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Kuchiki was following him.
Kenpachi felt himself bristle a little. The princess wasn’t even bothering to try and hide his reiatsu signature - what kind of idiot did he think Kenpachi was? To make things even more confusing (and irritating) was that he could feel the other captain trail behind him slowly, like following Kenpachi around was just a normal thing that he always did or some shit.
The two had vastly improved their relationship over the years, which meant that if Kuchiki wanted to fucking fight him he’d just send a goddamn kido spell his way or something. Not this weird confusing … whatever the fuck he’s doing. It didn’t help that the noble had only just gone off his suppressants, leaving him with a quite frankly weak and confusing scent at nearly all times. Kenpachi didn’t particularly care that Byakuya was an omega - he could fight and fight well so whatever.
But his scent was fucking confusing.
Kenpachi hates confusing.
Finally deciding he’s had enough of this little shadow, Kenpachi stopped in his stroll, fully planning to turn around and question Byakuya before he could run away, but then—
Then Kenpachi felt Byakuya bump into his back with a soft noise of surprise.
What.
Turning around, Kenpachi looked at Byakuya and saw the noble looking up in his general direction, but his eyes were unfocused, and he swayed ever so slightly on his feet. It was like Byakuya was just walking around in a daze or something.
Leaning forward, Kenpachi narrowed his eyes. “What’s goin’ on with you?” he grunted.
Byakuya looked down and alarm bells started ringing off in Kenpachi’s head when he heard a small whimper escape Kuchiki Byakuya’s lips. The noble practically withered under his gaze, which should have been satisfying, or at least kinda funny, but it just made Kenpachi’s skin crawl. Seeing the prideful Kuchiki head looking like this just felt all kinds of wrong, and Kenpachi itched to fix it so they could go back to snarking at each other and fighting.
“Hey, you–” Kenpachi began, but then paused as he smelled it.
Byakuya was going into heat.
It was so, so faint, and he wouldn’t have caught it if he weren’t so close to the noble, but it was there.
And then things started clicking into place.
Kenpachi wasn’t just an alpha - he had an extremely potent scent, and it was a large reason why so few omegas joined his squad. Not because of any stereotypes other shinigami liked coming up with in their spare time, but because his scent made it incredibly difficult for other alphas and betas to focus, much less omegas. All omegas and alphas in the Gotei forces, regardless of their squad were trained relentlessly on their control, so that their baser instincts wouldn’t be the death of them, Kenpachi included. His scent simply was overwhelming even with his control over it.
But Byakuya had only just gotten off of his suppressants for health reasons. He’d never experienced the full brunt of being an omega.
And Kenpachi would bet his left nut that those pricks in his clan didn’t do a damn thing to teach him about any of it.
“Hey…” Kenpachi started, feeling completely out of his depth. He wasn’t a comforting, soft, gentle kind of being, that just wasn’t who he was. But seeing Byakuya like this made something in the back of his brain awaken, and he felt irrationally protective over him.
“Wanna look at me?” He asked, and Byakuya tilted his head up, shivering slightly. He could tell Byakuya was at least somewhat present, as underneath the molten sweet scent of preheat he could definitely detect fear and confusion. It seemed it took everything in Byakuya to not bolt and hide out of embarrassment.
Fuck. He was so cute.
Not wanting to startle the noble, Kenpachi stood up and muttered a soft “follow me” as he walked towards his captain’s barracks. He didn’t need to look behind him to know that Byakuya was following, though closer than he was before.
Upon reaching his quarters, Kenpachi led Byakuya over to the worn old sofa in the main living space. He would have taken him to his bed to rest, but figured the anxious noble would absolutely bolt. He sat down and pulled Byakuya unceremoniously onto his lap, ignoring the indignant noise that escaped the omega. Byakuya made a bit of a show trying to escape, squirming in his grasp, but Kenpachi was far stronger, and he could smell Byakuya’s scent starting to calm down with the contact, so he stayed put. Eventually Byakuya settled and let out a small huff.
Kenpachi smirked. “There you are, princess.”
Byakuya shifted so he could scowl up at Kenpachi from his seat on his lap, and Kenpachi laughed.
“Do you remember anything?”
Byakuya frowned. “I… a little. I just remember working, and then I… suddenly I was behind you.”
Kenpachi wanted to make a joke at that, but Byakuya looked so distressed at not being able to remember a chunk of the day that he just felt a stab of pity instead. He held Byakuya a little tighter.
“My scent is strong, you must’ve reacted to it, ‘specially considering you’re close to heat.”
Byakuya nodded, staying silent for a moment before speaking again. “I… I didn’t realize it would be like this. I didn’t…” he sighed softly, “I don’t even know what heats feel like.”
It was a startling admission, and one Kenpachi was sure Byakuya didn’t realize the weight of. For him to not have ever known the feeling of a heat meant that his clan likely placed him on suppressants the second he showed any signs of presenting, and that…
Well, Kenpachi supposed he now had a “noble” reason for killing a bunch of idiots at least.
“Well,” Kenpachi decided, “you can stay with me for now. Figure those clan members of yours might not be the most supportive place to be during your heat.”
Byakuya’s head snapped up to look at Kenpachi. “What?”
“What? You were followin’ me anyways!”
Byakuya looked like he wanted to protest, but seemingly decided against it and sighed. “I… If you’re sure.”
It was so unlike Byakuya to be this anxious, and Kenpachi hummed a little, the alpha inside him practically screaming to take care of the omega in his arms.
“I wouldn’t offer if I wasn’t sure. I got food, and I won’t let other alphas near you. I even got shit to make a nest if you want.”
Byakuya tensed again, and after giving him a light sniff, Kenpachi could pick up on the nervous energy.
“I haven’t nested since I was a child.”
“Well, I ain’t gonna judge your nest-making skills.” Kenpachi answered easily, though now he really wanted to rip those nobles’ throats out.
They sat on the couch in silence for a while, and Kenpachi thought for a moment that Byakuya might’ve fallen asleep when he spoke again softly.
“Thank you… for… this.” He said awkwardly.
“Yeah, yeah. Just focus on getting through your heat. Can’t fucken’ fight you like this.” Kenpachi grumbled and Byakuya let out a soft laugh, snuggling against him more easily.
“Of course.”