"That is my final word, Rukia…" he said, his expression blank, tone even and impassive, but eyes gleaming with the same cold authority that they always exuded, whether to his subordinates, colleagues… even to his own sister.

"But—Byakuya—!" Rukia stammered, craning her neck to try and stare her older brother in the face. But Byakuya didn't meet her gaze, apparently focusing his sights on the empty air in front of him.

"Do not make things harder for yourself by pleading against my choice," he chided, folding his arms and allowing his eyes to lower themselves towards Rukia, whose own eyes were shimmering with disbelief, although they never dipped low enough to look at her. "You are a Kuchiki, a noblewoman, and this is expected of you."

"Expected of me?!" she shouted, her voice echoing back off the walls and magnifying the outrage in her words, but Byakuya met the retort with little more than a curt nod.

"Yes, expected of you," he muttered calmly. "You have only been in this family for fifty years. You do not yet fully understand the traditions of the Kuchiki prestige. But that does not mean that you can go against them.

"You have ten days to choose, or I will choose for you," he added in that same calm voice, but the underlying current of finality was such that Rukia's snappy reply, already formed and halfway up her throat, was cut off as though his words had sliced through her neck itself. With that, he turned his back on his still-reeling sister and strode out of the room without a sound, or as much as a backwards glance.

Rukia slowly fell to her knees, her thoughts racing quicker than her mind could pin them down. What he'd just ordered on her was an impossible thing to imagine, especially not at a time like the present, where she was still coming to terms with the death of her mentor, and lieutenant of the 13th Division, Kaien Shiba – a death by her own hands, no less. And now, her brother had dropped a bombshell into her lap, seemingly content to let her suffer without any advance warning whatsoever.

"Rukia?" asked a sharp male voice behind her, and she turned her head to see the equally sharp face of her good friend, Renji Abarai. His tattooed brow was furrowed with concern, but, unlike his usual worries related to competition and fighting, this time was markedly softer; she could tell that he was worried about her.

"Renji? What are you doing here…?" she asked.

"Putting in my application to be Captain Kuch—your brother's lieutenant," he replied, crouching down next to her and resting his arms across his thighs. "He, uh… didn't look to be in a good mood when he walked past me just now."

"Oh, uh…" Rukia hesitated, wondering if she should tell him about what she didn't fully understand herself. "It's—just Kuchiki family business," she told him, nonchalantly waving his unease away with her hand.

Unconvinced, but taking the highroad by opting not to push the matter further, Renji stood up and sidled towards the exit as quietly as Byakuya had done moments before. "If you feel like telling me what's wrong, Rukia…" he said over his shoulder as he reached the sliding door, casting an eye at her back, "you know where I am, right? Even though it's not my place…"

"Thank you, Renji," Rukia sighed, still facing the other way, and Renji pursed his lips to hold back more words, marching through the doorway and out of sight. Listening to his muffled footsteps fading away, she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and hung her head, trying to fight back the growing sense of unease crawling in her stomach. She pressed the palms of her hands against her eyes until circles exploded into her vision, watching dazedly until they faded before she finally got to her feet, but her head swam and her arms shot sideways to grasp the nearest wall for support.

'What am I going to do?' she thought, looking out the window at the reddening sunset.

TO BE CONTINUED...