{for Vinny} I...HATE...everything about....YOU...

Abarai Renji stared at the document with the stamp of approval shining on top. He couldn't believe it, it was bad enough no one else could believe it but now even Abarai Renji couldn't believe it. Right there in front of him sat the Assignation Letter, holding his approval - Kuchiki Byakuya's approval, no less - for becoming the 6th Squad Vice-Captain, one step under Kuchiki Byakuya and one step closer.

Since that day in the academy, the day his best friend Rukia was adopted into the Kuchiki clan, Renji only had one goal. He vowed to himself that one day, he would surpass Kuchiki Byakuya. One day his power would overpower the high ideas that Byakuya had. He worked harder in the academy, his hope to be accepted into the Gotei 13 was realized by Sosuke Aizen, the 5th squad. One step closer.

However due to his aggressiveness and the fact that he knew he could beat everyone there, he was moved. Moved to the 11th Squad under Zaraki Kenpachi, the toughest squad in the Gotei 13. It couldn't have been played out more beautiful than that. He met with Madarame Ikkaku, the third seat and begged him for his help. Ikkaku did not go easy on him, they fought until Renji couldn't breathe anymore. Ikkaku must have found something he liked as he asked why Renji wanted so bad to win. Renji only spat out a few words to make him happy enough. Forty years, Renji trained. He won battle after battle - rising to the 6th seat easily.

And now he was so close to Kuchiki Byakuya, Renji could almost taste it.

Kira Izuru and Hinamori Momo sat in front of him. Both of them had been accepted into the 5th squad with him but they easily rose to the ranks of Vice-Captain. Kira in the 3rd squad and Hinamori in the 5th. Separated in the 5th squad only to be brought back together as Vice-Captain. Renji found some pleasure in knowing that it was them who would congratulate him on reaching this far.

"From now on, sixth seat of the 11th division, you are promoted to Vice-Captain of the 6th division, Abarai Renji." Hinamori said, bowing to him. She rose up with a smile on her simple face. "Congratulation Renji!" She laughed softly.

Renji stumbled over words to say, so many things ran through his head. "Ah ... yes!" He twitched, "I mean ..." Renji fought over what to do. He pounded his fists onto the floor and bowed his head, shouting words of gratitude. "I understand and gladdy accept your words, Vice-Captain Hinamori!"

Hinamori laughed again, holding up her hand. "Don't do that, no need to be so uptight..."

Renji looked up at him and was about to say he was sorry when someone else spoke up and ruptured his embarrassment.

"...Even so, it's good news." Ikkaku said, leaning against the wall with his Zanpakato standing upright over his shoulder. "Now, you're one step closer toward Kuchiki Byakuya."

Renji looked surprised at him, turning his head to watched Ikkaku talk. The words floated in the air, no one seemed really surprised at them. It was common knowledge in the Seireiteri that Renji wanted to overcome Kuchiki Byakuya. "Ikkaku..."

Ikkaku continued, ignoring Renji, "I think it's right about time ... you should talk to Rukia. Even if your rival is from a noble family, a Vice-Captain ain't that low."

Renji looked away from Ikkaku.

Rukia.

They faded away since that day in the Academy, they lost contact completely. Renji didn't even know how she was doing or even if she was alright. Renji thought it was best if they kept their worlds apart. Rukia was now a noble, a beautiful noble at that. He had no right to barge into her world like he knew what.

Ikkaku kept going, "Your will has been strong for forty years. It's time you two had the relationship you used to have."

"Then you must hurry." Kira spoke up for the first time since Renji walked into the room. His narrow face dulled with his lax eyes, "Rukia is about to leave on a mission to the human world this afternoon.

Hinamori jumped out, worry written on her face. "Oh no! Hurry, Renji!" Hinamori seemed ready to jump out of the window and start running. Renji looked at her and shook his head.

"No." Hinamori stared at him, "It won't be official after the promotion ceremony in one month." Renji felt a smirk on his face as he chuckled, "When she comes back, I'll scare by saying: I'm a vice-Capitan."

Hinamori sat back down, looking to Kira for help but Kira didn't move to do anything. Renji picked himself up, eyes glancing over the paper that gave him access to the world. He was now Vice-Captain of the sixth, and most Noble squad in the Gotei 13.

"My oh my, Kuchiki Byakuya, what have you gotten yourself into?" He murmured to himself as he slid the door shut behind him. He wanted to know if Kuchiki knew the hole he dug for himself because Renji was going to pound him into it.


-

Or at least that was what he thought.

Late! Late late late late.

Renji kept screaming that word inside his skull as he zoomed down the walkways. He couldn't believe this, he was late. He was kept up by a few from the 11th squad, drinking and whatnot to celebrate. Renji didn't crawl into bed until nearly four in the morning. Now he was late.

Late on his first day of beating Kuchiki Byakuya, what sort of image was that?

Renji stopped right out side the 6th squad entrance, running his hand over his hair and pulling at his black kimono to make sure it wasn't wrinkled or anything. He smiled at the vice-captain signature on his arm, showing all where their place was. Right under him.

Renji pushed the door opens and watched as a few who noticed him bowed to him. he felt the rush of blood surge to his face as he nodded back to them and quickly made his way to the office of his captain.

He pounded the ground with his fist as he bowed low to the ground again, begging for forgiveness. He growled quietly, bowing to the floor to ask for forgiveness. Che! He didn't like it.

"Forgive me, Captain! I am late and I have no excuse other than I overslept."

What a great way to start off the first day, no?

Byakuya could feel a headache coming on as his annoyance grew. It was a good thing that he did not have a clock inside his office because it would have driven him over the edge. Kuchiki Byakuya was a very composed and serene individual…on the outside. Inside he was quite different, and it had taken many years of pestering from his grandfather, father, uncles, and other relatives to get his attitude in ‘check’. His rash personality had been laced with a rather large temper and hastiness that was spurred on easily by just a small amount of goading. That had not been limited to Yoruichi, but that woman was one that had the most affect on him. The cure had been thought up by his grandfather who got him to focus on calligraphy to calm his nerves…writing sentences.

He had been a cute child and young man, but it had been quite ruined in many people’s opinions by Byakuya’s personality. Now it was the same way, but only because instead of his overbearing recklessness and temper he now was cold, silent, pompous, and perhaps arrogant. It depended upon whom you asked. Right now he still looked serene, but for those who had talent for sensing reiatsu they would be able to feel Byakuya’s boiling around a little as he fought for his composure.

The sound of heavy footsteps reached his ears before the noise of the door sliding and his new vice-captain kneeling on the floor. Each noise grated on his nerves, but as usual that remained unseen. He did raise his eyes to look down upon the redhead, but he made no facial expression one way or the other by what he thought of the other man.

“Your desk is down the hall and to the left in a small room that you may call your office. There should already be a stack of paperwork for you to fill out. I will also expect you to inspect the squad at eleven as they will be starting their training exercises. If you need any help in finding where anything is you may speak to Rikichi the squad’s third seat, and he will assist you.” Byakuya said all of that in his usual tone that hardly ever changed pitch. His eyes then went back down to the paperwork that he had been working on beforehand.

He felt better already.

There wasn't any damn emotions in his Captain's voice. Abarai Renji looked up when Byakuya finished talking and he saw that he wasn't even looking at him. Did he not care about the fact that the man who would defeat him was right there in front of him? Apparently not. Renji bowed his head quickly and then rose to his feet, watching Byakuya's hand scrawl across a document.

Renji stood there for a moment. He didn't know if he was excused or not. He thought Byakuya would be the one to introduce him to the ropes but instead he was going to give it all to the third seat? Renji stared at the floor right beside Byakuya, his gaze was hard enough to burn a hole right through it. The redhead snapped himself to attention and dipped his head in respect for his new Captain and turned around and headed right out the door.

"Down the hall, to the left..." Renji mumbled, rubbing his sweaty palms on his stomach and darting his glances down the one-way hall. "Down the hall, to the left..." He repeated and hurried down the hallway only to find there were two doors to the left. He frowned and opened one of the doors. The room was empty and Renji felt a burst of embarrassment flood his cheeks. He tossed a look over his shoulder, making sure no one was watching him make a fool of himself. Renji went to the other door, swinging it open and took a deep breath of sweet relief.

The room was small, just as Captain Kuchiki said, but it was wide enough to be called an office. He saw a small window on the far wall, a tiny bookcase with a bonsai tree under it. The whole room seemed dwarfed to him now. The desk, however, was wide enough and, just as his Captain said, had a stack of papers waiting for his signature.

"Che! I'll be better than the others, he'll have to upgrade me within a week." Renji smirked to himself as he pulled out the seat under his desk and pulled out a paper from the stack and started reading it. He grabbed a pen and tapped the end of it on the desk as he scanned the document. His eyebrows furrowed together when he came across words he didn't know or were too long. When he didn't understand what the document was asking, he placed it to the side and only filled out what he knew.

Pretty soon the 'Misunderstood' stack grew bigger than the 'Signed' stack. Renji's arm hurt and his letters meshed together when he was too tried to write. "Stupid paperwork." He grumbled. When he finished the first stack of paper, he groaned softly as he looked at the 'Misunderstood' stack again. "Whatever - I'll do it after I'm done checking on the squad." He grumbled as he stood up, stretching his back.

He stepped out of the office, darting a quick look to Byakuya's office and then skirted out of the hallway. He was looking to find someone to show him where this Rikichi is. He finally found someone walking a lone hallway and grabbed his arm, jerking him slightly.

"Hey! Tell me where Rikichi is."

Byakuya could feel the tension in the air as Renji waited those few seconds before leaving. He felt a small victory for himself, but was not going to call in that he had won the war. No...not yet. Now he was somewhat curious. He had half expected his new vice-captain to either explode at him, or wilt in fear. Neither happened. In fact, Renji had acted as he was supposed to. That was not what he wanted. He either wanted an excuse to get rid of Renji, or watch him cower and remain underfoot.

The Kuchiki heir was not a sadist...he just...wanted to prove his point. Now Renji had just proved to him that this was not going to be as easy as he first thought it would be. The redhead had gone to work, and it was quite some time before Byakuya sensed that Renji had left his office. Interesting. At least he knew how to follow instructions.

The one that Renji had grabbed had in fact been Rikichi, and he looked positively terrified. He wondered for a moment if he should tell his new vice-captain that he was who Renji was looking for or not...however, he finally stammered out a, "Th-That's me..." he said in an almost meek manner. His black hair was much shorter than Renji's or Byakuyas, but there was on long strand in the front that had beads on it and it hung down on his forehead and to the side a little. "I...I'm Rikichi, Vice-captain Abarai." he said and quickly bowed a little. Part of him was worried that all the rumors he heard about eleventh squad were going to all be bunched up in Renji, and the redhead would just cut him to pieces as look at him. It was a frightening thought. "Can...Can I help you in some way?"

Oops.

Renji dropped the kid's arm and straightened up. "Ah, sorry." He said, picking up his hand and rubbing the back of his neck, blushing very lightly. He heard the dribble of worry and fear in the stammering voice of his subordinate and tried to laugh to cover up his mistake. "Captain Kuchiki told me to find ya. He said something about training grounds and ... such. I just need ta know where ta go."

He didn't want to mess up anything on his first day. His mishap with waking up too late was the only mistake he really wanted to make but now he was dancing on strike two. (Not that he wanted to make a mistake in the first place.) Plus he scared the third seat now, not that he meant too. The kid look like he was about to wet himself and Renji regretted grabbing him like that. That was how they did it in the eleventh squad, old habits die hard. The threads of the day were being pulled too quickly, Renji needed to grab each of them before they would start to unravel. If he was going to get back Captain Kuchiki, he needed some control.

"And .. uh, do ya have the time? I couldn't find a clock in my ... uh, office." He coughed, glancing to the side, jerking his thumb behind him.

Rikichi seemed to relax as soon as he realized that Renji was not going to rip him apart. In fact, seeing that Renji had apologized seemed to make all the difference in the world. Even though Rikichi looked small (well, he was), and easily frightened (again...true), this little third seat had in fact earned his spot. He was a capable fighter, and to reach the rank he had in the squad that he was in would tell of his strength. However, he was quite different from their Captain, and was quite helpful and caring. "Of course I have time! Besides, I'm heading down to the training grounds right now. I'll show you around a little bit." he said and motioned for Renji to follow before he started walking.

At mention of the clock Rikichi just smirked a little and leaned over slightly, "Captain Kuchiki doesn't like clocks." he whispered as if it was some huge secret. "We used to have several, but he took them all down. I'm not sure why, though." He said and shrugged before blinking in the sunlight as he walked outside and towards a large open training area. Quite a lot of the squad was already gathered, and Rikichi quickly instructed them to all get in their lines. Once it appeared that everyone was there Rikichi introduced their new Vice-captain which brought about some curious stares sent Renji's way.

"...so work your hardest everyone!" Rikichi said quickly as he finished his little speech and the squad went to work on training. Looking up at Renji a little Rikichi smirked just a little, "We focus mostly on fundamentals during training, then there are sessions later on in the day in order to hone specific skills as well as sparing. Kidou is also emphasized, but Captain Kuchiki usually oversees that part of training so you won't need to worry about that. Um...do you have any questions? I feel like I'm talking a mile a minute..." He finished and sighed softly as if to calm himself down.

Renji stared after him as he started walking. He jumped a little at the motion to follow him, falling quickly in step with the third seat. Relief rushed through him like cold water, cooling down his burning cheeks and calming his nervous blood. He was glad that Richiki didn't believe all the rumors about him being some ruthless brute from the 11th squad. (Or at least, he hoped he didn't believe that.) Yeah, he could get aggressive but that was just how he was. A little rough around the edges but overall a good guy.

Renji leaned back as Richiki shared the little clock secret. He shot a look over his shoulder, back to the hallway where Byakuya was. He didn't like clocks? Renji began to wonder what the poor clocks did to offended him. Maybe they kept telling him he was late for his 'how-to-be-a-cold-hearted-ass' classes or something like that.

The new Vice-captain looked at the members of the squad as they lined up in pristine lines. If the 11th squad acted like this, they would be a great fighting machine. But when everyone thought they were better than the next guy, order was very hard to come by in the 11th squad. He bowed back to them, telling them he was glad to be their Vice-captain and hoped to work with them to become better.

He turned to Rikichi as he kept talking. He nodded where he needed to nod, making mental notes of everything he said. He held his breath when Rikichi said 'Kidou'. Renji exelled in Zanjutsu but he was rather inept in Kidou but when he explained that Kidou would be taken on by Captain Kuchiki, he released his breath and sighed. "That's good." He mumbled, "Uh! Questions, yeah, does Captain Kuchiki expect me to jump in there to spar with them?"

Rikichi looked thoughtful, "Our last vice-captain was usually doing paperwork, but would spar at times. I believe that Kuchiki-taicho would appreciate any help you are able to give. I would also think that you would give a different view on fighting than what most of the squad is used to." he said and smiled a little, "But I also know that Kuchiki-taicho does not like paperwork to go undone, so really that is up to you."

Byakuya had finished his own paperwork, finally, and moved to one of his windows to peer out. Was Renji overwhelmed, yet? It did not appear to be so, yet. He sighed softly, and was sure that his grandfather would not have approved of him accepting a vice-captain just to watch him fail...Although, right now Byakuya didn't really care. He was being stubborn, and merely wished for people to see things his way. Now, Byakuya was not always like this...in fact he was usually quite easy to get along with. Rukia knew this, but Renji had managed to stomp on his nerves and that was hardly something he was able to overlook. Perhaps a quality of himself that could be worked on, but after he was finished with Abarai Renji.

Renji nodded, listening to Rikichi explain what would be expected of him. He snuck a glance at the sparring taking on the training court. He saw one of them take hold of his stance in a way that would caused him to easily be taken over. Renji stopped walking and stared at the guy, his eyes narrowed with disbelief that he partner couldn't spot that. "Y-yeah, Richiki gimme a sec." Renji turned on his heel and stepped toward the court and toward the man who couldn't hold his stance.

He grabbed the wooden training sword from his partner who yelped at Renji's sudden intrusion. "Come at me." He demanded to the confused man. He gripped his wooden sword and took a step back but Renji followed him. "Come at me, I said."

Renji felt eyes from a point he could not place, like someone was watching him and wondering what the hell he was doing. Still, being in the 11th squad had left some impact on him. He couldn't let someone get away with a badly placed stance.

"Come at me!" He growled loudly.

Byakuya watched with slight curiosity as Renji was obviously trying to help the young officer whom Byakuya had already been watching as being one of the weaker ones in zanjutsu. The young man was quite good at kidou, but not good enough at it to be put into fourth squad so he ended up here. He could tell that the young man was more confused by Renji's commanding tone, and why Renji wanted him to do what he said. He wondered for a moment if the young man would respond, but he watched as he straightened up his back a little after overcoming the shock with Renji's growl that even Byakuya heard from where he was.

The young man hesitated a moment more as more eyes were watching him now, but he did as instructed and aimed the training sword at Renji's side.

Byakuya could see the problem from here, but wondered in the back of his mind if Renji could actually fix it. He did not doubt the 11th squad's ability to fight well, because they were definitely a force to be reckoned with but in his experiences with that squad he had found them to be much too barbaric for his taste. Yes, he was quite adept at kidou, but Byakuya had also worked very hard to become a skilled swordsman and all around fighter even though he knew many in 11th squad thought he looked weak. Many enemies thought that as well and usually died quickly because of that thinking.

Rikichi watched with a small smirk and seemed happy that Renji was already stepping in. He was already starting to look up to Renji's lack of fear around new people. It was something that Rikichi wanted to become better at.

The man went for his side and Renji moved quickly around him, placing his wooden sword to the man's side and pushing him down onto the floor. The growl on his face had not been taken away and he pressed the sword harder into his side. It wasn't enough to hurt him but enough to be uncomfortable. Renji actually wanted the break the sword of his head - it was a simple stance. Something taught in the academy! Renji guessed he gotten away with it just as he had gotten away with Kidou, being promising in one but not the other.

"You're dead." Renji said bored and took his sword off of him. "Look." He said and took up the correct stance from where he stood. "If you don't want to die - then stand right. If I can take you down that easily - imagine what a hollow could do."

"But ... Vice-Captain Abari ... you're much stronger than a hollow..." A tiny misunderstanding voice called out from the back. Renji, annoyed, look over that way.

"I know that." He said slowly, "That's what I'm saying. If you can't listen I don't wanna hear it!" He shouted. He hoisted his sword over his shoulder like many of the 11th squad would do. It was a relaxed way to hold the sword but still able to take it out and fight. He pointed at the man on the ground. "You. Get up, show me how to stand right."

Renji had a light ponder on if Byakuya was watching him whip his men into shape. If Byakuya was the one who let things like this slide, he wasn't the biggest threat to Renji anymore. "This'll be easy." He mumbled to himself, thinking of when he would throw Byakuya off his high throne and onto the dirt where he belonged.

The evident fear and slight pain on the young man's face showed as he stared up in slight disbelief at Renji. He soon stood back up, and set his jaw and looked down at his feet as he fixed them. Apparently, pride was something that most of the squad also had because this young man looked as if one trip into the dirt was enough to spur his pride a little to get him going.

Rikichi smirked just a little again, but then caught sight of a haori leaving the window from their Captain's office and he smiled a bit more. Captain Kuchiki had been watching...Hopefully he liked what he saw.

Well, part of Byakuya did, but the other part was getting slightly annoyed...well, more so than before. He couldn't really watch too much more without getting too impatient. However, he did have a duty to perform. If one of his officers was struggling then he could not leave that on his vice-captain's shoulders...even if he wanted to dump as much onto those shoulders as he could to force him back down to where the belonged. But...Kuchiki Byakuya bit the inside of his cheek a little and walked out of his office, down the hall, and out into the courtyard towards where a group was slowly forming. Apparently, the squad was very curious of their new vice-captain, because no one realized he had joined the group of watchers.

Renji waited until he took up another stance. Renji used his wooden sword to move the man's leg back just a little bit. "It should be a comfortable stance because it's a basic stance." He said, his voice was toned down from the annoyed shouting before. He finally stopped prodding at him and hoisted the sword over his shoulder and smirked at him. "There! That's better." He tossed the sword back at the sparring partner. "Attack." He said, nodding to them.

Renji tossed a look over his shoulder to Richki and smiled. He hoped that he was doing good for his first day. Maybe this would make up for his late arrival.

That what when Renji felt the sudden surge to spiritual pressure. He broke his glance from Richki and whipped around to face his stoic face Captain. He bowed only his head, "Captain Kuchiki." He said, deep in mock-respect. Of course he respected his captain but he just corrected one of his subordinates, something Captain Kuchiki didn't. He felt like he had a reason to gloat.

At Renji's small greeting the rest of the gathered squad quickly stood up straighter and seemed to move as one away from their captain and quickly saluted and greeted him in one voice before being dismissed back to their training. This included Rikichi who moved to help a few of the new recruits.

Byakuya could hear that slight mocking tone, and he could feel his temper start to grow again. However, he remained as stoic as always except for a slight raise of an eyebrow. "Vice-captain Abarai." he answered simply, and seemed to be able to amp up the mock-respect even with his normal tone. Actually, it just sounded normal. He always sounded like he was mocking someone when he spoke to them.

He could have very easily praised Renji for finally finding a way to knock some sense into the young man's skull. However...pride was once again an issue, so he left that where it was: nothing. Byakuya eyed Renji for a moment more before turning and making his way over towards where some were training kidou, "I believe you have the zanjutsu training under control." he said coldly while walking away.

Renji wanted to smirk as he watched his captain's back walk away, just as swiftly as he came. This was his first victory, Renji knew it had to be. His Captain didn't point out any mistakes and he knew Byakuya would find a mistake - even if it was small one. Renji guessed that his pride was in need to soft tender care. Renji wanted so bad to laugh, but laughing wouldn't help at all.

"I sure do, Captain. Too bad it wasn't in control before, I wouldn't be doin' this." Renji said, knowing that he just stomped on a few nerves.

ooc. this is so short! ;__; I'm so sorry!

ooc: no worries. ;3

ic:
Byakuya of course heard the comment, and if the Kuchiki heir had been a bird his feathers would have been very ruffled at the moment. Did Renji truly just say that? On his first day, no less. A few of the squad members who were nearby and could actually see the somewhat dark expression in Byakuya's eyes (the typical part of his face that showed his emotions) moved away from the pair as silently as possible.

It sounded cliche', but people did not speak to Byakuya in that brash way that just screamed 'commoner'. That was probably what got on Byakuya's nerves the most. He thought for a moment about just continuing to walk, but he could not allow himself to leave this alone. Byakuya turned slowly, and easily made eye contact with his vice-captain, but his eyes were now masking his anger into slight indifference.

"You mean in doing your job, Vice-captain Abarai?" Byakuya asked coldly, "Because I do believe that helping those of inferior rank is within your job description, and not something that earns any extra merit as you seem to be obviously hinting that you deserve. I will not give idle praise when a subordinate of mine does what they are meant to do. Perhaps if you manage to go over and above my expectations of a vice-captain, then perhaps you may gloat. However, you are far from reaching those standards as of this moment." His tone remained level and if someone were to listen to his tone alone they would believe that Byakuya was just emotionless in his speech, however, his posture told everything. He was still looking down, and quite a long ways, at Renji.

Renji felt the shadow of Captain Kuchiki's gaze fall over him, a cold shiver climbed up his spine. The words left a bad taste in his mouth and seeing the icy glare of his Captain only made it worse. However Renji did not regret the words, he corrected something Byakuya should have gotten. Renji did not want to let go of his short-lived brag but he said nothing to defend himself.

Sticks and stones, Renji, sticks and stones.

Renji bowed his head, clenching his jaw together and tightening his fists. He wanted to growl or do something like that. He wanted to bring out his sword and get out his anger but Renji tried to remain calm. Like those words didn't even affect him. They did up to a point, the words only made him want to try harder.

"Forgive me, Captain Kuchiki. I don't know my place yet." He rose back up, trying to keep his face calm. Renji decided that this would be the last time Renji would outwardly express his victories. He would keep it inside until Byakuya came out with it first. "While I thank Richiki-san for his help, aren't you my captain? You're suppose to show me what to do and what to not do." Renji's tone was dangerously close to be a threat but he tried to keep it borderline.

Renji wanted to test the waters with Byakuya. He wanted to see just how far he was willing to let him go.

Byakuya felt a very small frown tug at the edge of his lips, but he kept that from showing too much as Renji looked back at him once again. He rarely allowed for confrontations to last long...even this was considered long for Byakuya. However, he did not feel like ending it because that would be some sort of defeat for him...

The rest of the squad could feel the almost tangible tension in the air between their captain and vice-captain, and more were beginning to wonder why Captain Kuchiki had taken on someone who was so obviously not sixth squad.

"I would have also thought that you would have been able to figure out most of your duties on your own. I am not here to hold your hand in order to make sure that your duties are all performed as needed. Even if you were a sixth seat, I'm sure you were still aware of what duties you are required without my assistance being needed. Although, I could recommend an alarm clock, perhaps?" Byakuya said these in the same tone as before.

Renji knew he should have kept his mouth shut. Now Byakuya was making him look like a fool in front of everyone. He doubted any one of them would feel pity for him, they must have all been thinking that Renji was jumping head first into a shark tank. Renji felt the burn on the inside of his palms, he wish he had something to throw or challenge him with. However his hands were empty and Byakuya might destroy Zabimaru if Renji pulled him out.

Renji clenched his jaw hard enough to where it really started to hurt. He looked down to the dirt and then went back up to Byakuya's hard gaze. His eyes looked like daggers to Renji, like they wanted to burn a hole through him right then and there. The redhead merely smirked away his current trouble, "Alright, alright. I'll get an alarm clock." He said, not forgetting to not fight back to the other part of Byakuya's 'hateful' words. He shouldn't bite the hand that was feeding him - even if it was some stuck-up prick.

"And yer right, I do have zanjutsu down and m'sorry for keeping up yer kidou ... thing." Renji smiled and turned around, his hand tucking into the fold of his black kimono. "Shouldn't you be getting to that, Captain Kuchiki?" he stopped, turning his head and giving him a big mocking smile.

Byakuya wanted so much to bite back again, but kept the words inside even though this would mean allowing Renji to have the final say. This was one of those, 'Lost the battle, won the war.' moments. He was definitely going to win this war, and it had actually served a purpose...It had given him a slight outlet for his frustration from earlier. It felt good to verbally berate Renji. Better than it probably should.

He finally just turned easily away and walked off towards the training area, and the area that he was leaving was now left in very tense, awkward silence. Kidou training was most likely going to be very tough today, because there was still some pent up frustration.

Renji felt pleased that Byakuya didn't say anything else. He wouldn't have to keep pulling stuff out of his ass to make himself sounds like he knew what he was doing. Byakuya was retreating and it caused a surge of confidence to tingle in his fingertips. This would be easy, pushing Byakuya off his throne - much easier than Renji would have expected. The 6th squad Captain had an image to keep up while Renji didn't have anything. He could do whatever and it wouldn't bother him or the people around him. No one cared what he did.

Byakuya, however, didn't have that freedom.

"Alright, then." He looking around for Richiki. He spotted him and hurried over to where he was standing. "That wasn't too bad, was it?" He joked.

"Too bad?!" Rikichi said and his voice squeaked a little. "What were you doing?!" he asked quickly and sounded frightened. He had honestly never witnessed their Captain that...well...angry wasn't even a good term for it. "You were trying to get his heckles up, weren't you? That's dangerous, Vice-captain Abarai. Especially on your first day." He added this softly and swallowed. "Captain Kuchiki is not one to lose battles, and if you were trying to declare war with him...well...it's rather dangerous for your career, don't you think?"

Rikichi looked around a little and sighed softly before shoving Renji in the direction of those who were training in zanjutsu, "You'd better go do your job." He finally said and started moving in that direction as well. He was pretty good at kidou, but honestly, he knew he needed work in zanjutsu as well.

Renji laughed at Richiki's fear for him. Renji wanted to declare war with the Kuchiki noble, he wanted him to know that he was ready to fight it and he wasn't going to stop fighting him until he came out on top. "I was only playing, I think Captain Kuchiki is too uptight. I was just messin' around." Renji laughed. "I didn't mean anything by it."

Of course, Renji was lying. He meant everything. Every threat, every challenge, every bit of it - he meant it all.


--

Two weeks pasted since that first day.

Renji had finally gotten into the groove of things of the 6th squad. He arrived mostly on time and when he didn't, he never told his Captain. The first thing he did was do yesterday's paperwork and then hurry up and work on todays. Of course he could have been smart and just ask for help with it but Renji was too stubborn to ask for help on something as simple as paperwork.

He and Richiki became good friends, the third seat often helped him when Renji was in trouble. If Renji was late, Richiki would help him sneak past Captain Kuchiki even though they both knew that he had already guessed Renji's tardiness. When he dropped by Renji's office, which wasn't upgraded with in a week, he'd offer help on paperwork.

The few who were having trouble with zanjutsu soon learned their mistakes as Renji instructed him. He learned to keep his eyes on those learning instead of watching the hallway for Byakuya who might or might not stop by. He wanted to prove his words wrong, that he was very capable of doing his work.

One day, after training, Renji was chatting with Richiki and suddenly felt something shift. The redhead casted his attention to the sky and squinted, staring up at the wide expanse. There wasn't any clouds, just a shift that still hadn't settled down. Renji looked to the third seat and then sat up, looking around him and toward the office where Byakuya was.

"Ya feel that?" He asked.

Byakuya had been rather...distracted over the past weeks. His family made sure to point it out as well seeing as how it was a fault, and they rarely ever allowed opportunities like that to pass by. They thought his desires for whatever vindication he was looking for were not necessary and took away from his work. Deep down, Byakuya knew this was not a healthy pastime, but he couldn't just let this go. He was working on proving himself not only to his family which seemed to be a never ending struggle because of past events that were still heavy on his heart, but that did not matter so much as making sure that Renji understood where he stood.

He knew that pride was a fault, but his family had perfected it to practically an art form so it wasn't looked down so much because it was simply the Kuchiki way of acting. Byakuya had nearly been talked out of his current endeavor by his uncle, but soon came back to being just as stubborn as before.

He would take various opportunities to point out Renji's faults, and never once acknowledged things that would be considered praiseworthy. Even with others asked, like Ukitake who seemed to always know what Byakuya was planning. The older captain was most likely concerned for Renji, and Byakuya respected Ukitake's opinion but that did not mean that he had to make it obvious that he was listening to his advice.

The past couple of days had been rather quiet, though, and Byakuya had not had much reason to berate Renji for anything. It seemed the younger man was quick to adapt to situations, and fell into his duties easily...even if he still struggled with being on time. He was currently filling out some paperwork for his family instead of for his squad. Both duties were full-time jobs, but he had managed to keep both in working order effectively...That just meant that he had no social life, but what Kuchiki really had one?

Byakuya's thoughts were cut off when he felt the slight anomaly in the spiritual atmosphere, and his eyes widened slightly before he simply rose from his seat and walked outside calmly.

Rikichi blinked then shivered as he felt the inky spiritual pressure of what was unmistakeably Hollow flow over his skin. He looked up just as what appeared to be a huge rip in the sky appeared. He stood quickly and was now joined by many others who were staring up at the sky.

Byakuya had seen it many times before, but never this close to the Court of Pure Souls. The sky opened and a gaping black wound was left in the otherwise serene blue sky. His eyes narrowed just a little as he focused more on the forms now filtering through the hole. That would be easy to fix, but more tears in the sky were forming and more Hollows were spilling in. He could hear quite a few of his squad were sounding frightened and he quickly looked towards most of his squad and gave orders to form ranks before he split up groups and ordered them to move to secure various areas which would be lead by Rikichi and he turned to a few others who were also of higher rank within their squad which included Renji.

"We will go and intercept the Hollows coming towards the Eastern Sector." he said calmly as if none of this bothered him at all. Byakuya was soon moving towards the gate of their squad before he shunpoed off in the direction he had indicated before. Not nearly as fast as he could go, but fast enough to make good time while allowing those following him to keep up.

Renji watched as the unnatural rip in the sky grew wide with the masks of hollows. He had seen many a hollow in his many years of living and after being in the 11th squad, he was itching to slay them. His palms grew hot as he looked to Captain Kuchiki who ordered the squad be separated. He smiled as he and the others followed after the already gone Captain. They each arrived at the Eastern Sector, Zanpaktou pulled and ready but not yet activated.

They stood around waiting in silence. Renji started to get a bad vibe off of what was happening. The hollows, he saw the hollows. He saw the grossly shaped animal-like things screaming at him from the gaping hole in the sky. He had felt the slimly disruption that meant there was a hollow nearby. The 6th squad looked around, waiting for orders from their Captain. Unease overtook the few lined up as they squeezed their Zanpaktou, nerves started to rack and each of them were standing on their toes.

Renji looked to Byakuya, "Captain Kuchiki..." He started, letting off his sentence as he took a step forward. "Captain ..."

ooc: woohoo...page two! :3

ic:
Byakuya had not yet pulled his zanpuktou, but was watching the Hollows carefully "We will finish off those who manage to get into Soul Society, and we will send the rest running back to Hueco Mundo where they belong." He said simply as if that was the simplest task imaginable. "There is nothing to be nervous of, and all of you need to lock away whatever fear you may have." he said and could feel the spirit pressure of the group level out again as they did seem to calm down a little at their Captain's words.

Silently, he pulled out his own zanpaktou, waited a moment, then hurried forward to meet one Hollow that landed about a hundred yards from where they were standing. A simply upward slash of his katana and the Hollow's mask was split in two and the monstrous creature dissipated into thin air. Byakuya moved on to others, and soon took to the sky in order to stop more from making their way into Soul Society. A mixture of swordfighting and kidou were used in order to allow for both short and long range fighting, but right now he was not engaging many enemies and allowing those in his squad to fight more.

The attack had not been as sudden as Renji had expected it to be. The hollows snarled at him, screaming at them as they then started to charge at the waiting soul reapers. One decided to take Renji on, it's mouth opened with a cry as it moved at him. It's white mask was oblong shaped, eyes slitted like a cats. It looked like a huge beetle with a long wound up tail that curled up on top of it. Renji grabbed the hilt of his zanpaktou and charged it, swinging his zanpaktou across the mask. Like the one that Byakuya had finished off, it dissolved into nothing.

The hollows seemed to swarm over the skies. The one with wings pounded through the air in hordes, making Renji stop and look at the supposed blue sky as it was dotted with grotesque creatures. He was snapped away from his train of thought with the roar of one hollow, Renji slid his unreleased zanpaktou across the mask and it followed the other one into nothing. He had no idea where they were coming from or even how many there were in this one section. In the distance he heard to clanging of the Warning Bell as it echoed across the hollow filled Soul Society.

"Captain!" He said, keeping his toes on edge as he waited for another unskilled attack, "Captain, where are they coming from?"

They were reaching the point where Byakuya could not really take his time with this. There were hundreds of them! However, he had yet to release his shikai Byakuya was using more flash steps now to cover more ground and to attack more enemies at once. He paused near Renji when he heard his title called out by his vice-captain.

"Hueco Mundo..." Byakuya said softly while sending a kidou spell at a hollow a small ways away from them, "However, I have never seen so many at once...especially not in Soul Society. The real world, perhaps, but here...It is very unsettling." He said and took a defensive position for a moment, "But we cannot remain on defense alone. More are continuing to come in, and they are getting larger. We must close those portals that lead between the two worlds." Byakuya said simply before finally looking up again.

"I will clear a path to that portal up there." he said and pointed to one of the gaping holes that the hollows were still coming through, "Then we will make our way there and at least keep more from entering Soul Society. You will be able to keep up, correct?" he asked coldly while glancing Renji's way. Even in a situation like this Byakuya was not pulling any punches.

Renji replied to his Captain's orders with a hard, quick nod. Of course he would be able to keep up. He wasn't lieutenant because he kept a tight score on his paper work turn-ins, that was for sure. He glanced behind him, looking at the swarm and the soul reapers defending themselves and the Soul Society. He noticed a few speckled around Fourth Division members and members from other Divisions as they filled in to help. Their help was not denied as many unskilled soul reapers were falling and still more hollows poured in. Renji turned back to his Captain and walked toward him, his fists tightening on Zabimaru's hilt.

"Yes, sir." He finally said, following the path Byakuya made with his finger to the holes in the sky. He saw the hollows as they bulged within the hole, cracks in the sky forming as more started to fill in the black spaces. Renji began to wonder if there was an end to the already countless hordes that now started to fill the Society. "Let's go!" He said, following his Captain.