A/N: Every kido you see in this fiction does not belong to me. Thank you for reading this story!
Warning: Characters may be OOC.
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach!
Chapter 4:
~~~The Forgotten Love~~~
Rin can't stop herself from snickering whenever she cast a glance over the unfortunate shinigamies that had received Byakuya's wrath.
"They look like mummies." She muttered trying very hard to hide her smirk.
"You seem happy about their punishment?" Toshiro whispered.
"Ahahahaha. I can't help it; they caused too much trouble in just one night." She answered.
The group of shinigamies are all wrapped in bandages and they can't even talk. They told different lies just to stop their teacher from asking.
Byakuya can't look at Rin, after the bar incident, even the head of the noble Kuchiki clan can feel embarrass of what he had done. It's not supposed to happen, especially not with his colleagues or anyone who knows him.
He can do nothing but just listen in her conversation with Toshiro while holding his aching head. He guesses it's because he drank too many sake. Rin saw Byakuya's holding on to his head, so worry quickly ran through her and she forgot all the awkwardness and her rage at him the night before.
"Kuchiki-san here's a bottle of water." She offered him.
He glanced up and took the water then mumbled his thanks to her.
"Are you alright?" She asked worriedly.
Byakuya just nodded in response.
"Are you sure?" she asks still not convinced and she leaned towards him.
"Does it hurt?" Then, she put her wet handkerchief on his forehead.
"I hope it helps even just a little." She said and looked away quickly. So she didn't see the reaction on Byakuya's face and she didn't even notice that he almost flinched on her touch.
"Class, we will now proceed on traditional music lessons. So is there anyone here who tried to experience playing a musical instrument at least once?" The teacher asked.
Rin really missed to play; it's a must for all nobles to at least know how to play three different kinds of instruments. Absent mindedly, she raised her hand.
"Yes Ms. Shirota?" The teacher pointed at her.
"I know how to play the koto ma'am." She said then pointed at the instrument on the teacher's desk.
"Okay then so would you be kind enough to give us a sample?" Said the teacher.
She walked in front then pick up the said instrument and started to play its strings on her fingers. She closed her eyes and played her favorite piece, the sakura.
Byakuya's head ache is slowly fading but as it did, new thoughts are now on his mind. As Rin plays the music, he remembered his dream last night.
Did he really talk to Mizuki? Did she really forgive him? But how could that be, she's… she's… When he heard the familiar piece, he remembered her again.
'Her favorite piece' He thought.
This piece always calms him before and he proved that it still does. After she finished playing the koto, she noticed that Byakuya's staring at her intently.
This automatically made her uncomfortable but she prepared herself to feel this way. It's just that she can't stand to see him like that, whenever he's sick, depress or there's something that's bothering him, she would just play her koto and he will feel better immediately.
When Rin went back on her seat Byakuya raise his head to ask her.
"You know how to play the koto?" He sounded amazed.
"Y-yes." She stuttered and to her delight, he didn't ask anything after that.
Lunch came and she drag Toshiro to eat with her and when they were already on the door, she saw Rukia is headed to Byakuya so she ran to him and grab his shoulders.
"Kuchiki-san let's eat." Then she dragged the two taichos out of the room, leaving Rukia and the others in disbelief.
"D-did s-she…?" Rukia asked.
"Is that r-really…?" Rangiku exclaimed.
"i-is she crazy?! She dragged two of the coldest taichos in the soul society just like that!" Ikkaku screamed.
"She doesn't even look like a shinigami! I can't even do that!" Ichigo said irritated.
~~~The Forgotten Love~~~
The three just ate in silence; no one wants to break the awkwardness so Rin decided to talk.
"Kuchiki-san do you feel better now?" She asked.
"Yes." Was his short reply.
Disappointed by his answer, she turned to the other man beside her.
"Toshiro-kun are you having problems with your Chemistry?" She asked innocently. Though she saw that he was glaring at his worksheets a while ago, she did that just to annoy him.
"No." He answered.
"Really?" She pressed.
"Why do you care?" He sounded irritated.
"Oh, nothing, it's just I saw you glaring at your worksheets a while ago." She said grinning widely.
"It is none of your concern." He told her.
"Oh, really?" She asked him smirking a little.
She sat up strait, crossed her legs, put her right hand over her left on her lap and looked him in the eyes.
"Why yes, it's really none of my concern actually. In fact I would love to see that the ice cold taicho of the soul society fail his chemistry class, that would be laughable." She said mockingly.
"And what do you mean by that?" His eyes narrowed.
"I want to challenge you; if you failed I'll get you to do things for me." She dared him.
"And what if I passed?" He asked.
"Name it." A smug grin is now on her face.
"I'll think about it but I'm warning you, brace yourself." He told her.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. As if you have a chance." She said with confidence.
"You're under estimating me." He is now smirking at her.
He thought of what he'll ask her to do and he will do anything just to get her sweet kiss! He will definitely not mess his only chance! Before Rin could answer, a girl grabbed Toshiro and talk to him loudly.
"Toshiro! We need you in our team! Let's go!" She told him.
"Wait Karin! I have a lot of things to do!" He protested.
She is happy that Toshiro managed to have a friend in the human world, so she will try to get him to relax because he is one of the more hard working taicho that she knows.
"Don't worry Toshiro-kun; we can handle it. Besides, Kuchiki-san is here remember? So have fun!" She cast a reassuring smile at them.
"Come on!" Karin shouted on Toshiro's ear.
She and Byakuya both winced because of her loud mouth.
"Byakuya." Toshiro called hoping maybe Byakuya would somehow help him.
Byakuya is pissed because of the loud mouthed girl in front of them so when Toshiro called to him, he just said. "I'll take care of everything."
His cold voice seemed irritated. Well he really is. All he wants is some peace and quiet. So without farther notice, Karin dragged Toshiro to find her sacker team.
Rin laughed softly when the pare got out of sight. When she glanced at Byakuya, he is now writing something on the paper. But her eyes are fixed on something else, something else that she recognized all too well.
"What a beautiful pen." She said a hint of amazement on her voice.
Byakuya then cast a glance at her, his Asher orbs met her honey once. But he always sees a flicker of Safire in them.
"Yes?" He asked her.
"Umm... I wonder why does it look old?" She can't help asking him, though she knows the answer. Maybe she just wanted to hear it directly from his lips.
"A friend gave it to me a long time ago." He answered with a hint of sadness in his aristocratic voice.
It is a small black pen; it has a half heart design on top and a white angel wing on its left side. She gave that pen to him on his birthday.
Isshin gave that to her on her birthday and she still has the other half. It is a pare, both of them love calligraphy so she decided to give him the other one and she's so happy that he kept the gift that she gave him a long time ago.
She got cut off of her thoughts when Byakuya spoke.
"You remind me a lot of her, you know?" He said.
She didn't know what to feel, a part of her wants to jump and shout for joy but another part wants to just turn away as quickly as possible.
"R-remind you of s-someone?" She stuttered trying to keep her composure.
"Yes, a very important person." He said softly.
She saw that sadness is taking over his usually emotionless eyes. Then when she opened her mouth to speak, they herd the bell rang. It is a signal that classes are going to start. Byakuya then stood and went straight in to their class leaving her with her thoughts.
~~~in the classroom~~~
"Class all of you are required to go to the annual Karakura spring dance and I'll be grouping you in to twos so everyone will have their partner." Their teacher told them.
Rin and Byakuya just got in the class so they have no idea of what is happening and neither did Toshiro who's still panting heavily when he got in the classroom.
So the three completely oblivious to this, Rangiku took it as an opportunity to pare them with each other. She walk towards the teacher's desk and whispered something to her. And when she head back, there is a disturbing grin on her face.
Then, the teacher started to pare up the students.
"Orihime you'll be going with Ishida, Chad you're with Tatsuki, Rukia you're with Kurosaki, Matsumoto you're with Ayasagawa, Ikkaku you're with Haruno, Hitsugaya you're with Karin Kurusaki and Kuchiki you and Shirota together." Their teacher said.
Toshiro's and Rin's eyes widen.
"For what?" The both of them asked at the same time.
Then Ichigo asked. "And why did my sister got involved in this?"
"No explanations! It's your duty so follow it with gratitude!" The teacher shouted.
"I do not want to go." Said Byakuya.
"I don't want to either… Whatever it is…" She said.
They were wondering why all of the students are quiet so Rin asked a girl and she told them everything.
"You will all go! Its are duty!" Said the teacher again.
A few hours had passed and they are all heading home, when Rangiku dragged her in to the dress shop.
"Toshiro-kun! Kuchiki-san!" She screamed while Rangiku dragged her.
The two went on their separate ways, not even sparing her a glance.
So Rangiku was successful to get Rin on a dress. After a couple of hours, they headed towards home.
"Aren't you excited? You'll dance with the prince of silence!" She said excitedly.
"I don't dance." Was all she replied.
"Well that's interesting." Rangiku said with a mischievous glint in her eyes.
"What do you mean?" She asked looking her in the eyes.
"Well after the bar incident and how you drag him home... Your face when you looked at us... When you trapped us in your crystals and specially the threat that you said to us that night... Oh, and the glare that you gave on the girl in the bar says it all!" The older girl explained.
She froze dead on her tracks. She didn't expect her to notice.
"I mean the way you look at him explains it all." She answered her unspoken question.
"You wouldn't tell him right?" Rin ask desperately.
"Of course not." She said giving her a reassuring smile.
"Thanks." She said.
"I'll keep your secret if you'll cook on our stay here!" Rangiku compromised.
She smiled, cooking is very easy for her and for now she needs to trust Rangiku.
"Okay, it's a deal." She told the other girl.
~~~on the day of the dance~~~
Rin finished her bath and she's starting to get dressed when she noticed… "RANGIKU!"
Everyone is in the living room, when they herd Rin shout. Then, she ran outside to find Rangiku.
"Where's my dress?!" She pinned her on the wall and she's staring at her furiously.
"Uhh… I... I c-change it w-w-with that…" She responded.
"Why?! I'll kill you!" Rin snapped.
"W-why won't you try it? I'm sure it looks good on you." Rangiku tried.
"NOOOOOO!" She looked ready to murder.
"Bakudo number1 Sai!" Rangiku quickly bound her with a kido then started to dress her.
When she got out, she's wearing a violet haltered dress, above her knees is it's lent. Its skirt has three layers and she's not comfortable with this.
"Here look at yourself on the mirror!" The other girl offered.
Rin panicked, she tried to stop her. She threw the mirror on the ground shattering it. Rangiku looked stunned at her actions.
"I… I'm sorry, I'll clean it up." Rin said and she bends down to clean the scattered pieces of glass on the floor but to her surprise, there's a pair of hands cleaning up her mess.
"Go get change." He ordered.
"Okay…" She managed to answer.
"Thank you Kuchiki-san." She told him. Then, she went back in her room to get change. If she has another dress that is.
Byakuya is still on the floor looking closely at something so Toshiro walk up to him and checked. Then, as he saw what he is looking at, his eyes widen on an instant.
"Who is that?" He asked out loud.
Byakuya then glanced up at him and said. "I do not know." His eyes still in disbelief.
They saw the pieces of glass that rin had thrown a while ago, it has a faded image on it. A girl with long black wavy hair, rosy red lips, Safire blue eyes and she has an angelic face.
"What the?..." Toshiro uttered.
"We need to investigate. We need to be careful, watch rin closely." Said Byakuya his eyes still focus on the image.
"Yes, we can't take any chances." Toshiro agreed and like Byakuya his eyes is also fixed on the image.
'She's beautiful' Toshiro thought.
'This looks like an older version of Mizuki' Byakuya thought.
'What secrets do you have Rin? And what does it have to do with Mizuki…?' Those were Byakuya's other thoughts.
The two captains decided to keep what they saw and investigate later, for now they just have to watch Rin.
~~~On the dance~~~
All of them went with their partners. Rin is walking side by side with Byakuya. Though she would normally love this, she can't stay close to him. She didn't even change in to another dress because she didn't have one and this made her more uncomfortable.
As they walk by a food stand, her nose had smell a familiar sent. A sent that she can never refuse!
"Kuchiki-san I'll just buy something." She told him and ran towards the Stall.
She didn't even bother to look at him because her eyes were focus on the food in front of her. She didn't care if he will wait or not, or if he would notice. When it comes to her favorite food she forgets everything!
"A jumbo size strawberry yogurt pleas." She ordered.
She probably ate four large orders of strawberry yogurt but she still hasn't had enough!
"One more pleas." Rin said to the owner.
"Umm Ms.? 50 yen pleas." The stall owner said to her.
When she reached in her wallet she saw that it's empty. "What the?" Rin gasped in disbelief.
"I will pay for her purchase." A cold calm voice said behind her. When she turned, she saw Byakuya standing a few feet from her, handing out the money to the lady.
"Thanks." She mumbled.
"Let us go." He told her.
The two walk in silence and this is making Rin uncomfortable. So she had decided to break the ice. But when she's about to talk he started to speak.
"Is that your favorite?" He asked pointing at the empty can of yogurt.
"Y-yes." She can't lie to him.
He just nodded.
"Could you play the koto for me when we get back in the Soul Society?" He asked her.
"S-sure…" Rin let out a sheepish smile. "I would be honored. Thank you, my Bya-kun..." She whispered.
Just the thought that she will comeback in his house, the house that she spent most of her childhood, makes her inexplicably happy.
'What would I do? Why can't I lie to him? Oh no!' Those were her frantic thoughts while walking.
"What did you call me?" He asked, he stopped walking now.
Her face turned red, she doesn't know how to get out of this one.
Then they heard an explosion. And Rin felt an unfamiliar reiatsu.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't the famous taicho of the sixth Squad Byakuya Kuchiki." A voice said.
"Who are you?" Byakuya asked getting on his fighting stance.
"It is none of your concern; I just need you to hand over the girl." Then he turned to Rin.
"Now won't you come with me my lady?" He told her, smiling maniacally.
"I don't know you..." She said to distract him.
She's just trying to wait for a good timing to attack.
"And what do you want from her?" Byakuya asked the man.
She is now close to panicking; he cannot know the truth… No… No… Not yet! So she did something that she wouldn't do in other situations, Rin cast a kido carelessly.
"Hado number58 Tenran!"
The man jumped to dodge her attack.
"Don't be too harsh milady." He let out a dark chuckle.
"Hado number63 Raikoho." It's Byakuya this time.
The man just dodged Byakuya's attack again.
"Don't you want to use your zanpakuto? You can always do it specially you milady." The man taunted Rin.
"Stop calling me that! Hado number88 Hiryugekizokushintenraiho!" She fired a vast of spiritual energy making a very big area of damage.
Then, Byakuya attacked him. "Hado number63 Soren Sokatsui." He produced a doubled version of hado 33.
Then, they felt some familiar reiatsus.
"Shit… I wouldn't be able to fight you all..." They heard the man said. So he threw a smoke bomb at them and escaped.
"W-wait! C-comeback here!" Rin manage to say in between Coughs.
"Byakuya? Byakuya!" She screamed. Rin almost panicked, she can't feel Byakuya's reiatsu.
"BYAKUYA!" She shouted.
Then, the others came.
"Rin! Kuchiki-taicho!" They all screamed.
When the smoke cleared, they heard a soft giggle. And when they looked at it, they saw a baby.
~~~End of chapter~~~
A/N: Yeah, is it weird? Thanks for reading!