"This is not a simple matter, Commander. Someone assaulted Kuchiki Naoki Helena right in the middle of Seireitei and badly wounded her. We are much too focus on Aizen's betrayal and have loosen our watch among Soul Society's order."

"Hm... Whatever it might be, this matter comes from the heart of nobility. We should let them handle it themselves." Yamamoto sternly replied.

"But..." Ukitake started to protest, but was silenced with a loud thud on the wooden floor.

"I have given Kuchiki Taichou the permission to do as he pleases. This discussion is closed!"

Chapter 21: Betrayal

Her eyes still fastened, and her pale cheeks rested on a face whose features had become gaunt. Kuchiki Naoki Helena slept the longest sleep in her life, not knowing that there was a man by her side, not knowing that she was not alone in her coma.

Hisagi Shuhei was grounded from his duty for ten days as a form of discipline, but he couldn't have taken it happier. At least I can be by your side now, when you need me the most. Three more days had passed, and Kuchiki Byakuya had not visited his wife since. He sent her servants, but not himself; nor did he ask for reports of her health. When you wake up, Helena, I shall take you away from him. You will no longer have to suffer. Hisagi whispered into the ears of the woman he loved.

Byakuya closed his eyes and rested his head against the back of his wide-framed chair. In his lap was the inventory list, on his table was small mountains of paperwork and a schedule that needed approval. His lips were dry and the tea had cooled beyond being drinkable. Still he sipped a bit of that stale liquid, deeming how much time it would save from asking for a new one. It would be no good anyway! Nothing tasted as good ever since she was gone.

Sometimes, especially at times like this, he wanted to see her; but even a single glimpse of Helena reminded him of his mistake, of his failure, of his inhumanity. He had failed to keep his promise of protecting her, he had brutally pained her heart, and he had foolishly let her alone walking into danger. No, I don't have time for guilt. There are many to be done, and guilt has no place now. Maybe later he would ask for her forgiveness, or atone for this burn inside his chest; but not now. He smelled the scarf around his neck to catch some left over fragrance of her from weeks ago, but there was none. Nothing comforted him except the flickering light that soon went to nothingness as his lids came shutting down.

'He held her close, so close that they became one. The sky closed into a dome above them, blue and true. The field beneath was freckled with Chinese bell flowers, and the air was pure and free. He looked at her gentle face that matched with the frailty of her body. 'We finally are married!' He muttered. She smiled at him in such a fashion that melted his cold heart. Byakuya could stay like this forever, with the woman he loved in his embrace. In the middle of his happiness appeared a woman. Her face was fair and stern, her features noble, but sadness stricken her dark eyes. She was crying tears of blood; as he looked on, the left side of her body suddenly tore itself away from her. And pouring upon them three was a crimson rain with the unmistakable stench of flesh.'

He woke up in the middle of the night. Sweats covered his brows. Everything was silent except for the tinkle of candle fire and burning wax. The feel of blood was still on his skin, so was the smell of it, and his office grew so ever suffocating. The shadow seized his heart, then a wind came, bearing with it an air fresh and young. Hisana, is that you? The small breeze calmed his heart, and Byakuya got back to work. He had taken charge of the trading company of the Naoki clan in Helena's stead, and this task proved to be more demanding than he had ever imagined. He looked down on the management book again: there were thousands of items divided into many categories. Some were mandatory, some were novelty, some were special orders. Shipments must be made timely to ensure best possible quality, and the quantity must be carefully calculated. On top of that, the schedule of transporting, shipping, delivery, etc, was incredibly tight and precise --even more demanding than the duty schedule of his squad. There were always negotiations, contracts, haggles to deal with, then the matter of budget, salary, pricing, storage as well.

Yet the book on his lap recorded perfectly every single detail, as well as every decision or plan carried out concerning the business. Despite the complexity, the person who ruled this company had managed to keep everything going smoothly and efficiently. Byakuya could find no fault in the intricate pattern that was set up, in which every problem was rightly and timely fixed. The Naoki Trading Company grew bigger every single day, and yet the organization remained tight. This is not a work of a mere manager but of a president! Commented Byakuya, and found in himself new respect and admiration for the woman whom he called wife. Then he recalled her rigid posture, her clenched jaws, and her sharp eyes leaning over this book. He remembered the familiar cover on her vanity table in the chamber, on the stand next to the bathtub, and inside her personal maid's hands whom she took with her everywhere. On the milky pages were many letters that were neatly written, the calligraphy clear and elegant: the handiwork of someone who had high schooling. Aside from doing this, she also flavored my fish and prepared my tea... Taking care of my own household...And I have never heard her complain. He pressed the soft paper to his lips, and found again that scent of spring he thought had abandoned him. Helena... And for the first time in such a long time, a treasure shone inside his heart.

...One week later...

There was only nothingness before her eyes, deep and without sound. An orb of complete devoid enveloped her transparent body, her limbs felt scattered. The space around her stood afloat and invisible, disconnected from the flow of time. Then suddenly she realized there was darkness, a soft and tired darkness for rest and contemplation. Helena heard now the very low beating of her own heart, in each beat a throb. She felt the touch of air, and smelled the fragrance of orchids. She felt breathes around her, and knew that light was there. I need to open my eyes. The eyelids stayed shut. Her command died at the brain. Open. You fools. Open. They fluttered and closed again. Slowly. Open. Her body wanted to sleep, to take this weight and plunge into an eternity without gravity. No, I can't sleep. I need to open my eyes. With a great groan inside her brain, Kuchiki Naoki Helena's eyelids started to move upward, revealing a pair of startling dark eyes.

And the veil was lifted.

"Unohana Taichou, she has opened her eyes!" A familiar voice rang. With the slightest twist of her neck, Helena turned to catch the sight of Hisagi Shuhei: his hair was messy, the three vertical scars ran down his left side, and his eyes red from missing sleep. The corners of his mouth was quivering, and there was safety and warmth in his gaze. Shuhei...

A hand placed itself on her forehead, and without seeing, Helena knew from the touch who was it. "Helena-san, we're glad that you have woken" She wanted to nod at reply, but found the movement impossible. "Do not move, Helena-san, you have a lot of deep wounds at vital joints. You need to lie in bed for at least five more days"Actually, you are healing up incredibly fast. Unohana reminded herself.

He came in utter silence, and only Unohana Taichou's announcement registered his presence in the room. Her eyes dashed to the sight of Kuchiki Byakuya: his uniform was still on, and his face stoic. The sun was resting on her, and the fragrance of many flowers created a lovely atmosphere. His ash vision stopped at the man who was sitting next to the bed as the man's eyes also returned his stare. Then he walked toward the woman who was barely awake, noting how much thinner she had become. Yet there was some qualities being brought out by her coma: something gentle, fragile, and noble: like suffering, but the kind of suffering that was caused by too much love. The woman he married had never looked so weak or frail, like a baby bird just left the womb of its mother. Her lips opened, and out came scattered broken words:

"The business...book...needs..." The light in her pupils grew dim, and her temperature was suddenly rising. Still she made a futile attempt to reach out. "Book...give me...need..." Then a masculine hand was over her eyes, tenderly but determinedly closing them. She heard a voice, which sounded further and further away, comforting her back into the arms of sleep.

"Shipments were dispatched, deliveries are being made on time. Everything is being done according to your plan! --at her final shake, he added-- I'm looking over everything. Go back to sleep." He sat on the bed, his lips to her ears. His words were little more than whispers, spoken like a lullaby. Helena relaxed her muscles and drifted back to sleep on the gentle boat that voice sent her. She knew that voice... in a remote place somewhere... existed in a man somewhere... She couldn't think anymore...

Seeing how her breathing had steadied, Kuchiki Byakuya stood up from the white bed and headed for the door. He wanted to stay a bit more, to listen to the small sounds of her again, to be sure that she was here and alive. He wanted to touch her and smell her, to be melted in the morning of an eternal spring with millions sakura blossoms. But he couldn't, there was something needed to be done. Something that he had hesitated to do. Byakuya looked at her once more: her magnolia skin illuminated in the glow of slumber hour, and her folded lips slightly parted like fine petals on the verge of blossoming. He knew then that he would have to do the thing he so dreaded. So he turned to the man who was still holding his wife's hand, and said coarsely:

"Make use of yourself and take care of her."

The room was spacious and very clean, decorated with pure white banners. On the left side sat the elders of the Naoki clan, on the right side elders of the Kuchiki clan. Apart from them sat a young man, a shinning Kenseikan set on his jet black hair. He wore a black kimono that gave off a deep purple sheen, around his neck wrapped the most expensive scarf in Soul Society. His face was pale and square, his mouth stale, and the charcoal color of his eyes gleamed silver. His seat located on a pedestal a few steps above the floor and was covered with silk. Behind him was a great tapestry that swallowed up the whole back wall with many poems written on it. The smell of ceremonial incense filled the air.

In front of every elder was a table with a single cup of saike –a type of wine in Soul Society that had incomparable taste and aged usually for four hundreds years. In front of the young nobleman was a cup of saike as well, but his cup was made out of a precious metal that seemed to shimmer vibrantly even in the remoteness of the scene. This cup was said to be made using the same metal that made up Soul Society's first zanpakuto. It held the power to turn even plain water into the best of wine, and the sweetest of honey into deadly poison. To drink from the cup was the final test in the trials to become a house's headmaster.

The young noble raised it to his lips as everyone did the same. He hesitated for a second, knowing that the first drop would take away that little treasure sparkled just now inside his heart. Then with a tragic spark in his eyes, he drank up. The liquid ran like silk on his tongue, but soaked a deep taste inside his throat. It tasted like no wine, but some spiritual substance that embodied the complexity of the past: a rush of world at the dawn of its creation. This power took over him for a second, but then everything became clear again.

When all the cups were empty, the elders stood up and bowed to their master as the air shook, for this was the place where the name Naoki forever demolished. From this day forward, the two clans became one under the ruling of one headmaster: Kuchiki Byakuya.

"Do you find me despicable, Senpai?" Byakuya asked the white hair man behind him, his eyes toward the sky.

"You've done what you deem needed to be done. There is nothing for me to scorn you."

She lived for that clan, but they repaid her with only betrayal and spite. She almost died because of them. The sight of Helena's ivory body smeared with crimson blood grew inside him. "I destroyed the name she loves most, and even stole from her the position of headmaster, something I promised her not to do. I do not think there is any atonement for what I've done."

His back flatten to a black board against the musky sunset.

"Kuchiki Taichou, you did those things to protect her from further danger, because you wish for her happiness" Ukitake's voice was very low, like the subtle transition of that bright orange canvas into the smooth velvet blue of night.

Happiness? If I wished for her happiness, I would have released her from me. Instead, I drew her closer and closer, even though I am incapable to love her. The loathing stare of Hisagi Shuhei stirred in his memory. I do not care what everyone thinks of me. No, why should I care?... I know that she will never forgive me.

They both looked at the first sparkle that appeared on the ever-changing sky. In each heart was full of uncertainty and weight. They could feel in the wind the murmur of a more challenging time and taste in its sharp breeze the coming of danger. Among the rustles of leaves, they heard faintly the chatter of enemies, laughing in satisfaction and ready to strike. But most of all Kuchiki Byakuya felt a terrible longing that contained both despair and bitterness. He closed his eyes to recapture the vision of a two-globes universe that used to look upon him with such love, the smile that was his favorite with its warmth and grace. He wished to forever remember the feeble gaze that moved him to the edge of insanity. For he doubted if there would be a second time after today.