Oh wow, it's been over a month since I've posted! I guess that really isn't too long, but for this story, it kind've is. Anyway, this chapter was never apart of the original plan, but it became essential to set up some plot points. It kind've became bigger than I ever wanted it to be, but oh well. Enjoy, and let me know if you have any questions.
Song: Ben Harper's, "My Own Two Hands"
Good vibes ~ Ashes
Bolder than the Darkness
xXx
"I can change the world, with my own two hands
and make it a better place, oh, with my own two hands."
"You wanna find Ginjō and Tsukishima?" Urahara asked as he looked up from a big, flashing screen and scratched curiously at his patchy chin hairs.
"Yeah, Is there something wrong with that?" Ichigo asked.
"There's nothing wrong with it," Urahara said as he turned his attention back to the screen. "Not to point out the obvious, but you did kill Ginjō."
Ichigo's scowl softened into a frown, and he shifted his eyes downwards, almost shamefully. "You don't have to remind me of that. I did what I had to do."
Urahara turned around and put on a sad smile that looked wrong on him. "I didn't mean anything by it, Kurosaki-san." He nudged his head towards the opposite end of the laboratory. "Walk with me."
Ichigo followed, and Urahara hummed lightly as they navigated past a few shuffling division members. "What I meant was, why would they want to help you? More importantly, why would they want to help the Shinigamis, let alone become one when they hate us?"
"That's exactly why," Ichigo said. "Things are changing, and they have a chance to change some of the ways they hate so much."
"I get your logic. That doesn't mean they will, but you have always been one for challenges." They stopped in front of a metal door, and Urahara placed his palm face down in the center. A green outline pulsed around his hand before a beeping sound signaled from seemingly nowhere, causing the door to slide open like a shaft.
When they entered, Ichigo faltered at the sight.
Rows upon rows of transparent tanks lined the room, each standing as tall as Ichigo. Every tank was filled with a plasma type substance, and each took on an unique color. Some were red. Some were blue. All the colors of the rainbow and every hue in between was present.
"What the..." Ichigo said, coming to a dead halt at the spectacle laid out before him.
Urahara walked over to a control panel in the center of the room and tinkered with some buttons, pulled some levers, and did some other scientific stuff that Ichigo didn't understand. Ichigo was about to ask him what he was looking at, but then he wondered if he even wanted to know.
"I'll use the reiatsu signatures we have for them to see if I can pinpoint their exact location. It may take a few days though," Urahara said as if they were having this conversation over tea and not in the middle of, what looked like, the headquarters of some bizarre, extraterrestrial operation.
Ichigo shivered to think what went on inside Urahara's mind.
"What is he doing here?" Mayuri asked, pointing at Ichigo as he stormed into the lab. "What part of secret do you not grasp?"
Urahara grinned at the stemmed scientist. "Oh, come on, Kurotsuchi Taichou, in four months time, it won't be a secret anymore."
Ichigo walked over to one of the tanks and tilted his head in observation. The glowing substance bubbled, and Ichigo tapped on the glass like a curious child might do with a fish tank. "Why is it so secretive? What is this goo?"
He went to thud the tank again, only to have his wrist captured by the skeletal grasp of Mayuri.
"Do not put your dirty hands on my work!" he said, and Ichigo jerked his hand away, fearing he might be poisoned from just the skin to skin contact. "And that goo is the next generation of the Gotei Thirteen."
"What?" Ichigo looked back and forth between the tank and Mayuri several times. "I don't understand."
"And I'm sure this is a common experience for you," Mayuri said, waving his hand in a contemptuous manner.
Ichigo turned his back to the man. "What the hell is he talking about?"
"Well, the simplest way I can put it is to say that they're clones."
By this point, with everything he'd seen, Ichigo didn't even know why he was surprised. "Clones?" He ran his wide eyed gaze over the lab. "How?"
Urahara rose a pointer finger enthusiastically. "Ah, all you must do is transplant the nucleus of a somatic cell into these artificial ovum, synthesize the samples in some hyperactive solution, wait four months, and presto," he said as he bounced on his heels, "you have the equivalent of a newborn Shinigami."
Ichigo's jaw went slack, and he felt like someone was jamming an ice pick right between his eyes. "Can you say that in a way a normal person will understand?"
Fanning himself, Urahara gave Ichigo an expectant smirk. "We'll take the DNA from two different donors and put it in an artificial womb." He knocked on one of the tanks twice. "Which is what these bad boys are. The rest is just semantics, really. It's pretty simple science."
"More like science fiction," Ichigo said as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Of course, you would think that," Mayuri said as a division member handed him a cup of tea. "The World of the Living is completely inferior, especially in regards to scientific advancement. Cloning is child's play." He took a testing sip from his cup before gagging and chucking it back at his subordinate. "Uhk, you fool. This is all wrong. If you can not brew a simple cup of tea, than I dread to think what might occur if I let you around our experiments."
As the division member scampered off, Ichigo rolled his eyes before looking thoughtfully into the red plasma of a tank. "I guess, out of everything I've seen, this ranks pretty low on the weird scale, but if they're clones, who are they clones of?"
"Thats where the secret part comes in." When Ichigo gave him a prompting look, Urahara explained, "Let's just say there's a question of ethics involved, understandably so. After the Winter War, Central and The Grand Noble Council wanted to protect their assets."
"You mean the Shinigami?" Ichigo asked.
"Exactly, only not just any Shinigami, the most powerful ones. The ones from the noble clans. So they set up this operation in the case of another war that could cause mass causality. An operation where the participants weren't aware of their involvement and never will be."
Ichigo fretted his brow. "I still don't understand who though."
Urahara tipped his head down until the shadowy brim of his hat obscured most of his face. "Each of these tanks are filled with the genetic material of two different Shinigami, powerful Shinigami who fell in the war."
"What?!" Ichigo said, his voice amplified as it reverberated against the glass. "You're saying these are the children of dead Shinigami?"
"We prefer the term subjects," Mayuri said.
"They'll walk, talk, and act like any other kid, so they're not just some science experiment. Who'll raise them?"
"Oh stop being so sentimental."
"He has a point," Urahara said as he placed a hand on Ichigo's shoulder. "You see, during the initial attacks, we lost so many. After awhile, it became an everybody for themselves ordeal. That's why most of the surviving members are the unseated officers. When they saw the taichou getting bested, a lot of them played it smart and hid. Our biggest hit were the more powerful, high ranking Shinigami, because they at least put up a fight."
"And how does that make it right?" Ichigo asked.
"Power is passed through lineage, and with only the weakest of Shinigamis left to reproduce, it might've taken centuries upon centuries for the Seireitei to regain the strength it once had, not to mention a lot of selective breeding and a lot of luck. So w-"
"So they were worried our weakness would leave us vulnerable. I get it. I don't like the idea of all these kids having no parents, but I get it."
With all the easy going temperament that defined him, Urahara shrugged and laughed a bit. "These kids will belong to noble houses. They'll have everything they could ever want."
Looking aimlessly into the congealed substance, memories of a life without his mom left Ichigo momentarily dazed. "Money isn't everything," he said after a while. "Anyway, as fun as this has been, I got to go get ready for the festival tonight."
Urahara perked an amused brow. "You're going?"
"Byakuya says I need to go suck up to some old guys if I want the elder's support with passing these new laws, so I'm going with him."
"He's right, you know? I would listen to him."
"I'm going, aren't I?"
Urahara popped open his fan to hide a telling grin. "And with the head of the most infamous clan on your arm no less."
"Yeah," Ichigo said, "I'm lucky to have him. I mean, I'm lucky to have his support." A pause. "Anyway, I'll see you around Geta-Bōshi."
xXx
Byakuya calmed his breathing and opened his senses. Then he waited, patient and porous to all around him. He disappeared into his surroundings until they became one in the same. His breathing so faint and his extremists so light, that he became only a vessel for what he perceived. Even his heartbeat was lost to the wind and the rustling of leaves.
'Left.'
Byakuya extended his arms, blocking a barrage of forward thrusting palms and side swiping kicks.
Watch any good predator, and you'll see the same tactics again and again. It's a rudimentary yet an arduous skill, because it took the ability to both dissociate from oneself and be completely open to the world around you. Although you are hunting, one must maroon all ego and stalk both their enemy and the elements with the intimacy of a lover. One must first realize that they know nothing, and only then can they understand anything.
Byakuya countered attacked, yet he did not move against the space, but with it. He trusted it's leadership in this dance of theirs.
Before, with his eyesight, Byakuya saw so little. He arrogantly overestimated the wealth of surface qualities, but once he gave everything to the darkness, earned it's trust through these labour of love, it divulged all it's secrets to Byakuya
Uchi and Byakuya continued with their bout, learning of the others heart by the way they moved around the air. Byakuya could now predict an opponent's next five strikes as if he knew them better than they knew themselves. It was because he now looked so closely. He looked with everything, and for a man who so often chose to turn his back on the people around him, there was something oddly personal in that.
With a slide to the right, Byakuya moved behind Uchi and kicked his legs right from under him, sending the man to the ground with a thud.
"Ah, I see you excel at using your hands, Lord Kuchiki."
"And I see you are as inappropriate as ever."
Uchi chuckled as he kick jumped to his feet. "Do not be so prude, Lord Kuchiki. You know what they say, everything is funnier in the dark."
Bypassing Uchi's flirtatious banter, Byakuya said, "It is very well that I am proficient in hand to hand combat, but that does little to help me when yielding my zanpakuto."
"This is true. While your senses have began to meet new heights, they have a scope, a scope that your long distance weaponry will always supersede."
Uchi sat down in the grass, wiggling his finger through the blades. "Riddle me this: If a blind man is shooting an arrow at a moving target, how does he hit it?"
"If I knew that, you would not be here."
"You are not ready for the answer quite yet."
Byakuya could practically hear Uchi's face twitch in amusement. "Then why do you ask? Do you enjoy wasting my time?" Byakuya said, letting out a soft, agitated sigh.
Uchi hummed impishly. "I enjoy riling you up. There is a difference. Now, there is one more step to your training before we can answer this question." A pause. "Do you understand just how powerful of a thing reiryoku is, Lord Kuchiki?"
The question made Byakuya tilt his head at it's obviousness. "Of course, it is what drives a Shinigami's powers."
"This is a short sighted answer. However, it makes sense. The light bulb was not invented because of frivolous curiosity but out of a desire to escape darkness."
"Must you always speak in circles?"
"Must you always be so impatient? I do have a point."
Byakuya allowed his silence to speak for his curiosity.
"Most Shinigamis do not use their reiatsu and reiryoku to it's fullest potential, nor are they even aware that they're not, because they do not have to. Think of your reiatsu as an extra pair of senses. If you can control the way you exert your reiatsu and allow it to mold around another person, seep into them, you can feel their essence, smell it, even taste it. Reiatsu, in a sense, is almost like a tangible energy."
"I suppose that makes sense. Reiatsu often takes on a color, and when large amounts are given off, you can feel it, but why is this necessary for my training?"
"They're two reasons. Firstly, this is a prelude to your last lesson. Secondly, when a large amount of reiatsu is given off, it is like being rushed by a thousand different sounds, but when you allow your reiatsu to feel around inside another's, slowly delving into each of their parts one by one, you can discover the part of them that houses their powers."
"How?"
"All zanpakuto fall under a type, and each type has a specific feel too it. If you can master this, you will be able to know the exact nature of an opponent's power before they even draw their weapon."
The prospect sounded interesting enough. New ways to advance his skills were always intriguing. "Alright."
"It is a rather intimate pursuit, however, intertwining your reiatsu with anothers. You will have to practice this by exploring the properties of reiatsu belonging to people of which you already know their powers," Uchi explained. "This way, you will get an understanding of what that specific type of power feels like, and you'll be able to recognize it in others."
"If it will get me closer to my goals, then I will do whatever it takes."
Uchi perked an eyebrow. "Considering you are not a man who leaves his dwelling often or interacts socially with many, I believe this will be the most difficult part of your training."
"I have little reason to leave these days."
"Then the festival this evening will be the perfect venue for some practice."
When Byakuya made a noncommittal noise, Uchi asked, "You do not want to go, do you?"
Byakuya rolled a shoulder. "It is simply an obligation. I feel little towards it."
Uchi chuckled knowingly. "Do you know what they say about you in the upper districts?" He asked offhandedly. "You are the Prince of Silence, your beauty is as infamous as your blade." Uchi's tongue did a slow crawl over his lips. "I, too, find you quite tantalizing. Your reiatsu smells of sakura, but it taste like expensive whiskey and sweet cream, dulcet and burning."
Byakuya blushed a bit, feeling both flustered and vexed by Uchi's brashness.
"But it is your essence that truly drives me wild, Lord Kuchiki." His voice was gritty as he craned his head back. "It is rawness collided with a deathly control. You, my darling little protege, are the lull before the storm."
"Do not insult me, Uchi-san," Byakuya said with a huff. "I am both the lull and the storm."
A toothy grin pulled at Uchi's mouth as he stood back up. "If you were not my student, I may have made you fall in love with me."
Even if Uchi couldn't see it, Byakuya resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Do you have a point to these ramblings?"
"I always do," Uchi said as he walked over to the noble and stopped right in front of him. "You see, for blind men like us, attraction is not based on something as vacuous as appearances, but the measure of one's soul." Uchi circled the man like a ravenous shark eyeing a morsel of food. "We learn early on to look at people with everything we have, and as a result, we often see more. Through our lessons, I have came to see right through you." He stop directly behind the noble, and Byakuya could feel his tepid breath prickling against moist skin. "There is little you can get past me, Lord Kuchiki."
Byakuya stood unflinching, but he found himself feeling naked in the way he did with his new style of fighting. It was okay to be exposed to his surroundings, to let them rush through him and guide his steps, but being transparent to others was on a whole different stratosphere, one beyond his levels of comfort.
"Is it your blindness that makes you apprehensive? Are you afraid of the judgment of others?"
"If you think I care so heavily about what others think of me, than I would say you do not know me as well as you think you do."
"Ah, but that is it, isn't it? You reject those around your before they can reject you."
Byakuya gritted his teeth. "Rather you're right in your assessment or not, my personal ongoings surpass the perimeters of our arrangement."
Backing off from the noble, Uchi smiled and said, "Trust that I only aspire to help you, however unorthodox my methods may seem. It is not only your powers that lay stagnant, Lord Kuchiki." Before Byakuya could respond, Uchi said, "But that is a lesson for a different day."
xXx
Ichigo stood scowling down at a yutaka that had been laid out for him on the platform - risen futon in his guest room. It wasn't the garment itself that bothered him. It was plenty nice, or more so, it was probably too nice for Ichigo's, at times, disruptive tendencies. Even though Ichigo usually wore a plain shihakusho at all times whilst in Soul Society, it wasn't as if he had a choice. Ichigo's usual style consisted of clothes a bit more snug and a bit more modern, but seeing as he really didn't need another reason to stand out, he figured it was probably in his best interest to get with the whole feudal setup.
Actually, since most members of the Gotei had relinquished their pay for the next couple of months to aid their depleted homeland in the beginning hurdles of restoration, Ichigo had been living off the good graces of the Kuchiki Lord, clothing notwithstanding. At times, Ichigo felt guilty about such an extensive hospitality. It wasn't like him to bum off of others since he didn't enjoy the feeling of owning people anything, and even though he knew such gestures were of little significance to Byakuya - considering his exuberant wealth, he felt less than worthy of such treatment. He hadn't really done anything for Byakuya, unless you counted becoming his fukutaichou, which Ichigo did not. Although, they were friends after all, and friends naturally did what they could to help each other. Ichigo only wished he could return that helpfulness in some regard, but Byakuya Kuchiki wasn't a man who needed for much, nothing material anyway.
As Ichigo dressed, he thought about how some of the noble's gestures went beyond the parameters of affability. Byakuya, the man of few words he was, did not often show care through articulated speech, but through discrete actions, and when Byakuya started doing little, barely noticeable things for Ichigo, like asking Fujita to sew pockets in all of his uniforms or making sure there was a dish of Ichigo's favorite fruit, sliced peaches, provided during every breakfast, that care became evident.
In true Byakuya Kuchiki fashion, he subtly and silently displayed his fondness, or perhaps his gratitude, in the most reserved way possible. So much so, Ichigo wondered if the noble even understood what he was doing. Nonetheless, it was both refreshing and earnest, and Ichigo couldn't help but to be charmed by these nuances.
Most everyone these days was full of hot air, going on about his "heroic actions", and though he understood and even appreciated their gratefulness, half of the time it seemed given so shallowly. People would rewrite his story, glamorize him as this hero that he wasn't, but forget that every hero had a tragedy. They'd idealize him, put him on a pedestal and pluck him of all his flaws until he was nothing more than an unblemished savior to be ogled at. Ichigo didn't want anyone's sympathy, and he certainly didn't want their pity, but once a man who had always been expected to fail, now he was watched by the masses, always expected to succeed their expectations. Being that he hated letting others down, most of his encounters had became dauntingly contrived, and sometimes it took every bit of him to not let that facade shatter.
However, much like Byakuya's friendship, his appreciation was unobtrusive and indistinct while also being blatant in the meaning of it's existence. His acts of thoughtfulness did not invite nor attempt to gain attention, but they said more, and they said it louder, than all the incessant gushing ever could. They said that Byakuya listened to him and his arbitrary ramblings, even his meaningless complaints about a lack of pockets. They said that Byakuya, without a need for acknowledgment, wanted to extend his care just because he could. They said he was recognized. They said he was not alone.
Standing in front of a full length mirror, Ichigo inspected his ensemble, and admittedly, he liked it more than he thought he would. It was brown with wisps of red and gold tactile, and it somehow managed to be elegantly restrained, modest without being too subdued. It reminded Ichigo of Byakuya in that way. It was also tighter than most yutaka, making Ichigo wonder if this was also the noble's aesthetic touch at play.
As he tried to recall mentioning his penchant towards tighter clothing to Byakuya, a knock interrupted his thoughts. "Come in," he said.
In the reflection of the mirror, he saw Byakuya slide open the door and stand in the arch way. Ichigo allowed himself a moment to inspect the noble's form. Although Byakuya always dressed traditionally, his garments looked more high fashion than the drab yutaka most men would wear. With their asymmetrical hemlines and draping, they looked more like those modernized yutaka you'd see on runways. This one imparticular was olive with coal borderings, and Ichigo thought that he liked those colors on him. They brought out his eyes in the times that they stayed solely gray.
Ichigo gave the noble's reflection a small smile. "Yo, Byakuya, I thought I'd be ready way before you." At the noble's face stiffening in a way Ichigo could easily interpret, he said, "Calm down, I didn't mean because you're blind." Ichigo snorted as he attempted, unsuccessfully so, to tame his unruly hair. "I figured a noble lord would take hours to get ready for a festival."
Byakuya arched an eyebrow and rolled a shoulder smoothly. "When one has such a natural grace as I, it takes little effort to prepare for an evening."
At the clenched lips tugging with a need and the dash of gold dusting his eyes, a grin lit up Ichigo's face. "Smug bastard," he said as he shook his head in amused ridicule. Once he gave up on his hair, he took a moment to regard himself in the mirror. The harsh gaze was drawn passed himself as his thoughts wavered, and there was a silence that lasted a bit too long.
"Are you anxious about this evening?" Byakuya asked as he inclined his head slightly.
Ichigo smiled sheepishly. "Is it that obvious?"
"Sometimes silences speak as loudly as words," Byakuya said as he took a cane guided step forward. "You're reiatsu is also quite the indicator."
Ichigo scowled and dropped his shoulders marginally. "What's to be anxious about? I only have to convince everyone to not hate the people who killed all their friends and family."
"You are simply dipping your feet in the water, mingling so you can present yourself as our new ambassador and create rapport. There is nothing too severe expected from you tonight."
"Yeah, I know," Ichigo said as he ran a hand over his exasperated features. "I think you were right, deciding to do this wasn't in my normal character. I'm over all the attention as is, and now I have to go talk with all these people and try to pretend I'm charming or something."
"People are naturally drawn towards you, Kurosaki Ichigo. I believe, just by being yourself, others will follow your lead." He tilted his head in contemplation. "Furthermore, it is not wholly out of the realm of your personality. You are a protector even if doing so means stepping outside the zone of your comfort."
Ichigo turned around and abolished the space between them as he came to stand in front of Byakuya. "Be my self, huh?" He smirked and crossed his arms. "So when someone annoys me, I can just tell them to get lost?"
Byakuya's lips vibrated humorously. "Perhaps do not be completely yourself. That scowl is formidable." Ichigo gave a throaty chuckle, and Byakuya said, "Besides, I will be there also, and I am quite proficient at saving face around those whom test my patience."
"Well, at least I won't be miserable alone," Ichigo said as he ghosted his fingers over his side to find nothing there. "Should I bring Zangetsu?"
"Do you plan on fighting?"
"Depends on if someone annoys me and how bad," Ichigo muttered.
Byakuya sent him a reproving glare. "You will do no such thing in a garment that nice."
Ichigo plucked at the fabric and looked down at it with apathetic eyes. "Yeah, I guess it is pretty nice. I'm just not use to wearing this stuff all the time." Ichigo snorted as he stepped towards the door and out into the hallway. "Maybe with all the new changes going on, we can get you guys past the feudal Japan era while we're at it."
"I would say impossible," Byakuya said as he fell in line beside Ichigo, "but I believe I am proven wrong every time I have used those words in regards to you."
When Ichigo let out a sputtering laugh, Byakuya asked, "What is so amusing?"
"The thought of you in human clothes. Now that's something I'd like to see." Ichigo smirked. "Then the Shinigami Women's Association really would never leave you be."
Byakuya almost paled at the hypothetical as they kept with their steady, patient pace. "Do not remind me of those woman and their antics. As is, I will likely be maneuvering around their cameras this evening." Ichigo grinned at the idea of an enduringly prideful Byakuya sneaking his way through the darkness from a hoard of female admirers. "I will never understand their obsession."
"It's no mystery, Byakuya. Girls like the prince charming types."
Byakuya perked an eyebrow at the notion. It humored him somewhat that Ichigo could deduct this, but the young man was much too innocent to grasp his own attractiveness towards the opposite sex and perhaps even the same.
Instead of verbalizing this, he just said, "I am not a prince, but a noble lord, and I'd hardly be considered charming by most standards."
"Tell that to your legions of fans."
Byakuya smoothly fanned his free hand. "You can not reason with the madness of those woman."
"Your sister is one of those mad woman, ya' know?" Ichigo pointed out.
"Yes, well, no one is perfect," Byakuya said, and Ichigo laughed in response.
His thoughts lingered for a while as they walked with a lighthearted silence stretching between them. It felt warm and easy, but that was until he recalled another Kuchiki that had been weighing heavily on his mind.
"Speaking of Rukia, is she going to be there?"
"I am not sure. She has been rather preoccupied with her duties of late."
Ichigo nodded solemnly, and his eyes shifted in trepidation.
"Have you two not spoken since your altercation?" Byakuya asked as they arrived at a descending pathway that lead to the Kuchiki estate's gated entrance.
Ichigo sighed and raked a hand through his hair, ruining any effort he had exerted to contain the locks. "No. I've tried a lot, but there's always something. I know she's busy, but I'm starting to think that she's avoiding me."
"Rukia would do no such thing," Byakuya said definitively. "She will come to you when she is ready."
"I guess."
A feathery hand weighing down on his forearm stopped Ichigo's path, and he looked down to see Byakuya's fingers laced around him in a gentle act of support. He looked back up to fiery eyes that burned in starch opposition to the night, and his heart picked up it's pacing a bit.
"You two are bonded tightly, so no matter what has transpired between you, nothing can simply break such a connection. Have faith in this bond. She will speak to you when she is ready."
Ichigo's scowl lifted into a light smile, and he said, "Yeah. You're probably right, Byakuya."
The pair continued towards the festival, which was being held in the courtyards with the least amount of wreckage near the fourth and fifth division. The streets were lined by hanging lights and teeming with bright faced celebrators donned in festive yutaka. An aroma of Yakisoba and freshly sprouted flower blossoms were mixed and carried by passage of soft spring winds. Around them, laughter and frivolous chatter filled the atmosphere as if erupting from the thwarting holds of darkness, and victory songs they had been much too bone and soul weary to create after the war were finally given life. As Ichigo looked on, he thought this was good. This normalcy, it was healing. Even it felt all too reasonable in the face of the insanity they all endured, it was what people needed.
The evening was less painful than Ichigo built it up to be. Although, he credited much of that to Byakuya's presence and the constant flow of calming energy he'd exuded. Between the enthusiastic hoards of Shinigami and the loftily spoken aristocrates, Ichigo's endeavor into cordial conversation took it's toll, and considering he didn't know what to say a majority of the time, he let the questions come to him and answered them with all the interest he could muster.
It was obvious Byakuya was better at the all whole song and dance than Ichigo ever thought he could be, but maybe Byakuya was right. It was the things that made him different that would make people listen to him and heed his actions.
"A fine warrior and a diplomate?" said a blue haired noble, belonging to a house Ichigo had already forgotten. According to Byakuya, he was someone important. He perked a brow in intrigue as he said, "Perhaps Kurosaki-san will one day help the Shiba clan return to it's former glory."
"Uhh, act-"
"Yes, the future is quite full of possibilities," Byakuya interrupted, causing Ichigo to look at him dubiously. "Now if you'll excuse us, Head Elder Shihoin Michiko," he said with a parting bow.
"Yes, of course. As always, it was nice speaking to you, Lord Kuchiki." He nodded in the direction of Ichigo. "Kurosaki Ichigo, I look forward to seeing great things from you."
Ichigo resisted the urge to scowl and simply nodded back. As him and Byakuya began to stroll the block, Ichigo said, "Hate to break it to you, Byakuya, but I am not restoring the Shiba clan or whatever that guy was talking about. Unlike you, I don't like to unduly bury myself under duty."
Byakuya's eyes slid impassively to where Ichigo stood beside him. "Trust that I am aware you will not do something unless it is what you want to do."
"Then why did you lie to that guy?"
"I did no such thing," Byakuya said as he preened the fabric of his garment in a haughty manner. "I simply allowed him to make his own assumptions."
"That just sounds like a really sly way of lying," Ichigo said, smirking ever so slightly.
"It is a necessary evil in maintaining this position and achieve anything. In the coming months, it will be important for you to obtain the good graces of as many seated elders as possible. Their support will be paramount to your cause."
"I know. I just hate having to play mind games with these guys. Being straightforward about what I'm trying to accomplish should be enough." With a grimace, he muttered, "If they had fought in the war, maybe they'd see that."
"You are right, it should be," Byakuya said, dipping his head. "However, this is politics, so there will always be facades and loaded speech you will have to maneuver around." A pause. "Although I know you to be authentic for the most part, it is not as if you have no experience in wearing a mask, Kurosaki Ichigo."
Byakuya took the silence as prompting to elaborate. "I was one of your guardians while you were without your powers. You smiled much in the face of your friends and family, but I do not think I once saw you happy throughout the duration of my post." When Byakuya's soberly delivered observation was met by more silence, he concluded, "I only bring this up because this situation is not much different. Wearing a mask is a means to an end for your desire to protect in both instances. It is that simple."
Ichigo blinked thoughtfully at the ground, watching the gliding motion of his feet with furrowed brow. "I didn't think of it like that. It actually does make it all a little easier put into those terms."
When Ichigo looked up to Byakuya, he noted how all the twinkling lights and children fisted sparklers filtered over the shadow blurred edges of the noble's face and gave vigil to a stunning yellow that looked much like the sparklers themselves. His words suddenly became shuffled, and his tongue tied helplessly. Something about the sight of Byakuya's highlighted features sent his thoughts adrift, but before he could gather them, the fluctuation of a familiar pressure broke through his stupor.
"Go. Without shunpo, I will only slow you down," Byakuya said without the need for prompting
"Byak-"
"She is close by, so I will not be long. Go, Kurosaki Ichigo," he said, using a taciturn tone that dismissed any argument to the contrary.
Ichigo spared one more wary look before he flashed away. It wasn't long before he arrived at a crowd of people encircling the pressure he was searching for. It looked similar to the crowds that would gather during school yard brawls, only it was typically Ichigo in the middle of those. He pushed his way through the flock, flexing his pressure a bit to make some room for himself. As he drew closer to the center, he could see Nel over the bobbing heads holding off a barrage of attacks being sent her way by a number of seated officers. Without much effort, she only defended herself, and the Shinigami's in question looked agitated by her lack of advance.
"Stop toying with us, Arrancar!" one of the men said, throttling the hilt of his sword with both hands.
"I believe it is you who is toying with me," she spat, turning to block an aerial attack.
"What officer did you slay and take that uniform from?" Another officer asked as he swung at the woman, his attempt evaded as easily as the others.
"You are mistaken," Nel said, her composure unshaken with a hand steadily attached to her hilt. "I am the San-seki of the Rokuban-tai. My associate and I were given asylum because of our assistance in the war, and we have both been placed into divisions."
An uncertainty stilled everyone's movements, and as they all looked around at each other, gauging their comrades reactions with floaty eyes, the grasp on each individual hilt reflexively slacked.
However, a wiry man with slicked back raven hair and shaved sides - a seated officer, and the one Nel made out as the ringleader of this makeshift mob - was not placated. "Who would allow monsters like you into the Gotei Thirteen?!"
"Kurosaki Fukutaichou," she said without hesitation. "He's taken it upon himself to act as the ambassadors of our lands, and is trying to broker peace between the Quincy's and the Shinigami." Wafting her gaze around the group of rattled officers, she said, "Now I see why he is so compelled, and I thought hollows were uncivilized."
"Watch your mouth!" the officer shouted, taking a step towards the woman. "The savior of our worlds? The man who killed the Quincy King is trying to make peace with the Quincys? Nonsense."
"Actually," spoke another, "I believe I heard some rumors about this, Kato-san."
At the man's eyes widening and feet trembling, Nel let out a tiny sigh. "How can he think of making peace with them? We want their blood, not their camaraderie." There were a few muffled agreements coming from the surrounding group, making the officer bolster with confidence. He pointed the tip of his sword towards the woman. "And we don't want you here."
"You are thinking with your hate and hurt emotions, whereas Kurosaki Fukutaichou is thinking with sense and compassion."
"Compassion?" the man echoed, his voice almost breathless from the stifling constriction of his clenched teeth. "Like the compassion they showed us when they wiped out two thirds of our soldiers!"
Nel sheathed her sword and took up a less defensive stance with hopes of mitigation in mind. "Twenty six Quincy's descended with their king to reign down terror on your land. They're hundreds of civilians who had nothing to do with the war. In fact, it was the combined efforts of Ichigo and the current Quincy King that killed Bach."
All but foaming at the mouth, the officer lifted his sword and swung at her in rapid cessation. Nimbly, she wielded Gamuza and blocked each shot until the man stumbled back. He placed the tip of his sword in the ground and leaned into it, heaving and sweating.
Looking down at the man, she asked, "Are you done?"
The man looked up with glazed eyes before he smirked and spat at her feet. "We'll never accept Hollows here. I'll never be done until you're gone."
"Hollows?" she asked. "Like the Shinigami - Hollow hybrids you had as taichou up until the events of the war?"
"That's different! They were Shinigamis who Aizen tinkered with, but you, you're kind are dangerously advanced Hollows who only got their power by being savage predators." He scoffed and spat at the woman's feet once more for good measure. "I wonder how many you've killed to evolve to such a state?"
Nel didn't flinch at accusation. Instead, she said, "I will not apologize for surviving. It is what I do with that survival that matters."
The officer straighten up and stepped back to run an appraising glare up and down the woman's form. A harrowing chuckle rumbled from his lips, and it sounded like the embodiment of malice. She looked around to see about half a dozen swords drawn towards her. "Man, Kuchiki Taichou must really be desperate. Without his sight, everyone knows he's the weakest taichou. Hell, his own fukutaichou and san-seki are stronger than him! To let a freak like you in his division, he must be terrified of feeling weak." He chuckled some more as he held his arms out, and his body swayed a bit. "Hey, it makes sense. It's no secret that, without his powers, he's just a glacier that's easy on the eyes. All the woman gawk at him from a distance, but no one wants to be near him." He winked at the woman and said, "You know what they say, if you're not strong, surround yourself with strong people. Go ahead, sweetheart, show us that strength."
The air around Nel grew thicker, and her composure was frighteningly deep seated as she twitched not even an inch. Although, there was a darkness in her eyes and a decisiveness in her stance that made everyone take a step back. "You have insulted a man who has earned my respect, who has given me a place in his ranks when no other would." Horizontally, she held her sword in front of her torso. "For that, you truly are a fool."
Her release command sat on the edges of her mouth, and her zanpakuto hummed in anticipation, just waiting for those words to be uttered, but as Ichigo came barreling through the crowd of people, it never happened.
"Nel!" he shouted as he ran towards the girl. "Don't! You're doing just what he wants," Ichigo said, cutting his sharpened eyes at the man and then back to Nel. "You can't release something like that within Seireitei walls, especially against another person. It against the law."
Nel's eyes widened, and she quickly took to sheathing her weapon. "And if I did that, I would have ruined all of what you were attempting to do. I'm so sorry Ichigo. I'm use to Hueco Mundo, and even if I try to avoid conflict at all cost, that level of disrespect against a man I hold in high regard is reprehensible." Dipping her head, she said, "His words were-"
Ichigo's fist trembled at his side, and he found himself glad he left Zangetsu behind. "I heard him, Nel. Don't worry though. One thing you need to know about Byakuya is, he doesn't like being stood up for, because he has too much pride to care about the words of some loud mouth punk."
"Some savior," Kato shouted as he used his sword to withstand the onslaught of Ichigo's reiryoku, one he was trying desperately to contain. "People look up to you, but here you are, bringing Arrancars into our home."
"Fraternizing with quincy's," said another officer.
Ichigo looked bored at best, but his anger was apparent in the way his reiryoku began to visibly swell around him. "You're point?"
"My point is, for someone who worked to save our world, it feels more like you're trying to destroy it from the inside."
"More like I'm trying to stop you from making the same mistakes that caused these wars." Ichigo's intent glare drifted over all the sword brandished members circling them, and at the ghoulish display of disgust illuminated by the lights hovering over head, all Ichigo could do was scoff in the face of it. "Look at yourself, so full of blind hate. What do you think will happen?" he said, raising his voice for the ears of all gathered members. "You'll go into quincy territory, kill a bunch of innocent families, and that will somehow make it better? Do you think that will change anything that happened here?!"
"It's a start," Kato said. "Shinigami's believe in balance. Why not equal out those scales?"
"Yeah!" exclaimed several others.
"I'm not even a full fledged Shinigami, and I know that's not the way of the Shinigami," Ichigo said.
"Exactly, you're not even one of us," yelled a voice from within the crowd. This opened up a flood gate of accusations ], all snowballing until they formed an indiscernible blur of vial where only the worst stuck out.
"He had no choice but to fight if he wanted to save his home. That doesn't make him one of us!"
"And now he thinks he knows better than us."
"He thinks he is better than us!"
Ichigo could feel Nel's fingers wrapped around his forearm in a vice, and he could hear her say that they needed to leave, but he stayed firmly grounded.
"He doesn't even stay in the compounds. The Hero thinks he's too good."
Kato straightened with a certain type of victorious swagger, but his body vacillated under Ichigo's slipping temperance. So his voice would reach all ears, he turned to the crowd practically shouting. "Our resident Hero is living it up at the Kuchiki mansion, being lavished while we make due with compounds." He pointed his sword at Ichigo and said, "While we have whole families who were buried under the rubble of our homeland, he has a home unscathed and a family to return to whenever he pleases. Yet he sits so arrogantly in the lap of luxury and talks to us about compassion." Kato twisted his wrist back and forth, highlighting the rancorous speech with his blade as he suddenly felt the weight of Ichigo's reiatsu lifted. "What of it, Hero? You think you're better than us just because you have more power? You think fighting the same war we all did and losing a lot less makes you somehow better? Gives you a right to bring Arrancars into our home and devise peace with the Quincys?"
Ichigo was still silently anchored, and Nel now grasped tightly onto his arm with all the strength she had. Her throat tightened as her eyes crept across the sky. The night that encapsulated them shook like a dome in the midst of a gradual collapse.
It was now beyond them, all the other officers. They could no longer feel Ichigo's reiatsu, but Nel saw the danger in that. All around, lights flickered and birds that once sat peacefully atop venders were now nowhere to be seen. Even the elements reacted with fright, the wind ceasing and the ground beneath them rattling from the force of Ichigo's dither. Little blue tails of reiatsu were whipping around him, and her animal instincts were telling her to run, but she knew from the way Ichigo let loose not a single breath and from the way his every tendon pinched as if they were fortifying themselves against his building energy, that he was using every morsel of control he had to contain his frothing pressure. This stillness, it dangled with all it's impending peril. It was simply this lull that stood between everyone and an atomic bomb of calamity.
"Look at that yutaka! Something that nice had to be a present from his Taichou."
Kato laughed through his contorted lips as his blade struck the ground in front of him. "I can't even say I blame you. I'd probably endure that guy too if it meant I'd get to live it up. All you have to do is show him a little pity, and you get whatever you want." He ran his eyes up and down Ichigo's form and perked an eyebrow suggestively. "I wonder how much pity you gave him to get something that nice?"
At the way Ichigo's pursed lips parted and inhaled sharply, Nel knew there were mere moments left. With the full voltage of Ichigo's reiatsu seconds away from detonating, she attempted to flood him with something more calming, but it did no good. She herself was much too edgy and pained from the lashes of his reiatsu.
"Leave. Now!" she shouted. Her warning was met by an instant of hesitant shifting and vague murmurs. Again, she said, "If you value your life, le-"
An arm looped around her waist and pulled her away abruptly. Gaping, she looked up to see a flash of blue hair tickling at her peripheral. "Grimmjow, what are you doing?! Ichigo-"
"Relax," he said as he jumped onto a nearby roof and discarded the woman with little delicacy. "The cavalry is here."
Now with a bird's eye view, she looked down into the circle to see several taichou standing in the center. There was the Soutaichou and Zaraki standing off to the side and then there was Byakuya standing directly beside Ichigo, holding his joined middled and pointer fingers in a vertical position right above his chin. His free arm swiped to the side, forming a Shiju no Salmon barrier with the noble inside.
Nel jumped up in a panic, only to be pulled back down. Her and Grimmjow locked matching scowls. "Kuchiki Taichou is in danger!" she said.
"I don't give a shit about Kuchiki," Grimmjow said, spitting off to the side. "You go down there, you'll just get your pretty little self mangled."
"But why did he cast the barrier around both of them?"
Grimmjow grunted as he fixed his eyes on the scene below. "That barrier he using has been known to hold back a bankai blast, but it still cracked from the pressure. Ichigo, since he transcended or whatever, his reiatsu is almost up there with that maniacs, Bach."
"So you're saying it won't be able to hold him?"
"You catch on quick."
"So why not just put two barriers around him?!" she asked, jumping to her feet.
"Kenpachi Taichou don't know shit about Kido. That guy with the girly get up, apparently he can only do shoddy mid level kido, barriers not included. So their plan is to flood the barrier with calming reiatsu and hope he chills out enough so he doesn't blow the top off this place when he finally releases."
Nel absorbed the information, and her body uncoiled a bit as she took a stance beside Grimmjow to observe the chaos below. "I see," she said. "If that is all Kuchiki Taichou needs to do, than I trust in him to be fine."
Grimmjow tutted. "Whatever. If it was me down there, I'd tell him to let it rip on them ungrateful bastards."
Ichigo heard his name followed by a distinct pressure working it's way into his muscles. It kneaded at the tendons, stealing their tension and lavishing them with a lenitive coolness. Filled with blind rage, all Ichigo could manage was to contain his reiatsu within the space around him, almost like an armor. It crackled and hissed, and he found all of his senses muddied by its intensity. It wasn't until he heard his name again that Ichigo looked up and could see past the waning tendrils of his power.
"Ichigo," Byakuya said, and Ichigo's eyes appeared to finally register him. "Let go," he whispered with both of his palms floating above either side of Ichigo's forearms. Ichigo's reiatsu prickled at his fingertips, and just standing that close to the man felt similar to having electrically charged needles shot into him.
Ichigo looked up to Byakuya, face pulsing and red from strain, and he saw nothing but slate gray. No colors breached the tranquil expanse of coal, and knowing Byakuya could stay so leveled amidst the tornado of energy that surrounded them somehow reassured Ichigo. Still, he said, "No, not with you here."
Byakuya considered his options for a moment. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to break the barrier and create another of this magnitude with him on the outside. Even if he was a kido master, a barrier like this took a substantial amount of reiryoku. Seeing no other way, he readied himself, hoping that he had dampened Ichigo's reiatsu enough to withstand it.
"Trust that I will be fine."
Ichigo wished that he could, but he knew that Byakuya's words were merely trying to placate him and that there was no way of knowing if he'd hurt the noble or not. However, rather he surrendered willingly or forcefully, he was at his breaking point and would soon succumb.
'Zangetsu, prot-'
'I'm way ahead of you, king.'
It all happened in the blink of an eye. Byakuya was pulled away by Zangetsu to the furthest wall of the barrier, and Senbonzakura manifested in front of the pair, with him his divine barrage of sakura blossoms creating a shield for his master.
Under the tremors emanated from Ichigo's geysering reiatsu, Senbonzakura fought valiantly to keep his footing, but his knees quaked and his shield began to disintegrate against such a raw and unleashed reiatsu. He felt Zangetsu's bone dense arm loop around his waist and pointed knees back against his own for support.
"I gotcha', Sunshine," Zangetsu said, sharing some of his reiatsu with the spirit. The samurai nodded in appreciation, letting himself borrow the other's strength to keep up his shield until the very last wave of power rippled under their feet.
Both spirits turned around to see a seated Byakuya blinking in confusion.
Senbonzakura offered up his hand in assisting the noble up. "Master."
Byakuya reached out his hand, and the samurai bridged the distances so his master wouldn't have to fumble for a grasp. "Senbonzakura, I thank you, but I did not request assistance from you nor from-"
"Yeah, yeah, we know. Pride and honor and blah, blah," Zangetsu interjected, "but can you forget it just this once? King was really worried he'd hurt you."
Now standing, the noble steadied himself as he used his senses to reach out for signs of Ichigo. He could hear his panting and feel his exasperated concern. Zangetsu shunpo over to a wobbly Ichigo and offered him support .
"Thanks," Ichigo said, his arm slung around the neck of his sword spirit.
Zangetsu smirked. "What's a king without his horse?"
"You're no horse, Zangetsu" Ichigo said, a small chuckle arising from his scorched throat.
"And don't you forget it."
"And thanks about Byakuya too. If I had've hurt him, I-"
"Yeah, I know, King."
Byakuya sighed in relief as he removed his walking cane from a fold in his yutaka. As him and Senbonzakura walked over to Ichigo and Zangetsu, Ichigo staggered forward with his sword spirit still acting as a crutch.
"Byakuya, you're okay?"
"Yes. I am fine."
"And Nel?"
"She is fine also."
Ichigo nodded in understanding, more for himself than anything. Then Byakuya said, "Senbonzakura, Zangetsu, return to your inner worlds. I believe we have drawn enough attention to ourselves for one evening."
"Yeah, sorry about that," Ichigo said with a scowl. "That's a pretty common occurrence around me."
"Par the course, Kurosaki Ichigo."
"I'm starting to think it's always g-"
Ichigo cut himself off when he was thrusted into Byakuya, which nearly sent both of them tumbling. The noble managed to brace against Ichigo's shoulders while also keeping the younger man up.
"What the hell was that for?!" Ichigo said, scowling over his shoulder at a smirking Zangetsu.
Zangetsu shrugged a shoulder, and at the knowing look he could practically feel exuding from the masked samurai, he winked his way. "You told us to go back, and I got tired of waiting. See you later," he said before fading away, Senbonzakura following his lead.
Ichigo let out a little growl as Byakuya said, "Sit down, Kurosaki Ichigo. You need healing."
"Don't waste you're reiryoku on me, Byakuya. I'm fine," Ichigo said as he tried to pull himself away from the noble's support.
"Nonsense, you a-"
"I'm serious, Byakuya. I've had way less reiryoku than this before, and I've been fi-" Once again, Ichigo was falling, only this time he had not been pushed but simply let go. He landed on his back, arms and legs splayed out like a starfish. "You bastard," Ichigo said in between full body coughs.
The noble poked Ichigo with his cane to determine his own positioning, causing Ichigo to groan at the pressure. As Byakuya took up a seiza potion, he said, "You fool. It is about the strain holding back such a reiatsu puts on your body, not the amount of reiryoku you have."
Ichigo hissed in dissent. "I just lost my balance. You put up that huge barrier, and I know that took a lot out of you."
"I believe the fact that you are laying out on the ground and that I am not is the only argument I need."
"Fine, whatever."
As the tension seeped from his body, it was evaporated by the air around the pair. There was a sort've agitated kind've silence, not at each other, but at the night's events.
Finally, Ichigo sighed, and then he said, "I'm sorry that this got so out of hand. I need to wear a seal or something. I really tried to-"
"Why are you apologizing?" Byakuya asked, his hands gliding just above the prone form of Ichigo with all of their typical fluidity. "I believe the words of that officer would have piqued anyone. The only distinguishing factor is that you have a much stronger reiatsu than others."
Byakuya tilted his head ever so slightly, and Ichigo could see a blood red wrath broiling at his eyes. When he'd one day look back on it, he'd realize that this was the moment it hit him, the moment he realized what vastly different molds they originated from. The noble's hands did not convulse nor did the fluency of his applications waver. His face was hermetic, motionless and untouchable. Similar to how the static push and pull of the ocean's surface told nothing of the simmering vents that laid beyond, Byakuya's meticulously honed reactions concealed a furry that churned in his underbelly. Even while facing a possibly fatal situation, Byakuya completely detached himself of all emotions, holding an essence of nothingness. That discipline, it could be terrifying in it's frigid logic, but to Ichigo, it didn't feel cold at all. If anything, it was amazing in both good and bad ways.
"If anything, I'd say you practiced a tremendous amount of control this evening."
Ichigo gave a pained chuckle. "What can I say? I work the best under pressure."
"Quite literally."
Ichigo leaned up on his elbows and regarded Byakuya briefly before saying, "They shouldn't have said that stuff about you."
"I am use to that sort've prattle," Byakuya said right before he removed his hands and tilted his head upwards. "Those were not the words that bothered me."
Leaving the implications of Byakuya's words floating between them, both got to their feet. For the first time, Ichigo noticed the barrier had dispersed along with most of the crowd. When they were footfalls away from the commander and the officers involved in the incident, Ichigo nudged Byakuya with his elbow to indicate their arrival.
"You sure stole the show, Kurosaki-san," Kyōraku jested, flagrantly grinning. "I don't think we'll even need the fireworks now." When Ichigo gave the commander a look that said his humor wasn't appreciated, the man said, "Now Kuchiki Taichou, since this incident involved both you're Fukutaichou and San-seki, I think you should choose the punishment for these inciters."
Kato's eyes popped open, and he quickly took a step forward. "Inciters? It was that green haired Arrancar that caused us to defend ourselves. She attempted to release her sword against us! What are you going to do about that?"
"That's not what h-" Both Ichigo's opposition and jutting body were dismissed when Byakuya held up his hand.
The noble closed his eyes and said, "I saw nothing of it, and yourself, Soutaichou Kyōraku?"
"Nope, not a thing."
Under his breath, thinking no one could hear him, Kato said, "Blind fool." Of course, he was not taking Byakuya's heightened hearing into consideration.
"Come again, boy? If you speak anything, speak it with pride and confidence. Do not mutter in my presence."
Not being completely idiotic, Kato knew such blatant disrespect given to a captain, especially to their face, was punishable by Seireitei law, yet he felt backed into a corner. Pointing his chin and gritting his teeth in defiance, he said, "I said, blind fool."
Ichigo looked over to Byakuya, who had closed his eyes momentarily. When he opened them, the red specks had consumed most of his iris. "Is this an insult? For most of my life," he said, his words deliberate and slow, "appearances have held a great significance. In a way, I am sure they alway will. However, now when I encounter someone, something as arbitrary as outward appearances have no effect on my opinion. You could say that I am freed from such shallow misconceptions. With this change in perspective, I have realized what other things are meaningless in determining a person's character, such as what race they belong to or their status. Perhaps everyone should be a blind fool."
None of the officers said a word. Ichigo and the commander, too, remained silent, but Ichigo wore an expression that was somewhere between a pleased smile and a smug grin. "Now, as for your punishment, we are much too depleted in manpower for you to reap the consequences I believe you truly deserve." A pause. "Weakly spars with either of the newly appointed Arrancar officers."
"W-what!"
Byakuya cut his eyes away, shutting them as if, even though he couldn't see, he was disgusted by the mere knowledge of the officer's vicinity. "You speak so passionately, yet so recklessly. So much so you do not listen. No, this type of ignorance can not be reasoned away. It must be conditioned out of you. Perhaps, if you have a shred of intelligence, you will learn something from this."
The commander nodded in a lazily fashion, and Ichigo gave Byakuya a wilted look. Insulted and dripping with disdain, here he was, choosing to give to the officers when many would take away. Byakuya was like that though. His lethal logic lent itself to reasonable compassion, and he was much too intelligent and self sacrificing to weigh the worth of a situation by the grit of flitting emotion. It was admirable, and Ichigo would've been surprised if being caught off guard by Byakuya wasn't starting to become the status quo.
"Half of you will be place with my San-seki and the other half with Zaraki Taichou new Go-seki." His lips curled in a way that only someone who knew him well would've noticed, and there was an unmistakable gleam of mischievous intent in his eyes. "I believe Jeagerjaques Go-seki would be the best placement for you, boy."
Of course, Ichigo didn't mind his captain's twisted manner of amusing himself either, at least when it wasn't directed towards him.
"Do you agree with this, Kurosaki Fukutaichou?"
Ichigo's smirk doubled in size. "Don't worry about Grimmjow. He won't kill you on purpose."
At Kato's eyes going wide with terror, the commander cleared his throat reprovingly. "There will be moderators, of course."
"Of course," Byakuya said before he gave some parting words to the commander and left towards his mansion, Ichigo at his side.
xXx
Byakuya stood in a moment of quiet indecisiveness, his foot just barely edging the wooden flooring of his deck. He thought back to the last time he saw Ichigo Kurosaki. It had just started raining, and everything was hot and sticky. Maybe it was the ever present stench of iron and death staining the air around him, but it felt as if the sky was pouring blood. Even after the war, as if it had been as much soaked into his skin as it had been soaked into the battlefield, he still smelled iron every now and again.
Everything had felt hazy, and Ichigo had this look about him, as if he had been crying, though over what, he wasn't sure. Byakuya thought he looked so much older than months prior - the last time he had seen Ichigo. Physically, he was the same. He had the body of a man, but now with the soul to match. He looked as if he was lacking something that was once there, and Byakuya wasn't sure when he started drawing correlations between growing old and being fragmented, like a puzzle that had lost a few pieces along the way. Still, Ichigo was beautiful just like that, broken yet standing tall. He was a picture of tenaciousness that could always be depicted no matter how many pieces were stolen from him.
Byakuya knew that would be the last time he saw Ichigo. Life was funny like that, because he had been right, just in all the wrong ways.
"Are you going to stand there all night or are you going to come drink this sake with me?"
Byakuya jolted from his thoughts. He hadn't realized how lost he had gotten in them. With no words, he moved over to the kotatsu and sat down, and when he heard the sounds of a popping cork, sloshing liquid, and glass sliding against wood, he wondered if Ichigo had been anticipating him, or perhaps, he had been hoping for him. Byakuya wondered when they had gotten like this, and then he realized, it didn't matter.
For much time, they sat content with their mutual pondering, and it probably would've stayed like that until one or both of them retired for the evening if it weren't for the sentiments that made the noble's tongue heavy with unsaid words.
"They branded you as a savior, only to vilify you without a moment's hesitation. This is not an all too uncommon plight for a hero," he said, considering his next words carefully. "Years from this day, when students learn of the war from books and lectures, they will speak of you as ignorantly as those did tonight, as simply a hero, but not as a man. However, for many, this is not the case. For many, myself included, it was the man who touched our hearts."
Byakuya paused, and even though all he heard was the tentatively taken sips of sake, he could feel Ichigo listening more intently. "When I was thought to be perishing on the battlefield, I knew you would come to be apart of our war, but you came and gave me passing peace, something I can never truly repay. Both in the knowledge of Rukia and Renji's safety, but in something even greater. I was never naive enough to think we could win the war simply because of your participation. I just knew that if victory could not be found with you, then there was no victory to be had. The morale you embarked with your presence, that was because of the man you are, not the hero, and for those of us lucky enough to be touched by you, we will not forget. We will stand for you."
There was more silence, dead and unbroken by anything this time. Finally, Ichigo said, "You're speaking to me like you thought I would give up or something."
There was a slight draw to Ichigo's voice, a bit humorous, and it was almost enough to make the noble smile. "I would never, but surely no one could blame you after the words spoken so crassly by the people you are trying to help."
As if stretching, Ichigo let out a relaxed sigh before he said, "You should know by now, Byakuya, the more people tell me I can't do something, the more I want to prove them wrong."
Behind the rim of his glass, Byakuya concealed an endeared smirk. "I suppose I should."
…
Up Next: Making up, the pain that never leaves, and Ichigo's surprise.
xXx
Tifanny91: Hey love! I finally finished this monster of a chapter. Seriously, I didn't think I would ever get it done. Anyway, I total believe that compassion is the biggest part of any relationship. You don't have to understand exactly why someone is upset to respect it, and since healthy relationships is what I'm all about, I wanted to show both Ichigo and Byakuya having compassion for the parts of each other they don't quite understand. Not to mention, you get the feel that they're really getting closer. They're growing into each other, so to speak. You're totally right about them both being reserved. That's why I go through so much to push them into these situations where they're able to open up to each other. So it can later on just be natural. The whole moral behind this story is growth and how beautiful things can grow from ugly places. From the beginning, if even one thing didn't happen the way that it did(Like Renji didn't die or Byakuya didn't lose his sight, or Byakuya didn't originally open up to Ichigo because he was planing on going into solitude) then they would never have had the chance to get to know each other. After the war, everything had been broken down, and because of that, it gives everyone this opportunity to build something beautiful from the wreckage. In Byakuya and Ichigo's case, I think it's even more beautiful because it's totally coincidental that all these random events happened in just the right(or wrong) way to lead them to each other.
siwon611: If you're into the whole mind games thing, you should watch a show called House of Cards if you haven't already! I'm totally into it too. I actually did research on how to get people to do whatever you want so I could make the last part more believable. The whole last part was just so much fun to write. As a loyal ByaIchi fan girl who's read just about every fic out there for them(Except the fem stuff, because… I don't know, I just can't do it. lol It feels wrong) I think you should totally write for them! You seem like a pretty big fan of theirs, and I bet you would do them justice. :)
kiel Chea: Omg, your comments always make me laugh. Please keep being you.
Dust-of-Moon: Hey dear! Thanks for the comment. Theres a little bit of Grimmjow and Nel in here for your pleasure! I could always see Byakuya playing the piano or something like that. I play the guitar! Not all too well. As Byakuya said, I merely dabble. :)
LustfulAvarices: I think that was probably one of my favorite lines of this whole story. lol. I can't help but to add a bit of humor here and there. As always, thank you for the comment!
Kurenai24: Thank you for the feedback. I actually do have a beta who is going back and editing my chapters. Although, I haven't posted any of them yet.
akirahiguchi: Hey there! Thank you for reading my story, and I'm glad It had that sort've effect on you. I hope you go on to enjoy the rest of the chapters.
KiKa: Thank you for taking the time to give me feedback! Even though it's a pretty sad story at times, I'm glad I could make you laugh. It's also slowly paced, like really slow, so it's good to know it keeps you invested.