Rukongai at night was peaceful. The people that resided there all retreated into their simple wooden homes once it grew dark. The moon shone bright over the wide expanse of land just starting to shake off the winter cold and blossom into a light shade of green. Aoi wandered through the open fields and looked at the plum trees about to start blossoming then up at the star filled sky. She walked, hands clasped behind her back, deep in thought.

Why now.

Life had reached a perfect incline. The life of Kitagawa Aoi was exactly where she had wanted it to be. She was ready to join the Gotei 13 and move up in the ranks. Aoi stopped walking abruptly and sat on the ground cross legged and watched a progression of ants.

"Why me." She thought, the tears she had been holding back now, spilling out of her eyes. "Why, do I have to leave everyone behind. How will this mission even help me?! As far as I'm concerned everyone else will be moving far beyond me." She thought angrily. Her dear friend Sarugaki Hiyori was a Vice-Captain to the 12th squad under Captain Urahara Kisuke for 9 years so far. She was so far ahead and she looked like she was 12. And Byakuya was ready to join the Gotei soon and even-

She stopped abruptly. She reached down and grabbed a tuft of grass and ripped it out of the ground and clenched it in her fist. The tears came more swiftly now and she didn't even know why. She dropped the grass to the ground and buried her face in her hands.

She wanted to scream, sprint back to her home and destroy everything there. She felt like she had spent years studying material for a certain test but once she sat down to take it, it was all for the wrong subject. Her father had rigidly trained her since she could use her opposable thumbs to grip a sword. This was everything she had hardened herself for. All the work and pain she had gone through was for this purpose. She had made contact with her zanpakuto so early to get stronger.

Yet, now she had arrived here. She didn't know where to go. She felt that she had been living her life through rose colored glasses, not really comprehending reality. She felt like such a child. So ignorant to the life around, still thinking everything was a game. She was furious at her own ignorance and naïvety that she even punched herself in the arm. Everything she had been doing up until now had been a joke that she was at the center of. Her life had been a joke. She felt herself break.

She was no longer crying but a hole began to fill her soul, that would remain there for many years to come. When had she ever been this weak? Kitagawa Aoi had always been known for her hardened exterior and strong will. How could her resolve be broken so easily? She felt a light touch on her shoulder which made her violently start. She then looked up into the eyes of her best friend.

"Oi dumbass, what are you doing out here in the middle of the night?" Kuchiki Byakuya asked quietly, still in shock upon the scene he had just come across. Never in his life had be seen Aoi shed even one tear let alone show any sign of what she considered 'weakness', yet here she was crying her soul out in the middle of the night.

Aoi didn't answer but she continued to stare into his face. She opened her mouth and closed it again. She was speechless. He was the last person she wanted to see right now but he ever so conveniently had shown up. She quickly looked away.

"What are you doing out here dumbass?"

For some reason she could barely speak. Byakuya sat down beside her cross legged and put his hands between his legs. He looked at her with concern because she now had an odd look on her face. He shifted around uncomfortably and then nudged her with his elbow.

"I asked first….dumbass."

Aoi wiped at her eyes fiercely, now furious that she had been caught looking so pathetic. She took a deep steadying breath and looked him dead in the face. "They told me when I will be leaving."

"Soooo, when will you be going?"

"One month. Probably when the plum trees are done blooming."

Byakuya's eyes widened and he turned his whole body to face her. He gripped her shoulders and stammered, "What?! Why so soon? Where will you even be going? How come you found out so late?! Aoi...I just...I...I" he reddened.

Aoi pulled her knees close to her chest and rested her chin on them. "I guess I'm surprised. Well...that's the understatement of the millenia. I'm damn near shaken out of my friggin bones." She paused and looked again up to the sky, eyes blank. "I feel like an animal. With its food dangled in front of it for so long but once I finally get ahold of it, it's poisoned."

"I...don't think I understand Aoi." Byakuya said slowly.

Her head snapped towards him and she gave him a dull stare, and whispered in a deadly tone, "No Byakuya. I don't think you ever will be fortunate enough." Aoi felt something harden in her. She was alone, yes, but that might not be a bad thing. She was so used to Byakuya by her side but now that she realized he wouldn't be she regained some of her old composure. This mission, whatever it is, is to be completed by Aoi. Not Aoi and Byakuya. Aoi. She had to move forward from now. Alone.

"Sorry. I just got a lil stressed out," she murmured apologetically.

"It's all fine. I would be too." That of course, Byakuya thought, was utter codswallop because he knew he would never know the amount of stress she was going through. Aoi was not the type of person to let others excel in front of her. This was probably the main thing on her mind.

Byakuya rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. But he just saw something shift in Aoi's countenance that he couldn't quite put a name to. Like her body had turned resolute and her eyes had finally found their sought out destination. This is something he always had deeply admired about her. She never needed anyone's permission to decide the path she wished to seek out. His body then did something that he couldn't really control. He reached out his hand and took one of hers.

She gave him a look of utter surprise as he grasped her hand.

"Byakuya! Oi, dickhead! Let go-" She tried to jerk her hand away but Byakuya had an iron grip upon her.

"I'll wait."

"Wait? For what?"

"Well, obviously I'm going to progress past you as the best shinigami to ever exist," he smirked as she tried again to yank her hand from his but he gripped it even harder. He straightened his face then said loudly and boldly.

"But I will wait for you to come back. I don't even care where you are going and what you will do and for however long it is. Just know that there is always going to be someone here that has your back."

Aoi blushed as she looked him in the face, still trying to tug her hand free. "Get that stupid ass look off your face Byakuya, or else someone will actually think you're serious."

"Come on relax. Just lay down, let's look at the stars." She laid down on her back as Byakuya stammered out curses at her. She laughed at him and her eyes brightened.

"You know humans actually use the stars the predict their day to day fate?" Aoi snickered.

"What the hell?"

"Yea, I know! Something called Astronology or some shit like that."

"Humans never cease to amaze me. Looking at the sky to pick whether or not your day will be good or bad. The best way is to just make your own fate."

They both laughed for a while at what they considered the foolishness of humans. Aoi felt like a rubber band had finally snapped off of her once she started laughing like normal. Yes, the situation she was in sucked. Yes, she may have to leave for some odd years. And yes, she did bawl her eyes out like some foolish child but she planned to take Byakuya's words to heart.

She controlled her fate.

They laid there in silence staring at the sky. They didn't speak again because they were both so lost in thought. They both promised themselves in their heads that the next month would be so memorable that neither one would ever forget it. Before they knew it, they had drifted off to sleep, still surprisingly, hand in hand.

A/N : Thank you for reading my story! Funny thing is that I've had this written for months and just kept forgetting to post it. I won't make any promises to when I will post another chapter but I am determined to finish this. Please don't forget to review! Love the feedback!