Title: Sound of the Tide
Chapter: 3/?
Rating: PG!
Warnings: Mature themes, no naughty stuff, though.
Pairings: Byakuya x OC, Renji x OC
Disclaimer: Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo. In Japan, this would be considered as a great tribute to his sucess and genius. In America, not so much. :( Fukada Shione and Kuchiki Seiraryu are my own little creations, though, so please ask for permission if you want to use them for anything~
A/N: I know that this story is not as fast paced and romantically aggressive as "Blessed Victory", and I apologize if that was the sort of thing you were looking for out of me once again. But I don't really think it would be in character for Bya-bya-kun! The romance shall be coming soon enough, though, don't you worry! I think Byakuya just requires a bit of slow, careful seduction...teehee. And come on, he is technically damaged goods (in the sense of his dead wife). Shione needs to take it slowly with the poor man~.
Fukada Shione blushed as she looked up, and up, and up. Her black eyes grew wide in awe as she took in the six story building the Kuchiki house sedan had finally stopped in front of. Kuchiki Seiraryu was by her side, politely waiting as she followed Shione's gaze. "It's huge," Shione spoke breathlessly.
Seiraryu unfurled a silk fan that she had kept in her obi and politely covered her grin as she cast a look at Shione. "It is tall, yes," she laughed softly, her voice a husky purr that had Shione blushing more profusely. "The first two floors Lady Misha uses to entertain guests. The third consists of her training rooms. The top two are the dormitories."
"She trains that many women?" Shione finally clamped her mouth shut as she suddenly looked down at her feet. She was clad in the Kuchiki House kimono, a stale black affair with traditional wooden sandals. She hadn't been so…plainly dressed for a good three decades. She felt self-conscious without her bright and ornate silk kimono, or her dainty little slippers.
Seiraryu's eyes were laughing over the rim of her fan as she finally started heading towards the giant house. "No. Lady Misha also matrons a women's dormitory for women who are working away from home."
"You mean women whose families sold them into slavery," Shione frowned suddenly, her voice bitter as she fell in to step beside Seiraryu. Her little hands curled to fists at her side, which she quickly hid up her loose sleeves.
"So jaded for one so young," Seiraryu admonished playfully. Shione looked at her shyly from the corner of her eye. Lady Kuchiki, even in a black Shinigami's kimono, looked very elegant and feminine. She was tall, just as her brother was, and it gave her a very slender look. "Yes, you could say some of her residents were 'sold'. Is that your story, too, little Fukada-chan?"
"N-no," Shione lied and looked back at her feet.
Seiraryu snapped her fan closed abruptly and paused just outside the open gates to Lady Misha's household. With a small frown on her face, she turned to face Shione. "Now, you must remember that many of these women were put into service to aid their families. They work in the local factories and businesses to supplement the income of their houses. Do not offend them, Fukada-chan."
Shione obediently folded her hands in her lap and bowed to Seiraryu, her entire face turning a bright red. "Yes, Kuchiki-chan."
With a small sigh, Seiraryu's coy little smile was back on her lips. "And may I suggest that if you do run into any women that were 'sold', as you put it, that you not add salt to their wounds. In specific, Lady Misha would not take well to that sort of thing."
Alarmed, Shione looked back up into Seiraryu's laughing eyes. "Lady Misha was…?"
"Sometimes, Fukada-chan, women are better off being sold into the services of a trade. Sometimes, not so much," Seiraryu shrugged elegantly and turned back to the house. "Lady Misha took the cards fate dealt her and played them to her best advantage. She is a rather successful business woman now, with the respect of even the four noble houses. I suggest you keep this lesson in mind as you complete your training under Lady Misha's keen eyes."
"Yes, Kuchiki-chan," Shione nodded and hurried to catch up to Seiraryu. The woman's elegant glide covered ground surprisingly fast. The best Shione could do while she was concentrating on her walk was hardly as fast as her normal pace…
"Misha-chan!" Seiraryu called out in a high pitched, carrying voice the minute her sandaled foot touched the first step to Lady Misha's household. Immediately, the previously quiet house went into an uproar. Servants came bursting out the door, looking frenzied and panicked as they rushed to greet the two women. Above the din, a loud booming voice shouted insults and orders.
"Who the hell was supposed to be watching the gates!" the deep woman's voice roared. Just as the words died off, another servant came bumbling out of the house and rushed to take up a position at the gate, only pausing long enough to give Seiraryu and Shione a quick bow. "Where are the hostlers? Don't keep Lady Kuchiki's servants standing out in the heat! Benkei! Get that tea service ready, for the love of the gods!"
Shione was completely floored. Her eyes were wide in blatant shock and surprise as she froze where she stood on the stairway. Seiraryu was already on the top landing, her fan covering her mouth once again as she turned a laughing look towards Seiraryu. "It seems we are a tad bit early," the lady chuckled mischievously. "Oh, the tragedy."
"Seiraryu! You troublesome whelp!" the booming voice manifested into the shape of a rotund, squat little Japanese woman as she walked through the open doorway. She was clad in a colorful purple and gold kimono, her pitch black hair piled on top of her head in a traditional bun. Her face makeup was plain: her lips were painted red, her eyelids a soft blue, and blush colored her cheeks. "You know the house is not open before noon," the woman's voice was threatening, but her own black eyes were dancing with amusement as she cast an all-seeing gaze over Seiraryu.
"Is that so?" Seiraryu purred as her and the woman faced each other, both of them dipping into shallow but respectful bows. "It has been so long that I must have forgotten, Misha-chan. You have my most sincere apologies."
"I'm sure I do," the woman laughed. She and Seiraryu smiled at each other for a moment, before the woman's attention slipped suddenly to Shione. "Is this the girl?" and then she was all booming, commanding business once again. She moved gracefully and elegantly for such a chubby woman as she stepped past Seiraryu to get a better look at Shione.
"I am Fukada Shione—"
"You will speak when spoken to, girl," Lady Misha cut in abruptly, a frown turning her plump lips downwards as she ran judging eyes over Shione, from head to toe. "I was addressing your mistress, not you."
Frowning, Shione drew herself up taller and tried to look as prideful as she could in her pallid kimono. She stared at the woman defiantly, even if she was too busy scrutinizing every inch of Shione's body.
"She is skinny!" Lady Misha snapped over her shoulder at Seiraryu. "Has the Kuchiki house hospitality fallen? Do I need to have another chat with that troublesome brother of yours, Seiraryu?"
Seiraryu's eyes were still laughing and she was still hiding her smile behind a fan. "Mine brother just recently discovered he was patronizing Fukada-chan. We just acquired her last night from a less than suitable tea house that was not keeping her and her fellow geisha properly supplied, and consequently under fed."
"Well," Lady Misha huffed irritably and turned back to Shione, stepping down onto the stairs so that she could look the young woman over from every angle. "A little fat will round out that rump," she grumbled under her breath, patting Shione soundly on said part of her anatomy. Shione jumped in surprise where she stood, turning an offended eye on to the elderly woman. "How many years have you been training, girl?"
Glaring in resignation, Shione drew herself up tall once again. "Twenty-two years, Lady Misha," she grumbled under her breath.
"No mumbling! Speak up!" Lady Misha snapped, whacking Shione soundly with a heavy iron fan that she had tucked up her sleeve. "That is not how a lady acts, nor a geisha!"
"Twenty-two years, Lady Misha," Shione replied hurriedly, speaking louder and more clearly.
Lady Misha snorted. "She has potential, I suppose, Seiraryu. Lucky for you I have a spare bed and time to waste on this skinny little whelp."
"I knew you would like her," Seiraryu waved her fan lazily. "How long do you think it will take until her premier?"
"I have already had my premier!" Shione spoke up despite the flesh-searing look Lady Misha sent her way.
Shione received another sound whack from her fan as a response. "Do not address the nobility in such a manner, child!" Lady Misha bellowed. "A premier in the twentieth district is not a true geisha premier! Lady Kuchiki has told me of your experience, do not think just because you refused that bastardized practice of a mizuage ceremony that you are on par with geisha of the tenth district!"
"Now, now, Lady Misha," Seiraryu scolded the older woman gently. "Go easy on poor little Fukada-chan. She has grown complacent in my company, you know how I am."
"Be that as it may," Lady Misha huffed, "From this moment forth you are you are to act every part of a geisha. You will address Lady Kuchiki appropriately at all times! Being complacent with one noble will cause you to be complacent with all!"
Shione cast a pleading look towards Seiraryu, silently begging her to take her back to the Kuchiki house and away from the horrid lady that was still bellowing orders into her ear. Seiraryu simply held her fan higher up to best hide her laughing smile. Each word that came out of Lady Misha's mouth seemed to only deflate Shione's spirit, her shoulders slowly slumping forward until she stood, hunched and defeated, on the stairway.
"Shoulders back!" Misha snapped and whacked Shione with her fan once again. "Geisha are no hunch backs!"
XXXX
Kuchiki Byakuya was frowning slightly as he walked the rather quiet halls of his house. His cool blue eyes were emotionless as he peeked into one room after the next, checking on the contents or inhabitants of each. Several times he had interrupted a raucous gambling game among house guards on break, and unintentionally broke up their fun. He had not intended to appear as if he were dissatisfied with his men, but apparently the slight frown on his face caused them to mistake his current mood…
With a soft sigh he passed by another loud room, not even bothering this time to peak his head around the open doorway to check to see who was there. All he heard was the usual household gossip that several of Seiraryu's ladies-in-waiting were so obsessed with. They were chatting over the Kuchiki house's latest "pet", the geisha that was staying in Lady Seiraryu's house.
Unfortunately for Byakuya, said geisha was currently missing. His frown deepened in irritation as he stepped out from under the eaves of the servants' dormitory and made his way back towards his twin sister's apartments. He had spent the entire morning making arrangements for a particular gift he had in store for Fukada Shione, and when he had sent a servant to summon her, he had not expected the girl to turn up missing.
He checked every garden and koi pond on the property, had thoroughly dissected each of Seiraryu's rooms, and had even checked the rooms in his own house before he had turned to the servants' areas. But no matter where he looked, the dainty little geisha was nowhere to be seen.
His footsteps were completely silent as he ascended a short stair case to the large welcoming room of Seiraryu's house, but his sister had heard him anyway. "This is a rather beautiful present, Bya-bya-kun," Seiraryu sighed wistfully from where she stood, her back turned to Byakuya. She was standing before the present Byakuya had his servants deliver to the house, her slender fingers rubbing a layer of expensive silk between them. "Unexpected, but beautiful." And then Seiraryu was grinning wickedly at him. "You have never bought me a kimono like this before."
"It was for the girl," Byakuya huffed and went to stand beside his sister. "Those kimono she own are not of the quality a geisha under House Kuchiki's patronage should be wearing. The other noble families would think us miserly if she served a party in those rags."
"Such a well planned excuse, Bya-bya-kun," Seiraryu giggled. "It makes one think that you are being defensive."
"I was merely explaining my intentions," Byakuya replied regally as he folded his arms behind his back. He and his sister stood in silence for a few moments, admiring the ornate kimono on display in Seiraryu's room. The thing was of the most expensive silks that Byakuya could manage, and stylized with arching white cranes and shoots of pale green bamboo on a gold back round. "Where is the geisha, by the way?" he asked after a moment.
Shione looked at him with a knowing little smile on her lips. "She has already left and is now staying with Lady Misha. Did I forget to tell you this morning?"
Frowning at his sister, Byakuya nodded his head. "You simply said that you sent word to Lady Misha."
"Oh, what a shame," Seiraryu shrugged dismissively.
Byakuya's frown deepened as he cast a cold blue-eyed look at his sister. She simply held out one of her slender hands to him expectantly. When he only replied with a quirked eyebrow, she sighed and rolled her eyes.
"It is Tuesday," she reminded him, and wiggled her fingers as if she were waiting for him to give her something. "Abarai-kun is waiting."
Out right scowling, Byakuya slowly unwound his scarf from around his neck. He placed the heavy cloth in Seiraryu's open hand before he began to strip out of his haori. He should have known that his sister would not let him go about his duties without her assistance. "One wonders why you and Abarai spend so much time together," he spoke quietly, a threat in his voice as he shoved his haori into his sister's hands.
"Dear brother, you chose him as your Vice Captain, not I," she purred and pulled the heavy haori over her own slender shoulders. Her blue eyes were locked with his as she deftly wound his scarf around her elegant neck, her round chin lifting in stubborn defiance as she did.
"Not without your meddling," he huffed, and watched as she checked her zanpakutou at her hip. The hilt of her sword looked almost exactly as his own, but the color was a blue so deep it was nearly black, unlike the pink hilt wrapping of Senbonzakura.
"He was the most deserving, admit it," Seiraryu replied absently, her smile temporarily faded as she started concentrating on her reiatsu.
Byakuya's frown only deepened as he watched his sister weave an ornate flow of kidou. Like everyone of the Kuchiki clan, his sister was an astoundingly adept student of kidou. So much so, that she had been able to master some of the higher tier spells that he had not. Slowly, a shimmering golden veil started to wrap around his sister as she murmured incomprehensible words under her breath. The veil settled in on her skin, clinging to her tightly like a shroud. As the light faded, Byakuya found himself staring in to his own face.
"How do I look?" his doppelganger asked, quirking a cool eyebrow.
"Like me," Byakuya huffed, and scowled disapprovingly as his sister, posing as him, checked herself in a nearby mirror. "I thought you tired of playing dress up?"
"I did," she replied, her voice deep, masculine, a perfect match of Byakuya's voice. "Until you finally obtained my freedom from that wretched device father put on me. Then I discovered, oddly enough, that I rather enjoy playing soldier."
"You should just enlist in one of the court squads," Byakuya let out a sigh, resigning himself to his fate. He would have to pass another day either locked up in his house, or gallivanting around Rukongai taking care of house business; all while Seiraryu ran the Sixth Squad for the day. "High Commander Yamamoto is still demanding that I make you apply for the rank of captain in one of the vacancies."
"Make me?" Seiraryu-turned-Byakuya smiled uncharacteristically as she turned to face the real Byakuya.
"That's what I said," Byakuya sighed again, before waving a hand at her flippantly. "Leave before someone finds us like this."
She shrugged, gliding across the distance between them in another uncharacteristic manner for Byakuya. He knew she did it just to annoy him, and that the moment she was out of the room she would be a perfect mimic. Still, he let out another irritated sigh as she placed a quick kiss on his cheek and practically skipped out of the room. He always hated when she did that.
And so it begins. Poor Byakuya, buying pretty things for his new toy, only to have her turn up poofed. And what's this with Seiraryu? More to come!!!
Thanks for all the feedback! I appreciate it, as always! I'm glad so many of you like Shione and Seiraryu, they make me happy inside. Hopefully Misha will become another one of those loveable misfits.