Itonami: An update! Thank you for all of you who review this story. It means a whole lot! I hope you enjoy this chapter
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Bleach.
Chapter 5: Loving Her
When Hisana felt she was strong enough to ride a horse, Byakuya took her back to the Kuchiki mansion at a gentle trot. The hollows had been pushed back but the motive for their attack was still not certain. It was all Byakuya could think about as they traveled.
It took twice as long to arrive home than it would have normally, but as said, Byakuya was a patient man. The stable man took the reins of the horse to steady for the riders to dismount. The shinigami captain provided a firm support as Hisana limped on with her splintered ankle. Servants rushed out and fussed over the couple, but the Kuchiki patriarch waved them away.
He helped her take off her sandals and directly headed to his room. Calmly, as if nothing was wrong, he sat her down on the floor and made sure that her injury was well out of any more danger.
"Are you comfortable?"
"I am fine, Byakuya-sama. Stop worrying, it makes me worry about you." She said, smiling that innocent smile that caused his stomach to contract almost pleasantly.
"The wedding shall be postponed. Until your ankle is better." He said, eyeing the ankle at fault.
Hisana fiddled with her kimono. "There is no hurry."
"Were you afraid today?" He asked, looking out of his window.
She paused. "Yes, I was afraid."
Byakuya did not reply to it, but instead, kept his silence. It was at least a full minute before he spoke with a business-like tone. "I am indebted to you for saving my life."
He turned to look at the reaction of his words, to find her eyes filled with tears but a smile ready on her face again. "And I am forever indebted to you for the same reason."
He wondered how the woman sitting in front of him had such a strong effect on him, a hardened shinigami captain. When he realized he was staring, Byakuya mentally scolded himself and summoned a servant to bring fresh bandages and some medicine.
The Kuchiki sat with grace as he carefully took off his long haori, cautiously restraining from using his left arm. His uniform was caked with dried blood, both his and Hisana's. His left sleeve was stiff and if he moved his left arm, it felt like it was over a hot fire. Suddenly, he stopped midway from gently tugging back the black uniform over his shoulder. "Would you mind if I am partially undressed?"
Truth be told, Hisana had no objection what so ever to him being partially undressed, so she shook her head quietly. He continued with his process. The absence of cloth revealed a horrible gash where the hollow had grazed him with its tail. It reached from his shoulder to the end of his upper arm in a diagonal; it had not stopped bleeding.
Byakuya heard a small gasp emit from Hisana's throat as she moved to be by his injured side. His left shoulder was completely open to her eyes and all she could see were tiny little scars marring here and there upon his skin, each a little reminder of a battle. A knock on the door interrupted her gaze and Hisana carefully limped to the door, receiving the rolls of bandages in a small basket.
Hisana took out a roll and discovered a creamy ointment underneath it. She eyed the wound and then her fiancé, who was looking at her inquiringly. "Byakuya-sama, could you reach for your washing basin?"
He twisted at the waist to retrieve the water-filled bowl from his small table. Hisana improvised an extra roll of binding for a cloth. With her delicate hands, she dipped it in the water and began to clean away the blood.
Byakuya felt a tremor of light shivers down his spine from the feather light touches of her slender fingers. The cool water erased the bloody stains upon his body. After most of the blood was washed off, she started to bind his shoulder with the bandages. Hisana had to basically embrace him in order to get it around his back. When she did so, he could smell the scent of aloe and water.
In another minute, she was finished. Hisana tucked in the final loose end and surveyed her handiwork. She was satisfied with it and she waited for him to say something.
The Kuchiki gazed down at the wrappings and then looked at her. "Thank you." He hesitated. "I will need to get out of these clothes."
His betrothed burned red in embarrassment. "Oh! Of course, Byakuya-sama, excuse me." In her haste to get out of the room, Hisana got up on to trip on the hem of her kimono. She watched the ground rush up to meet her and she held out her hands in wild panic to break the fall, but something wrapped around her waist and jerked to a halt.
She was breathless as she was drawn back up to a standing position against Byakuya's warm chest. "You should be careful." He said softly. "You can take the bath house first."
Hisana looked down at herself and remembered that she was given a coarse yukata for temporary wear since the one she had been wearing was reduced to shreds. Blood still remained on her while dirt clung to her hair. She pulled away reluctantly and Byakuya let go hesitantly.
She bowed. "Then, you will pardon me…" He nodded and she left.
Hisana briefly visited her room for a yukata and some towels. Slowly yet steadily, she made her way outside towards the bath.
The bath house was a lone structure off to the side of the Kuchiki manor. It was the only building that was not as elaborate as the house or the shrine. Once inside, she found that the fire was already going and heating the water. The room was beginning to humidify heavily. Oils and precious perfumes were in many different bottles along the wall opposite of the bathtub. Hisana took two bottles, each one containing her favorite oil and perfume.
She undid the splint on her ankle and put it among her towel and yukata. Hisana took off the abrasive garment from her body and tossed it carelessly in the corner. She hummed softly as she sank into the tub, wincing slightly at the little jab of pain in the side where she had been recently pierced. Though the healer had done a fantastic job, it was not perfect. There was no scar disgracing her pale skin but an internal one existed that was still fresh as the spring rain, though not at all that pleasant.
Her thoughts turned to the man who occupied most of her heart and mind. Hisana always smiled when thinking about him. She was plainly and painfully aware that she did not deserve any of his kindness nor caring; he was the descendent of a noble bloodline and she was a meager girl who had thrown away her own sister to save her own life. The only reason she was accepted was because of her mother's maiden name. Never could she be fit to be seen in his eyes, not ever.
"He is probably glad the wedding has been postponed." She whispered to herself, a lone tear escaping her.
After the bath, Hisana rubbed the oil on her body, tenderly massaging the places where she was sore. She slipped the yukata over her shoulders and tied the sash around her thin waist. The delicate woman had a little trouble with redoing the splint, but managed it all the same, and then exited the bath house.
Utaka Hisana did not enter the house, but went to her little quiet place in the garden. Sitting on her rock, she stared at the small stream running in front of her toes. She touched the water with her finger as her mind filled with thoughts and concentrated, as if those thoughts could escape into the river and rush with its waters, away from her.
Byakuya had changed into a light, white kimono with an emerald green haori draped over his solid shoulders. He sat by the window, watching a certain raven haired woman on a lumpy boulder. His hair was free of the white hairpieces and hung loosely about his face. Charcoal-like eyes creased in a little in concern as he noticed that Hisana was not wearing anything but her yukata. Remembering what the 4th division captain had said, he went to her room and found a pink haori.
"You will catch a cold, Hisana." He said, wrapping the article of clothing around her frail shoulders.
She looked up to meet his face with a slightly blank expression on her face, as if for a moment she did not recognize who he was. Hisana startled herself out of the trance and smiled self-consciously. "Today was quite a day."
"You shouldn't have gotten hurt." He said, his tone a little biting. Hisana thought that she saw his bitterness in his eyes, but any sign of it disappeared the other second later.
"No one could help that, Byakuya-sama." She gently reminded him with a smile but it faded away, leaving a sorrowful countenance. The young woman got up quickly and had to suppress a noise of pain from her side. She disguised it as a sigh as she bowed her head.
"I am sorry for being so useless, Byakuya-sama. I understand that you do not wish this wedding at all, but I cannot help but think I am everything short of what you desire as a wife." Tears threatened to fall. His silence held every speckle of the air around them.
Byakuya felt a drop of cold sweat trickle down the side of his face as he heard her words. What was she saying? How could she think in such a self-degrading way? Disappointment and anger surfaced over his unemotional mask as he watched her silently cry to herself.
"I did not know that the woman I was to marry was so self-defeating. I do not know who you are. You are right, I do not wish any marriage between us. I wish my marriage to be with Utaka Hisana." He said curtly and he turned on his heel to go back into the manor.
The Kuchiki felt her small hand grasp the end of his sleeve and pull him back around. Hisana buried her face into his kimono, hot tears seeping through the cloth, burning his skin, catching the shinigami captain off guard. "Don't leave me, Byakuya-sama. Please don't leave me." She whispered desperately to his chest.
Her request was met by another silence.
Suddenly, Byakuya gracefully slid down to the ground, supporting his weight on one knee in front of her. Hisana, shocked as she was, knew somehow that it was not proper for a noble to be lower than a peasant. Scrambling, she dropped to both of her knees and bowed, her forehead brushing the cool grass. He reached out and lifted her delicate chin to look into her eyes that seemed to capture him little by little.
"I want this marriage, Hisana. Not because I am required or instructed, but because I want you with me." He smiled so gently at her tearing eyes. "It is difficult to think that you have thought youself inadequate in my eyes."
"Byakuya-sama, I—"
"Think about it. If you do not wish this marriage to take place, I will not force it upon you. However, for the rest of the day, think about it. Think about me."
Never had she felt so needed or cared for in her life.
"You will tell me your answer on our nightly stroll." He instructed and helped her to her feet. "You have grass strain on your yukata."
"As do you." Hisana said, wiping away her unshed tears. "I don't think I will ever cry again."
Byakuya gazed down at her. "Good, a lady never cries in public."
She fought back the desire to stick out her tongue at him and settled for a funny look.
Once back in the house, the couple was summoned to Grandfather Kuchiki's room at once. They hurried the best they could with Hisana's injured ankle and finally knocked on the shoji door, which was slid open by the old man himself.
"Ah, come in, come in." The grandfather said in his raspy voice.
Byakuya knelt while Hisana sat with her legs curled at one side. They waited for him to speak.
The ancient Kuchiki coughed loudly for several moments, instilling the need to go to him and help in both of them, but it ended and he looked at them sternly. "I received news that Hisana was gravely hurt. How did this happen?"
"She saved my life, Grandfather."
A pair of white bushy eyebrows arched upwards in surprise. "Oh? This is true?"
Hisana smiled weakly. "I did the best I could. Byakuya-sama saved mine."
Now, the Kuchiki elder appeared to be delighted. "I knew you two would become like this! This is excellent!" He clapped his wrinkled hands in joy.
"Grandfather, I have asked Hisana to marry me."
The old man stopped in the middle of his clapping. "Hm?"
Byakuya quickly cast a look at the woman beside him and saw that her face was tinted with pink. "She will give me her answer tonight."
"This is good, Byakuya." The grandfather turned serious and entered into another bout of coughs. When it passed, he looked almost defeated. "I will enter another world soon. It is inevitable. I hope to live to see the wedding since it has been postponed."
Hisana tensed. "Ojii-sama, you shouldn't speak like that."
He chuckled. "I'm an old, old man, Hisana. I'm afraid I've lived the best I could. I have no regrets, except that I will not be able to see your children grow up. Now, now," he hushed a tearing Hisana, "you will not cry for me, child. When we have one of our house members pass away, we are not crying. It is a great honor to have served the house, you see, and we all pass without any shame or regret. You will do me the favor of being the strongest when I pass."
She nodded, determined to make her favorite grandfather happy before his last days.
He continued. "If your answer, Hisana, is a no to Byakuya's proposal, I wish you the best of everything. I am sure this family will be happy to provide any means to give you a comfortable life outside of this house. However, if your answer is yes, I wish you and my grandson all the joys of your marriage. Know that I give you the fullest blessing and that I was able to die a happy old man to have met such a beautiful woman." The grandfather smiled through his beard. Hisana and Byakuya both saw a tear leak out and fall from under his eyebrow.
The two of them stood to leave, but Hisana couldn't bear parting with the old man just yet. "May I stay with Ojii-sama? Please?"
The Kuchiki patriarch agreed and left, leaving his grandfather and Hisana in the room alone.
He walked out into the garden and stood behind the rock which Hisana liked to sit on. It was becoming darker as night fell upon Soul Society. His thoughts turned to the events of that day, still as fresh as the wound on his shoulder.
The image of her running to block the lethal attack of the hollow had burned itself into his mind. Byakuya could feel the small tremors of anxiety in his body. She would tell him the answer to his proposal. Without a doubt, he cared about her like nothing before; he had not loved his parents even this much.
Crickets chirped their songs in the grass around him and a gentle breeze sighed as it blew past him to the west. His father had died an honored shinigami captain while protecting his mother. Few days later, she also died, but this time with a broken heart. Was this what love was?
He stood there for more than two hours, thinking and pondering.
"Byakuya-sama?"
He turned around to see the woman he was just thinking about. He could barely make her out in the darkness. "Are you cold?"
Hisana shook her head and they started out on the path outside of the Kuchiki manor walls. Silently, they walked, neither saying a word because they were afraid to break the fragile spell of peace between them.
Byakuya took a different turn on the path than before but she followed without question. Soon enough, tall bamboos surrounded them on all both sides, but the path was clear. They arrived at a mysterious pond. The bamboo around it should have made the little clear section dark, but the moonlight was being reflected by the pond's water, bathing the clearing in a soft white light. It was a breathtaking sight.
The man moved so that he was on the other side of the water from Hisana. Byakuya met her questioning eyes. "Wait." He whispered quietly.
She obediently waited, waiting patiently for something to happen.
A brush of the wind carried with it a single bamboo leaf and dropped it onto the water's surface. Suddenly, the white light transformed into a soothing green color, making her gasp in surprise and wonder.
"It's beautiful, Byakuya-sama." She breathed, looking around her.
He smiled at her, glad that he was able to show her something beautiful.
Then abruptly:
"I will."
He stopped smiling. "I will?"
Hisana did not blink nor move, but looked at Byakuya with her happy eyes. "I will marry you, Byakuya-sama. Nothing else would please me more than being able to wake up with you every morning and going to sleep beside you every evening. You have made me happy just by saying that I have never been inadequate to you."
He took a step forward onto the water and kept walking to her as if the water had frozen over for him, never once faltering. When he reached dry land again, Byakuya took her hand and kissed it. "Your acceptance speech was quite long, Hisana. A simple yes would have done it."
She blushed but stopped when he pressed his lips on hers tenderly. It felt like electric currents were running up and down her body. The surprised woman forced back the desire to gasp down her throat. She had never been kissed before, both in the human world and certainly not in the spiritual world. Hesitantly, she returned the pressure, not sure of what to do. Warmth spread all over, leaving a tingling sensation.
To Hisana's slight displeasure, Byakuya slowly retracted his intoxicating kiss but he still held her hand. "I should arrange for the marriage."
Happiness was clearly written on her face while it was being shown in the Kuchiki's eyes. "Let's go back." Hisana said, still a little embarrassed from the kiss.
Shyly, she linked her arm around his as they began their journey back. Byakuya did not mind at all and they walked in comfortable silence together, knowing that the promise made at the pond was true and good.
However, as they approached the house, the couple noticed the lights on and shadowy figures of people running around frantically inside. Almost instantly, Hisana knew what had happened.
She let go of his arm and she sprinted as fast as she could without hurting her ankle any further. Hisana threw open the doors and headed straight for the room that she had left just a little while ago. Ignoring the strange glances she was getting, she hobbled to the room to find it open.
The grandfather was lying in complete stillness on the futon she had set out for him to rest on. His eyes were closed and his hands were closed peacefully on his stomach, one over the other. His face, though as wrinkled as it was, was evident with contentment and long-desired peace. Fighting back tears, Hisana straightened her back and strode purposely to her ojii-sama's side.
She would be strong for him. It was his dying wish.
Byakuya entered and humbly bowed to the grandfather who had offered him wisdom beyond what anyone could ever give in a hundred years.
We are getting married, grandfather. Byakuya thought solemnly. Thank you.
And good bye.
Author's notes: The chapter was bittersweet, no? Happiness and then sadness at the death of the Kuchiki elder.
So, Hisana and Byakuya are really getting married. There's some other things to come. I am not going to write the wedding just because I have no idea how a real Japanese wedding ceremony goes. If you know, tell me in a review. Then, I may write a wedding chapter.