The original story in Chinese was written by 杆君.
And I have translated this story with her permission.
Hope everyone enjoys reading the story! :)
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Nights of Spring
From the past few days, Rukia's CD player has been playing the same song over and over again.
The women's voice sounded calmingly warm. Oddly enough, a line in the lyrics was "to hold the hand of my wife again". Maybe it was a poem by a man dedicated to his departed wife, and was made a song.
He could hear it sometimes, as he finished with the dishes and sat himself into the couch with newspapers, the fading melody slipping out from her room from the other side of the wall. To be honest, he quite liked the song, other than that sentence. The song gave him an image of nights in the spring, with pedals of sakura, frosts, and the scent of fallen leaves decaying in the mud.
It was an unusual chilly winter. Even snowed quite a few occasions. Rukia have been reluctant to wake up in the mornings ever since she came back from her boarding school for the holidays. What happens usually, is when he finishes work at midday and back home to prepare lunch, she would still be in bed.
Byakuya would sometimes stand at her door, and very practically, suggests that she could sleep through 'afternoon nap' and wake up to have dinner then. He thought he actually sounded quite understanding, but then she wouldn't talk to him for days after that……
The snow have blocked few of the main roads. Vegetables were transported to the markets in huge containers. Eggs have gone up to 10 a dozen, the highest they have ever been. Byakuya frowned as he stared at the colourful 'The Best of Today's' advertisement, and decided on a trip to the supermarket.
After warming up his fingers in the restaurant next door, Byakuya picked up a grocery basket. The supermarket was usually quiet and tidy for a weeknight. A man with his two daughters were in front of the patisserie cabinets. The girls sat in the trolley, while their father searched on the toast shelf with concentration. The toasts were sold out, but the man picked up all the raisons left in the plate and fed them to his daughters.
"I got 2 more than you did," said one of the girls, with an innocent smile on her face, while the father scratched his balding head nervously and started moving themselves away from the section.
Byakuya stood there for a while before he picked up a Japanese styled cake that Rukia liked, and into the grocery basket.
When he got home, she was already in bed. Byakuya let himself into her room and turned off the CD player. Something caught his attention before he turned to leave, and he looked down at those lyrics. Written neatly on the plain piece of paper, like a flower blooming silently in peace.
"あたたかき春の夜/天空に浮かびし/月ののこうこうたる/にゆうはくの光……"
(x)Warm nights of spring,
Up where the stars drift,
The moon would glow,
With brightness out reaching…
He was right about it being a poem--or a Haiku, to be exact. However unsuitable for this season, he thought, while he strolled back to his own work.
Snowflakes were being tossed around by the hauling wind, and landed quietly on the window sill. It became so cold that Byakuya could see the whiteness of his own breath as he exhales. The winter is too long, way too long.
At 2:30 midnight, he paced around the house as if sleepwalking, looking for food.
The milk in fridge has gotten a mixture of scents with bokchai and raw meat. The water in the boiler have failed to boil. The half of instant noodles facing the top were still crunchy, while the other half softened only a tad in the lukewarm water.
Some homeless cat squealed outside, long cries followed by few short ones, like a choir with different parts. However, sounded a lot more like kids whimpering.
Movements behind the kitchen door startled him. So Byakuya turned. It was Rukia in her lattice pajamas, the curled ends of her hair were flatter than usual, as if she was awaken halfway through a dream.
"Mmm…nii-sama, happy birthday," she said.
Byakuya paused, then patted her head, "Thanks, but what date is it today?"
"The 31st of January……" Then she saw the clock at the corner and hesitated, "……It's the 1st of February."
"So you can go back to sleep now." He started walking back to his room, but turned around when he suddenly remembered, "Your cake is on the top shelf of the fridge."
"Oh, can I have it now?"
"No."
"………Just one piece!" Rukia 'declared' abruptly, with her hands at the hips, as if she would forbidden you for a lifetime if she doesn't get to have that cake right now.
So Byakuya gave in, and couldn't help shaking his head watching the girl bursting out a cheer while she ran for the fridge.
The dining was brightened when they finally turned on the light. Byakuya put a glass of milk into the microwave and Rukia moved the cake onto the dinner table.
"Nii-sama, the cake tastes really weird." She said with her mouth filled.
"Impossible."
"But it does!"
"Let me try." Byakuya frowned at the smell of sweetness. He was never a fan of sugar.
But Rukia stopped him by reaching her arms around his neck.
"Here, try some." She said, with her lips covering his.
He felt something soft along his mouth, with a slight scent of milk drifting between their cheeks. Sweetness warmed the tip of his tongue, and down his throat.
Then she released him.
"I lied, the cake was fine." She smiled, her expression innocent as if nothing unusual happened at all.
Then he patted her shoulder.
"Ok, I got that. So you can stop blushing now."
.FIN.