Giving the small cup with its pre-boiled water a blank stare, Byakuya sets it aside carefully on the low table top and folds his hands in his lap instead. He's chosen a somewhat deserted area for this small break and consequently, there are at least three tables between him and the nearest visitors. He doesn't hold any hopes, however, that the luxury of personal space will last for long - during the viewing season, the gardens of Kitano Tenmangu are quite busy with guests and at this moment, he's just one out of many. Somewhere off to his right, a family with two small children are settling down for teas and sweets and along the trails leading to and from the gardens, people come and go steadfastly, a seemingly never-ending stream of disturbances.
Evidently, if he must have any regrets, he needs to go back to the moment he'd agreed to Renji's idea about visiting Kyoto for the sake of getting close to practice - theoretically, they're to swap places tomorrow and then evaluate but already, the idea seems asinine and unworthy of any further deliberation.
Byakuya hasn't visited Kyoto since before his captaincy. Time has brought no improvements to the city, as far as he's concerned.
The temple grounds, at least, he can stomach. The maple trees are objectively beautiful, a sea of red and orange flowing across the pathways, taking up the air, the bright space between ground and sky. If he leaves his gigai somewhere none-too-unfortunate, perhaps he can cheat and simply stay here for the night - or return earlier than planned, if he finds himself somehow unable to humour Renji any further which is not... an unlikely scenario, really, considering the place he's been booked to sleep for his stay.
[ Tanaka had insisted they went here, it was her idea and Ichigo had warned her, she'd take the blame if it turned out a disaster with their small group of American exchange students who, if you asked Ichigo, were probably more into the whole Kyoto-idea for the Gion districts and maybe to take a selfie in front of Fushimi Inari Taisha than some lesser known local temple, but since Tanaka had been really eager about the excursion, Ichigo had let her take the lead on it. He was only here for the extra points to his grades, anyway.
In the end, he'd give her that much, Kitano Tenmangu hadn't been too bad an idea. Between Jamie, Gil and Liz, maybe Liz was the one who'd embraced the setting with the most excitement, but both Jamie and Gil had been amenable enough. They'd made their way through the temple grounds and now, they're on their way back towards the exit, Jamie walking on Ichigo's right and Tanaka on his left, boxing him in well and truly, huh.
He knows what they're both on about, right? It's getting to be a real pain in the ass.
They're passing by some benches with appertaining tables when Ichigo catches a glimpse of something that looks familiar in an honestly gut-wrenching way and his head snaps to the side, staring at what does really prove to be Kuchiki Byakuya sitting peacefully at the bench farthest away, definitely in a gigai and with a cup of purchased tea in front of him.
Ichigo doesn't believe it. What the hell...
Drawing slowly to a halt, letting the other four get ahead of him, he just stares at the other man for a moment, his heart beating fast in his chest. What is Byakuya doing here? Is something --
Up ahead, Tanaka notices that he's fallen behind and turns towards him with an inquiring, Kurosaki-kun, that he doesn't respond to beyond waving his hand at all of them, as they're now just standing there and looking at him, collectively. ]
You just go ahead, I'll catch up later, it's back to the hotel after this, yeah?
[ Without waiting for a confirmation, because Ichigo knows he doesn't remember it wrong, he crosses over to where Byakuya is sitting, his steps a little too fast. Is something -- Stopping right in front of the other man, Ichigo looks down at him, hands curled into fists at his sides. ]
Byakuya. Is something wrong?
[ As far as greetings go, Ichigo could do worse. Granted, he could probably also do a lot better. ]
[ There's a familiar burst of rieatsu off to the side and Byakuya gets about five seconds to adjust his expectations to this trip - because seeing Kurosaki Ichigo in Kyoto definitely doesn't match up to anything he'd thought he'd be dealing with before leaving. Then, there he is, popping into view in front of him with his hands clenched into fists and his expression decidedly... agitated. Byakuya looks up at him slowly, taking in the tension more or less emanating from his frame and realises only then that perhaps, beneath that lanky posture and overbearing attitude, Ichigo is in fact, a little highly strung.
No doubt, he's already preparing mentally for another battle that isn't his.
The things they've done to this man. ]
Aside from Renji's assumption that visiting modern Kyoto would be illuminating - [ His gaze slips sideways, the closest he gets to actively rolling his eyes in public. ] - no. Nothing is wrong.
[ Eyes narrowing a fraction in thought, he glances back at Ichigo, taking him in properly - he can't remember seeing him in modern, casual clothes before. Always, the shihakusho. Always, the badge and the gleam of his zanpakuto slung over his shoulder. Even during the wedding, he'd been more formally dressed. Against the backdrop of the temple grounds, quite some distance from Karakura Town, he looks oddly misplaced, somehow - a ridiculous thought, of course, seeing as Ichigo hails from the world of the living and is free to move around within it as he pleases, surely, it's only...
Well. It makes you remember, doesn't it, that he's a human first, even with all the rest. ]
[ His shoulders visibly slump at Byakuya's unfazed, nothing is wrong, all expectations of a new battle, the next war, deflating a bit like a balloon inside him. His hands unfurl, hanging loosely and a bit uselessly by his sides. The man's attitude is as insolent as ever. Inarticulate. Something about Renji... Renji made him come to Kyoto? How do you make a man like Byakuya do anything he obviously wouldn't have done on his own? Isn't Byakuya too proud for something like that? Must be work-related, then... Anyway, should Ichigo feel a newfound respect for Renji for getting him here? Like, should he congratulate him next time they see each other or something? I heard you made Byakuya do something he didn't like the idea of, well done.
Right now, it doesn't feel like something you'd congratulate any of them for, though.
Why are you here, Byakuya wants to know, fully aware that Ichigo lives in Karakura Town and is, at least, a good hour by the Shinkansen away from home. Something about the other man knowing how Ichigo's kinda off-track, while so undeniably being off-track himself makes Ichigo relax for real, stretching once before casually folding his hands behind his head. Behind him, his group's getting out of view.
Not that he cares much. ]
Field trip. [ His voice is even, easy. He turns to look after the others but they're gone now, absorbed by the crowds. So Ichigo turns back to Byakuya and makes a quick sweep of the bench he's sitting on, the tea he's drinking that's probably gone cold now. What's he sitting around for, huh? What's modern Kyoto to him?
Shifting from one foot to the other, distributing his weight for a better balance, he meets Byakuya's cool, calm eyes. ] What're you doing here if you weren't looking for me?
[ What are you looking for in this place, it means. Ichigo finally sighs and lets his hands drop back to his sides, kicking a pebble with one shoe, remembering belatedly that he can stuff his hands in his pockets this time when he's in clothes with the actual damn things attached. ]
[ Byakuya follows Ichigo's look as he searches behind himself very briefly. A field trip. So, he's here with... friends, presumably, or a study group in any case and rather than rushing back to them, knowing that no crisis is imminent, Ichigo chooses to ask him another question, meeting Byakuya's gaze with his own. His body seems to be moving constantly, like it doesn't quite know how to remain in the same place, still, for any period of time. It should probably irritate him. Perhaps back in Soul Society, it would have. No one in the army fidgetes unless they're in the fourth division and even then...
But here, in modern-day Kyoto, it feels more like Ichigo's restlessness is simply a product of his busy, noisy surroundings. It goes with the rest, somehow.
Byakuya watches the pebble skitter away across the ground. Then, fluently, he gets to his feet, his long, dark coat rustling around his knees. The path through the gardens is full of people still but the main road past the shrine towards the entrance looks less obnoxious. He turns in that direction, then glances at Ichigo askance. ]
Kyoto has become quite loud over the past two hundred years. The temple, I thought, would be more serene.
[ Clearly, I was wrong, he doesn't say. He's not in the habit of stating the obvious. Instead, he frowns and brushes past Ichigo, close enough that their shoulders touch for a split second. Immediately, he's reminded of Ichigo doing the same back in his garden, settling his mother's flowers in the borrowed Kuchiki vase. It's still there, of course, on the bench. Being cared for by his servants. He pauses in his step. ]
[ For some reason, as Byakuya gets up and brushes past him, telling him that 200 years ago, Kyoto was a different place - and you don't say, that was the frickin' edo period(!), Ichigo's first thought is of Rukia asking him how to open the juice box back when she'd first found him at school. Seems like a long time ago, but even more than being a reminder of the time that has passed in Ichigo's life, it's a sudden, stark reminder of the time that must have passed in hers. In her brother's. They're so old, huh. They've seen the edo period with their own eyes, they're ancient. Relics.
Ichigo turns after Byakuya, feeling the brush of his shoulder like a whisper of warmth against his upper arm, hands relaxing into his pockets for a moment, before he withdraws them and kinda unceremoniously points in the opposite direction. Towards the exit. The way Jamie and the others went and where there's no risk, he'll run into them now. Way ahead of him there. He'll see them tonight when they're no doubt gonna hang in the bar. Tanaka trying to sit on his lap. Jamie trying to get him to sit on his.
Ugh. ]
Sorry, it's a tourist hotspot now. [ He sounds too indifferent to really come off apologetic. It's not his call where Byakuya goes, really, it never has been, but he can try talk some sense into him - it's worked before, right? Ichigo lets his arm fall and rolls both shoulders, turning to go in the direction he's just indicated. ] If you're looking for 'serene', you're gonna need someplace fewer people know about.
[ Noticing, then, Byakuya's abandoned cup of tea, Ichigo calls to mind the small, authentic tea shop his group came upon on their way from the hotel and he could probably find that, even now. Only room for a small handful of people. Not sure what Byakuya would consider 'serene', but there's a better chance, at least. ]
[ Ichigo points towards the exit and Byakuya turns very slightly to look at him. Sorry, he says, though he doesn't sound apologetic at all which is, of course, his particular way - after years of getting puzzled over his behaviour, Byakuya has come to understand that what he'd originally perceived as arrogance is more along the line of directness, something about refusing to go in unnecessary circles when there's a clear path forward.
Thinking about it like that, it doesn't feel quite as aggravating. The next, obvious question would be why - after all, Byakuya was brought up to navigate the established system, not plow right through it. Then again, he was also taught to have his own opinions and thoughts (at least, no one stopped him from having them which in his family amounts to the same) and perhaps, perhaps, a man who brings his mother flowers even whilst far away from home and out of his comfort zone has a right to be direct.
Perhaps, despite everything, that is sensible.
He looks at Ichigo for a long moment, contemplating his question, his own gaze slipping back to his abandoned tea cup automatically before he blinks and looks away. He wonders whether Ichigo's just made him an invitation or whether he'll simply be shown the most serene tea shop in the area and left to his own devices. You can never quite tell with this man. ]
I do.
[ Possibly, he should prefer and encourage the second option. Indeed, there are many things he should do and many that he shouldn't.
As red and golden maple leaves drift through the air around them, Byakuya waits for Ichigo to lead the way. ]
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saviorcomplexed) wrote2025-03-17 12:16 pm
no subject
Giving the small cup with its pre-boiled water a blank stare, Byakuya sets it aside carefully on the low table top and folds his hands in his lap instead. He's chosen a somewhat deserted area for this small break and consequently, there are at least three tables between him and the nearest visitors. He doesn't hold any hopes, however, that the luxury of personal space will last for long - during the viewing season, the gardens of Kitano Tenmangu are quite busy with guests and at this moment, he's just one out of many. Somewhere off to his right, a family with two small children are settling down for teas and sweets and along the trails leading to and from the gardens, people come and go steadfastly, a seemingly never-ending stream of disturbances.
Evidently, if he must have any regrets, he needs to go back to the moment he'd agreed to Renji's idea about visiting Kyoto for the sake of getting close to practice - theoretically, they're to swap places tomorrow and then evaluate but already, the idea seems asinine and unworthy of any further deliberation.
Byakuya hasn't visited Kyoto since before his captaincy. Time has brought no improvements to the city, as far as he's concerned.
The temple grounds, at least, he can stomach. The maple trees are objectively beautiful, a sea of red and orange flowing across the pathways, taking up the air, the bright space between ground and sky. If he leaves his gigai somewhere none-too-unfortunate, perhaps he can cheat and simply stay here for the night - or return earlier than planned, if he finds himself somehow unable to humour Renji any further which is not... an unlikely scenario, really, considering the place he's been booked to sleep for his stay.
Another half-glance towards his tea.
Patience, he thinks. ]
no subject
In the end, he'd give her that much, Kitano Tenmangu hadn't been too bad an idea. Between Jamie, Gil and Liz, maybe Liz was the one who'd embraced the setting with the most excitement, but both Jamie and Gil had been amenable enough. They'd made their way through the temple grounds and now, they're on their way back towards the exit, Jamie walking on Ichigo's right and Tanaka on his left, boxing him in well and truly, huh.
He knows what they're both on about, right? It's getting to be a real pain in the ass.
They're passing by some benches with appertaining tables when Ichigo catches a glimpse of something that looks familiar in an honestly gut-wrenching way and his head snaps to the side, staring at what does really prove to be Kuchiki Byakuya sitting peacefully at the bench farthest away, definitely in a gigai and with a cup of purchased tea in front of him.
Ichigo doesn't believe it. What the hell...
Drawing slowly to a halt, letting the other four get ahead of him, he just stares at the other man for a moment, his heart beating fast in his chest. What is Byakuya doing here? Is something --
Up ahead, Tanaka notices that he's fallen behind and turns towards him with an inquiring, Kurosaki-kun, that he doesn't respond to beyond waving his hand at all of them, as they're now just standing there and looking at him, collectively. ]
You just go ahead, I'll catch up later, it's back to the hotel after this, yeah?
[ Without waiting for a confirmation, because Ichigo knows he doesn't remember it wrong, he crosses over to where Byakuya is sitting, his steps a little too fast. Is something -- Stopping right in front of the other man, Ichigo looks down at him, hands curled into fists at his sides. ]
Byakuya. Is something wrong?
[ As far as greetings go, Ichigo could do worse. Granted, he could probably also do a lot better. ]
no subject
No doubt, he's already preparing mentally for another battle that isn't his.
The things they've done to this man. ]
Aside from Renji's assumption that visiting modern Kyoto would be illuminating - [ His gaze slips sideways, the closest he gets to actively rolling his eyes in public. ] - no. Nothing is wrong.
[ Eyes narrowing a fraction in thought, he glances back at Ichigo, taking him in properly - he can't remember seeing him in modern, casual clothes before. Always, the shihakusho. Always, the badge and the gleam of his zanpakuto slung over his shoulder. Even during the wedding, he'd been more formally dressed. Against the backdrop of the temple grounds, quite some distance from Karakura Town, he looks oddly misplaced, somehow - a ridiculous thought, of course, seeing as Ichigo hails from the world of the living and is free to move around within it as he pleases, surely, it's only...
Well. It makes you remember, doesn't it, that he's a human first, even with all the rest. ]
Why are you here?
no subject
Right now, it doesn't feel like something you'd congratulate any of them for, though.
Why are you here, Byakuya wants to know, fully aware that Ichigo lives in Karakura Town and is, at least, a good hour by the Shinkansen away from home. Something about the other man knowing how Ichigo's kinda off-track, while so undeniably being off-track himself makes Ichigo relax for real, stretching once before casually folding his hands behind his head. Behind him, his group's getting out of view.
Not that he cares much. ]
Field trip. [ His voice is even, easy. He turns to look after the others but they're gone now, absorbed by the crowds. So Ichigo turns back to Byakuya and makes a quick sweep of the bench he's sitting on, the tea he's drinking that's probably gone cold now. What's he sitting around for, huh? What's modern Kyoto to him?
Shifting from one foot to the other, distributing his weight for a better balance, he meets Byakuya's cool, calm eyes. ] What're you doing here if you weren't looking for me?
[ What are you looking for in this place, it means. Ichigo finally sighs and lets his hands drop back to his sides, kicking a pebble with one shoe, remembering belatedly that he can stuff his hands in his pockets this time when he's in clothes with the actual damn things attached. ]
no subject
But here, in modern-day Kyoto, it feels more like Ichigo's restlessness is simply a product of his busy, noisy surroundings. It goes with the rest, somehow.
Byakuya watches the pebble skitter away across the ground. Then, fluently, he gets to his feet, his long, dark coat rustling around his knees. The path through the gardens is full of people still but the main road past the shrine towards the entrance looks less obnoxious. He turns in that direction, then glances at Ichigo askance. ]
Kyoto has become quite loud over the past two hundred years. The temple, I thought, would be more serene.
[ Clearly, I was wrong, he doesn't say. He's not in the habit of stating the obvious. Instead, he frowns and brushes past Ichigo, close enough that their shoulders touch for a split second. Immediately, he's reminded of Ichigo doing the same back in his garden, settling his mother's flowers in the borrowed Kuchiki vase. It's still there, of course, on the bench. Being cared for by his servants. He pauses in his step. ]
no subject
Ichigo turns after Byakuya, feeling the brush of his shoulder like a whisper of warmth against his upper arm, hands relaxing into his pockets for a moment, before he withdraws them and kinda unceremoniously points in the opposite direction. Towards the exit. The way Jamie and the others went and where there's no risk, he'll run into them now. Way ahead of him there. He'll see them tonight when they're no doubt gonna hang in the bar. Tanaka trying to sit on his lap. Jamie trying to get him to sit on his.
Ugh. ]
Sorry, it's a tourist hotspot now. [ He sounds too indifferent to really come off apologetic. It's not his call where Byakuya goes, really, it never has been, but he can try talk some sense into him - it's worked before, right? Ichigo lets his arm fall and rolls both shoulders, turning to go in the direction he's just indicated. ] If you're looking for 'serene', you're gonna need someplace fewer people know about.
[ Noticing, then, Byakuya's abandoned cup of tea, Ichigo calls to mind the small, authentic tea shop his group came upon on their way from the hotel and he could probably find that, even now. Only room for a small handful of people. Not sure what Byakuya would consider 'serene', but there's a better chance, at least. ]
You want a new cup of tea?
no subject
Thinking about it like that, it doesn't feel quite as aggravating. The next, obvious question would be why - after all, Byakuya was brought up to navigate the established system, not plow right through it. Then again, he was also taught to have his own opinions and thoughts (at least, no one stopped him from having them which in his family amounts to the same) and perhaps, perhaps, a man who brings his mother flowers even whilst far away from home and out of his comfort zone has a right to be direct.
Perhaps, despite everything, that is sensible.
He looks at Ichigo for a long moment, contemplating his question, his own gaze slipping back to his abandoned tea cup automatically before he blinks and looks away. He wonders whether Ichigo's just made him an invitation or whether he'll simply be shown the most serene tea shop in the area and left to his own devices. You can never quite tell with this man. ]
I do.
[ Possibly, he should prefer and encourage the second option. Indeed, there are many things he should do and many that he shouldn't.
As red and golden maple leaves drift through the air around them, Byakuya waits for Ichigo to lead the way. ]