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A Shadow of What Was	By : katami Category: Bleach > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 49594 -:- Recommendations : 3 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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- 89
Author�s Notes: I do still exist! (Although there are days I wonder) I will take a moment to welcome the new readers and thank those who have been with me through all the insanity, you are all saints. Now, on with the story!

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Toushirou sighed and knocked at the door, not looking forward to the coming conversation. He was sore, short on sleep and hadn't managed to grab more than a few bites since going on shift - and that was only because Karin had forced a bagel on him. He was leaping from one emergency to another with barely a moment to get a briefing before it was on to the next fire to be put out. Worse yet, instinct told him that he wasn't seeing the worst of it, he was only seeing the first rumblings of the explosion to come. Toushirou didn't believe in much, but he trusted his instincts. And more than that, he trusted Karin's and something in his love's eyes told him that she felt the same.

He raised his fist to knock again and the door opened, Ulquiorra staring at him with inscrutable green eyes. The Arrancar was wrapped in a robe, the first time Hitsugaya ever remembered seeing him anything but entirely put together and proper. It made the pale figure more human and lent him an odd vulnerability; for the tiniest fraction of a second Hitsugaya understood why Byakuya would be drawn to this man. The

"Hitsugaya-taichou," murmured the Arrancar with a nod. "Can I be of some service?" asked the dark haired man in a softly differential voice.

"I don't mean to intrude, but I need to speak with Kuchiki Byakuya," he murmured, watching as emotion fluttered in the Arrancar's eyes, something dark and possessive stirring to life but quickly being shut away.

"I will fetch him for you. Please wait here," said the Arrancar, moving aside to let him in before disappearing toward the bedroom. Toushirou glanced around, noting the tray of food that had been nibbled at and the single red rose that was carefully placed in glass of water. The white haired captain felt a smile tug at his lips, not sure why, but something in the scene touching him. Perhaps because it could have come from his own past, because it could have been him and Karin acting out the scene going on in the next room.

Byakuya emerged from the recesses of the apartment, his hakama low on his hips and his gi untucked, his hair loose and slightly disheveled. Despite being less than immaculate his bearing was relaxed and graceful. Toushirou stared at the other man, hardly able to credit it. He was happy, realized white haired man, for the first time in countless years the nobleman appeared to be content. The other man could see something beyond his grief and loss; he had a reason to hope. And he had found it in the form of Ulquiorra Schiffer.

Blue eyes stole to the figure trailing quietly in the noble's wake, a pale, silent shadow. It was hard to believe that someone so unnoticeable could achieve such change in the vaulted Kuchiki Byakuya.

The two men settled on the couch, not touching and not even sitting particularly close, but it was impossible not to recognize the connection between them, the subtle attention they paid one another. As he watched, the Arrancar gently nudged the breakfast tray toward the noble and Byakuya reached delicately for a berry. The berry disappeared and a hint of smug satisfaction slid over Ulquiorra's features, gone almost instantly but Hitsugaya couldn't dismiss the feeling that it had been and that it was in some way significant. Judging by the sly, slightly smug and indulgent glance the nobleman gave the Arrancar he understood or at least suspected something about what had just occurred.

"What has happened now?" asked Byakuya with a soft sigh, nibbling another berry.

"Something which I feel you need to be kept abreast of despite it being outside the scope of my authority," murmured Hitsugaya, wondering if this was his place. Rukia's affair would not have been anyone's business if it hadn't been for her station. A tryst with a human could be ignored if one was discrete; his own liaison with Karin was proof enough of that. Even an affair with a Quincy could be ignored - if one was bullheaded enough not to give a damn what was said - Renji. A noble dallying with a human or Quincy became family business however. And there was nothing nobles liked more than telling each other what to do. Meaning Rukia's affair became the business of the whole Kuchiki clan.

Byakuya could bully his affair with Ulquiorra past his family mostly by being the head of the family. His relatives would gnash their teeth and complain bitterly about the Arrancar but none of them would dare oppose Kuchiki Byakuya. He could do too many unpleasant things to them. Besides, there was no profit in objecting to one Arrancar when Ukitake and Kyouraku were sleeping with another. There was never a profit in calling two of the oldest and most powerful captains of the Gotei 13 out - especially not two who had run with Yoruichi and Urahara.

"Dare I ask?" sighed Byakuya, glancing about for a moment, his eyes alighting on the coffee before passing over it with a tiny frown.

Toushirou took a slow breath and released it, very much wishing he could overlook this, but knowing that both Rukia and Byakuya deserved better from him. "There was an incident just a short while ago, your sister was involved. It seems she is...linked romantically with Ishida Ryuuken." Gray eyes widened and for single instant Byakuya froze, apparently completely confounded by the idea - although if it was of the idea of his sister with Ishida or his sister with anyone Hitsugaya couldn't quite say. The whole business had certainly given him a pause.

A pale hand gently touched the nobleman's leg, stirring him and drawing pale gray eyes. It was easy to tell the exact moment gray met green because the Shinigami seemed to relax and settle back into himself. "How long has this been going on?" demanded Byakuya in a clipped, business-like voice as Ulquiorra rose and disappeared into the kitchen.

"I'm not entirely sure. The association came to light just a sort while ago. Ishida Uryuu was less than pleased by the news and I'm afraid his reaction overshadowed other considerations. I wanted to give you a little warning before the news hit the gossip circuits and you were besieged by noble relations demanding an explanation." A frown crossed Byakuya's face, something between annoyance and resignation. The noble absently took the cup of tea Ulquiorra brought him, sipping it before realizing what it was he held. Toushirou watched with a tiny smile as the Shinigami turned to the Arrancar and gave him a grateful look, a tiny gesture that spoke volumes to their affection.

"I appreciate the consideration," murmured Byakuya. Toushirou had given him a few vital hours to figure out how to handle his own affair and Rukia's before his family descended on him wailing bloody murder.

"I had hoped some way to lessen the fall out could be found," murmured Hitsugaya.

Byakuya considered what he knew of the situation and his family. Damage control would be needed, but the Shinigami wasn't sure how much good it would do. His family would have had enough problems with the idea of relying on Rukia for an heir, but to have to accept a child that was half human and born of someone who was only a Kuchiki by adoption... "Something has to be done, but I'm at a loss for what. The purist of the family would never accept a human. It was one thing when Rukia was only a second child, then her children only had to be powerful, but now..."

"Then change the context of the debate," announced Ulquiorra.

"What?" demanded Toushirou, blinking at the Arrancar.

"Reframe the debate. The nobility will not accept a human, but you are not speaking of a human. You are talking about a Quincy, historic enemies of the Shinigami. Frame the issue as reparations for your treatment of the Quincy, not as a relationship between Kuchiki Rukia and Ishida Ryuuken."

"Reparations?" demanded Hitsugaya skeptically.

"No, the idea has merit," announced Byakuya, his face considering. "At least in dealing within the confines of the nobility. Such things have often been done in the past when feuding noble families made peace. Children would be offered up in marriage to help insure the alliance lasted."

"But can a case be made for making such a pact with the Quincy?" wondered the captain of the Tenth. "Ishida Ryuuken and Uryuu are all that are left of the Quincy."

"That would only strengthen the agreement for allowing the association. Ishida is the head of the last branch of their family, and as such a noble daughter of suitable rank would have to be offered if the gesture was to be meaningful. And given our history with the Quincy..." murmured the nobleman, not needing to say anything more. The Quincy had been hunted down and slaughtered, men, women and children. Infants in their beds had been murdered in cold blood for no other reason than that they carried Quincy blood in their veins. He and Hitsugaya had been too young to witness the genocide, but the truth of it was lurking in the records of Gotei.

"Given Ishida Uryuu's proven value to you, the argument could be made for the wisdom of seeking such an alliance," whispered Ulquiorra, Byakuya nodding.

"Rukia would be furious with you for couching her relationship in such terms," murmured Hitsugaya, his eyes gleaming.

"Given my sister's recent behavior, she should be grateful I am willing to indulge her relationship at all," snapped Byakuya, gray eyes growing cold.
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A Shadow of What Was