I finally got in the mood to write more of this! This time, we get to see more of Rukia's PoV. I hope you enjoy it.
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Rukia was sweating in the warmness of the room.
It had to be the hot tea. And the night that was too inappropriately warm for Spring. Definitely those.
She'd had another one of those dreams that night. How most inconvenient – she judged, searching for reasons with eyes on the content of her plate to avoid the image of the man in front of her.
Her brother. That was what he was, and her mind should better start grasping this concept soon. It wouldn't do to keep having these greatly indecorous and very un-sibling-like dreams about him. They would just add to the weird relationship they already had.
As she inhaled deeply the warm air of the night, inevitable images came to her mind. She had consistently dreamed about the same thing the whole week. No, to be fair, last night it had been slightly different. But still.
The first dreams were weirdly the same, exactly the same, like a subconscious mantra. The more she dreamed about it, the more detailed and vivid it became. Some parts were still blurry, but others were so vivid that they almost seemed real. Impossible as it was, she would rather forget it all. Or at least she should.
Rukia looked at her brother - he was too busy ignoring her as usual - and tried her best to banish those horrible images from her mind. It was clear that he would never look at her that way, much less indulge in those… things.
Rukia blushed at the image that threatened to come back.
And last night, yet another dream. A slightly different one, but in essence, they were all the same. Again, she was sharing a scandalizing and very unlikely night of passion with her brother. No, this wouldn't do.
Maybe the new dream was simply motivated by his late visit on her bedroom in the previous night. He was looking for something, but she couldn't quite remember what…
No, this was probably her fault, for never exactly accepting him as her brother, and it was pointless to believe otherwise. She had tried her best – she respected him, cared for him, admired him, obeyed him like she should. But the feelings... they never seemed quite right. They lacked the intimacy, the carelessness, the… she wasn't even sure what else exactly.
Her mind drifted to the two other masculine figures that once in her life shared this closeness she imagined as brotherhood. But if she was honest with herself, both Renji and Kaien-dono had at least once being cherished in a way that had nothing sibling-like to it. Maybe she just didn't know what it should be like, to have a brother. And here she was, failing again.
Her gaze fell on him, and this time his eyes were on her. It was an intense stare, and Rukia felt her cheeks flushing hotly and cursed herself for it. She followed his stare and could almost swear he was looking at her lips…
No, she looked at her plate again, with a strong effort to banish the images that had stirred a response in her body. Now these stupid dreams were certainly affecting her too much, to the point of being delusional.
"Would you pass me the tea?" she heard his voice and looked back at him, feeling almost breathless with the sultry air of the room.
She knew she should serve him instead, but she didn't dare to go closer to him, so the offer stood silent in her throat. She handed him the jar, quickly withdrawing fingers that still touched his slightly, causing a burning in her skin that the heated porcelain hadn't.
He seemed satisfied with only that, and oblivious to her silly preoccupation.
Rukia gave an imperceptible sigh and proceeded with her meal in silence, decided to avoid looking at him for the night.
But as they finished dinner and moved to their bedrooms that were so close to each other, she couldn't deny a silly disappointment in her heart when they reached her bedroom and he said "Good night" and walked away without looking back.
Of course it was preposterous to even imagine anything else, and she suddenly felt foolish for dreaming of such a thing, and ah, if only she hadn't, for now she had rediscovered a doubt, a hypothesis, a wonder and a longing feeling that she had almost forgotten since her adoption, as time passed in the loneliness of the Kuchiki mansion.
Resting her head on her pillow, Rukia couldn't help but think about how easier it would be if only she could forget everything.
In the meanwhile, on the other side of her left wall, someone was trying hard to forget a scent – an intoxicating, sweet scent that seemed like wet flowers, fresh from the rain – and mourning over small accomplishments that shouldn't feel like accomplishments in the first place.
Because nothing was so easy in the life of Kuchiki Byakuya, and maybe that was exactly what he deserved.
'No,' he concluded guiltily - it was much less than that.
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Even if she tried over and over to forget it all, Rukia found herself wishing for reasons to visit the Sixth Division, and even more tempted to bother him when he didn't join her in the dining room the following night, but, finding no excuses to do so, she admonished herself for what could only be considered a very immature behavior, not to mention highly improper. She wouldn't think about it any longer. Now if only the dreams would stop…
It was solely because of how hot the night was, and because she couldn't sleep, and in absolute it didn't have anything to do with the likelihood of meeting him that she decided to go for a night walk in the garden. Opening the door to the verandah, she was met with a beautiful full moon, one that painted the night sky in a lighter shade of blue, and everything else with a silver tinge. If only to ease her mind, the temperature was, in fact, much more pleasant outside. A warm breeze caressed her face and played with the strands of hair touching her neck, bringing in itself a faint sweet scent of flowers.
Lured by the scent, she followed the path to the sakura trees.
He wasn't there. She felt disappointed and relieved at the same time. Decided to enjoy the pleasant night, she sat under a sakura tree, reclining over its trunk. She raised her eyes and looked at the sky, the moonlight so bright that the sakura petals almost glowed silver.
It was a peaceful view, calm and still, and she could hear no noises but the sound of the wind. Rukia closed her eyes - the warm breeze was a gentle lullaby, making her feel very drowsy.
And it felt like a dream when moments later she heard a familiar husky voice saying her name:
"Rukia"
If this was a dream, at least the setting was different this time – she registered, looking up at the image she was expecting.
"What are you doing here?" he asked emotionlessly.
He was wearing plain night robes and his hair, free from the kenseikan, fell loose around his face. It was all very fitting, but the cold tone of his voice could only mean this was not a dream at all.
"Uhn, it was too hot in my room," she answered poorly, only to suddenly regret her lack of a better explanation.
"It is dangerous for you to be here," he observed.
It sounded like a reprimand, and Rukia stood up, still looking at him. Dangerous? Not if he was with her…
'Yes, it is dangerous for her to be here,' Byakuya repeated inwardly, looking at her naïve, trusting eyes that looked at him with a hint of adoration.
It was time to do the right thing. We would not fail this time; he would be the brother he was supposed to be, he would not waver, he would not think.
And he would not remember.
"I am sorry. It was just such a beautiful night… " she tried to justify herself, if only to postpone her departure a little longer; if only to look at those lips a little longer, and maybe guess if they would feel warm as she recalled from her dreams…
"I understand why nii-sama—" she suddenly remembered when he asked her to not call him like that in her dream, but quickly dismissed it, "likes to visit the gardens at night."
She moved in place, firming her balance by stepping on an external root of the tree, getting closer to him with the movement. As she looked back at him, she found an intense stare and something unreadable in his eyes that seemed quite familiar.
Byakuya scrutinized her, studying every small change in her features, noticing every motion. It was with surprise that he saw the innocence in her eyes giving place to something deeper. The violet pools becoming serious, then tinted by a hint of doubt and curiosity; her breathing becoming heavier as her gaze travelled through his face and stopping at his lips; her eyes blinking slower, softly. And as they rose to meet his again, his heart started to beat faster at the realization of what he saw in them: hope… and longing.
She was close and looking back at him, and he could almost feel her breath. He distinguished a hint of her scent in the air, mixed with the sakura fragrance.
They kept staring at each other in silence for just a feeble moment in which even the wind seemed to have stopped.
Byakuya didn't say a word, but he retreated, breaking the eye contact, and hoping his body language would answer to whatever she was thinking with the same he was telling himself:
Do not come closer. We can't.
"You should sleep," he reminded her, moving away. Rukia blinked at those words.
"I will escort you to your bedroom," he added, so casually that she could almost believe nothing extraordinary had passed between them.
As she followed him towards the house, a few steps behind, she looked at his form bathed in the moonlight and wondered about what had just happened there. No, she was not mistaken. No matter how cold he had acted before, or was acting now, Rukia knew there was something else behind that mask. She would not be fooled. And she had a lot to think about.
She wished him good night as perfunctorily as he did, and it felt slightly painful to do so. And that night was filled with wonder, hope, doubt and regret, prodding the boundaries of the Kuchiki walls.
That's it for now! I'm not entirely satisfied with the style here (if compared to chapter 1 and Toys), it just seems easier when I'm following Byakuya's pov, but I hope it was not too disappointing? - . - From what I have written, next chapter will probably be better. Liked it? Hated it? Please review!
Wynn