Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, the definition for Valentine's day that I wrote, Seiko, or the song "Je Chante Pour Passer Le Temps".

I do own Miki Fumi and Miyuki Higurashi.

***

Act 1: The Party Scene

Extra Scene: Valentine's day/ The Crying of the Piano and it's Melancholy Master

***

Getting dressed, Miki felt like she forgot something important. Something vitally important. When she looked outside of her window she saw a group of girls, each holding colorfully decorated bags with ribbons and hearts.

But still, she did not remember.

***

Miyuki reluctantly got dressed, trying to figure out ways that she could get out of class.

"Maybe I can pretend to limb for the next two weeks?" said Miyuki out loud.

'No, that's so old. Can't you be a bit more creative' said her zanpakutou.

"You're right, maybe I can break my leg so I don't have to pretend to limb"

'That's going a little too far, don't you think?'

"Well, I may just consider it since that is today"

'Oh, that'

"Yeah, that"

***

Byakuya was going through his regular routine of getting ready for his under-cover job. Looking at his calender, today was the day humans called "Valentine's Day". Last night, he looked up the holiday at one of the local libraries.

Valentine's Day- February 14, observed in honor of St. Valentine as a day for the exchange of valentines and other tokens of affection (the following definition is not mine)

'Hm, how interesting' Byakuya thought.

He didn't think much about it; but he forgot that he, being an eligible bachelor, was a prime target.

***

Arriving at school Miki, Miyuki, and Byakuya were horrified to see the school a shocking pink. At first, it looked like the building was painted pink; but it was an illusion made by the numerous decorations covering the outside of the school.

"Oh, dear god" all three of them said at the same time, approaching the front of the school.

"Oh snapple-doodles!(1) That's what I forgot! Today's Valentine's day!" moaned Miki.

"You forgot?! How would you forget such a treacherous event such as this?" asked Miyuki

"Why is everything so pink?" asked Byakuya, shuddered at the mention of the horrid color.

"Don't you know about Valentine's day?" asked Miki, a little curious about that.

"No, it's just. Why so much pink?"

"It's one of the main colors of the holiday, the other colors include red, gold, silver, and white" explained Miyuki, knowing that Byakuya isn't familiar with the holiday.

"We need to hide" said Miki

"Why" asked Byakuya and Miyuki.

Miki didn't reply, but she pointed behind them.

Approaching them over the horizon, there was a cloud of dust gathering. But by closer inspection, it was actually a mob of high school boys each holding a Valentine.

"Miki-sama! Accept this!"

"Move over man, she's mine!"

"Miyuki, my love!"

"What do you mean your love? Miyuki loves me!"

"Oh, not this again" said Miyuki, her left eye twitching.

"Wait a minute, I dont' see any girls" Miki noticed, seeing that Byakuya was with them. It was a bit weird that the girls didn't join the mob to get to their teacher aid.

"Yeah, you're right! Where are they?" mused Miyuki.

Well, Miyuki didn't have to answer that because there was another mob of girls ten times bigger than the mob of boys rushing over to Byakuya. He couldn't help but stare in amazement and disgust at the many girls, middle aged women, and teachers trying to voice their affections for him.

"..."

"Quick! Somebody think of something!" Miki squeaked, a little scared.

"Uh...." Miyuki mused, her mind all blank.

"We can take haven in the closet in the teacher's lounge" suggested Byakuya.

"Brilliant!" shouted Miki, giving Byakuya a thumbs up.

Agreeing with Byakuya's idea, all three of them rushed to the school and hid inside the closet. Surprisingly, the closet was pretty big. It was empty and could fit everybody. Byakuya turned on the light so that they could see.

"So, how long do we stay here?" asked Miyuki.

"Until the day has ended" replied Byakuya

"Well, since we have time to kill how about we play cards" said Miyuki, taking out her own deck.

"Sure, Byakuya-sensei do you know how to play poker?" asked Miki.

***

It took some time to explain the rules to Byakuya, but all in all they had fun (Byakuya not so much). Miyuki, being a card shark herself, won most of the games; which annoyed Byakuya to no end so he kept challenging her, much to Miki's entertainment. Miyuki had already acquired 22,682 yen ($250), a pair of onyx cuff lings (Byakuya's), and a pair of dainty dragonfly earrings (Miki's).

"Okay, so what do you want to wager now?" asked Miyuki, a little smug because of her victories.

"What else do you want?" asked Byakuya, with a slight bitter tone in his voice.

"Hm, I don't know. Oh, I want your watch!" exclaimed Miyuki.

"Hmph, fine" Byakuya said, simply tossing the Seiko watch in the middle of the circle.

"Cool! What about you, Miki?" asked Miyuki.

"Well, I don't really have anything good to bet anymore. So I'm going to wager a secret!"

"A secret?" Miyuki and Byakuya recited, their interests rising along with their confusion.

"Yep, whoever wins this round gets to hear a secret that I've been keeping from everyone!" explained Miki.

"Everyone? Including me?" asked Miyuki, a bit surprised that her best friend was hiding something from her.

"Okay, then I'll wager this" Miyuki said raising up a silver bracelet. "Now, then; let's play"

***

"I-I don't believe it! How the heck did you beat me?!" demanded Miyuki, slamming her cards onto the dusty closet floor.

"Hm, it seems that lady luck is tired of favoring you" said Byakuya, smirking victoriously at Miyuki, "Well, then let's hear it, Fumi-san"

"Okay"

Miki slid over to Byakuya and whispered in his ear:

"Meet me in the music room on the second floor tomorrow morning, okay?"

Byakuya, simply nodded; but he was a bit confused. Why couldn't she just tell him? Hearing the bell ring, Miki, Miyuki, and Byakuya sighed in relief that Valentine's day was over.

"Well, I"m outta here" said Miyuki, exiting out of the closet.

"Same here" said Miki, also leaving.

Byakuya nodded, getting up and dusting himself.

'Well, that was entertaining'commented Senbonzakura.

'To say the very least, yes' agreed Byakuya

'I'm curious, what is her secret?'

'We can only find out tomorrow'

***

The next day Byakuya headed to the music room located on the second floor. When he opened the doors, he found a few extra instruments and a piano located in the middle of the room. The window was open, letting in a cool breeze from outside. Miki was sitting at a spare desk, braiding her hair out of boredom.

"Oh, Byakuya-sensei!" Miki said, waving her hand at him.

"Why are we here? Is your secret that humiliating?" asked Byakuya.

"No not really" Miki said sheepishly, "It's more like it's embarrassing"

"Oh?" said Byakuya.

"Yep, I figured that the best way to tell you was to show you" explained Miki, walking over to the piano.

Byakuya was looking forward to this, he had heard of the piano in the Soul Society, but there were only a handful of people that had listened to it. Whenever he asked about the sound, the answers he got varied. Sad to happy, or sorrowful to beautiful. Intrigued by those answers, he figured that this was an instrument he had to listen to once. Observing the piano, he concluded that it must be hard to play because there were so many keys. He noticed that Miki's eyes changed it's expression once she sat down on the piano chair. The carefree light that came from her eyes were now replaced with a sad, wise aura.

Raising her hands to the keys, Miki's hands danced across the keys. She tapped them softly at first, with a sad caress. Her right foot stepping on and off a pedal below the front of the instrument. Then her fingers waltzed, resulting in a beautiful, yet sad melody that sang from the piano. Then she tapped the keys a little harder, emphasizing the notes that were being played; it changed little by little. The song becoming more sorrowful and slow, as if silent tears were pouring down Miki's face. Soon, she made the piano itself cry out notes that were filled with guilt and anger. Her body swayed and rocked as her fingers were now sliding down the keys, playing the keys in a fast motion. As the loudness of the piano, increased, so did Miki's feeling of sorrow that she was portraying. Her face didn't change, but her feelings of resent that she must have felt in the past were now being reminisced in the beautiful piece that she played. The light spilling into the room added to the mood that she created with the music she played. Softly, the tune went from painful crying, to a soft lullaby that sang out an almost silent goodbye. The song ended with a cheerful chord, and Miki's hands lifted away from the instrument. (2)

Hearing this, Byakuya could have sworn that he felt a connection with the melody. It was as if Miki was telling the story of her past, the way she played it made him think that she went through the same thing. Losing a loved one. Her violet eyes came out of it's meloncholy trance and they were vibrating with the optimisim that she was known for. At that moment, he felt it again; a strange nostalgia. Why does she seem so familiar?

'That is nonsense, the girl is too young to have experienced true love; like I did with Hisana' thought Byakuya.

Then he heard soft whimpering, not from Miki, but from Senbonzakura.

'What is the matter?" he asked his zanpakutou

'Forgive me, but she played it so beautifully. I'm really moved'confessed Senbonzakura

'Yes, so am I' agreed Byakuya.

"Um, was I bad?" asked Miki, mistaking Byakuya's silence.

"Absolutely not, it was beautiful. I am truly moved" said Byakuya.

"Well, don't spread the word around, okay?" asked Miki

"Why?" wondered Byakuya.

"Because, as a secret, my talent is a bit more appealing, isn't it? It's like finding a treasure in a very hidden place; by having that element of surprise, your discovery will have more meaning to it. Well, that's what I think"

"Hm" was all that Byakuya could say. He realized that behind that face of naive youth lied a woman with wisdom rivaling most philosophers.

***

Author's note:

1. The word "Snapple-doodles" is a word of my own creation. Don't steal it.

2. The song that Miki was playing is called "Je Chante Pour Passer Le Temps" by Giovanni Mirabassi. It's actually Byakuya's theme song, chosen by Tite Kubo himself. Look it up on Youtube and listen to it. I wrote that part of the chapter while listening to it. Tell me what you think. It's really brief, I wished I could have added more to it, the description I did doesn't do justice to it.

There's the first extra I ever did!

You get to see another side of Miki!

I hope you're happy!

But please, review!!!!

-Miki