A/n: thank you for the reviews!
Chapter Six : She who Was
"What do you want?" the girl asked, her voice suspicious, fingers on the dagger trembling. She gripped it again with her left hand, trying to subdue her fear, "Tadashi is here only to play; leave him alone and take me to your boss." It didn't escape his notice that she spoke with a street accent, one that the poorer sections of the society may adopt as they're churned through the push and pulls of the capitalist society.
Make sure she's happy and healthy, and not subject to misfortune; that is my last request to you, my husband... the last words of his late wife echoed in his mind.
"I—" Byakuya started, staring at her in amazement disguised as cool interest, his façade. "I have no boss to take you to. I come here of my own volition."
She swallowed thickly, eyes—this same deep, dark eyes—trained on him. He had never seen their colour as brightly as now he was seeing, because Hisana never looked at him the way Rukia was. Even in this dim light, her eyes were full of life, and a wil to fight back for someone else's life, if the need be.
It was then that a realization dawned upon him—Hisana and Rukia were never the same people. If he had been looking for Rukia to see Hisana in her, he would never find her. Rukia was now proving that. She was someone else, a new life, a new will, very different from Hisana. Byakuya's eyes softened a little at the comprehension.
But no, he wasn't doing this because he wanted to, he did this because of that promise.
Ah, it was all coming back to him now. If his wife were alive at this time, how happy she would have been if Rukia were found. His heart felt heavy at the loss, and he lowered his gaze, but steeled his resolve.
"You'll have to—"
"Run, Tadashi!"
The sickly boy who was hiding with her dashed out of the room as commanded, crying and cowering as he went. The short scuffle surprised Byakuya, enough to make him raise an eyebrow; what was Rukia trying to do?
"Okay, now do whatever you want." She threw her dagger aside, spreading her arms. In the small room, it made her look bigger than she was, and closer to him than he would prefer, but Byakuya could tell that she was only as tall as Hisana was, and he towered at least two heads above her. "There's no point in shedding more blood or injuring me, is there? I know you're one of his men, so take me to Jaegerjaquez, and—"
"Wait a minute, you are saying unnecessary words and mentioning useless names; stop and listen to what I have to say, Rukia."
"How do you—?" She began, her voice loud.
"That's quite enough, Rukia, Byakuya-kun," a soft voice intercepted, and both heads turned the door. Ukitake Jūshirō stepped into the room. "Let's stop your talking right there." He smiled.
End of six
To be continued
A/n: lol it may seem like I'm just introducing new characters all the time, but it'll all straighten out in a couple of chapters! I'll strive to update this regularly. i changed Hisana's last words a little bit to suit the premise better.