Secret II
Disclaimer: Same as previous one.
A/N: ...ok, so I couldn't think up another title. Sorry. This one takes place after the Soul Society arc.
Kuchiki Byakuya walks again this night, the nightly patrols of Seireitei in the seventh division's hands.
He wonders how Rukia is doing in the human world once more, and how she is holding up. Doubtless, she and the others will be causing a ruckus he is glad he doesn't have to oversee.
But it is that kind of ruckus, he knows, that might save them all.
He has little energy to entertain the thoughts of war and enemies, as all of them have these days. The days are kept for that purpose; the nights are left alone for other things.
He goes by the division lodges, seeing other Shinigami go back and forth occasionally.
A familiar lodge comes into view.
He vaguely recalls that every so often, she could be seen on her verandah, drinking tea and not moving an inch. He knows she can glimpse him past the trees and bushes, perhaps as a blurry white shade.
Tonight however, she isn't present and after a moment of contemplation, he moves on.
Some way ahead, he stops a few feet ahead of her. From the moment he passed by the lodge, he had already sensed her spirit pressure. Therefore he isn't surprised.
She smiles congenially at him. "If you do not wish for company, I will leave at once, Kuchiki-taichou."
He looks at her for a while and raises an eyebrow. "If I didn't wish for company, I would have taken a different route."
She just continues smiling. "Thank you."
Byakuya doesn't stop to think of why Unohana's thanking him for or for what. Instead, he falls into step beside her. The moonlight manages to catch them both as they walk, casting their shadows against the ground.
Kuchiki Byakuya has more than one secret.
He adds one more tonight.
And it is his faint hope that the walk with Unohana Retsu can be repeated.
A/N: About as subtle as a brick to the face, this one. (sighs) Anyway, thanks for reading!