Characters: Ukitake, Byakuya, mentions of Rukia and Kaien.
Pairings: None.
Warnings/Spoilers: Soul Society arc.
Timeline: No time in particular.
Author's Note: There has to be a reason Ukitake hasn't found a replacement for Kaien yet.
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

"I'm sorry, Byakuya," Ukitake apologized from the couch he was lying down on, as fresh afternoon sunlight poured into the office, warming the light-colored walls. "I would have come to you, but—" His sentence was cut off by a rack of phlegmy, painful coughing.

Byakuya nodded, his face and voice a study in practiced poise. "You wished to speak with me, senpai?" His voice was calm and soft, measured with the perfect detachment that had come to be customary with the young Kuchiki.

Once the heavy bout of coughing was past and Ukitake had taken a draught of water to soothe his aching throat, Ukitake started up again, normally smooth voice hoarse and raw. "Yes." Ukitake nodded, breathing hard. "I think we've had this conversation before, in fact. It's about your sister."

The tension in the room was immediately palpable. Byakuya, it was clear to Ukitake, recognized the summons for what it was, and tensed in a weary, unwelcome sort of way. Strangely, he didn't make an excuse to try and leave the room like he had the last time. Ukitake restrained a sigh.

"As you know, Byakuya, I've been without a lieutenant since Kaien's death." Ukitake's voice caught slightly on the mention of Kaien; taut with mixed emotion, he wasn't sure if Byakuya noticed and wasn't sure he wanted to find out. "And I have broached this subject with you before."

Ukitake took another long draught of the ice water, as though his throat were a dry, cracked desert in desperate need of rain. Over the glass, his brown eyes met Byakuya's smoke gray ones. "I think Kuchiki Rukia would make a good replacement for lieutenant of the Thirteenth Division."

A moment of silence passed, in which Ukitake prayed another coughing fit wasn't about to come on and a moment in which Byakuya seemed to be formulating a response that he could actually use.

Finally, Byakuya replied. "Ukitake-senpai, with all due respect," he murmured, with the same unhappiness buried deep down in his voice as last time, "Rukia is not even a seated officer. And she is not as experienced as many of your other subordinates. Surely there is another, many others, who would fill the hole left by Shiba Kaien."

"Yes," Ukitake admitted, "Kuchiki is not a seated officer." He shot a wry glance at Byakuya, who had the grace to look uncomfortable. "By your fervent request, if you will recall. But she had the potential and ability to become a seated officer from day one, and we both know it. As of right now, Kuchiki is the best choice in the division to become my lieutenant."

Byakuya opened his mouth to speak, but Ukitake cut him off, raising his hand and smiling sympathetically. "Please, Byakuya, I'm not done yet.

"I don't need your permission or anyone else's on who I decide is best to be my lieutenant, as long as I choose within my own division; in the end, I will choose whomever I please to succeed Kaien as my lieutenant. And I want that person to be Kuchiki Rukia. As I said, I don't need your permission; in fact, the only reason I try to get it is out of respect for your feelings. And I don't have forever to wait; this division has been without a second for far too long. If I were to die suddenly, which—" Ukitake bowed his chin slightly "—is a very real possibility, the Thirteenth would be without a captain and a lieutenant."

Ukitake's look of sympathy deepened, as Byakuya cast his suddenly blank eyes out of the window. "I understand your fears, Byakuya. Being a high-ranked officer in the Gotei Thirteen is not without its risks. But your sister is cut out for the job; she's responsible and diligent, and most importantly, when it comes down to a fight, she's more than capable of handling herself."

Another awkward silence arose between them. Byakuya was unwilling to say anything, rigid in the armchair which sat across from the couch; his knuckles were white, where he rested his hands on his knees.

Quickly, Ukitake closed up the silence, wishing to spare Byakuya any more discomfort and pain than he was already being subjected to in the quiet moments. "That's all, Byakuya. You can go, if you like."

Byakuya didn't need any more encouragement. He rose, quietly and gracefully from the chair. With a quick, respectful sweep of the head and a murmured "Ukitake-senpai," he was gone in a flurry of black and white, out of the door and the Thirteenth Division headquarters.

The fears and uncertainties of the young. With an aching groan, Ukitake rose from the couch, taking his glass of water with him. The paperwork had to be done, no matter how awful he felt; another reason he needed a new lieutenant, to help him with the paperwork, since Sentarou and Kiyone were utterly hopeless at administrative duties.

Ukitake wasn't joking when he said he wouldn't wait forever. In fact, he couldn't wait forever, and when the next year came around and he called Byakuya to his office with that request again, Ukitake convinced himself that if Byakuya tried to refuse again, he was going to have to force the issue.

Rukia was long overdue for a promotion.

Byakuya needed to realize his sister wasn't a child anymore.

And more than anything else, Ukitake needed someone he could rely on again.