Hisana swung from the edge of the roof, frowning in concentration. Were her arms always this weak? She gritted her teeth, struggling to pull herself up before she succeeded and sprawled out, panting.

She hadn't been to Inuzuri in weeks. A few days after she'd confessed to Yoko about her, well, condition, Ginrei-ojii-sama had told Byakuya that his presence was requested for a captaincy exam. Hisana had been playing the koto at the time, and when Byakuya burst into the room with a look of pure, childish excitement, she had been brought out of her own dark thoughts and had to laugh and celebrate with him. That was a week ago.

'It means so much to him, I'm glad he was still given the chance,' she thought happily, a smile starting to spread across her face. After the squad's widespread casualties and Byakuya's own grievous injury, it had been clear that he thought he had no chance at the offer. But, as he had told her over dinner the night after his exam, apparently the squad who had rescued them saw the extent that Byakuya had been able to protect his subordinates, and deemed that it wasn't his fault that the hollows had been leagues stronger than anticipated. According to the witnesses, had Byakuya not been there, it was quite likely there would have been no survivors.

She sat up and crossed her legs comfortably in such an unladylike way, she was sure the House would disown her immediately if they saw her. The sun was still high in the sky, she noticed, but it was clearly after noon, and the results of Byakuya's exam were supposed to be declared today.

'I should head back soon. I want to be there when he gets his results back,' she nodded to herself, stretching her legs before starting to sprint across the roofs back to the Ume, where the servant to take her back to Seireitei was waiting.

But after a hundred feet or so, she stopped, clutching her stomach. She took a deep breath, sinking to her knees, trying to dispel the nausea that had risen inside her with willpower alone. A little voice inside her was screaming that a pregnant woman had no business running across buildings in the slums, when she should be lying down and resting.

'But I have to find Rukia first. I can't do this until I know where she is. I don't deserve to hold another baby in my arms until I've found the one I abandoned,' she reminded herself, the ill feeling only intensifying. She clapped a hand over her mouth, doing her best to keep her breakfast down. She was better than this. She wasn't going to succumb to this. She could act normal until she found Rukia. She just had to search harder. Byakuya didn't have to know a thing as long as she found Rukia soon, and then she could tell him that she was going to have a baby, their baby, and he would be so happy, of course she could tell he wanted to be a father like Soujun-sama had been, and he would be just as wonderful, she knew it…

But that fleeting thought disappeared when she lost the battle with her stomach.

Hisana twisted her hair on top of her head, holding it in place with a towel, before slipping carefully into the bath. Byakuya wasn't back yet, but maybe that was for the best. He may not know why, but Hisana knew he was observant enough to notice that she wasn't sleeping well, and her dizzy spells and headaches were coming more and more often. And she had begun to stop counting the number of times he had questioned her sudden lack of appetite.

Frowning, she looked down at her own body. She wasn't an expert, but she had lived at the Ume for years – she knew pregnancy symptoms better than most people, she was sure. And by her reckoning, she should have appeared to be gaining weight, not losing it. 'It's probably the morning sickness. And, well, I guess I've been running around Rukongai a lot…and I try not to eat a lot anymore…'

She rubbed a hand just under her belly button, 'I wonder if I look bigger. It's been six weeks…' she bit her lower lip worriedly, 'I wouldn't notice that small a change, but would Byakuya…?'

She wasn't sure. Sometimes she thought he knew her body better than she did. It wasn't as though she spent ample time looking at herself in a mirror or while she was in the bath. Byakuya looked at her much more often, and she supposed the same could be true for her. Perhaps she knew his face better than he knew it. Of course, she'd spent decades watching him, loving him.

'Well, worrying won't do me any good at this point,' she shook her head, crossing her arms over her stomach, curling into herself slightly. She didn't notice the towel slip off her head. 'I just need to keep this up. She's still there, I know it. I'll check every building in Inuzuri,' she resolved, laying her head on her knees.

"I'm going to be okay. We're going to be okay," Hisana whispered to herself, unsure of which 'we' she was referring to.

There was a knock at the door, and she jumped slightly. "Hisana? Can I come in?" It seemed that Byakuya was home.

Hisana made sure her arms were covering her possibly enlarged stomach before answering, "Yes, go ahead."

The door opened and Byakuya walked in, fully clothed, seeming disheveled but otherwise in a good mood, "You didn't want to wait for me to come home?"

She forced a small laugh, "Sorry. I went to Inuzuri today, and I was a bit dirty."

He walked over, sitting on the floor behind her, "Then I suppose I'll have to forgive you."

"Yes, yes, I am sorry," she responded with a genuine smile, looking back at him.

"Don't be," Byakuya put his hand in the water, bringing up the fallen towel. He put it on the floor beside him, "You know these function better when they're dry."

"Mmm," Hisana rolled her eyes and crossed her arms more tightly.

She felt his hand trail across her bare shoulder briefly before he started running his fingers through her hair, straightening out knots she had missed.

"Did you get your exam results back?" Hisana asked, quietly enjoying the moment.

He responded with a sigh that conveyed so much exasperation that Hisana had to grin, "No. And Ojii-sama was off doing errands at other barracks today, on purpose I should think." He was silent for a few moments, just continuing to brush her hair. It had been a while since they were able to sit down and simply enjoy the other's presence. "I think he intends to inform me of the results later tonight."

"A grandfather-grandson bonding moment, I'm sure," Hisana said, briefly considering the significance of that alone. Ginrei-ojii-sama didn't seem to have the same paternal relationship that Byakuya had once had with Soujun-sama. So she was always happy when he made time to talk to Byakuya, even if it only was work-related.

"Hmm," Byakuya hummed noncommittally. He lowered his hands then, moving to stand up, "I think I'll go clean up. Will you wait here for me?"

Hisana smile froze, her thoughts jumping to her changing shape. But she shooed the thought away – it wasn't as though he was going to be suspicious.

"Of course," she turned to him, guilt washing over her at his returning smile, "Take as long as you need."

Something was off with Hisana. Byakuya couldn't put his finger on it, but there was something. 'She's been going to Inuzuri more often lately. She's probably just worried about her sister,' he concluded, sitting by the window in their bedroom. The odd thing was, during inclement weather, she would normally stay home.

But it was pouring rain outside in an unexpected, mid-January storm. There was also an unexpectedly slow stream of work for the 6th Squad, and so his grandfather had given him today as a break. He had passed it off as an inconvenience for Byakuya to come out to the barracks in today's weather, but Byakuya had a sneaking suspicion that it was more to do with the fact that he had passed the captaincy exam, and was giving him a small reward.

When he had found out three days ago, he didn't know how to even react. His grandfather had raised him from his teenage years to be the kind of man who didn't show excessive emotion. And gods, had he had some excessive emotions to show. But he didn't. That would just have to wait until he told Hisana. So he had bowed respectfully, thanking his grandfather. Ginrei stepping aside into retirement from being the captain of Squad 6 had more implications than only to the squad – it also meant that he was retiring from his position as Head of the Family. Byakuya wasn't going to be only the heir for much longer.

At any rate, he had hoped that he might spend his day off with Hisana, but when he had returned home after his grandfather dismissed him, she had already left. Or rather, he noticed she wasn't still asleep in bed, and went to find her, but he ran into one of the elderly maids he saw knew tended Hisana on a regular basis, and she told him that Hisana had left.

So here he was, late afternoon, sitting next to a window watching the rain fall. He had been unable to concentrate on anything else all day.

Suddenly a thought occurred to him. If she wasn't here, why couldn't he go to her? Though her reiatsu was relatively weak, he knew it so well that it would be easy to find her in the crowds of Inuzuri. 'She doesn't want me helping, but that's only due to the guilt she feels. She doesn't want to inconvenience me, but she doesn't understand that she can't inconvenience me,' he thought to himself, resolve growing by the moment as he flung open the door, walking quickly towards the front gates. 'Yes, the faster she finds her sister, the sooner her heart will heal. She won't mind my assistance if we find her in the end. She's only being stubborn,'

Cursing himself for not realizing this years ago, he ignored the servants rushing to open the gates as he simply leaped over them with shunpo, touching the ground outside for only a moment. He turned to continue towards Rukongai when he stopped cold, noticing someone was running towards his direction, carrying someone in their arms.

The person turned out to be the man who escorted Hisana to Rukongai on her ventures, and the figure he was holding was Hisana herself, looking distinctly ill.

Byakuya rushed over to them in an instant, the water splashing away violently at the speed of his steps. He reached over to take his wife from the servant, who released her immediately and moved to a groveling pose in one breath at the sight of Byakuya's expression, "My sincerest apologies, my lord! I should never have let her leave the house in this weather! I will graciously accept any punish-,"

"No," came a horrifyingly raspy voice from Hisana's lips, "N-no punishment. It was my…fault." She choked out, shivering, and Byakuya suddenly noticed the tears mixing with the rain on her face.

The sight of seeing her like this left Byakuya with no patience to suffer fools. He glared down at the servant, "Go," he said simply, just to get the man out of his sight. He obeyed instantly, and Byakuya turned back to the house, pausing only a moment to tell one of the guards at the gate to fetch a doctor from the 4th Squad before hurrying Hisana inside.

Byakuya sat outside on the veranda impatiently. He couldn't remember the last time he felt so impatient. And worried. So worried. He was fairly certain he had never felt this depth of fear for Hisana's safety. Not even when she was nearly killed by that hollow, all those years ago. Then it had been a simple flick of his wrist to send his power to destroy the monster and save her life.

It was not so simple this time.

And what was worse, after Byakuya had helped her change into dry clothes, and she was lying down, still shivering, and the doctor had come…Hisana had asked him to leave the room. He had obliged, not without some hurt hesitation, but now that he was sitting out in the wet atmosphere of the night, with only his thoughts to keep him company…those feelings about whether Hisana had been doing alright as of late were only intensifying, and mixing with this new fear that she might have pushed herself too far this time.

The door opened behind him, and he scrambled to his feet without a thought, urging the 4th Squad member with an imploring look, completely unashamed.

She bowed respectfully before rising and his heart clenched to see that she was not wearing a smiling, reassuring expression, but a grave one, "Kuchiki-taichou, your wife will recover, but she needs bed rest and a moderated diet. If you will permit me, I can inform the kitchen of recommendations for her health."

He nodded, bowing ever so slightly, "Please do. Is there anything else I should know?"

The shinigami opened her mouth to speak, but she stopped, which Byakuya found suspicious and narrowed his eyes at her. But she fixed her expression and bowed again, "She will recover with rest, Kuchiki-taichou. I will go inform the kitchens. Please excuse me," and she turned and left before he could respond.

But he shook his head and decided that wasn't important right now, and moved inside, his heart relaxing once he saw that the color in Hisana's face had returned.

He smiled weakly at her as he sat down, but she didn't return it. She just looked at him blankly, and he could see all the years of guilt and exhaustion in her eyes, "I'm sorry."

Byakuya reached for the hand she had laid on her stomach, but she moved it, covering her mouth as she screwed her face up to try to stop the tears.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" she whispered, closing her eyes. Byakuya watched, stunned and unsure what was going on, as the tears leaked from her eyes.

He wiped them away, though more soon took their place, "Hisana, stop apologizing. How many times have I told you not to be sorry? I never blame you for the things you think I will. So please…" he gently pulled her hand away from her face, gripping it firmly, and used his other hand to tilt her chin so that when she opened her eyes, she was looking directly at him, "…won't you tell me what is bothering you? Something is wrong, something you're not telling me."

Hisana just stared at him for a long minute, and Byakuya knew that whatever the cause was, whatever was wrong was giving her guilt that rivaled her regret about Rukia.

"I can't," she said, finally, her lower lip trembling, "I just…I-I can't."

Not letting go of her hand, Byakuya rose and stepped lightly over her so that he could lie beside her on the bed. She rolled onto her side to face him, giving him the same guilty, but completely drained, look.

He stroked her cheek, drying fresh tears, "What can't you do?" he asked, in a voice as quiet as hers.

She shook her head, burying her head in his chest, and he heard her answer, "I can't. I'm so sorry."

Byakuya held her as she felt asleep, but he found himself faced with lying there, wide-awake with worry and questions with no answers.

"Did you go to Rukongai again the other day?"

Hisana smiled apologetically, "Yes, I'm sorry."

It had been a week since she had run out into the rain to search for Rukia. Looking back on it, she knew why the servant had seemed to question her sanity when she asked him to take her to Inuzuri. But at the time, she had been out of her mind, determined to go, typhoon or not. So when she had started walking down the street towards Rukongai, the servant had had no choice but to chase after and obey her. It wasn't that she'd wanted to bully him into taking her to search for Rukia, but she had been dead-set and hysterical, so damn it all, she was going.

And then after she had come back, or rather, been brought back, she had been soaked, shivering, and because of it, she was sick. Pneumonia, the doctor had called it. Oh, the doctor. That had been the worst. She hadn't wanted Byakuya to leave the room – rather, she had wanted him there more than anything. But if anyone was going to notice that she was pregnant, it was a doctor, and she was still set on finding Rukia before her pregnancy was obvious.

Because of that, she had snuck out a few times in the past week while Byakuya was at work and the servants weren't looking, and made it to Rukongai on her own. She only wandered around the first districts, but it was better than nothing. Maybe Rukia had found her way closer to Seireitei.

"Don't be," Byakuya said, for what seemed like the hundredth time to Hisana. She knew it was hard for him when she apologized so much but gave no reason, but it assuaged her guilt at least a small amount. And she had decided to start speaking to him as the House thought she should, at least in public. The first time she had called him "Byakuya-sama" over dinner a few nights ago, his shock had been clear, but he didn't question it then. And when they bathed later that night and she called him simply "Byakuya" again, he didn't bring up her earlier speech change.

"I'm not angry with you. I'm just concerned for your health," he finished.

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye as he spoke. Her health…her health was the question, wasn't it? But she would get better. A little thing like pneumonia wasn't going to stop her from finding Rukia within the next few weeks, "Byakuya-sama, about that—,"

She was cut off by racking coughs. They didn't stop, and she felt her knees give way, Byakuya calling her name in alarm. She felt the pain in her lungs, but when the coughs finally went away, the pain did not. Byakuya's arms were around her, and from the way he was gripping her shoulders, she could tell he was ready to sweep her up and confine her to bed for a month. He was worried, she knew.

"Daijoubu desu, Byakuya-sama," she muttered, a hand covering her mouth.

"You don't need to speak, don't push yourself," he pleaded, his hands tightening.

'He really is worried, and it's all my fault…just another thing that I'm doing to wrong him…' she thought, becoming more discouraged by the second. She knew there was reason for him to be concerned. Now that she was ill, she really was losing weight at an alarming rate, and though she ate, she never felt nourished. And now she noticed beyond a doubt the bump rising from the new life inside her. There was reason for him to be worried, and she was starting to wonder if she wasn't worried herself.

But she looked up at him, smiling encouragingly, for him, and for her own sake, "No, I just can't stop looking. Even when I'm like this…"

The concern in his face didn't waver. If anything, the cloud of worry only intensified.

She reached up, cupping his cheek in her palm – she noticed that her hands were bonier than they used to be, and her skin was, unusually, markedly paler than his, "It's going to be okay."

And she almost believed it herself as she watched him close his eyes, placing his hand over hers, swallow back what she realized was probably fear, and nod.

A/N: One more chapter, and then an epilogue. I will get this done before New Year's!

And thank goodness Byakuya's going to be alright! But 519…pfft.