Title: Romancing Hisana
Rating: G
Pairing / Characters: Kuchiki Byakuya, Kuchiki Hisana
Word Count: 784 words
Warnings: No spoilers I can think of unless you don't know who Hisana is
Summary: Byakuya decides to romance Hisana
A/N: Byakuya is a cutie pie, and despite his stiff exterior, I see this really, really shy, gentle man who doesn't know how to express his emotions, and is so in love with Hisana that he would do anything to win her heart. We don't know how he met Hisana – at least, I don't, feel free to tell me if you know – and this is how I pictured it all coming together…
DEDICATED TO JOSH GROBAN, WHOSE LYRICS INSPIRED BOTH THIS AND "TRUST AND BETRAYAL" … thank you …
The first time he saw her, he knew he had to have her.
She was standing in a dusty street in Rukongai, in a tattered green kimono, her eyes closed, oblivious to the noise around her. She was holding a single pink daisy in her cupped hands, her head bent to catch its delicate fragrance. When she lifted her head, a singularly radiant smile on her face, Kuchiki Byakuya fell in love.
From that moment onwards, the Kuchiki noble spent every moment of his spare time in Rukongai, hoping to get a glimpse of the young woman who wandered so gracefully between the throngs of people.
Her name, he soon discovered, was Hisana. It suited her somehow, delicate, fragile, a pink daisy in a field of thorns. Byakuya wondered if she would speak to him if he approached her, or if, like so many of the souls who dwelt in Rukongai, she would find him and what he stood for repulsive.
There was one course of action open to him.
Over the next two or three days, Byakuya befriended one of the young women who he had often seen with Hisana, and on the first day off he had, he went to a nearby field and picked every single pink daisy he could find. When he could carry no more, he went back to Inuzuri and begged Hisana's friend to give the flowers to her. Ashamed of the captain's haori that rested on his shoulders and the scarf at his throat, Byakuya hid in the shadows and watched as Hisana accepted his bouquet with shy laughter.
Thereafter, whenever Byakuya had the chance, he slipped into Rukongai, often bearing little gifts he hoped Hisana would like.
A plain white handkerchief, sown around the edges in fine blue lace that he had carefully picked off his best yukata.
A comb for her hair, decorated with sparkling red gems.
A bag of sweet cherries, freshly picked.
Flowers, any flowers, picked from his own garden.
And always he would hide in the shadows, watching from a distance as Hisana was presented with his gifts.
When he eventually went back to Inuzuri to seek her out, it bewildered him that she was there, waiting for him. She smiled, and Byakuya found himself speechless, unable to even greet her.
'You bring me gifts,' Hisana said softly. 'Why?'
'You smiled,' he whispered. 'When you took my flowers, you smiled.'
Later, he was appalled at how foolish he had sounded, but Hisana had slipped her smaller hand into his larger one and they had walked around Rukongai for hours.
He spent that evening at the river with her, spending hours catching fireflies to hear her delighted laughter, and teaching her to hold her hands beneath the water to allow the koi to swim across her palms.
When he finally plucked up the courage to tell her that he was a shinigami, a noble, he was so nervous that he could barely get the words out. He was not sure what surprised him more- the fact that she knew, or the fact that she didn't care. When Hisana told him that she had noticed him across the street that day, Byakuya nearly choked on the apple he was sharing with her.
The first time Hisana kissed his cheek in thanks, Byakuya swore he'd never wash his face again. When Hisana fell asleep in his arms under the stars, Byakuya promised himself that he would keep the kimono he was wearing forever.
Byakuya was utterly captivated by Hisana's grace, and completely entranced with her gentle manner. The gifts she chose to give him meant more to him than anything else ever had – a butterfly, crafted from leaves and a yellow rose.
Dried sakura blossoms from the cherry trees that bordered Sereitei.
Chocolates that she had made herself.
Byakuya invited Hisana to meet his family, and was more than pleased when she chose to accept. To spare her the embarrassment of being from Rukongai despite the fact that it mattered little to either of them, he bathed her in the sweetest rose oil he had and dressed her in the finest silks his name could acquire. When she touched his hand across the table and graced him with a soft smile, Byakuya could only smile in return.
That same night, underneath the sakura trees, the wind ruffling their clothes, Byakuya asked Hisana to become his wife, promising to love her for an eternity. The only word she managed to say filled him with a joy so profound, he felt his soul was too small to contain the emotion.
And not once during their short marriage did Kuchiki Byakuya ever regret his decision to romance Hisana.