Bleach 1. Chapter 1

**I gave up on The Cat, The Fox, and the Crimson Princess; I just wasn't feeling it anymore. I'll return to it at some point, but I was itching to write this story, so enjoy! This story is taking place after Ichigo defeats Aizen, but the Thousand Year Blood War Arc won't exist here.**

**I don't own Bleach, it belongs to Tite Kubo. Please support the official release. –Purple-rain20**

* * *

"Oh my! Look, he took those weird things out of his hair!"

"Whatever, he put in some more weird hair pieces anyways. At least these new ones look less ridiculous."

"That scarf was so dumb looking too! It's never hot in the Seireitei!"

"Shh! He's coming this way!"

The man strolled gracefully down the path that led up to the 1st Division's Barracks, not missing a single beat even though his slate gray eyes were closed. Hearing rumors was nothing new to him, being a head of a high ranking clan was like having a bull's eye attached to the back of his head. His lieutenant, however, paid rapt attention to every rumor that was being circulated about the Seireitei. "Ah, taicho?" he asked hesitantly as the pair finally enter the 1st Division Barracks, "Those women are talking about you."

Byakuya Kuchiki halted his stroll mid-stride and spoke to his lieutenant without turning around. "If you have time to pay attention to gossip, then you must have time to work on more paper work," he said icily before walking up to the door that led to the Captain's assembly hall. Renji Abarai paled immediately upon the mention of more paperwork, his red hair standing out even more. He bowed hastily, "I'm sorry Taicho, I-I'll go to my lieutenants' meeting now!" he exclaimed in fear as he ran down the hall. Byakuya merely scoffed and opened the door to the assembly hall, where he was immediately greeted by a visibly drunk Shunsui Kyoraku, and Jushiro Ukitake, who was attempting to bring him under control.

"G-good morning, Byakuya-k-kun!" Kyoraku slurred as he threw an arm around the stoic captain, "Ah, you changed your hair barrettes!" he exclaimed as he tried to reach down to touch one of them. Byakuya's nose crinkled up in revulsion as he slipped away from Kyoraku's grasp. "Good morning, Kuchiki-taicho," Ukitake greeted cordially as he casually forced a stumbling Kyoraku into a seat. Byakuya nodded and then walked over and stood next to Retsu Unohana, who greeted him.

"Good morning, Kuchiki-taicho, how are you doing today?"

* * *

"My cousin told me that Unohana-taicho hides knives in her braid!"

"That doesn't surprise me. Woman is scary as hell."

"My cousin works part time as a nurse in the hospital. Said it's a nice place, very pleasant."

A tall woman with short silver hair stumbled nervously as she followed her captain to their respective meetings. Hearing these rumors made her uneasy, she was especially fearful about her nightmares being thrown out in the circle of rumors. She cleared her throat and held her head high for the first time in years, a suggestion from her captain.

"Isane, ignore them," a soft, pleasant voice said.

Isane Kotetsu's eyes widened in surprise as she reflexively nodded in agreement. Her captain was the epitome of patience and grace, and she strove to become just like her.

"The things that they are discussing are not true, you should not pay attention to them," Retsu Unohana said quietly as she stood in front of the door to the captain's assembly hall. She bid farewell to her lieutenant and walked inside. So far only Yamamoto, Sui-feng, Hitsugaya, Kyoraku, and Ukitake were there. She greeted everyone and then promptly took her spot.

It had been quite peaceful since the war has ended; only two months had passed and the Soul Society had basically returned to normal. Retsu had been grateful for the peace, she despised warfare. She was the second-longest reigning captain, and she had seen too much bloodshed.

Even the captain's moods have improved, most noticeably Byakuya Kuchiki, who had finally taken out those ridiculous kenseikan. She knew the noble was handsome, but his knew look further enhanced his overall attractiveness. _"Oh my," _she thought to herself bashfully. _"This is quite unlike me."_

"Good morning, Kuchiki-taicho, how are you doing today?"

The man opened his eyes and nodded at Unohana in respect, "Fine, thank you," he said calmly as he smiled slightly. The other captains gaped outwardly in surprise, it was a miracle! Byakuya Kuchiki actually smiled at someone! They knew he wasn't foolish enough to ignore Retsu Unohana, who was possibly the most frightening being in the universe when provoked.

"Did you see that? Ol' Byakuya's sweet talkin' Unohana-taicho!" Shinji Hirako snickered into his sleeve mischievously.

"Silence!"

A quick stamp from Yamamoto's staff calmed the excited captains. Even though his eyes were constantly closed to slits, he saw everything. "I will make things brief," he announced loudly, his deep voice booming about the hall, "We have been in a time of peace, and the 1st division is planning on having a party to commemorate the end of the Winter War and to honor Ichigo Kurosaki, in two months' time."

Shinji raised his hand, "Can I bring the rest of the Vizards?" he questioned as he smirked, "We saved your hides, ya know."

Yamamoto nodded, "Yes, yes, bring them," he confirmed impatiently. He was just about to adjourn the meeting when Unohana raised her small hand. "And where might this get together be held? It would be nice if it had a beautiful garden," she said sweetly, even though it had a few of the males in the room sweat slightly from fright.

The old man sighed heavily, "We do not have a set venue yet, my lieutenant is in charge of those preparations, and he hasn't decided yet."

"How about we use Byakuya-kun's mansion, eh Yama-jiji? It's got a great Sakura tree garden! We should be able to bring dates, too!" Kyoraku suggested loudly as he threw an arm around Byakuya's shoulder.

The Kuchiki head immediately eased out of Kyoraku's grasp and scowled. He was hoping that his mansion wouldn't be suggested as a possible venue, the Elders certainly wouldn't stand for it.

"Soutaicho, I cannot approve of this," Byakuya protested calmly as his icy gray eyes glared at Kyoraku, who was giggling in a drunken stupor.

"Come on, Byakuya, ain't ya the clan head? You're supposed to have superiority over the old farts that try to tell you otherwise!" Shinji grouched, and several other captains nodded in agreement, not because they agreed with the Vizard captain, they just wanted to get into the mansion.

"This get together is a wonderful chance for the Gotei 13 to be reunited after so many years of hardship. Please reconsider, Kuchiki-taicho."

Her sweet smile and deep ocean blue eyes that bore into his silver ones made him relent. Besides the fact that she was the captain mom of the Soul Society, she was a very pleasant woman. She was a frequent visitor to his calligraphy class and her skills were remarkable, even though he didn't say them aloud.

"Fine, I will allow this gathering to be held in my mansion, but I am setting some ground rules," Byakuya stated firmly as he glared at the rest of the captains.

"You all must attend in formal wear."

"Screw that," Kenpachi grumbled.

"There will be limited amounts of alcohol."

"Aw!" Kyoraku cried.

"And there will be no weapons or any drugs of any kind," Byakuya finished, giving Kenpachi and Mayuri a calculating glare.

"Hm, what a disappointment!" Mayuri exclaimed in displeasure, "I had just designed a drug that completely nullifies the effects of a hangover, but you simpletons just cannot appreciate my work," he huffed. Kenpachi growled, "What else d'you want me to do, shave my head?!"

"So it's settled then; the gathering to commemorate the end of the Winter War will be held at the Kuchiki Manor! You are dismissed!"

As the captains exited the assembly hall, Retsu purposely held back a bit and spoke to Byakuya. "I apologize if I caused you any inconvenience, Kuchiki-taicho," she said as she inclined her head slightly, "it was not my intention to do so."

Byakuya merely closed his eyes and shook his head, "It is fine, goodbye, Unohana-taicho," he said calmly as he left.

She watched as he left and smiled softly to herself.

* * *

"The hell? Your stiff of a brother actually agreed to that?"

Rangiku and the rest of the Shinigami Women's Association clamored around, trying to get Rukia to answer their questions. They were invited to the party, naturally since all of the members were high ranking officials in their divisions. "I'm just as surprised as you are!" Rukia exclaimed, trying to fend off the commotion. It was a lucky thing that Unohana hadn't shown up yet, it would be very awkward.

"U-Unohana-taicho convinced Kuchiki-taicho to host the party," Isane commented timidly, "she looked very excited."

"Eh? This is so exciting! For all we know, they could be a couple!" Rangiku gushed happily as she took another swig of sake.

"That'll never happen, Byakuya-bo is as stiff as broomstick! I could never see him with a woman," Yoruichi responded lazily, having decided to show up spontaneously.

"Nii-sama's heart only belongs to Hisana-nee-sama!" Rukia protested adamantly as she stood up from her seat. It was difficult for Rukia to imagine Byakuya finally moving on from her sister to love another woman, she just couldn't envision it. And this party will just bring more unnecessary attention to the clan too!

"I have never seen Unohana-taicho with a man either," Nanao commented quietly, much to everyone's surprise. It was true; Retsu Unohana has never been seen on a date, ever. Kyoraku had tried time and time again to sweep her off of her feet, but to no avail. She wasn't unattractive; she always ranked high in the Shinigami Men's Associations 'Most Attractive Shinigami Female'.

"I wish that she could find someone to love, it must me sad to be alone for so long," Isane said quietly.

"Who is alone?" a soft, feminine voice asked quizzically.

Most of the women jumped slightly in surprise, Unohana kept her spiritual pressure restrained to the point where no one could sense it, so they didn't know she was there. Others, (Isane and Nanao) actually fell from their seats. Only Yachiru Kusajishi had the courage to talk. The other women kept her occupied with coloring books and cookies in order for her to not pay attention to what they were talking about, but that obviously didn't work.

"Isa-Isa, Nana and everybody else we're talking about how Re-chan mmphh!" Nanao promptly stuffed Yachiru's mouth with a rice cake. Thankfully, Unohana didn't completely hear what Yachiru was saying, or chose to ignore it. Either way she sat down next to Rukia.

"I apologize for arriving so late," Unohana said as she bowed her head slightly, "I was helping to plan the party at the Kuchiki mansion."

"Oh, so you were spending time with Kuchiki-taicho?" Rangiku asked casually, hoping not to make her question sound too noisy. It didn't help that the rest of the women leaned forward to hear every single word that was about to come out of Unohana's mouth.

"Yes, I was asked by Yamamoto-soutaicho to help with the planning," Unohana confirmed with a smile. She was well aware that the women were gossiping about her and Byakuya, but if she reacted in any way, it would only confirm their suspicion. Yes, she and Byakuya had a respectable friendship; they often had tea together after his calligraphy lessons.

* * *

**FLASHBACK**

"What types of foods would you like for the party, Byakuya-san?"

"My personal chefs will take care of that."

Retsu only referred to Byakuya by his given name when they were alone, it would cause quite a stir if she did so anywhere else. She had arrived only twenty minutes prior in order to assist Byakuya for planning. The captains both sat next to each other on a luxurious couch in one of the many sunrooms in the Kuchiki mansion; a respectable distance from each other. It was imminent that they started to plan early; it was going to be an all-out party. "There must be something you would like, Byakuya-san," she pressed on further, leaning closer to him.

Byakuya was silent for a few moments, tapping his finger lightly on his knee. He knew that he wasn't going to get away with not choosing anything on Unohana's watch. "I will tell my chefs to prepare some spicy delicacies," he said lightly, avoiding eye contact with Unohana, "I have a liking towards them."

Her deep indigo eyes sparkled with excited them as she smiled, "Oh, you like spicy foods as well? That's one thing we have in common," she said happily. She wrote that down on a notepad that she had brought with her. "What about desserts?" she continued. She noticed his nose crinkle up in disgust as he turned away without responding. It wasn't until she boldly placed a hand on his that he spoke. "I do not like sweets," he said quietly, trying to ignore the fact that her soft, dainty hand was upon his, "I think that you should choose," he finished with a strained voice. She quickly picked up on his discomfort and removed her hand.

The two captains were had known each other for quite a while; they first met when Byakuya was a little boy going in to the doctor's office for his annual checkups. Then, they started to see more of each other as he made his way up the ranks of the 6th Division, from a seated member up to a captain. It was only when his wife Hisana was sick that they started to interact more. The years following his wife's death, Byakuya became more introverted and withdrawn; he only spoke when he needed to. After he saved Rukia from getting killed by Gin Ichimaru, he spent some time in the hospital. It was during those months that his associate-like friendship grew with Unohana. She would always walk into his room around lunchtime with a pot of tea and talk to him about the current events of the Soul Society.

In the beginning, he would be silent, nodding occasionally. But the further it went on, the more he spoke to her.

He chose to still keep her at a distance, not wanting to cause a stir within his clan. But they were friends nonetheless, even if he didn't act like one.

At this point there was an awkward silence between them; she quietly sipped on her tea as he twiddled a pen in between his fingers. He took a deep breath and spoke.

"Would you like a tour of the venue?" he asked her as he stood up and offered an arm to her.

She took his arm with a smile of thanks and they exited the sunroom together. It wasn't until they were halfway there that Retsu noticed that she still had her arm hooked around his. He hadn't noticed either, so she just left the situation as it was. His arms were not large nor were delicate, they were in between.

Smiling to herself softly, she closed her eyes and let him lead the way.

"_She hasn't let go of my arm yet," _Byakuya thought to himself in realization. He had offered his arm to her to let her get out of the couch easily, but it seems that she didn't plan on letting go any time soon. At least she wasn't the type of woman who threw themselves at him at any given moment. That was why he considered her to be his only female friend.

The woman had this delicate charm to her that reminded him a bit of Hisana, except he knew that Retsu had a mean streak that she kept suppressed. If he had to ask anyone to help him plan this party, it would be her. "There is no guarantee that this party will happen without any disturbances," he said quietly to no one in particular, "after all, there will be the undesirable lot there."

Unohana chuckled slightly in response, "Do not worry, nothing of the sort will happen, Byakuya-san," she whispered in case if there were any wandering clan members about.

"How are you so certain?"

"It is because I will be there."

A smile tugged on the corner of his lips as he opened the door to the ballroom. She was right; no one would be attempting any funny business with her about.

"Oh!" Unohana gasped in awe as she released her arm from Byakuya's and walked around the ballroom. The luxurious ballroom had marble floors all around, crown molding on the ceilings, deep violet walls, diamond chandeliers, a large bar with a granite table top, and a small stage at the front. The tables were pushed against the walls, but they were pure cedar oak tables. "It's lovely," she said to him in appreciation.

He frowned unconsciously at the loss of contact on his arm, but cleared his throat and walked over to where she was standing. "This is one of the many ballrooms of the Kuchiki mansion, but I chose this one specifically because of the size," he said in a monotone tone of voice. Watching her quietly as she once again strode around the room, he wondered if she was a noble. She carried herself gracefully with pride and dignity; it wouldn't be surprising if she was a noble. Every single one of her steps was mesmerizing and he couldn't help but watch. He wasn't sure how long he stared at her until she spoke. "Byakuya-san? Shall we continue with our planning?" she inquired, snapping him out of his reverie.

"Yes, of course," he said with forced calm as he offered out an arm to her.

**FLASHBACK END**

* * *

"That's it?!" Yoruichi blurted out in indignation, but quickly covered her mouth. Even though she and Retsu had been friends for the past few centuries, she was just as intimidated by her as the rest of the group. "Yes, that was it, and after some more planning I came here as fast as I could," Unohana said with a slight look of surprise on her face. Did these women really want to know everything?

Only fifteen minutes had passed when Unohana's pager rang, she was still on call at the hospital. "I apologize," she said hastily as she stood up and bowed, "I have to leave." As soon as she was gone, Rangiku sighed in relief, "Whoo! I was about to explode with more questions!" The ladies continued to gossip more about Byakuya and Retsu except for Rukia, who sat deep in thought.

"_They're just rumors, don't believe rumors._

* * *

**Thanks for reading and review!**


	2. Chapter 2

She sighed peacefully as she sat and watched the sun make its slow decent down the horizon. Her days off were always spent with her having some much needed peace and relaxation at her small villa on the outskirts of the Seireitei. Being the captain of the 4th Division also meant that she was the chief at the hospital; it would eventually take a toll on her if she didn't take days off. "Good afternoon, Isane," she greeted in her ever pleasant tone.

Her lieutenant prostrated herself hastily and she spoke in a hushed tone, "Good afternoon, Unohana-taicho; the hospital was fairly calm today. The only issue we had was when an unseated 5th Division member was attacked by a Hollow, he is in stable condition," she relayed.

Unohana turned and gestured for her lieutenant to sit next to her, "You don't have to bow to me like that, Isane," she reprimanded her gently as she poured her a cup of tea. The tall woman took a sip in appreciation and sighed. "I'm sorry, Unohana-taicho," she apologized guiltily.

"It's alright."

A comfortable silence fell between the women as the sun finally completed its journey back down over the horizon. Isane took a tentative peek at her captain, to see the ancient healer staring directly at the moon in deep thought. Retsu was a very difficult woman to read because she kept her emotions well hidden, often putting on a pleasant smile.

"Um, Taicho?"

"Yes?"

The tall woman fidgeted uncomfortably as she tried to get her words together. She was being forced by the rest of the Shinigami Women's Association to get more details about Unohana's love life. They knew that this was basically a suicide mission, but they didn't care; they were desperate for answers. "I-I do not know much about you, so I wanted to ask you if you would tell me more about yourself," she said quietly, "family, friends, relationships?"

Unohana laughed slightly in surprise and turned to her nervous lieutenant. "I am from the 36th district of Himani in West Rukongai," she began, "I lived with my parents, three sisters, and my brother. Everyone in my family is dead, but I don't know if my brother is alive or not; haven't spoken to him in centuries," she said with a slightly melancholic tone. "I am friendly with everyone in the Seireitei, and as far as relationships go," she paused as she stood up, "that would be a long story," she patted her lieutenant's shoulder, "Good night, Isane." She walked back to her personal quarters as Isane sighed in defeat, the Association will have her head after this.

* * *

'_Retsu.'_

"Yes, Minazuki?"

Her zanpakuto never ceased to bother her at the least favorable time. Right when she was sitting at her marble vanity, loosening her long braid, Minazuki interrupted her. _'Why didn't you tell the girl the things she wanted to know about your relationships? Were you afraid?' _Minazuki asked bluntly; her zanpakuto had no discretion whatsoever. "I am not under any obligation to say anything I do not want to," Retsu said shortly as she brushed out her long raven hair, "she would relay every single word I say to the rest of the women's association. It is obvious that they forced her to ask me."

'_Ah, I see," _Minazuki replied airily, _'you were paranoid.'_

"I was not."

'_You were quite the lovely woman, back in the day," _the female zanpakuto said with a slight nostalgic tone. _'It wouldn't hurt to get back into the dating game; it's been nearly three hundred years.'_

"I do not have time to pursue a relationship and I am not attracted to any men as of now," Retsu said with forced calm as she sat down on her bed and opened a novel.

'_What about Shunsui Kyoraku?" _Minazuki pressed on, _'he's a nice enough man once you get past his blatant perversion and alcoholism. Katen Kyokotsu has been begging me to convince you to give him a chance; she's tired of his complaints of a lack of a woman.'_

"I harbor no romantic feelings for him, we are only friends."

'_What about Jushiro Ukitake? Many of the young Shinigami ship both of you together!"_

"Ship? Like a boat?"

'_No, ship as in a relationship!" _Minazuki said in exasperation_, 'you need to get out more.'_

"My relationship with Ukitake-san is the same as with Kyoraku-san, only friends."

'_Yamamoto-sotaicho? Underneath his tough exterior could probably be a decent man, Ryujin Jakka isn't as pleasant, however. Very grumpy.'_

"That is inappropriate," Retsu huffed, "imagine the outcry!"

'_How about Toshiro Hitsugaya, hmm? He's like a grown man in a child's body!' _Minazuki gushed scandalously.

"Are you insane?" Unohana exclaimed in shock.

'_Sajin Komamura is another man you should consider,' _Minazuki advised with fake concern, _'the only problem that would bring is the amount of fur that would cover your home.'_

"You are not insane, you're demented," Retsu snapped impatiently.

'_Calm down, Retsu, it was only a little joke," _Minazuki hastily added. There was an extended length of silence between the seasoned captain and her zanpakuto, and the exact second that she closed her eyes to sleep was the same time that Minazuki spoke up again.

'_Byakuya Kuchiki, what do you think of this man?' _

Unohana felt her heart stop for a moment, shocked by Minazuki's question. Byakuya-san was a friend, albeit a close friend at that. They both enjoyed each other's company and she would rather not mess up their friendship over a few passing thoughts about him.

"Only friends, now good night, Minazuki," she said firmly as she drew her blanket up to cover her oncoming blush, even though no one would see it.

'_Yes, yes, fine,' _Minazuki said in defeat, _'Sweet dreams, Captain Retsu Kuchiki," _she whispered smugly under her breath.

* * *

'_Master." _An ethereal voice spoke out, breaking the quietness of the night.

Byakuya opened his eyes slowly and sighed in annoyance as he sat up. Of all the times for Senbonzakura to speak to him, it was in the middle of the night. "What is it?" the man grumbled in irritation as he flipped on the lamp that was next to him.

'_You seem troubled," _the Zanpakuto said observantly.

"There is nothing wrong with me," Byakuya snapped shortly as he adjusted his pillows, "I need my rest, leave me be.

Senbonzakura wisely remained silent as he waited patiently for his master to calm down. Even if it didn't show, he was concerned about his master's mental state. He couldn't put his finger on it, but there was something that was off about Byakuya; Senbonzakura could feel the disturbance in his master's spirit and he has felt it before, but that was about sixty years ago.

'_I sense a disturbance in your heart, my master," _Senbonzakura repeated in a different manner, hoping to not arouse his master's temper. There was one thing that hadn't changed since Byakuya was a boy right up until he grew up to be a man; his temper was something to be reckoned with. Thankfully, he can restrain himself now, but in the privacy of his own home it is not guaranteed.

The noble didn't even bother sit up or turn on his light, but spoke. "There is nothing wrong with me," he repeated himself calmly. "Don't bother me." If Byakuya was being honest with himself, he did feel a little bit 'off', but couldn't describe what he felt. It didn't feel new to him, but he wasn't used to it.

'_Who are you escorting to the party?' _Senbonzakura asked smoothly, promptly changing the subject. He hoped to get the answers that he wanted from a different approach. Byakuya opened his eyes and scowled, "There is no reason for me to escort someone, I am the one who is planning it," he replied with a cold tone.

'_So there are no women around you attract your attention, Master?' _the Zanpakuto continued airily, hoping that his tone of voice didn't give away his true intentions.

"None."

'_What about Yoruichi Shihoin? You had quite the crush on her in your younger days,' _Senbonzakura pressed on nonchalantly, knowing that telling Byakuya about his puppy love for Yoruichi when he was a boy would chip away at his stoic demeanor. He could feel Byakuya's shoulders tense up in anger.

"That demon cat does not elicit the slightest romantic reaction in me," Byakuya deadpanned as he drew up his blanket under his chin.

'_Matsumoto-fukutaicho? She's very pretty, but her zanpakuto Haineko has an unfortunate attraction to me,' _Senbonzakura said bitterly.

"That woman is as vulgar and lewd as Yoruichi Shihoin, not an option." Byakuya retorted in annoyance. Senbonzakura realized that at this rate he would get an answer, and decided to keep the conversation going.

Byakuya knew that Senbonzakura was up to no good, why else would the generally silent Zanpakuto be badgering him on about such frivolous subjects like romance. "Why are you asking me such things?" Byakuya calmly demanded as he finally sat up.

'_It has been very long since you've loved a woman, Master. I am very concerned.' _Senbonzakura replied honestly.

The noble could feel his hand tightening on his blanket as soon as the words left Senbonzakura's mouth. He vowed to never love another woman after Hisana's death; it would be a betrayal to her memory. "I don't need a lover, Senbonzakura. Now let me get some rest," Byakuya grumbled as he tucked himself back into bed.

'_Retsu Unohana is a very kind and beautiful woman,' _Senbonzakura continued, ignoring Byakuya's request for silence. _'Don't you think, Master?"_ The Zanpakuto was depending on his master's answer to figure out what was going on with him.

Byakuya's eyes snapped open in surprise and had a look of shock on his face before quickly replacing it with a look of annoyance. "She is a colleague," he said with forced calm, "and nothing more. Now leave me be!"

'_As you wish, Master,' _Senbonzakura said with an incline of his head. _'I hope you find your soul mate, she may be closer than you think,' _he snickered sagely.

* * *

"A-re you alright, Unohana-taicho?"

The seasoned captain blinked wearily at her lieutenant, but managed to put on a smile. "I am fine, Isane. Just a bit tired," she replied kindly. The pair was on their way to their respective meetings today, and Retsu was exhausted. Not only did Minazuki keep her up half of the night, what her Zanpakuto said to her struck a nerve. She did feel a bit lonely, but her work for the Soul Society was more important. Waving goodbye to her lieutenant, she walked inside of the assemble hall.

Murmuring good morning to the few captains that were there, she gracefully sat down in a chair and rested her head against her hand and closed her eyes.

The other captains were immediately unnerved by this. Unohana usually was the only person to stand in her spot way before Yamamoto arrived and here she is snoozing!

"Unohana-taicho looks exhausted," Ukitake whispered to the other captains as he pointed out the visible bags underneath her eyes. She had been acting quite different since the end of the war, it was known throughout most of the Gotei 13.

"She must have had a late night," Shinji added, but his words were laced with innuendo, "if ya know what I mean."

Sui-feng scowled at Shinji, "Fool! Don't start any rumors!" she reprimanded him harshly. She didn't want Unohana to trace any rumors back to the Shinigami Women's Association. Before they could continue with their discussion about Unohana, the assembly door hall opened.

Byakuya Kuchiki glided in, graceful as always. But he too looked exhausted and had pronounced bags under his eyes…

…just like Unohana.

The noble nodded wearily at the captains and sat down in a chair next to Unohana, oblivious to the gossip flying around.

"Byakuya-kun and Unohana-taicho look tired, quite the coincidence, eh?" Kyoraku quipped as he took a sip of sake.

"Silence!"

The roar of the head captain immediately halted all conversations. Yamamoto glanced around and noticed that Unohana and Kuchiki looked like they were about to pass out from exhaustion as they stumbled to their spots in formation. Brushing it off as nothing, he started the meeting.

* * *

"You looked tired," Byakuya stated as he shut the door to his parlor behind him. Unohana gave him a curious look as she sat down in an armchair, "I was not tired. Why do you think I was?" she asked with fake confusion. Byakuya sat across from her and folded his hands across his face so that she couldn't see his expression, even if he didn't put one on.

"You sat down before the meeting. Under normal circumstances, you are the first one to be in position," he replied with a stone cold voice and even colder expression. She ignored his cold expression and retorted with her own observation. "If my memory serves me right, you were sitting down as well," she responded sweetly, even though Byakuya knew this as a warning not to push her buttons anymore.

"I'll assume that your exhaustion was a result of insomnia," Byakuya murmured as he sent a servant to bring them tea with a flourish of his hand. "Quite the opposite, actually," Retsu sighed, "my Zanpakuto was speaking to me most of the night."

Byakuya's eyes widened momentarily and disguised his moment of weakness with a cough. Zanpakutos were free to communicate with other Zanpakutos as much as they wanted, sometimes without the knowledge of their owner. He wouldn't be surprised if Senbonzakura had been corresponding with Minazuki.

"The same for me as well," Byakuya confirmed as he sipped his tea. Unohana shifted uncomfortable in her seat as she took out her notepad from an inside pocket of her haori. "We still have quite a bit of business to continue," she said as she hastily tried to change the subject. "Let's get started."

* * *

She eagerly eyed the assortment of dishes that was set before them, but was sure to keep her composure. "These are the potential appetizers for the party," Byakuya informed her as he sat down beside her in the dining hall. A quarter of the table was taken up by the lavish dishes that the servants spent most of the day cooking. "These are only the appetizers?" Unohana asked in astonishment, thinking that she was looking at the whole entire menu.

"There are three more courses to go after this," Byakuya said as he offered her a plate of spicy dango. With newfound confidence, she picked up the spicy dumpling and took a small bite. "Hmm, this tastes wonderful!" she said happily as she finished the other two dumplings on her stick. Byakuya took a bite as well and nodded in satisfaction.

"I'll assume that this is now a menu choice now, correct?" he asked as he finished his dango. Retsu smiled and nodded as she wrote down 'spicy chill pepper dango' on her notepad. She was about to point to some avocado sushi when she noticed that there was a bit of sauce on the corner of Byakuya's lips. It would be quite unnerving to see a dignified noble in a state of disarray like this, but it didn't affect Unohana in the least bit.

Almost on instinct, she reached out to his face and tenderly wiped it away.

"You had something on your face," she whispered softly, her deep cerulean eyes shining as she used her thumb to make sure his face was clean.

Byakuya's stoic exterior was immediately shot down as his eyes widened in shock. He knew that Retsu was caring and gentle, but never in his life did he expect her to do something so, loving. It was quite the surprise. He put his and on top of hers that was still on his cheek, "Retsu," he breathed. He was about to ask her why she did it, but he saw someone rush away hurriedly in a flash of black and white.

And wide, fearful violet eyes.

* * *

Rukia shunpoed as fast as her small legs could take her to the Shihoin Mansion, where the association was having a girls' day. Her heart was still pounding in her chest as she tried her best to force the images of Unohana-taicho and Nii-sama in such an intimate position. He sure was lucky that it was only her who saw, any other clan member would've gone straight to the Elders and the Seireitei would have found out in mere hours.

"Please tell me this isn't happening!" she shouted out to no one in particular.

* * *

"Son of a-" Yoruichi gasped in shock as she dropped her glass of sake. Rukia had practically busted down the door of Yoruichi's mansion and was near tears as she emotionally told the rest of the women what she had saw between Retsu and Byakuya. "I-I knew they were close, b-but I didn't know…." Isane spluttered out as she shook her head in disbelief.

"We've got to get to the bottom of this," Rangiku said forcefully, actually sober for once. "There has to be some way of finding out what's really going on!" Rukia dabbed away the tears that were on the corners of her eyes and sighed deeply, "I-I can't believe he'd forget about Hisana-nee-sama," she lamented as she banged her head on the table.

"He can't wallow in her memory for the rest of his life, Rukia," Yoruichi retorted firmly as she turned to Rangiku, "But you're right, Rangiku. We need to figure out what's going on."

"Do you need a spy, Boobies?!" Yachiru piped up as she jumped on the table that they were all seated at, "Cuz I know Bya-kun's house like the back of my hand!" she finished cheerfully. Nanao's eyebrows furrowed in revulsion as she cleared her throat and stood up. "Our motives cannot be obvious to either one of the captains," she said shortly. The women sat in silence, each trying to figure out a decent way of spying on the two without getting caught.

"We should partake in a friendly competition to discover the secret relationship of our superiors," Nemu stated in a monotone voice that broke the silence. "Prizes may be awarded to those win."

Rangiku's sky blue eyes sparked in excitement as she grabbed Nemu into a bone-crushing hug. It was difficult to know whether Nemu was in pain or not since her usually bored expression did not change. "It's perfect!" Rangiku gushed as she shook Nemu violently, "it'll bring us together as a group and let us find out what the hell is going on!"

"No one will be invading my Nii-sama's privacy!" Rukia angrily exclaimed as she stood up on the table in a fruitless attempt to make herself look intimidating. Nii-sama would be furious to discover a bunch of board female Shinigami following him around at every waking moment. And imagine how Unohana-taicho might react, no one has any idea how she would!

"Get off my table," Yoruichi grouched as she grabbed Rukia by her collar and casually tossed her in a chair. These women weren't ignorant; they were in their high positions for a reason. They're smart enough to at least come up with a decent plan to spy on Byakuya and Retsu.

"I'll have to pass on spying on them," Momo said weakly with a smile. She wasn't cut out for getting down and dirty, it was understandable. "I'll probably volunteer to help organize things."

Rangiku nodded and disappeared for a few minutes to come back with a large whiteboard. "Alright, the teams will be me and Yoruichi, Isane and Nanao, Nemu and Yachiru, and Sui-feng and Kiyone," she said as she wrote down everything on the whiteboard. "What about me?" Yachiru pouted as she threw rice cakes at Rangiku. The buxom blonde sighed and bent down to Yachiru's level. "Yachiru Kusajishi, I hereby dub you as Supreme Magnificently Awesome Keeper of the Secrets," she said in a dignified tone, "It's your job to prevent anyone outside of this room from finding out about our game, including Unohana-taicho. Are you up for the challenge?"

The short, pink haired girl was practically bouncing off of the walls with joy, so Rangiku took that as a yes.

The demon cat noticed how everyone turned to Rukia because she didn't have a partner. "You already have an advantage, Rukia, since Stick in his Ass-taicho is your brother," Yoruichi said with a large grin.

Rukia blanched and shook her head furiously in protest, "I refuse to participate!" she shouted as she covered her eyes in fear since Yoruichi was walking directly up to her. The violet haired woman removed one of Rukia's hands and whispered a few words into her ear that had the petite fukutaicho trembling violently in fear. With a heavy heart, she sobbed.

"Fine! I'll do it!"


	3. Chapter 3

"Oh Kami, the SWA is up to something again."

"How do you know?"

"I just saw a whole group of them walk by with a bunch of heavy boxes headed right up to the Shihoin Mansion. Shit's going down."

"Yeah, you're probably right. But Unohana-taicho is the supervising chairwoman; she wouldn't let anything bad happen."

"I heard from the 12th seat in the 10th Division that she hasn't been there for a while, it must be rough being a captain and the head doctor at the same time."

"Quiet, quiet! It's Kuchiki-tai-!"

The man didn't even get finishing his warning to his friend before their taicho appeared out of nowhere with his fukutaicho, who looked at the men with pity. His slate gray eyes darted back and forth between them, surveying their looks of fear. "You have no reason to be loitering around when you are unseated members," Byakuya said icily as he pointed down the hall, "leave immediately, or face immediate punishment."

The men bowed hastily and rushed down out of the 6th Division's assembly room's hallway, probably to attend to their paperwork that they obviously skipped out on. Renji laughed good-naturedly, "You scared the hell outta them, taicho! They were quaking in their-!"

"Abarai."

Renji blanched at the tone of Byakuya's voice as he said his last name. His captain didn't even look at him as he stood directly in front of the assembly hall door. "Present yourself and our Division with pride and dignity," he deadpanned as he stood back to let Renji open the door. The red haired man reluctantly swung open the door and Byakuya glided in immaculately, as always.

In the assembly hall stood the twelve newest members to the 6th division. They immediately fell into formation and bowed respectfully to their taicho and fukutaicho.

"You twelve were the highest scores of this Division's exam," he began in a monotone voice. "In due course, some of you might transfer to other divisions. Some might get promoted," he paused and eyed each of the rookies, "some may even die."

Ignoring the beads of sweat that were forming on their foreheads, he stuck out a hand to his left, where Renji placed a small scroll. Opening it, he started to read to them.

"I will only announce those of you who were named seated members," he warned as he eyed the five men and seven women that stood before him.

"The 5th seat will be Kanata Shigurume, 6th seat will be Kazuhiko Sumiya, the 9th is Rentaro Kimanishi, and the 10th seat is Mayaka Takigishi," he looked up and saw the disappointed faces that were staring back at him. "Those are the seated members, those of you who were not called will have other opportunities to be promoted," he said as he headed for the door. "Abarai-fukutaicho will answer any and all questions," he finished.

"Taicho, wait just a-" Renji blurted out as he rushed after him, but Byakuya was already gone in a flash before he could catch up. A tall man with short black hair and blue eyes named Kazuhiko raised his hand. "Pardon me if I am intruding, Abarai-fukutaicho; but we ask if you may show us around the Division and the barracks," he asked respectfully as he straightened his glasses. Renji's eyes narrowed suspiciously as if he was trying to figure out something, but shook his head in exasperation.

"Alright, rookies, this way."

* * *

"I hope that we will all have a wonderful time working with each other. The 4th Division is a very calm and gentle place, please keep this in mind. You are all dismissed."

Unohana sighed inwardly as she watched the group of promising rookies file out of her office. The fifteen of them would do well here, as long as they followed the rules. She unconsciously put the fingers of her right and to her face and blushed. No matter what she did, no matter how she tried to distract herself; her thought always turned to that 'accidental' incident with Byakuya.

"No, it was just an accident," she murmured to herself as she laid both of her hands flat on her desk. She shouldn't have wiped the sauce of off his cheek in the first place; he was a grown man for Kami's sake.

"Unohana-taicho."

She blanched as she heard the deep, smooth voice call out from behind her. Her office had a very large window behind her desk, so large that a grown man could stand upright on the windowsill, which was exactly what Byakuya was doing. She quickly put on a kind expression and cocked her head in confusion. "Oh my, this is unexpected," she exclaimed lightly.

He effortlessly lowered himself down from the windowsill and stalked quietly to the door and locked it. "A gentleman wouldn't come into someone's office unannounced and begin to lock their doors," she quipped pointedly as she stood up to close the window.

Byakuya sat down in front of her desk, "You already know why I am here."

"Yes, I do." She breezed past him to her fireplace, where a kettle's whistle had just indicated that the water had boiled. Pouring the green liquid into two small cups, she sat back down and slowly pushed the cup toward him. He didn't even show the slightest notion of accepting the tea before he spoke.

"I only want to know why you did it."

The aged healer smiled gently and closed her eyes. "I couldn't let you walk around like that. It would've been embarrassing." It was obvious that she was lying on purpose; even the dimmest of people could see that.

Byakuya's eyes narrowed in annoyance, on the outside people saw the kind and benevolent taicho of the 4th Division. On the inside was a woman who was as stubborn as a bull and as dangerous as a herd of Menos Grande. She opened her eyes and stared directly into his, silently daring him to continue to push her buttons even further.

He felt this strange, tingling feeling that radiated throughout his chest as it felt her eyes bore holes through his inner being. A tightening, burning feeling that took his breath away. He thought he was just coming down with a cold, but this felt much deeper than that. Like a mental ailment.

"Are you just going to stare at me, or answer my question?" he asked through gritted teeth, attempting to ignore the growing ache in his chest. He needed to figure out what was going on with him, Senbonzakura was right, there was just something wrong.

"Watch your tone, Kuchiki-taicho," Retsu chastised with a soft smile. A dark shadow fell over her face as she narrowed her eyes, "You are still considered a junior captain; I have superiority over you."

Byakuya turned away and took a deep breath before speaking again, "Forgive me, I was out of line." The last thing he wanted was for her to distance herself from him even more without getting a straight answer.

She took a long draught of her tea and kept silent for a few moments, trying to plan out her next words. He noticed her extended silence and cleared his throat as he stood up, "I've overstayed my welcome, I should leave," he stated as he strode quickly to the door. It wasn't even yet unlocked when her soft voice resonated throughout the room.

"No, please stay here.

Turning on his heels, he found her standing directly in front of him. Towering over her by a good ten inches or so, she had to arch her head up all the way to look at him. "I don't want you to leave without a proper answer, I owe you as much." It didn't look like she was about to offer him a seat again, so he remained where he was.

"When I saw the sauce on your face, something in me was just told me to wipe if off. A reflex. I couldn't control myself," she admitted guiltily, "I apologize for my forwardness," she whispered as she inclined her head in shame.

Sighing deeply, he took on of her hands in his. _"Now I know what she meant by a reflex," _he thought to himself. Every time he was around Retsu, none of his actions to her were thought out. They came naturally, as if it was supposed to happen. He expected her to recoil in shock at the notion of him taking her hand, but the only reaction she had was the widening of her eyes.

"We are friends, Retsu-san. Do not feel guilty because you wanted to do something kind for me," he said firmly as he looked deep into her deep blue eyes to make sure she understood what he was saying. "It is in your nature."

She broke eye contact first, fearing that she might give away too much if she kept the connection longer. "Surely my actions must have bothered you," she muttered bashfully.

"Not at all."

Glancing back up, she noticed that his expression hadn't change from the point he took her hand, up until now which was a few minutes later. That same intense expression that could melt the hearts and minds of the women of the Seireitei never once affected her. Sometimes she wondered what those women felt when Byakuya was near.

Now she knew.

He leaned in slowly and placed a tender kiss upon her soft, silky cheek. Leaning back a bit, he noticed that her skin was perfect; devoid of any blemishes or marks. "Thank you for being my friend," he whispered before walking to the window, opening it, and then disappearing with a flash.

An unfamiliar heat crawled up her neck as she felt her vision begin to swim dangerously. Cautiously lowering herself into the chair at her desk, she fished through her drawer and found her small mirror. Red ears, wide eyes, and her heartbeat was running mile a minute. His last words were still pounding in her ears as she hugged the mirror to her chest.

"_Thank you for being my friend."_

* * *

Yoruichi was busy with barking orders at Nemu and Sui-feng when she suddenly felt a large waft of spiritual pressure waft throughout the air. The other women there noticed it as well, and looked at her in confusion. "Whose spiritual pressure is this? It's monstrous," Nanao commented as she put down her novel and stood up. Yoruichi put on her trademark Cheshire cat smile and wiggled her finger, "That ladies, is our favorite Unohana-taicho!" she said dramatically as she put on a fake face of fear.

The demon cat was much older than she looked; running around as a cat for 110 years really worked out the imminent wrinkles. She was the apart of the few left in the Seireitei who knew what Retsu's real spiritual pressure felt like.

Obviously, she wasn't about to tell them about 'back then'. Yoruichi quickly ran out of the room, much to the confusion of the rest of the group. "Is she just gonna leave us here? What if Unohana-taicho found out about our game? Wahh! We're gonna die!" Rangiku panicked as she attempted to sprint from the room, though Yachiru jumped on her shoulders and knocked her down.

"Stay, Boobies, stay! Re-chan wants to say hi!" she chirped as she pointed to the door.

The door swung open wildly and banged on the wall. A few moments later a visibly flustered Retsu Unohana trudged into the dining room, not gliding gracefully as she usually does. Her face was as red as a tomato and her eyes wider than a deer in headlights. "Good afternoon, ladies," she breathed out good-naturedly as she took a seat. "I wanted to make sure I came early."

The rest of the Association quickly took their seats except Rukia, who was eyeing the healer suspiciously. She knew for a fact that the orientation for the rookies ended at six in the afternoon, yet she came and hour and 45 minutes late; plus Retsu was a master and at Shunpo, so it shouldn't have taken so long.

"Kuchiki-fukutaicho? Are you alright? You seem ill." Retsu commented with concern as she stood up and put a hand to Rukia's forehead to check for a fever. The short woman winced visibly but automatically regretted it. She didn't want Unohana to get suspicious over her strange behavior since she was the closest to Byakuya.

"Where's Yoruichi?" Rangiku pouted as she reached into her bosom and produced three bottles of American whiskey that she had swiped from Yoruichi's personal stash. "I wanna crack open this American stuff!" she yelled as she ran into the kitchen, dragging Nemu along with her.

Unohana felt a faint wisp of the cat woman's spiritual pressure as she came up to the door, but it quickly disappeared. Could Byakuya have told her about their incident? The thought of it gave her a massive migraine.

"Ohayo, Retsu-chan!"

A black cat that was perched atop a chandelier gracefully pounced from their perch and hurtled 35 feet towards the ground. "Yoruichi-sama!" Sui-feng screamed as she jumped up from her seat and rushed to catch her mentor. The cat merely did a small flip and landed gracefully on Unohana's head and Sui-feng ended up face planting on a table. "Nice to see ya!" the cat crooned as it licked Retsu's cheek.

Everyone blanched in fear the same moment as Yoruichi's rough tongue caressed her cheek, the same cheek that Byakuya had kissed just an hour before. Most of them expected Unohana to reprimand Yoruichi in the way that had lesser men wet their pants. Others expected her to blow the place up.

She did what no one expected.

She blushed.

Yoruichi's eyes widened in shock and she felt herself be promptly whisked from Unohana's shoulder by a less than calm Sui-feng whose face looked somewhat like a plum.

Retsu immediately placed a hand on her cheek and bit her cheek in order to prevent herself from crying out in shock. The tingling feeling had just started to subside, but Yoruichi's lick brought back the same sensation from Byakuya's kiss! She needed something to calm her nerves, desperately.

"We're baaack!" Rangiku crooned as she and Nemu returned from the kitchen. The tray that Nemu was holding had 10 shot glasses filled with a golden, yet pungent liquid. Nemu began to expertly slide each woman a shot glass filled with whiskey except for Yachiru, whose glass was filled with apple juice. Rangiku was sure that the President of the Association wouldn't notice.

"This is the stuff Kisuke gave me from America! How the hell did you get this?" Yoruichi growled as her fur stood up on end. Sui-feng stroked her back and it soothed the cat almost immediately and purred in satisfaction. Rangiku sniffed the whiskey in reverence and grinned, "I found it in your room and I couldn't resist! This stuff is way stronger than sake!" Isane stared at the alcohol skeptically, she drank only occasionally and with small amounts. She turned her head to see Nemu slide a shot glass over to Unohana.

"Unohana-taicho does not drink," Isane commented as she interrupted the path of the glass. She was about to pass the glass back to Nemu when a soft, yet stern voice cut her off. "Isane, please pass the glass over to me," Retsu stated as she stretched out her hand. Isane's eyes grew wide with shock as she shook her head weakly, "But you always said that alcohol is-"

"Pass me the glass." Her voice was louder this time and borderline frightening. Her normally light and kind eyes were dark and agitated. Meekly, Isane slid the shot glass down to her captain. Retsu stopped the motion of the glass with one finger and looked up at Yoruichi, who was still a cat. "Well, are we going to start or not?"

Yoruichi shook her tail in shock as she crawled up onto the table to get to her class. "Alright ladies, chug 'em!"

Rangiku happily took the first shot and as soon as the alcohol hit her throat she went into a terrible coughing fit. "God damn!" she croaked as she thumped her chest, "T-this stuff is great!"

Rukia timidly took a sip of her glass until Yoruichi helpfully used her tail to tip the glass and made the liquid fly down her throat. "Agh!" she groaned as she ran from the room, "Water! Water!"

Yoruichi lapped up her serving with a sigh, "Mmm!" she purred as her tail swayed about lazily.

Yachiru happily gulped down her apple juice and wiped her mouth with her sleeve. "You guys are weak! This stuff is yummy!"

The rest of the women each downed with various groans and shudders. Isane blinked wearily and looked down to see Unohana's glass untouched, the woman was staring at it deep thought.

"What's wrong, Unohana-taicho? Is it too strong?" Rangiku slurred at the aged healer, genuinely asking if she wasn't able to handle it, though Retsu took it as a taunt.

The healer slowly picked up her shot glass, sighed in regret for choosing to participate in this, then knocked it back like a pro and flicked her glass down the table to Nemu, who was already busy with refilling the glasses. "Such a pungent and rustic flavor. Quite nice. More please," Unohana quipped kindly.

She had been so stressed out as of late and needed an outlet, even if it did involve drinking. It had been nearly 200 years since she had alcohol and that had been a slight sip. _"I'll only have a few," _she silently assured her fukutaicho as she gracefully snatched up the returned glass and downed it immediately. She was much to mature to let alcohol inhibit her judgment.

Yoruichi grinned as she effortlessly downed her second shot; this was starting to get interesting. She had also found out some frightening new about Retsu and was planning on informing Rangiku of it so they could get ahead in the competition, but decided against it. She was having way too much fun.

* * *

After 45 minutes and fifteen more shots of whiskey, Retsu Unohana was drunk.

Even on the brink of unconsciousness, she still managed to remain upright in her chair, watching everything that was going on. Yachiru was completely sober, but the amount of sugary apple juice she had drunk had her practically bouncing off of the walls. Isane, Momo, Kiyone, and Sui-feng were passed out of the ground. Rukia had been bumping into the same wall for the past 10 minutes. Nemu was pretty glassy-eyed, but remained silent in her seat. Yoruichi and Rangiku were prancing about the house singing various songs that Retsu assumed were from the Human World. One was about 'birthday cake' and the other was about 'milkshakes'.

She put a hand in her robe and withdrew her pocket mirror. Her eyes were bloodshot and dilated, her cheeks and unfortunate hearty shade of pink, and her hair was undone at the end of the braid. All in all, she looked like a hot mess. While she was examining her appearance, Nemu was quietly dropping these strange blue pills into everyone's mouth, probably a result of Kurotsuchi-taicho's experiments.

"S-stop," she attempted to croak out, but it ended up coming as a loud hiccup. One by one the women groggily came to their senses. They were still drunk, but they at least had some idea with what was going on. Nemu handed one to Retsu, but she immediately waved it off. "N-no, do...not want," she hiccupped.

Isane slowly wobbled up onto her feet, grasping the table for support. "T-taicho," she said, "I want...to l-leave."

It took Unohana a few moments to process what her lieutenant was saying to her and had to fight to not respond in French. Abruptly, she stood up and grabbed her coat and wobbled to the door. "W-wait, Unohana-taicho! D-don't you want s-some pieeeee?!" Rangiku shouted after her before the door slammed.

Isane wanted to follow Unohana so badly she even began to sob. Falling to the floor, she dragged herself to the door but before she could make it, she fell back into the arms of unconsciousness.

* * *

This was the third time Byakuya had gotten up from a restless slumber; there was nothing he could do to calm his nerves. He had no idea why he decided to kiss Retsu like that; it was completely inappropriate and disrespectful. Any lesser man would've probably being hung off of a cliff.

The sakura trees had just blossomed a week ago as planned, giving his garden that luminous glow that it was famous for. Sitting down at his patio, he glared up at the moon for an answer to his anxiety. After what felt like an eternity, Byakuya had resigned to the fact that he'll probably never fall asleep at this rate and stood up to walk back to bed. He saw a movement out of the corner of his eye and reflexively reached for Senbonzakura, but he had left him in his room.

Upon further inspection he saw a small figure sitting with their back to the tree wrapped up in a captain's haori. "No, it couldn't be," he breathed out in shock as he quickly shunpoed over to the figure.

It was Retsu Unohana, barely nodding in and out of unconsciousness.

"B-Byakuya-san," she whispered as she fought against a wave of nausea. "P-pardon my intrusion," she hiccupped as she cupped her head in pain. He immediately wound an arm around her back and supported her head with the crook of his elbow, "Who did this to you?" he asked in a dangerous tone, ready to go after whoever harmed her. The small woman merely reached out to touch his cheek, "Myself," was the last thing she said before she succumbed to slumber.

Byakuya easily lifted the woman into his arms and stared down at her in surprise. The scent of alcohol on her breath burned his nose and made his eyes water. He was surprised that she even was interested in alcohol, being a doctor would've probably made her avoid it.

Then he realized.

She must have had as much inner turmoil as he did.

His sandaled foot made no noise as he landed on his balcony with her in his arms. Under normal circumstances, he would call his maids to come and whisk Unohana away, but that had the possibility of harming her reputation. Laying her down on his bed carefully, he slowly removed her captain's haori and Shinigami robes. Thankfully she was wearing a modest, light robe underneath.

It had been long since he had lain in bed with another soul, it almost felt foreign. Tucking his blanket underneath her chin, he was about to lay back down to sleep, but laid a quick peck on her forehead. Somehow, this small action was able to coax his mind to peace and he once again tucked himself in for a much needed rest.

**Please review my story! I'd really appreciate it if I heard everyone's thought on it so far! So many people have read it so far but I only have 6 reviews! Pretty please?**


	4. Chapter 4

"_Three hundred and three, three hundred and four, three hundred and five…"_

He was trying his best to fall back into the comforting arms of slumber by counting sheep, but his mind wasn't having it. Not when there was an intoxicated woman who was mere inches away from him. Byakuya looked over at Unohana, who looked like she was sleeping comfortably, her hands folded across her belly. He had made sure to stack pillows under head in case she had problems breathing.

Sitting up, he glanced at the clock on the opposite wall of his spacious room, which said it was not five forty-five in the morning. He yawned and eased himself out of the bed to get ready for the day; he had an hour and forty-five minutes before he had to get to the 1st Division's Assembly hall for the captain's meeting.

Locking the door to make sure that none of his servants would barge in and see a fellow captain in his bed, he began to get ready for the day.

* * *

"Agh," a feminine voice groaned out as she shielded her eyes from the glare of the sun. She had a pounding headache and her vision was swirling around dangerously. As soon as her eyes became accustomed to the light, she looked around. The room was huge and had various works of art of nature on the walls. Before she could continue to look around the room, a pleasant breeze wafted about the room. Turning her head to the source of the breeze, her eyes widened and her heart beat began to speed up.

There was a large sakura tree garden outside.

"Oh no," she panicked as she immediately jumped from the bed. She was sleeping in the bed of a fellow captain! What if a servant had come into the room and seen her? She looked down and noticed that her Shinigami robes and her haori weren't on her. What if Byakuya had seen that 'thing' when he took off her clothes?! A wave of nausea hit her and she grasped the headboard of the bed for balance.

"Do not worry, no one saw you."

Byakuya slipped on his modified captain's haori as he walked towards a visibly flustered Retsu. Her eyes were bloodshot and watery and a very visible blush was working its way onto her cheeks. She was also wobbling around unsteadily as she tried to gather her clothes. All in all, she was in no condition to leave his mansion. "You need to lie down and rest," he said firmly as he gently pushed her down to sit on the bed.

"Sensitivity to light, headache, nausea, and thirst, all symptoms of veisalgia," Unohana murmured quietly as she accepted a glass of water from Byakuya. "More commonly known as a hangover." He pulled up a chair and sat down in front of her, just staring at her. She stared back, trying to hide her discomfort, but his gray eyes were boring holes the size of craters into her. It was like he was looking right through her.

"You are rattling off medical terms now, and if I didn't know any better, I would think that you've recovered," he said in a monotone voice as he crossed his arms over his chest. He glanced up at the clock and it said six thirty, he only had a half an hour left before the meeting. She took a hearty sip of the cool, tasteless liquid and sighed, it was much better than that whiskey.

"If you were anyone else, I'd ask if you were forced to drink yourself to inebriation." Byakuya began again before she had a chance to respond. "But you admitted to me that you drank out of your own volition, but why?"

She swirled the water in her cup as she thought out her next words. He wouldn't let her go unless she came clean. "Stress relief," she admitted shortly as she reached into the pocket of her haori and produced two green pills from a pouch.

He eyed the pills warily and was about to ask what they were for before she cut in again. "These pills nullify the effects of ethanol on my body." She informed him between sips. She had brought them with her to the SWA meeting, knowing that someone was bound to get drunk. Those pills were one of the many medications that she herself created from natural herbs found in the mountains, nothing like those ones that Kurotsuchi mass produces in his lab. She could already feel the effects from her hangover disappear.

"That isn't the proper way to vent your frustrations, I would think that you would know this already, Retsu-san," Byakuya commented. "How much did you drink?"

"Seventeen shots," she admitted bashfully.

His eyes widened in shock as he wondered how she was still even speaking to him so clearly. People like Kyoraku or Matsumoto-fukutaicho who have iron clad livers would be out for days if they drank like that! "Reckless," he reprimanded slightly at her as he stood up. She stood up with him, but he once again pushed her down to sit on the bed. "You should know that you are in no condition to leave here," he stated firmly as he headed to the door. "I will come by once the meeting is over," he said as he left.

Her eyebrows crinkled up together in distaste as she finally relented and lay back down. Hopefully Isane would be able to handle things for the day as she got herself back to normal, but then she remembered that the poor girl became drunk after just five shots. Even Yoruichi and Rangiku could only take down ten shots a piece before succumbing to the strong liquor's affects. No doubt that the SWA would be gossiping about this as she thought about it, even if most of them weren't in any condition to do so. She looked down and saw that her braid was still put together, even if it was messy. It didn't look like Byakuya saw anything; and that was a relief. But still, it brought a fearsome blush to her face as she imagined Byakuya slowly undressing her in the moonlight.

"Look at me, I'm thinking lewd thoughts about a noble, and a captain nonetheless," she chastised herself as she drew the blankets around her. The expensive blankets even smelt like him, a rich cinnamon scent. She took a sleeping pill that she dug out of her purse and swallowed it and tried in vain to purge the thoughts of Byakuya from her mind.

It was still able to lull her into a dreamless, quiet nap.

* * *

Renji eyed the sight before him warily as he took his seat. He expected to come in and find the male fukutaichos conversing about the little things, such as sports and fighting, and the women gathered around talking about, whatever women talk about. But it surely wasn't the case this time.

The first thing he noticed was Yachiru Kusajishi running and bouncing about the room at a blinding speed, talking about her love for ponies. He sees Rangiku visibly passed out on the ground beneath her seat. Isane was slumped in her seat, with tears threatening to spill over from her eyes. Momo, Nemu, and Nanao sat up straight and attentive, even though they were about as exhausted as Rangiku was.

Taking a seat next to Shuhei, he tapped him on the arm. "What the hell happened to them?" he whispered as he gestured to the women. The scarred fukutaicho of the 9th Division shrugged, "No idea, I'm pretty sure they were out drinking by the looks of it."

Chojiro Sasakibe entered the room soon after, casting a questioning look at the male lieutenants, silently asking if they knew what was wrong with the women. The men shrugged and shook their heads. The fukutaicho of the 1st Division sighed deeply, and then began the meeting even though half of them weren't listening.

* * *

Yamamoto was not pleased. Not only were his captains chatting around idly as if he wasn't standing right there, he was missing three captains! Sui-feng-taicho, Unohana-taicho, and Kuchiki-taicho had yet to make an appearance, yet he can sense the spiritual pressure of their lieutenants!

"She ain't goin' back to any of those stupid SWA meetings," Kenpachi grumbled as his hand tapped impatiently on his Zanpakuto. "Damned brat came back to the barracks hyper off her ass, sayin' that she drank 16 shots of whiskey! She even brought a bottle of the shit with her, and there was nothin' but fuckin' apple juice in it!"

Hitsugaya nodded gravely and sighed, "My fukutaicho arrived at the barracks drunk, as always. There is no doubt in my mind that she's orchestrated this."

Shunsui chortled good-naturedly as he lounged in a nearby chair. "My Nanao-chan came home all flustered and blushing, it was so cute!" he gushed. "She's finally come out of her shell!"

Ukitake had a look of concern on his face as he relayed his experience. "Kiyone came back to the barracks with Rukia on her back. They were singing something about bubblegum, whatever that may be," he said as he racked his mind to figure out what that was.

"You all are welcome to ask me to modify your lieutenants, for a simple fee," Kurotsuchi said menacingly as he rubbed his hands together. The more research material, the better. Nemu came home promptly at the allotted time, and she didn't look intoxicated at all. A simple chip inserted at the parietal lobe of the brain could control them easily.

The doors to the assembly hall opened and Sui-feng stumbled in. Every single person looked up at the petite ninja and gasped in shock, they couldn't believe what they were seeing. "What the hell happened to your face? You look like a goddamn blimp!" Shinji cried out in horror.

Sui-feng was still recovering from her injuries from face planting on one of Yoruichi-sama's antique tables. Her eyes were watery from her hangover, plus they were swollen shut. Cheeks and lips were bruised and moist; it was truly a frightening scene. "I had gotten into an accident," Sui-feng uttered through clenched teeth as she took her spot, "my apologies."

Yamamoto was too surprised to even acknowledge Sui-feng's apology, now all they had to do was wait for Kuchiki and Unohana. He was more worried about Unohana, she was known for being perfection personified; it was unsettling to him that she'd be twenty minutes late.

Ten minutes later, Byakuya strolled in. Unlike Sui-feng, he didn't look as though an 18-wheel truck ran over his face, but he did look tired. "Excuse my tardiness, there were some clan issues that I couldn't ignore." He apologized as he took his spot.

"Neither clan issues nor accidents are any excuse for tardiness, Kuchiki-taicho, Sui-feng-taicho!" Yamamoto roared as he stamped his cane down threateningly, hoping to gain back his scary image.

A hell butterfly fluttered in through the open window behind Yamamoto. Reaching out with a finger, he was still for a moment before nodding. "Retsu Unohana-taicho is currently ill and will not be appearing for the meeting!" he bellowed out to the rest of the captains.

"How ironic," Shinji muttered nonchalantly, "the doctor herself gets sick."

"_She must have sent in that Hell Butterfly herself," _Byakuya reasoned to himself as he crossed his arms and put on his apathetic expression. He was barely listening to Yamamoto drone on about being prepared for the worst. His thoughts kept turning back to Retsu. At some point during the night she wrapped an arm around his torso, bringing him into an iron death grip. No amount of calling out to her or poking her could get her off of him.

At some point during the night, he felt her shift again; he hoped that she would finally scoot off of him so that he could sleep properly. Unfortunately, she sprawled against him even further to the point where she was almost fully on top of him. She eventually moved back on her back, but that was beyond the point where he could fall asleep again.

An uncomfortable heat was crawling its way up his neck and he shifted about uncomfortably, hoping that no one noticed. Peeking out of his closed eyes, he saw Shinji casting him a suspicious look and Kyoraku tipping his sakkat down from his right, hiding his expression.

He never knew that such a beautiful and curvaceous body was located underneath such heavy and clunky clothes. Even though he did not want to admit it, he knew that Retsu had a perfect body. Maybe that was why she would wrap up in her elegant obi all of the time; to prevent any unnecessary attention to be drawn to it.

Even though he knew it was the right thing to do to let Unohana stay the night, he still felt like he betrayed Hisana by bringing another woman into his bedroom. The ache in his chest refused to abate and he thought back to his wedding night with Hisana; the poor woman was afraid out of her mind to even step foot in his room.

He resigned himself to the fact that she was now gone from this phase of the world, probably reborn as a human somewhere. Sometimes he had thought about seeking her out in the World of the Living, but she wouldn't remember who he was anyways.

Hisana and Retsu were alike in some ways. They both were kind and gentle souls who would never hesitate to help those in need and they both had dark hair and beautiful eyes. Every time Unohana came to mind (which was frequently, mind you), Hisana came right after.

It still hurt to think about her.

* * *

Rukia padded wearily about Kuchiki Manor to go to the kitchen to get something to drink. Her first hangover wasn't doing her much justice and she felt terribly dehydrated and hungry. Let the competition be damned; there was no way she was risking her career and lifestyle to intrude on the lives of Nii-sama and Unohana-taicho, it was suicide. Knowing how sadistic Yoruichi could be, the consequences for losing while having such an advantage made her shake in fear by just thinking about it.

Sode no Shirayuki could feel the tension wave off of her owner and spoke up. _**'If you would like, I could ask Minazuki about the things that you want to know about Unohana-taicho, Mistress,'**_she offered gently knowing that Rukia wasn't in the best mood. The small woman frowned and wearily shook her head, "There's no point. Even though I'm a good liar, they'll figure me out almost immediately," she lamented.

'_**Hidden cameras? I heard that they are very popular in the human world.'**_

"Too obvious," Rukia commented dryly as she took a hearty gulp of water and an aspirin. Any fool can find a hidden camera in a room, especially if they know they are being watched.

'_**We need the pepperoni, only they can help us win this competition,"**_Sode no Shirayuki pouted sadly.

"Pepperoni?" Rukia asked in confusion as she made her way back to her room.

'_**Yes, Mistress; they have cameras and they chase after the famous people,"**_the Zanpakuto added cheerfully. Haineko had filled her in on many things about the World of the Living.

Rukia groaned and shook her head, Sode no Shirayuki meant to say paparazzi; her Zanpakuto was trying way too hard to win this competition. Instead of brooding on the thought of the competition it would be better if she had gotten some paperwork done. She was halfway back to her bedroom before she remembered that Nii-sama had signed a form for her, but had forgotten to give it back.

"_He's still not home yet, I can just walk in and get it," _she reasoned with herself as she turned the doorknob to his room. It didn't budge. A few more jiggles told her that the door was locked. "Great," she grumbled to herself as she got down on one knee and peered through the keyhole.

"Son of a…."

There was Retsu Unohana, sprawled out on Nii-sama's bed! Her clothes were crumpled and her face looked red! This was probably why Nii-sama was late to his meeting; and early morning session of love making went on too long and that was why he was late and why she didn't show up!

Sode no Shirayuki was dumbfounded and made no attempt to try and contact Minazuki out of fear of waking up Unohana. _**'Oh my word," **_she breathed out as she quickly went to go see how Rukia was handling things, _**'Mistress? **_

Her eyes were the size of saucers as she slowly backed away from the door and rushed out of the hallway. "No, oh Kami, no!" she exclaimed to herself as she locked herself away in her room and reached for her phone. She had just about finished dialing the number for the Shihoin Mansion before Sode no Shirayuki piped in.

'_**You can get ahead in this little competition if you let things stay as they are," **_she advised sagely with a small snicker.

"This isn't funny, Shira!" Rukia growled angrily as she tightened her grip on the phone and fell onto her bed. If it had been a different woman, Rukia still would have been shocked and angered; but this was Unohana-taicho! She was afraid to imagine the things they had been doing since the war ended. What if their planning for the party just a ruse so that they could sleep with each other without interruptions?

'_**Either way you look at it, you cannot do anything about this. Let things happen as they come.'**_

The Zanpakuto was right about that. No matter how she thought of solutions to this problem, they all still resulted in her losing the trust of two captains; it was much too risky. Hanging up the phone reluctantly, she covered her face with a pillow and screamed into it.

Sode no Shirayuki tutted the small woman sympathetically as she shook her head, _**'Poor girl, the prospect of her Nii-sama falling in love again is eating her from the inside out.'**_

* * *

"Wake up!"

Rangiku felt a splash of liquid on her face and groggily cried out. All she wanted to do was to wallow in her hangover in peace, but her taicho and various other unseated members kept coming by to annoy her in her room at the 10th Division Barracks. Opening her eyes, she sees Yoruichi sitting on the windowsill in her cat form.

"Get up, sleepy head!" Yoruichi sung as she jumped down from the window to land on top of Rangiku's lap. She finally had time to tell Rangiku about an interesting development she had found and she knew that Rangiku had something to tell her as well.

Looking around slowly, Rangiku narrowed her eyes at the cat, "How did you through water at me if you don't have any thumbs?"

A large grin appeared on the cat's face as she pranced across Rangiku's body, "That's not important now," she said slyly, "I have some very important news for you."

"Like what?" Rangiku questioned, forgetting the fact that Yoruichi poured 'water' on her.

"It has to do with Unohana-san and Byakuya-bo."

The orange-haired buxom woman sobered up almost immediately and sat up in rapt attention. She really wanted to win this competition, being naturally lazy didn't hinder her drive to win. The cat sat down right on Rangiku's torso and leaned into whisper to her.

"I could taste Byakuya-bo on Unohana's cheek!" Yoruichi sang as her tail swished around happily. The reason that she had disappeared early during the last SWA meeting was that she sensed there was something wrong with Unohana, judging by her not being able to control her spiritual pressure. She also knew that Unohana was coming straight from Byakuya-bo's mansion to the Shihoin Mansion and assumed something must have happened between the two. When she licked the healer's cheek, she could taste the flavor of Byakuya's lips.

Rangiku was dumbfounded as her eyes widened and her mouth dropped. No wonder Yoruichi was given the title of the smartest woman in the Soul Society, there was no way that she herself could come up with a conclusion like that so quickly. "How do you know what Kuchiki-taicho's lips even taste like?"

"I was his first kiss! When he was a kid, he was practically begging me to take away his lip virginity," Yoruichi answered haughtily as she walked about Rangiku's bed elegantly. Rangiku blanched and sighed, the chances of Yoruichi forcibly kissing Kuchiki-taicho was a much more probable hypothesis.

"What do we do now? Should we just confront Unohana-taicho about it?" Rangiku questioned quickly as she picked up Yoruichi and shook her excitedly. The cat meowed in displeasure and wrenched herself from the tight embrace. "That would be stupid," Yoruichi huffed as she hopped back onto the window sill, "Let's keep this to ourselves and then at the right moment, we can strike."

"When will we even know when the right time will be?" Rangiku pouted.

"Beats me, we just have to wait and see," Yoruichi sang happily as she disappeared in a blur.

* * *

She could sense his spiritual pressure much before he arrived at the door. There were about five minutes left before he would enter his room and as expected, question her. Quickly tugging on her haori, she gathered her things and waited to leave. Under no circumstances did she plan on answering anymore of his questions. Even though she still felt a bit off-balanced, she could still show up at the hospital to take over.

All she would do is show him that she had recovered, and be on her merry way.

The click of the locked door made her heartbeat speed up dangerously and she closed her eyes and waited. A few moments later, she opened her deep blue eyes to find a pair of dark silver eyes staring directly into hers. Blanching slightly, she quickly gathered up her bag and headed for the back door, "Thank you for everything, Byakuya-san; but I must attend to my duty at the hospital."

A quick flash had him standing directly in front of her again, this time blocking her way from the back door. He had an annoyed look to his face; his eyes were narrowed and his forehead was crinkled.

"You are wobbling still and your eyes are still red. I'm afraid that I cannot let you leave until you're fully back on your feet," he stated through gritted teeth. Why couldn't this woman listen to reason? It was obvious that she knew that she was not well yet, and she was still forcing herself to leave.

"Surely you do not plan on forcing me to stay here, Kuchiki-taicho?" she asked with a smile on her face, even though Byakuya knew she was cursing him out on the inside. As much as she despised fighting, she knew that she could beat Byakuya easily. It wasn't merely an arrogant thought, it was a fact.

"If I must, then I will."

The next few moments were spent in a thick silence. The two captains stared each other down, silently voicing their displeasure. The man couldn't help but let his gaze wander about her features. Her full pink lips and deep blue eyes were enamoring. She herself furtively eyed his chiseled features and his midday stubble. "You're staring at me again," he spoke out thickly as his voice cracked slightly.

"I cannot help myself," she answered back as her eyes filled with tears. She was making a complete fool of herself in front of Byakuya. Showing up drunk at his home and now rejecting his hospitality, it was just too much. At the same moment that a tear finally slid down her cheek, she felt his toned arms wrap around her waist.

"Do not cry in front of me," he whispered gently as he scolded her quietly. The aroma of mint and lavender that was wafting from her hair was intoxicating. This woman was perfection in a physical form.

She hastily wiped away her tears as her shaking slowly became a slight tremble in his arms. A few deep breaths almost had her heartbeat back to normal, which was quite a difficult feat since she was pressed up closely to the most attractive man in the Soul Society. "I apologize for my weakness, this isn't me at all," she murmured bashfully.

"Shinigami or not, you are still human. You have emotions. Do not hesitate to express them. You are a kind and gentle woman, Retsu-san; please do not force yourself to act as what people expect of you."

Leaning back in surprise, she blushed deeply as Byakuya continued to stare deeply at her; penetrating her inner being. She could feel herself unconsciously closing the distance between the two. Through heavily lidded eyes, she barely noticed him closing the distance as well.

It wasn't until their lips touched that they allowed themselves to surrender to their unspoken passion.

* * *

**Thankfully, I've gotten more reviews on this story! I'm not sure how long this story will be since I'm already in the process of writing another, but it won't be super short. I wanted to get this out before my birthday, which is Sunday and I knew I wouldn't have much time this weekend. Thanks for reading and review!**


	5. Chapter 5

"I guess things are going back to normal now, eh?"

"What do you mean?"

"You didn't hear about it? Word around the Seireitei is that the SWA had a huge party and they all got drunk!"

"That couldn't be, Unohana-taicho would never allow such a thing."

"Something is telling me that she had a part in it! She missed work the other day, everybody knows about it by now."

"So what? She's been a captain for over five hundred years; it had to have taken a toll on her at some point."

Isane flipped through the files of an injured patient despondently as she tried her best to ignore the nurses that were chatting behind her. It was 8:45 in the morning and Unohana-taicho was due to come in at nine. That is, if she's sober enough. The SWA swore on their lives that they wouldn't speak a word about the incident to anybody. Yachiru was especially living up to her title of Supreme Magnificently Awesome Keeper of the Secrets by verbally and physically attacking those who even mentioned Unohana.

"Kotetsu-fukutaicho to Triage 3, Room 4, Kotetsu-fukutaicho to Triage 3, Room 4," the loudspeaker blared in a monotone voice before cutting off. The tall woman winced slightly as her muscles protested the sudden movement after being in the same position for well over an hour. Wow, she was getting old; it wasn't like anyone kept track of how old they were, but Isane guessed herself to be at least 185 years old.

A quick flash step had her standing in front of Room 4 of Triage 3. She immediately slipped on a robe and gloves as she spoke to a nurse.

"What is the status of the patient?" she questioned quickly as she tied a mask around her face.

The nurse hurriedly flipped through a chart and adjusted her glasses. "The patient has coded at least three times in the last twelve hours, I'm afraid there's nothing we can do," she said solemnly, "we just wanted a second opinion."

The patient was an unseated member of the 5th Division who had been sickly for most of her life with multiple long-term illnesses. Her teachers at the Academy insisted that she give up on becoming a Shinigami, but she was adamant. Not even a month into her career when she suffered a heart attack.

"Her name is Sasami Nanaguchi," the nurse added in helpfully since Isane was lost in her own train of thought. Isane quickly righted herself and walked into the patient's room with the nurse. Half dozen interns followed them. The poor girl was lying there, pale and unmoving. She was hooked up to every machine possible that prolonged her life. If only Unohana-taicho was here, she'd know what to do.

"_Her blood pressure is in the 60's!" _she thought in horror as she put a glowing hand to the girl's chest. She could feel her heart beating feebly and her labored breathing, even with a ventilator hooked up to her. A few tears sprang up in her eyes as she just stared at the dying woman; not being able to live out her dream was just too depressing. She was just about to order the nurse to do something when she heard a collective gasp throughout the room.

"U-Unohana-taicho!" an intern gasped as she backed up into a cart and lost her balance.

The ever graceful captain of the 4th Division glided into the room as she finished putting on her gloves and a mask. "Good morning everyone," she greeted quietly as she glanced at a chart. Turning to Isane, she placed a hand on her shoulder, "Please let me handle this," she ordered as her hands began to glow a light teal color.

Isane was completely dumbfounded as she silently watched her captain do a diagnostic on the patient. It had been two days since she's seen her and she looked just like herself. Most people assumed that she came down with a 24-hr bug and just wasn't fit for work. Only the SWA knew that Unohana easily had the most alcohol of the evening and left drunk.

Unohana left before anyone else, but who could've saw her?

It was only about five minutes before the teal glow on her hands ceased, and she turned back to Isane. "Give the patient a dose of milk," she ordered quietly as she averted her gaze back to the patient. "And place her on the DNR list."

The milk that Unohana was referring to was a drug given to patients to make them more comfortable as they passed from this phase of the world. It was to make them completely unaware of their pain, or their surroundings. Saying that someone was a DNR meant that in the event that they go into cardiac arrest, not to bother with any life-saving measures.

"But taicho, please at least-" Isane started in protest before a raised hand from Unohana cut her off. The ancient healer gave her a stern look, but the understanding was there. "This woman is dying, Isane. It is our duty as a healer to at least make them comfortable as they pass," she said before removing her disposable robe and exiting the room, "Please give the patient a dose before nine thirty."

The interns and nurses immediately filed out of the hospital room after their taicho, each throwing their fukutaicho a look of understanding. They knew all too well that every healer wants to save their patient, but sometimes it's impossible and it's more humane to let them pass peacefully.

Casting a sorrowful look on the woman, Isane left soon after.

* * *

She strode wearily into her office and shut the door behind her softly and groaned. It took all of her willpower to even show up at work today, but in the end she managed to do it. Her lips still tingled fiercely as she remembered the events from the previous night. Thankfully, they shared no more than one kiss before she hurriedly rushed away to her own home, fearing what was to happen next.

He didn't bother chase after her, remaining in the same spot they had kissed; staring after her expressionless. Settling down at her desk with a cup of chamomile tea for her nerves, she began to flip through some of the medical cases that she had missed the previous day. After a few moments of staring at the words, she finally gave up and covered her face to conceal the growing blush.

No matter how she tried, she couldn't get the kiss out of her mind.

His smooth, pliant lips moving against hers until she had reluctantly pulled away.

Thing would never be the same between them, oh no. With the party being a mere two weeks away, she knew he was going to confront her about it; there was no doubt in her mind.

At first glance, Byakuya Kuchiki appeared to be a very calm and collected man. She knew that he had no patience whatsoever and is probably tearing his hair out at the very moment, wanting to figure out what was going on with him.

A quick rap on the door startled her and she calmed herself quickly, "Come in," she called out nervously, thinking that Byakuya was on the other side. The door swung open and Shinji Hirako entered with an uncharacteristic serious expression. He took a seat before Unohana could offer him one and got right down to business.

"I heard you're going to let one of my squad members die," he began calmly, his tone having no emotion.

Unohana blinked and spoke in a quiet tone, "It is the most humane course of action, Hirako-taicho, does this upset you?" she questioned honestly, even though Shinji could easily feel that she wasn't going to change her mind.

"On the contrary, my dear Unohana-taicho," he sighed out as he crossed one leg over the other. Smiling widely, he continued in a playful tone, "you made an intelligent decision and that tells me that you are back to normal."

She quirked and eyebrow and cocked her head, trying to appear confused. "Normal?" she repeated slowly.

Nodding in response, he continued, "I know about what happened the day before yesterday," he replied as he smile grew into a wide toothy grin, "my fukutaicho had a slight slip of the tongue."

"_Breath, Retsu, breath," _she repeated this mantra in her head as she gave Shinji a curious look. As much as the man was a total jokester, his intelligence was unrivaled and he rarely failed to see someone's true intentions.

"I had a slight stomach virus from eating some undercooked seafood at the last SWA meeting," she spoke with a hushed tone as she closed a folder and folded her hands across her lap. "Hinamori-fukutaicho was intoxicated that night, there is a high probability that she was not aware of what she was talking about."

Hirako raised his hands in a defensive position and sighed, "Now, now, you don't have to get all technical on me; I'm not really into stuff like that," he said as he stood up and headed for the door. "And by the way, since I don't know much about medical stuff, I give you my full consent to do what is needed to my division member."

After the door shut behind the blond man, Retsu groaned in aggravation. Shinji Hirako wasn't the type to drop something after a well-thought out fib, he will keep digging into this as much as possible.

The thought of forcibly kissing a noble without prior consent made a large wave of pain waft in her head. If the Kuchiki clan found out what happened, there was no doubt in her mind that they would attempt to cut ties with the Seireitei.

It would never happen again.

She wasn't worried: the kiss she shared with Byakuya was a spur of the moment action.

And yet, somewhere deep inside of her, she never wanted it to end.

* * *

"What do you want, Abarai?"

Renji flinched visibly at his captain's aggravated outburst and fumbled the files that were in his hands. He was working on some paperwork in Byakuya's office and noticed that his captain felt off today. The man kept tapping his pen impatiently on his desk and tapped his foot, looking like he had been waiting a long time for something. Eventually Renji's staring was too obvious and Byakuya finally lashed out.

"N-nothing, taicho," he replied quickly as he ducked his head over and scribbled his signature on a piece of paper he didn't read about. He knew that his taicho never had much patience, but his current state was really unsettling. It was almost like something was eating him from the inside out.

"Taicho?" Renji called out hesitantly as he deliberately avoided eye contact with Byakuya. "How are things going?"

Byakuya wanted to roll his eyes so badly he could almost feel his eyes throb. He wasn't a fool, giving Renji the slightest idea that he wasn't mentally sound would cause more rumors to come up. Rumors about Unohana were already in the works though there wasn't any evidence to go with it. He didn't want to end up the same position.

"Take a break, Abarai," he replied without answering Renji's question. The red haired man remained rooted to his spot, gaping at Byakuya in shock. Getting a break was a rare occurrence to him! It wasn't until Byakuya made a point of getting up to open the office door that he quickly filed out.

Sinking down quietly in his desk chair, the dark haired noble groaned in frustration and banged his fist on his desk. That damned woman. Eliciting such an uncharacteristic response out of him. His foolish reflexes forced him to reciprocate her kiss; that was it. There was no way he would voluntarily kiss her without courting her first. And the thought of courting a captain sent an uneasy shiver down his spine.

His lips still tingled fiercely as he remembered her plump, yet soft lips moving against his. Taking a quick sip of water to clear his mind of such impure thoughts, he attempted to return to his paperwork to no avail. His mind still turned to the thoughts of her.

And much to his chagrin, she was going to arrive at the mansion directly after work to finish up planning for the party.

There were some things that were left to Sasakibe-fukutaicho, but the two captains had finished their part overall. He wondered if he should confront Retsu about the kiss, there was no doubt in his mind that she was driving herself up the wall about this.

He would assure that this would never happen again.

And even if he didn't realize it, he wished it had continued.

* * *

Walking slowly up the cobblestone pathway of the Kuchiki mansion, Retsu was trying in vain to quell the rapid thumping of her heart. She had drunk nearly four cups of chamomile tea this day for the purpose of keeping herself calm.

It wasn't working.

A quick rap on the door from her dainty hand had a harried servant swing open the door and whisk her to the parlor, where Byakuya was seated in an armchair serenely looking over a few bills. Looking up from his paper, he gestured to the armchair across from him without saying a word. Quickly taking a seat, she attempted to cut through the thick awkwardness by greeting him.

"Good afternoon, Byakuya-san," she said serenely as she reached into her bag and pulled out an order for flowers. Glancing up, she noticed that his eyes kept flickering back and forth from her face to his paper. Feeling a pang of guilt, she looked away bashfully; it was her fault that he was so disturbed.

"Good afternoon," he responded back after a few moments. He extended his hand and silently asked for Retsu's paperwork. She handed to him and watched him as he quickly scanned through it without even looking at her.

Her eyebrows wrinkled in confusion as he stood up quickly and stalked to the door.

"Where are you going?" she questioned a bit more rudely than she intended it to be. He didn't turn around, but still spoke, "Our meeting is through here, you have given me the necessary tools to continue this planning on my own."

"I had only just arrived here a few moments ago," she said with a frightening calm as she walked up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder. His muscles tensed up fiercely and she could almost feel him trembling. No doubt that she was the cause of his sudden change in personality.

He reached over to his shoulder and slowly removed her hand as he turned to face her.

"Time constraints have cut our meeting short," he replied through gritted teeth as looked down at her. Retsu's suspicious gaze had his resolve lessening by the second. He wordlessly reached around to open the door, but Unohana reached for his hand and grasped it firmly.

"You know as much as I do that we need to talk," she began as she tugged lightly on his arm. Narrowing his eyes suspiciously, he relented and sat down back in his seat. He knew that Retsu wasn't going to let him leave without giving her a proper explanation

Instead of sitting down as well, Unohana remained standing. She knew if she sat down she'd just fidget around instead of getting the job done. Leaning against the top of the armchair, she began to speak.

"I wanted to talk about what happened from yesterday," she began in a level tone as she paced about the room. His arms were folded leisurely across his chest, his eyes following her suspiciously as she walked around.

"It should not have happened," Byakuya spoke out shortly.

"But we must discuss how we feel about it," she continued as she narrowed her eyes at him. She finally took a seat next to him and folded her hands across her lap, "it is not healthy to keep feelings bottled up inside our hearts."

"_Discuss our feelings?" _he thought to himself in confusion as he gave her an apathetic look. It almost seemed like she wanted to try and get into his head.

"I'll start," she said lightly as she turned her head to look deep into his eyes. "I'm normally very calm and kept together, but recently I've been feeling very stressed. Under no circumstances would I drink so much alcohol, but in my mind at the time it seemed like the only option," she laughed sardonically.

"You never told me why you drank so much." He pressed on discreetly.

"Do you really want to know? She questioned almost playfully.

A nod of the head gave her his answer.

Her deep blue eyes twinkled for a split second as she pondered her next words, "I'll tell you after you tell me how you are feeling."

Damned woman. Only Retsu could lead him on so well and still force him to do what she says.

"I have not felt any different at all. The war has ended. There are almost no hollow attacks, I am at peace," he stated as he closed his eyes.

"Liar."

He opened his left eye to see Unohana giving him a reproachful look, as if a mother was scolding her child. "I have lived very long, Byakuya-san. You cannot trick me."

Damn. There went his plan to lie and pretend that there was nothing for him to say.

"Tch," he scoffed, "I've felt…a bit anxious for the past few weeks," he admitted quietly as she shifted in his seat to put as much space in between him and Retsu as possible. She laid a hand atop his and leaned towards him, "Oh really? Is it work-related, or something more?"

He casually slipped his and from under hers and folded his arms across his chest again, almost building a barrier. She frowned at his obvious attempt of putting distance between them and backed up.

Clearing this throat, he continued, "I don't know, it doesn't have anything to do with my work."

"I see, you are in emotional distress," she surmised as she took a sip of water from her glass. It was painfully obvious that Byakuya was having some inner distress; his mannerisms were completely the opposite of how he is.

He shrugged his shoulders slightly and crossed one leg over the other. Maybe he was having some 'emotional distress.' He had made it a point of keeping his emotions locked up since Hisana died, he might have reached his limit.

"It has nearly been fifty-two years," he whispered quietly as he stared emptily into his lap. In three days would be the fifty-second anniversary of Hisana's death. He usually spent that day in meditation and seclusion, spending hours on end in the room where her shrine was. His subordinates and his family knew well enough to stay away from him on that day.

She frowned gravely and shook her head fretfully, remembering that day all too well. The poor girl was confused and delirious right up until the end. Before she lost the use of all of her senses, she couldn't even recognize Byakuya. It nearly tore the man apart to see his beloved deteriorate like that.

"She's at peace now, only the thought of that has kept me going," he admitted shamefully. It was completely beneath him as a taicho of the Gotei 13 to be carrying on like a child.

"You shouldn't be ashamed, you were a wonderful husband. Any woman would be lucky to have you as their spouse," she said unconsciously, not noticing how suggestive it sounded.

"Are you going to tell me why you drank so much?" he questioned, hoping to change the subject. Her eyes widened in surprise for a moment but quickly lowered in understanding. A thick silence settled between the two and Byakuya was just about to tell her that she didn't have to answer, but she spoke up regardless.

"It was you."

His eyes narrowed at her suspicious and the corners of his lips threatened to turn into a deep frown. It was his fault? How? It wasn't adding up in his mind at all.

She was frowning, not at him, but in general. Like something was on her mind and it kept nudging at her to do something.

"Me?" he questioned thickly, his confusion making him choke up a bit.

"Yes. That day was the same day that," she reached up to touch her cheek, "you kissed me. I was so very perturbed, I was not expecting something like that," she admitted.

He nodded slowly, so that was it. A friendly gesture was mistranslated as a romantic advance. He didn't blame her; he would've done the same thing, except drinking himself into a coma.

"I've been feeling, off," he began in a hushed tone, the deep rumble of his voice made Retsu strangely lightheaded. "I cannot describe what it is, but I know I've felt it before. From what, I don't know."

"Symptoms?" Unohana asked quickly as her inner doctor came out.

"Irregular heartbeat, sweating, lightheadedness, and I also lose my voice," he droned on without emotion. He had been to the Kuchiki doctor and even he couldn't figure out what it was. Gave him a few herbal teas and sent him on his way.

"Acute or chronic?" she asked next.

"Hmm?" he wasn't sure what she meant.

"Is this all of the time, or on certain occasion?" she asked slowly.

"It happened only once in the while at first, but now it happens all of the time," he explained as he tried to figure out what he had. He had some informal medical training and could diagnose the simples of ailments, but this was beyond him. "And there is something else," he began after a short stretch of silence.

"And what is that?" she pressed on.

"This only happens," his voice lowered to a faint whisper, "when I am in your presence."

Retsu blinked once in surprise, she hadn't expected this at all. Was he trying to coerce her into giving more details as to why she drank so much alcohol? A weird tingle was spreading its way throughout her chest.

Was it hurt?

"My, my, I didn't know that I was the cause of your illness. I think that I have overstayed my welcome," she said quietly as she stood up and gathered her bags. She wasn't yet halfway to the door when she heard a faint shift in the air and he appeared before her in front of the door.

"I was trying to leave," she said through gritted teeth. Damn Byakuya. All she was trying to do was help him sort out his mind and then he tells her that he repulses her? Oh no, she was going to get out of here.

The more the symptoms of what Byakuya had told her had run through her head, the more she had realized that she sometimes felt the same way. That was why she decided to drown her worries in alcohol; she had hoped to drown out the unfamiliar feeling out of her system.

"I didn't mean it in that way, my words came out wrong," he explained shamefully as he looked down into her slightly unraveled expression. Of course Retsu didn't disgust him, she had been nothing but kind to him.

"Excuse me, Kuchiki-taicho. I want to leave." She pushed past him and zoomed down the hallway to show herself out.

He wisely let her leave; knowing that rushing after her would only arouse her anger even more.

"Fool," he berated himself as he slammed a fist on the side of the wall. What he said to her was cruel and unusual of him.

"_**It appears that you have, ah, mucked up," **_Senbonzakura commented 'helpfully' as Byakuya stormed out of his parlor to his personal quarts. He and Minazuki were about to arrange a meeting later tonight to discuss the tension between the two captains. The attracting between them was painfully obvious, even some of their fellow captains and subordinated were beginning to speculate.

"Shut up," Byakuya fumed to his Zanpakuto as he made a quick left down a hall and accidently bumped into Rukia, who had just passed a visibly upset Unohana.

"Nii-sama!" she exclaimed fearfully as she bowed her head. "I-I apologize, please forgive-"

Her apology was cut short when Byakuya breezed past her without a second glance, opened his office door, and slammed it behind him. The small fukutaicho thought about knocking on the door to ask Byakuya about what was disturbing her, but her conscience thought otherwise.

"_**Isn't it strange how Unohana-taicho and Kuchiki-sama are both upset? This is quite unsettling." **_Sode no Shirayuki observed as Rukia headed out of the mansion to go to the Shihoin Mansion for the secret SWA meeting, held without Unohana's knowledge.

"The anniversary of Hisana-nee-sama's death is in three days," Rukia reminded her Zanpakuto in exasperation as she stopped her Shunpo and landed in front of a food market. Picking up a few snacks that Rangiku had begged her to buy; she tried to force the thought of Unohana-taicho and Nii-sama engaging in a romantic liaison out of her mind.

Not only was it completely farfetched, it just seemed completely wrong.

"_**Perhaps Unohana-taicho struck a nerve in Byakuya-sama, causing the both of them to be so upset, hm?" **_

"Unohana-taicho isn't the kind of woman to purposefully try to upset Nii-sama like that," Rukia commented dryly as she continued on her way. It seemed more likely that Nii-sama was just mourning like he did every year, yet it didn't explain why Unohana-taicho looked so upset.

"_**Don't forget about the competition, Mistress," **_the Zanpakuto said breezily in a vain attempt to look uninterested. _**"You still have not even tried anything to win. Remember the consequences."**_

She ignored her Zanpakuto and yanked open the door to the Shihoin Mansion. Walking inside, she was startled by the thick silence and the darkness of the house. Usually she would hear the loud screams of a certain well-endowed fukutaicho or the occasional wail of 'Yoruichi-sama!' from a little bee.

"We're in here!" a playful voice purred.

Rukia's grip tightened on her bags and she bravely stepped into the dining room, where each member of the SWA (except Unohana) was already seated and ready to begin. Even the loudest and most active members like Rangiku and Yachiru were silent. Quirking a curious eyebrow and the unfamiliar environment, Rukia took a seat.

"We all know that the celebration is in two weeks, right?" Yoruichi began as she looked around the table. After a few nods and murmurs of confirmation, she continued. "Our little competition is still on, even though there have been technical difficulties."

It was almost impossible to spy on Retsu and Byakuya when they were together. For some of the women, it would be simple but then the two would get suspicious. So far neither of them had suspected anything as of yet and Yoruichi intended on keeping them in the dark for as long as possible.

Nanao raised her hand up to speak, "The prospect of being discovered is daunting and inconvenient. I vote to discontinue this 'game' until further notice," she announced as she shot a pointed look at Rangiku.

The well-endowed fukutaicho pouted at her well put together friend, "The risk of being discovered is what makes the game fun in the first place!" But Nanao was right, it was damn near impossible to catch Unohana and Kuchiki in any compromised position.

"Hopefully the celebration will uncover some things, right?" Momo piped up, hoping to cut through the thick tension in the room. Her taicho was especially looking forward to it, he told her that he had 'something special' for the occasion.

Yoruichi nodded in deep thought as a wry smile worked its way onto her face. Having a large party between comrades is just asking for deep secrets to work its way into the light. Not only could she learn more about Byakuya-bo and Unohana-san; she could also pick up dirt on other.

It was a win-win situation.

"I have an idea," Yoruichi announced loudly as she stood up and slammed her hands on the table. "Next week, all of the SWA and any men who participated in the battle are going to the World of the Living!"

"But what for?" Rukia asked in completely surprise.

Yoruichi jumped up onto the table and pointed a finger off into the distance in an attempt to look powerful.

"An all-out shopping spree!"

* * *

**This is my longest chapter yet! I've noticed that I've had nearly 2,000 readers for this story, but not enough reviews to go with it! Please, please, PLEASE REVIEW! It helps me write better!**


	6. Chapter 6

"She's brave."

"Who?"

"Matsumoto-fukutaicho, she's over there prancing by the tough guy table. She's got balls."

_Snigger. _"I think you mean tits…"

"Perverted asshole."

"Shut up!"

* * *

"A…shopping spree?"

Renji's glazed over eyes narrowed as he tried his best to understand what Rangiku was saying to him and the rest of his drinking group at the bar. What self-respecting man would dare go on a shopping spree? He wasn't planning on wearing anything special to the celebration; a simple dress shirt and tie would be just enough for him. Shopping in general was unappealing.

"Oooh! That would be wonderful!" Yumichika gushed happily as he pranced around the table. Shinigami robes not only were bland, they did nothing for his figure. He had sent out a request to Yamamoto for a redesign of the uniform. There would be a choice between three colors, fuchsia, tangerine, and aquamarine. Sequins. Were. A. Must.

"What color would look more fabulous on me, taicho? Lavender or sunshine?" the flamboyant 5th seat of the 11th Division asked his less than enthusiastic captain. "Since when the fuck was sunshine a color?" Kenpachi barked as he took a hearty swig straight out of the bottle of sake.

He didn't even want to go to the damned party but the old fart and Yachiru were forcing him to. The whole thing was damn annoying; the preparations, the food, the decorations. Screw all of it.

Yumichika made a face at his captain and murmured under his breath how ugly he could be sometimes and how he should expand his color palate.

"Are you all in or not?" Rangiku asked impatiently as she plucked a sake dish straight out of Renji's hand and downed it. The red haired man glared sadly at his now empty sake dish and looked towards his friends, hoping they would be against this.

"I'm in," Shuhei stated immediately, grinning up at Rangiku like a fat woman looking at Thanksgiving dinner. If Rangiku told him to strip naked, paint his body in red paint, and run around the Seireitei screaming that he was a lobster, he would do it without a second thought.

Ikkaku grinned sadistically at no one in particular, "One of you women would have fight me to make me go!"

Rangiku merely quirked an eyebrow and reached into her cleavage and produced her phone. Pretending to dial in a number she put the phone to her ear. "Who the hell are you calling?" the 'shaved' man growled at her. She put up a finger to shush him before speaking into the phone.

"Oh Unohana-taicho! Oh help me, please!" she began in a dramatic country accent, "They groped me!" she screamed. Everyone from the 11th Division who were present blanched in fear. "Who, you ask? It's those brutes from the 11th Division! Oh, you're on your way? Remember to pick up that poison, their 'manhood' won't ever be the same after that!" Rangiku sneered evilly, making sure to enunciate certain words.

"You damned fucking idiot!" Kenpachi bellowed as he slapped Ikkaku on the back of his head. The last thing he wanted was some crazy ass healing bitch to attack them while they were drunk. Ikkaku cried out in annoyance and nodded his bald head reluctantly as he tried to rub the pain away.

"I guess I'll do it," a melancholic blond haired man mumbled between sips of water instead of sake. It wasn't like he had anything else better to do, anyways. For the first time in years, he didn't mind the company.

"How is my taicho I supposed to go the World of the Living if he's…?" Tetsuzaemon asked gruffly, but his question quickly faded away in his throat. It still was a very touchy subject and he usually ignored the fact that his captain was basically…

"A dog. A fucking dog," Kenpachi finished for him in a bored voice. He didn't know why so many people were so damn afraid of calling Komamura a dog? The man carried around a bone in his pocket like a breath mint! "Put a leash on him and tie him to a tree," he continued with a sneer.

"That will not be necessary, Zaraki-taicho," a deep, gruff voice growled. Everyone turned around to see Sajin Komamura standing behind their table with a less than amused expression. First of all, he was a wolf. Not. A. Dog. Second of all, he was just as much as a Shinigami as the others, so why must he have his own category?

Turning to Rangiku, he spoke, "I would be grateful if you allowed me to participate in this 'shopping spree', Matsumoto-fukutaicho."

Smiling widely and waving her hand, she nodded while laughing nervously. Maybe Kurotsuchi-taicho could think of a way to somehow get Komamura to the Human World without getting chased around by scientists.

Renji glared at his 'buddies' fretfully, it seemed as though he was going to get dragged along after all. Maybe he could hide out somewhere until it is over with.

"Renjiiiii~!" Matsumoto sang out as she slapped him on the back of the head. "You still haven't given me an answer yet!"

Tearing his eyes away from the bountiful cleavage that was in his face, he ended up nodded, "Fine, whatever," he grouched.

Rangiku happily made her way to the exit, her objectives were met. The next day would be when the final two stages of their plan would go into action. The two poor souls who were chosen to finish off the mission would need all the help they could get. It was too bad that they had to do it alone

Hopefully they could get back alive.

* * *

"Man, I wish I could go to this celebration, it isn't fair! If only I was a seated officer!"

"Maybe if you stopped partying and getting hammered off your ass every other night, you'd get a promotion, idiot."

"Just because you're 8th seated doesn't mean you're better than me!"

"It does, unless incompetence is considered a form of superiority."

"Why you….!"

She was far from being in a good mood. Her usually serene features were drawn and taut. Ignoring the two young men from the 8th division who were arguing behind her, she strode down the street. Naturally, every single Shinigami she had been near scattered quickly. Even a patient with a dislocated shoulder denied treatment from her and fled from the hospital.

Isane had begged her to meet her at the Water Dragon café for lunch. It was rare that she ever left the hospital during her 'breaks', so this was something out of the ordinary for her. Sitting down at a table in the middle of the small, yet homey restaurant, she looked around.

As much as she loved her lieutenant, she just wasn't in the mood for anything right now.

There were a few brutes from the 11th Division sitting at a corner table who were shooting her the evil eye, but a quick smile and wave had them behaving. A few unseated officers were here and there and they each greeted her nervously as if she was going to tear their heads off.

Isane quickly thanked the cashier and snatched up the tray, laden with Unohana's favorite dishes. Today was the day that she was to convince her to take a trip to the Human World for a shopping spree.

Naturally, the SWA had ulterior motives. This trip would be a way to see how Kuchiki-taicho and Unohana-taicho would act around each other in an unfamiliar environment. That is, if they somehow were able to convince him to tag along. That was a mission in and of it-self.

After looking around the café in worry for a few moments, she spotted her captain sitting at a table for two in the middle, staring of into space with a look of concentration. Side-stepping a few people in the way, she placed the huge tray down and took a seat.

"Hello, Unohana-taicho," Isane greeted warmly as she quickly plated their dishes. Hopefully she could soften up her captain by spending a fortune on all of her favorite dishes.

Retsu's cross expression gradually softened when she saw the wasabi rolls, jalapeno onigiri, and chili pepper noodles. Retsu couldn't stand boring foods; everything had to be overpowered in flavor for it to be appealing to her. Super sweet, super spicy, super salty, she liked them all.

"Thank you, Isane. This looks wonderful," Unohana exclaimed in appreciation as she picked up her chopsticks and said a silent prayer. After Isane was ready, she took a tentative bite of the wasabi rolls, but not before dousing it completely with hot sauce. Humming in appreciation of the spicy dish, she pushed the plate towards her lieutenant.

"Would you like a bit of it? It tastes delicious!"

Already tearing up a bit, Isane took a hesitant bite of the roll. She, and much of the 4th Division, knew of Unohana's love of 'extreme' foods. As soon as she seaweed rolls passed her lips; there was an instant explosion of hellfire and brimstone in her mouth and she wondered of Retsu was genuinely unaware that her food was hell personified, or if she was doing this for fun.

After gulping down a few glasses of milk, Isane was able to speak. "C-can I ask you a question?" she croaked out weakly as she swallowed a bite of her mild-tasting food.

Since Retsu was midway through chewing on a bit of rice, she nodded her consent. Surely Isane would be unaware of her ongoing problems with Byakuya? Yoruichi and Shinji would have to be watched carefully; so far they've gotten the closest to uncovering everything.

"The SWA is planning to go to the Human World for the weekend to shop for outfits for the celebration, would you like to come?" she asked timidly, purposefully leaving out the details of any men coming.

She kept on a warm and gentle face, but on the inside she was wary. The SWA was always up to something, no doubt about that. But then again, she was in need of some new apparel. Yamada had told her many anecdotes of his adventures in Karakura Town; from working part time in a convenience store to running from a gang.

It was quite a chore to maintain such a well put together mask on. Inside she was still upset over what Byakuya said. Even if she probably misinterpreted it, he still knew that she was the cause of his suffering. The average woman would've immediately broken down in tears after being told that they were repulsive to a man. But not Retsu.

She doesn't even remember the last time she's cried; it must have been a few hundred years ago.

Plus, it had been three hundred years since she's been to the real World of the Living and she was lost when the newer generations talked about new gadgets they've seen in the Real World, it made her feel old.

"I don't know, I was planning on wearing a kimono," she mused indecisively. Women like Rangiku would go insane if she were to show up for the party in a kimono. Most young women wore party dresses that came high above the knee, a few feet too high in her opinion.

"It would be a wonderful opportunity to spend quality time in a different setting," the tall woman pressed on insistently, but pulled back bit, "if you would like, taicho."

It didn't sound that bad, she reasoned with herself. The hospital was rarely filled with anyone with serious injuries and she was sure that her 3rd Seat could handle things while they were away.

"Yes."

"W-what?"

"I said yes," Retsu repeated with a gentle expression on her face as she continued to eat. This trip reminded her of this television show that Isane brought her on a recording. A group of women spending a day out on the town and laughing, enjoying themselves.

"Really? Thank you!" Isane exclaimed in excitement and relief. Her part of the mission was completed, and no doubt that Rangiku had taken care of her fair share. It was just up to the rest to tie up any loose ends.

* * *

"Do you know what he's doing in there?"

"Nope. He told us not to disturb him, and I don't plan on losing my eyeballs for disobeying him."

The glow of a computer monitor was the only source of illumination in an otherwise dark room. Jars filled with various organs and other items lined the walls and the liquid stirred around slowly.

She stepped in cautiously and held her breath, her footfalls being the only source of sound besides the incessant tapping of fingers on a keyboard.

"Mayuri-sama." She spoke out quietly, hoping her father/taicho hadn't removed his ears like last time. The creak of a chair sliding back startled her for a moment, but she didn't show it.

"What do you want, you fool?" Kurotsuchi asked impatiently as he removed the various wires he had hooked up to his face and his chest. Ever since that pointless war ended, he had much more time for his experiments.

The SWA is organizing a trip to the World of the Living in preparation for the celebration," Nemu began, getting right down to business. "I was asked to see if you were interested in participating."

"Hmph!" he huffed as he turned back to his computer. Even if he wasn't showing it, he had taken quite the interest in the technology that the humans had, especially 'stem cell.' With those special cells, he could finally advance in _'that project'_. He had no interest in whatever they were doing; he'd sneak off before they'd even realize he was gone.

"And where might this 'trip' be taking place?" he asked with a sly smile on his face as he turned around again.

"Japan, sir."

"Tell whoever is planning this that I will be participating, now get lost!"

Nemu bowed deeply and turned on one heel and left. As soon as she closed the door to Mayuri's office, she sighed in relief. She had expected him to experiment on her in exchange for going, but he agreed without a second thought. Even though she knew he would be up to something, she ignored it. She has done her job already.

* * *

The severe looking woman straightened her glasses and pushed her way through the crowded main hallway of her division. Her taicho's bad habits rubbed off on his subordinates since most of them were going out to drink. Nanao Ise grasped the handle of the door and opened it to find her captain face down on his desk, snoring loudly. His sakkat was crooked and an empty sake bottle was hung off of one finger.

"Kyoraku-taicho." She called out to the man impatiently as she closed and locked the door behind her. Nudging his shoulder with her clipboard, she called out to him again, this time louder.

"Shunsui," she called out reluctantly, knowing that he preferred if she used his first name.

_Snore._

"Wake up, damn it!" she yelled as she brought the wooden board down hard on his head. The rugged man groaned audibly and raised his head slowly. His eyes were bloodshot and he had a dopey grin on his face. "You're drunk," she commented icily as she crossed her arms.

"Come on, it's the weekend! Let a man enjoy some fine sake!" he protested as he dug through his loose fitting robes and produced another bottle of alcohol. Taking a hearty sip, he sighed in reverence. He was somehow able to convince Kisuke to send him a few bottles of American whiskey, it was heavenly.

"That is not why I am here. The SWA is inviting all male participants in the battle of Karakura Town to the World of the Living for a weekend out before the celebration," she began smoothly. Convincing her taicho would be a walk in the park. If she mentioned alcohol of scantily-clad women, he'd be the first to line up.

"A trip to the World of the Living, eh?" Kyoraku mused as he leaned back in his chair and propped his feet on his desk. Being a captain, it was rare that he was able to travel to the World of the Living unless there was something serious occurring there, like the Battle of Karakura Town. "Sounds like fun."

Nanao scowled as she saw the wide grin and the girlish giggle that escaped her captain's mouth. There was no doubt in her mind that he thought he could try to sneak away to any strip clubs or whatever humans called it. "I'm in," he chuckled lazily as he took another draught of whiskey.

"Don't think you can sneak away while we're there. I have my eye on you," she warned as she headed for the door.

Kyoraku put on a look of genuine shock and sighed sadly, "I could never cheat on my dear little Nanao-chan? What kind of man would I be?" he exclaimed in drunken sadness.

"Idiot," she grumbled as she slammed the door loudly behind her.

* * *

"So that's why we're going on this 'trip'," she finished with a sly smile on her face. Her friend was completely dumbfounded; he never expected to hear about Unohana and Byakuya in the same sentence. This was truly something to be reckoned with.

"My, my. And here I thought that little Byakuya was romantically inept," Kisuke chuckled good-naturedly as he reclined in his seat.

The purple haired woman merely shrugged her shoulders and grinned. She had a feeling that her little Byakuya-bo had a liking for older women. All they had to do was exploit him. But there was something that was still gnawing at her, she had a feeling that him and Unohana were 'off'. They were acting much unlike themselves.

She would keep this to herself for now, at least until she could get to the bottom of it herself.

* * *

'_**Please calm down, Mistress. You have a mission to complete."**_

Rukia was standing outside of the door of Byakuya's office, her hand was trembling before the door she was about to knock. It had already been five days since the anniversary of Hisana-nee-sama's death, so Byakuya had to have been at least back to normal.

"I get it," she grumbled to her Zanpakuto as she rapped a hand on the door. A few moments later the door to the office opened slowly and Byakuya came into view. Since it was his day off, he was wearing a simple crimson robe. "What is it?" he questioned impatiently, judging by the papers in his hand he had been in the middle of something.

She winced visibly and shuffled her feet around for a few moments, trying to speak. "I wanted to invite you to the World of the Living, Nii-sama," she croaked out nervously. "i-in preparation for the celebration."

Byakuya quirked an eyebrow and stared down at his adoptive sister suspiciously. What other preparation could they possibly need? He was in charge of mostly everything, surely he couldn't have forgotten about something. Leaning against the doorframe, he began shooting off questions.

"What kind of preparations?"

_Cough. _"Ah, i-it's just like a weekend to celebrate leading up until the party itself!" she offered up expectantly.

It was painfully obvious that Rukia was fibbing. Anyone could've seen through that. What self-respecting noble would want to spend time in the World of the Living? The place was crowded and disgusting; it was a nightmare to go there the last time. "What is it that you really want? I can tell that you're lying," he warned emotionlessly.

Damn. He's figured it out! Rukia had a backup plan in the even that he'd figure it out. "The truth is that I'm worried about what's going to happen while we're there," she admitted timidly as she drew out a handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes, "I-I just wanted you to come to watch over us."

'_**She's right, Master,' **_Senbonzakura commented breezily, _**'I heard that Shihoin-sama and Matsumoto-fukutaicho are going as well. Mischievous women, they are.'**_

Byakuya grunted in understanding, no wonder his sister had to lie like that. Being in the same place as Yoruichi and Matsumoto was already asking for trouble. But the prospect of being stuck in the Human World with a bunch of loud, grumpy women was daunting.

"Hitsugaya-taicho and Ukitake-taicho are going as well," Rukia added in quickly, knowing that Byakuya preferred those two over the rest because they were the most sensible.

"Fine, fine," he responded in irritation, "I will accompany you on this _trip_." He retreated into his office quickly and closed the door in Rukia's face.

The petite woman could almost scream in happiness as she sprinted down the hallway of Kuchiki Manor to the 13th Division barracks to begin packing for the trip. That was probably the hardest thing she had to do, fighting an Espada was easier than that!

She had to keep her composure on this trip, she could not let the motives of the SWA be seen. The extra men on this trip would serve as a distraction, to prevent the two captains from putting two and two together.

Hopefully this could be resolved without any bloodshed.


	7. Chapter 7

A gentle breeze wafted throughout the room as she pushed down on her suitcase to secure the last latch. Smiling gently, she sat down briefly on her bed; she had another 25 minutes before she had to meet the rest of the SWA at the Senkaimon. Glancing at herself in the mirror, she awkwardly adjusted the leather belt on her torso; Rangiku had insisted that she wear this sleeveless yellow summer dress.

She was so used to wearing the baggy and unflattering Shinigami robes; she had almost forgotten how real clothing felt. But this was no time to be self-conscious, this was a time where she was to relax and enjoy herself. Today was Wednesday, and they would be coming back to the Seireitei on Friday to get ready for the celebration that was on Saturday.

A slight thump quickly drew her out of her reverie and she looked behind her to see a photo frame that was lying down on its face. She quickly walked over to pick it up and groaned audibly. It was a picture of her and Byakuya in his garden.

She had insisted on them taking it since it was directly after the end of the war, she wanted to commemorate it. If she was in the mood, she would've chuckled at his sour expression.

Ever since he told her how she made him feel, it felt like there was a deep hollow hole inside her. She had never experienced anything like this before.

She always felt strange around Byakuya, and she knew that it could only get worse.

Sighing deeply, she began to draw the curtains in her room close and straighten out things. Even if she didn't want to admit it directly, she was glad that this was a time that she didn't have to see Byakuya. Things had been so terribly awkward between them; she could barely address him at captain's meetings without stumbling over her words.

Not only would this be a time for relaxation, it would also be a time to sort out her emotions.

"Hmm, it looks like it's time to get going," she hummed to herself as she picked up her suitcase and purse and headed out of her home. Shunpoing to the Senkaimon saved her a good 15 minutes of walking.

As soon as she arrived, she saw everyone else there except for Yoruichi, Kyoraku, Nanao, and Kurotsuchi.

Most of them were talking among themselves or, in the case of the SWA, passing out notepads among themselves so that they could jot down any suspicious activity.

Acting completely oblivious to the tension, Retsu strolled up to the group. "Good morning, everyone," she greeted warmly as she bowed, "I look forward to this trip."

"Good morning to you too," Ukitake chimed in as he gently pushed of Kiyone who was attempting to remind him to take his meds. He had been feeling much, much better since the end of the war; he almost felt like himself again.

"Hi, Unohana-taicho!" Rangiku greeted loudly as she pulled the much shorter woman into a tight hug. Unohana looked stunning in her yellow dress and she had to remember to thank Yumichika for helping her pick it out.

"Doesn't she look fabulous in that dress, taicho?" Yumichika nudged Kenpachi playfully.

"At least she doesn't have that damned ugly braid in front of her anymore," the tall captain commented as he noticed that Retsu's hair was braided in the back.

"Who else are we waiting on?" Ikkaku piped up in annoyance, clutching the wooden sword that he insisted on carrying, even though his zanpakuto was hidden in his suitcase.

"We are currently waiting on Kyoraku-taicho, Ise-fukutaicho, Mayuri-sama, Yoruichi-san and Kuch-" Nemu began in a level tone, forgetting that she was to avoid speaking about Byakuya. Rukia swooped in out of nowhere and covered Nemu's mouth with her hand.

"Yeah, coochie, coochie, coo!" she exclaimed as she tickled Nemu enthusiastically. "Ha. Ha. Ha," Nemu laughed emotionlessly, finally realizing her mistake.

Retsu quirked an eyebrow at the odd display, it had just occurred to her that the SWA was on edge this morning. Turning to her lieutenant, she spoke in a concerned tone. "Is everyone alright?"

"Yes! Of course, taicho!" Isane immediately confirmed as she nodded vigorously. Everyone was on edge, the women were worried about how they planned on winning the competition and the men were worried about what the women might try to get them into.

"Hello, everyone!" a friendly, rich female voice piped up.

Shunpoing easily to the Senkaimon, Yoruichi began to take in everyone's choice of clothes. The men wore more practical and basic clothes; various colors and styles of t-shirts and pants. The women, however, were far from practical. Rangiku was wearing a pair of heels that she would undoubtedly rip off within the hour and Sui-feng stuffed herself into a tight, form-fitting miniskirt to appease Yoruichi.

Kurotsuchi had done a good job of creating a human-like gigai for Komamura. He now looked like a tall man with slicked back brown hair and slight stubble. It was obvious that he was uncomfortable in it since he kept patting the top of his head, searching for his ears.

A few moments later, Nanao appeared with a disgruntled expression, dragging her visibly intoxicated captain by the collar in one hand and their bags in the other. Retsu frowned; it was a sure lucky thing that she had the foresight to pack her medical supplies.

"My apologies for being late," Nanao admitted as she bowed, "there were some last minute difficulties," she growled icily at her captain as he giggled. She hid his god-awful sakkat from him; it would look too suspicious in the World of the Living.

Not even a few seconds after the arrival of Kyoraku and Nanao, Kurotsuchi walked up lazily, toting a single suitcase. What shocked everyone the most was the absence of his makeup and ornate hat. Almost no one there was aware of Mayuri's natural tan skin tone and blue hair.

"Now what are you all gaping at? Surely you've seen me before, why is this any different?" he complained loudly and proceeded to go on a long speech of how never to judge people of appearances and blood type.

"Well what do you know? It seems like Kurotsuchi here isn't a complete alien as we thought before," Shinji commented condescendingly as he straightened his fedora. All of the other men could never dress as stylishly and classy as he could. He was the only man in all of the Soul Society who could work a fedora in any outfit.

"If this is everyone, then I suppose we should-" Hitsugaya began as he picked up his bags to walk towards the Senkaimon. A sudden breeze blew strongly and a few pink sakura blossoms fluttered throughout the area before they multiplied into thousands of them.

"Nii-sama!" Rukia exclaimed in surprise as Byakuya floated in on a bed of fluffy sakura blossoms that were in the shape of a cloud. The noble merely nodded at his sister and gracefully stepped off of the bed of flower petals. His zanpakuto slowly rematerialized and he slung his bag over his shoulder.

"This fruitcake did not just fly in on a cloud of flower petals," Kenpachi deadpanned in revulsion as he blew a flower petal off of his shoulder

"Taicho?" Renji questioned in confusion as he scratched at his forehead. He was completely unaware of Byakuya attending this trip and was even more surprise to see him float down from the heavens on a bed of flower petals.

Byakuya merely nodded at no one in particular, murmuring hellos at a few captains. Unohana had a momentary look of surprise on her face that was quickly replace with one of warmth. "Welcome, Kuchiki-taicho," her voice held none of the icy tone that she wished to convey.

Wincing inwardly at the overly formal greeting, he nodded back in silence. Yoruichi's golden eyes darted back and forth between the two as she fought to keep the large grin that was tugging at the corners of her mouth. Oh, this was going to get interesting real fast.

"Alright my friends," Yoruichi announced loudly as the gates to the Senkaimon opened up, "let's go!"

* * *

He discreetly adjusted the collar of his black polo shirt as he waved off a cup of tea. Being stuck in a stuffy, run-down store as they waited a half an hour for their transportation wasn't something he was enjoying. Glancing slightly to his left, he saw Retsu having an animated discussion with Yachiru.

It seemed as though everything was back to normal, their business-like relationship was inadvertently reestablished and they went back to basically ignoring each other again. "Bya-kun! Bya-kun!" Yachiru chirped up as she jumped down from Retsu's lap onto his, "Why are you staring at the ceiling? It's all boring and dirty!"

"Hey, I take offense to that!" Kisuke shot back in mock sadness as he continued to try to sell Mayuri some strawberry scented conditioner to keep his luscious blue locks in top form.

"Get that Human World filth away from me, fool!" Mayuri cried out in revulsion as he smacked the bottle away from him, making the bottle roll across the room to an unsuspecting Yumichika who immediately pushed it away, saying that the particular brand made him frizz up.

"Leave me be, Kusajishi-fukutaicho," he uttered in an unamused tone as he glared down at the pint-sized girl. The last thing he wanted was to be harassed by a little girl who had a puppy love crush on him. Especially in front of the SWA. "You're no fun!" Yachiru stuck her tongue out and rushed out of the living room area.

"When the hell is Ichigo getting here with that bus?" Renji griped as he set aside the sixth dish of leftovers that he dug out of Urahara's fridge, much to the blond man's disgruntlement.

Unohana sighed lightly and stared out of a nearby window, watching the humans walk about without a care in the world.

She longed for a simple life like that, but it wasn't possible.

The growl of a large machine and the blaring honk of its horn snapped her out of her reverie. The clamor of everyone picking up their bags were mere background activities as she discreetly eyed Byakuya as he heaved up his bags. She hated how calm he'd act when there was something obviously amiss and she was also a bit upset about how the SWA lied to her about who was coming.

Slinging her bags over one shoulder, she followed everyone else and walked outside. She gasped as she saw the huge, rectangular vehicle that had red and blue strips on it. A large door swung open and an orange haired man walked out of it yawning.

"We're here!" Ichigo Kurosaki yelled out as he looked around at everyone. Orihime Inoue bounded off the bus cheerfully and greeted everyone. Uryu Ishida honked the horn as a form of greeting and Yasutora Sado nodded briefly.

"Thank Kami!" Rangiku cheered as she grabbed Ichigo into a fearsome hug. After greeting each other they packed their bags in the bag and everyone eventually made their way onto the bus.

"Shuhei! Come sit with me!" the buxom orange haired woman called out to Hisagi since he was the second to last onto the bus, right in front of Unohana. Byakuya was the only one seated without a partner and this was a quick plan for them to sit with each other.

"Okay," Hisagi responded dumbly as he immediately plunked down next to Rangiku. Was this a dream? Rangiku was finally starting to acknowledge him!

Retsu walked on last and glanced around. Isane shot her an apologetic look since her sister was seated next to her and Yoruichi casually nodded over to a seat next to Byakuya.

Groaning inwardly, she smiled softly and gracefully sat down next to Byakuya, who was staring out of the window. "This will be quite the exciting trip, don't you agree, Kuchiki-taicho?" she uttered quietly as she vainly attempted to make small talk with the silent captain.

The bus had begun its forty five minute drive to the first shopping center they'd visit. Byakuya scoffed slightly at the sights, he could easily afford all of these decorations.

"I guess so," he responded half-heartedly as he shifted ever so slightly to widen the gap between them as possible. He could feel her frigid glare on him and closed his eyes to make it look like he wasn't paying her any mind. He had had enough. They were going to have a serious talk when things calm down.

"You see that, Sui-feng?" Yoruichi whispered to her little bee as she pointed in the direction of Retsu and Byakuya. "Can't you just feel their deep, urgent, _burning_ sexual tension?" she purred enthusiastically as she made kissy faces. Sui-feng made a disgusted face and shook her head, it was excruciatingly difficult to imagine Retsu and Byakuya…doing the deed.

"Uh, Kuchiki-san? What are the ladies back there writing about?" Orihime questioned in confusion as she noticed the members of the SWA furiously taking notes on the two captains, even though they were barely acknowledging each other.

Casually slipping her notepad into her purse, Rukia smiled broadly at her ditzy friend and waved her hand dismissively, "They're probably just taking notes on the wonderful sights of Karakura Town!" she exclaimed lively, even though Uryu was current driving them through the 'shady' part of town.

* * *

"So, I'll assume that this is 'the mall?'

Retsu gazed up in wonder at the majestic and expansive building that seemed to stretch out for miles. The last time she was in the World of the Living, people were still living in small villages with terrible health care and means of sustenance. The amount of progress that the humans have made was astonishing.

"It isn't much, we can't rent out the bus for long so we chose a local mall," Ichigo yawned out as he stretched. He left the task of parking to a less than enthusiastic Uryu so that he, Orihime, and Chad could make sure that no one gets into mischief. "Alright, this is all of the money that everyone's getting! Spend it wisely!" Yoruichi yelled as she passed around stacks of money to everyone there.

"I still can't believe that you managed to convince Yama-jiji to let us go on this little adventure," Kyoraku commented casually as he waved flirtatiously at a group of models. "He's very, very, stiff."

The demon cat didn't respond to Kyoraku's words of admiration, she merely just wiggled her eyebrows at him and smirked. The others were taken aback by this gesture, Yoruichi would be the first one to brag about how she sweet talked the ancient fart, but she hadn't said a word.

"You failed to mention the terms of this trip to the Head Captain, am I right?"

Retsu smiled slightly as she heard the gasps and cries of worry come from the younger Shinigami. Yes, the Head Captain would be beyond livid after he realized that all of his high ranking officers had decided to run off on a vacation.

"What he doesn't know won't hurt him," Yoruichi said breezily as she walked towards the entrance, "now let's get going! We're burning daylight!"

* * *

Raising a disapproving eyebrow, Retsu sniffed slightly and attempted to avert her gaze from Rangiku's outlandish twirling in front of a full-length mirror. She, Rangiku and Isane were in a store that had plenty of dresses, but they were so impractical and inappropriate that Retsu was afraid that she'd never find anything.

Rangiku's dress was a mid-thigh length green sequined dress that shimmered as she moved. "What do you two think of this dress?" Rangiku asked excitedly as she twirled around even more, much to the pleasure of the men in the store.

"It's…pretty! You look wonderful, Rangiku!" Isane chirped in timidly as she shied away from the stares that were being directed at them. They were the only group of women who actually willingly headed into a store. Yoruichi had taken the others under her wing and was directing them to different stores and Ichigo and his two friends were helping the men look around.

Rangiku grinned broadly at Retsu, who reciprocated with an unsure chuckle. So far, things weren't going as to how Yoruichi predicted it to go. On the bus ride to the mall, Byakuya and Retsu barely communicated at all. _"Time for some intervention," _the busty woman thought mischievously.

"Unohana-taicho, I think that you'd look sexy in this dress! Look!" Rangiku called out as she whisked a sleeveless red dress from off the rack and placed it along Retsu's body. After scrutinizing the look of the outfit on her, Rangiku put it back on the rack and picked up a bigger size.

"I hope this fits, I had to pick up a bigger size since you're totally stacked upstairs!" she explained as she tossed the dress to Retsu and began to push her towards a dressing room. "I-I don't think this is suited to my tastes," Retsu stammered quietly as Rangiku finally succeeded in shoving her into a dressing room.

"You'll be fine, taicho! Just see how you look!" she hollered back as she slammed the dressing room door in Unohana's face.

Isane was pale with fright and sucked in a few needed breaths before speaking. "You must really want to win this competition," she wheezed as she looked over her shoulder to make sure that Unohana was still inside.

Tutting her naïve friend lightly, Rangiku turned on one heel and kept browsing, "All's fair in love in war," she sung lightly as she tossed a dress at Isane. It was a calf-length violet sleeved dress that had a huge dip in the front for optimal cleavage flashing.

"You want me to wear this?!" Isane gasped in shock as she turned red in fright. A store clerk heard the commotion and walked over. "Is everything alright here, ladies?" she asked as she walked up.

"Could you please convince my friend here that she'd look so beautiful in this dress?" Rangiku asked the clerk sweetly as she held it up. A small smile formed on the clerk's face as she took the dress and directed Isane over to another part of the store. "It is a nice dress, but it is not proper for your, ah, height," she made a wide flourish, "please take a look at our Amazon collection."

Sighing fretfully, Isane sent Rangiku a baleful look as she trudged after the clerk.

* * *

'_**Come on, Retsu; live a little! You'd look so attractive in that dress!' **_

Retsu blatantly ignored her Zanpakuto as she sat in the dressing room, glaring defiantly at the scandalous dress that Rangiku had chosen for her. How on earth could she expect a woman of her high caliber to wear that?

Yes, the dress looked nice, but only on a rack. Not her body.

"I refuse to wear something so…inappropriate! Exposing!" Retsu replied adamantly as she shook her head in contempt.

'_**You're so old-fashioned! You might as well dress in a nun's habit! You came her to enjoy yourself, now do it!' **_Minazuki argued in exasperation as she fruitlessly tried to coerce her partner into trying on this dress.

The little healer shook her head fretfully as she reluctantly peeled off her own clothes to try on the dress. It wouldn't hurt to see what she looked like, it wasn't like she was going to prance out of the store and skip about the mall.

"Wow," Retsu gasped as she twirled around slightly to get a better look of herself in the dress. This was quite unexpected, she expected the dress to look bulky and unflattering on her, but it was quite the opposite. "I look…"

'_**Sexy! Hot!' **_Minazuki crooned in excitement and Retsu could swear that the thumping in her head was from Minazuki bouncing around. Her Zanpakuto was spending too much time with the younger generation and it was obvious that she was trying to act young again.

The dress hugged every dip and curve imaginable on Retsu's body and it was quite surprising that it carried her so well. But, it just didn't feel like the right one, there had to be more out there. "I think I'll keep looking," she said as she stripped off the dress.

'_**I'm sure that Kuchiki-taicho will appreciate this very much, hmm Retsu?'**_

"Inappropriate. We are colleagues, captains," Retsu said shortly as she exited the dressing room and looked around for the other two, but found them preoccupied on the other side of the store. This was perfect, now Retsu could go off and find something a bit more suited to her tastes in peace and quiet.

'_**Are you sure that you should be wandering off like this? It's been a while since we've been in the World of the Living,' **_Minazuki warned as Retsu casually strolled out of the store and off deeper into the mall.

"I will be fine, don't worry." She sighed as she adjusted the bag on her shoulder and trekked on.

* * *

Her face was devoid of any color as she twirled the flimsy piece of fabric in between her fingers. What made her think that entering this store was a good idea? Anything that was considered inappropriate and exposing was packed into the store.

When she first walked in, the first thing she noticed were the bright flashing lights and the strong fruity smell of perfume that assaulted her senses. Thinking that this was a party store, she delved deeper into it, hoping to find any last minute supplies for the celebration.

'_**It's a thong, Retsu. Stop staring at it like it's a bomb,' **_Minazuki deadpanned in a vain attempted to prevent herself from laughing as she saw the complete look of horror on her mistress's face. It was quite comical and she knew that Retsu needed this, anything to take her mind off of Byakuya.

"I know what it is," Retsu snapped calmly as she placed the offending article of clothing down and looked around the store. The name of the store was 'Victoria's Secret' and she assumed that it was some sort of treasure hunting store before she walked it. Boy was she off.

'_**Are you really going to purchase something in here? I thought you had an intense aversion to,' **_she paused for a moment to eye a mannequin who was clad in a leather bustier complete with a whip in one hand and a belt in the other, _**'scandalous things.'**_

Ignoring her longtime companion, she carefully squeezed past a few women to get to the brassiere section. She picked up the first one she saw, which was bright pink with black lace, and stared at it in confusion at it before Minazuki spoke again.

'_**Why not purchase some breast bindings, hm? At least you know how to put those on,' **_Minazuki commented pointedly as Retsu snatched up a few more bras to try on. Yes, she was probably one of the last women in the Seireitei to still wear breast bindings. They did their job and she wasn't one to like frilly things. But she knew that the dress she would eventually find wouldn't look right with breast bindings, so she had to buy her first bra.

"Quiet, Minazuki," the healer scolded a bit louder than she had intended it and a few women in the store were staring at her.

Minazuki watched the two young women wander off and chuckled, _**'The old Retsu I used to know would immediately attack those girls and gut them like fishes while using their bones as toothpicks."**_

"The old Minazuki I used to know would be seen and not heard," Retsu retorted calmly, but failed to notice a concerned looking store manager approach her and remove the brassieres from her hands.

"Excuse me, ma'am, but I don't think these will fit you," she said with a chuckle, "these are A cups, and you are least a double D."

"_Double D?" _she thought blankly as she stared down at her chest. It took only a moment to understand, the bigger the letter, the bigger the breasts!

Ignoring Minazuki's howls of laughter in her subconscious, she laughed. "I was shopping for my niece, but I wouldn't mind a bit of looking around for myself," she quipped as she picked up a few bras that had a double D on it. After quickly shaking off the manager, she made her way into a dressing room and locked herself into it.

'_**Are you sure that you do not need help with that? Perhaps you should purchase a book on bras? Maybe even an instructional video?**_

Her patience was running thin as she precariously unhooked the bra from itself and attempted to put it on. She had seen Yoruichi put on one before, so it couldn't be that difficult, could it?

"It feels, strange," Retsu commented as she attempted to adjust the straps on her shoulders.

'_**It's backwards, Retsu.'**_

Immediately looking down, the brassiere was backwards and the hooks were in the wrong places. "This is going to be a long day," she lamented as she rubbed her eyes.

* * *

"She's gone, Rangiku! She's disappeared!" Isane exclaimed as she ran around the store, hoping to find anything to give her a sign.

"Who?" Rangiku slurred out lazily, slightly tipsy off of the complementary wine that a worker in the store gave to her.

"Unohana-taicho!" she roared uncharacteristically as she wrenched open the dressing room door where Retsu was last seen. Nothing, not even a small trace of spirit energy.

She was getting tired of Isane's freakout and gestured for a man who had been gawking at her for a while to come over to where she was. The man immediately rushed over with a dopey grin on his face, eager to see what she wanted. Flipping her short hair over her shoulder, she spoke, "Did you see where a short woman with a long braid went? She's our friend."

The lecherous man's grin faded, he was hoping that she was going to ask him for a great time. "She left about fifteen minutes ago and went that way," he pointed down the courtyard.

Isane stuck her head out of the door and peered down the courtyard, a majority of the stores looked quiet and calm except for one. The store in question had a bright pink sign and flashing lights attached to it.

'_**Isane,' **_her Zanpakuto Itegumo spoke up loudly, interrupting her thoughts, _**'she went into that loud looking store!'**_

Focusing her vision further, the store was named Victoria's Secret. It sounded weird and she couldn't imagine what was so good in there that Unohana snuck off to go inside of it.

"She went into Victoria's Secret," Isane relayed immediately to Rangiku, who looked like she was about to burst out in hysterical laughing. She had no idea what the store was and was afraid that it would be a dungeon filled with secrets of someone named Victoria. "What's so funny?"

"You'll see when we get there!" Rangiku exclaimed as she grabbed Isane by the arm and dragged her out of the store, forgetting that she was clutching the same dress she took off. Chucking it at a disgruntled looking security guard, the two women continued on their quest into the secrets of Victoria.

* * *

**It's been a while since I've updated, so here you go! I hope I'm keeping everyone in character! Thanks for reading!**


	8. Chapter 8

"Are you sure that you won't reconsider? There must be-"

"Nothing, I have no interest in anything here. Now if you will excuse me…"

Byakuya gave the sales woman a cold, calculating stare as she timidly scurried off to the break room, probably to sob about the mean yet dangerously attractive man who basically told her to go play in traffic. Before the Kuchiki noble could once again deposit himself in a chair that was the farthest away from anyone, Kyoraku sauntered up to him.

"You could've been a bit easier on her, Byakuya-san," he mused lightly as he winked charismatically. "A woman's heart is as fragile as the purest crystal snowflake." He said the last sentence a bit louder than necessary, mostly to show the other women in the store that he wasn't as cold-hearted as his fellow taicho.

Raising a skeptical eyebrow at Kyoraku, he scoffed lightly and pursed his lips tightly in order to keep himself from saying anything that would continue this conversation.

"Bullshit." Kenpachi interjected as he forcibly ripped a blue tie from his neck and threw it at the frightened store clerk. "A woman's heart is as fragile as a man's balls. Don't fuck with hers and she won't fuck with yours," he bellowed from the other side of the men's wear store.

"I've never put myself in that _awful _position, Zaraki-taicho," Shinji also shouted from a separate part of the store. "I treat all of my lovers with _respect _and _honesty_," he finished with a sing-song voice, hoping that he was also buttering up the half a dozen female spectators who were watching.

"Did he just say taicho? That means they're army men!"

"I-I really want to talk to the blond one but he seems, _off._"

"I got dibs on the brunette with the ponytail!"

Byakuya blew air roughly out of his nose as he stood up. There was nothing worse than being stuck with these men on a daily basis, but in the World of the Living? This was a mistake, a grave, grave mistake. And to top it off, Retsu was also here and probably in the same position that he was in. He had to speak with her before the celebration, or else things would get much more complicated.

"Where are you going, taicho?" Renji asked curiously as he poked his head out of a dressing room. He wasn't sure where Byakuya would go even if he wanted to.

"None of your concern, Abarai-fukutaicho," he muttered as he breezed past the crowd of women who were attempting to seduce the male Shinigami there. Unbuttoning the top button of his shirt, he stormed out of the store so that he could maintain what was left of his sanity.

"I wonder what his problem is," Ukitake queried to no man in particular as he tried on a tie. "He appears to be more grumpy and reclusive as usual."

"Clan issues, I presume," Toshiro answered casually.

"Huh? What's going on with his clan?" Ichigo asked dumbly as he trotted over to where all of the men had gathered. It was only natural that he didn't know about gossip in the Seireitei. And for the sake of everyone's sanity, it should remain that way.

"Simple, really. He's been clan head for a couple decades, hasn't remarried, no heir, and the Kuchiki clan is getting _really _nitpicky about that," Shinji explained nonchalantly.

"Yeah, he was married to Rukia's sister, but she died," Ichigo murmured in sudden clarity. He assumed that the reason that Byakuya was so uptight was that it was something that all nobles were supposed to do. Something like a special pact between clan heads.

"He'll eventually suck it up and remarry," Shinji sighed as he tossed a bag over his shoulder. Most of the higher ups in the Seireitei were aware that Byakuya wouldn't remarry out of fear of besmirching the memory of his beloved Hisana, but he just didn't care. The man had no biological siblings so the title of clan head would simply be passed down to Rukia and that would cause even more discord in the clan because she wasn't a Kuchiki by blood.

The clan would sever ties with the Seireitei.

They would convince the other noble clans, except for the Shihoin clan, to also cut ties.

They would hire mercenaries to teach the Seireitei a lesson.

Byakuya and Rukia could be assassinated for treason.

The Seireitei would declare war on the Noble Houses.

Shit would get real.

"It's….not _that _complicated," Kyoraku yawned flippantly.

* * *

"Come now! Pick out something sexy! Seductive!" Yoruichi crooned to her little bee as she threw a few scandalous outfits at her, hoping that she'd grow a pair and get out of her comfort zone. She took Sui-feng, Momo, Nanao, Kiyone and Rukia with her while Orihime, Yachiru and Nemu wandered off almost as soon as they got there. She charged Rangiku with the task of spying on Unohana, knowing that she'd keep a vigilant eye on her.

"I-I don't think that's suited to my taste, Yoruichi-sama," Sui-feng muttered as he quickly reached out to catch the dresses that were flying her way. It not like she wanted to upset Yoruichi, it was just that her outfit choices would ruin her reputation in the Seireitei. Her subordinates wouldn't be quick to accept their commander after seeing her stuffed into a thigh length dress.

"Fine, fine," Yoruichi sighed with a smile as she eased back into to a chair, "dress like an old lady for all I care." As much as she wanted to terrorize her little bee, she didn't have the time to do so.

Nanao glared quietly at the dress she was holding that Yoruichi had chosen for her and huffed, "Inappropriate. Never would I wear something so _vulgar_!"

Making sure that Yoruichi and the others were sufficiently distracted with their shopping, Nanao quickly gathered up her things and zoomed out of the store as quickly as possible. She already had a dress back in the Seireitei so she wasn't too keen on buying any clothes.

Hoping to find a nice quiet place to avoid the rest of her companions, she quickly rushed into a book store and sighed happily. It was a nice, small place with a homey feel. Dimly lit, but just enough light for reading. There was even a small coffee shop in the corner "Now, this will do," she whispered happily while sitting down and randomly picking up a book that was on the table next to her.

"Fifty Shades of Gray," she murmured the title to herself. She guessed that it was a book on painting. After a few moments of reading a random page she opened to, she blushed profusely. "This- is-"

"Enjoying the novel, miss?" a waiter asked Nanao curiously as he furtively glanced at the title. No wonder this mystery woman was blushing so much. "Would you like something to drink?"

"A green tea, please," Nanao stuttered as she promptly slammed the novel shut. Only Lisa would be interested in such _filth_! As she waited for her beverage, she looked out of the store window. Almost immediately did she spy a visibly disgruntled Byakuya speed walking down the walkway before plunking himself on a bench directly in front of the bookstore.

Thanks to the tinted windows, she was sure that he wouldn't notice her

She groaned as she straightened her glasses. That damned competition, how could she forget? Being partnered up with Isane meant that they as a group were expected to get the most information on Unohana, if such an impossible thing was feasible. Thanking the waiter for her tea, she sipped it serenely as she once again cracked open the book. It wasn't _that _bad, and she wasn't a pervert. It was strictly research of human reading materials.

Glancing out of the window again after a while, she double took. She saw Rangiku and Isane frantically running around in a store that had a bright pink sign on the front. The store also happened to be right behind Byakuya. "They lost Unohana-taicho," she deadpanned as she stood up. "Figures."

"Would you like to pay for that novel, ma'am? It is quite popular amongst a variety of women," a cashier called out to her knowingly.

Once again looking out of the window, she noticed that Byakuya had dozed off, his head resting lightly against his hand. Maybe she could take advantage of his vulnerability and snap a few pictures for evidence!

"Oh yes," she said confidently as she counted out a few bills, "and I'll also buy that yellow camera too."

* * *

"_**I hope you're aware that-"**_

"I've sensed them quite a while ago, naturally," Retsu sighed as she carefully peered over the door of the dressing room. She could sense what was left of Rangiku and Isane's spiritual pressure a mile away, and it was obvious that they were charged with keeping an eye on her.

She carefully sat down on the bench, feeling helpless and defeated. Here she was, a seasoned captain, fleeing from two flustered (and inebriated, in Rangiku's case) lieutenants in a bra and panty store. A complete embarrassment to everything she stood for.

"_**You're fortunate that they didn't catch you shopping, that would require a lengthy explanation," **_Minazuki joked, hoping to alleviate the stress of her mistress. This whole situation was hilarious, and Minazuki wished that she had a physical body to experience it firsthand.

"This is the farthest thing from a joke, Minazuki," Retsu retorted calmly, but Minazuki could easily sense the aggravation in her tone. "My reputation and honor is at stake here." It was inevitably that each and every Shinigami in the Seireitei will find out what the SWA is up to. They were always terrible at covering up their tracks.

Minazuki knew that Retsu was just saying that as a means to prevent her from making fun of the situation any more than she already was.

And it wasn't like some poor fool would prance up to Retsu and call her a 'drunken, noble-seducing cougar'. They'd have to scrape what was left of their body with a shovel.

"_**Stop worrying yourself and enjoy this little getaway! This is actually fun! It's like one of those cat-mouse chases!" **_Minazuki crowed in excitement.

Retsu breathed in and out of her nose repeatedly until the rapid thumping of her heart slowed down to normal levels. She had been in Victoria's Secret for about fifteen minutes now, and Isane and Rangiku had rushed in here about five minutes ago. They'd probably give up and move on within another five minutes, giving her a window to slip away undetected. Yoruichi had taken a majority of the women to the opposite side of the mall and the men were most likely still holed up in the same store. It seemed pretty easy except…

"_**There is one other possibility. It's very much likely that…**_

"…Kuchiki-taicho abandoned the rest of the men. That too, I was anticipating." Retsu finished for her Zanpakuto. Yes, she may run into Byakuya and may even be alone with him to boot. She glanced at her watch, distracted by her own thoughts.

"_**You have to let him explain his actions, Retsu. He really wanted to tell you the truth, but it just came out in the wrong way," **_Minazuki explained carefully as she tried to make sure that she was saying everything that Senbonzakura told her to say correctly. Retsu's stubbornness was the main reason why she was suffering so much on the inside.

Unohana pondered her Zanpakuto's words for a few moments silently and each moment made her heart sink even more. She hadn't even given him a change to explain himself before running away, causing her own personal struggle.

"You…are right, Minazuki," she admitted softly, "I have something important to tell him, but I still feel upset. I probably won't even have enough confidence to face him." Knowing her, she would probably blow up on him on the spot.

"_**Having a little confidence can go a long way," **_Minazuki encouraged excitedly, finally getting to see some action.

"You sound much too excited for this," Retsu commented suspiciously.

* * *

"Oh Kami, she's gone! Gone! What are we going—?" Isane cried in horror as she fruitlessly ran about the store.

"—Excuse me, but do you have this in a 36 G?" Rangiku queried of a lecherous salesman as she picked out a cute frilly bra that was five sizes too small for her. Unohana-taicho's grown woman; and a taicho too, she reasoned with herself. She's least likely to get into trouble.

"You're shopping for brassieres at a time like this?" Isane roared in disbelief as she waved her long arms around in fury. Unohana-taicho hadn't been to the World of the Living in eight hundred years! She could get abducted, raped—who knows what!

"She's a grown woman and she can do whatever she pleases," Rangiku yelled as she resumed with her browsing. Isane turned an impressive shade of beet red and attempted to comeback with a reprimand, but all that came out of her mouth was spluttering.

Isane was so young, so _careless_; if Unohana caught on that the SWA was spying on her and Byakuya, she'd try to cover up her tracks and make this competition fruitless. Yoruichi even offered to take Isane with her so that Rangiku could be free to spy, but the busty woman wanted a challenge.

"But—she—maybe…" her words died off in her throat and she smacked a hand to her forehead. There was no argument; Unohana would be just fine without her.

"There, there, just enjoy yourself while you have the time!" she cooed at Isane playfully as she reached up to pat the tall woman's silvery hair comically. She tossed a few pieces of lingerie at the salesman and grabbed Isane by the arm and led her to the register.

"Let's have some fun!"

* * *

"_**There was a small art store a few paces back from here, Master. Perhaps we could—?**_

"No," a terse, baritone voice replied sharply.

It had taken quite a while, but he had finally put enough distance between him and the other male Shinigami so that they wouldn't chase after him. He didn't care where any of the female Shinigami were, they were less likely to attempt to strike up a conversation with him.

Inside his subconscious, Senbonzakura jolted with a start, his hidden eyes widening in shock. He was about to call out to his master, but something was telling him to just let things happen. Haineko would always tell him to stop being so righteous and to have a bit of fun for once.

Finally grateful for relative silence (besides the offending looking store behind him), Byakuya shut his slate gray eyes for a moment's meditation, just enough to calm him down so he could get through the rest of the day.

He hadn't yet encountered Retsu yet since they left the bus, and he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. The blasted woman refused to acknowledge him, and the few words she did say to him were not venomous at all—though he could still very clearly see how she felt on the matter.

"I have to tell her before it's too late…" he sighed to himself in annoyance and aggravation, this whole mess just had the perfect timing…

"_**Now you admit it," **_Senbonzakura sniggered softly, going out on a limb and attempting to joke with his master, _**"Even now, I can feel that you are having some reservations. It has been half a century, Master; it is time to move on."**_

"Stop making my situation sound so easy," Byakuya growled a warning, "you have never been in the position I am in now, so you have nothing to say."

"_**I must admit, you are correct, my Master," **_Senbonzakura admitted, pretending to be timid. _**"I am a Zanpakuto. You are a Shinigami. We are two separate beings who are one, although you received the better part of the deal."**_

"You insolent little—" Byakuya began to retort angrily, but not before being interrupted by a shout.

"—a grown woman who can do whatever she pleases!" was squawked by a loud, feminine voice that was easily heard over the music, voices, and overall clamor of the shopping mall. Byakuya's eyes narrowed, the banshee's call was from none other than Matsumoto, and he could recall the instance where she and dragged off Retsu and her lieutenant away from everyone else.

"This is getting completely out of hand now," he hissed to himself as he leaned his head back to glare at the ceiling. Whoever came up with this terrible plan of bringing the higher ups of the Seireitei to the World of the Living made a foolish mistake.

"Mommy, why is that pretty guy yelling at the roof?" a little blond girl with two pigtails loudly asked her mother, who had been previously ogling at Byakuya from a bench across from him.

Instead of him laughing off the matter and going about his business, he cast the woman and her child a glare that could melt Antarctica in second. From the periphery of his vision, he swore that he saw a small flash coming from a store across from him.

* * *

'_**Well, what do you know? It appears that—'**_

"Isane and Rangiku just left…they barely even looked for me," Retsu finished for her Zanpakuto in disbelief. She had expected them to at least look around the entire store, but they had basically walked in and walked out.

Only mildly surprised that Minazuki actually kept silent for once, Retsu unlocked the dressing room door and shuffled over to the cashier, where she bought a few bras and panties, and also a perfume that she thought smelled quite nice; subtle, yet sweet. Minazuki commented quietly that it would make her smell like a prostitute skipping through a meadow of tulips.

Toting a bright pink bag, she headed over to the exit, but stopped dead in her tracks. "Oh my," she whispered to herself. Byakuya Kuchiki was sitting directly in front of the store, but his eyes were closed. He almost looked peaceful and childlike, which was pretty offsetting to Retsu.

She took in a deep breath, held her head high, and began to confidently, yet carefully, stride past him. A few harried flashes caught her attention, but she assumed it was from another store.

"I guess he truly didn't notice," she muttered with a sigh as she turned to look back at where she last saw him.

The bench was empty.

Before her heart could even drop, she turned back around to find Byakuya standing directly in front of her, expressionless as usual. His famed speed was just as effective in a gigai.

"We need to have a word." His smooth, velvety words rolled off of his tongue and Retsu had to avoid making direct eye contact with him just to keep herself balanced. _"He knew I was here all along," _she lamented mentally as she forced a small smile onto her smooth features.

"About what, Kuchiki-taicho?" she queried with a tone of faux confusion, hoping to throw the man off long enough so that she could escape.

"I didn't mean the things I said to you," he began bluntly, getting straight to the point. She even had to tear her glare from his eyes; they were getting too intense for her. She tightened her grip on her bright pink bag and cocked her head, "I have other things to attend to, now is not a proper time," she strode past him, sighing, thinking that he wouldn't be foolish enough to follow her. She was too cowardly; she couldn't even have a discussion with a grown man.

He was more than a fool.

Her long strides were no match for him; he caught up easily and set a slow pace next to her so that he wouldn't leave her. She stopped right in her tracks and stared up at him. "Why are you following me?" she asked quietly, her tone devoid of confidence.

The only reaction he showed was a slight widening of his eyes, he expected her to be like this away from the eyes of others. "I won't leave you until we speak. Fleeing from me will only give me more incentive to follow you around," he challenged with a slight smirk of his lips.

Retsu pursed her lips and looked down, resigning herself to the fact that she couldn't save this for another day. It seemed like he wanted an answer just as much as she did, if not more. "What do you want to know, Byakuya-san?" he could barely hear her voice; there was just too much noise around them.

A small crowd was forming around them, mostly made up of those who cast looks of lust at them. Byakuya wasn't the only one who was suffering; Retsu was also fleeing from her own set of admirers.

He took a deep breath and casually reached for her arm to escort her down a hallway that was to their left. It led to the outside and it was abandoned. Even though it was a bit dark, he could very clearly see the blank look on her face.

She noticed that he still had a slight grip on her arm, but chose to ignore it. She had more pressing matters to attend to.

"You and I are both aware that there have been some," he paused to stare at a light fixture, "heated moments between us."

She cocked her head suspiciously and kept silent.

"Nevertheless, we maintained a business like relationship, until a few days ago, at least." He finished that last sentence pointedly.

"We still have a business like relationship," she repeated warily. She casually eased her arm from his grip and crossed them about her chest, dreading his next words.

"You are lying to yourself," he muttered through clenched teeth, trying to keep his temper in check. Why was this woman so stubborn? "I thought—" his voice trailed off, unsure if he should continue with what he was saying.

She could feel the anger rising up in her chest and fought to keep it down. Positive that she was _not _lying to herself, she gulped in a deep breath and spoke again.

"You thought about what?" she questioned with a harsh whisper, fretting that her curiosity was getting in the way of her composure.

He stared down at her for a long while; it felt like hours had passed. She stared back at him as well, not backing down. Retsu Unohana was not the type of woman to drop something so easily.

"I thought there was something going on with you," he blurted out lamely and wanting to slap himself for looking so sketchy, "something wrong." Not only was there something wrong with her, there was something wrong with himself as well. He had thought long and hard about this and the guilt was eating him alive…

"Yes, there were some heated moments in the past, but they were _in the past_," she explained in a hushed tone, thinking that someone was listening in. "I regret my actions and I moved on, you should do so as well." She straightened out her braid and made to sweep past him to the exit, but his arm reached out and grasped her by the midsection.

A deep growl rumbled in his voice and he pulled her close, making sure she was close enough to hear the words that he was going to say. "Before you continue your wild goose chase with the rest of the female heathens, there is something else I'd like to say."

"I—I'd like to say… something as well," she relented a bit, feeling sorry about being snappy with the younger man. Stress was an inner demon that even the strongest had to suffer through.

She watched as he took a few moments to compose himself, his steady breathing was almost therapeutic. Closing her eyes, she prayed to Kami to give her the strength and patience for what she was about to do next.

"I—I'm attracted to you Ret—"

"I have… feelings for you—"

_What?_

"—su," the last part of her name trailed off in his throat. His face started to feel dangerously hot and his vision wasn't focusing. Did he just admit his feelings for her? And did she just say she reciprocated those feelings?

"I—don't—I—" Unohana stammered lamely as she hung her head. Tightening her grip on her little pink back, she backed out of his grasp cautiously and rushed towards the exit. "—I should take my leave-!" she exclaimed as she disappeared from his sight.

Byakuya made to rush after her, but Senbonzakura stopped him. _**"Let her go, she needs time to think things over, Master," **_he advised his master soothingly. The last thing they needed was another misunderstanding if the two didn't get their thoughts together and really talked things through.

"Yes, you're right," Byakuya sighed as he walked out of the hallway. For now, he would go back to where the men were, and hopefully Retsu would catch up with the women. They needed time now, and that's all that Shinigami have.

* * *

**Thanks for reading and review! Now that the summer is nearing by there will be more frequent updates!**


	9. Chapter 9

"Target located at a distance of 125 meters from our current location."

The youthful looking woman pocketed her cellphone and silently awaited orders from her much younger companion, who had dubbed themselves as the de facto leader of their current operation. Gulping down the last half of her milkshake, she tossed the empty cup accurately into a nearby trashcan and jumped atop the other person's shoulders.

"We gotta go slowly, 'kay Mu-chan?" Yachiru warned her partner helpfully, as if she wasn't already aware. The little girl demanded that they change their part of the game so that they would become spies on a secret mission. Such a decision didn't necessarily affect their mission; they were planning on using secret tactics regardless.

"Hai, Yachiru-taicho," Nemu affirmed calmly and focused her enhanced vision on their target. Unohana seemed to be rushing away from something at a brisk pace, almost as if she was being chased. No one in the area seemed to be giving off any malicious aura, so Nemu assumed that Unohana was attempting to gain distance over something that was not in the area.

To the average person, seeing a pink haired girl perched on another woman's shoulders seemed odd, but no one tried to ask any questions. Maintaining a brisk pace, they eventually see Retsu make a quick left around a corner.

"Hurry, hurry!" Yachiru exclaimed as she tugged on Nemu's braid, trying to spur her on.

"No, it appears that she has caught onto us." Nemu stated calmly as she deposited Yachiru on the ground. Retsu wasn't stupid, and Nemu knew that she'd eventually figure out that she was being followed. Each and every person in the World of the Living in a gigai gives off a special type of spiritual pressure that they cannot actively suppress. It does not attract hollows, but it lets other gigai users know who's on their side.

Yachiru furrowed her eyebrows and crossed her arms about her chest indignantly, "What are we supposed to do? Re-chan is gonna find us either way!"

"We could both attempt to formulate a plan of action," Nemu offered up calmly, hoping to actually have a set game-plan instead of going on a wild goose chase in a different world.

"I don't wanna! I'm tired and hungry and sweaty and sticky—"

"—I will purchase you an ice cream sundae, if you are willing to cooperate."

"Yay! Let's go!"

* * *

"—Are they supermodels?"

"Idiot, look at them! They are freakin' hot!"

Yoruichi sipped on her water impassively as she surveyed the busy food court. All of the women had agreed to rendezvous at the food court after a few hours of shopping, but Retsu, Nemu, and Yachiru had yet to arrive. Casting Rangiku and Isane a reproachful look, she spoke.

"So you have no idea where she is? You let her wander off?!" she asked again for the third time, refusing to believe that they lost a grown woman in the World of the Living. The thought of something like that was hilarious and frightening at the same time.

Isane withered in her seat and averted her eyes from Yoruichi's disappointed glare, "S-she snuck away from us, we had no idea!" she explained emotionally. Unlike Isane, Rangiku was calm and casual, "She probably planned to sneak away as soon as we got there," she sighed as she nibbled on a french fry. Retsu Unohana was not a stupid woman, she was probably cackling manically from her hiding spot.

"Nemu and Yachiru have yet to arrive," Nanao relayed quietly as she carefully closed her _novel _and stowed it into her bag. She caught Rangiku giving her a knowing look, but chose to ignore it.

The no-nonsense fukutaicho was well aware that she and Isane were in the lead of this stupid competition, especially since Nanao was able to get plenty of juicy photos of the captains in very awkward positions. Still, she mustn't underestimate the others. Yoruichi and Rangiku posed as the biggest threat for now, and since Yoruichi was the unofficial leader of this competition, she'd play the other women into her hand and knock them out one by one.

"Yachiru is probably slave driving Nemu into buying her sweets as we speak right now. I wouldn't be too worried about them," Rukia deadpanned as she flung her fork into her dish and rested her head in her hands. She was completely not in the mood for running around like an idiot in a different universe like this. There were more pressing matters to attend to; like if her Nii-sama was planning on marrying Unohana-taicho! If so, then the Seireitei would benefit greatly from the riches of the Four Noble Houses, plus Nii-sama could get a strong heir too…

She shook her head vigorously and scrunched her eyes together. No, Nii-sama would never betray her sister like that! Only Hisana-nee-sama deserved to mother his heir, even though she was long dead. Sighing deeply, she resigned herself to the fact that in the event of her brother's death before he produced an heir, she would become Kuchiki clan head by default.

Which was very, very, bad.

Yoruichi ignored the Shihoin elders' pleas with her to go and find a husband to produce an heir. She was too busy with living out her life and getting drunk every other night and motherhood never appealed to her in the least bit. They even had the idea of proposing marriage to Byakuya on her behalf, which turned out to be _very ugly. _

"Ichigo told me that Kuchiki-taicho escaped from the rest of their group nearly an hour ago," Orihime stuttered in worry as she spread her bean paste onto the empty half of her bacon sandwich. She had only just recently been informed of the SWA's motives by mistake (Yachiru's fault, which was ironic since she was supposed to prevent others from finding out) and pleaded with Yoruichi to let her join in on the game. The cat woman relented, what was the worse that she could do? The girl was ditzy and oblivious and could stand a foot away from Byakuya and Retsu as they got into a dance battle of the ages and still wouldn't notice.

Averting her glare back to Isane, she grinned. And that was a sign that things were going to get complicated. Very complicated.

"I want you go now and find Byakuya-bo and tag along with him until we go to the hotel. You know, like a _date_." she ordered with a mischievous grin on her visage. "And try to make conversation, you know what I mean, right? Talk about hobbies, passions, _positions,_" she finished seductively, lacing her last word with innuendo. Glancing down at her watch, she saw that it was nearly noon and they were planning to leave at around five in the afternoon.

Isane had to spend nearly five hours with coldest, meanest, most callous man on the planet.

She nearly burst out laughing when she saw Isane's reaction; the poor girl look like she was about to vomit from shock. The tall woman sputtered lamely for a few moments before plucking Rangiku's beer from her hand and taking a long draught of it.

Rangiku scowled as she snatched back her precious alcohol and stared at Yoruichi, "You are sending her on a suicide mission!" she exclaimed dramatically, hoping to convince the others that she was just as surprised as they were. She knew what Yoruichi was planning, and to say that it was ingenious would be an understatement.

Rukia nodded vigorously and gestured to her person, "It would be a lot easier if I do this, right Yoruichi-san? I'm his sister and it would be so—" Rukia's voice trailed off weakly as Yoruichi raised a finger to shush her. "This is Isane-chan's punishment," she said sternly with a grin. "I'll deal with Rangiku later," she finished, and waited for the women to look away from her to look at Isane before winking mischievously at the busty strawberry blonde.

Isane was still deathly pale and trembled slightly as Nanao put a comforting hand on top of her shoulder. She knew she should have kept tabs on Unohana-taicho, and now she was being sent on the worst mission imaginable because of her foolishness, while Rangiku got off scot-free, for now.

"I-If there's no other way, then I guess I'll do it," Isane said firmly, her dark gray eyes glinting fiercely with determination, much to the surprise of the other women.

"That's the spirit! Atta girl!" Yoruichi whooped cheerfully as the other women offered Isane their condolences. Boy, were they in for a rude awakening.

* * *

Her hurried strides were eventually reduced to a moderate glide as her heart finally stopped trying to escape from her chest cavity, and after she escaped the pursuit of Nemu and Yachiru. She could not believe what she had gotten herself into, those two girls probably wanted to catch up to her and accompany her, and she decided to run away and look completely suspicious.

'_**Now that you've finally completed your wild goose chase, can you please purchase a dress, Retsu? You've wasted two and a half hours already!' **_Minazuki asked with exasperation and annoyance as she shook her head fretfully at what her mistress had now been reduced to. A mindless little girl, letting emotions take precedence over logic.

Retsu scowled visibly as she continued her brisk walk where the mall had quieted down quite a bit, only a few people milled about and there were mostly adults present. The stores around here were very posh and expensive looking, this was probably were the rich people of Karakura Town shopped.

"After something like that, how the hell could you expect me to do anything else?" she retorted uncharacteristically, but if one knew Retsu personally, this is exactly how she was. Wanting anything to clear her mind further, she veered into a random store and stalked around, blindly looking at outfits.

'_**It took a while, but you finally did it,' **_Minazuki exclaimed with genuine elation for her mistress. _**'You've admitted your love for Byakuya-san! I'm so proud of you!'**_

Retsu winced at Minazuki's last sentence, not wanting to be compared to a teenage girl whose mother had just found out about her daughter's first love. She was _certainly _not in love with Byakuya; it was merely just a fleeting twinge of attraction that would surely wear off in time. Not mentioning it to anyone was steadily eating away at her so might as well tell him and be over with it.

'_**I know what you're thinking,' **_Minazuki tutted jokingly with an invisible wink, _**'you don't think you love him, do you? You think you have a little puppy love crush that will just wear off!' **_She knew she was enjoying this too much, her mistress would not be amused once she got her emotions under control.

"I am _not _in love with Byakuya Kuchiki!" Retsu snapped back aloud, bringing a few curious eyes over to where she was standing. Blushing in embarrassment, she quickly stalked over to another part of the store, more hidden and most of all, silent. "It's not healthy to keep such negative emotions to myself, so I told him how I felt. And now we can both move on with our lives." She finished curtly, satisfied with her response. That ought to shut her Zanpakuto up.

'_**Who said that love was a negative emotion? Denial is a negative emotion, Retsu.'**_

Retsu sighed and blatantly disconnected the mental connection she shared with her Zanpakuto. It was on a temporary basis though; Minazuki gets moody when she cannot yap in someone's ear. She was so busy with thinking about Byakuya that she didn't even notice that she was standing in front of a glass display case. In it, was a mannequin that was wearing the most beautiful dress that she had ever cast her eyes upon.

The dress was bright cream and had a small strap that held the dress up, but it was sleeveless with strange little slits in the back that were quite exposing. The dress had the most marvelous gems on it that lined the slit in very pretty patterns. On the edges of the slits themselves were golden ribbons on which gems were placed on top of. There was also a _very _high rising slit that came up near to the top of the thigh, but she didn't care. She _had _to put it on!

"Would you like to try on this dress, miss?" a saleswoman asked kindly after she watched Retsu gaze at the dress for a few moments. That was an expected response, this dress was a masterpiece. "If you give me your size, I will look for it."

Retsu's eyes were glazed and it took her a few moments to get her bearings back. That dress was completely mesmerizing; its style was out of her comfort zone, but something was telling her to take the plunge and try it on. "I-I don't know my size," she admitted to the saleswoman bashfully.

The saleswoman nodded with a smile, she wasn't surprised. This woman looked like a foreigner so she wouldn't know how sizing worked here in Japan. She could easily estimate her size anyways, and she had nice hair and skin, so she kept very good care of herself. "It's fine; I'll bring out one that I think will fit just right."

Retsu nodded gratefully at the saleswoman and sat down in a nearby chair. She tried to keep her mind preoccupied with trivial things, but her thoughts always came back to Byakuya. This man was in her thoughts much more than usual now and it was quite unsettling. And she was in his thoughts as well. Her face began to heat up and she sighed in embarrassment. After this celebration, things _will _go back to normal.

For the sake of her sanity, they had to be.

* * *

Those few gulps of alcohol were able to calm her nerves just enough since she was able to trek confidently throughout the mall. Isane had run into the missing duo not too long after leaving the food court to find Byakuya and Nemu gave Isane this tracker that could trace Byakuya's spiritual pressure.

She didn't bother ask why Nemu had such a thing and wanted to ask her to track Unohana, but she knew that being on opposite teams meant that she wouldn't help her out. About a half an hour after embarking on her search for the stoic man, Nemu's spirit phone started to vibrate rapidly; a sign that the stoic man was nearby.

He was seated on the edge of a water fountain, his head turned to the side as he stared into the water in deep concentration. For once, a serious look wasn't plastered on his face; instead he had a blank look that was borderline despair. He looked as though he was currently going through a tremendous emotional trial and Isane was seriously thinking of running away and hiding in the trunk of the bus.

Taking a deep breath, she strode up to him and forced a smile onto her face. "Good afternoon, Kuchiki-taicho! How are you today?" she asked sweetly as she twiddled her fingers nervously behind her back.

The man looked up at her slowly and his look of helplessness was quickly replaced with a contemplative stare. _"Retsu's fukutaicho," _he thought to himself as he stood up. "What do you want, Kotetsu-fukutaicho?" he asked darkly, his eyes once again cold and steely. Isane was not a part of the army of his admirers, so she wouldn't be here to flirt. What could she possibly want?

Unable to mask her wince, she giggled nervously and spoke, "I-You looked lonely… and I sort of…thought you wanted a bit of company…" she stuttered out as she forced herself to make eye contact with him. Since she didn't melt into a puddle of goo by meeting eyes with him, she thought she was safe, at least for now.

He was about to open his mouth to tell her to hit the road, but then she remembered some vital information that Nanao gave to her secretly as she left to start her mission. _"He's a sucker for calligraphy," _Nanao's warning rang soundly inside of her mind and Isane was able to get her words out before he could.

"My calligraphy is—in a way—lacking. I was hoping t-that you c-could assist me so that I can be b-better, taicho. Spending some time with y-you would help me tremendously. Alone." She blurted out the last word and immediately snapped her mouth shut, preparing for the onslaught.

The girl had attended a few of his calligraphy classes in the past, and to say that her skills were subpar would be an understatement. Comparing the girl's calligraphy to her captain's would be comparing Van Gogh's art to a five-year old's crude drawing of a barnyard. He had been taking a break on his search for the men since he had no idea where they were, he stormed out without even checking to see where he was. And the girl could lead him back to the bus so that they could get out of this trash-heap of a world as soon as possible.

"Very well," he said briskly as he turned on one heel. He remembered where that art store was previously and he wasn't too far of a walk there. "There is an art store not too far from here, follow me."

Isane's feet felt like lead as she stared after the captain in complete shock. Did that actually work? Did she just ask Byakuya Kuchiki on a date?

"Do you plan on accompanying me? Or shall I find something else partially entertaining to do?"

Snapping of out of her reverie, she tightened her grip on her bags and hurried after the captain.

* * *

"That man is sexy. Even you, the most asexual woman on the planet, have to agree with me on this."

"Pshh, he's alright. Nothing to drool about like what you are doing right now. He looks weird, probably a foreigner. And his friend has all white hair! He looks like a ghost!"

"You're kidding me, right? He's got freakin' long, luscious brown hair and you're calling him _weird?_ Even his friend is hot! White hair or not, those two are fine as hell and I'm just about to head over there right now!"

The white haired man observed his companion for a few moments and shook his head in embarrassment as he blew a kiss and winked at the arguing women. It was enough to make one of them faint and the other blush profusely as she dragged her friend away. The two men were standing in a department store as one of them was casually looking around for some cologne.

"We're supposed to be keeping a low profile, Shunsui." Ukitake commented pointedly as he made Kyoraku look directly at him. The members of the SMA (most of them) were attractive, they were well aware of that. There was even a mob outside of a store where Jushiro and Shunsui were in, and they barely made it out in one piece. Even poor Hitsugaya was getting attacked by grown women and girls alike. He was able to avoid it by keeping an ear open for the slightest word, especially 'Kawai~!'

"I can't help it if these women have good taste! That's a small price to pay, especially since the women in the Soul Society are worse than this!" Kyoraku retorted jokingly as he handed the cashier a wad of money.

"That's not the point, we've already attracted plenty of attention here, and this celebration is going to be bringing plenty of skeletons out of the closet," Ukitake commented in a low voice. He could feel the tension in the Seireitei after the war and it was only a matter of time before some unwanted secrets get out.

"Ahh yes," Kyoraku yawned nonchalantly as he stretched his muscled arms behind his back, sitting down on a bench outside of the department store. "Like Byakuya-san and Unohana-senpai's little affair going on, eh?" he jabbed his best friend with his elbow, unaware that Ukitake was drinking water.

Water spurted out of Jushiro's nose and he spluttered and coughed for a few moments as Shunsui tossed him a handkerchief. Casting his friend a shocked and reproachful look, he shook his head adamantly, pretending to have not been aware of this. "What?! That's probably just a rumor, right? Plenty of false statements have been heard since the war ended!" he exclaimed in surprise. He wasn't particularly _close _with Byakuya and Retsu, but he has known the two long and well enough for him to be positive that they weren't in a relationship. Byakuya was just too…_cold. _Even though his marriage to Rukia's sister was based on love (one-sided love, probably), he just didn't seem like the type of person to actively be in a relationship.

And Retsu-senpai was the type of woman who would put duty over dick, a crude way of saying things, but true nonetheless. She had been with a man nearly four hundred years ago and was engaged for a short period of time, but she never showed any emotion to her fiancé in the least bit. The man wasn't a Shinigami, but a noble. He was respectable enough and agreeable, but the engagement soon fell through.

Being a powerful and beautiful captain of the Gotei 13 meant that it was inevitable that she'd receive numerous marriage proposals. Aside from that brief engagement, she was neither seen nor heard of in a relationship.

"Stop acting stupid, Jushiro-kun. The rest of the captains know about this already, we're captains for a reason. Hirako-kun has been actively investigating this, and Kurotsuchi with his hidden cameras probably found out before any of us," he said seriously before smiling widely, "we see things that others don't see. Just pray that the happy couple lives out the rest of their lives with love and comfort, maybe even a few kids to boot."

Jushiro sniffed in displeasure and shook his head, "This is all based on speculation, Shunsui. Don't say another word of this to anyone else, the last thing we need is war _within _the Seireitei." Ukitake would be lying to himself if he said that he had never harbored any feelings to Retsu, but this was back in his Academy days and such feelings had long since passed. Shunsui, however, has been pursuing Retsu for half a millennium and hadn't shown any signs of quitting until just after the war. His courting wasn't serious, Shunsui _himself_ wasn't serious.

"Byakuya-san is a lucky man. He's got himself a powerful, strong woman who will undoubtedly produce the strongest Kuchiki heir in history!" Shunsui laughed out in disbelief, running a hand through his hair, "I can see it now, the 28th Kuchiki head and the First Kenp—"

"Shh!" Ukitake whispered out hastily while looking around to make sure that the area was clear of their fellow Shinigami, "We took an oath to never speak of this again, so hold your tongue or don't speak at all!" he stammered nervously, turning a hearty shade of red.

"Aw, Jushi-kun is mean! You hurt my feelings!"

* * *

Sui-feng was in a terrible mood. Not only was she coerced into participating in this foolish competition by Yoruichi-sama, she was paired up with the most incompetent woman in the Seireitei. The girl was the younger sister of Unohana's fukutaicho and Sui-feng hoped (for a few moments) that they would have an advantage.

They clearly didn't.

The sisters loved each other very much, but it was painfully obvious that it would be impossible to salvage any source of information from Kotetsu-fukutaicho because her sister didn't possess the skills to _effectively act like a normal person. _The girl had decided to run off with Kuchiki-fukutaicho on some wild adventure to find Ukitake-taicho some lemon flavored candies with the red haired human girl, leaving Sui-feng alone to get things done. She preferred to work alone, but she hated it when people got credit for things they did not do.

Scowling at Kiyone's retreating figure, she cast a desperate look at Yoruichi-sama, who shooed her away, saying that getting out in the world was good for her and that she should appreciate Kiyone's uselessness.

Under normal circumstances, she would have her assassins track Unohana and give her regular status updates. The problem was that 1) Her assassins had no idea how to disguise themselves in the World of the Living and 2) Yoruichi-sama would immediately catch on and have her own personal guard to the same. All in all, she was on her own.

After an hour of wandering around and occasionally making a young child cry, Sui-feng ran into Kiyone again, who was clutching a large brown bag that would making rattling noises every time she moved.

"When the hell do you plan on helping me?! Your sister is the fukutaicho to Unohana and we haven't done anything to get ahead in this damned competition and I swear…." Sui-feng shouted loudly and would have continued to do so unless Kiyone interrupted her.

"Nee-chan is Unohana-taicho's fukutaicho but that doesn't mean she'll help us," Kiyone reprimanded in a mocking sing-song voice, effectively silencing Sui-feng into a blustering, stuttering mess. "And I gotta plan that'll help us too!"

Sui-feng sneered mockingly and she stared boldly into the taller (not by much, Kiyone was quite the shrimp) woman's eyes. "Like what? Shall we find Kuchiki and offer him an ice cream cone, or a lollipop? How about we offer him a piggy back ride and some cotton candy in exchange for ravishing Unohana on the floor?" she questioned in a mocking tone.

Kiyone pouted and turned her back to the little bee and spoke, "Well, if you were a lot less cranky I'd tell you that Nee-chan and Kuchiki-taicho are in that art store right over there!" She turned around and pointed and Sui-feng saw the tall woman carrying around a bunch of calligraphy supplies and Kuchiki was standing a small distance away, watching her.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Get the hell in there and figure out what's going on!" Sui-feng snapped at her incredulously as she pushed Kiyone in the direction of the art store.

"B-but I can't just _barge _in there! I'll look suspicious!" Kiyone retorted indignantly.

Sui-feng had to fight the urge of throttling this impudent 3rd Seat with all of her strength, but she had a backup plan to use in case the girl wouldn't cooperate.

"Ukitake will be quite proud of you if you manage to win this competition, why, he may even promote you to be Super Ultra Fukutaicho!" Sui-feng exclaimed with forced enthusiasm. She knew that the girl's weak spot was Ukitake, and that her crush on him was borderline obsessive.

"B-But… Rukia-chan is fukutaicho! Ukitake-taicho can't just—"

"Super Ultra Fukutaicho is a prestigious position that is about the regular fukutaicho and that is rare to achieve, yet winning such a lopsided competition shall make you worth of it."

Sui-feng could feel the determination in waves that was coming off of Kiyone and barely had enough time to move out of the way before the girl ran directly into the art store. Frowning visibly, her inner assassin told her to find a spot where she could easily keep watch and not get caught by anyone else.

"Good luck, kid. You're going to need it," she said with a sigh.

* * *

**This is the first chapter of the summer! Originally, I was planning on ending this story after the celebration was over, but I decided to expanded even further; so there may be at least 20+ chapters, I'm not sure yet. Plus, there is going to be a few spoilers here and there, but nothing too severe. C'mon people, I have nearly 10,000 views on this story but nearly no reviews! Your reviews help me write better! Tell your friends, families, pets and baby mamas/daddies about my story! Thanks for reading and REVIEW GODDAMMIT.**


	10. Chapter 10

"They are an odd pair, don't you think?"

"What do you mean?"

"The guy looks pissed off and the girl looks like she's about to shit herself from fright, can't you tell?"

"Mind your own damn business. You're just jealous that those two are in a relationship and you're sitting on your couch, watching reruns of the Golden Girls as you eat a bucket of ice cream!"

"Bitch."

Stone-faced, Byakuya watched as Isane juggled around multiple scrolls of calligraphy paper, pots of ink, and ink-brushes; hoping that she'd eventually tire herself trying to accomplish the meaningless tasks he put her up to. Every time she came to him with an ink-brush or a pot of ink, he'd send her back on her way for a different one, saying that using the wrong supplies ruined the art itself.

Twiddling the fourth ink-brush that she had given him in his hands, he looked up at her with a steely gaze and spoke. "Are you aware of my purpose for sending you back to change brushes?"

For once, the silver-haired woman didn't flinch, but she did shift her gaze to the ground. Clearing her throat noisily, she spoke in a hushed whisper, "Uh, I sort of noticed that you weren't pleased when I picked up a brush that was made recently, and this one was made nearly forty years ago."

"_Hmm. It appears that she isn't as dense as the others mentioned she was," _he thought to himself casually as he nodded. "The quality of the calligraphy is at its peak when the brush is properly aged…" he lectured on and on and on to the point where Isane was wobbling on the spot from fatigue.

The nobleman noticed that Isane was barely even paying attention to him and glared at her silently until she noticed that he wasn't speaking.

"Ah—! I apologize, taicho—it's been quite a long day! There was shopping for dresses, getting yelled at by Yoruichi-san, losing Unohana-taicho—"

Byakuya was shocked by that last statement, but only reacted by widening his eyes. He finally understood, Retsu was trying to escape the clutches of the SWA, ran into him, ran _away _from him, and now her fukutaicho was using her poor calligraphy as an excuse to ask him if she knew where she was.

"You _lost _your own taicho?" he asked with disdainful incredulousness. Not only was that hilarious (he _surely _didn't express it), it was pretty pathetic. Retsu was probably hiding out in a quieter part of the mall, waiting for someone sensible to find her and get her out of this hellhole.

"Yes sir," she muttered in embarrassment. What a terrible slip of the tongue! She was too busy with making a pathetic excuse that she didn't realize she mentioned Unohana-taicho, probably giving Byakuya a clue as to what the SWA was doing! "B-but I think that—"

"Nee-chan~!"

A small body crashed into Isane and she stumbled slightly as she looked down to see her younger sister latching onto her like a baby koala. _"She couldn't be here to sabotage me, could she?"_ she panicked visibly by blushing and noticed how Byakuya was staring at her more intently before shifting his eyes to her sister.

"You are Ukitake's 3rd seat, correct?"

"Yes, sir!" she exclaimed while saluting, "Kiyone Kotetsu, 3rd seat of the 13th Division, at your service!"

Isane sweat-dropped at her sister's usual overenthusiasm and sighed, "Kiyone-chan, now isn't—"

"Nee-chan! I came in here to buy some stuff so that I can get better at drawing! You can't tell me to leave!" she pouted visibly as her clutch on her big brown bag tightened visibly. Turning her eyes to Byakuya, she clasped her hands together and smiled widely, "And speaking of drawing, I know that Kuchiki-taicho is really good at stuff like that, and it's pretty _ironic _that I happened to run into him here, right?"

Isane was about to comment that Kuchiki-taicho specialized only in calligraphy (as far as she knew of) and that being a part of the 'Byakuya Kuchiki Fan Girl Association (founded by the lower ranking female members of the Seireitei) she would get rejected flat out.

"Your presence is unsettling and you are causing a disturbance." Byakuya announced as he gestured to the dozens of people that were staring at the odd trio. A silver haired giant, her little brown mouse of a sister, and the dangerously attractive army man.

Fake tears sprung on the corners of Kiyone's eyes and she began to sob, "I—I apologize for my disturbing-ness, Kuchiki-taicho! P-please forgive me!" she exclaimed as she fell to her knees at his feet.

After only glaring down at Kiyone for a few seconds, Byakuya looked up at Isane, who looked like she wanted to drop-kick her sister off of the nearest cliff. No wonder Rukia was made fukutaicho before this girl; Rukia was calm, sensible, and had leadership qualities. This girl was insane.

"Kotetsu-fukutaicho, remove your sister from this store at once." He commanded firmly, his taicho qualities coming to view.

"Y-yes sir!" she babbled as she dropped to her knees and began to tug on her sister's arm, "Get up, Kiyone!" she hissed as she tugged even harder.

Big mistake.

In the midst of her tugging, the miniscule tear on the large brown bag that Kiyone was clutching grew even more, but neither of the three noticed. Isane was successfully able to wrench her sister's body from the floor and turned to push her towards the door. "Nee-san! Wait!" Kiyone exclaimed as her bag snagged on a nearby shelf. Isane didn't heed her sister's words and kept pushing.

The large brown bag exploded once the rip expanded to the whole width of the bag and yellow, circular candies flowed out like raindrops and coated the floor. There was enough candy in the bag to give someone cavities for years!

Isane, being the klutz that she was, immediately stumbled on the horde of yellow candies and fell backwards. She would've hit her head directly on the ground (and cause a sizable lawsuit) if Byakuya hadn't intervened at the last second.

Her vision swirled around lazily and it took her a few moments for her to not feel as disoriented. She looked up to see Byakuya analyzing her, checking for injuries. Her heart stopped in her chest as she was about to faint.

She was being held bridal style by Byakuya.

The nobleman was too preoccupied with making sure that Isane was uninjured to notice that Kiyone was taking dozens of pictures with her camera. "Are you hurt?" he questioned as he helped her to her feet. Thankfully, she was able to stand on her own without tipping over again.

"N-no, I'm alright," she stuttered as she bowed, "Thank you, Kuchiki-taicho!"

Byakuya was about to tell Isane's sister off, but the appearance of one person was able to make his face heat up and his words die in his throat.

"My, my," a soft feminine voice exclaimed in surprise, "this is quite the mess. Are you alright, I-sa-ne?" the voice drew out the syllables of Isane's name.

Retsu Unohana strode closer, easily evading the plethora of yellow candies that were strewn across the ground. She held her precious dress in one hand by the hanger, her pink Victoria's Secret bag in the other, and a box under her arm The female captain had just finished spending a boatload of money on the dress and was finally going back to join the rest of the SWA, but noticed Isane wandering around in an art store.

She knew that art wasn't a strong suit of Isane and headed toward the store and arrived just in time to see Isane fall spectacularly into the waiting arms of her Byakuya—_no_—into the waiting arms of Byakuya-san.

"Yes, ma'am!" Isane exclaimed as she immediately freed herself from Byakuya's grip and scratching the back of her head nervously. _"But not for long," _she lamented.

Averting her deep blue eyes to Byakuya, she smiled, "Good afternoon, Kuchiki-san. How are you?" she asked cordially, purposely dropping the taicho from his name. She was flawless at hiding her true feelings to the point where it was like she wasn't confessing her feelings to him just an hour ago.

'_**Man-stealer! Home-wrecker! What are you waiting for, Retsu? Show your fukutaicho her place!' **_Minazuki roared in anger, wishing she could escape from Retsu's psyche and clothesline Isane into the ground.

"I am well, thank you," he replied placidly, not wanting to draw out the conversation. Noticing that Kotetsu-fukutaicho's demon sister was nowhere to be found, he headed towards the exit, "I must be on my way…" he muttered, immediately beginning to stalk over to the door.

"W-wait tai—"

"Let him go, Isane." Retsu said coolly while giving her fukutaicho a suspicious look. Isane balked and nodded, was Unohana-taicho thinking that there was something going on with her and Kuchiki-taicho?

'_**Kill the bitch! Eat her liver!'**_

Ignoring her zanpakuto's call for war, Retsu smiled and laid a hand on her fukutaicho's shoulder. This action alone elicited a sigh from Isane, thankful that Unohana-taicho would try to murder her for being cradled in the arms of her (supposed) boyfriend.

"Now, let us catch up over some coffee." Unohana guided her fukutaicho kindly to the door while resisting the urge to crush the girl's shoulder in her grasp.

'_**You are a dead not so little bitch,' **_Minazuki spat at Isane, who couldn't hear her regardless. She was too busy with planning out her will.

* * *

"Hey look, it's Orihime-chan and Rukia-san! C'mon, let's go say hi!"

"Dude, you know that they are completely out of our league, right? They don't even know us!"

"You're such a chicken. We had homeroom with them, idiot!"

Rukia trudged alongside Orihime wearily as the red head deviously began to plan their strategy to expose her brother and Unohana-taicho. Thinking that Orihime was going to join the competition solo, she figured that she could wait a bit longer before executing a plan. But Yoruichi announced that Orihime would join Rukia as her partner and she could feel her heart drop down to the pit of her stomach.

The red head was a nice and kind hearted girl, yes, but she was a complete airhead! She could see her inadvertently sabotaging everything to the point where that they'd fall to dead-last in the competition, even lower so than Yachiru and Nemu (who had the least chance of getting anything done due to their leadership)!

"We should buy some rope, some blindfolds, and some sardines!" Orihime cackled evilly as she jotted down some notes on a piece of paper. It didn't matter if she was joining the competition late; she and Rukia-san were going to win no matter what!

"We're trying to expose any secrets between Nii-sama and Unohana-taicho, not kidnap them and give them bad breath." Rukia scoffed as she adjusted her bags in her hands. She and Orihime made sure that they bought their dresses almost as soon as they made it to the mall in order to have plenty of time to gather information.

"C'mon, here is how it'll work. We tie them up together with rope and blindfold them, and then force feed them sardines until they give us all of their juicy secrets!"

Rukia remained silent and cast her a skeptical look, wondering if the redhead realized that it would be damn near impossible for a fukutaicho and a human girl to incapacitate two of the strongest taichos simultaneously.

"…and then we'll throw them an engagement party with little hors d'oeuvres with fish paste and chocolate sauce on them!" Orihime concluded happily, satisfied that she came up with such a masterful plan on the spot.

She was glad that she could finally go back to the Seireitei without worrying that her life was at stake. Determined to take advantage of the peaceful times, she desperately wanted to motivate Rukia into being more active in this competition.

"You seem troubled, Rukia-san." Orihime commented seriously, her real personality coming to fruition.

Sighing deeply, Rukia knew that she'd eventually have to tell someone why she was feeling down, but she wasn't expecting Orihime to notice, let alone care. "This whole competition is wrong! I feel terrible about spying on them!" she admitted in a low voice. "It…it almost feels like I'm helping Unohana-taicho steal Nii-sama away from my sister…"

Orihime watch her friend vent out her emotions with an impassive look. Naturally, Rukia would be having some reservations about spying on her brother, but to think that her deceased sister would care for such a thing was silly. Rukia's sister was a kind and gentle person from what she has heard from other and wouldn't want Byakuya to be lonely and unhappy.

"I'm sure that your sister wouldn't want Kuchiki-taicho to feel lonely and suffer, right?"

Rukia nodded and gave Orihime a confused glance, dreading her next words.

"Do you know how your brother feels about Unohana-san? Do you know how she feels about your brother?"

"N-no, but I know—"

Orihime raised a finger up that shushed the smaller girl immediately, "Your sister is dead, and I'm sure that she wouldn't care if he moved on to another woman. It's not like he's cheating on her!" she reasoned.

Rukia hung her head low and sighed. As much as she didn't want to admit it, Orihime was right. Hisana was dead, it had been half a century, and it was the time that he began to move on. The Kuchiki clan needed an heir to become the 29th head, and Rukia surely didn't want to take over in the event of her brother's death.

And at least it was someone like Unohana-taicho instead of one of those haughty, pretentious nobles who acted as though they were superior to others. Unohana-taicho was kind, caring, and could easily fit into the Kuchiki Clan without incident; the elders would be over the moon if the heir was born to two taichos of the Gotei 13.

"I guess it wouldn't be too bad…" Rukia admitted lightly which earned her a bone-crushing hug from Orihime.

"But there's one other thing," Rukia continued again after she gulped down some air. "I'm going to do as much as I can to prevent the rest of the SWA from infringing on Nii-sama's privacy. It's the least I can do."

* * *

Shinji stepped out of the dimly lit store and glanced to his left and right before groaning deep in his chest. Of course they would ditch him, those assholes. He didn't care if they thought that three hours was too long to spend buying a pair of shoes, but each and every aspect of his clothing just _had _to be impeccable. He was just like that fabulous guy in the 11th division (albeit a bit straighter).

Swinging his bag lazily around his finger, he sashayed nonchalantly into a small tea shop, exiting a few minutes later with a small cup of black coffee. As he sipped on the bitter brew, it was almost like a light bulb went off in his mind. Of course, how could he have forgotten? The main reason he came to the real world with the others was to get more information about Byakuya and Retsu!

The only problem was that Retsu was already starting to get suspicious of him and would avoid saying anything out of the ordinary in his presence, and that the damned SWA were blindly rushing into the middle of the two taichos business, not realizing that the Kuchiki Clan elders wouldn't be too keen on their clan head engaging in a romantic liaison with a colleague who is probably from commoner origin.

"Ahh," he hummed appreciatively as he finished off his coffee and chucked the empty container into a waste bin. "No one to entertain my poor old soul," he lamented with a sigh. He saw a nice fedora shop a small ways back. "Might as well buy another…."

Byakuya!

The nobleman looked obviously perturbed as he wandered around aimlessly; not gliding around with his elegant gait like everyone else was already used to and he was headed directly towards Shinji. He smiled widely, making his wide mouth look almost grotesque. The blond man leaned against a nearby wall and waited.

The man walked right past him without even glancing his way.

"_Noble-asshole," _he thought angrily as he strode quickly up to Byakuya and laid a hand on his shoulder. The man jolted as though he were being struck by lightning and looked over his shoulder. Seeing Shinji giving him a mocking grin, his eyes narrowed and his characteristic scowl once again adorned his features.

"Shinji Hirako, the man who has no regard for rules and manners." He muttered contemptuously, his slate gray eyes giving the blond man a once over before he turned around completely. He and Hirako was the furthest thing from friends, so why would he suddenly decide to put a hand on his shoulder like they were companions?

"Byakuya Kuchiki, the man who has longer hair than his sister." Shinji replied with a heavy layer of sarcasm in his voice. It would take a thousand years for Byakuya to _finally _loosen up and stop acting like a pretentious prick with a girl's haircut.

"What do you want, Hirako? I have no time for your silly games."

Shinji cast Byakuya an offended look and drew a hand through his blond hair, "Why, I can't greet a fellow captain? The old fart loves trust and camaraderie, and here you are, disobeying only man that you don't look at like he was a fly."

"What Yamamoto-sotaicho _recommends _has nothing to do with your unwanted visit. State your purpose." Byakuya replied coldly, thankful that he was able to revert back to his original personality so easily without arousing much suspicion. But then again, Hirako specialized in mind tricks.

He will be a tough skull to crack.

"W-well, Bya-chama, all I wanted to do was ask you out on a d-date," the joker replied shyly while faking a stutter, a blush staining his cheeks. "I—I really like you and—"

"You _dare _call me, a nobleman and a clan head, such an inappropriate and—" Byakuya growled angrily, making the air suddenly thicker. Shinji cut him off easily with a wave of his hand. The man couldn't see a joke if it slapped him in the face and called him daddy,

"I'm the one who should be bitchin', I was a captain when you were rolling around in diapers and here you are calling me 'Hirako'," Shinji groused as he moved over to Byakuya's side and wrapped an arm over his shoulders, much to the displeasure of the nobleman. "You're alone, I am alone, so how about we spend some quality taicho time together, eh? Some good ol' mall entertainment!" the blond man offered up expectantly, hoping to get close to some action.

Under normal circumstances, Byakuya would simply cut down Hirako right where he should and be on his merry way. Except that 1) He had left his sword on the bus and 2) It wouldn't look good at all if he returned to the Seireitei with a charge of murder on his head. And seeing how he had no possible idea as to where he was going; the smart thing to do would be to go along with Hirako's stupid game and find the exit as soon as possible.

"So, what do you say, Kuchiki? You in or out?" Shinji wigged his eyebrows expectantly as he grinned in excitement.

Taking a deep, measured breath of air, Byakuya spoke.

"Direct me to whatever source of _entertainment _that you had in mind."

* * *

Retsu traced the rim of her cup with a finger absentmindedly, watching her companion fidget about under her gaze. Usually, she'd tell her to calm down and to not feel intimidated, but that wasn't the case anymore. Lifting the cup to her lips and taking in a long sip, she sighed and spoke. "Have you been enjoying yourself, Isane?" she asked after smacking her lips.

She wanted answers, and she didn't want to waste time with any of Isane's excuses too. It was simple, she'd make the girl feel comfortable and at ease, then manipulate her in a way that she'd get answers without the girl even realizing. Not that she cared that she was being cradled in Byakuya's arms. She was curious—yes, just _curious._

Isane looked up hesitantly, but after seeing Retsu friendly smile her posture eased up a bit, making her feel at ease. Unohana-taicho wasn't a woman like Yoruichi or Rangiku who would rip her to shreds after something like that. She'd understand, they have a very nice friendship.

"I've been having a lot of fun, taicho! My things are back on the bus—but my dress is quite beautiful!" Isane exclaimed happily. Rangiku had to force her to try on her dress, but it was actually quite beautiful and most of all—appropriate.

"I see." Retsu hummed as she closed her eyes while taking another sip. Setting down her cup gently, she spoke, "I wasn't aware that you had an interest in calligraphy, Isane. I assumed you disliked going to By—Kuchiki-taicho's classes." She finished casually, succeeding in making herself sound generally uninterested, yet slightly curious at most.

'_**Come now, Retsu! Enough talk! Show the girl her place!'**_

It was almost as if Isane could hear Minazuki's threats because she shivered even though it was fairly warm in the coffee house. Sipping her frappucino slowly—it was actually good, Yachiru recommended it—she sucked in a deep breath and prayed that her next words would keep her alive.

"W-well they can get a bit monotonous at times, but I truly appreciate the art that Kuchiki-taicho gives us the opportunity to see, especially those created from his own hand." Isane finished with a smile, satisfied that she was able to answer somewhat normally, although she…

'_**She's laying it down too thick, Retsu. She's hiding something! Crack her skull!'**_

Ignoring Minazuki's call for blood, Retsu nodded as if she was accepting Isane's answer as the honest truth. Her zanpakuto was right; Isane was trying too hard to convince her that there was nothing out of the ordinary and it wasn't working at all. Deciding to go out on a limb and take a risk, Retsu spoke.

"You seemed quite flustered when Kuchiki-taicho saved you from that fall. Was that by chance, the blossoming of a new _friendship_?" Retsu asked teasingly, knowing that Isane would realize what she meant by _friendship._

Isane nearly spat out her coffee in surprise and forced herself to keep a straight face. It was expected that her taicho would question her about the compromising position that she and Kuchiki-taicho were caught it, but asking her in that manner caught her completely off guard!

If she denied it, it would only serve to make Unohana-taicho even more suspicious. If she confirmed it, it would make Unohana-taicho see her as a rival of love and an obstacle that must be destroyed!

'_**Sorry to say so, but you're screwed.' **_Itegumo commented helpfully before turning his attention back to the drama gleefully.

Retsu tilted her head in an attempt to look confused as she studied Isane's troubled face. She didn't mean to cause the girl to panic like that, but such measures were necessary. In the Academy, there was even an elective class for fourth years on how to interrogate and what to do when you were getting interrogated. And Retsu knew for a fact that Isane never took that class.

"Kuchiki-taicho was kind enough to prevent me from suffering an injury." Isane replied casual as she stirred her drink with a straw, proud that that she was able to reply with something that neither answered Retsu's question or left any sign of denial.

Retsu smiled gently and nodded, seemingly accepting this answer. The girl was finally growing a backbone, to say the least. _"It seems like the SWA is up to something if Isane could lie like that," _she thought to herself, mentally storing this information away. To a taicho class Shinigami, it was a blatant lie. Any lesser rank would fall for it.

"I may not know much about what the younger generation does at these types of parties, but I know about dates," Retsu said with a smile, "who do you have in mind, Isane?"

Isane, much like her captain, was much more concerned with her career than pursuing a relationship. The idea of such a thing was foreign to her and her height made it difficult to find a man who is fine with being the shorter one. Plus, she has never dated in her life.

"Such an idea has never crossed my mind, taicho," Isane admitted in embarrassment, knowing that she wasn't attracted to anyone as of now. But she had to come up with someone in order to come off as believable.

"Come now, there has to be an eligible bachelor out there that must have caught your eye!" Retsu teased jokingly, but her tone of voice made it obvious that she really wanted to know.

Noticing Unohana's intense expression, Isane fumbled a bit with her words. She was well aware that her next words could either save her from an ass whooping of a lifetime, or move her to the top of Retsu's hit list.

"Well, I think that Hisagi-san is attractive," Isane began, remembering the scarred fukutaicho's unrequited love of Rangiku. She was sure that the busty strawberry blonde wouldn't care if Isane had to pretend to be attracted to him. Unohana's eyes twinkled excitedly and she leaned forward in her chair, attempting to goad Isane into giving more details, "Is there anyone else?"

Before Isane could rattle off another random name, she heard a few chairs being shoved out of the way and a few cries of annoyance from nearby patrons. She didn't even get a change to turn around before Yoruichi and Rangiku popped out of nowhere, dragging a chair each and depositing themselves across from each other, and on either side of Retsu and Isane.

Unohana took this new change of events in stride, smiling kindly and offering a few words of greeting. _"I doubt that Isane called them here, they were probably following us in hiding," _she figured out.

After listening to Rangiku's complaints of Unohana running off into the wild and how her breasts were killing her in her top, Yoruichi intervened.

"I heard some boy talk over here," she commented silkily as her amber eyes darted back and forth from the frightened face of Isane to the placid face of Retsu. "Isane-chan likes Hisagi? Well, I'll be damned!" she exclaimed in fake shock, knowing that Isane was trying to extract information from Retsu by lying.

Rangiku immediately knew what was going on within milliseconds and threw Isane a very convincing look of surprise, "Really?! I can talk to him, if you want!" she offered up expectantly, even making the point of grasping Isane by the wrist.

"Oh, so you like Hisagi now? I swear you told me that you liked Byakuya-bo, right? The heart of a woman is so fickle." Yoruichi said nonchalantly, making sure that she sounded unconcerned enough that Retsu would begin to get suspicious.

Isane raised her head slightly to look at Yoruichi, who was giving her 'the look'. Anyone who was in the SWA for the past few months could tell that 'the look' meant that there was going to be serious trouble. By now, Yoruichi and Rangiku should know about the accident at the art store because Kiyone was partnered up with Sui-feng, who tells Yoruichi everything.

'The look' told her one thing.

Her punishment was far from over.

Rangiku gave her a sad, yet blank look. She felt bad that she was getting off scot-free (until further notice) and that Isane had to suffer. That was how competition works; you have to do whatever is necessary in order to win, even if a few cheap shots had to be cast.

"How was your little adventure in the art store, you had a perfect opportunity to woo him there, right? How did you do?" Rangiku was shaking with excitement, and a bit of fear, since having two of the most powerful women in the Soul Society sitting with you was a bit intimidating.

Isane blushed heavily and didn't even need to communicate in code about not understanding what was going on. It was blatantly obvious; this was part two of her punishment; which was none other than admitting her affections for Kuchiki-taicho _right in front of the woman who supposedly had feelings for him as well!_

"My sister messed it up so badly that I ended up nearly breaking my skull on the ground, but he caught me just in time, I'm grateful to him," she giggled bashfully, covering her reddish face with one hand. Taking a chance, she looked up and saw Unohana regarding her with a smile, her eyes were closed.

"…I command you to stop giggling like a school girl and remove the ten foot long pole from the deep recesses of my ass," Yoruichi imitated Byakuya in a deep, forceful voice. "And while you are at it, un-bunch my panties!

"Oh K-Kuchiki-taicho, your words are my command! Please allow me access to your blocked ass and feel my l-love as I remove the pole!" Rangiku replied in an attempt to imitate Isane, but couldn't quite get the stutter down and it was even more unbelievable because the raucous laughter that erupted from Rangiku nearly drowned out what she was actually saying.

"Wait—no—you _know _that I sound nothing—" Isane's words died in her throat as she caught a glimpse at Unohana. For a split second, Unohana's smile was not warm and kind. It was cold, uninviting, and frightening. Her gleaming eyes froze Isane's blood, and her smile was now twisted into a scary grin. And the worst thing about it was that it was for a split second, and the tall woman couldn't even figure out if it was real or not.

Hoping to erase the panic from her heart, she smiled back at her captain and joined in on the cackling laughter of Yoruichi and Rangiku.

She did not smile at Retsu Unohana.

She smiled at Yachiru.

* * *

**I really enjoy writing this story! My updates could be every other day, but I like to spend a week to really read the chapter over and add any missing details; quality over quantity! And if you needed a visual on how Unohana's expression looked like towards the end, just think of the 'smile' that she gave Kenpachi before their fight and that is exactly how it is. Thanks for reading and review!**


	11. Chapter 11

A very quiet and pale Byakuya was sitting a row ahead of Yoruichi and Ichigo with a very confused Renji on the bus. The red haired man stared blatantly at the nobleman's face until he had to turn and stare back. "What are you staring at?" he inquired placidly, his gray eyes once again taking reign of the coldness they were once known for.

"You look weird." Renji blurted out dumbly before smacking a hand to his forehead, "I—I mean, uh, you're _acting_ kind of weird and I want to know why, taicho." He nodded to himself, thankful that quick thinking was able to save him from getting shredded to bits.

"Weird? Such a basic and informal adjective." Byakuya said thickly, yet still maintained his superior tone. "Now why do you think so?"

"You look like you've seen a ghost," he replied but face palmed inwardly as he realized that they see plenty of ghosts as Shinigami, "You look shell-shocked."

Turning his head to look out of the window, he crossed his arms as if to form a barrier and responded to Renji's statement. "My emotions are nothing that you are obligated to concern yourself about, and I am at peace as of the moment." He finished with a level tone, effectively severing the strings of the conversation with a hot knife. Renji leaned back, seemingly satisfied with his taicho's answer, but nonetheless kept an eye on him.

Shinji Hirako was grinning up a storm from the back of the bus. He knew why Byakuya looked like a scared little girl and wanted nothing more but to call him out on it, but it would only cause him to get spied on more than Kuchiki or Unohana.

Kenpachi looked over at the grinning man and scowled. "The hell you grinning at Kuchiki like that for? You wanna sleep with him or somethin'?" he barked out viciously, immediately pissed off at the blond man for no apparent reason.

Hirako didn't even bother to grace Kenpachi by acknowledging him and decided to respond back as he looked out of the window. "I don't roll that way, pinhead. And at least I can get a woman or two to sleep with _me_—the only females I see you with are your pink haired monkey and your fruitcake 5th seat!" he responded casually, and a majority of the bus responded with sniggers and giggles.

Yumichika immediately clapped two hands over the ears of a sleeping Yachiru in his lap (thanks Nemu) and flipped his hair angrily. "I am by no means a _female, _Hirako-taicho! And you should think twice about saying such inappropriate, _ugly _things!" he retorted viciously and even made a point about snapping as he finished.

"Stop acting like a pussy, Yumi. Real men handle shit like this by killing each other!" Kenpachi roared as he gripped the handle of his zanpakuto and attempted to send out a wave of killing intent through his gigai, but only managed to create a buzz in the air.

"First off, the word 'pussy' is such a disgustingly ugly slang word. I prefer the use of the word 'vagina'." Yumichika explained fluently, seemingly forgetting that Shinji insulted him and Yachiru.

"So instead of calling someone a pussy, you call them a vagina." Shuhei turned in his seat in the front repeated in disbelief, knowing that only Yumichika is capable of such an unorthodox thing.

"Yes, of course. Is there a problem?" the infamous 'Supermodel of the Soul Society' challenged.

"N—No…it's nothing." Shuhei muttered and returned to his seat, glad that he was able to get out of that one.

"It's quite elegant, don't you think? It just rolls off of the tongue!" Yumichika gushed as he cleared his throat. "Vagiiiiinaaaa, vaaaaaginaaaaa, VA—gin—A! Va-va-gi-gi-na-na!" he announced repeatedly as he enunciated the word quite fluidly.

The only people managed to keep a completely straight face were Nemu, Byakuya, Isane, and Retsu. Unohana shut her novel closed and stood in the middle of the aisle. Smiling gently was able to immediately hush the entire bus and she spoke in a gentle voice. "Using such inappropriate language in front of a child is not the behavior that seated officers should partake in. Right, Hirako-taicho, Zaraki-taicho, and 5th seat Ayasegawa?" she finished sweetly, maintaining steady eye contact with the three.

Shinji eyed her for a bit before nodding halfheartedly and muttered an apology.

Kenpachi grunted and fell asleep.

Yumichika turned a bright shade of red and stammered lamely for a few moments before staring at his reflecting with a pocket mirror.

Nanao was standing at the front of the bus with her clipboard, taking attendance. The bus had little lighting, so she had to squint at the print. "Yes…everyone is present—no—we are missing Kurotsuchi-taicho, does anyone know where he is?" She looked directly at Nemu, who merely shrugged at her.

Uryu scowled and put the engine in drive and began to pull out of the parking lot. "Who cares?"

* * *

After a half an hour of various arguments, songs, and carsickness, Byakuya, with forced calm, glided smoothly off of the bus with his bags and made an immediate beeline to the entrance of the hotel. The décor was quite elegant, for a commoner, that is.

The sooner he could fall asleep and forget about this day, the better. Retsu hadn't made any inclination of acknowledging him, his patience was running thin. If someone as clueless and dimwitted as Renji could catch on to his uneasiness, it meant that he was doing something wrong.

He deposited himself in an itchy armchair and closed his eyes for a moment's peace while Yoruichi check everyone in. Not even a moment later did he hear a shrill cry from one of the ryoka.

"What the hell are you doing here? We left you at the mall!" Uryu shouted at Mayuri Kurotsuchi, who was seated near the elevators, tinkering around with a remote control device. Narrowing his amber eyes at the Quincy, he chuckled sardonically. "Foolish little Quincy boy, did you really think I wasn't anticipating that?"

The bespectacled man spluttered lamely and scowled, unable to form a response.

"There is a chip in your brain, and from it I can read your mind, stupid Quincy boy." He replied simply, thinking that Uryu knew about this new technology in his head.

Tuning out the argument, Byakuya rubbed his eyes in aggravation and stared at the ceiling in deep thought. Renji was leaning against a wall on the other side of the lobby with Ichigo as he watched his taicho. There _was _something wrong with him, and he was surely going to figure it out!

"He's hiding something. I just know it; can't you feel that there is something wrong?" Renji muttered over his shoulder so that Ichigo, who had a wary eye on Yoruichi, could hear.

"You're right, everything just feels _weird_. I have this weird theory, so hear me out…" Ichigo began.

A few minutes later, Renji was seated on the ground with a pale face. So that was it! It wasn't like he didn't expect something like this, but so soon after the war?! He lifted a wary eye to Ichigo, who was staring down at him with a smirk. "Idiot, I'm just a Substitute Shinigami and even I figured it out before you, a Pure Shinigami. Shame."

"Shut up," Renji retorted thickly as he accepted Ichigo's outstretched arm. "I'm not a noble, like you!" Ichigo had to force his father into explaining the truth about his past, and his father reluctantly told him that he was a former captain of the Gotei 13 and former clan head of the Shiba. Thus, making Ichigo and his sisters' apart of the Soul Society's nobility.

Shrugging lightly, Ichigo yanked his bag over his shoulder and walked over to the elevator, "Stop draggin' your ass, Yoruichi's already got the keys, let's get to our rooms so I can sleep!"

* * *

Retsu's eyes widened in delight as she strolled into the hotel suite. Yoruichi must have really gone out of her way this time. There was a huge living room that was outfitted with half dozen leather loveseats, a huge 50-in flat-screen television, a full kitchen, and five white doors that led to the bedrooms.

"How much money did this cost? This hotel is way over our budget!" Nanao questioned bluntly as she ran a single finger over the marble drinking bar. Yoruichi kicked off her sandals and dumped her bags on the ground. "Not much, maybe around eight percent. I'm sorta rich, y'know. Being a clan head of one of the Four Noble Houses." She replied airily, giving Nanao an arch look.

Nanao blushed and nodded weakly, "Ah—yes."

Isane was still at the door, staring into the penthouse room in shock before Retsu laid a hand on her shoulder, "Please enjoy yourself, Isane. You won't be able to do so if you stand at the door."

Nodding dumbly, she consented and stumbled her way in, nearly tripping over Yachiru's racing form. Forty five minutes later, each member of the SWA was seated in the living room with their pajamas on, looking for something to do to kill time.

"It's only eight o'clock, and I'm sure as hell not turning in this early, let's play a game!" Rangiku cheered as she ran into the kitchen to look for some snacks.

"Let's play duck, duck, goose!" Yachiru squealed as she ran across the tops of the loveseats. "Duck," she smacked Isane on the head, "Duck," then Nanao, "Duck," then Sui-feng, "Goose!" she screamed as she lightly tapped Retsu on the head before rushing out of the room.

"So, I have to act like a goose?" Retsu questioned blankly as she turned to Isane. Yoruichi slapped a hand to smother her impending laughter and was able to disguise it as a cough, "No, Unohana-san. You're supposed to chase and catch her."

Nodding in understanding, Retsu fretted on the inside. She will never understand the antics of the younger generation.

"Let's play confessions!" Yoruichi announced as she sat down on the ground, motioning for everyone to sit in a circle. "Here's how it'll go: I'll spin a bottle and if it lands on you, you must answer eleven questions, one for each person in the circle. Understood?"

Everyone nodded weakly and Rangiku joined the circle with a bowl full of chips, a six pack of soda, and an empty soda bottle. "Spin it already!"

Yoruichi complied and spun it. The women of the SWA stared at it in anticipation and it slowly came to a stop on Nemu, who barely blinked. Yoruichi explained the rules one more time and was asking the first question, then Nanao, Yachiru, Momo, Rukia, Kiyone, Orihime, Isane, Retsu, Sui-feng, and finally Rangiku.

"First question: Are you a virgin?" she asked with a sly grin. Nemu assumed that it would be the only thing that Yoruichi would be asking for the night. Seeing that the rest of the woman who were staring at her intently, she knew that it would be smart to just get it over with.

"No." She replied evenly, barely moving her mouth. Just because she was a manmade being didn't mean that she wasn't able to do whatever normal women could.

Yoruichi was about to asking another question in excitement, but Nanao put a hand to the cat woman's mouth. "One question only."

"What is your favorite novel from the real world?" Nanao queried curiously as she ignored Yoruichi's pout, wanting to get a feel of the woman's reading habits.

"Frankenstein."

The rest of the women blanched and chuckled in amusement. What else were they expecting if she had a mad scientist for a 'father' who 'created' her?

"Do you have candy?" Yachiru asked as she bounced up and down on her heels in anticipation.

"No."

The next forty five minutes were spent asking each other various questions; ranging from questions like 'Would you rather lick Mayuri Kurotsuchi's back or Yamamoto's toes?' to 'What you would you do if you were born with an extra foot?'

Finally, it was time for Retsu to answer the questions of the other women. Glancing around she noticed how they were sending each other warning glances and some of them were pretending to fiddle around with their phone, but were secretly turning on recording devices.

"Are you ready?" Yoruichi asked sympathetically, giving Retsu the opportunity to back out; mainly because she didn't want the rest of the SWA to go down with this possible train wreck. Her breath hitched as she saw the seasoned taicho nod; it was time.

Deciding to forgo using her virginity question, the corners of her lips twitched as she thought of something better.

"What have your past relationships been like?" This was the type of question that required a bit more explanation—more than Nemu's—and knowing Unohana, she'd answer each question _quite _through.

Isane kept her eyes staring straight forward, now afraid to even look her own superior in the eye. That whole situation in the coffee shop made her even more suspicious of the taicho than usual.

Retsu frowned slightly as she thought of her next words. It didn't seem like that bad of a question, so might as well go for it.

"They were nice, to say the least. I was treated well and loved; I felt satisfied and complete," she began, but paused when she saw Rangiku trying to stifle a giggle from the innuendo that Retsu inadvertently made. Ignoring the sound made when Yoruichi's hand connected with the back of Rangiku's head, she continued. "I was engaged for a short time, but that fell through." She finished with a tone that made clear that she wasn't planning on continuing with the last part.

Retsu answered the next few questions with relative ease, it seemed like the women were too afraid to ask for the answers that they _really _wanted to know about. It wasn't until the last question—from Rangiku—was her flawless feathers rustled.

The buxom strawberry blond was practically quivering with a mix of fear and excitement that she didn't even feel Yoruichi's jab in her side. She had thought long and hard about this question, and now she could finally test her limits.

"Out of all the high ranking male members of the Gotei 13, who would you see yourself together with?"

The collective intake of breath did not go unnoticed by Retsu, but she had to admit that she was impressed with Rangiku's question. It was the type of question that could be asked to anyone here, but had to be answered thoroughly. She expected as much. She looked over at Isane, who had finally decided to look back and smile nervously.

It was nearly time to go on that trip again; that was her first relapse in ages and she knew that it couldn't happen again.

Yamamoto was out, she'd never embark in a relationship with a superior and someone who was centuries older than her. Kurotsuchi, Hitsugaya, and Komamura were out as well, for obvious reasons. Rose and Love—_nah . _They were kind enough, but not her taste. Kensei was much too intense for her. She disliked Zaraki even more than Byakuya did. Shunsui had courted her for centuries and even attempted to pop the question, but all of his attempts were thoroughly rebuked by her. She knew about Ukitake's affections for her in the past, but she knew that he wasn't for her.

And then there was Byakuya—the man she _liked_ and the man she couldn't even stand to look at. His cold, condescending personality, his obvious disrespect for commoners, his dry humor—she _liked_ all of that. Underneath the surface was a kind and thoughtful man who was ambitious as he was hot-headed.

And much to Minazuki's chagrin, Retsu had yet to admit that she had fallen for Kuchiki-sama. The signs were blatantly obvious, most of her thoughts had something pertaining to Byakuya, her heart goes a mile a minute in his presence, and she nearly snapped Isane's shoulder out of jealousy. Not only that, but she gave her lieutenant the type of look that could frighten even Yamamoto into submission.

The women wanted her to say Byakuya; that was plain to see. She might as well have a bit of fun with it…

Putting on a bashful expression, she waved her hand dismissively. "It's embarrassing, but I can tell that you all are anxious to know…" she trailed off casually, drawing this out for more than it was worth. Their eyes were practically glued to her…wanting to absorb each and every word.

"I don't know how I _exactly _feel about him as of yet…"

'_**No, no, stop it Retsu! This is a mistake!'**_

"We had lost touch for a while, but soon came back into contact, I was elated."

'_**Dammit, Retsu!'**_

Pausing purposely to keep the younger women's attention, she was able to force her cheeks to redden slightly and turned her face away from the others. At this point Yoruichi had crawled over to her and was seated directly in front of her, her golden eyes wide with excitement.

"I have a bit of feelings for…"

The circle had tightened even more around her to the point where she was feeling claustrophobic.

"Shinji Hirako."

* * *

Drawing an annoyed hand through his moistened hair, Byakuya spat the water he had in his mouth into the sink and rubbed his eyes. Today had been a long, _horrible, _day and he just wanted to turn in for the night, even if it was only eight. Clad in 'pajamas' as Urahara called them as he forced it upon him, he padded wearily to his bed and climbed in. That woman; that _damned _woman had plagued his thoughts for months now; not a minute passed by that _she _wasn't in a part of his mind.

He was thinking about her more than he thought about Hisana, which was very frightening to him. Rukia was elated when he told her that he could never forget about her sister and that he still loved her. But did he? It had been over fifty years without her and now his love for her was waning. He could _not _let that happen.

Retsu Unohana was driving him insane. Her smile, her graceful walk, her melodious laugh, her murderous glares cast at troublemakers; he _liked_ all of that. He wanted to get to know everything about her. And that was the problem.

She was pushing Hisana out of his memory.

Finally feeling the comforting arms of sleep wrapping around him, he had settled in for a while when he was disturbed by a series of loud knocks, followed by a kicked in door.

"It wasn't locked." He muttered coldly, not even bothering to sit up and look at the assailant. He already knew who it was.

"It's more fun this way," Shinji replied smartly as he sat on the corner of Byakuya's bed. "Now get the hell up, it's only a quarter to nine and here you are in bed, tucked in your jammies, like an eight year old. Shame."

Flicking on the lamp that was on the bedside table next to him, Byakuya sat up and glared at Hirako through narrow eyes. What other methods of torture could he possibly put him through now? Wasn't _that _enough? "What do you want now, Hirako? Haven't you done enough to disturb me already?"

Shinji frowned at the younger man's snippiness, but the look of annoyance was quickly replaced with a grin. He was succeeding at chipping away at the kid's stone cold exterior; it was only a matter of time.

"I need you to do me a favor," Shinji began as he tossed something circular to Byakuya. The nobleman caught the object easily with one hand; it was an empty bucket. "A vomit bucket? So you've managed to poison the minds of our subordinates. How typical of a commoner in a high position," he replied with a huff.

Resisting the urge to toss Byakuya off of the open balcony, Shinji forced a smile. "All I want you to do is get me a bucket of ice. Easy right? Just walk out of this door and make a left. Go all the way down until you see an orange door, then make a right. Ice machine, right there. Got it?"

Byakuya stood up and stared suspiciously at the blond man. Why must he, out of the others, be forced to get a simple bucket of ice?! It could be an amateur prank set by Hirako and Kurosaki; which was much more believable. He hated when those in a position of power fool around and with the war over, it was happening much too often.

"Everyone out there is either drunk, lazy, or both. You and I are the only sober ones here _and _you need to get your ass out of this bed and do something." Shinji responded as he walked behind Byakuya and with surprising strength, was able to push him out of the room.

The blond man was right, every man in this room besides the both of them were completely plastered. Even the ryoka boys were nodding in and out of consciousness. Upon further inspection, he noticed that Zaraki was the only male taicho in here besides the two of them; the others were gone.

"I already know where Rose, Love, and Kensei are, but the others went bye-bye not too long ago," Shinji opened the hotel room door and gestured for Byakuya to go. "The hell are you waiting for now? Get going!"

Standing in the middle of the doorway, Byakuya took a moment to evaluate Shinji. His body seemed relaxed; the man had the audacity to wander around shirtless like a heathen. He was completely sober and he wasn't injured at all.

"I still don't understand as to why I have to fetch _you_ ice." He stated placidly, hoping to not engage in an argument with the 5th Division leader. Trying to prove a point to Shinji was as redundant as a fresh graduate of the Academy challenging Yamamoto for the Sotaicho position.

Grinning at the younger man, he spoke as he slowly closed the door in front of him. "Like I said before, it's a way for you to stop being all moody and emotionless. Even if it's something stupid as getting a damn bucket of ice, now get lost!" he slammed the door smartly in Byakuya's face. Snarling at the wooden door, he realized that he was barefooted and that he was wearing a pair of flannel pajama pants and a tank top. He prayed that he didn't run into any women on the way there, especially Yoruichi.

He'd be in for a world of pain.

* * *

The game of 'Confessions' ended dully with most of the women too shell-shocked to even answer the questions properly. Most of them branched off into their own small groups, conversing idly over a cup of tea and so on and so forth. Unohana was situated with a novel in a far corner, but she was barely reading the words.

She was thinking of her next move.

'_**That was a foolish mistake, Retsu! Not only did you scare the hell out of those poor girls, you just put yourself in a situation that's going to screw you over in the long run!' **_Minazuki bellowed in aggravation. Why was her mistress so dense? Hirako was the _worst _choice for a fake crush; even someone like Kurotsuchi would be more convincing!

"I know what I'm doing, Minazuki. So stop meddling into my business." She replied stiffly as she brought the novel closer to her face, hiding her expression from the other women. Even though they were minding their own business, she could easily feel a few pairs of eyes on her at once.

"Under normal circumstances, I would have chosen Ukitake-san. But I still assume that he still has a thing for me and that would be insensitive to his feelings," she explained. "I chose Hirako as a way of getting the attention off of Byakuya-kun himself."

'_**I'm not following…'**_

"Hirako-san is already suspicious of me. But he cannot out me because he doesn't have sufficient evidence. He and the SWA wouldn't be able to out Byakuya-kun because of his noble status, so he's safe for the time being."

'_**So you're basically fighting back, but using a bit of strategy in between,' **_Minazuki stated with a bit more clarity in her voice.

"Essentially, yes. I'm still a bit worried about Yoruichi-san, though. Not only is she a clan head of a major clan, but Sui-feng is giving up command of the Onmitsukido to her. The Onmitsukido has always been under command by the head of the Shihoin. That alone puts her above the rest of the taichos and only slightly below Yamamoto-sotaicho."

'_**You could always assassinate her. We used to take care of problems like that back in the old days.' **_Minazuki advised in excitement at the thought of killing again.

"How long has it been?" Retsu asked, suddenly changing the subject out of nowhere.

Minazuki's personality suddenly darkened. _**'Two hundred and forty-nine years, eleven months, and five days. Perfect timing, don't you think?'**_

"Almost too perfect, but it shall do, for now." Only five people alive today knew why Retsu always went on an extended trip to the 'mountains' every two-hundred and fifty years. Yamamoto, Sasakibe-fukutaicho, Ukitake, and Kyoraku, and herself, obviously, were the only ones old enough to have been there to see _why. _

"U-no-ha-na-taicho~!"

Retsu looked up to see an obviously hammered Rangiku crawl up to her on her knees, holding a bucket in one hand. Immediately thinking she was about to vomit due to excess alcohol, she was about to stand up to get a bit of medicine, but Rangiku grasped her by the wrist.

"I'm not—hic—drunk, taicho! Yo quería—hic, hic—preguntarle—hic—a buscarme un poco de hielo, pleaaase!" Rangiku slurred out in two different languages. Knowing a few languages herself already _and _being able to translate drunk, she knew that Rangiku was asking her to get her a bucket of ice for her.

Before asking why she needed it, she looked at the coffee table to see two bottles of white wine that looked fairly warm. All right, it wasn't a problem. Plus, she needed to stretch her legs a little as well. Helping Rangiku up to her feet and tucking the ice bucket under one arm, she went on her way.

As soon as the door clicked behind her, Rangiku instantly sobered up. "Alright, I want to know why the _hell _Unohana-taicho wants Hirako-taicho! He's just—_ew!"_

"And he looks like a horse too, I'm gonna call him Horsey-chan!"

Ignoring Yachiru's epiphany, Yoruichi sat up from her cat nap on the couch. She knew Unohana was looking for a way to get rid of her, it was obvious. She was a threat to her and her reputation; it was only instinct that she'd protect it.

"I didn't know you spoke Spanish, Ran-chan." Yoruichi commented off-topic with a smile. This was where she had to draw a line now. She didn't want to risk getting the SWA drawn in way over their heads. It was a necessity to keep them out of nobility drama as much as possible.

"Hirako-taicho is rude, vain, perverted, and egotistical; the exact opposite of Unohana-taicho. And supposedly, opposites are supposed to attract," Nanao commented sagely as she walked over to join the conversation. Her taicho swore on his life that the whole 'Opposites Attract' thing was real, and she was quite skeptical of it, until now.

Rukia was still pale from Unohana's confession, but had a voice to speak. "She could be lying, you know; it's probably just a silly prank! You know how out of sorts she can be when we do our kind of stuff."

The women nodded thoughtfully and gave Rukia an appreciative look. She could be right, Unohana-taicho was almost always lost when it came to girl talk, games, and of course, gossip. This could just be her little way of toying around with them, especially with the war being over.

"For now, just play along with it; at least until it's painfully obvious that she's joking around," Yoruichi advised, "No one, and I repeat, _no one _mention a word of this to anyone outside of this room. Especially Shinji."

"How come? Hirako-taicho would think that this is kind of fun and would want to join in, right Yoruichi-san?" Momo asked with a red face. She thought she got to know everything about her new taicho, but even being the closest to him out of everyone in this room, she was just as lost as the rest were. She wasn't sure if she'd be around long enough to see a marriage between Kuchiki-taicho and Unohana-taicho; there was an opening in the Kidoshu she wanted to go for it.

"I've known Shinji since I was a teen in the Academy and he was a lieutenant. Back then, he was your typical asshole of a man. But he's a lot less jovial now and even more twisted in the head," Yoruichi explained seriously, freezing the blood in the veins of everyone else present. "Aizen messed him up badly, and I don't want you all to get roped into his antics. He won't cross me, but he'll have no qualms about manipulating the rest of you."

"Jeez, you're making him sound like a serial killer! We're all high ranking for a reason, we're not stupid." Rangiku retorted and the rest of the women voiced their agreement.

Knowing that she'd lost this argument, Yoruichi relented, but made them promise not to meddle unless she deemed it necessary.

* * *

Byakuya cursed as he smacked the machine with his free hand. He had been standing at the ice machine for at least five minutes and had filled up only a fourth of the bucket when the machine sputtered out and was now only giving him one ice cube every few seconds.

He heard a few soft footsteps behind him and dismissed it as someone returning to their room. Noticing that the footsteps were getting a bit more hurried and louder, he turned around to see Retsu, clad in a pair of Chappy the Bunny pajamas bottoms, a sleeveless shirt, and a pair of sandals. Rukia had insisted that she wear these since she had only packed sleeping kimonos.

"Byakuya-san." Retsu said calmly with open eyes; neither a word of surprise or greeting. Seeing him with ruffled hair and grungy pajamas made him all the more—_relatable. _Shoving such trivial thoughts to the deep recesses of her mind, she smiled and mentioned that the ice machine wasn't working.

"It broke down just a few moments ago, Retsu-san." He casually shifted his hair over to cover his tinted cheeks. Seeing Retsu without her ever present immaculateness was strange—yet it made her all the more appealing. His breath hitched in her throat when she moved into his close proximity and gave the machine a surprisingly rough smack with her hand.

The machine whirred to life and finally dispensed the amount of ice that he needed. Instead of thanking her and leaving like she expected, he stuck around and just looked at her. Filling her bucket wordlessly, she stared at him while he spoke.

"We need to have a word, and you're not running off like last time." Byakuya warned as he put a hand on her small shoulder. Even though there was little to no pressure on her shoulder, her knees buckled slightly; and yet she managed to catch herself before she pulled an Isane.

'_**You've slept in the same bed and kissed this man and you get all weak in the knees from a hand on your shoulder? You're as soft as cotton, Retsu.'**_

Throwing caution to the wind and discarding her cheerful and oblivious mask, she spoke quietly. "We've spoken already today, and I've had enough shockers for the day," she stated brusquely as she removed his hand from her shoulder.

Two taichos in a relationship spelled trouble. Two taichos; one being a clan head and the other a commoner spelled a shit-storm from the deep recesses of hell.

"That's obvious, you are quite the observant one." He muttered condescendingly as he rested the bucket of ice on top of the machine itself and crossed his arms about his chest. She directed a fearsome glare at him that would have caused an unseated member to have a myocardial infarction _plus _a series of grand mal seizures, but he only broke out in a cold sweat that he was able to pass off as the warm air of the hallway.

As he gathered himself, she filled her bucket full of ice and turned to stomp off, but her shoulder was once again gripped firmly from behind and she was cautiously pulled back against his chest. He let his hand drop, knowing that she wouldn't run again after that and his mouth was level with her ear. "I never thought I'd have to resort to physical methods, Retsu-san," he whispered, his hot breath sending pleasant shockwaves throughout her body.

"What else could I possibly tell you?" she asked thickly, trying to swallow the sizeable lump in her throat and not pass out at the same time. Her body was on fire and she was afraid that if Byakuya didn't let her go soon, she would do some things that she'd soon regret.

"What I want…is for everything to return to normal," he answered serenely, and feeling the rumble in his broad chest nearly made Retsu keel over a third time that night. He needed a bit more time to think things through; he especially didn't want Retsu to have to deal with his ongoing problem with getting over Hisana. He vowed to never replace her, but the ache of loneliness could take a toll on anybody.

"How do you intend to do such a thing when we are in a position like this?" she asked lightly and she felt her heart simmer down a bit with his weight off of her. She knew that she wasn't off of the hook yet and had to agree to whatever he wanted.

"The celebration is in two days. After that, things will be back to normal. We manage our divisions, attend meetings, and hold club activities as usual. Your cooperation is all that I ask."

Narrowing her eyes at him, she replied. "You are aware that we are being watched, right?"

"Naturally. Those harpies aren't particularly discreet with their movements. And Yoruichi is the ringleader of all of this nonsense." He snarled uncharacteristically at the thought of her. The woman had terrorized him since he could walk, disappeared for a century, then came back to resume her 'duties.' The epitome of a demon.

"Let's not put a stop of it, at least for now. When it starts to get ridiculous and starts to affect our divisions, then we shall intervene," she advised as she looked around the hallway in paranoia. "It's a way to teach them a lesson."

"So you are asking me to deal with this nonsense for a longer period of time?" Byakuya asked incredulously, eyeing the woman to see if she was joking. She was expressionless and placid, as usual, which meant that she was dead serious and expected his cooperation on this subject.

A silent nod confirmed his worst fears. He could ignore the SWA easily; he had done so for the better part of the century, but to play along with their scheme? It was social suicide and he had no way out of it.

"You don't have to decide now, I'm giving you an opportunity to mull on this a bit." She explained as she started to turn to leave. She jolted slightly as if she had just remembered something, and turned back around to him. "One more thing," she whispered as she gestured for him to come closer.

"Why were you cradling my lieutenant in your arms, Bya-ku-ya?"

His froze immediately in shock and he looked away from her icy cold eyes. He knew it would eventually come to this. The Kotetsu sisters had terrible timing and now he would be the one to pay for it. One misstep and he may just piss her off again, and he wanted nothing more for them to be on the same page once more. Composing himself rather smoothly, he replied.

"She slipped on her sister's bag of candy and fell. Had I not caught her, she would have injured herself." It was almost like she wanted him to let her own subordinate fall and badly injure herself! He gave her a cross look. Byakuya wasn't one to outwardly care about his subordinates, but a situation like that could not have been ignored.

"It was quite the provocative position and any woman would be suspicious of something like that." She defended herself with a shrug and a flippant wave of the hand. It wasn't like she was going to murder Isane in her sleep, she just wanted a real answer and she knew her lieutenant would sugar coat it to instigate more drama.

"You sound jealous." He stated with a smirk as he took a potentially fatal risk by mocking her.

She disregarded his taunt with a flippant wave of the hand. "I was merely curious, that is all. It's not every day that I see my lieutenant with an attractive man."

"So now you think I am attractive? I always assumed that you didn't associate physical features with the matters of the heart." He pressed on as the smirk on his face became more pronounced. This was what he loved about being around Retsu; he could be himself and not worry about getting attacked by fan-girls or having subordinates flee from his sight.

"I don't—I have never seen my lieutenant in such a state before. That is all." she finished with a huff and turned her face away from him so that he couldn't see the aggravation on her face. Even if she couldn't afford to lose her mask, she could at least drop it a little bit around him.

She'd eventually have to tell him the truth.

"I see." He picked up his bucketful of ice and nodded a goodbye before walking away. It wasn't safe for the two of them to be caught out here; cutting their visit short was the smartest solution.

"One more thing," her soft voice called out in alarm. Noticing the panic, he wheeled around quickly to see what the fuss was about, but was completely caught off guard by what she did next.

She was in front of him within seconds, yanked him down by the shirt with surprising force, and planted a passionate kiss on his lips. Suppressing the groan of surprise and pleasure in his throat, he unconsciously gave away all of his restraint and wrapped his free hand around her, kissing back.

Much too soon, she broke the kiss and chuckled at his flustered expression. A bit of payback once in a while wouldn't hurt anyone. She took a long look at her watch and tutted fretfully, "Oh, look at the time. I must be on my way, goodnight, Byakuya-san!" she bid him adieu, picked up her filled bucket, and swayed down the adjacent hall.

She could see the look of annoyance and the look of desire plastered on his face. He stood there for a few moments more before stalking back to his room.

'_**Did you see the look on his face? He looked like he wanted to take you right there and then!' **_Minazuki gushed as the squealed in delight. Oh, this was getting juicy now! Whenever Retsu wants something, she _gets _it. Unohana put on an aloof expression and shrugged daintily. She wasn't trying to seduce Byakuya—oh no. "I'm not used to expressing my feelings, and that was the best I could come up with."

'_**You could've hugged him, shook his hand, had a cup of tea with him, played chess with him, you know. NORMAL STUFF.'**_

Casting her zanpakuto a curt look, she sniffed in distaste and kept strolling to the room. If Minazuki assumed that anyone in this universe was normal, she was terribly wrong. Being normal isn't a blessing, it's a curse. Being odd has its own rewards. Her reward would probably be finding someone good enough to tolerate for the rest of her long days.

It didn't seem too bad.

"You're only saying that because you haven't found someone you care about," she replied nonchalantly after a few moments of silence. Almost feeling Minazuki's temper flare up, she continued bravely. "Maybe one day you will set aside your bitterness and jealously and take the time to really express yourself."

'_**I am not bitter or jealous! Witch!'**_

* * *

**Oh God. This is probably the worst chapter that I've written for this story; everything feels off and just completely wrong. But this is the biggest chapter so far, so I guess that makes up for something, right? **

**I usually limit myself to about 4,000-4,500 words per chapter, but it seems that I may have to double that limit at some point…**

**Thanks for reading and review!**


	12. Chapter 12

"This isn't ice, it's a slushy! What the hell took so long, anyways? And why are you blushing?!"

Shinji cast Byakuya a disgruntled look as he nobleman breezed by him without a word. Clucking his tongue distastefully at the unconscious men that were sprawled out around the room and arriving at the door to his own room, he spoke.

"The machine malfunctioned. It was quite warm in the hallway." Byakuya stated simply as he looked over his shoulder at the blond man, daring him to complain again. Even the air began to thicken with artificial spiritual pressure from Byakuya, which wasn't an easy feat.

Raising his hands in a placating manner, he attempted to frown but the telltale twitching of his lips didn't convince Byakuya in the slightest. "Fine, fine; you _tried _at least." He dipped a finger in the bucket and swirled it around, "This will work."

Byakuya was going to question Shinji on what his intentions were, but the question died off in his throat as 5th Division taicho tiptoed up to Ichigo's drunken body, and dumped the entire of the bucket on his face. The orange haired boy sat straight up, screaming his head off in a drunken fashion and glared at Shinji. "What the—hic—hell was that f-for?!" he bawled out as he attempted to get on his feet, but ended up slipping on the puddle and landing directly on Renji's face.

"Argh! Gah!" the redhead groaned as he clutched at his bruised nose and rolled around in pain. The ruckus was enough to wake up the rest of the men in the room and even enough for other hotel guests to back on their walls in annoyance.

Ignoring the murderous glares that were directed his way, Shinji jumped onto the couch and immediately went into lecture mode. "Glad that you're all _finally _awake; I was damn near about to call the mortuary to—"

The sound of a card being swiped through the door slot interrupted Shinji and after a moment, the door swung open to reveal the rest of the missing captains, except Kurotsuchi. Jushiro eyed the large puddle of water on the ground and the black eye that was appearing on Renji's face and decided to keep silent.

"You've started a party without us?" Shunsui pouted as he strolled into the room and took a seat right on the couch that Hirako was standing on. "What a shame."

Fumbling a bit as the weight shifted to the other side of the couch, Shinji noticed that Kyoraku was actually sober and that there wasn't a whiff of alcohol on him. That meant that they were up to something if it was important enough for Kyoraku not to get hammered.

"Where were you?" Byakuya demanded softly as he too noted the sobriety of Kyoraku and the lack of a flustered look on Ukitake's face. Jushiro scratched at his hair absentmindedly and raised a calming hand. "We were out to dinner; we would have invited you all to come but—"

"—you all were too drunk to even bother communicate with." Toshiro finished to Jushiro with a sigh, averting his eyes to the taller white haired man who had just hung his head in confirmation. Frowning at the boy, Shinji was about to go on a verbal tirade on how he didn't lower himself to such a level by allowing himself to get drunk around a bunch of idiots when a loud grumble was heard throughout the room.

Byakuya slunk back stealthily into the hotel room, hoping that the fools out there would figure out that it was his stomach that was growling so loudly. He was so busy with tracking down Retsu, avoiding the harpies, and being dragged around by Hirako that he didn't get to eat. Noticing a snack bar in the corner, he stuck a hand in it and pulled out the first thing he felt, which was a bag of trail mix.

"Such garbage," he muttered to himself, wincing as one of the nuts lodged itself in between his teeth. His pride had already taken a hit when Retsu was able to reduce him into a silent, flustered mess. But eating peanuts and chocolate from the real world as a noble? Social suicide.

The door cracked open a bit and closed quickly again; not even Byakuya's keen senses could hear it.

"Hey, guys; Kuchiki is eating some _pretty _big nuts in there, eh?!" Shinji's shrill jeer permeated the walls and caused a nut to lodge itself in Byakuya's throat. After sending a weak wave of killing intent through the walls and dislodging the legume from his esophagus, he once again curled up in his bed and sighed.

'_**That was a brave thing you did there, Master.' **_Senbonzakura said with a bit of pride in his voice. His master's stone cold heart was finally being reopened, bit by bit.

"It was a mistake. I shouldn't have done something like that to her," Byakuya replied hollowly, the guilt wrenching his heart. To go against Hisana in such a way was too painful to describe. He felt regret over being attracted to another woman, yet he didn't feel any regret over having feelings for Retsu. It was much too confusing and he hated himself for feeling so weak.

Not exactly sure who he was referring too, Senbonzakura sighed and racked his mind for a semi-decent reply. Even if he came up with good advice, Byakuya-sama was too stubborn to really listen to him; he mostly stored information in his mind to be used later, or forgotten.

'_**Please communicate your feelings to Unohana-san. I am sure that she will be able to understand.' **_The zanpakuto practically begged of him. He planned on forging a connection with Minazuki and getting her input on the matter; it was vital. He felt a bit annoyed that Byakuya remained silent, but realized that he was staring out at the moon; something he almost always did back in the Soul Society.

"We'll see." He replied shortly, yet his words didn't hold their trademark arrogance and venom. It was almost like he intended to keep his promise! Senbonzakura smiled proudly at his master and faded back into his consciousness.

Thinking about how Unohana's soft lips enveloped his, the flutter in his chest once again returned and lulled him into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

Retsu leaned against the wall next to her hotel room, still reeling from that kiss. It was the first time that she had made the initiative to display her affections and needless to say, she was terrible at it. In past relationships, she mostly received such things and never offered anything in return. _"He's probably in the same state that I am in." _

'_**You're damn right,' **_Minazuki barked gruffly, interrupting her thoughts. _**'He looked like he was about to pass out!' **_This new side of Retsu was freaking her out. In the past, her mistress was calm, collected, and generally emotionlessness. Now, she gets flustered by the slightest thing, nearly shattered her fukutaicho's shoulder back at the mall, and felt the need to start making jokes—awful ones at that. She'd never get used to it.

'_**Cradle-robber,' **_Minazuki added on under her breath, expecting Retsu to not hear it.

"He's an adult and so am I." Retsu snapped harshly. She knew that she was more than a few centuries older than him, but why did it matter? Love doesn't have an age limit!

'_**You were his mother's midwife when he was born,' **_Minazuki shot back viciously, although the bout of laughter took away from it.

Unohana winced and grumbled curses underneath her breath. That one hurt. There's nothing worse than being the midwife to your love's mother; that would be quite the tale to tell the grandkids.

She blushed and rubbed her temples as she vainly tried to push the image of her and Byakuya sitting on a bench at the Kuchiki Manor at sunset, watching their grandchildren toss pieces of bread at the swans in the lake. The swans swam in a pattern around the lake and formed a heart as the moon appeared over the horizon and—

'_**You are so melodramatic.'**_

Retsu disregarded her zanpakuto's comment and swung open the door to the room. She was met with a dull thud and looked in to see Rangiku's head in the way. The buxom woman groaned for a moment before snoring again.

"You took longer than anticipated, taicho, so she just went ahead and drank one of the bottles," Isane explained as she greeted her taicho at the door. Unohana-taicho had been gone for fifteen minutes, even though the ice machine was just down the hall and to the left.

"The machine malfunctioned, but I was able to fix it. Just not in time, I suppose." She cautiously stepped over Rangiku's body and placed the bucket on the table. She saw that they ordered food from the hotel's room service, but she didn't have an appetite. Too much had happened today, so she bid everyone good night and turned in early.

Sitting on her bed with her back against the wall, she stared out of the window at the moon. It was a pastime of hers back in the Soul Society, but she found that she preferred the moon of the real world. Smiling on reflex, she realized that she and Byakuya both liked to look out at the moon. The sense of protection and calm it gave off always compelled her to watch it replace the sun in the sky over a nice cup of tea. It was much brighter and gave her a warm, tingly feeling.

'_**That's probably just gas.' **_Minazuki said, reading her mistress's thoughts.

"We have spoken numerous times, and yet we never did once communicate our _true _feelings," Retsu commented in realization as she ignored Minazuki's jab. Byakuya was naturally guarded when it came to himself and no one but a few people were around to see what she was really like and most of them were afraid to even ask.

'_**I'm glad that you've finally picked up on that.' **_Minazuki stated with a nod of approval. Senbonzakura had come to her practically begging her to use her persuasion skills as a means to get Retsu to really open up her feelings to Byakuya, and the other way around as well. It wouldn't be particularly difficult based on how intense her mistress's feelings were for the younger man. Retsu didn't realize how strongly she felt about him, she still assumed it was a fleeting romance that would die out it time.

"Tomorrow, then. I will find a way of making him open up to me tomorrow," she said with unwavering determination in her voice, almost making this situation sound like a medical case.

'_**That's not possible, the SWA is lurking around every corner, plus you've got Hirako harassing Byakuya at every given moment. You'll have to wait.' **_The newer generation _claimed_ that Unohana-taicho's unwavering patience and control was something that she was famous for. The older generation _knew _that patience wasn't something that she liked to resort to when she wanted something. Minazuki waited with bated breath for her mistress's answer that could possibly affect the tides of her budding relationship with Byakuya.

"Yes…you are right. I need to be patience and wait. Thank you, and goodnight, Minazuki." She turned away from the window and shut her eyes. Thinking about how Byakuya wrapped his arm around her body and how his lips glided about hers, it was more than enough to lull her into a deep slumber.

* * *

"I can't do that, Yoruichi-sama. I'm still a junior captain. It will not work." Sui-feng repeated for the third time and made a point to turn away from Yoruichi's pout. It was simply impossible at her current rank. Maybe in the next twenty years, yes, but it would be fruitless to attempt now.

"Do what?" Rukia asked as she looked up from the television. She was well aware on how manipulative Yoruichi-san could be and seeing Sui-feng successfully resist an attempt like that was commendable.

Yoruichi stood up and tiptoed to Unohana's door and placed a simple seal on it. It just so happened to be a seal of the Shihoin Crest; it glowed purple for a few moments and then faded altogether. "Silencing seal." She said simply as she retook her seat next to Sui-feng on the couch.

"She wanted me to go into the Central 46's Supreme Archives and get information on Unohana." Sui-feng explained to all of the women who were gathering around them to listen. "They have records on every single thing she has done since she's entered the system."

Everyone was dumbfounded and unable to respond. Most of them disliked the Central 46 for their lack of reason and terrible decision making, but for them to have record on every Shinigami in existence? Simply amazing.

"Only senior taichos and the sotaicho can access it." Nanao said, knowing that plenty of questions were about to be asked. "There is a ranking system for taichos as well; Supreme Head taicho, Senior taicho, General taicho, and Junior taicho."

"To become a general taicho, a mandatory one hundred and ten years is necessary, to become a senior taicho, one has to have serves a minimum of two hundred and thirty and be able to use all forms of Kido with complete mastery." Rukia continued for Nanao, having read a book on the subject many times. Her brother had only been a taicho for a little over sixty years, so he was still of junior rank.

"And I've only been taicho for ninety three years, it's impossible." Sui-feng stated again with a huff and a pout at the same time, cursing her low ranking. "And being commander of the Onmitsukido doesn't make a difference, it is not officially apart of the Gotei 13."

"Who is the closest to making Senior taicho as of now?" Orihime cut in.

"Shinji. Yamamoto decided to not reset the Vizards' years as an IOU type of thing, so Shinji has about two hundred and twenty nine years as far as I can remember." Yoruichi said as she stared off into space in deep thought, trying to remember.

Shinji Hirako was an enigma, to say the least. He graduated from the Academy three years early, entered the Gotei 13 as a 4th Seat and became a fukutaicho not long after that. A decade later, he replaced his retired taicho as leader of the 5th. That was a period in time where not many people were able to achieve Shikai, and even less to achieve Bankai. It was a piece of cake for a skilled person to jump through the ranks.

Such information had been erased from the textbooks at the Academy. The Gotei 13 didn't want the newer generation to know about the tragedy of losing so many taichos in one night, so the Vizards were effectively erased from history, along with anyone who had helped them along the way.

"It is not particularly impressive, seeing as how Unohana-taicho has been a captain in her position for over eight hundred years, and Kyoraku-taicho and Ukitake-taicho for a little over six hundred," Nemu commented quietly, not expecting Rangiku to tackle her and hold her down.

"You know that much? Come on, you've gotta know more, right? Tell us!" Rangiku begged as she glomped Nemu even further. The cyborg was having a bit of trouble breathing but didn't show it, obviously. Deciding to spare Nemu from further 'interrogation', Nanao spoke up again.

"It was in the handbook of new recruits. You should have received yours when you graduated from the Academy," she said pointedly, knowing for a fact that Rangiku had misplaced it almost immediately after receiving it.

"We have a little less than a year to accomplish our goal. The competition is still on, naturally, but now we have a different goal to achieve." Yoruichi said as she quieted down the room with ease. She went on to explain how the Central 46's archives contain information on all the techniques, weaknesses and strengths, and basically everything about everyone in the Gotei 13.

Shinji would even attempt to look into Byakuya-bo's files, expose them, and inadvertently begin a civil war. It was imperative that under no circumstances that they'd let him accomplish that. She also knew that if he found out that the SWA was a step ahead of him, he'd back out and let them handle it. The Four Noble Clans had convinced Central 46 to inform them when the records of their clan members have been read, and only the sotaicho had their permission.

This was a secret that Yoruichi shouldn't have told them, but it was important for them to know.

"Prevent Shinji from finding out about Unohana-san and Byakuya-bo's secrets and make sure that we find out ourselves."

* * *

The door to Byakuya's room opened slowly and one green eye peeked inside. Grinning, the door opened up a little bit more, but creaked loudly. The green eyed figure held their breath as they watched the nobleman's eyes twitch for a bit before relaxing; their breath evening out.

With free reign, they waltzed in casually and cleared their throat as they threw open the curtains. "Good morning, Byakuya!" Shinji Hirako exclaimed as he waltzed over to Byakuya and started to jab him in the face with a pencil. His grin widened even further as the noble's grey eyes shot open in anger and snapped the pencil in two with only one finger. Right as Shinji attempted to back away, Byakuya leaned forward and used his hand to catch him around the neck, spin him around, and pin him on the bed.

"Is there any particular reason as to _why _you decided to bother me at this time, Hirako-teme?!" he asked viciously as his face was tinged red with anger. Knock on the door; call his soul phone, plenty other normal and _calm _ways to wake him. and yet Shinji was able to do it in the most obnoxious way!

"It was…a s-special wake-up call—by y-yours truly," he said between gasps of breath, he himself starting to change colors. It seemed that Byakuya fully intended to strangle him to death, but he decided to not shake him off. Let someone find him, he didn't care.

"Hey, what's going on—oh?" Kyoraku pushed open door further and got a glimpse of Byakuya and Shinji in—_ahem_—an awkward position. Byakuya slid off of the bed in horror and glared at Kyoraku, daring him to say something. The bearded man smiled knowingly and slowly began to shut the door.

"It appears that I have interrupted you two. My apologizes." He said with a smirk as the door shut with a snap behind him. A few hush whispered and gasps of horror were heard a few moments later. Giving Shinji a withering look, he proceeded to fling the door open and gracefully stomp out.

'_**I don't see what satisfaction you get out of harassing that man,' **_Sakanade admonished severely, embarrassed at the lack of class her master has. He's changed; he's not the same anymore. That damned Aizen turned him from an annoying son of a bitch to an insane, maniacal lunatic who is much too nosey for his own good.

"It's fun, that's why."

* * *

Retsu lowered herself into the hot springs with a satisfied sigh, welcoming the heat of the water that surrounded her whole body. Yoruichi really went out of her way this time, this was a wonderful idea. Going to the hot springs to relieve some stress before a major event was just perfect. Making sure that her hair was still pinned up, she leaned back and sighed once again in satisfaction. For once, her mind wasn't on Byakuya, it was solely on relaxation.

Unfortunately, this hot springs had a strict rule about swimwear, which was not allowed. Such a thing was not foreign to Retsu and if she was still in the Soul Society, she would not have bothered to go there.

Thankfully, a slight slip up with her gigai prevented her little _'secret' _from being exposed to the rest. She could soak comfortably and not have to deal with a load of pointless questions and stares.

Everyone was quite settled in and content with the relative silence, except Rangiku. She hated when there were plenty of people around but with little conversation taking place; it was beyond aggravating. Glancing to her left and seeing that Unohana's eyes were shut peacefully, she playfully poked the older woman on the arm.

"Hmm?" she hummed nonchalantly as she cracked her eyes open to look at her. _"What could she possibly want now?" _Rangiku was third on her watch list and in order to not come off as suspicious, she had to force herself to be the kind and benevolent healer that she _made _herself become. It was getting more difficult as the days grew closer to the 'anniversary', but she could manage, for now at least.

"Well, since the war's over and we're at peace, what do you plan on doing from now on?" she asked with sincere curiosity, seeing as how she knew next to nothing about Unohana other than what she wanted others to know about. Hollow attacks in the Rukongai were little threats and unseated officers were often deployed to take care of them, leaving the higher ranks with next to nothing to do. Rangiku both appreciated and loathed the new set-up.

That question would have thoroughly stumped Retsu if she hadn't thought of such a thing from before. It turns out that a majority of the hollow attacks that occurred in the hundred year span before the war were courtesy of Aizen, and with him jailed and the remaining Espada weakened beyond measure, the only thing that the Shinigami really had to do were spirit purifications. Besides that, she didn't even really have a social life.

"I will probably take more trips to the mountains for herb gatherings," she mused indecisively as she rubbed at a shoulder. "Mostly to increase the amount of natural medicines used by the 4th Division." She didn't have to worry about patients seeking treatment by the 12th Division, but having an edge in the organic department would benefit the 4th Division immensely. There was a bit of a rivalry between the 4th and the 12th when it came to medical research and Retsu wanted to make sure that they remained on top.

'_**Or you could start setting up the nursery,' **_Minazuki commented casually.

"I wanna build a candy shop so that Ken-chan and I don't have to get lost all the time!" Yachiru cheered as she swam around happily. "And finish up my Bankai, too!"

Everyone stared at the little girl in surprise while Isane sank down to her nose in the water. Such a young girl was already trying for Bankai and here she was, concentrating on healing more than developing her own skill set for combat. The thought alone of having someone decades younger than her surpass her was amazing and depressing at the same time.

Momo raised a skeptical eyebrow, "How long have you been training for it?" She herself had felt obligated to take command of the 5th, but it just didn't seem right to her. Hirako-taicho deserved it more than her and it would be difficult to join the Kidoshu and manage her division at the same time.

Adjusting the water wings on her arms, she placed a thoughtful finger on her chin. "Uh, about eight years now!" she exclaimed. The average amount of years it took to master Bankai was around ten to fifteen, which meant that with diligence, Yachiru could obtain it.

"I'll probably keep training; my zanpakuto wants to continue with working for Bankai as well." Rukia interrupted plainly as she squeezed water out of her hair. Orihime watched with a sour face as the women discussed their training methods, she wanted a zanpakuto as well! The only problem was that she'd have to die first…

"I want to start learning Bankai too, but my zanpakuto is so damn lazy that it's practically impossible. My captain was the 3rd Seat when I was lieutenant, and then all of a sudden he overtook me! It wasn't fair!" Rangiku whined as she looked to the captain-class level women for advice. Sui-feng scowled and shrugged. "I learned Bankai to _become_ a captain, not to _use_ it. It goes against everything I stand for."

"My zanpakuto has also expressed a desire to…" Nanao's voice trailed off as she scowled and she reached for a spare bucket and chucked it over the barrier into the men's side. It connected with someone's head with a satisfying clunk and everyone could hear a faint wail of "Nanaooo-chan~~!"

"We came here to unwind and relax, not talk about Bankai. And besides, I haven't used my zanpakuto in over a century. I'm not too keen on Zanjutsu over Hakuda." Yoruichi groused after Rangiku turned her desperate gaze towards her. The cat woman stood, picked up her bucket and looked in it. "Ah, I forgot something," she said as she grabbed a towel and her sandals.

After Yoruichi disappeared, Matsumoto rounded on Unohana. She must have mastered Bankai fairly easily to be ranked as a Senior Captain, so it was only common sense to ask her. Unohana listened to Rangiku's questions with a thoughtful face; the newer generation usual fought against their zanpakuto to gain Bankai. She simply demanded it of Minazuki, who didn't cooperate fully at first but after a few fatal injuries, she gave in.

"I mediated and forged a close relationship with my zanpakuto," Unohana lied kindly. "The rest just fell into place." The rest of the women nodded at her answer, assuming it was the truth seeing as how Unohana chose peace over battle in all subjects. Retsu frowned slightly, her expression hidden by the steam—this was one of many blatant lies she's told in the past two months. It wasn't like she wanted to tell such lies, but this was more of a way to protect the women over herself.

'_**You tried to decapitate me and used kido to blow off my…'**_

Minazuki didn't get a chance to finish her rant; a plethora of angry splashes and a few whoops of satisfaction distracted the women for a few minutes. They all looked at each other and sighed.

"Yoruichi."

* * *

Byakuya fumed silently as he sat isolated from the rest of the SMA in the hot water—naked, unfortunately. The hot springs had a strict no bathing suit policy so he was forced to comply, or faced getting harassed by the demon cat. Thankfully, Shinji was on the other side of the bath with his fellow Vizards, speaking about something in hushed tones. The blond man hadn't acknowledged him since he near strangled him from that morning. That was both a relief and a trouble to him.

"Such nice water to soothe our old, achy bones, right Hitsugaya-san?" Jushiro inquired out of his fellow 'Shiro-chan', who was fuming just as much as Byakuya was because the management forced him to wear water wings since he was under the age of '12'. Toshiro softened his fiery glare at Jushiro, for he had connections and gave him his favorite candy. "I suppose so," he intoned evenly.

"Are you enjoying yourself over there, Kuchiki-san?" Shunsui called out happily, sipping on some sake from the real world. The hot springs allowed alcohol here, it was perfect. Byakuya opened his eyes and nodded slightly, almost imperceptibly. Renji sat near Izuru and Shuhei and eyed his taicho carefully. "There is something wrong with my captain."

Izuru and Shuhei turned their heads towards their respective captains and nodded in agreement. Even though they had only known them for a short amount of time, they could both tell that the Vizard captains were up to something. Otoribashi-taicho hadn't tried to bore Kira with his musical knowledge on the whole trip, which was quite suspicious. He didn't even complain about not bringing his guitar with him and that was worth the concern.

Muguruma-taicho hadn't called Shuhei a 'spineless, idiotic shithead' in a few days and resorted to rolling his eyes at the lieutenant and/or lightly smacking him over the head, which was a step up from just generally punching him in the gut.

Before any of the fukutaichos could continue with their shared confusion over the new personalities of their taichos, the door to the bath was kicked open and a female shaped figure trounced in, her towel hanging on for dear life as she squinted about.

"Yoruichi-san!" Ichigo yelped as he slid himself down in the water to his eyes. He garbled angrily at her, but she ignored him and spoke.

"Does anyone have soap in here?" she asked casually as she padded around the tile walkway that was around the bath. Some of the men, besides Shinji, Byakuya, Kenpachi, Mayuri, Toshiro and Shunsui were too flustered and embarrassed to respond. Reaching Byakuya's corner, she giggled as she knelt down to her knees, wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered seductively in his ear. "Do you have any soap, Byakuya-bo? I'm a very, _very, _dirty girl…"

Not missing a beat, the nobleman met her eyes with a disdainful glare, "You are trespassing in a men's bath. Leave now." He threatened. This woman was as annoying as his fan club _and _his suitors combined.

"How the _hell _are you resisting her?" Kenpachi asked incredulously as he eyed the body of the Goddess of the Flash. There was something wrong with Kuchiki's head if he had a lady like that after him and he tells her to hit the road each time. He glanced over at Shinji who was just as bored and expressionless as Kuchiki himself. Grinning evilly, he stored this development away for further use.

"Being attracted to the physical aspects of another being is beneath anyone who has the ability to utilize their intellect." Kurotsuchi scoffed as he effectively rebuked Kenpachi's exclamation.

"Yeah, Byakuya-bo," Yoruichi reiterated Kenpachi's complaint, "how can you resist all of _this!_" she exclaimed as she ripped the towel off of herself, twirled around a few times and immediately fled the bathhouse. A majority of the men succumbed to nosebleeds and promptly fainted. Byakuya remained as impassive as ever; he had seen her naked body enough times for it to never elicit a reaction out of him, not that it would. If it was Retsu on the other hand…

"_No!" _he shook his head adamantly, trying to purge such thoughts from his mind. He was not a pervert and wouldn't be fantasizing about Retsu-san like that. It would make him no better than Hirako. And she for one would not react in that way if the situation was the other way around.

Watching Byakuya struggle with a smirk twitching on his lips, Shinji Hirako inclined his head towards the man. This was _gold_! He had planned on backing off and watching things from the shadows, but after this he'd be a fool to hang back. For now, he'd keep low profile. But as soon as there was a chance, he'd pounce immediately.

"Be on the lookout, Kuchiki-sama. I'm watching you," he snickered gleefully.

* * *

**My original intention was for this story to be strictly romantic, and yet I feel like I'm turning it into a crack-fic. It's pretty difficult to add humor to an otherwise serious story, so I'd consider their little vacation as filler, for now. **

**I apologize if my inner crack-fic demon is making the story feel mediocre. I promise that in future chapters that I will try to focus the story primarily on Byakuya and Retsu's POV, but it'll be a bit difficult seeing as how the anime/manga really didn't flesh out their true inner thoughts. I will occasionally switch the story to another character's POV, but not as frequent unless it really has an effect the story line.**

**There will still be a bit of humor/crack here and there, but the romance factor is going to be the main focus when the group gets back to the Soul Society.**

**After this story is finished, I plan on writing another Unohana centered-fic, but this time it will be pure crack comedy, and I've been told by numerous people that I'm pretty damn hilarious.**

**If any of you want to know what the SWA's outfits look like, there are some links in my bio that will show you what they're wearing to the celebration.**

**Thanks for reading and review!**


	13. Chapter 13

"Are you sure ma'am?" the auburn haired, green eyed stylist asked sweetly, "Your hair is beautiful—absolute perfection! Why don't you let me style it a bit? Please?!"

Retsu had only just walked out of the restroom when she was stopped by a stylist on the way back. The hair stylist almost immediately gave her a long dialogue on how her hair was beautiful and begged the healer to let her style it.

Unohana shook her head calmly, once again shooting down the hair stylist's dream of being able to turn such long, thick and beautiful hair into something marvelous. She was well aware that her hair had been the envy of many female Shinigami—and because of it she braided it down her front so that it wouldn't attract much attention or be grabbed at from the back.

"No, but thank you for offering," she replied demurely as she gathered together her next words, "but I would like a few tips on how to style it myself." Being a grown woman, Retsu obviously knew how to style her own hair. She could do a variety of _traditional _styles and braids but this celebration was far from traditional.

She was even able to apply makeup fairly well, not quite at the level of the other women of the SWA but she picked up on it easily and would consider herself to have some skill with it.

Rangiku always toted around something that looked like a set of cooking tongs and swore by it that it keeps her hair straight and glossy, and she wanted to learn how to use it as well. Even Yoruichi used something that looked cylindrical in form that curled her hair quite nicely. Wanting to be self-sufficient, she said her goodbyes to the rest of the SWA as they went for massages and wandered into the hair salon.

The hair stylist, named Reina, tentatively reached out and fingered the end of Retsu's braid behind her back. She had never seen anything like it; it was so dark, thick and lovely that she would pay millions to style it. But since the client wouldn't want her to, she'd have to settle for giving out advice.

"Well, I'd suggest that you'd use a curling iron to give it definition, but not before using this…" Reina offered up six red and silver bottles to the Retsu in excitement and even made a point of handwriting a set of instructions on how to use the products.

Handing the seasoned healer a magazine on hairstyles for her type of hair and making her promise to take pictures of the results and send it to her, she sent her on her way with a proud grin on her face and a pocket full of cash.

* * *

Jushiro Ukitake reached out and poured the bucket of water on top of the heater, releasing a hearty cloud of steam into the sauna. He rested his back against the wooden wall of the sauna and slowly closed his eyes, thankful for the silence since both of his 3rd seats were nowhere near him now.

His idea was quickly vanquished when the door swung open and let the steam spill out in large clouds. In stepped his best friend Shunsui who had a wide grin on his face. "Have you been enjoying yourself, Jushiro-kun?" he asked jovially as he shut the door behind him and sat next to his friend.

Ukitake gave him his best look of satisfaction and happiness and nodded, "Somewhat." He replied cryptically and secretly hoped that Shunsui would be too drunk to notice his sullen tone. Being close friends for the better part of the millennium, Shunsui nodded in understanding, knowing why Jushiro sounded so annoyed. It was going to be that time of decade again—and being the younger of two sons; he wouldn't be able to understand.

Many people assume that being a part of the Soul Society's nobility to be a wonderful thing. Elegant dinners, acres of land belonging to you alone, and having huge feasts every other month are a commoner's dream. But many nobles, especially those who are high ranking Shinigami, only see their status as a hindrance to their goals.

Sui-feng outwardly disregarded her status as a clan head to a high noble clan and preferred to injure her family members rather than make an effort to connect with them. High ranking Shinigami nobles could also put in a claim that their duties for their career would prevent them from being a dutiful spouse, but excuses like that could only do so much.

The Four Noble Houses are clans that are above the law, in a way. They are charged with protecting artifacts belonging to the Royal Family of the Spirit King, giving them the most prestige out of all the nobility. Many high ranking members of the Gotei 13 belong to the nobility.

The two most well-known clans of the Four Noble Houses are the Kuchiki Clan and the Shihoin Clan, both headed by the taicho of the 6th Division and the soshireikan of the Onmitsukido. Ukitake was the head of a lesser house and Kyoraku was the younger son of a clan head to a middle-ranked house.

"Ah, yes. It's nearly that time of decade again." Kyoraku commented in realization as he stroked his chin. He was lucky to be six years younger than his brother; he will never have to be subjected to such methods of torture. Every ten years, the Elders of many noble houses—high ranking or not—would band together and have a meeting to weed out the singles and marry them off.

It was a perfect opportunity for lower clans to finally rise up in the ranks and for higher families to get their stubborn singles to marry and continue their line. The idea of having an arranged marriage was nauseating to Ukitake, but he knew that he'd have to settle down at some point. He had been the head of his clan for seven hundred years and still hasn't produced an heir. His younger siblings could easily succeed him, but the Elders insisted that he kept the leadership in his own personal line.

One reason for his lifelong eligibility was that he wasn't interested in marrying anymore. No woman would want a husband to be consistently ill all of the time. The second and main reason was that he didn't want his children to have to possibly deal with the same illness that he had to. He was the only one out of his seven siblings to be affected, but who knows what could happen?

"I can wing my way out of it again, naturally. I've done so for centuries already. But I'm afraid that I'm running out of time. I'm not getting any younger," he chuckled as he poked at a barely visible wrinkle on his face. His illness had been in remission for the past four months and it wouldn't surprise him if it suddenly came back with vengeance. His younger siblings were up to the task, but he wanted to keep the title in his line only.

"Maybe I'll attend it as well. It's open to all of the eligible nobility! Heh, I think it's time that I settle down, y'know what I mean, right? Have a kid or two, nice garden, couple of pets." Kyoraku replied as he dreamed of living in a small cottage on the mountain side with his spouse, children, maybe even a small farm.

"You, the self-proclaimed eternal bachelor, settling down? Starting a family? I can hardly see that happening," Ukitake muttered as he stifled a laugh. Was it really strange that he wanted to marry out of love and not out of obligation?

"If only Unohana-sempai or Nanao-chan were of the nobility," Shunsui sighed wistfully. Many thought that his crush on Unohana-sempai was just his way of teasing her and fooling around, but he at some point he did harbor real feelings for the healer. Of course, such feelings were in the past and he was more or less fixated on his lieutenant, who was hell bent on permanently reshaping the skull in his head.

Ukitake reddened slightly at the thought; he himself has still harbored a bit of affection for the healer but wouldn't go out of his way to propose marriage unless she completely reciprocated. And being captains would complicate their marriage even more; it just didn't seem worth it. He was better off just going through the list of noblewomen who weren't Shinigami, finding a woman out of that list who he could relate with and let things take off from there.

"But, of course, Unohana-sempai belongs to Byakuya-san—" Shunsui was about to continue on about how opposites attract and how it pertained to a variety of people, but a pointed glare from Ukitake changed that, "—but that is entirely based on speculation, of course." he stammered.

* * *

Byakuya winced slightly as the masseuse once again dug her nails into his back. Had he been in his spiritual form, such an occurrence wouldn't have bothered him in the least bit. He probably wouldn't have even felt it; being sliced up by numerous swords and claws—and in some cases, teeth—had made him near immune to the pain from physical attacks. This foolish gigai created by the mad scientist basically gave him the same body as a very physically fit human.

"I—oh—I apologize, sir!" the blond masseuse looked like she was about to cry as Byakuya gave her one of his famous withering looks. Nevertheless, she decided to keep on going because her fellow co-workers bet that she wouldn't last twenty minutes with the man, and so far it has been sixteen minutes and thirty-two seconds.

For a few moments, Byakuya had imagined that it was Retsu giving him a massage and not the silly human who was doing it now. He gritted his teeth shamefully, here he was fantasizing about a woman that he wasn't even sure had real romantic feelings for him—based on her 'flirtatious' attitude—instead of concentration on the work at hand.

It was shameful.

Unable to quell his thoughts about her much longer, he dismissed the woman with a wave of the hand and the crunch of a sizeable tip in her breast pocket. The services here were mediocre compared to his personal masseuse, but that wasn't the issue now. He had made the unfortunate mistake of convincing Retsu to pretend that nothing was going on between them until the SWA's little game blew over, but that could take decades!

Pulling on his clothes and checking the clock, he realized that he could sneak away and take a walk before coming back. The demon cat mentioned that they were going to be leaving by eight at night and it was a few minutes past six; plenty of time.

He walked down the street and looked around for 'that store'. The Quincy had driven past it and it caught his eye, so he planned to sneak away from the group and buy something there. He thought that Kurotsuchi had his work cut out for him since he could sneak away so easily, but it wasn't difficult at all.

Pleased to see that the doors opened automatically so that he did not have to filthy his hands, he glided in and was almost immediately approached a worker. "Good afternoon sir, my name is Renosuke. How may I help you?" the blond, green-eyed worker looked at Byakuya and offered out a hand.

Byakuya reluctantly shook the man's hand and looked around openly at the jewelry store. The place seemed fair enough, there was nothing rundown or dinky about it. He had originally thought that he wouldn't have needed any help to find what he needed here, but he knew next to nothing about buying jewelry for women. Hisana disliked wearing jewels that he made his servants buy for her so he was completely inexperienced.

"I'm looking to purchase some jewelry for my…female coworker." He said this with complete indifference and calm as he ignored Senbonzakura's incessant proverbs about acknowledging one's romantic partners with the appropriate title, even though he and Retsu were the furthest thing from a couple.

Renosuke straightened his tie and smiled at Byakuya. It wasn't the first time that he's seen a case like this; a man comes in asking for jewelry for a 'female coworker' or 'female family friend'. Denial was a part of life, and he knew that to get his full commission, he had to get Byakuya to admit that this mystery woman was his significant other and get him to spend a small fortune on a gift for her.

"Do you know what your lady '_friend' _likes in jewelry?" Renosuke asked as he gestured for Byakuya to follow him towards the back of the store where the women's jewelry was held. Byakuya shook his head to signify that he didn't know; he had _never _seen Retsu in any kind of jewelry whatsoever, but he did know for a fact that her ears were pierced.

He was leaning towards buying a set of earrings for her as a sign of good will and a testament to their friendship. It was an innocent gesture, he reasoned with himself. "She has pierced ears. Other than that, I do not know."

Renosuke wasn't dumb enough to notice that Byakuya was a man of very few words and wouldn't go out of his way to give more information on his own, so he just had to work his way around it. "Well—ah! Now what does this lovely lady look like? And what month was she born in?"

"She has long, black hair and deep, sapphire blue eyes. Her birth-month is April."

"Ah—are you sure that this lady is your 'female coworker'? If I may ask, is there anything going on between the two of you?" Renosuke asked boldly.

"She is a female coworker. Nothing more, nothing less." Byakuya stated with a sense of finality, but the slight waver in his voice and the way he reflexively averted his eyes to the left bottom corner easily let Renosuke know that this 'female coworker' of his was someone that he harbored romantic feelings for.

Sighing good-naturedly, Renosuke resigned himself to the fact that this man was socially inept for someone who was quite handsome. Not as handsome as himself, of course, but close to it. He stuck one of his keys into the keyhole and opened up a display that showcased jewelry that primarily had sapphires, for the lady's eyes, and diamonds, for her birth-month, gems.

"You are in luck, sir! Diamonds and sapphires are a beautiful combination," he gestured to a large necklace that had five large sapphire gems, small diamonds that surrounded the gems that was kept together by a large diamond chain that almost looked like a chandelier. Byakuya shook his head at it and said that it was much too gaudy for someone like her to wear.

"_It has to be elegant, yet subtle and noticeable."_

He was about to give up searching for sapphire and diamond jewelry and was planning on asking the man about any gold they had when his eye caught something. This was it, it practically had Retsu's name written all over it. A rare smile adorned his face and startled Renosuke for a moment. Byakuya pointed to the miracle in question.

"This is it. I will purchase it and the set it comes with."

"T-The entire set, sir?" Senosuke asked incredulously as this mystery man asked to purchase an entire jewelry set that was made up of drop earrings, a necklace, a ring, and a bracelet. This was one of the most expensive sets in the entire store, worth nearly 168,350.93 Japanese Yen*. He'd get a pretty hefty commission out of selling it, so he decided to play along with it.

"Yes, I want to purchase the entire set. It appears that you are having reservations about my purchases. Perhaps it would be in my best interest to relocate elsewhere?" Byakuya questioned coldly as he dug in his pocket and produced the necessary bills to pay for it. He had memorized the exchange rates for many major countries in the real world and had been a major figure in petitioning for the Soul Society Monetary Exchange; where Shinigami could exchange their Kan for whatever currency was used where they were going to be stationed.

"No, sir; that will be one hundred and sixty eight thousand, three hundred and fifty yen and fifty sen," Renosuke said timidly and expected Byakuya to back out and only purchase the much inexpensive necklace. The nobleman handed Senosuke the necessary amount, placed the velvet bag in his coat pocket, bowed stiffly, and went about his way; hoping to sneak back into the spa undetected.

'_**Do you plan on giving the jewelry to Unohana-sama directly?' **_

Byakuya scoffed at Senbonzakura's ignorance; there was no guarantee that she'd accept the gift if he gave it to her directly and seeing how he could rarely catch her alone without being stalked by the SWA, it would only cause the rumors about them to become even more rampant.

"I will have it delivered anonymously to her home." he said shortly, severing the connection with his Zanpakuto temporarily so that he wouldn't space out around his fellow Shinigami and only make them all the more suspicious.

"_I hope she appreciates my gift…"_

* * *

"Just go on ahead without me; I have some other stuff to take care of. You can hold the division down for me, right Hinamori-chan?" Shinji asked as he held back from the rest of the group who was going to the Senkaimon. Momo flushed for a moment and nodded quickly, "Yes, taicho."

Retsu watched Shinji closely as he bid everyone goodbye and walked down the street from Urahara's Shop. She wondered why he decided to wait until now to do something important when it was so much easier just to sneak off and take care of it. Most of them were planning on getting back to work almost immediately.

"As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end." Urahara remarked as he opened the Senkaimon. Before giving the go ahead for everyone to proceed through the gate, he gestured for Yoruichi to come closer. He leaned in close and whispered a few words in her ear.

Retsu decided to ignore whatever Urahara was saying to Yoruichi. It wouldn't surprise her if whatever they were talking about pertained to her and Byakuya; she didn't care anymore. They had already agreed to carry on normally and showing any reaction would just fuel the fire.

"Oi! Unohana-senpai, you wouldn't mind if you walked ahead of everyone, right?" Shunsui asked nervously as he scratched at the back of his head.

"Why? What's going on?" Nanao glared at her superior officer, fighting the urge to clobber him with her bare hands. For some reason, she felt like she needed to protect Unohana from her captain now even though such a thing was never necessary in the past.

"Genryusai-sensei is less likely to try and kill us all if Unohana-sempai is leading us through the Senkaimon." Ukitake explained with a nervous smile as he gave Unohana a friendly smile. "It's just a precautionary measure!" Retsu had heard rumors that she had threatened Yamamoto with castration and torture for some unknown reason. She laughed it off as nothing, only a small part of that rumor was the truth.

Byakuya stood off to the side with Renji who was holding his bags, trying to look uninterested. Many people were aware that Kyoraku and Ukitake used to fight over Retsu back in the day, and it was painfully obvious that they were still vying for her attention in a less flirtatious manner. Either way, it annoyed him quite a bit.

'_**Jealousy is not good for your health, Master. Please remain calm; your lieutenant is watching you closely.'**_

For once, Byakuya heeded his zanpakuto's advice and remained calm. He could feel Renji and his group of drinking buddies watching his every move; but he didn't earn the title of 'Prince of Silence' for nothing. In the end they weren't able to pick up on anything out of the ordinary and gave up.

The jewelry set was in a black velvet drawstring pouch, safely hidden in a spare pocket of his jacket. _"I cannot give it to her personally and I cannot send a servant…"_ he reasoned. There was only one other solution and it was quite risky if executed in the wrong way.

"Alright, everybody! Your passageway to the Soul Society is up and ready!" Urahara exclaimed as he gestured to the entrance with his fan. Kyoraku casually placed his hand on Unohana's shoulder and gently nudged her forward. Rolling her eyes slightly at how her fellow senior taichos were acting so cowardly, she fearlessly led the pack back to the Seireitei.

* * *

"T-taicho," Chojiro Sasakibe stuttered as his captain stood a few hundred meters from the Senkaimon, his zanpakuto at the ready. He had called for a captain's meeting two days ago and found out that they all decided to go on a vacation without any prior notice. The only high ranking officers left were his lieutenant and the lieutenant of the 2nd Division, who was purposely left out.

"Silence, Sasakibe!" he growled as the door to the Senkaimon opened slowly to reveal the MIA Shinigami, "Reduce all creation to ash, Ryujin Jakka!" he muttered under his breath. He was using only a 1/16 of his power, yet a majority of the wayward Shinigami screamed in fright as a large wall of fire surrounded them and Yamamoto.

"Noooo! We're gonna die!"

"I don't wanna be barbequed!"

"Ahh! I'm gonna die a virgin!"

Retsu decided to not look to see who screamed the last statement and watched Yamamoto stand amongst the flames. _"For him to do something like this… it means he knows as well. He's goading me."_

"Did you really think that I would not notice that all of my superior officers were missing in action? Do you really underestimate my intelligence?!" he bellowed as he firewall grew. Retsu watched the flames dance around them and smirked, this was nothing compared to what she fought against back in the day. She was the one of the only ones who was completely and utterly calm. Deciding to quell the flames before explaining their motives, she channeled her spirit energy.

She snapped her fingers twice and clapped her hands together three times before forming her hands into a triangle shape. "Tendo: Jigoku no Batsu*," she enchanted as her green spirit energy surrounded her and broke off into long, tentacles that encircled the inner part of the circle of fire. The flames died down gradually until there were a few embers left.

"My apologies, Sotaicho, but I'm afraid that I cannot allow you to harm our fellow Shinigami, such a tragedy is unbecoming of our way of life." She said with a gentle smile as she placed her palms together in a praying position and gradually lessened her spirit energy.

"That's our sempai, eh Jushiro?" Shunsui said with a smile as fond memories of that technique came to mind. Unohana-sempai created that technique specifically to control Yama-ji when he lost his temper, which was most of the time. He hadn't seen it since he was a young man.

The rest of the Shinigami gaped at the display of power the benevolent healer. They were well aware that she was strong, yet, but to take out Yamamoto's flames with an unknown kido? It was mind-boggling! "Remind me to show up to my checkups, brat." Kenpachi murmured to Yachiru on his back.

Yamamoto sheathed Ryujin Jakka with his one arm and spoke. "That was just a mere fraction of my power. If I had the desire to kill you all, it would have already been done." The glare he directed at them blatantly asked for a reasonable explanation.

"This was a little getaway we came up with to unwind after the long, cold, terrible war." Kyoraku stepped in front of Unohana, "We even took the liberty of purchasing things for the celebration."

"Such as what?"

"Tuxedos, dresses, shoes, bowties, sweets, y'know what I mean, right Yama-ji?! The essentials!"

Yamamoto growled and turned on one heel to leave, "You have one hour to report to a joint taicho/fukutaicho meeting! Shihoin-soshireikan! I expect to see you there as well!" he bellowed as he disappeared in blast of Shunpo.

"Shit." Yoruichi cursed as she poked her head out from behind Nemu and smacked herself in the forehead. She knew she should've said something to the old fart, but she sure as hell didn't want to be stuck in a meeting with him, arguing over a shopping spree/spa day.

Even though it didn't appear so, using that technique was quite taxing to Retsu. It had been nearly a thousand years since she's last used it and her body couldn't adapt to it well anymore. The captain class Shinigami could feel Retsu's spiritual pressure fluctuating rapidly, but the rest didn't notice.

"Such power," Byakuya muttered in amazement. Her spiritual pressure felt like being in a swimming pool, you could feel it around you and it weighed you down. She bowed to the remaining group members and gestured for her lieutenant to follow as they too disappeared in a small wave of Shunpo.

"T-taicho, should I meet you there?" Renji asked. He didn't live at the barracks because his own home was the closest to the meeting hall and most importantly, the bar.

Byakuya nodded, "Don't be late."

Almost relishing the feel of Retsu's spiritual energy around him, he left as well.

* * *

"If there is anyone of you brave enough in this room to give me a _decent _explanation as to why disappearing on duty was logical, speak now!" Yamamoto bellowed out venomously, glaring pointedly at each person in the room. None of the lieutenants were up to speaking, so it just left the captains.

They had changed back into their uniforms and stood in position. Retsu glanced back and gave Isane a comforting smile. Her lieutenant loosened up a bit, but she was still a bit on edge. _"She must have really gotten a good look at my relapse," _she lamented inwardly. Hopefully this little trip will satisfy her until the next two hundred and fifty year anniversary.

"2nd Division!" Yamamoto decided to take the initiative and call people out.

Sui-feng gave her lieutenant a withering look as he back away further from her and spoke. "The war is over and we as captains and lieutenants deserved to have had a bit of time off!" she said with conviction, leaving out the part where Yoruichi failed to notify the old man of their absence. "Something like this would become long overdue unless the initiative was taken."

"I agree with Sui-feng-taicho." Rose nodded lazily. All eyes were turned to Unohana, the only person who had yet to feel the wrath of the old man. She was their saving grace and could also potentially screw them over for good. "I supported the decision, mostly based on the need for us as comrades to spend time together off of the battle field. It was a very successful vacation." she said as she gave Yoruichi a supporting smile.

"She's good," Rangiku muttered in disbelief before getting a glare from her own captain that shut her up.

The cat woman sighed in relief from her position to Yamamoto's left, even if she was invading Retsu's privacy, she saved her ass from a good burning and worse of all, paperwork.

Yamamoto stared at Retsu for a few moments before averting his eyes to where Shinji was _supposed _to be standing. He glared at Momo who flushed before speaking.

"My captain had prior arrangements in the real world and could n-not attend the meeting, sotaicho." She explained as she stared at the ground.

"_That boy hasn't changed in the century that he's been gone."_ Yamamoto thought in annoyance as he stamped his cane to take charge again. There was no point in continuing this interrogation any longer, the rest of the captains would give him the same answer and Unohana supported the decision the most, so it made sense just to let it go.

"Captains have the day off tomorrow and lieutenants will report for work and leave at noon! Dismissed!" he bellowed before pointing at Unohana with his cane. "Except for you, Unohana-taicho."

The captains and their lieutenants watched in complete shock as Yamamoto cut the meeting short and shooed everyone else away. Some of the SWA gave her thankful looks, some of the men nodded at her with reverence. Byakuya hung back for a bit and looked her in the eyes before he finally left.

Unohana walked from her position and stood directly in front of Yamamoto. She felt his spiritual pressure flutter for a moment to check for any stragglers, and then muttered out an incantation for a soundproof barrier just in case someone tried to eavesdrop. It brought back a few memories because the last time something like this happened, she was in the same position. Boy was she getting old…

"You've kept track as well, Genryusai." she stated rather than asked. She only referred to the old man by his name in private to avoid any unwanted rumors. The old man closed his eyes and leaned heavily on his cane/zanpakuto. He disliked having to give Unohana commands as a subordinate. One thousand years ago, he relished the thought of having an iron fist of command over her. But now, he was tired and most importantly, old. And having one arm meant that he was weaker, much weaker than she.

"It's my job." He replied gruffly.

"It's your job to feel obligated to do me a favor? You insult me, Genryusai." She retorted with an annoyed glare. This has happened three times already, and to think that he would assume that this hadn't formed into a pattern that she was more than capable of keeping track of was insulting to her pride. _"Tch, I'm sounding like Byakuya now."_

"Do not take my benevolence as a means to do whatever you please, Yachiru. Be grateful that I allow you to take such trips and disguise them as a simple 'hikes to the mountains'." He warned as he opened his eyes and matched her glare with one of his own. It seems that one thousand years of healing and putting on the mask of a kind and benevolent healer hadn't done anything to change Unohana's temperament. She was still the short-tempered, wild and most of all, murderous Yachiru Unohana.

"My name is Retsu. I have left that part of my life behind, as you should know. I left that part of my existence in the past and have moved forward to pursue something of more worth to myself." She said lightly as her lips twisted into a mocking grin. "You of all people should be able to comprehend my reasoning. It is only because of a bad habit that I am standing before you, asking for this _favor._" She finished with a lazy wave of her hand. Her mask could only fall off in front of the man she respected the most and also hated with every fiber in her being.

"Young Kuchiki seems to have been doing an excellent job of keeping you latched to this world. I'm afraid that if it hasn't been for the love you hold for him, you would have been a former shell of yourself." He replied sagely as he turned from her to look out of a nearby window. Even he as the Captain-Commander, the Head Honcho, the Big Cheese, listened to silly bar rumors.

"I have a simple friendship with Ginrei's grandson. I have known him since he was a babe, there is no romantic attachment. Do not try to coerce me into not leaving with your foolish theories!" she stated with a sense of finality and anger as she pointed a fist over to Yamamoto; a sign of defiance and a sign of her absolute assurance of her own feelings.

Yamamoto turned back to face her and frowned. She had basically just admitted her feelings for the boy. He was being ambiguous when he said 'love.' It could mean anything, romantic attachment, maternal attachment; all sorts of meanings. And yet she vehemently denied having romantic feelings for him without even knowing what she was denying.

"When is your departure?"

"The day after the celebration, at dawn."

"How long will you be absent?"

"I don't know. It could be few months, years possibly. Enough time to satisfy 'it'."

They stared at each other in silence for a few moments. He was trying to get through the impenetrable wall that was her emotions and she was locking away any form of reactions that he might illicit from her. One thousand years later and they were still mistrustful of each other.

"Will that be all, Yamamoto-sotaicho?" she asked with a soft smile as she returned to her 'normal' personality. Her smile did not waver as Yamamoto regarded her with a hard stare before dismissing her with a grunt and a wave of a hand. She bowed respectfully and made her way out. As she opened the door, she swore that she felt remnants someone's spiritual pressure, but shook it off and shunpoed back to her home because they had the rest of the day off.

"Huh—?" she exclaimed as she felt the same energy again, but she couldn't figure out who it was. She drew her katana and proceeded in cautiously, looking behind doors, flinging back curtains. It wasn't until she saw a small drawstring bag on her desk that she sheathed her sword.

"Oh…this—my word…" she sat at her desk and gingerly held the gems in her hands. Whoever had purchased it for her must have really went out of their way because sapphires and diamonds just so happened to be her favorite gems. "This is beautiful…" she sighed as a few tears sprang up in her eyes. She held the necklace in her hands with reverence, the necklace had a simple rectangular sapphire in the middle and was surrounded a very thin silver chains that were incrusted with diamonds.

This was the first time that she had ever received something of the sort; she could tell that a lot of work was taken into choosing jewelry that was fitted to her so well. She frowned slightly in concentration as she tried to figure out who it came from. Shunsui? No, would usually squander off his money on liquor from the Real World. Jushiro was much too reserved and bashful to go out of his way to buy something so heartwarming and beautiful. It could only be…

She held the necklace to her heart and grinned as she finally figured out who it was.

* * *

***Way of Heaven: Hell's Punishment**

***1,716.82 USD.**

**I'm still trying to decide whether my next Unohana story should have a pairing with light humor, or no pairing with a crap-ton of humor all over the place with a bit of passive aggressive violence in between. Eh. I'll figure it out eventually. Most of my stories are mainly romantic, and yet I've always wanted to write a pure comedic story. Either way it'll be badass as hell because I'm writing it! *fist pumps***

**And since I am due to return to school in a few weeks, updates will be less frequent; especially with marching band taking up quite a bit of my time. Nevertheless, I'll try to make sure that I can put up at least three updates a month if I can manage it.**

**Thanks for reading and review!**


	14. Chapter 14

"No! You're a meanie!" the little boy cried out as he flailed his arms at the nurse who was trying to do a checkup on him. Seinosuke Yamada winced as the boy directed a surprisingly forceful kick to his shoulder and turned desperately to the other adult in the room.

Ginrei Kuchiki sighed as he put a comforting arm around his little grandson, who sucked his thumb and glared daggers at the fukutaicho. He had only tried to take a look inside little boy's throat, but threw a temper tantrum at the thought of some random man trying to touch him.

"I apologize for my grandson's behavior, Yamada-fukutaicho." He stated placidly as he watched Yamada rub his shoulder. "Perhaps it would be better if Retsu-san took a look at him." He recommended, although it sounded more like a command rather than a request. Bowing deeply and attempting to smile at the little boy (who stuck his tongue out at him) he rushed off to his superior's office.

* * *

"He packs quite the kick; his Hakuda could possibly put the Shihoin's to shame." Yamada commented as he and his superior made the walk back to the Kuchiki's room.

Retsu laughed serenely and placed a hand atop the uninjured shoulder of her lieutenant, "That's quite the stretch, Seinosuke-kun." she teased. The thought of a little boy being a better hand-to-hand combatant of the battle-loving Shihoin Clan was quite amusing. Thanking Yamada as he opened the door for her, she stepped inside to see Ginrei nodding happily at her and the little boy next to him giving her a curious stare.

"You're really pretty, lady." He yelled out with a giggle, "What's your name? And what's Meanie-san's name?"

Retsu tickled the boy's cheek and smiled as he giggled at her, "My name is Retsu Unohana, Captain of the 4th Division," she gestured to her lieutenant, who was giving the boy an annoyed look after being called Meanie-san, "and he is Seinosuke Yamada, lieutenant of the 4th Division.

"My name is Byakuya Kuchiki, future clan head of the Kuchiki Clan and captain of the 6th!" he proclaimed proudly with a raised voice before he coughed violently and wiped his runny nose on the sleeve of his grandfather's haori. He had grown to be a handsome little boy from the last time that he had seen her as a newborn; quite the adorable little man.

"He has a slight cold," Ginrei explained as he frowned at the boy who had tried to blow his nose on his haori and handed him a handkerchief.

"I see," Retsu said as she placed a hand on his forehead to check for a fever. Thankfully, the boy didn't have a temperature which meant that all she had to do was check his airways and give him a few meds. "And how old are you, Byakuya?"

The boy rubbed his short black hair in deep thought before holding out three fingers and grinning widely, "I'm three years old, Retsu-obaa-chan!"

"Byakuya, address Unohana-san with respect." Ginrei admonished lightly, but the twitching of his lips was a dead giveaway. His grandson was his pride and joy. Retsu didn't mind at all, Byakuya was still a little boy who hadn't spent much time around other people than his own family and servants. It was important for him to learn how to interact with other people.

"It's quite alright, Kuchiki-san, I know that he means no harm." she assured Ginrei as she patted Byakuya on the head once more. "Can you say 'ahhh' for me?" she asked the boy kindly as she turned on a flashlight.

* * *

"You were a very good boy today, Byakuya-kun!" she praised the boy as she handed him a cherry flavored lollipop and pointed him towards a small play area so that she and Ginrei could speak privately. She smiled once again as she little boy scampered off and immediately picked up a toy and started to play with it.

"He's such a beautiful child. You're quite lucky to have him as your grandson and most of all, heir." Retsu commented airily as she watched Byakuya befriend a nurse on duty. She loved dealing with children and always felt a pang of regret because she never did get the chance to have any.

Ginrei grunted in response and nodded in approval. His son's health hindered his potential and weakened him exponentially, but his grandson had potential to become the strongest clan head in the history of the Kuchiki Clan and he wouldn't die until it was met. "He's quite taken with you, even more so than his own mother."

She frowned, "I'll assume that his relationship with his parents is poor on purpose?"

"Sojun is aware that his poor health would hinder his potential and has given me full permission to raise Byakuya up as my heir instead of himself. He cannot forge a deep relationship with his parents because of that; it will only serve as a distraction." He replied with a sad sigh, he loved his son but couldn't risk having his poor health get in the way of the clan. And it was obvious that Sojun's wife couldn't live without him and would gladly take her own life in the event that he died. Every decision made by the main family has to be for the greater good of the clan.

"Does the boy know?"

"No, I'll tell him when he's older, but if my son dies before then…he'll have to learn for himself."

Retsu nodded in bleak understanding. Sojun Kuchiki was slowly, but surely, dying of a mystery disease that even she couldn't cure completely. The medication she prescribed to him was enough to keep him going and attend to his duties as a lieutenant and at one point, clan heir. She would hate to see how the boy would take it once his father finally passed on.

"Byakuya! Come now, we are leaving in a few moments!" Ginrei called out to the boy, who came running and latched himself onto Retsu's leg. Byakuya looked up at her with tears in his eyes, "I don't want to leave; Obaa-chan will be alone! She'll forget about me!"

"Don't cry, Byakuya-kun." She comforted the boy as she hugged him. "Obaa-chan will never forget you."

"Promise?" he whimpered as he drew himself closer to her.

"Always," she said as she kissed his forehead.

* * *

A teenaged Byakuya winced as Retsu bounded his ankle in a soft cast. He had shunpoed into the 4th Division barracks on one leg, barely balanced on his wooden sword, and demanded that he get treated by Retsu herself and threw a fit when another nurse tried to treat him. Even though he was much older now, he was still the little boy she was taken with decades ago.

"You ought to take care of yourself better, Byakuya-kun. This is the third time this month." Retsu admonished with a disapproving frown. The boy hadn't even entered the Academy yet and he's still managed to injure himself more than the average 7th year student!

Byakuya's steely eyes made contact with Unohana's gentle ones and softened up quite a bit. Only she could calm him down after one of his fits. After the deaths of his parents from a large scale hollow attack, he had changed completely. He went from the adorable, bubbly little boy to a temperamental teen that spent hours on end swinging a wooden sword years before he was allowed to join the Academy.

Ginrei wanted his grandson to be in tiptop form before attending, although if he was Retsu's grandson she would have let him join as a boy to get a head start.

"Sorry, Retsu-san; I got a bit carried away…" he admitted bashfully before trailing off. "I…just want to make Jii-sama proud of me—honor Tou-san's legacy by becoming clan head in his stead." He continued as he blinked back a few tears. Retsu's disappointed expression immediately faded and she laid a hand on the boy's shoulder and grasped him by the chin to make him look in her eyes.

"Your grandfather may not show it, but he truly is proud of you and loves you with all of your heart. You have already honored your father by giving it your all. Please do not spend your youth by living in the shadows of your ancestors' successes; forge your own path and hold steadfast to it." She encouraged him and held him close in a hug.

"T-thank you, obaa-chan…"

* * *

'_**You're lucky that Genryusai gave you the day off, you've been sitting here since last night! Get up!'**_

Retsu groaned and muttered a few choice words at her Zanpakuto before lifting her head from off of the desk that she slept the whole night at. _"I was dreaming about him again," _she thought to herself as she wiped the dreamy smile from her face.

Her thoughts about Byakuya have evolved from a daydream or two to full-fledged lucid dreams where she would wake up feeling flustered and most of all, unsatisfied. She had to nip these feelings in the bud before they got out of hand.

She couldn't lose sight of her goals by following her heart. In her opinion, human emotions were a weakness; all she needed was logic to guide her on the right path. Naturally, she had to eventually adopt emotions as a means to support her mask but it didn't mean she liked to have them.

"_What a waste of time." _She thought to herself as she reassured her mind that she was doing the right thing.

Directing a bit of healing kido at a sore spot in her neck, she looked at the clock and saw that it was a little past noon. Genryusai gave the captains the day off, but the lieutenants had to report in before leaving a few hours early.

"Isane can hold down the fort just fine, Minazuki." Retsu sighed as she disrobed and stepped into the shower to give her hair a wash with the new supplies that the human woman forced upon her. The woman swore on her life that it would turn her already luscious hair into 'the mane of supreme fabulosity', as she said. She stared blankly at the bottle before squeezing out four huge globs directly on her hair and slowly rubbed it in. Hearing Minazuki's stifled laughter; she scowled until her zanpakuto spoke.

'_**Isn't that a bit too much? You practically used the entire bottle!'**_

"You are aware of how long my hair is, correct?" she asked venomously.

'_**Of course, dear. The only reason you allowed that mane you call hair to grow so long was because you wanted more of a challenge in battle. You wanted to get killed hair-first, in a literal sense.'**_

"Shut up."

* * *

He clipped on his diamond encrusted cuff links on the cuffs of his expensive suit and sighed. The women invited to the celebration would undoubtedly gawk at him for a majority of the night, but that would possibly distract them and prevent them from crashing the whole entire celebration.

It only took a night of sitting in front of the shrine dedicated to his wife for him to finally figure out what was going on with him. Byakuya was a firm believer of using logic and factual evidence to support and make proper decisions. 'Following one's heart' in his opinion, was foolish when a person disregarded everything else but their heart. Unless one's heart could set aside emotions and bonds and make logical decisions, he had no use for them. Facts and logic were two things that everyone should have a firm understanding of.

As soon as he came to a conclusion of his dilemma, he could feel the telltale pains in his chest and the dull throbbing of his head. It was stress, and no captain was a stranger to it. Instead of relying on his silly reflexive emotions, he decided to write down his problems and thoughts in a small notebook.

It only took eight pages for him to figure out what was wrong with him.

And as much as he didn't want to accept it, he had to.

He was no Ichigo Kurosaki who relied on his silly emotions and tenacity to get through situations. He was calm and logical and always made the best decisions that would get the job done well easily and most of all, efficiently. The main reason that the Battle of Karakura Town took place was because of Kurosaki's stubbornness and complete disregard for the rules. If the Head Captain hadn't anticipated this, there would've been a high possibility that Aizen would have slaughtered them all. Because of this, Byakuya depended on logical thinking even more now, and even he wasn't foolish enough to deny the obvious, even if he wished he could.

Mental trauma cannot be solved with logic, he was well aware of that. He had spent over fifty years mourning over his beloved Hisana. Seeing Rukia nearly die at the hands of Aizen and his Espada had change Byakuya's outlook on life, but only a little bit. Only logic was the way out.

"The pros can never outweigh the cons." he muttered as he took out his hair pieces and combed his hair; it would look tacky with the suit. He glanced at the clock and saw that he needed to arrive in the foyer in six minutes. He pinned the silver Kuchiki Crest onto his lapel and made his way to the venue.

'_**I wonder how Retsu-sama is going to look with the jewelry you purchased for her on…if only we knew what she was wearing.' **_Senbonzakura sighed wistfully as he attempted to imagine what the healer would be wearing. For some reason, he kept thinking that she would wear a nurse's outfit.

"Only you are interested in such things. Now keep silent, the guests are due to arrive." Byakuya stated curtly and severed the connection. He did not know what pleasure his zanpakuto got out of trying to goad him into actively pursuing Unohana-san. Yes, he had a bit of feelings for her, but he assumed that it was because she reminded him of Hisana so much. He figured that it will pass in time and hopefully he could see her as just a close friend again.

"Byakuya-sama!" a servant exclaimed as she hastily straightened out her formal gown and bowed. She was in charge of escorting the guest into the ballroom after a small waiting period in the foyer. The ballroom had gone through quite the transformation; the marble floors were practically sparkling, there was a small band on stage, and there were dozens of candles that had sapphire flames on them through a special kido. Byakuya nodded at the display,

"Thank you, Mio. You have done an excellent job." He complemented evenly. It was still enough for the woman to turn bright red. Getting a compliment from her cousin was rare and frightening at the same time. A slight flare of spiritual energy was a giveaway that the first guests had arrived. Byakuya positioned himself in the middle of the foyer and gestured for the two male servants to open the door.

"My, my, you have really outdone yourself, Kuchiki-taicho. Quite the display!" Jushiro Ukitake commented appreciatively, handing his coat to a servant and straightening his suit as he absorbed the display of roses that lined the walkway, the pure white walls, and the golden crown molding of the foyer.

After fifteen minutes, almost all of the male officers arrived except for the Vizards. And of course, there wasn't a single female in sight. Not even Rukia, who _lived _three doors down from his own personal room, was there on time. And it didn't help that a majority of the male officers were staggering around stupidly as they tried to muffle their laughs.

Yamamoto and his lieutenant were clad in tuxedos that had long tails, red bowties, and tall top-hats. They looked like vaudeville performers rather than near immortal beings with special powers. Sasakibe even convinced his captain to wear a monocle. And the two were completely oblivious to their foolish attire; such was a consequence when a Shinigami wasn't exposed to outside influences for centuries on end.

"T-taicho!" Renji coughed to disguise another guffaw and nodded his head over to the 1st Division pair, "Get a load of those two over there, they look like…!"

"Abarai. Show respect to your superiors." Byakuya snapped as he gave his lieutenant a cross look and resumed his pacing around the foyer. Renji frowned and stalked back over to the corner occupied by Hisagi, Kira, Ikkaku, and Yumichika.

"…I still don't know how Komamura-taicho managed to fit into his tuxedo in his spiritual form." Kira finished as Renji arrived there and greeted them with a wave.

"I don't see why you still attempt to relate with your captain. His _ugly _demeanor is going to rub off on you. Oh, and I _love _what you did with you hair! It looks so—!" Yumichika prattled on before gesturing to Renji's hair which was let down and swept back at the sides. Ikkaku grunted in annoyance and clapped a hand over his best friend's mouth, cutting him off.

"Only half of the guests are here, you can't blame him for being pissed off at that." Hisagi reasoned.

Renji grunted noncommittally and shrugged. "I guess it's a nobleman thing. It doesn't really—"

The red head was cut off by a bright flash of light that blinded everyone in the foyer. Once everyone was able to regain their sight, a cloud of odorless smoke rushed into the room and the shadows of ten people could be seen. One of the shadows hefted a large rectangular object over their shoulder and after a few moments, a loud song with a heavy beat deafened the guests.

Out of the smoke cloud first was Shinji Hirako who was clad in a purple tuxedo, a lavender bowtie with a white dress shirt and a lavender cheetah skin fur coat that was draped over his shoulders and two golden rings on both hands with diamonds incrusted in them. To finish his outfit, there was a purple fedora with a white feather sticking out of hit. He even had a golden cane and white snakeskin dress shoes.

"Good afternoon everybody!" he greeted with a grin and a wave of the cane as his gaze traveled around the room, "The Vizards have arrived!" he finished as his gaze stopped on Byakuya, who had stepped forward. He gave the Vizard leader an annoyed look, only he was capable of arriving in such a manner.

"Was that really necessary? You dare disrespect the grounds of my ancestors with your foolish display?!" he asked with emotionless rage.

"Yes, Kuchiki-taicho, it was." Shinji replied simply as he gestured for the rest of his group to come in.

"Oi, you said Kuchiki, baldy? This guy ain't Sojun-baka, who the hell are you?" Hiyori barked out as she marched right up to Byakuya and glared up at him, pushing Shinji out of the way. Byakuya was well aware that this girl had caused his father numerous headaches during his tenure as a lieutenant and decided to keep silent, no use feeding the fire of a commoner's lack of respect.

"It's his son, you lemon-drop lookin' snaggletooth! You've been too out of the loop to remember that he had a kid!" Shinji retorted as he drew a finger over the white bow of Hiyori's lemon colored dress. Before he could order his guards to remove the blonds from the premises, Hitsugaya stomped up and butted into the conversation.

"What are you doing here?" he asked bluntly as he gave her a cross look. "And what do you mean by out of the loop?"

"I used to be the lieutenant of the 13th Division a century ago while you were still crawlin' around in diapers, ass-head!" she snarled before turning to point at Kurotsuchi who was sulking in the corner. "Ask Mayuri-teme over there, I was his superior officer!" she looked to the blue haired mad scientist for confirmation, but he simply sighed in annoyance cocked his head.

"Superior in rank yes, but inferior in intelligence as well." He quipped condescendingly as he leered at his former Lieutenant.

Yamamoto had had enough of the argument and stamped his cane to prevent Hiyori from trying to massacre Kurotsuchi. "Show respect, Sarugaki! You are present in the household of a noble, and a captain nonethe—"

The head captain was interrupted once again as the doors swung open to reveal the SWA. Their jaws dropped as each of them got an eyeful of the women. "Goddesses…" Yumichika breathed out in awe.

_***A/N: Since I am awful at describing people and their appearances, the outfits of the SWA are posted in links in my profile that will show you what they are wearing. Plus, it's too long to describe what each of them have on.***_

"You're late." Byakuya stated coldly, ignoring Yoruichi's dangerous figure with ease. At one point, he assumed that with Yoruichi's reinstatement as clan head, that she would change her ways and finally act her age. He was completely and utterly wrong.

The violet haired woman was at the head of the pack, as expected. Her violet curls bounced flirtatiously as she waved and winked at various guest before strutting up to Byakuya and drawing her index finger across the lapel of his suit.

"Haven't you heard of being fashionably late, Byakuya-bo? It makes for a grand entrance." Yoruichi explained with a smirk as Kisuke came in with Ichigo and his friends. "C'mon, Yoruichi-san! I wanted to be a part of the grand entrance with—" he paused as he stared directly at Shinji.

"What?" the purple clad man asked in annoyance.

"Pimp."

"Eh?"

"You look like a pimp. For now, I will refer to you as Pimp-san!" Kisuke replied cheerfully as he gestured for Ichigo, Uryu, and Chad to come over to where they were at. "Doesn't he look like a pimp?" he asked as he nearly trembled from anticipation.

"More like an oversized grape." Uryu commented scathingly as he winced at the Vizards outfit choice.

"He got you there, baldy!" Hiyori cried out in laughter as she gave Uryu a hard pat on the back as a sign of gratitude. Uryu frowned and haughtily adjusted his Quincy formal suit with pride.

"At least I don't look like a stick of white-out you four eyed ass—!"

"My, my, you have outdone yourself, Kuchiki-taicho. I apologize for my tardiness." A soft voice rang out.

Every jaw, including Byakuya's, dropped.

* * *

Retsu held back a smirk as she felt every eye drink in her appearance. Yes, it took a few hours of blood, sweat, and tears, but it was entirely worth it.

Her hair flowed down her back in loose ringlets and the sides of her hair were pinned back, allowing a single ponytail to flow down her back as well and her lips were coated in a light lip-gloss. She opted to forgo the use of mascara and used black eyeliner and a dusky eye-shadow since her eyelashes were long and dark enough. Her nail polish was sapphire in color and matched her bracelet, ring, necklace and earrings to a T.

But the most shocking part of her appearance was her dress itself. The slit rose to a dangerous height, exposing a creamy white leg underneath it. The dress had a deep V-neck that exposed a bit of cleavage, but not much. She had a reputation to keep up. She could barely keep a straight voice as she heard the various responses out of her fellow Shinigami.

"T-that can't be Unohana-taicho, right?! Holy hell…"

"She cleans up good—n-not that she needed to in the first place, of course."

_Whistle. _"Mama's got it goin' on!"

"I'm starting to question my sexuality…"

"She just basically shitted on our entire entrance; I spent hours choreographing it!"

She stole a glance at Byakuya to see that he was gaping just as much as the rest were, but no one was paying attention. All eyes were on her and needless to say, she loved it.

"You look beautiful, Unohana-san, my first love, my everything!" Shinji swooped in and got down on one knee as he planted a kiss on her hand. "Absolutely stunning!" he finished with a grin. Retsu blinked and was about to mention that he would ruin his outfit if he was kneeling on the floor, but Minazuki 'helpfully' reminded her that she was supposed to fake a crush on him. She forced herself to blush slightly and giggled. "That is very sweet, Shinji-kun. Please call me Retsu; we are off duty after all."

Shinji was taken aback by Retsu's words; he expected to get backhanded into the nearest wall. Either she had finally caught on to his scheme and was just toying with him (most likely) or she just _really _wanted to sleep with him and was buttering him up for it (most unlikely). In both scenarios, it would piss off Byakuya. Decided to take a chance and play along, he planted another kiss on her hand. "As you wish, Retsu-hime."

Unohana flushed a bit and giggled slightly, "Oh, Shinji-kun!" She even made a point of wrapping her own hand around his.

"Retsu-hime? Damn, he's gotten much farther than you have in two minutes that you have in eight centuries, Jushiro-kun." Shunsui commented with a bit of disbelief and admiration in his tone. Ukitake merely blushed and turned away in embarrassment.

Meanwhile, Byakuya was seething. Although he quickly got a hold of his physical anger, he was beyond pissed off. That ingrate, that fool, that _commoner _was flirting with Unohana-san like she was just some other woman to be picked up off the streets! It made him sick to his stomach.

"Damn, and here I thought I was the bombshell of the party!" Rangiku pouted as she got an eyeful of Unohana's attire. She had seen her in a bathing suit already and knew about her killer figure, but this dress did much more than that flimsy one-piece did. And Rangiku had even made a point of buying a bright red dress with a low neck for the purpose of showing off!

"No use crying over spilled milk. She showed you up so get over it." Sui-feng responded coldly and she vainly tried to keep her gold thigh length dress down to an appropriate level. Yoruichi-sama said that she would look good in it, and who was she to go against orders?

"I'd be careful, if I were you. It looks like Unohana-taicho just might steal Yoruichi-san away from you! You'll be a lonely cat lady for the rest of your life!" Kiyone muttered a warning in Sui-feng's ear as she pointed to the cat woman who was still gawking visibly at the healer.

"You bitch! You know _damn_ well that I sure don't go—!"

"Hush! Don't you see? It's a part of her plan!" Rukia hissed out a whisper as she grabbed the arguing women by their chins and directed them to where Shinji and Retsu were standing. "She's trying to seduce him!"

"Unohana-taicho? Seduction?" Isane questioned weakly as she brightened in color, looking like a police siren light as her red color clashed with the navy blue of her dress.

"Well, I think that we should get a move on with this little celebration in honor of Kurosaki-kun, right?" Kisuke announced as he pointed his fan at Ichigo who was trying to look cool even though he was staring at Unohana like a platter of gourmet appetizers.

"Monopoly-sotaicho, on your orders." Kisuke finished with a slight incline of his head towards Yamamoto, who gave him a cross look. At some point after the war, he had thought of making Kurotsuchi and Urahara have joint captainship over the 12th as a form of thanks. Now he was glad that he hadn't gone through with it.

"Y'know, he sorta _does _look like that guy on the Monopoly game box." Ichigo bravely walked around Yamamoto, examining his look. "Especially the hat." At this point, Yamamoto was seething with rage and tapped the tip of his cane furiously, struggling to keep his anger in check. It didn't work.

"Hado #73: Soren—" Yamamoto began to mutter under his breath, but Byakuya's timely intervention saved the lives of many people.

"Mio will escort the guest to the dining pavilion and seat the guests according to their placements." He said briskly as he turned to the servant in question.

"Yes, Byakuya-sama. Everyone, please follow me into the dining area."

* * *

Retsu smiled amiably at the two guests on either side of her, but inside she was fretting. Although Byakuya had tried to pass off having anything to do with the seating arrangements, it was obvious that he placed her in between two of the most unsociable people at the celebration.

Nemu Kurotsuchi was agreeable enough, but the girl was incapable of initiating a conversation without abruptly leaving to go ask her 'master' for permission to speak with them. At first, it was funny. Now it was just plain creepy.

Ever since the end of the War, Kurotsuchi has had time to tinker around with his experiments alone and abuse his 'daughter' even less, which was a relief. But now that Nemu had more free time on her hands, it was painfully obvious that she had never had friends up until now. _"The pros can never outweigh the cons," _she thought bitterly.

'_**At least he didn't plant you in between Sui-feng-taicho's lapdog and the pink fur-ball.' **_Minazuki reminded her.

Although she enjoyed spending time with her namesake, the girl was annoying as hell.

And the gluttonous monkey never ceased to annoy her with claims that he wasn't obese, but big-boned.

Hiyori Sarugaki hadn't changed a bit; she was still the rambunctious little blonde who was more likely to try and decapitate you rather than have a nice, wholesome conversation over a cup of tea and biscuits. They were colleagues who greeted each other on an occasional basis in the past and were reunited when Retsu stuck her back together like a life-sized Lego, but she had the blond girl's respect, at least.

Poor Shinji was stuck in between Orihime, who kept petting his coat while singing a song that mentioned something about cheetah sisters who stand together or something of the sort, and Yachiru, who was dancing around in her seat with his fedora on her head, calling herself 'Pimpchiru'.

They were all seated around a large rectangular table that was covered with a pure white silk tablecloth, scented candles, and petals of roses that were strewed across the table. On the stage was a small band that was playing soft melodies. At the head of the table was Byakuya, who cast a serene look over the table before nodding at Yamamoto who was seated to his left. Clearing his throat, he stood up.

"We are gathered here today to honor Ichigo Kurosaki, who single handedly defeated Sosuke Aizen and prevented the end of the world as we know it."

"Hey, I'm the one who sealed the bastard." Kisuke pouted under his breath.

"He kicked your ass first." Ichigo muttered as he scowled at the candy man.

"—and thanks to the cooperation and planning of Kuchiki-taicho and Unohana-taicho, we are now united as one, the flame of the future of the Seireitei lies in our hands, and we as the leaders must kindle the flame so that it may grow and flourish!"

"I wonder how long it took him to come up with that." Shunsui muttered with a chuckle.

"Only the old man could allude the future of the Seireitei with fire." Lisa responded as she jabbed her former captain in the ribs to hush him up.

After the old man's long speech about unity, camaraderie, and other pointless dribble that was soon forgotten as soon as it was heard, a dozen servants in white gowns filed out of a nearby door and began to place drinks down on the table. There was an assortment of beverages, ranging from sparkling water to expensive sake and wine (both watered down as a precaution). As they waited for the servants to return with the first course, Hiyori, who was completely bored leaned over and looked at Nemu.

"You haven't done anything to piss me off yet, which means I don't hate you. What's your name?" she asked gruffly.

Nemu turned her head calmly and spoke. "My name is Nemu Kurotsuchi, Sarugaki-san."

Hiyori's smirk immediately twisted into a horrified frown, "You married that asshole? You brain damaged or somethin'?"

"Mayuri-sama is not my spouse. Mayuri-sama is my father." She replied serenely as if she hadn't insulted her and her father.

"What the fu-?" Hiyori was about to start a string of surprised and disgusted curses, but Retsu casually placed a hand over the young woman's mouth.

"It has been a century, dear, and yes, Kurotsuchi-taicho has a child who just so happens to be your successor as the lieutenant of the 12th Division," she explained kindly, but she could relate to Hiyori's horrified reaction. Mayuri Kurotsuchi was an ass and a creep all at once. Hiyori seemed to calm down a bit and decided to take in a long sip of sake. "I still can't believe that motherfu—that idiot can breed." She finished in disbelief.

"_He can't," _Retsu thought, annoyed. _"The foolish asshole sterilized himself decades ago. Then he comes running to me expecting me to pull magical fairy kido out of my ass and fix him, the ungrateful clown that he—"_

She casually took a long sip of wine and breathed in deeply. That 'trip' was more than necessary now; she wasn't going to last much longer at this rate. The last thing she wanted was another slip up, especially here in front of Byakuya. It was bad enough that her former personality was taking over her outwardly appearance, but to take over her mind was another dubious issue.

Taking a chance when she knew that no one was paying attention, she averted her eyes to him and gave him a slight wink. The man's hand stilled mid-air, the wine in his glass sloshed around slightly. He cleared his throat and lowered the glass, trying to keep his face cool.

That was her Byakuya-kun, stubborn as a bull and as—

No, Kuchiki-taicho was socially inept and didn't appreciate public displays of affection.

* * *

"This sake tastes like a hollow's piss!" Kenpachi groused as he pushed the glass away from him.

"Only you are adventurous enough to know what a hollow's piss tastes like, Zaraki-san. Now tell me, does it taste like cherries?" Kisuke asked genuinely.

Byakuya closed his eyes so that no one would notice his annoyed eye roll, if Unohana-san hadn't been so persuasive/intimidating, this foolish get-together would have been on someone else's head or, best case scenario, nonexistent. He was pleased, however, to see her wearing the jewelry he purchased for her; his gut feeling was right.

She looked like a goddess.

He had never been more annoyed in his entire life until he saw Hirako openly flirting with Retsu-san on his property like the disrespectful ingrate that he was. And to make matters worse, she even flirted back! It disgusted him that he actually agreed to her terms, but he didn't expect those terms to include watching the man he hated flirt with his closest friend.

Seeing the bastard gallivant around his household just reminded him of the things he had subjected him to in the real world. He would still even shudder a bit by remembering it.

He had come to the conclusion quite early that the sooner the main courses were served, the faster it would be to remove the intruders from his property. He gave Mio a secret signal and barely a second passed before the servants marched out of the kitchens, each carrying a tray over their shoulders.

"The sooner the food gets served, the faster I can get these heathens off of my property." Byakuya muttered under his breath.

* * *

After two hours, the meal had been served and the plates cleared away, a majority of the guests were bored out of their minds. They were used to drinking games at parties and things like that, not some stuffy dinner party. The only source of entertainment was the band that was on stage, and Shinji was in the middle of chewing out one of the jazz musicians. He considered himself to be a connoisseur of jazz and took it upon himself to make Kuchiki's mediocre jazz band sound even _slightly _acceptable.

"No, idiot!" Shinji grumbled as he snatched the trumpet out of the musician's hand. "You're supposed to _slur _that measure, not use staccato!" he barked out before demonstrating how it was supposed to be executed. To the surprise of everyone there, he sounded quite good.

The blond man finished the song with ease and carelessly tossed the trumpet back to the man, who was gazing at him with a look of disbelief and appreciation. Shinji glanced around and saw that everyone was up from the table and milling about except Retsu. Seizing the opportunity, he smoothly sat down and leaned an elbow on the table.

"Are you enjoying yourself, Retsu-hime?" he asked with a playful wink.

Retsu forced another blush and chuckled, "Yes, and that number you played with the trumpet was quite beautiful. I didn't know you played an instrument." She wasn't impressed, she herself could play at least six instruments with ease. It was one of the few hobbies she had in the past, besides killing.

"I would be honored to teach you, my first love, how to attain a level such as mine in music," he offered up with a bow.

Yoruichi sat in a chair that was against the back wall of the ballroom, a visibly perturbed Isane was on her left and sour-faced Rangiku was on her right. She had to basically drag them over to where she was before they gave away the entire plan. "I still can't believe what I'm seeing; completely unexpected." Yoruichi muttered as her golden eyes darted around rapidly, watching the pair.

Seeing Yoruichi in a state of helplessness didn't alleviate Isane's anxiety in the slightest bit. The way Unohana-taicho reacted to Hirako-taicho's advances nauseated her to the point of absolute silence. She even wished that the war was still going on so that her captain was more focused and prone to less…giggling.

"This has to be a trick. This is a really cruel trick. I don't believe it. I refuse to believe it!" Rangiku grumbled as she clacked her heels repeatedly on the ground. It almost looked like she was having a mental break. She was supposed to be the relationship guru of the Soul Society, she had eyes and ears in so many places and yet this was the first case that baffled her to the point of wanting to rip her hair out. And the fact that Rangiku hadn't had a single drop of alcohol at all during the party was more frightening than anything else.

"It's no trick, Rangiku-san. Unohana-taicho was t-telling the t-truth, she really is in love with H-Hirako-taicho. I can see it in her eyes." Isane replied choppily as she pursed her lips in anxiety. She never liked to admit it, but she knew next to nothing about her captain. Even that time where the SWA sent her to get secrets out of her, she replied in the simplest way that didn't reveal much of anything at all. She heard that her predecessor was fairly close to her, but his younger brother wasn't too keen on asking him. And the death stare Unohana-taicho gave her back in the real world made her _not _want to know what she was really like.

"Just shut up, the both of you! We're not giving up until we uncover the _truth_; not this shitty acting that we're forced to spectate." Yoruichi announced calmly, giving her friends a level stare that had them nodding grudgingly in agreement.

"Even if they're acting, they've done a pretty damn good job of it, but I'm sure I could do better." Rangiku replied haughtily as she pouted cutely.

The three of them watched as Retsu stood up and glided out of the door and to the left, probably headed towards a restroom. But only Yoruichi noticed when Byakuya saw Retsu leave and rushed out of a smaller door in the far corner of the room. Smiling to herself, she sat back and waited.

* * *

He leaned against the wall with a calm expression, but he was on alert. The hallway was empty, and the surrounding area was fairly empty as well, except for the occasional servant. Since those servants weren't specifically chosen to attend to the party, he didn't have to worry about being caught.

The door swung open and Retsu walked out, blinked in surprise at seeing Byakuya standing there and smiled. "I assure you, Byakuya-san. It is not necessary to escort me back to the ballroom." She commented casually as she crossed her arms under her chest. Retsu had felt the man follow her to the restroom pretty easily.

He blew off her jab with a roll of the eyes and a scoff. "I do not like how you are openly responding to Hirako's flirtatious advances. Such a thing is demeaning to your pride." He admitted in slight embarrassment as he turned his face away from her. There was no point in beating around the bush and making up excuses around her, she could read him like a book.

Retsu had to resist the urge to slap Byakuya into next week, she of all people knew that her pride was hers alone, and that he himself feeling obligated to 'help' her was damaging it more than protecting it. She didn't bother to mask herself with a smile. Frowning deeply, she shook her head.

"You've forgotten already? This is one of many parts of our mission, you'd do well to remember your place and not underestimate my abilities." She warned with a heart-warming smile.

Seeing Unohana put him in his place wasn't surprising, nearly every Shinigami has fallen victim to her warnings. But there was something off about her, it felt like she was holding something back deep inside of her.

"A mission? You consider this foolish cat-and-mouse game a mission?" he asked incredulously and earned himself a sour look.

"Any 'game' that threatens our livelihoods _and _runs the risk of plunging our already fragile Society into disarray is already a call for alarm. And by the both of us working to prevent it, it is a mission no matter how you look at it." She finished with a tone of professionalism and annoyance mixed in. It did not matter if he was a grown man, a captain of a division, or a clan head. He still had the mindset of a _boy_, and a stubborn and close-minded one at that.

"I see." He replied shortly, but she did not pick up on any annoyance or disrespect in his tone, which meant that he was in the process of thinking. "Did you like them?"

She didn't even need to ask him of what he meant by 'them'. Those marvelous gems that she received only just yesterday, of course she liked them; she _loved _them and wouldn't exchange them for the world.

She pressed a hand onto her necklace and gave him an appreciative look, "Of course, I love them." She chuckled slightly as he attempted to hide his pleased/embarrassed look. "But I didn't love how you snuck into my home to give them to me."

His eyes widened in surprise and he wisely decided to not immediately respond. He glanced down the hall to his left, to his right, and then straight ahead at the moon outside of the window. "It was necessary…" he trailed off slowly.

"Now, now; wouldn't it have made a bit more sense if you had given me the jewelry in person? It would've spared me the search around my home with my zanpakuto drawn, after all." she teased dismissively as she shook her head at the measures Byakuya had taken just to gift her jewelry.

Giving her an agitated look, he pursed his lips tightly before responding. "How did you expect me to give it to you? Get down on one knee in front of the entire Soul Society?!" he asked caustically as he turned his face away from her. It wasn't until he turned back to her and saw her shocked expression that he back-tracked. "I—ah—I didn't mean it in that—" he tried to stammer out an apology, but she put up a hand that silenced him immediately.

The two stood there in a thick and uncomfortable silence, he stared at the top of her head while she stared straight ahead at his chest. He may not have realized it, but that comment hit home on Retsu. It did not matter what she was like in the past because at some point she did want to settle down and a raise a family. Such aspirations were quickly dashed away when she became a Shinigami and she hadn't given it much thought until recently.

"Retsu." Byakuya said in slight concern, her name rolling off of his tongue like a purr that sent shivers down her spine. She felt his large hand tentatively brush against hers, almost as if he was silently asking permission to hold it. Her hand bumped against his in confirmation and she felt it being enveloped in warmth.

"Forgive me." He pleaded simply, but she could see the emotions in his eyes, the regret.

"You have nothing to apologize for," she whispered as she took another step forward and rested her head on his chest. He instinctively wrapped his right arm around her waist and pulled her in close, once again the thought of Hisana appeared in his mind but he valiantly fought against the feelings of guilt and rested his chin atop her head. Now was not the time to wallow in the past, it was time to move forward and come to terms that he…

"Byakuya-kun." She spoke out unsteadily, having not said his name in such a manner in over a century. Her heart was thumping at a mile a minute; he didn't even hesitate when he hugged her closer to his body. She immediately assumed that he had come to terms with Hisana's death, but the death of a spouse was something that one cannot just simply move on from and forget; it's damn near impossible.

"Mm?" he replied wordlessly to let her know that he was listening. He didn't even show any annoyance at her using his name in such a casual fashion.

For some odd reason, she felt overwhelmed and emotional; but she knew that this had to be done. It was for the best, anyways. Emotions were a weakness, and she was determined to save the boy—_the man_—from the heavy burden that she has carried nearly every single day of her life.

"This is it." She said with a slight tremble in her voice and body. "This is as far as it goes."

"What are you talking about?" he questioned as he gently pushed her back; both of his hands lay on her shoulders.

"Everything, Byakuya-san! Sneaking away together, kissing each other, it all has to stop! We both promised to go about our lives as normal, and doing these things are far from it!" she choked out. It was beautiful while it lasted, but all good things must come to an end; especially if she didn't know if she would come back well enough to see him. She felt her heart shatter when he gave her a confused look that slowly morphed into an angry look. "If it is because of my status then—"

"Your noble status has nothing to do with this." She replied thickly, but still kept a tone of finality. Swallowing the lump out of her throat with limited success, she continued. "We are in two different stages of our lives, we are incompatible. I—I'm sorry Bya—"

She was immediately cut off when Byakuya picked her up like a doll by her hips and slammed his lips to hers, bringing her into a savagely passionate kiss that she was foolish enough to reciprocate. Even though it was for only a few seconds, it felt like centuries passed. Feeling her lungs start to burn, she roughly moved away, panting. She could see the hurt in his eyes but forced herself to don her mask on once again and will the tears in her eyes to disappear. "Retsu—please—" he began to say compassionately, but she cut him off softly.

"It is for the best, Byakuya-san. I am going to return to the party." She bowed deeply and walked away from him back to the party that was still going on down the hall.

She walked out of his life.

* * *

**I was REALLY feeling this chapter and had almost no difficulty writing it. My old English teacher said that I 'suffered from diarrhea of the pen' (or keyboard) and never knew when to stop, but I'm sure that you all aren't complaining!**

**Unfortunately, this chapter is the last one that I'm going to post for the summer. That means that I'm returning to the dungeon (school) on Monday, thus making my updates even more sporadic due to my giant load subjects that are years above me (thank Kami for my above average IQ) and marching band (I'm about that saxophone life!).**

**Even with my iffy updates, I hope that you all don't get bored with this story, because it's probably won't end until my birthday next year (February) or even further if I decide to hold off on my next Unohana-fic and write a sequel to this.**

**Thanks for reading and PLEASE REVIEW!**


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