A/N
Want 10 and more pretty reivews!
ByakuRuki chapter :D
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Numb
Chapter 3: Finding themselves in a mess
Rukia shifted slightly. She felt warm, comfortable, and wherever she was lying on it was soft? Opening her eyes quickly she panicked when she realized that she was in a completely strange environment. Was she in heaven? From her point of view, the ceiling was really exquisite; she had never even seen the likes of it before. Trying to sit up to inspect her surroundings, she fell back, crying out in pain. Looking down at her body, she realized she was more or less covered in bandages under a silken yukata.
In other words, she was definitely not in heaven. Wasn't heaven supposed to be painless? Feeling desperate, painful and lost, she tried to control her tears from falling as they bleared her sight.
Suddenly, someone petted her head and wiped away her tears. Rukia looked up, eyes shining with hope, and saw two beautiful ladies clad in very expensive looking clothes that Rukia didn't even dared to touch.
Smiling at the little girl, one of the ladies said soothingly, "Do not cry dear, you are safe now. You may call me Rena."
Waving in the general direction of the other lady whose hair was done up into plaits, Rena said, "She is Retsu."
Rukia quietly took this in, still gulping after crying.
"It seems that our master has found you while taking a short walk in Rukongai. We are instructed to heal you, and make sure that you are safe. If you have any questions, you can ask either of us. Rena will be with you most of the time. Do take care of her, Rena." The lady called Retsu spoke to Rukia.
Rena dismissed her last comment with a aristocratic wave of her hand. "Have fun doing paper work, my dearest Unohana-taichou."
The listening Rukia felt extremely horrified and embarrassed that she was rescued by a shinigami captain's master, after all weren't they the people who took away Kira and disallowed Renji from returning to Rukongai?
Rena sensed that the little girl whose head was now in her lap was feeling afraid. Stroking the little girl's hair softly, she enquired kindly, "What is your name dear?"
Rukia replied, "It is Rukia, Rena…sama."
"You will be staying here until you recovered Rukia chan. You are very lucky; the room that you are currently occupying is probably the best in the whole world. After all, he must have a room that befits his status." Rena smiled down at the pale faced Rukia.
"Rukia is sorry, but who is this he Rena-sama is talking about?" Rukia asked.
Rena smiled mysteriously, "You will meet him someday. Now, be a good girl and sleep."
Rukia felt warm and secure, Rena-sama's comforting presence washing over her. How long has it been, since someone showed that she cared for the presence of a little Rukongai brat who didn't even have a family name?
Feeling her eyes get wet, she clamped her eyes shut and whispered, "Thank you."
Rena looked at the girl sleeping in her lap, and smiled sadly, "Do you know? You are the only girl who he brought home. Heal his heart, Rukia-chan. Show him that he can still love."
_________________________________________________________________________
Ukitake Jyuushirou frowned slightly. "I do not understand, Kuchiki-sama."
Kuchiki Byakuya narrowed his eyes warningly, "I assure you that you heard correctly."
"You want to adopt the girl you found in Rukongai yesterday as a Kuchiki?" Ukitake said disbelievingly. "You want her to be placed under my charge after only one year in the Shinigami academy?"
"That, indeed was what I said, see to it that it is done Ukitake." Kuchiki Byakuya replied over his shoulder as he walked out of the thirteenth division.
Jyuushirou stared at the King's back, which was slowly disappearing out of sight. "What are you trying to do, Byakuya?"
_________________________________________________________________________
Byakuya frowned slightly as he entered his bedroom. The only sounds were the soft but slightly haggard breathing from her. Looking over her pale sleeping form, he resisted the urge to run his hand through her hair.
He knew that he would have to resist himself, keep a careful distance from her. He had to be cold, to be emotionless, to act in a manner that would break her heart. He knew that it would hurt both of them. However, he also knew that it was better this way, for both of them. It was better to loose hope than to keep on hoping for something empty.
He looked at the sleeping form longingly before turning away bitterly towards the door. "Senbonzakura… Do you know what you have done?"
Senbonzakura was silent.
Rukia awoke the moment he moved closer to her. Pretending to sleep, she peeked at him, only to be shocked. The man looked deep in thought, he was tall, evidently strong, clad with Shinigami robes with a pure white haori with silver and gold threads that put the Rena and Retsus' samas clothes in shame. Above that, he was handsome.
As he walked away from her, Rukia sat up slowly, and asked carefully, "May I know your name?"
The man tilted his head towards her. As grey eyes met violet, Rukia knew that she would do anything, anything to please him.
Her violet eyes burned a passion that he had never seen before in his life. He felt tempted to understand her, to protect her from the harsh reality. Reminding himself of who she really was, and that she was going to be his adopted sister, he turned away before replying, "Byakuya."
He did not know why, but he did not want to let her know his family name. He did not want her to be afraid, intimidated of him. He wanted her to treat him as an equal. However, he remembered that he had to distance himself from her. Smiling bitterly to himself, he continued, "Kuchiki Byakuya."
Rukia froze in her position. The Kuchiki Byakuya sama? The one that she heard of, the one that she dreamt of seeing, the one that she envied?
Remembering herself she greeted softly, "Kuchiki- sama."
Nodding at her slightly, he left, leaving her behind in her own thoughts.
Rukia smiled sadly. She understood something, the distance between them was too far. He was something from totally another world, too high up for any street rat like her. He was untouchable, too clean for her dirty hands.
She leant back into the soft pillow and caught a whiff of cherry blossoms. Now that she thought of it, it smelt distinctly like him.
She smiled. Perhaps he was not that distant after all.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Far off, a lone figure standing in the middle of more than a million sakura trees, closed her eyes thoughtfully, "Be his wings, and help him fly…"
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
A/N:
Chapter 3 out on 15th March 09
How did you find it? I love Byakuya in this chapter, like how he wants to love her but cannot due to reasons...
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Preview for Chapter 4:
Toushirou remembered how the king had seemingly changed from a peaceful child to a stranger with nothing but hatred. He remembered all too well one of the first missions he had with the king, eliminate the house of Sugeti.
After the manor had burst into flames, toushirou had walked out to his king who had yet to reach his shoulder. Carrying a child in his arms, he passed it to his king.
He remembered the cold look in Kuchiki Byakuya's eyes as Byakuya placed the child down, mere inches from the fire.
The child started to cry out as the fire neared. Kuchiki Byakuya had said, "He is of Sugeti blood."
As the childs wails escalated into screams, Kuchiki Byakuya turned away silently.
From that day, Toushirou understood. Kuchiki Byakuya was uncapable of love.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
What do you want in chapter 4? More ByakuRuki moments? Definitely!
Review please! Flames are appreciated too!
Thanks to -illusionlove who patiently chatted to me over msn, this chapter was churned out.
A BIG THANK YOU to:
1. Itachi Ni San
2. imthebrideofbyakuya
3. silverpetal2548
4. ByaRukifan
5. Silver Ice Dragon Princess
6. yellowhana
7. xXSetsuna-HimeXx
8. Ecki
9. -illusionlove
10. Histugaya's GreenEyes
11. DarkPhoneixSlash
12. sgurd
13. Sakuraa
14. 1ch1maru G1n
15. ilovenaruto27
16. Shadow Priesstes
17. Rukia . mas
18. JollyBigSis