Sunset in Heaven

Chapter 28

Renji and Rukia were waiting outside the meeting room of the Taichous when they both shivered at the reiatsu the Soutaichou was emitting.

"Idiots!! You lost your Taichou's haori?! Tearing it is one thing, but losing it?! How can you look nonchalant about it?!" They both heard the unmistakable irked voice of Yamamoto and both gulped in dread for their own Taichous.

They both just learned that Ichigo and the others were finally back from Hueco Mundo and were currently reporting in the Soutaichou's office. The two of them didn't waste any more second and immediately shunpod over to the place to wait for their Taichous outside, only to hear Yamamoto from the other side of the door berating his subordinates for losing all their haori.

"Soutaichou, do not worry. It was just a cheap haori, so I will pay for it." They both heard Byakuya's voice and both chuckled silently at the man. For him to say such insults to the Soutaichou while keeping such a cool façade was just so Byakuya-like.

"That's not what I'm concerned about! And it wasn't cheap, you idiot!" Yamamoto's voice echoed in the vicinity and it was all that Renji could do to not laugh out loud. For Byakuya to be told as 'idiot' was unheard of until now. Rukia glared at him and that made him stop immediately.

Inside the meeting hall, Yamamoto was already fuming from too much exasperation. "Listen! Battles aren't just about winning! What do you people think of the Taichou's haori anyway?!"

Kenpachi looked so bored he was almost yawning. "A nuisance." Shinji immediately nodded.

Byakuya closed his eyes as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Cheap." Ichigo chuckled at that.

Shunsui answered cheerfully. "Fashion?" Toshirou sighed, knowing full well that they were all in big trouble for all those answers.

"You're all idiots!" Yamamoto could feel his veins of annoyance showing and he was almost having the urge to pull out Ryuujinjakka, his zanpakutou, just to teach his idiotic Taichous some lesson.

And thus, the supposedly brief report about the Hueco Mundo case ended only after two more hours of Yamamoto's nonstop scolding.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Ichigo chuckled at another one of Renji's failed attempts to tell Byakuya that he wanted Rukia's hand for marriage. It seemed the two of them had gotten together during the battle with Shuusuke Amagai, the third leader of the rebel group that Ichigo and the others defeated.

Rukia had reported all the details about the fight the moment Ichigo got back from his brief report in the Soutaichou's office. She said that it was about an hour after the Taichous' departure for Hueco Mundo that Shuusuke and the other Bountos and Fullbringers attacked Soul Society. Most of them were formidable enemies and many Shinigami were either defeated or wounded in the all-out battle.

The remaining Taichous, however, did not just sit back and relax while the lower-level Shinigami were fighting. It seemed Soi Fon, Komamura, and Kensei were the ones who fought against Shuusuke who seemed to be the strongest leader among the three prime members of the rebellion. The man was equipped with a zanpakutou named Raika while also using a Bakkotou that could nullify the zanpakutou abilities of a Shinigami. A fire element zanpakutou combined with a Bakkotou that rendered his opponents' power useless was definitely a fearsome ability to have. The three Taichou only managed to win in the end because Kensei was a Vizard and the Bakkotou could not nullify his Hollow power.

Rukia and the other Fukutaichous dealt with Shuusuke's strong subordinates while the other Taichous defeated all the strong Menos Grande – mostly Gillian and Adjuchas – that came to Soul Society together with the rebels.