19: Challenges and Tempura

"Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all."

-Sam Ewig

"So, this Sesshomaru guy demands a fight with Captain Kurotsuchi and just expects that soul society will comply to him?" Renji pondered the information he'd retrieved from Matsumoto - who was cheerfully partaking of some alcohol on the other side of his desk. "Do you think they'll really comply?"

"They have to I guess." Matsumoto answered with a shrug. "I guess any challenge to a captain from a worthy opponent must be answered unless it's a serious time of war."

"This doesn't apply as a serious time of war?" Renji raised a brow skeptically, all the tattoos on that side of his face shifting.

She giggled. "I guess General Yamamoto considers the threat of a second war with these demon creatures even more serious than letting one of our own rise to the challenge. I heard he sent messengers to help set up some sort of battleground for this demon and the Captain."

"Guy isn't going to make it…Captain Kurotsuchi never loses - especially if he has a chance to prepare ahead of time." Renji observed with a shrug. "Why does it matter really?"

"Geez Renji, just cause your at his desk doesn't mean you gotta turn into such a prude." She smiled at him and sipped from the bottle she was carrying again. "I figured you'd like some friendly updates as you haven't stopped doing paperwork in a week. Here, have a drink."

She paused to pull out a glass and poured it full for him, sliding it across the smooth surface of Byakuya's desk to the lieutenant of the sixth squad. Making him fumble to catch it before it spilled anywhere, sending the endowed red-haired woman a dirty glare as he saved a pile of recently finished papers from being soaked in rice wine. "I'm not a prude, I just have poor choice of company."

"Come on now Renji-chan, don't be so mean. Have you heard anything about Captain Kuchiki?" She changed the subject in hopes he would forget the almost spill sooner.

"Not yet, he's still set to be training this priestess girl for some indefinite amount of time." Renji shrugged as he sipped at the alcohol that had been forced into his hand. "It's definitely an odd time for them to send two of the captain's we still have away."

"Yeah, a lot of people are whispering about it…" She muttered, looking toward the door as she heard yelling further off. "But I should head off…I think my superior is out searching for me and should be here sometime soon."

"I'm not covering for you Matsumoto." Renji commented as he turned his eyes back toward his paperwork in a fashion that was much more like his own captain than he would ever admit.

"See you later prude." She winked and was out the door, leaving him yet again amidst a mountain of parchment that he still needed to look over.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"You just be careful Kagome." Her mother said with a smile, reaching over as they prepared to head off in the cab to give her daughter a hug. "You keep up on your studies and work hard, it was very nice of that teacher to volunteer so much of his time to help you so you better really work at it."

"I will mom…he's really strict about work and he's a good tutor." Kagome answered, smiling back at her mom. "You and Souta have a good time, don't worry about me. Hell, it'll be like a vacation for me…away from that brat for a few weeks."

"I heard that Kagome!" Souta called from the car. "She says she's fine mom, lets go before we're late!"

"All right. Take care of yourself, we'll call when we can. See you in a while Kagome." Her mom kissed her head and got into the cab, the car driving off. She smiled a bit and brushed at some tears in her eyes.

"Quit being silly Kagome, they'll be back soon." She chided herself, blinking a bit as a man appeared in front of her. "Uh, is there something wrong Byakuya?"

"You were suppose to wait for me." He answered coldly, eyeing her in his usual intimidating stare. "How am I suppose to look after you if you just wander off all the time? Have you forgotten the hollows and other dangers you were warned about?"

"Chill out." Kagome smiled just a little at him acting all cold while being protective. "I told you I was coming over to say goodbye to my family today. You seemed really serious when you were speaking with the new student, Rukia I think, so I didn't want to interrupt."

"It isn't funny." He frowned at the smirk she was offering him. "What did I do to deserve this insulting assignment?"

She had to bite her tongue to keep from breaking into laughter, being silent a long moment and keeping a straight face before managing to speak again and change the subject. "I'm sorry. But they're going to be gone for a few weeks…I wanted to see them off. Thank you for being worried about me."

He was silent for a time, it was a battle he was better off letting go. It was below him to become irritated by her as he had. "Then are you prepared to go?"

"I have a bag I got ready inside." She smiled again as he seemed to calm down. "Give me a second and I'll grab it."

And off she ran, making him pause and shake his head lightly after her. She really didn't understand just what he was here for. At least this time he was nearby and knew for certain where she was. Humans were creatures he doubted he would ever understand.

It was a good hour later by the time she had her bags and had unpacked them in the room he'd given her at the large mansion, leaving her to work with that and her homework while he had things to do with the soul society he and some of the students had kept mentioning.

"My life just keeps getting more complicated." She thought as she started to pull books out of her backpack, she thankfully hadn't been given much homework for the weekend as she'd already finished her book report but she was still distracted by how much things seemed to be changing for her again. She hadn't dwelled on her memories of the feudal era for a while. "But I better get to work or he'll start chewing me out again."

She smiled at the thought, he probably scared the hell out of the people that worked for him or that were below him as a noble but the knowledge that he was here to protect her gave her immunity to that being something that would make her nervous. "He's sort of dreamy when he's all serious like that…though I suppose he's always pretty serious so am I saying he's always dreamy? Uh oh…I need to work on math…numbers, yes numbers."

It didn't take her long to get immersed in her work, she had a little trouble on some of her math but the rest of her homework went quickly, leaving her leaning back to do a victory stretch before too much longer…her tummy rumbling in protest at a lack of nutrition.

"Guess I should try to see about getting something then." She muttered to herself aloud, pulling free the bowtie she wore with her uniform and leaving it on the floor as she headed to her door and down the steps toward the study. It was where she usually found him, tonight was no different.

He was working at his desk, sable bangs falling in front of his face. Dark eyes scanning the pages in front of him, he was wearing the black and white kimono she first met him in…though he was less soaked now. He had another set of the kensaiken in his hair and their pale green color matched the beautiful silky scarf around his neck - they were odd marks of station but they succeeded in making him appear more regal.

She found herself picking out exact details for a while before she managed to remember she wasn't there just to gape at him. "God I'm acting no better than I used too with Hojo and Inuyasha…aren't I suppose to outgrow this?"

"Hey, I'm sorry to interrupt." She started off apologetically - it usually seemed to help keep him calm if she began that way. "I finished my work and I'm getting hungry. I wanted to ask if you'd mind if I made us some dinner."

"I have servants to make meals." He didn't even look up, signing a paper as he spoke. "If you would like something all you need to do is ask the staff in the kitchen."

"Are you hungry?" She tried a different approach.

He paused then to glance up at her, that charcoal gaze making her understand the meaning of her heart skipping a beat. It made her swallow, her anxiousness having nothing to do with fear.

"If you would prefer you can ask them to lay out a dinner and I will join you when it's finished." He then went right back to his work, making her let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. She nodded wordlessly and then left the room and headed for the kitchen. "I am in so much trouble…I have got to stop having a crush on him. He would never think of me in a romantic way…damn, why can't he just be an ugly guy?"

She was pondering the pathetic ness of the situation she'd gotten herself into as he moved toward the kitchen, looking around before one of the women that was sitting by an oven noticed her and walked over. "You are the Lord's guest right? What can I do for you dear?"

"I wanted to make dinner for Bykuya and I." She answered with a sheepish smile to the older lady.

She appeared grandmotherly, her hair gray and curly, wrinkles settled around her face in such a way that hinted she smiled often. It was strange to think such a person was in Byakuya's employ. She had a simple pant-suit that looked more like a uniform underneath an apron on, flour staining her cheeks and clothes a ghostly white. The smile she was giving Kagome was so knowing the young girl felt a blush rising.

"I suppose I could let you use the kitchen for that…I hear he's been a little more agreeable but angry lately." The lady commented but didn't explain herself. "He's always enjoyed tempura but he'd never admit it - I suppose it's thought of as poor etiquette to eat such lower class food."

"Do you think he'd be insulted if I made it?" She canted her head at the woman curiously, she had to admit, help as to anything that Byakuya enjoyed was surprising. "I can deep fry vegetables though…hmm, what should I make for desert?"

The older woman put a finger to her lips in consideration at that question. "Well, I have rarely seen him eat sweets at all but when he was younger it was difficult to keep him out of the green tea cookies…"

"Hmm, all right…well…I was never that good at cookies…" Kagome pondered aloud to help get feedback. "I always end up burning them. What about sweet dumplings?"

"I think that would go well with Tempura." The woman agreed. "Would you like it if I made some tea while you are cooking? I'd feel useless if I wasn't doing something for you."

"Sure." Kagome agreed, she didn't want to get the workers in trouble. "I'm Kagome, what's your name?"

"I am Kaede." She answered with a gentle smile, patting Kagome's shoulder and walking off to help get stuff ready. Leaving Kagome to smile to herself, the lady was somewhat reminiscent of her old friend in the feudal era.

Kagome tied her hair back as she listened to where the different supplies she would need were placed and washed her hands as she prepared to cook, it made her feel good to cook for the people she cared about…Inuyasha had never appreciated her work, perhaps it would be different here. It wasn't like it was easy to screw up deep fried vegetables after all.

She pushed her sleeves up and started to get all the pots and pans she would need together with the ingredients - if things went to plan she could get everything ready and let the dumplings steam while they were eating the tempura. By the time she managed to get everything ready she had some flour on her cheeks and a bit on her uniform - though it was the white part of her shirt so it was hard to tell.

"You seem quite intent on your work once you get started." The older lady observed, smiling at her as if she knew something Kagome didn't. She definitely was like the other lady she knew named Kaede.

"I just like to cook for people." She answered with a smile back. "It makes me feel good, it's something I can do to relax for a while. Get my thoughts in order."

"Thoughts about Lord Kuchiki?"

Correction, this lady was much more direct. Kagome blushed and floundered, trying to find words for a response.

"It's okay dear." The older lady patted her shoulder kindly. "He is quite the handsome young lad. He reminds me of his grandfather at that age. He was always attracting the pretty young ladies about himself too."

"You have the wrong idea." Kagome protested, raising her free hand and waving it. "He's handsome I suppose but I just want to be friends with him. He seems to work really hard and he's been helping me so I wanted to do something nice for him."

"It's okay dear." Kagome jumped when the older lady patted her shoulder again. "Don't listen to the rambling of these old bones. It's been a long time though sense I've seen him have a young lady around. Suppose we would all like to see him find a little happiness in life after the tragedy with lady Hisana."

"Lady Hisana?" Kagome asked curiously, canting her head. "Who is that?"

"That was Lord Byakuya's wife many years ago." The older woman explained, chuckling at the shocked expression Kagome offered her at that information. "Don't be too surprised, he is a handsome young lad after all…lady hisana was a woman from the lower districts without title but she was pretty and kind, soft as a flower petal. They were beautiful together."

"What happened to her?" Kagome frowned as she listened to the story, she could predict where it was going after what was said before. She started to put in pieces of the vegetables to the deep fryer, backing away so she wouldn't get any of the splash on her.

"She died…she came down with an incurable disease and wasted away to nothing. Lady Rukia…I believe she's in your class at the school right now…was lady Hisana's sister. He adopted lady Rukia into the family because he'd promised Hisana he would."

"Wow…maybe that's why he's so…distant." She tried to search for a word, dropping some more veggies into the pan as they talked.

"He's always been fairly distant." Kaede answered with a tiny shrug. "I think it is just in his nature…he takes his honor and the honor of his family very seriously. He's a conflicted young man, but I think you will do him some good."

"You make it sound like I'm some kind of medicine." Kagome laughed at that. "I am just trying to be a friend, I already said that."

"Well, perhaps a good friend would be a kind of medicine for him. How about I finish this up for you…it's mostly ready and just needs to be finished after all. That way you can clean up a little before you eat." The older woman offered, settling a wrinkled hand on Kagome's smooth one.

"Oh, um…I suppose. Thank you Kaede." She smiled and hugged the older woman before dashing off toward her room.

End Chapter

Tempura (deep fried veggies) is fucking awesome. Just needed to say that. I figured it was a cheap food that most people that liked veggies would enjoy but not something Byakuya could admit to really liking. I hate green tea cookies cause they're sorta bitter but I just picture them as something that the character would like. It's hard to come up with ideas for what characters would enjoy. I had to do a little research on the desserts before I picked the cookies.

-Aura

P.S. There won't be much of Byakuya and Rukia in this story…sorry if it's been misleading at any time. There will be some Mayuri vs. Sesshomaru in future chapters shock and I have no idea atm how I'm gonna write a fight like that…it'll be hard to do with all the super gay moves clown captain uses. She's still wearing the necklace so it shall show up. I need to learn to speed shit along…I have a love for detail though…it's so hard to write a fiction sometimes!