I don't own Bleach

Natural Causes

Chapter Four: Compromise

Tatsuki couldn't repress a shiver as the older woman stared her down. It was as if this woman didn't even blink. To put it simply, it was creepy. Very creepy. Then, Tsubaki let out a bark-like laugh, throwing her head back.

Confusion dawned on Tatsuki before she took a glance at Byakuya, who had a knowing smirk on his lips. Apparently he knew about this strange woman's sporadic laughter. Then, the woman sighed before giving the younger girl a good hard look. "Do you want to be a soul reaper?"

Tatsuki glanced at Byakuya again and mashed her lips into a thin line, "Yes."

"Why?"

"I don't have a choice," Tatsuki stated bluntly.

"Of course you have a choice," Tsubaki said with a finger lifted into the air, "it just depends on which one has the greater consequences."

"Then I chose this."

"Why?" Tsubaki repeated, her eyes sharpened—not allowing Tatsuki to look away.

"To protect my friends and family," Tatsuki said, refusing to look at Byakuya—who was shooting looks at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Why do they need protection?" Tsubaki continued, "Why can't they protect themselves? Why do they need you to do it?"

Not a word was able to escape Tatsuki's throat. Her eyes were wide as the question still rang in her ears. Her mouth ran dry and she didn't even bother opening her lips.

"Well?" Tsubaki asked, leaning forward, "Why?"

"I can't control my reiatsu," Tatsuki relented softly, finally gaining her voice back. "If I can't control it, then I won't be able to keep them safe."

Tsubaki's eyes didn't soften, "I see." She looked up at Byakuya, who gave her a nod. "Alright, let me to speak to Kuchiki-taicho alone for a moment."

Tatsuki nodded and quickly walked out of the room. The woman was still creeping her out. A shiver ran down her spine and she sat down on one of the benches across from the office. She couldn't hear any of their conversation, which was good because she couldn't resist eavesdropping on something that concerned her. A giggle stifled from her lips and the smile that lifted her cheeks quickly dropped as the questions came back to mind.

Did Orihime really need her for protection anymore? It was really obvious that she didn't. She had Ichi-Kurosaki there. A burn pricked at her dark eyes and she bent over her knees in a slump. No, her best friend didn't even need her anymore. It was probably why she didn't come back to the real world anymore. Tatsuki could feel her presence when she came back to the soul society. It was like there was a thick wall was between them, but before that she couldn't feel her at all. It was as if she was dead.

She quickly swallowed the dry lump that balled up in her throat and let out a shaky breath. She knew this was going to happen sooner or later. Orihime wouldn't always need her there. She knew Orihime would soon grow strong and take care of herself. She just didn't know it would be so soon. More than just that, she didn't want it to be so soon. It may have been a selfish thought, but she just didn't want to be abandoned because she was no longer useful—no longer helpful.

A shaky breath rattled her teeth and she gripped the white yukata between her fingers tightly. A soul reaper would make her useful to the people around her and to Orihime. Maybe she would be able to protect her again. Maybe being a soul reaper wouldn't be so bad after all. Useful even in death, a sad smile traced her lips as well as a dry chuckle.

She sighed softly before pulling herself up to stare at the ceiling. It was a flat whit without a crease or hole in it. So unlike the human world, where the walls and ceilings would have little imperfections that were noticeable to every naked eye, but this was the soul society. If they could achieve perfect, that's what they would get.

Tatsuki chuckled again and propped herself up on her knees when—THWACK! Echoed around the corridor, a few people peaked out around the corners to see what was going on.

Then, the door in front of her opened revealing Byakuya nursing a red spot at the corner of his forehead and Tsubaki behind him with a large, white fan in her hands with a look of anger on her face.

"I'll take her as my student, you bratty little chauvinistic bastard." Tsubaki hissed, anger absolutely reeled off of her form.

He gave her a small—forced—smile, apparently ignoring the blatant insults, "You have my thanks, Yamashiro-sensei."

"Yada-Yada," Tsubaki said waving her hand back and forth before looking at Tatsuki, "Three am sharp, if you're late—you're out. Now leave, you two interrupted my nap."

Just as Byakuya looked like he was going to object, the older woman pointed the large fan at him threateningly. Her eyes narrowed and the lines under her eyes suddenly defined. In an almost humoring way, he walked out of the room with his hands in make shift pockets. She slammed the door behind him. Then he looked at Tatsuki and offered his arm. "It's time to leave."

Tatsuki stared at him for a moment and blinked before slowly getting up. The thoughts and memories seemed to make her reflexes incredibly slow. Then, she followed him wordlessly until he grabbed her arm roughly. Out of surprise, and natural reflex, she gave him a hard punch in his collarbone. She was used to boys being shorter than him. After all, the Japanese weren't exactly known for being tall.

He didn't seem effected; he just stared at her stoically for a moment, "What's going on?"

"Nothing," Tatsuki mumbled, yanking her arm out of his grasp. She closed her eyes for a moment before looking up at him, he was staring down at her. It felt like he could see right through her, but she knew better than that. He was trying to intimidate the answer out of her. That wouldn't happen. "If I wanted to tell you, Princess, then you would know by now."

He smirked and she wanted to punch him again so badly. She didn't even want to give him an answer in the first place, so why would he care at all in the first place. That was just it. She definitely knew he didn't care for how she felt. If he did, he wouldn't be making her go to this place in the first place.

She set a hand on his arm and he looked at her, a passing look of surprise disappeared from his features. "Take me home, I'm enrolled."

"Where do you live in Rukongai?" He asked her with a raised eyebrow.

"District 80," She answered with indifference—expecting him to shunpo the two of them to the district.

He stiffened and just stared down at her incredulously, "No."

"You said you would take me home after I signed up for this stupid school," Tatsuki snapped heatedly, "and I did, so now it's your turn to hold up your end of the bargain."

"That was before I knew which district you lived in." Byakuya retaliated, Zaraki coming to mind.

Tatsuki glared, "Where the hell do you think you saved me from?"

He stared at her for a moment and she mashed her lips together into a thin line with an embarrassed flush dressing her cheeks. It hadn't meant to come out. It was the first time she actually admitted that he saved her. It was true, but her pride was taking a serious beating. Actual shock addressed his face and stuck for a good five minutes until she decided to look back at him. Like a lamb in the path of a great lion, she might as well have been cooked. Though he didn't exactly look like a lion, not hungry at all—but with all of a male lion's pride.

She quickly looked away and crossed her arms, "Well? Are you going to take me home or not?" Acting as if what she said never came out.

"No," Byakuya said, going along with her charade, "you'll be staying in the guest house."

"No," Tatsuki denied, "you'll be taking me home."

"If I'm the one taking you home, won't I be the one to decide your fate?" Byakuya asked, enjoying his verbal sparring partner.

"Not if I have a choice in the matter."

"Well, then have fun trying to find your way home." Byakuya said with a light amount of sarcasm and it was Tatsuki's turn to raise an eyebrow. This guy actually had a sense of humor?

Her gaze took a swift look around and she decided that she had absolutely no idea where she was.

She sighed, "Fine, let's make a compromise."

"Alright," Byakuya said as he straightened up, "allow me to say this, Rukia, Kurosaki-san, and Inoue-san are all sleeping in my guest house."

Tatsuki stiffened, "All the more reason not to sleep there."

He pursed his lips, "Fine, you may sleep in the main house. You will have to keep with my company."

"It is much more preferred." Tatsuki quipped, despite the fact that she didn't want to see him as much as she didn't want to see Rukia, Kurosaki, or Orihime. She actually really wanted to see them. They just didn't really want to see her. After all, who would want to see a friend they knew as dead? Certainly not ones who could already see dead people.

Byakuya simply blinked before pulling her to his chest and wrapping an arm around her shoulders. Her body clenched, awaiting the rollercoaster feeling of shunpo. It came, but not as fast as she thought it would be. The place must've been closer than she thought it would be. But the sick-to-your-stomach feeling twisted her stomach and she held onto his arm a moment before looking up at the tall, elegant house. It's traditional Japanese architecture made Tatsuki raise her eyebrows.

To her, there were two of the same house and one in the middle that was spinning when in truth there was only one. Shunpo wasn't kind to her at all. It made her mind race and her body reel. She didn't even notice the arm that wrapped around her shoulders to hold her up, though Byakuya didn't seem to mind at all. It seemed to go with the gentlemanly nature that came with him.

She shot him a look out of the corner out of her eye as soon as she snapped out of the disorientation and shrugged his arm off before taking a few steps down the pebble-paved path. "Are you going to show me my room?"

"I might." He humored her as she stared down at the koi ponds with curiosity as the big fish circled and the smaller ones hid in the larger rocks that were poised there for that exact purpose.

She turned to look at him when she stood again, not from her bent angle that she was looking at the fish. She certainly didn't look like the traditional Japanese woman. With her short, gravity defying hair, callused hands, and general fighter's physique: she was definitely a different girl. Though there were something's that were Japanese about her: black hair, black eyes, tanned skin (it was pale in her district because the hollows were overpowering her), and her short height.

"What?" She snapped at him, her eyebrows pulled up and together. It was another one of the things she didn't like, but usually didn't mind: being stared at. "Did Princess forget that it's not polite to stare at people?"

He shook his head and walked toward her, command and authority in every step he took. She pushed away the feeling to flinch once he came close enough to her. "Follow me, Arisawa-san."

"'Kay," Tatsuki said as her footsteps matched his against the wooden floor now that they were inside of the house. It felt like she was in an old Japanese painting. It was just so beautiful, as if the artists came here for reference whenever they wanted to make a historical piece. She was so in awe that she didn't even keep track of where he was leading her. Though she did keep track of the little markers at the forks in the hallways.

Then, she bumped into his back and instantly jumped back (out of reflex). He was opening a door to a medium sized room that was none the less beautiful, "This will be your room."

Tatsuki looked at it, then at him with her mouth agape, "Seriously?"

He nodded.

A smile came to her lips, "Wow… it's beautiful."

He nodded his head again with a small, serene, smile.

She quickly slipped in and closed the door.

He stood there for a moment before beginning to walk away, the door opened a crack and Tatsuki peaked out.

"Kuchiki," She called out to him and he turned around with light surprise that she actually called him by his name, "Thanks."

"You're welcome."

A/N: Thanks you guys for helping me out! They're much easier to write now! Oh yeah, the little sarcasm that Byakuya had: I don't think it's too OOC. But to me, he seems like a control freak. It may or may not be true, but that's just how I see him. It's fun to write about these two together since they're both dominant types. Oh yeah, I've been drawing fan art for this one since I'm so enthusiastic about this since I'm pretty much bringing this crack to life. There's one on the page, I'm pretty sure if you just click on my username that you can go see the rest of my art.

Please Review!