AN: I'd like to thank all the kind reviews I've received – it's been really encouraging! This story has been a labour of love, so it's great to see the love rewarded. Cheers! And now, chapter four, number twenty!
20. The Road Home
They walked together in the night. Their moonlit walks were becoming a daily occurrence. Hisana was amazed they had time to function during the day since they used up so much of the night walking and talking.
Hisana found Byakuya Kuchiki to be intelligent, interesting, collected and yet passionate about certain things. He made her forget her troubles and enjoy the world, if for only for the few hours they spent together. She wondered what he saw in her, if anything. He spoke to her without class getting in the way, though her awareness of his status never diminished. They were not that familiar with each other. She called him 'Kuchiki-sama' would not dare call him anything else. Hisana's imagination did still like to run away with her and, on occasion, she would imagine calling him Byakuya. It made her shiver with the feeling of something inconceivable.
"I better be going back to Seireitei before the house discovers me gone. I shall never hear the end of it, otherwise," Byakuya said. They had been heading back to the bridge that served as their meeting place for some minutes, but now it came into sight their time to part had come.
Hisana always found herself becoming awkward at this point in their nightly meetings. She considered him a friend, but was unsure how he would react to… anything, really. She wished she had the guts to do something, but her courage failed her every time.
"Even with your power, you still are controlled?" she asked, desperate to keep him there if only a minute longer. He halted on the bridge, turning to face her. His eyes were sad, though the rest of his face was belied nothing.
"Of course. We are all under some form of control. But that is something to discuss another time. Goodnight, Hisana," he said, giving a slight bow of his head.
"Goodnight, Kuchiki-sama," she replied, bowing lower than he before straightening and watching him walk away.
Her heart cried for her to do something, anything, but she didn't know what to do.
"Kuchiki-sama!" she suddenly called out, and he slowly turned.
"Yes?"
She became flustered, coming over to him. Her hands fidgeted while her mind raced. What was she thinking?
"Thank you for talking to me," she blurted, before standing on tiptoes to briefly hug him. Her lips had brushed against his expensive scarf, feeling the silky smoothness of it. Hisana registered the fact Byakuya had completely frozen. She prayed it was from shock, and not horror.
Without looking at him, she let go and departed, giving a wave. When she was sure he wouldn't be able to see her, she ran as fast as she could.