After a few days spent in his room to rest, he finally decided to fight against the illness and go meet the new recruit. Kaien had told him a lot about her:
"That Kuchiki, she's too serious! It will do her some good to be here"
Ukitake went to the training field; it was a sunny afternoon. Kaien was supervising the training. When Ukitake appeared, silence fell down the ground and all the shinigami stood still.
"Konnichiwa Ukitake-taichou"
It was like a single voice.
"Konnichiwa. Please continue".
He scrutinized the crowd and his eyes met her face.
Kaien was right, she looked serious but she seemed to be enjoying herself. He could feel it.
She caught his look and flinched. Not only was she impressed, she was more surprised by the fact that the Captain seemed to show some interests in her way of fighting.
Ouch!
While she was trying to define the look on Ukitake's face, she didn't see the punch coming.
She was now lying on her behind.
"Are you alright?" Ukitake ran straight to her and lent her a helping hand. She raised hers but stopped in middle air, trying to understand what she was about to do.
She looked at him, quite impressed and fairly embarrassed.
"A good thing the grass is comfy!" said Kaien's voice behind her.
She turned her head to face him and finally blushed.
Ukitake grabbed her hand. She was now back to her feet feeling more stupid than ever.
"Sorry captain" she whispered.
"This used to happen to Kaien-san a lot. Do not worry."
Kaien looked stupefied, that was just not like his captain to make jokes about… That was just not like his captain to make jokes at all!
Rukia smiled back at him, her hand still in his.
He remembered this feeling and a thought that crossed his mind at this very moment.
Kuchiki-dono is lucky, having such a kind girl in his family.
This day seemed so far away now.
It has been two weeks since Kaien's death and Kuchiki never stopped by to train.
"I wasn't worth being saved"
These words resonated in Ukitake's head and hurt him a little bit more every day .
It was raining in Soul Society. Or maybe was it just in his heart?
He felt so guilty. Kaien's death had been a tragedy for all of them, but Rukia and he (I see "he and rukia" more often, as it reads better) were the only ones to really face it. And it was his fault. He was the one who asked her to come.
It would never stop raining in Soul Society.