Two Souls, One Story

Chapter 28

It was a quiet afternoon. No Hollow attacks. In fact, attacks had decreased by 72% according to the 12th. Byakuya's paperwork load was also smaller than normal, but he knew some squads like the 10th and 4th had tripled with support. The Gotei 13 discovered many Aizen loyalists and swiftly executed them all when the evidence was inarguable. Slack had to be picked up. The 9th and 5th were without captains and couldn't advocate for their members with the same bureaucratic powers. In the Seireitei, power was everything.

For a moment, Byakuya was wondering how Rukia was doing in her new squad. Annoyance then washed over him when he thought about how Izuru swept right under his nose. Rukia was now in the second most dangerous rank, and neither his status as the head of the Kuchiki, the Captain of the 6th, nor her brother could change that. All because Izuru made his move while Byakuya was bedridden.

Just as this thought passed, someone lightly knocked on his door.

Byakuya's brow twitched. He knew that presence anywhere. "Come in." He said calmly, schooling his expression to be professionally blank.

"Pardon the intrusion," Izuru said neutrally, sliding open the door. He stepped in, closing it behind him and, just like last time, gave a quick eyeing of the room. "I won't take much time- it's about Rukia."

Byakuya stiffened slightly, but it wasn't really noticeable. It looked more as though he had straightened taller rather than stiffening. Surely that was the case. "What about Rukia?" He asked.

"Positive note: She's adjusting to her role splendidly! She's helping with a project I'm developing, trying to rebrand the squad to be something less... uh, gloomy. But she's..." Izuru slammed his face into his hand. "We've been trying to get her Bankai to wake up, and it's not working. To be frank, I'm a terrible teacher when it comes to combat- I bullied my Zanpakuto into giving me his true name, and that doesn't work for hers. I was hoping you'd be willing to give it a shot, given your reputation for being one of the hardest working captains."

Byakuya sighed through his nose and set his fountain pen down. "I suppose I should help my sister with her Bankai training. It's better than leaving it to someone like you." He stood up and moved around his desk, moving past Izuru without so much as a glance in his direction. He paused at the door. A somewhat pained look crossed his face briefly before he turned to look at his newly appointed fellow captain. "Thank you for bringing this up to me. It is important that she receives the proper training."

"Naturally, you were the first one to come to mind for it. Now! If you'll excuse me, I have a 7-year-old to get out of a coma!" And Izuru shunpoed out before any elaborations could be asked.

Byakuya's brow twitched again, and he sighed through his nose again. Now he needed to find his younger sister and hope she was in the mood to train.

Byakuya briefly felt her spiritual energy and located her at the Kuchiki family's personal training grounds. A private space. One perfect for meditation.

Rukia was breathing hard as she aimed her unreleased Zanpakuto towards a training dummy. "Come on, Yuki, I know we can do this." She whispered. She lunged forward with a short cry, swinging and slicing the training dummy in half. "Dammit." She said as she sat down, trying to catch her breath, sweat dripping from her forehead.

"Rukia." Byakuya's voice startled the raven-haired girl, and her enormous violet eyes widened at the sight of her brother. "While physical training is important to keep up the stamina needed for Bankai training... you should try meditating. You must get to know your Zanpakuto spirit on a deeper level."

Rukia blinked rapidly, her head spinning from her training. "Yeah?" She mumbled and looked down at the sword in her lap. "How do you suppose I should start doing that?"