Bride of Death
Disclaimer. Bleach isn't mine.
Rating. T
A/N. look more bleach one-shots and classics stuff and sisterly love yay. enjoy.
There are many myths of travelling to the underworld, the great beyond, of women willingly giving up their lives for the sake of their loved ones, of women being stolen to the depths below. It is easy to think of Persephone, or of Orpheus' Eurydice, both taken down to Hades. To think of the travels of Aeneas or Odysseus or Hercules, and their brief travels to the underworld, always successfully leaving. It is not quite so easy to think of those women dubbed 'Brides of Death'. The likes of Iphigenia or Alcestis, whose entire purpose in life is to die and thus be an impetus for change. In the course of human history and mythology, it is this that is one of the least desirable roles for a woman to play. Sometimes, however, that can be reversed, and a 'Bride of Death' may well embrace her position and showcase exactly why she was chosen.
-o-
When Hisana was five, she had the opportunity to be adopted.
(Her and her younger sister Rukia's parents had died in a car accident a few years ago, and no one in the family could take them, so they ended up in the system, but that is a story for another time.)
When Hisana was five, she had the opportunity to be adopted, but there was a catch. The couple only wanted Hisana. They wanted to adopt, but could not commit themselves to caring for two children, much less a baby. Hisana, at her age, was perfect for them.
For a full ten minutes, Hisana was going to say yes, and leave her younger baby sister behind. Babies usually got adopted fast, right? It would be fine, right?
But right before that one small word (yes) left her lips, Hisana caught a glance of her sister. An ugly thing, right now, with little to no hair and wrinkles and smelly and not anything that Hisana could say looked the littlest bit like herself. But still, enough for Hisana to hesitate. Because her younger sister was a helpless, vaguely humanoid-looking bundle and she was about to leave her behind.
So Hisana said no, and the couple chose another child, and life moved on. But as of that moment, Hisana had fully embraced her role as a protective younger sister, a role that had been given to her by her dead parents, a role she refused to turn down.
(The guilt of how long it took her to say no would eat at her for years.)
-o-
When Hisana was seven, a rich couple adopted both girls. They wanted pretty daughters, possible heiresses to their multi-million dollar company they could marry off. It was a win-win situation, because it was the only way Hisana could see that both of them would get adopted.
-o-
By the time Hisana was fourteen, she had already begun to display exactly what her adoptive parents wanted from their successor. She had taken pains to modify her behavior, her likes and dislikes, all to fit the mold that had been built for her, ensuring her adoptive parents kept them.
Rukia, who was now a rambunctious eleven-year-old, did not fit the mold. While she admired the grace and beauty of her sister, Rukia herself did not strive for it. She was content being a klutzy tomboy, always dirty and sporting wild hair. Their maids despaired of ever making a proper heiress out of her.
Hisana knew that if she behaved the same, they would be sent directly back to the orphanage. So she worked hard and impressed their adoptive parents even more. If they had Hisana, they would look past Rukia's eccentricities and unladylike qualities.
(Hisana never said any of this to Rukia, instead allowing her sister the freedom to be herself, on Hisana did not allow herself. Rukia was too young to realize, but Hisana could recognize a dangerous game when she played it, and she knew exactly how much rested on her abilities to make a suitable match.)
-o-
At sixteen, Hisana had been paraded around several young Forbes 100 heirs, was getting top marks in school, and was all together seen as a catch for any young heir.
At this time, Rukia was thirteen and a complete terror. Her friends were exclusively boys, she insisted on being part of the kendo team and usually wore the boys uniform to school because she considered the skirts to be uncomfortable. Their maids sighed and shook their heads in disappointment.
(Hisana flirted more, studied more, and was the epitome of grace and societal elite to make up for what people would perceive as a failure on her sister's part. No one would be able to think or say that of her sister if she was there to act as a distraction.)
-o-
One day, however, Hisana's perfectly planned final sacrifice – marrying someone she didn't love to ensure her's sisters freedom – came to an abrupt turn in the road.
A tumor, the doctors said.
We didn't see it fast enough, the doctors said.
It's too late now, the doctors said.
And the world came to a halt.
-o-
Her mother was crying outside the room, Hisana knew. Her father was probably angrily yelling on phones to get the best specialists in the world to come look at her, but Hisana knew it was too late. She could feel it, had been feeling it for years now, but she hadn't had the luxury of stopping and checking because she had to ensure her sister's happiness-
The door opened and Rukia, in all her thirteen-year-old tomboy glory, came in. Her eyes were wet with unshed tears. Hisana smiled weakly.
"Hey there,"
"H-hey sis, t-they told me about it, you're gonna be o-okay though, right?" Hisana hated hearing her sister's voice tremble. Not her darling younger sister, whose voice produced fear in the school bullies and could reach ridiculous degrees of loudness.
"I'll try Rukia, but the doctors say-"
"I don't care what the doctors say!" Rukia suddenly exploded, tears flowing freely in her anger, "Promise me you'll be okay, don't try!"
In awe of her sister's strength, and strength Hisana knew she herself didn't posses (how wrong she was), all she could do was nod weakly.
"But you have to promise me something in return,"
"W-what is it?" subdued now that Hisana had agreed, Rukia's voice was wavering again.
"You have to start behaving and acting more like me if I'm gone, no, Rukia listen this is important! I won't have you be happy if I can't be around to protect you!" Hisana grabbed on to her sisters wrist with her feeble strength.
"I know what you want me to do, and I know why too," startled, Hisana let go of Rukia's wrist as the younger girls eyes met her own, "I know you've been shielding me from a lot of things all these years, and I've always been thankful, but I've taken it all for granted and I feel so stupid for doing so now-"
Her younger sister threw herself on Hisana as she began to cry in earnest. Making shushing noises, Hisana tucked her under her chin and stroked her hair, like she used to do when they were younger and lived in the orphanage. While her sister wailed, Hisana's tears fell silently.
-o-
Hisana was moved back home at her own request once she decided she couldn't stand the white walls of the hospital any longer. If she was going to die, she was at least going to die on her terms.
At least, that was the excuse she told her family. In truth, ever since she had been informed that she was at death's door, she had begun to see…spirits. The souls of the dead would parade around her, asking for help or ignoring her. Some of them were nice company, especially for a lone girl in a hospital: they provided some form of entertainment. Others were downright uncomfortable or irritating, and Hisana had had enough. If she thought about it, she could recall thinking she was seeing things back when she first started to think something was wrong with her body, but had ignored it. Now that it was quite literally staring her in the face, she could no longer do so.
She had asked the spirits if it was normal for a living person on death row to be able to see them. For the most part, she had received blank stares and negatives, until one person told her she might be a Bride of Death of sorts. According to legend, these were women whose entire destiny was based on their death resulting in some form of significant change in the lives of those around them. The only change Hisana could think of was Rukia becoming sole heiress.
Maybe she'll meet her Prince Charming, Hisana thought hopefully.
-o-
One night, unable to sleep knowing what was soon approaching, Hisana heard a noise outside her balcony window. Curious, she turned her head and gasped when she could make out a silhouette on her curtain. Terrified and excited all at once, the weakened girl slowly made her way over, making sure to stick to the wall. She carried a panic button device with her, in case the probable burglar decided to attack. The maid had left her window marginally open, and Hisana held her breathing as she realized the figure was talking.
"…almost time…no other souls in the vicinity…Hollow activity,"
None of this makes much sense, Hisana thought, her brow furrowing. Licking her lips, she was about to push the panic button, when a sudden screech reverberated around the room. In her fright, she dropped the panic button, and fell on. When the screech ended, Hisana looked up, only to meet steel gray eyes. Gasping, she crawled back.
Before her stood a beautiful young man (at least she thought it was a man, hard to tell with the long hair) with porcelain skin, garbed in black and holding an unsheathed katana. The two stared at each other, eyes unblinking, until Hisana regained her bearings.
"L-look I don't know what you've come here to do, but if I scream the guards will come, s-so just leave!" Hisana was damn proud of herself for getting this much out, the bravery usually fell to Rukia.
"You can see me?" the man's eyes narrowed, and suddenly the only thing in front of Hisana's eyes was the tip of a katana.
"W-what do you mean? Of course I can see you! What are you, a spirit? W-well still, you should leave, and don't point that t-thing at people, it's d-dangerous!" Hisana just wanted this whole ordeal to be over and to crawl back in bed. Amidst the illness and her fear, she could simply not muster up the strength to stand, much less fight him off if he turned out to be corporeal.
The man opened his mouth, as if so say something else, when suddenly a claw crashed through her window and swiped at him. He dodged, just barely, but let out a curse. Turning to her momentarily, he let out a "stay here", before dashing out the window, presumably after the claws body.
Hisana barely found it in herself to nod in agreement, still stuck on the fact that a claw crashed through her window what the hell-
It was than that what the man did dawned on her, and she stopped imitating a fish. Grabbing onto a chair, Hisana drew herself up and walked towards the window. Tripping at the last minute, she barely managed to hold onto the curtains as she sailed outside to the garden. Calming down once she realized she was still alive, if barely, she finally looked up.
Before her stood the man dressed in black, looking a lot less regal as he was bleeding from wounds in his chest and shoulder, squaring off against some…some type of creature. The creature was huge, about the size of a small house. It had a green body with two large clawed arms, and no arms. Instead, it seemed to be balancing itself on its tail. What drew Hisana's attention the most, however, was the white mask on its face. It had a wide-open mouth with huge, canine-like teeth. It seemed the creature was hungry. Hisana shuddered.
As she watched, still hanging on to the curtain, the battle unfolded before her. The creature seemed be…warping (that was what Rukia's videogames called the strange ability it was displaying, at least) since it kept disappearing into dark holes only for part of its body like its claws or tail to reappear and take a swipe at the man. For his part, the man was avoiding most of the swipes, conscious of the areas where he had been already hit, and attempting to cute through the creatures skin. Occasionally, it worked, and the creature would hiss and take longer reappearing.
Eventually, Hisana realized that the man was leading the creature away from her. Blushing at how she had treated him, Hisana couldn't help but pray that the man succeeded. He was protecting her and her entire family from this monster-
Her family! Hisana bolted upright, before swaying again and holding onto the curtain again. She needed to evacuate them, she had to get Rukia out she had warn and protect protect protect-
So engrossed was she in her thoughts, that she was quite unprepared for when the man was sent sailing past her. The wind knocked her off her perch, and in her flailing she hit the chair and both of them went down. Once she regained her bearings, she looked up, and saw the man. He had ended up on her bed, with a considerably large wound on his stomach and breathing heavily. Gasping, Hisana scrambled to her protector. If she didn't do something, he would bleed out on her sheets!
"Protector-san! Protector-san you must wake up!" she pleaded, even as she attempted to stem the blood flow with her pillow. Behind her, she could hear the menacing steps of the strange creature as it neared her room.
"Heh heh heh, it seems I get a double meal today…I only have to wait for this one to die, won't be long now, and for the Shinigami to bleed out," the voice came from behind her, and Hisana was petrified with fright as she realized it was the voice of the creature.
Wet tears began to spill down her cheeks. There was absolutely no avoiding her fate. The… Shinigami (and even in her terror Hisana berated herself for being so stupid it was so obvious how did I not realize before) below her was dying for trying to protect her, when it had been absolutely futile anyway. She had been marked for death a long time ago. Hisana had thought she had made peace with it at this point, but as she sat there, crying, she realized she had not. She was giving her back to her oncoming death because she could not face it she was not prepared she was sixteen for gods sake how in the world was this fair she still had to take care of Rukia to protect protect protect-
A hand fell on the back of her head. Startled, Hisana looked up. The Shinigami smiled through his pain.
"It seems like…you haven't really let yourself cry…in a while," he got out weakly. Hisana could only look at him with wide eyes, before she looked at his sword. He frowned, noticing where her eyes had gone, "no,"
"But-"
"No, you can't, you don't know what to do, you don't have spirit awareness-"
"I have to try, I-I have people I need to protect here-!"
They glared at each other in a battle of wills. Hisana, however, quite literally had nothing left to lose if it was only after her, so the Shinigami relented, sighing before looking at her.
"There is a way…I don't like to use it…it is not exactly in the rules…it is extremely dangerous and has a very low chance of working,"
"Well, we've got a low chance of getting out of this one, so that sounds good to me," Hisana's eyes were resolute despite the tears.
"Well…I have to…stab you," silence fell. Hisana stared at him in disbelief for a second, before throwing her head back and laughing.
"Why are you laughing…this is serious,"
"Y-yes, haha, yes I'm sorry, of course," she calmed herself down, before grabbing the sword and pointing it at herself, once more facing the katana head on, "it's just that this is the least dangerous thing I can think of,"
Before the Shinigami could comment she grabbed his hand and plunged the katana into her belly.
"I'm dead anyway,"
-o-
(That night, a bright light disturbed the very nature of the spiritual energy of the region, extending towards the heavens as a beam of light. Seireitei's Sixth Division Lieutenant Kuchiki Byakuya would be late with his report for the first time in his life, and indeed would not be seen for several months, to the growing unease of his grandfather.
In the World of the Living, a young heiress' life had an abrupt shift in gears, and was now heading straight to a decidedly brighter future.)
-o-
The next day, Hisana's doctors were extremely surprised to discover the tumor had disappeared over night.
It's a medical miracle, they said.
We need to study it and know more, they said.
No thanks, she said.
It was time for Hisana to start living again.
thanks for making it all the way here, comments would be lovely.