First Shower

"Ne, Taichou, are you really concentrating on your work? You've been funny ever since you got back from your New Year's vacation," a buxom blonde woman slung a careless arm around the young white-haired captain. The said captain glowered at the neat stack of papers in front of him in annoyance before shoving her arm away.

"I don't want to hear about concentrating on work from you, Matsumoto," Hitsugaya snapped in his usual impatient manner.

Matsumoto grinned, crossing her arms over her rather exposed chest, "I've got to keep you in check, Taichou. Suiren isn't around do that anymore, you know." The moment she said it, Matsumoto's eyes widened briefly. Everyone in the tenth branch, especially her, knew how the former captain's name was almost taboo around Hitsugaya. "Ah, I didn't really—ah, I mean, uh…I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that, especially right after…the anniversary…"

Hitsugaya stood up abruptly, and he did not look at her, but his fists were clenched visibly, "It's fine. I'm leaving. Close up properly, Matsumoto. And," he stopped and shot her a glare, "if I find so much of a drop of sake around here, you know what will happen, don't you?"

Matsumoto grinned sheepishly while running her hand through her thick blonde hair, "Yep! Night, Taichou!"

The door rolled shut behind Hitsugaya with a snap. Matsumoto sank into her captain's now vacant chair with a faint smile, "Looks like he's finally starting to get over it."

.:l:.

Byakuya looked up at the darkening sky. He could almost smell it. A thunderstorm was fast approaching. His hands wrapped around the warm tea cup more tightly. Thunderstorms always reminded him of her. She loved them, especially when he allowed her to sit outside, which he only allowed once. The fool had then decided that it was funny to sit in the middle of a puddle and test her luck of getting hit by lightning.

Byakuya looked at his desk at the once-white paper on his desk. It was beginning to yellow with age. Well, it had been a little less than fifty years since she had died in the Spirit World. He reached for it and unfolded it gently.

It was such a simple letter. And yet, Byakuya could never quite understand why he treasured it more than the scarf that he always wore. Once again, he read the words to himself.

Bya-kun,

Thank you for everything. I've loved you from that time, and I never ever stopped.

-Suiren

P.S. Don't be so stubborn all the time. You pig. XP

Only she ever called him a pig. Only she ever called him anything but his name and "Captain." Only she ever had come close enough to be called "friend."

He had never spent so much time searching for someone except for his foster sister, Rukia. As usual, it was almost like finding a needle in a haystack. To find a single soul that may or may not have been reincarnated in a world where billions of different souls resided. It was an almost impossible task. And yet, Byakuya had done it. It was by pure chance that the single time he had had to go to the material world weeks ago, after the ryouka's intrusion, he had seen a girl.

She did not have Suiren's aquamarine eyes. But her face had the same smiling lips, the laughing eyes, the same warmth that never seemed to dim. And…she could control water.

He had been in the area when there was a Hollow alert. He had gone, simply to finish the job quickly only to see it already done. The Hollow was impaled on a large icicle that seemed to have appeared out of the snow. There was no one but a girl. She was on her knees in the snow, breathing heavily, her face flushed. She had sunglasses on.

Where is the shinigami? Byakuya thought. He had not sensed one for quite some distance. His hakama swished quietly as he turned, looking for a black uniform.

"Who's there?!" the girl had shouted. Her head twisted towards Byakuya's direction as she got up. She stumbled through the snow towards him. Byakuya, surprised, did not step back, even when she grabbed a fistful of his haori.

"Is that thing gone?" she shouted, her face facing his. "Did that little girl get away? Hey! Answer, you idiot!" She shook him.

"You…can see me?" Byakuya finally managed to ask.

"Of course I can see—" the girl suddenly stopped. She stumbled back, her eyes still hidden by the sunglasses. "I…I can…I can see you. You…are you one of them?! Those monsters that are always in this town! No one but me can see them, and stay away from me!" she backed away. "If you're here to get us, I won't let you! I'm warning you! I can kill you just like I killed that monster! I won't let you hurt the kids here!"

Byakuya held his hands up in a gesture of peace, "I'm not a Hollow. I'm a shinigami. The monster is the thing you just destroyed. It targets things with spiritual energy, which you seem to have. But, I don't understand. Why…are you surprised that you can see me? People do not usually know the difference between us and regular humans except for the clothing…that is…when they can see us."

"Answer my question first!" the girl was keeping a safe distance between them. "You don't see a girl around here, do you? Anyone besides us?"

"None."

The girl let out a sigh, "Good." She straightened and this time held out her hand to him, "I'm sorry for yelling at you. I'm Byakuren. And, the fact that I can see you must mean that you aren't normal. But anyways," she shivered. "Can we go somewhere warm? I'm freezing. Where am I?"

"I don't understand. Are not from around here? I do not know this area."

"Ah, that's right. I don't know where I am," her gloved hands touched her dark glasses and she lifted them off, "because I'm blind."

Byakuya almost took a step back when he saw her silver eyes, "Then…how can you see me?"

Byakuren shrugged and replaced the glasses, "You tell me. I've been able to see things that normal people can't see but I can't see things that normal people can see. Anyways, tell me where we are. I want to get home and get something hot. What's your name anyways?" She smiled sheepishly. "I can't apologize for yelling properly if I don't know your name."

There was a pause before he stepped after her, "Kuchiki. Kuchiki Byakuya."

"Ah, well, yoroshiku, Bya-kun. Sorry for yelling at you earlier. Wanna come with me for jasmine tea?"

Hi everyone! Sorry for the lack of updates around Perpetual Spring. After I looked over it, I didn't like how it was turning out, and I unofficially scrapped it. Hopefully, this will be better, shorter, and more to the point.

PLEASE review! I really love those comments!