Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of the characters associated with it. I wish I could own Byakuya or Uryuu but I don't. It's my first fanfiction so please be nice.
Byakuya hated these gatherings. To him they were a waste of time. Honestly with all of the rietsu present in this one room it's a miracle no hollows or Arrancar showed up. After Aizen's defeat more and more hollows ended up evolving into Arrancar. This beginning a new era of evil, but in the past few weeks the Arrancar attacking the human world harbored strange powers. For goodness sake everyone should be focused on finding out what this new phenomena was.
In the Kuchiki ball room; this was basically a large arena with a marble dance floor with dinner tables around the edges on the first floor as well as a platform for the four noble families to sit at. The second floor consisted of an elaborate lounge room and bathrooms for each gender. Kuchiki Byakuya was seated in the largest throne because the head of each noble clan was to be seated in the front and Byakuya was the head of the noblest clan. The night's events were to go like this- the dinner would happen first consisting of a full four course meal made with the finest herbs and ingredients; then the dance would follow. The dance was actually made of multiple types of dances. It went from slow formal dancing to rapid contemporary dancing, which was at the end because the elderly would go home by then. Each noble was required to dance to the waltz and all were trained to perfect it.
Kuchiki Byakuya was still trying to figure out whom to dance with that night but decided that since he had so many fan girls he'd just dance with the only one who wouldn't faint by being near him. Even when he was hiding his rietsu, it was jaw breaking compared to some of the other nobles.
Two of the loveliest ladies walked into the ball room as Byakuya was contemplating his decision.
"Oh my goodness Minori-san, you looks amazing," said Matsumoto Rangiku.
Hinamashi Minori stepped into the ball room wearing a midnight blue gown fitted closely against her chest and waist falling down into an elegant belled shaped dress. It was a tube top like corset with tiny pieces of crystal that shined to make the dress glitter like the night sky. On her neck was a diamond pendent in the shape of a star and her initial M. Dangling from her wrist was a worn out silver bracelet with tiny heart charms on it. She always wore that bracelet no matter what and tonight was no exception. Her hair was done up in a bun with a few brown locks curled up to frame her face. She looked like a goddess that nearly everyone was gawking at. The other lady seemed to cause a rush of adoring fans herself. Hinamori Momo looked like a siren in the plunging neckline of her red dress. She wore the dress with great caution but still attracted more attention than usual. Her childhood friend stood with his jaw dropped and eyes wide open. Suddenly the room appeared much colder than it was before she had stepped into it. Sensing this Matsumoto ran up to her taicho whilst grabbing Momo and forcing them to dance.
" Aneue where have you been? Ever since you became a taicho you've left me all alone. You know nii-sama is ill. Okasan and otosan are busy. I thought we were supposed to come to the dance together," said a strawberry blonde teenage looking girl to Minori.
"Gomen Lana. I completely forgot about my promise to come to the dance with you. I actually got ready with my new fukutaicho, who is my friend as well. You should meet her you guys are so much alike. I'm sorry I haven't been able to give you a lot of time but hey today's my first day on the job cut me some slack."
"It's okay. I know you are working very hard. I just don't have a dance partner anymore since as soon as we came in he stepped on Mayuri taicho's foot." Said Lana
"Well then we'll just have to find you a dance partner huh? For now you'll have to deal with meeting some of my new friends." Minori and Lana walked up to the table where Rukia and her friends were sitting then introduced her sister. "Hey guys, I'd like you to meet my younger sister, Lana." Around the table everyone introduced themselves.
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After introducing her sister to her new friends, she walked over to wear Kuchiki Byakuya was seated. She had noticed that his eyes had not yet left her since she entered the room. She was the acting head of the Hinamashi clan seeing as how her brother was still ill. Walking over to her seat, she noticed that Byakuya was dressed in an amazing white kimono embroidered in blue. His hair was somehow different today but still had the kieseken. Minori swore she saw a smile grace his face as she sat down,
"Who knew that midnight blue and lavender would make such a great combination?" thought Byakuya.
Rukia, wearing the dress and accessories gifted to her by Renji, sat in between Renji and Lana.
"Look Renji, Minori-san and Nii-sama look like Kings and Queens from fairy tales," whispered Rukia
"Yeah you're right. I think we should hook them up. Honestly if he got himself a girl then he might actually smile again and finally leave us alone."
"When you said the thing about Queens and Kings, it pains me to know that none of you know my dear sister. She has a past and one day could have been Queen if it weren't for me being so weak. She was married once to the Prince of Seireitei. She was the daughter-in-law of the King, the wife of the eldest son to the throne. When he died her world shattered. If she ever does marry again, I wish her the best," said Lana to Rukia and Renji.
"Your sister is our friend. We may not have known her for so long but we know that there is a connection between them. Nii-sama also has a past; which you have probably know of. If they both want to be happy, I think they could find happiness in each other," said Rukia.
Ichigo and Orhime sat in the far side of the table oblivious to the conversation between Rukia and Lana. The orange haired male looked at the doe-eyed female, now known as his girlfriend and said "Orihime." He pulled out a small red box, which she took then opened. Inside was a small pair of earrings in the shape of her Rikki. With a blush inspiring hug, she took off her hoops and put on her gift.
Minori smiled softly and chuckled at the sight of the events at Rukia's table. Byakuya caught her and asked her what was so funny.
"Look at the table."
Byakuya turned and sighed. Those darn humans always creating a scene. He never understood why his sister was friends with them. He turned back to Minori and told her that dinner was to be served soon. With that the nobles got up and headed to the most beautifully decorated table. Dinner went by smoothly and all Byakuya could do was watch his new colleague in awe. The way she ate was so delicate yet she had engulfed so much food.
"No one knows anything about her. I'm such an idiot that I didn't look through the records for information about her. None of the taichos know what type of Zanpaktou she has, or if she has a Bankai. I can't even get a reading on her rietsu level. But at least she can sit near me without fainting," he thought.
Minori noticed that Byakuya's eyes were following her every move so she decided to ease his thoughts and engaged him in useless conversation. No normal person would do such a thing as they would have known that Byakuya hated petty talks. But Minori being new did it anyway, not that Byakuya would mind seeing as he wanted to know her better.
"So taicho, wasn't that dinner just delicious?" she asked
"Yes it was good. I personally asked the chiefs to be very careful with these meals as the honor of the Kuchiki house was on the line," he responded.
"No one expects anything less from the Kuchiki's. By the way what's your favorite dish? Personally I like anything with spices and herbs. My grandmother used to make a chicken parmesan dish made with Indian herbs and spices. She was the only one I knew to ever mix Italian meals with Asian spices. I begged her so much for the recipe but she wouldn't give it to me. She ended up giving it to me as a wedding gift," laughed Minori.
"Crap! She's married. Wait but there's no ring on her finger. Wait why do I even care about her being married or not? It shouldn't make a difference to me. Right? She's just a fellow taicho right?" Byakuya slapped himself mentally. Then aloud he said, " Well if I may be so rude as to ask where your husband is."
"I thought you knew about me and my history seeing as you ARE the RECORD Keeper. Hahaha. Well I'd love to tell you about my life but right now I need to find a dance partner because the first dance is being," she chuckled
"Don't worry about that. I need a partner too so may I dance with you before my fan girls decide to show up?" he asked
Minori noticed a trail of females lining up behind Byakuya, probably waiting to ask him to dance. She obliged and proceeded to the dance floor with Byakuya by her side. . At Rukia's table, Ichigo and Orihime got up first followed by Yachiru dragging Chad to lay with her, then lastly Renji took Rukia up. The only ones left that the table were Lana and Ishida Uryuu. Both of them just sat there waiting for the other to speak or until someone else asked them to dance. Finally Matsumoto, who had just forced her taicho and Hinamori to dance, grabbed them off their feet and threw them onto the dance floor. Lana landed elegantly while Uryuu fell straight on his bum. She helped him up and they began to dance. Uryuu was blushing more than a thirteen year old girl getting her first kiss.
"You do know the man is supposed to lead the dance, not follow right? This is the waltz."
"Hn. Yes Shinigami I do know how to waltz. In fact I can bet I am the best dancer in this entire room," said Uryuu placing all of his Quincy pride on this bet, he grabbed her and led all of the dances for the remainder of the night- whether it was the waltz or the tango the Quincy made sure he was the best at it.
For the next hour, Byakuya danced with Minori, stopping only for a few drinks and to sit out of the "dirty dances." Renji and Rukia ran back and forth from dancing to making out, whereas Ichigo and Orihime stopped after she stepped on his foot with her heels. There were only two couples who stayed on the dance floor for every song; one being the Quincy and Minori's sister and the other being the taicho of the 10th squad and his childhood "friend." For every song that came on the Quincy would not let go of Lana. The waltz he led, but from then on it was a competition between them to lead, to be fiercer than the other. There was lust and chemistry between them. No matter how fast or slow the song their eyes never drifted. It seemed like they danced for themselves in a closed arena. They only realized they were in front of everyone when Minori got up and pried her sister out of the Quincy's hands. Not that there was anything wrong with the Quincy but Minori didn't want her sister to be subject to the types of rumors that she was already hearing.
"'Did you see the girl in the blue gown? I heard she slept with all of the taichos to get her spot.' 'Even Soi Fon and Unohana?' 'Yea' "
Minori could ignore them, but her sister was soft. She turned her gaze towards her fukutaicho and said "That's so cute. Momo and Hitsugaya taicho look so peaceful together don't they taicho?"
"They are childhood friends. And please refer to me as Kuchiki or Byakuya-sama. I am not just your colleague, but also a fellow noble" said Byakuya. "Yea right you just want her to say your name… why don't you just ask her to scream it for you," said Senbonzakura in the back of his mind. "SHUT UP! For a female you really are perverted," said Byakuya. "That's what happens when I get stuck in a man's brain. Remember I've been with everyone you have. Not that I'm actually participating but I'm still there. Ok I'll shut up now."
"Don't you think they are more than friends? I mean they both feel the same way but I think they are scared to lose their friendship if they are more than friends," said Minori breaking Byakuya away from his argument with Senbonzakura.
"I need to get some air I am going to go out," said Byakuya leaving.
"How about I come with you? I need some air also," asked Minori.
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They both left the ball room, with many eyes following them. Rarely did Byakuya leave any place with a woman he had spent the night dancing with. Rumors sparked instantly, many caused by Chisi and Ano. Few of them were caught by Rukia's ears.
"So I heard that girl who left with my Byakuya sama is not really a noble. That's why she's being kicked out from here."
"I heard she's a whore from outside of Seireitei. No one's seen her here before."
"The entire clan is a mystery."
"Well they both need air that's why they are going outside. Nii sama wouldn't do anything bad and if I were you I would refrain from saying anything bad about Minori san seeing as how she is a taicho as well as a noble and you guys well your only nobles," threatened Rukia.
Outside the cherry blossom petals breezed on the roof top of the ball room. Byakuya and Minori sat on the edge feeling the wind.
"I love the wind," stated Minori while Byakuya wondered why he hadn't stopped her from coming with him. Especially since he knew that the nobles would not allow it. Even so he was intrigued by this woman.
"Hinamashi taicho-(please call me Minori said the woman) - Minori san how is it that you are not affected by the rietsu's of many of the taichos? Even I sometimes can't stand straight near Yamamoto taicho. I cannot detect your reitsu and I know that no one can block all reitsu from being sensed but yours is practically nonexistent."
"I was wondering when you would ask me that. You see I can be near the taicho's because I have an unreasonably high amount of rietsu. You cannot detect my rietsu because of the bracelet I wear. It was a gift from my husband, who is now dead; he gave it to me as a wedding gift. It contains the power to hide all rietsu from being detected, and allows it to be directed at a certain person when needed."
"How is your rietsu so powerful?"
"Nearly fifty years ago I was once married to the Prince of Seireitei, the youngest son of the King. His name was Teiano Kinomoto He was very powerful and was a hidden Shinigami. Yes I was the daughter-in-law of the King. Kinomoto loved me very much and when we were married it was hushed up since no one knew much about the Prince and my father was sworn to secrecy. Kinomoto took real good care of me, and helped me improve myself in every way possible. Then one day we were out in the 68th sector of Rungaiko when a half dozen Hollows attack my sister, and I. Kinomoto came and was heavily injured after defeating them. He gave up the remaining of his life by slashing his zanpaktou through his heart and then through my womb. I was expecting. His life ended up becoming my power and in the end I got a piece of his soul and rietsu in me forever. I lost not only my love that day but my child as well, because Kinomoto could only transfer himself by doing that. I wouldn't complain though because his child was a piece of him, which was sacrificed to keep him with me as long as I live," she explained while crying.
Byakuya softly wiped her tears and hugged her close to him. He knew how it was to lose the one you loved, he lost his Hisana.
"At least he's still with you. In your heart and soul he still lives on with you. For that be happy," whispered Byakuya.
In the back of Minori's mind Kinomoto spoke, "Love look you melted the human icicle."
Rukia and Lana went outside and Rukia motioned for Lana to look up. There they were. In each other's arms with silent drops of emotion flowing on their faces.
This is my longest piece ever. 3000 and some odd words!! It took me forever to write, and this is after kicking out a million parts for the dance. I'm gonna skip the rest of the ball because it's not that important. The story really doesn't have to do with the ball really. It was just to introduce Minori. If you want me to continue with the ball then give some ideas.
You knw the drill. O god my fingers and head hurt.
EDIT: 12/2/07: I won't be able to update until the 14th of December. I've got finals coming up so all my "stories" are put on hold till then. Reviews will still be appreciated. My brains gonna fry with all of this studing and I will definately need your help getting ideas for any and all three of my fics. Luv ya!
