Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Wedding
Byakuya's P.O.V.
Byakuya stood at the altar in the Shinto shrine. He was wearing the traditional blue haori of the Kuchiki clan embossed with the blue and silver phoenix seal. He looked in the audience to see Mameha positively beaming. Next to her was Hiroyasu who had a disgruntled expression on his face. He wasn't the only one. The left side to the aisle seated most of the nobles and aristocrats. The right side seated most of the Shinigami guests, who were considerably more cheerful.
The crowd fell silent as 3rd seat Shiba and Ise-fukutaicho made their way down the aisle.
Both wore kimonos of light pink and Ise-fukutaicho actually wore her hair down.
Next came 4th seat Matsumoto. She wore a light blue kimono that brought out her eyes.
She clutched a bouquet of Chinese bellflowers in her hands. When both bridesmaids and maid of honor had taken their places at the altar, everyone turns their head to get a look at the bride.
Hooked to Ukitake's arm was a vision of perfection. She seemed to glide down the narrow passage between the seats. Several of the guest whispered behind their hands as Hisana walked toward Byakuya. She was completely unfazed.
Hisana smiled at Byakuya when she stopped in front of Rangiku. Ukitake-taicho stood behind Byakuya at the altar. Then the juuji (chief priest) spoke.
"Welcome, ladies and gentleman. We are gathered here today to witness the union of 6th Division Captain Kuchiki Byakuya of the Gotei 13, to 6th Division Lieutenant Sayuri Hisana. It is so very seldom in these times for people to marry out of love. Your marriage needed not to be arranged, for fate itself, was your matchmaker."
The juuji handed a gold chalice to Byakuya and another to Hisana.
"Before you take a drink, do you, Kuchiki Byakuya, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to love and to cherish until death do you part?"
"I do," said Byakuya.
"And do you, Sayuri Hisana, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to love and to cherish until death do you part?"
"I do," said Hisana.
"You may each take a sip," said the juuji. Byakuya and Hisana drank.
"Before we continue, is there a soul among us that for any reason, believes this marriage should not take place? If so then let him speak now, or may he forever hold his peace."
There was silence. Hisana sucked in a breath.
"Very well," said the juuji. He tied a long red sash around the two gold cups. "You now walk the same path; you now drift upon the same river. May your souls never be parted from one another. By the power vested in me, I now pronounced you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.
Byakuya bent his head and captured Hisana's lips in his own. Hisana wrapped an arm around his neck and popped her foot up. The right side of the aisle erupted into applause.
"I bet most of them came just to get the free food at the reception," whispered Hisana.
Hisana's P.O.V.
Hisana watched the guests converse with one another at dinner from the high table with Byakuya. He had his arm resting on both of her shoulders. Hisana heard the sound of a fan making impact with skin.
"Ow! I would never do anything like that, Nanao-chan," assured Shunsui. "I'll have you know that a gentleman never tries to get a woman drunk, unless it's an emergency. And you, my lovely Nanao-chan, are an emergency…Ow!"
"Kaien, that's your sixth slice of cake…" warned Miyako.
"And when I woke up, I was next to a cactus, holding a croquet mallet," said Rangiku as she retold one of her many drunken stories.
Hisana leaned toward Byakuya's ear. "Having fun, Taicho?"
Byakuya shrugged. "Seeing the 8th Squad captain constantly rejected has lost some of its original amusement over the centuries."
"Sorry, didn't mean for it to be so dull," said Hisana. She placed her hand on his leg and rubbed his inner thigh.
"Don't worry, I promise to make it all up to you…" she assured.
By the time the moon was in the center of the sky, some of the guests began to leave. The nobles were the ones to leave first, congratulating Byakuya and Hisana with frosty politeness as the left the Kuchiki grounds.
An hour later, the last of the guests were bidding farewell. Hisana let out a big yawn. "I think I'm off to bed, Byakuya." She gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"Don't keep me waiting too long," she whispered in his ear before setting off towards the master bedroom. As she walked through the hallways Hisana was in the middle of a dilemma. Hisana was torn. Tonight, she didn't know whether she should play hard to get, or be nice to Byakuya and be submissive. Every single wicked thing she could do flashed through her mind.
Unfortunately, her mind was brought out of the gutter when someone snuck up behind her, pinned her left arm to her back and gripped her right hip with the other hand.
"You think you've outwitted me," said Aizen, his lips brushing against her ear. Hisana shivered at the contact.
"But I'm a patient man," he continued. "And gypsies don't do well inside stone walls."
Aizen lifted his head and inhaled the scent of Hisana's hair.
"What are you doing?" she hissed.
"I was just imagining a sword…" he massaged her throat. "…cutting that beautiful neck…"
Hisana's eye's widened. She finally broke free from Aizen's grasp.
"I know what you were imagining!" said Hisana harshly. Aizen only smiled.
"Such a clever girl," he said "So typical of you gypsies to twist the truth, to cloud the mind with dishonorable thoughts." Hisana made a disgusted face.
"Well, no matter," said Aizen as he walked away. He turned toward her.
"A bird may be content in a cage, but it is a caged thing, nonetheless. You are too fiery and outspoken to remain in the Kuchiki clan for long. You will run away from the rules and restrictions that come with nobility soon enough. And I shall be waiting when you do." Aizen turned the corner and vanished out of sight. Hisana stood there, shaking in anger.
"I'm sick of this never-ending game of cat and mouse!" thought Hisana.
"He's just wants to toy with your mind," said Takuaji. "He knows that he can't touch you now that you're married, so he'll wait until you come to him."
"Che, like that'll ever happen!" Hisana was not going to let Aizen ruin her special night.
She continued to Byakuya's room as if nothing had happened.
When she closed the door, Hisana untied the obi at her waist and dropped it unceremoniously to the ground. The same was applied to her kimono and expensive hair combs until her all her clothing and accessories made a trail to the bathroom door.
Byakuya's bathroom was huge. The tub was so large that it could have passed for a small swimming pool. She walked over to the cupboard above the sink and pulled out the bottle of Junmai sake and glasses that she had planted there earlier. She placed them and a bowl of green apples on the side of the tub that was now filled up half way with water. Hisana then turned her attention to the various bubble baths. Not being able to choose one, she decided to use them all, leaving a foot high layer of bubbles floating on the now filled up tub.
Hisana smiled at her handiwork before letting her under robe fall to the floor. She dipped a single toe into the water. She gave a sigh of contentment. Soon her whole body followed until her head sank below the surface. She emerged with another sigh of pleasure. She swam toward the sake bottle and poured the contents into the two glasses.
She snatched a green apple from the bowl with the other hand.
Just as Hisana bit the apple, Byakuya stepped into the bathroom.
Byakuya's P.O.V.
Byakuya followed the trail of Hisana's clothes and slid the door open. There she was, sitting in the tub, surrounded by bubbles. Her wet hair clung to her neck and shoulders. When she took another bit of her apple, she let the juices slide down her chin.
"There you are, Taicho," Hisana said, hoisting her self out of the water. Byakuya starred, the bubbles sliding down each curve. His pupils began to dilate.
He stood still as she walked up to him. Hisana gave him a chaste kiss on the lips and did away with his blue haori. She moved down his body until she was at his feet, removing his sandals one at a time. Byakuya grabbed her forearm and pulled her back up to his face, grasped the back of her neck and shoved his tongue into her mouth.
She moaned and dropped the apple carelessly. Byakuya began to take off the rest of his clothes, assisted by an impatient Hisana. He resisted the desire to groan as her hand brush his pelvic area. She sucked on his neck and licked the red spot that formed there.
Once all fabric was on the floor, Byakuya picked Hisana up bridal style and stepped into the water. One by one, Hisana gently removed each of his kenseikan and placed them on the side of the tub. She offered Byakuya a glass of sake.
"A toast," Hisana declared. "…to…to…"
"…to Lieutenant Kuchiki of the 6th Division," said Byakuya.
"To Lieutenant Kuchiki," said Hisana and they both clicked their glass together and drank.
Hisana grabbed another apple and swam to the other side of the tub.
"So…" she began. "Has your uncle decided to lighten up at all?"
Byakuya looked over at her. "Does it matter?"
"I'll take that as a no," said Hisana, taking another sip. "Oh well, you can't win them all.
Or rather in my case, I can't win any. Except Mameha, she's so sweet."
"Yes," said Byakuya, swimming to her and bracing his hands on the sides of the tub next to her shoulders. "Can we not talk about them right now?"
"Okay," said Hisana. "Did anything exciting happen at the last captain's meeting?"
"On second thought, can we not talk at all?" he rephrased.
"Well, excuse me," said Hisana. "I thought we might have a civilized conversation, but you seem to be thinking on a one-track mind tonight, as usual."
Byakuya scowled before gripping the back of her thigh under the water and lifting the leg over his hip. He did the same to the other leg.
She wrapped her arms around him as well and kissed him passionately. She pressed every single part of her body against him. She bent her head and nibbled on his ear. Byakuya slowly let his hands wander her back and onto her hips. When he looked down, he furrowed his brow.
"Hisana, did you get another tattoo during our engagement?" he asked. "I certainly don't recall the number five being tattooed to your right hip."
Hisana froze.
"Yes," she said. "It stands for the five years we didn't see one another." She kissed him again, grinding her hips into his own. "Five years of separation that I hope will not be repeated."
He brought his hand in between their bodies and slid a finger inside of her. She bit her lip to keep moaning. He knew that she knew he loved her to voice her pleasure. But she was being stubborn tonight, not wanting to give him the satisfaction just yet. He could tell because her hips would always buck more violently when she ever tried to suppress the urge to moan. He increased the pace, adding two more fingers. She had switched to biting his ear, hard. When he felt her inner muscles clench, he stopped. Hisana let out a scream of displeasure when he removed his fingers.
Byakuya pressed her back to the tub and entered her swiftly. Hisana gasped and finally started to moan uncontrollably as he set the rhythm, meeting him at every thrust.
"Mmmm…ugh…ohhhh," she groaned.
"You're mine, Hisana," said Byakuya. "No other man shall ever have you."
"Ugh…yours, yours," she chanted in his ear. "Why settle for another man when I have a god." Byakuya went faster.
"Yours…all yours…no one else's," Hisana groaned.
"Mine," said Byakuya.
Hours later, Hisana sat in bed, tracing her fingers on the number five that Aizen left on her hip. She rolled over to see Byakuya's sleeping form and smiled. He looked so peaceful when without that serious expression. His face was soft, with the corners of his mouth turned slightly upwards. Hisana snuggled closer to him. Her eyes drifted once more to the tattoo on her hip.
"Ignore and deny," Hisana thought. "…then…forget."
Author's Note: I hated that Hisana lied to Byakuya. It's the first time I've had her do that. Evil Aizen!