Reason: Yay Chapter two is complete! I tried to have it done sooner, but Its getting close to the end of the semester and I have summatives, big ones so I've been working on those. So hear we are and I hope you like it
lun - I know, I'm happy how Aizen and Gin fit, I saw no one better to be the bad guys then... the um... bad guys
ice illuser - Aizen/Rukia... that kinda burns, I don't plan on making that an actual pairing, just Aizen wants her and ...ya
Kuchiki Rukia-sama - Beauty and the Beast is my favourite fairy tale, I love it so much, and ya I think it does go pretty well with Bleach. I hope you like the beast
JigokuChou - Is this soon enough?
Disclaimer - I don't own Bleach and what not such.
Beauty and the Beast
Chapter 2 - Enter the Beast
When Rukia returned home Byakuya was seated at the kitchen table. He held a piece of paper in hand, eyes scanning over it, a rather unhappy look displayed on his features.
"I'm home," she said when he didn't acknowledge her presence.
She went about putting some food in the cupboard and setting some to put down in the cellar to keep cool. The entire time her brother did not stir or make a noise.
He was a quiet man and didn't talk all that much, he was the kind of person who could get by saying few words. Yet there was something uncomfortable about the silence that hung in the air now. He usually at least grunted to acknowledge that she was there
"Byakuya is there something wrong?" she asked as she moved to stand beside him. With still no response she stooped over and glanced at the paper over his shoulder. She managed to catch the words 'Sir Kuchiki' before he folded it up and she couldn't read anymore and he gave her an annoyed look.
"Rukia I've told you before not to look at my letters," Byakuya said his tone matching his facial expression.
Rukia met his eyes with a concerned expression, "Why were they calling you Sir Kuchiki?"
"Its a summons. Someone wants to talk to me, likely get me to fight for them and they want to seem polite. They're attempting to do that by calling me by a title I don't have," he said dismissively, "flattery works on most people."
"They want you to fight?" Rukia said even more concerned now. She moved quickly to the other side of the table and sat down so she could look him in the face.
"Likely, it would do nothing to explain all the details but the man who sent this may be in need of man power soon. Before I left my skill with a sword was one of the things I was respected for," her brother went on.
Byakuya became a little uncomfortable with this. Anytime he mentioned the time he left, or more when he had married Hisana, he became agitated. She could never tell if it was because he missed his old life or missed her sister. She knew he missed both.
Rukia just nodded knowing her brother was now likely not going to talk much. She got up and headed for the door, "I'm going to check on the chickens, probably Shirayuki and Sebon too."
"I'm going to go."
She froze at his words her hand on the door handle. She hadn't expected that. She turned to look at him eyes wide and mouth gapping a little. She couldn't think of what to say, she couldn't think of much of anything.
"It would be good, I might be able to regain some of my status. We could leave this place," he said trying to explain himself.
"You might want to leave but this is my home Byakuya!" Rukia said nearly yelling, "And if you do have to go fight what I'm I suppose to do? I'd still be here wouldn't I?"
"It wouldn't be that long I'm sure."
"Wars can go on for years!" Rukia snapped. She had taken enough of the conversation and turned her back on her brother and stormed out the door and made it rattle on its hinges.
She walked quickly across the field ignoring Byakuya when he called out to her. She went on until she got to their small-enclosed pasture. She pulled herself up to sit on the fence and just stared out over their land. She could think of better ways to relax but they involved being inside where he was right now. So she sat and watched Sebon, their horse, and Shirayuki, their cow, grazes.
She wasn't sure how long she sat there. The past over her head and started its decent in the sky but she was never good at judging time by the sun's movements. Sebon trotted over to her after a while, deciding there would be a better place to graze. She hoped off the fence and stood beside him watching as he ate until he raised his head and looked at her. Rukia pat him on the nose before started to run her hand down his neck, stroking him gently.
She heard Byakuya behind her before he spoke. She didn't bother turning to look at him, she was still mad. Sebon moved though, he was Byakuya's horse and had been since about the time Rukia came to live with them. Sebon liked Byakuya better.
"I've packed everything I'll need, I'm going to head out now," Byakuya said patting his horse on the nose, just like Rukia had.
She remained still, a slight breeze tugging at her hair and the bottom of her skirt. Byakuya shifted uneasily, he had never been very good at talking to Rukia, though he tried.
"It's not that far away, I should be able to come home before I actually start fighting... do you want me to bring you something? Anything?" a peace offering was what the question was meant as and it was the only thing that he could think of. He wanted her to not hate him entirely before he left.
Rukia turned and looked at him for a moment before looking back across their field. Anything she wanted? She wanted him to stay, she wanted her sister back and hell she wanted Aizen to leave her alone, but she knew she didn't have a chance of getting any of those. Then she noticed a small bit of movement among the grass of the field, a small butterfly dancing through the air, so graceful and delicate.
"I want a butterfly," She said still watching the one flap its tiny wings, "I want a black butterfly."
Byakuya was puzzled by her request, but none the less agreed to it. He would find her a black butterfly. He grabbed a hold of Sebon's reigns and started to walk him towards the gate of the field. "I'll see you, take care."
He undid the gate when he reached it and usher his horse out. It didn't take him long to saddle him up, he usually left the saddle sitting on the fence so it was on hand. In no time he had Sebon saddled, his bags attached and had mounted.
Rukia didn't turn around until she heard the slow sound of Sebon walking. She watched him go, it seemed like he was moving slowly, but she had the feeling she wasn't judging time properly. Just when she knew her voice would barely reach she yelled to him "Take care of yourself! And you better come back you moron!"
It was a long ride, though it was the closest city to their town, but that didn't mean it wasn't far and Byakuya was getting tired. He didn't let it show though; he sat up straight in Sebon's saddle, casting a look from left to right. He was riding through a forest, not the nicest looking one. It had an unsettling atmosphere and that was one of the reasons. His other reason he found more important, he had yet to find the black winged butterfly he had promised his sister.
He had chosen to take a longer route home, knowing he would have a better chance to see one in this forest and the fields he would pass through than to take the road back.
It felt like he had been riding forever when he finally saw it, the little flutter in between the trees. With such little light filtering through the branches it was a miracle he saw the black wings at all.
Byakuya halted Sebon with a light tug on the reins. He dismounted his horse and rubbed its neck a little, "I'll be right back boy," he said, not looking at his animal but at the spot he had seen the butterfly. He started to walk towards it, one hand on his sword that hung from his belt, feeling uneasy; he just wanted to be safe.
He cursed himself for not moving faster a keeping track of the bug, now trying to find it he couldn't see it anywhere. He went slow, looking for any sign of movement. He didn't know how far he walked forward but before he knew it he had out sight of Senbon and he saw no point in turning back now.
It was a while before Byakuya came to the clearing. It was the first time he realized how late in the day it was. Most of the sky was black or grey, though one fragment had an orange tinge to it. When he looked around the clearing he saw flowers scattered all over the place. Lovely ones of all colours, from red to violet and sitting there on the petals of more than one of them were black winged butterflies.
He walked as quietly and carefully as he could towards the closest flower that held a butterfly, trying not to disturb it and cause it to fly away. Standing over the flower he bent over and was about ready to scoop it up when a voice filled the clearing.
"What are you doing here? This is my land."
Byakuya stood up straight again and turned his in the direction the voice had come from. The person was shrouded by shadows at the darkest side of the clearing, not quite the opposite of where Byakuya was. He could make out no detail of the shadowed person, but by the voice he could tell the person was a boy and not that old either.
"I'm simply trying to catch a butterfly," Byakuya replied calmly.
"They're mine, they live on my land," the voice said, "leave now and don't touch them."
The shadow of the person moved and there was a distinct sound of metal. The shadow changed shape, where the one arm ended there was now what Byakuya could only assume was a massive blade. So he had drawn a sword.
Byakuya responded by placing his hand on the hilt of his sword and saying, "I'm afraid I can't do that."
There was a silence that hung in the air between the two. The shadow then bent over suddenly making a noise that Byakuya couldn't quite figure out. He didn't get much time to think however because a laughed suddenly erupted from the other person.
"You aren't even going to draw. A little over confident aren't we?" the voice coming from the shadow was different now, a high pitch and a mocking tone compared to the serious one it had a moment before.
"You haven't shown me your face. I assume I can take a coward like you," Byakuya replied sharply.
"Coward? Heh, fine then I'll show you my face," then he moved, and hell he could move.
There had been a good distance between the two and Byakuya just had time to draw his sword and raise it to defend. He was not expecting such speed. Then he saw the face that startled him further. There was bright orange hair that stuck up and over half of the face was a white mask. It had a haunting look to it and the eye that looked him out of it was bright yellow where the other was brown.
Being stunned Byakuya was just barely able to block another blow. There was no playing now, with great speed of his own Byakuya fought back. They exchanged blows but blows only glanced off one another, neither doing much damage. The masked one's skill was rough, it was easy to tell he didn't really have formal teaching in swordplay, but there was strength behind each blow. Byakuya on the other hand had skill and a fair bit of speed. Even with that, the masked boy was relentless, swinging his sword in rapid succession, Byakuya keeping up the best he could.
Then it happened quickly, a cheap shot that happened to quickly for Byakuya to even know what happened. As he block a blow there came a quick kick to the shin. Byakuya's leg gave way and he fell forward, only slightly and the leg came up again hitting him in the stomach. The direction of his fall changed and he ended up on his back, sword slipping from his grasp. He looked up to see the sword come down.
- Sebon and Shirayuki come from Rukia and Byakuya's zakpantou, Senbonzakura and Sode no Shirayuki
Author's Note - Sooo, did you like? Pick a good beast? I'm taking my plot a little more from a version I read a while ago rather than the Disney one. In that one the beauty has two sisters and they each ask for something, the beauty asks for a red rose and thats what gets her father caught, I figured a black butterfly worked better for Rukia though.
Next Chapter - Far Away From Home