-Premonition-
A Bleach oneshot by Ayame-chan
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Hello, everyone, and welcome to this small little prelude to what I have in store for a longer Bleach fanfic I have in mind in the future. It had been plaguing my mind for months and I bravely resisted its callings until I finally decided to give in. I'm not exactly sure when the full piece of this will be up, so I hope that you enjoy this lil' bit for now.
I think Byakuya's a little OOC here, especially when he is talking to my OC but I guess my excuse for that part was that because he saw something of Hisana in her, he would act a little differently than normal. I tried my best to portray him afterwards…I think. The timeline for this is set before the actual anime/manga timeline – sometime a little after Byakuya was promoted to captain yet before Kaien's death and immediately after his death and the following promotion of Renji to become his vice-captain. Does that make…sense?
I'm also quite aware that the omyouji of legend are quite different from what I have here; there is a good reason for this and plus omyouji are very cool.
Again, hope you enjoy this first Bleach fic of mine! Comments are always appreciated.
DISCLAIMER: No, I don't own Bleach. I have bleach detergent…but not ze Bleach manga by the awesome Kubo Tite, alas….
He walked through the complex as if it was his own, which it probably was considering how much he frequented the area for nearly a century. Generations of the clan came and went, but none of their predecessors ever drew him more frequently to the home than the current head. He barely made a glance at the servants who stepped out of his way with heads lowered as he passed through. The trailing end of his scarf billowing in the air and the kenseikan adorning his head provided a reminder to them just who he was and what he represented.
Pride. Nobility. Shinigami.
He made another turn around the corner, heading towards the gardens he knew she loved. It was no surprise to find her sitting on a bench facing the gardens' elaborate entrance, her only company the walking stick to tell where she was going when she had no other person to be her eyes. He quietly approached her although he knew that she could hear and sense his movements long before he stepped foot into the open area.
The head of the Yanagi clan needed not her sight to sense reiatsu.
"It's been a long time, Kuchiki-taichou," she greeted him with a teasing hint in her voice. She turned her head just slightly in his direction, the loose ends of hair from her bun curling her face in dark strands. "Have you been well?"
He avoided her question as he always did, taking a seat next to her. "You look well, Sumeragi-dono."
She laughed, one hand absentmindedly rubbing the swell of her stomach. "I'm not sure if I should take that as a complement or a joke. The elders have mentioned to me numerous times that I seem to be getting bigger with each passing day."
A hint of a smile brushed his lips. He could sense the second reiatsu swirling inside her, obviously happy to hear its mother's voice.
"How much longer?"
"They said to me in about two months from now. Although I think that my daughter wants to stay inside longer. She seems very content in staying in one place at times."
He regarded her for a moment before joining her "watch". When he had first heard of her pregnancy, he was quite surprised. She was not married nor did she have any love interests, but unlike the initial reactions of her clan's elders, he did not press on questions about the unborn child's father. It was none of his business though that did not erase those questions hovering in the back of his mind.
"Kuchiki-taichou," her voice snapped him back to reality. "I have always wondered about something."
She paused for a moment, frowning in thought. He watched her but merely waited for her to turn her head back to him and continue.
"You've never asked me who the father is."
"It is not of grave importance for me to know, Sumeragi-dono," he replied without much of thought. "Your personal matters are yours alone. Whether you want to share or not is your decision."
A small smile appeared on her lips and she turned back to the gardens, her hand still hovering over the small life currently living inside her.
"You're still very curious, aren't you?" she questioned. "Every time you come from Soul Society, I can sense that you are always in conflict with yourself."
He refrained from flinching, often forgetting her abilities of forecasting. It was one of the main reasons why she was chosen over her younger brother to be in the position of clan head. Her lack of physical sight allowed her to focus more on what she represented in name: the shinigami of the other world and the omyouji of the human world. She was cast as a genius and a prophet of sorts, a well respected omyouji-shinigami hybrid from one of the most prestigious omyouji clans in the human world. Yet that was not what drew Kuchiki Byakuya to her; it was something that she possessed that he could not explain.
It was something that she possessed that reminded him of Hisana.
"He is not someone that you know," she continued. Her smile faded. "I don't think you'll ever know him."
The muscles in his jaw tightened, understanding the meaning behind her words. "You mean that he is in Soul Society now."
She nodded. He looked away, back to the gardens, not sure what or how to react. Only one question now remained:
"Why tell me this?"
Her smile returned, unaffected by the harshness in his voice. "The Yanagi clan and the Kuchiki clan have been in association with one another for generations. You're very much like an older brother to me." She paused in thought. "Or considering how much faster Soul Society runs, you're much like a great uncle of sorts." Sensing his amusement, her smile widened. "But Kuchiki-taichou, in reality I am telling you this because you're one of the very few people I trust. You're the only person outside of Seiichi-kun and Kouryuu-san who treat me as a normal person."
She paused again. "I didn't feel right hiding the truth from you, especially."
They left the matter at that, watching the scenery again in silence. Kuchiki Byakuya was not one who liked to strike up a conversation, and so he was content in the silence until she spoke up again.
"How is Rukia-san doing?"
"Her superiors have told me that she is doing well in her unit," he answered after some hesitation.
She tilted her head, once again sensing that something was off. But instead on commenting on the oddity of his response, she continued as if she hadn't felt anything out of the ordinary.
"She needs to remain strong, even during the hardest trials that will come ahead," she told him. "Something will happen that will not only try her but you as well."
A shiver ran down his spine. He never liked it when she would unconsciously fall into a state of premonition, but he could not stop her either.
Tears suddenly appeared in her eyes, but she quickly wiped them away.
"Kuchiki-taichou, I have a request of you."
Confused at her sudden change in topic, he merely waited for her to continue.
"No matter what feelings may occur, no matter what thoughts may appear, do not be afraid of hope."
She turned her head in his general direction, a sad smile on her lips. "I don't think I have very long after she is born to say much else to you about her."
Again the muscles in his jaw tightened and somewhere deep inside his heart it began to pound, and he began to fear.
"What do you mean?"
Not a forecaster like her, he could not fathom the thought of her dying at such a young age. However being a shinigami, he had come to familiarize himself with the time of death in the human world extremely well and he did not sense that feeling surrounding her.
Even more confusing than her earlier words were the ones that followed:
"Please take care of my daughter when the time comes."
Five Years Later…
He could not believe what he was seeing. One of the most prosperous, powerful omyouji clans: gone. Obliterated. Annihilated.
All that was left were corpses and ash.
Whatever shock he felt, Kuchiki Byakuya did not allow it to show.
"Search the premise for any hint of reiatsu you can detect and bring them here," he ordered a small unit to his right. "See any spirits still lingering, immediately send them off before Hollow arrive."
The head of that unit, the 6th seat to his division, curtly nodded. "Hai!"
As they left, he continued his orders by turning to the woman just behind his lieutenant. "Tsukiyama Makiko."
His 4th seat stiffened at the call of her name. "Hai!"
"Contact Soul Society requesting permission to have Unohana-taichou send some units from her division here."
She bowed, a habit that she had not been able to rid since the days she had served as the direct handmaiden to his deceased wife. "I understand."
"The rest follow me," he finished and began walking in the general direction of the gardens he knew she loved. "We will specifically be looking for the members of the main house."
He did not need to tell them what they looked like; anyone including those from the poorest areas of Rukongai would be able to distinguish between bodies of the servants and the actual leaders of the clan based on their clothes. The confirmation of their identities would be done by him and those of the unit he had with him who had personally encountered them.
However, the Yanagi clan's leader would only be confirmed by him and him alone.
Byakuya glanced silently at their surroundings – currently a stark contrast to what he remembered amidst the shattered doors and fallen buildings – and he wondered to himself just how much an atrocity such what he was seeing could occur. He knew that she would not have allowed something like this to happen without notifying Soul Society for aide.
Yet he was reminded of just how much she could predict.
Was this that you were expecting to happen, Sumeragi-dono?
As they reached the gardens and spread out, he was reminded again that it had been five years since his last visit. The death of his closest friend, the consequent distance set between him and his adopted sister, the acquirement of his lieutenant from the 11th division, all of these things and more kept him away from the complex for so long. Yet those were the poorest of excuses he could create for her, not for what he knew was going on in this clan.
He did not even know what her child looked like.
"Kuchiki-taichou!" His new lieutenant ran up to him. "There's a strong barrier surrounding the center of the gardens. And —"
Before the man could finish his sentence, Kuchiki Byakuya flash-stepped his way to the destination. Something in the back of his mind hoped for a sign after all of this devastation, but it quickly disappeared at the sight of where she lay.
The shinigami who discovered her were mourning. Others lost the will to stand. These shinigami did not need their captain's aid in recognizing her, their memories still strong from the days she visited Soul Society with her brother.
Yanagi Sumeragi lay in a pool of her own blood, her omyouji uniform stained with its color and the remnants of her zanpakutou ash in her hand.
Byakuya slowly approached her body, not caring that his lieutenant had finally managed to reach him a few minutes later or if his own clothes were about to be stained with her blood when he kneeled next to her.
He needed to know.
Delicately putting two fingers on her throat, he checked for any signs of life. She was warm to the touch, telling him that she hadn't left very long.
"Where has she gone?" Although it was a question, he said it as more of a demand.
"We-we don't know," one of his subordinates, a young woman with short auburn hair, managed to answer. "We wanted to search fur-further, but the barrier behind Sumeragi-sama is preventing us."
He stood up and stepped away from her body to face the glowing light before them. His eyes narrowed. There was a reason why none of his subordinates could dispel the barrier: only those of captain rank or beyond could cancel omyouji magic.
And only captains could sense reiatsu hidden behind them.
"Everyone except for Abarai-fukutaichou and I will reconvene back to the entrance and aide Matsuda's and Machiko's units with the gathering of any survivors," he calmly addressed the current unit he was with and placed a hand on the barrier. "The first to arrive will report back to Soul Society to inform Central 46 and the Gotei 13 that the 512th successor to the Yanagi clan is presumed dead and the 6th division is bringing back her physical body."
They hesitated for a moment until one cold glance from their captain forced them to react. As soon as all was clear, Byakuya's attention focused back to the barrier and the strong reiatsu resonating behind it.
"Taichou…" his lieutenant couldn't help but ask. "Why did you give orders to retreat from here?"
"Abarai Renji," he addressed the red-haired man. "Because you are not a captain and are unaware of the history of the omyouji, I will explain this only once. Omyouji and shinigami kidou are much different from one another in both intensity and composition. If one kind of kidou is stronger than the other, then they will cancel out." He glanced back to make sure that the man understood what he was saying. "Omyouji barriers are in reality seals, hiding whatever reiatsu is hidden behind it and can only be detected by those who reach the level of captain."
Renji blinked once. "You mean…there's someone behind that?"
"A rather strong one."
"…Hollow?"
"Perhaps," he looked forward. "We will know when the barrier fades. Kidou 75 – Mirror Moon."
Cracks appeared from where his hand was placed, quickly spreading further up and around the invisible wall. Squinting his eyes just slightly from the light as the barrier shattered, Kuchiki Byakuya calmly watched all the pieces of the barrier fall and fade. He was expecting an enemy, but instead he and his lieutenant were surprised to find something – or rather someone – else.
A girl.
She was curled up tightly in the fetal position, sitting sideways with the shrub her only shelter. Her kimono was lightly stained by the dirt on the ground, her jet black hair hiding her face. When the barrier shattered, she flinched, curling into an even tighter ball. After realizing that nothing else was going to happen, she finally lifted her head.
Her wide, frightened violet eyes stared into his light blue, startled ones. He knew those eyes.
The girl's mother's words from five years past returned to him, and he finally realized the meaning behind Yanagi Sumeragi's words.
Kuchiki-taichou, I have a request of you. No matter what feelings may occur, no matter what thoughts may appear, do not be afraid of hope. I don't think I have very long after she is born to say much else to you about her.
What do you mean?
He could remember that cryptic, melancholic smile she had given him that day, looking down at the child inside of her.
Please take care of my daughter when the time comes.
-Fin
POSSIBLE UNFAMILIAR WORDS
kenseikan - those little white things that Byakuya wears; in Bleach terms, they signal that he is the head of the Kuchiki clan
reaitsu - In Bleach terms, spirit energy or spirit level (I think if it as aura)
taichou - captain
(name)-dono - a very polite formal ending, higher than (name)-san
(name)-kun - an ending slightly lower than (name)-san, typically used with young men
hai - in the first context, it's more of a confirmation that you understand what you were told to do; in the second context, it's a confirmation to state that you are present
(name)-sama - an extremely honorific ending, higher than (name)-dono
fukutaichou - In Bleach terms, the vice-captain or the lieutenant of the division
kidou - in Bleach terms, magic