Lady Kuchiki
Chapter 11: Shattered
"What brings me here? What brings me here?" The woman whom the blacksmith had called "Kinjo" threw her head back and laughed. She lifted a foot and stepped onto the threshold of the door, her loose, short, yukata sliding to reveal a curvy leg.
Hisana took a few steps back, staring at the woman in awe.
"Why Takeshi dear," she purred, swaying her hips as she moved her way through the threshold of the door and past Hisana into the little hut. "Why the gloomy face now?" She stood in front of Takeshi, her face level with his. Hisana could see the evident discomfort on the blacksmith's face, his eyes shifted when Kinjo brought her face close to his, peering at him from the corners of her eyes. "Did you not think I would come back to settle things after what you had tried to do with one of my girls?"
"Dunno what your talking about." Takeshi hissed and angrily spat to the ground.
Kinjo laughed again. "There is no need to get defensive Takeshi. The girl has already confessed everything. Kinjo-sama, he, of course, was livid. You know what happens to customers who don't pay and take too much liberties my boy." She sneered, gripping Takeshi's chin and yanking it so that he met her eyes. Takeshi knocked her arm away but maintained the glare.
"What did you do with her?"
"What are you talking about dear?" Kinjo purred, "Of course we didn't do anything to the poor girl. But you do know now by your mistake you have confined her to a rather bleak prospect... there will be no way the child can be of value anymore... no one wants to pay for used goods... much less... one used by a scamp like you!" Kinjo gave Takeshi a push on his chest. "Pay back Takeshi!" She continued, growling as she encroached upon the young man, "Pay us back the same price she would have gotten had you not spoiled everything and we will leave you alone!"
"There's no fucking way I am doing that bitch!" Takeshi said through gritted teeth, his fists clenched.
"Why, you cheating little scum!"
"Don't you come one more step forward, I warn you Kinjo..."
"Or else what Takeshi?" Kinjo asked threateningly. "What do you think you can do huh?"
"Take these then." Takeshi tossed Hisana's jade earrings to Kinjo. "Got 'em today from the towns. Those are precious you know... stuff from the shinigamis' cargoes."
Hisana gasped when she saw Kinjo held up her earrings and examined them in the sunlight.
"W..wait." Hisana stammered. "These... " she began before she caught the deadly look Takeshi shot her. Kinjo turned towards her and then sharply back at Takeshi. "Shinigami my arse. You got them from that missy over there. And the money, where is the money for these Takeshi? You ain't no fleecing from anyone anymore today."
Takeshi glowered. "You ain't any different Kinjo. You bleed your girls dry."
"I teach them what life means..." Kinjo turned to Hisana now, remembering the quiet, interesting-looking girl in the corner. She shot her a wide smile which was supposed to look apologetic. Hisana bowed her head a little in reciprocating acknowledgment. "Now, Takeshi, give back to this ojou-san the amount you owe her." Kinjo said, all the while keeping her gaze on Hisana. She walked towards her, bringing a hand to her head and feeling her soft, silky hair. "And you my dear, what may a proper little lady like you doing here?" She asked in a sweet voice.
This is Madame Kinjo... Hisana thought, her heart sinking with despair. This is the Madame Kinjo whom Rukia was assigned to live with...
Kinjo, still smiling down widely at Hisana, blinked her eyes and said nonchalantly. "And why, your little companion here looks like she will grow up to be a sweet little girl!" She brought her head down towards Rukia, and was about to touch her cheek when Hisana pulled back with an involuntary shiver. Kinjo chuckled. "My apologies dear. I mean no harm," she held up her hands and gave an innocent shrug. "You see, I am waiting for a baby girl assigned to me by Soul Society myself. But she never arrived and I was so looking forward to having another daughter... another little girl to call my own... How I wish my little girl would be as pretty as yours..." Kinjo paused and shook her head sadly. When Hisana's shocked, pale face showed no response, she quickly continued, knitting her brows now in mock worry, "But why, you look like you're new here my child. Have you got a place to stay yet?"
"Don't even dream about laying your hands on this girl Kinjo. Miss," Takeshi said, turning to Hisana, "you don't want to let this bitch get her hands on you, you hear? She runs the local prostitute house." He sneered eyeing Kinjo triumphantly.
Kinjo raised an eyebrow and tilted her head, coolly regarding Takeshi with the same contemptuous look. "Don't you get cheeky with me yet boy," she spat. "You still haven't settled your account. These junk aren't even worth a tenth of what you owe!" She snarled, dangling Hisana's earrings with her fingers. "You just wait here, you'll see. Kinjo-sama will come get you soon."
Kinjo turned back to eye Hisana now coldly, "And you pretty face, listen well, my offer for you to come stay with us still holds. Life isn't easy you know. You've got to earn your keep. Our girls are the most well off in town." Kinjo bent down now and looked at Hisana with narrowed eyes as she added with a curl of her lips, "Just so you know darling, by your look and the type of girl you seem to be, I almost expect you to come running over to me in less than a week!" She laughed maliciously and gave Hisana's cheek a little pat. "It's house 56 dear, remember it well!"
She straightened up now and swept past Takeshi, stopping only to spit spitefully on the ground near him.
---
After Kinjo has left, Hisana felt herself begin breathing again. She was glad she did not go knocking on Kinjo's door the night before, and even more relieved that Rukia did not end up in her hands. Hisana took a step back and leaned against the wall, her body, too, suddenly returning to their senses and the forgotten hunger took over again.
"Here," Takeshi spoke up, handing her a cold piece of bun. "Take this and wait while I get the money." Hisana looked up and nodded, breathing a word of thanks. She slid down against the wall and sat on the floor, tearing the bun and devouring her portion hungrily before tearing little shreds for Rukia to chew on.
"Have some, Rukia." Hisana said softly, putting a shred near Rukia's lips. Rukia opened her mouth and also chewed hungrily, but spat it out almost immediately afterwards, her little mouth downturned in disgust as another wailing session threatened to commence. Hisana quickly rocked Rukia gently and cooed, "Yes dear, yes Rukia, I know it is not what you are used to... but you must have some... " Rukia's stomach groaned at the moment. Hisana laughed and continued, "See Rukia? Now be a good girl and do your best!" Rukia opened her mouth and tentatively took a bite. She chewed the food, frowning all the while, and pressed her lips together when she forced the food down the throat. Hisana chuckled softly, amused. She patted Rukia and kissed her forehead.
"Hey miss!" Takeshi called from the room at the back of the shop, "Come here a moment will you?"
"Hai!" Hisana replied. She set Rukia down onto the floor and put another shred of bun in her little fist, keeping away the rest in her pocket. She walked towards the room and slid open the door.
"Yes mister?" She called.
Takeshi was standing inside the room, lit by the one or two rays of sunlight that shone through the gaps of the wooden planks. He held up a string of coins.
Hisana tentatively took one more step in and he handed her the money.
"Count it," he said curtly. "The round coins are ten yens and the square ones 5. The smaller square ones are 1 yen and the oblong ones are 10 pence."
Hisana held up the string of coins and started counting. However, when she was done, she frowned and looked up at Takeshi. "Mister, there is only eighty yen here. I thought we agreed on 90 yen for my earrings... "
Before Hisana could finish, she felt Takeshi take hold of her wrists and push her against the wall. Her head hit it with a bang. Hisana winced. Takeshi pressed his body against hers and lowered his head to meet her eyes.
"Listen up missy," He growled, his voice low and menacing. "I told you earlier that I don't do charity. I saved your neck out there just now, and I gave you bread. You owe me this much."
"But..." Hisana protested, "But sir, you took a whole ten yen.... " She tried not to gag at the repulsive smell of sweat or Takeshi's heavy breath against her face.
Takeshi bent down now, his lips near her ear. He blew into her ear, his breath hot and whispered hoarsely, "Well my dear, if you want the whole ninety yen, the other option on the table, is to repay me in other ways... there are various other ways,... " He paused, licking her earlobe and teasing it softly with his teeth, "that a girl like you can repay me."
Hisana felt her heart freeze and her body numb with fear. What is this man doing? "Please stop." Hisana said hoarsely.
"Are you sure? I will give you back the ten yen." Takeshi said, moving on to graze her neck with his lips now, pressing his nose against her skin to take in her scent.
Hisana swallowed and closed her eyes, her hands still tightly clinging on to the string of coins, her nails digging painfully into her palm. When she felt Takeshi's hand release her wrist to put them on her waist, and then started sliding it downwards from her back, she gripped his hand with her free hand and tried to push him away. "Stop now sir! Please! I don't want the money! Just stop!"
Takeshi smiled against her shoulder and kissed it before pulling away from her and straightening himself, looking down at her from his nose, smirking.
"Well then miss, thank you for your business. If there is anything you need, I will be here." He said nonchalantly and stepped by the door. "After you, miss." He said, in mock courtesy.
Hisana stepped back out into the front shop, her head swimming from confusion and physical dizziness, as the sizzling and hissing sound of the furnace greeted her. Whether the tears that suddenly came running down were from the smoke, or the painful swelling of her heart, Hisana did not know. She swallowed and sniffed, choking a little from the smoke she inhaled. She hurried towards Rukia, picked up the child and left the blacksmith's shop, without a word nor a glance backward.
---
Hisana breathed heavily as she trudged herself down the main street. Her face was messy with sweat and tears, and her arms were aching from carrying Rukia. The swelter of the afternoon heat was unbearable, and all around Hisana, the discord of the many voices of the street vendors' shouting, the cries of children, and the loud bickering of women and drunk, idle men made Hisana's head swim. Hisana could not believe that this was still Soul Society, the same one that she was in just the morning before. Here in this place – where were they? Rukongai… the 78th district? – it was worlds away from the ethereal world of Seireitei where birds chirped melodiously into the crisp, cool air, filled with the sweet fragrance of morning grass and the never ending bloom of sakura trees. Is this really Heaven? Am I still in Heaven?
After fleeing from the blacksmith's workhouse, Hisana, had managed to mechanically made her way back to the cart where the woman had been selling buns, bought a whole dozen of them, and found herself and Rukia a little corner to sit in, feeding Rukia strips of buns. Upon seeing her sister desperately tearing her food with the few emerging little teeth she had in savage hunger, Hisana had then let her tears flow freely too, sobbing angry tears, feeling cheated, violated, alone in this strange, unfriendly town. Nobody paid any attention to her, her sobs drowned out by the commotion of the town, and she, a sight, no doubt, much too familiar to the residents of Rukongai's Inuzuri.
Nearing the end of the main street, Hisana turned into a corner and saw a wagon. A wagon loaded with hay, firewood, and a multitude of other odds and ends. She ran over, noting the old man loading more items from the end of the wagon wordlessly, while an old woman – his wife most likely, carefully tying a neatly wrapped up package to the side of the harnessed horse at the front of the wagon, neighing restlessly as it waited for the journey to begin.
Hisana tightened her grip on Rukia and slowed down her pace as she approached the couple. "Ex…excuse me," she begin, her voice shaky from the earlier episode and disbelief at the possibility in front of her. The old couple looked over at Hisana. "Do you happen to be travelling out of this town?"
"I… If it is possible, would you please give me a ride mister? I have this much money here…" Hisana took out five yen, "Could you please take me as far away as you could for this much money?"
The old man exchanged a look with his wife. He turned back, Hisana's anxiously knitted eyebrows reflected in his tired, weary eyes. He turned back to his wife, sighed, then nodded and held out his hand for the money. Hisana gave a small smile of thanks and relief, biting her lips as she gave thanks to the god watching over her. The old man motioned for her to get onto the back of the wagon, and minutes after, when Hisana has settled there, the old woman came hurrying out of the house with another package which she gave to Hisana, smiling and looking up at her with kind, tired eyes.
"Why… this…" Hisana began, protesting. "I insist," the old woman said in her hoarse but gentle voice. "The journey will be long, and this little one here will no doubt need some refreshments," she said, putting a hand over Hisana's. "Thank you… thank you very much obaa-san." Hisana said, taking the package and setting it on her lap, grasping the old woman's hand sincerely.
The old woman nodded and took a step back as the old man held up the reins and the wheels started rolling. Hisana waved to the kindly old woman, the other hand clutching Rukia. As the figure of the old woman began to disappear, the wagon turned at the corner of the street and paused at the gate of the town. Hisana turned around at the sudden halt and looked up.
"Rukongai South 78th district", it said. The old man held up pass and the red-faced guard nodded, signaling for the wagon to pass through.
In a little less than a day, Hisana found herself travelling again through the dark woods. She wondered somewhere along the way, why this kindly old couple were settled in this destitute town when they could travel to the next. In her anticipation for what seemed to be a more pleasant future, however, her musing about the old couple was soon forgotten.
---
"I am sorry sir, but Hisana-san has yet arrived." Hayashi Ryoichi, the plump, middle-aged looking owner of Hayashi Pastry Shop said apologetically, glancing nervously at Kuchiki Byakuya.
"But the wagon with the new arrivals came by last night?" The stoic young man with the cold, haughty eyes asked.
"Yes sir," Hayashi replied humbly, "we waited all night for Hisana-san's arrival. But neither she nor the infant girl mentioned in the family assignment letter from Seireitei arrived from the wagon that came by this town."
Hayashi flinched a little when he noticed the corners of the young man's lips made a slight movement. The townsfolk passing by glanced over curiously from the side of the eyes, inquisitive about the presence of a shinigami, yet afraid to come too close. Hayashi bowed down his head, waiting for the shinigami to speak. Yet quite a moment had passed and still, the shinigami stood there, wordless. He glanced up and saw the young man's eyes linger at the sign of the shop in the corner, his dark eyes cloudy and unreadable.
When he looked down, Hayashi quickly diverted his eyes back to the ground. He heard the sound of a few coins on his counter and felt a gust of wind against his hair. When he looked up again, the shinigami was gone. He glanced back at the kitchen, where his wife was peeping out, scared, from the side of the doorway.
---
Back in Seireitei, Byakuya looked out into the stillness of the lake. It was dark, deep in the evening. Nothing really was out of place, this little hideout behind the now unused clinic of the fourth division his favourite haunt after the day's duty, to train, to muse, to breathe in the fresh wind blowing from the lake. Nothing was out of place, until just about a week ago, when Hisana appeared in his life, here. When his life was suddenly no longer occupied with only shinigami duties, training, and his studies. When he had found a gentle friend, someone whom he found himself thinking about with a sort of tender affection, whose face stirred in him heavy longing, whose voice softened his heart, and whose presence calmed him and slowed down time. They had only known each other for a couple of days, and Byakuya wondered, was he overreacting to her departure? Did he have to go all the way like this for her? It was strange, out of character of him to be so involved with another individual. Indifferent most of his life, Byakuya could not help but feel unsettled by his obsession over this one girl. People had come and gone in his life, this was nothing new. Besides, he should have expected that they were to part in any case, her, a title-less human soul, bound for Rukongai with almost no prospects of becoming shinigami, Soul Society's elite members; while he was the heir to the most prominent family in Soul Society, expected to uphold its centuries-old traditions, his life and duties already decided for him, dictated by the rules and customs that define his place in society. He knew what life was going to be for him – he was to continue excelling in his career as a shinigami, to excel in his cultural training, to study the management of his household… and when the time should come, a daughter of Soul Society's other noble families would be picked as his consort, and he would inherit his grandfather's position as the head of the family.
Where then, did Hisana-san fit in? And how would the elders react should he had developed their friendship further, and decided to take her as his wife? How scandalized they would be! Instead of frowning though, Byakuya could not help but smirk at the thought.
He took out Hisana's pink ribbon and gazed at it, her smile, her eyes once again materializing in his mind. He could still feel her in his arms, how light and frail she had seemed when he carried her back into her room on their last night together.
Looking up at the night sky, Byakuya wondered what could have happened to Hisana. She had left earlier than scheduled, and had yet to arrive at her designated family. He had tried contacting the shinigami in charge of the little clinic, but had been informed that she had been sent out to the frontline where troops were fighting off the hollow attacks in Rukongai East. He had wanted to press for more information, but seeing how the Central 46 had decided to mobilize the shinigami troops in emergency state, this was definitely not the time to press the matter, lest word of it should go to his grandfather. He would definitely be reprimanded for forgetting his priorities!
If he could just leave and search for her in the whole of Soul Society, as vast as it was, for her! If he could just abandon everything else! Byakuya shook his head.
A gust of wind blew by.
Hesitantly, Byakuya relaxed his grip on Hisana's ribbon. As it was about to flutter away however, he closed his fist quickly again.
---
Seven days had passed since the incident of the disappeared Rukongai residents of the lower eastern districts. A terrible fate had fallen onto a couple of captains, and the alleged traitors of the incident, Urahara Kisuke and Shihoin Yoruichi had escaped from Soul Society, disappearing into the human world. The Secret Mobile Corps had been dispatched to locate their whereabouts and to recapture them. But so far, there had not been news of any success.
Shiba Kaien strode down the street in the 30th district of West Rukongai. Earlier, there seemed to have been a conflict between the town's security forces and some rebel groups who had apparently come to the town from the lower districts. A representative of the force came to report to him, as a subordinate jotted down notes. The conflict seemed to have nothing to do with the hollow incident of a week before. They were just thugs and conmen who had invaded the town, no doubt with their eyes on the town's relative wealth.
Kaien looked around casually, impatient with the man's roundabout way of reporting when something caught his eyes.
He motioned for the man to pause and strode over to the pile lying at the corner of the street – a torn, blood-stained, silk kimono, pink and white with familiar embroidered patterns.
Feeling his heart skip a beat, Kaien knelt down and brought a hand over the fabric, feeling it. Hisana's face crossed his mind.
He turned his head up sharply, his eyes frantically searching for the man with the report.
"What happened here? What had happened to the person wearing this kimono?" He asked, his voice quiet and repressed.
The man looked back down at him, troubled. "Sir, the poor girl was unexpectedly caught up in the trouble," was all he said before Kaien turned his head away, unwilling to hear the rest of it.
He gathered the pile of clothes, his hands shaking.
"What about the infant?"
"The infant that was with her?" He elaborated when the man gave him a puzzled look.
"She took the child with her," the man replied, returning Kaien's hard look.
Kaien nodded.
For the first time in his life, helpless and angry at himself for failing again to protect, Kaien felt like crying.
AN:
Thank you everyone for reading this story, for your messages encouraging me to continue writing it and sharing with me your ideas! I am very sorry for this long absence from the community. After school has started, it was almost impossible for me to take the time off to write, and when I did have time, I was too tired to really think.
I am really glad that the Winter break has finally come, and I can now focus again on writing the story!
It pains me to have to subject Hisana to such trials and that life is going to be ever harder on her. It pains me that Kubo has to make the story between her and Byakuya so sad. But I suppose it is really the tragedy of their story, her brief yet impressive role in Bleach that intrigue me, that draw me to her, that prompt me to write a story about her, hoping to give a voice to Hisana.
Anyway, enough of my rambling! Again, comments, reviews, suggestions would be most appreciated! Thank you once more for reading! :)
P.S. on future updates: I am unwilling to promise anything since the last time I did, I ended up not being able to fulfill it and left you guys without updates for more than half a year. But because it is now the holidays, I will try to update as much and as frequently as possible. If you don't hear from me, check out my profile. I will post about updates and my situation there.
