A/N: A big thank you to Awen Sofer who beta'd this chapter. Sorry for such a late update. Also in this chapter there is a part which might not add up with the actual Bleach timeline (it's for the exact same reason as a certain part in AbA). Translations are at the bottom. Enjoy! x

Kindling Karasu-tengu - 4

1892 (Shinigami Academy)

Mikazuki ran down many corridors surprised that she hadn't bumped into or seen anyone yet. Hiding was the first thing on her mind and after that she would try to figure out what was happening. All she could see was the blank stare of the dead instructor and the way his body fell to the ground in a lifeless heap. Spotting a closet-like space, she rushed to it opening the shoji screen and went inside. This was where all the wooden swords were kept and Mikazuki went to the corner, curling up into a ball with her back to the wall.

"So it is you who made all the mess."

She looked up from her position on the ground, unable to tell how much time had gone by. "K-Kuchiki-sama?"

"Baka!" Byakuya came up to her and grabbed onto her arm to pull her up.

Mikazuki hissed at the pain it caused and tried to push him away. When they lifted the sleeves of the uniform she was wearing, they saw lots of tiny cuts and bruises. Her eyebrows furrowed as she tried to remember how she got the wounds and when the realisation hit, she jumped away from him but only met the wall behind her. The instructor was dead and his death was caused by her zanpakutou. There was no way she was going to get away from that fact and if anyone were to find out, they would surely send her to Central 46 to be punished. What would they decide? Mikazuki began to fret. Would they exile her or maybe imprison her in the Central Great Underground Prison? The worse fate would be execution, but she did end up killing someone so she would deserve it.

"The trail of blood you left couldn't have been caused by these small cuts. How did you get them?" He kept his distance from her, able to see her distraught expression.

"Ano…" Would she be safe if she told him? Mikazuki figured that her crime would be found out eventually and there would be no way to hide it. She would be better off coming clean. "I went to the instructor to try and get my zanpakutou again. I was able to succeed." She held up the katana and the blood dripping from the sheath was obvious.

Byakuya's eyes only widened a fraction before he quickly composed himself. "Who did you injure?"

"I didn't mean to do anything!" She was on the brink of tears and didn't like the way he seemed guarded. "I was in my inner world and when I held onto my zanpakutou I blacked out. When I came to consciousness again, it was straight through him and he was already dead." Mikazuki dropped the katana and grabbed onto his uniform. Her hands were bloody and stained it. "You have to believe me Kuchiki-sama, I didn't do anything!"

He had a hard time trying to get her to let go of him and could only give out a heavy sigh. "Even if what you are saying is true, when the other instructors find out…" He didn't finish the sentence for her benefit. "We need to get out of here for now, only until some answers are found. Your brother and other siblings are worried about you, but you can't return to your room looking like this." Byakuya took off his white kosode, leaving the blue shitagi visible. He picked up the zanpakutou which still looked like it was bleeding and wrapped the kosode around it. "My grandfather should be staying at the Sixth Division barracks tonight. We need to hurry, I'm sure there will be others who will follow the trail of blood."

Together they left the storage room and with Byakuya in front to scout out the corridors they were able to sneak out of the Academy with little trouble. There had only been one close call where he was stopped by an instructor because he wasn't wearing the proper uniform but because Mikazuki was hiding around a corner, she wasn't discovered. She thought they would've been stopped by shinigami when making their way to the Kuchiki manor but anyone who saw them must've recognised the Kuchiki heir and said nothing.

"I can't let any of the servants see you." Byakuya explained as they walked through the gardens. "This would be a lot easier if you were able to shunpo." He muttered the last bit to himself.

Before they were able to make it to the shoji screen of his bedroom, many shinigami clad all in black clothing started surrounding them, making any sort of escape impossible. These were the mysterious members of the Stealth Force. Although after the Academy it was possible to join, no one had ever seen a Stealth Force member up close and it was believed to be just a myth to scare off anyone who wanted to do bad things. A couple of the shinigami grabbed onto her, lifting her up so that her feet were unable to touch the ground.

"I didn't do anything!" Mikazuki tried to get out of their hold. "Let me go!"

"Suì-Fēng-san, we have her, now what should we do?" The voice came from beside her and she assumed it was one of the men whose grip only tightened the more she struggled.

"We're going to take her to Yoruichi-sama."

Byakuya woke up just as the morning rays for first light entered the bedroom. Turning over, he was expecting Mikazuki to still be asleep but there was no body beside him on the futon. The side was neat as if no one had been sleeping there to begin with and as he felt it, there was only coldness under his fingertips. Had the previous evening just been a dream? He didn't want to think so and looked around the room for any evidence that it wasn't.

He let out the breath he was holding when seeing her zanpakutou still near the futon on the ground along with the doll from her childhood. Also in the far corner was a board with a piece of paper on it. The black ink was visible but the characters were indistinguishable from where he was situated. Getting up, Byakuya walked over to pick up the paper. On it were the numbers of each division from the Gotei 13. Some crossed out and the rest with circles around them.

"Ah, you're awake." Mikazuki entered the room holding a tray which held two empty cups and some steaming tea.

Byakuya briefly closed his eyes and could already smell the aroma of the peach coming from the burning liquid. He opened them again when feeling the paper getting pulled from his grip and replaced with a cup. "Still deciding on a division to join?"

"Hai." She looked over the piece to make sure he hadn't made any unnecessary changes. There were none. "I was thinking of going to each division and see what the best position is available to me."

"You haven't crossed out Aizen-taichou's division."

As soon as he spoke, Mikazuki made sure that their eyes wouldn't meet and kept them downcast. "He had offered me the Lieutenant's position before I was in a coma and maybe that position will still be available."

"Last I heard Hinamori-fukutaichou has taken the position." Byakuya tried to keep the bitterness out of his next sentence. "I'm sure for a certain price he will make it available again."

She laughed at him, unable to keep it in any longer. "Poor Byakuya-sama." Getting the quill she made a huge cross mark over the fifth division number. "I was only joking. There is no way I would want to work under him. Hinamori-fukutaichou has wanted the position forever. She would hate me if I were to take it from her."

Although he was initially hurt by being made a fool out of and also angry at himself for expressing such jealousy, he started smirking when taking the quill from her hand. "I think you should reconsider the sixth division. I'm sure there is a suitable position for you there." He circled the sixth division symbol as if to remove the cross.

"Remember our little discussion about distractions when you thought that I was only a hallucination." Mikazuki went back to her tea which was starting to cool, Byakuya did the same.

"Iie, if I can't remember then it mustn't have happened. How does being another Third Seated officer sound?"

"I'm sure the position is available in another division." She placed the tea and tray to the side after they finished it all. "I have a month where I will visit all the divisions I have circled. I will try and come to a decision as soon as possible."

1891 (Shinigami Academy)

"I swear all of the instructors have something against me…" Mikazuki complained to herself as she held the fifth load of practice wooden kendo swords. This was the last lot and she couldn't wait until she would be able to rest in her dormitory room.

Suddenly the weight in her arms was lifted and she looked up to see another student in the blue uniform carrying them all for her. She couldn't see his face, but she was thankful to him. "Arigatou gozaimasu."

"Don't worry about it." He laughed while turning around and walking in the direction of the storage room. "I've been watching you do all of this by yourself and decided to help you out." He was taller than her and it strained her neck to look up at his dark hair.

"I'm Ishikawa Mikazuki, first year."

"Shiba Kaien, second year."

Her eyes widened at the familiar name. "Y-you're the genius! There are rumours that you'll be graduating this year, everyone is talking about it."

"Is that so?" Kaien laughed awkwardly. "Ano… I don't like being called a genius. I am just like any other student here that wants to be a shinigami." He tried pointing to the shoji screen they were now standing in front of. "This is where they go, right?"

"Hai." Mikazuki did what she could to make it easier for him to get into the storage room. "Arigatou gozaimasu, again."

"I already said it was okay." He ruffled her hair messily. "You better get back to the dormitories before it gets any darker."

1895 (Zaraki)

"It has got to be around here somewhere." Kaien was starting to get frustrated and Mikazuki could understand why because she was also feeling the same way.

She was also feeling uncomfortable by the leers being sent her way, whether lecherous or snide, by the residents of one of the worse Rukongai districts. They had already been walking around for hours. "Maybe he wasn't telling the truth. If it was supposed to be around here, we should've found it by now."

"Matte! It's there. It has to be over there!"

Where he was pointing, Mikazuki only saw another row of less than welcoming shacks. Being an end district of the Rukongai, she wasn't sure what they were looking for would be a place they would want to be. Kaien was adamant about getting a tattoo of his family symbol and with only being in the Thirteenth Division for a couple of years, he thought now was the best time to get one. Kaien also wanted it to be a surprise for his brother and sister.

"Welcome to my abode!" A man in rags stood to greet them as they entered one of the shacks. By the way he grinned she could see he had one too many teeth missing. She had no idea how Kaien knew which one of the shacks to enter, but after hearing his next words it happened to be the right place. "You'll be wanting a tattoo? Hai, hai?"

Mikazuki tried not to grimace at what she saw around her. Was it really going to be safe in here? She didn't know how to get her thoughts across to Kaien without insulting the man, who hadn't stopped grinning, in front of them. He led them further into his abode, as he called it. A gasp left her lips when she looked at the transformation as they went down some stairs and underground near the back of the place. There was a single table with needles, ink and white cloths on it. A few chairs were set around the table as well.

"Let me guess, you're surprised right?" He turned towards them still smiling, it border-lined sincere and creepy at the same time. "Didn't think this ojii-san had this nice equipment, huh? So who will be getting it done? The pretty young girl or…" The way his eyes lingered over Mikazuki made her uncomfortable and she wondered whether she would be safer back out in the district, in the wide open area with every other shady resident. "…you."

"It's me." Kaien pulled up the left sleeve of his shihakushou and started explaining to the man what he wanted done. As the tattoo started, he looked over at her when she inhaled sharply. "Don't worry, it doesn't hurt."

"Well when you get slashed by zanpakutous continuously, I suppose a small needle is nothing." She leaned in closer to see the progress as a cloth wiped away the blood and excess ink.

"You should get one done Mikazuki-san!"

"I can't! I'm still in the Academy." Mikazuki protested. The idea was tempting and she knew that Kaien was only bringing it up because while they had been discussing his tattoo she mentioned wanting something to celebrate her gaining Tobenaitori.

He shook his head at her, knowing what she was trying to do. "That doesn't matter. There are a lot of people who get tattoos before graduating."

"I don't have any Kan on me."

"Don't worry, I'll pay for it."

"Takeo-kun will kill me if he finds out." It was the last excuse that she could think of.

"He loves you too much to kill you. It can be our secret until he does find out." Kaien took his arm away from the old man and looked down, admiring the tattoo. "This is a great chance, are you going to get one?"

Her lips turned upwards in a small smile as she whispered her reply. "Hai."

1895 (The Shinigami Academy)

Someone grabbed onto her arm from behind as she was going to her Advanced Hakuda class. Only acting on instinct, Mikazuki twisted around so that their back was to her and pushed them into the nearest wall. It was too late when she recognised the dark strands on the back of male student's head and couldn't let go of him fast enough. She had a feeling why he was here and she didn't want to admit that she was a little afraid of his reaction. Students hurried past, for once not wanted to stay and watch the argument that was about to ensue between the siblings.

"Takeo-kun? How come you grabbed me?" She tried to act innocent but his glare told her he knew otherwise.

Reaching over for her right arm, he lifted the sleeve of her uniform and turned it over so her wrist was facing upwards, the dark bird on it was visible. "So the rumours are true. Naze?"

"Kaien persuaded me when he got his done. I didn't tell you because I knew you would react like this." Mikazuki snatched her arm back and tried to carry on walking to her class but Takeo stopped her.

Not letting her get away easily, he brought his face close to hers and whispered harshly in her ear even though she was facing away from him. "Am I that insignificant to you that you would purposely try and hide it from me?"

"Iie! That's not true." There didn't seem to be a way to convince him otherwise. "I didn't tell you because every time I brought up the idea of getting one you would change the subject."

"How much did it cost?"

"Shirimasen." The rest Mikazuki whispered, hoping he would overlook it. "Kaien paid for it a month ago."

"Nani? Dammit! Now I'm going to need to talk to him to find out and then pay him back. I don't have much Kan saved up either..." Takeo looked at the ground, his hands curled into fists. "And he's part of a noble house as well, it probably cost a fortu-" He was interrupted when Mikazuki yelled out in pain.

"Ouch!" She held onto her right wrist. It was burning exactly where the tattoo was but there didn't seem to be any change to it.

"Suki-chan, what's wrong?" He was worried when seeing the pained expression on her face.

She didn't reply and it was a few minutes before she was able to calm down after the initial shock of what happened went away along with the burning. "My tattoo started hurting. I-" A female student called out and Mikazuki was unable to finish her sentence.

"Ishikawa-san! Hurry up or you will be late to class!"

"Hai!" Both siblings replied at the same time and then gave each other feeble smiles.

"She's talking to me." Mikazuki squeezed his arm before letting go. "Demo you better get going as well. We'll talk at dinner."

"Mikazuki-san!"

The sound of her name brought her back to reality. "Nani?" Shaking her head in the hope to clear it, she smiled up at him sheepishly.

"Where did you end up going in these last few minutes?" Kaien laughed at her and gestured for her to follow him. "Taichou is ready for you. Don't do anything that could jeopardise his health."

"What about my own health? I've just gotten out of a coma myself." Mikazuki laughed at his shocked expression as they looked out to the lake where the Hall was situated. She stopped him as he walked away, thinking that his job was done. "Aren't you going to stay? This will probably concern you as well Kaien-san."

"Nani? What do you mean?" He looked confused at her suggestion.

"You'll soon find out." She passed him and opened the shoji screen. The Captain was kneeling in the middle of the room, drinking more of the disgusting herbal tea that she never wanted to taste again. "Ohayou gozaimasu, Ukitake-taichou." Bowing once she kneeled down in front of him.

"Ohayou Ishikawa-san, it must be important for you to request a meeting this early in the day."

"Hai." Mikazuki shook her head when he offered to pour her a cup of tea. "I found out yesterday that my position in the Second Division is no longer available for me and I'm looking at another possibility in a different division to transfer into."

"Taichou, is that even allowed?" Kaien asked harshly in frustration. He knew how much she enjoyed being there even if she complained about the Captain constantly.

"Hai." Jūshirō looked over at her sympathetically. "Suì-Fēng-taichou is allowed to do as she pleases when it concerns her subordinates. Demo, I don't agree with what she has done." He sipped some of his tea, trying to hide the slight change in his features as he grimaced. "The only seated positions the Thirteenth Division has available are lower than your last position. It probably isn't ideal for you, demo, we would enjoy having your experience in the division."

"Arigatou gozaimasu Ukitake-taichou." She stood to leave. "I will get back to you when I've come to a decision."

As she closed the shoji screen to allow Kaien and his Captain some privacy, the sound of laughter came to her from across the lake. Turning around, Mikazuki saw the signature red hair of Renji. He was with a dark haired short girl, who she recognised as Rukia. She decided not to call out to him because it looked like he was having fun even though as she drew closer to him she could see the redness of his cheeks. If he was embarrassed it would also explain why Rukia was laughing at him.

The sun was almost midway in the sky and there was someone she wanted to see, maybe he would even agree to have lunch with her as well. Unable to sneak around the pair, once getting off of the bridge connecting the platform in the middle of the lake and the ground, Mikazuki politely waved at them making sure to get away quickly so she wouldn't be held up. She decided to go the longer way to the Sixth Division so she wouldn't have to go anywhere near her old division or the Nest of Maggots. Already denying that losing her position was hurting her, she didn't want to also take any chances of bumping into the short Captain either.

There was one misfortune which Mikazuki had forgotten about, who resided inside the Sixth Division and also went by the name of Mihane Shirogane. The girl seemed to be on her way to the exit gates which happened to be the same ones she was entering. They came to a stop in front of each other, blocking both ways because neither of them wanted to make a side step. Mihane gave a shy smile but Mikazuki was looking at anything else instead of the girl's face.

"Off to have lunch with my nii-san?" She made no effort to try and hide the annoyance that was in her voice.

"Hai." Mihane instantly looked at the ground when Mikazuki sent her gaze straight ahead at her. "Are you going to have lunch with Taichou?"

She didn't reply and just nodded. Having enough of the encounter with someone she would've rather never have met, Mikazuki went around the girl to make her way to the Captain's office. A hand grabbing her shoulder stopped her from moving any further forward. Turning around she saw Mihane with a sympathetic expression showing on her features. "Nani?"

"Ano… I wouldn't go there right now."

"Naze?" Mikazuki was confused to what she was being warned about and also how come this person was bringing the warning.

"Taichou is busy." She wouldn't meet her gaze which made it all the more suspicious.

"Is it work related?"

"Shirimasen." Mihane tried to tighten her grip on Mikazuki but also didn't want to get thrown onto the ground either. "Onegai! I know you don't like me, demo, you don't want to go into his office right now."

She grabbed the wrist of the hand holding onto her shoulder and pulled, making the girl stumble forward. "You're not strong enough to try and stop me. If you're that against me going to find out what is exactly going on, you can come with me."

Many shinigami would pause at their jobs and stare for a bit while the blonde pulled the brunette, leading towards the Captain's office. Mikazuki didn't know what to expect when she arrived. After silently greeting Mihane's father who was the Lieutenant, she was able to see right into the office because the shoji screen had been left open. The person she saw in there with Byakuya made her blood boil. Amaya Hayashi. It took everything she had to not burst in the office and pull Byakuya away from the perfectly manicured hand which rested lightly over his heart. How did she even keep her fingernails like that with her job?

She looked down at her own nails that were always cut short, to prevent scratching herself rather than others. The girl who took over her position was also batting her eyelashes. Even though lips were moving, Mikazuki couldn't hear any words being said. It could've been the rage and jealousy within her that blocked her hearing or they were just too far away. She felt the need to complain to someone and Mihane was the closest person to be the victim.

"Oh great! Just when I could stop worrying about you, someone else takes your place." Mikazuki glared at the two people inside the office. No one seemed affected even when she purposely made her spiritual energy rise. "That bi-"

"Ishikawa-chan!" Mihane's voice was exceptionally loud, interrupting and also gaining the attention of Byakuya and Amaya. "Let's have lunch!"

"It looks like we were found out Byakuya-kun." Amaya gave a little giggle from behind her hand. "I'll come back later and we can carry on this discussion."

"Iie, don't bother." Mikazuki glared at the girl, resenting how similar she looked like her previous Captain. "I didn't come here to see Byakuya-kun. I'm going to lunch with Shirogane-san." She held onto the one who was not her friend but was neither her enemy anymore, pulling her out of the Lieutenant's office to find the nearest ramen stand.

They didn't get very far when they were cut off by Byakuya. He stood in front of them, not looking pleased at all. His arms were crossed and his eyebrows were drawn together. "Shirogane-san, I suggest you go back to what you were doing before Mikazuki-chan interrupted you."

"Ano…" Mihane looked over at Mikazuki who was blatantly shaking her head. "I wasn't-"

"As your Captain, I was just putting my order into nicer words. There isn't any choice for you to make."

"Gomen nasai." She rushed away from the couple, not wanting to anger her Captain any further.

Mikazuki didn't want to be left alone with the Sixth Division Captain and tried to make an excuse to get away. "Actually, I think I might-"

"You're not going anywhere." He held onto her and shunpo'd back to his office, closing the shoji screen when they entered it. "Whatever you saw, it wasn't what you think."

"Oh really?" She couldn't help the undignified snort that was released when she spoke. Refusing to look at him, she went over to the bookcase which ended up bringing back a memory of one of her first intimate moments with Byakuya, but did nothing to remove the jealousy still within her. "So I didn't just see my replacement flirting with you?"

Byakuya sighed loudly, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Stop being childish, it doesn't suit you. If you would let me explain, I can tell you exactly why she was here in the first place." She didn't turn around so he stood behind her, not enough to trap her but he could still feel the heat radiating from her body. Moving her hair over one shoulder he traced the other side of her neck with a finger, leaning over to whisper in her ear when she didn't move away from him. "You can't tell me that you're not a little bit curious."

She pursed her lips, feeling betrayed at the part of her brain which really wanted to know what he was probably going to end up telling her anyway and also the involuntary shiver he caused. Facing him again, she looked up. "So why was she here then?"

"Apparently Suì-Fēng-taichou told her about when I was visiting the Maggot's Nest." He was trying to gauge her reaction, but her expression didn't change. "Hayashi-san looked through all of the paperwork from around that time before you were in a coma and couldn't find anything. There are no records of me ever being in the Maggot's Nest."

"Maybe she lost them? There is a ton of paperwork involved with Nest of Maggot's and dates can quite easily get mixed up." Mikazuki couldn't meet his piercing gaze and instead stared at his chest.

"She spent the last four years going through every single one. There was nothing." Byakuya tilted her chin up so she couldn't avoid looking at him. "If you know something about this, you would tell me the truth, right?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "There should be paperwork around the times you visited. If she knew what she was looking for she would actually find them. Demo… I left out your name. At the time I didn't think you would want anyone finding out about why you were visiting." Her eyes travelled downwards to the spot where she remembered Amaya touching him. She reached out, placing her hand in the exact same position. "I guess Hayashi-san came here wanting to know what your business in the Maggot's Nest was."

"Hai and I didn't tell her anything though." He held onto her hand which was touching him and cupped her face with his other. The kiss was brief but he hoped she felt everything he wanted her to know because sometimes words weren't going to be enough. "You have nothing to worry about Mikazuki-chan. Hayashi-san just isn't annoying enough for me."

A/N: Translations.

Baka – idiot/stupid

Ano – um/uh

Kosode – over-shirt of the uniform (the white one)

Shitagi – undershirt of the uniform (the coloured one)

Hai – yes

Iie – no

Arigatou gozaimasu – thank you (formal)

Matte – wait

Ojii-san – stands for grandfather or can be a way of saying 'old man'

Shihakushou – shinigami uniform

Naze – why

Shirimasen – I don't know

Nani – what

Ohayou (gozaimasu) – good morning – informal (formal)

Demo – but

Nii-san – brother

Onegai – please

Gomen nasai – sorry (formal)