Chapter 4: Damage Control

"Hey…Renji. You gonna just lie there and sleep all day?"

Byakuya forced his eyes open, not able to quite believe that he was naked, lying in Renji's bed…in Renji's body…and looking up at Ichigo. For the first time since finding himself in Renji's body, Byakuya was pleased.

"Get the fuck out of my apartment, Ichigo! Don't you know how to knock? Or didn't they teach you that in kindergarten?"

He would have been humiliated when Ichigo tore the bedding away, but it wasn't his body…and it certainly wasn't anything for Renji to be ashamed of. At the sight of Renji's naked body, Ichigo burst into laughter.

"Augh!" he laughed, "Renji sleeps in the buff! Who knew?"

"Certainly not the likes of you!" Byakuya countered, "and if you'll recall, I just told you to get out."

The next thing he knew, his arm was taken, rather forcefully and he was half-dragged to the closet, where Ichigo proceeded to sift through the choices.

"Let's see," Ichigo said, as Byakuya stood with crossed arms and a glowering expression, "shihakushou, shihakushou, and lookie here…another…shihakushou!"

He shoved one of the uniforms into Byakuya's hands.

"Now get dressed, asshole! I didn't come all the way here to get thrown out of your apartment."

"I know I'll regret asking," Byakuya said icily, "but why are you here? Can the Seireitei be treated to a single day without you invading and making so much noise?"

Ichigo blinked.

"Who the hell are you?" he said, looking amused, "and where have you stashed Renji? Come on, I know he's here somewhere!"

"I am not getting dressed until you tell me why you are here, Kurosaki."

"Man, did you ever get up on the wrong side of the Kuchiki today!"

Byakuya blinked in surprise, unable to think of an answer.

He can't…know…can he?

"Wh—what?"

He kicked himself, mentally.

"Did…you…wake…up…on …the…wrong…side…of…your…taichou?" Ichigo said slowly, "You know…Kuchiki Taichou? The Ice Prince? The one you admitted to me would be the one guy you would actually go to bed with if he asked you to?"

"Fuck you, I was drunk."

It was the only response he could think of…and he thought it might be true.

"Yeah, right. Look, would you stop screwing around and get dressed? We've got somewhere to be."

"All right," said a feminine voice from the doorway, "what are you two clowns doing?"

Byakuya barely held onto his composure.

"One of us," he said snappishly, "is attempting to get dressed. Now, will the two of you get the hell out of my apartment?"

Rukia burst into laughter but mercifully came in and closed the door behind her.

"What's your problem?" she giggled, "Like you have anything I haven't seen!"

Byakuya did a double take.

"I'll kill him!" he said, then froze as two heads turned and stared.

"Who?" Rukia asked.

She was starting to look genuinely concerned.

"Are you feverish? Byakuya told me you were hurt in Hueco Mundo," she said, stepping closer and moving to examine his wounds.

"I'm…fine!" he exclaimed, pulling away and starting to pull on his shihakushou.

"If you're so fine, then why the shihakushou?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Byakuya paused, realizing for the first time that neither Rukia nor Ichigo was dressed in uniform. Recalling that he had seen some casual clothes in the dresser, he went to it and pulled out a pair of jeans and put them on.

"Thank you!" exclaimed Ichigo, "Your glowing ass was blinding me."

"Not that one," Rukia said, taking the shirt from his hand.

She picked out a shirt and vest that Byakuya had to agree, did look very tempting…on Renji, of course.

"If you're going to be a rock star, you need to look the part," she said, smiling.

"Right…a rock star?" he repeated, wondering what he had missed.

Rukia and Ichigo were smiling widely.

"What?" he asked, mystified.

"They accepted our entry!" Rukia exclaimed, "We're in the competition!"

She threw her arms around him excitedly.

"C-competition?"

"The musical competition…duh! Remember? The one we auditioned for?"

And Byakuya suddenly remembered.

He took several days off to prepare…I heard him practicing, and he was…singing…well…

"You know, I don't feel so…"

"Come on!" Rukia said, grabbing his arm and dragging him toward the door, "If we're going to play, we need to start practicing!"

He realized that if he didn't go now, he would look suspicious. He knew the competition was important to Renji…still…He couldn't…

But he was being dragged in that direction, with Ichigo and Rukia shoving him along. He forced out a breath and followed, suddenly very unnerved. They flash stepped across the Seireitei to the senkaimon and crossed over into the living world. They made their way to the downtown area and entered a small musical store.

"In the back are the practice studios," Ichigo explained, "I thought it would be good to have someplace to go to pick out which song. The guys are meeting us here."

Byakuya felt his body going numb and panic was setting in. He managed another breath as Chad, Uryuu and Orihime appeared ahead of them. He followed them into the practice studio and was led to a seat by Rukia. She was looking at him with unusual concern again.

"Renji…you don't look so good. Maybe you should…"

"What are you, his mom?" Ichigo complained, "He's fine! Now, let's get practicing!"

The air was split with the sounds of electric guitars wailing as the others warmed up. Byakuya sat, pale faced and having no idea what to do. Luckily…or unluckily, Rukia was there to help.

"Warm up your voice, Renji. You are singing…you had the best voice of all of us."

He got up and fled into the small washroom next to them…stopping to stare into the mirror. He blinked slowly, praying that the scene would change, that he would find himself back at home…

"Good idea…You need to fix that hair!"

The next thing he knew, Rukia was combing through the long red strands. He stood perfectly still, taking slow breaths and looking at their reflection in the mirror. He saw it then…the affection…the mutual protection. There was love in the way she sifted through his hair. She wasn't even pulling hard. He turned to look at her and she stopped brushing and stared back at him.

"This…is important to you…" he said softly.

Her smile faded.

"It's important to both of us, Renji," she said, sounding serious, "So many of our friends died there. And you and I remember every one."

As she went down the list of names, Byakuya felt something strange happening. Faces appeared in his mind. He could see Renji's memories. He swallowed hard and realized suddenly that there were tears in his eyes.

"I know," Rukia whispered, hugging him, "I feel the same. But even though we couldn't save them…maybe we can stop it from happening to someone else. Come on."

"Wait," he said quietly.

He turned and spend a few minutes working the back of his hair into a long braid and leaving long wisps around his face. He turned back to Rukia and her mouth turned into a beautiful smile.

"You look really good," she said, raising an eyebrow, "Now let's go warm up."

He followed her back to the practice room. She led him to a quiet, enclosed room.

"We should start with something slow…to get you warmed up. There's time for hard rock later."

Byakuya sat down in the chair next to the microphone, gazing up at her.

"Rukia," he said, watching closely as she turned and met his eyes.

She was waiting for him to go on. He thought for a moment.

"I love the loud stuff as much as you do," he went on, "but if we want to win this competition, we need to show our unique ability…the full range of it."

"You mean something slower? A power ballad or something?" she suggested, "We can give that some thought. Here…get warmed up. I'll be back."

The song that was starting was one he had heard Renji singing before. He was grateful for the fact that the lyrics were on sheets spread out on the table next to him. He picked the sheet up, but found that he didn't need it…because the words were already there, in Renji's mind. And Byakuya suddenly realized that he must have sung the song a thousand times. He hadn't realized when he started to sing, but he did notice the others had gone quiet and were listening as he warmed up his voice. Byakuya closed his eyes to push away the feeling of being watched, of being in front of anyone, of being noticed. As the words came out of him, he could see images in his mind of those friends he had remembered before. And suddenly, he was more than just sad. He ached for them, having grown up that way. There was no sound now, save for the sound of Renji's voice and the music that lifted it. He knew without opening his eyes that they were staring…and he only hoped that it was a good thing. When the song ended, he opened his eyes and saw the others looking back at him in silence with their eyes wide. Rukia was crying…and the one standing with her, holding her and barely restraining his own emotions was…him…or Renji in his body. He was sure of it now. It was in the way he was holding on to Rukia…the expression, everything. He was surprised no one else had noticed.

"Damn!" Ichigo said softly, "If that was your warmup, our competition is in trouble, Renji. That was…I've never heard you sing it like that before…like…it was…"

"Like it was coming from the heart."

Byakuya was shocked at hearing his voice coming out of another person. He watched as Renji pulled free of Rukia and stepped closer, looking at him. Byakuya met his eyes warily.

"I don't understand," he whispered.

"A voice is suspended on music, but when it comes from the heart it lifts the music."

And Byakuya suddenly remembered those words…the ones he, himself had said to Renji when he had heard Renji practicing in the fukutaichou's room at the sixth division. He'd been struggling to make it sound the way he wanted it to…and Byakuya had heard and stepped in through the open door.

"I just can't seem to get this part right."

"Well," Byakuya said, blinking slowly, "Singing is a skill that must be done from the heart. When you sing, a voice is suspended on music, but when it comes from the heart, it lifts the music…and it enhances the beauty of it."

And he realized why they were staring. He had been singing from the heart…Renji's. And apparently, Renji hadn't mastered that before the switch. It explained the wide-eyed stares, the looks of wonder, Rukia's tears…everything.

"Taichou," he said softly, "Why are you here? Did you need something?"

Renji looked back at him.

"I do need to speak with you…but I also came…to congratulate you. I know that your group will do well."

"Arigato, Taichou."

"I am sorry," Renji said to the others, "but Renji must return to the Seireitei with me for now. I will help him to work out a practice schedule so that you may prepare."

"Oh, Nii-sama, we'd just started," Rukia complained.

"I understand," Renji said, looking down at her, "but unfortunately, this cannot wait. Come, Renji."

Byakuya stood and followed Renji out of the room. They flash stepped back to the senkaimon, neither speaking, then returned to Kuchiki Manor.

"Where is a good place?" Renji asked.

"Out the back of the gardens," Byakuya suggested, "follow the trail to the lake."

They crossed the garden and passed through the gate. They moved onto the forest trail side by side.

"I think we are secluded," Byakuya said as they walked down the forest trail.

"Okay," Renji said quietly, "so it is you…right?"

"Yes," Byakuya answered, "It is me."

Renji sighed.

"I was worried, you know. I wasn't sure if it was both of us…or what…"

They reached the lake and stood beside the waterfall, watching it rain down into the water below it.

"Well," said Renji, "before we get to the obvious, can I ask you a question? How in the hell did you make my voice sound like that? I've never sounded that good before."

Byakuya paused, staring out over the lake to the grassy meadow below it.

"It was your memories," he said quietly, "You are connected to the memories of your friends when you sing that song. When I saw the memories in my mind, I could sing from the heart…yours. It really was you, Renji."

"If you say so, but I never…wait! You mean you…you know what…You have my memory? How is that possible?"

Byakuya shook his head.

"I don't know. I think memory is both physical and spiritual. It exists in both places."

"Shit," Renji gasped softly, "Then…that means that…you know, doesn't it?"

Byakuya furrowed his brow.

"I know? What is it that you think I know?" he asked.

"You don't know?"

Byakuya sighed.

"Renji…it seems that my connection with your memory is triggered when things happen that are meaningful to you. I cannot simply look anywhere I want. Something has to trigger it."

"So if something happens that triggers my memory, you see it."

Byakuya nodded.

"That seems to be the way it works. I think that it will be the same with you. When things happen that would trigger my memories…you will see them."

"Shit!" whispered Renji.

"You shouldn't say that…not while you are in my body, anyway," Byakuya chided him, I don't talk like that."

Renji seemed not to have heard him. He was staring at Byakuya, as if trying to decide something important. He stepped closer and Byakuya felt his heart quicken,

"Then if you have my memory…and things related to my memory make you see it…it's only a matter of time before you know. So I might as well let you see it now. At least while I'm in your body, you won't be able to kill me for it."

"Renji, what…?"

The next thing he knew, their lips were pressed against each other and a rush of images was flowing into both of their minds. They pulled away and stared at each other with stunned eyes.

"Shit," Byakuya whispered.

Renji pulled him close, chuckling softly, and kissed him again.