Abarai Renji had never believed in taicho-fukutaicho bonding. Well, excuse me, if your taicho happened to be the same taicho which he had, then yes, bonding was completely out of the question. Gee. How were you supposed to bond with an ice-block? It was not possible, completely unattainable, and oh Kami, why him? (Of course, Renji happily ignored the fact that he had jumped at the chance to be the Great and Honorable Kuchiki taicho's fukutaicho.)

Which was why, when the order (Well, not really an order, more like a suggested idea which was whispered from fukutaicho to fukutaicho, and having a sinister underlying threat if it was not carried out) came around, he found himself completely stumped. What the heck was he supposed to get for a guy who honestly, had everything he needed, and had the money to buy whatever he wanted whenever. (Yes, he suspected that the taicho was indeed rich enough to purchase Seireitei. I mean, dude, his scarf was how expensive again?)

And as such, he just could not picture Kuchiki-taicho being pleased with anything that anyone got for him. Hell, even Rukia had a hard time buying the guy birthday gifts, and she had been his sister for how many years already? (And if anyone wanted to know, Kuchiki Byakuya had a rack down in the wine cellar, on which was placed forty-nine bottles of wine. Forty-nine bottles of wine which had been the most recommended ones in the year that they had been purchased.) Now, he, Abarai Renji, stray dog extraordinaire, had to get something for the guy, and he was absolutely clueless. Abso-fucking-lutely clueless.

There was no one he could ask, because all the fukutaichos had been sworn to secrecy, and since the gift-giving to the taichos was supposed to be a cooperative exercise carried out in the utmost blah blah blah, which meant that it was supposed to be secret, and as such, he could not ask any of the people who would have known what Kuchiki-taicho would have liked. (Like Ukitake-taicho, or Yoruichi-san, or Urahara that bastard.)

Ah well. He was just going to have to settle with getting him... a sword or something. The office could do with some decoration. In the case that he didn't like the sword, well, at least it was just a sword. Maybe he'd see some Sixth Division shinigami with it a year or two later. But hopefully taicho would not be too uptight. It was a sword, and well, swords were supposed to be used, no? And besides, this sword would be easy to obtain. He did know this place in Rukongai where he had helped out when he had been younger…

A smirk as he tied up his hair with a strip of cloth, changing into a set of clothes he borrowed off someone else sometime in the past decade or so. There were little tears here and there in the sleeves, but the yukata was still wearable, and he liked it, anyway. Popping a straw hat onto his head, just to add to the illusion. he checked that what he needed was in the basket, making sure the food, the toys, the sweets were all there, the smirk morphed into an all out grin. Sneaking out of the house was easy. Too easy. After all, he'd done this many times before. He was the one who assigned the guard duty; of course he would know how to get past it.

It was a very simple task to slip out of Seireitei, to slip into Rukongai. The Sixth district, the same place he had been visiting for the past few weeks. Not too violent, not too barbaric such that he would be forced to reveal himself, but yet not well off enough for him to travel completely unarmed. A hidden tanto up his sleeve, the left sleeve, for easier access provided a semblance of safety. And it is good training, really. It is, after all, easy to over-rely on one's zanpakuto, and when one's zanpakuto is not there anymore, then one has no choice but to go back to the basics. It is good training.

He inclined his head politely to the shopkeepers he passed by on the way to the same gathering spot. They grinned and waved back at him. Such a polite young man, always stopping to chat with them on the way home. They all know why he's here, and they know that to delay him would be to delay the children's time, because everyone knows that children should not be out after dark.

So they just waved, and he waved back, smiling as he continued on his way down the dusty streets. Not wearing the normal tabi, a pair of geta clicked loudly as he walked down the street, basket carried like a tea farmer would carry his precious tea leaves. He had gotten a nice new tin whistle for little Scamp who had broken his previous one while falling out of a tree, as well as a paper ball for Fish to share amongst the boys.

A set of small, identical wooden dolls, for Suko as well. And not to mention snacks, sweets, and some food. He tried not to eat in front of them, for fear of showing that he was a shinigami, but he knew they were not stupid, and had probably already guessed anyway. He turned a corner, waiting near the brick wall as he watched them laugh and play in the afternoon sun.

"Back again, Chojiro?" Yes, yes, it was not the most innovative of names, but it was true. He was the first son after all, and never mind the fact that the Lieutenant of the First Division was called Chojiro as well. (Then again, everyone called him Sasakibe, so it really wasn't too bad) It was a common enough name, anyway. He had been leaning towards calling himself Ichiro, but then that sounded a little too close to someone else, didn't it?

"Good day to you too, Heiji." A chuckle as the big man came over, patting him on the back. "It's nice to see you here, Jiro. Sometimes, with all the kids, we don't really know what to do. We can never thank you enough for coming down from the Fifth district to come see us."

"Mm." He never acknowledged it, the Fifth district thing, instead just smiling. He supposed that they had gone around asking, and since he always came through the Fifth district, they had probably assumed him to be from there. No matter. If they wanted to assume that of him, then it really did save him the trouble of having to make up a story and a fake history to go with that. He did suspect that they suspected that he was not who he seemed. But it did not matter. It was not really important anyway.

"Eeee! Jiro-san!" So they had noticed him. Funny thing, that Chojiro meant first son, and yet when shortened, it meant second. He never bothered to point out the difference to them, because really, why should it matter? Waving at the departing Heiji, he sat down on the same rock he had sat on the previous week, tugging the hat off to reveal smiling grey eyes.

He surveyed the small group of children, about eight of them, really. He frowned slightly. "Hm… Where's Fishy-kun?" He did not see the taller boy who normally hung around them, staying a little back, claiming that he was too old for all this, yet still joined in with a big smile every time they needed the correct number of people to play.

Little Yuji spoke up. "Aniki's working with Izumo-san up on the hill." Ah, the blacksmith's. A worthy profession for the child who had been intrigued by metal-crafting ever since he had bought the little one a small metal monkey. "He comes down at about six though, Jiro-san. We'll be able to play ball when he comes back. Aniki's the best goalkeeper we've ever had. But then, he'd have eaten already, so it wouldn't be fair to play against him because he'll be so full he can't play, right?" He chuckled.

"Then, to even the odds out, we can eat first then play later, hm? We can eat now, then by the time Fishy-kun come's back, we'll be just nice, just in time to play with him. Or we could just send somebody up to go tell him that Jiro-san brought dinner again, no?" With a dramatic flourish which he had seen, observed and learnt from a pink haori clad captain, he whisked out the basket. "But first things first."

He slowly opened the top, making sure to be extra-faux-secretive so that they could not see what was inside. "I got you all some things!" The happy smiles, the giggles and the tugging of his sleeve were all a great reward for such small things, as he handed out the whistle to Scamp, as well as marbles to the other boys. The boys were engrossed in the new clear marbles, as he motioned for the only girl, Suko, to come over.

Pressing the small set of dolls into her hand, he smiled at the huge grin on her face as she hugged him, grinning from ear to ear before she rushed off back into the little house to keep her things. The poor thing was growing up in an environment, that excluding the Obaa-san that took care of them all, was entirely male. Sure, he was male as well, but dolls were really a no-brainer. Most girls liked the stuff, so it was rather easy to obtain it.

He sat there patiently as he waited for them to go keep their newfound goodies. He did not bring them new toys often, this was the second time he had done so after nine weeks, so it was not really spoiling them. They were simple things, whistles, tops and marbles for the guys, and dolls and small wooden teacups for Suko. When the last one, little Scamp, had put his shiny new whistle back with his other things, and had come back, he stood up with yet another newly-acquired flourish. They giggled, but he merely grinned back at them, sticking out a tongue.

"Wanna play Ice and Water!" A voice proclaimed happily, and the other children nodded, eager faces turned towards him. Kozei grinned, arms akimbo as he pointed a finger at the adult. "Ice and Water in slo-mo, 'cos or else you'd win, Jiro-san."

He raised an eyebrow, before pouting. "But what if it's only me against all of you?" Their faces lit up, grinning gleefully as they shot up from their seats, interpreting the lack of any objections, any obvious objections, as consent.

"Okay! Then no slo-mo!" And the game began. Reaching out, he purposely missed little Scamp, diving to the ground in an undignified heap which had all the children giggling happily. Standing up, he brushed at the now soil-stained yukata in an extremely exaggerated dignified manner, which had them all howling with laughter. He then reached out and tagged Kozei, the little one having been standing too near to him.

A triumphant grin on his face as they scowled at him, indignant at the fact that he had used such a trick to snag one of their teammates. They were now down to only six people, and they circled him, trying to find a way to unfreeze their teammate, now immobilized by the rules of the game. Scamp lunged wildly in, nearly tripping on a stone, had he not been caught, tagged, and placed on his feet again.

However, in that time, Suko had dodged in and Kozei was now running around, a wide grin on his face. It was time to up the stakes then. Reaching out, he tagged Ota, who had yet again, strayed too close. The children sighed in frustration, now that their team was only five strong. The game continued, him always having tagged at least one child at the time. There was the time when he had gotten five of them, but once he had reached out for the sixth, wily little Scamp had ducked in and unfrozen Tetsuo, Hizu and Yuji.

They had played, until they were all tired, and he was tired from having had to dodge the children so that the game would be fun for them. On a normal day, he was playing seriously, it would have been ridiculously easy to tag all of them. But that was not the point, was it? He reached a hand out for the straw hat, placing it back on his head. No chances, he was taking no chances. (Yes, he was paranoid. So there.)

Collapsing in a sweaty heap in the center of the grass patch, he chuckled as one by one they fought to try and find the best place on his stomach. Really now, he had not realized that he was such a comfortable pillow. Giggling as his stomach rumbled, the children squirmed around as he chuckled from the tickles of their hair on his stomach. They only sat up when Hizu called out to Sakana-kun, whom everyone just called Fish. (Or Fishy. Or Koi.(Like Koi Pond, Koi?))

"Ah, Fishy-kun! Just in time for dinner!" He called out happily, before blinking at the person standing slightly behind Fish, grinning and waving at the bunch of children. "Jiro-san? I brought a friend with me! Hope there's dinner enough to go around! He seems like he's quite a big eater, eh, Abarai-san?" Fish beamed, obviously pleased that he had made an adult friend.

Damnit. He knew he should have picked Seventh district instead of Sixth. Urgh. What were the chances? Damn Fish. Stupid kid. Of all the ways he could possibly repay the kindness of the metal monkey (as such, crafting a bright and glorious future for the kid), he picked this way, that of blowing his benefactor's cover. Thank god he knew how to suppress reiatsu so well that there was naught a trace about him, and thank god his disguise was so out of character that it was not likely that he would be guessed.

Please, Kami-sama, let Renji be stupid.

Kuchiki Byakuya tugged the hat further down, half covering his eyes, and prayed.

Sorry! I know I shouldn't be starting so many fics at once, but the ideas just keep coming! The other stories will be finished; they are not being abandoned. Do bear with me. :)