Discalimer: I do not own any characters used in this fanfiction...ENJOY! XD P.S REVIEW!
Chapter 1- Origins
I had met her when I was a young boy at the academy walking through the halls.
I passed beside her without having a single inkling as to who she was. All I knew, was that her instincts were impeccable and akin to that of a feline. I didn't need to turn around to know she had glanced at me as I walked past her. I didn't need training with my grandfather to understand that it was her piercing gaze that could see through me. All of my weaknesses, insecurities, and doubts were like an open book to her. My mind was frozen, but my body didn't stop to address her or introduce myself. In fact, for the first time in my life, I felt nervous and almost afraid. I still cannot describe why my body instinctively walked away from her.
Fire and Ice is what we were. Or to be more exact, a goddess twiddling a fragile flower between nimble fingers.
That was our first encounter. Nothing special or particularly meaningful I would say. There were not even any words exchanged. Then again, was there ever any need? I would've sworn she could read my mind and tell what I was thinking regardless.
On the very first day of schooling, it was clear I was well above the other students. I had been studying rigorously many times before in zanjutsu, kido, and flash step with my grandfather. I was a clear prodigy and gift to the Kuchiki family happy with my efforts; almost egotistical.
And I boasted about my skill in flash step.
I would always surpass all others in my academy days and would leave them in the dust without breaking a sweat. I was able to perform several hundred flash steps before feeling exhausted. Among everything else in my training regiment, shunpo was always my favorite.
"He's too ahead!" Or, "It's not fair he's had more training!" I would hear from my classmates. It was my own power and skill that alienated me and kept me from having friends.
"Who cares what they say! I AM stronger and faster and will be a great leader! Who needs them?!" I would yell in the mirror covered in sweat at the end of the day. I didn't need the petty distractions in the way of my ambitions. Pride is always absolute.
Then that day came.
My grandfather had arranged for me to study with a private teacher. He felt it was better for me to train at the Kuchiki estate where I felt most comfortable. I had walked toward the garden to meet with my grandfather and be introduced to my teacher. Only I had no idea at the time how my life would be influenced, forever.
Behind my grandfather, stood an attractive, slender, dark skinned woman smiling pleasantly at me. She was wearing the black onmitsukido uniform with black wrist guards along with a pair of black lightweight shoes I could tell allowed for stealth and easy use of shunpo. She had purple hair and golden eyes that struck me like lightning. I immediately remembered her after noticing that final feature. I had also noticed I was studying the rest of her body before I arrived at her eyes. She was truly beautiful and absolutely radiant.
"YO!" She yelled an inch from my face. When did she appear before me? She moved so quickly I couldn't even detect the change in her reiatsu. I could tell she was exceptionally skilled. In the time I was attempting to rationalize what she had done, she was patting my head with the silliest smile on her face giggling as if I was a new toy.
"So you're Byakuya? My, I didn't think you would be so handsome. I'm excited to get to play with you!"
That comment immediately striked a nerve. I swatted her hand away. "Play with me?! My training is not a game! I have a duty to my clan and i'm going to be the next head of my family! Besides, who on earth pats someones head, treats them like a child, before even giving someone their name?!"
She blinked in surprise and cocked her head to the side. "What? I did introduce myself earlier. Are you hard of hearing perhaps?" She laughed amusingly at my comment.
My eyes widened. When on earth did she say her name? What was it? Why did I not catch it? I had then realized her mouth was moving when I was busy studying her earlier, and she was speaking. I was so preoccupied with her beauty I paid no attention to what she was saying. What was wrong with me? Had I truly admitted to finding her beautiful?
"Shihoin Yoruichi."
This time her voice immediately caught my ear. The Shihoin clan head was my teacher.
My grandfather cleared his throat bringing me back to real time. "I suppose I shall leave the two of you alone to get to know each other. Come see me when you are through, Yoruichi."
She bowed in respect to grandfather. "Thank you, I will."
I mirrored her gesture, and my grandfather disappeared from the garden with his shunpo. I then regained my composure and watched her intently. She sat down near the koi fish pond with her legs crossed staring at the pond watching the fish interact with each other. Her mannerisms were quite strange for a noble. She seemed quite entertained by the circling fish. After my mental remarks, she looked over at me and motioned for me to sit.
"Come here Byakuya." She gave me a warm, inviting smile. Who could possibly say no to her charms?
Except I was gravely mistaken. That woman had cast bakudo #1 ensnaring me on the ground, helpless and dumbfounded. The kido was still incredibly strong without the incantation being recited. I struggled with an embarrassing red flush in my face and I began to yell.
"Why the hell did you do this?! Let me go!" I screamed as she calmly walked over to me. She crouched down, and lifted my chin with a single finger and looked directly in my eyes.
"That's for not introducing yourself you brat. Then you have the nerve to scold me? Who do you think you are?!" She stuck her tongue out at me while releasing the kido.
My eyes widened. "That's right...I was rude to you..." I kneeled in apology before her in utmost sincerity. I really was being a brat and making an awful impression on her.
"You sure are interesting." She remarked with a smirk on her face. Yoruichi was a person that was very hard to read. It felt as if she was always on an entirely different plane, and wavelength. I felt like I could instantly be absorbed into her shadow if she willed it. Truly terrifying, yet exciting. I was eager to know more about her. To learn and stand beside her as an equal, and then surpass her. This was a test of will and resolve in surpassing a Goddess. With those thoughts, I stood up letting the slightest hint of confidence slip through, and before I knew it blood was running down my cheek.
I was in utter shock.
I looked around frantically studying the surroundings. Where did she go? When did she cut me? Did I truly let my guard down so much? Where are you Shihoin Yoruichi?! I then found the burst of spiritual pressure coming from a tree. She was sitting on a tree branch, slender leg crossed over another with an unamused look on her face. She chuckled. "You think I couldn't tell what you were thinking? Did you really think you could defeat me? You have a lot to learn, Byakuya-bo. You couldn't even locate my reiatsu or block that anken." She pointed her index finger at the tree bark of a tree behind me. I turned around slowly and found the hidden knife that had eluded me impaled into the tree. She was a perfect assassin. I was no match for her. I wondered if I could ever come close to her power.
"Do you still doubt me, my little Byakuya?" She whispered in my ear with a low husk to her voice. Again I had failed to capture her presence. The sweat dripped down my neck and I swallowed what seemed like the heaviest lump in my throat and my mouth went dry. She was so close to me. I could smell her and feel her warmth against my back. I couldn't move. I only whispered once. "I want to be your student. Please teach me."
With that, the atmosphere immediately changed. My hair held together with a red string fell down my face and she appeared in front of me twiddling that hair tie in her fingers before every lock of my hair finished descending. She beamed a huge grin. "Play tag with me. This will be your first lesson."
I was dumbfounded once more questioning how many times this woman would take me by surprise. Tag? Me? A noble? I had never been treated like this! "Are you joking? Can't you take anything seriously?! Do you seriously believe I would play a silly game like this?!" I exclaimed.
She flash stepped away this time on the roof of my estate and waved the hair tie in the air. "Oh really? The future head of the kuchiki family can't use his shunpo to catch his hair tie from a girl? I fear for your clan's future, kid." She was really pushing me over the edge. Without as much as saying another word in response, I attempted to catch her by surprise and flash stepped after her.
I couldn't even graze her.
"Try and catch me!" She screamed in excitement. I actually found myself smiling too. I was having fun. A feeling I had rarely allowed myself to experience. Shihoin Yoruichi...the 22nd generational head of the Shihoin clan. Leader of the Onmitsukido and Captain of Squad 2. I would enjoy this chase. A chase that would last for a lifetime.
After about three hundred shunpo, the sun had began to set and I was exhausted. I arrived back in the garden where it all started panting heavily with my clothes sticking to my skin. I had sighed heavily and fell against the soft grass with my heart drumming in my chest. She finally made an appearance, and laid down next to me with arms outstretched staring at the sky.
"I am your new mentor now Byakuya. Do as I say, and I will make you strong. You have so much talent already you know?" She turned her head to look at me and I looked back blushing. She complimented me. She really did. She thought I was talented.
I smiled.
"I did not request for your guidance and thought I never needed your aid. I am already well above those in my generation..." I sensed her reiatsu becoming flustered mid sentence. "But, you interest me as well Shihoin Yoruichi." I smiled back warmly with absolute confidence. Her gaze actually softened and I reached for her hand grasping the hair tie letting my fingers lightly touch hers. That would be the only time she let me catch her. We had formed a pact. Our bond was more than that of a teacher and student. I swore I would protect it for reasons I didn't understand.
She nodded in agreement as the sun descended and stood up. "Great! Now that that's settled will you take a bath with me Byakuya?" Without letting me answer, she grabbed me and we flash stepped to a nearby waterfall. The moon lit up the area and seemed to purposely accentuate her features.
WAIT.
SHE WAS NAKED?!
"W-W-What are you doing?!" I desperately covered my eyes with my hands blushing furiously. "How could you just strip down in front of someone you just met?! Have you no decency?! What kind of noble are you?! Let me go to a different area!" She smirked playfully and was extremely amused. I couldn't believe this. "What? You've never seen a naked woman before? My aren't we innocent. When a girl strips take advantage of the offer! Seems like you have more to learn about women than how to be a shinigami." She laughed hysterically. "Besides, i'm defined by who I am not by my lineage or status. There's another lesson for you Byakuya-bo."
Byakuya-bo? When did she start addressing me with such a childish name. I didn't enjoy being disrespected or made a mockery of. Yet...I couldn't bring myself to stop her from calling me that. I knew I wouldn't win in this game either and accepted her wishes to bathe with a condition. "Turn around then...i'll alert you when I am in the water." She turned around as I had asked and I disrobed. The water was cool and fresh soothing my aching muscles. I would hope it would take the blush from my face as well, but that didn't seem to be possible. "You can turn around, Yoruichi-Senpai." Calling her that seemed to be another great mistake. Abruptly, she grabbed the back of my head and shoved my face into the water. "Call me Yoruichi! Yo-ru-i-chi! No senpai, sama, or any other honorific. I hate them. Got it?!" I gasped for air as she let me go. "Crystal clear!" I yelled. "But...why not? I only do it out of respect."
She inched closer to me and wrapped her arms around me in an embrace. The embrace was not sexual in any way. It was just comforting. I couldn't help but think about memorizing each of her curves against mine. I couldn't pull away nor did I want to. Why did she do this? There were several moments of silence until she finally said the perfect answer.
"Because we are friends. Equals. I will protect you, and you will protect me. That's all there is to it." She released me and laid back into the water, shoulders still touching mine. She looked up to the sky in deep thought. "My best friend is not a noble. I just like the feeling of being the same. Understand? You and I are no better than anyone else. Have you ever asked yourself why it is that you train everyday, learn caligraphy, how to eat and speak properly? Why is it? Someone else told you to do so that's why. Where is the freedom in that?" She turned to face me with deep longing in her eyes. She looked more like a caged bird this time instead of a cat. It hurt me to see her face that way instead of with her usual expression.
She was truly an enigma.
I had never thought of things that way before. Who was I really? Would she help me find the answer? I knew she would. My thoughts were broken by the sound of her voice and the water shifting. She stood up from the water dripping in front of me with an outstretched hand. "I hope you will find a person you can share your intimacies with whether noble or not." The moon made her skin glisten and she smiled sweetly at me with the tenderest affection.
"I have a question for you Byakuya. Do you agree to be my student wholeheartedly?" I stared at Yoruichi's hand and then at her eyes. I eagerly accepted without a moment to spare. I didn't want to think. I just wanted to be with her. That's the only truth I cared about knowing. She was the woman I saw in the halls that day. She was the woman with me right now.
I took her hand in mine.
The Goddess and the Flower.
AN: Finally getting back to this! I decided to re-write the chapters especially because of the format they were in. I hope you all will enjoy this work! Please review and I will definitely finish this story! :)