The Sun and the Moon
Chapter 3
"Fatigue from lack of sleep and from hunger. It's really no wonder…"
Fixing his gaze upon the sleeping figure huddled beneath the covers of the futon, Kuchiki Byakuya barely heard the rest of the words spoken by the Kuchiki resident healer. "… Rukia-sama should be fine after a few days' sleep and rest, Kuchiki-dono."
Byakuya thanked the old man for his services, and after bowing respectfully to the leader of the Kuchiki clan, the healer left Byakuya alone in the room with his adopted sister.
The Kuchiki-taichou closed his eyes in contemplation. The servants had found Rukia unconscious outside his quarters the night before, obviously having passed out from kneeling and going without food for the whole day. Byakuya recalled the previous encounter with his sister the day before, an action which he immediately regretted for it brought a throbbing headache to his temples.
"Onegai, Nii-sama, please… Please save Kurosaki Ichigo!"
The captain opened his eyes and looked once again at his sister sleeping across the room. Her figure was like a bird's, small and lithe, just like Hisana's. But Rukia lacked the fragility his wife often exuded, brought on by that quiet submersed sadness and burdened guilt she carried on her shoulders when she had lived. He remembered the look in her deep purple eyes as she pleaded for the life of the one important to her.
Yes, his sister was strong. She had the will and the strength, just like the man she loved, something that Hisana, or even Byakuya himself, did not have.
Padding over silently across the room, Byakuya lifted the futon's blanket to cover his sister's sleeping form. As he left the room and closed the shoji door quietly behind him, he wondered if Rukia would be thankful for what he had done for her.
Perhaps she would despise him for his actions. Byakuya himself had experienced before the feelings that would soon come after the following events, and the suffering his sister would have to endure. But, he thought, this was for the best.
The master of the house had walked barely a few doors away from Rukia's room when he sensed the all-too-familiar reiatsu of two approaching figures. Byakuya heaved a soft sigh of annoyance. Of course, he should have expected this. But the last person he wanted to see right now stood a few meters in front of him, accompanied by his lieutenant.
"Byakuya."
The noble man had expected the orange-haired unrefined shinigami, now clad in a clean blue yukata, to regard him in his usual inappropriate manner, and indeed he had lived up to expectations. Ichigo stared at the Kuchiki-taichou, who remained as passive and reticent in demeanour as ever.
"Taichou," Renji bowed his head slightly in respect, and Byakuya gave his lieutenant a nod of acknowledgement. "She needs to rest. Don't disturb her for too long."
And with that, the older man proceeded to walk away from the other two shinigami. As he did, he heard the man whose life he just saved speak.
"Kuchiki Byakuya, arigatou."
Byakuya stopped in his tracks. "It was not done for you, Kurosaki Ichigo."
"Naruhudo. Nonetheless, thank you for doing it for her."
The older man turned his head slightly towards the orange-haired shinigami. This man… Now he understood why his adoptive sister held this man in such a high regard. Having said all that needed to be said, the Kuchiki-taichou resumed his steps down the corridor.
"Renji."
"Hai, taichou."
"Let us go."
With that, Ichigo was left alone on the quiet empty corridors of the Kuchiki manor.
Ichigo stared at the shoji door of the room at the far end of the corridor. At this distance he could already feel the familiar reiatsu of the occupant in the room. He knew she was wide awake, and he also knew that she had sensed his approach as well. Contradicting emotions welled up inside of him at the thought of the person dwelling inside. On one hand, he wanted so much to burst into that room and snog the female shinigami senseless, but at the same time, the awkwardness of their last meeting had Ichigo holding back from even taking one step closer.
Ichigo finally gathered nerves of steel and walked determinedly until he reached the end of the corridor. He placed his right hand on the door, with the intention of sliding it open. For a moment his hand lingered there, as the sky outside turned orange while the sun slowly set. His heart was overflowing with a myriad of emotions that he was afraid he might make a fool out of himself in front of Rukia.
Inhaling deeply, Ichigo slid the shoji door open, revealing an elegantly-furnished spacious room. He had never stepped foot on Rukia's room in the Kuchiki manor, it was his first time. Searching the room for that familiar raven-coloured hair, he found it tucked away beneath layers of blankets.
Rukia lay on the futon, her back facing him so that he could not see her face. She seemed asleep, but Ichigo knew better; she had been waiting for him to come in. Ichigo stood rooted on the spot by the shoji door through which he had come in. Moments passed before the petite shinigami finally turned around and sat up on the futon to face her visitor.
Bloodshot, fatigued purple eyes rimmed with dark circles fastened upon warm brown ones.
The two shinigami regarded each other for what seemed like an eternity. At that time, it felt as though there was only the two of them, and nothing else – the furniture, the walls, the room, the whole world seemed to have all but disappeared. The usual fierce scowl on Ichigo's face softened as he observed the girl's features across the room, her face sunken and collarbones jutting out below her neck. A smirk replaced his usual expression as he greeted her, "Yo, Rukia."
Silence. Outside, the cicadas were filling the evening air with sounds of their mating rituals.
Ichigo looked up in confusion at the girl's unresponsiveness. Rukia truly appeared dead with her hair in a mess and her face frozen in passivity, her deep violet eyes boring holes into his skull.
"Oi, Rukia."
At that instant, Rukia removed herself out of the futon and padded across the room towards him with conviction, her hands bunched into fists at her sides, her fierce glare still transfixed on him. "Can't you at least look happier that I'm—"
Ichigo was interrupted midway in his speech by a hard slap across the left cheek, and then followed immediately by another across the right. "What the fuck are you doing, idiot?"
Rukia looked unfazed at all by his reaction; she never once took her murderous gaze away from him, and in fact she looked as if she was preparing for another attack. Ichigo anticipated this, so he quickly grabbed her wrists, but the shorter shinigami was faster, thus she was able to deliver a few punches to his chest before he could do anything.
Staring in horror at the girl half his size, Ichigo attempted to block her blows without hurting her. Rukia looked very deranged indeed, almost mental, the way she was lunging at him with homicidal fervor. In his confusion, Ichigo gave up trying to defend himself and let Rukia continue her blows on his chest, the strength of her fists eventually dying away. At last, Rukia clutched the lining of his azure yukata and leaned her forehead on his chest, obscuring her face from his view.
"Oi, R-Rukia…"
Ichigo patted her head awkwardly, taken aback by the course of events, and then closing his eyes he gathered his arms around her small body. There came no sound from Rukia, not an admonishing word, not even a sob, but Ichigo could feel the warm tears that flowed into his borrowed yukata. They stayed like that for a while, perhaps a few minutes, a silent exchange between two hearts beyond words and conversations. They were like that, their dynamics, and that was what Ichigo liked so much about their relationship. Nothing else needed to be said.
After a while, Rukia looked up to gaze at Ichigo face-to-face. She grabbed the hair above his ears and pulled him down to her height, while she stood on the tips of her toes, so that they were staring directly at each other's eyes. The abruptness and vigour of Rukia's actions scared Ichigo just a little bit, but the intense stare she was giving him stirred warm unprecedented feelings in his stomach.
Bereft of all logical thought, Ichigo leaned forward and took her lips with his own.
Suddenly, it did not matter anymore what had transpired during the last time they had seen each other, whatever crimes he had committed and what punishment he deserved, or whatever the future had in store for their fates.
The initially innocent kiss deepened further, fuelled by repressed desires and mutual longing. Rukia placed her arms around his neck, returning the kiss with equal hunger, while Ichigo's grip on the back of her head pressed her lips closer to his.
Then, out of the blue, Ichigo felt himself being pushed violently away, sending him flying against the wall, his back aching from the impact.
"What the—"
He looked up at Rukia, now standing rigidly and passively, his eyes following the direction at which she was staring. By the shoji door stood the master of the house, Kuchiki Byakuya.
"N-Nii-sama."
"Rukia," the older Kuchiki replied, seemingly unaffected by the sight he witnessed a few moments ago. He did not even acknowledge the orange-haired man who was just in a passionate open-mouthed liplock with his sister and was now sitting on his bottom across the room. "Would you join me for dinner?"
Rukia seemed honoured by this request, but instinctively, she turned her gaze slightly towards the direction of Ichigo. This did not go unnoticed by the older Kuchiki. "Kurosaki Ichigo may join us."
The female shinigami's eyes widened in surprise for a moment, and then bowed her head in response. "Hai. Arigatou, nii-sama. We will follow shortly."
The captain left the room with the slide of the shoji door. Rukia turned to face the orange-haired man who sat frozen on the spot where he landed, his face unsure of whether to hold a scowl or the quizzical expression which took over. The whole situation seemed so comical and peculiar that the raven-haired shinigami burst out in laughter, the first time she had really laughed a hearty laugh in such a long time.
Ichigo looked indignant at this response but upon hearing the sound of her laughter, he found that he did not mind at all. The sight of Rukia bent over in laughter, clutching at her sides, Ichigo had not witness such a sight in so long. Ichigo walked up to her and stretched his arm around her sides.
"Idiot, shut up already! Let's go before your idiotic brother kills us," Ichigo scowled deeply.
The sound of his sister's laughter was carried by the evening breeze along the corridors of the manor where Byakuya stood. Hearing that joyous sound, Byakuya thought, perhaps he had made the right decision after all.