Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.
Another strange pairing I was experimenting with. I was thinking about the impact of Yoruichi's departure from the Soul Society had on Soi Fon (probably a result of too many AMVs) and then I got thinking about Byakuya's relationship with her as well, so this is what came of it.
This is another member of my Drabble-series Two Halves. Pairings are Soi Fon/Yoruichi, Byakuya/Hisana, then Soi Fong/Byakuya and slight Byakuya/Yoruichi.
Enjoy!
Neither of them are in love.
Soi Fon feels no rush of excitement or anxiety as she methodically begins to take off her Captain's Uniform. She is cold as her haori puddles around her feet, like the shedding of feathers, but her face doesn't even flicker. Her eyes stare at nothing in particular.
Byakuya only watches because there is something interesting about seeing Soi Fon peeling away the layers of black that usually covers her body. Like a flower stripping away its own petals, although he cannot imagine Soi Fon ever being compared to a one. Not the vibrant petals of Senbonzakura, or the sweet fragrance he used to know.
The skin on her back is a healthy, tanned colour, but Byakuya can see a couple of dark bruises that seem to bloom along her spine. His own hand, resting on the dark, silky sheets, looks startlingly pale in comparison.
When Soi Fon tugs at Byakuya's hair, she closes her eyes, imagining, imagining so fiercely that for a second she can trick herself into it being the tail of a cat, or even just imagining the pained gasp belongs to her...
...But Byakuya's alabaster skin and dead-fish coldness does not fill the gap inside her that Yoruichi left. Soi Fon is not naive enough to believe her pain and despair will somehow give birth to love, or even affection. But at least Soi Fon has found somebody as embittered and numb as she is. Somebody who is not whole.
He is not her Yoruichi.
And she, Soi Fon knows, is not his Hisana.
Byakuya allows her to keep coming to that room that he waits in, even though he knows that this should not happen. They should not be together, it is wrong; they are the wrong people.
But they are drawn, regardless of knowing the truth. When the sun retreats from the sky and the night envelops them, anything is possible. Betrayal and death have rotted them from the inside, turning them inwards upon themselves. Byakuya, who considers himself more experienced then her in these things, absorbs Yoruichi's absence quietly, like allowing a cold wave to wash over him, her laugh reverberating in his mind.
Soi Fon chokes on her mistress' absence, fiercely burning to be rid of the pain. Byakuya moves through his wife's death like a sleepwalker, his only solace being his search for the sister he never knew existed.
Soi Fon's hair is cut like Yoruichi's used to be. Byakuya says nothing, but the resemblance to Hisana is startling.
It pains him to remember that she isn't her.
When morning arrives, it stains the room a luxurious pink, which seems to be a reminder that no matter what pain they feel, the poison of loss that seeps through their bodies and minds, the world merely drifts on, sweeping them along the current of time. No words are exchanged as they dress, only the most fleeting of eye contact, the room seemingly full of people that are not really there.
She leaves a good few minutes before he does, and they purposefully avoid each other in daylight, too painful to face during the day, like an injury hidden beneath layers of bandages.
But when night looms over them, she returns again, resolute, and he is waiting too.
They walk into the darkness with relief.
Feedback would be much appreciated. (On a note, Moonseed is a poisonous plant, so named because their berries represent crescent moons.)
Thanks for reading!
