It Was How You Looked At Me

by CatAlex

Summary:

A 30 Kisses challenge: Byakuya and Hisana. She met him on a midnight walk and never expected what unfolded after.

Notes:

This story is not in chronological order. I will put a list at the end of the chapters in chronological order, for those who are interested.

Chapter 1: The Sound of Waves

She longed for the ocean to carry her away. But there was no ocean; she simply stared into the moonlit river, longing for something she hadn't seen in this painful afterlife. There was a strong remembrance of the waves, being on a beach with her little sister and their mother. They had been laughing… laughing so much about something, but she couldn't remember what. Their mother had gathered them in her arms, kissing them both as if they were the most precious things she owned. It was a memory that wrenched her heart and made her smile a pained smile.

All she could do was stand on a bridge and stare at the meagre ripples of the river and imagine something more powerful.

There was no escape from here, or her conscience. She had chosen to survive, and sacrificed her sister in order to do so. It tore her heart to even think of it. She had promised to live her life to the full in order to make up for giving her sister up, but here she was depressed and failing to do anything with her life.

"Rukia... I'm so sorry…" she whispered to the water.

A noise made her start and spin around. Midnight and with no weapon was a bad combination.

Along the path walked a tall, austere man. She couldn't tell if he was oblivious, or simply ignoring her presence. He was clean and handsome. Her heart sank; he clearly was someone of status. The scarf flowing around his neck looked expensive, and the hair ornament she recalled had something to do with power. And the sword… she recognised it as a zanpaku-tô. She possessed the hunger of those with spiritual power, but hers was so meagre she knew she hadn't a hope of escaping poverty through the shinigami academy.

He appeared to finally notice her, perhaps because she had been staring so intently at him with large dark blue eyes, and eyed her briefly while continuing his stroll.

"Do not taint this river with your death. The riverbank fauna would be ruined by peasants dragging you out before you infected their water supply," the man said, startling her.

"M-my death?" she blurted. She couldn't believe the man would say such a thing. Did she look like she was going to kill herself?

The man turned to her, his eyes level and cold. His blank face sent a shiver down her spine. She felt like his face was a mask he was looking through.

"What is your name?" he commanded. She didn't know what else to do, but answer him. Her eyes kept being drawn from his face to his zanpaku-tô.

"Hisana, sir."

"Hisana, you have eyes that contemplate death," he told her and continued on.

She stood in a shocked silence, watching him sink into the darkness of the trees that lined the path ahead. Hisana looked to the river and back to the nameless man. Who had he been, and why did he even say that to her?

And… his voice…

His voice… it reminded her of the calm, yet powerful, waves of the ocean.

Chapter 2: Jolt!

When their hands had brushed, Hisana had jumped as if she had received an electric shock. She was both pleased and surprised by his hand touching hers. It was a complete accident; she had dropped a chopstick and gone to retrieve it, and so had he. He was much faster and more graceful than she. His hand had swooped and took it with two fingers while her hand had jerked forward in the hope of catching it and brushed his hand. She'd jerked her hand back like he was a hot plate, blushing.

His hand had been nothing like she expected. Byakuya always had a veneer of coldness he stood behind. Part of her mind imagined his touch to be cool and unaffected, like he appeared to be. So when his warm fingers touched hers, Hisana had been decidedly surprised. The imagining had fallen away. Each day, bit by bit, her imagined Byakuya – the parts of him that had not been revealed to her, so she filled them in with her mind – was being peeled away and replaced with reality.

So far reality hadn't disappointed her.

He wasn't cold-blooded, he was warm and real.

"Here," he had said, smoothly handing her back the chopstick without touching her again. Hisana had been a little disappointed, but she hadn't the courage to purposely reach out and touch him.

"Thank you, Kuchiki-sama," she replied, head bowed.

And before she knew it, she felt his warm hand gently tilt her chin so their eyes met.

"I had hoped we were more familiar than that of a master and servant," he'd told her bluntly. He was a conundrum; there were times where he had the sort of candour only nobility could really get away with, yet could weave his words so you never guessed his true feelings. He was beginning to stand, probably to call a servant to take their food away.

"I'm sorry, Kuchiki-sama."

She couldn't help the formality of her words, but perhaps her actions could reach him. Hisana swallowed nervously. She had to act before he went away and her courage guttered out.

Her hand shot out just like when she'd tried to catch the chopstick and grabbed Byakuya's hand. He looked at her with surprise, almost seeming to wonder what her intentions were. Uncertainly, she gave his hand a squeeze and looked at him, trying to show him how she felt since her words let her down.

With a shadow of a smile he gave her hand a slight squeeze back and placed a ghost of a kiss on her fingertips before leaving to summon a servant.

Her heart had never beaten so fast.

Chapter 3: #10

It had been ten days since Hisana had first encountered the strange man on a bridge at midnight. She was no closer to guessing who he was, so she had decided to try and find out, tracing a path back from the bridge in the direction he had come from. Her curiosity had got the better of her, but she couldn't help herself.

'Damn curiosity.'

So she had set off, retracing her steps. There were several bridges along the river she'd been looking at, but after a fifteen minute walk she had found it. It looked different in the light of day; cheerful, not melancholy. Flowers she didn't know the names of swayed carefree in the breeze. Hisana supposed if the mysterious man had seen this path in the day, perhaps he couldn't imagine anyone wanting to commit suicide.

Had she really looked that way? She admitted she was less than happy that night, but she wasn't planning on jumping off the bridge.

"And anyway, that water was way too shallow," she muttered, strolling across the bridge to walk along the path the man had come from. Hisana walked for some time, taking in the countryside sights. She was surprised how long he must have walked for. And she had thought she was an insomniac.

Eventually she saw something in the distance and her heart sank. The man had walked the long rural way around the bulk of Rukongai from Seireitei. She supposed since he was from there he didn't want to mingle with the filth.

Hisana grimaced.

"We're not filth," she growled. She could imagine the man wanting a walk out of Seireitei and turning his nose up at the idea of mingling with the rabble from Rukongai, and it made her blood boil.

She was at a loss. There was no point heading to the nearest gate to Seireitei just to find out more about the man. To begin with, it was nigh impossible to breach the gates. Plus the man probably didn't care about anything below him, and so she wouldn't care about anything above her.

'The Heavens and Earth will never meet. That's what they think of us, right?' she thought, her eyes focused on the white walls of Seireitei before turning her back and walking away.

By the time she reached the bridge again, it had grown dark. Her food provision of the day consisted of an apple and water from the river. Her low amount of spiritual power meant she didn't get obscenely hungry, but one apple was barely enough to stave the hunger off for a day.

She sat next to the bridge on the riverbank, watching the river flow again. She knew nothing of this man, but her intrigue had not disappeared despite the fact he was someone she could never reach. It was his voice, she decided, that had drawn her in. It reminded her of the ocean letting her drift away.

"So you are still contemplating, Hisana?"

Hisana jumped to her feet, shocked by his silent approach. He stood on the bridge, watching her with unfeeling eyes.

"No, I have no intention of killing myself, though I suppose you think because I am so low I might as well," she snapped, blushing with anger and shock that she dared to be so outspoken against someone who had such power. Sometimes, she really couldn't help but ask for trouble.

The man looked mildly surprised, but didn't move.

"Oh? I do not recall divulging my thoughts to you."

Hisana bit her lip. She didn't know this man. She was aware she had made assumptions, but his expression, his slight air of contempt and his obvious high status made her sure she couldn't be wrong.

"I'm sorry, but I know you're from Seireitei. That means you must be a shinigami of some sort, and your hair ornament tells me you are rich or powerful," she tried to explain, but her words were beginning to fail her. He was beginning to scare her.

He looked at the sky, as if she had disappeared out of existence, before finally looking at her again.

"You are completely right. But I do not think I should be interrogated when all I wish to do is walk."

Hisana contemplated this. She slowly approached him, eyeing the sword as if he was going to strike at any moment. He made no move, simply watching her draw closer.

"May I ask your name?" she said uncertainly. She cursed her curiosity. If she was going to learn what he thought of the people of Rukongai, she needed to know his name and restrain her judgments.

"I am Byakuya Kuchiki, head of the noble Kuchiki family," he said simply.

Hisana began to feel rather sick, wishing she hadn't spent those ten days building up a fantasy of what the man called Byakuya was like. Imagined smiles, conversation… even kisses. To imagine such a thing had been folly, she now realised.

Ten days of lies ached in her heart.

Chapter 4: The Road Home

They walked together in the night. Their moonlit walks were becoming a daily occurrence. Hisana was amazed they had time to function during the day since they used up so much of the night walking and talking.

Hisana found Byakuya Kuchiki to be intelligent, interesting, collected and yet passionate about certain things. He made her forget her troubles and enjoy the world, if for only for the few hours they spent together. She wondered what he saw in her, if anything. He spoke to her without class getting in the way, though her awareness of his status never diminished. They were not that familiar with each other. She called him 'Kuchiki-sama' would not dare call him anything else. Hisana's imagination did still like to run away with her and, on occasion, she would imagine calling him Byakuya. It made her shiver with the feeling of something inconceivable.

"I better be going back to Seireitei before the house discovers me gone. I shall never hear the end of it, otherwise," Byakuya said. They had been heading back to the bridge that served as their meeting place for some minutes, but now it came into sight their time to part had come.

Hisana always found herself becoming awkward at this point in their nightly meetings. She considered him a friend, but was unsure how he would react to… anything, really. She wished she had the guts to do something, but her courage failed her every time.

"Even with your power, you still are controlled?" she asked, desperate to keep him there if only a minute longer. He halted on the bridge, turning to face her. His eyes were sad, though the rest of his face was belied nothing.

"Of course. We are all under some form of control. But that is something to discuss another time. Goodnight, Hisana," he said, giving a slight bow of his head.

"Goodnight, Kuchiki-sama," she replied, bowing lower than he before straightening and watching him walk away.

Her heart cried for her to do something, anything, but she didn't know what to do.

"Kuchiki-sama!" she suddenly called out, and he slowly turned.

"Yes?"

She became flustered, coming over to him. Her hands fidgeted while her mind raced. What was she thinking?

"Thank you for talking to me," she blurted, before standing on tiptoes to briefly hug him. Her lips had brushed against his expensive scarf, feeling the silky smoothness of it. Hisana registered the fact Byakuya had completely frozen. She prayed it was from shock, and not horror.

Without looking at him, she let go and departed, giving a wave. When she was sure he wouldn't be able to see her, she ran as fast as she could.

Chapter 5: News; Letter

The Kuchiki house was a constant place of wonder for Hisana. She could stay here for years and the novelty would never wear off, she was sure. When Byakuya had first brought her here, she hadn't remembered the event very well, being in a less than fit state to do anything. One of the few things she had remembered were words he had whispered in the night as she lay there, feeling like she was going to die, and the half-remembered, half-dreamed kiss placed on her forehead. But once she'd got back to her feet again, she couldn't stop wandering around and trying to restrain herself from touching everything she saw.

She remembered Byakuya watching her with that hint of a smile which was the closest he ever got to smiling as she kept reaching out and then pulling her hands away from the furniture, works of art and vases. Eventually he had picked up what he said was one of the most expensive urns the Kuchiki family possessed and placed it in her arms. Hisana had been pleased by his gesture; he really did trust her.

And now she was sitting in a room where food had been served. Hisana hadn't missed the slightly confused and dark looks she had received from servants. She was dressed in clothes provided by Byakuya simply because her original clothes were ruined. They were nothing special, nor did she want anything as embarrassing as an expensive flowery kimono.

And now she sat picking at her food, wondering what was going to happen to her now. It was too quiet. During the day she was used to the hustle and bustle of Rukongai, trying to live, trying to find Rukia. Byakuya's house had a feeling of unsettling stillness, of never changing.

Before she could develop her thoughts and thoroughly scare herself, Byakuya entered the room, looking grave.

"I have some news," he said, joining her at the table.

Hisana froze. Rukia had been found? Any news made her think of her sister. She was determined to right her wrong. But she knew he had no particular knowledge on her situation. What she had told him had been basic and curtailed, her guilt too much to fully confess her crime. Her mind was racing to think what he could tell her. Probably her time here had come to an end; she was healed up and back to full health, so there was no need for her to stay.

Her silence while she thought made Byakuya continue.

"The house has spoken with me, and they are not happy with your presence. They are worried my friendship with you is a threat to the integrity of the family," he said emotionlessly. As usual, his expression barely gave a thing away. Hisana understood; she was a burden.

She stood, giving Byakuya a bow.

"I'm sorry for troubling you. I'll go, Kuchiki-sama," she told him, and wondered how she got out of the house, when she was stilled by his hand on her shoulder. He turned her to face him.

"Hisana, you have not troubled me. You are welcome here whenever you wish, though I may not always be here." His words made her stomach flop. Did he really feel that way?

He removed his hand and turned to go.

"If you are not here, I shall see you tonight." And he left her.

She knew there was no place for her here, and so she too left. There were still many hours of light left to search Rukongai. Then they could talk.

Chapter 6: Invincible; Unrivalled

He had scared her when he showed his powers as a shinigami. He explained he was under a captain's tutelage. That was enough to indicate to her how strong he was. Her ability to sense reiatsu hadn't missed the fact that even suppressed he appeared to generate an unbelievable amount of spiritual energy.

They had spent an evening in conversation, informal and light. Hisana had found herself revealing, in small pieces, parts of her life in Rukongai. Byakuya listened, though said nothing. It had felt bordering on therapeutic for her, though she still carefully guarded parts of herself from him. Until she was certain, she couldn't let herself go completely. For no matter how she felt for Byakuya, he was still far out of her league in terms of status. Hisana never forgot that.

Towards the end of their talk, Byakuya had brought up the fact he was a shinigami and she had been interested. She asked him what it was like. Hisana liked how he calmly explained things, yet when it was something he enjoyed there was an extra spark in his voice that she loved. His job as a shinigami quickly emerged to be a great love of his by the tone of his voice.

And then he said something that had surprised her.

"May I show you, Hisana?"

Her mouth almost dropped open at that. She liked hearing about it, but swords were a symbol of fear for her. In Rukongai, all eyes were kept out for swords, and when seen it was time to disappear fast. Still, it was Byakuya, and she was sure he wouldn't harm her, so she agreed.

He led her out onto the veranda where the gardens stretched out and Hisana nervously followed. Her eyes couldn't leave the sword at his hip.

It was dark, but there was a small amount of moonlight that highlighted everything. Hisana didn't know what to do. Suddenly he turned and stepped closer to her.

"Do you trust me, Hisana?"

Even though the rest of his face made his question look like statement, implying it was a mere formality and he assumed she did trust him, his eyes wouldn't shift from hers, reaching out to her. She could see the need for him to hear those words. The blade he possessed frightened her, but it was in his hands. She trusted those hands.

"I trust you… Byakuya-sama."

Hisana wasn't sure whether he was more surprised that she did trust him, or she trusted him enough to drop a little of her iron will formality with him. She told herself there was no-one around to chastise her but him. And if he trusted her, then he would not rebuke her.

His lips tilted up slightly, his blue-grey eyes shining in the faint light of the half moon. It made her heart melt.

He stepped back and drew out his zanpaku-tô. She watched as he held it straight up, closing his eyes. Hisana remained motionless, holding her breath while waiting to see what would happen. She felt his reiatsu begin to rise and was on alert.

"Chire, Senbonzakura," he murmured and his sword began to disintegrate into what looked like glowing pink petals.

'It was a blade just now,' she told herself, 'and it still is one.'

There was no wind, but the petal-like shapes began to spin around Byakuya, shedding light onto him. He finally opened his eyes.

"This is my zanpaku-tô, Senbonzakura. In less than a decade, I hope to have achieved bankai and pass the captaincy exam," he paused for a moment, watching Hisana carefully, "Sometimes it is nice to just enjoy having a gift and not simply train with it. What do you think?"

Hisana still couldn't bear to move, but appreciated the sight. Byakuya looked to her like some kind of immortal deity, shining in his zanpaku-tô's dancing hue.

"It's… beautiful. But…" her words caught in her throat. He searched her face and his expression told her he had come to a conclusion.

"You are frightened by it. It is alright; you have a right to be. Senbonzakura may look beautiful, but they are razor sharp blades dancing through the air. However, they are in my control. If you trust me, I wish you to relax. I won't let you come to harm." His eyes bore into hers intensely. The tension of such a make-or-break moment was almost tangible.

She closed her eyes and drew breath, spreading her arms out. And waited.

Ticklish at first, she felt his zanpaku-tô swirl around her. She didn't dare open her eyes yet, until she was certain she wouldn't be harmed. Hisana told herself she just had to wait and trust, even if at the moment it was one of the hardest things she had done next to abandoning her sister.

The curved flat edges of his blades caressed her skin, and she tried desperately not to shiver, lest she get cut. They felt like brief, cool kisses on her bare skin. Was this a show of control and power over her? Or a show of trust? Hisana prayed it would be over soon.

Slowly, she opened her eyes, hoping Byakuya would see her expression and draw his zanpaku-tô away. The sight was astonishing. A handful of the petal shaped blades faintly glowed and drifted around her. It had felt like she had been engulfed by a myriad of them, not such a small amount. Stretching out from the group lazily spinning around her was a trail that led to Byakuya where the rest of his zanpaku-tô drifted. He had been gentle, when she expected him to test her by engulfing her.

"Thank you," she whispered, lowering her arms. The handful of Senbonzakura swirled one last time around Hisana before returning to their master. Byakuya silently reformed his zanpaku-tô and sheathed it.

He looked a little disturbed, but she wasn't sure why. Then she noticed her hands. They were trembling terribly.

She knew he was not at his full power yet, and that sufficiently alarmed her. To her, he was already of incredible power, and couldn't imagine anyone rivalling him in this reiatsu he was releasing.

Byakuya silently approached her and embraced her. It was the closest she had witnessed him getting to sorry. Relieved, she hugged him back, and was content to let the incident go.

Chapter 7: Superstar

They walked together through Seireitei, side by side, man and wife. Hisana couldn't ignore the amount of attention they were receiving. The amount of attention he was receiving, she corrected herself. Especially the female shinigami, though there were a fair amount of men looking on as well. Perhaps it was because he was a noble?

"Are you some kind of celebrity?" she asked quietly, trying to keep the conversation as private as possible. Byakuya was calmly serene, instead of uptight calm, his arm linked with hers. It comforted her. All the eyes on them were making her feel uncomfortable. She had just wanted to see Seireitei in the light of day and not from some stuffy regal coach. Hisana was now beginning to regret that decision.

"No. My status just makes lower shinigami treat me with respect," he explained, but Hisana frowned slightly.

"Byakuya-sama, these people aren't staring at you because of your status. Well, perhaps a little, but I think there's something else behind this." Hisana spotted what she was looking for. A group of female shinigami looking between her and Byakuya, muttering amongst themselves and scowling.

"It's because you're handsome, and probably because you're rich. I think people are a little envious," she continued, glancing at Byakuya to see his reaction. He looked blank, then mildly confused and surprised before returning to an unaffected expression.

"I see. I never concerned myself about it before. Does it matter?"

She shook her head and gave him a smile.

"Of course not. Now kiss me in public to prove you're off the market," she said in an innocent tone.

She grinned when Byakuya's eyes widened comically. Hisana loved it when he was caught off guard. His expression was truly priceless.

"What?" he choked out, looking at her as if she had lost it. Hisana merely smiled sweetly.

"You heard me."

She could see he didn't know what to do and found it rather delightful, though she felt a little guilty putting him in such a situation. Byakuya was one of the most private people she had ever met and such a public display of affection could have been too much for him. Everyone has their weaknesses, and his was being exposed before her eyes.

"Hisana… you cannot be serious," he attempted to divert her attention, but it failed spectacularly.

"Then I will," she decided, and planted a chaste kiss on his lips. She thought if it was too much he may never forgive her.

The area around them became rather quiet and Hisana drew back and sighed. Living with a shinigami superstar could prove rather difficult.

Chapter 8: Red

The bridge meetings were her guilty pleasure. After a day of surviving and searching was over, she considered this her reward; to speak to this slightly mysterious man known as Byakuya Kuchiki, shinigami and noble.

She was aware she was walking a tightrope - that things couldn't last. But for time being she was content and that was enough. One of her greatest fears was letting these feelings for him build up too much. Hisana was already cursing herself for already considering the boundaries outside of friendship. Even their friendship should be judged as tentative, but she knew there was something there that she craved.

Hisana sighed, watching the water and thinking of Byakuya's voice. She was getting in too deep, but she couldn't help herself. She liked him a lot, and a small practical part of her mind she tried to bury considered the money he had and the life she could lead if… if…

But that's all it was, if. She couldn't let herself forget that. It irritated her that she still hadn't got to the bottom of why he spoke to her, knowing her lowly status. What was it about her that he liked? Surely he liked her, otherwise why would he come out for these chats and walks?

"What's a pretty thing like you doin' here?" a gruff voice asked and Hisana spun to see a trio of men leering from the path that led to Rukongai. So, she had finally been found out. It had always been a risk coming out to an exposed area like this just to think and to meet Byakuya, but it had been a price she'd been happy to pay. Now she was beginning to feel sick. She was weaponless and helpless.

Adrenaline pumping, she took a step back.

"What do you want?" she growled, praying she'd find a weapon, Byakuya would show up or the men would decide she had nothing of worth and left her. None of them seemed likely.

The man a little ahead of the other two set foot on the bridge, lifting the heavy stick in his right hand. She told herself that it was worse than a rod, better than a sword.

"You want to hand over your goods, woman. You trade here with a guy from Seireitei, right? Must have some nice things to trade with bastards like that," he said, grinning horribly. It irritated her that she'd been caught out. It irritated her even more, that they had caught onto her too late. She didn't even have anything to bargain with anymore.

"I don't trade with anyone! I have nothing, so don't bother!" she spat, wondering if she could outrun them. Unlikely.

"We've seen you talk to that guy, so lying is useless. And if you haven't got the goods, then I'm sure we can think up a price for you to pay."

"For what? I owe you thugs nothing!"

"Oh, now that wasn't nice, was it? For that… you've made your punishment so much worse."

And with that, he leapt forward, motioning for the other two to charge with him. A scream escaped Hisana and she began to sprint, trying to think of a plan. Could she lose them? Her eyes darted around her surroundings. There was nothing to lose herself in, no clusters of trees or bushes, just grassland and flowers.

The leader caught up with her and lashed out with his stick, knocking Hisana's feet out from under her. She yelped and crashed hard to the ground, splitting her lip and found the wind had been knocked out of her. Gasping for breath, she struggled to move, but was swiftly struck again. The pain shot through her legs like an electric shock. They were making sure she couldn't run.

"You shouldn't have let one of those Seireitei bastards near you, bitch. Rukongai doesn't need high and mighty scum like that," he murmured before striking her again. The other two were weaponless, but kicked her when their leader drew back. Hisana screamed.

She curled into a ball, eyes squeezed shut, desperate to shut the shocks of pain wracking her body. She realised her mind was starting to blank out and her eyes shot open. She could see a small patch of grass and a boot.

But the fringes of her vision were darkening. There was nothing she could do. Her eyes slid shut.

"Way of binding, number nine – geki!" she faintly heard, and then knew no more.

---

Byakuya looked impassive, but he could feel his blood begin to boil. His eyes moved between the frozen forms of the three attackers to Hisana's curled up unconscious form. He strictly forbade himself to run over to her, so instead sent a cold glare to each man while contemplating how to punish them.

 

"Death is too good for you," he said slowly, gracefully crossing the expanse of grass to Hisana. He would not show anything in front of these men.

"But perhaps… a limb each?"

He savoured the fear emanating from them before utilising his shun-po to flash in front of them and smoothly knock them out. He wanted his face to be the last thing they saw before they experienced the same pain and unconsciousness Hisana had.

And once they had fallen, he allowed himself to show his concern for Hisana. In an instant he was knelt beside her body. Tentatively, he reached out and pulled her shoulder so she rolled on to her back.

She was in bad shape. He wiped the blood that trickled from her lip, frowning. Gently, he scooped her up into his arms and held her close. He noticed how small, how fragile she was. Yet she lived in Rukongai every day and survived.

"I will not let you down," he told her.

Sometimes he could only say things when he knew no-one was listening.

---

Her eyes were heavy, but Hisana dragged them open. She was indoors and it was dark.

 

"… What?" her voice rasped.

A shadow came forward and fear shot through her. She couldn't move, save her hand jerking away, for all the good it would do.

"It's me, Hisana," whispered Byakuya.

Hisana could feel tears of relief well. Her mind felt so jumbled, and her entire body ached. But his voice reassured her. Everything was going to be alright. She didn't feel like talking, content to listen to him, if he had anything to say.

"Don't cry; those three bastards don't deserve your tears. They have been dealt with," he said softly, "To say I was surprised when I came upon that scene would likely be an understatement. I… cannot imagine what would have happened if I hadn't arrived then."

She wished she could thank him, but her eyes refused to open again, let alone her mouth work. Her body felt like it wouldn't ever move again.

"I'll let you rest and check on you later."

Her mind started to return to the comfortable darkness of slumber, when she felt Byakuya place a kiss on her forehead. It was so brief, and she was so tired, she wasn't sure whether she imagined it or not.

Imagined or not, she was comforted, and slept.

Chapter 9: Good Night

It was dark, there was no moon, and it hadn't stopped raining in three hours. Hisana was soaked, but still sat at the bridge, waiting. Her legs dangled through the wooden slats of the bridge over the rushing water. He probably wouldn't come in this weather, and didn't expect her to turn up either. He could afford an umbrella.

'He could afford a whole coach to get him around without getting wet,' she thought sourly, watching the river gush along with the extra water flow.

'Even if he didn't come, that was fine,' she told herself. 'They were fair weather meetings, which was reasonable enough. Walking without some form of protection against the rain could be irritating. But he could afford an umbrella. And we could walk together under it and talk. I could say I was cold and get closer to him…'

"What am I thinking?" she moaned, banging her head against the bridge.

"I'm afraid I don't have the ability to read minds."

She shrieked and leapt to her feet. There Byakuya stood with an umbrella, looking dry and unruffled. Hisana couldn't believe her eyes.

"You came, Kuchiki-sama?"

"I am here, aren't I?" He raised an eyebrow and Hisana felt a slight blush tinge her face.

"Thank you, Kuchiki-sama."

"There is no need to thank me. I came because I wanted to," he informed her, and motioned for her to join him. Hisana gladly came under the umbrella, though it was rather late. She was cold, and a little miserable, but he did manage to brighten her world.

"Nice weather, isn't it?" she said with a smile and Byakuya nodded.

"Indeed."

Their conversations weren't usually so awkward. Hisana blamed the fact that being soaked really shattered the mood. Although she wanted to see Byakuya, she didn't feel particularly like speaking with him. Silently walking with him, perhaps trying to think up a plausible excuse to hold on to him, but not talk. It made her feel silly.

"If you don't mind, can we just walk for a little while?" she asked, eyeing the dark clouds. Byakuya nodded and they continued on wordlessly. Hisana could feel herself begin to shiver now she was out of the rain, but tried to put it out of mind. She could worry about it after he was gone.

"Come here," he said suddenly, and put an arm around her. Her eyes widened, but she couldn't think of anything to say. She bit her lip to stop herself grinning like an idiot and allowed herself to enjoy the warmth his arm provided.

They walked along the river bank, but Hisana wasn't looking at anything. Her mind kept focusing on the contact she shared with Byakuya. The distraction was more than welcome.

Their walk came to an end and Hisana found herself awkward all over again. Byakuya gently removed his arm before handing her the umbrella.

"Hold this a moment, please," he requested. She held it, wondering what he was doing. He had been wearing a plain black haori, which he now was taking off. He swapped the umbrella with the haori.

"You're freezing, so put that on," he instructed. Hisana stood surprised for a moment before putting it on. It was too long for her, but it kept her body warm. Byakuya nodded in approval before handing her the umbrella again.

"Goodnight. I shall see you soon," he said and took her cold and slightly damp hand, placing a kiss on it.

Her hands were too cold to register the light pressure of his lips before he departed, let alone the shock she was in. Had that really happened? What did it mean for them?

She was even more shocked when he walked several paces before blurring and disappearing altogether. Was that some shinigami power?

"Life sure likes being complicated," she told the sky.

It didn't listen.

Chapter 10: Excessive Chain

It began with a letter.

 

Byakuya Kuchiki stood on the bridge he was accustomed to meeting Hisana at and found a letter addressed to him. It was from Hisana explaining that she couldn’t let him keep coming out at night to talk to her, that she was angering his house and didn’t want him to get into trouble because she was a resident of Rukongai.

 

He observed the letter with his usual unaffected manner before placing the letter in his robes and using shun-po to leave. Hisana peered from her hiding spot up on a roof a few buildings away and felt her heart grow heavy. She sat back and looked up at the moon. It was so large and milky white. It made the night beautiful, even though Hisana couldn’t bear to look at any of it.

 

‘It was for the best. He was suffering unnecessarily because of me. And… I’m not even sure what we were anyway. And it wouldn’t have become anything; we were from two different worlds. It would never have been allowed,’ her thoughts deluged through her head. Her rationalisation made her sigh heavily.

 

“Time to let things go,” she whispered, getting up.

 

She turned and stopped short. Directly behind her was a letter. Hisana began to feel sick with fear and excitement.

 

‘Had he really…?’

 

Hisana picked the letter up and carefully unfolded it, looking around for any sign of Byakuya. She was sure no-one else could have done it.

 

Hisana,

 

Your letter was thoughtful, but ultimately a lie. If you truly held to your words, why would you watch me from that roof?

 

Her face contorted with cursing herself. She should have known better, but she couldn’t help herself. Hisana stopped scrunching her eyes from berating herself and returned to the letter.

 

Shall this become a game we play? I don’t think I will find it particularly interesting if I spend my nights searching Rukongai for your hiding place.

 

Tomorrow,

 

Byakuya Kuchiki

 

Hisana sighed. Even in letters he couldn’t admit how he felt about her. If he really wanted to see her again, he should have put it in this letter. But he was too proud for that, which she was well aware of. Too aware. She also noted the cheek of putting his full name, as if she didn’t know who he was! He was the one who had pointed out she still spoke to him as if he was her master, indirectly hinting he wished she would address him more informally. It was probably because she referred to him by surname in the letter she had left.

 

“Well, if I have to hide in Rukongai to get you to give up and live the peaceful life you were meant to, Kuchiki-sama, then I’ll play,” she muttered, climbing down from the roof.

 

She was sure he’d underestimated her skills to hide in the sprawling mass that was Rukongai. Planning for tomorrow night, she disappeared into the dark.

 

---

 

Byakuya returned the next night to once again find the bridge deserted with a letter. He forced a sigh away and opened it up.

 

Kuchiki-sama,

 

Your letter was a surprise, but don’t think that’s put me off my intentions. Find me if you want to, but don’t think it’s easy. Live a peaceful life and forget about me – it’ll save you so much trouble in the long run.

 

Hisana.

 

Certain he was alone, he sighed. Hisana was troublesome. When would she realise how he felt? He didn’t hold long nightly conversations with just anyone, nor did he pursue people he didn’t care about, unless they harmed him or someone he cared about in some manner. He couldn’t understand what her problem was, as any effect the house had on him would not affect her at all. She had nothing to worry about, and he was the head of the house. The house could complain all they liked, but if Byakuya had set his mind on something, it could not be changed by anything but himself.

 

He put the letter in his robes and focused on the reiatsu in the air. Though she had lied in her first letter, so had he, Byakuya admitted. The game they had started would be exceedingly interesting. He had spent so much time with her he knew what her reiatsu felt like, regardless of how weak it was.

 

Byakuya could tell she had decided to run far, but shun-po made travelling around Rukongai child’s play. It only took him an hour to pick three spots to sense reiatsu in order to triangulate her location. Then he silently approached.

 

Sure enough, she was on someone’s balcony, clearly on high alert. She couldn’t see him, and he knew she was incapable of sensing his reiatsu when he wanted to conceal it. He stood serenely on the roof he spied her from and took out a letter he had already written. With ease he used shun-po to appear behind her, put down the letter and disappear. He waited for her to notice the letter, apparently panic, then settle down and read the letter, before returning to Seireitei.

 

---

 

And so it went on. Hisana couldn’t believe how quickly he found her, or how he could place his letters so close to her without her noticing. It was the fourth night and the letters had become increasingly more angry and candid on her end, while his retained his composure. This only served to make her even angrier. She ranted about how he would never say what he really meant and that if he would just explain how he stood with her, then it would make the whole situation easier. Hisana told herself she said that so she could hear that he considered her a friend and then she could leave him and rest in peace. She tried to ignore the part of her that hoped that he would tell her he wanted her as something more.

 

His letters only restated that he was bored by her game and would see her at the bridge the next night. And nothing more; never anything more. Hisana was sure this was a sign he just wanted the person he spoke to back to continue on as before, even when she wanted something different.

 

She finally decided that writing a letter had been a mistake and that she should have told him in person. So that night she waited at the bridge. She readied herself to explain why she had to leave him alone and for him to respect her wishes before walking away. And that would be that.

 

The night was cloudy and dull. It was difficult to see, and it put her on edge. The incident that occurred at the bridge never left her. The fear and pain wrenched at her heart when she let herself think about it for even a moment. She turned her mind back on to what she would say to Byakuya.

 

“You finally decided that the game was up.” Hisana spun around and found Byakuya at the edge of the bridge.

 

“Kuchiki-sama! I…” but her words had completely left her.

 

He approached and Hisana panicked over what she should do.

 

“I found your letters rather… informative,” he told her, and she cringed. It was so easy for her to vent her feelings when he wasn’t there talking to her.

 

“So you wish me to ‘say what I mean, dammit’?” he smoothly quoted, now only inches away from Hisana. She opened her mouth, despite not having anything come to her mind to say. Should she apologise, or say that she would go – she couldn’t think. He was looming over her, his blue-grey eyes focused on her own. It was slightly scary. She couldn’t look away.

 

Byakuya appeared to note her inability to speak or react and decided to continue.

 

“I am afraid I’m not very good at ‘just telling the plain truth’, though I was surprised that my ‘fancy truth’ makes you uncertain what I mean. However…”

 

He stepped forward and Hisana stepped back. He gave her a blank look before relaxing and stepping forward again. Without preamble, he drew her into his arms and kissed her. Hisana wasn’t sure how long the kiss lasted, nor did she care. She was too lost in it, and too lost wondering what was happening.

 

‘Where… did this come from?’ she vaguely thought before his lips drew away. His hands absently slid to her waist before he finally let her go.

 

“Did you ever consider that actions speak louder than words?”

Chapter 11: "Ano sa..."

Byakuya had been allowed to take the rest of his paperwork home for the evening, and now sat working in his study. Hisana was tired from searching Rukongai yet again, and wasn't content to rest somewhere alone, so was stretched out on the floor with a cushion. She wasn't a fan of napping, so just lay there, watching Byakuya work. He was like a machine, writing reports, looking over documents and signing forms. And he appeared completely oblivious to the rest of the world.

As such, Hisana couldn't resist this opportunity.

"Did you hear me scream this morning? I tripped on Senbonzakura and almost took a toe off," she said casually, letting her gaze drift over to Byakuya.

"Mmn," he grunted, carrying on his writing without even a flicker of noticing anything amiss.

Hisana sighed and sat up.

"I also tried to get honorary membership of that new Shinigami Women's Association they recently formed, but they wouldn't let me because I was married to you and not a shinigami. They told me with a hot man like you for a husband, I didn't need to think up ways to track handsome captains down and mercilessly take photos of them, or force interviews out of them. They said they'd wait until you were a captain and use me as a secret weapon to get photos and interviews out of you. I said I was happy to."

The speech failed to affect Byakuya.

She scooted closer so she was only a few feet from his desk. His face was placid as he shuffled some papers and put them to the side before drawing a new pile towards him. She couldn't help but roll her eyes and came closer until she was right in front of his desk.

"I'm secretly having an affair with the head of one of the other four noble families," she explained, trying to sound as guilty as possible.

He looked up with a baffled expression. Clearly she didn't know two of the heads were extremely old and the one who had been gone almost half a century was a woman.

She took the opportunity to kiss him. He relaxed, caressing her cheek before pulling back and picking up another mound of papers.

"It took an affair to make you pay attention?" she asked and Byakuya gave her a smirk.

"Who said I wasn't paying attention? Did you really say you would help the Shinigami Women's Association when I become captain?"

She grinned, placing her hands on his shoulders and leaning closer.

"Afraid so, Byakuya. Unless, of course I'm given a reason not to."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Is blackmail sufficient?"

Hisana narrowed her eyes and he sighed, putting the papers to one side and standing, pulling Hisana into his arms. He headed to their bedroom.

"With the duties a husband gets from his wife, it's a wonder I get anything done…"

Chapter 12: Look Over Here

Hisana found it so hard to restrain herself from just running around these gardens like a maniac, trying to take in every sight, sound and smell.

Byakuya had been invited to dinner with his senpai, Captain Jûshirô Ukitake and, being his wife, was invited too. She had been rather frightened by the prospect of meeting and dining with a powerful shinigami captain, but when she met Jûshirô Ukitake she realised she had got completely the wrong image in her head. Not that she was sure what she imagined what the man who mentored Byakuya looked like. It had been a half-formed idea of a tall, stern and old man. Though he was tall, he was more polite and easygoing than stern. As for age… from what she heard, he was pretty damn old in term of years, but the only real signs of age were his hair, and she knew that was from illness rather than age.

She liked him as soon as she realised her error, and had been relaxed in the man's company during the rest of the evening. But Byakuya was proving another story.

Hisana wandered along the stepping stone path, pausing to examine more of the beautiful flora the thirteenth division possessed, and surreptitiously eyed Byakuya talking with Captain Ukitake on the veranda.

He had been uptight from the moment they set foot out of the Kuchiki grounds. She was aware that he wanted to make a good impression, appear like captain material, to be a model shinigami. But he had upped the aloofness she encountered when she first met him to levels even she could barely tolerate. It was like a barrier he put up she didn't dare touch. She couldn't speak with him this way; it made her uncomfortable and awkward.

And if Captain Ukitake was anything to go by, there was no requirement of appearing unapproachable to be a captain. She didn't think she'd met a more easygoing man in Seireitei, though she hadn't met many people who were in the Gotei Thirteen.

Hisana didn't know what to do or think, really. So she contented herself to looking at the gardens while she thought about how to deal with Byakuya. It felt odd, Byakuya barely saying anything, while she and Captain Ukitake chatted about all sorts of things. She worried she was showing Byakuya up, since she had no idea how to act. It was meant to be an informal dinner, but had turned into a nightmare of conduct for Hisana.

"Hisana-san! Would you care to join us for some evening sake before we part?" called Captain Ukitake. Hisana bit her lip. She knew she couldn't stay out here forever, no matter how attractive the idea seemed.

"I would be honoured, Captain Ukitake," she replied, walking over to the veranda to join them.

Captain Ukitake went to get the sake, leaving the couple to sit tensely.

"Byakuya-sama…" she began and saw him frown, but not look at her.

"Byakuya…" she started again and he relaxed a fraction, "can we talk later?"

She cursed herself for not having the guts to discuss it then, but she worried about Captain Ukitake walking into a marital quarrel.

'Now that would make for an uncomfortable situation,' she thought, waiting for Byakuya to react.

"Very well."

Impulsively, she waved a hand in front of his face, but he refused to take the bait. He simply calmly, coldly stared out at the gardens.

"Will you look over here? Where your wife is sitting at the moment, planning to take drastic action if you don't," she said, trying to lighten the tense air.

"Here we go!" cried Captain Ukitake, stepping out onto the veranda with sake and cups. Both Byakuya and Hisana's gaze flew to the Captain, startled. Jûshirô wasn't completely oblivious to the situation, but tried to make the best of it. He sat with a slightly strained smile and poured the drinks.

Hisana wasn't much of a drinker, not ever being rich enough to afford such a commodity. So the drink hit her pretty hard. After her second, she refused a third, her head spinning. She ended up trying to sit very still, determined not to let a lack of sobriety stand in the way of good conduct. What she wasn't aware was she couldn't hide the fact she wasn't in the best condition, as she swayed a little and appeared quickly distracted by the slightest of things.

Captain Ukitake and Byakuya had spoken some more, but were becoming more aware of Hisana's deteriorating condition. Ukitake smiled brightly and patted Byakuya on the shoulder.

"I think it may be time for bed, Byakuya-kun. Hisana-san is looking a little off-kilter. It's nice that she's not used to alcohol. Too much is bad for you and all that."

Byakuya scowled. Even his Captain wasn't precisely sober anymore, but then again had drunk almost triple the amount Hisana had, and double the amount he had.

"Yes, we shall depart. Thank you for your hospitality, Captain Ukitake," Byakuya said, standing along with Jûshirô.

Hisana finally noticed the other two were standing and tried to jump to her feet, unacquainted with the jelly-like condition of her legs. She wobbled, stumbling backwards and hit the side of the house. She used the wall to steady herself and wished she'd refused the drink altogether.

Byakuya had a look of contained annoyance, but said nothing. Captain Ukitake led them to the front of his house and Byakuya thanked him once more before taking a firm hold of Hisana's arm and departing.

As they walked, Hisana realised they had left and looked at her husband.

He still wasn't looking at her, keeping his eyes trained straight ahead. She noticed his hand gripping her arm and wrenched it out of his grasp.

"People who don't look at me, don't get to touch me," she snapped, wondering where in Seireitei they were. Seireitei was completely unfamiliar territory for her; she didn't think she'd ever get used to it.

"I apologise," he said monotonously and Hisana scoffed.

"Thanks for that genuine act of remorse."

He finally looked at her and she paid attention. His eyes shone in the light and she was surprised to find he didn't look angry, but genuinely sorrowful. Her mouth dropped open slightly before she gathered herself.

"Byakuya… what was that all about?" she questioned, gently laying a hand on his arm.

"I try too hard," he responded plainly.

They reached the Kuchiki house and entered, heading straight for their bedroom. Hisana watched him change into nightwear, thinking about his actions.

'He really was trying too hard. He puts on this act and it forces everyone away from him. You dare not even think about approaching him, let alone touch him. Is that really what he wants if he becomes a captain? To be forever trapped as this untouchable, distant figure of fear? It's so… sad he has to act that way. Maybe it's too late for him to change.'

She sighed heavily. Her body was feeling heavy with alcohol induced stupor. Hisana looked up and found Byakuya was standing, watching her. He silently approached and she wondered what he was going to do.

"The alcohol is probably making you really tired, isn't it?" he said in more of a statement than a question. Too tired to say anything, she simply nodded.

"I'll help you."

He kissed her reassuringly and Hisana's eyes slid shut. She felt him fumble for her nightclothes and knew that the incident would probably never be resolved.

For now, she didn't care.

Chapter 13: Candy

"You see," Hisana explained, "the trick is the timing. Too early and you may just run out before you can make your escape. Too late and you've already been convinced to dress up as the ugly stepsister and put on the closest alternative to lipstick, or run around for two hours with a child and their dog on your back."

Byakuya listened with interest. Since becoming his wife, she had taken to buying candy for children in Rukongai while she searched for her sister. It apparently served as a distraction while she searched. He had been intrigued by her quest, though she would never permit him to help. She firmly told him she knew Rukongai better than he could ever hope and it was her responsibility.

"I see," he said, "May I see this in effect?"

Hisana examined his expression for a minute before replying.

"And you won't intervene when I leave to carry on looking, will you?" He saw her steely resolve and slightly bowed his head.

"I swear on the house of Kuchiki that I shall not interfere with your search."

She nodded with a smile.

"Deal."

---

He had never seen so many children at one time. It was a little overwhelming. Little rabbles of them were all over the place, chatting, playing, screaming, laughing…

 

"Hisana, are you sure these tactics of yours will work on such a large group?" he asked, a little apprehensive. Hisana gave him a bright smile, handing him candy before strolling forward confidently.

"It's the Hisana lady!" one of the kids yelled, pointing. Immediately a crowd began to form and Hisana grinned. She loved how lively they all were. They were a welcome contrast to the quiet stillness of Seireitei.

She had a sharp eye and saw a nearby child open his mouth for a request. Lightning quick, she drew some candy out of a sleeve and popped it into the boy's mouth. Distracted, he fell back and Hisana glanced at Byakuya.

'It's easy!' she mouthed to him and he took a step forward.

Concealed candy: check. Quick reflexes: check. The ability to deal with children: yet to be confirmed.

He saw the kids eye him and begin to cautiously approach. His expressionless face probably didn't help.

"Remember the trick is to lure them in and then send them on their way. Then both parties are happy. You'll never get rid of candy with a scowl," he recalled her saying as they walked out of Seireitei to Rukongai.

As the children cautiously approached, he smiled. Hisana gave him an encouraging nod before returning to her own gaggle of children. The children near him began gathering around.

"Mister-" one began, but he reacted fast and shoved some candy in the girl's direction. The children's excitement grew when he revealed the candy and crowded closer.

Hisana had satisfied her horde of children and left them to check on Byakuya. The look of growing panic on his face was something she'd never forget, or let him forget. Her mouth dropped open when, in an act of desperation, he threw the candy away from him. As Byakuya had hoped, the children ran after it, leaving him to consider his actions.

"… That was a little extreme, wasn't it?" Hisana teased.

Byakuya shook his head and went to move on. Hisana joined him, but was unable to hide her grin.

"I panicked. Happy?" he said, glancing at her. She shook her head and linked arms with him.

"Byakuya, that was priceless. With practice, you'll make a good candy giver. I'm certain," she assured him, giving him a quick kiss.

She pulled back, looking curiously confused.

"Did you eat some of the candy?"

He said nothing, his face becoming even more pokerfaced than usual, and Hisana laughed uncontrollably.

'Every adult has a child within. Even him,' she reminded herself.

Chapter 14: If Only I Could Make You Mine

To say Hisana was envious was an understatement. The moment she had seen Byakuya's formal Kuchiki family haori, she had wanted to try it on. She didn't ask, though. Only the head of the family could wear such a thing. Same for the scarf and the head ornament kenseikan thing. She knew the hair ornament wouldn't suit her and no matter how often she heard the scarf was worth ten houses, she was yet to believe it. It didn't look worth ten houses to her. She briefly recalled Byakuya's face when she told him that and grinned. She still swore he had visibly paled.

She had reasoned it would be low handed to grab it while he was out working and try it on. She had also reasoned she would also be asking for something to go wrong, it end up being ripped and her having to explain what had happened.

Eventually she concluded that she'd just have to ask.

The thought made her feel just a little ill.

'I can always promise to never say his magic silver wind silky scarf thing looks like something you could buy off a market in one of the nicer districts of Rukongai,' she thought with a smirk.

So she waited until he returned home that evening and ate dinner with her. She could tell he knew she wanted to ask something by the way he kept glancing at her, as if checking he was reading her expression right.

"What do you want?" he eventually asked, narrowing his eyes.

Hisana gave him a dazzling smile that set Byakuya on edge.

"Well… there's something really silly I want to do," she said, gauging his reaction. He looked inquisitive, but ultimately suspicious. He put down his chopsticks and sat back.

"I see," was all he said.

"You have something I would like to try on." She made herself sound confident, but her smile was wavering. Byakuya kept silently looking at her. She knew he was trying to make her crack, and it was unfortunately working like a charm.

"Alright! That formal haori you wear sometimes… I kind of want to try it on," she confessed.

Slowly, he began to smile and Hisana's heart lightened considerably.

"For a moment, I believed you wanted to try on the kenseikan, or the family's ginpaku kazanohana usuginu," he saw her scrunch her nose in distaste, but chose to ignore it and move on, "but my formal haori is fine. The only question I have is - why?"

Hisana went very still and quiet. This was the tricky question.

"I just… well…" she faltered. The truth was rather exposing, in her mind.

"I thought you looked really cool in it," she said quietly, waiting for him to laugh.

He said nothing for a minute. Then he stood, moved around the dining table, and sat beside her. When she gathered her courage and looked at him, she saw he was smiling.

"Really?" he asked and she shyly nodded.

"I don't think I've ever really heard you compliment me like that," he mused.

She hadn't felt her cheeks feel so hot since back when she first met Byakuya. Then she felt a cool kiss on her red hot cheek.

"Thank you, Hisana. Come, let's see if you look as good as I in my haori," he said, helping her up.

Her hand pressed against the cheek he kissed, still feeling its coolness in contrast to her flushed skin, and smiled.

Chapter 15: Violence; Pillage/Plunder; Extortion

The mission he had gone out on with a group of shinigami hadn't gone so well. He was covered in blood from protecting as much of the group as possible. It had been a strain since the group had been running around all over the place, and it made it difficult to direct Senbonzakura without harming anyone. Byakuya had ended up taking some pretty severe hits from one hollow since he didn't have enough of his zanpaku-tô to protect everyone and himself and use it offensively. He cursed the fact that his bankai was still just out of his grasp.

Now he stood where he was confronted with two massive Hollows. Most of the rest of the group had either been critically injured or knocked out. Those left standing were exhausted, Byakuya included. But failure wasn't an option in his mind.

"Senbonzakura…" he murmured, wiping the blood beginning to blind him in one eye away. If he wanted to win, he had to gather all his strength and leave the injured and unconscious unprotected.

Senbonzakura whirled in the air around him before he mentally directed them to surround and butcher the nearest Hollow.

"You…" the Hollow howled, trying to tear through Senbonzakura with his claws, only to have them torn to shreds. The Hollow gave one last wail before disintegrating, leaving one Hollow left, which leapt into the air with a horrendous roar.

Byakuya drew Senbonzakura into a shield, which just held against the Hollow's monstrous weight. As calmly as he could manage, he dispatched the Hollow before facing his conscious team-mates.

"Kuchiki-san does it again… right?" the eighteenth seat of the thirteenth division wheezed, climbing to his feet and limping over to one of his fallen comrades. Byakuya remained silent, reforming his zanpaku-tô and trying to gather himself. The battle had been tougher than they had thought and it had taken its toll. But he refused to rest until he returned to Seireitei. He could not show weakness in front of the division. It was unthinkable.

"What do you think their goal was, trying to invade an almost deserted area like this? You would have thought they were here to devour some souls, but there ain't a soul in sight," another division member commented, pulling another badly injured member into his arms.

Byakuya picked one of the unconscious team up and shook his head.

"Who can say what goes through the minds of Hollows? They haven't got hearts. We cannot predict such a creature's movements," he answered, heading to the area where one of the remaining mostly unharmed shinigami was

"Some say you haven't got a heart, Kuchiki-san," the man quipped.

Byakuya said nothing.

Inside, his stomach churned at the remark. He wondered if people really thought of him that way, but drew no conclusions. His mind was beginning to cloud with exhaustion and injury. The blood from his head wound was trickling into his eye again, but he did nothing but wait to return to Seireitei. He was determined to walk into the fourth division relief centre on his own power even if it killed him.

Those left in good enough shape to help or carry others did so until they crossed back to Soul Society. Byakuya gladly handed over his unconscious team-member to a group of waiting relief shinigami before continuing on to the fourth division. He spotted Captain Ukitake, but decided to pretend he failed to see him.

"Byakuya-san! What happened?" said Captain Ukitake, drawing alongside Byakuya, who didn't stop.

"There were more Hollows than anticipated and the group was overwhelmed. We fought and won," he monotonously replied, causing Jûshirô to sigh.

"Was it that bad? I've already contacted Captain Unohana, so the relief team are on the way," Jûshirô said, amazed at Byakuya's composure. He didn't notice the man beside him was finally beginning to crack. Byakuya turned to face Captain Ukitake, blood still obscuring his right eye and Jûshirô was shocked to find the man had a slightly pained and desperate expression.

"Captain… I will talk about this another time. I need to get to… fourth division…" he faltered, trying to focus, but finding it increasingly difficult.

'Had the battle been so difficult, or am I still weak?' Byakuya wondered.

Captain Ukitake had never seen Byakuya in such a condition and it dawned how bad the situation must have been. In an instant, he took hold of Byakuya, used shun-po to reach the fourth division and released his protégé.

"No fuss, you're here now. You get healed up and I'll send a message to Hisana-san. I'm sure she's fretting – you are rather late," said Jûshirô and disappeared.

Byakuya sighed, trying to pull himself together, and entered the fourth division. As soon as he got to lie down, he passed out.

---

Hisana awoke when she heard a knock on the bedroom door.

 

"Who is it?" she called.

"I have a message, Kuchiki-sama." She recognised it as one of the older maids.

Hisana became tense. Byakuya was out on a mission and hadn't returned, and the maid's didn't wake them up for nothing. In fact, she couldn't recall a time when the maid had woken her up when Byakuya was around. She hastily pulled on a kimono and opened the door.

"What is it?" she asked worriedly.

The maid bowed her head.

"Captain Ukitake sent a message to the Kuchiki house stating Kuchiki-sama has returned and is in the fourth division," the maid relayed. Hisana went to say something, but paused.

"… Fourth division? What does that mean?"

"It means he is injured, Kuchiki-sama," the lady stated.

Hisana lost it.

"I'm getting dressed. I want someone ready to take me to the fourth division. Now!" she commanded, slamming the door and pulling out appropriate clothing. She didn't wield the power bestowed on her from marrying Byakuya very often, but Hisana decided this was one incident that warranted using some of that power. She had to get to him right away.

When Hisana was ready – she was certain she must have changed in record time – she exited the bedroom to find a young man ready to escort her. They left in silence, Hisana walking as fast as she could, chivvying the young man to keep going faster.

Finally they reached the forth division and she sent the boy back to the house, running into the building. And stopped short.

The fourth division was a mass of bustling shinigami and nurses attending to various injured people. She had no idea where to go and wasn't sure asking someone was a good idea. Her determination to find Byakuya wavered, then flared.

'I'll find him if I have to go through every room in this place,' she mentally vowed and began to start heading along a nearby corridor.

"May I help you, Kuchiki-sama?" a pleasant voice asked and Hisana turned to be confronted by a scarily serene looking woman with a plait that ran down the front of her uniform. Hisana noticed the captain's haori and her hands involuntarily twitched.

"Yes, Captain…" she trailed, clueless.

"My name is Retsu Unohana, Kuchiki-sama," Captain Unohana supplied and Hisana gave a worried smile.

"Sorry, Captain Unohana. H-how do you know my name?"

Captain Unohana smiled.

"I heard all about your wedding from Captain Ukitake, of course. He was very pleased he was invited, as Kuchiki-sama is a rather private individual," Unohana explained.

'Captain Ukitake was at the wedding? I don't remember him being there…' Hisana thought, but quickly pushed it aside.

"Where is Byakuya… sama, Captain Unohana? I got a message from Captain Ukitake he was here," Hisana said, glancing down the corridor.

"Of course. Follow me; I shall take you to him. He has a private room. I am afraid he pushed himself a little too hard."

Hisana silently followed, wondering whether she should be angry with Byakuya.

'Pushing himself too hard? Idiot! What if he had went a little further and… and then…' but she couldn't finish her thought.

"Here we are. I shall leave you, Kuchiki-sama. You're welcome to stay in the room, if you are comfortable with a chair for rest," said Captain Unohana. Hisana distractedly nodded and thanked the captain before entering the room.

He lay there, eyes closed and disturbingly still. The urge to shake him gripped Hisana, but she was sure Captain Unohana would throw her out should she catch wind of such an action. Instead, she carefully approached him and dragged a chair beside the bed and sat down.

"Idiot," she muttered, trying to restrain the tears forming, "getting yourself into trouble. I'm betting you put on that stupid regal act and made things worse for yourself. Probably were calmly fighting and sapping your energy when you should have been resting, right? You think I don't know what you're like on a battlefield? Hah, you're likely the same as you are the rest of the time…" she let her rant pour out and quietened, allowing the tears seep down her face.

Hisana placed her hand in his own and shakily sobbed.

"Idiot."

"Is that my new name I've not been informed about?" he asked softly and Hisana gasped. He was motionless, save his eyes which were sleepily open.

"Byakuya! How… how do you feel?"

He drew in a deep breath and turned his head to face her.

"Not so well, at present," he said. Hisana saw his eyes were glittering with pain and any anger she felt melted away.

"What happened?" she whispered, but he just gave her hand that held his a faint squeeze.

"I don't have the energy to relay the entire story. I wish to simply rest," he told her, and she nodded.

"Good; then I can have a say in things for a bit. If you ever think of letting yourself get that close to doing yourself serious harm, then… then I'll… blackmail you into being more careful, if I have to," she rambled, starting to cry again. She felt so stupid, getting so upset when he didn't seem that injured. Truth be told, she'd never really seen him wounded at all.

'That's probably why it's so upsetting. I've just never thought about him getting injured and maybe… even dying. Leaving me. He always appears so untouchable; it's hard to imagine him hurt. It was a shock, really.'

She carefully embraced him and felt his arms come up to rest on her back. Hisana's eyes slid shut and she let her tears quietly continue until they finally dried up. She pressed a thankful kiss to his neck and went to draw back, only to find she couldn't move.

From her position, she just managed to peer at his profile. He was asleep, still holding on tight to her so she was stuck. She smiled, sighed, and pulled her legs onto the bed beside him before settling down in his arms.

He was going to be horrified in the morning.

Chapter 16: Wada Calcium CD3

After the event with the letters, Hisana kept finding herself smiling for no reason, which served only to make her smile more. In Rukongai, where true smiles only came from the innocent children, smiling was usually a bad sign. They usually turned up in the forms of leering characters who soon drew some weapon and began threatening people.

Hisana had spent her day scrounging some food to get her through to the night. She considered Byakuya's offer to spend a little more time at his house, but it still sat uncomfortably with her. Even though his feelings for her were becoming clearer, the idea of being in the Kuchiki house alone made her feel sick.

She walked along the dusty streets, weaving her way through the crowd.

"Alright! Hand over your goods, old man!" a voice bellowed, and Hisana heard screams.

Peering through the crowd she spotted something that made her heart stop: swords.

"Run!" someone else screamed and the crowd went crazy. Hisana turned and began fleeing, but her small stature made things difficult. She looked about desperately and spotted a pile of crates. In an instant, she ran for them, hopped onto them and pulled herself onto the roof.

From her newly gained height, she could view the situation. A small group of three men and two women stood in a circle, each with a sword, their lower faces covered with rags threatening two local market traders.

Hisana knelt out of sight and began pulling at the roof tiles. She slowly tugged them out and shuffled closer to the situation. The men were overseeing and beginning to move the little goods the two threatened men had while the women used their swords to keep the market men in check.

'Is this an act of bravery, or stupidity?' she briefly wondered before taking aim and hurling a roof tile at an unsuspecting thief.

"Arrgh!" he yelled before collapsing to the ground.

"What th-" one of the women began before getting a tile in the head.

To say Hisana was taking pleasure in these people's pain was a bit of an understatement.

"Hah, take that, scum! You're what makes Rukongai a bad place!" Hisana shouted, hurling her remaining tiles. They failed to knock out their targets, who glared up angrily at her.

'Time to run.'

She turned and fled, dashing over roofs. As she ran, she looked up at the sky. The sun was beginning to set. Once she lost the sword wielding thieves, she'd seek out the bridge and wait.

Then her foot slipped.

"Shi-"

She tumbled off the roof. Her hand shot out for some sort of ledge, but failed to grasp anything. Hisana screamed and instinctively put her arm out to break her fall.

The sickening crunch her arm made followed by the blazing pain was something Hisana hoped never to experience again. Tears poured down her face but she gritted her teeth; she couldn't afford for those thieves to find her like this.

She pulled herself up, clutching her swelling arm to her body, and headed for where Byakuya would eventually turn up.

---

When Byakuya arrived, he was surprised to find Hisana sitting off to the side of the bridge at the riverbank. He began to frown when he noticed the way she was half curled up and swiftly approached.

 

"What happened?" he asked stonily, anger simmering inside.

Hisana forlornly looked up at Byakuya and unsteadily stood, trying not to cry. The pain was almost unbearable – it hadn't diminished since she first injured it.

"I… I think I broke my arm," she whimpered, biting her lip. She refused to cry in front of him.

"Hisana, you're coming with me. Now," he ordered.

In too much pain to care, she allowed him to pick her up, making sure her broken arm wasn't against his body, and used shun-po to take her to his house.

Byakuya had told her he wasn't very good at healing, so had called out a relief shinigami, who dealt with her. The female shinigami had brought the pain and swelling down completely, healed as much of the damage as possible and explained her arm would be very weak for a while. A brace had been placed on her healed, but frail, arm and she'd been given a little bottle.

"What's this?" she asked.

"Calcium. It'll help strengthen the bone. Take one of those every day, alright?" the woman had said and Hisana nodded. The female shinigami gave an encouraging smile before departing.

Byakuya entered and sat down beside her. Hisana couldn't help but smile at his expression of concern. Carefully, she reached out with her good arm and took hold of one of his hands.

"Sorry if I worried you, Kuchiki-sama. I'm fine now. Got these calcium pills and everything. So, I'll just go-"

"No."

Hisana sighed.

"Excuse me?"

Byakuya gave her hand a gentle, if slightly warning, squeeze. Hisana felt like she was trapped in his gaze.

"No, Hisana. I ask you, will you stay here with me?" he asked, his eyes intense.

She was at a loss for words. He was asking her… to live with him?

"Kuchiki-sama…"

"I would wish you to call me something more informal, as well," he said with a trace of amusement in his eyes.

Hisana tore her gaze away from his and thought. She couldn't simply dive into such a situation, but the offer was very attractive. She finally met his eyes once more.

"I'll do a deal. I'll give it a test run, and if I'm satisfied, I'll stay. How about it?"

He leaned forward and Hisana's breath caught in her throat. With a shadow of a smile, he captured her lips. Hisana settled into the kiss with relish, yet wondered if that was an agreement.

Chapter 17: Perfect Blue

yakuya and Hisana were sitting together in a deserted part of the Kuchiki gardens, far away from the house. The area around them was filled with a ridiculous variety of plants, which both pleased and irritated Hisana. But she wasn't looking at the inordinate amount of land Byakuya owned; she was lying on the grass, staring at the drifting clouds in the sky.

"I wish you to be my wife," he told her. It was delivered in a seemingly casual manner, but Hisana knew better by now. She would have hated him and definitely not been lying there if she didn't know what he was like after all this time. He was sitting on the grass beside her, surveying his land with disinterest.

Understanding he was perfectly serious, Hisana began to laugh hysterically.

He stared at her, unsure whether to be affronted or not. He sat silently, waiting for her to say something.

"Huh… oh… my stomach hurts…" Hisana moaned, gripping her tensed stomach. Laughing was always fun until someone got hurt. When she recovered herself, she realised Byakuya was looking at her, his eyes slightly widened with what looked like disbelief.

'Or surprise. Maybe a bit of both,' she surveyed, grinning.

"Byakuya, listen," she said, lying back on the grass, but looking at Byakuya, "if you think I'm marrying someone who proposes like that, then you've got me wrong all this time. You also missed a lot of important verbal checkpoints in our relationship to date that are required to meet a marriage proposal. A rookie mistake." She couldn't help but play with him, but also a part of her knew he genuinely had missed saying some important things to her in their relationship. It was a fact she hadn't forgotten in the least.

'Like actually mentioning he loves me in words. I know he does – every touch, every kiss tells me how he feels – but the times I lie there, wondering… I just want to be sure. Doesn't every girl want to be sure the man they want to marry loves them?'

During the silence when Hisana had stopped speaking, Byakuya had remained still, considering her words. He was aware what she said wasn't meant to be taken completely as truth, yet he didn't discard her words either. Hisana was a lot more truthful than he was.

"Hisana, I know we haven't had the most conventional relationship, but it was something that could not be avoided, given our statuses. But know this: don't doubt what I feel for you is true."

Hisana sighed, languidly waving a dismissive hand.

"There you go again. Tell me, Byakuya, what is it you feel for me that's true? I know it, I feel it, but… I need to hear it. Just once. Then I'll never bother you about it again if you hate talking about these things so much," she said, hating the pleading edge that started to form in her voice. She couldn't help it; it had seemed like she had known Byakuya forever and to not hear such simple words had begun to pain her over time. It was easy to doubt when the man she loved came from such a different world from her.

'Different worlds have different ideas, customs. For all I know, nobles have their own way of functioning that defies common logic – hell they marry random noble people just to keep the blood noble, why not have other crazy notions? Love might not be a factor in the relationship we shared; he might have thought it was something else. To hear those words so I can be sure… it's all I need to take the step he wants.' Hisana hated how her thought ran away with her into a deluge of paranoia.

Byakuya appeared to debate her words before approaching her. Hisana didn't move, waiting to see what he would do.

Slowly, he placed a hand either side of her body and leant closer to her. Hisana's breath caught in her throat for moment. Her eyes widened and she found her breath quickening. With the hint of a smirk, he leaned down and brushed his lips tantalisingly with hers, before pulling back slightly.

"Hisana, you should know by now that I love you. Now, if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to marry you," he said huskily, sending a shiver down her spine. It was all she wanted.

"Idiot…" she murmured, "I want to marry you, too. And I love you, Byakuya. Too much, some would say."

"Never…" he whispered, his breath tickling her neck. Her arms wound around him, drawing herself close to his warm body.

The wind drifted over them as they lay lost in one another, ignoring the beautiful scenery around them. The extravagant fauna the Kuchiki house had to offer, the vivid green grass, the fluffy white clouds and the sun… it was gone from their minds.

The last thing Hisana held in her mind before Byakuya filled her thoughts was one image of perfect blue sky.

Chapter 18: Radio-Cassette Player

"What the heck is this place?" Hisana asked, peering about. Her arm was killing her again. She knew she shouldn't have overdone it, forcing herself to use her chopsticks with the braced arm. She was determined to get her right arm back in order again. Until she did, the Kuchiki house was almost a prison. As soon as Byakuya left, the air grew heavier and the people who attended the house either gave her unpleasant looks or ignored her altogether.

'Am I a disgusting creature or ghost today?' Hisana had briefly wondered when padding along one of the Kuchiki house corridors, spotting an older woman striding along.

The woman had narrowed her eyes before carrying on as if Hisana didn't exist. Hisana had grown sick of it and when hearing footsteps near a corridor corner, had picked a door and entered.

Now she was wondering what she was getting into.

'A… metal thing. Surrounded by other pieces of metal junk. Is this Byakuya's stuff? If it is, he must have some kind of obsession.'

She picked one metal contraption up.

'It feels different. Is this something from the Gotei Thirteen? No; Byakuya wouldn't allow anyone to walk in and be able to simply pick something from his work up. It's too weird to be from here, so… he got it from the living world?' she concluded.

The memories of her past life were vague at best and leant no insight to what she held was. For all she knew, it was beyond her time in the living world. Hisana debated whether to ask Byakuya about it, tinker with what she held until it did something or she lost interest, both, or do neither. Her hands itched to tinker, but her arm ached irritatingly.

"I'm sure he wouldn't miss one thing…" she reassured herself, heading back out. Checking the coast was clear, she quickly made her way to the room Byakuya had given her. It was a fair size – everything seemed to be for nobles – and she liked it, even though she still was uncomfortable with the whole arrangement. Testing the waters at the Kuchiki house was like playing with fire. Byakuya had told her not to worry about the pressure that was being placed on him due to her just staying in a room, but how could she not?

Hisana dumped the metal device on her futon and sat down beside the machine, nursing her arm. It ached like hell, but she wanted it to be strong again. Admittedly, she wasn't renowned for incredible upper body strength, but the strength her right arm possessed at the moment was pathetic. Chopstick wielding drained it of practically all energy. It made her mad.

'Sulking won't make it better. Perseverance is key. The calcium pills, making the stupid arm work and I suppose a bit of rest will get me back in order. Then I can start searching again,' she thought vehemently, forming a fist with her good hand. As she was, she couldn't venture into Rukongai without drawing attention to herself. Her arm screamed vulnerability, and the well fitted brace suggested she was getting help from people with money, which equalled she must have some money on her. Like this, Hisana knew she wouldn't last five measly minutes. And it burned her up inside not being able to keep searching, no matter how lovely Byakuya's company was when he came back.

She sighed and turned her thoughts away from herself.

"So what are you?" she asked, picking the small machine up.

After some examination she found there was a flap that came open, which just revealed two black nubs that moved if she poked them and a pin near the flap. It meant nothing to her. Hisana had pressed some of the buttons on the side, but they either did nothing or made the nubs spin of their own accord.

"What a piece of trash," Hisana surmised, putting it back down. She was careful though; it wasn't hers, and she thought perhaps Byakuya was attached to it in some way. Perhaps he wasn't; she hadn't a clue.

The day passed sluggishly. Hisana only ate with Byakuya – in the morning and evening. It was more food than she got on the streets, and there was no way she would request food from anyone in the house, not even Byakuya. He just had food brought, assumed she wanted to eat, or asked her – Hisana had never asked him. She wondered if he noticed. It wouldn't surprise her if he had, but omitted saying anything. Byakuya was like that, she noted.

By the time he returned to the house, she was beginning to get hungry. She wasn't sure how to approach the subject of what she'd done that day, or whether to bring along the device she'd taken to Byakuya and ask. A minute debate with herself resolved her to take the thing back to him and apologise.

She could tell Byakuya was in the house merely from the amount of bustle within the household. Although the man himself was not one for commotion, he created a great deal around him.

'Perhaps that's why he behaves that way.'

Hisana headed for the dining room and sure enough found Byakuya waiting. He looked at her and her heart gave a slight stir in her chest when he gave her a welcoming smile. She needed a smile like that to get her through her stay in the Kuchiki house.

"Hello, Kuchiki-sama," she said with a tired smile. Her arm was still hurting, but she forced it to hold onto the thing she'd technically stolen.

"Good evening, Hisana," he frowned slightly, "Why do you have a cassette player in your hand?"

Hisana felt a traitorous blush begin to spread across her face. She had fully intended to appear cool and calm about the situation, explain herself and emphasise the intense curiosity that had gripped her.

"I'm sorry, Kuchiki-sama," she bowed, "Let me explain myself."

To her surprise, Byakuya waved a hand dismissively and sat at the table.

"Explain later. At this moment, I need sustenance. Captain Ukitake's training was a rather rewarding experience," he said.

Hisana lightly shook her head, amazed and glad Byakuya didn't seem in the least bit fazed by her thievery. Meanwhile, reading between Byakuya's lines was becoming second nature as she sat opposite him.

'My translation says: Captain's Ukitake's training was really hard work for me and I'm completely wiped out. If I don't get food in the next ten minutes, I will likely collapse.' She hid her smile behind her good hand, but he made no comment; he appeared to lack the energy or inclination to do anything.

The food thankfully arrived in less than ten minutes and they ate in silence. Both were starved; Byakuya from focusing on his work, Hisana from habit. Hisana put the cassette player down and made her weak hand use chopsticks again. When they had finished, the silence became a little tense.

Hisana carefully picked the cassette player up and placed it near Byakuya.

"I'm sorry. I took this from a room I came across today…" she said, and explained what had happened. Byakuya listened, unperturbed. He remained that way when she finished.

"Do not concern yourself about it; I can tell you're not happy here," he said shortly and Hisana felt her heart shudder. He didn't sound upset, or angry… he didn't sound of anything.

"Kuchiki-sama, it's not that I don't enjoy your company. But the atmosphere here when you're not around is something I can't stand," she said. Hisana hated the way she kept trying to sound formal like he did. She always failed and ended up speaking how she did normally anyway. She knew she must sound stupid, but Byakuya's expression gave nothing away.

"The people here are causing trouble for you?" he enquired and Hisana shook her head.

"No, not exactly. They just… clearly don't like me being in this house. And it makes me want to get out of here. I think mostly it's the fact I know I can't leave, not really. My arm makes me a target in Rukongai, so I should lie low. But this place isn't exactly the heart of action, is it? It's lonely and boring," she declared.

'That's the truth. And if he doesn't like it, then… well, I don't know. He probably wouldn't say anything. I don't think he's used to getting doses of reality. Reality: This house can be an oppressive and miserable place, Byakuya. You're the only thing that makes it worthwhile.'

While her thoughts ranted and raced, she waited for Byakuya's reaction.

"I see."

Her hands curled into fists.

"That's it? 'I see'?"

Byakuya turned his gaze on her.

"Come here." He looked like he always did, but Hisana was still set on edge by his request.

With a suspicious frown, Hisana came over to him. To her surprise, he reached out and carefully pulled her into his arms, burying his head into her neck and shoulder. Hisana held onto him, her arms resting on his supple back. After a minute, her right arm dropped limply to her side, tired out. It could grip his back only so long before it was unbearable. The way he held her made her feel safe and wanted. She wondered if this was more for her or him. To her eyes, he appeared to be working exceptionally hard as of late.

'Perhaps this is a sign of the stress beginning to finally get to him.'

Reluctantly, Byakuya let her go and Hisana sat beside him, still in something of a thoughtful daze.

"I shall talk to the entire house. As for entertainment in my absence…"

Byakuya picked up the cassette player and took hold of Hisana's good hand. She followed him, soon realising he was going back to the room she'd taken the cassette player from. He entered and let her hand go. Hisana watched as he picked what looked like more junk to her before exiting the room and indicating she should follow.

He took her to her room and drew to a halt.

"May I come in for a few minutes?" he asked and Hisana felt her blush begin to rekindle.

"It's not my room. This is your house. You do what you want, Kuchiki-sama," Hisana told him.

Byakuya apparently took this for an affirmative and entered. Hisana nervously joined him, wondering what he was up to.

"This is a cassette player," he explained, "and these are headphones. You plug them in here, and put these over your ears."

"Alright. What's it all for?" she asked, intrigued.

He put the headphones on her and picked up one of the items he'd taken from the room.

"This is a cassette. You put it in here and press the play button. See?"

He did so and Hisana gasped.

"Music!" she cried and Byakuya smiled.

"I hope this will keep you from being bored for a while. If it runs out of power, inform me."

He took her good hand and placed a kiss on it that made Hisana's stomach squirm with delight. There was a certain passion behind the way he kissed her hand; as if he wanted to move up her arm to her lips, but either didn't dare or feared offending her.

"Goodnight, Hisana."

"Goodnight, Kuchiki-sama," Hisana faintly replied, caught up by the music and his actions.

He left her and she sat down on her futon in a renewed daze.

Byakuya never did explain why he possessed that stuff, but as of then Hisana didn't really care.

Perhaps staying at Kuchiki house wasn't so bad.

Chapter 19: Fence

Hisana sighed, unable to sleep. Byakuya lay beside her, flat on his back, his face beautifully relaxed and untroubled. He was so close to her, yet a million miles away. For such a regal man while awake, there were occasions where he didn't fail to amuse her in slumber. His arms usually shifted restlessly in the night, flopping above his head, across his chest, hitting himself in the face. When she finally shared his bed, she had to endure his agitated arms hit her in the face. Though, she considered with a smile, those arms could restlessly grip and hold on to her, drawing her inexorably to him. She liked those parts.

She found herself thinking about how she ended up here, married to the head of a noble family, happy yet sad on various levels, closer to him than she'd been to anyone, yet there were moments when she thought she didn't know a thing about him and had a horrible lurch in her stomach to accompany such a thought.

"Byakuya…" she whispered.

He didn't respond, sound asleep. Tonight his left arm – the furthest from her – was bent so it curled up beside his head so his forearm rested above him, while his right arm was awkwardly bent back on itself, his hand lightly resting on Hisana's shoulder.

When they first started sleeping together, even a whisper would cause him to awake and instinctively reach for his zanpaku-tô. She painfully recalled a time where she awoke to find him sitting up, alert with his zanpaku-tô in hand, and screamed her head off. She had learned that she sometimes talked in her sleep, which in turn set Byakuya off. But with anything, time smoothed the path and soon her voice short of screaming had no effect on Byakuya asleep, as did his arms flopping into her body.

'Except the face. His arms are surprisingly heavy,' she amended, lightly reaching out to brush her fingers through his hair. Hisana adored touching Byakuya's hair, but it was strictly a private affair. She knew he would be horrified for anyone to learn about that.

She watched his motionless face, taking in his calm, even breaths.

'I wonder where he is? Dreaming of being a captain, perhaps? Maybe it's about work. Being single again? Midnight walks? We haven't been on one for a while. Time just seems to… disappear before our eyes.' She could feel her heart harden.

Hisana was happy and sad. Happy, so unbelievably blissful at meeting, falling in love with, and being loved in return, by Byakuya. But the memories of Rukia never left her. Time was falling away, and with each day she was distracted by something, which meant she had less time to try combing Rukongai again, no matter how hopeless it seemed.

'That's when he's the furthest away from me. Looking like he doesn't understand why I search almost every day for her. The guilt keeps me going, and the desire, the intense hope, of finding her once more. Then I could try and make amends. If I don't, I'll be damned. Even more damned for abandoning her in the first place. Such a stupid thing to do… maybe that's why he doesn't get it. I don't know.'

Her hand kept relentlessly stroking Byakuya's hair. It comforted her. She liked it better when he was asleep. When he was awake, he either was doing something else, like paperwork, and ignored her while her hands explored his hair, or he sat deathly still like a mannequin watching her play with his hair. He never really said how he felt about it; whether he even liked it or not. She usually quickly tired of working her way around his kenseikan, which put her at an advantage at night with all his hair loose.

He looked so beautiful lying there. Hisana didn't think he'd appreciate considering him beautiful, but he did. Byakuya was handsome awake, but innocently stunning asleep. And it both made her secretly smile to herself that he loved her, as well as feel rather inadequate. The old question of what he saw in her rose in her mind, but she forced it away. Hisana lightly shook her head; she'd already put that to rest some time ago.

Sometimes she wondered if they knew each other as well as they thought they did, that perhaps there were people who watched them and knew them better. It made her heart pound with dread, but she soon settled herself down.

'We may not know everything about the other, but the distance between us isn't that far relative to other people. And time can change things, make that distance close further,' she thought.

'Or grow wider,' a darker part of her countered.

Her hand was now absently sifting through his hair and she drew it away.

"I love you," she whispered, and turned to go back to sleep only to be stopped by a hand that had snuck around her waist.

"Do you think I don't?" his deep voice asked. Hisana heard herself involuntarily gasp. She turned her head to find Byakuya exactly as he was except his eyes were open and trained on her.

"You're awake?"

"Don't change the subject."

Hisana sighed with a hint of annoyance.

"Of course I know you love me. I was just thinking stupid things. Go back to sleep," she told him. He looked less than convinced.

"Tell me, Hisana, why are you awake? It's three in the morning."

Hisana found herself smiling.

"I wanted to touch your hair," she replied and was pleased by his slightly mortified expression.

"While I'm asleep?" he carefully questioned, his hand reaching up to touch his hair with an air of bewilderment.

"I'm sorry." It was all she could think to say.

"Hisana, I don't mind that. It's that I would rather you didn't feel you had to do it while I was asleep," he said, drawing closer to her.

"Sometimes…" she began, but felt she couldn't continue.

Byakuya's expression made her feel guilty.

"… Sometimes I wonder how close we are. There have been times when you've been out of my reach," she explained. She couldn't help but think of the incident of the evening with Captain Ukitake.

Byakuya clearly processed what she said and drew similar conclusions.

"Hisana, never feel that way," he half-growled, "I'm telling you that you can approach me at any time and tell me anything. Don't fear me."

"Byakuya… I don't fear you. I know I can approach you, but there are times when there are others around and I feel like if I do that, I'm somehow breaking this code of behaviour."

Byakuya sighed and pulled Hisana into his arm, her head tucked under his.

"I can't stop myself. You can," was all he said.

Hisana dragged her head up to look at him. His eyes glimmered in the poor light intensely.

"Thank you."

He kissed her, his lips gently brushing hers before placing more pressure and coaxing her mouth open. She sighed happily against his lips before sinking into the kiss.

Some distances could be breached.

Chapter 20: Our Distance and That Person

Hisana sighed, unable to sleep. Byakuya lay beside her, flat on his back, his face beautifully relaxed and untroubled. He was so close to her, yet a million miles away. For such a regal man while awake, there were occasions where he didn't fail to amuse her in slumber. His arms usually shifted restlessly in the night, flopping above his head, across his chest, hitting himself in the face. When she finally shared his bed, she had to endure his agitated arms hit her in the face. Though, she considered with a smile, those arms could restlessly grip and hold on to her, drawing her inexorably to him. She liked those parts.

She found herself thinking about how she ended up here, married to the head of a noble family, happy yet sad on various levels, closer to him than she'd been to anyone, yet there were moments when she thought she didn't know a thing about him and had a horrible lurch in her stomach to accompany such a thought.

"Byakuya…" she whispered.

He didn't respond, sound asleep. Tonight his left arm – the furthest from her – was bent so it curled up beside his head so his forearm rested above him, while his right arm was awkwardly bent back on itself, his hand lightly resting on Hisana's shoulder.

When they first started sleeping together, even a whisper would cause him to awake and instinctively reach for his zanpaku-tô. She painfully recalled a time where she awoke to find him sitting up, alert with his zanpaku-tô in hand, and screamed her head off. She had learned that she sometimes talked in her sleep, which in turn set Byakuya off. But with anything, time smoothed the path and soon her voice short of screaming had no effect on Byakuya asleep, as did his arms flopping into her body.

'Except the face. His arms are surprisingly heavy,' she amended, lightly reaching out to brush her fingers through his hair. Hisana adored touching Byakuya's hair, but it was strictly a private affair. She knew he would be horrified for anyone to learn about that.

She watched his motionless face, taking in his calm, even breaths.

'I wonder where he is? Dreaming of being a captain, perhaps? Maybe it's about work. Being single again? Midnight walks? We haven't been on one for a while. Time just seems to… disappear before our eyes.' She could feel her heart harden.

Hisana was happy and sad. Happy, so unbelievably blissful at meeting, falling in love with, and being loved in return, by Byakuya. But the memories of Rukia never left her. Time was falling away, and with each day she was distracted by something, which meant she had less time to try combing Rukongai again, no matter how hopeless it seemed.

'That's when he's the furthest away from me. Looking like he doesn't understand why I search almost every day for her. The guilt keeps me going, and the desire, the intense hope, of finding her once more. Then I could try and make amends. If I don't, I'll be damned. Even more damned for abandoning her in the first place. Such a stupid thing to do… maybe that's why he doesn't get it. I don't know.'

Her hand kept relentlessly stroking Byakuya's hair. It comforted her. She liked it better when he was asleep. When he was awake, he either was doing something else, like paperwork, and ignored her while her hands explored his hair, or he sat deathly still like a mannequin watching her play with his hair. He never really said how he felt about it; whether he even liked it or not. She usually quickly tired of working her way around his kenseikan, which put her at an advantage at night with all his hair loose.

He looked so beautiful lying there. Hisana didn't think he'd appreciate considering him beautiful, but he did. Byakuya was handsome awake, but innocently stunning asleep. And it both made her secretly smile to herself that he loved her, as well as feel rather inadequate. The old question of what he saw in her rose in her mind, but she forced it away. Hisana lightly shook her head; she'd already put that to rest some time ago.

Sometimes she wondered if they knew each other as well as they thought they did, that perhaps there were people who watched them and knew them better. It made her heart pound with dread, but she soon settled herself down.

'We may not know everything about the other, but the distance between us isn't that far relative to other people. And time can change things, make that distance close further,' she thought.

'Or grow wider,' a darker part of her countered.

Her hand was now absently sifting through his hair and she drew it away.

"I love you," she whispered, and turned to go back to sleep only to be stopped by a hand that had snuck around her waist.

"Do you think I don't?" his deep voice asked. Hisana heard herself involuntarily gasp. She turned her head to find Byakuya exactly as he was except his eyes were open and trained on her.

"You're awake?"

"Don't change the subject."

Hisana sighed with a hint of annoyance.

"Of course I know you love me. I was just thinking stupid things. Go back to sleep," she told him. He looked less than convinced.

"Tell me, Hisana, why are you awake? It's three in the morning."

Hisana found herself smiling.

"I wanted to touch your hair," she replied and was pleased by his slightly mortified expression.

"While I'm asleep?" he carefully questioned, his hand reaching up to touch his hair with an air of bewilderment.

"I'm sorry." It was all she could think to say.

"Hisana, I don't mind that. It's that I would rather you didn't feel you had to do it while I was asleep," he said, drawing closer to her.

"Sometimes…" she began, but felt she couldn't continue.

Byakuya's expression made her feel guilty.

"… Sometimes I wonder how close we are. There have been times when you've been out of my reach," she explained. She couldn't help but think of the incident of the evening with Captain Ukitake.

Byakuya clearly processed what she said and drew similar conclusions.

"Hisana, never feel that way," he half-growled, "I'm telling you that you can approach me at any time and tell me anything. Don't fear me."

"Byakuya… I don't fear you. I know I can approach you, but there are times when there are others around and I feel like if I do that, I'm somehow breaking this code of behaviour."

Byakuya sighed and pulled Hisana into his arm, her head tucked under his.

"I can't stop myself. You can," was all he said.

Hisana dragged her head up to look at him. His eyes glimmered in the poor light intensely.

"Thank you."

He kissed her, his lips gently brushing hers before placing more pressure and coaxing her mouth open. She sighed happily against his lips before sinking into the kiss.

Some distances could be breached.

Chapter 21: Gardenia

"What are you doing?"

Byakuya looked up to see Hisana sitting on the edge of the veranda, her hands propped underneath her face. She looked surprisingly fascinated, considering he was only holding a small pair of secateurs and standing in front of a lone bush.

"I sometimes like to try my hand at new hobbies. Shaping bushes into art sounded interesting, so I am having a go. What do you think?" he asked, gesturing to the bush behind him.

From what Hisana could tell, it was meant to be a person… she thought. It had a childlike cloud shaped body with two arms sticking out, each with three fingers. It had no discernable face, but appeared to be friendly. Although not being a classic work of art, Hisana had to admit it was better than anything she could have done.

"It's very… artistic." It was all she could think to say that sounded like a compliment.

Byakuya gave a slight smile and Hisana had the feeling he knew she was trying to spare his feelings. He turned back to his work and continued. They both enjoyed the peaceable silence. Hisana stretched out and before she knew it the soothing sounds of the outdoors sent her to sleep.

When she awoke, the sun was beginning to set. She opened her eyes to see Byakuya above her. It was then she realised her head was resting on his lap and she sighed.

"What's this about?" she asked and Byakuya looked down at her, slightly confused.

"I grew tired of gardening for today and chose to prevent my wife looking like a sprawled wreck in public," he serenely replied, returning his gaze to the gardens.

Hisana's eyebrow twitched in annoyance.

"Do you ever tell the direct truth? Since when has the Kuchiki gardens been public? If you just wanted me closer, or to have my head rest on your lap, say so. I'm not going to flip out. If anything, I'd be pleased," she pointed out. Byakuya gently lifted her head and placed a kiss on her forehead before getting up.

"Hisana, you remember it's the annual gathering of the four noble families for a formal dinner and dance, don't you?"

She sighed at his sudden change of subject, but nodded and stood up alongside him.

"Come with me. There's something I wish you to have for the evening."

He took her hand and began leading her through the gardens. Hisana's interest was definitely piqued. After minutes of venturing into the Kuchiki gardens, he drew to a halt at a cluster of small trees with beautiful white flowers. Byakuya gave her hand a reassuring squeeze before letting go. He plucked a small group of the flowers and twisted the stalks together.

"Hisana, I thought this would be nice for the dinner and dance. Do you want it?"

She was at a loss for words.

"It's beautiful… but what is it?" she asked.

"They're gardenias. My phase of learning to garden got me interested in growing all sorts of species of plants. I thought these were quite pretty. I like Chinese bellflowers better, but they're too delicate to be made into a corsage," he explained.

Hisana plucked the gardenias off him and examined it.

"A corsage? What do you do with it?"

Byakuya looked incredulous for a moment, then began to quietly chuckle, which prompted Hisana to narrow her eyes and lightly hit his arm.

"Sorry for being so uneducated," her tone suggested she was ticked off, but her heart wasn't in it.

"Here," Byakuya took the corsage back and placed it on her wrist, tying it securely. Hisana admired it and smiled.

"It's… like a bracelet," she paused, becoming a little fidgety, "… Thank you, Byakuya. It's beautiful. I'll wear it tonight."

"That means a lot to me."

His words caught her off guard.

"Byakuya…" she began, but knew he'd get annoyed if she kept thanking him. She was happy when he came out with something that wasn't hidden with fancy words. When the plain truth came out of his mouth, her stomach flopped like a fish out of water.

Instead of her usual thanks, she slipped her arms around his waist and stepped up on her tiptoes to almost crush his lips against hers. He seemed surprised, but quickly pulled her closer. Some rather passion filled minutes passed until Hisana's feet couldn't take being on tiptoes any longer and she pulled back.

"Do we have to go to this dinner?" she asked breathlessly, raising a suggestive eyebrow.

Byakuya drew breath and checked the sky for the position of the sun before hauling her into his arms and using shun-po to return to the house.

"… I think we can be fashionably late."

Chapter 22: KHz

The radio cassette player was proving a hit with Hisana. She woke up, had breakfast with Byakuya, made light conversation while adamantly forcing her weakened hand to work her chopsticks. Byakuya left her for work and she retreated to her room, refusing to make eye contact with the house members, even if they had heeded Byakuya's words and now acted like she was a rabid dog with a status on par with Byakuya himself. Once safely sealed in her room, she would happily take hold of the cassette player, pick one of the blocky plastic 'tapes', shove it in the device and press the play button. And then she could lay back and be swept away by wonderful music.

The escape of music was heavenly. While lying in her room with the music going through the headphones, she could stay still with her eyes closed and imagine all sorts of things. Sometimes she was running through Rukongai, stealing to live, searching to gain absolution, other times she either imagined or replayed moments with Byakuya.

Of course, the music didn't solve everything, but it eased the dilemma she was in. She still turned over the idea of staying in the Kuchiki residence permanently. At the moment, the mere thought made her heart pound fearfully, as if staying there would be a tightening noose around her neck.

'He wouldn't hold me here like a caged bird. I'd be free to go where I pleased. What am I afraid of? He won't stop my search, he just would like me to live with him,' she thought angrily. Her heart betrayed her, still pounding.

'Commitment.' Her blood ran cold.

"So that's it…" she murmured. Hisana truly loved Byakuya, but there was a part of her that never wanted to be tied down anywhere. If she was going stir crazy with an injured hand, what about being tied to a house, to a person? The thought of her committing and then running away made her feel sick.

'I'd just be repeating history. Couldn't handle the responsibility of being tied to Rukia, so she was abandoned. Maybe if I can't cope being tied to Byakuya, I'll run again. Except I doubt he'd let me get away. Which makes it ten times worse. And would I live to regret it, like I did Rukia?' She hated thinking that way, but it was the truth. It hurt like hell.

'My own personal problems left Rukia in the cold. Because… I'm pathetically weak when people start leaning on me. I can't let everyone else prop me up and allow no-one to gain my help in return, even if it scares me I might fail and let them down…'

Hisana lay there, eyes closed, the music drowning out the world around her. All she could feel was the tears seeping out from under her eyelids down the sides of her face.

Hisana and Byakuya's meal together proved tense. Hisana was emanating tension, stiffly eating while avoiding Byakuya's gaze. Byakuya remained calm, but his eyes tried to meet hers intensively, exploiting every opportunity that arose when she had to reach with her chopsticks for more food.

Eventually, they finished, and Hisana sat with her hands curled into fists in her lap. Byakuya said nothing, but still watched her, seemingly trying to stare a reaction from her.

"Kuchiki-sama… my arm is almost better now. I've been spending time thinking about what you asked me, now the trial run is almost over," she finally said, meeting his eyes.

He was surprised she was on the verge of crying, but resolutely not letting any tears fall.

"Yes. It is fine if you don't wish to stay here, Hisana. I don't wish to cause you pain over it," he told her, frowning slightly. It disturbed him to see her look so upset. He didn't think he'd ever seen her like that.

"Thank you, but I already decided to stay here, if you don't mind. There's… a lot of stuff in my head that pressures me to run, but never in my life has that brought me happiness. I ran once from something important, and it's caused me the greatest pain. I won't make that mistake again."

Byakuya couldn't find any words in which to address her unelaborated words. He had an idea of what she was talking about, but couldn't be certain. And with the way she looked, he had no intentions of pressuring her to tell him. Instead he moved beside her and drew her into his arms. She clung to him with her good arm, burying her head in the crook of his neck, and he felt her tears finally fall.

"I won't run… I want to stay with you…" she mumbled with a soft sob. He didn't want to let her go. She appeared so fragile, shuddering under her distress.

"If there is anything I can do, you only have to tell me, Hisana," he said, holding her as tight as she did him. He felt her nod against neck, a few stray hairs tickling his face.

"I will, Kuchiki…" she whispered. He felt his lips press against her forehead and her eyes slid shut, content.

"Thank you, Hisana."

She wondered if it was because she took a tiny step in addressing him, for deciding to live with him, or something greater than that.

It didn't matter – to remain in that moment, hearing the steady sound of his heartbeat, feeling his calm breaths brush her hair and smelling the warm, male scent that was Byakuya – was all she needed.

Chapter 23: "Say ahh..."

Hisana had never played nurse before, so having Byakuya as the Kuchiki household walking wounded proved interesting. His stint in the hospital had ended, but he was firmly requested by Captain Unohana to rest for another week. And no-one disobeyed Captain Unohana.

Despite needing to rest and recover, Byakuya generally did paperwork. She had tried hiding the stuff, but he either followed her completely undetected, or had psychic powers he'd failed to tell her about. Either way, he got the papers back and continued work. So she had decided to play nurse and annoy the hell out of him until he gave up and laid the hell down to rest.

"Byakuya, it's time for a temperature check! I'm not sure how it works, but I figured my hand on your forehead would do," she said, sidling up to him. He had taken to ignoring her when she went into nurse mode, keeping his eyes glued to the paperwork, his hand tightening on his pen. It made her privately chuckle.

Hisana placed her hand on his forehead. Her hands were naturally slightly colder than most people's hands, so everyone felt unnaturally warm to her. Byakuya was no exception. She 'ummed' and 'ahhed' for a bit before sitting back.

"I think you should lie down. You feel kind of warm," she informed him. He grunted, his only acknowledgement she spoke and Hisana sighed irritably.

"Byakuya, at this rate you're not going to get better! Working all the time, not eating as much as you should… I should tell Captain Ukitake to give you another week or two off…" she mused and Byakuya looked up with narrowed eyes.

"You wouldn't dare," he challenged.

Hisana raised an eyebrow, her hand gravitating to a hip.

"Oh, wouldn't I? If Captain Unohana catches you setting foot out of the Kuchiki residence, she'll politely kill you. And since you're not at full strength, I could potentially escape the household and run to Captain Ukitake's," she retorted, now folding her arms.

A slow smile formed on Byakuya's face. They both were enjoying this conversation.

"Do you even know where he resides?"

Hisana frowned.

"I could ask for directions," she said, standing. Byakuya stood as well, towering over her. She tilted her chin up to meet his eyes. Both of them were ready for a challenge.

"Is this to be a competition?" Byakuya asked idly.

"If it is, I don't want you to be a participant; you'll do yourself more harm, otherwise."

"My injuries weren't as severe as you think they were," he said, getting annoyed.

"You fell asleep in a semi-public place with me in your arms," she deadpanned, smirking.

Byakuya looked ill at the memory.

---

Byakuya awoke in the early hours of the morning, tickled by hair. He blearily opened his eyes to find Hisana in his arms.

 

"You're awake. Excellent. You'll have to remain here another night, then I will discharge you. However, this doesn't mean you can return straight back to duty, Kuchiki-sama. I expect you to rest for a week at home. I'm sure Kuchiki-sama will attend to you better than anyone else. But for now I'll let you rest and have someone check on you later," Captain Unohana said with a pleasant smile before departing.

---

"Touché."

Hisana gave him a brilliant smile and took hold of one of his arms.

"Great! So will you rest for at least an hour or two? I'll rest with you. We can talk, or sleep, or whatever," she said, giving him a puppy dog look. Byakuya wearily nodded and let her lead him to their room. Honestly, he was tired, but he was also determined to keep up with his work and not treat his injury as a holiday.

They got in the room and Byakuya pulled Hisana into his arms.

"Thank you, Hisana," he mumbled into her hair.

She looked up at him, plainly confused.

"What for?"

He leant down and placed a firm but gentle kiss on her lips.

"For caring about me," he replied.

Hisana shook her head.

"You're mad. Why wouldn't I care about you? I love you!" she said, hitting his arm lightly, as if to suggest the mere thought she didn't care deserved violence she couldn't carry out because of his injuries.

"Can we just lie and talk?"

She couldn't help notice his not-so-smooth change of subject, but smiled, leading him to the bed.

"Of course, you idiot."

"Is that really my new name?"

"It will be if you don't rest this instant."

"All right."

Chapter 24: Cradle

He cradled her frail body, unable to believe what was happening.

"… I'm so stupid…" he heard her murmur, her deathly pale hand clutching the front of his kimono.

"You pushed yourself too far. You just need to rest and I'll get the best doctor in Seireitei to look at you," he informed her, trying to stop himself from showing his feelings. He didn't want her to panic, like he was beginning to inside.

"I've been feeling kind of off-colour for a while, but I didn't want to jeopardise looking for Rukia. Now I'm probably going to be bedridden for twice as long than if I'd just taken a break for a little while. So stupid…"

Byakuya briefly put a finger on her lips before his hand moved up to stroke her hair. She felt abnormally warm in his arms. He had seen her injured, but never sick. It was disconcerting to see her so helpless. Even injured, she had a certain fighting spirit about her, but now she just seemed too tired to muster any fire.

Carefully, he lifted her up and carried her to a spare bedroom to rest until the doctor had examined her. He tucked her in and made sure she was comfortable. He wanted to stay with her and hold her close, but it was a foolish hope that rest would bring her back to full health. Byakuya brushed her hair back from her forehead and placed a warm kiss that rivalled even the temperature of her skin before leaving to summon the personal doctor to the four noble families.

Waiting proved nearly unbearable. He paced, glaring at nothing. When a maid came to ask if there was anything he wanted, his snapped reply sent her running. He could still feel her unnatural warmth on his arms.

Eventually the doctor arrived and was chauffeured to the room Byakuya was. The man bowed low, to the point Byakuya felt uncomfortable. His impatience was getting the better of him.

"Thank you for coming, Ishiguro-san," said Byakuya. Tension radiated off of him, but the doctor's expression was calm.

"What happened, Kuchiki-sama?"

"My wife collapsed returning from Rukongai. She claims she has felt unwell for while, but failed to inform anyone."

The doctor nodded. Byakuya showed him to the spare bedroom. Hisana was just awake, her eyes heavy with tiredness. She blinked languidly and reached out for Byakuya.

"I'm sorry, Hisana, but I'm not allowed to be present," he quietly told her, taking her hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze before leaving to hand around outside the room.

If waiting for the doctor to arrive was painful, then waiting for him to come back and give Byakuya the diagnosis proved excruciating. After fifteen minutes, Byakuya's hands balled into fists. The uncharacteristic urge to fight grew. It was only method he could think of that would relieve the tension he was feeling. How had he not noticed her beginning to ail? Why hadn't she told him that she was feeling unwell? Twenty minutes dragged by and Byakuya went to knock on the door when the doctor exited looking grave.

When Byakuya heard the news, for the first time he experienced what true heartbreak was.

Chapter 25: In a Good Mood

The day after Byakuya's proposal was surreal. The Kuchiki house was in something of a silent uproar over the announcement. Byakuya appeared unperturbed by the house's denial of his actions, though soon set them right, Hisana guessed, since the rest of the household walked around with tightly controlled expressions that spoke even more volumes than originally.

Hisana sighed. She was in her usual daily routine of searching Rukongai. Her escape from the house was a much needed one now the tension had increased tenfold. She could only hope it would ease with time.

'They have to get used to the idea and me eventually,' she thought while traversing across a Rukongai roof, keeping her eyes trained on the milling market crowd.

But it didn't seem like anything would ever change.

---

Byakuya was training with Captain Ukitake, but found himself unable to focus. His stoic demeanour had temporarily broken down. He couldn't even be angry at himself for not being disciplined, because the feeling inside of him pushed all doubt aside.

 

Eventually Captain Ukitake stopped, sealing his zanpaku-tô and approaching his protégé.

"You're in a good mood, Kuchiki-san," said Jûshirô, looking distinctly curious.

For once in his life, Byakuya found he couldn't keep something to himself.

"I have proposed to someone and she accepted, Captain," he explained, sealing his own sword and sheathing it. Despite how he felt, he refrained from grinning manically. He had a certain amount of face he had to keep up, no matter how nice Captain Ukitake was. The man could be a gossip, especially with a friend like Captain Kyôraku. Byakuya assured himself he hadn't completely lost his head.

Captain Ukitake looked shocked.

"Someone is marrying you?" he paused before his eyes flared, "Not that I mean no-one would, you're a young, handsome man, Kuchiki-san! What I meant was that this seems rather out of the blue. I haven't heard of you courting anyone. I'm sure the Shinigami Women's Associating would have mentioned something… they have an eye on you as a future prospect, but if you're marrying… they may be less than pleased."

Byakuya had no idea what his Captain was talking about, but neither did he care. He didn't care about anything much, save the feeling burning inside of him and the woman that inspired it. Captain Ukitake appeared to recognise the expression on his protégé's face and shake his head with a smile.

"Kuchiki-san, congratulations. The lady is very lucky. However, there is still work to be done before you return home. We can take a break, though. But then we deal with paperwork," Jûshirô said, heading back to the Thirteenth Division's headquarters. Byakuya followed without comment, trying to retain the mask he'd spent so long building up by wiping the smile off his face.

But it didn't seem like his expression would ever change.

---

Hisana sat in the room where Byakuya did most of the paperwork he brought home, reading a book from the living world. It didn't make much sense to her, but was still intriguing trying to decipher it. Another day's searching had tired her out somewhat, but she wanted to talk with Byakuya about the house situation. If they reacted like this to the engagement, what was the wedding going to be like? And what did people outside of the house think?

 

However, an hour later with no sign of Byakuya to have a conversation with, the book had reached the limits of tolerance and she put it down in favour of getting some fresh air. The tension in the house was positively tangible and made her uneasy when Byakuya wasn't around.

She stood out on the veranda, remembering when he had shown her Senbonzakura and how they had changed since that night. A moment in a long line where she had let an issue go. Sometimes when she thought of that night, she got angry; Angry he had put her in such a position when she was so afraid, angry he didn't apologise aloud, angry for all sorts of reasons, some with merit, others not. But there were also times when she looked on that night as a large step forward into each others arms. It had been about trust, not control, perhaps. He had recognised her fear and minimised the number of razor sharp petal shapes. Trust could be romantic, she realised, but dangerous. It could turn from soft petal shapes to deadly sharp blades and cut deeper than she dared to imagine.

'Why am I dwelling on such things?'

The house was depressing without her now fiancé around.

'Fiancé…' It warmed her heart to think of it. Yesterday had been something she'd never let herself forget. Hisana closed her eyes and smiled.

Warm, strong arms slid around her waist, making her sigh and lean back.

"Byakuya…" she breathed, opening her eyes.

"Good evening," he replied, his lips brushing her neck before pressing a series of butterfly kisses across her jaw. She chuckled, surprised at his open cheerfulness.

"You're rather happy," she commented, turning her head to gauge his expression.

He was staring out into the dusky gardens, his eyes looking lively. The change from his usual expressionless face made Hisana's heart jump pleasantly. He rested his head on her shoulder, still looking straight ahead, as if he were looking into the future.

"Hisana, I'm… happy. Truly happy. I've hardly felt this way before. I don't care who denies our engagement, because I'm happy. I would hope you feel this way too."

She felt her heart swell with joy at his words, his expression… she had never seen his smile look so bright or his eyes crinkle above that smile so honestly. This was Byakuya without illusions, and Hisana found him utterly entrancing.

"Byakuya… you should be this way more often…" she whispered, drawing close to him.

And in her mind and heart, as he leant down to capture her lips and draw her inside, she prayed that he would always hold these moments in his heart and never let them go.

She prayed he would always have access to those times and rekindle this happiness, even for just a moment.

Chapter 26: Our Own World

"Theoretically…" she began, frowning slightly as if she didn't like what she was going to say.

"Theoretically…?" he asked, diverting his attention from his seemingly endless paperwork to Hisana.

She scrunched her face up, unwilling to continue and Byakuya found himself narrowing his eyes at her. She caught him and briefly stuck her tongue out before sighing.

"Theoretically, if you had the power to take over the world, would you do it?"

Byakuya remained silent, brows slightly furrowed.

"What makes you say that?"

"It doesn't matter. It's theoretical! You're meant to say 'Sure' or 'Nah' and why. I may let you off with a 'Maybe' if you give arguments for both sides of the case," she explained, sitting up from the mound of cushions she'd gathered in his office in order to keep out of the servants' line of coldness. They tripped over themselves to see if she was fine when Byakuya was around. The rejection was easing off now she'd been married to him for a few months, but it still bothered her.

Byakuya gave her a look that suggested he thought she was a little crazy, but it soon melted away into pensiveness.

"Yes," he decided.

Hisana had been rather surprised by his decision.

"What? You'd rule over everyone even if they didn't want you to?"

He nodded.

"If I had the power to take over the world, I must have the power to change things in the world for the better. Just because I took over the world, wouldn't mean I'd rule over it afterward. I believe if I had that kind of power, I would like to see if I was capable, wouldn't you?" he replied.

Hisana looked amazed at the words coming out of his mouth.

"The amount of power required to take over the world would have probably corrupted you, so anything you did wouldn't improve the world for the better," she pointed out and Byakuya made a soft scoffing noise.

"Sensible people don't allow power to cloud their judgement."

"Are you saying you're sensible?" she challenged, an eyebrow raised.

Byakuya narrowed his eyes. The conversation had become interesting.

"Would you like to illustrate how I am not?"

Hisana lay back on the cushion pile to look at the ceiling.

"Taking midnight walks instead of sleeping isn't sensible. Acting all aloof around people when that isn't how you always feel isn't sensible. Marrying me wasn't sensible."

The room fell deathly silent.

Hisana's heart was heavy. It had bothered her for a while, and to say it hadn't exactly made her feel better.

"Because of your status," he said bluntly, picking up his pen, only to motionlessly hold it.

"That's one reason. Another is my need to find my sister. Sometimes… I feel like I can't devote all of myself to loving you when finding her still looms in my mind. She… Rukia… takes precedent in my mind, Byakuya. There are moments – many moments – when you slip ahead of her. But then I feel guilty that I've placed my happiness over hers, and that hurts the worst," she explained, not daring to see his expression.

He sighed.

"I would take over the world just so it could be just you and I."

She bit her lip to reign in her tears.

"I think a world of our own would become tiresome eventually, Byakuya," she sighed, closing her eyes. She tried to imagine what such a world would be like, but she couldn't quite picture it.

Hisana suddenly felt warmth hovering above her and her eyes flew open to see Byakuya leaning over her. He looked grave, but his eyes belied something Hisana couldn't quite put into words.

'Is it pain? Sadness? Longing, something else, or them all mixed together?' she briefly wondered.

"Hisana, don't worry about it. As long as you stay by my side, I am happy. I understand your desire to find your sister." He inclined his head until his lips gently pressed against hers. The kiss only lasted a few seconds before he pulled back. Hisana looped her arms around his neck, still holding back tears.

"You don't understand, but there's no way for you to, Byakuya. And that's okay. So… let's just stay here for awhile and ignore the world," she whispered, sitting up to embrace him.

He felt like a lifeline she knew would one day be cut. But for now, he was there in her arms and all she could hope was that they could have their own world for a little longer.

Chapter 27: The Space between Dream and Reality

When she thought back on all she had gone through with Byakuya, it occurred to her how much she had mentally filled in when she had been too scared to ask what he was really like. Especially when she first knew him. Back then it was an endless stream of her dreams that flowed around a few rocks of reality.

Her mind had formed a tall, regal, handsome looking man (which had been pretty spot on), but had begun creating all kinds of others elements of this person, such as being cool to the touch, a deathly still sleeper and lover of the world at night (which were terribly incorrect).

She asked herself why she made up things she didn't know about him, instead of leaving the area blank, or asking him. Mostly, she told herself she had been too afraid to ask him herself, while leaving an area she thought about blank only made her feel bad that she hadn't asked.

Which was completely irrational, she added.

Hisana sighed, sitting in her room. It was night and she couldn't sleep. Going outside sounded like a good idea, but she was too lazy. Instead, she lay staring at the ceiling where the meagre light of the crescent moon filtered through a window.

She had set herself up for a series of shocks as she had got to know Byakuya. His hands weren't cold at all. He walked at night not because it was night, but because there were little to no people about and he couldn't sleep. And as for what he looked like asleep… she had no idea. The thought of finding out made her both begin to go red and try and suppress giddy laughs (because she knew there was a good chance she would find out in the future).

In between these two states – of truth and imagining – lay a valley of confusion. Hisana had to keep herself in check, lest she slip and one day actually believe what she had come up with to be truth. Then, she made a fool out of herself.

---

"I asked the maid for some tea, but wanted to prepare it myself. I'm sick of feeling like a spare hand around here. So, ta da! Here you go!" she said brightly, handing him the cup off the tray.

 

Byakuya had been working as usual and gave her a slightly bemused smile.

"Thank you, Hisana."

He took a sip, before hastily putting the cup down.

"There wouldn't be any sugar on that tray?" he asked levelly and Hisana's mouth dropped open.

She panicked and grabbed the sugar and a spoon, thrusting it toward him.

"Here, I'm so sorry!" Her face was reddening suspiciously.

"It's all right; you didn't know."

She cursed the fact that in her mind, she thought she did

---

From that moment on, she had vowed to learn about the man she was falling in love with, instead of trying to predict who he was. Because Byakuya could be terribly unpredictable.

Dreams were nice, she had decided, but reality had a substance to it that was unrivalled, good and bad. And she wouldn't allow herself to slip in the space between dream and reality again. To do so was to eschew who Byakuya really was and then who was she in love with?

"I am finally going crazy," she declared.

"Well, will you go crazy on the veranda with me for a while?" a voice outside asked.

Hisana responded with a shriek.

"I suppose not," Byakuya lamented.

But also, she added while pulling her wits together and joining Byakuya outside, reality just gave you more pleasant surprises that dreams could only wish for.

Chapter 28: Overflow

"Are you ready?" one of the attendants asked, motioning to the door.

Hisana bit her lip, then grinned.

"Of course."

The only thing that was making her uncomfortable was all the expensive clothes and ornaments she wore. Her kimono was pure white with intricate designs throughout the material. And her hair ornaments were large and beautifully crafted, sitting comfortably in her hair that had been put up by a couple of the friendlier Kuchiki household servants. She was used to wearing her hair down, so it being styled like this was completely bizarre to her. And heavy. Much heavier than she would have liked. Being weighed down made her think of the twitchy urge deep inside her that wanted to run.

She was itching to get the ordeal over and done with, but at the same time couldn't wait to lay eyes on Byakuya.

"This way, madam," one of the servants said, opening the door.

Hisana stood and slowly made her way out. There was only one Shinto shrine in Seireitei, as weddings weren't very common. A massive fuss was being made over one of the heads of the noble families getting married and many people wanted to attend, but Byakuya had quickly put his foot down on it. Courtesy forced him to invite the head of the noble families that remained, and Byakuya's senpai had been so excited by the prospect of a wedding that Byakuya had commented that he'd lose a mentor if he wasn't invited. Hisana took that and translated it as not wishing to disappoint his senpai, because she knew he had a good heart, even if he didn't always go about things the right way. A few other people had been invited whose names failed Hisana's memory. In short, she knew nobody who was attending, save her fiancé.

The walk to the shrine wasn't far, and she was surrounded by attendants, making sure she was still well presented every two steps. Hisana was getting increasingly nervous as she approached the sanctuary. Even though people weren't invited, there were still a fair number gathered outside, chatting and watching. Hisana lowered her head and was now rather glad she had a shield of attendants.

"Please make way!" one matronly attendant barked, clearing the way through.

Finally, they were there. Hisana lifted her head. The sanctuary was simply beautiful. Flowers lined the smooth path. She took in the sight with a smile and entered the shrine.

All the faces, save one, were unfamiliar. She was too caught up with looking at her very soon to be husband to take any faces in.

It was the first time she'd seen Byakuya set foot outside of the Kuchiki residence without his hair ornament – his kenseikan, she corrected herself – and he looked nervous. Of course, he could have been nervous because he was getting married, yet still Hisana had a sneaking feeling it was to do with his lack of kenseikan. She'd have to ask him later.

Her heart was pounding in her ears and her stomach was filled with butterflies. She felt like she was thinking in a rather clichéd manner, but it was all that came to her mind. She was too hot in the kimono. Hisana wanted to jump and throw her arms around Byakuya, but it wouldn't exactly be smiled upon, or possible in her current outfit.

Her antsy behaviour must have been evident, for the matronly attendant gave her one last close look and said, "You are definitely all right?"

Hisana nodded with a delirious looking smile and the attendant swept away.

She stepped up to where Byakuya was standing and shared a conspiratorial look.

"How's it going?" she asked him, feeling full of energy. She felt like she should be running about in joy, not cooped up in this Shinto shrine, wedding or no.

Byakuya had that look she was so familiar with – a face that to a casual observer was neither happy or sad, but to someone who had known him for as long as she had had come to discern the light in his eyes, the slight curve of his lips that signalled a restrained happiness.

'Even today, he is putting on a face,' she thought a little sadly to herself. She put it to one side and instead paid attention to what he said.

"I can hardly believe today is here. I'm glad so few are attending," he said, turning to glance at the small gathering.

"I'm guessing you saw outside, then?"

He nodded.

"Very glad."

The ceremony inside the shrine was short, but intense. Hisana wished she could have held Byakuya's hand, but kept still, listening, speaking when required and trying to keep up her own mask of decorum.

The ceremony of 'san-san-kudo', of exchanging drinks of sake was brief, as neither had relatives with which to share their drinks. It made Hisana think of Rukia and her heart was touched briefly with a splinter of sadness.

'I wish I could share this joy with her.'

Soon music was played and Hisana sat beside Byakuya, allowing herself to get caught up in the ceremony to wash away her thoughts of Rukia. She still searched, and that would have to be enough until she found her.

More sake was served and Hisana was beginning to feel light headed, so refrained from anymore drink. She wanted to be relatively sober for her wedding night.

She struggled to conceal her grin and Byakuya watched her curiously.

"Something you want to share?" he questioned and she hastily shook her head, her hand clamped to her mouth.

Finally, the last part of the ceremony began; the offering of twigs to the shrine's sacred tree for the gods. It was very quiet as the guests watched on as the couple placed their small branches to the tree.

'Thank you for giving me this opportunity to love this man. I hope this wedding will bring happiness. I… don't know what else to thank you for. But, thank you.'

She straightened and gave Byakuya a small smile before reaching out for his hand.

'I think even at our wedding, if I kissed him in public, he'd die,' she thought with a mental smirk.

The feelings inside of her were consuming her, choking her. She wanted to tear off her kimono and get into something she could move in and run through the Kuchiki grounds, laughing like a manic.

There was no wedding reception. Hisana knew no-one to invite, and Byakuya had no interest in such an affair. So with much blurred thanking for the guests attendance, they were left alone.

"Where to now, Byakuya?" she asked, picking at her wedding kimono. Wherever they went, she hoped a change of clothes came with it. He gave her a secretive look that made her give him a smile of barely contained elation.

"Will you follow me?" he asked her, extending a hand to her.

She shook her head, rolling her eyes.

"Why wouldn't I, you idiot? I love you, and I just married you. I don't do that for all the boys, you know," she informed him with an exasperated sigh, taking hold of his hand.

He inclined his head slightly, then straightened and headed out the side entrance of the Shinto shrine.

They walked together, managing to avoid the people milling outside the main entrance. She linked arms with him, wondering where they were heading to, when Byakuya suddenly swept her up and stole around a corner.

"What?" she whispered near his ear, peering in the direction he was gazing with narrowed eyes.

"A small group are trying to follow us," he answered, distracted.

Hisana sighed.

"Is this what it's going to be like from now on?" she asked, adjusting her arms so they hooked comfortably around his neck.

"I'll make sure people are aware of my displeasure," he muttered before turning to look at his wife.

"Do you mind if I use shun-po to get to our destination?"

Hisana shrugged, then began to frown.

"Wait, wasn't it what you used before that dinner to get us back to the house? And the time I broke my arm?"

Byakuya gave a small smile and Hisana narrowed her eyes.

"It was! That was distinctly not a lot of fun."

"I have no idea what it feels like for someone else," he said with a faint smile and Hisana huffed, lightly smacking the back of his head.

"Well that wasn't much help at the time!"

Hisana had a sneaking suspicion that Byakuya knew perfectly well what it was like for people who weren't him. Just as she was about to tell him what she believed, Byakuya looked alert.

"We're out of options," he stated.

Hisana suddenly saw the world flash by in a blur before finding herself outside of a beautiful old house. Before she had time to appreciate the building, she became aware of how sick she felt.

"Put me down," she said. Byakuya complied and Hisana hunched up, convincing herself she wasn't going to throw up.

"Are you all right?"

Hisana pulled herself together and straightened.

"I'm… okay. Just… never do that again. At least not with me on board."

He nodded.

"Very well. Now, the retreat…" he motioned to the building and Hisana began taking in the detail again.

"So this is a retreat. It's so beautiful…"

Before she had time to comment further, Byakuya had swept her up again and began marching into the house, giving the man waiting eagerly inside a curt nod before heading to the room he had bought out for the night. Even he had his duties to continue attending, wedding or no. And Hisana had said every day seemed like some bizarre honeymoon anyway.

"Not as beautiful as you," he murmured, his breath caressing her neck tantalisingly.

"Oh…" was all Hisana could say, her mind quickly shutting down all coherent thought.

The rest of the day would be theirs, even if tomorrow wasn't.

Chapter 29: Dash

Hisana awoke groggily, yawning widely and went to curl into a ball. Then she noticed the arm slung across her waist, while the other was thrown above its owner's head, hanging oddly. She wondered how he possibly found it comfortable. The information of what had happened yesterday didn't hit her like a brick of sudden realisation; it simply filtered into her mind and she thought, 'Oh, right.'

She lay there, quietly observing Byakuya for a while. Last night was the first time she'd seen him completely and up close. Thinking about it made her cheeks colour a little, but she told herself she was going to have to get over it – they were married now and it was probably going to happen a fair amount. That made her chuckle a little evilly.

Her mind wandered into various scenarios for a while before she checked the time. Eight o'clock. No wonder she felt groggy – she'd hardly got any sleep as it was, and when she had slept, she had kept waking up. Well, waking up wasn't the right word. She kept being woken up by Byakuya poking and hitting her. It wasn't on purpose – his arms just seemed to have some life of their own and consequently her head and body were caught in the crossfire.

"Eight o'clock…"

Something struck her. His arm had shifted again. That was going to take some getting used to.

"Byakuya…" she said in a sing-song tone.

She gave him an experimental poke. He woke up immediately. He eyed how his body was in a distinctly less-than-noble position and shifted into a semblance of neatness. Hisana laughed, shaking her head.

"I don't think after spending the night with you, you can get away pretending you sleep like the dead. Anyway, I thought you should know it's eight," she said with a bright smile.

He looked so beautiful. His hair was dishevelled and he had a look that told her he wasn't quite with it. She saw him relax and he reached out to draw her close to him. Hisana snuggled into his embrace, resting her head against his pale chest. If he wasn't bothered by the time, neither would she.

"Last night was," he began, pausing to think for a moment, "… something I will hold on to forever."

She tapped his chest lightly.

"I should hope so!" she grinned up at him and he smiled broadly; Hisana didn't think Byakuya quite had grinning in him at this time of the day. In fact, not even when he was fully awake. She had worked out there were many things Byakuya Kuchiki was, but a grinner wasn't one of them.

"I hope that Captain Ukitake doesn't mind you running late," she told him after checking the time again. With all the lazing around and chatting, it was almost twenty past eight.

Byakuya took this information in now he was waking up and noticed the time. Then he began what Hisana could only describe as freaking out. He almost leapt out of the bed, as if she had lured him there and began searching for the change of clothes he had brought in advance.

"Captain Ukitake… he wouldn't be angry, but I would be angry at myself. His assurance everything was all right is more guilt inducing than anything else…" he muttered, still hunting about the room.

Hisana climbed out of bed, pulling on the kimono lying over the room's only chair, and stilled Byakuya.

"Calm down. Your change of clothes are in the chest of drawers. I'll get them out for you while you go get washed. Alright?"

He closed his eyes for a moment, as if winding down, then focused his gaze on her.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome," she smiled and shooed him away to the bathroom.

She sorted his clothes out, shaking her head.

Hisana didn't mind the fact Byakuya was working only a day after their wedding. Technically, he was doing less work for a week than usual. She didn't want him to jeopardise his desire to become a captain, but Byakuya was not one to reject Captain Ukitake at his most passionate. Hisana wished she'd been present when Byakuya's captain had insisted that he enjoy some time alone with Hisana, for Byakuya's face when he informed her he'd 'had some duties relaxed' was something that led her to believe the event had possibly permanently scarred her then fiancé for life.

She hoped she would get to meet this Captain Ukitake someday. Hisana wasn't sure how she pictured him; all she had in her mind was a fragmented image of an old man, tall with severe features. But that didn't seem to fit in with how Byakuya had made the man come across to her. Really, it came down to how Byakuya reacted to people. He seemed far more uncomfortable in the presence of cheery people, and Captain Ukitake sounded the epitome of optimism. So really, she had no clue. But at that moment, she wasn't particularly bothered.

Hisana heard a lack of running water and turned to the en suite door, which opened. Byakuya strode out naked looking distinctly more composed that he had ten minutes ago. He took the clothes Hisana had sorted out with a nod and quickly put them on.

She followed him to the door, finding it hard to stop herself chuckling at how antsy Byakuya was.

"Try not to get too worked up over this. You'll put yourself into an early… rebirth?" she said, wondering exactly what would happen when she left the spirit world. Byakuya swiftly put her off her train of thought with a quick kiss.

"I'll be back this evening," he said, going to leave.

Hisana quickly gripped his arm and straightened his kenseikan. The thing was pretty difficult to straighten given how tightly it seemed to be stuck in his hair. Somehow she managed it and Byakuya gingerly touched his hair. Perhaps she'd pulled a little too hard.

"Don't go charming any ladies while you're gone," she teased and he looked affronted at the thought.

He dashed off, Hisana laughing at the slight blush on his cheeks. He briefly turned his head to narrow his eyes at her. His look told her she was going to pay with torturous pleasure for her laugh. Then he blurred and was gone.

Hisana gave another laugh, shaking her head at how he had looked, and retreated back inside.

If this was how marriage could be, then she was glad she took such a step with him beside her.

Chapter 30: Kiss

They had been imagined. They had been dreamed. Real. Fleeting. All of them with a great deal of passion behind them, even if it hadn't been obvious at the time.

'Why am I thinking this way? What is wrong with me?' Hisana thought with a sigh.

She felt like she was rushing towards something, desperate to reach it, but afraid at what she could find there. She searched like she was possessed, and loved Byakuya with an equal intensity.

It couldn't last. Hisana was aware of this, but she couldn't stop now. It felt like she was a hair's breadth away from finally grasping what she wanted – a complete life with her husband, with her sister back into her care. She was standing at the top of a hill, in Hisana's mind, ready to tip and roll. And once she started rolling, there would be no stopping until the end. Where the end would be, she had no idea, but Hisana was determined to try and ensure that she getting her sister and keeping her husband were at the end.

'Even if I were the price?' she idly wondered.

Her mind was wandering too much when she was alone. She was spending all her days feverishly searching without paying mind to anything else. It was like a word on the tip of her tongue – she felt so close to getting what she wanted. Hisana couldn't explain where the feeling was coming from, but it spurred her on and gave her strength.

Hisana felt her forehead. She was feeling a little warm, but she quickly put it down to her unusually cold hands and the amount of rushing around Rukongai she'd been doing for most of the day.

Everyone seemed busy nowadays. She searched while Byakuya worked towards his captaincy. He had told her it was close, since he had almost perfected his only recently acquired bankai. Apparently Captain Ukitake had been raving to the other captains about his protégé, which would help Byakuya get voted in as a captain. In the evenings after dinner Byakuya had taken to going out on to the veranda and practicing into the night. Sometimes she would drag him in after a few hours, but other times she was so tired herself she hadn't the energy to bring him in and retired to bed alone. It hadn't bothered her though – she understood that becoming a captain was his version of her finding Rukia. Unlike her, it seemed he would achieve his desire.

"I wish…" she whispered to herself.

"… to be quiet and go to sleep," a tired Byakuya said, entering the room and slowly changing for bed.

Hisana watched him, the faint moonlight allowing her to just make him out. He slid into the bed and gracelessly collapsed into a heap beside Hisana, who continued watching him. Byakuya seemed to become concerned by the way her eyes were glued to him and propped himself up slightly.

"Are you all right?" he asked, reaching out to stroke her hair. It was a rare moment of affection for Byakuya, which Hisana savoured. She settled down, her tiredness like a vice to her mind. Her hands wound around his body and she briefly kissed his forehead.

The kiss seemed to put Byakuya at ease, for which she was glad.

"I'm fine," she told him, closing her eyes and snuggling into his body's warmth.

She wouldn't worry him.

There was nothing to worry about.

THE END

Notes:

Thank you so much for reading! And finally the chronological order of this story: -

- The Sound of Waves

- #10

- The Road Home

- Good Night

- Fence

- Red

- Jolt!

- News; Letter

- Excessive Chain

- Wada Calcium CD3

- Radio-Cassette Player

- KHz

- Invincible; Unrivalled

- The Space Between Dream and Reality

- Perfect Blue

- In A Good Mood

- Overflow

- Dash

- Superstar

- “Ano sa…”

- Our Own World

- Gardenia

- If Only I Could Make You Mine

- Look Over Here

- Our Distance And That Person

- Violence; Pillage/Plunder; Extortion

- “Say ahh…”

- Candy

- Kiss

- Cradle