Remembrance
chapter 3. Hanami
Hisana was gone the next morning. A sudden rain washed away even traces of the petals.
I saw her sweeping the courtyard the next day, and walked past, pretending not to see. Swish, swish, nothing flickers on her face.
She was there the night after the next, under the crescent moon, when the white plum bloomed and woke me with its scent.
She stood there until I got tired of the flowers and went back to sleep.
She was there every night when a tree bloomed, bearing witness to the flowers' death as though it is her duty to do so. She was like a tree herself, oblivious to everything else.
This Hisana, she can tell when flowers bloom.
A truly useless, if interesting ability.
Never did I guess, that years later, I would wait every spring with the same Hisana under the trees, just to see the first bloom.
How very un-Kuchiki that is, to indulge in such things. Though, it is definitely more un-Kuchiki to enjoy these moments when I shed the Kuchiki name and become simply, Hisana's Byakuya-sama.
There were only five springs, four peaceful ones, and the fifth that did not count. Hisana left, with the first plum blossom.
Years later, I will wake at the scent of plum blossoms. I will remember the reason for the empty coldness on my right side, and stop myself before I call out, "Hisana, the plums have bloomed."