Like a Sting on One's Side [ Yachiru; OPEN ]

[Byakuya Kuchiki]

     It had been a matter of time before the spring season finally rolled in. The whiteness that as the winter had long since melted away as the cold receded. The bitterness was long gone at this point, and if anything summer was just around the corner. The only decent season worth noting was perhaps the spring. It at least was tolerable. Not the extremes, and yet beautiful in it's own way. Of course, the spring blossoms have finally bloomed. The dead family gardens were once full of life once more, the cherry blossoms also bringing their striking beauty to add to it all. If there was anything he could appreciate it was the fact that he could now simply escape to the gardens and relax in his own way, which was perhaps just viewing them. Deep inside, Byakuya was nothing more than a simple man who's only desire was just live the life and do the tasks he was chosen to do. That was all.

     Though, like any being, he did have the desire to relax himself. Despite all the work he put himself through, he knew that in the end, it was going to be completed, and it would be worth it. Usually, he would carry himself in a strut wherever he went, now, he was simply making his way to the gardens with less of it. He knew where he was going was going to be peaceful, serene, the way he currently wanted it. This was a much needed quick break. Of course, he would not abandon his work for long, but, there was just so much going on. Even he needed to take a breather, even if he restricted his time. Shoji doors slid shut behind him softly as he closed it behind him slowly and simply looked around. Ah, here we were. It was amusing really. Despite the fact he was alone in his own home, his stern look faltered non. It softened a bit, yes, but it was as if it was engraved to his face. Nothing could remove it. Not even the beauty that his garden's beauty would even crack even the slightest smile.

     He made his way to the koi ponds slowly, indulging himself within his luxury and his thoughts with his hands folded within the black sleeves of his shihakusho. It was just perfect. Disturbing his peaceful trance would utterly anger him, perhaps not in an outrageous way, but a silent anger that would last quite a while. He stood by the ponds, staring down at the rather large, speckled fish. Bet none could best these koi in size, being bred for such size for many generations. But unlike the pond in which the fish resided in, his thoughts were not completely clear. Here, they became clear. Here, he was able to make ends meet within his mind. Through all the trouble that was going on within the World of the Living, he had very little time to just stop and think about things, if he had any time at all. While it was stressing, it had to be done. He crossed his arms in front of him before blinking slowly. That was the law, and his duty. In this time of peace he had, he hoped there would be no interruptions

     "Hope" being the key word.

[ ooc: FFF WHY IS THIS SO SHORT what is this I don't even ]

[Yachiru]

There would be no peace for Byakuya today. Fate had decided that the minute it decided to let Yachiru slip into the gardens, and allowed her the mind to find her way slowly to the Koi Pond. All this was managed over a good deal of time, the pretty plants were awful distracting, and she stopped to smell some of the flowers (or even the trees, she always did wonder what trees smelled like) along the way. It was beautiful out here, and that beauty almost made her forget why she was here.

Oh right. Byakuya. She had to find Byakkun. She needed something to talk about later, and Byakuya always had something to say to her that was interesting enough. Besides he was handsome, and his garden was pretty, and he had giant fish. She liked the giant fish a lot, they were also pretty and they were fun to look at. They also liked it when she brought them "treats" (although she was sure from the tone in his voice, Byakuya didn't much enjoy her feeding his precious Koi with silly things).

Finally she was back on track, and half shuffling, half skipping towards the pond. One which by sheer fault of her own, a misstep almost sent her rolling head over heels into. She managed, however, to catch herself just before she fell, and regained her footing. Amazingly this whole time she was quiet, ready to sneak up on Byakuya and strike like the sneaky ninja she thought she was being.

"BYAKKUN!"

The shrill cry lept from her lips as she stood not too far behind Byakuya. The goal here was to startle him, even if she was aware of the fact such a thing was impossible. Nothing was impossible in her imagination, however, and it was here that images of a startled Byakuya played out as she slightly listened for a response from him.

[Byakuya Kuchiki]

     This was just all a bit slightly frustrating. Still, there had been no new... or should it be said, no useful information on anything going on outside of the Seireitei, or even from the World of the Living for that matter. They either have nothing else to point out priorities on or they just flat out enjoy making other people's work more difficult. Whatever the case, this had to change. It sure enough wasn't making his work a fair deal easier. Just the same information over and over again to the point of it being rather dull. Then again, what were you going to do besides just be the receiving end of all this rather useless news? Looking down at the koi fish within the large pond, one flicked it's body to change directions, causing the water to ripple slightly. They were acting as if... he felt it as well. It was her. She wasn't very good at hiding her pressure, was she?

"BYAKKUN!"

With a slight sigh he lifted his head, but did not move from his position. "What is it that you came here for?" A much nicer way than saying 'What do you want go away'.

     It always seemed to end in something rather comical with her, even though Byakuya himself never found anything she did rather "funny", then again, did he ever find humor in anything? No, unfortunately. He turned his body slightly to have his dark eyes land on her. The lieutenant of squad 11 always seemed to have this sort of bubbly look to her. He wasn't to blame her, for she was merely a child, being one. That squad probably has some of the most unprofessional people within the Soul Society, didn't they? Even their own captain neglected to do any work. It was always something rather outrageous or ridiculous. With them, you couldn't be sure as to what they would do, this pink-haired little girl being one of them. She would just... appear out of nowhere to pester him when he wanted company the least. It was rather irksome during moments like those, but amusingly, overall he did not pay much mind. Children were just being what the were, and so letting her be, for the most part, was most wise. Wasting words on someone like her was hardly worth it. It was not going to be heard anyway.

     Though he could not help but think of just what her reason for being here was regardless of it's unpredictably. Every time the little girl came to pester, she would always come for a different reason, each one being completely unrelated to the previous time. It was both bothersome and confusing. He could never ready himself for whatever she came here for, because despite himself being rather hard to startle, if he could be, he wouldn't read minds. Doubt this child could even be readable anyway. That same goofy expression she had always baffled him. Why did this child always come to him anyway? Like, just why? Folding his arms within his sleeves he raised a brow in slight curiosity. Oh, her response to this question could be absolutely anything. He couldn't be anything but expecting the fact it would be unexpected. Why did she insist on bothering him now anyway? It was his time of peace, alone-- that was probably it. Sneaky little thing.

[Yachiru]

"What is it that you came here for?"

As expected, Byakuya seemed to hardly care about her presence, yet at the same time, there was that underlying irritation. She wondered for a moment if perhaps he was truely angry with her, but she quickly brushed the thought aside. There were more important things to think about, like the tension that seemed to be rising ever greater as days passed. She had sensed it in her own squad, and it was only getting worse. Something big was happening, and either no one had really informed her of it, or she had already forgotten, having dubbed it unimportant at the time.

"Weelll..." She tailed off slightly, letting her words drag almost annoyingly into nothingness. Afterwards, she hesitated slightly, as if she was thinking. "Is something bad happening Byakkun?" It sounded like an innocent enough question, there was no hint of fear or depression reguarding it in her voice, simply childish curiosity. Under her veil of foolishness hid some glimmer of knowlage and maturity, something which rarely shone through, but seemed to know when it was needed.

She followed the question with a smile "Ken-chan won't say a word about anything except that he thinks there will be a big fight soon..." She wanted to simply confirm that Kenpachi was right. "Do you think there will be a big fight Byakkun?" She wanted to hear his answer, and hoped her agreed with Kenpachi. She knew that a fight would make Ken happy, it would probably make her whole squad happy, and if they were happy, she was happy.

She turned her attention from Byakuya to watch the Koi in the pond with slight interest, still listening to Byakuya in case he cared to answer.

[Byakuya Kuchiki]

"Weelll... Is something bad happening Byakkun?"

     He paused. Now what exactly was that supposed to mean? Well of course, it meant what she said, which is something "bad" was going to occur but, in relation to what? It half made sense and half did not. For a mere child, the girl had successfully confused him, even though his countenance remained the same throughout. He remained silent as he thought about it. If she was referring to status in the World of the Living, then it was not likely, yes it was still a mess but now they were just simple, low leveled Hollows that a mere officer could handle by themselves. As far as he was concerned, no, there was nothing "bad" impending soon, though he left it open to the fact that there was also a possibility as well. things were quite... off considering one of the captains had gone missing. Tch, how ignorant. A mere captain being missing. It wasn't like there was a powerful enough force... It was just disgraceful.

"Ken-chan won't say a word about anything except that he thinks there will be a big fight soon... Do you think there will be a big fight Byakkun?"

Tsk, that man always thought there was going to be a fight. Barbarian. "No." He stated bluntly. "Next time, he should actually do his work and be aware of what is actually going on." He rolled his eyes a bit. For as long as he knew Kenpachi, he was always a slacker. "If what he wants is to fight with Hollows, he can be my guest." Now this was irritating him.

     Then again, not being out in the front-lines or being outside of the Soul Society, Byakuya himself could not be so sure on whether something worth noting was going to occur. It was all up to chance, but he thought he was pretty sure, considering everything seemed to be calming down. That or that was just another facade, part of a plan in the whole scheme of things, fooling everybody to let their guard down and be slaughtered one by one. If they believed that, they were foolish. He had full confidence that the Gotei 13 wasn't as oblivious or stupid as many outsiders thought. He would not take so much pride in his own work if that was the case. If that was it then he would much rather remain being a simple noble. Though, there was always something to protect: the peace. If he could protect that, then for the rest of his time he would remain in his position.

     For now though, there were many things still left in the air. So many unanswered questions. But who could possibly answer them? No one seemed to be doing much of that, instead they were gathering tiny little pieces that weren't even very important. If anything they were creating more of a mess, more hysteria. As if we needed that. Sighing he stepped to the side slightly to look at the rest of his fish as he further thought about matters. He should not be lingering around the questions that have been presented before him by the lieutenant. They were... small, unimportant questions that he personally did not much care for. He knew what he was saying, and knew what he said was indeed perhaps right, if by any chance. Though it did bring up a few points to note though. At least now he knew he could not rest easy for a bit. You could not be so calm around a mess, because then the mess will eventually consume you. He personally would rather stay away from such.

[Yachiru]

"No. Next time, he should actually do his work and be aware of what is actually going on. If what he wants is to fight with Hollows, he can be my guest."

Yachiru scowled a bit at Byakuya. "You shouldn't say mean things about Ken-chan. Just because you don't agree with him doesn't mean you should be mean." She was irritated, but only a little bit. The young lieutenant didn't like hearing mean things being said about her Ken-chan, the man who was many things to her. Kenpachi was like a father to her, but in way also a brother, and in many others, her best friend.

"I'm not stupid you know Captain Kuchiki..." She looked at him with a look that wasn't entirely that of a child. The way she put effort into using his name in a respectful way should have been sign enough that she didn't want him to look down on her like a child. She was smart enough to understand it all if she was told it.

"No one will tell me what's really going on, but Ukitake seems all worried about something, and Ken-chan's ready for a fight..." She looked at Byakuya with a somewhat dangerous expression "I want to know what's going on...I want to be able to help."

She looked serious about this for once. She was tired of being the one left out of everything simply because "she wouldn't understand". It seemed to be dawning on her that not many people seemed to realize where she and Kenpachi had come from. She could understand a lot of things, violence, bloodshed and death. Child as she may have been, or at least appeared to be, she understood plenty more than anyone ever gave her credit for.

[Byakuya Kuchiki]

"You shouldn't say mean things about Ken-chan. Just because you don't agree with him doesn't mean you should be mean."

     Expected behavior, though it did seem the little girl was on more on a serious edge today, which was extremely unusual for someone such as her. Nonetheless, the behavior would perhaps be expected to pass anyways, so no mind was paid to the words she had spoken. Looking back as his prized fish, he attempted to fall into another trance of deep thought. But regardless, his effort was futile as someone quite unusual left the little lieutenant's boisterous mouth.

"I'm not stupid you know Captain Kuchiki..."

     For once, he was rather shocked. This was... new. Calling him without a proper name was usual behavior of hers, in contrast to everyone else who he demanded address him formally. The reverse was happening. He looked back at her and raised a thin brow. Yes, Yachiru seemed to be on edge today, that or she was pulling up some sort of act. How strange this becoming. Who would have expected such words from someone such as Yachiru Kusajishi of the eleventh division? He sighed a bit. He knew full well that just because she was a child, it did not mean she lacked intellect. Though she was still quite young, behaving in a quite naive and stranger manner. She was allowed to be a child, have no care and no pressure, a childhood that Byakuya somewhat had lacked. With status came responsibility, being what he was today one of them. He never scolded her for addressing him improperly or for doing oddball things in his presence simply because he allowed her to behave how she normally would. He understood, and therefore allowed. Taking the fun from a child just seemed... not right.

"No one will tell me what's really going on, but Ukitake seems all worried about something, and Ken-chan's ready for a fight... I want to know what's going on...I want to be able to help."

He stared at her for a few quick moments before closing his eyes. "It is a mess." He said flatly, trying to look for the right words so that her questioning could just end. "A captain is missing and there is a bit of confusion going on in the World of the Living." Hopefully that would answer most, if not all, of everything.

     It really was a mess. Not even Byakuya himself knew for sure exactly what was going on. All he knew was that one of the captains was missing, Hollows are still popping up in unusual places in the World of the Living, and some chaos was going on in the Soul Society was well. Intruders were reported and he had dispatched his men to take care of the problem. Only assumptions that could be close to the truth could be made, and even then things still seemed at chance with things. Unfolding his arms from his shihakusho, he raised and elegant hand and gestured with his finger to a servant to come to his side. The servant knew full well what is lord was asking for, and walked off inside the manor to go retrieve something. Byakuya stood there patiently in waiting, hoping that what was to come would work. The servant arrived with a silver tray and presented the pink-haired girl with marvelous confectioneries of different sorts. Byakuya placed his hand upon his chin and thought to himself for a second as he watched them both. Hopefully this would distract the young girl and change her strange mood.

[Yachiru]

"It is a mess. A captain is missing and there is a bit of confusion going on in the World of the Living."

She looked at him with a sort of "oh" look on her face. Now she knew what was going on, and she wasn't so sure she liked it. Captains weren't supposed to go missing, they were supposed to stay where everyone knew where they were. Of course, as for the second bit, confusing things always happened in the world of the living. All the same...

"Is there any way I can help?" She sounded a bit more cheerful, although her face seemed to light right up when she was presented with the treats. She looked back and forth between Byakuya and the treats for a moment before selecting one, and eating it carefully savoring it in a way.

"You know Byakkun, you're not as bad as some people think you are." It was her own childish way for saying 'you're nice' or 'I like you'. A lot of people seemed to think Byakuya was a jerk and was too stuck up, she thought otherwise. He was handsome, and nice, when you got to know him anyways. He just liked to make a good image for himself as a noble, and who wouldn't?

She figured if she had been raised by a well-to-do family that was pretty good off and respected by a lot of people, she wouldn't be as silly all the time as she was. She'd probably be just like Byakuya, only shorter and far less manly.

[Byakuya Kuchiki]

"Is there any way I can help?"

He thought for a moment. One she wasn't her lieutenant so he didn't have much authority over her, and second he didn't know what someone like her would be able to do anyway. "There is nothing much anyone can do besides wait around." Even Byakuya himself was just waiting around. Waiting for something drastic to come up so that he can react.

If things weren't such trouble then perhaps he would have been doing something other than just reading reports and just receiving the same news over and over again was a tedious thing. There really was not much he as a captain could do at this point, except have his men go on various missions that either relate or do not. Such annoying work that didn't even affect the whole scheme of things.

"You know Byakkun, you're not as bad as some people think you are"

He closed his eyes and crosses his arms as he said nothing to that, pleased that the topic changed and she was more focused on eating the confectioneries than anything. He did not pay much mind to the comment. He had been told that once before... a small sigh left his lips. He always carried his head as if they were above the clouds, carrying himself in a graceful way, appearing as if the whole world was below him and on top was he, to govern, to be better than everyone else. Holding a cold exterior none could penetrate. Not even the little lieutenant could see what was really below the cold mask that Byakuya had made for himself. It was like he was acting, though, more than anything the act had become a part of himself, and no one but a select few have actually seen a side other than the stuck-up, indifferent side to side of him.

Closing his eyes again he strolled off to the other side of the garden, trying to find some peace. Yachiru was just a blabbermouth and he really needed to have some time to think about things. With that, he still had that matter of Rukia being in the World of the Living. Yes, she was supposed to be there, but, not for this length of time. It was becoming rather suspicious, and worrisome. It was actually causing some more confusion within her own squad. Just what in the world was she doing there for so long? She would have reported back if she had trouble but... So much to do and so much to think about. At this point, he actually doubted some time alone would help. Nonetheless, being somewhat annoyed by the small pink haired girl wasn't going to help him think either.

[Yachiru]

"There is nothing much anyone can do besides wait around."

His response wasn't entirely what she was looking for, because waiting was boring. Then again, she supposed there was nothing else to do, unless Kenpachi stirred prematurely to action. Then of course, she would loyally follow him whereever he went. That was the way it always was with them. No matter how foolish, no matter how dangerous, she would do it if Kenpachi did.

She squeaked slightly as Byakuya began to turn away, and walk off. For a moment she hesitated, thinking over her actions, before quickly trotting after him. The effect was akin to that of a puppy shuffling after it's master, something which surely would have looked quite comical, if anyone else had been watching.

Somehow, he seemed almost worried. This didn't strike her as something normal for him, but at the same time, she didn't want to anger him. Perhaps it was better left unasked, as she looked curiously up at him. It seemed like she was smart enough to know when something was absolutely none of her buisness, but at the same time, perhaps she was worried in her own way.

Byakuya was a big boy, and she knew he could take care of himself, just like Kenpachi could. Just in different ways. Even if sometimes she wished he wasn't so serious, like everyone else that was around. Sometimes she found herself wishing she had someone to play with a lot, but everyone was always too busy. She had fun all on her own when she visited Byakuya, just because something interesting always happened when she dropped by.

[You know, not that I don't like the one-on-one buisness, but someone else should seriously leap in before Yachiru starts to get ideas that she may regret later in her head. ]