Summary

She gets some good news. That good news, though, is unfortunately bad news for him...

A/N: This is actually in two parts. The next part will come after this one-shot! Just to let you guys know! Okay! Go read!

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Renji scratched his head in confusion at the scroll in his hands, then shrugged and tucked it into his robe as he made his way down the hall. Stopping at a door, he pulled the shoji screen open with a crack and stepped inside the room. The rest of his squad turned their attention to him briefly before they focused back on their Captain, whom was going over mission details and assigning patrol units.

Byakuya leveled a brief glare at his Lieutenant that screamed 'You'd better have a damn good reason for why you're late!' before turning his attention back to the squad members he was addressing. No one liked to be on the receiving end of the nobleman's ire, and Renji shivered in anticipation of the dressing down he was bound to get.

"If that is all, then you are dismissed. Notify your designated posts about the changes that have been made today," the Captain replied, nodding as his men saluted and started filing out the door. A flash of pink in the sea of black caught his attention, and the Kuchiki head focused his gaze on Kagome. Her dark hair was bound up in a ponytail with a pale pink ribbon today, and his fingers twitched at the urge to pull the scrap of fabric out of the long tresses.

"Higurashi! You can stay!" he heard Renji suddenly call out, making the girl stop suddenly and turn to the red head with a sullen pout that was quickly wiped away. A few of her fellow squad members started whispering and snickering in her direction, but she made them scram with a dark glare. They scattered, leaving her alone in the room with her two superior officers.

"What is it, Lieutenant?" Kagome asked, tilting her head innocently and focusing her attention on the red head. Byakuya also pinned him with a look and waited for the conversation to continue. Unused to having two sets of undeniably penetrating eyes on him, Renji cleared his throat and pulled the scroll out.

"You wanna explain to us why you're getting a letter from Squad 4? What, exactly, would Captain Unohana want-!" He never got to finish his sentence; the priestess had yanked the roll of paper from his fingers faster than he would have thought possible and ripped the seal off to read the contents. Her eyes were wide and feverish as she skimmed the words. Her superior officers watched her worriedly in case it was bad news, but when she suddenly shrieked happily and bounced around the room in celebration, both men were extremely confused. She'd lost all sense of decorum at this point.

"They said yes! They said yes! They said yes!" Kagome chanted loudly, spinning in circles deleriously before skidding to a halt in front of Renji and pulling him into a crushing hug. The Lieutenant goggled at her in shock. What the hell was she doing? Byakuya barely restrained the urge to unleash his bankai on the flabbergasted red head. Why was he not receiving a hug?

'Why would I need one?' he thought, his mood turning utterly black for a reason he couldn't truly decifer.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" the former time traveler squealed, rubbing her cheek against her captive's robe before spinning away in a flurry of movement, "Oh! I have to tell Miroku! He'll be so proud of me!" And with that, the small shinigami was charging out the door, leaving behind two very confused men.

"... What the hell just happened? She didn't even let me finish!" Renji exclaimed, rubbing his head and sighing to himself. Turning to him Captain, and hoping that he would have an answer, he swallowed loudly at the evil gleam in those steely gray eyes.

"Renji. Why were you late?" Byakuya hissed, flicking his thumb under the guard of his zanpakuto in fury. The Lieutenant had a feeling that his superior wasn't all that angry about his tardiness, and more upset by their subordinate's reaction and lack of acknowlegement on his part.

"Well... You see..."

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The moment Miroku opened the door to desperate pounding he was tackled by a flurry of limbs, long black hair, and insanely high-pitched giggles. Blinking up at the bouncy Kagome grinning hugely down at him, he had to wonder if someone had planted drugs in her food.

Or sugar.

"... Kagome? What are you so happy about?"

"You remember when I talked to Lieutenant Kotetsu a few weeks ago, right? About maybe working part time in Squad 4 for some healing training?" The monk nodded, suddenly knowing where this conversation was going because a grin started to stretch onto his features.

"Yes... Did she respond back positively?"

"Even better! She talked to Captain Unohana and now she's asked me to come by tomorrow to start training!" the priestess responded breathlessly, stars in her eyes at the very thought. Captain Retsu Unohana was someone that Kagome admired greatly; not only for her healing prowess, but because she was so nice. She never had to yell at anyone, never had to even glare. There was a prescence around the cheerfully polite woman that had the younger girl breathless in awe. She wanted to learn how to do that.

"Captain Unohana is training you?" Miroku choked out, violet eyes wide in shock. He'd remembered meeting the woman, and had vowed to never ask her to bear his children. She'd given him such an evil smile as she reprimanded him for asking his tall Lieutenant. That had been when he was getting the arrow removed from his poor abused backside.

"Wait! Does your Capatin know about this?"

"Of course he does! He had to sign the paperwork!" Kagome retorted, huffing at the monk as she scrambled off him, absently punching him in the shoulder when he couldn't resist a grope, "Stop that! If you grope me in front of people, they're going to look at you weird!"

"Which is why I take every opportunity to do so when there are no eyes present."

"You're such a goof, Miroku."

"Of course. Now, how did you get Lord Kuchiki to sign?"

"Well..."

Slowly, she tiptoed into the office, a cup of tea and a small stack of papers in her hands. Her Captain was busily scribbling away at some files that had been backed up recently, and wasn't paying the least bit attention to any of his surroundings.

"Captain? I brought your tea. Umm... the last person you sent for tea almost lost his marbles from whatever it is you said to him, so I thought maybe someone else should bring it," Kagome murmured, setting the cup on his desk and biting her lip when he glanced at it and nodded.

"Thank you." Reaching out, he pulled his coveted cup closer, knowing that he needed to stop drink so much caffine if he was ever going to get to bed tonight. "You're dismissed for the night, Higurashi."

"Okay." When she didn't leave, however, he glanced at her again to see her fidgeting.

"What is it?"

"Umm... These papers needed to be signed this afternoon, Captain. I was supposed to send them to Squad 4 today and-!" She snapped her mouth shut when he sent her little stack a glare and snatched them out of her hands. Not even bothering to glance through whatever happened to be written on them, he flipped to the sheet that needed his signature, scrawled out his name, and shoved them back at her.

"Take those to Squad 4, then you may be dismissed for the evening," he commanded frostily. Kagome swallowed and nodded rapidly, skittering to the door and bowing poilitely.

"You should rest soon, Captain Kuchiki. I hope the tea is to your liking." With that, she was gone, not waiting for him to respond. He blinked slowly at her, and turned his attention to his tea, which was a different color than his normal green.

"What... is this?" Sniffing it delicately, he carefully took a sip, shrugged when he decided the flavor was acceptable, and returned to his work.

Twenty minutes later, he was passed out at his desk, fast asleep.

"I got him to sign them when he was really distracted, then fed him some tea that might have had a few sedatives in it," Kagome answered, carefully editing her words. Miroku wasn't fooled for a minute.

"You drugged him."

"I did not! I gave him something that would help him get to sleep! Technically, it wasn't a drug," the priestess huffed, crossing her arms and blushing furiously. At the incredulous look on the monk's face, she elaborated, "He was going to work himself into a coma, Miroku!"

"Just... don't tell him. He might actually become upest with you," her old friend sighed, rubbing a hand through his hair before pasting on a happy smile. "So, you'll be working with Squad 4?"

"Yep! This is great! I can learn healing techniques that would make Kaede so proud!"

"I'm sure Kaede-sama would already be proud of you, milady," Miroku demured, patting the small shinigami's head when she gazed up at him in happiness. It was so rare to see the girl truly happy nowadays. Especially with this whole 'seal' business that had begun to creep over them. 'Don't worry, Lady Kagome. I promise I will find out what is siphoning your powers away.'

"I know, but now she has even more of a reason to smile!"

"Yes, well, just make sure you don't overdue it, Kagome. You've limited energy as it is. Don't overextend yourself. I know a few people that would be very upset if something happened to you." He would be included in that group of individuals.

"Don't be so pessimistic. I'll be fine!"

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Byakuya was not thrilled after his very short meeting with Captain Unohana. According to the paperwork he'd signed, he'd given the rights over to let Higurashi train partially with the medical expert. The only problem?

He didn't remember signing the papers.

That had been a busy week, so he probably had merely stamped his name on whatever needed his signature. But now, he would have to split up several of her remedial lessons in order to accomodate this new thing. He wanted her to better herself, but first she needed to be able to make proper usage of the spiritual energy she already possessed. And so, coming into the next day, he was going directly to the little troublemaker to try and appease her out of the idea.

'Except that I can't find said troublemaker and her shadow cohort anywhere!' He'd looked everywhere! Her room, the monk's temporary room, the barracks. Hell, he'd even checked the training grounds and his family's archery range. Still, the diabolical duo had seemingly vanished. Grumbling under his breath, he turned the corner and slammed the door to his office open. He was not worried! Kuchikis didn't worry! The noble decided to throw himself into his paperwork and moodily got to it.

This was how Renji and Rukia found him a few hours later.

"Hey, Rukia. Is it just me, or does Captain Kuchiki look like he's sulking?" the redhead asked. He should have been prepared for the smack that followed, but the moment the much smaller shinigami's hand made contact with the back of his head, he was holding it in agony. "What was that for?"

"Idiot! My brother doesn't sulk!" Rukia hissed, glaring up at the Lieutenant in annoyance and huffing when he gave her an evil glare.

"Yeah? Well then, what the hell is he doing?" Renji ground out, making sure to be quiet in the process. If Captain Kuchiki caught them spying on him, there'd be hell to pay.

"... Thinking."

"Really." It hadn't been a question.

"Thinking hard," Rukia shot back, furrowing her brows and wondering what had her elegant older sibling so tied up in knots at the moment.

"Why-!"

"It must be about Kagome."

"... You've noticed that too?" Renji asked, carefully monitoring the girl's reaction. She gave him a devilish look and smirked triumphantly.

"Let me tell you about what we all did last week..."

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A/N: Okay! Part 2 will be up shortly! I hope you guys enjoyed!

Please review!