Information note: 100 Japanese yen are equivalent to 1.23 U.S. dollars.

Memories

Both of their faces looked a little funny.

The guest room was small but comfortable and cheap but tasteful. The wood floors looked good combined with the dark furniture, the lovely bedside tables with the artistic and contemporary lamps, a fan in the ceiling, a small but acceptable closet and a beautiful one king-size bed.

What the…? – Kuchiki Byakuya thought while twitching upset and, at the same time, blushing slightly.

The lady and the boy were to be really thankful they ignored about Hisana because, had they known, they wouldn't have survived ten seconds after the moment Byakuya saw the room.

-I'll sleep on the floor. – The girl who was to blame for his circumstances said.

I wish you did, but I can't. You just got out of fourth division. Unohana taicho would get angry to know I mistreated her patient. This is too troublesome… - Byakuya said inwardly.

Despite everything happening and him feeling slightly tired more from having to exercise more patience than usual than out of physical strain, she was the one that helped that old woman… Not to mention, though he did regard most people in the Fourth Division as weaklings, Unohana Retsu was one of the Captains he truly felt great respect for. She always did an outstanding job when healing the members of Divisions in the gravest of conditions; she alone was the pillar of the Fourth. That did not make her weak in her other aspects, however. Had healing not been her true vocation, chances are she would have become a Captain regardless. He really didn't want to make her mad. She would always smile and speak ever so patiently, si few people have seen her mad, but those who have will never forget. Once, a man from 6th Division went to the Fourth when he was in a pretty bad mood and scared some nurses by 'mistake'… Things unraveled such that Unohana taicho got mad at him. Nobody knew what exactly happened to the man, but, when he returned to the Sixth, he was mute and all of his hair fell to the floor. His hair never grew back.

-It's fine. I'll sleep on the floor. – He resigned to say after keeping her waiting too long for a response.

-But… - She wanted to retort.

She felt guilty about that. After all, he had saved her life…

Then, out of nowhere, a cockroach appeared!

She screamed for a moment before hurriedly getting on top the bed.

The noble Captain stared at her almost disbelievingly… She almost looked calmer when those three men attacked her in the forest than she did then. She had been clearly shocked then, but Byakuya hadn't thought she'd be the type of woman to be that scared of a cockroach… Meanwhile, the cockroach slipped into the room's closet entirely oblivious.

When she at last realized he was staring at her, her cheeks blushed vividly, knowing he had a good reason to look at her that way. Truth is that she was a bit scared of cockroaches…And a lot more scared of rats… She could not tell then why that was, but it was so.

That had looked kind of cute (and pathetic too). That seemed a bit worrisome in her case. Even Byakuya thought for one second that was really girly. That adjective somehow didn't seem to fit her. That was the first time he ever saw her acting more like a 'normal' woman. Albeit he thought so, he also thought it was pathetic, mostly pathetic.

-Let's flip a coin. – She suggested as she pulled out a 100 yen coin out of her jeans' pocket; she was reluctant to let him have the bed out of pity. – I take the cross. You know the rules, right?

-I understand the rules. – Replied a slightly insulted Byakuya.

And the coin was flipped. Time felt different then. It didn't feel like time was running too slow, but it didn't feel like it was running normally either. Although they both felt like that, both of them ignored it instead of digging the answer all the way down to bring it to the light and clear surface… They would find out the answer eventually, however.

Unexpectedly, it landed on the floor standing, rolling with that thin line separating its faces slowly, and, when it stopped, it remained standing; it was neither cross nor circle.

A most uncomfortable silence fell upon the room for the first time since she was in his presence, though that did not seem like the nature of a chatty girl like her. Byakuya felt a bit astonished while not listening to her talking as he stared at the coin doing something it likely wouldn't have done if thrown another 999,999 times.

None of them broke the silence spell. It was Iharu who did the moment he appeared under the door's frame.

-I thought I heard a scream while I was downstairs. Are you OK, Nee-San? – He asked her worriedly.

-Oh! – She exclaimed ashamed while waving her arms in the air rapidly and blushing. - I'm fine! Don't worry! It was nothing, really! It was just…Just a small bug…!

Her hasted voice tone faded before she looked downwards in embarrassment.

-Was it a cockroach? – Iharu had an unsurprised tone.

-How did you know? – Asked back an astonished girl with eyes wide open.

-They do appear here often; in the whole area, actually. Don't worry; I'll do something about it.

Iharu entered the room and went straight to the closet, where he took a spray bottle from the high shelf, and he sprayed its contents over the room's whole floor.

-This is odorless cockroach venom. – He explained amiably. - It should keep them away, but I don't recommend you to sleep in the floor. Good thing the bed is big enough.

Right after he said that last line both of the guests' hearts started to pound stronger.

-Good night then! – He said as he cheerfully left the room, closing the door with an expression that revealed satisfaction, as if he had just done a good deed.

Silence reigned.

-Huh? – She uttered confusion once her mind was back to her senses.

After a few seconds, they both had the drops in their head appearing once more. They turned and faced each other. Another silence spell was casted, but it didn't last long. They were both tired.

She stood up from the bed and said straightforwardly she'd take a bath.

-I just don't want to stink like this when I sleep. – She complemented with an untruthful grin, which was easily detected by Byakuya, who simply remained silent.

His eyes didn't meet hers before she left the room.

She had just lied. She wouldn't have minded to sleep like that. She had slept alright in the forest before even when days passed between one bath and another, and she was very tired. The reason she decided to shower was that she didn't want to impregnate her smell in the same bed such a stately man of important status, a Captain no less, was going to sleep in, actually…

Back to the time she fell from the tree branch right into his lap, she remembered being able to catch his scent since they were so close. The contrast between them was great. His skin was radiant and hers was unclean and oily. While they walked downtown she was also close enough to smell his hair. It was the most pleasant essence she had ever sniffed; it smelled akin to cherries and fine wood. She thought his smell was elegant, though she wasn't sure how to describe that adjective suiting it. She felt somewhat inferior smelling someone so nice and then compare his scent with herself. She hadn't had the chance to clean up for a while by then, though apparently she had been cleaned when she was admitted in the 4th's hospital…

She was pretty glad the bathroom had a shower; that meant she'd finish quicker than she would in a bath, and she would be able to go to bed sooner. Her shower wasn't pleasant, though, and it took longer than it should have anyway because her actions would bug her thoughts, and her thoughts would bug her.

What's going on with me? – Her thoughts went on. - Why do I bother that much about him? He's very serious, but I can tell he doesn't like me much. I guess that is because he's important, and I'm just…Me. Yet, there's something that tells me that, if I stick around with him, some of my questions might be answered… I have plenty of questions about him, though. Geez! What is Iharu trying to do? He's not so young to be that innocent! Does he think I'm like that with him or what…?

Meanwhile, Byakuya was pensive in the room too. He had taken off his scarf and hanged his haori.

Why did things have to happen like this? Why do I even care about her? I should just force her to walk the rest of the way to the 12th Division. (…) Why do am I curious about her at all? Is she really that intriguing? (…) Why is she always smiling?

Byakuya was intending to leave as soon as they finished eating, but an already-narrated series of events brought him to that moment. While she was busy with the lady, he, as part of his natural abilities, despite having lost his sense of time along with her, had looked earlier at the sky and realized it was very likely it would rain that night. Their destination wasn't far, but it wasn't close enough to avoid the rain either; by the time they would have gotten there, they would've been in the rain for at least an hour. That wouldn't have done her any good. If he wouldn't have been sure it was going to rain, he wouldn't have agreed to stay the night there. This is what he referred to in his thoughts by wondering about the reason he cared, and, at the moment, he was regretting that decision.

She hasn't spoken about herself much. – His mind kept bugging him as well. - She hasn't even mentioned her name yet. She's acting as if she didn't have much to tell about herself…

He paused there as his eyes grew bigger; a thought shocked him. It was just an assumption, but he did have motives to think that, perhaps, she really didn't have much to talk about regarding herself.

Out of the blue, something a teacher taught him back in his days at the Academy flashed back to his mind. It's only natural to introduce oneself, especially if one already knows your name, yet she hadn't introduced herself, not even when she was thanking him for saving her. There are several possible reasons why someone doesn't introduce oneself in such occasions, but two he found especially probable for her case. One, they're embarrassed and try to cover it with another one. She didn't do so. Two, they had no memory of their own name at all.

But could it really be possible? Does she really have no memories?

Memories seem meaningless to many people, and that's something one may at first think Byakuya would agree with, but he didn't. The explanation had a name: Hisana. Hisana lived in the memories he still visited after more than 50 years. Saying he agreed with the previous statement would make him a hypocrite.

Memories meant a lot to him. Without them, he might have not survived the world he lived in everyday as a leader of a family where its Elders, an acting legislative group whose power he could not revoke, were so despicably entrenched to their shallow life that only the fools adore, where pride, power is all that matters. Hisana's memory was what let him move on everyday until the day he let Rukia know the whole truth behind her adoption and sister. He was finally able to live without visiting Hisana's altar everyday after he confessed the truth to Rukia, but he still needed to be there quite often, many times a week.

How would it feel to have no memories? He was, at that point, intrigued by the possibility of that girl being memory-less, intrigued to answer the question that emerged within his mind. He decided he was going to test if his belief was true and closed his eyes, trying to gather patience and sleep.

She loved to feel some cool air after showering; her skin felt very soft and non-oily. She was only free to expose her back when she was alone. Before leaving the bathroom, she made sure to cover her back.

She had been offered a nice sleepwear Oba-Chan used to wear, consisting of soft cotton mint green pants and a tank top that revealed her shoulders and exposed half her back. Her back was a bit more exposed than she was comfortable with, so she also wore her black jacket.

The light of the lamp on her bedside table was still on when she went back to the room. When she saw he was asleep, she took off her jacket to sleep more comfortably. She laid in the bed as quietly and moving as slowly as she could after turning off the lamp's light, and she closed her eyes.

-You can't escape… - A voice of someone you cannot recognize whispers, but now the voice is clearer; you can tell it belongs to a male.

You hear someone breathing heavily.

Your eyes look downward against your will because you have no control, and you see hands, which apparently belong to that you, stained with fresh blood.

You hear the sound of something hitting the floor. Its distinctive noise makes you suspect what it is, and you confirm it is, effectively, a sword. It lies right by your bare and blood-stained feet. Its hilt is stained with a substance whose identity you simply cannot bring yourself to even question.

Two dead bodies lie in front of you, a woman and a child.

Your body steps back.

Everything that surrounds you looks blurry but no longer entirely unrecognizable. It appears to be a big and elegant salon with chandeliers lit with candles as the only source of light in an unending and unchanging darkness.

-You can't escape your destiny… - Says the man again.

Your throat screams with the voice of a horrified little girl, confused, weeping, filled with pain that is heard.

Then your mind is ambushed by a pack of images that come and go at breakneck speed, like a tape being forwarded incoherently, only allowing less than a second for cognition. All the images show something dreadful and gruesome; they all are composed of destruction, death and fear.

One final image appears. This time, it shows you something other than nothing. It is a small lonely flower in black and white. You still feel an extremely sharp and painful sadness it caused you before.

-Come. – The man orders you.

A shadow is coming near you. It remains blurry, but it is no longer distorted. It dawns on you that that is the same man that's talking to you, the owner of the authoritative voice. He is standing tall in the darkness, not letting you see him as he's extending a hand to you out of the dark and into the light for you to hold… Yet, you fear it. You fear it greatly.

-Come with me and accept you fate for once… - The unrecognizable man orders firmly. – …Or everything will come to an end. The end will come for you…

She then woke up.

Each time, the dream gave her more details, but it still wasn't enough for her to understand it. She for a while had wondered if that nightmare was hiding something she was unconsciously trying to remember, a key.

It was early in the morning. She could hear the birds chirping happily. She walked to the window and looked outside as she opened it.

She smiled because breeze felt good. Then she recalled she was not wearing her jacket, leaving her back exposed.

Hurriedly, she turned to see if Byakuya was still sleeping but, in fact, he wasn't even in the room. She sighed from relief, but she still wondered where he could be.

Opening the door, she immediately heard the sound of water drops falling together at a high speed and crashing to the floor. The shower was on.

He was there with his hair loose thinking how he didn't like to abuse the kindness of others (especially because he certainly didn't need to) but he didn't want to wake her up, and he had the need to think. They both ended up using the shower as an excuse to figure out something.

I can't believe I'm doing this just to not wake her up. Why do I care? (…) How should I test if she really lacks memories?

He again, after three other times, flashed back to the previous night.

It was minutes before 5 am when his thirst woke him up. He sat on the bed and drank some water from a glass in his bedside table. After he finished the glass, he turned to sleep on his right side and his eyes met her sleeping face, and he stared at it for some minutes.

For someone as rowdy as her, she looks too peaceful when she sleeps. Why can't she be like this while awake? -He thought as he gazed at her.

He noticed her sleeping position was a complete mess. Her side of the bed looked like a tornado had made its way around there, contrasting easily with the neat side where he laid.

He was about to roll down his tired eyelids, but they opened wider when he saw a few tears coming out of her closed eyes. Something about them wouldn't let him sleep again; no matter how hard he would try.

He stood up to moisten a small handkerchief and tenderly cleaned her dried tears off her face with utmost carefulness to not wake her up from her nightmare, which he would have stopped to also stop the flowing waterfall of tears, but it was the only sleep she was getting after staying awake for over 24 hours the day before, and, more importantly, he had no idea what he would do after that, how to deal with such a situation.

He closed the water handle, got out of the shower and dressed in his uniform.

He entered the room while still in his train of thoughts, so he forgot to knock.

When he opened the door, she was just finishing putting on her sleeveless black tank top. He got to see a small trace of her back, in which he sworn he saw something that looked like a mark in just a fraction of a second. He didn't give much importance to that; he though it was probably a tattoo. He didn't really consider her incapable of doing a coarse thing like that. It was inevitable that his status would raise him with this idea, though it isn't necessarily inaccurate. (This might explain his relationship with Renji, at least in his appearance issues…)

The second she heard the door creaking open, she quickly turned with a red-shaded face that soon later wore a madexpression.

Her mouth opened to yell at him before she could have a chance to think.

-Why didn't you knock? You pervert! - She was very red, but mostly angry, afraid that he might have seen it.

-…What did you just call me? – Byakuya asked blushing slightly but mostly upset and in disbelief with what he tried to make it sound like a harsh tone; it was the first time anyone insulted him like that.

-We slept in the same bed, but that doesn't give you the right to watch me changing clothes!

Byakuya got so upset and felt so indignant that a vein was almost standing out in his brow.

-I did not…! I'm not such a vulgar…! - He had no idea where to start since he was both trying to explain he had seen nothing and attempting to defend himself.

She didn't care to listen. She was too worried about him having possibly seen her, and she almost felt like crying. Sprinting out of the room, she left him with his mouth open in the middle of his incoherent sentences.

Byakuya became more upset at her attitude. No one had ever lacked so much respect towards him unless they ignored of his identity, and those dealt with unfortunate consequences.

Byakuya didn't miss, however, in a small fraction of a second as she passed by him in the entrance, a tear sliding down her ashamed cheeks. He watched as she hastened downstairs, and he simply looked away. He had no idea what to do with her, and things being awkward when he was around her around was taking a toll on his nerves; he just hadn't dealt with anything or anyone like that before.

He headed inside the room nonchalantly. His black hair was covering part of his eyes while he was diving into his thoughts as deep as the sea. If looking at his eyes, however, they gave him away, clearly revealing he was only pretending not to care. Why would I care about whatever she thinks of me? There's no reason for me to do. There's no reason why I should… He repeated to himself many times, but he couldn't just lie to himself. He cared. Even though there was no reason obliging him to, he did.

He felt as though he were trying to unravel an intricate puzzle when she was around, and it went from awkward to more confusing with each attempt he made at solving it. He felt he was at the top level then, or rather, the highest he could withstand.

He took his haori and scarf from the closet and then noticed her weird belt was lying in the floor.