Music of Angels and Demons

The group of young people might have gone on chatting and theorizing about Orihime's rediscovered acquaintance for at least another hour or two if it had not been for the perfectly timed entrance of Byakuya Kuchiki, the leading baritone of the Royal Opera House.

As he walked up noiselessly behind the tall figure of Renji, Byakuya heard the young man say, "I still don't get what you're all getting so excited about. Sure the guy has status and a good chunk of change in his bank vault, but why are your hearts so set on matching up him with Orihime?"

A slight frown creasing his forehead at Renji's words, Byakuya asked coolly, "Who is playing matchmaker for Orihime?"

Collectively, the group whirled around and some of them squeaking in fright (Renji mostly, but he would go to his grave denying such a sound ever escaped his lips). When they realized just who had walked in on their conversation most expressions turned from startled fear to relief to embarrassment in the space of about two seconds. Out of everybody, Orihime's cheeks burned brightest, but Renji's flushed face was definitely a close second.

Stepping forward with a small, slightly quavering smile, Rukia said politely, "Ah, Brother! So you are finished rehearsing now?"

Quirking an eyebrow at his young sister-in-law, Byakuya answered, "Of course. I was coming to collect you and Orihime since Hisana was very tired and has already gone out to the carriage."

Turning to her friends, Orihime said hastily, "We'll see you on Monday then!" before she ran off to collect her things and calling over her shoulder, "I'm sorry Mr. Kuchiki! I'll be right back!"

Looking up at Byakuya, Rukia said quickly, "Please excuse our lack of decorum, Brother. I will also get my things and hurry out to the carriage," and then she dashed off after Orihime.

If Byakuya had not been inside the opera house and especially if he had not been surrounded by Rukia and Orihime's friends, a small, benign smile might have lightened his features. As it was, his face retained its neutral expression. However, Uryu and Chad were well aware of Byakuya's affection for the two young women and could tell that he didn't mind in the least. Renji on the other hand…well, the other two would explain everything to him later.

Making his own way towards the awaiting carriage, Byakuya's thoughts drifted back to when he had first met the three women who made up a large portion of his social circle.

He had met his wife, Hisana, about sixteen years ago when he was just starting to really develop his voice and reputation with the opera house. She had just been hired on as one of the assistants to the assistants of the costume designers and seamstresses. Since she had no family to speak of and she was trying to raise Rukia, who was about fourteen years Hisana's junior, Byakuya's courtship with Hisana had lasted about five months before he asked her to marry him. They had been happily married ever since.

After the first few years of marriage, Byakuya and Hisana came to the realization that they would not be able to have children of their own. On the one hand, it was rather painful, but then again, with an active and lively six year old to take care of, in another sense, it almost seemed as if Rukia were their own daughter.

Orihime came into their lives rather unexpectedly almost seven years ago. When the Royal Orchestra had come to hold a huge combined concert with the Royal Opera Theater, Sora Inoue had fallen gravely ill very suddenly. One thing lead to another and Sora was taken to the Kuchiki family mansion in order to be comfortable when he passed away. While the adults ran around trying to tend to the dying young man, Rukia and Orihime were shuffled off to the side and the two somehow managed to form a surprisingly strong bond in a short amount of time.

In his last moments of consciousness, Sora called Orihime to his side and Rukia went with her. To the amazement of everyone, Rukia told Sora not to worry about his little sister because she would be taken care of by the Kuchiki family from that day forward. Sora had looked at Byakuya with an expression that half wanted to believe what Rukia had said and the other half thinking such a thing was too good to be true.

On Byakuya's part, he turned his gaze from the young man on the bed to the two girls clutching each other's hands and then to his wife sitting on the opposite side of the bed putting a cool cloth on Sora's forehead.

Hisana and Byakuya had met each other's eyes and said together, "Yes," which allowed Sora Inoue to smile gratefully at them both, squeeze his sister's hand weakly one last time and then slip in to a peaceful sleep.

After the funeral, Byakuya and Hisana had decided to try and find Orihime's relatives in order to make absolutely sure that all proper steps were taken before they attempted to make their care of Orihime completely legal. They had hired a private investigator to find Orihime's closest living relatives and discover any information he could about the Inoue family in general, but especially her parents.

When the private investigator had returned, he brought news from a distant aunt of Orihime's saying that neither of her parents had been heard from in over nine years and were presumed dead. According to the investigator, Orihime's mother had been a professional pianist and frequently put on concerts with her husband, Orihime's father, who was a former leading tenor at the Society Opera House. For a time, they had traveled with their two children, but when Sora was seventeen, he had struck out on his own and taken Orihime with them. It was evident that the parents had not minded in the slightest as traveled further distances and performed more concerts than ever before. The last anyone had ever heard from them, the Inoue's had been traveling to the Orient and did not give any indication if and when they would ever return to Europe.

The private investigator had also relayed that the aunt herself had no desire to raise Orihime if the Kuchiki family were willing to take her. With this knowledge, Byakuya and Hisana had sat down with both Orihime and Rukia, told them what they knew, and then asked Orihime if she would accept the Kuchiki family as her legal guardians. A few heartbeats had passed before Orihime had jumped up from her seat on the couch and threw her arms around both Byakuya and Hisana.

While both Orihime and Rukia addressed him and Hisana formally in public, the atmosphere with the Kuchiki home was far from austere. It wasn't long before Hisana had begun commenting about just how good the two girls got along with one another and that she couldn't imagine not having one of them around. When Hisana began making those comments, Byakuya wouldn't respond, but mentally, he agreed with his wife. All three women made his inherited family house a home.

After supper, Rukia and Orihime excused themselves and went up to Orihime's room in order to chat about the day's events. Even though they both had their own room, it was very rare occasion when they would not rotate sharing either one or the other of their rooms.

As Orihime shut the door, Rukia bounced onto the bed and then lay down on her stomach and said in a mock irritated tone, "Now, Orihime, you've told me about how you met this Kurosaki boy, but I want to know why you didn't tell me about him years ago! You said earlier that you think of him almost every day, so why keep it a secret?"

Leaning against the doorframe, Orihime looked sheepishly at the floor and replied, "Well, I did think about telling you once or twice…but I always thought it would just sound like the wishful imaginings of a child."

Tracing the pattern of the carpet with her toe, Orihime said, "I only knew him for that one month, so I can't really call him a childhood friend. However, on the other hand, because Sora and I were always traveling with the orchestra, I didn't have time to make any friends my own age. So in that sense, Ichigo was my childhood friend."

Resting her chin in the palms of her hands, Rukia said smugly, "And he was also your first sweetheart."

Even though her cheeks burned brightly, Orihime did not deny Rukia's statement. Instead, after a few moments, Orihime walked over to the bed and threw herself onto the mattress face first and let out a long groan.

Sitting up, Rukia asked, "What's the matter?"

Turning onto her side, Orihime lamented, "What if Ichigo did recognize me? What if when he saw me he thought 'There's that girl I knew years ago. She was going to walk away with a strange man and I had to rescue her.'?"

Burying her face in the mattress again and covering her head, Orihime said in a muffled voice, "Ugh! That would be so embarrassing!"

Tapping Orihime lightly on the shoulder, Rukia said soothingly, "Or maybe he thought 'That's the cute girl I met all those years ago. She stole my heart with those warm, gray eyes, infectious laugh and sunny smile. I can't believe she's come back into my life after all these years.'."

Shaking her head furiously, Orihime kept her face in the covers as she said, "No, no, no, no! I don't know which one would be worse!"

Sitting up quickly and turning to face Rukia with a burning face, Orihime asked, "And just what makes you think that I could have possibly stolen his heart? We only knew each other a month and we were only eleven!"

Giving Orihime a pointed look, Rukia responded matter-of-factly, "True. However, it seems as though you managed to lose your heart to him despite all that."

Orihime looked ready to protest, but only managed to open and close her mouth a few times, trying to find the right words, at which time Rukia asked, "So why do you think it's so impossible for him to love you back?"

She remained in deep contemplation for a few moments before replying, "Because I don't know whether to be hopeful, realistic or frightened. I don't think that's how being in love is supposed to feel."

Adjusting her position slightly, Rukia said, "Like you said earlier, this is all just speculation. We shouldn't put the cart before the horse."

Rukia waited until Orihime was looking at her before she finished, "But that doesn't mean that you are not allowed to hope and dream about the possibilities."

Returning Rukia's smile, Orihime patted her hand before asking mischievously, "So, are there any young men you're attracted to, Rukia? Maybe someone with lovely…red…hair?"

"So how was your afternoon, Daddy?"

Count Isshin Kurosaki grinned over at his daughter, Yuzu, and said in a hearty tone, "All in all, very productive. Ichigo and I began the morning by going to the docks and checking on a couple of ships I have invested some money in before we headed over to the theater to pledge our support there."

Yuzu's eyes sparkled as she asked excitedly, "And did you buy the tickets?"

Isshin's eyes glinted playfully and he began talking in a mock confused tone asking, "Tickets? What tickets? I didn't know I was supposed to buy any tickets. Must have completely slipped my mind."

Across from her twin, Karin interjected, "Yuzu don't play along with Father's games."

Sticking out his lower lip, Isshin whined, "My little girl is growing colder towards her poor, darling father each day!"

Ignoring Isshin, Karin asked her brother, "Where are our seats going to be?"

Wiping his lips and taking a quick sip of water to clear his throat, Ichigo replied, "We'll be in the box seats only slightly to the right of the stage."

Isshin's pout worsened as he grumbled at his son, "No fair Ichigo! I was going to keep them in suspense for a few minutes at least! Why are my two oldest turning out to be such meanies!"

For her part, Yuzu looked thrilled and said, "Oh! Those are some of the best seats! We'll be able to see everything!"

Karin grinned at her sister briefly before asking, "So I'm guessing you got to see a bit of their rehearsal or at least them preparing the scenery. What was it like?"

Leaning back in his chair slightly, Ichigo replied, "The managers walked us right out into the middle of the stage, right in the middle of rehearsal. The girl playing Barbarina was practicing her aria from the fourth act when we barged in."

Giving Karin a small grin, Ichigo went on, "At first, I don't think the maestro was too pleased to see us."

Returning Ichigo's grin for an instant, Karin cut her meat as she replied in a deeply serious tone, "I should think not. I've heard that some maestro's consider it a capital offense to interrupt a rehearsal and might just try and black list the perpetrator so that they would never be welcome in a concert hall again."

Shaking his head ruefully, Ichigo added, "Then I suppose it's a very good thing that the managers made sure to say that because of our contribution, they would be able to add Otello to their program for the season."

Nodding sagely, Karin said, "I'm sure that pacified the maestro nicely."

"I believe so."

Deciding to change the subject, Isshin cleared his throat and said, "Well, I for one think that this production of Le Nozze di Figaro will be positively fantastic from what we were able to see today."

Looking at Isshin curiously, Karin asked, "What do you mean? You only heard a little of Barbarina's aria, so how can you tell the opera will be good?"

Waggling his eyebrows knowingly, Isshin responded, "Because her voice was lovely, but not nearly as lovely as her face and especially not as lovely as-"

Cutting across his father, Ichigo said angrily, "Don't be so crass!"

Isshin asked incredulously, "Don't tell me you didn't even notice just how beautiful that young woman was! She was right in front of you!"

Rolling his eyes, Ichigo replied, "Of course I noticed her. I'm just not going to talk about her in such a distasteful way, especially in front of Karin and Yuzu."

Before Isshin could say anything, Yuzu asked, "So, did Barbarina have a pretty face and voice, Ichigo?"

Clearing his throat, Ichigo answered hastily, "Well…yes…I suppose so."

What he would never tell his family under any circumstances was that the young lady had made him think of someone he knew, but that he just couldn't place at the moment. Later that night when he went to bed, Ichigo would still be wracking his brain trying to remember who she was supposed to be.

Aizen leaned back in his chair and observed his handiwork. He's been working for three and a half hours trying to find the best way to harmonize the contrasting melody of the aria he was writing. Finally, he had come up with something that was tonal and dissonant in all the right places in order to bring out the emotion and character of the song.

Carefully putting away his writing utensils and sheets of music, Aizen blew out his one candle and made his way in the semi-darkness over to the table in order to finish off the loaf of bread he had ignored earlier. His landlady had something of a soft spot for him and so at least once a week would leave him some kind of food that he would ignore at first in his drive to create music and then appreciate fully once he allowed himself the time to eat.

Munching on the bread and walking over to his window, Aizen looked out over the rows of houses filled with sleeping occupants. He would remain awake a while longer, reveling in the near silent night and using the time to review what had happened during rehearsal, go back over the work he had just completed mentally to make sure he was pleased with what he had done and especially to plot out the days and weeks ahead.

So much to do and it was almost time to move on to the next step. However, there was no doubt in Aizen's mind that everything would go according to plan and that before the year was out, he would have fulfilled his dreams. All of them.

Author's Note:

Ok, so I hope Orihime's integration into the Kuchiki family was believable and that even though I made that change, that Byakuya is still Byakuya only different, if you know what I mean.

I think it turned out pretty good and as always, I love hearing from you guys whether you loved it, liked it, have some suggestions for me or anything in between!

Author's Note Part 2:

With a little help from dshirochan, I just had one of those 'Could have had a V-8' moments in regards to having a list of the musical terms at the end along with as easy a definition as I can come up with. Thank you for the suggestion sweetie! :)

Aria and recitative-In opera, singers will either sing in one or the other of these styles throughout the opera. The difference is that arias are more melodious and are a chance for singers to show off their vocal talent, while recitative allows the singers to move rapidly through sung dialogue in order to advance the story. (That's why a lot of arias in opera tend to say the same things over and over since they usually don't advance the story much and the singer(s) want(s) to make absolutely sure that the audience is quite clear about their emotional, mental or physical state in reaction to what is happening in the plot and spend roughly five minutes or more repeating that thought ad verbatim)

Rubato-Can be translated as 'stolen time' or 'taking time'. Allows the singer (or instrumentalist depending on the setting) to speed up or slow down at their own discretion in order to add more into their dramatic performance. When we speak, most of us don't speak at the same speed or intensity all the time, so rubato helps to make the music more realistic and impactful.

I think I covered everything in there so far, but let me know if I missed anything! :)