The first time Rukia had faced a hollow with Sode no Shirayuki, it had been in the green hills to the east of Rukongai: one team from her own division and one from Fourth. She had only to hold a small patch of ground, forming part of a perimeter ring, while the senior members of the squads struck the killing blows. When it bore down on her, she felt the blood rise into her head. Her whole body went rigid with fear, and all the emotions she had been trained to resist. A scythe-like claw rent the air in a wide arc. In her stillness, it raked across her face. It felt like little more than a stinging slap as she staggered backwards. Then there was pain and a slough of hot blood on her cheek. Suddenly she could feel every inch of her body and the shifting centre of her balance as she landed on her toes and turned, sword already raised and ready. The next attack rebounded off her blade. And, after that, it was no different from her training. Her muscles responded effortlessly. She defended, parried, then slid one foot forward, forcing the demon back a pace. Another. Another. Step after careful step, she drove it into the ring of shinigami. And when she had gone far enough, a vertical black stroke appeared suddenly in the centre of her vision. It began at the demon's head and, in a heartbeat, touched the ground, cleaving the creature cleanly into two.

It screamed and the reishi that had formed its body surged suddenly into the air, glowing with ethereal light. Out of this storm, a shadow dropped gracefully to the ground in front of her.

Kaien put his hand on her cheek. His thumb beneath her chin, he lifted her face:

"Are you hurt, Kuchiki?"

She was trembling, though everything she had learnt should have prepared her for this. She didn't answer him. "Healing over here, please!" he shouted and a shinigami hurried over. She was tall, a little older than Rukia, and very beautiful. She smiled at Kaien as she passed him. "I'll be right back," he told them.

Rukia sat on a fallen tree trunk as the woman healed her. The combined warmth of the kido and the afternoon sunlight seemed to quicken her body and she began to pay attention to the scene around her. There had been no casualties, so far as she could see, but plenty of shinigami were undergoing healing, some laid out on the grass. She started to feel a little better about her own efforts.

"Kaien's told me all about you," said the woman as she finished with Rukia's face. Rukia touched her cheek; there wasn't even the line of a scar there:

"You know Kaien-dono?"

The woman chuckled:

"Kaien's my husband."

"Oh. I – I didn't realise he was married. He never – I mean" – She clamped her mouth shut and blushed deeply. The woman sat back on her heels, smiling:

"Three years now. I used to be posted to Thirteenth Division, but we decided it would be better to keep work and marriage separate, so I transferred to Fourth Squad. Does that surprise you?"

"No – I" –

"I'm accomplished in combat, but I prefer the duties of a healer. Kaien tells me you are skilled in kido."

"I've made some progress."

"Not down to him. He couldn't heal a papercut."

Rukia smiled and looked away. The blush had faded, but she didn't doubt that the woman had seen it, and she was ashamed of the thoughts that had run through her head in that moment.

Kaien had never mentioned that he was married, but nor had he ever claimed otherwise, and he had never given Rukia any reason to think that he was anything other than her superior officer. In fact, he had been ruthlessly professional in maintaining that distance in their friendship.

Yet despite all that, Rukia had dared to hope.

"Who is teaching you kido?" The woman was asking as she packed away her things.

"Ah, my brother. He has great skill."

"Captain Kuchiki. I daresay he does. Well Rukia, my name is Miyako. If you ever require a break from your brother, you are welcome to come and dine with us. It would be my pleasure."

"Thank – thank you."

She stood up. Kaien had returned and, as Miyako reached him, she leaned in close and said something that Rukia didn't hear, though she saw him smile, glance her way and shake his head. Miyako touched one finger to his lips and he fell silent, reaching up to take her hand in both of his.

Rukia knew that he had never and would never look at her in that way, for all that they had grown close in the last year. She didn't hate Miyako for that. The woman was everything that she hoped to one day be. But that didn't change the fact of her wanting, or the tight feeling in her chest as she returned to the rest of the squad.