A/N: Hey, hey! Just a little note here to tell you that when I imply that Rukia loves Byakuya, I mean in a sibling kind of way. Just something for you people who are fans of ByaRuki, sorry to disappoint you!

Well, Wilder-chan wants to talk about her inspiration for one of her only non-angst one-shots. (Yay, me! Not sadlyness! Be happy that Wilder's happy, given her circumstances. More on this in the profile.) Well, I have two younger sisters, one is a year younger than me, the other is fourteen months. Wilder gets along just fine with her youngest sister, but she dislikes the middle sister. No one likes the middle.... No offence to you middle children out there, but whatever.

This is why I usually don't write these things. I tend to drone on and bore people. Anyway, Wilder presents her first story centering around Byakuya and Rukia together, while not actually together; because that made sense....

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Silent Memory

Ichigo had his chance. That's all there was too it. She had been sure that they were in love, but it turned out to be some stupid thing, just a game to him, like slaying another hollow. It was just a fling, it would have it's exciting climax, but after that it was done for. After that, there was nothing left. The relationship sputtered out and died like a flame deprived of oxygen. Was it true that the two of them together had been based on her being a damsel in distress? It was starting to seem that way; so Rukia could only sit in her room, seething with anger and overflowing with pain at the berry-headed baka. How dare he even try to win her back after the way he had left her in Seireitei, heartbroken and lonely.

Only a few limited people had been allowed past Byakuya to try to console her, and among them were only the calmest and most respected shinigami in Seireitei, but that was only because he knew they wouldn't trash the place. If it made him feel guilty, turning away many of Rukia's colse friends, he didn't show it. Unohana was the only one within Kuchiki's choice few who was able to get the tearing teenager to brighten even a little. Byakuya was furious with Unohana's progress and was asked very politely to leave. When she agreed and left the girl with a warm but solid embrace, Rukia was back at square one, to the furious mess that Retsu had just cleaned up. Squad Four's work never seemed to be over.

And then there was Renji. Abarai came right into the Kuchiki shinden-zukuri, barrelled past his taichou, claiming that he was the only one who could possibly cheer Rukia up at this moment. He had, after all, been there for her since she was a small child in Hanging Dog. Byakuya had wrinkled his nose prettily at the suggestion of a dead animal in his household, prompting the long and detailed description of how the Rukon District had aquired its name, Inuzuri; and that definatly wasn't helping Rukia any. Renji was very firmly escorted out and away from the Kuchiki manor.

Once again, Rukia had no comfort, and Byakuya'd be damned if he had to console his sister, fearing that it would reflect softness on his normally marble-faced reputation. But Ukitake, the only other person he could think of to make Rukia smile was sick again, no thanks to that godsforsaken illness of his. Byakuya was about ready to march over to Fourth and strangle Ukitake for being useless at this time of dire need. Then again, he'd eventually die on his own, so there was no point in hurrying the process. And not to add to the guilt of the thoughts, but then Rukia would be absolutly incurable.

Taking a deep breath and fidgiting uncharacteristically with one perfectly manicured cuticle, Byakuya slid back the shoji screen to his younger sister's room without her noticing. She was, as predicted, laying in her bed, her knees curled to her chest and her eyes buried in them with thick quilts pulled as far up over her head as tight tucking at the foot would allow. He listened to the strangled off whimpers for a moment or two before shifting slightly in just the right spot where, on cue, the floor let out a long agonizing creak that was unintentionally loud, prompting even Byakuya to twitch in discomfort.

Rukia delicatly pulled back the quilt to observe the next reaper to enter, slightly shocked when she found the Kuchiki Clan Leader himself standing there, though slightly awkwardly. She tried to compose herself, readying her unstable mind for a long lecture on the disgrace she had made toward the Kuchiki Clan. Her brother stood in place, stiff as stone, for what seemed like hours before striding to her bedside on a quick and gentle step. She noticed how his footfall made no sound at all after that loud and semi-unintentional creak in her doorway to grab her attention.

"Given the circumstances, I have concluded that I am the only one fit for the task." Byakuya's hard tone made this seem like some sort of shinigami assignment given out by Yamamoto-sutaichou, Rukia noted bitterly. He wasn't helping so far, and right now Rukia felt that she was in a position to show it. She drew the quilts back over her her head, though the sobbing had ended when he had startled her, and buried her face in goose-feather pillows. "I don't know how to deal with a hormonal adolescent, but I hoped that you would," Byakuya quickly swallowed as much of his pride as humanly possible. "Assisst me."

"First of all, I am past adolescence, brother. Long ago." Rukia hissed, quite icily. Byakuya wanted to take a step back, definatly feeling the rise of Rukia's reiatsu. He hadn't ment to offend her, but truthfully Rukia was still a child in comparison, and he didn't have a single clue as to what to call her instead. At a loss, he picked up his featherlite step again and opened the shoji screen leading out to the garden which consisted primarily of large, sprawling sakuras that cast dappled shadow over the large courtyard. The blanket came down in Rukia's curiosity and she stared at her brother's broad back as he sat just outside her bedroom on the deck to watch the petals float on a barely existant breeze. Soon, after preening herself in attempt to reach to her brother's unimaginably high standards, Rukia lifted herself from her bed and joined Byakuya outside. It was, after all, the proper thing to do. Leaving the Kuchiki Leader to sit by himself outside of one's chamber, she had learned long ago, was almost as rude as back-talking would be considered.

The two sat in silence, peaceful silence that could only be carried out by the Kuchikis. Rukia stared out at the trees, unaware that Byakuya had turned to examine her frightening state. He held himself from shaking his head with pity at what a few hours of tearing had done to her. It definatly had taken a toll on her, and he remembered Hisana's last wish. He reached up and placed a soft, tentative hand on her head, almost trying to imitate the way he thought Ukitake would to his younger siblings.

Rukia jumped violently, definatly not expecting the stoic man to touch her, but he ignored it, drawing his hand back gently. The violet-eyed girl stared at him, trying to pry a reason for his actions, but he said nothing, continuing a silence that was beginning to irritate both of them. Byakuya was especially displeased with it, knowing that Rukia was only silent because she was upset and thought it rude to show her feelings to the Clan Leader. Reaching back into his memories, he could see Hisana sitting with him just as Rukia did now, and pulled out something that he had locked away for what seemed like ages.

"When I am down and, oh my soul, so weary;

When troubles come and my heart burdened be;

Then, I am still and wait here in the silence,

Until you come and sit awhile with me."

Rukia watched her brother's soft expression as he stared seemingly into nowhere. She tried to read him for any trace of emotion, but there was none and she still didn't have the experience with him to read the slight movements that he made. The slightest of shifts, as Ukitake had once informed her, could have the deepest of meanings, and not having spent enough time with Byakuya, these movements were almost foreign and lost to the violet-eyed girl. "A poem, brother?"

"A song," His voice was low, to match the breezes sweeping through the courtyard. "Hisana once found delight in its elegiac lyrics. I'm sure you would find it similarily attractive; it's one of my own favourites."

"Please sing it... for me." Rukia's voice was almost heavy with pleading, and Byakuya looked down upon the tiny figurine at his side. Her thin legs tucked so neatly underneath her, pallid visage streaked with aged tears, and amethyst orbs with a slight pink forming on their normally clear whites. He couldn't help but admit that that Kurosaki had put his sister in a sorrier state than he had ever wanted to see her, especially looking as much like Hisana as she did.

"On the condition that you'll inform me of what exactly it is that is provolking your mourning." The older man reached up, and quickly brushed a tear from her cheek, watching her with all the fondness and caring that a brother should. Rukia nodded, and listened eagerly to her brother's flowing baritone melody. It was indescribably beautiful, charming Rukia into a tranze at the resplendant if not somewhat unexpected tune unbroken from the man's thin lips. In a daze, she had no choice but to examine the words as they poured from him one by one, so smoothly.

"There is no life - no life without its hunger;

Each restless heart beats so imperfectly;

But when you come and I am filled with wonder,

Sometimes, I think I glimpse eternity.

"You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;

You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;

I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;

You raise me up... to more than I can be."

It was them, she realized nearing the end of the bewitching verses. Almost every word of it was herself and the aloof man at her side. Whether either of them wanted it or not, it was them; and it was soothing to know that. It was soothing to know that her brother had such poetic words stored in his head, and that they had once been for Hisana, and Hisana alone... and for him to allow her hear them.... It made her realize that though she would've much rather had Renji to come in and let her cry on him like the big doormat he is, her brother's lack of understanding may have been exactly what she needed. She loved her brother more than anyone in the Seireitei could even begin to comprehend, and respected him thoroughly, but she also knew that he had close to no idea how to speak to another living being without upsetting them; and in that desicion, she smiled. It didn't matter if he knew how to talk to her, because he knew exactly how to make her smile, and that was enough in itself.

Ichigo had had his chance, and he was a complete irrelevance at that point. As her brother had sung, there's no life without its hunger, and she knew she wasn't the only one suffering. She figured that it must hurt Byakuya to sing to her like that, and she could tell from the incredibly vulnerable look in his deep midnight eyes. It was a time in which she found them now both hurting, the only time she would ever get to wrap her delicate arms around his broad and majestic body. Byakuya looked almost shocked as he felt a warm little body curl up next to his and turned to her with a ghostly smile gracing his lips. Slowly, he let his own arms slip around her, though he couldn't figure out why she would want to hug him of all people. That was how Rukia wanted it, to be a mystery to her brother for once instead of living it the other way around for eternity. And then for some reason....

It caused her mind to wander.... Just how many people did Byakuya turn away before he let in someone he found... suitable....

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A/N: GODS, it's cold in my freakin' house! I'm shaking like a fuzzy maraca! Just thought I'd add that. Heh heh.... -slowly backs away, then takes off in a random flurry of Bya-boo's paperwork-