A/N: I'd like to apologize for having disappeared for such a long time. I was having a little bit of writer's block, so it took some time for me to finish each scene, even though I intended to update more quickly. Many thanks to all who have left his/her review. I truly hope you'll enjoy this chapter. Till next time.

Chapter 10: Half Truths

Ichimaru Gin walked down the Fifth Division's corridor to what appeared to be nothing more than a dirty, old storage room to most people. However, to those who was allowed to see past the illusion that was carefully crafted by Aizen, it was a secret passageway to a dark, damp dungeon where Aizen conducted his illegal experiments.

Walking down a small aisle between the cells where all test subjects were kept, Gin could hear some painful screeches coming out of each cells yet the smile on his face did not falter one bit. If anything, the smile was broadened at the thought of the horror that would be on all officials' faces should they ever find out about the cruel and unusual experiments that were conducted there.

Gin did, however, stop in front of one cell to look at the subject that was locked inside. If he hadn't known about all the tests that had been done on the creature inside, Gin wouldn't have been able to tell what the thing was, since didn't look anything like a human soul and yet it didn't quite look like a Hollow either.

"Admiring your handiwork?"

Gin didn't have to turn around to see who uttered those words since that smooth voice could only belong to Aizen Sōsuke himself. Still, he turned around and greeted the man with a feign innocent smile.

"But I don't recall actually doing anything to him other than throwing him in this cell after Kuchiki Byakuya-san turned him in after he caught him attacking civilian."

Aizen raised an eyebrow at that.

"Hmm... weren't you the one who suggested that we should use him to test our new Hollowfication formula?"

"Well, it would be a waste to kill him like Tōsen-san suggested when we could have used him as a lab rat first," Gin explained. "But I get why Tōsen-san was so angry. After all, we could have been in a lot of trouble should Kuchiki-san arrived to the scene a few minutes later and caught him in the act of stealing a piece of a civilian's soul."

The corner of Aizen's mouth curved up slightly at that explanation.

"That would definitely be troublesome," Aizen agreed. "But anyway, speaking of Kuchiki-kun, are you not going to shadow him again today?"

Gin furrowed his brows slightly as he tried to figure out what Aizen had truly wanted to know when he asked him such question. However, instead of trying to guess the captain's motive, Gin opted to simply replied:

"I just don't feel like it today. You see, taichō, the thrill of stalking a prey is that you don't know what they're going to do or where they're going to be next. However, since I know exactly where he's going to be, what he's going to do and who he's going to be with at this time of the day; there's no fun in shadowing him."

Aizen raised an eyebrow at that.

"And I used to think that you liked him and wanted to befriend him since you two are around the same age and level and you seemed to enjoyed talking to him."

"And you hadn't been wrong, Aizen-taichō. I liked Kuchiki-san just as much as a snake likes eating a small rat. Not that he'd be as easy a prey as a rat or that I'm planning to eat him in a literal or figurative sense. Well, not now at least," Gin claimed. "But I still enjoy planning how to end him should the time ever come, though now I'm slightly worried that with his carelessness, he would end up as someone else's prey first."

Aizen shook his head at the explanation.

"You surely have a twisted way of liking someone, Gin, and somehow I'm not sure if I should start being worried for Kuchiki-kun."

Gin's smile broadened at the comment.

"I thought by now you'd have been used to my twisted side already, taichō," he remarked, "But in any case, you can trust that I wouldn't lay my hand on him as long as you still deem him necessary to our plan."

"I would expect as much."

"But, of course," Gin continued, "I cannot say the same for anyone else who might happen to be aware of what Kuchiki-san has been doing every Saturday morning and plan to take advantage of it."

Aizen raised an eyebrow, suddenly wondering what the lieutenant of the Sixth Division could be doing that would make Gin say that he was being careless. "And what exactly has he been doing, Gin?"

"Zanpakutō training, taichō," Gin replied, "at exactly the same place and the same time."

Meanwhile, in the second district of Rukongai, completely unaware of the fact that for one reason or another he had caught the interest of the one lieutenant he doubted he would ever be able to place his trust on; Byakuya was sparring with Rukia.

While they had sparred before, it was the first time Rukia used a real sword rather than a wooden one that was used for practice. Thus, Rukia showed some signs of hesitation when she struck at Byakuya.

Byakuya, on the other hand, still appeared as calm as always despite all the thoughts that had been bothering him in the past few days. He gracefully parried her strikes while making mental notes on all her sword forms in order to assess just how much improvement she had made since she started taking lessons from him.

As her instructor, he was pleased with the level of progress she had made and wanted to do everything in his power to help her achieve her dream and make sure she realized her true potential. However, as a man who had vowed to protect her at all costs, he couldn't help being worried, knowing that the better her skills got, the more chance she would be exposed to more danger once she became a Shinigami.

Byakuya tried to shake all unnecessary thoughts out of his head as he deflected yet another strike from Rukia. It would appear this girl always inspired him with conflicting feelings ever since the first time they met, and the better he got to know her, the more conflicting those feelings had become.

'You can't really blame her for that, though,' Senbonzakura observed from the back of Byakuya's mind. 'It was your own choice to complicate things.'

Ignoring his zanpakutō's words, Byakuya struck back at Rukia at a calculated speed and force to make sure that she would be able to deflect all his attacks. Then he continued to spare with her until he saw that she was already exhausted and needed to rest.

"That should be enough training for today, Rukia-kun," he stated after deflecting yet another attack from Rukia, who, from what he gathered, would not be able to hold her sword up for one more minute, yet still too determined to even ask for a break. "And don't tell me you can still keep going because it's obvious that you're already exhausted."

Since he was right, all Rukia could do in response was giving him a sheepish look.

"I just want to give my best to this training, Seike-san," she explained, "you know, because you've kindly helped with my training even though you didn't really have to, so I'd hate to be a disappointment."

"I'm not that much of a cruel taskmaster, Rukia-kun," Byakuya commented as he sheathed his zanpakutō. "Besides, you've already exceeded my expectation. To be honest, I didn't expect that you would progress this quickly. However, you do and now you even own an asauchi. At this rate, soon I will have nothing left to teach."

Rukia blinked twice at the comment. On the one hand, she was happy to hear his compliment, but on the other, she wasn't sure if such compliment was his polite way of telling her that he no longer wished to help her with her zanjutsu training.

Rukia's heart fell at the possibility. She wouldn't blame him if he truly wished to stop training her nor would she be bold enough to try to change his mind, since he had only agreed to do so out of his kindness and never really gained anything out of that arrangement to begin with.

But despite how she was afraid to hear the answer, she still voiced her question, "Does that mean you wish to stop training me, Seike-san?"

Although he had told himself he needed to stop being directly involved with her before such involvement would cause her any troubles, and that moment might be a good time for him to actually be out of her life; Byakuya couldn't bring himself to say the word when he saw the crestfallen look on Rukia's face.

"That was not what I meant," he replied after a pregnant pause. "What I meant to say was that I can only teach you basic zanjutsu. I cannot teach you much about your zanpakutō."

Rukia furrowed her brows.

"But don't you also own one, Seike-san?" she wondered.

"I do," Byakuya replied. "However, each zanpakutō has its own unique power and characteristic. I can guide you on how to try to conjure and communicate with your zanpakutō's spirit. Once your zanpakutō's spirit speaks to you, there will be nothing more I can teach."

"Does this mean you'll continue to help me with my training until then, Seike-san?" Rukia asked, hopeful.

"Yes, I'll continue to help you for as long as you need me to," Byakuya replied, and while he was still unsure whether it was the wisest decision to make, the way Rukia's face lit up when she heard his response made him feel that he had made the right decision.

"Thank you very much, Seike-san," Rukia said before she bowed to him to show her gratitude. "I'll continue to be in your care, then."

Byakuya's eyes softened slightly as he watched the way Rukia's face bloomed with happiness. It had been such a long time since he could see someone that happy just because of something he did; and he knew he would give anything just to protect that smile.

"Anyway, it's almost noon," she said, looking up to the sky. "Shall we have lunch now? I've prepared a lot of food today."

"Sure, Rukia-kun," Byakuya replied.

Hearing his answer, Rukia flashed him yet another smile before she ran back to where she had placed her bag and brought out the lunch boxes that she had prepared for the two of them.

'That girl certainly has you wrapped around her slender fingers, Byakuya,' Senbonzakura mused from the back of Byakuya's mind.

'You don't need to tell me that, Senbonzakura. I've already known,' Byakuya responded while his eyes still trailed after Rukia. He watched as she animatedly brought out the lunch box that she had prepared and opened the lid of the box to see the food before before she placed the lid back on.

'You should tell her, you know?' Senbonzakura remarked. 'About who you really are, I mean.'

Byakuya sighed softly and closed his eyes.

'A name isn't what really identifies who are you as a person. Even though she believes my name is Seike, she knows me as a person far better than most people who know me as Kuchiki Byakuya ever have.'

'If it isn't what identifies you as a person, why afraid of letting her know the most fundamental fact about you? Tell her who you really are and see if that changes anything.'

Again, Byakuya sighed.

'I will tell her when I'm ready to let her go.'

Opening his eyes, Byakuya turned his gaze back to Rukia just in time to see her turning toward him and gesturing him to join her for lunch. Thus, Byakuya strode toward her.

Meanwhile in the back of Byakuya's mind, Senbonzakura sighed wearily as he mumbled mostly to himself, 'Then you'll never tell her.'

Seeing that Byakuya was approaching her, Rukia picked up the lunch box she had prepared for him and then handed it to him once he was standing right in front of her. The smile on her face faded and morphed into a worried expression as she saw the troubled look on his face.

"You have that look on your face again," she commented, concerned. "Really, Seike-san, are you sure nothing is troubling you?"

Byakuya blinked and subconsciously touched his face, uncertain whether he had let his guard slip around her, or she was just capable of seeing through his mask. But since she could read him somehow and even voiced her concern, he had no choice but to give her some kind of explanation.

"It's just my zanpakutō being his annoying self, as usual."

Rukia furrowed her brows at that. She had always assumed that one had to at least get along well with one's zanpakutō's spirit in order to unlock the zanpakutō's abilities; however, the truth might differ from what she had imagined. After all, she was certain that Byakuya had already achieved shikai, yet the way he spoke of his zanpakutō seemed to imply that his relationship with it might not be so smooth.

"I'm surprised, Seike-san," she commented, tilting her head slightly so she could look at him. "You're one of the most patient person I know, so I never thought that I'd hear you say that someone, much less your own zanpakutō, is annoying."

Byakuya's lips curved up slightly as a hint of a smile.

"I'm not as patient as you think I am, Rukia-kun," he stated, "Besides, Senbonzakura has been living in my head for five decades, so he knows exactly what to do to rile me up."

Rukia blinked twice. She wasn't sure what surprised her more between the nature of the relationship between Byakuya and his zanpakutō or the fact that Byakuya had opted to mention his zanpakutō by name for the first time.

"Somehow that is not like what I imagined a relationship between a wielder and a zanpakutō would be like at all. I mean, doesn't a zanpakutō has to get along well with its wielder before it'd decide to lend its power to the wielder?"

"Theoretically, yes," Byakuya replied. "However, even the best of friends do not always share the same perspectives. They're bound to have disagreement from time to time."

"I see," she said, nodding slightly in a gesture that she understood what he meant. "Does this mean that you consider your zanpakutō your best friend then, Seike-san?"

"Only when he's not being purposefully annoying."

"Surely you did not mean that, Seike-san," she commented lightly. It was difficult for her to believe that he could actually find someone, much less his zanpakutō, annoying; since he always appeared to be calm and composed and never showed much emotion on his face. However, she supposed even the most apathetic person could feel annoyed from time to time, and Byakuya was no exception.

"Oh, I certainly did," Byakuya insisted. However, he kept a straight face while he did, so Rukia couldn't quite tell whether he was serious or joking. "You would find it irritating too, if there's a voice in your head, always nagging about choices that you made or did not make."

"I'm sure he means well," she said, still smiling as she tried to imagine what Byakuya's zanpakutō's spirit might look like. "Or otherwise, he could have just stopped lending you his power instead."

"Do not give him the idea, Rukia-kun."

Rukia laughed at that.

"I'm sure he would be able to think of that one himself even if no one mentioned it, Seike-san," she returned. "But anyway, speaking of zanpakutō, may I ask how one came into your possession? Hattori-sensei said that the only official way to receive an asauchi is as a Shinō Academy's student, but you once told me you did not attend the academy so—"

"I did not steal one from a dead Shinigami if that is what you were wondering," Byakuya cut in before Rukia could finish her thought. Although his face didn't betray any emotion, Rukia could still tell from the tone of his voice that he was not offended by her question. "Ginrei-sama gave it to me when he deemed me old enough to handle a sword."

It was not the first time Byakuya implied that he had quite a good relationship with the former captain of the Sixth Division, Kuchiki Ginrei. However, it was the first time Rukia thought the relationship might run deeper than that of a master and a servant.

"He must have taken a lot of liking to you," she assumed.

"He could have," Byakuya replied, "or it could be because he took pity on me since my mother died giving birth to me, and my father was killed in a mission when I was in my adolescence."

Rukia widened her eyes slightly. "I'm sorry about your parents."

Byakuya accepted Rukia's condolence with a nod.

"Thank you. It was a long time ago, though."

Seeing how Byakuya was truly unaffected by the story he had just told, Rukia sighed softly in relief. She might want to know more about him, but that didn't mean that she wanted to pry into what might be a sensitive subject. However, just as relief was washing over her, another thought suddenly crossed her mind, so she furrowed her brows at that.

"But, Seike-san," she began, "if you were born rather than being sent here as a soul, wouldn't that mean you're a noble?"

Byakuya eyed Rukia for a moment before he replied with a question of his own, "Would it make any difference if I am?"

Rukia's violet eyes were widened in surprise, and for a moment there, she was unsure as to how to answer him.

Seeing that reaction, Byakuya sighed softly. "I suppose that means it would."

"No, Seike-san!" she countered. "It wouldn't make any difference. I still respect you all the same, and perhaps even more because I never expect a noble to willingly involve himself with some kid from Rukongai's slum. Yet you helped me with my training despite the fact that you could get into trouble just by associating yourself with me."

Byakuya looked at Rukia for a moment, and while he never compared her to Hisana, the humbleness in her tone and the genuine concern in her violet eyes reminded him just how much they were alike.

"I am not a saint, Rukia-kun," he said. "I used to be so shallow that I would look down on every person that is in a lower social class until I met a person who turned my world upside down and made me see things from different perspectives."

There was a ghost of smile and a haunting look in Byakuya's eyes as he thought of Hisana and how he had been blind to absurdity of social segregation until he met and fell in love with her.

"She made me a better person, and if it was not for her, then perhaps we would not be having this conversation right now."

Although Byakuya could have just said so to make her see how he was not as good of a man as she pictured him to be, it did not escape her that the look in his eyes and the tone of his voice when he mentioned that certain lady were not what anyone would use when they mentioned an ordinary friend.

"She must be very important to you," Rukia observed, somehow feeling her heart constrict.

"She was," Byakuya said softly with a melancholic look in his eyes. Then he took a deep breath and remarked, "but I feel I've led this conversation far off topic, so I suppose we should return to discussing a zanpakutō?"

Although she was curious who the woman Byakuya had just mentioned was, she knew better than to try to press him for more details. After all, everyone had things they did not wish to talk about, and it was obvious that the woman was a subject Byakuya did not wish to discuss.

"Of course, Seike-san," she replied, smiling as though she did not notice anything unusual. "So can you give me some tricks on how to get my zanpakutō to speak to me?"

The rest of the lunch time was spent eating and discussing things starting from zanpakutō and then ended with random things Rukia had done in the past week. Rukia would mostly do the talking while Byakuya simply watched her as he listened to her stories.

"...so next week, we'll finally get to go the World of the Living to practice konsō. It'll probably be fun," Rukia mentioned just before she took a bite on the last piece of maki roll in her lunch box.

"It could also be dangerous," Byakuya noted.

Although he knew that they would pick a relatively safe spot in the World of the Living for the training and that things rarely went wrong during such time, there were still chances that unexpected things could happen. While he trusted that with her current skill set, Rukia would be able to fend off a hollow or two, he still found it difficult not to worry.

"It could be," Rukia agreed since she still remembered Renji's story of how his class was attacked by several huge Hollows while they went to train in the World of the Living. "But it won't be any more dangerous than a mission I will have to take when I become a Shinigami. Besides, it's just a konsō training anyway, so I doubt it will be all that dangerous."

Byakuya nodded in agreement.

"You're right," he said. "Perhaps I am overly concerned."

Rukia widened her eyes in surprise. While she expected that he would be somewhat concerned for her safety due to the fact that she had been under his guidance, she never thought that he would actually admit that aloud, since it was rare for him to show his more sentimental side.

"Even so, I shouldn't have allowed my bad habit of always expecting the worst to spoil your excitement about this training trip," Byakuya added.

"That's alright, Seike-san. It's not like you really spoiled anything. Besides, I'm glad to hear that you're concerned."

Byakuya raised an eyebrow at that.

"You spoke as if you do not expect that I would be."

"It's not that I don't expect you to," Rukia quickly denied, then she bit her lower lip and blushed slightly as somehow that didn't really come out right. Somehow her words made it sounded as if she was hoping for him to be concerned. "Well... I mean... you know..."

Byakuya watched Rukia's sheepish expression with an indecipherable look in his slate eyes before he remarked, "I know."

Realizing that somehow she had become a little too conscious of him, Rukia anxiously fiddling with the chopsticks in her hand while trying to think of the best way to change the subject, since she couldn't really come up with a way to continue with the one they were having without it being awkward somehow.

"Have you been to the World of the Living, Seike-san?" she blurted out the first thing that crossed her mind at that moment.

"I can't say that I haven't."

"Eh? You have?" she asked, surprised. "What is it like?"

"Weren't you supposed to have lived there before?" he responded with a question.

Although he knew very well that Rukia wouldn't have had any memories of her time as a human, since she had passed on to Soul Society when she was just an infant; Byakuya decided to question her anyway so he could keep up the facade that he had not known more than what she had already told him.

"I don't have any memories of my time as a human at all, since I was an infant when my soul was sent to Inuzuri, or at least that was what Mama-san told me," she replied.

"Mama-san?" Byakuya repeated, somehow feeling that he might not like what he would hear next.

"She ran a bar in Inuzuri, so everyone called her that," she explained, not noticing the relief that flashed behind Byakuya's eyes once he heard her explanation. "She picked me off the street and raised me up because her motto was that women should look out for each other in that godforsaken town."

"So she was the one who named you?"

Rukia nodded.

"She also taught me how to read and write as well as how to behave in ladylike manners," she added. "She was kind to me even though raising me up made it more difficult for her to make ends meet."

"Is she still around?"

Rukia shook her head. There was a sad look in her violet eyes as she remarked, "Mama-san was killed when the bar went up in flame one night."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

Rukia accepted Byakuya's condolence with a smile.

"Losing her was difficult, to say the least," she admitted, "but Mama-san always said that all the things that happened in our lives, even if they were tragedies, happened for a good reason. We just had to find what that reason is," she said. "I couldn't find any good out of that incident at the time, but afterward, I realize it made me a stronger person and taught me how to depend on myself."

It was then that Byakuya understood why despite her background, Rukia managed to grow up into a strong, independent woman who always maintained positive attitudes. And perhaps he could learn something from her and try to find the brighter side of things no matter how hard it was to find and try to put the pieces of his heart back together.

"She would be proud to know that you've taken her words to heart."

"I hope she would."

With a small smile, Rukia shook the sad thoughts out of her mind.

"But enough of my sob story," she said before she steered the conversation back to her previous question, "You still haven't answered my question, Seike-san. What is it like in the World of the Living?"

Byakuya blinked once at the sudden change of subject. Then he took a moment to think about the latest mission that required him to visit the World of the Living and what he saw while he was there.

"People there wore peculiar clothes and they had strange manner of speaking. Their architectural style was also different from ours," he replied. "It's been a long time since my last visit, however, so things may not be that way now."

"What were you doing there, by the way?" she asked, truly curious.

Byakuya couldn't reply right away. Even though he considered himself to have been a good liar of late, he couldn't find one credible reason why a butler of the Kuchiki family needed to go to the World of Living.

"I was sent there to pick up some books for waka-sama," he replied, using none other than himself as an excuse as strange as that reason would be. "He had taken interest in that world's literature back at the time."

"Ah," Rukia exclaimed. "So your master is a bookworm. I guess that explains why he went to the Central Library the other day."

"So you've met waka-sama?"

Rukia quickly shook her head in response.

"Catching a glimpse of him is more like it," she noted. "I mean, I only saw him from afar when he was checking out some books at the counter. I didn't even catch a good look at his face, and to be honest, I wouldn't have recognized who he was at all if my friend hadn't mentioned that he was the lieutenant of the Sixth Division."

"His ego would probably be bruised if he knew there was a person who couldn't recognize him by glance," Byakuya remarked with an amused look in his eyes.

"Why would someone's ego be bruised by something like that?" she wondered. "Unless, of course, your master is an attention seeker, which would explain the weird hair clip and the fact that he donned a scarf in the middle of summer."

If it had been anyone else who uttered that sentence, they would have already been reduced to dust by Senbonzakura's thousand blades. However, since those words came from Rukia, Byakuya found himself genuinely laughing at that suggestion.

Rukia furrowed her brows in confusion, as she looked at Byakuya.

"What was so funny, Seike-san?"

It took another moment before Byakuya could hold his laughter back enough for him to speak.

"I was laughing because you could be right, Rukia-kun," he said. "Waka-sama could as well be an attention seeker or he wouldn't have kept wearing the kenseikan or the Kuchiki heirloom scarf in order to make sure that everyone would know who he was."

"I didn't mean to say that he was, though," she protested, furrowing her brows.

"I know," Byakuya said, "and that is exactly why I find it funny even though I really shouldn't be laughing at this at all."

With that said, Byakuya put his straight face back on, which somehow caused Rukia to laugh.

"Let's keep this a secret between us," she suggested. "After all, what your master doesn't know couldn't hurt him, right?"

"You're right," Byakuya agreed. A trace of amusement could still be seen in his eyes. "Besides I don't think it would be wise for me to tell him that someone I met thought he was an attention seeker to begin with."

Rukia smiled at that.

"Do you get along well with him, Seike-san?" she wondered. "I mean, you never really talked about him before. If you would mention anyone, it would only be the previous head, Kuchiki Ginrei-taichō."

"Let's just say my relationship with waka-sama is complicated," he replied, strangely honest, "I suppose you can say that's why I don't have much to talk about him."

"I see."

"He's not an interesting person anyway."

Silence fell between them for a moment. While she could let their conversation ended there since they both had already finished their lunch by that time; Rukia still searched any new topic that would keep the conversation going. However, before she could come up with one, Byakuya beat her too it.

"Anyway, thank you for the meal, Rukia-kun. It was delicious as usual," he commented as he closed the lid of the lunch box that was already empty.

Rukia blushed slightly at the compliment.

"You're welcome, Seike-san. I'm glad the food is to your liking."

"I don't think I've asked you where you learned how to cook."

"I learned it from the chef at the restaurant I used to to work part time," she replied. "Anyway, now that you've finished eating, shall I take the lunch box away?"

Byakuya nodded and handed his lunch box back to Rukia who accepted it and then rose to her feet to put their used lunch boxes back into her shoulder sack to be cleaned later when she returned to her dorm.

Also rising to his feet, Byakuya waited for Rukia to finish her task. Usually, they would say their farewell right afterward, and then Rukia would take her leave while Byakuya would stayed there for another moment before he returned to Seireitei.

Having packed up everything, Rukia approached Byakuya before she gave him a deep bow.

"Well, thank you very much for today's lesson, Seike-san."

"You're welcome," he replied, giving her a small nod of his head as a response.

"I've already taken enough of your time for one day, so I guess it's time to say goodbye for today."

With that said, she gave him yet another bow, though that time was to express her farewell instead of her gratitude.

"Actually, Rukia-kun, before you go, I've got something for you."

Since she didn't expect that Byakuya would bring her anything, Rukia furrowed her brows in confusion.

Pulling a small pouch out of the fold of his kimono, Byakuya remarked, "Consider it my congratulation gift for your recent accomplishment in the academy."

Although she was curious as to what he wanted to give her, Rukia still found herself refusing the gift.

"But you don't need to give me anything, Seike-san. After all, if it hadn't been for your guidance, I wouldn't have made this much progress in the academy to begin with," she said. "In fact, I should be the one who give you a gift of gratitude."

Byakuya looked into Rukia's eyes for a moment, and he realized she wasn't saying so out of a common courtesy, but she actually felt everything she had said.

"Even if you feel that way, I'd still like to congratulate you; so I insist that you accept it," he said.

"Well..." she said, still somewhat hesitated.

"It's just a small gift inexpensive gift anyway," he added. "You'd make me feel bad if you refuse to accept it."

"In that case, I will accept it. Thank you very much, Seike-san," she replied before she reached out to take that pouch. And while it might be considered rude to open a gift right when it was given, Rukia really couldn't hold her curiosity, thus she decided to ask, "May I open it now?"

"Go ahead," Byakuya replied.

Having been given a green light, Rukia quickly opened the pouch to reveal a jade rabbit charm which was tied with a red string.

"Wah, so cute!" she exclaimed in the first moment she laid eyes on it. "Is this some kind of good luck charm?"

"According to the salesman, yes," Byakuya replied. "Do you like it?"

"Of course I like it, Seike-san," she replied. "Thank you very much. I'll treasure it."

Byakuya acknowledged her words with a nod. It lightened his heart when he saw how much she seemed to like his present.

"I'm glad you like it," he said. "Anyway, I've stalled you for long enough, so you may head back now, Rukia-kun."

Rukia flashed him yet another smile before she gave him another deep bow.

"Well, then, have a good day, Seike-san," she said. "I'll see you again next week."

Byakuya nodded.

"I'll see you then, Rukia-kun."