AN: I'm glad that people liked Candy. I hope people also like fluffiness, because I would say this chapter is rather in the same vein. But it is preparing the way for a more serious (and longer) chapter. Anyway. No more rambling, save telling you guys how much I love you and thank you for your reviews! Theme twenty-six - away!

26. If Only I Could Make You Mine

To say Hisana was envious was an understatement. The moment she had seen Byakuya's formal Kuchiki family haori, she had wanted to try it on. She didn't ask, though. Only the head of the family could wear such a thing. Same for the scarf and the head ornament kenseikan thing. She knew the hair ornament wouldn't suit her and no matter how often she heard the scarf was worth ten houses, she was yet to believe it. It didn't look worth ten houses to her. She briefly recalled Byakuya's face when she told him that and grinned. She still swore he had visibly paled.

She had reasoned it would be low handed to grab it while he was out working and try it on. She had also reasoned she would also be asking for something to go wrong, it end up being ripped and her having to explain what had happened.

Eventually she concluded that she'd just have to ask.

The thought made her feel just a little ill.

'I can always promise to never say his magic silver wind silky scarf thing looks like something you could buy off a market in one of the nicer districts of Rukongai,' she thought with a smirk.

So she waited until he returned home that evening and ate dinner with her. She could tell he knew she wanted to ask something by the way he kept glancing at her, as if checking he was reading her expression right.

"What do you want?" he eventually asked, narrowing his eyes.

Hisana gave him a dazzling smile that set Byakuya on edge.

"Well… there's something really silly I want to do," she said, gauging his reaction. He looked inquisitive, but ultimately suspicious. He put down his chopsticks and sat back.

"I see," was all he said.

"You have something I would like to try on." She made herself sound confident, but her smile was wavering. Byakuya kept silently looking at her. She knew he was trying to make her crack, and it was unfortunately working like a charm.

"Alright! That formal haori you wear sometimes… I kind of want to try it on," she confessed.

Slowly, he began to smile and Hisana's heart lightened considerably.

"For a moment, I believed you wanted to try on the kenseikan, or the family's ginpaku kazanohana usuginu," he saw her scrunch her nose in distaste, but chose to ignore it and move on, "but my formal haori is fine. The only question I have is - why?"

Hisana went very still and quiet. This was the tricky question.

"I just… well…" she faltered. The truth was rather exposing, in her mind.

"I thought you looked really cool in it," she said quietly, waiting for him to laugh.

He said nothing for a minute. Then he stood, moved around the dining table, and sat beside her. When she gathered her courage and looked at him, she saw he was smiling.

"Really?" he asked and she shyly nodded.

"I don't think I've ever really heard you compliment me like that," he mused.

She hadn't felt her cheeks feel so hot since back when she first met Byakuya. Then she felt a cool kiss on her red hot cheek.

"Thank you, Hisana. Come, let's see if you look as good as I in my haori," he said, helping her up.

Her hand pressed against the cheek he kissed, still feeling its coolness in contrast to her flushed skin, and smiled.