Long Way to Say Goodbye
Chapter One
The air was quiet and still during the summer day despite the number of insects flying about. The scent of flowers bloomed within the garden of the Kuchiki Shrine. The sun was high in the sky, yet it felt calm and cool. The perfect day and the worst; it was the anniversary of my wife, Hisana's, passing. It has been fifty years on this very day, July sixteenth, that she died in her bedroom over viewing this garden. The elders of the Kuchiki council had told me she passed away because of the stress and fatigue of searching. Searching for her abandoned sister that she left back in the village of Inuzuri. It was the only thing that kept her reason of living. To say that without that spark of hope that her sister might be alive, she would have vanished from this world a long time ago. Never to return in fear of the forbidden act she feels she committed. From the awful guilt tearing away her soul. And the more I thought, the more I wondered. What role did I play during her life? What did I do during her despair? Nothing- nothing, but watch from the side and only hope that she would return the love that I have given her. I cursed silently in my mind.
"Look at me. So many years have past, yet I still mourn the event. How pathetic," I whispered to myself. My day became darker even though the time was noon. I could hear soft footsteps approaching behind me.
"Nii- sama, lunch is prepared in the dining hall," announced the petite girl. I turned to see a young woman with jet black hair cut to her shoulder and a fair complexion. The face reminded me of only one person. The only one that could bring me back to life.
I passed her without casting a glance because I knew deep in my mind that I despised this girl. That I hated her for making it seem she was her replacement. But how could I possibly allo that judgement pass through my mind, when she was the sole reason my wife worked herself to her death?
"Byakuya,"
I stopped my pace and looked over my shoulder to stare at the caller. She never calls me by my given name. She now had my attention as I waited for her statement.
"Please, nii-sama. Tell me why I was adopted into this family. For what purpose?" she exclaimed. The petite girl's voice echoed through the large garden and all the bugs flying in the air seemed to stop dramatically. My eyes widened at the thgouht that she might know about the truth.
"I know about the way you look at me. The way you feel about me being here. I know for a fact that you hate me, but what is it that I have done to deserve this treatment? Do you blame me for my sister's death? Or is it your cold, twisted soul that has caused you to act this way?"
I could see she was gasping silently from the long outburst and probably the fear of what my reply would be. I cast my gaze downward, slightly shocked to be attacked in that manner. Silence drifted for a few seconds that felt like hours. Abruptly, I turned away and headed for the family's private library.
"Just where are you going?" she asked as she tried to keep up with my long strides.
"If you truly wish to learn the truth to your adoption, then I expect you to follow me. I am going to tell you our long history, Kuchiki Rukia."
