Poisoned

Chapter IV: Confessions

byakuxhisa4eva

You were the one who killed her.

"What?!" Aya gasped, eyes widening in shock, her breath constricting in her chest – the mere thought of doing something so horrid shook her to the core. "Mi'lord, surely you must be mistaken – I adored Lady Hisana. I would never, ever do anything to hurt her!"

Byakuya did not look swayed, his grey eyes cold and accusing; it was as if he had stabbed her through her heart with a sharpened steel sword. "My sources have told me otherwise."

Aya took a series of deep breaths to attempt to calm herself, but her heart was pounding rapidly in her chest, thumping against her ribcage, and her head, still in shock, seemed ready to burst. Her arms shook as she flung herself on her knees at Byakuya's feet, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Please, please, milord," she gasped, her voice trembling as she quaked in terror, "you have to believe me – I would die before I would allow a single hair on milady's head to be tarnished. Lady Hisana was loved greatly among us servants – none more so than me."

The noble's stoic mask did not look the least bit affected by her sudden burst of emotions, nor her desperate pleading.

"Please, milord," Aya cried, her voice breaking, and gazing earnestly into his eyes through shimmering eyes full of tears, "You have to believe me." She raised a hand up to her mouth in an attempt to stifle an incoming sob, never breaking her eye contact with him.

"I beg of you..." she pleaded, eyes begging and desperate.

Byakuya's eyes softened slightly. Clearly, this girl hadn't the least idea of what he was accusing her of. He may have seemed emotionless to the outside world, but he was fairly adept at reading the emotions of others. The young girl's eyes, desperate and teary, wide and innocent, and so obviously distraught by his accusation, was not the one at fault. Few would look him straight in the eye if they were the one at fault.

Byakuya nodded – it was little more than a slight tilt of the head – but Aya knew she had been taken for truthful. She breathed a sigh of relief – but a nagging part of her conscience seemed to still prod the back of her mind.

"However, I'd still like to you answer some questions."

She blinked, confused, but closed her eyes and nodded; she could feel the wet tears drying on her eyelashes against her skin. "Of course, my lord." Her voice, she noticed, still stumbled over words; she was clearly still on edge.

"The year before Hisana passed away, you were the maid that served her to the most personal level."

Aya nodded, unblinking.

"Did you accompany her during her daily afternoon tea?"

Again, she nodded.

"Were you the one to serve her the tea?"

Nodding a third time, she timidly open her mouth to speak. "Yes, I would be the one to bring her the tea from the kitchens and pour it for her."

Byakuya's eyes narrowed. "Did you noticed anything unusual about her drink? Was it always just the tea that she drank?"

Aya sat back on her heels, searching her mind, trying to remember anything she might have missed. "Every once in a while her medicine was added in her tea, but other than that, she never touched anything else."

Byakuya's eyes flashed dangerously.

She visibly jumped as her lord's eyes flashed suddenly, the light grey darkening as his pupils dilated. "Were you the one who mixed this medicine with her tea?"

She nodded, her throat suddenly very dry.

"Are you positive that this medicine was actually medication, prescribed by a notable physician?"

"I'm not sure, milord, " Aya murmured; her heartstrings pulled in her chest a little bit tighter with every passing second. "I was only told that it was her medication, and I was to slip it into her tea every month."

Slip it in. Byakuya's heart seemed to stop, as the words rang in his head. "Why was Hisana was not informed of this arrangement?" he demanded, fire springing to life in his eyes.

Aya shook her head slowly, suddenly realizing what this was leading too. "I was told that Lady Hisana was very sick, but refused to take her medicine, so I was to slip it in her tea, without her knowledge. I was told that unless she took her medicine, she would not survive!"

Byakuya grimaced. The irony of the situation seemed cruel and twisted; this girl clearly had been lied to and fooled, completely unaware of the consequences of her deeds. "And, who exactly, told you this?"

Aya suddenly felt very small as the truth dawned on her like a the sun on a new day, and her throat felt dry and scratchy, as if blocked by some unknown object. She didn't know why she hadn't seen it earlier.

"Well?" Byakuya said, impatiently, clearly wanting an answer.

"It was – it was..." She stuttered, her words forced unceremoniously out of her throat. No...no...

"It was – them..." Aya croaked, eyes blurring over with tears for the second time that day. The weight on her chest magnified tenfold, for now she knew what she had done. She struggled to hold back the river of tears that was threatening to overflow.

"Who exactly is 'them'?" He did not look pleased.

She diverted her eyes from his furious stare, and though she knew that he knew exactly what she was going to say, Aya knew that he wanted the conformation from her very lips – he wanted proof, solid proof, that she was the one who killed his beloved wife.

That she was a murderer.

"It was the Elders." She knew that something wasn't quite right all those years ago. Lady Hisana looked to be in perfect health, yet the Elders insisted that she was ill and had needed medicine. Aya, young and foolish back then, hadn't questioned them at all. If it was for her Lady Hisana, Aya knew she would have done anything for her well-being and happiness.

But now...demons clawed in her stomach and a cold hand grasped her heart, squeezing her to the point she was gasping to take in air. She, unknowingly, had killed her Lady. Killed the woman who had been kind to her, who had taken her in and sheltered and protected her for years. She had killed Lord Kuchiki's one and only love – the person who meant more to him than anyone else in the world, who he had fought so hard to keep by his side, only to have her taken away.

By her.

Aya suppressed the taste of bile that rose in her throat, disgusted at herself, at her actions. She had killed someone – taken away a gracious Lady, a loving sister, and a much-loved wife.

She had killed Lady Kuchiki.

Killed Lord Kuchiki's wife.

Killed Lady Rukia's sister.

And killed part of her own heart.

Unable to hold it back any longer, she burst into tears. "I killed my Lady Hisana."

She had the saddest smile he had ever seen.

In their years together, smiles had always graced her face, but they very rarely reached her doe-like eyes. They always hinted at the sadness that she bottled up inside, at the pain she tried to hard to hide. She smiled politely at nobles, at shinigami, at everyone she knew, but despite the upwards curve of her lips, she never seemed truly happy.

The brightest smile he had ever seen on her was on their wedding day, as they spoke their vows and sipped their wine, as hundreds looked on as they became man and wife.

That was the happiest day of his life too – for, to him, it had represented the eternity they were about to spend together, the beginning of true happiness for the first time in his life. Hisana, dressed in a pearly white wedding kimono made of finest silk, smiling and laughing and enjoying herself in a rare moment of true joy, twirled in the delicate pink sakura petals falling with the gentle breeze, that framed locks of her ebony hair.

It was the most beautiful sight Byakuya had ever seen.

Her gentle beauty had been so ethereal that Byakuya had been rendered speechless for the first time in his very long life; it was as if a goddess had descended from the sky and graced him with her presence. The warm feeling in his chest grew so large that he felt ready to burst with love and affection for her, and his heart that had once been so small and cold had swollen until he could no longer contain it.

Byakuya closed his eyes tightly, bowing his head to the simple picture in front of him, as he begged for her forgiveness – for failing as a husband, for failing to protect her has he had vowed on their wedding day.

Five years was a small fraction of his life, minute in comparison to his rather long lifespan, but it was in those five short years that Byakuya had experienced emotions that he never though he would have – emotions he was taught never to have. Love and affection, guilt, sorrow, worry...the hurt of love that was held captive by a mysterious sister that had yet to be found.

For the second time in his life, Byakuya felt helpless and powerless – his heart ached and his eyes stung as he prayed to her memory, in hopes she might have something to say.

Memories had never been enough, they would never be enough, but it had been all he had for the past fifty years.

He had loved her more than anyone could ever know – more than anyone could ever comprehend. As he looked at her sadly smiling portrait in the private confines of his room, he smiled bitterly at the fact that it was him to could not prevent her from leaving him – him who wasn't strong enough to protect her from everyone else.

He bowed his head, and for the first time since that faithful morning fifty years ago, Byakuya shut his eyes tightly, a single glistening tear sparkling in the warm candlelight.

Rukia stepped quietly down the hallway, wary of the stiffness and tension that seemed to have blanketed the entire household. The maids that cleaned the hallway would not look her in the eye as she passed them, and quickly moved past her to another part of the mansion.

It was like being adopted for the first time all over again – with the curious stares and hushed whispers, and the gossip that ran behind her back like lightening; it was rather unsettling.

She paused in confusion has she heard the sound of muffled sobs behind a shoji screen, and the compassionate side of her took over as she raised her hand to knock on the wooden frame, ready to comfort whomever was crying.

"...Hisana."

Rukia abruptly stopped midway in shock. The name of her late sister was practically a forbidden word in the household, never mentioned, never spoken; it was an unsaid rule that was followed without thought or question, for everyone knew the effect it had on her still mourning brother. She lowered her hand, and pressed her ear lightly against the door, where the muffled sobs continued, curious as to why her sister's name was being mention by someone so distraught.

She strained her ears to listen. The voice spoken quietly, and was fragmented by an uncontrollable series of hiccups and sobs, but Rukia heard it clearly all the same.

"I killed Lady Hisana."

Rukia's heart froze in shock, her eyes widening, and she let the thick creamy card in her hand drop silently to the floor.

We cordially invite you to the wedding of

Kurosaki Ichigo

and

Kuchiki Rukia

to be held at 1:00pm on March 22nd, in the Kuchiki gardens.

A/N: I really don't like this chapter. I like the plot of it, but not the way I wrote it out so much...I've never really been good with interrogation scenes, especially emotional ones (anyone have any tips/suggestions?). I think when I have time, I'm definitely coming back to re-write this chapter. But for now, I guess it'll do...

But Rukia knows now! That probably wasn't exactly how Byakuya planned on her finding out, especially by Hisana's 'murderer', though I'm guessing if Byakuya had his way, Rukia would probably never know what really happened to Hisana.

...agh. I really hate this chapter. So much, that I'm going to stop looking at it right now.