The Red Tie That Binds

by Sands

Chapter 1 - Reunion on the Bridge

"Scatter," the command reverberated through the air stifled with saturated spiritual pressure. Hanataro's eyes widened. They had all just witnessed the devastation that followed Captain Kuchiki's Shikai release. Ganju's blood, mercilessly spilled, still stained the bridge. Even as Rukia gasped in fear of what would befall Ichigo, something just was not as it should be.

Byakuya Kuchiki only had a split second's warning before a strip of white clothing effortlessly wrapped around his Senbonzakura, effectively halting his Shikai release midway.

"Yoruichi," he murmured in recognition, seeing just who has landed as gracefully as a cat on all fours in front of him. The former head of the Shihoin clan, Yoruichi Shihoin.

She rose to her feet as elegantly as she had landed. She glanced back at her old pupil, an involuntary smirk playing at her lips. "It's been a long time, Byakuya."

But Byakuya was not even looking at her anymore. Instead, his eyes were intently focused on someone directly behind Yoruichi. The woman standing right in front of the Ryoka boy. It couldn't be... he thought in disbelief. But it was. The midnight black hair, the exact same shade as the demon-cat's, twisted up on her head hiding its length. The whisky amber eyes apprehensively glancing his way unconsciously seeking recognition. There was no denying it. It truly was her – Yoshina Shihoin.

Memories threatened to overwhelm him but he resolutely composed himself. A century had drifted them apart and he was no longer the hotheaded boy with emotions bubbling on the surface that he was back then. He had a law to uphold. Nothing, not even his past, could distract him from his conviction and duty.

Wordlessly, without even a word of acknowledgment of the new arrival, Byakuya turned away. "Yoruichi Shihoin. I haven't seen your face in a while. You've been in hiding for over a hundred years. I thought you were dead."

Though the words were uttered monotonously with no feeling behind them, they came across as if it was an accusation. At least that is what it felt like to Yoshina so she took it as such. The words were directed at Yoruichi but she knew they were actually meant for her.

From the moment Kisuke and her sister had dragged her into this whole fiasco with Ichigo, Yoshina had dreaded this very confrontation. She had played it over a countless times in her head – how he would rage at her, maybe fight her even. She never expected the Byakuya she had known to let her off the hook easily. She had expected his hotheaded temper to burn her but this was beyond any scenario she could have ever imagined. This cold indifference. He didn't even acknowledge her. Though the pale angular face framed by stark black hair was familiar, the slate grey eyes that had dismissed her felt like they belonged to a stranger.

She took a moment to truly look at him. The white captain haori begrudgingly made her proud even though they were on opposing sides today. The kenseikan on his head meant that he was now truly embracing his noble heritage and the weight of what came with it. Of course she already knew everything there was to know about him. Like a sponge, she had absorbed every little bit of information about Byakuya Kuchiki, captain of the sixth division, and the 28th head of the Kuchiki clan. She told herself that it was in preparation to know all she could about her enemy but she couldn't truly lie to herself. A hundred years had passed and yet a day hadn't gone by when she had not worried about him or thought of him.

Now here he stood, right before her eyes, in flesh and blood, purposely ignoring her. I'll fix this Byakuya. Once all this is past us, I'll fix it. I'll fix us, she swore to herself. Yet seeing the unyielding steel in his eyes, she wondered if they ever could fix what she had once broken.

The drug administered directly to Ichigo's bloodstream made him unconscious instantly. Yoruichi hauled him over and flash stepped away taunting Byakuya. In a glorious move that made it evident once and for all just exactly who was the Flash Goddess, she lifted off to the roof.

"Go, sister," Yoshina called out. "I'll hold him off."

Finally, Byakuya met her eyes. "You?" The snort of derision and disbelief was implied though his dignity did not allow him to truly let it out.

"Me," Yoshina replied resolutely.

From above, Yoruichi addressed him. "Three days. In three days I shall make this boy stronger than you. Until then, consider the fight between you two postponed," she declared. "Feel free to give chase if you wish," she said glancing down at her sister effectively blocking Byakuya's path. "But Yoruichi Shihoin is not about to be caught by the likes of you." With that last taunt, she disappeared.

Byakuya shifted his focus to the younger Shihoin. He pointedly glanced at her waist, noting the absence of a Zanpakuto as if to ask how she even hoped to battle him without one.

She met his emotionless gaze. How many times had she stared into those grey eyes? She'd seen the calm sea in them, the stormy clouds, and the smoky confusion. She knew those eyes like she knew her own. Except maybe she didn't. She couldn't read those eyes anymore. Maybe there was nothing in them for her to read at all. So hard. So indifferent.

"I don't need a Zanpakuto to fight you, Kuchiki," she responded to the unasked question.

He sheathed his own to even the battle ground. Or perhaps he simply didn't think her worthy of even using the sword against her. Deeming her too weak to even truly put up a fight. Never underestimate your opponent, Byakuya. First lesson your grandfather ever taught us, she mentally chided him.

Without warning, she flash stepped to his right intending to punch him on his side. He barely saw it coming but just in time, he shifted, evading her blow. He made a grab for her extended arm to counter but she stepped away putting distance between them once more. All in the span of a split second.

"You have improved," he commended. He hated the involuntary sense of pride that laced his words. He crushed it before it could show.

She smirked at him. The twist of her lips so familiar. He hated it too. "So have you," she replied.

His eyes couldn't help it. They briefly glanced at the red ribbon that was twisted around her hair. His hair tie. So that had survived 100 years though their friendship had not been as lucky. He remembered that day as clear as if it had just been yesterday. The day she stole that tie. Their last day. The day he told her that he was going to marry her.

"Hado number thirty-three. Sokatusui," he uttered, firing the kido without incantation.

For a moment, she did nothing. Time slowed. The blue fire came at her until it was blocked by a ball of red flame. The two cancelled each other out. "Hado number thirty-one. Shakkaho."

His eyes widened. Unbelievable, he thought to himself as he realized that she had fired kido at him not just without the incantation but without even the saying the name of the spell.

"Amazing," Ukitake's voice reached Byakuya's ear. "This is unprecedented. I've never seen such skill before."

Byakuya ignored the older captain as well as the knowing smirk on Yoshina's face. He couldn't help but be impressed with her skill but he hid it well. Besides, he shouldn't be this surprised anyway. She had always had an affinity to kido that he could not even compare to. With enough practice, he knew she would master it. It seems she had.

"I've been practicing," she said, unable to hold back a grin.

His face showed no emotion. "So it seems."

Right before his eyes, she disappeared. He sensed her right behind him just before he turned to face her. The punch she had aimed for his back hit his face. He stepped away instantly. She had landed the first strike.

Her eyes widened with disbelief as his smooth pale aristocratic cheek reddened with blood. She had cut him without even meaning to. She glanced down at her hand to notice that the clan's ring on her index finger had a trace of his blood.

Her obvious shock told him that she had not intended to hurt him. In the split second it took her to recover from her misplaced guilt, he flash stepped bridging the distance between them until they were mere inches apart.

Her mouth opened in a gasp. They were so close, yet so far. So many years between them. So many words unsaid, so many things unfelt. How many times have they sparred against each other? Yet she knew this was different. This time, the fight was real. This time, they were truly on opposing sides.

His hand was right in front of her heart, index finger pointed forward to the center. He thought he could hear the crescendo of its beat. She knew before the words even left his mouth that she wouldn't survive this. Not straight to the heart. Not this close.

"Hado number four. Byakurai," he said, grey eyes staring into amber.

The pain hit her hard. Excruciating and numbing at the same time. She had been so focused on him that she hadn't even noticed. He had shifted his hand in the very last second to hit her shoulder instead.

The lightning pushed her back away from him. Clutching her shoulder, feeling the blood wet her palm, she refused to glance at the hole that must obviously be there.

"You missed," she told him flippantly in a lightness that completely belied the true fear she had felt a second ago.

She met his eyes. Finally there was some emotion in them – an accusation. "You were holding back," he reproached her.

She pointedly looked at his sheathed Senbonzakura. "So were you."

In an instant, she lifted off and in a flash step that would have made Yoruichi Shihoin proud, she was gone.

Byakuya stared after her. She was gone as unexpectedly as she had arrived, unaware of the turmoil she'd left behind. Something pricked him inside. He couldn't tell if it was the ice in his veins or the fiery rage she ignited.

Years of resolution, indifference and carefully crafted separation. A century of convictions. All shaken in the wake of one slip of an amber eyed witch. How dare you, Yoshina Shihoin? He cursed her.

All these years he had thought there was nothing in him that felt anything intensely. But today, he felt it. He felt the rage boil his blood in reminiscence of his younger days. He felt the hate. He felt it. He felt it with a passion he'd never thought was possible.

Author's Note:

The image belongs to NatashaRazi on Deviantart.

"Yoshina" loosely means good, virtuous, charitable, and kind. It also means apple tree but obviously that is not relevant so we are going to ignore it. It may also refer to flowering cherry tree. *wink wink* What an unexpected coincidence?!

My OC, Yoshina Shihoin, is Yoruichi's younger sister. She's shorter and slighter of build, with caramel skin, long violet-black hair tied up meticulously in a bun, and amber/whiskey colored eyes just like her sister. She dresses quite similar too in a black body suit that hugs her figure and does not restrict her movements in anyway. I don't want to give more away because you'll find out who she is and what powers she has along the way.

I will try to keep the originals in character as much as possible but I will take liberties where creativity is necessary.

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