Title: Photograph
Rating: G
Pairing / Characters: Kuchiki Byakuya
Word Count: 1, 042 words
Warnings: small spoilery sort of stuff for the Soul Society arc
Summary: Byakuya reminisces over the pictures in the Kuchiki household
A/N: This is another side to my softy Byakuya. Did I mention how much fun he is to work with???
Look at this photograph, every time I do it makes me laugh
How did our eyes get so red and what the hell was on Joey's head?
This is where I grew up; I think the present owner fixed it up
I never knew we ever went without; the second floor is hard for sneaking out
And this is where I went to school; most of the time had better things to do
Criminal record says I broke in twice; I must have done it half a dozen times
I wonder if it's too late, should I go back and try to graduate
Life's better now than it was back then; if I was them I wouldn't let me in
Even when Kuchiki Byakuya was younger, he never kept any pictures of his family. The only memory of them he had was of stern, passionless people who loved their duty to Sereitei more than they loved their own son. It wasn't as if he cared, but it was just a little pathetic that the only photo he did have was of Shiba Kaien, Shiba Kuukaku, Urahara Kisuke, and himself.
The people he considered his real family.
Every memory of looking out the back door
I had the photo album spread out on the bedroom floor
It's hard to say it time to say it goodbye, goodbye
Every memory of walking out the front door
I found the photo of the friend that I was looking for
It's hard to say it time to say it goodbye, goodbye
When Byakuya entered the academy, that picture was the first thing he packed, and was also the first item he laid out in his new quarters. Somehow, it made the place feel like home, especially after Kaien accidentally "christened" the frame with a half empty bottle of sake.
It was the only time he had ever seen Kuukaku hit her brother so hard he broke the bed.
Byakuya laughed so hard at that that his side ached for hours afterwards.
Remember the old arcade; we blew every dollar that we ever made
The cops hated us hanging out; they said somebody went and burned it down
We used to listen to the radio and sing along to every song we'd know
We said some day we'd find out how it feels to sing to more than just a steering wheel
Kim's the first girl I kissed; I was so nervous that I nearly missed
She's had a couple of kids since then; I haven't seen her since god knows when
Hisana was the first woman he had ever kissed, and that was the day of their marriage. In the first two months of their marriage, every time Hisana reached up to kiss him, he was so nervous that he nearly threw up. Determined not to make the same mistakes his parents had, Byakuya commissioned an artist to follow Hisana around the Kuchiki residence and to draw as many pictures of her as was possible.
When Hisana asked him why, he told her that he never wanted her to feel like she wasn't loved.
He didn't want her to feel like he had as a child.
Every memory of looking out the back door
I had the photo album spread out on my bedroom floor
It's hard to say it time to say it goodbye, goodbye
Every memory of walking out the front door
I found the photo of the friend that I was looking for
It's hard to say it time to say it, goodbye, goodbye
Sometime during the short period that they were together, Byakuya found himself carrying around a small pencil drawing of Hisana. Whenever missions cropped op, whenever he had to leave the house, that photo went along. The night he had drawn it, Hisana had fallen asleep near the fireplace, and Byakuya had been unable to resist the temptation of her high cheekbones, the outstretched hand, the way her yukata twisted around her shoulder.
When the picture went missing, Byakuya was so distraught that he tore his office apart before he remembered that he had left it on his bed.
The picture hadn't left his side until Hisana died; then he burned it and left it on her grave.
I miss that town, I miss their faces
You can't erase, you can't replace it
I miss them now I can't believe it
So hard to stay too hard to leave it
If I could relive those days I know the one thing that would never change
Byakuya regretted his actions until the day he met Rukia. Remembering his oath to protect her, and to raise her, he had done the only thing that he could and locked every picture he had away. It made his house colder, forbidding, but Byakuya barely noticed.
He was too busy mentally comparing Rukia with her sister.
Every memory of looking out the back door
I had the photo album spread out on my bedroom floor
It's hard to say it time to say it goodbye, goodbye
Every memory of walking out the front door
I found the photo of the person I was looking for
It's hard to say it time to say it goodbye, goodbye
After the traumatic events on Soukyokou Hill, where he had nearly lost Rukia to his own folly, Byakuya chose to acknowledge that the two of them had a bond – they both loved each other, and they had both grown up in cold environments.
When Byakuya went to find the same artist who had drawn the pictures of his beloved wife, such was the artists surprise at seeing Rukia that he offered to do the pictures for free.
Byakuya paid him nearly triple the fees that he had paid the first time.
Look at this photograph, every time I do it makes me laugh
Every time I do it makes me…
Byakuya still carries a picture with him wherever he goes. It lies in a pocket close to his heart, and not a single soul suspects it's there.
A picture of his sister, a smile on her face, her dark eyes bright with laughter and pleasure, staring at a birthday cake that had taken him nearly four hours to bake.