Holiday Plans
Dedicated to rii_no_ame for all her wonderful fics, especially her ByaRen(s) and KaienShuu, and for being around. ♥ Somehow I think Byakuya ended up a tad OOC here. :/ I blame the muse.
“Taicho, I’ve arranged for our leave and your replacement.”
Raising one black eyebrow at the sudden announcement from his Lieutenant in their office, Byakuya asked coolly, “And when did I give you permission to do so, Abarai?”
“You said I could plan for a short trip and I decided that Christmas would be a good time, since it is Christmas after all. We’ll only be away for two days and Hitsugaya-taicho has already agreed to stand in for you in your absence.”
‘Christmas?’ Even as he wondered what his Lieutenant had planned, Byakuya continued, “I would appreciate if you could give me more notice if there is another time you will do this. You are lucky that there is nothing urgent at the moment. When are we leaving?”
“In two days, Taicho.”
“Hn. Is there anything I need to prepare?”
“No. Everything has been taken care of.”
~~~
Early in the morning two days later, they found themselves waiting at the Senkaimon with the white haired Captain.
“Thank you for agreeing to supervise the Sixth in my absence, Hitsugaya-taicho.”
“That is not a problem, Kuchiki-taicho. Kurosaki will be joining me and the two of us should be enough to deal with any problems, even with Matsumoto remaining at the Tenth.”
The black haired noble inclined his head slightly in a gesture of gratitude and watched as the gate opened to reveal the orange haired substitute. “Hey, Renji, Byakuya, Tosh’,” came the greeting which the noble pointedly ignored.
Instead, he watched as the substitute gave a ‘thumbs-up’ sign to his Lieutenant before leaving with the white haired Captain.
“Kuchiki-taicho, Abarai-fukutaicho, the gate has been prepared for your departure.”
Nodding absently to the masked guard in charge, the noble stepped through, his Lieutenant following behind. Not surprisingly, the gate opened into Urahara’s shop, with the former Captain there himself to greet them.
“Abarai, here are your gigai. Ichigo asked me to pass these to you as well.” Byakuya noted the sheaf of papers that the redhead took after he entered his gigai and slipped into his gigai as well. He had done some brief reading about Christmas and had asked Rukia as well; it however had not been adequate preparation for the chaos that he was to be put through.
“Tell me again, Abarai, why are we in this crowd?” Dressed in a white sweater and scarf over a black top, fitting black jeans and sneakers of both colours, he was a monochromatic contrast to the colourful outfit of his Lieutenant.
“I apologise, Taicho, but this happens to be the best way to the concert hall. I got us tickets to a matinee of Christmas classics. I was thinking that you’d enjoy it.” The redhead, purple down jacket over a blue chequered shirt, black jeans and yellow sneakers, winced slightly at the look of disapproval. “It’s just down the corner.”
Soon enough, they had entered the concert hall and the noble found himself enjoying the sounds of the orchestra, the concert passing in no time at all. He did note that his Lieutenant seemed slightly bored at times and wondered if the concert had been planned just for him.
After the concert, Renji had brought him to yet another place. Despite having to tread through the bustling crowds, the redhead’s enthusiasm had been contagious and the noble found himself enjoying his lover’s incessant chatter and random observations as they took the subway then walked.
A faint smile crossed his lips when he spotted Renji’s surprised reaction as the lift sped upwards quickly in what he called the Tokyo Tower. After they had reached the first observatory deck, his Lieutenant confronted him. “Taicho, you were surprised. Don’t deny it.”
“…maybe.” Replying in his usual cool, non-committal manner, he then turned and headed to the windows, wanting to see what was so interesting about the view.
“Well, I specially got tickets during this period, so we could see both the day view and the night view. Look, the sun’s setting.” After finding a spot with a good view, they had stopped and gazed down at the numerous buildings beneath them, watching and waiting as the orange orb in the horizon slowly descended.
It was a gradual change, but when the sky was fully dark, the sight that greeted them was a multitude of bright lights, scattered all over the ground as far as they could see. “That’s so cool.”
“…Hn.” In fact, he was amazed, astounded that the humans had achieved so much. That his Lieutenant’s plan seemed to be perfect also surprised him.
“Well, it’s dinner first, then the Christmas light up before we head to the hotel.” Renji informed him as they took the lift down, the both of them enjoying the speed of the rapid descent.
He had been impressed by the dinner - it was French, Renji had said. Even though the subsequent throngs of crowds had bothered him, he had taken delight in the redhead’s amazement at the bright and colourful lighting. In particular, he had noticed the sparkle in his Lieutenant’s brown eyes every time he caught sight of a man in a red hat and suit entertaining children.
‘Santa Claus,’ his memory had supplied. ‘A myth or folktale, he is supposed to give presents and grant children’s wishes during Christmas.’ It had not taken the Captain long to work out why his Lieutenant was delighted by the sight - it had to do with his childhood.
Later that night, they exchanged a passionate kiss in the hotel lobby beneath the mistletoe before checking in. Apparently, it was customary to do so, even though they had garnered quite a few glances from the crowd.
Tired after the travelling and walking they had done, they retired early for the night. He slept soundly, wrapped in Renji’s warm embrace.
The next morning, he was awakened by his Lieutenant running his long fingers through his black hair. “Morning, Byakuya. I’ve ordered breakfast for both of us. Merry Christmas!”
After his morning routine and their breakfast, Renji surprised him again with a gift. “Erm… Byakuya, I got this for you,” the redhead handed over a small rectangular present, neatly wrapped. “I hope you like it.”
“Should I open it now?”
“Go ahead,” he smiled.
Given permission to go ahead, he found himself cautious at not knowing the rules, Byakuya unwrapped the package slowly, not used to the transparent sticky tape that held the paper together.
It was a book of poetry. Opening it to the first page, he read the first poem and nodded his head, appreciating the rhyme and imagery. “Thank you, Renji.” ‘It is expected for family and friends to exchange gifts on Christmas Day.’ At the prompt from his mind, the noble suddenly felt inadequate. ‘A gift? What would be suitable for Renji?’
Leaving the hotel, they braved the crowds again, headed for a temple this time. ‘A temple, a place of worship of the gods the humans believe in.’ His memory prompted helpfully as they wandered around the ancient temple. They were both fascinated by the architecture, though Renji had been drawn to other things on the temple grounds.
They made a brief stop at the shop selling charms, where he had caught the redhead gazing at a particular group of charms, before Renji had dragged him off, smelling food. “Taicho, look, there’s taiyaki!”
Byakuya nodded, a faint smile breaking out at his Lieutenant’s eagerness to queue for his favourite food, before deciding to return to the shop with charms, getting a gift to Renji still on his mind. “I’ll look around and meet you back here in ten minutes.”
Leaving the redhead to the queue, the noble walked quickly to the shop and stared at the charms, wondering what exactly the group of charms his Lieutenant had been looking at were for.
“Excuse me, can I help?” An elderly lady asked, catching his eye.
“This. What are these for?”
“These are en-musubi omamori. They are for an everlasting relationship, one for each of the couple, sir.”
Picking out a white one for himself and a red one for his partner, Byakuya paid the lady and smiled faintly as he tucked them into his pocket. Somehow, he felt more at ease, despite how small the gift was.
Returning back to the area with the food stalls, he ventured down the row of stalls before spotting his Lieutenant, munching on a piece of taiyaki, and holding another in his hand.
“Taicho, would you like some?” Renji asked.
“It’s fine. I’m still full from breakfast. You can have it.”
“Oh okay. This is really nice.” The Lieutenant continued munching, starting on his second with a grin plastered on his face.
They stopped by a museum and had lunch, Japanese this time, on the way back to the subway before changing and taking a train back to Karakura. By the time they returned to Soul Society, it was late afternoon.
Making their way back to the Kuchiki residence - Renji had moved in with him after they had gotten together some time after the Winter War, the noble clutched the omamori in one hand and the book of poetry in the other, deciding to look for a suitable opportunity to give his gift before they slept.
After an early dinner and baths, they had retired to their room. “Renji, I’m… sorry for not having a gift for you earlier. Merry Christmas!” Taking out the omamori he had bought earlier, he held it out to the redhead and to his surprise, felt his cheeks turn slightly hot.
“The white one’s mine and the red one is for you. Thank you for the trip.” ‘I’m Kuchiki Byakuya; I shouldn’t be blushing.’ Despite concentrating on that thought however, he could not stop himself as the redhead took the red one from his hand, before pulling him into an embrace.
‘It really is as red as your hair… White and red - everlasting.’ He leaned into the hungry kiss as soft lips met his; the rest of the night was all pleasure and sweetness.
“Taicho, I’ve arranged for our leave and your replacement.”
Raising one black eyebrow at the sudden announcement from his Lieutenant in their office, Byakuya asked coolly, “And when did I give you permission to do so, Abarai?”
“You said I could plan for a short trip and I decided that Christmas would be a good time, since it is Christmas after all. We’ll only be away for two days and Hitsugaya-taicho has already agreed to stand in for you in your absence.”
‘Christmas?’ Even as he wondered what his Lieutenant had planned, Byakuya continued, “I would appreciate if you could give me more notice if there is another time you will do this. You are lucky that there is nothing urgent at the moment. When are we leaving?”
“In two days, Taicho.”
“Hn. Is there anything I need to prepare?”
“No. Everything has been taken care of.”
~~~
Early in the morning two days later, they found themselves waiting at the Senkaimon with the white haired Captain.
“Thank you for agreeing to supervise the Sixth in my absence, Hitsugaya-taicho.”
“That is not a problem, Kuchiki-taicho. Kurosaki will be joining me and the two of us should be enough to deal with any problems, even with Matsumoto remaining at the Tenth.”
The black haired noble inclined his head slightly in a gesture of gratitude and watched as the gate opened to reveal the orange haired substitute. “Hey, Renji, Byakuya, Tosh’,” came the greeting which the noble pointedly ignored.
Instead, he watched as the substitute gave a ‘thumbs-up’ sign to his Lieutenant before leaving with the white haired Captain.
“Kuchiki-taicho, Abarai-fukutaicho, the gate has been prepared for your departure.”
Nodding absently to the masked guard in charge, the noble stepped through, his Lieutenant following behind. Not surprisingly, the gate opened into Urahara’s shop, with the former Captain there himself to greet them.
“Abarai, here are your gigai. Ichigo asked me to pass these to you as well.” Byakuya noted the sheaf of papers that the redhead took after he entered his gigai and slipped into his gigai as well. He had done some brief reading about Christmas and had asked Rukia as well; it however had not been adequate preparation for the chaos that he was to be put through.
“Tell me again, Abarai, why are we in this crowd?” Dressed in a white sweater and scarf over a black top, fitting black jeans and sneakers of both colours, he was a monochromatic contrast to the colourful outfit of his Lieutenant.
“I apologise, Taicho, but this happens to be the best way to the concert hall. I got us tickets to a matinee of Christmas classics. I was thinking that you’d enjoy it.” The redhead, purple down jacket over a blue chequered shirt, black jeans and yellow sneakers, winced slightly at the look of disapproval. “It’s just down the corner.”
Soon enough, they had entered the concert hall and the noble found himself enjoying the sounds of the orchestra, the concert passing in no time at all. He did note that his Lieutenant seemed slightly bored at times and wondered if the concert had been planned just for him.
After the concert, Renji had brought him to yet another place. Despite having to tread through the bustling crowds, the redhead’s enthusiasm had been contagious and the noble found himself enjoying his lover’s incessant chatter and random observations as they took the subway then walked.
A faint smile crossed his lips when he spotted Renji’s surprised reaction as the lift sped upwards quickly in what he called the Tokyo Tower. After they had reached the first observatory deck, his Lieutenant confronted him. “Taicho, you were surprised. Don’t deny it.”
“…maybe.” Replying in his usual cool, non-committal manner, he then turned and headed to the windows, wanting to see what was so interesting about the view.
“Well, I specially got tickets during this period, so we could see both the day view and the night view. Look, the sun’s setting.” After finding a spot with a good view, they had stopped and gazed down at the numerous buildings beneath them, watching and waiting as the orange orb in the horizon slowly descended.
It was a gradual change, but when the sky was fully dark, the sight that greeted them was a multitude of bright lights, scattered all over the ground as far as they could see. “That’s so cool.”
“…Hn.” In fact, he was amazed, astounded that the humans had achieved so much. That his Lieutenant’s plan seemed to be perfect also surprised him.
“Well, it’s dinner first, then the Christmas light up before we head to the hotel.” Renji informed him as they took the lift down, the both of them enjoying the speed of the rapid descent.
He had been impressed by the dinner - it was French, Renji had said. Even though the subsequent throngs of crowds had bothered him, he had taken delight in the redhead’s amazement at the bright and colourful lighting. In particular, he had noticed the sparkle in his Lieutenant’s brown eyes every time he caught sight of a man in a red hat and suit entertaining children.
‘Santa Claus,’ his memory had supplied. ‘A myth or folktale, he is supposed to give presents and grant children’s wishes during Christmas.’ It had not taken the Captain long to work out why his Lieutenant was delighted by the sight - it had to do with his childhood.
Later that night, they exchanged a passionate kiss in the hotel lobby beneath the mistletoe before checking in. Apparently, it was customary to do so, even though they had garnered quite a few glances from the crowd.
Tired after the travelling and walking they had done, they retired early for the night. He slept soundly, wrapped in Renji’s warm embrace.
The next morning, he was awakened by his Lieutenant running his long fingers through his black hair. “Morning, Byakuya. I’ve ordered breakfast for both of us. Merry Christmas!”
After his morning routine and their breakfast, Renji surprised him again with a gift. “Erm… Byakuya, I got this for you,” the redhead handed over a small rectangular present, neatly wrapped. “I hope you like it.”
“Should I open it now?”
“Go ahead,” he smiled.
Given permission to go ahead, he found himself cautious at not knowing the rules, Byakuya unwrapped the package slowly, not used to the transparent sticky tape that held the paper together.
It was a book of poetry. Opening it to the first page, he read the first poem and nodded his head, appreciating the rhyme and imagery. “Thank you, Renji.” ‘It is expected for family and friends to exchange gifts on Christmas Day.’ At the prompt from his mind, the noble suddenly felt inadequate. ‘A gift? What would be suitable for Renji?’
Leaving the hotel, they braved the crowds again, headed for a temple this time. ‘A temple, a place of worship of the gods the humans believe in.’ His memory prompted helpfully as they wandered around the ancient temple. They were both fascinated by the architecture, though Renji had been drawn to other things on the temple grounds.
They made a brief stop at the shop selling charms, where he had caught the redhead gazing at a particular group of charms, before Renji had dragged him off, smelling food. “Taicho, look, there’s taiyaki!”
Byakuya nodded, a faint smile breaking out at his Lieutenant’s eagerness to queue for his favourite food, before deciding to return to the shop with charms, getting a gift to Renji still on his mind. “I’ll look around and meet you back here in ten minutes.”
Leaving the redhead to the queue, the noble walked quickly to the shop and stared at the charms, wondering what exactly the group of charms his Lieutenant had been looking at were for.
“Excuse me, can I help?” An elderly lady asked, catching his eye.
“This. What are these for?”
“These are en-musubi omamori. They are for an everlasting relationship, one for each of the couple, sir.”
Picking out a white one for himself and a red one for his partner, Byakuya paid the lady and smiled faintly as he tucked them into his pocket. Somehow, he felt more at ease, despite how small the gift was.
Returning back to the area with the food stalls, he ventured down the row of stalls before spotting his Lieutenant, munching on a piece of taiyaki, and holding another in his hand.
“Taicho, would you like some?” Renji asked.
“It’s fine. I’m still full from breakfast. You can have it.”
“Oh okay. This is really nice.” The Lieutenant continued munching, starting on his second with a grin plastered on his face.
They stopped by a museum and had lunch, Japanese this time, on the way back to the subway before changing and taking a train back to Karakura. By the time they returned to Soul Society, it was late afternoon.
Making their way back to the Kuchiki residence - Renji had moved in with him after they had gotten together some time after the Winter War, the noble clutched the omamori in one hand and the book of poetry in the other, deciding to look for a suitable opportunity to give his gift before they slept.
After an early dinner and baths, they had retired to their room. “Renji, I’m… sorry for not having a gift for you earlier. Merry Christmas!” Taking out the omamori he had bought earlier, he held it out to the redhead and to his surprise, felt his cheeks turn slightly hot.
“The white one’s mine and the red one is for you. Thank you for the trip.” ‘I’m Kuchiki Byakuya; I shouldn’t be blushing.’ Despite concentrating on that thought however, he could not stop himself as the redhead took the red one from his hand, before pulling him into an embrace.
‘It really is as red as your hair… White and red - everlasting.’ He leaned into the hungry kiss as soft lips met his; the rest of the night was all pleasure and sweetness.