Chapter 10 – A Private Conversation
Minata'sPOV
"Excuse me Minata-sama!"
Without speaking a word, I slid to my left to let one of the senior maids pass by, her arms full of folded, multi-colored linens that looked fresh out of the laundry room. Usually the sound of her approaching footsteps would have clued me in to her incoming presence, but I was too wrapped up in my own thoughts to notice.
Finding out that the execution of your best friend's younger sister has been moved up again by the Central 46 can do that to a person.
Granted, the members of the Central 46 are well within their right as the highest judicial body in the Soul Society to make such a decision. However, I can't help but question their decision to do so.
When it came to making decisions, that band of old goats do what they do best and slowly deliberate, analyze, and debate over all the facts that are presented to them before coming to their eventual consensus.
Well, that's supposed to be their main duty, but sometimes, the decisions that they come up with make me want to question their collective sanity.
Moving Rukia's execution date is one decision that I can't agree with.
I just don't understand the logic behind it, even with the fact that the ryokas are still out there running around the Seireitei somewhere. Granted, they are capable of causing their own share of issues, but none of them seem capable of actually stopping what's to come. The closest seems to be the orange haired, Kaien Shiba look alike that is Ichigo Kurosaki, but no one knows where he is since Yourichi escaped with him a while back.
The ryokas are determined, but weak. They shouldn't be that much of a challenge, but apparently the Central 46 think that they're threatening enough to warrant moving Rukia's execution up some more.
Because they want to?
Because they want to demoralize her potential saviors?
Because they want to stick it to the Kuchiki Clan for some petty, vindictive reason?
I just don't understand it.
Something is definitely amiss around here, but I just can't put my finger on what exactly it could be right now.
I wonder if Byakuya suspects the same as well.
"Mina?"
"And speaking of Mr. Tall, Dark, and Stoic. . ." I think to myself as his voice hits my eardrums. Turning my head, I didn't have to look far to find him, considering he was only standing a few feet behind me.
Damn, I must really be too into my own thoughts if I wasn't able to sense him getting this close to me.
That, or he has just gotten so much better at hiding his spiritual pressure from me, and that is a feat in itself.
Though he had his default stoic expression on his face, I could spot the hint of apprehension in his stare, and I couldn't blame him for it. We haven't talked much since the incident concerning Kurosaki and Yoruichi, mainly because it still left a bad taste in his mouth.
Yoruichi did have an annoying tendency to get the last word in after all.
"I need to talk to you. It's about something important."
"I do have nothing else to do at the moment . . . Alright then! I'm all ears!"
"Not here."
He says nothing further as he nods his head to something behind me. Turning, it wasn't hard to see two of his family members just down the hallway talking amongst themselves.
"I guess whatever he has to say to me must be kept between us." I thought as I followed him down the hall. After going down a few of the manor's many hallways, we found ourselves in one of the guest halls of the southern section of the manor, an area that was usually one of the emptiest in the entire complex.
Stepping into one of the well furnished rooms, I took a moment to take in the decor before turning back to him. He had long slid the door closed and stood before it, his body pensive against the paneling.
"Byak-"
"Do you believe that the Central 46 are making their decisions . . . correctly?" He asks, cutting me off before I could even get his name out. The stoic mask I was so used to seeing was long gone for now, revealing the worried brother underneath.
It soon clicked in my head that Byakuya was actually being vulnerable for once and considering that he had us go somewhere that was out of the way from the rest of his relatives, this was not a moment that he wanted others to witness.
We don't want those crabby elders of his to question his ability to lead after all, now do we?
"Actually, I was just thinking about it myself before you found me," I admit, deciding it was best to not beat around the bush. "Our laws are undisputable, whether we want to argue against them or not. When you consider Rukia's actions in conjunction with those laws, the Central 46 made the only decision they could have in her situation . . . However, I believe the Central 46 are acting a little too quickly on their recent decisions, like, there's almost a, a rashness to it. . . You don't think they are moving it up because of the invaders from the Human World, do you?"
"It's the most likely option at this point, though, from what I've heard, the ryokas don't seem like a group who have garnered enough strength to be considered a fully legitimate threat."
So, he and I were having the same thoughts on the situation after all. That's good to know.
"Still, these changes . . . There's never been a precedent for this kind of decision making before." He continues to muse, crossing his arms over his chest, looking more like a disgruntled teenager than a stoic clan leader.
"Hmm, you're not one for making your suspicions known Byakuya . . . What brought this up? Before now, it didn't seem like you even cared about whether Rukia was going to die or not."
I knew my words were harsh, but dammit, he needed to hear the truth.
Byakuya has always been standoffish to the point of arrogance, and he has mainly shown quiet indifference toward Rukia ever since he adopted her into the clan, but ever since Rukia was captured, his attitude toward her has gotten worse, mainly he doesn't have any toward her, at all.
As if she wasn't there to begin with . . .
. . . Like he blocked her out from his interest completely, only interacting with her if he had to.
"I have been a rather callous, uncaring idiot these past few weeks, haven't I?" He asks, his words almost taking me off guard.
Mainly because he called himself an idiot.
I never thought he was capable of even calling himself that label, but here we are.
"You have been quite callous through much of your adult life, and you do have a tendency to look like you don't care in certain situations," I admit as I watch him take a seat in a nearby empty chair. ". . . But I wouldn't go as far as to call you an idiot. You're too smart to ever be considered a full idiot. . ."
"A full idiot? Are you being serious Mina?"
"Byakuya, you're not a typical idiot by the standard definition, but you have used your intelligence in idiotic ways in the past." I clarify, managing to get a rather un-noble snort from the raven-haired man.
"Well that's one way to describe it,'' he admits, watching me as I took the seat next to him. "I'm just . . . I'm just very conflicted right now."
"I believe you're at a crossroads, my old friend; one centered on your sense of duty," I say, giving my own theory on the matter. "You're torn between your duty to your family, your duty to the Gotei 13, and the promise you made to Hisana before she passed away. . . All of them war within you, and yet none of them come out the winner. It's an ongoing stalemate, and you have no idea how to resolve it."
He looks at me with what looked to be slight awe in his tired eyes before nodding, giving me just enough to know that I may have hit his dilemma right on the money.
"When did you get so wise Mina?" he suddenly asks, looking off to the side.
"I was always wise Byakuya. You just chose to ignore my wisdom at times."
"Hmm, if that's the case, in hindsight, I regret not listening to some of your wisdom in the past." He quietly admits, turning back with his stoic look back in place. With that look, it was hard to tell if he was kidding or not.
"It would have saved you some grief if you did." I mumble, still trying to figure out if he was kidding or not.
"Maybe . . ." he concedes, looking blankly at the wall. "On one hand, as the leader of a Great Noble Clan and a captain of a Gotei 13 Division, it would be considered absolutely horrendous if I even thought about going against Soul Society's laws . . ."
"And yet, on the other hand, you promised your late wife that you would take care of her sister as her dying wish. Of course, that same promise is now hampered by the fact that Rukia has to face the justice of the said laws you have to abide and uphold," I conclude, weighing the two sides like I was holding tangible objects in the palm of my hands. "That's not an easy position to be in Byakuya."
He nods, looking at me with conflicted eyes, as if he was warring with himself over something that he wasn't telling me.
Knowing him, it wouldn't be the first time.
"Mina, there is something that I haven't told you yet. . . Something that adds another layer to this entire execution issue I've been plagued by."
"Hmm, is it something bad?"
"I wouldn't say it is bad. It just makes things more complex for me. . ." he admits in a solemn voice. "Minata, after I adopted Rukia into the clan, I made a promise on my parents' graves that I would never do anything that would bring shame to the family ever again."
"That's . . . a very big promise that you made," I concede, my eyebrows raised in slight shock. "Those kinds of promises are not ones to be taken lightly."
"You have no idea. . ." he whispers. "When you have made all these promises and sworn all these vows, it becomes hard to uphold all of them, especially when they start to conflict with each other."
"You've certainly gotten yourself into quite a bind here Byakuya," I mumble, not knowing what else to say. "I would take action to help you, but knowing you, you would tell me that what you're going through is strictly Kuchiki business, and that I must not interfere by any means necessary."
"I would restrain you with every restraining spell I know if you tried to Mina," He clarifies, his face brokering no room for argument. "The situation with Rukia is a Kuchiki Clan issue as much as it is an issue for her division, no matter how much some of my elders would prefer to ignore it."
"Let's face it, some of your elders willfully blind themselves to anything that displeases them, even when they're connected to it in some way," I say, shaking my head. "As for you not letting me interfere, are you sure that it's not just your pride talking?"
"Do you really want me to answer that?"
"You can't blame me for asking," I counter as he looks me straight in the eyes. "I've known Rukia just as long as you have. She is your sister, but she's also my friend, just like you are to me, and last time I checked, friends helped each other out."
"That's true, but what can you do in this scenario Mina?" He counters in return. "It is not like you can convince the Captain Commander to go against the Central 46's directive. He is absolutely unmovable once a decision is made. . . As for using Clan influence, our families may enjoy the same social status, but neither of our family's connections will help Rukia's case, no matter how many avenues we try."
"Hmm, you really know how to make a depressing situation even more depressing, don't you?"
"I heard it is part of my charm," The smirk appeared involuntarily, and though I wasn't used to hearing such humor from him, it was quite refreshing to hear it. "Well then, since your promises and oaths are preventing you from taking any action, and you refuse to accept or allow me to help, it looks like all we can do is wait and see what happens. . . Only time will tell whether or not there will be a good ending to all of this."
"Considering what's at stake, is a good ending even possible?" He asks, his tone slightly challenging.
"Hmm, fair point," I concede, leaning back in his chair. "Byakuya, have you spoken to your grandfather about this? Or anyone else for that matter?"
"Actually, I have not. You are the only one so far." he admits, his gaze unreadable.
It made me feel both special and a little unsure at the same time.
"I see," I say as I look away, careful to not get too lost in his eyes. "You should seek out a second opinion though. I'm sure Ginrei would be more than willing to give you some advice on the matter."
"I'm sure he would if I asked him . . . I don't even know why I have delayed going to him for this long," he concedes, shaking his head. "However, before I do seek my grandfather out, I have to ask you something Mina?"
"Ask away Byakuya? What's on your mind?"
"It's just . . . It's been something I've been curious about since that ryoka tried to free Rukia from prison."
As soon as he said that, I knew exactly what he wanted to ask me about.
"You want to know about my bankai, don't you?"
"Is it that obvious?"
"For you, very . . ."
Byakuya's POV
"Hmm, after what happened at the prison tower, I had a feeling you were going to ask me that question one of these days." She says, looking like she knew she couldn't hide her secret from me forever.
"What happened? When did you finally achieve it?"
"About a few years after I joined the First, actually," she admitted, her gaze looking distant. "Lieutenant Sasakibe was the one to encourage me to work on it."
"He did?" I didn't mean to ask the question out loud, but it did seem a little odd to me that the Captain Commander's ever-present shadow was the one that encouraged Mina to work on her bankai.
"Indeed, he did," she agreed, her lips curling into a small smirk. "Trust me, I was shocked too when he approached me about working on my bankai. . . Mainly because I had no idea he could even speak."
"You thought he was mute?" I ask, feeling my own eyes widen at Mina's admission.
"Can you blame me?!" She asked, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "The man almost never speaks in general. He's like a background character in a story. He's present, but you almost never notice him until it's time for him to add value to the plot."
"Well that's a nice way to think about one of your commanding officers Mina . . ." I say, my sarcasm blatantly showing for once as it laced my tone.
"Don't worry. He knows I see him like this sometimes, and I'm not alone in my thinking. Most of the barracks thinks he's so silent that it's almost hard to notice him until he actually speaks," she bites back, brushing off my sarcasm like it was a simple fly. "It's pretty much a running joke in the First at this point, and Sasakibe doesn't mind it."
"He doesn't?"
"Nope; he takes it like a champ," Mina clarifies, almost smirking at the thought. "For him, as long as he can work under the Captain Commander's leadership, he doesn't care what others may say about him, even if it's all in good fun."
"That makes sense. . . He has spent many centuries as Captain Commander Yamamoto's lieutenant, refusing vacant captain positions whenever he was offered one. He may not be interested in moving up in position, but he is loyal to a fault," I say, looking back on the tanned man's past. It was rumored that he had a bankai himself, but he never used it in a fight.
Then again, not many saw him actively use his blade in a fight to begin with.
"Sasakibe is very much a man of few words, but when he speaks, it's best to listen," Mina mumbles, almost smirking. "I listened to what he had to say, realized he made quite a few points, and soon enough, I found myself working on my bankai . . . I do have it now, but trust me, Mizukiri made me work for it."
"The zanpakutos always do . . ." I add, looking back on my own journey in achieving my bankai. To this day, I do believe Senbonzakura was vehemently grinning from ear to ear as he put me through Hell to earn his advanced form. "Our zanpakuto may be a part of our own souls, but they will make us work for their power."
"Some of them do it because they really want to see us earn it. Others, because they like to see us suffer," She concludes, her eyes looking inquisitive. "So, I'm sure you're a little curious to know what my bankai entails right?"
"I will not ask you to admit such a thing to me, but I am curious. . ." I freely admit. I was not one to ask outright what a person was capable of, allowing their actions to speak for them rather than their words. "You know how mine works after all."
The mystery behind Minata's bankai was making me think otherwise for once.
"Indeed, I do, but I only learned about it through observing you training it and figuring out the details on my own. It's only fair that you do the same now that the roles have been reversed," She cheekily says, almost grinning in a way that was reminiscent of that damned werecat. "To be generous, I'll give you a hint. My bankai works in a similar fashion to my shikai, only at a much grander scale."
"That is pretty much how most bankais tend to work Mina." I remind her, not liking her hint one bit.
Despite what her name implied, Mizukiri was not a water type in the literal sense. In shikai, she became a jūmonji yari that was taller than average, a weapon that required Mina to learn both bōjutsu and sōjutsu in order to properly wield her. Though I must admit, watching Mina hit her head one too many times with a practice bo was quite an entertaining sight - for the sake of our friendship, I did worry that she may have given herself a concussion a few times - it wasn't fun facing Mina and Mizukiri in an actual spar.
Mizukiri's special ability was to conjure a large mist of acidic reiatsu from her blade that was capable of melting anything it touched, including some of Senbonzakura's own blades during the few times we sparred shikai to shikai. It made Mina a hard woman to hit in battle, so to imagine her bankai along those lines . . . It likely made her virtually untouchable.
"Hmm, now that I think about it, I may have a few ideas on what your bankai may entail," I admit. ". . . Though I will be keeping them to myself for now."
"Is that your way of saying that you have no idea what my bankai could specifically do?"
"Don't push it Mina. . ." I ordered, watching her gaze move toward the door. Turning my head, it wasn't hard to make out the two shadowy outlines of our zanpakutos appearing on the shoji paneling. Sliding the door open, Senbonzakura and Mizukiri peek in to see us sitting side by side, and while the blonde is obviously curious as to why we were in here, all I could feel were waves of amusement coming from the samurai spirit.
Something tells me I won't hear the end of this for a while.
"Um, why are you two in here?" Mizukiri is quick to ask, cutting in before Senbonzakura could even say anything . . . A likely blessing in disguise.
"We needed to find somewhere private to discuss some things, so we came here," Mina answers for the both of us, giving a truthful response without giving anything away. "Have you been looking for us for long?"
"Not really . . . Lord Ginrei is looking for you two. Apparently, it's time for the weekly tea." Senbonzakura mumbles, almost sounding surly as he crossed his arms.
He must be a little upset with Mizukiri for speaking before he could start teasing . . .
. . . Truly a blessing in disguise.
"Hm, it's best not to keep your grandfather waiting . . ." Mina muses before standing up. "Tell him we'll be right there."
"As you wish . . ." Mizukiri answers before shunpoing away, Senbonzakura lingering a little longer before he too left.
"Was there anything else you wanted to talk to me about?"
Looking away from the spot my zanpakuto previously stood at, I look up to see my friend's expectant gaze. When we were younger, Mina had always wore her hair loose, but as we got older, she favored her clan headpiece more and more, keeping her hair pinned away from her face. It hid her face less and showed her eyes more.
With eyes like hers, why not show them?"
"Oh, nothing. . ." I say, finally standing up. "There's nothing left to say. Thank you for listening Minata."
"It was no problem my friend. If you need an ear, I'm always ready to provide one," she tells me, a smirk lining her face as she walks out the door. "Now come on! The tea will get cold!"
"As you wish . . ." I concede, following after her at a slower pace. I felt a little lighter now that I finally got what I wanted to say off my chest, but the pain of what was to come still lingered.
In a few days' time, I would have to stand at attention and watch as my sister faced the consequences of her actions. While one vow continues to stand tall, another will burn away into ashes.
Very soon, all my vows and oaths will come to a head.
A part of me will live knowing that I kept one vow alive, but another will die as it burns into ashes.
. . . One vow will die, to keep the other alive. . .
My life has never been the easiest to live, despite my pedigree . . .
. . . Currently, it's not getting any easier, and I do not think it ever will at this point.
A/N: Leave a comment if you like!
