Chapter 15
Ukitake
The first note he found on his desk, five days after the party.
It said `Juushiro, you are beautiful Shunsui´ in Kyouraku's characters, but not his words. He could even feel Lisa's Reiatsu faintly, if he looked for it.
Ukitake sighed, and threw it away.
.
The next note arrived another three days later, and he found it on his desk again, under his ink stone.
`Juushiro, I love you. Yours, Shunsui.´ He stared at it for a moment.
It hurt, reading the words that weren't true.
Ukitake drew in a shaking breath, crumbled the paper, and let it fall to the floor.
'Byakurai.' he said quietly. The paper burst into flames.
Ukitake sighed, and smiled slightly. It had been a childish reaction, definitely, but it felt good. Only a small burnt spot on the wood remained.
He considered if he should ask Kyouraku to talk to Lisa. But they would stop soon, right? There wasn't much more they could try, and it seemed easier to just get it over with than to go and forbid them from doing this, which would probably just lead to Lisa thinking of something else.
Ukitake knew her, she had an extreme determination once she decided to do something, and telling her to stop often just make it worse. Better to wait for her to realize the pointlessness of her actions herself.
.
The next note came on the next day, and it had been put into his inbox.
`Dear Juushiro, you mean everything to me. Yours, Shunsui.' Ukitake just rolled his eyes, and threw it away. It couldn't touch him.
.
Kyouraku
It was eleven days after the party in the afternoon, and he had gone to Ukitake's office to spend the afternoon together. Ukitake had said he wanted to finish a few more papers, then they could go outside, so Kyouraku made himself comfortable on the floor.
He was tapping onto a black spot in the wood, and thinking, until his mind realized what it was.
He poked at it some more, to be sure. 'Say Ukitake, why is there a little burned hole in your office floor?' he asked, curious. Ukitake looked at him for a second, then he started to put away his writing stuff.
Kyouraku watched him as he choose his words carefully. 'I have been getting notes from Lisa in your writing. Three so far, and it annoyed me. That was the second one. I… might have burned it.' Ukitake gave a wry smile.
Kyouraku watched him closely. 'Do you want me to talk to her?' he asked. Ukitake shrugged. 'I'm not sure. You know her, it might just make her more determined. Don't worry about it, it's not important.'
Not important? Do you usually burn your floor?
But Kyouraku just nodded. Ukitake wasn't wrong, he knew he couldn't get Lisa to stop if he wasn't really serious.
They spend the afternoon in the garden again, relaxing.
.
Ukitake
Two days after the last note, one day after Kyouraku's last visit, and he found the next note, again under his ink stone. This one was longer.
`Dear Juushiro.
I always want to be by your side, through good times and bad times. You are my light, the only one I want.
I will always love you.
Yours, Shunsui.´
Ukitake stared at the text for a while, trying to breath. It was just a lie, no reason to be upset…
No. This is too much.
He flash stepped out of his office, to find Lisa, careful to keep his Reiatsu inside despite his anger and pain.
It didn't take long to arrive at Kyouraku's office, and for a second the fact that Kyouraku would be there gave him pause. But Kyouraku knew him, and would not stop him if he knew he was serious.
Ukitake opened the door, and briefly nodded to Kyouraku and Nanao, before stepping before Lisa's desk.
He looked at her, letting the anger show in his face, and slowly raised the note, so she could recognize it. Then, while looking into her eyes, he created a Shakkaho in his hands, and in his controlled kido burned the note, until there were only a few flakes of ash left, drifting down.
The he turned, bowed to them at the door, and left.
.
Kyouraku
He could feel Ukitake's anger and hurt the moment the other entered his office. And even if he couldn't feel his Reiatsu, that he entered without knocking, and his set face would have told him too.
Ukitake nodded to him, and walked to Lisa. He held up a note, and then carefully burned it. Kyouraku couldn't see his face, but he could see that Lisa actually looked frightened, watching the note burn.
Kyouraku could understand her. Ukitake rarely got angry, but if he did his controlled fury was scary for those it was directed at, and awe-inspiring for onlookers.
Then Ukitake left, bowing politely, not having spoken a word.
Kyouraku rose, stepping in front of Lisa's desk, not giving her time to recover.
'The second note you send him, and the last one.' he said calmly. 'What did they say?' Lisa just pulled out a list, and said in a quiet voice 'The last one was the fourth note.'
I love you
I always want to be by your side, through good times and bad times. You are my light, the only one I want. I will always love you.
Kyouraku read the words, and felt his shock and surprise. But he didn't let his face change, and filed the information away for later consideration, putting the paper into a pocket.
Instead he stared at Lisa, hard. 'You hurt Ukitake.' He let his anger show. 'Do not do that again. It is not something I can forgive easily. You had you fun, but now this scheming stops.'
Lisa nodded wordlessly.
Kyouraku let himself relax slightly. He walked to the door, pausing there before leaving. He made his tone lighter in his next words, though still serious. 'Also, I recommend that you sweep before your own door before meddling/interfering in our relationship.'
He cut his eyes to Nanao, who was looking intently at her blank paper. Lisa's eyes widened, as she too looked at the younger woman, and there was a mix of confusion and realization in her expression.
Kyouraku decided his job here was done, and left to find Ukitake.
He felt the other's Reiatsu somewhere in the forest. It seemed to be near the place they often spend their afternoons, a small clearing aside from the main way.
Kyouraku took that as a good sign, even if he hadn't felt his Reiatsu that would have been one of the first places he would search for Ukitake. Ukitake knew that, so he wasn't hiding.
Kyouraku didn't hurry. He needed to think, and give Ukitake a short time to calm down.
.
There was one reason only why Ukitake could be so angry and hurt by the notes. Well, they were probably many possible reasons, but only one Kyouraku could think of. Of course, his mind might be deliberately trying not to see other explanations…
But he did try to think of reasons beside `Ukitake was hurt because that wasn't real´ and came up empty.
He also tried to draw conclusions from that that weren't `Ukitake likes me back.´ There were other possibilities there, like that Ukitake was just upset as a friend.
Kyouraku pushed all that aside, as he neared the clearing.
For now the most important thing was to make sure Ukitake was okay.
.
Ukitake was sitting in seiza on the grass, looking calm. Kyouraku dropped down beside him.
'Sorry for interrupting your work.' Ukitake said after a while.
'No reason to apologize. It was definitely worth it for seeing that look on Lisa's face.' Kyouraku said lightly. Ukitake smiled slightly at that.
'So will you tell me what that note said?' he asked gently. He did know, but he needed to know what Ukitake was comfortable with talking about.
Ukitake was silent for a moment, then he answered. 'Just lies.'
Kyouraku didn't ask further. That was a clear declaration that he didn't want to walk about it, and that was fine with Kyouraku, since Ukitake seemed to be okay.
He neatly changed topic. 'On the plus side, I am eighty percent certain that Lisa and whoever helped her will stop now. You actually really shocked her, and I might have nicely told her to stop too. And then I somehow dropped a hint that she should really work on her relationship with Nanao-chan instead.'
He grinned at Ukitake, who smiled back.
'You really should have seen her face, it's hard to describe. She somehow looked so shocked and kind of confused, but also like she suddenly understood something… I think she might have not thought of that option before. And Nanao-chan is still shy, but I think they will be fine. Lisa's determination will work in their favor in this case.'
'She might need it.' Ukitake said. 'Nanao's got a lot of determination as well. She won't just put up with whatever Lisa does.'
Kyouraku grinned, and nodded.
'There might be a little war in my office as a side effect. But I can always find shelter in your office if they clash, right?'
Ukitake laughed. 'Sure.'