Thank you to everyone who took their time to read and I'm glad some of you liked it. I haven't yet figured out how to thank you via note or something, but once I do, I'll try my best! ^^;

Especially many thanks to bundamba for being an awesome beta. ILU!

Chapter 2

A room is not big, not when looked at from the outside. The whole is partly whiskery with ivy, lazily climbing up the walls, drawing thick, complicated curlicues on a wooded texture. Border forest gives off a feeling of identity, silence and intimacy, which even an unfurling all around green-and-white garden cannot repress. However an illusion crumples under the lack of any sounds – no birds singing, no hubbub of the close Rukongai streets. A quiet place seems degenerated, fake, like a sham, beautiful, but ugly, ugly.

Feigned calmness transfers inside the building and the hovering above the assembled tense atmosphere can almost be cut with a knife. Nobles' sombre faces are long, hard and furious, steely eyes flashing with anger. Stiff movements edge with sharpness and itchy feeling of some ancient rage and wildness, very fleeting, almost gone unnoticed in the thick silence.

The building includes only one rather Spartan room, furnished with just a massive, rectangular table, chairs and a few candle stands attached to the walls. It is very austere, but then again, it wasn't built for entertainment purposes in the first place. Gathered nobles sit in silence by the table, each of the Four Noble Houses easily recognized.

Clear whiteness of the Kuchiki and dark, ebony hair falling down on the strong shoulders of the family members distinguish by the part of the brassy, oak table that faces north. South part of it is dominated by the yellow, brown and purple of the Shihouin clan, emanating sunny radiance like old Egyptian gods among the roasted deserts. Dignified, royal red, ornamented with gold and an aura of authority exude from the east end of the table, where the Shimazu are seated, whereas west drowns in clear, calm blue and delicate silver that surround Kyogoku clan the same way blond curls fringe their kind faces.

No one's smiling. No one's talking.

*

"I'm not surprised at all."

Renji only smirks; his hand caresses her thigh, lazily drawing broad circles from her knee up to the hip. Rukia glances at him dubiously, as if she negates the words that haven't been spoken yet. "So you talked to my brother?"

"Yeah. I wouldn't wanna be th' one who stands behind this mess. Byakuya's livid."

Rukia falls silent at that, unconsciously leaning into Renji, her brows furrowed as she was deep in thoughts. "Yer upset too, eh?"

She jerks her head up to look at him. "Of course I am. It's my family. And soon yours too," she adds with an unspoken reproach hidden in the last sentence. Sighing, she rests her head on Renji's shoulder, to which he answers with moving his hand from her thigh to around her waist, his thumb brushing around her hipbone occasionally. "Yuuki was a very sweet boy, you know? Always smiling and babbling like a happy kid he was. At least when Aunts weren't looking in his direction. And Fuura-sama, she was a smart woman, really caring and a bit sarcastic at times. I knew them and now I think someone's…" She shakes her head, frowning. If there was something connected to all those people who suddenly vanished, anything at all...

But there was nothing in common between them. Not a single thing. There was no motive Rukia knew of and probably none that Byakuya was aware of too. Did the kids disappear randomly? But why? Who would need noble children? Isn't it simpler to kidnap those from the street? It could be possible a vengeance was the reason, but once again, there was nothing that connected the victims other than being noble-born. Which just turns into a vicious cycle.

"Stop it, Rukia," says Renji dryly, snapping her out of her thoughts. "It's no use. Don't get yerself inta this mess. It's not a rescue expedition we did when younger and stupid. Ya know what they say, once ya get inta great politics, ya'll never get out."

"How do you know it's about politics?"

"Nobles have always been involved in this shit," replies Renji with a typical to himself simplicity.

Rukia blinks. Renji has this terrible habit of saying something that makes sense in the moment you least expect him to.

*

Byakuya isn't stupid. He knows there is anger in the nobles' voices, well hidden behind fake calmness, dignified gestures and polite sentences. He can feel it in the air, there is fury and grief and desire for revenge. He can recognize all of those feelings, because this is something both his mind and heart scream.

But he is patient. He can wait.

He knows, after all, that strategy is what leads to victory. And his victory will be sweet, oh so sweet and so bloody. He almost smiles at the thought, tenderly and ominously.

Clearing his throat, Byakuya entwines his fingers together as he rests his elbows on the polished surface of the dark, wooden table. He waits until the room is completely quiet, completely still.

"I might know the solution." His voice is calm, almost a whisper, but in the thick silence the words seem screamed out.

Oh, he knows there's nothing for free and he will pay – and he knows he is going to do it with pleasure. If he would have to buy Kurosaki's abilities, then so be it. Byakuya, after all, has a lot to offer in exchange. He knows it. Kurosaki knows it. They will seal the deal soon, he has no doubts.

"There are," Byakuya continues, "a few facts you need to know first." Not that he's planning on telling them everything, no. Just some scraps to prove he possesses the knowledge they do not and to keep them interested in what he has to say. He is aware he will have to use demagogy a bit to get them on his side, be which politician does not do it?

There is a crude snort next to his right and Byakuya turns sharply to look at the old woman dressed in simple kimono with the Kuchiki emblem on the front. She smiles at him sweetly, but he is not fooled by the fake gentleness. "Go get 'em, kiddo," the woman mocks him with shining eyes and Byakuya's back goes still as he breaks the eye contact and stares back at the rest of the assembled.

No one dares to even look disapprovingly at the woman and no one comments. Neither does Byakuya.

He doesn't let the mocking stare get to him and instead slowly starts explaining his previous statement. There are a few things he has no control over – he is not foolish enough to try taming them either.

*

"No."

Byakuya raises one eyebrow. Ichigo scowls in response, and then repeats more firmly, "No. I'm not playing a hero anymore. Find someone else."

"Would you like some tea?" asks Byakuya and indicates the other man to sit by the table in front of him as he himself sits down gracefully. Ichigo hesitates only the briefest of moments before he takes a seat as well. Byakuya pours the tea himself – he dismissed the servants when he felt Kurosaki's approaching reiatsu and set a Kido barrier, so no one would disturb them. He doesn't want any hindrances.

"Tell me, Kurosaki, what are the names of your sisters again?"

Ichigo almost chokes on his tea, his eyes going wide with the effort of trying not to spill out any of the liquid. He coughs a few times, puts the cup down on the table and frowns at Byakuya. He coughs again. "Yuzu and Karin," he finally answers warily, carefully.

"Yuzu and Karin," repeats Byakuya slowly as if tasting the names on his tongue. "I see." He pauses and lifts his gaze to stare directly into Ichigo's eyes. "They are not much younger than you are, are they?" He doesn't wait for an answer, deciding it's no use delaying his true intentions. "Once they are in Soul Society and you too, wouldn't you think it better to have your father by your side?"

There. He knows a strike was perfect when he sees Kurosaki's jaw clench tightly and his fingers twitching slightly around the cup of tea he's holding. "My father can't go back here and you know this," Ichigo replies stiffly as if he didn't really care, but he's bad at lying and Byakuya sees right through.

Putting his own cup down, Byakuya lets his gaze linger on the man's trembling hands before he speaks, "I do, indeed. But I believe we can… have a deal."

"A deal?"

"That's exactly what I said. We can – if you will agree to help me. I shall need your comfortable position out of Soul Society and I believe you will need my position in Soul Society, am I wrong?"

Ichigo's jaw is clenched so tightly it almost hurts. His family has always been a touchy topic, but now when their father died, it has been bugging all three what to do next. Ichigo has no illusions, he knows his sisters are going to be quite powerful and they will end up as a shinigami sooner or later – but Goat face is prohibited to come back, unless he wants to be charged with desertion. Seireitei could be ridiculous with its regulations; Ichigo knows it better than anyone.

And was Byakuya…? He can't be… can he?

Ichigo scowls at the man. "So what's your offer?" The words come out sharper than he intended, but Byakuya doesn't seem to mind.

Byakuya almost smiles. Almost. "You may not know it, but the Sixth Division is in charge of archives of Soul Society. There are a lot of documents, I assure you – would anyone at all notice if one of them got lost? A new srecruit assigned to clean the library could accidentally destroy it or it could disappear while moving to another section…" He lets the words trail off, knowing that the message was clear enough and understood well.

"You're…?" Ichigo frowns, feeling like he's missing something essential here. Byakuya is offering to do something completely immoral and most likely illegal? Impossible.

But the man just raises an eyebrow at him. "A favour for a favour. Is it not a good deal? Think about it, Kurosaki Ichigo."