Chapter Title: Mission: Byakuya
Disclaimer: I realize that I forgot to put this in the first chapter, so here it is. I do not own Bleach, Kubo Tite does.
Author's Note: Well, if any of the readers from the first chapter are still around, I'm sorry for the wait! I originally intended for the first chapter to be a oneshot, so it was tough to think of how to continue it. Again, I tried my best to keep everyone in-character, but if I failed in places, I apologize ahead of time! Please let me know what you think! All reviews and constructive criticism will be read repeatedly, cherished, and responded to. Also, there will be another Author's Note at the end, which I hope everyone will read after the chapter.

Byakuya brushed furiously at the shoulder of his uniform, trying to rid himself of the spiderweb clinging to it. He gave a disgusted growl when the sticky substance tangled itself up on his fingers, and he hurriedly wiped it off onto the grass. When it finally came off, he looked up, still grimacing and promising himself a nice long bath when he returned to the Seireitei. Of course, he reminded himself, I don't know when that will be. Who knows how long Rukia intended to continue this training mission.

Sighing in resignation, he peered through the bush in which he had concealed himself. The branches were thick and concealing, and the three-pointed saw-toothed leaves were full and green. The tree beside him, covered with a thick hairy vine, completed the perfect hiding spot. There was no way Rukia, or the new recruits she was leading, would be able to see him. He leaned forward to focus on the small group camping in the meadow in front of him.

Instantly he froze. The bush had moved slightly as he did, and now Rukia was glancing over. Byakuya stayed as still as he could, hardly daring even to breath. There was no way she could see him, not with such thick cover. And she couldn't sense him either, of that he was certain. He was wearing a heavy cloak that completely concealed his spiritual energy.

When he had heard of this mission, he had known she would do everything in her power to prevent him from following. His only option had been to make sure she didn't know he was there, and that meant asking Urahara for help. He tensed at the thought of the infuriating merchant. Oh, he had helped, loaning Byakuya the cloak, and it had worked perfectly. It was now a full two days into the mission and Rukia still hadn't noticed his presence. But now Byakuya was indebted to the man, and that was utterly humiliating.

Even worse were the pictures. Urahara had shown him the cloak immediately after he had arrived to ask for a way to conceal his energy completely. In fact, it had been so near at hand that Byakuya had wondered if the maddening ex-captain had been waiting for him to come. And when Byakuya had seized the opportunity and agreed to rent the cloak, Urahara had declared that the price for the rental was not in money. He had immediately whipped out a camera and a huge bin of costumes.

Even now the thought of the pictures brought a red tinge to Byakuya's cheeks. Who knew what Urahara intended to do with them. But he was also quite proud of himself. It was a sign of how devoted a brother he was that he was willing to agree to the price set. Surely Hisana would have been appreciative of the sacrifices he was making for their sister!

He breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed as Rukia turned away from his hiding place. She hadn't spotted him. He would have to be more careful from now on, though. That had been far too close! He shuddered slightly at the thought of what Rukia would do to him if she caught him spying. No, not spying. That was far too demeaning and undignified for a noble and a captain such as himself. He was observing her, and supervising the mission to be certain nothing would go wrong. He was doing it from a distance, of course, but that was only to keep the recruits from getting nervous in the presence of a captain.

Suddenly Byakuya frowned, staring at Rukia across the field. What in Soul Society was she doing? She appeared to be digging, but why? She dug in one spot for a few minutes, depositing the dirt behind the hole. Then she stood the shovel in the hole and moved several yards to the side. Picking up a second shovel from where it was lying in the grass, she repeated her actions. In about ten minutes, she had created a large circle of holes, with mounds of dirt forming a second circle inside it. Then she directed the recruits to choose a hole and shovel, and keep digging.

They obeyed, though with far less enthusiasm. As they worked, Rukia continued to circle around, apparently making sure the dirt got placed in the piles. She didn't let them stop until the piles were almost four feet tall and the holes were just as deep. In the meantime, Byakuya was shaking his head in bewilderment. He had no idea what she was doing. This wasn't a training exercise he was familiar with.

Finally, Rukia called a halt and waved the recruits away from the circle. Stepping forward, she unsheathed her zanpakuto and called its name. Byakuya felt a smile flicker briefly across his face, and he chided himself immediately for losing control of his expression even for a moment. But his sister's shikai, with the pure white blade and ribbon, and the pristine clearness that filled the air around the blade were so incredibly beautiful. It was a shame she preferred kido and didn't release her blade often. Every glimpse he had of it, he savored.

She moved to the first dirt pile and plunged the tip of her sword into it. Byakuya didn't even have time to wonder what she was doing when she called out the third dance of the blade. The entire pile froze in an instant, creating a dome of clear, glittering ice. She pulled the sword out of the ice with no more effort than she would have used had it still been dirt. Byakuya nodded in approval of the grace in the gesture. The nod quickly turned into a shake of his head as he realized he still had no idea what she was doing. He watched in growing confusion as she gradually made her way around the circle and repeated the freezing process with each of the other piles of dirt.

When she finished she directed the recruits back into the circle, where they stood back to back, facing out toward the ice domes. They stayed still for a moment, obviously listening as Rukia spoke. Byakuya, frustrated that he couldn't hear what she was saying, leaned farther into the bush. She was saying something directly to one of the recruits. He strained his ears to try to hear.

Then suddenly he was throwing himself backwards out of the bush, desperately trying to stay out of sight. The instant Rukia stopped speaking, every recruit had lifted their hands and their voices to cast the Shakkahou spell. All but one of the recruits had hit their target, melting the ice and sending the resulting thick, muddy water splashing into the holes behind. But the one boy Rukia had been speaking to had missed his target, and his fireball was flying towards the very bush Byakuya was hiding in.

He rolled back to his feet, crouching to stay hidden behind the brightly burning plant. Then he swore as he realized the recruits, and Rukia, were running over towards it. He shunpoed frantically to another tree not far to the side, hoping they hadn't seen him. But no, they were just trying to put out the fire before it spread. He'd been lucky that the recruit was so incompetent. Not only had his aim been bad, but his power was poor as well. The fire wasn't overly powerful, and he'd had plenty of time to move away before the bush had really gone up in flames.

He started to relax only to realize that they were moving in his direction again. He shunpoed again, trying to curve away from them while still remaining hidden in the foliage. The kept following. Why, he wondered, are they coming in this direction? They shouldn't be able to sense him, and he knew they hadn't seen him. They weren't calling for him to stop or identify himself. They were calling –.

Oh. They were frantically shouting, "Water! We need water! Bring it from the stream!"

Byakuya looked down at his feet and groaned at himself. He was following the course of a streambed. The recruits weren't following him, they were following the water. Quickly he glanced around, trying to find a hiding place that wasn't right next to the stream. There wasn't one, though. All the trees and bushes were growing around the water, and the field was otherwise bare. Except for the lone remaining ice dome that the errant recruit had missed. Throwing himself into as quick a shunpo he could, he shot across the meadow, hoping Rukia would be looking away just long enough for him to get behind it.

For a moment he thought he had succeeded, and he pressed himself against the ice. Then suddenly there was no ice, only thick mud and freezing water. He was propelled backwards, his feet sliding on the wet earth, and the muddy water showered over him. Even after the force of the spell died down, he staggered backwards on his own for several more steps. Suddenly his feet left solid ground and he plunged downwards into a pool of thick filthy water.

He was so surprised that it took him a moment to work his feet under him, and he plunged completely under for a moment. He came up spluttering, his feet finally finding purchase, and he realized he had fallen into one of the holes the recruits had dug. He struggled to wipe the gooey mess from his face, and only succeeded in smearing it further. When he finally was able to clear his eyes enough to see, his breath caught in dismay. Rukia was standing directly in front of him, her arms crossed in front of her chest. She was smirking in delight as she stared down at his messy predicament.

"Fancy meeting you here, Nii-sama," she said triumphantly. "Is this really the right place for a bath, though?"

His eyes narrowed, and he suddenly wondered if it was worth Hisana's approval to deal with this insolent demon of a girl. But he had no time to say anything before Rukia whipped out a camera from the folds of her shihakusho. He could barely restrain a horrified gasp as he recognized the device. It was the same one Urahara had used!

Rukia stroked it happily and announced, "Only three pictures left on this film. I can't wait until these are developed! I especially liked the one of the bunny suit, Nii-sama! The pink really suited you! And that incredibly cute cotton ball tail, and those marvelous ears!"

Byakuya felt his face burning with humiliation as he remembered that costume, and how hard it had been for Urahara to contain his laughter long enough to snap the shot. Immediately, Rukia's hand shot up to aim the camera and took three rapid shots of her brother standing chest-deep in filthy water, his hair slicked back and caked with muck. Then she gave him a cheerful smile and started to turn away. Only a second later, she snapped her fingers and ran over to her pack, pulling out a box of oatmeal. She scampered back to where Byakuya still stood frozen with humiliation in the water-filled hole.

"Here," she told him. "This'll help with the rash. Ichigo swears by oatmeal for stopping the itching."

Byakuya couldn't help but let his eyes widen at the thought that he was going to get an itchy rash on top of everything else. Rukia eyed him in surprise, then asked, "What, didn't you know you were hiding in poison ivy earlier? Well, don't worry, it'll only last for a week or two."

With that, she turned and led her recruits off to continue their mission, leaving Byakuya behind to consider the consequences of over protectiveness.

Author's Note: Ok so as I said up in the first note at the top, this story was originally intended to be a oneshot. I continued it solely because reviewers asked me to. If I continue further, it will be more chapters like this one, with each individual guy facing off against Rukia. Thanks go to RukiLex for the idea! The thing is, I have other stories that I personally am more inspired to write right now. I'm certainly willing to continue this, but I'm only going to do it if I know there is reader interest. So, if you enjoyed this and want more, please review and let me know! I only need one person saying they want more to convice me (though the more people who say it, the more enthusiastic I'll be, which means a hopefully quicker update). Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'd love to hear from you!