Summary: Two broken people and one dark room, sometimes, a little warmth was all you need to get by. – Byakuya x Rangiku
Rated M. No lemon/lime. A collection of scenarios that will come together to make a whole picture in the end.
Mosaic hearts
Chapter 1
Breaking
The door to the tenth squad office opened soundlessly. She barely noticed it until he called for her, "Matsumoto."
She sat up startled, taking in the usual cold emotionless face she knew so well. Something about him was different though, she thought. She could almost see the effort he was trying to put into keep that mask up.
"Kuchiki Taichou!" She couldn't help the note of surprise in her words.
He slowly took a step inside. "Do you have a moment?"
Her mouth gaped a little, darting her eyes towards the clock. It was 2 pm in the afternoon. Now? The timing was odd. And it was his idea to never talk in public.
When her eyes were back on him, she was shocked. She had never seen him like this. His face was dark, jaw and fists clenched and eyes unearthly cold. After a moment, she nodded.
"Very well. I will see you at the room in 15 mins." Instantly, he was out the door.
She let out the breath she was holding.
Slowly she tidied up the paperwork to make it look like she had just gone out to take a small break. With small steps, she left her office.
No one, in this very conspicuous part of seireitei, very conveniently knew who she or he was. Slowly, she slid the door close of the small apartment they both christened the room, and timidly made her way in.
It was always so dark in here.
As soon as she had crossed the threshold of the bedroom door, she was pulled into an embrace.
His arms tightened around her waist from behind and his heated lips found her skin.
"Kuchiki…"
"Don't talk." Talking wasn't something they did anyway.
His hands deftly pulled her clothes apart from behind.
"Umm… okay…" before she could finish agreeing, she was forcibly spun around on her feet to face him. He immediately devoured her mouth without giving her a chance to utter any sound.
In the next hour, she was barely able string her thoughts together as he ravaged her like a hungry animal. Every inch of her burned like she was fire; his unquenchable thirst scorched her everywhere he touched.
Selfish, wild and crazy, and all hunger and heat, that was what he was. None of his usual soft elegance was there. Stripped down from his high and honourable noble status, he bared down to a man made of only flesh and blood.
When he was done with her, they laid there for a long time. Both their hair dishevelled, entangled with each other, gold mixed in black. She laid with her face buried on the crook of his neck, hardly able move.
A moment passed between them in silence and heavy breathing, then he finally got up, sliding away from underneath her. She stayed lying on her stomach, face hidden under her thick hair.
Wordlessly, he picked up his clothes from the floor and muttered almost apologetically, "I'm sorry… Matsumoto."
She peaked through her hair, took in the sight of his muscled back in the dark room, fair skin almost glowing in sweat.
She effortfully pulled herself up, wrapping the sheet around her body. He was tying up his hakama when her hands wrapped around his middle. His body still warm and slithering in sweat. His hand stopped what they were doing.
"What happened?" she rested her forehead on his back and breathed out heavily.
He tried to pull himself free from her embrace with light touches, but she gripped him tighter. Softly, she trailed few kisses on his spine and asked again, "tell me…"
Her voice was the softest and the most soothing thing he had ever heard, as if he was a wounded child, being kissed out of his pain.
His whole body stilled.
No one talked to him like this. No one dared. Not even his wife. He felt an unbearable weight in his chest squirming to burst out.
"Byakuya…" she almost whispered his name like it was something precious. His body shuddered.
She didn't expect this.
With one hand, he barricaded himself against the world from seeing the warm tears that ceaselessly gushed out of him, he slouched down like a broken man.
She nuzzled again on his back, letting her lips lightly touch his skin.
"She's dying."
Her kisses froze, eyes widen and grip loosened around him. The sheet around her dropped to the floor and slowly she turned him around to face her.
The anguish she saw on his usually cold face was the most unnatural thing.
"Hisana is going to die…" he muttered almost inaudibly.
Slowly she touched him, tilting his face. His tears stopped when he looked at her, as if he was seeing her for the first time. She then pulled him down and kissed his wet cheeks.
She knew what to do. This unspoken understanding was why she was here in the first place.
She continued kissing.
Slowly, they sunk deep into each other once again.
…
The funeral was yesterday. Matsumoto Rangiku slowly made her way towards the office, keeping herself away from the heavy rain as much as possible.
Something at the corner of her vision caught her attention, and she looked. Kuchiki Byakuya was walking towards his own office. She felt a little surprised at the fact that he was working on the day after his wife's funeral. But it was Kuchiki Byakuya, something like that shouldn't surprise her.
Across the little opening that housed a small koi pond, their eyes met for a second. He looked away as if she wasn't someone he knew. She was just a random passer-by.
She concentrated on her own strides. She already knew that she wasn't anything more than that.
That afternoon was the last she saw him. Her ways did wonder sometimes, and ended at the room once in a while. But all she did there, was drinking sake by herself. It was a place that held their secret, and sometimes all she wanted, was to be one, hidden in the dark. It was comforting even without him around.
She understood very well the part of him that needed her once. She also understood why he never let it out again since that day. Guilt and grief, the two most powerful emotions, and he wasn't much for dealing them to begin with.
She, on the other hand, was getting better at it. Gin's games and avoidance rarely got to her now. And when it ached too much, sake was a friend. Sex would've been better, but she'd live.
It was fun while it lasted.
He didn't need her anymore. She didn't need him either.
The heavy down pour of that afternoon all but dampened her mood, as she lazily eyeballed the paper in front of her.
"Kuchiki Taichou was a mess." Her attention shifted immediately towards the passing couple of shinigamis outside her window. "I've heard he hadn't eaten or slept since her death. That poor man."
Oh, the compulsion to comfort! She was so used to being there for everyone, it sickened her a little. But he was hurting, and she knew she needed to repay her debt one day.
"Sometimes all you need is a little distraction, Kuchiki Taichou."
No greetings, no sorries or condolences, she was always straight to the point.
That was the reason why she was what she was, a touch that healed his wounds. So, he didn't even flinch when he locked the door behind her.
She left him sleeping on his couch after few hours. If what she heard was true, this would be his first real sleep in days.
She knew she wasn't making a mistake, no matter how much it looked like one. His mended pieces were back in place the next day, back to being strangers.
She chuckled slightly to herself.
Fun days were over. Although, she sometimes wondered if he took someone else to the room.
When she found out he had adopted his wife's long lost sister, she couldn't help feeling a little happy for him. Finally, he wasn't alone. She had started feeling selfish after finding her own bit of happiness, the new white haired little plaything call Hitsugaya Toshiro. Whenever Gin's taunting and seeing-through-her got to her, the little boy never failed to put her back on track. Him and sake, let's not forget about that bit of magic.
And for years, the secret laid forgotten in that room, where once two broken people used each other to put pieces of themselves back in place.
…