#016 - MOAR FIC :D

[notbantamweight]

Title: Whatcha Say?
Series: Bleach
Written: 12 and 15 Feb 2010

 

Byakuya looked at the doorframe, and at the small hand wrapped around the edge of shoji screen. Ginrei-sama noticed his inattention, and prodded the boy sharply in the side. Byakuya jumped noticeably, and looked briefly at his grandfather, before looking back towards Ukitake-san, who was speaking. Ukitake, too, had noticed his lapse in attention, and cocked his head to one side.

“Byakuya-kun? What is it?” Ginrei shot him a look to say, don’t you dare say anything, but Byakuya gathered his courage, and spoke up.

“My apologies Ukitake-taicho, but I saw someone at the door.” The other Captains looked at the young Kuchiki heir, at the doorframe (now empty of the small hand), and then back at the boy. It was Kyouraku-taicho who interrupted the studied silence with a deep belly laugh, before raising himself to his feet. A ripple of a murmur flashed through the assembled Captains, and then Ukitake-taicho laughed as well, as Kyouraku disappeared behind the door. He soon reappeared, carrying a small bundle of brightly coloured silks. He resumed his seat, and Zaraki-taicho rumbled,

“Whatcha got there, Kyouraku?” The small bundle stirred then, and a small head crowned with chestnut curls emerged, much to the shock of every Captain bar Ukitake. Byakuya actually stood up to get a better look, and Muguruma-taicho swore creatively.

“Why, Shun-kun, you never told me you’d whelped.” That snarky comment emerged from the toothy grin of Hirako-taicho, who was promptly kicked in the head by Sarugaki-fukutaicho. The small child shivered violently, before coughing, a sort of desperate battle for breath known to Ukitake-taicho. All of the chattered ceased immediately, partly because of the coughing fit, and partly because Kyouraku-taicho suddenly raised his reiatsu, and every other Captain flared reflexively.

“Easy! She’s used to my reiatsu, not yours.” Gradually, the reiatsu levels in the room decreased, and the little girl began to breathe easier, tiny hands reflexively clenching and releasing. Byakuya felt something grip his heart and twist it painfully at the sight of the little girl struggling so hard to draw breath.

Almost unconsciously, he got up and trod carefully over to Kyouraku-taicho, wavering slightly at the sheer strength of his spiritual pressure, and knelt in front of the older Captain, gently extending a single finger to the girl. She grabbed it with a grip of iron, and he could feel the tiny tendrils of her very faint reiatsu, all cool and shimmering, caress his skin so tenderly. Gently, carefully, he let the tiniest amount of his reiatsu coil out. Her rough breathing decreased markedly, and she opened her eyes, large and limpid, brandy-brown, and stared up at him, utterly open.

Her tiny mouth moved slowly, forming words with the utmost care, before she spoke up, voice roughened by the coughing fit, and quite low.

“Hajimemashite, watashi wa Kyouraku Irinai desu.”  A small smile wound its way across Byakuya’s face and he returned the greeting quietly, leaving all the other Captains muttering among themselves. Irinai let go of his finger then, and he bowed to her, before standing up, and backing away, until he resumed his seat beside his grandfather. Hirako-taichou turned to him, and asked,

“What did she say?” Byakuya simply pressed a single finger to his smiling lips as an answer.

 

So this is more of an expansion on Irinai... Enjoy~!