Disclaimer: Bleach belongs to the maestro Kubo Tite.

Mirror Mask

Chapter Four –The Cutting Moon

Kuchiki Rukia pulled herself up to settle on the wooden balustrade. The girl turned back to look over her shoulder at the dark lake lapping the base of the viewing pavilion. The water in this corner of the Seireitei Lake was exceptionally calm. At night, the quiet pool was transmuted into an expanse of black glass. Reflected on the surface of the liquid onyx, was the crescent moon in a cloudless sky.

Zangetsu. The Cutting Moon.

Rukia thought of the boy with the sword named after the sickle moon slicing across the sky. A curious sword strapped across his back; the blade seemed oddly incomplete.

Tensa Zangetsu. The Heavenly Chain, Cutting Moon.

The severe, black nodachi sword that was his bankai. Rukia had first seen Ichigo with the long sword drawn in hand against Aizen's blade at the execution grounds. The fitting, black Shinigami robe was a deviation that threw back to his origins from a world outside Soul Society.

Twice, he had arrived with an unfamiliar blade to save her. The boy she had known in Karakura had carried a far larger version of her own zanpakutou. In this time, had he become a stranger to her?

The image of a bone-white mask that half-concealed his face, and completely twisted his identity flashed across her mind.

There was unknown strength within his sword and within himself as well.

Zangetsu. Kurosaki Ichigo. As mysterious as the dark side of the moon.

"Rukia."

The soft interruption jolted the girl out of her thoughts. There was a bit of flustered scrabbling as Rukia tried to save herself from toppling backwards into the cold pool behind.

Rukia hopped down quickly from the balustrade, and tried not to look as if she had just been caught in a decidedly un-ladylike position by her brother. Kuchiki training frowned upon the climbing of anything other than the rungs of the social hierarchy stairs. It had taken the Kuchiki clan's senior retainer ages to break the Rukongai girl out of her cat-like tree-climbing habits.

"Nii-sama. Good evening to you."

"Good evening, Rukia," Kuchiki Byakuya replied, placing his hands lightly on the rails. "The Jigoku-cho reported that your friends from the mortal world made it safely home through the dangai."

Ebony eyes flicked over to study the silent girl. "You chose to remain in Soul Society."

She met his steady gaze. "There is something I must do here. As I am now…" Rukia's eyes darkened. "If I were to engage in battle–"

I wouldn't stand a chance against him.

Byakuya shut his eyes. A thousand blades flashed in battle, like a whirlwind storm of sakura petals. An opponent who claimed to have no name, masked by the face of a Hollow…

The Kuchiki lord understood his sister's unvoiced intentions, even if she did know it. After all, this would not be the first time she had faced someone dear to her heart possessed by a Hollow.

What sort of twisted fate had begun to unfold at her feet?

"I hear you paid Lady Shiba Kuukaku a visit," he said.

"Yes, I did. It was long overdue," Rukia replied.

Byakuya watched the tension drain from her shoulders. It was such a great thing to be forgiven.

She gave a brittle laugh. "Kaien-dono would have reprimanded me for taking such a long time to get to it. He was always such an immediate person."

A Seireitei Lord, a Death God in the Gotei 13. But his spirit was so free, it was bothersome. Shiba Kaien was truly such a man.

"He was a very important person to you," Byakuya noted quietly, and left it at that.

A smile flickered across Rukia's face.

Kaien-dono. To me, he was…

oooOooo

"The Vice-Captain?" Kotsubaki Sentarou said. "He could be–!"

"He would be at the noodle stall down Shinano Lane!" Kotetsu Kiyone said loudly, darting a quick look of triumph at her rival for successfully cutting in.

Kuchiki Rukia thanked her fellow Division mates. Sounds of their habitual squabbling followed her down the street. Doorway paper lanterns were lighting up one-by-one to welcome customers as the evening sky darkened rapidly. Sundown was causing the winter air to take on a chilly bite.

Delicious smells wafted out from the noodle stall at the corner of the road. On cue, her stomach growled in appreciation. Just as Rukia lifted a hand to part the curtains at the entrance, a voice carried out clearly from inside.

"…have a care for your reputation, Lord Shiba. Perhaps you're not aware of it, but if you would only turn around, you would see how the adopted Kuchiki girl is always behind you."

That condescending tone and disdainful sniff at the end of the sentence –it could only be a Seireitei noble lady.

The 13th Division Shinigami slipped aside from the doorway. Rukia stood frozen at corner of the stall, concealed from sight by the panels providing relative shelter from the wind. She should turn around and go. Just leave.

But her feet stayed rooted to the ground.

"–following you around with puppy-dog eyes. You shouldn't encourage her so. Such talk involving two noble families is damaging."

Rukia's cheeks burned. Was she really like that? Did her Division mates think that of her too?

"It is worrisome as you are soon to be married to your fiancée, isn't that so, Shiba-sama?"

From between the partition, Rukia saw Shiba Kaien slam his sake cup down loudly on the counter. Rukia jumped. So did the woman who had been doing all the speaking.

Kaien's eyes were hard as he turned in his seat to face the woman beside him. Rukia could tell that the action strongly unnerved the upper-class gossipmonger.

"Lady, have a care. Your empty talk is getting on my nerves. I have heard more than enough. I bid you a good journey on your way out. Now, please remove yourself from my presence."

Rukia had never heard the Vice-Captain speak in such a formal manner before. The polite speech and blatant sarcasm ushered the fuming noble woman out of the shop in a huff.

The curtains swished apart, and the lady stormed past Rukia in her eaves-dropping spot without a backward glance.

The Shinigami recruit started to leave. Without looking up, her Vice-Captain said nonchalantly, "Kuchiki Rukia."

She bit her lip. Oh, hell!

"What a rude little girl you are. Do you think I'm stupid? Stop sneaking around behind there, shamelessly eaves-dropping. Come in here."

Little girl? Rukia's lips moved soundlessly as she muttered the term to herself. How offending!

A pair of wooden chopsticks whizzed out between the partitions to smack her cleanly on the forehead. Shiba Kaien, being the contrary man that he was, had just added injury to the insult.

"Oww!"

"Well, hurry up! Don't make me come out there in the cold to get you."

The girl stepped into the shop with a sulky look. The higher-ranking officer had cleverly maneuvered the situation around to resolve an otherwise awkward affair.

Kaien twisted in his seat to salute her arrival with his sake cup. "Yo, Rukia!"

Rukia stood at the entryway, head down. Silent. Waiting.

She should have known that such normality between them could never be. It was not the way of the noble families to be so informal.

Kaien reprimanded her loudly. "Have I taught you nothing? When your Vice-Captain greets you –you damn well respond, brat. Now, what do you say?" he prompted.

"Kaien-dono…" Rukia managed to squeak out.

"Okay. And then?"

"Er…good evening?"

He snorted. "Sit down."

Rukia plopped heavily onto the stool. So taken aback that she was unable to do anything else but obey.

He muttered grumpily, "Stupid kid. What were you doing? Standing outside in the cold for fun?"

The shopkeeper behind the counter smiled kindly at Rukia. "Irrashai! What will you have, little miss?"

The girl decided that she would rather answer that. "Tsukimi soba. Make that two eggs instead of one, please."

"What's this –you have some bizarre appetite for eggs?" Kaien questioned dubiously.

Rukia crossed her arms defensively. "What? I like eggs. Any meal with eggs is a good meal."

He dug his chopsticks into the bowl of steaming soba noodles before him and raised an eye-brow. "That's kinda iguana-like, y'know."

Rukia thought that was rather rich coming from him. Especially since the way he slurped that strand of soba noodle just then, so strongly reminded her of an overgrown reptile flicking its tongue out –in reverse-action.

The Vice-Captain tossed her a pair of wooden chopsticks. "So, how's he treating you?"

Rukia caught them. "Who?" she queried, fiddling with the pair.

"Big brother Byakuya," he explained.

She hesitated, fumbling with the chopsticks. "He… he is very gracious."

The girl split the pair. It broke apart unevenly in her hands. Kaien snorted.

"His Grace, the Lord Kuchiki, needs to learn how to loosen up. Chill out instead of chilling people with that frosty voice of his," Kaien said, finishing his statement with a haughty tone –a cruel, but nearly precise mimicry of Byakuya's aloof attitude.

Rukia's senior officer grabbed a second pair of chopsticks and cracked them cleanly apart before handing them to her. He waved at the shopkeeper. "Ossan, loan me the use of your grill?"

"Just don't set the place on fire, Kaien-kun."

Rukia watched him with a dumbfounded look as he proficiently reached for batter and ingredients behind the counter. "Kaien-dono, what are you doing?"

The youth grabbed a spatula and winked at Rukia. "Watch. I'm teaching you how to melt Lord Kuchiki Byakuya's heart!"

Kaien pulled up the sleeves of his robes as he worked. The leader of the Shiba House with the symbol of his clan's markings on his left arm, cooking up a storm behind a grill –it made a strangely contradictory scene.

The rising vapor from the frying grill caused a stinging sensation in Rukia's nose. As if sympathizing with her sinuses, her eyes began tearing up. What sort of culinary warfare was the Vice-Captain waging? Nerve gas in a marriage between wasabi and mustard sauce?

"Okonomiyaki,"explained her superior, cheerfully oblivious to her breathing predicament. "Cook what you like, the way you like it. And here's a tip: there aren't many things your Nii-sama likes better than spicy food. I've seen him consume curries that could have set a dragon on fire."

Rukia's eyes dropped to the pancake frying on the grill. She suspected that the Seireitei Fire-Fighting Squad would be involved approximately after the first tongue-blistering mouthful.

"Yoruichi tried to rig his meal once. Thought that it would be great fun to get a reaction out of the Little Lord Byakuya. She hid some tiny little green chilies in the centre of his Onigiri…" Kaien grimaced as he recalled the memory. "Never witnessed a prank with a bigger letdown than that. We thought it was Kuchiki's iron-will composure. But, it turned out he actually liked his food that way."

Rukia watched her Vice-Captain deftly flip the pancakes into a take-away bag. The next unsuspecting victim who used the grill would have a gastronomic surprise waiting. The spicy juices would surely add an unexpected zing.

Kaien paid the bill and handed the okonomiyaki package to her. "Now when you're having a hard time with him, you know what to do." He added mischievously, "This is your bribe-ticket."

A chilly wind tugged at their black robes as they walked down the street. Rukia's teeth chattered. The warmth from the heated noodle shop had made her more sensitive to the wintry air.

Her Vice-Captain made tsk-ing sounds. "Why didn't you come out with warmer clothing?"

Rukia shrugged. "This is nothing. In Rukongai…"

"Rubbish!" Kaien said. "Whatabout Rukongai? Your winters are colder? Your summer days; warmer?" He stopped and said in a softer voice, "Just because you're from Rukongai, that makes you such a tough girl –that's what you think. Does that mean you don't hurt or feel the way any Seireitei resident would?"

Renji, let's become Shinigami. If we do, we can live in the Court of Pure Souls.

Aa. We'll prove our worth to those sons and daughters of noble families.

They had left Inuzuri, 78th District of South Rukongaito seek refuge in the Gotei 13; a safe haven from the lawless life beyond the Seireitei walls. Rukia, Renji and the others had bonded to survive on their trail to find their family.

Now, she had a family to belong to. But, did that make her an aristocrat or a Rukongai street rat? And how was it that Rukia felt more alone in Soul Society now than ever before?

"Don't draw lines where there aren't any. Understand, Rukia?" Kaien said, clapping a hand on her head. "Nobody thinks that badly of you; as you seem to believe."

She gave him a tentative smile from beneath windswept and well-tousled hair. "Thank you, Kaien-dono."

Her superior nodded amiably and waved her through the gates of the Kuchiki House. "Good night, Rukia."

oooOooo

"You're home late, Rukia."

Rukia turned around slowly to face the voice of authority in the Kuchiki clan. "Nii-sama…"

Why are you sitting in the living room without any lamps lit?

Rukia tried to look as if she hadn't been trying to tiptoe silently across the hall in her tabi-socked feet. As Byakuya's eyes fell upon her tangled hair, Rukia's hands twitched. She regretfully thought that she should have combed it. But, the plan had been to sneak in undetected.

"Nii-sama…Aah…" Rukia fished around for an answer.

Now when you're having a hard time with him, you know what to do.

Byakuya nearly took a step back when the petite girl abruptly thrust a packet of pungent 'something' in his face. The young lord hesitantly took it from her hand.

"For you," she said, awkwardly.

He perceived the hopeful look on his sister's face. Byakuya parted the package to take a look.

Rukia was suddenly very aware of how quiet the house was. Her nose tingled. And how incredibly over-powering Kaien's okonomiyaki special really was! The girl bit her lip as the Kuchiki lord took an inquisitive sniff of Kaien's concoction.

He was going to sneeze. Or the fire-engine worthy aroma was going to knock him out.

Don't kill the messenger, Nii-sama! I'm just delivering Kaien-dono's…

The man who could take anything the Scoville Scale had to offer, and eat chili peppers as if butter wouldn't melt in his mouth, quirked a smile and said, "It smells good."

Author's Note: The Scoville Scale is the measure of hotness of chili pepper. Nodachi –a katana whose overall length is approximately 6 feet. Shinano –the former name for Nagano Prefecture, famous for its soba noodles. Tsukimi soba (Moon-Viewing soba).

Much thanks to chibi milktea for reminding me about some notes I left out. According to the manga character profiles, Byakuya likes spicy food and enjoys taking strolls at night (which accounts for his meeting with Rukia in this chapter).. It's also true that Rukia's favourite food are eggs (and cucumbers..).

Classiccomeback –Sorry about the late update! I'll be fitting in the lighter-mood chapters as the story progresses. Thank you for letting me know your thoughts on it. Hope I'll be able to balance the heavy tone you mentioned.

rukiaprincess –Time skip/gap where Rukia's training… ;) Well, I hope a flashback is alright. I'll be trying to weave this fic in with the events in the manga. May have to spin off into AU, so I don't spoil the story for people waiting for the anime to catch up.

NeoChick –My first 'fictional cookie'! –bites in happily..- I'm glad you enjoyed the gardener. Had to trawl through Zen gardens and Bonsai trees online. Finally used only a tiny portion of my notes on it.. (Must stop my overkill habit.)

eli6 –Thank you for letting me know about the jarring transitions in the storyline! It's great to know what points I have to work on. I'll try my best to ease the flow in the following chapters.

chibi milktea –Haha! I get what you mean. No Rukia mutating into rabbit-form here. The "intensity" between Ichigo and Rukia which couldn't fit in my fluffier fics is all being generated to the later chapters here. ;)