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.

The House of Kuchiki

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

"My hands? Oh... that's from..." Hisana pulled her hands away from her concerned husband. "I guess it's from being so scared before."

Byakuya furrowed his brow slightly in concern. "Are you feeling well?"

Hisana nodded with a smile. "Yep. Let's just head home, okay?"

Nodding slowly, Byakuya took one of Hisana's cold hands back into his own and began heading back towards Seireitei.

Upon their arrival at the manor, Hisana's face seemed even more pale than usual. Perhaps it was just the light? "You're sure you're fine?"

Hisana nodded. "I'm positive; stop worrying. Cold hands don't mean I'm dying!"

Byakuya forced a smile. Of course she was right, having cold hands didn't mean she was dying at all. He pulled her into an embrace and ran his fingers through her hair. "I have to apologize for what I said earlier... I wasn't fair to you in any sense of the word."

Hisana shook her head quickly. "No no! It was me... I wasn't being fair at all. I shouldn't have put you in that position..." She looked up at him with a tired smile. "Can you forgive me?"

Byakuya nodded. "Only if you can do the same for me." He leaned down and planted a light kiss on her forehead only to pull back and look down at her, eyes filling with worry and concern once more.

"What is it...?" Hisana's smile faltered at the sight of his expression.

Byakuya reached his hands up to cup her face in his hands, leaning downwards to put his forehead against hers. "Let's head to bed, hm?"

"Your forehead is cold, Byakuya-sama." Hisana pulled her head away. "Are YOU feeling alright?"

Byakuya lowered his hands from her face and offered one for his wife to take. "I believe so."

---

While Hisana's hands never returned to their original temperature, the fever Byakuya had felt on her forehead the night before had vanished by the morning. Still concerned, but unable to stop Hisana from acting on her joy-induced adrenaline rush, he found himself following his wife to Rukongai only to return to Seireitei without a youngster to roam about the manor.

Regardless of their quite obvious failure, Hisana's spirit never seemed to falter. There were, of course, times during the course of the following weeks where Byakuya had began to believe her fever had caused her to imagine hearing her sister's name, but he wouldn't dare mention such a thing. He had never seen such a twinkle in her eyes. The hope of her sister still being somewhere in Rukongai fueled her in such a way that she was seemingly unstoppable.

That is, until several months had passed, and with the coming and going of their wedding anniversary and a couple extra months to follow, the flame that was Hisana's passion began to dwindle. And yet, she still continued to search, even in times where weather started to betray her.

One morning in winter, Hisana woke up to find herself shivering with her husband watching her wearing an expression of immense concern and fear, cradling her in his arms. "Byakuya-sama?"

Her voice was quiet, weak almost, and she furrowed her brow slightly as she tried to push herself up only to fall back down. She felt cold, yet her eyes and face burned; her throat was tight; her arms and legs felt weak. It hurt to breathe; it was hard to see; it was hard to think. The room was spinning, and worst of all, her husband hadn't spoken to her yet.

"Hisana..." Byakuya moved his hand slowly and took her small and frail hand into his as she slowly slid her eyes shut. "I've summoned the doctor," he said quietly.

The next few hours passed as a quick blur to Hisana. She had heard Byakuya's voice zone in and out a number of times, a woman's voice struggling to remain quiet she had assumed to be Arisu's, Matsumoto's loud squeal of worry, Kanaye paying respects as he brought cool water and a towel to press against her forehead, and a stranger's voice she decided to be the doctor's. There was, at some point, a cold hand put against her forehead, something gently placed in her mouth and removed shortly afterwards, and more quiet talking.

The hours that had moved quickly for Hisana had moved agonizingly slow in comparison for her concerned husband. He sat in silence, watching her sleep for the majority of the night, each minute passing as though it was an hour. Feeling she was simply suffering a nightmare, he waited and embraced her small and frail body until she had stopped. But her breathing had never regulated, and her shivering had never ceased.

"It appears to be a cold, Kuchiki-sama," the doctor decided, standing from his examination of the mistress of the household, "A severe one from being left alone for some time, but a cold nonetheless."

Byakuya nodded slowly and looked at Kanaye, who nodded as well, understanding what his master was going to request before he even went to say it. "I shall get started on the tea then, Byakuya-sama," he said softly, exiting the room.

The doctor, now packing his belongings back into the bag he had brought, continued, "Plenty of bed rest, tea, and constant supervision and she should be fine in no time." The doctor smiled and began to head towards the door. "She MUST stay in bed."

"Rukia..." Hisana forced out in a whisper, forcing her eyes open upon the realization that she couldn't go looking for her sister if she was to remain in bed.

Byakuya nodded, giving her a forced smile. "I'll look. I promise. Just rest." He watched his wife's eyes slide shut again as she smiled, drifting off to sleep once more.

---

After searching Rukongai alone, Byakuya returned to the manor for the sixth night. Hisana had started to recover; she could walk on her own now, and was often found roaming about the immensely large library of the Kuchiki manor. While reading hadn't been something she had been fond of during her school days, having not much else to do had sparked a new fondness for reading – even if the books she could reach were boring and only covered the history of Seireitei and the clan. Kanaye had suggested she use the ladder to find classic literature and whatnot, but it was and intimidating ladder, so she decided to stick to the history of the Kuchiki clan.

Flipping to the last page that was written on, she had hit an unfinished chapter which started with the death of the twenty-seventh clan leader and the shift of power to the twenty-eighth.

The twenty-eighth clan leader, born on the final day of the first month, had been expected to follow in his father's footsteps in joining the shinigami elite ranks of the Gotei 13; coming into power at the age of nine after the death of his father on a mission, many believed he was unsuited to rule and was simply following the advice of his mother when pressed with an important decision. During the Hollow attack on the Kuchiki household, Kuchiki Sayuri was reported missing and later found dead, leaving her son to rule for himself at the still young age of eleven years old. Since then, Kuchiki Byakuya has been the youngest to take power in the Kuchiki clan, as well as the most accomplished. By the age of fourteen he had already achieved his shikai, graduated from the shinigami academy, and became a seated officer of a Gotei 13 squad. Kuchiki Byakuya still continues to rule the Kuchiki clan to this date.

Hisana frowned. It was such a brief overview of the great things he had accomplished. There was no way the shinigami she had heard about from the first week she entered Seireitei could be summarized in a short paragraph. She slammed the book shut and forced it back onto the shelf. "Last day of the first month, huh?" She looked out the window, with a sigh. "That was the day I got sick..."

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Okay, so I haven't posted in ages. I blame college for that. I thought freshman year wouldn't be TOO hard, but then I realized I was sorrily mistaken when I had to read over 100 pages of an obscenely boring book in a single night. But here's a chapter after what feels like decades. I'm going to try to get another chapter up by the end of the day, but if not, it should be up tomorrow night or the day after, even if it means not doing my paper. :D