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And a special thanks to Guest, Stellar Nymph, nutellabiscuit, Artemis, NightHunterDeath, Aryabloodlust, sianfaythe, LLawlietLovesCakes, Bella-swan11, kisawhitedove, Esthelaaaa and Reaper3698. You guys are awesome, really.

Also, I'm writing a story for Gaara (Naruto), another one for Aido Hanabusa (Vampire Knight), and another one for Newt (Maze Runner), so it'd be amazing if you gave them a try!

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Shadows of the Heart

The noble watched the redhead as she paced back and forth in front of him. Her light, constant footsteps echoed throughout the room, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had fallen upon them. There was a noticeable frown on her face, and her lips were pursed into an annoying expression. Do not misunderstand her annoyance though, for it was directed to her herself and not to the injured man.

Another minute went by, and a frustrated sigh slipped between her parted lips. For a moment, her feet stopped dragging her around. Rena could see him staring at her out of the corner of her eye. When her gaze turned towards him though, Byakuya had already averted his attention towards the window, probably sick of watching her wander pointlessly.

Not to blame him, as it had been good twenty minutes since Rena had began her dull display. Finally, she leaned back to rest her body slightly against the wall. Truth be told, the Shinigami had made up her mind before she decided to pay her childhood friend a visit. It was supposed to be a simple task, for she had only planned to thank him for saving her life, and check up on him.

Nevertheless, the moment Rena had stepped into the room, everything had changed. For some reason, when she was about to accomplish her mission, their last encounter decided to cross her mind. And all she could think about was the way Byakuya had received her after a whole century of distancing. For the love of god, he had tried to kill her. Of course, the noble had failed, but his attempt had managed to leave her in coma.

Fortunately or not, her mental argument finally came to an end. And that only meant one thing: her mouth would blurt out whatever.

"You almost killed me."

If only the ground swallowed her up. Rena mentally face palmed herself, yet her features remained calm. His purplish eyes drifted towards her own, clueless about the conflict of emotions hidden behind then.

"But I didn't."

"You were going to," she stated, her features furrowing in slight annoyance.

Was she trying to start a fight? That was definitely not something Rena had added to her plan. Then again, plans weren't made to be followed. Not in her case, anyway.

"And yet again, I do not see you dead."

Point taken, Rena just huffed sarcastically.

"I guess I should be thankful then, shouldn't I?" Sarcasm aside, a serious expression crossed her gaze. "Is that what you do whenever a friendship comes to an end, you make it disappear for good?"

Her words probably crossed the line, for a glare formed in his eyes. But Rena was known for her stubbornness, and she wasn't going to retire them.

"You meant a threat to this world, and it was my duty to take care of said danger," Byakuya said, harshly. "I am not a Captain of the Gotei 13 for no reason."

Of course, Rena wasn't going to consider his words. If there was one thing she believed in, that would be the malleability of the rules. Byakuya needed to learn that even rules allowed exceptions sometimes. She was going to explain him so, but the noble wasn't done yet.

"Either way, I'm afraid I don't value our relationship as much as you seem to think I do."

Those words probably pained her more than they should have. And, for the first time in long, her façade fell and a mysterious glint shone in her orange eyes. Byakuya was no fool, and the action didn't go unnoticeable. For just a second, his eyes were caught in her hurt gaze. Such commotion made him flatter momentarily, yet he steeled himself.

She should feel what he felt long time ago.

"You are selfish, Rena."

Blink.

"Pardon me?"

"You didn't take our friendship in consideration when you left, yet you expect me to care now," he calmly commented, as though the situation wasn't affecting him at all.

Ah, he was at it again.

"I could do nothing about it," Rena retorted. The pain was gone, if not well hidden, and rage was starting to boil through her veins, "which actually doesn't matter, as the result would've been the same."

His eye twitched, but he did not make a move. Then again, the injuries wouldn't let him stand even if he tried to.

"Then explain to me the reason why you decided to return," Byakuya demanded, his calm mood long gone as well.

However, Rena looked away. The sight reminded him somehow to a five year old child.

"That's my business and mine only." Liar, the voice in her head immediately accused.

Silence fell between them and flooded the room for the following minutes, as the both of them pondered about the point of the whole argument.

The noble was the first to break it.

"In that case, I don't see why you are still here."

Hell, Byakuya didn't want her to go. For some reason, if felt as though they wouldn't see each other again if she left now. Yet again, why would he care about that? He didn't.

"You're right, this had been a waste of time."

Well, maybe he cared; even if it was just a bit.

But his ego wouldn't let him stop her.

And that was the only thing Rena wanted: to be stopped. However, she wasn't expecting anything from him at that rate, and she wasn't surprised.

"Certainly."

The door closed, as did his eyes.

Her footsteps echoed between the walls of the room Byakuya was in, the sound more distant each second until it faded away.

"Well, that went better than expected," a familiar voice came in through the window, breaking any chance of peace.

An exasperated sigh escaped his mouth. In spite of the fact that the noble had been disturbed yet again, he reluctantly opened his eyes.

"Is there a reason for you to be here?" Byakuya demanded to know, feeling more aggravated as minutes went by.

An amused laugh echoed throughout the room, which only prompted him to wince ever so slightly. Then, Yoruichi made her apparition. Using the windowsill as support, she swiftly sat down. Her legs dangled dangerously close to the bed he was lying in and, for a second, the man contemplated the possibility of chopping them off.

"Just passing by to say goodbye to little Byakuya," the yellow-eyed Shinigami replied with a grin.

A murderous glare crossed his purplish gaze.

"Stop talking to me in third person," he warned, before adding, "And enough with the 'little'."

Much to his dismay, Yoruichi chuckled lightly. She was not affected in the least, as his threats had never caused any effect on her. The woman casually waved a hand in the air, which not so casually whacked him on the face.

What have he done to deserve such punishment? He did not know, nor did he care. All the same, he did know something: visiting hours were over.

"Luckily for you, she's still here," Yoruichi's voice brought him back to reality, and his only response was to raise an eyebrow in disinterested curiosity. "Regarding the way you've discussed things, one would say she'd be long gone by now. Oddly enough, she hasn't left."

"And why would I care about that? As far as I'm concerned, she's free to do what she pleases," Byakuya argued.

Straightaway, a knowing glint shone in her yellow eyes, and the woman pondered about the right words to use. Truth be told, the noble wasn't pleased by the look he was receiving; moreover, it was gradually getting under his skin. He mentally let out a sigh. Ever since Rena had appeared, people easily managed to irk him.

Maybe it was him who had become more susceptible.

Bullshit.

"Because you do," Yoruichi simply stated. "If you have not noticed it, you're denser than I thought." She frowned before saying, "Then again, Rena is pretty slow-witted about this whole issue."

A shadow crossed his calm features, a sign that Byakuya was, as a matter of fact, sick of the annoying Shinigami.

"I dare you to insult me again."

Silence fell between both souls for some seconds. Finally, as expected, Yoruichi sent him a wink and jumped to her feet.

"You really are blunt, little Byakuya." Before the man could curse her, she was gone. "And, in case you haven't noticed… you didn't deny it!"

-#-

Far into the horizon, a shadow with no shape was slowly, yet determinately, molding. It was like a blur, like a dark sun. It moved in circles, rounding on the spot and doing leaps and flips. Right, left, right, up, down. It didn't make sense; but, it was only a dream so how would it? Dreams had never made sense, not in her case at least.

Her attention was fixed on the strange shadow. Now that she thought about it, it did seem to have a particular shape. Then again, it was so far away she couldn't be certain.

Actually, if she looked closely, she managed to distingue something. Somehow, it covered part of the shadow. It was white, she was sure. However, it was still so far for her eyes to see something else.

Never mind that, the shape the shadow had taken was perfectly clear. Must have been her sight; after watching the same thing for minutes, it had ended up sharpening. Certainly, that was the reason.

The shadow, the person, was there. With long arms and legs, it seemed to be looking straight at her. For some reason, a shiver ran down her spine. It was probably because of the cold. Even though she could not feel it, for she was dreaming. Yet again, that shiver had felt too realistic.

Whatever.

She had probably left the window open. From there the shiver.

Wait.

Wait…

Had the shadow always been so close?

Its eyes… To be more precise, where its eyes should be… they shone. No, that was not true. They were void of anything, so void light pierced them. And damn, what was with the mask? And the ridiculous fingers made of bones?

Wait.

Something had touched her.

Oh god, something had actually touched her.

Something cold, too cold for it to be human. Looking back at those fingers, she noticed that one of them was missing.

She did not like any of that.

No.

Not at all.

Because the missing finger was languidly creeping up her leg.

Oh, for the love of god.

She definitely did not like that.

And, suddenly, the cold touch disappeared. Just like that. But the shadow was still there, facing her, and she knew the dream was not over yet. More like a nightmare though.

A scream pierced the air.

Never in her life had she been in so much physical pain, not even when got in fights when Yoruichi back when she was young. Her mind had gone numb due to the needles that seemed to be stabbing her mercilessly. Oddly enough, she didn't know where the pain came from. Was it her arm? It could be. What about her stomach, then? Maybe. There was no way she could know, for the sting was so strong it was impossible for her to even concentrate.

For some reason, her gaze fell upon her right hand.

It couldn't be… but it was.

Five fingers were supposed to be there, yet only four remained. More precisely, only four belonged to her.

Something she hadn't felt in years invaded her aching heart: fear. And one question crossed her mind at that exact moment.

Why was there a flayed finger? It didn't look like that, though. In some way, it resembled to an envelope, as it covered her finger like a protection. However, as far as she was concerned, more than guarding her, it was absorbing the life out of her.

Suddenly though, relief filled her body as something warm approached her in the distance.

As fast as the nightmare had come, it disappeared: the shadow faded away like smoke, taking the pain with it. Only the remembrance of the burning sensation prevailed, rolling down her veins as a warning.

The moment her eyelids fluttered open, the moment her eyes connected with his, Rena knew that never in her life had she felt so grateful, and so alive. Her lips parted ever so slowly -as the smallest of the moves hurt-, and a whispered word slipped between them.

"Byakuya."

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