WHEN THE SNOW FALLS
by Yih
Chapter Thirty-one
The Invitation
Byakuya had personally observed two shinigamis already, one from Squad 2 and the other from Squad 10. Neither of them were suited to be fukutaichous yet, someday but not today. The last shinigami he would observe would be Abarai Renji. Byakuya gritted his teeth as he nodded for his 3rd seat and Abarai to start the test. His 3rd seat, for all the mediocrity of his zanjutsu, had been able to repel the other two suggested shinigamis without too much of a problem. If his 3rd seat could hold his own against Abarai, then Byakuya would reconsider him being insufficient for the seat of fukutaichou. After all, defeating any seated member from Squad 11 was saying something.
Byakuya wanted his 3rd seat to do well, if only to prevent himself from being saddled with Abarai Renji as his fukutaichou. Byakuya knew that Abarai had 'feelings' for Rukia, although it was doubtful Rukia knew herself. Byakuya sighed and watched the progression of their fight, watching as they both resorted to their shikai release and Byakuya wasn't surprised to see that Abarai's shikai was a melee-type. It suited his personality, much like Rukia's ice-type zanpakuto suited her.
As soon as the shikais was released, Byakuya could clearly see the difference in their skill. Abarai might not be highly seated, but he was talented. Byakuya noticed his 3rd seat was struggling to match Abarai swing-for-swing and had resorted to kido to offset the differences in their zanjutsu. Abarai, Byakuya noted, did not use any kido at all – instead he relied on his speed and his zanjutsu and it was enough. His 3rd seat was going to be severely sore the next day and injured if Byakuya didn't halt the test.
"Stop," Byakuya stated, holding up his hand. "I have seen enough."
Abarai turned to him, looking only slightly winded while his 3rd seat was out of breath, leaning on his zanpakuto. Byakuya was disgusted. He was correct that his 3rd seat had progressed as far as he was going to at this point. Maybe the next several decades he would finally improve, but as for now… Abarai Renji was the only suitable candidate to be fukutaichou of Squad 6.
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Jushiro was waiting for Kaien to bring Rukia to his office rather impatiently as he settle for tapping his fingers against his desk. It was about time that he finally managed to think of a way to get what he wanted and what Rukia deserved. Of course, he was a little disappointed that he wouldn't be the one to get to tell her, but he figured Kaien wanted to inform her more than anyone else.
"Ukitake-taichou?" Rukia said as she slid open the door while Kaien stood behind her. "You wanted to see me?"
"Please come in Rukia," Jushiro said, gesturing her and Kaien to take a seat in front of him. "Kaien has something very important that he wishes to tell you."
Kaien gave him a mock glare of annoyance before turning his full attention to Rukia. "Well, you remember that thing I promised you?"
"What thing?" Rukia asked, looking completely confused.
Jushiro wasn't surprised, after all, if he had been dragged here through whatever rambling reason Kaien had come up with to get her here – he would likely be just as confused as she was. Jushiro leaned back, watching the interaction with fondness for the both of them. They acted like siblings.
"I can't believe you already forgot!" Kaien exclaimed, looking miffed although Jushiro could see the excitement in his eyes.
It was nice to see that again in Kaien. Jushiro hadn't been certain if Kaien would ever be the same after Miyako's death. It had been hard for him to lose his 3rd seat and one of the oldest members in his squad, but it had to be indescribably difficult for Kaien to lose his partner and his wife. While Rukia could never take Miyako's place, she certainly did have a special place in Kaien's heart and who better to take Miyako's seat than Rukia?
"What did I forget?" she asked, looking at Jushiro briefly before returning her gaze to Kaien.
"About your promotion, of course," Kaien remarked in an entirely different tone from before. He sounded like he was bored and Jushiro turned his head to the side to cover the rolling of his eyes. Kaien could be excessive sometimes.
"My promotion?"
Rukia was still confused, it was rather endearing how she'd already forgotten that Kaien had wanted to promote her to the 3rd seat. How long had it been? A couple of months, no doubt, Jushiro had lost track of the time. But it had been a while, although not really that much time for a shinigami.
"To the 3rd seat!" Kaien exclaimed, once back to his genuinely excited voice. "I can't believe you forgot!"
"But… I thought—" Rukia looked at Jushiro and looked back at Kaien, turning back and forth and finally gave up and stared at the floor. "Didn't Yamamoto-sou-taichou reject the recommendation?"
"He did," Jushiro confirmed before Kaien could speak. "However, I sent in another recommendation with your recent results in leading your group on their missions and he approved your promotion."
It helped a lot that Byakuya had owed him a favor in getting Yamamoto-sou-taichou's approval, but that was something Jushiro would leave to Byakuya to explain it should Rukia ever found out about it.
"So…" Rukia began slowly, now looking at both of them, "I am the 3rd seat of Squad 13?"
Kaien grinned and Jushiro smiled warmly. "You got that right!" Kaien said.
"You will do very well," Jushiro stated softly. "I am certain of it."
Rukia looked too moved to say anything, so she nodded instead as Kaien gave her a big hug.
"There will be a small ceremony later to honor your promotion," Jushiro said when he realized Rukia's tongue was still twisted. "You may want to invite your fiancé."
Kaien turned quickly to Rukia and exclaimed in an even louder voice than he had used before, "When did you get engaged? To who?"
"You should really pay more attention to the announcements," Jushiro admonished Kaien. "It was announced a week ago in the papers. I'm surprised you didn't know."
Kaien scratched the back of his head. "So that's why you've been missing for the last few days and that's why everyone said congratulations to you earlier. I was pretty sure no one knew about your promotion, but…"
Rukia giggled then and Jushiro was glad to see the happiness shining in her eyes. She was definitely not the same hesitant Rukia that had first appeared as an inexperienced shinigami. She had finally grown confident of herself and become the woman she was meant to be.
"Who is it though?" Kaien asked.
Rukia blushed hotly and Jushiro smiled with amusement. "Byakuya-sama," she said, looking down at the ground.
"Isn't he your brother?" Kaien blurted out before the realization hit him. "I remember now! You were adopted into the Kuchiki clan, weren't you?"
Rukia nodded.
"But Kuchiki-taichou?" Kaien looked at her and crossed his arms over his chest. "They aren't forcing you, are they?"
Rukia shook her head. "I love him."
"The question is, does he love you?"
Rukia's face was even redder than before, if that was even possible. Jushiro was highly amused and he decided it had definitely been worth letting Kaien tell Rukia about her promotion to the 3rd seat. Jushiro wasn't sure he had had this much fun watching the two of them converse in ages.
"I am sure he does," Jushiro said, deciding that Kaien had interrogated Rukia enough for the day. "Kaien and I need to do some little preparations, but why don't you personally invite Byakuya to the ceremony? I am sure that will please him."
Actually, Jushiro wasn't sure about that, but he was certain Rukia inviting him to the ceremony would be a lot better than for him to extend an invitation – that would undoubtedly only anger Byakuya even more. Jushiro just hoped as he watched Rukia flash step to Squad 6 that Byakuya realized how happy she was - with her life as a shinigami and with him as her lover.
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A/N: I hope you like this chapter and please review. I need some inspiration to keep going. I'm not really sure if this is going to end soon or if I'll keep going. Not really sure… what more I need to tell and what more I want to tell… if that makes any sense.
Anyway, thanks to all who reviewed last time and thanks to all those who have added this story to their favorites and their alerts – it really does make me smile to see people who like reading my work even as I struggle with med school. ^_^!
Released: 2/25/2009