I Shall Roam the Summer Fields, Chapter 1 [Bleach]
Title: I Shall Roam the Summer Fields ( Master Post)
Fandom: Bleach
Characters: Ensemble, and while this is primarily gen, a number of pairings (mostly but not entirely het) figure in the background. See master post if you need more details.
Word Count: Novel-length overall, c. 2,500 in this chapter.
Rating: R, mostly for language. Also, see warnings.
Warnings/Possible Triggers: Character death. Mentions and some description of pregnancy complications and miscarriage/stillbirth.
Notes: This story starts diverging from canon around chapter 422 (translation: this was jossed by the aftermath of the Deicide arc). Also, many thanks to my wonderful beta-readers, aishuu, incandescens, and mei_yanohi.
Summary: In the living world, Obon is a time to remember the dead and a time to celebrate. But for the shinigami, Obon is something to be dreaded, as Hollows are drawn out in great numbers by the living world's focus on the departed. Ten years after Aizen's defeat, Soul Society faces an Obon season worse than anyone can remember. A dozen shinigami are killed in two Hollow attacks, but even as the Gotei 13 is still recovering from the loss, something even more unusual happens--something that some people call a miracle. But when this miracle turns out to come at a very high price, some people find they are more than willing to pay it.
Hitodama de
yuku kisan ja
natsa no hara
Now as a spirit
I shall roam
The summer fields
--Hokusai
July was always a miserable month, and this one was already worse than most at only a week in. The fact that they'd been struck with the worst heat wave in over seventy years was just a gracing insult on top of an already significant pile of injury.
Right now, Kuchiki Rukia wanted to hunt down whoever had decided that the standard shihakushou should be all-over black and shove them into an oven for a few hours until they truly and deeply comprehended the error of their ways.
She did her best to stick to the shadows on the way to Renji's division, but it didn't help. The air was so thick with humidity she wouldn't have been surprised to see bubbles when she exhaled, and by the time she got to the Third, her clothes were plastered to her back with sweat.
She'd hoped the place would be more deserted than it was. Right now, anyone who could be spared for konso patrol was pulling double shifts in the living world. But no, there had to be some puffed-up little ninny who insisted on properly escorting her to Renji. This meant being dragged to Renji's (stuffy, poorly ventilated) office and made to wait even though she knew damn well where he would be.
Five miserable minutes passed, and then the red-faced--not just from the heat this time--ninny came back. "Kuchiki-fukutaichou, Abarai-taichou said to join him in the rear gardens."
The ninny then scurried off in the sort of embarrassed haste that told Rukia the message would have been three times as long if the profanity and yelling had been left in.
As she expected, Renji was back in the Third's water garden, wearing only that horrible old yukata of his. He sprawled at an awkward angle along a flat rock so he could keep his body in the shade while dangling his feet in one of the ornamental pools.
What she had not expected was finding her brother there as well. He seemed composed and unruffled as ever, but the fact that he wore neither his haori nor his silk scarf and had his hair tied back and off his neck was evidence of just how miserable this hot spell was.
Renji didn't bother to look up. "Oi, Rukia! Take a load off."
Byakuya merely inclined his head in greeting, ignoring Renji's more casual welcome.
After a moment's hesitation due to Byakuya's presence, Rukia settled into a small patch of shade next to Renji, took off her sandals, and plunged her feet into the water. It wasn't as cool as she had hoped, but it was enough to soothe the raw spots she got whenever she chose to forego socks.
She snuck a look over at Byakuya, but instead of the slightly raised eyebrow she'd been expecting, there was the shadow of an amused smile.
"So, what's the deal with both of you Kuchiki showing up within five minutes of each other?" Renji asked.
This time, Rukia did get the raised eyebrow, but it was simple curiosity on her brother's part.
"I merely had some news to share about one of Renji-kun's old division-mates," Byakuya said.
Renji rolled his head to the side to look at Rukia. He grinned. "He came here to gossip."
That was answered by a pointed throat clearing.
Rukia hadn't expected to pass her news along to anyone other than Renji, but really... there was no reason she should feel awkward about it. Was there? "I came here to tell you that I spoke with Ukitake-taichou and I--"
The conversation cut off as the young shinigami who had insisted on escorting her in showed up again. This time, however, he was a welcome sight as he brought with him a large jug of chilled barley tea and three glasses.
After a few seconds of fussing about, the three of them were alone again. Rukia drained her glass in three gulps and didn't give much mind to manners when she grabbed the jug to pour herself a refill.
"So what's up? Everything okay with Ukitake-taichou?" Renji sounded genuinely concerned, and even Byakuya became noticeably more attentive.
Rukia nodded quickly. "Yes. Yes, he's fine. Much better."
'Better' was a relative term. So was 'fine.' Right after the new year, Ukitake-taichou had taken a sudden turn for the worse. It was bad enough that he spent three full weeks in the Fourth's infirmary. Six months later he was still barely recovered. He was sleeping a lot more these days and the heat wave was hell on him, but Rukia said nothing about this.
A long time ago, Kaien-dono had joked with her about how he was the one to run things at the Thirteenth. This past winter, Rukia had learned that maybe it wasn't that much of a joke after all.
"I spoke with him about how this Obon season seems to be shaping up and how we're spread so thin right now," she said, and paused for the inevitable wince on Renji's part. "I got him to agree that maybe we should see if we could put Ichigo back on full duty for the next month."
That last part poured out in a rush, and she felt a heat in her face that had nothing to do with the weather.
"Huh." That was all Renji had to say. To her surprise, Byakuya again seemed quietly, if ruefully, amused.
"Given his abilities--even as they are at present--it would free up at least four other shinigami to be assigned elsewhere in the larger region," Byakuya said, words coming out at the speed of deliberate thought. He watched her closely as he spoke, but she had no idea what he was looking for. "The idea has merit. Assuming Kurosaki will agree to help."
"Why wouldn't he?" Ichigo knew darn well just how many Hollows crossed over from Hueco Mundo this time of year. If there were only one fixed date for Obon for all of Japan, it might not have been so bad, but from early July through the middle of August, the number of ghosts who were drawn out by the focused attention generated by the festivals meant that large swaths of Japan became an all-you-can-eat buffet for Hollows. "He pitches in as a substitute all the time anyway. Well, sometimes. This way he can make arrangements. Or something."
She was dismayed to realize she had no idea if Kon was still in the picture or not. It had been far too long since she had spoken to Ichigo.
"Who's gonna talk to him about it?" Renji gave her a sharp look. "You?"
Rukia pulled the left side of her top aside a little, just enough to show the summer snowflake tattoo on her shoulder. "Ukitake-taichou approved the limiter. I can go."
"Will you be going alone?" Byakuya asked gently. "Or do you plan on taking another of Kurosaki's friends with you?"
It took Rukia a moment to figure out that hard note underneath her brother's otherwise soft tone. It was one she remembered from decades ago, from all those times he had given her an unspoken order not to screw up some important bit of protocol or politesse.
"That's why I came to see you, dumbass!" This was directed at Renji, as was the kick that splashed water all over his lap. He yelped in protest. "We'll only be gone a few hours. I want you to come with me, Renji."
Renji didn't answer for a bit. She could see his confusion as assumptions slipped into new patterns.
"Yeah," he said after a moment. "I could do that. That'd be cool, seeing him again."
"Good." The matter was settled. "We'll head over this afternoon, then."
Renji grumbled, but Rukia was pretty sure it was just for show. What she did not say was that she planned to make a detour for ice cream while they were there. His treat.
"As for myself," Byakuya said, "I have some rather pleasant news to report, for a change. You may recall the trouble two of our patrols ran into in Niigata and Fukuoka several days ago."
Rukia nodded, and Renji's expression darkened. Byakuya's polite phrasing couldn't disguise the fact that patrols from two divisions had been ravaged by Hollows in one of the worst preludes to the Obon season that anyone, including Ukitake-taichou, could remember. Very few bodies had been recovered.
"There was some degree of confusion as to what happened, but--"
Byakuya's sentence was cut off just as Rukia's vision went red-dark thanks to two small, hot hands clapped over her eyes.
"Heeee! Found you!"
Rukia squawked and nearly tumbled forward into the pond. Yachiru was still small, but not that much smaller than Rukia herself these days. A decade or two from now, Rukia thought with a twinge of self-pity, Yachiru would no longer be the shortest of the vice-captains.
"Heya, Byakushi!" Rukia's vision returned--in part, anyway--as Yachiru lifted a hand to wave at Byakuya.
"Welcome to the Third Division," Renji muttered. "Party central. Wanna take bets on who'll show up next?"
"Nii-sama was just about to tell us something," Rukia said. Yachiru's self control had improved somewhat over the years, but only somewhat.
Byakuya began his story again, this time with more speed than deliberation, no doubt hoping to stave off the inevitable interruption. "Yes. You know we took heavy losses last week."
Yachiru nodded, unusually solemn for her; along with the Sixth, the Eleventh had taken the worst of the casualties.
"But less than an hour ago, one of the men who had been reported as dead turned up alive."
Renji sat up at that, but his demand to know who was cut off.
"Yeah! I know! I was just coming here to tell Ren-kun!" She let go of Rukia and scooted over to Renji, and Byakuya was quick to take advantage of the brief silence as Yachiru drew breath to start her version of things.
"Yes. As I was about to say, Tanaka Masaru returned to the Sixth Division an hour ago. He is still rather confused about what had happened, but--"
"Nuh-uh!" Yachiru tugged on Renji's sleeve, straining the already frayed shoulder seam even more. "Byakushi's got it all wrong. It was Maki-Maki who came back not dead!"
Renji went from stunned silence to angry, confused spluttering as he dealt with the two conflicting, impossible messages. Rukia knew that Tanaka had been under Renji's direct command when he was still in the Sixth and that Aramaki Makizou was an old friend from his days in the Eleventh. She figured out quickly what happened, and her brother came to the same conclusion just as quickly.
"Two survivors showing up on the same day? And after five days? It hardly seems possible, but..." Byakuya thought for a moment. "Does--Maki, was it?"
"Aramaki," Renji supplied without thinking, still shocky.
"Does Aramaki remember any details about the attack?"
Yachiru shook her head. "Uh-uh. He doesn't even remember not getting killed like we thought he did. Yun-yun said he got cut in half, but..." She mimed the death blow then shrugged, closing the matter as far as she was concerned.
"She means Ayasegawa-sanseki," Rukia translated for Byakuya's benefit.
"I was aware of that, thank you," he said. "I find it unlikely Ayasegawa would get a pertinent detail like that wrong. Wouldn't you agree?"
Rukia, Renji, and Yachiru all nodded.
"Although," he said after a moment, "I suppose the entire situation was rather more confusing than normal. The reports weren't exactly consistent. One said Tanaka was impaled through the throat while another said he was decapitated, but the only injury he had when he returned was a broken wrist."
Byakuya trailed off into deep thought as he mentioned the broken bone, but he didn't say what about it troubled him.
"Do you think one of the Hollows could have cast an illusion? That people saw things that didn't really happen?" Rukia asked. It wasn't a comfortable question to haul out into the light of day. Even ten years after his death, people still wondered which of the events leading up to the war were real, and which were illusion. The idea of a Hollow with even a shadow of Aizen's old power was a horrific concept.
And then there was Aaroniero.
The memory flickered bright in her mind before she could stop it, and Rukia resigned herself to the prospect of nightmare-interrupted sleep for the next few nights.
"I think it is far more plausible that certain events were misremembered after the battle. The simplest explanation is usually the most accurate," Byakuya said, but Rukia thought he still sounded doubtful. "Given that from all accounts, Ayasegawa was lucky to come back with even half his team intact, I think some confusion as to some of the precise details can be safely assumed."
"Maybe Tanaka-san and Aramaki-san can help fill in some of the gaps after they've had a chance to rest?" Rukia suggested.
Byakuya's hmmmm dismissed the idea. No doubt he had debriefed Tanaka already and come away none the wiser for it.
"Hey, I'm just glad to hear they're okay." Renji lay back down, and breathed deeply. "Damn, I hate this time of year."
"Byakushi! We should have a party for them not being dead!"
Byakuya flinched a little bit at the 'we,' but Rukia had to give him credit for handling Yachiru with more grace than most.
"That is a splendid idea, Kusajishi-fukutaichou. Perhaps we should hold the party at the Eleventh? I will tell my people they should arrive around nine, unless there is another time that would work better for you. You can also let Zaraki-taichou know I will contribute two barrels of sake from my private stock to the occasion. I will also provide candy."
Yachiru bounded off, shrieking with joy and knocking a few roof tiles off the Third's dormitories as she took off across the rooftops.
Byakuya settled back with the smug calm of a man whose division would not be disturbed by raucous merry-making that evening.
Renji whistled low. "That was brilliant. You should give lessons."
"I think I'm more scared that you know how she thinks, nii-sama," Rukia said, pushing a little bit to see just how casual she could be with her brother. She did that, from time to time. He had relaxed more than she ever would have expected over the past ten years, but sometimes... she just couldn't tell. It was still too new. Rather than check to see how Byakuya reacted, she reached out and thumped Renji on the chest. "C'mon, Renji. Let's go see Ichigo."
"What? Now? What about the party?"
"We won't be gone that long," she said. "And besides, if Ichigo can start patrol tonight, the more people can go to the party."
Renji stood up, accepting the hand Rukia held out to him even though he certainly didn't need the help. "He's too damn useful to be stuck in the living world. Think we can maybe shove him in front of a bus and hurry his ass over here?"
"Renji!" That exclamation was quickly followed by a "Nii-sama!" when a laugh was not very well disguised as a cough.
Chapter Two: In which reunions are not what people expect them to be.
Fandom: Bleach
Characters: Ensemble, and while this is primarily gen, a number of pairings (mostly but not entirely het) figure in the background. See master post if you need more details.
Word Count: Novel-length overall, c. 2,500 in this chapter.
Rating: R, mostly for language. Also, see warnings.
Warnings/Possible Triggers: Character death. Mentions and some description of pregnancy complications and miscarriage/stillbirth.
Notes: This story starts diverging from canon around chapter 422 (translation: this was jossed by the aftermath of the Deicide arc). Also, many thanks to my wonderful beta-readers, aishuu, incandescens, and mei_yanohi.
Summary: In the living world, Obon is a time to remember the dead and a time to celebrate. But for the shinigami, Obon is something to be dreaded, as Hollows are drawn out in great numbers by the living world's focus on the departed. Ten years after Aizen's defeat, Soul Society faces an Obon season worse than anyone can remember. A dozen shinigami are killed in two Hollow attacks, but even as the Gotei 13 is still recovering from the loss, something even more unusual happens--something that some people call a miracle. But when this miracle turns out to come at a very high price, some people find they are more than willing to pay it.
Hitodama de
yuku kisan ja
natsa no hara
Now as a spirit
I shall roam
The summer fields
--Hokusai
July was always a miserable month, and this one was already worse than most at only a week in. The fact that they'd been struck with the worst heat wave in over seventy years was just a gracing insult on top of an already significant pile of injury.
Right now, Kuchiki Rukia wanted to hunt down whoever had decided that the standard shihakushou should be all-over black and shove them into an oven for a few hours until they truly and deeply comprehended the error of their ways.
She did her best to stick to the shadows on the way to Renji's division, but it didn't help. The air was so thick with humidity she wouldn't have been surprised to see bubbles when she exhaled, and by the time she got to the Third, her clothes were plastered to her back with sweat.
She'd hoped the place would be more deserted than it was. Right now, anyone who could be spared for konso patrol was pulling double shifts in the living world. But no, there had to be some puffed-up little ninny who insisted on properly escorting her to Renji. This meant being dragged to Renji's (stuffy, poorly ventilated) office and made to wait even though she knew damn well where he would be.
Five miserable minutes passed, and then the red-faced--not just from the heat this time--ninny came back. "Kuchiki-fukutaichou, Abarai-taichou said to join him in the rear gardens."
The ninny then scurried off in the sort of embarrassed haste that told Rukia the message would have been three times as long if the profanity and yelling had been left in.
As she expected, Renji was back in the Third's water garden, wearing only that horrible old yukata of his. He sprawled at an awkward angle along a flat rock so he could keep his body in the shade while dangling his feet in one of the ornamental pools.
What she had not expected was finding her brother there as well. He seemed composed and unruffled as ever, but the fact that he wore neither his haori nor his silk scarf and had his hair tied back and off his neck was evidence of just how miserable this hot spell was.
Renji didn't bother to look up. "Oi, Rukia! Take a load off."
Byakuya merely inclined his head in greeting, ignoring Renji's more casual welcome.
After a moment's hesitation due to Byakuya's presence, Rukia settled into a small patch of shade next to Renji, took off her sandals, and plunged her feet into the water. It wasn't as cool as she had hoped, but it was enough to soothe the raw spots she got whenever she chose to forego socks.
She snuck a look over at Byakuya, but instead of the slightly raised eyebrow she'd been expecting, there was the shadow of an amused smile.
"So, what's the deal with both of you Kuchiki showing up within five minutes of each other?" Renji asked.
This time, Rukia did get the raised eyebrow, but it was simple curiosity on her brother's part.
"I merely had some news to share about one of Renji-kun's old division-mates," Byakuya said.
Renji rolled his head to the side to look at Rukia. He grinned. "He came here to gossip."
That was answered by a pointed throat clearing.
Rukia hadn't expected to pass her news along to anyone other than Renji, but really... there was no reason she should feel awkward about it. Was there? "I came here to tell you that I spoke with Ukitake-taichou and I--"
The conversation cut off as the young shinigami who had insisted on escorting her in showed up again. This time, however, he was a welcome sight as he brought with him a large jug of chilled barley tea and three glasses.
After a few seconds of fussing about, the three of them were alone again. Rukia drained her glass in three gulps and didn't give much mind to manners when she grabbed the jug to pour herself a refill.
"So what's up? Everything okay with Ukitake-taichou?" Renji sounded genuinely concerned, and even Byakuya became noticeably more attentive.
Rukia nodded quickly. "Yes. Yes, he's fine. Much better."
'Better' was a relative term. So was 'fine.' Right after the new year, Ukitake-taichou had taken a sudden turn for the worse. It was bad enough that he spent three full weeks in the Fourth's infirmary. Six months later he was still barely recovered. He was sleeping a lot more these days and the heat wave was hell on him, but Rukia said nothing about this.
A long time ago, Kaien-dono had joked with her about how he was the one to run things at the Thirteenth. This past winter, Rukia had learned that maybe it wasn't that much of a joke after all.
"I spoke with him about how this Obon season seems to be shaping up and how we're spread so thin right now," she said, and paused for the inevitable wince on Renji's part. "I got him to agree that maybe we should see if we could put Ichigo back on full duty for the next month."
That last part poured out in a rush, and she felt a heat in her face that had nothing to do with the weather.
"Huh." That was all Renji had to say. To her surprise, Byakuya again seemed quietly, if ruefully, amused.
"Given his abilities--even as they are at present--it would free up at least four other shinigami to be assigned elsewhere in the larger region," Byakuya said, words coming out at the speed of deliberate thought. He watched her closely as he spoke, but she had no idea what he was looking for. "The idea has merit. Assuming Kurosaki will agree to help."
"Why wouldn't he?" Ichigo knew darn well just how many Hollows crossed over from Hueco Mundo this time of year. If there were only one fixed date for Obon for all of Japan, it might not have been so bad, but from early July through the middle of August, the number of ghosts who were drawn out by the focused attention generated by the festivals meant that large swaths of Japan became an all-you-can-eat buffet for Hollows. "He pitches in as a substitute all the time anyway. Well, sometimes. This way he can make arrangements. Or something."
She was dismayed to realize she had no idea if Kon was still in the picture or not. It had been far too long since she had spoken to Ichigo.
"Who's gonna talk to him about it?" Renji gave her a sharp look. "You?"
Rukia pulled the left side of her top aside a little, just enough to show the summer snowflake tattoo on her shoulder. "Ukitake-taichou approved the limiter. I can go."
"Will you be going alone?" Byakuya asked gently. "Or do you plan on taking another of Kurosaki's friends with you?"
It took Rukia a moment to figure out that hard note underneath her brother's otherwise soft tone. It was one she remembered from decades ago, from all those times he had given her an unspoken order not to screw up some important bit of protocol or politesse.
"That's why I came to see you, dumbass!" This was directed at Renji, as was the kick that splashed water all over his lap. He yelped in protest. "We'll only be gone a few hours. I want you to come with me, Renji."
Renji didn't answer for a bit. She could see his confusion as assumptions slipped into new patterns.
"Yeah," he said after a moment. "I could do that. That'd be cool, seeing him again."
"Good." The matter was settled. "We'll head over this afternoon, then."
Renji grumbled, but Rukia was pretty sure it was just for show. What she did not say was that she planned to make a detour for ice cream while they were there. His treat.
"As for myself," Byakuya said, "I have some rather pleasant news to report, for a change. You may recall the trouble two of our patrols ran into in Niigata and Fukuoka several days ago."
Rukia nodded, and Renji's expression darkened. Byakuya's polite phrasing couldn't disguise the fact that patrols from two divisions had been ravaged by Hollows in one of the worst preludes to the Obon season that anyone, including Ukitake-taichou, could remember. Very few bodies had been recovered.
"There was some degree of confusion as to what happened, but--"
Byakuya's sentence was cut off just as Rukia's vision went red-dark thanks to two small, hot hands clapped over her eyes.
"Heeee! Found you!"
Rukia squawked and nearly tumbled forward into the pond. Yachiru was still small, but not that much smaller than Rukia herself these days. A decade or two from now, Rukia thought with a twinge of self-pity, Yachiru would no longer be the shortest of the vice-captains.
"Heya, Byakushi!" Rukia's vision returned--in part, anyway--as Yachiru lifted a hand to wave at Byakuya.
"Welcome to the Third Division," Renji muttered. "Party central. Wanna take bets on who'll show up next?"
"Nii-sama was just about to tell us something," Rukia said. Yachiru's self control had improved somewhat over the years, but only somewhat.
Byakuya began his story again, this time with more speed than deliberation, no doubt hoping to stave off the inevitable interruption. "Yes. You know we took heavy losses last week."
Yachiru nodded, unusually solemn for her; along with the Sixth, the Eleventh had taken the worst of the casualties.
"But less than an hour ago, one of the men who had been reported as dead turned up alive."
Renji sat up at that, but his demand to know who was cut off.
"Yeah! I know! I was just coming here to tell Ren-kun!" She let go of Rukia and scooted over to Renji, and Byakuya was quick to take advantage of the brief silence as Yachiru drew breath to start her version of things.
"Yes. As I was about to say, Tanaka Masaru returned to the Sixth Division an hour ago. He is still rather confused about what had happened, but--"
"Nuh-uh!" Yachiru tugged on Renji's sleeve, straining the already frayed shoulder seam even more. "Byakushi's got it all wrong. It was Maki-Maki who came back not dead!"
Renji went from stunned silence to angry, confused spluttering as he dealt with the two conflicting, impossible messages. Rukia knew that Tanaka had been under Renji's direct command when he was still in the Sixth and that Aramaki Makizou was an old friend from his days in the Eleventh. She figured out quickly what happened, and her brother came to the same conclusion just as quickly.
"Two survivors showing up on the same day? And after five days? It hardly seems possible, but..." Byakuya thought for a moment. "Does--Maki, was it?"
"Aramaki," Renji supplied without thinking, still shocky.
"Does Aramaki remember any details about the attack?"
Yachiru shook her head. "Uh-uh. He doesn't even remember not getting killed like we thought he did. Yun-yun said he got cut in half, but..." She mimed the death blow then shrugged, closing the matter as far as she was concerned.
"She means Ayasegawa-sanseki," Rukia translated for Byakuya's benefit.
"I was aware of that, thank you," he said. "I find it unlikely Ayasegawa would get a pertinent detail like that wrong. Wouldn't you agree?"
Rukia, Renji, and Yachiru all nodded.
"Although," he said after a moment, "I suppose the entire situation was rather more confusing than normal. The reports weren't exactly consistent. One said Tanaka was impaled through the throat while another said he was decapitated, but the only injury he had when he returned was a broken wrist."
Byakuya trailed off into deep thought as he mentioned the broken bone, but he didn't say what about it troubled him.
"Do you think one of the Hollows could have cast an illusion? That people saw things that didn't really happen?" Rukia asked. It wasn't a comfortable question to haul out into the light of day. Even ten years after his death, people still wondered which of the events leading up to the war were real, and which were illusion. The idea of a Hollow with even a shadow of Aizen's old power was a horrific concept.
And then there was Aaroniero.
The memory flickered bright in her mind before she could stop it, and Rukia resigned herself to the prospect of nightmare-interrupted sleep for the next few nights.
"I think it is far more plausible that certain events were misremembered after the battle. The simplest explanation is usually the most accurate," Byakuya said, but Rukia thought he still sounded doubtful. "Given that from all accounts, Ayasegawa was lucky to come back with even half his team intact, I think some confusion as to some of the precise details can be safely assumed."
"Maybe Tanaka-san and Aramaki-san can help fill in some of the gaps after they've had a chance to rest?" Rukia suggested.
Byakuya's hmmmm dismissed the idea. No doubt he had debriefed Tanaka already and come away none the wiser for it.
"Hey, I'm just glad to hear they're okay." Renji lay back down, and breathed deeply. "Damn, I hate this time of year."
"Byakushi! We should have a party for them not being dead!"
Byakuya flinched a little bit at the 'we,' but Rukia had to give him credit for handling Yachiru with more grace than most.
"That is a splendid idea, Kusajishi-fukutaichou. Perhaps we should hold the party at the Eleventh? I will tell my people they should arrive around nine, unless there is another time that would work better for you. You can also let Zaraki-taichou know I will contribute two barrels of sake from my private stock to the occasion. I will also provide candy."
Yachiru bounded off, shrieking with joy and knocking a few roof tiles off the Third's dormitories as she took off across the rooftops.
Byakuya settled back with the smug calm of a man whose division would not be disturbed by raucous merry-making that evening.
Renji whistled low. "That was brilliant. You should give lessons."
"I think I'm more scared that you know how she thinks, nii-sama," Rukia said, pushing a little bit to see just how casual she could be with her brother. She did that, from time to time. He had relaxed more than she ever would have expected over the past ten years, but sometimes... she just couldn't tell. It was still too new. Rather than check to see how Byakuya reacted, she reached out and thumped Renji on the chest. "C'mon, Renji. Let's go see Ichigo."
"What? Now? What about the party?"
"We won't be gone that long," she said. "And besides, if Ichigo can start patrol tonight, the more people can go to the party."
Renji stood up, accepting the hand Rukia held out to him even though he certainly didn't need the help. "He's too damn useful to be stuck in the living world. Think we can maybe shove him in front of a bus and hurry his ass over here?"
"Renji!" That exclamation was quickly followed by a "Nii-sama!" when a laugh was not very well disguised as a cough.
Chapter Two: In which reunions are not what people expect them to be.