Title: The Bravest Thing
Chapter: One- The Spark
Rating: Teen
Synopsis: When Byakuya is called on a dangerous solo mission, he and Rukia are suddenly having to face their feelings for each other. Yet, with more daunting tasks ahead, the only things they will have are each other... and hope.
Disclaimer: Not mine. All yours Kubo.
It was normal to feel the slightest bit anxious before someone you care about goes off on a solo mission. Yet, this time it was different for Rukia. For one thing, the hushed tones and muffled voices that accompanied his assignment worried her. Even Ukitake-taichou was being cryptic, and he was usually quite upfront with her. Not that it was her business to know Byakuya's mission, but when phrases like "only Byakuya-sama" and "too dangerous for a group" met her ears, they felt like punches to the gut.
Secondly, he had barely returned from his last mission. He'd been back just long enough to recuperate. It wasn't an easy recuperation either. She had heard from the nurses that there were some potent and damaging drugs that he was attacked with. Her hands balled up in anger. Was he going on a similar mission that would put him in the same danger? There's no way he could do something like that without telling her. Wasn't she important to him now?
Though, it wasn't as though he'd really had the time to talk to her. In fact, he was leaving this very night and she'd barely seen him, not much more than her furtive glances from afar. He'd either been in the care of the medical units, or preparing for this upcoming journey. Early in the morning he would slip out of the Kuchiki household and until late, he'd be out training.
Usually, he sought her out to say goodbye before missions. This led her to believe that it was only a matter of time before he showed up here. It was one of their more peculiar traditions. She did the same for him on the days of her missions. Though they'd never discussed it, it was as though they both assumed that they owed a goodbye – needed a goodbye.
Rukia sat on the branches of one of the countless trees in the forest bordering the Kuchiki household. The branch she sat on gave her a beautiful view of the rest of the woods. The trees here were all ages and types. Some of the trees' gnarled branches seemed as though they might reach out and grab you while the fragrant blossoms of other trees enticed you. This was the place where she could truly become Rukia. The forest seemed to have an effect on Byakuya as well. It was something she had sparingly seen during their training sessions. There was truly no shinigami magic like this place. A smile graced her lips.
In the suffocating silence of the black woods, she tried to find the words to tell him her complicated goodbye; it seemed as though the atmosphere surrounding this mission made thoughts that she had never acknowledged before bubble to the surface. Rukia also was trying to grasp what would happen if he did leave and she didn't tell him. Words flew around her head and she tried hard to compose herself for his guaranteed arrival. She was on the edge of resolving to tell him that-
A familiar sound caused her mind to go blank. Byakuya stood at the foot of the tree staring up at her. "Nii-sama," she greeted. Then, she leapt to the ground to stand in front of him. Well, as in front of him as she could be with their great difference in height. His eyes stared at hers as evenly as hers did at his. What a beautiful blue, she thought, as if she had forgotten what color they were while he had been away. It caused her purple eyes to widen, but still she held her own against his gaze.
If there was one thing she could do, it was hold her own, especially in this special place. Though the forest may soften her, it also let her confidence arise. It let her even be bold with Byakuya, too bold sometimes, as a distant memories of Byakuya's 'accidental' training cuts and bruises caused her to flinch. Then, as soon as she flinched, she let a fond smile settle on her lips. Now it was only a matter of time until he broke the silence.
That was another odd part of their relationship. He always broke their silences. Yet, even more curious was that she never minded. Firstly, she wasn't bothered by silence. Secondly, they were both contemplative people. Sometimes they could get so caught up in their thoughts, they'd forget the other was there. There were, of course, the times where they felt almost overtly aware of each other; those were the times where they were most deep and intensely thinking. She felt the intensity seep through his facial expressions even now.
Emotion flashed across his face much like lightning against a stormy sky. Once you knew what to look for, his seemingly emotionless face held a thousand variations. The only problem was that they all flitted so quickly across his face that distinguishing them from each other was a battle in itself. It was to the point where there was hardly a reason to watch at all. Tonight though, it was different. Maybe he'd felt the intensity too, but his expression slowed and etched deeply into his face. Deeply, she thought, as his thoughts are? She was sure had caught concern and fondness. At least, Rukia thought she was sure. Unfortunately, wishful thinking had been known to do worse.
Yet unbeknownst to her, she was not the only one with wishful thoughts. Byakuya had not appeared in those woods in the same period of time Rukia became aware of him. In fact, he never arrived at the time that she thought. Obviously, she only noticed him when she heard him, or on rare occasions, felt his reiatsu. She didn't realize that he was a lot better at silent shunpo and reiatsu concealment than she thought. Though a twinge of annoyance ran through him at her underestimation of his strength, he was quelled instantly by the image of her waiting for him.
He may not be the emotional fool he was once, but he never got tired of watching Rukia through those trees. There were times, like today, when he knew he would be the one to wash the look of concern away. Other days, he knew that he'd wash the smile off her face with harsh training. Both results aside, she waited, and he came. The same way she waited while he was gone. She was been too proud to admit it, but he always saw the relief on her face every time he returned from missions. Though he would never admit it, he felt the same relief when he saw her home safe and well. They both held back the truth.
Rukia appeared in front of Byakuya, with a few bandages exposed by the casual dress that she wore in place in of her shinigami robes. The wind picked up a few strands of hair along the line of her chin exposing a blossoming bruise. "Ukitake-taichou said that you would like to see me, nii-sama," she reported formally, standing in front of his desk.He knew that she would be formal with him outside the haven of their woods.
"Yes, I wanted a report of your mission," was his equally formal reply. He was sure that she would not observe the light crease of his brow in concern. It'd been that way since she left, only when she left. It was his job to protect her, and it was a hard one. Especially when she always fought with a reckless passion that could, despite her (again, not that he would admit) enormous talent, cause her to slip up. Just the thought increased the furrow in his forehead.
"Could you not wait for the report to be issued? I'll be writing it soon. I've only been home a few hours." Her calm, formal tone slipped a bit with the last question. Not exactly in annoyance but almost as if she could see why he'd really asked her there.He reasoned that it was just a bit of edge left from the mission.
She was sure that she had heard the underlying meaning. He wanted to see her to be sure of her condition. She had been all too happy to comply though; she felt cared for by his concern. The thought caused a smile to push at the formality of her face. It made her realize that she'd barely smiled like that while away. Not that she was worried that Byakuya would notice since the smile only dampened in her absence from the Kuchiki household.
"I prefer these things first hand."
With a bit of a sigh, she reported on the objectives completed. Then, at Byakuya's prompting, went into further depth under what circumstances she received her injuries.Then, as someone who trained with her, he advised her of what she did wrong and suggested a training session. Then after he had contented himself with all the information, he dismissed her, brows relaxing moment by moment, "I'll see you later."
The words didn't mean much unless you saw the meaningful look in his eyes, the façade slipping for half a second. She noticed that the crease above his brow relaxed as he gave her an approving nod. Also, to someone as observant as Byakuya, it was easy to see the mask that Rukia wore fade for just a moment. He could have sworn that he saw her smile as she turned away.
Byakuya had pondered that moment and the many others like it as he watched her from a nearby tree. As he had sat watching her and thinking, he'd wondered what she had been thinking about. When she was alone, Rukia was an open book. Easily, Byakuya had recognized her anger and her smile and even her concern. He barely kept himself from scoffing and revealing his location. Like she needs to worry about my battle skills. She should be concerning herself on who she'll train with while I'm away, was what he was saying to himself. Yet a small part of him was saying something else. It was saying that maybe if he looked closely at himself, that he'd remember the way it'd been once. Stirring inside him was the same feeling that he'd had when a different violet-eyed woman had waited for him many, many years ago.
Shunsui gave Jyuushiro a fond look. "As much as I agree with you, you have to go get him sooner or later, or he'll spend the whole night walking in the woods with her."
Jyuushiro fingered the ribbon of the scroll that Byakuya would be taking with him. He gave Shunsui a pitiful look, which was quite effective with the dark smudges under his eyes and sweet lips tugged down at the sides. "Isn't that the idea?" His voice was steady and strong despite the look on his face. "I mean, he'll have to tell her soon. He can't leave without telling her. It's too dangerous." Jyuushiro had, for years watched their relationship build. He wanted nothing more than for Byakuya to have a reason to tell her what Jyuushiro was sure he felt. Wasn't this mission a dangerous and daunting enough task that Byakuya would have some semblance of emotion? Jyuushiro fumed silently in his mind.
Shunsui continued to softly encourage him to go get Byakuya until Jyuushiro pulled out the, "But I feel so weak" excuse, which Shunsui promptly responded to with a swift push. This caused Jyuushiro to fall onto his butt in a rather undignified manner. It was a matter of seconds before he had gained his standing position, smoothed his clothes, and dealt a swift blow to the top Shunsui's head.
"Looks like you're feeling fine to me, handsome," Shunsui commented as a grin spread across his face. Jyuushiro disappeared into the woods surrounding the complex and headed towards the Kuchiki manor.
Though Shunsui understood Jyuushiro's hesitance to get Byakuya for this mission (it would be dangerous), he also knew what Jyuushiro wanted Byakuya to tell Rukia. There would be plenty time for that when Byakuya returned, and he was sure Byakuya would return.
Rukia and Byakuya wandered around the woods for a bit, engaging in small talk and short comfortable silences, but underneath it all, Rukia burned to ask Byakuya about his mission. It was true that around him she could easily fall under a spell of formality that left questions that she would usually have no problem beating out of Renji or Ichigo branded into her throat with nowhere to escape.
This particular night though, the wind blew through their special place. The cool air soothed her throat, and she felt as though her thoughts might pour out of her mouth like water.
"Tell me the truth. How dangerous is this mission really?" So much for pouring out like water, she thought. It sounded more like she had choked up some ashes. There was confidence in her voice, as always, but still an odd fear of being informal. She started again, determined to not show weakness in front of him. It left her sounding as though the ashes were fading from her throat, "No one will tell me anything, but I know when something is going on. So don't try to play if off like it's not."
"It is not your business to know of my mission." His reply was terse. She needed not worry about him.
"Really, nii-sama?" Even when being flippant, he noted that she referred to him formally as nii-sama. For some reason, in the light of leaving for something even more dangerous than usual, it really annoyed him tonight, which is saying a lot when having Renji as a fukutaichou. Rukia's fiery attitude was nothing compared to Abarai, and Byakuya could even say that he admired hers.
"I'm a taichou and not yours at that." He stepped in front of her cutting her off from walking forward. Rukia's eyes still flamed but were stunned. "But I still promise you that I'll come back. I don't break promises and I don't lose." He stepped closer to her.
His words were stern. They were never anything but, and his closeness made her head a bit dizzy. Yet, in the light of the night, both were special. She held his eyes steadily, but didn't let all the fire leave them. She was still unsatisfied. "Fine then, nii-sama." She paused. She would gladly walk through the woods all night with him, but she was tired. She feared that as tired as she was, she would end up saying something that she regretted. "It's late. I should get back, nii-sama." She turned to leave, but in her haste tripped.
Great, she thought, that was a really dignified punctuation to the conversation. Moments from hitting the ground, she instead found herself moments from Byakuya's chest. He leaned down, and she was sure he would chastise her for being clumsy.
He hadn't wanted her to walk away. The fall provided a convenient excuse to touch her, something that had building in him for a long time. Having his hands on her waist and her body a breath from his, awoke something inside that had been long dormant. His façade slipped. A rare smile graced his face as he leaned down to Rukia's cheek. Then he did something that he was sure he had forgotten how to. "And you're worried about me," he whispered, jokingly. He had long forgone jokes for sarcasm and silence.
"N-nii-sama." His sudden intimacy had shocked her almost as much as his humor. He rarely showed either. Sometimes a meaningful hand on her shoulder or, in recent closeness, he'd push her chin up to meet his eyes. There were times when a smirk would cross his face, but it was nothing like real genuine smile gracing his face. More disconcertingly, his hands were on her hips. She was never this close to men (except in battle), and if that wasn't nerve wracking enough, it was Byakuya. She couldn't deny that she wasn't pleased, but she wasn't sure what it meant at all.
"Call me Byakuya." He said it as the culmination of his frustration at her repetition of "nii-sama."
"Byakuya," she repeated, enjoying the way it rolled off her lips.
His mouth was moments away from hers, and in this night air, it seemed like this could be right. It seemed as though it wasn't rashly started by jealously conceived months ago, as though she wasn't supposed to be his sister, as though she wasn't the sister of the one he had loved before, as though it was right.
(AN: After six years of reading fanfictions for many fandoms, I'm actually posting one. Hopefully I've come a long way since creating Mary Sue characters named after me. HUGE THANKS TO LIZ, my best friend who made me exercise my writing skills. Please review! I will love you if you do!)