Green Tea with Jasmine

By: Julian Amici

Kuchiki Byakuya walked slowly, but purposefully, toward the 5th division's main office. The newest report that came out of the hands of the new 5th squad captain was totally unacceptable, and it needed to be redone. "Sasoriba Kouji." Byakuya still couldn't believe such a man, one he had never even heard of before prior to the tournament for the vacant captain's seats, would be able to win himself a seat. "17th seat of 4th squad makes captain in one evening…" he muttered to himself. He reached the doors leading into the 5th squad main office, report in hand, opened them, and without looking, walked right into the office. "Sasoriba-san, this report you filed was totally…" He stopped dead in his tracks. The new 5th squad captain was sitting in his chair, his haori half off, black hair disheveled, and embarrassed, with a very embarrassed looking Hinamori Momo sitting on top of him. He simply sighed and let his shoulders droop. Without another word, he simply placed the report back on Sasoriba's desk, turned around, walked out, and closed the door to the office. He shook his head in disappointment. Turning to the left, he came face to face with Unohana Retsu. "Oh, Unohana-san."

"Good afternoon, Kuchiki-san. I wonder, is Sasoriba-kun too busy at the moment?" Unohana asked, a small smile playing on her lips.

Byakuya looked back to the 5th squad office door for only a moment. "Yes, Sasoriba-taicho seems to be very busy at the moment. You may wish to try back in an hour or two."

Without loosing her smile, Unohana gave a small nod. "I see. Thank you then." With that, she continued to walk, gliding gracefully past Byakuya.

Byakuya stood still for a moment, and then turned to face Unohana's back. "Unohana-san…" he called out.

She turned around. "Yes, Kuchiki-san?"

"Are you busy at the moment?"

Unohana lightly shook her head. "No, I just came by to see how Sasoriba-kun was adjusting to his role as captain. He used to be one of my officers after all."

"I see. From what I've seen, he seems to be getting very comfortable in his new position." Sasoriba and Hinamori blushed from behind the door.

"Ah, good. But no, I didn't have anything else planned for the next few hours. Why?" Her head tilted slightly to the side, giving her a much younger and cuter appearance than she normally had.

"I was wondering if you would like to have some tea with me." He stated plainly.

Unohana's smile grew into a sweet, appreciative smile which forced her eyes shut. "I'd love to." With that, she began to walk toward Byakuya. Right before she reached him, he also turned and began to lead her away from the office. "There is a small, secluded café near the training grounds for 3rd squad. Their food is not spectacular, but their jasmine tea is some of my favorite in all of Seireitei."

"That sounds nice." Unohana sped up for a moment to walk closer to Byakuya. Unlike what he did with most other women who walked to close to him, he didn't try to maintain his distance from her. Her smile again grew to one of appreciation. "Speaking of 3rd squad, what do you think of Sasakibe-san as the new captain for them?"

"I believe he will do an excellent job. He was, after all, Captain-Commander Yamamoto's lieutenant for a very long time. He has always shown excellent leadership skills." He shook his head slightly. "Unlike the new caption of 9th squad." Before anything else could be said, they noticed Hitsugaya running very swiftly toward the 5th squad offices. Byakuya only sighed. The two continued walking.

"Ah, Ayasegawa Yumichika, the old 4th seat of 11th squad?"

"Yes. I believe if he were in charge of any squad but 9th, he would have been a poor choice." The two reached the small café just across from the training grounds which were, thankfully, devoid of students at the time. "However, being in charge of the publication of the newspaper, he has certainly made it look much… prettier." Byakuya stepped behind a chair at a small white table and pulled it out, waiting for Unohana to position herself between the chair and the table. As soon as she did, he pushed the chair in gently. Moving around the table, he took his own seat, and simply made a gesture to the approaching waiter, holding up two fingers. The waiter simply nodded and went back behind the counter. "I'm just a little disappointed that my lieutenant, Abarai-san, didn't make it to be a captain. He, after all, has also attained bankai. Though I can understand. He can be rash and impetuous at times."

"Were you so different when you first became a captain, Kuchiki-san?" Unohana let out a small giggle, placing her hand in front of her mouth. "But you certainly became one of Seireitei's finest."

"Much like you, Unohana-san. I truly do admire the way you have handled the situations that many less… civilized… shinigami put members of 4th squad in."

"Yes, I believe it's just a matter of ignorance. Once people get treated on the battlefield by one of our medics, they tend to find a new respect for 4th squad." She looked over as the waiter brought over two cups filled with a greenish liquid. She nodded her head in thanks as he placed the two cups down in front of them. As soon as she did, her brow furled a bit as she peered down into the cup. "This doesn't look like jasmine tea."

Byakuya let one of his rare smiles show on his face. "It seems to be a mixture of green tea and jasmine. I find it to be much more agreeable than either tea alone."

"I wonder what possessed you to try such a drink. It's not exactly traditional." Unohana's smile turned from the caring one she normally wore to a slightly amused one.

"I can be adventurous sometimes." The same smile continued to play on Byakuya's face. He brought the cup up to his lips and took a small sip. His eyes closed as he allowed the dark green liquid to cover his tongue. There it stayed for a moment, allowing the taste to fully encompass his mouth. A small sound of pleasure emitted from Byakuya, and he heard a quick laugh come from the other side of the table. Looking up, he saw Unohana covering her mouth, trying to suppress a giggle. "What is it?"

A small giggle escaped her lips. "I've just never seen you enjoy something quite this much, that's all."

He nodded. "Yes, this is one of the few pleasures I take for myself, though it is better to drink with someone one cares about."

A light pink blush formed on Unohana's cheeks. "B… Byakuya-san!" The same smile appeared on his lips as he took another sip of tea. She noticed she had not touched her tea and quickly brought the cup to her lips, trying to suppress the embarrassment she felt. As soon as the hot liquid hit her tongue, she forgot about any discomfort she felt. The taste was unusual to her, yet familiar. It tasted like the green tea she normally drank, but with a small exotic spice to it. She had to admit, the two flavors complimented each other well. She heard a small chuckle coming from the other side of the table. "Byakuya-san?"

"It seems you can lose yourself in a good cup of tea as well." His eyes met hers. "I wonder, though, why it is you started using my given name."

The blush that was on Unohana's cheeks darkened from light pink to a deep red in less than a second. "Oh, I… I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

"I'm not offended, Retsu-san." He interrupted before she could complete her thought. "As long as you're comfortable with it."

Still blushing, she simply nodded and continued to drink her tea. After a minute of drinking in silence, she finally looked up to notice Byakuya staring right at her. Her blush returned fully and she looked back away. "Um… is something the matter, Byakuya-san?"

He merely shook his head. "No, everything is fine. I just find it amusing how you're beginning to blush and stutter." He lowered his head, propping it up with his arm. "I hope I'm not embarrassing you too much."

Unohana's blush slowly began to subside. "No, it's just, I'm not used to this kind of attention. It makes me feel like a teenage girl again." She shook her head, as if trying to clear a strange memory from her head. "That must be pretty hard to imagine, huh?"

"Not at all." Unohana noticed that as Byakuya spoke, he still had that same smile on his face. She couldn't tell if it was because of amusement or contentment. "You, after all, still look very cute."

She could only blink. 'Did Byakuya refer to me as… cute?' she thought to herself. She felt a heat on her cheeks, and knew her blush had returned full force. 'Oh my…' She looked over the form of Byakuya, taking in all his features. 'I can't truthfully say that I'm not REALLY attracted to this man, I always have been, but he thinks I'm cute?'

Byakuya took advantage of the silence, stood up, and walked over to Unohana's side. She looked up to where he was, only to be startled, seeing him right next to her. "Shall I walk you back to your office, or wherever it is you were headed to next?"

She looked back over the table, and noticed that both cups were empty. "Oh, of course. My office would be fine." She was about to stand up when she felt her chair slowly being pulled out, allowing her to stand up without bumping the table or any awkward side-stepping. Taking Byakuya's hand, she walked with hit back toward her office. The two remained in silence, but she felt oddly comfortable and content being near him. Just then, they saw Hitsugaya running past them, a large blush on his cheeks, muttering something about 'inappropriate conduct from a captain' and 'doing that with a bed wetter'. The two simply raised an eyebrow. "Well, I'm certain we'll hear all about that later."

"Yes, I'm certain we will." Unohana thought she heard a bit of humor in his voice. The two continued walking until they finally reached the 4th division office doors. A number of shinigami were walking past, some from 4th squad, and some from 11th squad. "Thank you very much for the tea, Byakuya-san. We should do this again."

Byakuya bowed low to his companion. "Actually, Retsu-san, I was wondering if you would do me the honor of accompanying me to the Noh Theater this weekend." He looked up into her eyes, still bowing. "If you did not already have plans, of course."

Unohana bent over and kissed Byakuya on the cheek. "I would love to." She then turned around and walked into her office. Before closing the door, she turned to face him once again. "Thank you again for the tea, and I look forward to going to the theatre with you. Good day, Byakuya-kun." As she shut the door, a blush began to appear on her features.

Byakuya was simply stunned. He stay there, bowed at a closed door, a small blush on his face. His hand rose up and touched the place she had kissed him. "Good… day… Retsu-san."

"Ah, look at the cute little captain Byakuya-kun, getting all choked up from a girl!" The voice came from some member of 11th squad who had just been released. He did not recognize who, so he assumed he was a low seat or unseated member of the quad. Byakuya's sword was out of its sheath and against the young man's neck so fast it appeared to teleport. Byakuya was still touching his cheek and bowing toward the closed door. "Ah, I guess I'll get outta here. Um, have a nice day, Kuchiki-taicho." With that, the other Shinigami ran. Byakuya smiled.

END

Okay, it's done, this tiny little one-shot. It just kinda came into my head as I was writing the outline for the ACTUAL story that takes place in this universe, and I couldn't get rid of it. That story is where you'll actually meet 5th division's new captain. But I was thinking about it, and I thought that Kuchiki Byakuya seemed like the stern, responsible father figure, and Unohana seemed like the caring, loving mother figure. I also figured that enough time for Byakuya had passes for him to move on with his life after Hisana. After all, it's what she would have wanted. By the way, this story is rated teen ONLY for the scene in the beginning. That's all.

Okay, so after going through all the Byakuya fanfiction out there, I have one very big question. What's with all the ByakuyaxHanataro? I can understand one, but there are, like, 6 of them. It makes no sense, since they don't really ever meet up in the anime, and there's no dynamic between them. Ah well, there's my rant for the day.