Well... This probably would have been up an hour sooner but my computer was glitzing out... Stupid thing...

I'm so tired... I can't believe I actually managed to stay awake all day, although that might have something to do with the fact that we had double LA and double SS XD My two favorite classes! My SS teacher is the best. She's amazing.

But unfortunately for me, I'm the 'good' kid, so I'm now sitting next to the bitchy copier from science class in SS too. Gah! Give me a break! Just because I don't talk in class doesn't mean that putting me next to the school bitch is a good idea! And I can't ask for her to be moved because wherever she sits she talks, and I feel kinda bad for my SS teacher because she is fighting a losing battle with her class. I mean, there's like three good kids! But I may end up strangling Miss Bitch before the end of the year anyways... I can't believe that I didn't last year when she wrote all over my LA homework when she was supposed to be marking it. Any deity who may or may not be listening, please, please, please get rid of her in any way possible. I never want to see her again!

... Yeah, rant over.

...

O_o

Anyways, if I owned Bleach, all of the characters would brutally murder Miss 'Bitchy Copier Bitch'. Over and over and over. That would be the best show ever.

Byakuya arrived at Kaili's school early, so he just leaned against a wall, fiddling with his Soul Pager. Slowly parents began to filter into the school yard. All of the women stared at him, and Byakuya shifted uncomfortably. What were they staring at him for? He didn't understand! It wasn't as though he looked odd, was it? He didn't stand out… Well, he didn't think he stood out, anyways.

Maybe it was the hair. He had noticed that most men here didn't have long hair. But that wasn't something to stare at him about, was it? Unless they couldn't figure out whether he was female or male. That would be… embarrassing, to say the least.

No, he was sure that the last time he had checked he looked male. Then what was it? Why were they staring at him like that? Was it really the hair? Because it shouldn't have been that strange. Right?

Janice, Annica's mother, stared at the new man with longing eyes. He was gorgeous; there was no doubt about it. His hair was long and silky, and pulled away from his face in a simple ponytail. His skin was pale, like milk, and his eyes were a perfect, smoky gray. His fingers- absent of any rings- were long and graceful. He was playing with a cell phone absentmindedly, and Janice admired the way he spun it in his hands, before flipping the lid shut, and sliding it into a pocket. She watched him wait, and wondered who he was waiting for. If he had a daughter, then maybe she and Annica could become friends, and Janice would have an excuse to invite him over. Oh, she hoped he had a daughter.

If Mrs. Grant hadn't been happily married with two little children, she might have been one of the women staring at Byakuya Kuchiki. However, she had a wonderful husband, and little Adam and Jamie, who were the treasure of her existence. Besides, she wasn't the type of woman to be swayed just by a man's looks.

She watched, amused, as Kaili ran to her father and gave him a hug. Then she held up her arms, speaking quickly. Byakuya scooped her up as though she weighed nothing, and balanced her on one hip easily. This was impressive. All though Kaili was small, she was still eight, and far past carrying age. But Byakuya held her as though she were as light as a feather. That took strength.

Kaili rested her chin on Byakuya's shoulder, and wrapped both arms around his neck. She hadn't really liked class, and although she had liked Mrs. Grant a lot, the rest of the students scared her a bit, and Annica annoyed her. But now she knew that everything was alright, because Byakuya was there.

"Did you have a good day?" he asked softly, supporting her with one arm, and shoving his other hand into his pocket.

"Sorta." She replied. Usually parents would nag about this, asking what was wrong, and if there was anything that they could do to help. Byakuya just stayed silent, waiting. He knew that she would speak eventually. And she did. "That's Annica," she said, pointing. "I don't like her. She's mean, and annoying. She doesn't know what algebra is."

"… I have a feeling that most of the children in your class don't know what algebra is." Byakuya told her, and Kaili could see his barely held back smile.

"But they're open to accepting that there are things that they don't know. She thinks she knows everything, but she actually doesn't know anything. And Mrs. Grant wants to talk to you." Kaili turned her head a bit, so that she could see his face better, and watched a small smirk quickly cross his lips.

"You didn't kill anybody, did you?"

"No!"

"Not even Annica?"

"No." Kaili sighed. "I think that's illegal."

"Shame."

Kaili giggled. "Uh huh."

"Well I suppose I should go talk to Mrs. Grant now, shouldn't I?"

"She's really nice."

"Good."

Janice watched the new man and the little girl. Yes! He did have a daughter! She turned to Annica.

"Who's the new girl?"

"That's Kaili. I don't like her. She's stupid. She thinks that math has letters."

"… Oh." Well there went her dreams.

Mrs. Grant watched Byakuya, looking for any sign that he was truly human. He only showed warmth when he was speaking to his daughter, but when his attention was focused on something else, like right now, he was an unreadable ice prince. Even if she were given a thousand years, she doubted that she would ever be able to find out what went on behind those steel gray eyes.

She understood not smiling much. She herself didn't smile very much, but he was taking it to the extreme. Although she didn't smile, she was still open. He was as closed as a locked box, and the key seemed to be lost. Until…

Kaili tugged on Byakuya's sleeve, and he looked down at her. Instantly, the icy mask melted away, revealing a kind man with a nice smile. He looked years younger when he smiled, less like a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders and more like a father. Kaili asked him something quickly, holding a piece of paper out towards him, and he took it, wrote an equation on it in quick, precise writing, and returned it to her. Then, when he turned away, the mask was back again, and once again he looked older than his years, tired, and drained of all humanity. The switch was instant, there was no in between. It was like he'd had hundreds of years of practice.

"I don't want Kaili to be bored," she told him, glancing over at the young girl. She was solving the equation as though it were as easy as 2+2.

"She won't be." There was authority in his voice different from any she had ever heard. It was only hinted at, but Mrs. Grant had the feeling that if he wanted to, he could have anybody jump to obey his orders. He seemed to notice her confused look, because he went on. "She hasn't really had experience with children her age before," he explained. "She's confused. Math only has one right answer, but with people there are no answers, only questions. She'll be too busy trying to figure out where she fits in to be bored with schoolwork. If I wanted her to be immersed in work, she would be in a high class, and she'd end up old before she turned twenty."

Was that what happened to him? Mrs. Grant wondered. That would explain why he didn't want Kaili to have her child hood brutally torn from her with a bitter machine of work and stern faces. And that would also explain the way his eyes looked as though they were hundreds of years old while his body still looked like he was in his mid to late thirties.

"Alright," Mrs. Grant agreed. "But if she gets bored?" this last question was directed at Byakuya, but he looked down at Kaili.

"If you get bored?" he asked her, gentleness lacing his voice.

"I won't." Kaili replied with certainty.

There was no way that Mrs. Grant could argue with the steel in the small girl's voice.

... Yeah. I won't be surprised if this doesn't make any sense. I'll probably read it in the morning and wonder where my brain went... I think I left it in bed this morning. Either that or it got tired of math calculations and ran away. So if anybody's seen my mind, maybe return it? I'm having troubles living without it...

I want my bed! My nice, warm, comfy bed.

Yeah, okay, bedtime.

-Stormy