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WHO: Byakuya Kuchiki, Renji Abarai, Tatsuki Arisawa, Ichigo Kurosaki, Isshin Kurosaki, and Rukia Kuchiki's comatose badii.
WHEN: 9/13/06-9/14/06
WHERE: Karakura, Kurosaki Clinic
WHAT: Informed of Rukia's injury by Renji, Byakuya visits with his sister and his vice-captain at the Kurosaki Clinic. After Renji hops out the window to go on patrol, Tatsuki stops in to visit Rukia. She completely fails to get along with Byakuya.
WATCH FOR: Tatsuki punching Byakuya. No, really.
What a day. What a hell of a day. Yesterday he finds Rukia getting carved up, then gets assulted by Isshin with garlic cloves for being a vampire. Whatever the hell that is. Then today, after sending a message to his Captain, he tries to go see Rukia...only to get assulted by MORE GARLIC, as well as 'Holy Water' and wooden stakes. The behippiefied Shinigami had to climb in though the window in Rukia's room just to /get/ there. However, he did get here. Thats what really matters isn't it?
He's wearing his usual dressed down and 'inconspicious' outfit, though the sunglasses he has perched on his head are the ones from the suit affair. Sitting in a chair next to her bed, his head is sunk down to his chest, and one arm rests across his knees. The other is on the bed, his fingers just bairly brushing against hers. She seems bandaged, but asleep. He just seems...well asleep.
Having no particular desire to encounter Kurosaki's father-- nor to have to make up excuses just to get past the door and see his own sister-- Byakuya opted to eschew the gigai for this particular visit to the living plane. Approaching across the rooftops, his step light, he drifts to a halt on the sill of Rukia's window like an autumn leaf peeled from a tree branch. He stops there a moment, looking in through the window, and then simply enters: moving seamlessly through the glass.
The missive from Renji arrived earlier that day. Mere minutes later, Byakuya had risen and begun to set affairs in order for his impending absence. Filing a report encapsulating those events Renji had described in his message, he had then dispatched a messenger to the Thirteenth Division to inform Ukitake. Then, turning command over to the Sixth Division's third seat for the remainder of the day, he had taken leave from his duties to return to the estate: checking in with his retainers to assure himself that the estate could spare him should this business take longer than expected.
Unfortunately, not even for Rukia can Byakuya simply rush immediately off from his shackling responsibilities.
He is finally here with her now, however, which is more than he would have done in the past: his calm presence a mantling sort of weight cast sombrely over the room. He looks first at Rukia, and then at Renji, his expression unreadable; and should his presence not be sufficient to rouse his vice-captain, Byakuya will clear his throat and address him quietly by name.
Actually, even as Byakuya slowly strolls though the glass, Renji was stirring. The feel of that familiar force bringing him back to wakefullness. His head slowly comes up and red eyes open and the first thing they see is the sleeping face of his childhood friend. His back is to the window and he dosn't look around at first. Someone has tucked one of the shinigami's little rabbit plushies next to her while she slept, and the sight of it makes him smile even as he draws his hand away from hers and back into his lap.
"...I send you word as soon as I could." Renji comments softly, his voice quiet. Respectful. He sent word, but he didn't want to leave her. "For all of Kurosaki's fathers failings, he is a good doctor." He adds after a moment before he stands respectfully, stepping away so Byakuya can come closer to the bed if he should choose.
There is little that is malignant about Byakuya's presence at this particular time. It carries a sort of weight that is protective rather than oppressive; it connotes a quiet and calm regard, rather than the silence of murderous deliberation.
As Renji stands and backs up, Byakuya steps into the space left behind: the gentle rustle of silk the only sound his movement evokes. His gaze tips downwards to regard Rukia as she lies there asleep (comatose?) beneath the sheets; and though his eyes do not soften and his expression does not change, the fact that he stays his tongue from criticism-- of either of them-- is enough evidence of his heavily-disguised concern.
His eyes follow the lines of her bandages as he hears out Renji's explanations. The report was as prompt as it could possibly have been, yes, and Renji's timely arrival at the scene itself was likely all that kept Rukia from death. And though it bothers Byakuya that the first place Rukia was brought to was not her own home, he is fully aware that it would have been fatal to waste that much time. The clinic was the best choice, all things considered. "...You did well," he finally says lowly-- his gaze still on Rukia, but his words addressed to Renji. Never let it be said he does not credit where it is due.
He is quiet a little longer; and then he asks, almost conversationally, "It was Ichimaru?"
There was part of Renji that was wary of his Captain's arival. He wasn't sure how he would take bringing Rukia here, regardless of the pressing need. This was indeed something very close, the fight was nearly fatal. She is indeed comatose. Infact 'Cut to near ribbons' describes her pretty well. The bandages on her arms and what can be seen out from the cover of the sheets are extensive. Strangely enough her face was untouched.
He had prepared several different arguments, but Byakyua's words cut all that out from under him. He looks up towards his captain, perhaps a touch suprised for the seldom heard praise before he simply nods. "Thank you sir," He says quietly.
He can hear it in his voice though, the touch of self reproach. If only he had been faster on the scene this wouldn't have happened. At the name though Renji can't help it, anger ignites like a grass fire inside. "...yes." Its all he can say at the moment, trying to keep the growl out of his voice.
Renji cannot be blamed for being wary. Had the conditions been different, Byakuya might well have objected to Rukia being brought somewhere other than her own home. But there are some things that cannot be contested, and in this case the necessity of seeking immediate medical aid for Rukia is one of them. Had they wasted time opening a gate and returning to Soul Society, Rukia would have bled to death; that much is obvious from the extensiveness of her wounds. Byakuya has had enough experience watching people bleed to death from a multitude of cuts to know exactly how fast such attacks kill.
Right now Rukia looks exactly like one of his own victims: stark white from blood loss, as white as the mummifying bandages holding all the rest of her blood in. The edges of Byakuya's gaze harden brittlely, but he does not look away.
Surprisingly unpredictable for a man of his stoicism, Byakuya takes the wind out of Renji's proverbial sails with those words of approval. Whether or not Byakuya is aware that Renji had built up a fleet of arguments should he chastise him is irrelevant now. Rukia is alive. There is no reason to say anything further in regard to Byakuya's rarely-given and undemonstrative gratitude. But Renji's self-reproach is one that is mirrored-- to a muted extent-- in Byakuya himself. He almost failed Hisana last night. Rukia was bleeding last night. He didn't even know.
But it's best not to dwell on that now. Not when the cause of this can be discussed: and, with any luck, dealt with. "Did he reveal anything of his intentions, walking so freely and brazenly in Karakura?" he begins, his deliberate voice hard. "Was Rukia able to communicate anything of what she might have learned?"
"No, she could scarse speak when I found her," Renji replies, glancing down at his hands. There was so much blood there that day. Over his and her robes, his hands and arms. She told him to run, thats the only thing she said before she passed out. The rage and anger in him is building as he thinks about it, but he's trying to control it. Its not quite a loosing battle, just a difficult one.
"I don't think she learned anything," Renji adds with a shake of his head. "...I almost think he did it on purpose, to lure her out. Apparently she tried to follow him and he saw her. They fought and..." He shakes his head. "...I arrived just after he released his Shikai at her." A pause before he adds. "He left when I got there..." A pause before he adds. "...I don't think he ment to kill her."
Byakuya finally looks at Renji then, his head turning infinitesimally as his gaze shifts to regard his vice-captain; and he thinks sombrely over the both of them for all the world like a father with a pair of troublesome charges. In silence, he watches as Renji stares at his hands, battling with his own emotions and losing; as always, reading Renji while revealing nothing of his own emotions. What flicker of anger he feels himself goes heavily disguised. Almost disavowed.
His gaze drops when Renji replies his question. So nothing was gained from this encounter save heavy injuries. Disappointing; but unsurprising that one such as Ichimaru would catch attempts to tail him. But at that last comment, his gaze lifts again: a hint of more familiar coldness frosting the grey.
"I do not care whether he -meant- to kill her." Byakuya's voice sharpens like a blade's edge down a whetstone. Whatever his intentions, he almost did. That is enough. But after a moment, Byakuya relents: his gaze turning back to Rukia. "Should he remain in Karakura, I will find him." The statement is flat and unequivocal, not unlike the sound of a dropping guillotine blade.
Renji never had much training in controling those emotions. They are a part of him that he dosn't really try to hide. He throttles them down now though, its not the time or the place for them. All they do now is serve to make him seem a bit of a troublesome fool. His hands clench into fists though and he forces his gaze up streight once more. Ye gads though. He is going to yell at her when she gets up.
SO yell at her.
A useless wounding of one of the most important people in his life. For nothing at all. No reason. Just simple violence to satisface Foxface. He can feel the frost forming on the air Byakyua's own form of anger appearing.
"Yes sir," Thats all he can really say ain't it? The only appropriate answer. Even if /he/ wants to be the one that does it.
Since birth, Byakuya has hidden his emotions and feelings to the point of forgetting they exist at all. He is more than just an individual; he is a noble, a leader, and an heir. His responsibility to those beneath him-- to society as a whole-- outweighs his right to emotions. Even if he had wanted to have the luxury of such things as personal feelings, he would never be able to have it.
Looking at Renji is, in many ways, like looking at his opposite. While Byakuya is not so thoughtless as to envy his vice-captain's freedom of expression, that does not bar him from observing it: in some clinical, detached sort of way. Scientists look at their dissections the same way.
But one of the emotions he does afford himself the luxury of having is anger: spurning, cold, contemptuous anger. At incompetence, at waste, at seeing the girl he swore to protect wrapped up in bandages. Yes, you had best keep your answer simple, Renji; though do not think Byakuya does not guess at your desire for revenge. It is a natural impulse.
"I expect vigilance from you as well." His way of saying that should Renji find Ichimaru first... he's more than welcome to take first crack. Byakuya cares about personal revenge less than he cares about this threat being resolved. Vengeance is another of those luxuries from which he is generally barred.
Renji silently wonders though, /why/ didn't Gin kill her. She was an enemy of his, did he have orders to let her live? Thats something he will dwell on in his own time though. For the moment he sighs, the anger slowly drawing out of him. A glance up at the window, then again to Byakuya. He pauses a moemnt before taking a step towards the window.
Hey, its how he got in, its how he'll get out.
"I'll do my best sir," To kill the bastard if he runs across him at least. Renji likes him just about as much at Bya does. Which means not at all. "...I think its about time for me to run my rounds though." Which translates loosely into 'I'll leave you two alone now, but make it look like I'm just doing my job so no one gets insulted.' Yeah. Everything in Soul Soeciety has eight or twelve different meanings. However this does seem to mean that Renji is outta here for the moment.
Everything in Soul Society has a million meanings for any given person. It is a place of politics and deceit, where the line between purity and corruption is startlingly blurred. It is a place where one young man with a pure heart and unsullied ideals can turn the entire world on its ear.
It is a place where the young woman who taught that young man everything he knows might just be able to turn some heads, too.
Thus it is that as Renji leaves, the door to the room slides open, and Tatsuki Arisawa enters. She spies the departing shinigami vice-captain, but doesn't really say much - as her eyes instead track to a different target. Him. She remembers him. She closes her eyes. Great. Get to be formal after a day like today? Fine, whatever. She clears her throat to announce her presence, and forceably restrains a reflexive 'oi' from escaping. She's always wanted to talk to this man - find out what makes him tick, what made him make the decisions Orihime told her about - inexplicable to her, completely beyond any comprehension. She wants to know. "Captain Kuchiki, right?" she says, stepping more fully into the room.
Byakuya watches Renji leave dispassionately, acknowledging his announcement and dismissing him with a faint inclination of the head. Thusly left alone with his sister, he thinks briefly of taking the chair Renji has vacated; but the consideration dies the instant the door opens. Byakuya does not look around; somewhat irritated at being robbed of his solitude so quickly.
When Tatsuki clears her throat, however, he finally does slant a glance over his shoulder: forced to pay attention out of wariness, now it is apparent he shares the room with one who can see him. His eyes narrow with passing recognition. "Yes," is his terse reply: one that carries an unspoken query of 'what do you want from me,' within it.
"We didn't get off on the right foot," she says. Formality. Treat him with respect, she reminds herself. Tatsuki's a very casual woman - unnervingly reminiscent of Yoruichi or Kuukaku Shiba in their prime - and it takes no small degree of self-control to keep herself from giving Byakuya a companionable slap on the back. Instead, she maintains a respectable distance, although she still approaches Rukia's bedside. "I am Tatsuki Arisawa. I'm one of Rukia's classmates." Friends? Tatsuki thinks so, but it's so /hard/ to read these damn shinigami.
Companionable slaps on the back would be tanked in immovable silence and then responded to with a -look-. The Kuchiki lord is just not one of those types of people you can be companionable with. Unless maybe you're Yoruichi.
But it seems this approach is garnering favorable results, thus far. Byakuya's head lifts infinitesimally, some of the narrowness of his eyes relenting. His back still remains turned to her, however; Byakuya doesn't tend to face people directly until he's -really- serious about something. Most of the time, slanted glances suffice. "I see." One of those humans Rukia has gone and gotten close too, no doubt. Though if she only knows Rukia through school-- "...How is it you were aware of her injury?" Judging from what he'd heard, there hadn't been a lot of time to spare in which casual acquaintances could discover enough to come looking for Rukia in a medical clinic. Nor does he see any particular reason -why- these normal humans should know in the first place.
He's seen this girl all of twice. He has no real idea of who she is. But despite that, she's exhibiting rather an abnormal amount of spiritual development. Enough to see him, anyway. This has been a trend in Karakura as of late, and it's one that annoys him to some degree.
Just another way to remove himself from the company of those around him. What a lonely existance...
Tatsuki shakes her head. If he wants to act better than her, that's his business. She has more important things to worry about than his ego...although conforming to his expectations is in her best interests, for what she wants. "Karin told me," she says. "I've been a friend of the Kurosakis since Ichigo and I were both four, and Rukia's a friend, too, so she let me know." She closes her eyes, thoughtfully, and then looks over at Rukia's bed. "She's really changed a lot of our lives. I think she's pretty important to all of us, by now."
Loneliness. Byakuya does not have the luxury of labeling himself in such self-indulgent and weak terms. Though it is true that station brings loneliness; too many restraints on one's actions and emotions make for an isolated, cold existence. Were he ever to speak in such terms-- or to speak of such things at all-- he would have said that he spent only five years out of a thousand without the specter of isolation.
After that long, something also becomes ingrained is haughtiness. By now it's a reflex rather than anything practiced to set Tatsuki on edge. So the Kurosakis see fit to inform Rukia's mortal companions of her condition. Apparently all of them are as meddlesome as Ichigo.
He hears Tatsuki out in silence, before he turns his gaze back to Rukia. She was a catalyst of change in his own life; he cannot set himself apart from these people in that respect, at the least. "...She will be fine," he says eventually, though the clinical empiricism of his tone strips away any possible thought that the phrase might be said out of a desire to reassure. It's more observation than kindness.
Well of COURSE she'll be fine, meathead! She's got Beardman the Medical Wonder working on her, it's a wonder she's not awake already and doing situps!
She thinks this - Tatsuki, for all the strange things she has seen, for all the mysteries she now knows the Kurosaki family to hold, for all her intimate knowledge of how big of a maniac Isshin Kurosaki is, has utmost faith in their skills as medics. But she doesn't say it; to tear down communications like that now...something about this enigmatic man compels her to understand him more. A protector, right? Ichigo taught her that - that an older brother exists to protect. Tatsuki knows what protection is - every bone in her body positively throbs with a protective instinct for her friends, her family, and especially for the beautiful young woman whom Tatsuki knows, without even thinking about it, is sleeping peacefully at this very moment. So why would he...? Orihime told her the story, of the events in Soul Society, after all. The question of Byakuya's behavior there gnaws at her - a nagging feeling of fundamental wrong, deep at the very pit of her being. The very concept is anathema, frightening by the mere fact of its existence. "That's good," she says, suppressing all this with only a waver to her tone. Martial artists of her caliber are good at control, when they want to be. "I knew she would be; Doc Kurosaki's pretty much insane, but he's the best doctor around short of the hospital. It's good to be sure, though. I should've brought flowers, or something, but I came right here when Karin called."
Byakuya was the one exception to that rule, wasn't he; an elder brother who chose his vow to the law above his fraternal vow to protect. But there is one thing that explains that; something that Byakuya is, which neither Ichigo nor Tatsuki are.
A ruler.
His responsibilities reach beyond the bounds of family and blood, exerting influence on the multitudes. While Ichigo and Tatsuki answer only to those they love, Byakuya answers to the expectant gazes of an entire society. When given authority, one is beholden to wield it fairly. A stranger off the street, his sister by marriage and adoption; there can be no difference between the two, in the eyes of the law. And so Byakuya is constrained by his station to become something inhuman: a pair of judging scales, rather than a biased, feeling living being.
But here, in the aftermath of it all, when the situation is far less complicated and law aligns neatly with personal bias, it is not difficult to picture Byakuya in his proper role as a protective elder brother. The way his spiritual presence suffuses the room-- a weight not unlike the mantling wings of a hawk-- certainly connotes a watchful and protective vigilance. "I am aware," he replies her quietly, "that this was the best alternative. Wasting time taking her anywhere else would have been fatal."
Other men would have thanked Tatsuki for her obvious concern over Rukia. Byakuya simply looks at her, a long and unreadable regard slanted over his shoulder, as if taking the measure of this girl who cares so much for Rukia; and that regard will have to suffice in stead of actual words.
Tatsuki would make a horrible ruler. Hotblooded and violent, the small girl is far too quick to bring her wrath to bear on those who cross her or those she cares about. Tatsuki would surely concede that to Byakuya, if nothing else - calm is needed, for men such as he. But to allow a precious sister to be sacrificed in such a way...?
Tatsuki knows little of the Kuchiki clan's dynamic. She knows Rukia seems to live in equal parts terror and adoration of her brother. She knows Byakuya's cool, inflappable demeanor. If she knew the truth, the whole truth, she would surely not be puzzled. Infuriated is more like it.
But such emotions are far from her mind for now. While her spiritual senses are dull - all her sensory acuity being focused like a spotlight at Orihime Inoue - the presence of Byakuya's spiritual force is still felt. She does not understand him, no, but she thinks she understands that he's come to protect her now.
Ichigo, she knows, has that kind of effect on people.
Byakuya's unnerving calm is a complete change from everyone else she deals with regularly, and the martial artist takes a moment to remind herself that she won't get anything out of this man by losing her cool. She looks up and meets Byakuya's gaze with curiosity, trying to read with amateur, open eyes past the stony wall of a man who has been a noble for his whole life. Unable to discern his feelings, she merely straightens, attempting to present the presence of someone at least somewhat worth his time. She cannot get any answers from a man unwilling to speak to her. Still, it is surely obvious that this is hardly how the young woman would act in front of, probably, anyone else. Finally, she manages, "Doc Kurosaki is pretty skilled. He used to patch Ichigo and I up all the time. And there's something to be said for a guy like him...I think I'd choose him over that creepy hospital director any day." Come to think of it, Doctor Ishida's pretty similar to Byakuya, huh? She lets the thought linger, saying nothing for a moment. Finally, though, she can't just be submissing in this damn dance of question and useless answer any longer. "Do we know who did it?" she asks.
Equanimity and complete impartiality is needed in those who would lead or rule. There is a reason Justice comes blindfolded. Were he to save his sister and not others, an outcry would arise among the population of the unfairness of it all. People had already grumbled over Byakuya's use of his influence to graduate Rukia early from the academy; for him to save her life solely because she was his sibling would have created even greater unrest.
Seated behind that formidable calm is a perceptiveness even more formidable. Byakuya has had a very long time to master the art of unsettling others, and a large part of intimidation lies in displaying a penetrating gaze that reads into others while simultaneously revealing nothing. He can tell she is restraining herself from her natural behavior. He's unsurprised that she would, in his presence.
"Her treatment has been adequate," he concedes. He cannot deny the skill with which Rukia has been cared for. But when Tatsuki decides to get direct, his gaze cuts abruptly away. His back is fully turned in silent denial. "...That is not your concern."
Unfortunately, Byakuya is not aware that this is possibly the worst thing one can say to Arisawa Tatsuki.
A girl like Tatsuki can only beat around the bush for so long. Cut straight to the heart of the problem and then beat on it until it's solved, that's more her style; this...patient baiting back and forth between a seasoned veteran of the political arena and herself could really only go so long before Tatsuki, impatient for answers, broke. An amateur move, perhaps, but who needs subtlety? But the answer...
Her entire body tenses. Her very first thought is to plant her foot up Byakuya's ass far enough that he can taste it. Or maybe--no. No, she can't get that violent here, not yet. Rukia's hurt, and he's so powerful, but....
But Tatsuki, prideful fool that she is, cannot allow that to stand.
There is a flicker of spirit pressure - muted by the presence of a spiritual form between the world and her soul, but an impressive sense nonetheless, the gutteral but ultimately harmless growl of a shackled beast taunted one too many times. Her hand rises up and grasps Byakuya's shoulder, and she jerks him around, keeping her grip in case she ends up having occasion to throw him right out the window. "She is my /friend/," she says, repeating the sentiment from earlier. Civility is a memory - this is Tatsuki as she truly is, expressing herself with action and fury. She is unafraid of Byakuya's retaliation, despite knowing full well that he is in his most powerful state. There are some things a girl just can't stand. More than likely if he did retaliate violently she'd just get up again, anyway. There are days it's hard to tell who learned more from who in those younger days: Tatsuki from Ichigo, or Ichigo from Tatsuki. "She is /hurt/, and somebody /did it to her/. You can be cool as long as you like, and that's /your/ business. You're here to watch her and protect her and that's fine. But I'll tell you what my business is. MY business is the fact that MY friend is hurt, and knowing this damn town, that means one of my other friends may get hurt by the SAME GUY."
Her eyes blaze, and she bares her teeth at the Kuchiki leader. "And if you holding back on me means Ichigo or Orihime get hurt then SO HELP ME I will rip off your fucking head!"
There is one thing here that Byakuya must give Tatsuki credit for having: sheer, foolhardy, reckless bravery of a suicidal sort. It is the same as that he saw in Ichigo. Both these children have a habit of sticking their heads straight into the lion's mouth.
Caught off-guard by the sheer audacity of her movement, he is forced around with a rustle of silk and a snap of black hair. The shoulder beneath her hand stiffens: muscle coiling close to bone beneath her rough fingertips. The relative strength of her spiritual pressure surprises him, for it is unusual for a living human to be able to touch shinigami at all. But he is not so thoughtless as to lose his composure and express a reaction-- either of shock, or of outrage. His eyes simply narrow, the irises slitting down to dangerous glints of steel grey.
"Friend or not, a human such as you has no need to know of these things," he replies emotionlessly. "They will be taken care of by those whose duty it is to resolve them." Simple, direct, and brutal: an efficient statement of all those things Tatsuki does -not- want to hear.
And now that he has said his piece, his gaze meets hers directly: slanted down coldly through his lashes. She has failed to remove her hand from his person, but that is a simple matter to address. "Continue to so graciously offer me your arm," he tells her, threat winding snakelike through his even voice, "and I will decide to take it."
Tatsuki and Ichigo are two of a kind. Why look back? Why even bother to look to the sides? There's things to do. Obstacles exist only to be overcome - with words if possible, with fists and feet if needed. And Byakuya Kuchiki, in Tatsuki's opinion, needs some proper street justice right about now. "Taken care of," she seethes. Energy flares a little higher; lacking the ability to focus this power into anything more than her fists, it is hardly any kind of threat, although like the rest of Karakura's unusual humans, she could probably match a reasonably powerful seated officer in battle and emerge the victor. She scowls. "Like whoever this was was 'taken care of' before they could hurt Rukia." She balls her fist against Byakuya's shoulder, clutching his Captain's haori as if desperately trying to stay her hand. "Or maybe more like you almost 'took care' of Rukia?" she spits. "We don't need your kind of 'protector' here, Kuchiki!" And then, her temper at long last winning out over the danger, she snaps, "And if you want my arm, TAKE IT!"
Her hand releases. There is no other warning before her fist, backed by every ounce of strength in her body, physical and spiritual, with total followthrough of her entire body, traces a straight line to Byakuya's face.
Something snaps behind Byakuya's slitted eyes when Tatsuki speaks of Rukia's near-execution. But before he can react, Tatsuki's decided she has had enough of words.
The force of her furious conviction is enough to break the sheer difference in spiritual power between death god and human; that, and the fact that he completely did not anticipate she would ever dare lay a hand on him. Tatsuki's fist finds its mark square across Byakuya's jaw, his head snapping to the left as if before a vicious slap, and silence thunders across the room.
There is a long and horrible period of complete stillness, in which Byakuya's black hair veils his expression from view.
Byakuya, as has been said before, is a master of intimidation: and much of what goes into intimidation is little more than careful and portentous timing. This would be the reason he chooses to look back at Tatsuki with a deliberate slowness; and the reason he chooses to release all restraints on his reiatsu at the same time he meets her eyes. Swiping a faint trace of blood from the corner of his mouth, he tries and fails to dissemble away the cold anger frosting his gaze.
"I tire of hearing humans spout insolence on that which they do not understand," comes his voice-- still calm, still level, but with an underpinning now of violent contempt. That tone, coupled with the bristle of his spiritual force, communicate in no uncertain terms that now would be a good time to -shut up-.
How dare you speak of it as if it were -easy- for him to let his sister go.
Tatsuki...doesn't back down. She has basked in the presence of Yoruichi Shihouin and Kenpachi Zaraki, and confronted Soi Fong; the feel of a Captain's spirit pressure weighing upon her is not new, and between her own and the muting effect a physical body has on spiritual sensitivity, it does not even paralyze her as it does those unprepared for such events.
What does pierce the haze of her fury, just slightly, is Byakuya's anger - contemptuous and furious. She pushed too far. She said the wrong thing, and now...!
The girl snarls, hands returning to her sides, refusing to quail before the vastly stronger man before her. She won't be silenced - not here, not so close, not when he's left himself open! "You want me to talk respect, and I /did/ that," she says. "And I'll do it again. I WANT to understand! Do you think I just go around punching every jackass I meet on the street!? I want more than anything right now to understand this, Ku..." She stops, breathes. Now. "Captain Kuchiki!"
Her breathing slows, but the tension is high. She lowers her eyes, adrenaline high, but unable to muster the unbridled fury that led to this confrontation. Now is the time to lay it out. "Please. There's people I protect, too. I don't understand. I just...I want to know...why."
Ichigo, who has been home for all of two days, storms down the stairs, face a thundercloud of anger. His scowl is deeper than usual, his eyes are narrower, and his Reiatsu feels..../weird/. Not wholely Death God anymore. It's really...unpleasant. The berryhead stomps down the stairs and starts in on Tatsuki and Byakuya. "I'll live with the yelling. I'll live with the violence, eve." He could hear the punching. Don't ask how. "What I won't live with is /you/," he points at the eldest Kuchiki, "Waving your damn.....authority around." Dad may be listening, after all. "Do you want to bring...attention on /my/ house? I respected your rules in yours. Respect mine in mine." With their luck, Hollows would roll up, and Dad would see, then shenanigans would ensue.
Tatsuki's still going to hit him. There's money on it in some universe.
Back straight, shoulders square, head lowered in threat, Byakuya stands in judgment of her words. He weighs them, considers them, affording them some attention even in his angered state-- but in the end, he dismisses them entirely.
A kinder man might have taken pity on her. A more accepting one would have, at the least, humored her desire to help. Certainly, Yoruichi took Tatsuki's desperate need to protect those she loves and -did- something with it rather than simply brush the girl aside. Yoruichi treated Tatsuki as if she could truly make a difference; as if she could become a legitimate contender in this town's deadly game.
Byakuya is unwilling to do the same.
"You do not need to know." And it's a good thing he is interrupted just at that point, because had he been allowed to continue he'd have said something that'd really have sent Tatsuki after him. He stops, his glance moving to the stairs at that strange reiatsu, and his own folds up neatly like a set of hakama: stitched up with a swift precision born of long years of experience.
When the possessor of that reiatsu is shown to be Ichigo, Byakuya's eyes narrow. Effectively distracted from Tatsuki for the time being, he inspects the boy harshly: seeming too absorbed in his regard even to pay Ichigo's angry words all that much mind. So this is what you have done with yourself, using the aid my sister went to prison for.
Well, she did it. She put her pride on the line, asked nicely, and put forth her best face. Twice. And he...steps on it? Crushes her underfoot. He thinks he's so superior...well. If Be Civil doesn't work, we can always go back to the usual Plan A. Ichigo's presence doesn't even register. It's not Orihime. Who cares?
The only reason Byakuya doesn't get another straight punch to the face is the fact that Tatsuki doesn't have a grip on him anymore. She instead lunges, fist cocked back and hate in her eyes. Talk down to her, will he...!
The dragon, taunted one too many times, chooses to show its displeasure not with words, but by simply ripping the offender's head off.
Annnnnd, while the tenseness and the soul-searching is going on...something else is happening. AND just busts into the room via the CEILING. IT IS...
DOCTOR KUROSAKI, VAMPIRE HUNTER! He's kitted out in a full regalia of Vampire Hunting Goodness. There's a squirt gun full of holy water, several bulbs of garlic, and, held high for the final blow...is a T-Bone Steak. Obviously, someone mistranslated a book somewhere. Sigh. He hmmms, and frowns.
"I thought I heard the sound of angry somewhere! Obviously, the foul vampire lord was here, but was scared off by Tatsuki's punching! STill, I must make sure! Hmmmm!"
Annnd, with that, Isshin starts calmly sprinkling dried garlic flakes on ANGRY!Tatsuki, Ichigo, and Rukia's Comatose Corpse.
Now, some might question why Isshin was waiting for vampires armed with garlic and a delicious T-Bone steak. A better question is 'Why does Isshin have a Secret Trapdoor hidden in the second floor of the house?'
Ichigo was about to dive tackle Tatsuki, when the Old Man shows up.
Shows up and coats him in GARLIC POWDER.
"WHAT THE HELL, OLD MAN!?" Ichigo bellows, forgetting that they're in Rukia's clinic room where she's, pretty much, in a coma. Of course, the instant he thinks about it, it's a hell of a downer, and he goes silent again, looking at her for a moment before looking back at his father, that old scowing mask back again, like always.
Byakuya rapidly loses interest in being here the instant things devolve into pure nonsense. Sidestepping Tatsuki's direct strike for his face, he flickers back in a truncated flash step to his original position by Rukia's bed. His glance moves to his sister's face in the bare moments of peace his swift motion buy him.
"Once she is fit to be moved, I wish her sent home." This, to Ichigo: though he remains aware of Tatsuki's movements, should she attempt to double back after him. "Your home should then draw no more attention than it customarily would." Is that a hint of sarcasm to his tone?
Tatsuki Arisawa is ready for Byakuya's motion - she's been training with Yoruichi, after all. CLose-quarters evasion won't let you esc what the fuck, Isshin.
The sudden appearance of Pappy Kurosaki, is enough to throw Tatsuki just a touch off her game, flying past Byakuya rather than adjusting in time, and putting her fist right through the damn wall, too.
She sits there for a moment, hunched over the wall and unresponsive. This is partially because she is so furious that she cannot speak.
It is also partially because her fist is stuck on the far side of the wall.
Isshin hmmms, looking sad that there is no vampire here for him to SAVAGELY STEAK. And then there's the angry Tatsuki, probaly trying to punch through the wall. And Angry Ichigo. But that's normal. So, Isshin puts him in a headlock, taping a garlic bulb to the back of his head.
"ICHIIIIIIIIIIIIGOOOOO! You need to protect Rukia from vampires! Stay here with the garlic powder or something!"
Annnnd, Isshin then ties a garlic bulb to Rukia's forehead, and then strolls out through the door, humming, as he goes to HUNT VAMPIRE PEOPLES.
After stopping to sprinkle more garlic on Tatsuki, of course.
Evil, Evil Pappy Kurosaki
"DAMMIT DAD!" Ichigo cries out, yanking the taped garlic from his head without thinking. When the pain registers, he yelps and drops the bulb, swearing under his breath.
Oh wait, Byakuya's here. "Dad said we shouldn't move her until she wakes up. She can decide where she wants to go then, Byakuya." Berryhead crosses the room, standing on the other side of Rukia's bed. He looks at her for a moment and then up to her brother, matching wills with the Lawful Asshole captain.
He'll help Tatsuki once the real jackass was gone.
Calm as a millpond. That's Byakuya's current expression. He doesn't even spare poor Tatsuki a glance. His attention is focused primarily on Ichigo.
He doesn't sink so low as to display dislike. Ichigo receives the same even-tempered regard as anybody else would. It irritates him that this child persists in referring to him in such a casual manner, but he doesn't show that either; emotionality is useless weakness. Byakuya is set as weathered concrete and immutable as a cliff face; he may change subtly, but only after eons have passed.
He meets Ichigo's direct gaze briefly, his regard unreadable, before he loses interest in such petty contests as jousting egos with a boy. He folds his gaze away beneath his lashes, turning and moving to the window: his steps silent, but for the sound of silk. Words come drifting from over his shoulder, level and cold. "Then while she is here, you will suffer my occasional presence." You cannot bar a brother from wishing to see his sister.
He spares one glance for Tatsuki: a measuring sort of look. He will have to consider what she has revealed here.
WHEN: 9/13/06-9/14/06
WHERE: Karakura, Kurosaki Clinic
WHAT: Informed of Rukia's injury by Renji, Byakuya visits with his sister and his vice-captain at the Kurosaki Clinic. After Renji hops out the window to go on patrol, Tatsuki stops in to visit Rukia. She completely fails to get along with Byakuya.
WATCH FOR: Tatsuki punching Byakuya. No, really.
What a day. What a hell of a day. Yesterday he finds Rukia getting carved up, then gets assulted by Isshin with garlic cloves for being a vampire. Whatever the hell that is. Then today, after sending a message to his Captain, he tries to go see Rukia...only to get assulted by MORE GARLIC, as well as 'Holy Water' and wooden stakes. The behippiefied Shinigami had to climb in though the window in Rukia's room just to /get/ there. However, he did get here. Thats what really matters isn't it?
He's wearing his usual dressed down and 'inconspicious' outfit, though the sunglasses he has perched on his head are the ones from the suit affair. Sitting in a chair next to her bed, his head is sunk down to his chest, and one arm rests across his knees. The other is on the bed, his fingers just bairly brushing against hers. She seems bandaged, but asleep. He just seems...well asleep.
Having no particular desire to encounter Kurosaki's father-- nor to have to make up excuses just to get past the door and see his own sister-- Byakuya opted to eschew the gigai for this particular visit to the living plane. Approaching across the rooftops, his step light, he drifts to a halt on the sill of Rukia's window like an autumn leaf peeled from a tree branch. He stops there a moment, looking in through the window, and then simply enters: moving seamlessly through the glass.
The missive from Renji arrived earlier that day. Mere minutes later, Byakuya had risen and begun to set affairs in order for his impending absence. Filing a report encapsulating those events Renji had described in his message, he had then dispatched a messenger to the Thirteenth Division to inform Ukitake. Then, turning command over to the Sixth Division's third seat for the remainder of the day, he had taken leave from his duties to return to the estate: checking in with his retainers to assure himself that the estate could spare him should this business take longer than expected.
Unfortunately, not even for Rukia can Byakuya simply rush immediately off from his shackling responsibilities.
He is finally here with her now, however, which is more than he would have done in the past: his calm presence a mantling sort of weight cast sombrely over the room. He looks first at Rukia, and then at Renji, his expression unreadable; and should his presence not be sufficient to rouse his vice-captain, Byakuya will clear his throat and address him quietly by name.
Actually, even as Byakuya slowly strolls though the glass, Renji was stirring. The feel of that familiar force bringing him back to wakefullness. His head slowly comes up and red eyes open and the first thing they see is the sleeping face of his childhood friend. His back is to the window and he dosn't look around at first. Someone has tucked one of the shinigami's little rabbit plushies next to her while she slept, and the sight of it makes him smile even as he draws his hand away from hers and back into his lap.
"...I send you word as soon as I could." Renji comments softly, his voice quiet. Respectful. He sent word, but he didn't want to leave her. "For all of Kurosaki's fathers failings, he is a good doctor." He adds after a moment before he stands respectfully, stepping away so Byakuya can come closer to the bed if he should choose.
There is little that is malignant about Byakuya's presence at this particular time. It carries a sort of weight that is protective rather than oppressive; it connotes a quiet and calm regard, rather than the silence of murderous deliberation.
As Renji stands and backs up, Byakuya steps into the space left behind: the gentle rustle of silk the only sound his movement evokes. His gaze tips downwards to regard Rukia as she lies there asleep (comatose?) beneath the sheets; and though his eyes do not soften and his expression does not change, the fact that he stays his tongue from criticism-- of either of them-- is enough evidence of his heavily-disguised concern.
His eyes follow the lines of her bandages as he hears out Renji's explanations. The report was as prompt as it could possibly have been, yes, and Renji's timely arrival at the scene itself was likely all that kept Rukia from death. And though it bothers Byakuya that the first place Rukia was brought to was not her own home, he is fully aware that it would have been fatal to waste that much time. The clinic was the best choice, all things considered. "...You did well," he finally says lowly-- his gaze still on Rukia, but his words addressed to Renji. Never let it be said he does not credit where it is due.
He is quiet a little longer; and then he asks, almost conversationally, "It was Ichimaru?"
There was part of Renji that was wary of his Captain's arival. He wasn't sure how he would take bringing Rukia here, regardless of the pressing need. This was indeed something very close, the fight was nearly fatal. She is indeed comatose. Infact 'Cut to near ribbons' describes her pretty well. The bandages on her arms and what can be seen out from the cover of the sheets are extensive. Strangely enough her face was untouched.
He had prepared several different arguments, but Byakyua's words cut all that out from under him. He looks up towards his captain, perhaps a touch suprised for the seldom heard praise before he simply nods. "Thank you sir," He says quietly.
He can hear it in his voice though, the touch of self reproach. If only he had been faster on the scene this wouldn't have happened. At the name though Renji can't help it, anger ignites like a grass fire inside. "...yes." Its all he can say at the moment, trying to keep the growl out of his voice.
Renji cannot be blamed for being wary. Had the conditions been different, Byakuya might well have objected to Rukia being brought somewhere other than her own home. But there are some things that cannot be contested, and in this case the necessity of seeking immediate medical aid for Rukia is one of them. Had they wasted time opening a gate and returning to Soul Society, Rukia would have bled to death; that much is obvious from the extensiveness of her wounds. Byakuya has had enough experience watching people bleed to death from a multitude of cuts to know exactly how fast such attacks kill.
Right now Rukia looks exactly like one of his own victims: stark white from blood loss, as white as the mummifying bandages holding all the rest of her blood in. The edges of Byakuya's gaze harden brittlely, but he does not look away.
Surprisingly unpredictable for a man of his stoicism, Byakuya takes the wind out of Renji's proverbial sails with those words of approval. Whether or not Byakuya is aware that Renji had built up a fleet of arguments should he chastise him is irrelevant now. Rukia is alive. There is no reason to say anything further in regard to Byakuya's rarely-given and undemonstrative gratitude. But Renji's self-reproach is one that is mirrored-- to a muted extent-- in Byakuya himself. He almost failed Hisana last night. Rukia was bleeding last night. He didn't even know.
But it's best not to dwell on that now. Not when the cause of this can be discussed: and, with any luck, dealt with. "Did he reveal anything of his intentions, walking so freely and brazenly in Karakura?" he begins, his deliberate voice hard. "Was Rukia able to communicate anything of what she might have learned?"
"No, she could scarse speak when I found her," Renji replies, glancing down at his hands. There was so much blood there that day. Over his and her robes, his hands and arms. She told him to run, thats the only thing she said before she passed out. The rage and anger in him is building as he thinks about it, but he's trying to control it. Its not quite a loosing battle, just a difficult one.
"I don't think she learned anything," Renji adds with a shake of his head. "...I almost think he did it on purpose, to lure her out. Apparently she tried to follow him and he saw her. They fought and..." He shakes his head. "...I arrived just after he released his Shikai at her." A pause before he adds. "He left when I got there..." A pause before he adds. "...I don't think he ment to kill her."
Byakuya finally looks at Renji then, his head turning infinitesimally as his gaze shifts to regard his vice-captain; and he thinks sombrely over the both of them for all the world like a father with a pair of troublesome charges. In silence, he watches as Renji stares at his hands, battling with his own emotions and losing; as always, reading Renji while revealing nothing of his own emotions. What flicker of anger he feels himself goes heavily disguised. Almost disavowed.
His gaze drops when Renji replies his question. So nothing was gained from this encounter save heavy injuries. Disappointing; but unsurprising that one such as Ichimaru would catch attempts to tail him. But at that last comment, his gaze lifts again: a hint of more familiar coldness frosting the grey.
"I do not care whether he -meant- to kill her." Byakuya's voice sharpens like a blade's edge down a whetstone. Whatever his intentions, he almost did. That is enough. But after a moment, Byakuya relents: his gaze turning back to Rukia. "Should he remain in Karakura, I will find him." The statement is flat and unequivocal, not unlike the sound of a dropping guillotine blade.
Renji never had much training in controling those emotions. They are a part of him that he dosn't really try to hide. He throttles them down now though, its not the time or the place for them. All they do now is serve to make him seem a bit of a troublesome fool. His hands clench into fists though and he forces his gaze up streight once more. Ye gads though. He is going to yell at her when she gets up.
SO yell at her.
A useless wounding of one of the most important people in his life. For nothing at all. No reason. Just simple violence to satisface Foxface. He can feel the frost forming on the air Byakyua's own form of anger appearing.
"Yes sir," Thats all he can really say ain't it? The only appropriate answer. Even if /he/ wants to be the one that does it.
Since birth, Byakuya has hidden his emotions and feelings to the point of forgetting they exist at all. He is more than just an individual; he is a noble, a leader, and an heir. His responsibility to those beneath him-- to society as a whole-- outweighs his right to emotions. Even if he had wanted to have the luxury of such things as personal feelings, he would never be able to have it.
Looking at Renji is, in many ways, like looking at his opposite. While Byakuya is not so thoughtless as to envy his vice-captain's freedom of expression, that does not bar him from observing it: in some clinical, detached sort of way. Scientists look at their dissections the same way.
But one of the emotions he does afford himself the luxury of having is anger: spurning, cold, contemptuous anger. At incompetence, at waste, at seeing the girl he swore to protect wrapped up in bandages. Yes, you had best keep your answer simple, Renji; though do not think Byakuya does not guess at your desire for revenge. It is a natural impulse.
"I expect vigilance from you as well." His way of saying that should Renji find Ichimaru first... he's more than welcome to take first crack. Byakuya cares about personal revenge less than he cares about this threat being resolved. Vengeance is another of those luxuries from which he is generally barred.
Renji silently wonders though, /why/ didn't Gin kill her. She was an enemy of his, did he have orders to let her live? Thats something he will dwell on in his own time though. For the moment he sighs, the anger slowly drawing out of him. A glance up at the window, then again to Byakuya. He pauses a moemnt before taking a step towards the window.
Hey, its how he got in, its how he'll get out.
"I'll do my best sir," To kill the bastard if he runs across him at least. Renji likes him just about as much at Bya does. Which means not at all. "...I think its about time for me to run my rounds though." Which translates loosely into 'I'll leave you two alone now, but make it look like I'm just doing my job so no one gets insulted.' Yeah. Everything in Soul Soeciety has eight or twelve different meanings. However this does seem to mean that Renji is outta here for the moment.
Everything in Soul Society has a million meanings for any given person. It is a place of politics and deceit, where the line between purity and corruption is startlingly blurred. It is a place where one young man with a pure heart and unsullied ideals can turn the entire world on its ear.
It is a place where the young woman who taught that young man everything he knows might just be able to turn some heads, too.
Thus it is that as Renji leaves, the door to the room slides open, and Tatsuki Arisawa enters. She spies the departing shinigami vice-captain, but doesn't really say much - as her eyes instead track to a different target. Him. She remembers him. She closes her eyes. Great. Get to be formal after a day like today? Fine, whatever. She clears her throat to announce her presence, and forceably restrains a reflexive 'oi' from escaping. She's always wanted to talk to this man - find out what makes him tick, what made him make the decisions Orihime told her about - inexplicable to her, completely beyond any comprehension. She wants to know. "Captain Kuchiki, right?" she says, stepping more fully into the room.
Byakuya watches Renji leave dispassionately, acknowledging his announcement and dismissing him with a faint inclination of the head. Thusly left alone with his sister, he thinks briefly of taking the chair Renji has vacated; but the consideration dies the instant the door opens. Byakuya does not look around; somewhat irritated at being robbed of his solitude so quickly.
When Tatsuki clears her throat, however, he finally does slant a glance over his shoulder: forced to pay attention out of wariness, now it is apparent he shares the room with one who can see him. His eyes narrow with passing recognition. "Yes," is his terse reply: one that carries an unspoken query of 'what do you want from me,' within it.
"We didn't get off on the right foot," she says. Formality. Treat him with respect, she reminds herself. Tatsuki's a very casual woman - unnervingly reminiscent of Yoruichi or Kuukaku Shiba in their prime - and it takes no small degree of self-control to keep herself from giving Byakuya a companionable slap on the back. Instead, she maintains a respectable distance, although she still approaches Rukia's bedside. "I am Tatsuki Arisawa. I'm one of Rukia's classmates." Friends? Tatsuki thinks so, but it's so /hard/ to read these damn shinigami.
Companionable slaps on the back would be tanked in immovable silence and then responded to with a -look-. The Kuchiki lord is just not one of those types of people you can be companionable with. Unless maybe you're Yoruichi.
But it seems this approach is garnering favorable results, thus far. Byakuya's head lifts infinitesimally, some of the narrowness of his eyes relenting. His back still remains turned to her, however; Byakuya doesn't tend to face people directly until he's -really- serious about something. Most of the time, slanted glances suffice. "I see." One of those humans Rukia has gone and gotten close too, no doubt. Though if she only knows Rukia through school-- "...How is it you were aware of her injury?" Judging from what he'd heard, there hadn't been a lot of time to spare in which casual acquaintances could discover enough to come looking for Rukia in a medical clinic. Nor does he see any particular reason -why- these normal humans should know in the first place.
He's seen this girl all of twice. He has no real idea of who she is. But despite that, she's exhibiting rather an abnormal amount of spiritual development. Enough to see him, anyway. This has been a trend in Karakura as of late, and it's one that annoys him to some degree.
Just another way to remove himself from the company of those around him. What a lonely existance...
Tatsuki shakes her head. If he wants to act better than her, that's his business. She has more important things to worry about than his ego...although conforming to his expectations is in her best interests, for what she wants. "Karin told me," she says. "I've been a friend of the Kurosakis since Ichigo and I were both four, and Rukia's a friend, too, so she let me know." She closes her eyes, thoughtfully, and then looks over at Rukia's bed. "She's really changed a lot of our lives. I think she's pretty important to all of us, by now."
Loneliness. Byakuya does not have the luxury of labeling himself in such self-indulgent and weak terms. Though it is true that station brings loneliness; too many restraints on one's actions and emotions make for an isolated, cold existence. Were he ever to speak in such terms-- or to speak of such things at all-- he would have said that he spent only five years out of a thousand without the specter of isolation.
After that long, something also becomes ingrained is haughtiness. By now it's a reflex rather than anything practiced to set Tatsuki on edge. So the Kurosakis see fit to inform Rukia's mortal companions of her condition. Apparently all of them are as meddlesome as Ichigo.
He hears Tatsuki out in silence, before he turns his gaze back to Rukia. She was a catalyst of change in his own life; he cannot set himself apart from these people in that respect, at the least. "...She will be fine," he says eventually, though the clinical empiricism of his tone strips away any possible thought that the phrase might be said out of a desire to reassure. It's more observation than kindness.
Well of COURSE she'll be fine, meathead! She's got Beardman the Medical Wonder working on her, it's a wonder she's not awake already and doing situps!
She thinks this - Tatsuki, for all the strange things she has seen, for all the mysteries she now knows the Kurosaki family to hold, for all her intimate knowledge of how big of a maniac Isshin Kurosaki is, has utmost faith in their skills as medics. But she doesn't say it; to tear down communications like that now...something about this enigmatic man compels her to understand him more. A protector, right? Ichigo taught her that - that an older brother exists to protect. Tatsuki knows what protection is - every bone in her body positively throbs with a protective instinct for her friends, her family, and especially for the beautiful young woman whom Tatsuki knows, without even thinking about it, is sleeping peacefully at this very moment. So why would he...? Orihime told her the story, of the events in Soul Society, after all. The question of Byakuya's behavior there gnaws at her - a nagging feeling of fundamental wrong, deep at the very pit of her being. The very concept is anathema, frightening by the mere fact of its existence. "That's good," she says, suppressing all this with only a waver to her tone. Martial artists of her caliber are good at control, when they want to be. "I knew she would be; Doc Kurosaki's pretty much insane, but he's the best doctor around short of the hospital. It's good to be sure, though. I should've brought flowers, or something, but I came right here when Karin called."
Byakuya was the one exception to that rule, wasn't he; an elder brother who chose his vow to the law above his fraternal vow to protect. But there is one thing that explains that; something that Byakuya is, which neither Ichigo nor Tatsuki are.
A ruler.
His responsibilities reach beyond the bounds of family and blood, exerting influence on the multitudes. While Ichigo and Tatsuki answer only to those they love, Byakuya answers to the expectant gazes of an entire society. When given authority, one is beholden to wield it fairly. A stranger off the street, his sister by marriage and adoption; there can be no difference between the two, in the eyes of the law. And so Byakuya is constrained by his station to become something inhuman: a pair of judging scales, rather than a biased, feeling living being.
But here, in the aftermath of it all, when the situation is far less complicated and law aligns neatly with personal bias, it is not difficult to picture Byakuya in his proper role as a protective elder brother. The way his spiritual presence suffuses the room-- a weight not unlike the mantling wings of a hawk-- certainly connotes a watchful and protective vigilance. "I am aware," he replies her quietly, "that this was the best alternative. Wasting time taking her anywhere else would have been fatal."
Other men would have thanked Tatsuki for her obvious concern over Rukia. Byakuya simply looks at her, a long and unreadable regard slanted over his shoulder, as if taking the measure of this girl who cares so much for Rukia; and that regard will have to suffice in stead of actual words.
Tatsuki would make a horrible ruler. Hotblooded and violent, the small girl is far too quick to bring her wrath to bear on those who cross her or those she cares about. Tatsuki would surely concede that to Byakuya, if nothing else - calm is needed, for men such as he. But to allow a precious sister to be sacrificed in such a way...?
Tatsuki knows little of the Kuchiki clan's dynamic. She knows Rukia seems to live in equal parts terror and adoration of her brother. She knows Byakuya's cool, inflappable demeanor. If she knew the truth, the whole truth, she would surely not be puzzled. Infuriated is more like it.
But such emotions are far from her mind for now. While her spiritual senses are dull - all her sensory acuity being focused like a spotlight at Orihime Inoue - the presence of Byakuya's spiritual force is still felt. She does not understand him, no, but she thinks she understands that he's come to protect her now.
Ichigo, she knows, has that kind of effect on people.
Byakuya's unnerving calm is a complete change from everyone else she deals with regularly, and the martial artist takes a moment to remind herself that she won't get anything out of this man by losing her cool. She looks up and meets Byakuya's gaze with curiosity, trying to read with amateur, open eyes past the stony wall of a man who has been a noble for his whole life. Unable to discern his feelings, she merely straightens, attempting to present the presence of someone at least somewhat worth his time. She cannot get any answers from a man unwilling to speak to her. Still, it is surely obvious that this is hardly how the young woman would act in front of, probably, anyone else. Finally, she manages, "Doc Kurosaki is pretty skilled. He used to patch Ichigo and I up all the time. And there's something to be said for a guy like him...I think I'd choose him over that creepy hospital director any day." Come to think of it, Doctor Ishida's pretty similar to Byakuya, huh? She lets the thought linger, saying nothing for a moment. Finally, though, she can't just be submissing in this damn dance of question and useless answer any longer. "Do we know who did it?" she asks.
Equanimity and complete impartiality is needed in those who would lead or rule. There is a reason Justice comes blindfolded. Were he to save his sister and not others, an outcry would arise among the population of the unfairness of it all. People had already grumbled over Byakuya's use of his influence to graduate Rukia early from the academy; for him to save her life solely because she was his sibling would have created even greater unrest.
Seated behind that formidable calm is a perceptiveness even more formidable. Byakuya has had a very long time to master the art of unsettling others, and a large part of intimidation lies in displaying a penetrating gaze that reads into others while simultaneously revealing nothing. He can tell she is restraining herself from her natural behavior. He's unsurprised that she would, in his presence.
"Her treatment has been adequate," he concedes. He cannot deny the skill with which Rukia has been cared for. But when Tatsuki decides to get direct, his gaze cuts abruptly away. His back is fully turned in silent denial. "...That is not your concern."
Unfortunately, Byakuya is not aware that this is possibly the worst thing one can say to Arisawa Tatsuki.
A girl like Tatsuki can only beat around the bush for so long. Cut straight to the heart of the problem and then beat on it until it's solved, that's more her style; this...patient baiting back and forth between a seasoned veteran of the political arena and herself could really only go so long before Tatsuki, impatient for answers, broke. An amateur move, perhaps, but who needs subtlety? But the answer...
Her entire body tenses. Her very first thought is to plant her foot up Byakuya's ass far enough that he can taste it. Or maybe--no. No, she can't get that violent here, not yet. Rukia's hurt, and he's so powerful, but....
But Tatsuki, prideful fool that she is, cannot allow that to stand.
There is a flicker of spirit pressure - muted by the presence of a spiritual form between the world and her soul, but an impressive sense nonetheless, the gutteral but ultimately harmless growl of a shackled beast taunted one too many times. Her hand rises up and grasps Byakuya's shoulder, and she jerks him around, keeping her grip in case she ends up having occasion to throw him right out the window. "She is my /friend/," she says, repeating the sentiment from earlier. Civility is a memory - this is Tatsuki as she truly is, expressing herself with action and fury. She is unafraid of Byakuya's retaliation, despite knowing full well that he is in his most powerful state. There are some things a girl just can't stand. More than likely if he did retaliate violently she'd just get up again, anyway. There are days it's hard to tell who learned more from who in those younger days: Tatsuki from Ichigo, or Ichigo from Tatsuki. "She is /hurt/, and somebody /did it to her/. You can be cool as long as you like, and that's /your/ business. You're here to watch her and protect her and that's fine. But I'll tell you what my business is. MY business is the fact that MY friend is hurt, and knowing this damn town, that means one of my other friends may get hurt by the SAME GUY."
Her eyes blaze, and she bares her teeth at the Kuchiki leader. "And if you holding back on me means Ichigo or Orihime get hurt then SO HELP ME I will rip off your fucking head!"
There is one thing here that Byakuya must give Tatsuki credit for having: sheer, foolhardy, reckless bravery of a suicidal sort. It is the same as that he saw in Ichigo. Both these children have a habit of sticking their heads straight into the lion's mouth.
Caught off-guard by the sheer audacity of her movement, he is forced around with a rustle of silk and a snap of black hair. The shoulder beneath her hand stiffens: muscle coiling close to bone beneath her rough fingertips. The relative strength of her spiritual pressure surprises him, for it is unusual for a living human to be able to touch shinigami at all. But he is not so thoughtless as to lose his composure and express a reaction-- either of shock, or of outrage. His eyes simply narrow, the irises slitting down to dangerous glints of steel grey.
"Friend or not, a human such as you has no need to know of these things," he replies emotionlessly. "They will be taken care of by those whose duty it is to resolve them." Simple, direct, and brutal: an efficient statement of all those things Tatsuki does -not- want to hear.
And now that he has said his piece, his gaze meets hers directly: slanted down coldly through his lashes. She has failed to remove her hand from his person, but that is a simple matter to address. "Continue to so graciously offer me your arm," he tells her, threat winding snakelike through his even voice, "and I will decide to take it."
Tatsuki and Ichigo are two of a kind. Why look back? Why even bother to look to the sides? There's things to do. Obstacles exist only to be overcome - with words if possible, with fists and feet if needed. And Byakuya Kuchiki, in Tatsuki's opinion, needs some proper street justice right about now. "Taken care of," she seethes. Energy flares a little higher; lacking the ability to focus this power into anything more than her fists, it is hardly any kind of threat, although like the rest of Karakura's unusual humans, she could probably match a reasonably powerful seated officer in battle and emerge the victor. She scowls. "Like whoever this was was 'taken care of' before they could hurt Rukia." She balls her fist against Byakuya's shoulder, clutching his Captain's haori as if desperately trying to stay her hand. "Or maybe more like you almost 'took care' of Rukia?" she spits. "We don't need your kind of 'protector' here, Kuchiki!" And then, her temper at long last winning out over the danger, she snaps, "And if you want my arm, TAKE IT!"
Her hand releases. There is no other warning before her fist, backed by every ounce of strength in her body, physical and spiritual, with total followthrough of her entire body, traces a straight line to Byakuya's face.
Something snaps behind Byakuya's slitted eyes when Tatsuki speaks of Rukia's near-execution. But before he can react, Tatsuki's decided she has had enough of words.
The force of her furious conviction is enough to break the sheer difference in spiritual power between death god and human; that, and the fact that he completely did not anticipate she would ever dare lay a hand on him. Tatsuki's fist finds its mark square across Byakuya's jaw, his head snapping to the left as if before a vicious slap, and silence thunders across the room.
There is a long and horrible period of complete stillness, in which Byakuya's black hair veils his expression from view.
Byakuya, as has been said before, is a master of intimidation: and much of what goes into intimidation is little more than careful and portentous timing. This would be the reason he chooses to look back at Tatsuki with a deliberate slowness; and the reason he chooses to release all restraints on his reiatsu at the same time he meets her eyes. Swiping a faint trace of blood from the corner of his mouth, he tries and fails to dissemble away the cold anger frosting his gaze.
"I tire of hearing humans spout insolence on that which they do not understand," comes his voice-- still calm, still level, but with an underpinning now of violent contempt. That tone, coupled with the bristle of his spiritual force, communicate in no uncertain terms that now would be a good time to -shut up-.
How dare you speak of it as if it were -easy- for him to let his sister go.
Tatsuki...doesn't back down. She has basked in the presence of Yoruichi Shihouin and Kenpachi Zaraki, and confronted Soi Fong; the feel of a Captain's spirit pressure weighing upon her is not new, and between her own and the muting effect a physical body has on spiritual sensitivity, it does not even paralyze her as it does those unprepared for such events.
What does pierce the haze of her fury, just slightly, is Byakuya's anger - contemptuous and furious. She pushed too far. She said the wrong thing, and now...!
The girl snarls, hands returning to her sides, refusing to quail before the vastly stronger man before her. She won't be silenced - not here, not so close, not when he's left himself open! "You want me to talk respect, and I /did/ that," she says. "And I'll do it again. I WANT to understand! Do you think I just go around punching every jackass I meet on the street!? I want more than anything right now to understand this, Ku..." She stops, breathes. Now. "Captain Kuchiki!"
Her breathing slows, but the tension is high. She lowers her eyes, adrenaline high, but unable to muster the unbridled fury that led to this confrontation. Now is the time to lay it out. "Please. There's people I protect, too. I don't understand. I just...I want to know...why."
Ichigo, who has been home for all of two days, storms down the stairs, face a thundercloud of anger. His scowl is deeper than usual, his eyes are narrower, and his Reiatsu feels..../weird/. Not wholely Death God anymore. It's really...unpleasant. The berryhead stomps down the stairs and starts in on Tatsuki and Byakuya. "I'll live with the yelling. I'll live with the violence, eve." He could hear the punching. Don't ask how. "What I won't live with is /you/," he points at the eldest Kuchiki, "Waving your damn.....authority around." Dad may be listening, after all. "Do you want to bring...attention on /my/ house? I respected your rules in yours. Respect mine in mine." With their luck, Hollows would roll up, and Dad would see, then shenanigans would ensue.
Tatsuki's still going to hit him. There's money on it in some universe.
Back straight, shoulders square, head lowered in threat, Byakuya stands in judgment of her words. He weighs them, considers them, affording them some attention even in his angered state-- but in the end, he dismisses them entirely.
A kinder man might have taken pity on her. A more accepting one would have, at the least, humored her desire to help. Certainly, Yoruichi took Tatsuki's desperate need to protect those she loves and -did- something with it rather than simply brush the girl aside. Yoruichi treated Tatsuki as if she could truly make a difference; as if she could become a legitimate contender in this town's deadly game.
Byakuya is unwilling to do the same.
"You do not need to know." And it's a good thing he is interrupted just at that point, because had he been allowed to continue he'd have said something that'd really have sent Tatsuki after him. He stops, his glance moving to the stairs at that strange reiatsu, and his own folds up neatly like a set of hakama: stitched up with a swift precision born of long years of experience.
When the possessor of that reiatsu is shown to be Ichigo, Byakuya's eyes narrow. Effectively distracted from Tatsuki for the time being, he inspects the boy harshly: seeming too absorbed in his regard even to pay Ichigo's angry words all that much mind. So this is what you have done with yourself, using the aid my sister went to prison for.
Well, she did it. She put her pride on the line, asked nicely, and put forth her best face. Twice. And he...steps on it? Crushes her underfoot. He thinks he's so superior...well. If Be Civil doesn't work, we can always go back to the usual Plan A. Ichigo's presence doesn't even register. It's not Orihime. Who cares?
The only reason Byakuya doesn't get another straight punch to the face is the fact that Tatsuki doesn't have a grip on him anymore. She instead lunges, fist cocked back and hate in her eyes. Talk down to her, will he...!
The dragon, taunted one too many times, chooses to show its displeasure not with words, but by simply ripping the offender's head off.
Annnnnd, while the tenseness and the soul-searching is going on...something else is happening. AND just busts into the room via the CEILING. IT IS...
DOCTOR KUROSAKI, VAMPIRE HUNTER! He's kitted out in a full regalia of Vampire Hunting Goodness. There's a squirt gun full of holy water, several bulbs of garlic, and, held high for the final blow...is a T-Bone Steak. Obviously, someone mistranslated a book somewhere. Sigh. He hmmms, and frowns.
"I thought I heard the sound of angry somewhere! Obviously, the foul vampire lord was here, but was scared off by Tatsuki's punching! STill, I must make sure! Hmmmm!"
Annnd, with that, Isshin starts calmly sprinkling dried garlic flakes on ANGRY!Tatsuki, Ichigo, and Rukia's Comatose Corpse.
Now, some might question why Isshin was waiting for vampires armed with garlic and a delicious T-Bone steak. A better question is 'Why does Isshin have a Secret Trapdoor hidden in the second floor of the house?'
Ichigo was about to dive tackle Tatsuki, when the Old Man shows up.
Shows up and coats him in GARLIC POWDER.
"WHAT THE HELL, OLD MAN!?" Ichigo bellows, forgetting that they're in Rukia's clinic room where she's, pretty much, in a coma. Of course, the instant he thinks about it, it's a hell of a downer, and he goes silent again, looking at her for a moment before looking back at his father, that old scowing mask back again, like always.
Byakuya rapidly loses interest in being here the instant things devolve into pure nonsense. Sidestepping Tatsuki's direct strike for his face, he flickers back in a truncated flash step to his original position by Rukia's bed. His glance moves to his sister's face in the bare moments of peace his swift motion buy him.
"Once she is fit to be moved, I wish her sent home." This, to Ichigo: though he remains aware of Tatsuki's movements, should she attempt to double back after him. "Your home should then draw no more attention than it customarily would." Is that a hint of sarcasm to his tone?
Tatsuki Arisawa is ready for Byakuya's motion - she's been training with Yoruichi, after all. CLose-quarters evasion won't let you esc what the fuck, Isshin.
The sudden appearance of Pappy Kurosaki, is enough to throw Tatsuki just a touch off her game, flying past Byakuya rather than adjusting in time, and putting her fist right through the damn wall, too.
She sits there for a moment, hunched over the wall and unresponsive. This is partially because she is so furious that she cannot speak.
It is also partially because her fist is stuck on the far side of the wall.
Isshin hmmms, looking sad that there is no vampire here for him to SAVAGELY STEAK. And then there's the angry Tatsuki, probaly trying to punch through the wall. And Angry Ichigo. But that's normal. So, Isshin puts him in a headlock, taping a garlic bulb to the back of his head.
"ICHIIIIIIIIIIIIGOOOOO! You need to protect Rukia from vampires! Stay here with the garlic powder or something!"
Annnnd, Isshin then ties a garlic bulb to Rukia's forehead, and then strolls out through the door, humming, as he goes to HUNT VAMPIRE PEOPLES.
After stopping to sprinkle more garlic on Tatsuki, of course.
Evil, Evil Pappy Kurosaki
"DAMMIT DAD!" Ichigo cries out, yanking the taped garlic from his head without thinking. When the pain registers, he yelps and drops the bulb, swearing under his breath.
Oh wait, Byakuya's here. "Dad said we shouldn't move her until she wakes up. She can decide where she wants to go then, Byakuya." Berryhead crosses the room, standing on the other side of Rukia's bed. He looks at her for a moment and then up to her brother, matching wills with the Lawful Asshole captain.
He'll help Tatsuki once the real jackass was gone.
Calm as a millpond. That's Byakuya's current expression. He doesn't even spare poor Tatsuki a glance. His attention is focused primarily on Ichigo.
He doesn't sink so low as to display dislike. Ichigo receives the same even-tempered regard as anybody else would. It irritates him that this child persists in referring to him in such a casual manner, but he doesn't show that either; emotionality is useless weakness. Byakuya is set as weathered concrete and immutable as a cliff face; he may change subtly, but only after eons have passed.
He meets Ichigo's direct gaze briefly, his regard unreadable, before he loses interest in such petty contests as jousting egos with a boy. He folds his gaze away beneath his lashes, turning and moving to the window: his steps silent, but for the sound of silk. Words come drifting from over his shoulder, level and cold. "Then while she is here, you will suffer my occasional presence." You cannot bar a brother from wishing to see his sister.
He spares one glance for Tatsuki: a measuring sort of look. He will have to consider what she has revealed here.