"Good morning...Nii-sama..." an excited Rukia greeted Byakuya as he made his way to the kitchen.
It was a few hours after dawn and he was grumpy, having hardly slept at all the previous night but sacrificing his sleep to analyze his problem, this had given him a perspective on things and he had made some decisions.
"Good...morning...Rukia" he answered back, deliberately putting pauses between his words so she could understand his lack of enthusiasm for her presence so early.
She had made breakfast that morning, the table set beautifully and from the way he knew his sister, she wanted something in return.
He wondered if she knew that he heard her sneak in the house earlier in the morning through the kitchen window. The image of that petite body squeezing through the bars came to mind, and he smiled but on remembering he had company it faded like mist.
The aroma of freshly baked pastry and brewing tea seamed to awaken his senses. A sense of nostalgia made his stomach quiver, every Saturday morning he would wake up to the same divine smell and the servants would complain the Lady of the house had kicked them out of the kitchen. It had alarmed him at first, she was belittling her image and position in the manor but he had come to understand it was her way of showing appreciation to him.
She worked quietly, somehow understanding his need for silence as he filled in his reports on the kitchen table and once in a while he paused to watch her when she had turned to work on the dishes.
It was amazing how similar Rukia was to Hisana.
They both had strong will and determination to accomplish whatever they had set their minds on; Hisana had pushed her body to the edge trying to find her sister and even confessed to him she wouldn't mind death if it meant finding her and Rukia on the other hand had similarly risked execution to save a "friend" and his family, not caring how much she would have to suffer, he admired this trait.
He had learnt a lot from the two most important women in his life, not to mention compassion and sacrifice...if he were asked, he would boldly admit he would rather die than watch any of them suffer like he had before, the guilt still crept in on him now and then.
"Eh...Nii-sama..." she interrupted his thoughts, nervously rubbing the tip of her two fingers together as she waited for him to respond.
"What?" he hated how he had to be cold to her but it was for her own protection, he couldn't let others use her as a way to get him and the only way you could deceive an enemy was to deceive your friends first.
"Hisana-sama...well...is it really her upstairs?" her voice was shaky; she cursed in her head over how intimidated she still was of him.
"I am surprised those two idiots didn't share so much with you, but it is so." He hoped the conversation would end there; he himself wasn't so sure and trying to un-wrap this mystery had been part of what robbed him of his sleep.
"Well, will it be too much to ask if I could meet her?" her voice had trailed of softly and he had barely heard her request but he knew the urgency in the situation, they hardly knew each other and it would only be fair if he allowed it, Hisana never got to see Rukia.
She had grown up to be a lovely and intelligent young woman, temperamental but likeable all the same, she was strong and knew how to love and give all without holding back, even to him, the one person who had hurt her more than she could stand, pride could not simply explain what he felt every time she achieved something new, the joy she gave him sometimes felt like he didn't deserve it.
He felt a warm glow in the pit of his stomach, it felt pleasurable and he thought to respond before his thoughts went further.
"I don't see why not. When she awakes you can go see her."
"Won't you come with me?" inquisitively she sought his face, hoping she could understand what was going through his mind.
"No..." he sorted his documents in a neat pile then picked them up and carried them under his arm, she watched the graceful movement of his robes. Hardly creasing as he got up from his chair and started walking out of the room.
"...you are old enough to do certain activities without me chaperoning you." He terminated the discussion with his robes flying in the breeze as he opened the door to leave.
She stood there with a blank look in her face, embarrassment threatened to turn her into a crimson mush. She should have expected that, but she had hoped for a better reunion.
How foolish.
The door hit the frame with a loud bang and she snapped out of it, she heard movement coming from the stairs and braced herself for the moment when she met her sister.
***Elsewhere***
A tall, slender figure rubbed his hierro around his neck, he had been waiting for quite a while and he was getting impatient. A heap of skulls stood in the corner of the room, he could recognise they were remains of his comrades butchered by the person he served simply because they failed on a task he gave, he should have, he was there when they all fell.
He hated this place, decaying corpses littered the surface of the room with blood spatter drying in spots, the smell of their remains unbearable, sticking to his clothing, death haunting him everywhere he went but he had no option.
"Why are you here?" A loud voice boomed from behind him and he could feel fear crippling his innards.
"Ah...yes master...I was told you were looking for me..." he answered in a shaky voice, overpowered by the mere presence of the person speaking. He didn't dare turn around, afraid of what would be done to him if he didn't give the correct answer; he had died a long time ago in his lifetime and ended up in such a place.
He had done terrible things since becoming a hollow and he knew a grim death awaited him someday but as long as he could help it, he would continue "existing" longer as the word living didn't apply to his kind.
"What do you have for me?"
"I came to tell you that the woman we attacked, it seems it worked...the technique worked on her. Now we can move on to the next phase of our plans."
He hoped that would be the end of their meeting as he could feel his twisted smile begin to curl on his face, he was satisfied and for another day in that tormented dead place, he would survive.
Sorry for the delay in uploading this chapter but I find it impossibly difficult to do anything productive during Christmas holidays and then there was the new year party.
**Special thank you to Silent hero for your reviews and to the ones who made this fanfic their favourite. Receiving e-mails about you guys makes me bubbly
Love Madigan
