Chapter - 1

The sounds of wind chimes from the window floated through the Kuchiki mansion, passing through neatly trimmed shrubs and tall, lean bamboo trees growing elegantly around the compound. The warm breezes of spring mixing with sharp scents of bonsai trees enveloped the entire manor in its sweet melody. Spring has come. Byakura thought as he looked out of the window in his study. The sky was so blue, clear of all the clouds and surprisingly things were really quiet and in peaceful silence considering the fact that the entire soul society was under reconstruction from the damages that Kurosaki Ichigo and his group had created in their last visit. Byakura drew his brows with annoyance at that name. It was not because he lost to him in their fight but because of that orange haired human's particular lack of manner and respect to elders. Discarding the annoying matter out of his mind, he turned his attention back to the opened book in front of him. Ukitaki senpai's novel series, Sogyo no Okonowari, "Rejection of twin fishes". Even though he didn't usually enjoy reading fiction novels, it would be rude of him to reject senpai's gift. He was about to turn the page when a knock came on his door.

"Come in," he replied looking up from his book. Rukia was at the door, sitting on her knees. "Nii sama." She said quietly, not shifting her gaze up from her hands. It had been several years since he adopted this girl into his family on behalf of Hisana's last wish. Seeing her there in front of him reminded him so much of Hisana. Even though he put his defenses high to cover up his emotions, every time he saw Rukia, all those locked emotions rose up from his chest like tides, choking him, making him breathless and pained him. "Captain Ukitaki asked me to join the team investigating the hollow activities on outskirt of Seireitei." He shifted his gaze back to the book and replied, "Good. Tell him I thank him for his gift." Rukia bowed her head and pulled the door but stopped in half way. He looked up from his book, wondering what she wanted to talk with him. "Nii sama, are…are the wounds healed? I heard from captain Unohana that they are serious." Byakura slowly shifted his bandaged hand away from the table and said, "They are healing well. Captain Unohana's treatments are really helpful."

She looked up, her face full of worry and guilt the kind of face that Hisana used to made every time he got injured in missions. Even though he didn't really concern himself with what other people think or feel about him, somehow he couldn't ignore Rukia who resembled her sister in so many ways. "Nii sama…" she said looking down at her knuckles turning white from griping too tight onto her hakana. "Don't worry about it. My wounds are not that serious and after all, it is my duty as a brother to protect you. I did what I should have done. You should just take care of yourself and stop worrying about these little things." He interrupted her and looked intently at her. Rukia's body shook a little from holding back the sobs rising out of her chest. "You should head out. It is not a good thing for a noble to be late for their duties." He said and flipped through the book, although he wasn't really paying attention to it. "Hai, Nii sama." She said and closed the door.

Byakura stared at the door, thinking maybe he had been too harsh on her. He sighed and closed the book and pushed it aside. He had never been good at soothing people or comforting them. His one big flaw that he could never seem to get a handle on it, no matter how hard he tried. How would you handle this kind of thing, Hisana if you were here? How would you deal with this? He wasn't the kind of person who got stuck up in the past and whined over the lost ones. He had a clear idea on how life is, we born, we live and when the time comes, we die. But ever year when the spring came, a part of him secretly wished that Hisana didn't have to leave so early. The wind blew into the room, filling up with the essence of spring, making him daze back into the memories that he thought he had forgotten years ago. Abruptly, he stood up, trying to knock off the tiresome feelings creeping up on him. "What a waste of time…" he muttered to himself and headed out of the room. The fresh scents of breezes rushed onto him as he walked out of the room. Everything looked so peaceful under the warm sunlight. The entire courtyard was as empty as always but he wasn't the kind of person that liked to be surrounded by others. He walked into the garden, where several bonsai trees were growing gracefully around the lake that seated in the middle.

Nothing had changed in this place, he thought as he walked over the white bridge and stopped at the half way as the reflection from the lake caught his attention. The last time he had walked over this place was also in spring but rather than alone he was together with Hisana. He fisted his hand tight, gripping on the white marble as he stared into the water. He had watched her struggling in pain, weakened more and more each day by illness but there was nothing he could do for her. There was nothing he could do to save her, nothing. He tightened his grip on the bridge as he closed his eyes tight. All these titles and all these riches could do nothing. What all of his achievements mean anything when he couldn't even save his wife, the one person who understood him more than anyone, the person who stood by him when no one else did and the only one person in this world he had ever loved. Fighting back the rampaging pain inside his chest, he stared into the clear water, rippling gently as the wind brushed pass its surface. He breathed heavily, swallowing down the pain, letting it seep into the veins and allowing all the memories rushed out of his mind. Slowly and quietly, he found himself swimming back into the past, to the time when he first met Hisana.

It was heavily raining at that night, he was sent to Rukongai to investigate the hollow attacks that had became worse during the past two months. Two shinigami from 11th division had been killed and several civilians in that area had injured and even killed. This is a serious situation, he thought as he walked pass a completely destroyed hut that was now nothing more than a pile of wood. He looked around the empty place, peering through the rain that was making him hard to see. There was no notable Reiatsu in the area, just a few very faint ones in the woods but he was certain they were not of hollows. He stood in the middle of the ruined place for a few moments longer, listening to the rhythm of the rain, watching carefully for any sign of movements or even tiny shift in the shadows but nothing happened. Thinking that he had wasted his time here, he decided to return to the base and reunited with the search party. But just when he turned his back and walked away, a deep scream came out from the wood. Byakura looked back and suddenly he detected a huge Reiatsu of a hollow rising out of the wood. How did it conceal its Reiatsu? Even if it could, he should at least detect a tiny hint or a faint of it in the air.

He shunpoed himself toward the forest, focusing directly on the faint Reiatsu that was currently being chased by a hollow. Not more than a minute, he found them. He stood on a sturdy tree branch and watched the hideous looking hollow with tentacles falling down its huge head chasing after a small girl. He took out his zanpakuto and jumped down from the tree, putting himself between the hollow and the girl. The hollow came to a stop in his appearance and he saw the girl collapsed in a corner of his eyes. "Shinigami? Ha, ha…You bugs never know when to stop, do you? You will be a treat compare to that girl." The hollow's guffy voice surrounded him, he felt a slight change in the pressure around them but that level of Reiatsu was nothing to him. He swung his sword and jumped at the hollow, ducking at the tentacles swinging toward him. With a swift swing of his zanpakuto, he slashed the mask, letting the hollow to roar out in pain. He gently landed on his feet and put his sword back into its sheath. This kind of weak hollow couldn't be the one to be causing this much death around here, he thought as he started to walk away.

But suddenly he felt the Reiatsu from the deteriorating hollow behind erupted and he only had a few seconds to defend the tentacles that were shot into his chest. One of the tentacles wrapped around his legs and he found himself dangling above the ground with his head to the ground in a blink of eye. "You little insect, you think you can defeat me that easily?" the hollow shouted as spikes appeared out of the tentacles and the beast threw him into the air. Byakura closed his eyes as he slowly fell down and released his Shi Kai. "Scatter, Sanpozakura." He watched as his sword scattered into thousands of pink flower petals and after a second, he heard the hollow's scream that shook the trees around them. With a flip, he landed gently beside the girl who was on verge of passing out. He watched as the hollow disappeared into the air for real this time and his sword reappeared in his hand. He quickly sheathed his sword and said to the girl without looking down at her, "These areas are not safe for someone like you who have spiritual power. You should stay away from this place."

He then took off, not looking back at the girl. As he walked away, he felt that his legs became heavier. He first thought it was because of tiredness of after wandering around the Rukongai for past two days but then he felt light headed and his vision became blurry. He leaned against a tree and looked down at the place where the hollow's tentacles had wrapped. His whole leg had turned purple blue. "Poison…" the words escaped as he collapsed onto the ground. How did this happen? He thought as he leaned against his sword. He didn't come into contact with those spikes. How did the poison get into him? His breathing became rough as he struggled to stable his Reiatsu that was going on a riot inside him. This poison was not ordinary, he thought as he failed to stabilize his energy. Just when he was about to collapse, he heard, "Ano...shinigami kun, are you ok?" He blinked his blurry vision and somewhat made out a distorted image of the girl before him but before he could reply anything, his consciousness left him and he collapsed.