PROLOGUE
ON THE STROKE OF TWELVE
By Ayame213
Byakuya often took secret midnight walks. Removing all outward trace of nobility, dressed down as an ordinary death god, he would quietly slip out of the gates of the Kuchiki mansion unseen and unheard.
He especially liked to stroll on the banks of the Rukongai Lake on the outskirts of the city. After a hard day's work, there was just something about watching the reflection of the water shimmer in the moonlight that seemed to have a very soothing effect on his jangled nerves.
That night, Byakuya casually laid down on the grass. Clasping his hands together behind this head, he looked up at the stars and slowly felt the day's tension melt away from his body. However just as he was starting to really loosen up, he suddenly felt someone approaching.
"Damn. Who could that be at this time of the night?" he thought.
The intruder came from behind and…walked right passed him, apparently completely oblivious to his presence in the darkness of the night. Byakuya gradually began to distinguish the shadowy figure of a woman. Her profile became clearer as she stepped into the moonlight some distance away from his hidden spot in the grass. The heavy bag she was carrying made a loud clatter as she set it down to the floor.
Byakuya remained perfectly still.
Intrigued, he silently watched her as she methodically began to gather wood, fetch water from the lake and pour it into a pot on the fire she had just made. After such an elaborate set up, she appeared to make tea of all things. Kneeling down into a seiza position, she then calmly sipped the brew facing the moonlit waters. Her every gesture seemed to be marked by such grace and dignity that only her ragged clothes and meager possessions betrayed her true status. Later into the night, she laid down next to the fire. A few feet away, for some reason Byakuya also closed his eyes and slept.
He awoke at the break of dawn, just in time to return to the mansion without arousing suspicion on his absence. He was about to walk away when curiosity got the best of him and he quietly walked up to where the mysterious stranger still lay. She was young – probably not much older than eighteen. She slept like a baby, curled up in a fetal position with her fists shut tight. A single strand of her thick, jet-black hair fell carelessly onto her face.
A small involuntary smile tugged at Byakuya's lips.
He saw her again the following night. And almost every night after that. They had never actually spoken to each other and their eyes had never met but it soon became a ritual that Byakuya began to increasingly look forward to. He would never admit it, even to himself, but those silent nights with his mysterious companion were somehow even more soothing than watching the glow of the moonlight on the waters of the lake.
A/N: Please consider the ages mentioned in this story in terms of the equivalent "Soul Society years"…whatever that is…XD Thank You!