. Izuru appointed his lieutenant to heal and take care of Orihime for the moment, as she was more than capable for the job. He pinned his stern, yet solemn gaze on the noble, who seemed nonplussed by Izuru's attempt at intimidation, as he motioned for Byakuya to at least sit down so he could be healed properly. Byakuya wouldn't, however. He kept standing there, his cold gaze flicking between Izuru and Orihime.

With a sigh, Izuru began to look over the stubborn noble anyways, as he was bleeding a lot. "You know, I think this has been the first time I've ever seen you, Byakuya Kuchiki, do something careless. What has gotten into you? You know better than duel like that in front of people who can't handle your immense reiatsu," he said in a low voice, not wanting to disturb Orihime and Isane. Izuru moved to grasp and inspect the noble's bleeding hand but Byakuya moved away from him.

"Go tend to Inoue, I'm fine," he said in a clipped tone. Before Izuru could respond, he was gone in a blur of shunpo. Izuru sighed in frustration, staring solemnly at the trail of blood he'd left on the wooden floor.

Izuru turned and watched as Isane was working on Orihime, he knew that she didn't require his aid since she was only drained of reiatsu and had superficial cuts all over her body. Isane looked up at him, and Izuru nodded at her before leaving to go talk to Rose and Shinji since he had a feeling they knew what happened to get those two to fight. Considering he knew that his former captain as well as Shinji were very curious about what Orihime Inoue's abilities as a soul reaper would be.

Sure enough, as he walked over to Rose and Shinji they were talking about Orihime's performance excitedly, though they both had bored expressions on their faces, there was something Izuru had come to realize in both mens' faces as excitement. Before he could ask what those two were up to, however, he saw a blur of red and suddenly Shinji was was on the ground, Hiyori on top of him.

"Damn it, Hiyori! Why did you kick me in the face?" Shinji all but whined, his bored expression quickly turning into one of annoyance as the petite girl on top of him grabbed his haori and proceeded to shake him violently. Izuru then noticed Momo running towards Shinji, a worried look on her face.

"Don't ask stupid questions, Shinji! Why aren't you doing your job, lazy ass? Get your ass back to the 5th division right now! Hinamori was forced to do all of your work today because you decided to shirk your duties as a captain," Hiyori screamed at him, growing more and more angry as Shinji seemed to not be paying attention to her. He was looking away with a finger in his ear, looking bored as ever. Hiyori finally lost it completely and began to slap him repeatedly with her yellow flip-flop. Momo watching them, poised as if she wants to help Shinji, but at a loss as to what she should do.

Love came over and plucked the petite vizard off Shinji, holding her writhing form in the air by the back of her red track suit. Hiyori began to growl in annoyance and pure rage. "Perhaps you should have accepted to be his second lieutenant, Hiyori. I don't know why his laziness bothers you so much when you have nothing to do with his division." Love, and the rest of the vizards, knew the reason she was so upset and why she wouldn't accept another position in the Gotei 13. Hiyori grew attached to Momo, most likely because of her easy-going, friendly nature, and probably because they were both effected by Aizen's regime. Hiyori didn't like when Shinji left the work to Momo, even though his lieutenant never complained.

"You know why I didn't accept that dumbass's offer, you dumbass!" Hiyori said angrily, finally having settled down enough to communicate in her own way. Crossing her arms over her chest and pointedly looking away from Momo, "I hate soul reapers," she ground out between her teeth. Ignoring the hurt look that crossed Momo's featured for the briefest of moments. The lieutenant was used to Hiyori's personality by now, though it still hurt when she actually voiced how she hated soul reapers.

Hiyori was now getting upset that she was still dangling in mid air, so she growled in annoyance before managing to swing herself up and wrench herself free, crouching on Love's arm. Hiyori moved to kick Love in the face for treating her like that but unfortunately for her he was faster. Love grabbed her foot and now she found herself dangling upside-down.

"We've had this talk before, Hiyori. I think you should spend some time with me and Lisa until you calm down," Love said, nonplussed by Hiyori's behavior. They walked away, Lisa flanking him, clearly not caring about the situation as she had her face planted in a smutty graphic novel, Hiyori still dangling upside-down with her arms crossed and her left eyebrow twitching as they made their way to the 8th division.

Izuru stared after them, dumbstruck. He would never get used to Hiyori's temperament. Izuru's ears caught the sound of a sad sigh and he rested his gaze upon Momo, his long time friend since back when they were in the academy. He studied her for a moment, noticing the barely visible frown set upon her lips. Shinji, who was now standing, placed a hand upon his petite lieutenant's head. This grabbed her attention and Momo turned slightly to smile fondly at her captain. Izuru found himself smiling as well, he really liked the fact that Shinji and Momo trusted each other and possessed a good, healthy bond. Momo Hinamori deserves nothing less.

"Rose, Captain Hirako, judging by your pleased and excited looks earlier you know what happened to get Captain Kuchiki and Orihime Inoue to fight. Orihime looked particularly bent on killing Kuchiki when I showed up," Izuru found himself finally saying, needing to get some answers. He stared at his former captain expectantly with his ever solemn blue eyes.

Rose and Shinji shared a look, both appearing bored but Izuru didn't miss the mirth that was held in both of their eyes. "We were toying with Orihime, trying to see what she was capable of when our favorite nobleman came for a visit," Rose said airily, as if it should be obvious. "Then Shinji had a magnificent idea! We got them to duel, since we wanted to see our princess's zanpakutō, though she never did end up using bankai... It wasn't hard, Orihime even challenged him herself in the end. She wished to prove herself."

"Our princess is quite the strong one, taking on little Byakuya with only her shikai," Shinji chimed in, giving a wistful sigh. "I feel as though I've fallen in love with her all over again," he added in a sing-song voice. Next to him, Momo was blushing. Seems like she never got used to this part of her captain's personality.

"It's too bad we didn't get to witness her bankai. Orihime's zanpakutō is very pretty, seems Rukia has some competition."

Izuru sighed, he knew that often times Shinji and Rose caused mischief when left unattended.

"Thank you, Rose. I don't think anyone will be seeing my bankai any time soon. I do possess one, but... It's not fully formed and certainly isn't offensive, at least not yet," came the tired voice of Orihime, who was now standing to Izuru's left with Isane just behind them both.

Orihime rubbed her eyes, "I take full responsibility for any inconveniences I caused. I felt the need to prove myself to Captain Kuchiki. I get the feeling he thinks I'm utterly useless..." she trailed off, looking for her zanpakutō which was laying on the ground where Byakuya had dropped it.

"Don't worry about it, Orihime. I also wouldn't worry about Byakuya thinking you're useless."

Orihime, who had found her zanpakutō and was studying the amount of blood on the blade with a frown set upon her features, turned her attention to Rose again, her frown deepening. "What do you mean? I lost against him."

Rose was now smiling like a Cheshire cat. "Technically yes, but you did manage a few things that I don't think he's ever encountered before in a battle. You do possess a rather unique ability. Byakuya seemed rather impressed by your performance by the time it ended."

Orihime seemed lost in thought at that. She didn't recall such an expression from Byakuya, he had seemed more on the lines of upset than anything, but then again he was always hard to read. Orihime looked down at her sword again, her frown deepening. "Speaking of Byakuya, where did he go? Did you heal him already, Izuru?" she inquired, staring at the solemn blonde, her eyebrows set in worry.

"Um, well... He refused to let me heal his wounds, insisting that I heal you instead. Captain Kuchiki just left like his wounds were nothing. To be honest, he was worse off than you," Izuru said, running a hand through his hair. "I don't understand anything that guy does."

"You and me both, Izuru..." Orihime trailed off, finally wiping her zanpakutō clean, using the sleeve of her shihakushō before sheathing it. "That idiot," she muttered under her breath. She turned to look at her captain. "Would you mind if I took off a little bit early today, Rose? I feel obligated to go look after a certain noble."

Rose inclined his head, and at that Orihime gave a low bow before taking off in the direction of the Kuchiki Manor in a blur of shunpo, passing everyone else on the way.

Orihime stormed through the Kuchiki Manor, following Byakuya's reiatsu. In her haste, she almost ran over several servants. Orihime had barely paused to apologize before setting off again, causing the servants to gawk at her rudely before returning to their duties. Orihime didn't notice their rude stares, she was on a mission. She was responsible for the injuries she inflicted upon Byakuya, and it had worried her that he neglected treatment, even if they weren't life threatening.

Once she was at her destination, Orihime stared at the shōji door that lead to Byakuya's rooms. She suddenly felt nervous, but then she squashed it down, swallowing the lump in her throat, and taking on an air of confidence, she slid the screen back. Orihime had been poised to say something but she lost her words. Before her was Byakuya, his back towards her. He only had on his black hakama, revealing the shallow cuts on either side of his waist, he was in the middle of attempting to wrap them in a white medical cloth. She noticed he had already cleaned away the blood, and wrapped his left hand. His ruined captain's haori, shitagi, and kasode in a pile at his feet with a blood stained cloth.

Byakuya stopped what he was doing and peered over his shoulder though his long, dark hair. He trained his gaze on Orihime, who he noted was staring at him as if she has never seen a half dressed man before. "You're drooling," he quipped in an attempt to snap her out of her reverie. Which seemed to work as she blinked and proceeded to don a sheepish look. "What are you doing in my rooms? It's rude not to ask for permission first. I could have been naked," he was fully facing her now, holding the wrap in his hand. Byakuya stepped closer to her, fixing his steel eyes on hers. "Please refrain from doing that again, Inoue."

Orihime's eyes widened. She caught sight of the thousands of small faded scars on his torso, creating something close to a web. Before either of them realized it, she gingerly traced some of the scars on his ribcage with the tips of her fingers, slowly moving up to the burn mark on the right side of his chest which was from earlier. Byakuya merely quirked an eyebrow at her, not bothering to remove her from his person like he normally would have. "I don't like to repeat myself," he settled on saying. Another attempt to gain her attention.

Orihime just found herself asking, "Is this from the Quincy war? It looks similar to-" she was cut off with a curt nod.

"You're aware that early on in the war they were able to steal bankai, right? These scars are from Senbonzakura," Byakuya said as he turned away from her, sighing. "I don't think you came here to ask me about the past," he said pointedly.

"Well, I... You made sure I got healed, but you refused treatment. I'm responsible for injuring you, so please let me heal you, Captain Kuchiki."

Byakuya wondered why this girl was seemingly worried about his miniscule injuries. He had been through much worse and lived, he knew she was aware of that. He closed his eyes and gave a slow nod, before settling down on a cushion in the room. He would appease Orihime.

Orihime took this as a sign that he would let her heal him, and so she moved to settle down on a cushion next to him. She grabbed his left hand and proceeded to heal that first after removing the bandage.

Byakuya watched her work, training his eyes on the pale, warm light emitting from her hands. He realized that her reiatsu was always warmer than others, and he felt comforted by that fact.

"Why did you try to kill me earlier? Am I that insufferable to be around?"

Byakuya was taken aback by her words, sure he thought her mildly troublesome but he wouldn't kill her over it. "I tried to kill you?" he asked quizzically. Then he remembered that he had trapped her using his Senbonzakura Kageyoshi after she attempted to exploit his weakness. "You're talking about when I trapped you. You honestly thought I would kill you in a duel? I was intrigued that you figured out and tried to exploit my weakness, so I responded by pushing you a bit."

Orihime frowned. It hadn't crossed her mind that he was pushing her in their duel. She felt bad for her actions against him after that point. Though he did succeed, since she was forced to use Seifuku no Hikari which she hadn't used against a zanpakutō like Byakuya's before. Now she knew that she had the ability to pin down zanpakutō.

Byakuya watched her intently and then decided to speak again. "You probably would have had a stronger chance at succeeding with that type of attack method if I had never crossed paths against that fullbringer Tsukishima." He noted how her eyes seemed to darken at the mention of that man. "I know you are aware of what he was capable of at the time. Thanks to Tsukishima I realized there are methods I can develop that potentially use my weakness to my advantage, which you experienced earlier."

"I'm sorry for losing it against you. I should have known you were trying to push me to see what I'm capable of. I suppose it's a good thing that Seifuku no Hikari uses up a lot of my reiatsu, otherwise that Byakurai spell I had cast at the end could have done more to you," Orihime murmured, letting go of his left hand which was now completely healed short of a red line on his palm which would fade over time. She leaned forward to begin healing his left side which had a deeper cut than the right. "I'm so foolish and it's all because I stopped trusting and seeing only the good in those around me. I'm an idiot for thinking that coming here and seeking a high ranking position was a good idea. How can I aspire to be a captain when I can't even trust?"

"You're correct in thinking you're currently unsuitable for a captain position. Even if you had done exceedingly well during the test, I doubt you would have received the captain position," said Byakuya. Orihime's brow furrowed, of course the noble would give it to her straight.

Byakuya continued, deeming further explanation necessary. "You're not accustomed to our world. You lived in the world of the living throughout your training instead of going through the rounds like most others do. It typically takes a soul reaper many years to become worthy of a captain position, rarely does anyone become one without at least a few years as a seated member of a division. That blood thirsty brute, Kenpachi Zaraki was an exception. He went through one of the few ways of becoming a captain, which was to defeat the captain of the 11th with 200 people there to witness. Not many use this method, so most captains are referred as needed."

Orihime blinked. This was possibly the longest he has ever spoken to her, though what he said made her even more sad. She truly was an idiot for thinking she had a chance at a different life. The more Byakuya spoke the more she realized how many mistakes she has made since she accepted Urahara's offer. Orihime mentally slapped herself which made her visibly wince. Byakuya caught the expression that flitted across her features and raised a curious eyebrow at her. It dawned on her then. Byakuya never said she couldn't be a captain in the future. He more or less told her she needed to truly immerse herself into the soul reaper world. Did that mean he approved of her being here? She looked at him with open curiosity.

As if reading Orihime's mind, Byakuya spoke again. "You have been told that you possess potential. Personally, I didn't fully see it until our duel earlier. I was impressed with your quick thinking, and you managed to surprise me a couple of times. The lieutenant position you were given is something you should use to your advantage. Get fully used to our way of life and what is expected of you and surely enough you will truly qualify for the position you seek. Izuru Kira doesn't wish to be in the 4th. His rightful place is by Ōtoribashi's side. Everyone knows that." Byakuya was gazing down at the girl who was closer than he realized, their faces closer than he'd like. Instead of pulling away, he let his gaze wander about her person. He caught the fading red lines left over of her injuries that rested upon her cheek and neck. Before he could stop himself, he brought up his right hand and traced the mark on her cheek with his fingertips.

Orihime, who had already started blushing when she realized he had complimented her was now turning a vivid shade of red as Byakuya touched her so tenderly. For a moment, she was caught in his scent of cherry blossoms and musk and as she stared into his molten silver pools, she swore she saw the ice king vanish. Unfortunately the icy demeanor was back in place once the shōji door began to slide open. Byakuya righted himself, causing Orihime to shrink away from him, too embarrassed to turn and see who had interrupted them, although she was slightly glad that they had.

Rukia stood there, she had been about to tell Byakuya something but then she caught the familiar dark orange hair and she also noticed Byakuya was half naked. She quirked an eyebrow at Byakuya who was staring her down and feigning nonchalance as if it were normal to be half naked in front of Orihime. "Well, hello you two."

At that, Orihime practically jumped out of her skin. She was hoping it was a servant, and then internally chastised herself for not feeling her approach sooner. She moved to try and escape, afraid of the situation she was now in. Unfortunately for her, Orihime was stopped by a firm grip on her wrist. Orihime was surprised and managed to look at Byakuya who was still staring at Rukia, he raised a challenging eyebrow at his sister. She didn't see Rukia's response but she took that it wasn't particularly good by the way his mouth was set in a thin line that screamed irritation.

"Since you rudely dumped all of the work on Renji today, brother, I'm going to go eat dinner with him and make sure everything gets done. Carry on," she said, roughly closing the shōji and leaving. Rukia would get back at Byakuya for messing with Renji again.

Byakuya sighed, and let go of Orihime's wrist. He would pay for his laziness. He knew Rukia still kept in contact with the vile were-cat, Yoruichi Shihōin. Undoubtedly would Rukia simply ask that woman to come torment him. It was because of her that he no longer wore anything on his person that was easily removed, especially hair pieces that he was fond of.

Byakuya looked down, examining his wounds. He was healed enough that he wouldn't further trouble the girl with minor things. Byakuya looked at Orihime, who was picking at invisible lint on her hakama and obi, avoiding eye contact. He ran a hand through his long, dark hair as he picked up the wrappings from earlier and began to re-wrap his left hand with fresh bandages, just to protect it for a couple days.

"I-I suppose I should go apologize to Renji since I got him in trouble," said Orihime, needing an excuse to leave.

Once Byakuya was done with his hand, he attempted to do the same with his waist again. "I wouldn't trouble yourself. Abarai doesn't know and it's best to leave him mad at me," he said in a casual and bored tone.

Orihime spared a glance at Byakuya and was amused that he was failing at wrapping his waist. "Here, let me," she said, holding her hand out for the wrappings. Once she had them she began wrapping him up as Byakuya held his arms out of the way. Once she was done with that she tended to the burn mark on his chest and then covered that as well.

All fixed up, Byakuya moved to his closet to retrieve a yukata to change into. Orihime fought the urge to laugh when he opened the closet, revealing dozens of identical captain's haori, shitagi, kasode, hakama, and what ever else he wore. Byakuya was pulling out a dark blue yukata and matching sanjuku obi when he heard a particularly unladylike snort. He turned to see Orihime with a delicate hand over her mouth, clearly trying not to laugh. He sighed, knowing the reason. Rukia had the same reaction when she found out about his spare clothes, which he didn't really understand why it was funny. It was practical in his mind, especially since the late Head Captain Yamamoto was upset when he and Kenpachi lost their captain's haori in Hueco Mundo. Byakuya made sure to have back-ups since.

He stared at Orihime icily. "Please leave so I may change, Inoue."

Orihime merely nodded before making to leave. She began to slide open the shōji, and then caught sight of a servant who was about to let Byakuya know dinner was almost ready. The servant, a young woman, looked between Byakuya, who was still topless, and Orihime, who was blushing again, and gave Orihime a knowing, suggestive look before schooling her features into a trained expressionless mask. "Dinner is about to be served, Lord Kuchiki," came a soft, feminine voice. "Miss Inoue," the servant added with a curt nod in her direction before departing.

Orihime was blushing furiously, she quickly left Byakuya's rooms and began to close the shōji when she heard, "Wait for me, we'll go to dinner together, Miss Inoue." Orihime stiffened and then hastily closed the shōji the rest of the way. Did he tease her just now? This man was utterly confusing, she didn't know how to deal with him. Currently Orihime just wanted to hide somewhere, she was so embarrassed.

A/N: Please don't forget to comment and critique! I need to know how my story is going so far. Next chapter Orihime will be visiting the world of the living and I have a few surprises set up just for that! Thank you to everyone who has read and commented on previous chapters. I love you!