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Chapter One: Essence
It is more than simple words can express and yet at the same time it is less
"Kurosaki Ichigo."
Byakuya closed his eyes at the confession. He had been correct. He could no longer deny what had been slowly gnawing away at him for years; what had begun to consume his thoughts.
"Hai, Kurosaki Ichigo," his zanpakutou stated.
Byakuya slowly opened his eyes and focused upon the surface of the shimmering pond before him. The two men fell in to a comfortable silence, the harsh wind that had previously surrounded them easing away at the noble's confession. A warm and gentle breeze replaced it, a breeze that he was accustomed to feeling here in his inner world. It was remarkably comforting at any time but especially now. It felt as if perhaps things could finally go back to the way that they had been. Feeling this, Byakuya was slightly dismayed to note that the sakura trees had yet to return to their previous splendour. He frowned. Senbonzakura merely chuckled at his master's expression.
"Byakuya, you have barely scratched the surface. Do not expect things to return to as they were so quickly."
"Things can never revert back to what they were, Senbonzakura," he said thinking of the tree that represented Hisana and the time that he had had with her.
It was the truth after all that he could never regain that which had been lost to him, and yet for the first time since the demise of his late wife, he felt that perhaps he was okay with the thought of things never being able to be what they once had. It was a revelation in itself and one that he was sure he could attribute to his confession.
"There is one thing that I do not understand, Byakuya"
He glanced at his zanpakutou to show that he should continue with his enquiry.
"What is it about the boy that has you like this?"
The question was a surprise to Byakuya and not one that he had expected. It was not a question that he felt he even had an answer to himself. His zanpakutou's questioning on the matter merely confirming it. Though of course there were matters that he kept hidden from his companion, he had always consciously done so. Therefore, it stood to reason that either he himself did not know the answer to such a question, or that he was now subconsciously concealing things from Senbonzakura.
"I do not know," he simply replied.
They sat in contemplative silence, Senbonzakura musing over the possibility that Byakuya did not realise just how strongly, how deeply he felt for the orange-haired Shinigami. Naturally, the zanpakutou knew what his wielder could not quite admit to himself or see, but he had yet to be able to understand or find a reason as to why Byakuya felt that way.
The noble in question was trying to come up with an answer for his companion. What is it about Kurosaki Ichigo that has me like this? It is more than just a passing fancy or physical attraction to the boy, he thought.
"It is not the way he moves and it is not the way he looks. It is not the way he holds himself and it is not his resolve. It is his soul, his very essence that calls to me."
Senbonzakura remained silent, slightly shocked by the words that Byakuya had spoken. He had expected to have to work at extracting such information from his master. He was even prepared to have to have another 'intervention'. However the information had been offered willingly.
Senbonzakura's delicate features soon became marred by a frown though. The last part of the statement troubled him. As a zanpakutou he was naturally privy to more information concerning not only his master's soul,v but souls in general. Yes, this last section troubled him. He had a very good idea what it meant and suspected that Byakuya had none whatsoever. It was not something that often happened let alone was documented. He knew that Byakuya was not stupid, far from it, but something of the nature that he had described could easily be brushed over and thought to be something else. He had no reason to suspect that the truth of the matter was something that even the soutaichou would struggle to comprehend. Senbonzakura very much doubted that even in his millennia of existence that Yamamoto Genryuusai Shigekuni had felt such a calling. Yes, the implications of such a statement worried him deeply, especially when he considered just who exactly was doing the calling.
His thoughts were broken by Byakuya, "There is something troubling you."
"Iie," the sword replied. "I am merely assimilating what you have just told me."
Byakuya did not push the subject. There was something that his zanpakutou was not telling him, something that was troubling him, but he would wait until Senbonzakura was ready to tell him what that was. After all, Kuchiki Byakuya was nothing if not a patient man. He would wait for as long as it took for his companion to share with him the problem that had him so troubled.
He doubted that it could really have anything to do with what he had told him and the events of the day that they had shared together. No, there was nothing especially shocking for his zanpakutou there, therefore the only conclusion that he could draw was that there was something happening or something that was going to happen that he was not aware of. There was not much that Byakuya wasn't aware of and Senbonzakura knew better than to try and protect him from ugly truths and the like. Whatever he was hiding could not be too serious or dangerous for him. It was not as though they were currently at war.
It had been sixty years since Aizen Sousuke had been sealed away in the deepest depths of Soul Society's prison. It had been sixty years since Byakuya had thought that he would not be able to see Kurosaki Ichigo again. It had been sixty years since Soul Society had been under any sort of threat. A lot had changed since then and yet at the same time nothing had changed at all.
The Gotei 13 itself had recovered admirably from the losses that they had suffered during the short war with Aizen and his associates. The ranks remained virtually unchanged with the exception of new taichous being appointed for both the Third Squad and the Fifth Squad, the Ninth remaining under the care of its fukutaichou, Hisagi Shuuhei. It seemed that there were virtually no Shinigami capable of achieving bankai. It was not the case of course, Byakuya was sure that most of the fukutaichous would be able to, but still the fact remained that ever since Abarai Renji had achieved bankai no other Shinigami in the Gotei 13 had. It was hardly surprising considering that there was no longer the threat of war to push people to become much stronger through the acquisition of bankai, merely a personal quest if the Shinigami was that way inclined.
Byakuya sighed. He himself was in need of a new fukutaichou and had been since Renji had been appointed the taichou of the Third Squad some twelve years previously. It appeared as if Byakuya was taking a leaf out of Thirteenth Squad taichou Ukitake Juushiro's book in his putting off of replacing his fukutaichou for so long. Naturally that was not the case. Byakuya would not accept a fukutaichou that did not meet his approval or expectations, it was as simple as that. He point blank refused to, much to the annoyance of some of the other taichous. He was a Kuchiki, he had standards.
Much had changed in the world of the living or more specifically, in Karakura Town. It was little surprise that the human world changed drastically over a relatively short period of time with the technology at their disposal, but it wasn't just that. Karakura had remained almost unchanged aesthetically speaking, but it had undergone drastic changes underneath the surface.
However the one thing that had remained a constant despite these changes was the presence of a certain Shinigami with hair of the brightest orange and the companionship of his Chappy loving best friend.
Byakuya had been sure for years that there was more than friendship between the two of them, a fact that had constantly irked him through the years, as he had believed that the former was not worthy of the latter. He had changed his mind on the matter now, knowing that if his sister was happy then he had no right to try to interfere. He had thought that he was merely protecting her at the time but now he knew different. The thought of the two of them being together still bothered him, but now he could recognise the feeling for what it was. He hadn't known what it had been when it had first surfaced years ago as it was not something that he had ever felt before. The truth of the matter was that he was jealous.
