Chapter 10 – Plan In Motion
Unohana stayed in her room for another day, deeply immersed in her thoughts. She wanted to get away from Seretei and to be that little girl in Rukongai once more. She wanted to undo the past so badly that her head spun. She had been thinking about Ukitake and the upcoming marriage.
She sighed and slumped a bit ungracefully back on her chair. Poor Isane, doing all the work while her captain is moping around, neglecting her job. Unohana donned her captain's coat and left her room. When she was about to go out, a hurried knock rapped the outside of her door.
And who would knock at this time? Unohana thought. It was past dinnertime, meaning that all Death Gods must be lounging around already. She only planned an inspection. She opened the door to find a tired-looking Isane breathing hard as though she had been running.
"Isane-san, is something wrong?" Unohana said.
"Nothing, taichou!" Isane said, breathing deep before handing a scroll of paper. "A note came from 3rd division, taichou!"
"Third division? Is this a sort of thank you letter from Ichimaru-taichou?" the soft-spoken captain said, fiddling with her braid.
"I don't know taichou!" her vice-captain said.
Unohana simply nodded. She opened the letter. It said that Ichimaru wanted to see her on his division's garden. She fretted upon reading the last words. But she knew she had to come because it would be insulting on the other captain's part. She left with a few instructions for his vice-captain.
On her way, the others were looking at her in a weird way and they kept on smiling fondly at her. She returned the smile generously and wondered what everyone was thinking. After a few moments, she let the matters pass and went on walking.
When she was crossing the corridors leading to the third division quarters, she spotted Ukitake-taichou talking with Hikari-san. They were near the well and seemed to be enjoying each other's company. From where they were standing, the garden where Ichimaru wanted to see her could be viewed. She knew there was no other way to reach the garden except to walk where the chatting couple was.
Unohana Retsu kept calm and walked gracefully past them. Takeda Hiyori gave her a shy smile and a bow while Ukitake remained passive and just nodded at her presence. She returned the gestures and reached the place she was supposed to meet with the third division captain.
She froze after a few minutes. She realized that no one was there. Then she heard the rustling of the grass even though there was no wind. She felt a strong reiatsu coming her way. She turned and saw, to her great surprise, Kuchiki-taichou holding a bouquet of cherry blossoms and looking as handsome as ever.
"K-kuchiki taichou, what are you doing here?" she said in astonishment.
Byakuya smiled and handed out the flowers. "Happy Birthday Unohana-san."
Then, out of nowhere, all the captains (except for Kurotsuchi, Tousen, Komamura, Zaraki, and Ukitake) were there. All the female vice-captains were there. Even the Captain-General went out of his office to greet her. Unfortunately, General Yamamoto had to leave immediately. Unohana saw Kyouraku smirk behind the old man's back. She smiled secretively.
"Unohana-taichou, happy birthday!" Matsumoto said and winked at her. Unohana wondered why and finally noticed that up to now, Byakuya was still beside her.
"Thank you, Matsumoto-san," she replied, trying to ignore the other woman.
Matsumoto whispered to Unohana's ear. "Unohana-taichou, I have never seen Kuchiki-taichou like this ever."
Unohana gave a sideways glance to her towering companion and noticed that he was smiling like before. She whispered something in return. "Matsumoto-san, Kuchiki-taichou was always like that back then."
Matsumoto laughed and was silenced quickly when Ichimaru-taichou appeared beside her.
"Nice shunpo," Unohana commented and laughed. Matsumoto turned brick red and left.
"My, my, what happened to Rangiku-san?" Ichimaru said.
"I do not know, Ichimaru," Unohana replied, giving the other captain a knowing smile. "I simply don't know."
"I hate secrets," Ichimaru said. "By the way, happy birthday!"
"Thank you," she replied.
"Unohana-san?" Byakuya said.
"Yes, Kuchiki-taichou?" Unohana gently asked.
"May I have a word?" he asked.
"Sure," she said.
"Can we go over there?" Byakuya suggested, pointing towards the seats near a tree not too far away.
Unohana nodded and walked beside Byakuya towards their destination. The hullabaloo of the people in the party still remained, to Unohana's delight.
"Ukitake!" she heard Kyouraku call. "Stop that love chat with Hiyori-chan and drink some sake first."
Unohana watched in the corners of her eye how Ukitake would react to this. He simply smiled and said, "I can't leave her here Shunsui. Besides, we just started talking."
The Fourth division captain diverted her attention towards her companion. They both sat and she watched and listened intently as Byakuya began the conversation.
"So, how is the fourth division going?"
"All is well," she replied, then added with a sigh. "Although Zaraki-taichou's injured eleventh squad is giving my subordinates a hard time."
"Oh… those people," Byakuya said. Unohana noticed the stress on the word people and she laughed – a genuine and musical laugh. That was her first time to laugh like that after months of depression with Ukitake.
"Why? What's funny?" Byakuya said innocently.
"That was a bad comment Kuchiki-taichou," Unohana said, still laughing. Byakuya's soft, baritone voice joined in with the laughter. It was after a while that they noticed that the people partying near the 3rd division quarters were looking at them. Kuchiki Rukia, who was invited there at that time, looked thunderstruck. Matsumoto was fighting the urge to giggle. Isane, Kiyone and Hinamori started to cry. Hitsugaya scowled at the three and muttered, 'how gross…' Abarai smiled at his captain along with the other men captains and vice-captain. Only the Eighth Division representatives, Kyouraku Shunsui and Ise Nanao, weren't looking at the Byakuya and Retsu in a 'celebrating' way. They were both staring at Ukitake Joshirou, who continued to ignore.
"Damn Ukitake…" Kyouraku muttered.
"What should we do taichou?" Nanao said.
"You know of this Nanao-chan?" the flirtatious captain asked. Ise Nanao blushed and nodded shyly. Kyouraku nodded and let the matter pass. He could see the spark of anger and sadness in Ukitake's eyes.
"Taichou, I think we shouldn't interfere. It's there life," Ise Nanao said.
"I agree with you Nanao-chan," Kyouraku said then sighed. "But I have to be Ukitake's guide along the way. I know sometimes he can make mistakes."
Nanao simply nodded. There were times that her captain seems to know a lot, especially what's best. That was one of his positive traits and also his concern for his friends.
After a few minutes, Kyouraku noticed that Matsumoto was already drunk. He approached Ichimaru and whispered, "Take Matsumoto-san away from here before she does something stupid."
Ichimaru nodded. Then, they both froze. They saw Matsumoto making her way towards Ukitake and Hiyori. She had an evil grin on her face and she sent a wink towards Unohana-taichou. Thankfully, the other woman didn't notice and continued to chat with Kuchiki-taichou. With a quick shunpo Ichimaru caught Matsumoto by the wrist and told her something that made her sober. She nodded and left with the third division captain.
"I'm glad that was over," Kyouraku said.
"Who knows what Matsumoto would reveal," Hitsugaya said.
"You know too?" Kyouraku asked, eyebrows furrowing deeper.
"Yes. Isane-san told us," the young captain replied.
"Isane?" Kyouraku said, glancing towards the tall vice captain, who was having a conversation with her younger sister.
"Akira-san told her," Nanao said.
"This information should not go to the knowledge of those two people," Hitsugaya said.
"Unohana-san, can I ask you something?" Byakuya said.
"Yes, Kuchiki-taichou?" she said.
"Can you tell me, once and for all, what you feel about me?" he said, eyes lowering.
Unohana was partly stunned and partly unsure of what to say.
"You don't need to doubt. Just tell me exactly how you feel," Byakuya said. "You know that for these centuries I haven't forgotten how I felt being with you. I loved my late wife Hisana. But, you were my first and I never forgot up to now."
"I – I only considered you as my friend," Unohana said, lowering her eyes.
Byakuya nodded and looked at Ukitake. "He is the man you love, am I right?"
Unohana looked at the man beside her. "Who?"
"That man," Byakuya said, pointing at Ukitake.
Unohana's eye rounded and she blushed incredulously.
"Was it that obvious?" she asked.
"I knew from the very beginning. You need not hide the truth from me," he said, smiling at her.
"I see," she said. "And I also knew that you really didn't cut your hair using Senbonzakura."
Byakuya laughed and they noticed that the people were staring at them again. They both ignored them and continued talking. "You're good."
"You were very obvious back then," Unohana said smiling. "Yes, you are right. I love Ukitake. But he doesn't want me anymore. One night we talked."
"And then?" Byakuya asked, an eyebrow rising.
"He told me that I should have let him die," Unohana said, eyes filling with tears again. "He told me he wanted to completely die because his heart was dead long ago."
"Why? What happened?"
"It was because I rejected him a long time ago. I said to him that I do not want any complications in achieving my dream of helping others and becoming a good Shinigami. I was in denial back then," Unohana said. She couldn't help it anymore. Tears started to pour down her eyes. Byakuya hugged her tight and she gave in completely, her shoulders shaking with the pent-up tears and sadness. Her friend comforted her. She asked herself why she didn't choose Byakuya. But she knew it would be fooling herself to do so.
Hiyori waved Ukitake goodbye. The white-haired Shinigami sighed and observed his surroundings. So, Unohana-taichou's birthday is today, he thought wryly. He felt a little guilty of not greeting her. He knew he wasn't his usual self today. Actually, he became different everyday, since the day of Unohana's appointment as captain of the fourth squad. He looked at Byakuya and Unohana and he froze.
Unohana Retsu was crying. Kuchiki Byakuya was hugging her.
Ukitake's eyes narrowed. He saw Kuchiki Byakuya glance his way and shot him a look. At that moment, he understood what he meant.
Unohana needed her now.
He signaled Byakuya to keep quiet. The other man agreed and mouthed the instructions. His sharp instincts and sight told him that Byakuya meant for them to swap using shunpo, so that Unohana doesn't notice the change.
In an instant, the 13th and 6th squad captains swapped positions. Ukitake was the one hugging Unohana Retsu now. The fourth division captain didn't even notice and continued crying. Ukitake tried his best comforting her without making it obvious that he and Byakuya swapped.
"Look," Kotetsu Kiyone whispered. The crowd looked and saw Ukitake Joshirou hugging Unohana Retsu. Kyouraku Shunsui was about to shout a teasing comment along with the others when Kuchiki Byakuya sent them a silencing glare.
Unohana finally stopped crying. "Byakuya-kun, sorry for getting your clothes wet. I –"
She sat still. Her eyes were somewhat deceiving her. Instead of seeing Kuchiki Byakuya, she saw Ukitake there. Before she could react, Ukitake embraced her tight and in an instant, she was being carried to another place using shunpo.
Ukitake stopped at the same place where Unohana saved her again.
Unohana stared at him and knew for certain that everything was going to change.