Something was…up, but Byakuya didn't know what. It had started a short while back, when the mornings weren't quite so frigid and the falling leaves were still gems of color, not shriveled gray things. At first he attributed it to general restlessness among the squad due to the season forcing them indoors, but there wasn't anything anxious or agitated about whatever was…up. That left Byakuya the idea that someone had planted a prank that everyone else knew about, and it was just a matter of watching some sad sap have it play out on them. But that proved fruitless as well, given Squad Six was not the squad for pranksters (he'd rooted out the last of them nearly twenty years prior). Byakuya even checked the number of koi in the pond, though he knew that the population had been static since the Quincy war.

It wasn't until he was leaving the November captain's meeting that Byakuya felt he'd located the source, though not the nature, of what was…up. Per usual, the lieutenants had cloistered for their own meeting in a separate room, so when Byakuya left the meeting hall, the hallway was dotted with lieutenants and the captains who had walked out before him. This was not unusual, except that Renji was smack in the middle of the group talking to Lieutenant Kira.

His eyes scanning the rest of the crowd, Byakuya noted Rukia standing all of ten feet away from Renji, seemingly deep in conversation with Captain Hitsugaya. However, her eyes occasionally darted over to Renji, as if she were waiting for a trap to spring.

Shortly after, Rukia left without incident, and Renji laughed heartily at something Lieutenant Kira said.

Shifting through the emptying hallway, Byakuya stood just behind Renji and stared straight at Lieutenant Kira. It took the boy some time to notice his conversation had ended, but when at last he saw Captain Kuchiki's eyes boring a hole straight through his existence, he swallowed and bid Renji farewell before scurrying out of the building.

"What the hell…?" Renji said. He looked over his shoulder and jumped. "Holy shit, you're like a friggin' cat, Captain! Gotta put a bell on you or something…."

"My stealth has kept me alive in the past, Renji, I don't wish to see it disappear," Byakuya said, crossing his arms. "How are you doing this afternoon?"

Renji blew out a hard exhale. "I was doing fine before my heart jumped into my throat—"

"Before that."

"Um, fine, I guess?" Renji raised an eyebrow.

Byakuya blinked his surprise; "fine" was not the F-word he expected Renji to say. "Is that so."

Renji looked around the hall as if making sure he hadn't knocked over an expensive vase or someone's grandmother. "Should I not have said that…?"

Byakuya's response was cut off by his chirping soul pager. He fished it from his pocket, and a glance at its screen had him shift from one element of Renji's life to the next:

I'm coming over to 6 HQ and Hisana wants in. Can you pop Tou-sama in his kennel for a bit?

Typing a brief yes, Byakuya said to Renji, "Come. I am having visitors at headquarters soon." He began walking down the hall. Pursuing more of what was…up would have to wait.

"Who?" Renji asked as he followed behind him.

"My nieces." The phrasing was certainly redundant, but it was also safer than saying Hisana's name out loud.

As anticipated this time, Renji let out a short huff. "Nieces. Plural."

"Yes, plural." Byakuya peered over his shoulder at his lieutenant. "They will keep to my office, and I recommend you keep to yours."

Renji met his eye. "Did they say how long they'd be there?"

"No, though they are on their way, so I suggest we move now before we have any…overlap."

With a gruff nod of his head, Renji pushed open the doors to Squad One's courtyard, and the two hurried back to Squad Six.

They indeed avoided any overlap, though as Byakuya and Renji moved closer to their offices, Byakuya sensed Ichika making a larger display of her reiatsu than truly necessary. Renji scoffed at the warning before bowing once to Byakuya and shuttering himself in his office.

Just next door, Byakuya entered his own office only to let out the world's lowest sigh: Ichika was sitting behind his desk and Hisana on top of it. As the latter turned to face the opening door, the Zanpaku-to at her hip disturbed a neat stack of paperwork that drifted to the floor like the dying autumn leaves outside.

"Oji-sama!" Hisana said, oblivious to the order she'd just killed.

Ichika, her eye having healed most excellently after its collision with Ichigo's fist, peeked around her sister and grinned at him, drawing her reiatsu back to her. "O-jiiii!" she said, extending the second syllable in a deep voice. She'd once explained it was a translingual pun involving gangsters and originality, but Byakuya had never particularly desired further clarification on the matter.

In any case, Hisana jumped down from his desk—her Zanpaku-to scattering office supplies and more paperwork in the process—and ran to him. She skidded to a stop just in front of him, bowed, then collided with him in a tight hug.

"Good afternoon, Hisana-chan…" Byakuya said, trying not to let his pursed lips affect his tone.

Hisana took his hand and led him over to his desk. "We were playing rock paper scissors while we waited for you. Ichi-nee lost every time!"

"I congratulate your winning streak, though I fail to understand why the competition occurred at my desk," Byakuya said. He met Ichika's eye. "Ichika-chan, there are at least four other chairs in this room."

"Yeah, but yours is most comfortable." She swung her legs up onto his desk and ignored his resulting frown. "It's unfair that my ass should suffer while yours is so delicately cushioned."

"I think I've earned the right to a decent chair as captain." Byakuya pushed Ichika's feet off his desk, sending the last of the papers still on it flying. "You would do well to remember that, Eleventh Seat Abarai."

Ichika rolled her eyes. "Fine." She set her feet on the floor and stood, leaving her uncle to sit in his own, very comfortable chair at last.

"Zaraki's sending me down to the World of the Living in a few weeks," Ichika said as she moved to the sofa near the bookshelf.

"Is that so?" Byakuya asked as he righted a toppled paperweight. "Will you stick to your post this time?"

"Maybe," Ichika said, laying out on the sofa. "They want me up in northern Hokkaido. That's about as far as it gets from Karakura Town. Or a reasonable temperature."

Byakuya forced himself not to let on his exasperation, whether about his niece's need to reprioritize or the box of paperclips that was now spilled over a corner of his desk. "Has it ever occurred to you that Kazui-san can visit you too?"

"Ichika and Kazui, sittin' in a tree…" Hisana began to sing.

"Shut it, Hisa," Ichika said. "He wants to visit, but the train's too expensive, and he's a poor student. Besides, even if we have to put up with Hat-n-Clogs, Urahara Shoten's fine enough for one night…or three."

Byakuya set his eyes on Ichika. "You took an oath that you would protect your designated region," he said. "Hollows attack whether a Shinigami is present or not—"

"Oh please, the snow will kill the Hollows before I do." She rolled her eyes. "Do you know how much it snows in Hokkaido this time of year?"

Byakuya frowned. "As a matter of fact, I do. The real question is if you know."

Ichika stuck her tongue out at him.

Deciding his desk held enough work for him without Ichika's obstinacy, Byakuya turned to his younger niece. "Hisana-chan," he said, "I recently learned of a new game I think you might enjoy."

Hisana stepped up to him with eager eyes. "What game?"

"The goal is quite simple," Byakuya said, gathering together loose pens from his desk and setting them back in their holder. "All you have to do is pick up as many papers from the floor as you can before your opponent. Once all the papers are off the floor, you present them to the judge to count. Whoever has the most wins a trip to the takoyaki stand at the judge's convenience."

"I'm in!" Hisana said with a broad smile. "What's this game called?"

"Child labor!" Ichika shouted. "Oji-sama, you can't seriously—"

"But Ichi-nee, it's a new game," Hisana said, sensing her fun was about to end. "C'mon, you can be my opponent."

"Shut up a sec, Hisa-chan," Ichika said. She sat up from the sofa and raised an eyebrow at her uncle. "You mean to tell me you have no issue whatsoever forcing your youngest niece to do manual labor you, an adult, can very easily do yourself?"

"No one's forcing anyone to do anything, Ichika-chan," Byakuya said. "This is just a game, and children love games. Though I suppose if you're so concerned about what adults can and cannot do, perhaps you should join your sister after all." He looked at Hisana. "The game started five seconds ago, by the way."

With a gasp, Hisana bent over the floor and started picking up papers left and right.

Ichika scoffed at him. "And you people say I can't be trusted."

"Clock's ticking," Byakuya said, pushing more papers out from under the desk with his foot.

The sight of Hisana putting her all into collecting the papers having the intended effect on her heartstrings, Ichika joined in the cleanup.

In the end, it took the sisters less than two minutes to clear the floor, with Ichika winning by just one paper ("Payback for all the rock paper scissors losses!"), in which time Byakuya restored order to most of his desk. Now it was simply a matter of reorganizing his paperwork, made all the more easier by plying Hisana with blank sheets of paper and the box of colored pencils he kept on hand for her.

As Hisana settled at a table to color, Ichika dragged a chair to the front of Byakuya's desk and leaned back in it. "I have a question, Oji-sama…."

He briefly glanced at her as he began to sort his paperwork into piles.

Ichika pointed to the wall separating Renji's office from Byakuya's. "You notice anything about him lately?" she asked, nearly mouthing the words.

So maybe he wasn't the only one who'd sense something was…up. "I believe there is something different about him, yes," Byakuya said, though he hesitated before adding any detail about what he'd seen in the hallway earlier.

"Well he's—hold on—" Ichika looked over her shoulder at her sister. "Hisa, show Oji-sama how many of East Rukongai's districts you've memorized. You've put so much work into it."

Gladly (and obliviously) filling in the space between their conversation and her ears, Hisana sat up in her chair and began firing off all the eastern districts in order.

"Anyway," Ichika continued, her voice hidden beneath her sister's, "Tou-sama's not nearly as mopey as before, I can tell you that." She rolled her eyes. "We met for dinner the other night and the doofus nearly gave himself lockjaw smiling so much. He even brought up a story about him and Kaa-san from back in the day."

Byakuya paused his sorting. "That is…an improvement," he said. Perhaps it was safe enough to relay his own knowledge of the situation. "…I witnessed a similar event just today. After the captain's meeting, he could be in the same space as her."

Ichika raised an eyebrow. "He didn't go running the first chance he got?"

"Not in the least."

Digesting this new information, Ichika nodded slowly. "Okay…. I can't say I don't think this is a little weird, but maybe he's moving on?"

Byakuya glanced at her. "You might learn a thing or two from him, then."

Ichika sneered at the suggestion.

A knock sounded on the door then, cutting off Hisana's recitation, and Byakuya called out "enter" while returning to his sorting, though he looked right back up upon hearing Tsukiko's voice.

"Good afternoon, Captain," Tsukiko said, shifting a small yet remarkable pile of papers from her arm to her hands. "And good afternoon Captain Kuchiki's guests," she added in acknowledgement of Hisana and Ichika, though Byakuya noticed her hands tense on the papers when she looked at Ichika.

Hisana smiled up at Tsukiko. "I'm Kuchiki Hisana—the live one," she said. "Who are you?"

"Hokutan Tsukiko, one of your uncle's squad members," Tsukiko said as she set the papers on Byakuya's desk.

"Wait, you're Tsukiko?" Ichika said, her eyes going wide.

"I am…" Tsukiko responded. She raised an eyebrow as she fell under Ichika's scrutinizing gaze. "I didn't think I was so popular—"

"Eh, Oji-sama probably just said your name before," Ichika said. She once again leaned back in her chair, though Byakuya felt the wide grin on her face seemed a little too interested for someone who supposedly had only casually encountered Tsukiko's name. Not that he remembered ever talking about Tsukiko in front of Ichika.

"What's your favorite color?" Hisana interjected, leaning on the desk next to Tsukiko.

"Uh, green," Tsukiko said, glancing once at Byakuya.

"What kind of green?" Hisana pressed. "There's green like grass, like tea, like the puke emoji—"

"Hell, Hisana, could you not with the weird comparisons?" Ichika said, rolling her eyes.

But Tsukiko laughed. "I mean, it is green, but I like the kind of green you see in a forest."

"Kaa-san sometimes takes me to the forest at Mount Koifushi," Hisana said. "It's really green there."

"I'm actually from there," Tsukiko said. "Well, Hokutan, where Mount Koifushi is. I guess my family name gives it—"

"Oji-sama trains you, right, Hokutan-san?" Ichika broke in.

"I do," Byakuya said, not once looking away from Ichika or her smile.

Ichika ignored him. "What's it like being in the manor?"

"Um, beautiful," Tsukiko said as she slowly began to lean away from Ichika. "I-I especially like the garden—"

"What's your favorite flower?" Hisana said, bouncing up slightly with her question. "I like balloon flowers like Oji-sama. Ooh, and what about your favorite animal?"

Raising his voice just enough to wrangle the conversation in, Byakuya said, "Who are these papers from, Hokutan?"

"Lieutenant Abarai, sir," Tsukiko said without pause, clearly grateful to exit the interrogation.

Byakuya lifted the first sheet of paperwork from the stack she'd brought; it was a time off request from another squad member with Renji's signature scrawled along the bottom. Beneath the paper were more bearing his signature, though none of them required extensive write-ups. Even so, while one or two pieces of paperwork from Renji was not unusual…a whole stack?

"You are certain this all comes from the lieutenant?" Byakuya said, eyeing Tsukiko carefully.

"Yes sir," she said. "I saw him sign most of it myself."

"Hmph." Byakuya set the first form back down on the pile. "I didn't realize we paid you to watch him sign papers, Hokutan. Surely there isn't a room you could be sweeping instead?"

Tsukiko's eyes widened slightly, and a very light blush colored her cheeks. "I have a free hour and he, uh, asked me to be courier, sir," she said. Her eyes trailed from Hisana to Ichika as if acknowledging the reason behind her recruitment.

If only because it was true that a courier was Renji's best option at the moment, Byakuya did not pursue the matter further. But the sudden productivity…. "Fine, Hokutan. You may—"

"When's your birthday?" Hisana blurted out.

"Ooh, let Oji-sama answer," Ichika said, looking right at her uncle with a smirk. "Let's see how much he knows about his underlings."

A sense of urgency pushed through Byakuya at the reminder of Tsukiko's birthday, but it was eclipsed as something like suspicion began to form in his stomach. He shot Ichika a warning look and said, "You surely aren't back to ordering around a captain, Eleventh Seat Abarai. You're far too intelligent for such stupidity."

Briefly meeting his gaze, Ichika went quiet, though the tightness of her mouth proved she had far more to say.

Clearing her throat as she skated over the moment, Tsukiko looked at Hisana. "My birthday is later this month, the twenty-ninth," she said. "When's yours?"

"July twenty-second," Hisana said with a bright smile. "It's exactly one week after Ichi-Tou…." She trailed off as she glanced nervously at Ichika, who looked decidedly more annoyed than she had five seconds ago.

Tsukiko looked between the sisters, unsure of what their reactions alluded to. Her eyes then found Byakuya's, and he shook his head just once.

"Y-your birthday must always be on a sunny day then, Kuchiki-san, if it's in July," Tsukiko said.

Hisana's smile immediately returned, and she nodded enthusiastically. "Yep! We always play suikawari, even Oji-sama."

"Not that he actually whacks at the watermelon with a stick," Ichika said. "He thinks it's barbaric and not at all sophisticated."

Tsukiko looked to Byakuya for confirmation.

Because he certainly did feel that way about suikawari, Byakuya said, "I have discovered other methods of destroying watermelon over the years."

Tsukiko's eyebrows rose in intrigue. "Like what, sir, if I may ask?"

"'Scatter, Senbonzakura!'" Hisana shouted, lowering her voice to mimic her uncle's.

When Tsukiko's gaze lingered for confirmation on this as well, Byakuya sat up just a bit straighter and nonchalantly pulled a notepad close to him. "It does generate a more spectacular display," he said.

"Well then," Tsukiko said with a light chuckle. "Do you still do it blindfolded?"

"That is a game requirement," he said.

Leaving Tsukiko to her cousins' descriptions of his explosive suikawari technique, Byakuya lifted a pen and wrote a shorthand reminder about Tsukiko's birthday on the notepad. He tore out the page and was tucking it into his pocket when his soul pager chirped. Unlocking the pager, Byakuya opened his messages to find one from Renji:

I finished more work. Can you send my dear courier back?

"Hokutan, you're needed next door," Byakuya said as another wave of suspicion rose inside him. Dear?

With understandable relief, Tsukiko bowed once at him and Ichika. "Thank you all for the—lovely conversation," she said with a polite smile. "It was nice meeting you, Kuchiki-san, Abarai-san."

Ichika waved a hand. "Pleasure's all mine. I like meeting Oji-sama's grunts…."

As Hisana said her own farewell, Byakuya received more messages from Renji:

I mean Hokutan

She's not my dear

Autocorrect. Why'd the damn strawberry ask Kurotsuchi to import that function

Setting his soul pager on his desk, Byakuya said to Senbonzakura, Am I the only one who finds these messages odd?

Not at all, Senbonzakura answered. Dare I say it, but might this be related to whatever's…up with the baboon?

Highly unlikely, Byakuya said as Tsukiko left the room with another bow. But I would like to keep an eye on this.

As Byakuya tucked the thought in the back of his mind, Hisana came to his side. "Oji-sama," she said, "can we play another game?"

Byakuya glanced once at his desk and the not so large but still plentiful amount of paperwork left to sort. "If it's quick," he conceded. "What did you have in mind?"

Hisana smiled broadly. "Child labor!" she declared enthusiastically. Before Byakuya could even react, she reached up to his desk and pushed all of his paperwork, including what he'd already managed to sort, onto the floor.

There was absolute silence, minus the sound of papers hitting the ground, for several seconds.

Then, Ichika snorted loudly, driving home the fact that what Byakuya had seen was indeed reality. "That was beautiful," she said. She stood up and sat on top of his desk. "I call judge this time."

"Ichika…" Byakuya nearly growled.

"Aaaand go!"

The sight of Hisana once again putting her all into collecting papers having the intended effect on his own heartstrings this time, Byakuya joined in, albeit cursing the Abarai name with each paper he grabbed.

A/N: Close call, much?