Disclaimer: This story is made completely from request from a friend which means the OC, Voltaire, is not mine. I am writing this story for Red Cr0w and I do hope it is to their liking and to everyone else's as well. I do NOT own Bleach or Voltaire.
Summary:Byakuya Kuchiki, a stoic noble and Captain of the 6th Division, for all important pretenses, holds back any and all objects of his past from anyone. Aside from Hisana, not even Rukia knows about the life he spent with a woman whom claimed his heart for nearly 8 years. Even as he stands alone as the leader of the Kuchiki clan, his heart still aches for the person he truly loved. He is able to keep up this façade until he is sent with a recon team to Zaraki to investigate a sudden surge of reiatsu. When they arrive, what will Byakuya do when he finds the woman who disappeared all those years ago beaten and broken and without any memory of him at all?
Castle Of Glass
Chapter 1: Take Me Down To The River Bend
"You have your orders. Dismissed." The head-captain motioned for the lot of captains to leave the room as the meeting ended and he yawned loudly. Kyoraku-sotaicho had become increasingly irritated with the level of duty he had been placed with since he accepted his position as the leader of the Gotei 13 and it was showing. Jyuushiro, who decided to stay behind and walk back to his barracks with his friend, saw how the tears claimed the edges of Shunsui's eyes as a low moan left his mouth.
"Tired?" He smiled at the larger man and approached him.
A hearty grin claim the eye-patched features of the head captain as he rubbed his neck he claimed was 'too sore' and that 'his little Nanao would do good to massage his aching muscles'. This of course earned a whack over the head with her clip board. "Of course. This is too much work for an old man like me!" The two began walking out of the over-sized building with his friend falling behind.
"Now, now. You're only as old as you feel." He patted Shunsui's shoulder.
"Then I'm a couple thousand years older than I really am." A sheepish laugh left Jyuushiro's throat.
"Ah well, what can you do?"
Later the day, Byakuya Kuchiki, Captain of the 6th Division, sat at his desk signing off on paperwork his vice-captain had finished early in the day. He nonchalantly shifted through the completed papers before straightening them up and lightly patting them against the wood to align them with one another. Sighing contently as he panned over the clear desk and the stack in the outbox, he rubbed his eyes.
"Finally..." He whispered to himself before standing. Byakuya had spent the entire day brushing his signature across the papers in hopes of completing any and all other engagements before leaving on assignment given by the head captain. Earlier in the day, Shunsui had briefed him and all the other captains on an unusual amount of reiatsu present in Zaraki. He, being as cautious as possible, requested a recon team to investigate which included Byakuya, his vice-captain, Captain Muguruma and his co-lieutenants, and the third and fourth seat of 9th.
Byakuya pondered over the possibilities of the increase of spiritual pressure while his made his way out of his barracks and back to the Kuchiki manor. He thought there could be a rogue group of soul reapers planning on an uprising or even a soul who was unable to control their own abilities.
Byakuya reached the gate of his manor, was greeted by the guards upon his return and slipped through the back halls of the mansion in hopes of avoiding any unwanted conversations with his servants or the elders who had decided to stop by today of all days. After years of running through the halls and hiding from the noble assistants when he was a child, he had learned a few ways to travel unnoticed.
This man, who stood proud and stoic, led the Kuchiki clan as the 28th head. He was given his title after the departure of his grandfather, Ginrei, to the spirit realm. Not long after he was given this position, he was prompted to take over the 6th division where he adopted his icy visage. He made a note never to show any emotion just as his grandfather had taught him. The words he had spoken to the younger man always flooded his mind whenever his heart threatened to overthrow his bold façade: "You must not show any emotion. Letting your heart control what you do is the body's and mind's surrender to it."
This phrase was what governed how he acted around people even those close to him. He can't even remember removing this mask even when he was alone with Hisana. He never let his guard down and nothing would change that. Or so he thought. Long before he met Hisana, he was a young man who had recently accepted the titles passed down to him, he met a woman who stole his heart the moment he spotted her. She stood next to Head-Captain Yamamoto during a captain's meeting with a blank face as he introduced her. He was flabbergasted at the unkempt sight of her and even though he had seen her as a rustic, unruly girl, she was slowly entrapping him. The more he looked at her, the more he found himself...amazed by her.
Byakuya shook his head lightly to rid his mind of the thoughts that claimed it. He shifted though the halls and open rooms littered throughout the manor, running past the sight of any and all the people who invaded his property
He finally arrived at his room and, removing his scarf and kenseiken, he entered the decorated area, his mind lulling over the memory of the woman. He loathed how the interior decorators had mixed the warm and dull colors with the bright and flashy colors when they created the wall tapestries, drapes over the french glass doors that opened to the garden and the painted shoji doors that open to other parts of the mansion. 'Disgusting...' He thought as he glared at the deplorable appearance. He may be a guy but he had a sense of fashion if the way he wore his clothes and hair were any indication.
Before he turned in for the night, he flipped through the ancient scriptures he held on the bedside table. There was a quiet whisper outside his door and just before he was able to react, Torio, his longtime servant entered the room.
"Good evening, my lord." The old, frail looking man dressed in traditional Kuchiki clothing bowed to the leader of the Kuchiki clan.
"What is it, Torio?" Byakuya had sat on the edge of the bed with his elbows resting on his thighs. He had long since removed his shinigami uniform and dressed himself in a white yukata that ended at the bottom of his knees with a black obi. "Is this important? I require sleep and I do not wish to be bothered unless it is an emergency that cannot wait until morning." He was extremely tired and having an unnecessary conversation wouldn't assist in his already exhausted feeling.
"Forgive me, my liege. This is a very important matter. The elders and I have been informed of your assignment to Zaraki and wish that you would take some of the guards here to protect you."
"You said this was important." Byakuya lowered and rubbed his bloodshot orbs languidly.
"Your safety is important, my lord. We cannot have a damaged leader who is unab-"
"You have no faith in my own ability to protect myself?" His cold glare bore through Torio's soul.
"It is not that, my lord. I only wish to ensure your safety-"
"I am more than capable of taking care of myself. Even if I am not able to do so, I have another captain, three lieutenants and two lower ranked officers accompanying me on this mission. If they are inadequate with accomplishing what I could not, they wouldn't be chosen to do it." He held the icy visage.
"Y-yes. Of course. Forgive my intrusion." Torio turned to leave before hearing a faint statement leave his master's mouth.
"I understand your feelings, Torio. But you needn't worry. It is a routine assignment and I am certain there will be no issues." Byakuya motioned for him to leave.
Torio continued his departure with a small appreciative smile. Byakuya had finally gotten to retire for the night and before snuggling up into his sheets, he silently wished his late wife sweet dreams.
The next day, Byakuya had already left the manor, arrived at the Seireitei and was waiting at the gates for the members of his recon team. Standing with his hands at him sides, kenseiken and scarf in place and eyes closed, Byakuya turned to see the second in command of his division accompanied by the captain of the 9th and his subordinates.
Realizing the presence of his leader, Renji sped up to reach him. "How long have you been here captain?" He peered down at the shorter man who briefly looked his way before greeting the other officers.
"Not long. I like to arrive early to as not to be late. Punctuality is a virtue, Abarai." He shot an icy glare to the tattooed man sending a terrified shiver down his spine.
"Y-yes, sir." Renji hesitantly shook his head.
"Shall we go? I wanna get this over with. Bunch of unnecessary crap, if you ask me." Kensei had voiced his opinion loudly, earning nods from his male lieutenant who was desperately trying to peel the female lieutenant who had leeched on to his arm off. The lot of them departed, heading towards the subject of their investigation.
They reached the district notorious for the blood bath that occurred on a near daily basis. Walking through the desolate streets, an open field claimed the end of the village. Everyone halted as the unusual patch of greener grass and lush landscape flooded their senses.
"What the hell?" Renji blurted, seeing the small river in the distance. "How the hell did this happen?"
"This is the place where the increase in reiatsu was detected right?" Shuuhei knelt to feel the grass beneath his feet, noting the unnatural texture of it. "It feels grainy. Like it was molded from sand or ash or something." He rubbed a blade between his thumb and forefinger.
"What's so wrong with there being a bunch of grass and tress and stuff?!" Mashiro squealed. "I don't get it! Kensei!" She yelled at her captain.
"Shut it, Mashiro!" He barked. "Hisagi! Take the third and fourth seat and spread out! Report back here in fifteen!" A positive nod from the scarred man prompted him to look back at his fellow captain whom had traveled down to the river, his vice-captain following close behind.
"Oi! Kuchiki!" He called out earning the younger man's attention. "Find something?" He approached the two officers.
"No. Other than the unusual feeling in the air, nothing is presently causing it. There doesn't seem to be an origin." Byakuya narrowed his eyes as he panned over the narrow waterway. He stopped abruptly when he spotted a black lump on the ground beside the reef. "What is that?" He pointed over to the mound guiding the eyes of the two officers who stood next to him to it.
"I don't know." The three of them approached it.
Byakuya froze in place when the mound faded into the form of a body. A woman with black tattered fabric covering only her chest, midsection and barely coated the lower region of her body leaving only the outer portion of her lower cheeks and legs visible lay on the ground on the edge of the river was unconscious.
"It's a woman!" Renji blurted, darting over to her with Kensei falling behind him.
Just as Byakuya was about to follow suite, he spotted the tattoo that decorated the woman's pale thigh. The deep green Chinese luck dragon that filled the length of her upper leg forced a memory in Byakuya's mind to flash before his eyes.
"Why do you have that?" Byakuya pointed to the ink on a woman's leg.
"Oh this?" Her hand glided across the winged creature. "I got it when I was younger. I was pretty superstitious back then and I needed the luck." Her full, dark lips let a light laugh pass them.
"What did you need luck for?" He questioned.
"You don't wanna know. Besides," She suddenly stood straight up, startling the man in front of her. "There's much more to see than that old thing." She lunged at Byakuya after removing the top portion of her kosode revealing the plump flesh that rest beneath it.
"Voltaire!"
"V-Voltaire...?!"