School has taken over every aspect of my life, but I am not dead!

I will keep updating, I just don't know how long it will take between each chapter. My work load should be lessening a little after my fall break (which just ended tonight, hence this burst of writing from my), so I hope I will have more time. Bear with me, please. It is my last year as a college undergraduate, and I have a full plate at the moment (whoever said senior year is easy lied), but I'm not giving up on these stories!

I am responding to comments, but I haven't been doing a good job of getting back to people quickly, so if you get a random comment response and think "I did that ages ago," yes, you are correct. I just haven't had time to thank you properly. But thank you so very much for every comment, every read, every favorite and follow.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter! Thanks for all of the positive feedback, and I hope this update is as pleasing as the last :)

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own only the plot.

Chapter 5

The captain of the Sixth rarely paces.

Byakuya couldn't remember the last time he had walked the length of his office before turning back and repeating the action. Perhaps he had never done this in his office at all. The action was so unfamiliar in this space.

It wasn't that he didn't have worries, responsibilities just like everyone else. Anyone who looked at him could see the burden of nobility and his status in his division resting firmly on his shoulders, pushing him down though he stood with his back straight and with perfect posture. It was a time of peace in the Soul Society, but the Sixth still had to run properly. There was paperwork to be filed, missions to be reported, hollows to be exterminated. All of this added up, and Byakuya was no stranger to the stress. He just had always been rather reserved and quiet in his thinking. The dark-haired man could recall moments in the past where he chastised people for their obsessive walking, most recently concerning his sister. Pacing did nothing to help the situation. It was wasted energy.

But here he was, pacing in front of his desk. It was odd, though Byakuya was beginning to see why it was so hard to stop the action once it began. It gave the body something to do, while the monotonous task allowed the mind to focus on other things. His mind was consumed with his thoughts, and the pacing gave it the opportunity to explore each one thoroughly. He was surprised at how close to meditation this was.

Usually, he'd be behind his desk, sipping green tea from his expensive glassware. But as he had sat that morning, he had gotten restless. The urge to move became unbearable, and he had told himself a walk would be good. He did not make it out of the door, however, before he had turned back around, and then the pacing had started.

More often than not, it was Renji's job to do the pacing. Byakuya had lost count of the times he was observed his Lieutenant doing this very thing, and the thought brought about firmer steps, heavier and more forceful in their decent on the wooden floors. Renji was the whole reason behind this lapse of control, whether the redhead realized it or not. And the worst part was that he couldn't correct him for it. After all, it was not something Renji had done, but what had become of him.

He was worried about his Lieutenant. Renji had little time to spare, as it was the fifth night. Rukia had come into the manor, buzzing with excitement – though it had not been confirmed through conversation – for the last two days from Renji's process. It was obvious that the redhead had regained some of his memories, though Byakuya was aware that it was not enough. He guessed his sister knew it as well, as she still avoided speaking to him, a difficult task when she so desperately wanted to share the good news. Byakuya worried for her as well, but did not want to push her to confide in him. After all, he had been the same way in his own grief with Hisana. How could he expect her to come to him with her emotional distress when he had all but shut everyone out after his wife's death? He had come far from those days of his distant relationship with Rukia, but he could not make up the lost time so easily.

He was no fool. He knew it was hard to talk about such things, especially to him. He was…awkward with discussions revolving around feelings, he knew, and Rukia had always been similar in the way she hid her emotions from others. Two people with the tendency to avoid talks of such things led to many silent dinners, many wordless nights.

But now he felt he would need to discuss things with her. He had to prepare her. This time would be different from the incident with Lieutenant Shiba, sharper in its pain and running much deeper in his sister's heart. If anyone could give her the needed mental toughness for this, it was him. He would need to tread lightly, he realized, but with news like he had just received, he would need to be quick about it.

The evidence lay on his desk, the words face up for all of the world to see, a message hastily scratched out on a sheet of rice paper. The words were those of Unohana, short and to the point in her hurried update, and the dread had settled heavily in the pit of his stomach as he read them, driving him out of his seat to pace.

Poison has shown signs of spreading. Motor functions will be affected. No news from Karakura Town. No developments in cure.

X

Renji felt completely drained.

As he stared up at the ceiling above the bed in the hospital room, which Unohana-Taichou had insisted he stayed in for a few more days for one reason or another, the redhead felt as if his limbs were filled with lead. As Rukia had taken him on their walk that day, the second day of walking, he had begun to feel it. A nagging, tired pull on the edge of his mind that he recognized as exhaustion. It had started about midday, and as the hours passed it only continued to get worst. When Rukia had noticed, she had insisted they return to the Fourth where Unohana had done a run through of his vitals.

That was when he had noticed the tingling. It had been barely there, but as he sat down and allowed his body to relax he had felt it. A slight sensation in his fingers, a numbness in his feet. He had brought up the feeling to the braided woman, and watched as she hesitated in the examination, her movements stilling before she jumped back into action. He seemed to have worry her, though, as she did a few more tests then she had planned. She had assured him it was probably a result from his walk, but he had seen the furious scribbling on her clipboard before she left. He pushed it out of his mind, convinced he was paranoid.

But even with the tingling in his limbs, which still lingered even now as he lied on his back, his mind was buzzing with excitement from the day. He had found more memories.

He could remember his zanpakuto. Renji allowed his eyes to shift over to the corner of his room where the impressive weapon sat. It was sealed now, but even still he could feel the power it held, vibrating from the cool steal.

He hadn't expected to know what the weapon meant to him. He had been led around the Sixth today, visiting the barracks and the office he shared with Byakuya. The man had been out to a meeting, so they had missed his brooding presence, but Renji had been content to follow Rukia around without much thought to his Captain's absence. But when they had visited his personal room, the zanpakuto had been laying on his bed, waiting.

The minute he touched it, the recognition had flooded his mind, another pain blooming in his skull as he smiled. He had grown to anticipate the blinding pain, and he welcomed it with the images it replayed for him.

"Zabimaru," he had greeted, holding the weapon in his hands with a sense of power and familiarity. It glistened in the sunlight that streamed through the window, almost as if it was greeting him back, and he had immediately strapped it to his side.

But Zabimaru was not the only thing he recalled today. He remembered more about his time at the Sixth, his time spent training recruits and filing paper work, some of the missions he ran for Byakuya. Nothing major that unlocked any secrets to his life, but memories nonetheless.

He would have pushed further, wanting to look through more of the Soul Society, but his exhaustion betrayed him and Rukia insisted they returned. He understood, though it frustrated him to no end. But he wouldn't fight the girl on this. After all, he was still healing from…

What was he healing from?

He had lost his memories, yes, but no one had told him how or why yet. Rukia had swiftly avoided the question when he had asked, and any lines he threw out to others received no bites. They were determined to keep him in the dark, it seemed.

It didn't make any sense to him that he would be left ignorant, however, unless something was wrong. The nights spent at the Fourth, the near constant supervision, the worried glances…something terrible must had happened. Or maybe it was simply pity for his situation. Renji would almost prefer something to be completely wrong than to receive any type of sympathy, if that was the case. Pity didn't help him get his memories back.

At least Rukia didn't seem to pity him. The girl treated him like a real person, not someone with amnesia. She talked easily to him, while others would stumbled through awkward sentences, questioning every word as it left their mouths. Rukia was different. She joked with him, while others shied away from any sense of humor, afraid to offend him. She was the same person that showed up in his memories, and for the life of him he couldn't help but love her.

It was the only way to describe it. Renji knew how he felt for the girl before, and there was no other word to explain the feelings he had even now with the limited memories he had. But he questioned just how much she knew of his affection, or if he should mention it at all. He could only recall her in his childhood, and briefly before entering the Academy, which he had yet to regain memories for. When he regained memories of his time in the Sixth, as normal as those memories were, he had noticed she was not a part of them. Though he was still missing a major chunk of his past, he knew enough to know she was absent in that time in the Sixth for some reason. Had he confessed to her before, only to be rejected? Had they been together for a time only to have a horrible falling out? He didn't know how to gage it, and he certainly didn't think bringing it up to the noble was a good idea. He would wait, see if his memories began to refill those areas he lost, and then decide what to do.

He was content just to walk with her for now, enjoying the sweet smile that adorned her face when she looked at him.

X

Four days left.

That was all Rukia could think about, though she was sure to keep Renji out of the loop. Four days was not a lot of time, but she hadn't given up yet. She had to remind herself that he still had a chance, that he was gaining speed with his memories. Every new memory was a step in the right direction, and he had made many steps.

Today he had known the Eleventh Division on sight, remembering his friends there and most of his time spent in their ranks. She always knew Kenpachi's leadership had left a lasting impression on him, though she wasn't sure that was a good thing, given the Captain's reputation. He still had no recollection of his training in the Academy, or anything of the war against Aizen and the years after it. He still had no memories of Ichigo and the rest of Karakura Town. He had a lot of holes left to fill in, but Rukia was happy that he was making some progress. And Renji was certainly happy about it.

Even now, as he walked next to her and went through his memories, he couldn't stop smiling. It was a breakthrough in his progress, and it would surely buy them some time. To think three walks could give him back so much.

"Ikkaku, he had told me I was getting wasted, but I hadn't really cared at the time," Renji rambled on, laughing to himself as the memory passed through his mind. He had taken to talking through every memory he regained, as if verifying it aloud, and Rukia was more than happy to listen if it kept that wide smile on his face. "I guess I was too drunk at the time to care, now that I think about it. Anyways, Yumi was trying to get us to slow down, knowing we'd probably end up destroying the place if we kept going, but eventually he just sat back and waited for the show." A feisty smirk crossed his face, almost animalistic. It was a look Rukia recognized, a look he wore when he thought of his days in the Eleventh. That, and whenever he fought in battle.

"We nearly tore down the bar that day, fighting over something stupid," he finished, sighing happily. "I can't believe I remember all of this! It's like, a part of my mind had a spotlight placed on it, showing me all of the memories there."

"Well, there's more memories where that came from," Rukia promised, smirking up at him. He was so excited, and it was great that he had some of his past back, but she knew he had a long way to go.

"Why weren't you at the Eleventh?" he asked as he finished his story, his smile lessening slightly. She stared at him as if he had grown two heads, hardly containing the laugh that escaped her before realizing he was not joking.

"I'm not quite Eleventh material," she said with a smirk, shaking her head at the thought. She didn't hate the Eleventh, and she was friends with Ikkaku and Yumi, but she knew she lacked the battle lust to be in the Division. That, and they had a reputation for being hot-headed idiots. Renji didn't quite fit the bill either, not entirely at least. There was a reason he had been moved to the Sixth, after all. He was more level-headed than the others, which Rukia didn't know if that was quite the accomplishment once the rest of the division was taken into consideration. Renji was more level-headed, but not by much.

"Well, where were you recruited?" he questioned, watching her with curiosity.

"The Thirteenth. I'm still there, serving as the current Lieutenant." Rukia answered, looking up at him as they walked alongside one another. "Just like you with the Sixth." He nodded, smiling as he recognized the name of his division.

"Under Byakuya."

"If he heard you address him so informally, he'd skin you alive," Rukia teased.

"But he's not here, and you aren't going to tell on me," Renji laughed, leaning forward to ruffle the girl's hair. Rukia pouted, punching the man in the arm lightly.

Renji winced at the gesture, and Rukia sighed. She hadn't hit hard, but he must be getting tired. He was exhausted yesterday, and Unohana had warned her about it. If she saw any signs, she was supposed to bring him back. She wasn't sure what the exhaustion meant, as Unohana had been called away before giving a further explanation, but she wasn't about to go against the woman.

"Come on, I think we better get back to the Fourth. That's probably enough walking today," Rukia noted, looking at the sun to gage the time. It was still the afternoon, maybe four o'clock, but if he was tired she wasn't going to push him.

As expected, Renji immediately complained. "But we just started," he whined, his bottom lip jutting out in frustration as he pouted.

"We've been walking since eleven," Rukia reminded him, reaching up to tug the headband down to the bridge of his nose and chuckling as he furiously pushed the cloth back up and out of his eyes. "We'd covered a lot of ground today."

"Just one more spot," he insisted, turning towards her again. "I want to try one more place, and then you can drag my ass back to the Fourth willingly."

She didn't want to give in, but she could feel herself cracking under that bright smile. He knew what he was doing. Damn him.

With a sigh of defeat, she rolled her eyes. "Fine, one more spot, and then we head back." She ignored his fist pump as best as she could, though it brought a smile to her lips. He was such a child at times, but it was endearing. "Where do you want to go?"

"The Academy," Renji answered immediately. "I feel like if I developed my powers there, it'd be a good place to search. It could spark something."

She had to admit, it was a good idea, a rare occurrence for the crimson-haired man. Seeing the hopeful look in his eyes, she couldn't refuse. With a nod, she agreed. "Alright. It's not too far from here, so come on. The quicker we check it out, the sooner we can leave."

Within minutes they had come across the building, the massive structure looming as they approached. A low whistle from Renji echoed in the empty space, impressed with the building's size. The academy was in its annual break, having had its graduation for the latest class last month, so the grounds were deserted, giving the two Lieutenants the freedom to do as they wished.

After visiting the training fields and one of the large lecture rooms without any luck, Rukia had been ready to leave the building, aware that their walk had been longer today and Unohana would be expecting them to return soon.

"Hey Renji, let's head back. It's getting late."

He muttered his understanding, sighing as they turned to leave. She didn't miss the look of disappointment that crossed his features, and a part of her felt horrible for that. She didn't want to put a damper on his day, not after he had done so well, but she knew pushing it would be a bad idea. He needed rest. "We can come back and explore the place better tomorrow," she offered, hoping it would cheer the man up. When he snorted, she paused. "What?"

"Explore?" he quoted, scrunching his nose. "What am I? Five?"

"You have the maturity of one," she said before she could stop herself.

"Well, you are certainly closer to them in appearance, considering how freakin' short you are."

Her mouth hung open, shocked at the remark. For a person with amnesia, he certainly hadn't lost his comebacks. She quickly recovered, scoffing at his comments when he gave her a cheeky grin.

"I'm not short. You are just freakishly tall."

"Yeah, along with the rest of the world," he countered, laughing at her when she huffed.

"If you weren't still under Unohana's care, I would so hurt you right now," she laughed, swatting at him as he dodged.

"You could try," he teased, the words playful as he smirked down at her. She nearly lost herself there. It was easy to forget the situation with Renji's health when he spoke like that. The moment of childish banter was something she had missed terribly, and she couldn't help how her heart fluttered in her chest at the fire in his eyes. If she didn't know any better, there was something else in those words, something not so innocent. But this was Renji, and not even completely her Renji. This man in front of her couldn't possibly have meant the underlying tone of his words. He wasn't a stranger to such comments, especially to make her (or Ichigo, the poor prude) blush. It was just his nature, to tease her. But even though she knew that, it had sounded almost too flirtatious, and paired with the smirk, she couldn't help the shiver that had traveled the length of her spine. She shook her head, composing herself as she landed a well-placed smack to the man's arm before walking in the direction of the door they had entered through. As she walked, she threw a glance over her shoulder, watching the man with curiosity.

"You coming or not?"

He smiled at her, rolling his eyes at the girl before following, quickly catching up as she led the way back through the halls, the only sound being their footsteps on the tiled floor.

"Hey," Renji said softly, coming to a stop. Rukia turned to look at him, wondering what he was looking at. His attention was off to the side, down another hall. "Do I know that hall?" he asked, a faraway look in his eye.

"You've probably been down it before," she explained with a shrug. "As students we would have traveled all of these halls eventually." She didn't know why it was holding any significance with the inked man. It just looked like a regular hall to her, no different from the rest. Sure it was familiar, but everything held a note of nostalgia. She started to turn, already hearing the lecture she would receive from Unohana for bringing Renji back late.

"No, this one's different," he insisted, holding up a hand to stop her. Determination and curiosity shown in his face as he turned towards Rukia, his eyes glowing with intensity. "Just let me see what's down here, and then I promise we can leave." When she hesitated, he smiled encouragingly. "C'mon. Trust me on this one."

How could she say no to that face?

"Okay, fine. But then we head back," she said, pointing a finger in his direction warningly, though she couldn't keep the laugh out of her voice. He only rolled his eyes before starting down the hall. She followed behind him, letting him work out the curiosity that had drawn him there.

When she herself started to think the hall seemed particularly familiar, she paused. It had been years since she had been here, and she knew her own memory was a little rusty with the Academy, but there was something here. But there were no distinguishing features to be seen. Same tiled floors. Same colored walls. This was just like every other hall in the academy, so why was she suddenly filled with the feeling that this hall, in fact, had some other importance tied to it? She certainly didn't see any familiar classrooms here, and she knew Renji had not had any lessons on this hall either. Thinking herself to be paranoid, she cleared her throat, ready to inform the redhead that this was as far as she was willing to go down this hall today. But as her eyes met a door at the very end of the corridor, she felt her heart stop.

She knew that door. She would have known it anywhere with the memories surrounding it. It surprised her that she hadn't realized where they were sooner. Her use of the room had been unexpected, but no less significant in changing her life forever.

It was the room in which she had been approached by the Kuchiki family about her formal adoption into nobility. It was the room where she and Renji went separate ways, cut off from one another for years without as much as a word between one another.

And Renji was heading right for it, unaware of the heartache that would be waiting for him just inside that door.

After such a long wait, I felt horrible cutting it off at a cliffhanger, but alas, the story needed to stop here to prepare for the next chapter. Emotions ahoy.

Apologies for the mistakes. I did a quick read through of this, but I am sure I've missed things. I should probably get a beta reader at some point, preferable sooner rather than later. I suck at editing my own stuff haha.

Anyways, hope everyone enjoyed this one!

Much love,

Meg