Chapter 3 - A Friendly Conversation

Byakuya's POV

The Kuchiki Manor, a home that has seen 27 past generations of my family walk through its hallowed halls, was only mere feet away from me now, the towering structure a welcoming reprieve after the day I have jut experienced.

My home has seen many memories, that of love, life, loyalty, achievement, and everything in between, good and bad. As the 28th head of the clan, one of my duties is to oversee the property and look out for the well-being of all those who reside within it. It's both a privilege and a burden, but I would never give it away if given the chance.

Unfortunately, I'm a bit too prideful to do so.

I have been put through immense physical and mental training my entire life In order to be fully prepared for the position I am in now, a position I'm greatly honored to have. It may be my birthright, and it's a hard task to maintain, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

It is early in the morning - just shy of 3 a.m. to be exact - when Senbonzakura and I start walking through the hallways to get to the tea room. I wasn't in the mood to sleep just yet, so I figured a nice cup of tea would do me some good.

As we neared the tea room, I saw that the door was slightly open. A dim candle stood in the middle of the table, right next to a kettle, already unlit, but with a faint plume of smoke slowly billowing from its spigot. A shadow sat near it, and when it turned, I couldn't help but notice the movement of its curly hair.

"Master?"

"You can go on to bed, Senbonzakura. I'll sleep after I have a quick cup of tea."

"Very well then. I'll see you tomorrow," he answers, bowing before moving down the hallway. Turning back to the tea chamber, I walk in to find Mina seated at the table, her hands clasped around her cup as she brought it to her lips.

"Morning Byakuya," she tells me as she looks up in my direction. "Had a good night?"

"It could have been worse . . . Shouldn't you be sleeping right now?"

"I should, but I can't find the will to at the moment. Something told me that you may need some company tonight." she tells me, a smirk playing on her lips as I took the seat opposite of her. "Would you like some tea?"

"I see your 'intuition' has struck again, and yes. I would like some tea. Cherry blossom, if you may?"

She nods, smiling before throwing a few cherry blossom petals into the kettle and placing it on the re-lit fire. We wait in silence as the mixture brews inside the small pot, and the quiet reprieve was indeed helpful.

It gave me some time to go over the nagging thoughts that has been picking at me ever since I returned from the Living World.

"Your grandfather missed you this afternoon." I hear Minata say, her voice pulling me out of my thoughts as she pours out my cup before handing it to me.

"Really?"

"Yes, you were supposed to have your afternoon tea with him yesterday, remember?"

"Unfortunately, I completely forgot about that." I mumble, shaking my head at my memory lapse. Due to how busy my schedule can be, I didn't have much free time to spend in my grandfather's company. We always set aside one day per week for our weekly tea, and I was loathed to miss a day, and now I have to make it up to him for missing this one.

"Don't worry. I stood in for you. He didn't mind your absence, and I don't blame you for forgetting. . . You must have had a lot on your mind."

"I still do."

"Would you like to talk about it?"

"Where should I even start?" I ask, letting my confusion show for the first time in a long time.

"How about you start by telling me about your mission. What happened exactly?" Judging from the slightly pleading look in her eyes, I knew I wasn't going to make my exit without telling her something beforehand. Sighing in defeat, I concede to my friend's wish.

"Okay, I'll tell you, Mina. I'll give you the whole story."


Flashback

"Yeah, my name is Ichigo. Ichigo Kurosaki. You got a problem with that?!" the orange-haired teenager asks with a stubborn disposition. Renji's expression turns from annoyance to full on rage as he turned to the teen, a growl threatening to rip from his throat.

"A problem? Of course, I got a problem with that! You're the one that took Rukia's powers!"

My lieutenant, in all his sudden rage, lunges forward, zanpakuto in hand, ready to strike the "substitute shinigami" down where he stood. The teen instinctively deflects the attack and moves out the way to counter, wielding his large blade with ease. Renji easily blocks the incoming hit and tries to strike again, but the teen deflects the attack just the same.

"He may be quite untrained, but that orange-haired boy must possess a large amount of spiritual pressure, if his zanpakuto is anything to go by."

"Quite untrained indeed . . . He has the power, but he has no refinement with it. It's a terrible combination." I say, watching as Renji's glasses broke apart, revealing the bloody gash the boy dealt to his forehead.

"Master?" I barely hear my zanpakuto say as I leap into action. From the onset, the boy wielded his blade like it was a club more than it was a sword, and it was painfully apparent that he had no true connection with his zanpakuto.

It made it all the easier to snap the blade in half, right before he could use it to strike my lieutenant down. It may have looked strong at face value, but it was brittle on the inside, a sad reflection of the soul who wielded it.

"What the-?" the boy asks before I struck him in the chest, blood spurting to the ground in one fell swoop.

"Is there something wrong?" I ask my lieutenant as he slowly stood up, a stunned expression marring his face as he turned to look at the boy.

"No, nothing's wrong captain," he tells me as he kept his eyes on the boy."You didn't need to trouble yourself with this misfit. I could have handled him myself."

"Of course, you could." I say, giving him my signature stare. Footsteps heading in our direction remind me that we are not alone, and Iturn around in time to see my sister running to the ryoka boy's side, nothing else but shock covering her face.

"After all that has happened just now, you still run to his side . . ."

Her body goes stiff, likely stunned by my statement, or the fact that I was actually talking to her.She turns to me in silence but doesn't voice any opinions that she may have racing through her head.

I don't wait for her to respond, instead voicing a thought that had suddenly occurred to me when I saw the boy's face for the first time.

"It's understandable that you show some care for the boy, since he looks so similar to your old teacher."

I was about to say more when I felt the hard tug of the bottom of my pant leg. Without looking down, I knew that the ryoka wasn't done with me just yet.

He was proving to be quite the stubborn one.

"Let go."

"You should look at the people you're talking to first before ordering commands." he spits out, defiant. I look down to see the matching look on his face, challenging in its suicidal absurdity. I was mulling over the idea of kicking him in the face to get him to let me go when his hand was knocked away from my clothes, by Rukia herself.

Well that came as a surprise.

"You don't know when to give up, do you Ichigo?" she asks, her head turned away from me. I couldn't see the expression she was giving him, but I had the decent inclination to believe her glare was as cold as her voice right now.

"Rukia!?" the shock on his face was palpable, as if I was watching a feral lion suddenly turn into a startled cat with just one kick.

"Just stand down." she growls before turning to me. "I'm ready to go brother. I'm ready to face justice, but I ask you only this one thing in return."

The boy's eyes widen at this sudden development. I was surprised at her admission. I expected more of a fight from her but having her come back willingly would save time. I nod, unwilling to voice my answer.

"Spare Ichigo's life."

She looks me right in the eye, practically daring me to go against her despite being the one at a disadvantage, but her request is difficult to abide by.

On one hand, I want to kill this boy for taking my sister's powers and using them for his own purposes, and not even use them well.

On the other hand,the sadness is there within her steely gaze; pleading for me to strike this boy down, to effectively look the other way, something that I never do on a mission.

But her gaze was so much like Hisana's - so eerily similar - that I almost found myself looking away to glare at the boy.After a second look, I realized that the wound I dealt him would suffice. Eventually, if he doesn't get the necessary medical attention soon, he would bleed out, and I wouldn't have to worry about him anymore.

"Very well then. . . Renji, open the Senkaimon. It's time to go We're done here." I say as I finally tore my gaze away from my sister's. "Besides, with the wound I dealt him, he should die within a half hour. If he survives, then his shinigami powers will be gone, and we won't have to worry about him anymore"

Renji follows my orders with no complaint, opening the Senkaimon as his zanpakuto returns to its humanoid form. The three of them then walk into through the doorway, disappearing into the light quickly as Senbonzakura follows after them.

"Let's go Rukia." I say without looking at her as I walk through the gate myself. Most would simply wait until the prisoner walked into the Senkaimon ahead of them before following afterward, keeping their eyes on the captive at all times per procedure, but I knew well that she wouldn't disobey my order, not after I've given in to her request.

As I make my way through the Dangai, I hear the gate close behind me. Risking the smallest of glances, I move my head far enough to see Rukia following behind me, just as I had predicted.

And as we neared the entrance into Soul Society, I could not help but have the sinking feeling that from this point on, everything will just go downhill from here.


"Where is Rukia now?"

"In my division's barracks. She's been placed in one of the cells where she'll await her trial." I say, my shoulders slumping just a tad. From the look of her eyes, I knew Mina caught me in the act.

"I see, and I thought Kuchiki clan leaders had perfect posture." she mumbles, raising an eyebrow as I straightened back my form.

"I guess it is good that I had my error happen in front of you then," I say. "Knowing my elders, they would not hesitate to criticize my actions if they feel that I have went out of line. Not outright of course, but just enough to make sure the point has been made."

"Ah, the ways of nobility, I guess. The heirs prepare to lead, the heads actually lead, and the elders criticize those that lead." she says as she sips the last of her tea. "

"Well isn't that the truth . . ."

"It's our circle of life, so to speak. The usual progression for people like us. You're already on the second stage while I'm stuck on first, waiting for my grandmother to eventually abdicate from her role. . . Eventually, give or take a few centuries, we will both be back here, old, withered, and grey, criticizing those that lead our clans over cups of ginseng and chai."

"Don't you mean I will be old, withered, and grey?" I ask, challenging. "Last time I checked, your family does not age like the rest of us do?"

"We don't. We defy the laws of aging, and we don't even know how we do it in the first place. That knowledge has been lost for centuries . . . Of course, you won't find us complaining, and for those that curse my family for this little aspect of our heritage, I say screw them. They'll just add to their stress lines even more."

"What do you think is the reason for your family aging so slowly?"

"I haven't thought much on it, but if I had to make a guess, I would have to say that we simply don't stress as much compared to the other clans," Minata says like it is the simplest thing in the world. "The other clans are always focused on their position in society and how they can maintain it. That kind of thinking isn't as profound in my family."

"That's a reasonable assessment. My family is all about maintaining their roles in society. Yours, not so much . . ." Her words almost got me to smirk a little, her kind of insight so unlike the kind I would get if I was talking to any other noble lady, including those within my family.

"Which only means your family is just going to look older than they should appear Byakuya. How can you handle looking at all that grey?"

She has come a long way from her prank-loving tomboy days, where she would sarcastically comment and criticize everything at every turn, especially if she was in a foul mood, the elders being her most frequent victims. She just managed to utilize her sarcasm in a much more formalized, yet frank form, and yet it still gets me to react in a way that I wouldn't react with anyone else.

"I've managed . . . I see your sarcastic barbs are as strong as ever."

"They never stopped . . . Let me ask you this: are you still suppressing the stubborn hothead that I know is still living somewhere inside you? You may have beaten him down by training to be the best clan leader your family has ever seen, but he's still there, waiting to come back to the surface, whether you like it or not," Minata answers in return. "I can feel it."

"If you say so." I say, finishing my cup of tea. I may look calm now, but sometimes her words ring true, even if they haven't come to fruition just yet.

"Hmm . . . We have changed a lot over the years, haven't we?" she asks as she turns her head to the side, giving me a good look of her profile. Besides the small scar that lined the base of her neck - courtesy of a training exercise gone awry during her time in the Second division - her skin was practically flawless, even glowing in the candlelight.

"Indeed, we have. . ." I ask, a sudden thought occuring to me in my inner musings. I'm sure she wasn't expecting it - I did not expect myself to ask this myself - but in a sudden burst of curiosity, I was willing to take a shot. "Mina, how come you haven't moved back to your home?"

"Byakuya, do you want me to move back home? Well, if that is what you wish . . ."

"N-no, I don't mind you staying here," The words are out of my mouth before I can even think about them. "I like your company. Your better than most of my family at least."

"It's nice to be appreciated, and did you just stutter Byakuya?"

"No, I did not . . . I was simply caught off guard by your return question."

"So was I, but unlike you, I was able to keep a straight face."

"Well aren't you witty?" I mumble, unafraid to openly scowl at her. She returns it with a grin, so smug with her comebacks, but once it's gone, her eyes take on a different look, one I was all too familiar with over the years.

"Go ahead and ask what you want to ask Mina. . . I won't bite."

"Good to know . . . Anyway, how are you feeling Byakuya?"

"With everything that has been happening with Rukia, I would have to say that confusion is the dominant emotion right now," I say in response. "There are many questions I want to ask."

"You're wondering why Rukia willingly gave away her powers to that Kurosaki boy, aren't you?"

"Yes. That happens to be the main one."

"Hm, I do not have the answers for you Byakuya, but I have the feeling that everything will come to light soon enough."

"Yes, I have that feeling too." I nod, knowing that once Minata got one of her "feelings", something was bound to happen, and usually, it happened soon.

"Thanks for talking with me Mina. . . And thank you for the tea."

"You're welcome. Good night, well good morning, actually." she says, smiling as she made her exit, leaving me alone to the cloudy river that was my current train of thought. The sun would start to rise in a few hours, but I still couldn't think about sleep now, not when there were so many questions left unanswered.

There was one thing that I was certain of though, no matter how much I wanted to ignore the dread growing in my stomach.

Something tells me that boy will be back.

A/N: You just got to love witty banter.