"A man who raises his hands on a woman is trash. If I have to become trash in order to survive… It'll be just like dying." — Renji Abarai.
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The sun went down and rose up and yet still found Byakuya diligently looking through the slums of Inuzuri for what might as well have been a ghost chase. Yet for the slimmest chance of it bringing his wife joy he persevered.
He knew that he couldn't just blatantly stroll through the District and demand for them to bring out anyone named Rukia because the reactions could tip over the edge of two extremes, and neither of which were outcomes he wanted.
He had taken his most trusted servants with him and a few of them had blended with the locals and subtly asked for a rascal girl named Rukia. There had been no success so far, not even a look of realization from the locals, but that did not stop them.
Byakuya on the other hand went from house to house and looked over each of the inhabitants before leaving for the next house, all without being seen.
The more time he spent looking for Rukia made him want to return to Hisana's side even more and make sure she was okay with his very own eyes.
He had never been away from her for two whole days ever since she fell sick and his absence made him even more anxious of her health that his mind kept trying to play out worse case scenarios in different fashion. It was only his discipline that made him continue looking for her sister and even with that dark thoughts still circled his head about the uncertain fate of the girl.
He however gave himself the maximum of a week before he would return to his wife and maybe try again another time. It was obvious that her health mattered more to him than finding her sister. In fact he would happily search every nook and cranny of the South Rukongai for the girl after Hisana returns to her health.
Just then he got a report from one of his servants that their search of the settlement was complete and they were moving over to the next one.
He sighed. Another one and still nothing.
Byakuya found a patch clean field at the edge of the settlement that led deep into a mountain range and sat there to gather his thoughts.
His first thoughts were about Kisuke Urahara. He did not in any way trust the man, him being Yoruichi's friend or not, but he was desperate enough for solution for Hisana. And given that it was Captain Retsu that vouched for the man's skill, he swallowed his dislike and asked the man for help.
He trusted his grandfather to keep an eye on Urahara during Hisana's treatment but that alone was not enough to alleviate his worries.
"I'll be back soon, Hisana." He whispered to himself.
"Oh shit!" A startled voice came from behind him and interrupted his thoughts. He turned to look at the disturbance and the red haired young man froze under his eyes.
"I-I didn't mean to disturb you, s-sir." He could feel the spiking fear around the boy, that and the unrefined haze of the boy's Reiatsu.
"It's fine." The boy breathed out in huge relief but kept staring at Byakuya and his coat. He probably recognized him as a Shinigami, hence why he was so nervous a few moments back.
"Um, sir, are you… are you a Shinigami?" The hesitancy still remained but the boy was at least brave enough to move past it and ask.
"I am…."
"Renji, sir. Renji Abarai." Renji introduced himself awkwardly, looking unsure of how to act in front of a Shinigami. Thankfully the man did not appear cross at Renji's unintended interruption.
Seeing that he would no longer be getting his moment of solitude, Byakuya stood up to leave while Renji stood frozen, unsure of how to act or what to say.
This was his chance!
He knew he had that spiritual power thing that other Shinigami had and here was his chance to ask a Shinigami how he could use it to get stronger. If he could get stronger then he and the others wouldn't risk getting caught every time they attempted to steal food.
'Say something damn it!' Renji shouted in his head and his body finally started moving.
"Erm, Mr. Shinigami, sir, wait, please…" He ended up shouting in panic as the man walked past him, but thankfully he stopped and he didn't look like he would smack him across the face yet.
"What is it, Renji?" Byakuya stopped and looked at Renji, causing the boy to shake like a leaf under his stare. From the agitation of the boy's Reiatsu he could guess what the boy wanted to ask. He had seen a lot of kids like him during his time in the District.
"Erm, you see– it's just a little question, I mean it's nothing really–"
"Speak with intent."
"Yessir!" Renji's posture straightened reflexively. "I want to learn how to be a Shinigami."
Renji's breath was clipped as he waited for the man's answer.
"Head towards the first District and continue from there to the Seireitei. If you can pass the exams then you'll be taught how to become Shinigami." Byakuya gave him his awaited reply which slowly bleed the tension out of the boy the more he heard his words.
"You have sufficient enough Reiatsu so you should have no problems becoming Shinigami in less than a decade, as long as you don't fail your exams."
His words caused a full blown smile to spread across Renji's face. He pumped his fist to the sky in jubilation. "Hell yes! Take that, Rukia. I'll be a Shinigami in no time."
With a smile wide on his face and arms outstretched, he wanted to thank the Shinigami only to freeze up as a new horror gripped his heart.
Byakuya was directly in front of him, barely a meter apart, and was staring him down with such focus that any joy in Renji's heart was snuffed out.
"S-Sir?" He stuttered.
"You mentioned a name, Rukia, do you know her?" His whole body shook like a leaf in a storm that it was hard to make out his terrified nod.
"Take me to her." Byakuya's tone brokered no defiance and the horror in Renji's face magnified.
Everything had been too sudden and he had basically admitted to knowing Rukia. Given how many times she's saved him from getting caught when stealing, maybe that decrepit old fool Tanaka had gotten tired of his repeated theft and called in a Shinigami.
Byakuya's eyes narrowed and tears spilled out of Renji's eyes. 'Damn it, Renji. It's all your fault!'
"I said to take me to her. Don't make me repeat myself." The first hint of displeasure mired Byakuya's face and a pit formed in Renji's stomach.
"S-She didn't d-do anything. It's true." He pushed out the words with haste even as the look of displeasure on Byakuya's face increased.
Not taking any chances, Renji pushed himself through the fear and pushed out his next stream of words.
"I was the one who did all the stealing since I'm the best at it, no one else did. Rukia only bailed me out a few times, she didn't steal anything! It's the truth, I swear it!"
Now there was a full blown frown on Byakuya's face and to Renji, it might as well have been the face of the grim reaper.
A brief moment of clarity hit Renji and he spread his arms wide in front of Byakuya. If he has already taken the plunge to his death, he might as well do it while bailing out Rukia for the first time in his life.
For someone who wanted to become a Shinigami to die at the hands of a Shinigami, Renji didn't exactly know how to feel about it.
He might be a thief, a liar and a stupid brat but he would never sell out Rukia or any of the kids. The Rukongai was already a shitty place for kids like them and he would rather die than make it worse for them.
Byakuya watched as the boy went through different stages of terror and seemingly arrived at numb acceptance, something he'd seen on the faces of Shinigami moments before they died, as he resigned himself to die.
Renji's rambling had painted a familiar picture to him that didn't please him all too much.
Before that however he looked at Renji once more, understanding the misunderstanding of what the boy might have thought, and spoke more clearly to him before more misunderstanding came up.
"I am not going to kill you, nor am I going to harm Rukia, you have my word. I just want to see her." He wanted to see if it was the same Rukia as Hisana's. He couldn't bring himself to hope too much so he settled for being as pragmatic as possible and lowered his expectations.
"Really? We are not in any trouble for stealing?" Even with Byakuya's assurance, a permanent suspicion settled in Renji's eyes. "Then why are you looking specifically for Rukia?"
"Take me to her and you'll find out." Saying so, Byakuya gestured for Renji to lead the way and despite the boy's suspicion and clear reluctance, he started leading Byakuya back to the settlement he had passed but with an obvious slow pace.
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