Chapter 21

Author's Note: Early update is early! Happy 4th of July! Also, I'm posting early because I'm busy this weekend. ENJOY!

Nyruki's heart thundered so loud that it seemed as if the sound was drowning out her hearing. She could feel each strong thump all over her body; her chest, her neck, even her arms pulsed with each pump.

She had wanted some time to think, to be away from him because just his very presence was enough to jumble her thoughts. Their kiss jumped to the front of her mind, flashing before her eyes in quick succession and even her lips began to tingle with the memory. It was a pleasant memory that forced her to swallow down the smile that wanted to creep across her face.

"Captain!" Renji yelped as he sprang to his feet so fast, Nyruki barely had time to move her hands out of the way from her musing.

"Stand down, Renji." Byakuya said as he stepped inside the training room and out of the sunshine to bring his features into view.

"I'm glad to see you're alright." Renji said, resting a hand on the back of his neck.

"I am. I would like to offer my gratitude to you for effortlessly assuming leadership of Squad 6 in my absence and I would also like to say, well done. I have been going over the week's reports and you did very well." Byakuya said, his hands clasped behind his back.

Renji's cheeks instantly burned, "C-Captain... I-It's no problem at all! It's my job!" He beamed.

"Despite that, you did well." Byakuya said with a single bow of his head.

Renji's entire face flushed as he dropped to his knees in a full on bow, "Thank you, Captain!"

"No need for that, Renji. If I may interrupt, is it possible to have a word with Nyruki?" Byakuya asked as Renji climbed back to his feet.

"Of course, Captain. We were just-" Renji was cut off.

"Training, I know. It is wise for you to build up your tolerance. You can handle mine well enough for a time, but being able to withstand it completely is better. It is a wise decision." Byakuya said smoothly.

Again, Renji's entire face flushed, "I uh... I'll leave you to it, Captain. Is there anything you need of me?"

"Nothing at this time." Byakuya said evenly.

"Understood, Captain." Renji bowed and took off in a slow jog as he shrugged back into his Shihakushō and disappeared out into the sun.

Nyruki tried not to gulp, but it happened anyways as she found herself under Byakuya's neutral silver gaze. The soft heat in her cheeks began to burn just a bit hotter the longer neither spoke, and she turned her eyes away, unable to look at him and rested a nervous hand on the back of her neck.

"I make you nervous." Byakuya said lowly, making no move at all to get closer out of a concern he may spook her.

"I-It's not that. It's just-" she sighed, "Yeah. You do a bit." Nyruki admitted, her mind entirely void of thought in order to produce a convincing lie.

"Don't be." He said softly.

Nyruki dropped her hand from the back of her neck, but kept her eyes turned away, "Is there something you needed, Captain?"

Her calling him by his rank, somehow, ached, but he ignored it, "I was hoping to speak with you if that's alright."

"About last night?" She asked, this time braving a look into his eyes that had shifted from neutral to soft.

"Perhaps, but that is not a conversation for here. My office?" Byakuya asked as he took a step to the side and extended an arm for them to walk.

Nyruki hesitated a moment before starting for the door with Byakuya by her side, but not too close. He had left a small distance between them and it was a welcomed reprieve. He seemed to be entirely aware of her wishes without her having to state them. He had no desire to be too close despite their rising tension, and it was clear to her that he was going to take things slow.

As they walked, neither said a word as she followed a half step behind him, avoiding brief gazes from the others of Squad 6 as they entered the main building and made their way to his office. None of the others seemed too concerned, but the murmurs were there and every now and again, she caught subtle words that echoed in her skull.

They stepped into the office, with the window open and allowing the same soft breeze from outside to drift in, offering cool air to help keep her mind clear. She was thankful for the fresh air as he went to the window and looked out, keeping his hands locked behind his back.

"I would like to discuss the continuation of our training. We should resume this evening." Byakuya said after a few moments, looking back at her over his shoulder with eyes still soft.

"I don't know if that's a good idea." Nyruki sighed as she picked at her fingernails behind her back, but stood rigid in the middle of the room.

Byakuya turned to face her, "With only two weeks left, if we do not continue, you are at a real risk of having to surrender your Zanpakutō and your standing within the Gotei 13." He said calmly and with no hint of anger. It was solely concern.

"I've already surrendered it. I left it on Captain Ukitake's desk last night." Nyruki said, opting to glare down at the floor instead.

"I know. I went to speak with him this morning before arriving here." Byakuya said, earning back her gaze.

"About?"

Byakuya drew in a breath that seemed nervous to her ears, "I had... inquired about your past."

Nyruki's eyes shot wide and her lungs froze. She was incapable of taking a breath, of even blinking and her whole body quivered so hard that it was noticeable where she stood.

"You what?" She exhaled with her jaw tightening.

"I can see that it bothers you. I apologize, but I felt it was something I should know... Especially after the events of last night." Byakuya said a bit quieter as he took a single, small and slow step away from the window.

Nyruki stood stock still, forcing herself to take in long breaths to help ease her mind as her eyes locked with his. She wanted to look away, wanted to look at the floor that seemed safer than falling into the silver, but the silver had gotten an infallible hold on her.

"I-I... Yeah. You should know." She said as she blinked away the rising sting in the back of her eyes.

"If I offended you, then I offer my deepest apologies. My sincerest actually. That was not my intention. All I wished for was to have an understanding so that I may not... invoke painful memories in the future... Should there be a future." Byakuya said as he looked at her with a softness in his eyes that set pink firmly in her cheeks.

Nyruki's chest hurt, "I-I... I can't answer that right now." She sighed, clutching a handful of her Shihakushō in nervous hands.

"I do not require an answer right this moment. When you have it, no matter what it is, I will be here waiting." Byakuya said quietly as each corner of his lips offered that nearly invisible smile.

Nyruki sucked in a tremendously shaky breath as she rubbed the meat of her neck with both hands, gripping it tightly as she stared up at the ceiling. She was grateful for the momentary release from the silver.

"Why do you have to be perfect?" She asked airily, shaking her head and continuing to stare upwards.

"I'm not. Believe me." He said.

Nyruki scoffed, "You could've fooled me."

Byakuya's smile twitched a bit wider as he stepped around to the front of his desk and leaned back against its edge.

"The thing about perfection, Nyruki, is that it doesn't actually exist. All we can do is strive to be better than we are." Byakuya said quietly, now clasping his hands together in front of him.

Nyruki slowly shook her head, but her lips twitched into a lopsided smile, "What does that mean for me?" She asked softly, dropping her head to look at him once more.

"It means to keep fighting for what you've worked so hard for. Do not give up simply because we had a setback." Byakuya said as he pulled her Zanpakutō from his obi sash and held it out for her to take.

Nyruki blew out a bit of a nervous breath and just stared at the sword in his steady hand. Somehow, she couldn't bring herself to take it from him.

"I don't know if I can do this. I can't guarantee none of us won't die the next time." She said, shaking her head.

"I have a strong feeling that you won't let that happen. I have entrusted my life to you once already and you proved that to be a wise decision." Byakuya said, still offering her sword.

Nyruki sighed once more as she just stared at her Zanpakutō with a hand tight against the nape of her neck. The ache in her chest still thumped, but it had eased up so that it didn't threaten to double her over.

"Can we take the night off?" She asked suddenly, crossing her arms.

"You feel that would be wise?" Byakuya asked with an arced brow.

"I think we all need a night off personally. We had a pretty rough week and I think it'll give us time to clear our heads." Nyruki said with the barest hint of confidence in her words.

Byakuya finally lowered his hand clutched around her Zanpakutō, letting it dangle at his side, "Very well. We will take the night off to clear our heads."

Nyruki softly smiled, "Thank you... Captain." Her smile widened.

Byakuya barely returned the smile, "Of course. Oh... Before I forget. There is something I wish to give you."

Nyruki simply stood and watched as Byakuya softly set her Zanpakutō down on his desk and reached down to a small drawer. He opened it and pulled four small bottles, only marked with the handwritten numbers one through four in black ink.

"What're those?" She asked, gripping her upper arm with a bit of nerves as he walked up to her, but she made no attempt to move.

He moved slowly as he clutched a loose lock of her conditioner dried hair and twisted it around his long finger, softly smiling as he looked down into her eyes that stared back.

"We never did finish." He said softly as he held the four bottles in his palm for her to take.

Nyruki smiled as she softly bit her bottom lip, trapped in his gaze, "Yeah. It still feels heavy." Her cheeks began to shade themselves pink again.

"Then here. Take these. The first two, you know what to do. Three you can rinse after massaging it into the ends and four you leave in." He said, releasing the trapped lock that stayed in the curl his finger had made.

Nyruki looked at the small bottles and plucked them from his offered palm, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," He smiled, but let it vanish, "Now, I believe Lieutenant Abarai is about to start training with the squad. You shouldn't be late." He said, offering one last, near invisible smile before stepping away and going back to the window.

Nyruki kept smiling as she examined the bottles in her hands. The handwriting was so fluid and was completely void of any mistakes. There was no hesitation at all in the strokes. Each one was made with deliberate intention with no second guessing. He boasted that perfection didn't exist, but the handwriting on the bottles was just that. Perfect.

With another small smile, only seen by the back of Byakuya's head, Nyruki turned and headed for the training arena outside.

The training had been for everyone else but her, and she wasn't all that upset about it. Renji's training for the day had been to build up the spiritual pressure tolerances of Squad 6 as a whole and she had spent the next couple hours dousing the entire squad with her spiritual pressure in low increments so not to drop the entire squad in one go.

However, Renji had wanted to demonstrate just how much she had, so he told her, at the very start, to level the squad to the ground.

She did.

It had only lasted a moment before she restrained her spiritual pressure and allowed the squad to recover, which only took a couple of minutes. None were hurt, but all were purely stunned by the sheer amount of weight they had been laden with. At that point, everyone truly gave it a try to build up their tolerances.

After that, Nyruki had went back to her room and gathered her bathing essentials, including the four small bottles given to her by her Captain. She spent extra time with her hair by shampooing and conditioning it just like Byakuya had done the previous night. She used the third exactly as instructed and after thoroughly rinsing it, she laced the fourth through her locks until it was so soft, that what tangles remained were combed out instantly with just her fingers.

Her hair felt just like satin.

With the sun sitting just above the evening horizon, it was time for supper, so she headed for just outside the Squad 6 barracks where she had agreed to meet up with Renji and Rukia for their night out. She had been looking forward to it all day and was more than thrilled that her Captain had granted the night off so she could think about other, less stressful things.

She reached the large door and cracked it open just enough to slip through where she spotted Renji leaning back against the wall with his arms crossed.

"Hey, Lieutenant." Nyruki said with a soft smile as she shut the gate quietly.

"Man, it's Renji." He said with a weak glare as he stood up straight.

"Right. Sorry... Um, Renji." Nyruki said, withdrewing a bit into her shoulders to hide.

"That's better. Thanks for doing that training today. I figured it would be a good idea for everyone to build up their tolerances." Renji said as his fake scowl turned into a grin.

"Sure. It was a nice change from what I've been doing." She said, crossing her arms.

"Yeah... I bet. I can't really comprehend it all, so I'm probably not gonna ask." Renji said as he interlaced his fingers behind his head.

"I actually really appreciate that. There aren't enough hours in the day to go over it all." Nyruki rolled her eyes.

Renji simply huffed a crooked smile as the sound of soft footfalls drew both of their attention to the blueing shadows. A small, petite woman, with feathery black hair that came to just passed her chin and big, bright violet eyes was coming their way. Her skin was pale, only making her jet black hair stand out all that much more as it shone in the fading sun.

"Yo! Rukia!" Renji beamed as he raised a hand into the air to garnish her attention.

Rukia looked up from the ground and smiled back just as big, but when she came within a leap's distance of the man that towered over them both, she jumped up and buried her foot into his gut.

"Baka! Why didn't you tell me more details than just that Nii-Sama was in the hospital!" Rukia boomed, having dropped Renji to the ground with her singular kick.

Renji coughed, "I didn't know any! I only just found out the details yesterday at the lieutenant's meeting!" He roared back with a hand pressed into his throbbing stomach.

"I am a lieutenant! Why wasn't I told about it!" Rukia screamed as she smashed her foot down again, this time, on top of Renji's head.

"You baka! Knock it off! You were in the World of the Living!" Renji yelled as he firmly grabbed her ankle in a large hand.

In one fell swoop, still with Rukia's ankle in hand, Renji stood up, taking the small woman with him to dangle her upside down by that very ankle like a freshly caught fish.

"Renji! Let me go!" Rukia flailed and planted her other foot into Renji's chest in an attempt to free herself.

Renji grabbed one of her wrists and righted her before setting her down on her feet.

Nyruki couldn't stop laughing.

"What?" Renji glared as he continued to fend off the tiny hellion by holding her an arm's length away with his palm planted on her forehead.

Nyruki, still laughing, rested a hand on her abs, "That's hilarious."

Rukia froze and glared at Nyruki, "Oh, hi! How're you liking being in Nii-Sama's squad?" She asked, instantly stopping her assault on the redhead.

Nyruki was grateful for the fading light, as it helped to hide the pink in her cheeks, "It's been good. Different than Captain Ukitake, but good." She said as the trio began to walk, headed for their chosen restaurant only a few blocks away.

"Quite different, but he's a great Captain!" Rukia beamed with even bigger eyes than before.

Renji nudged a fist into the side of Rukia's head, "Quite doin' that."

Rukia glared, but near instantly smiled as she lightly punched Renji's side.

Nyruki smiled as she trailed a few steps behind them, watching them jab and joke with each other with the air of absolute familiarity. They were both beaming with wide smiles that reflected in their eyes, laughing together and poking at each other with no care of hurting either's feelings. It was obvious that their friendship was an old one and one that would last.

She was content to walk in the silence, watching Renji and Rukia mess about and laugh and joke so effortlessly. The sounds of friendship were a comfort and offered her a chance to observe what a true friendship was supposed to be like. It was supposed to be effortless, easy to smile and to laugh and it was supposed to be effortless to be with the other. It made her reflect on how things were between her and her Captain, how the tension was increasing, but it was so slow that it wasn't causing any sort of stress. He had made sure to give her her space and he had made it quite clear that it wouldn't be he who would make the first move. It would be her.

After a short walk, they reached the bustling restaurant where they walked through the front door and greeted the pretty little hostess. She immediately showed them to a closed off room that was large enough for quite the party and every seat was needed, as there were five more people inside waiting for them.

"Yo! Renji! What took you bakas so long?" Beamed a tall, bald man with small red smears at each corner of his eyes.

"Had to wait for the tiny baka here." Renji grinned as he firmly planted a hand on top of Rukia's head.

"Who's this?" Asked another man, this one far shorter than the other with chin length black hair and bright colored, feather like extensions coming from his right eyebrow and eyelashes.

"The one you've been wanting to meet. This is Nyruki Sawada." Renji said with a thumb pointed in her direction as he sat down on the empty side of the table.

Nyruki blushed as she waved, "Hello."

"Oi! You're the one supposed to have insane amounts of spiritual pressure right?" The bald man asked, pointing a finger at her, still holding a small cup while he did so.

Nyruki nodded as she sat down next to Rukia, whom had taken up a spot next to Renji, "Mmhmm."

"Trust me, she does. Nyruki, this is Ikkaku Madarame. Boy George there is Yumichika Ayesegawa. Blondie is Izuru Kira. The guy with the sixty-nine on his face is Shūhei Hisagi and she is Rangiku Matsumoto." Renji said, pointing at each one as he said their names.

Nyruki waved at each one and offered quick examinations of each. Besides the first two, the man with the stark blonde hair and bright blue eyes seemed a bit withdrawn, but he talked with the other two seated beside him with drink in hand. The other with the number tattooed on his face was far more outspoken, and he wore matching bands around his arms and a choker around his neck.

The woman however, garnished a bit more attention. She had voluminous strawberry blonde hair that dusted her shoulders and her face was incredibly pretty with a small beauty mole on her chin, below her lip. Her eyes were such a bright shade of blue that they sparkled like crystal waves, putting the blonde haired man's to shame.

However, it was her attire that forced her eyes to scan downwards, as the top of her Shihakushō took a steep dive, plunging down far to offer a generous view of her buxom chest that was accented with a silver chain that disappeared into her cleavage. She was a bombshell and she was beaming and sipping sake with an arm around the shy blonde.

"So this is the one you've told us about! She's cute!" The woman beamed as she poured and offered a cup of sake to Nyruki.

Nyruki took the cup, but didn't sip. Instead, she blushed at the compliment.

"T-Thanks." Nyruki said, shying into her shoulders as she tucked an ultra soft lock behind her ear.

"Mmhmm, I agree, Rangiku. Her hair is rather striking with those white accents." Said Yumichika with a smile.

Nyruki's blush deepened.

"So how about it? I know Abarai's told you I'm interested in a sparing match." Ikkaku grinned wide with a lopsided smirk, firmly planting a sharp elbow onto the table.

"Oi! Not now!... Baka. She literally just woke up yesterday!" Renji growled at the bald man.

"Why not? I just wanna know how much pressure she's got!" Ikkaku roared back.

"And I'm sure that time will come, Ikkaku, but let the poor thing take it easy and relax." Yumichika said.

Ikkaku grumbled, "Fine."

Nyruki softly laughed, "I've heard you enjoy your matches."

"Hell yeah I do! It helps keep me sharp and ready for whatever comes!" Ikkaku beamed.

"That's called training, Madarame." Shūhei Hisagi glared.

"I'll call it whatever I wanna call it!" Ikkaku roared with irritation.

Nyruki softly chuckled as the group seamlessly returned to their conversations. Rangiku, still with her arm around Izuru, laughed and drank with Shūhei until all three of their cheeks had been colored flushed pink. They were drunk and needing each other to stay sitting up straight.

For the other three, being Renji, Yumichika and Ikkaku, they talked about whatever came to mind. They shifted effortless between training, gossip and beyond. They were totally engrossed and all were smiling and having a good time.

Rukia, for her part, had shifted to turn and put her back to Renji where she had leaned back into his side with his arm draped over her shoulder. She was smiling, holding a small cup of water as she listened to Nyruki regale her with some of the details of what happened, but Nyruki left out some of the more troublesome details, namely that her adoptive brother and her had been skewered together and that he had risked his life to shield her from the fired quills.

The small waitress had come and gone, loading their table down with so much food that Nyruki wasn't sure how all of them were going to consume it all, but they were sure giving it a good go. All eight of them attacked the food as if they hadn't eaten in days, consuming sushi, rice, sake and tempura with reckless abandon.

"Oi! You gonna eat that?" Ikkaku asked, pointing his chopsticks at Nyruki's plate that still had some uneaten sushi rolls on it.

"I dare you to try it, baldy!" Nyruki stuck her tongue out as she popped one of the rolls into her mouth.

"Baldy? I'm not bald! It's shaven!" Ikkaku roared as the whole table laughed at his expense.

"Shaven would indicate that there is a possibility of it growing back." Nyruki grinned.

The table erupted into loud, boisterous laughter as each one fell back rolling so hard that they couldn't breathe. The only one not amused with the jab was Ikkaku, whom simply sat and stared with a grouchy expression with arms folded across his chest.

"It's not funny!" Ikkaku yelled at everyone.

"That's precisely what it is! That's funny as hell!" Shūhei howled, unable to sit up from his drunken laughing.

"It is not!" Ikkaku frowned, his cheeks flushed pink from alcohol.

"Oh, yes it is! However, you make the bald work, my friend. I've told you this for years." Yumichika laughed, pushing himself up from the floor with tears streaming down his face.

Ikkaku just glared.

After several more minutes, the rest returned to sitting and continued to eat. Rangiku, Izuru and Shūhei had hit their tolerance for the alcohol and desperately needed each other to keep from falling over. Both men were leaning heavily against the woman simply to keep their heads up. Ikkaku and Yumichika had fallen into a food coma after a short while, having eaten and drank so much that their normally flat bellies were distended from their binge. Renji was teetering on edge of falling asleep, resting an elbow on the table with his head in his hand. His other arm was still slung over Rukia's shoulder as she leaned comfortably back against him, still sipping water and very much awake, but was yawning.

Nyruki, having stopped drinking the sake some time ago, sipped water and nibbled on what was left of their devastated meal.

"I'm glad to see you finally came out with us." Rukia said quietly with a sweet smile across her face.

"Me too. I'm glad I was able to convince the Captain to take a night off." Nyruki said, taking a sip of water.

"I'm kind of surprised he agreed to it honestly. He's usually all about training and accomplishing goals." Rukia said, settling back against Renji that garnished a low, delirious groan from him.

"That's what I thought, but it didn't take much. He must've needed it too." Nyruki said with a half shrug.

"Probably. Even he needs some down time every now and again. He just doesn't want people to know it." Rukia said with a low airy laugh.

Nyruki returned the laugh, "Yeah. So I've seen."

Renji sucked in a large, lazy yawn as he slumped a bit more against Rukia, coming that much closer to falling asleep on her.

"Oookay... Come on, Renji. Lets get you home before you pass out." Rukia said as she set down her cup and turned to hoist the significantly taller Renji onto his feet.

"I... don't... wanna." Renji slurred, his cheeks flushed from alcohol and his eyes blurry and half lidded.

Nyruki jumped up and helped, supporting Renji's other side, "You kinda have to. You can't fall asleep at the restaurant."

"Who... shaysh?" Renji hiccuped and yawned again.

Rukia and Nyruki both softly laughed.

"What about them?" Nyruki asked, looking over her shoulder at the other five.

"They'll make their way home eventually. They always do." Rukia said as she led them out of their room, gripping tightly to Renji's arm so he didn't fall.

"And the bill?" Nyruki cringed, knowing full well that it would be pricey with all that was destroyed.

Rukia winked at Nyruki, "I put it on the Kuchiki account."

Nyruki choked back a snicker, "Seriously? And your brother doesn't get mad?"

"Sssshhhh!... Not sho loud." Renji hiccuped again, but managed to make shuffling steps as the women led him along.

The girls ignored him.

"He really doesn't. Money doesn't matter to him. So long as I don't spend it frivolously, he doesn't care." Rukia said as they left the restaurant out into the dark and quiet night.

"Wow... If I can ask, how does the Kuchiki clan make their money?" Nyruki asked as she tightened her grip on Renji's arm around her shoulders so he wouldn't slip.

"The Kuchiki clan is charged with compiling and maintaining all the history of Soul Society, so a lot of the family familiars work in the Great Library here in the Seireitei. The family money typically comes from the Royal Palace for our work in maintaining the records." Rukia said as she shrugged Renji's weight up higher onto her shoulders for a better grip.

"That's quite the charge. That can't be easy." Nyruki said with a mild reel as she gripped a handful of Renji's Shihakushō along his opposite side.

"It's not. The clan employs a small army to work the library." Rukia smiled.

"That's pretty cool. If someone needs to use the library, do they need permission from the clan first?" Nyruki asked.

"Not unless it's more sensitive information. If that's the case, then they'd need to speak with Nii-Sama." Rukia said, leading them around the corner towards Squad 6.

"Only he can grant permission?"

Rukia nodded, "Mmhmm. He's the head of the clan, so someone would need his word in order to access the more sensitive materials."

"What's considered more sensitive?" Nyruki asked.

Rukia shrugged, "Not really sure. I'd imagine clan related history, Royal family history, detailed Hollow archives."

"Where's all that stuff kept?"

"Which one?" Rukia shot Nyruki a sidelong glance.

"Doesn't matter." Nyruki shrugged.

"The Great Library most likely. Why you ask?"

"Just curiosity is all."

They fell silent as they reached the fire lit doors of the Squad 6 barracks. Rukia pushed open the doors that the sentry guards held as the women slipped through with the very much passed out Renji, as he had given up the ghost on their walk home. They dragged him across the arena to the main building and managed to get inside where Rukia led the way once more to Renji's room.

"You got him from here, Nyruki?" Rukia asked as she helped to shift Renji's weight to Nyruki, whom was somehow, despite being much smaller, capable of handling the 6'2 frame, but only just.

"Yeah. I'll just throw him onto his futon and leave him there." Nyruki chuckled.

Rukia smiled, "That'll work."

"Hey, thanks for the invite, Rukia. I had a really great time tonight." Nyruki said with a genuine smile.

"Of course. I'm glad you came. Try not to get too wrapped up and forget to hang out with friends." Rukia said, resting a comforting hand on Nyruki's arm.

Nyruki's smile widened, "I'll try. It's nice to say I have friends."

"Keep coming out with us then," Rukia dropped her hand, "Well, have a good night, Nyruki. Maybe I'll see you tomorrow."

As Nyruki slid open the door to Renji's room, Rukia had turned and headed out of the Squad 6 barracks towards home of the Kuchiki manor.

As she walked, hands clasped behind her back, she smiled up at the bright, cloudless sky with a moon so big, so bright, that it could be considered a second sun. Every star twinkled like distant fire and the air around her was warm with an odorless breeze that rustled through her hair like fingers.

It didn't take long for her to reach the massive doors of the Kuchiki estate and she slipped inside without a noise. But before she retired for the night in her room, she walked passed it and went to the room three doors down on the right and knocked.

"Enter." Came a deep voice from inside.

She knew he would be awake. She opened the door quietly and peaked inside, seeing Byakuya sitting at a small table with a book and tea in hand. He always read before bed. His hair was free of the four pronged silver hair piece and slightly damp from having recently bathed and he simply wore a light blue robe that fit loosely around his form.

"Nii-Sama? Do you have a moment?" Rukia asked quietly.

Byakuya nodded and took a sip of tea as Rukia slipped inside and closed the door.

"Is everything alright? It is not common for you to grace me with a visit so late in the evening." Byakuya said as he motioned towards the empty chair across from him. There was always a second chair.

"Oh, yes, everything's fine." Rukia said as she sat down.

"How was your night out?" He asked without taking his eyes off the pages of his book.

"It was very enjoyable. Everyone was drunk and passed out by the time Renji, Nyruki and I left." Rukia said, pouring herself a cup of tea.

"I assume you and Nyruki got him home safely?" Byakuya asked, already knowing the answer.

Rukia nodded, "Yes, Nii-Sama."

"Good. So what is it you wished to speak to me about?" He asked, setting down his cup and slipping the bookmark into his book.

"Um... I actually wanted to speak with you about Nyruki." Rukia said, shying into her shoulders a bit.

That earned his attention as he shut his book and looked right at his younger sister.

"Regarding?"

"She... had asked some strange questions on our walk home this evening. She had asked about our clan's businesses." Rukia said with a reddening in her cheeks.

Byakuya's brows lightly furrowed, "In what regard?"

"Specifically? How to gain access to sensitive records under Kuchiki charge." Rukia said.

Byakuya rested his chin on a knuckle, "I see. Did she say anything that would indicate why she wished for access?"

Rukia shook her head, "No, Nii-Sama. I'm sorry."

"Hmm... I wonder what it could be in regards to." He said lowly to himself.

"If I knew, I would tell you, Nii-Sama." Rukia said, bowing her head.

"I know you would have. Speaking of restricted access, I understand you were finally able to retrieve the package Captain Ukitake had sent you to pick up." Byakuya said, picking up his tea for a sip.

"I was. It took Urahara some time, but he was able to get the information." Rukia said with a curt nod.

"Good. I will have to speak with him regarding what was recovered." Byakuya said.

"It wasn't much I'm afraid. All Urahara was able to find out was that this Hollow is older than the Head-Captain and just as capable. The reason he has been able to elude us for so long is because he is entirely invisible. He cannot be seen, only sensed and that's only if you have high enough spiritual pressure." Rukia said, finishing her tea.

"I see. Was there anything regarding his feeding habits?" Byakuya asked softly.

"Only that he purposefully feeds on spiritual beings with low spiritual pressure and awareness so that he stays hidden." Rukia said.

"I see. That is... troublesome." Byakuya sighed.

Rukia nodded, "Very."

"Thank you, Rukia, for telling me. I bid you a good night. Rest well." Byakuya said as he stood.

Rukia rose and bowed, "Of course, Nii-Sama. You as well."

As Rukia quietly left, Byakuya turned from the chair and went to a small end table not far from his large bed. He brushed aside a few odds and ends before pulling a closed file stamped with red and went to climb into bed, setting the file down in his lap while he stacked his pillows behind him for support.

The file was thin, only having a few documents inside. He had wished for more from all his searching, but through all the records from not just the Great Library, but the Department of Research and Development as well, there had only been enough to plant the seed of its existence and even that could be passed off as a simple child's tale. There had to be more somewhere, if at all to prove that Nyruki's Hollow was real.

With a sigh, he opened the file and began to read.