DISCLAIMER: I don't own Bleach or any of the characters associated with it. They belong to their respective owners. This storyline, however, does belong to me.
WiNdGoDdEsS688: I hope you did well on your bio final:D I only have chemistry left. D:
Conterra-san: I would never make things awkward! Things will only move forward in their relationship from now on, I promise. Well, for the most part. :X...
thelovablechelsea: Well, I'm glad you liked the last chapter. :3 Sorry I kinda vanished for a while.
A/N: Sorry I didn't update for a while... I've been having some personal issues, and finals and musical performances certainly didn't help. But I'm back now.
The House of Kuchiki
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Hisana awoke the next morning to find herself in the same place she had been the previous time she woke up. She sat up slowly and stretched, assuming Byakuya, who had not moved, was still asleep.
"Good morning, Hisana-san."
Obviously, she was wrong. Turning around quickly, she blushed to see Byakuya very much awake with a small curve of his lips that could be interpreted to be a half-smile. "G-good morning, Byakuya-sama." She began patting down and combing her hair with her fingers frantically, knowing that it was normally a mess when she woke up in the morning, coaxing out a full-out smile from the man sitting next to her.
"Your hair is fine, Hisana-san. I trust you slept well?"
Hisana nodded slowly. "Except... one time... I think I heard talking. Did someone come and find us asleep?" She tried, and failed, to hide a blush.
Byakuya frowned, but nodded. "Servants. Concerned for our health."
"Kanaye-san, I assume." Hisana smiled and straightened out her, or rather the Kuchiki clan's, kimono. "He cares a lot for you, Byakuya-sama."
"Yes, well... he's certainly been here longer than I. He's grown accustomed to my so-called 'spoiled' personality."
"Spoiled, huh?" Hisana, who had resumed combing her fingers through her hair, nodded thoughtfully. "Hm... yes, you certainly do come off as the spoiled type." Well... nothing changed, it seems.
Byakuya, who was still leaning against the tree, sat up straight and slowly went to stand. "Breakfast should be ready." He looked down at Hisana. "Are you hungry, Hisana-san?"
Hisana nodded slowly, and took Byakuya's hand when he offered it. The path back to the manor was much shorter than what Hisana remembered, her eyes wandering the path as they walked back in silence.
Once inside, Hisana felt her first mild hunger grow exponentially. The smell of the food was incredible, and it probably tasted just as great. She felt, and heard, her stomach growl, hoping Byakuya's hearing wasn't keen enough to notice. "After we eat, Hisana-san... I wish to show you something."
Before Hisana could respond, they arrived in the dining room. Hisana noticed all the elders sitting at the table with a few other very serious-looking individuals. The seat at the head of the table was empty, and once Byakuya was noticed, everyone stood in respect, leaving Hisana shocked.
A dark-haired woman sitting close to the table head smiled at Byakuya. "Good morning, cousin. I trust you had a good night's rest?"
Byakuya nodded slowly and walked towards his seat, motioning for the servant to pull out a chair for Hisana to his right. Hisana followed timidly, sitting down next to the woman and smiling politely at all the members of the clan who looked her way.
The same woman spoke up. "Still not speaking, Byakuya?"
Byakuya sat down in silence.
"I see we have a guest... is this the young lady the elders were telling me about?"
Byakuya raised an eyebrow at the head elder, still, for some reason, choosing not to speak.
"They said nothing out of the ordinary..."
Byakuya waved his hand idly in the air, dismissing the elders' importance. "Usual elder rambles, I take it? Pay no mind to their comments. Hisana-san, this is my cousin Arisu."
"Oh, so YOU'RE the one who has captivated my beloved cousin's heart and made him go on a week-long hunger strike when his marriage was announced... And I see that you've managed to make him speak again! Well done." Arisu grinned at Byakuya. "I had no idea you had such wonderful taste in women."
Hisana blushed. "Pleased to meet you, Arisu-san."
"Byakuya and I grew up together. I know EVERYTHING about him. His weaknesses, the looks he gives when he's interested in a girl, his eating habits when he's unhappy..." Arisu smirked. "And recently, Hisana-san... He's been giving lots of signs of having his eyes set on a woman."
"I barely spent any time with you when we were children." Byakuya signaled for Kanaye to make the kitchen servants come out and serve the food. "You were always far too immature."
"Do you know how long we had to wait for him to stop moping around and order for the meals to go on without him within the last week? The last three days, he wouldn't even SPEAK; I had to get him to NOD to the servants to start the meals." Arisu leaned towards Hisana and whispered, "You see...? He didn't deny having his eyes on a woman."
Hisana blushed and looked down at her empty plate, then looked up at Byakuya suddenly. "Oh! Kuchiki-sama...Thank you for letting me wear this kimono. It's amazing."
Byakuya raised his eyebrow at Hisana, but chose to let her get away with her choice in calling him what she had. He shook his head and smirked at his cousin. "It was nothing. I can assure you, Arisu wouldn't fit in them and I certainly have no use for them."
Arisu narrowed her eyes. "Well it's certainly too bad you have no use for them, Byakuya, because you would look wonderful in a woman's kimono with that MARVELOUS female hair of yours."
Byakuya, who was apparently a master of countering his cousin's insults, didn't seem to react. "Of course YOU would consider my hair to be marvelous, considering the state your head of hair is in."
"And what's THAT supposed to mean?"
"Exactly what it sounded like." Hisana swore she saw smoke beginning to seep out of Arisu's ears and cleared her throat to stifle a laugh while the servants set down all the plates of food.
After breakfast, the elders and clan members began leaving the table one by one, each requesting permission to leave the table. Hisana watched as Arisu, the last remaining person, begin to leave the table.
When Arisu finally left the room, Byakuya looked at Hisana with a faint smile. "You'll have to forgive them for being so boring. Half of them are too old to think, the other half is too childish to uphold a conversation."
"So where do you fit in?"
"Hm..." Byakuya considered this for a moment, then stood up out of his chair slowly. "You know... I'm not entirely sure..."
Hisana shook her head with a sigh and stood up as well. "So what exactly did you want to show me?"
"Ah yes... that's right. I'll give you my last two confessions on the way, then. And you don't have to give any in return this time."
Hisana nodded slowly. "A-alright then, Byakuya-sama."
---
They were walking the same path as the previous day, it seemed. As they came to small flower-enclosed clearing, Hisana stopped short and frowned.
"What is it, Hisana-san?"
"The flower fell out of my hair..." Hisana looked at Byakuya sadly, almost as if offering an apology.
Byakuya walked over to the same bush and carefully inspected the flowers, picking one gently and going back to Hisana. "No kiss on the cheek this time?"
Hisana blushed as he put the flower in her hair again. "Sorry about that, Byakuya-sama..."
Byakuya shook his head and took the left path this time, smiling at Hisana when she followed. "I was a little disappointed, that's all," he confessed, then looked back at the path ahead.
"Disappointed?" If at all possible, Hisana felt her face go even redder.
Byakuya nodded slowly. "There it is. Up ahead."
Hisana, who had resorted back to her usual looking at the floor, looked up and felt her jaw drop. The estate has it's own RIVER?
She looked down the path to see it lead to a bridge over the river. Next to the path near the bridge, a cherry blossom tree stood, and when the wind blew strong enough, Hisana saw the flower petals fall like snow onto the bridge.
They walked onto the bridge slowly and stopped midway across it. Byakuya looked over at Hisana, who was in shock, and then turned to face the river and put his hands on the railing of the bridge.
Hisana cautiously did the same, and looked up at Byakuya, who was staring out at the river intently.
"I come here to think," he said suddenly, offering up his second 'confession' of the day. "It's peaceful here. Standing here clears my mind almost as well as walking at night."
"It's certainly lovely here," Hisana responded with a nod, and leaned forward to look down at the water that was practically covered in a sheet of flower petals.
"The kimono is yours, by the way," Byakuya began and noticed Hisana straighten up to look at him and begin to protest. "But you have to explain why you called me Kuchiki-sama again at breakfast."
"I..." Hisana faltered and looked back at the river briefly before looking back up at him. "I didn't want to get you in trouble, Byakuya-sama."
"Get in trouble?" Byakuya raised an eyebrow.
"Well... yes." Hisana frowned. "I don't want you to have to stand up to the elders again... not on my behalf."
"Clan leaders stand up to the elders all the time, Hisana-san. It's practically tradition for me to disagree by now..."
"Well... It's just that... I guess... I was just... worried, I guess."
"Worried? About me?" Byakuya felt a smile creep across his lips.
Hisana blushed a deep red once more, but nodded. "Y-yes."
"And why's that?" Byakuya turned to look at her.
Hisana turned herself to face him and looked down at the floor. "It's just... Well... you got injured and then you were fighting to defend me against the elders and you hurt yourself again, and I just don't want you to get hurt because of me again and..." She felt Byakuya's hand move to her chin and lift her face up gently, his eyes seemingly searching her face. "I know you said it wasn't my fault... but still... I feel like you got hurt becau--" Hisana's eyes went wide.
At some point during her babbling, Byakuya had leaned in closer and cut her off by pressing his lips gently against hers, his hand still by her chin. She felt her eyes flutter shut on their own as she moved her arms to clutch his haori gently.
After what felt to be a moment too soon, Byakuya pulled back slowly and watched Hisana slowly open her eyes. She blushed again and he couldn't help but smile.
"W-what was...?" Hisana started, but was cut off by Byakuya's pointer finger.
"You were rambling again, Hisana-san."
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Another chapter up tomorrow and every day after this week. (I hope.) I missed everyone. ;-; Sorry I was gone for so long.