Starry Night

Chapter 2: Forward

A/N: If you don't know about Shiba Kaien, I suggest that you do not read any further. There are minor spoilers about him.

Time's passed incredibly fast since then.

We looked into each other's eyes for a moment that seemed to last forever. I don't know what she saw in mine, but hers' were shining with an emotion I'd never seen before. All I'd ever seen before was jealousy, pain, cunning.

It felt like a fresh new start, gazing into her eyes. I completely forgot that I had been just waiting to die there in that desolate alley.

Suddenly, she snapped out of the gaze, looking away suddenly. I immediately felt ashamed – had I been staring too much? – and looked back down at the ground. I felt a blush blooming on my cheeks.

She got up and held out her hand. I took it and she pulled me up gently.

With an arm around my shoulder, we left District 40 of West Rukongai, heading forward towards the first district.

Rukia-san brought me to a restaurant of some kind in West Rukongai, District 1. The first district was the most beautiful place I had seen, the difference between this place and my previous 'home' was incredible.

We had the best food I'd ever tasted there. The fact that I didn't have to steal it made it all the sweeter. I regained the strength which I had lost for so long bit by bit, with every bite.

I thanked Rukia-san over and over for the meal. The watermelons, especially, were simply scrumptious.

She kept smiling and saying that it was no big deal, but she seemed distant, somehow. I wondered why.

After we finished eating, she asked me, "I want to go back to my home to pick up something. Do you mind following me?"

"Anything you want. Thank you so much for everything; I really don't deserve this…" I let my sentence trail off. She seemed to be here physically, but her thoughts were far away.

"Let's go," she said, and we set off for her home, in the very centre of Soul Society, the Court of Pure Souls – Seireitei. I wondered how what it looked like, how different it would be from Rukongai…

Everything about Seiki's and Kaien-dono's eyes were the same. They really were the exact same colour, it dug up so many memories…

So many memories… So happy, but so painful…

I would befriend Seiki and help her along, train her – it felt like some way I could repay Kaien-dono for training me.

I broke eye contact with her. I had to snap myself out of this. Kaien-dono was gone. His heart was with me, but his physical being would never, ever come back. I had to resign myself to that fact. Just because Seiki's eyes were the same didn't mean that she was like Kaien-dono, it could just be a coincidence, I didn't need to go out of my way to watch over her…

Right?

I thought of Ichigo. Sure, I had given him my shinigami powers because he wanted to save his family, but I was so close to him afterwards. I used the fact that I had lost my powers, so he had to take care of my duties as an excuse, but I wanted to know him better…

Was that because of his resemblance to Kaien-dono?

Was I really such a horrible, superficial person, only getting close to a person because of how they appeared on the surface?

Of course, once I got to know Ichigo, it was a different story, but…

I made up my mind. I'd help Seiki to the best of my ability, get to know her. Not because I wanted to help anyone who resembled any bit of Kaien-dono, but because I truly wanted to help a girl who had suffered in Rukongai and had the power to become a powerful shinigami.

The fact that her eyes were so much like Kaien-dono's would be just a coincidence, or so I thought.

It was only then that I realised that Seiki had looked down again and was blushing – I had made her feel awkward by looking away so abruptly.

I got up and held my hand out to her.

She took it and I slowly pulled her to her feet. Together, we set off for a better district where I would buy her some more food.

West Rukongai, District 1. The exact same district Hitsugaya-taicho and Hinamori had come from. I had heard from Hinamori that the watermelons here were delicious and smiled a little when I saw Seiki enjoying them.

My thoughts wandered back to Kaien-dono as she continued her meal.

Raven-black hair, aqua green eyes, he had a youthful appearance and a dynamic personality. He took Ukitake-taicho's duties upon himself because of the captain's illness. He trained me to become the shinigami I am today.

I killed him. It was my sword that passed through his body.

It was a fight of honour, and I had allowed him to die with pride after leaving his heart with me, but I still felt guilty - like I had to repay that debt of killing him somehow.

So far, it seems like I did that by helping people who resembled him.

First Ichigo… and now Seiki.

I felt horrible. Hadn't I been the one who told Ichigo, "Even if you save that kid here, nothing will matter if you don't become a Shinigami! Saving him because he's right in front of you! Don't be naïve. A Shinigami has to treat all spirits equally! You cannot just conveniently save those you can see, those you can reach. Don't save that kid with such half-heartedness. If you want to save him now... accept that you must save all spirits. To go anywhere for them... to even give your life to save them, make that kind of commitment!"

All you had to do was tweak what I said a little. Helping only those who resembled Kaien-dono wasn't fair. Like a shinigami has to treat all spirits all equally, shouldn't I have to treat everyone equally too? If I helped one person, shouldn't I help all of them?

Then again, it was incredibly rare to stumble upon someone like Ichigo or Seiki. They were similar in so many ways, besides the fact that they both resembled Kaien-dono. I had been stunned by Ichigo's abilities as a human. Seiki's reiatsu, which was admittedly different, was steadily increasing as she regained her strength. For someone untrained to be so strong - I was surprised. Then again, it was her strange reiatsu which had led me to her.

She could turn out to be an incredibly powerful shinigami, just like Ichigo.

Noticing that Seiki was done with her meal, I told her that I wanted to pick something up from home.

A complete, total lie. I wanted to do something about her, but I wasn't sure what yet. I was still thinking of the plan. I knew that I had to enrol her in the Shino Academy, of course, but…

I continued berating myself for treating her specially.

I felt so guilty, but considering the circumstances…

Kaien-dono would have known what to do in this situation. He would have told me what I should do. Like a compass, he could have shown me right from wrong.

Ever since he'd left, a part of me was missing – I had no one to turn to for help.

Seiki and I started heading forward to Seireitei. I was going to bring her to the Kuchiki residence. What for, I would decide later.

Kaien-dono… I miss you.

A/N: Thanks for reading. Reviews are appreciated! This story will be updated once a week, unless I am incredibly busy.