"Damn it." Ichigo murmured, disappointed in today's weather. "It's raining again." For some reason, it had been raining quite a bit lately. Not helping anything, there had been an equally gloomy reiatsu hovering in the air for the last week or so. Finally indulging his curiosity, Ichigo followed it like a bloodhound. It led him to the Captain's Quarters, where music, something played on strings, could be heard. Right outside the door, Ichigo pressed his ear just inside the entrance, trying not to be seen but having optimal hearing, simultaneously. He concealed his reiatsu, not like this sadistic fuck, and listened close to what he now recognised as some suite for violin.

Something about the sadness on those strings and the outright despair in the air was so disturbingly moving. Ichigo near tripped over his own feet, trying to keep his balanced stance of perfect hearing and going unseen. Every note he heard sounded like a pleading, broken voice, someone who could barely stand but was offering up his soul for the last chance he had, the last chance he could take. The way the song finished, how the violinist held the last chord in a gradual fade was like the rest only brought about by death. Eternal rest. Ichigo finally made his presence known, hoping to applaud, the dismal reiatsu from the violinist now melting away, but it was a surprise he couldn't fathom.

"B-Byakuya?!" Rukia's brother... a violinist?! He couldn't believe the reiatsu of such raw emotion had come from this man.

"Kurosaki?" the dark eyes were at first shocked, even speckled with embarrassment, but they hardened as quickly as they had revealed some of the 6th Captain's emotions. He drew his Zanpakutou, a cool fury replacing the confusion and surprise in his eyes. "Chire, Senbonzakura."

"What the Hell?!" Ichigo drew Zengetsu from his back, battling away the thousands of tiny blades as he'd done when they first fought. "Be ashamed then!" Ichigo called as he retreated, the rain from before much lighter than it had been previously. Walking about the grounds of Soul Society with drops on everything was breathtaking. He didn't appreciate the wet, gloomy mood the rain brought him, but the after effects on his surroundings were beyond worth a walk in this weather. Did Byakuya somehow cause the rain? Ichigo wondered imaginatively, letting his fingers catch the droplets falling from the sakura trees as their petals sparkled like tanzanite. He could sense a very calmly lidded reiatsu coming up the hill, turning his head and finding his friend, Rukia, smile on her face as she waved to him. Ichigo ran to her excitedly, raindroplets caught in his eyelashes and gathered in the depths of his fluffy, orange hair. He looked childishly cute like this.

"Rukia!" He greeted her eagerly with a hug, making his friend blush. It was semi-comfortable, semi-awkward for Rukia, mostly because she'd grown up in a rather proper, affection lacking environment. Ichigo, on the other hand, had grown up comforting and relaxing anyone who entered his presence. Well, except for maybe Kenpachi. He grew rather excited around Ichigo, but it was a positive emotion nonetheless. Parting from the embrace, Ichigo patted the water out of Rukia's hair, her shortness always being his excuse to give her an affectionate rub.

"How have you been?" The representative asked, taking her hand so they closed the distance between them and the sakura tree she'd seen him under previously. He leaned against it, a laid back smile on his face and his attention on her.

"Good, I've been training a bit, also." Rukia replied, demonstrating some elemental manipulation. She drew the drops from the grass, uniting them in a sphere on her palm and slowly freezing it over.

"Ah, that's really cool. Like Renji, I'm not all that good at delicate things like kidou or any sort of magic." He ran a hand through his orange hair with some embarrassment.

"Yeah... you're more of a hands on guy, aren't you, Ichigo?" she teased, leaning in close to his face and watching him blush.

"A-Ah... more of a close range fighter." He agreed, biting his lip nervously at Rukia's minute distance from him as she touched his jaw.

"Baka yaro!" she giggled, pushing him away and running off playfully.

"Urusei!" Ichigo called, blushing with even more embarrassment now. "I already admitted I'm not that good at it!" He chased after her, enjoying the way this had his blood flowing and his heart pumping. His friend was light on her feet, but his stamina was better than hers. "I'm catching up!" He yelled, smirking. Rukia's face was much the same, but she suddenly had her joyful smile replaced with a look of temporary alarm. She yelped and tripped over a stone, tumbling over and causing Ichigo to brake abruptly, toppling her as well. He pushed himself up with his arms after a moment, looking down at her, and giving a small laugh.

"Gomen." he said, the same husky tone he used for every other apology present in his voice. Rukia rather liked it.

"Don't be. I'm just a klutz. " she flicked his forehead with a smile and he blushed, shaking his hair out.

"Oi, Rukia..." he started, but was interrupted.

"I came to apologise to you and this is what I find?" The voice was familiarly cold.

"Byaku..." Ichigo began, face reddening even more.

"...ya." Rukia's cheeks flushed the same complexion, two cherry spots on her cheeks.

"Kurosaki Ichigo, you are a truly detestable being."

"Nii-sama! Be realistic, I provoked him into chasing me and when I tripped he fell on me!"

"Right. Anyway, I have more important matters to attend to. Don't waste too much time with him."

"Oi, oi! I still at least have to apologise!" Ichigo called, annoyed, but not wanting to be on bad terms with his friend's brother. "G-Gomen..." he murmured, a bit begrudgingly. "I shouldn't have spied on you earlier." a small curl played at Byakuya's lips.

"Very well, I accept your apology. Goodbye, Kurosaki Ichigo." Using shunpo, his presence disappeared from their's. Rukia put a hand on her friend's shoulder.

"I'm proud of you. You're not as defiant as you used to be." she nudged, remembering her friend's history of a lack of formality.

"Urusei. I did it cause it'd be annoying to watch you cry if he killed me." Ichigo jabbed back, continuing their walk through the rainy day.

"I don't think he could do that at this point." Rukia said worriedly. "He's been in a bad way lately..."

"No kidding." Ichigo agreed, more seriously. "His reiatsu, earlier, when I was spying on him... he was playing the violin, and the air felt really thick with this raw emotion."

"That's Nii-sama for you. He can't talk about anything so he expresses it some other way, but it's still eating away at him. I caught him and Renji talking, on the bridge a couple nights ago. I've never heard Renji so concerned before." her face looked defeated, anxious.

"This is a big deal, huh?" the carrot top said, sympathetically, looking at the sakura trees still bejeweled in raindrops. Rukia nodded. "Knowing him, it probably has a lot to do with having to keep up his image so much, and the fact that his wife has been dead for some time. I want to say he's lonely, but that's silly, considering how much he enjoys time to himself." she continued, knowing how attentively Ichigo was listening. "You can't really tell lonely from loving to be alone with him. His eyes... it's really scary, Ichigo. They start off looking pretty calm, content. But throughout the day they just look more and more anxious, like something terrible is going to happen that we can't see."

"That's... really scary." Ichigo managed, feeling more and more like a dick for what he'd said to Byakuya before he'd run off after that attack from Senbonzakura. "I don't know what to say to that." He gripped the stone beneath him, sitting on the edifice that circled the lake, where he and Rukia had landed after their chase from the bridge, tripping in front of Byakuya. (He'd used shunpo at the wrong moment, Ichigo had guessed.) She looked so tortured, trying to figure out why her brother was in such a state, and how to help him. He reached over, touching her hand lightly, and she gripped it on her own, to his surprise. She looked over to him with a rueful smile, lacing their fingers together. Her aura was heartbreakingly similar to Byakuya's, earlier.

"Stop worrying about me for once..." Rukia's voice was almost a whisper. "We're talking about my brother here, you idiot." Oh, Rukia... Ichigo thought, impulsively pulling her small body into his arms, holding her close as her body was wracked with sobs. He stroked her hair, waiting for her to recover from this bout of disappointment in the perceived helplessness she was feeling. "I feel so weak. I noticed it when it started happening, I knew. But I couldn't ask him about it, because I was afraid he'd be angry with me. He's my brother... I need to be there for him more." Ichigo hated it. He hated Byakuya's stuck up, self righteous, sacrificial, altruistic, selfless way of acting. He hated that it was making his best friend, one of the strongest people he knew, cry.

"He's a guy... guys have this thing called pride. We don't ever let ourselves look weak because we're supposed to always carrying on. We're not supposed to be emotional." He explained, relieved most of her trembling had calmed down. "He didn't want to show that to anyone because a Captain has to look strong. Nobility has to make an image for the public... he can't afford to make mistakes or show any feelings, as a man, as a Captain, or as head of your family. We'll help him though, Rukia. I promise. I can't stand it... I can't stand what this is doing to you. I know I said it's annoying to watch you cry... but it's not. It's annoying that you're crying because of him. Because he just won't open up to even you. But we'll help him. I promise." He gathered all the courage he had, kissing her softly on the lips.