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.

Yay for power outages destroying cable internet access! ;-;...

The House of Kuchiki

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

"So what was it you wanted to talk about, Hisana?"

Hisana looked up as Byakuya approached her from their room in an outfit that certainly looked more comfortable than the one he had on previously. Instead of his usual death god uniform, he was instead wearing a white outfit made of light cloth. He had left his scarf in the bedroom and he was without his kenseikan, which meant, according to Hisana's careful observance of his personality, that he had endured an agonizingly long day at work.

"Who said anything about wanting to talk about anything?" Hisana took a step towards the exit of the manor and put her hand on the door handle before jumping back to watch the servant slowly slide the door open for her, something she still hadn't gotten used to.

Byakuya raised an eyebrow and followed her out of the manor, walking next to her down the stone path. "You think I don't know you well enough by now...?"

Hisana let out what Byakuya interpreted as a troubled sigh. "I was just wondering a few things, that's all..." She looked in the direction that led to the exit of the grounds and then down the path that led towards the bridge over the river.

"Such as?" Byakuya glanced down at her with a frown. There seemed to be some sort of distance between the two of the them.

"You know... usual... girl-ish stuff." Hisana looked up at her husband with a forced smile before looking away. How does one approach someone such as him with such a trivial concept...?

She turned down the path heading deeper into the Kuchiki grounds. Why did I let what they said bother me so much? I know he loves me... it's me who's over-compensating for my inability to return the same amount of affection by constantly saying my feelings. What if.. She took a turn towards the large cherry blossom tree. What if he decided he won't say he loves me until he's certain I feel the same amount of affection towards him...?

Byakuya frowned at their silence, but simply walked on and left Hisana to her thoughts. She must have a lot on her mind, he decided, to have such a sudden change in personality. They approached the large tree slowly, with not much said and very few glances exchanged. Hisana slowly sat down under the tree and patted the spot next to her gently. Once he was seated, Hisana went to lean her head against his shoulder and let out a deep sigh as Byakuya brought his hand up to run his fingers through her hair.

Several minutes passed in silence until Hisana finally sat up and turned to look at him. She furrowed her brow and bit her lip. Staring at her husband intently, she took a deep breath. "Do you love me?"

Hisana watched his eyes widen slightly and looked away from him, waiting for his response. "Of course I do... I thought you knew that..."

"It's just..." She trailed off, raising her gaze to meet his eyes again.

"Is that what's been bothering you?"

Hisana nodded. "Rangiku-chan and Arisu-san spent time with me today and we talked about it, that's all... I just... I realized... that... well... you've never actually said it..."

Byakuya pursed his lips a bit and sat back against the tree as Hisana looked down at her lap and continued. "And I was just... wondering why... or... maybe... I mean... I don't need you to... but... I guess I was wondering if you would say it or..."

Byakuya watched her knot and lace her fingers about in her lap, sighing as he sat up once more. "I'm not one fond of expressing myself in words," he explained. "I've found that words have a tendency to fail me."

Hisana looked up at him as he continued, "I don't see how saying it would make so much of a difference." Hisana looked down at her lap again. "It should not," he went on to say, "since I try to show my feelings to you in every way possible."

"I don't see why it would be so difficult to say it, though..." Hisana looked up at him once more. "I'm not fond of 'expressing' myself either, but I still tell you I love you."

"You're not fond of expressing yourself, indeed..." Byakuya looked away from her.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You tell me you feel that way, but when it comes to genuinely proving it to me, you seem to hold back." He slowly moved his gaze back to his wife.

"...that's... not fair..."

"Is it fair, then, that you ask things of me which I don't feel comfortable giving?" His usually warm and soft gaze had hardened and become cold, causing Hisana to look away from him.

"You... can't compare... you know how important finding Rukia is to me... you... that's not fair..." Hisana felt her eyes begin to burn as she stood up, turning away from him.

Byakuya frowned and narrowed his eyes slightly, the tension in the air thick to the point where breathing calmly was a challenge. Hisana turned back to face him with tears threatening to spill from her eyes, looking down at her husband who had resumed leaning against the tree. "I... I'm going to search for Rukia now... I think we go too late and she must already be sleeping... so... looking a little earlier might..."

"Fine then. I assume you wouldn't mind going alone. I have work to do." Byakuya stood up slowly and began heading towards the manor.

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After Hisana had ran past Byakuya and out of the estate's grounds, she continued running until she had found herself at the gate between Seireitei and Rukongai. She hadn't come down here alone in a very long time, she realized with a bolt of sadness striking her body. Glancing around, she began heading towards Inuzuri slowly, wiping away any traces of tears from her face.

After what felt like a lonely eternity, she looked around at the shambled houses that made up the district she had grown up in and looked down at her outfit with a frown. She looked far too rich to be out here without protection... or her husband, for that matter.

She looked around nervously. Suddenly a young voice from around the corner rang out, leaving Hisana momentarily shocked with eyes wide.

"Hey! Rukia! Wait up!"

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The good aspect of losing internet and power is that you little to do and writing a chapter by hand gets pretty tempting when you're bored. So most of the next chapter is already written, I just have to type what I have and finish it. Should be up before friday. :D