Chapter Six: Among the Blossoms
With the unfurling of the first plum blossom, a shred of hope stirs in Hisana's cold, black heart. Summer is close. So, fucking close.
This little spark invigorates her as she attacks the last remnant of mud from the engawa lining the Herons Standing room. The heady perfume of blossoms, tulips, and irises fills the air, and she inhales greedy breath after greedy breath, happy that winter has finally been conquered.
Happiness, however, is a fickle bitch these days. It has a tendency to bleed straight out of her heart like blood running out of an open vein. Like right then. Happiness abandons her the moment she feels the swell of a familiar reiatsu.
This is their new little game. She feels his spiritual pressure and vanishes. It isn't half as fun as poetry or seal-breaking. Even hearing him complain about the beautiful women throwing themselves at his feet was a better game.
He's still pissed at her. She can feel it in the way his reiatsu crackles when it meets hers.
The source of his vexation, however, is the real head-scratcher. Maybe it's displaced anger because she wouldn't bend to his will. Or maybe it's because neither his father nor grandfather fired her like he asked. Or maybe it's because he is the kind of asshole who only wants something when he can't have it.
Maybe it's all three! Who knows? Not her, that's for damn sure.
Slinging her rag in the bucket, Hisana sits up on her knees, and stares into the courtyard.
He has his zanpakutō today. Fantastic. Sure she won't feel the brunt of his releases or anything like that as she mops the corridors. She can already feel an echo of the headache to come.
Actually, now that she thinks about it….
The women's dojo is tucked away on the opposite side of the house. She can seek refuge in there when she tires of shielding herself from the slamming of his reiatsu as he trains. It might work.
"Very good," calls the Lord Lieutenant from behind her.
Hisana watches the lordling for a few moments, thinking the large hydrangea bush mostly obscures her from his line of sight.
The Lord Lieutenant stops just before the engawa, and she glances up at him for a fleeting second.
"Miss Hisana," he greets politely.
"Milord." She lowers her head.
"You were an Academy student once," he says as if just remembering this fact about her. "What do you think of Byakuya's form?"
She lifts her head a little to see over the blue flower blocking her view.
The lordling's motions are crisp and precise. When he connects them, there is a fluidness that looks like it would be difficult to block. He's much better than she ever was at wielding a sword against non-existent enemies.
Fighting actual combatants, though, is different. Sometimes a lot different. Not that practice doesn't help.
"Good, technically speaking." Hisana can't help herself. She'd rather burn alive than give that asshole full-throated approval.
"Is there another dialect?" comes the lordling's wry retort.
So, he was listening.
She knew it, and she grins.
The Lord Lieutenant chuckles. "Many, in fact," he teases his son.
"Which ones would a maid know?"
"Byakuya," the Lord Lieutenant cautions him.
"You aren't as confident with your left hand in the dominant position," says Hisana, rolling back on her heels and standing. "Your right leg drags out of the positions. Probably costs you a second or two in the transitions."
The lordling stops. Eyes on her. Expression: impassive.
"The maid is correct, Byakuya," comes a voice that Hisana doesn't recognize, but given its lowness, its gruffness, and the informality, she guesses.
When her gaze cuts over to her right, she's not wrong. The Lord Captain stands a few feet away, eyes fixing the lordling with a stare so cold it makes her shiver. He's older. Distinguished. He has a well-kempt mustache, white hair, and a willowy build.
This was a trap, she thinks. No way the Lord Lieutenant, the Lord Captain, and the lordling show up where she is, unannounced. The reason for this inspection?
Maybe it's to survey the lordling's interest in her… They must find it wrong, unseemly, maybe. He's supposed to be mooning after highborn ladies, after all, not asking for the heads of faceless maids.
While she doesn't know this for sure, every alarm in her body sounds. This is bad. Real bad. For her. Always for her. Life under the upper hand requires utmost caution. Usually, she's good at it. Pretending. Creeping in the shadows, unseen, like a good little ghost.
But, she's lost herself with the lordling.
There is a rawness in him that she can't help but agitate. It's the same with her. He probably senses the live wire of her nerves, right under the surface. He's perceptive. She'll give him that much.
Hisana exchanges a quick glance with Byakuya. Not a trace of emotion to be found on either of their faces. Practiced liars, them both.
Maybe the Lord Captain and Lord Lieutenant are common enemies. At least for now.
Byakuya lifts his head slightly, and his gaze flickers to the room behind her. It's a signal. She obeys without hesitation, slinking away with polite bows and obsequent silence.
He knows his family and their fault-lines better than she. Further, the Kuchiki family isn't a topic in which she wishes to specialize.
Hisana carries her supplies to the women's dojo. It's been a while since she last came to this place. It's sort of far-flung from the rest of the manor, existing on the fringes of a poorly maintained stretch of wilderness.
She likes the overgrowth, though. It reminds her of the hinterland, the depths of Rukongai. Rough and untamed, it speaks to her in a way that the calculated zen of Kuchiki manor does not.
Such is the beauty of the wild forgotten places.
Hisana draws the doors shut, and she breathes easy. For extra fortification, she casts a seal. A real bitch of a seal, too. One wrong move will cause a cascade of spells. It's her favorite because while it isn't the most fortifying, it will alert her to intruders. At the end of the day, it's all she needs. She can never account for the strength of reiatsu, and expending a metric load of hers for a peon is just… stupid.
In this instance, however, she doesn't think any of her seals will keep a Kuchiki lord away for long. A tripwire, then, is the best she can hope for.
Hisana crosses the floor. She knows what to expect of the training weapons, and, yet, she cannot fathom why there is only one bokken and ten naginata, all in pristine working order. No one has ever used any of these weapons, she's convinced.
For fun, she takes a naginata in hand. She works it from muscle memory. It's one of those memories that she can't place from when she was alive. The movements flow from her. It feels nice. Like home. Like comfort.
The Academy did not teach lessons on polearms, at least, not to the first or second years.
She practices with the naginata for a while, marveling at how well her body recalls maneuvers despite her remembering very little about having obtained this knowledge. The light filtering through the transom turns from buttery yellow to deep gold, when the first signs of fatigue find her. Sweat coats her back and arms and her breaths come thick and fast.
Hisana pauses to consider trading the naginata for the bokken before she tires out.
Then, her tripwire is triggered.
Hisana glances up at the golden runes that flash around her. A visual siren. Her heart leaps to a gallop. Instinctively, she locks onto the reiatsu of the intruder, and strikes, stopping short of making contact….
It's a cat.
A black cat.
Her brows pull together at this discovery. "That's a lot of reiatsu for a little kitty," she whispers, eyes narrowing. Part of her waits for the cat to transform into some sort of monster, even though such a thing seems impossible.
How the hell did a cat get in here?
Her gaze flicks up to the transom windows.
It would've been an amazing feat of physics for the cat to have crawled through one of those, but she supposes it's possible since one of the window's wooden casings is popped out.
Hisana sweeps the blade away from the cat, who looks miffed that she hadn't put her blade away sooner. Then, the feline saunters over to the pile of weapons stashed in the corner of the room.
The cat curls its body against one of the naginata then swishes its tail around the singular bokken poking through.
"Out," says Hisana, opening the door to the dojo. She nods in the direction of the woods.
The cat lifts its head, as if in challenge, before taking the bokken in its mouth and fleeing through the door. Hisana sprints after the creature because there is no fucking way that she's going to allow what she can only assume is the most expensive bokken ever made to indebt her to this family for eternity.
Flash-stepping as fast as she can, however, lands Hisana in a trap.
She thinks this trap may have been orchestrated by a cat, which is probably the dumbest thing she has thought in her entire life.
"Hisana!" calls a voice that she doesn't know.
Her head snaps to the side, where she finds a tall, lean man wearing a lieutenant's badge waving wildly at her.
Thirteen, she thinks, reading the badge on his arm.
Kaien Shiba.
Shit!
Shiba.
That's the family who provided the fake recommendation to help her land this job. So, they're in on it, too? Amazing. Who the hell is her client?
Hisana glances back at the main house, where she sees the Lord Captain, the Lord Lieutenant, and the lordling watching the intruder.
Intruders, rather.
Walking alongside Lord Shiba is a man with long white hair dressed in a captain's haori. If Hisana remembers correctly, the captain of the Thirteenth is Jūshirō Ukitake.
Hisana flings an arm back and plays along, manifesting a level of excitement that she has never actually known. "Lord Shiba!"
Seconds later, the lord has her in his arms. "It has been so long!" he says, face beaming.
"I know! I am so happy to see you well, milord." She gives him the brightest smile that she can manage.
The Kuchikis look on. The Lord Captain stares, expression remote and unreadable. The Lord Lieutenant smiles affably. Byakuya glowers, attention locked on Kaien Shiba.
"Little Byakuya," sing-songs Lord Shiba. "How did you manage to steal Miss Hisana?"
Hisana's gaze ping-pongs between the two lords. Lord Shiba is clearly harassing the lordling, and he must think the bait is good.
"Would you like her back?" asks Byakuya, drily.
She smiles at this. "Well, Lord Shiba, do you want me back?" she purrs.
Lord Shiba's lips tug into a wide grin. "Will you come back? It has been so lonely without you at the house. We've all missed you dearly."
They embrace. For effect.
"It is always wonderful to see such heartfelt reunions," says the Lord Lieutenant.
The lordling scowls.
Captain Ukitake takes to the Lord Lieutenant's side and nods. "It truly is. How long have you known one another, Kaien?"
"Five years," says Lord Shiba, as if reading the print straight off her resume.
Hisana keeps a smile plastered on her face. "Lord Shiba is such a generous master." Her gaze trails to Byakuya, pointedly.
"Well, Hisana, you made it easy. We all loved you dearly."
"Thank you, milord. I still dream of my time at your house."
Byakuya glances over at his father for a moment before returning his attention to Lord Shiba. "Please unhand our maid," he says under his breath.
"Your maid?" scoffs Lord Shiba. "I'm pretty sure she's her own person even when in service to your family."
Before the two lords can get too far into their bickering, Captain Ukitake glances back at the Lord Captain. "Thank you for your invitation. I hear the estate's blossoms are splendid this time of year."
"Of course. Follow me. The party will be closer to the orchard," says the Lord Captain. "Byakuya," he begins, pausing at the door, "come along now."
Lord Shiba lingers a moment longer next to Hisana. Once the others have filtered into the manor, he shoots her a sidelong gaze. "Meet here at ten tonight."
She nods her head. "Yes, milord."
Hisana braces her shoulder against the door and stares into the night. A heavy veil of shadows falls upon the courtyard, but the hum of crickets and the croaks of frogs make spring's darkness more palatable than winter's empty black.
"Sorry for the delay." The Shiba lord's voice sounds from behind her.
Politely, she bows. "Lord Shiba."
"I think we got this." He purses his lips together and glances off to the side.
"Got what?"
"This. Leaving the estate with few questions asked."
Hisana blinks. "What?" She's not allowed to leave the estate. It's one of the rules. With exceptions limited to pre-approved excursions and certain festival days, the maids must remain onsite at all times.
"I'm a lord," he says with a little head tilt as if he is still trying to work through the details of this. "No one is going to question me."
"But, they will question me," she says.
"Yeah, but I'm making you come. You're leaving on my authority."
"Won't the family be upset that their maid is cavorting with her former employer?"
He squints. "Nah. Neither Captain Kuchiki nor Lieutenant Kuchiki will care."
With a hesitant glance, Hisana steps off the engawa with the lord. "Let's do this." Far be it from her to assume the voice of caution.
"Can you flash-step?" The lord wags his brows.
She grins. "Yeah. I can flash-step."
Then, they are off.
Where they wind up is certainly a choice. It's a dive bar, emphasis on dive. Hisana didn't think a place this ramshackle could exist in Seireitei, a place with rules and ordinances, some of which even enforced on occasion.
She supposes there must be a market for a place that serves cheap beer and has poor ventilation, little to no budget for lighting, and smells of bad tobacco. The Eleventh needs a place to blow off smoke, too, she guesses.
When they enter, the haze is so soupy that she swears breathing feels more like chewing. The air has a thick, gritty texture that sticks in her throat. But, being a professional, Hisana refuses to cough or make any sound at all. She's done her grifting in much seedier places.
Maneuvering through the groups of Shinigami gathered at the bar feels a lot like pushing through thick underbrush while wading in mud. By the time they arrive at the back of the establishment, Hisana is more than a little battered.
The Shiba lord eyes the door to the left and nods. "End of the road for me," he says. "I don't mind helping out a close friend, but—" his voice trails.
"Understood."
So, her client is close friends with the Lieutenant of the Thirteenth. Interesting company to keep.
"I trust you know your way back to the estate," he says.
"Think I can figure it out."
Lord Shiba gives her a sly grin. "Good luck." The way he says it sounds like a warning.
She bows her head before sliding the door open.
The room is dark and cramped. A wooden table with three wooden chairs sits in the middle of the floor. On the table is a bottle of sake, two cups, an orb, and a singular lantern. The haze from the bar, however, has turned the golden lantern light blue.
Hisana pulls out a chair and sits.
Every single thought in her head tells her to run. She's practically free. Getting out of Seireitei is monumentally easier than infiltrating the city. Her client, while strong, doesn't seem particularly malicious. Plus, she's never actually paid Hisana for anything, a fact that irks Hisana endlessly.
However, there is the inconvenient matter of her zanpakutō. Hisana weighs the pros and cons, deciding that there's no way in hell that she would let her client keep it. The problem is, she doesn't think she has the requisite skills necessary to steal it back if she were to make a run for it.
So, she's stuck.
"Patience."
Hisana perks up and glances around the room. The voice sounded low, gruff, like a man's voice. But, she's got nothing. It's hard to pinpoint reiatsu here, what with all the nearby Shinigami, but surely….
Before Hisana thinks to look under the table, a black cat jumps up and sits in front of the orb. Its glassy yellow eyes find hers, and it tilts its head.
Is this the same cat from before?
Hisana blinks. Maybe there's something laced in that blue haze, she thinks. Or, maybe she's finally lost her marbles.
"Yes, I'm the cat from before."
She jolts back a little. "Did the cat just talk?"
"Also, yes, I can speak." The cat flicks his tail before turning to the orb. Pawing at the glass, he asks, "Are you there?"
Unlike before, the orb does not glow nor project any images.
"Hello?" The cat extends its claws and scratches at the glass. "We don't have all night."
"Sorry, sorry." A male voice sounds from the orb and it begins to glow a pale blue. "I thought when you said 10:30, you meant my time."
"No. I was very particular in my instructions." The cat gives a little snort. "You were never very diligent about following instructions."
"That's not fair. Back at the Sec—"
"What is happening?" asks Hisana, leaning forward to look into the orb.
It's the same man from before. He has the same affable expression, the same bushy blond hair, and the same ugly bucket hat. "Oh, is that the thief?" he asks cheerfully. "Hi there, Hisana!" He gives a big cheerful wave. "Isn't Lady Y's cat form fun?"
Hisana's eyes widen. "Pardon. What?"
"Yeah, her cat form! How are you liking Kuchiki estate? I hear good things."
Hisana very much suspects that he is lying to her, but she plays along. "When will the art be back onsite?"
"Good girl," says the cat with a huff.
"Oh, yeah. About that."
"About what?"
"Well, we said there was a chance that it would have been in the group taken off-site. What have you learned so far?"
"It's offsite. Apparently, most of the art is stored in Unit 505 when it is onsite."
"Oh, that is so good to know!"
"Do we have an idea of when the art usually moves back onsite?"
"The summer," he says.
"Yes, I gathered, but do we have a date?"
His sunny disposition fades a little. "Summer. Probably at the beginning? But, Unit 505. That's a big help."
"Where is Unit 505?"
"Oh, that's the unit that was taken offsite."
She wants to strangle him now.
He continues, "It's in a fortified castle, which is located in the dunes that exist between the mountains in the eastern part of District 25. The castle is impenetrable by all accounts."
"Is that why I'm here, now? To help infiltrate the castle?"
"No," says the cat. "It's too dangerous. You waiting until the unit returns is the safest and easiest way to swipe the painting."
"Is there anything else you can tell me about the painting?" asks Hisana.
The cat shakes his head. "No one recalls it, I take it?"
Hisana shrugs. "Not a lot of fine art connoisseurs among the maids."
"What about the main family? Have you made any inroads with them?"
Hisana shakes her head.
"Not surprising. Sōjun is the easiest of them to manage, but he's been on missions for the last few months." The cat's tail agitates back and forth. "How about Byakuya?"
Hisana loosens a long sigh and shrugs.
"Seems about right," the cat chuckles. "If you beat him up enough, he eventually thaws out."
"Well, it might help if I had my zanpaku—"
"Not a chance. I saw the look in your eye when you entered the room. You wanted to bolt."
Hisana shifts uncomfortably in her seat. "You could probably find another thief."
"Not this close to the unit being returned to the manor."
"Do we even know where the unit is stored?"
"We do," chimes the man with the fluffy blond hair. "They usually keep their storage units near the greenhouse on the edge of the property. The issue, though, is that these units are usually ensorcelled with a camouflage seal. Would need a key to break it."
"Well, I know where to find keys," says Hisana.
"Not these keys. Lady Sejima safeguards anything related to access of the family's art. You'll need to pick it off her," says the cat.
"Good to know."
"Alright. I think that's it. Got to run!" says the blond.
"No, wait!" The orb, however, darkens before the cat can finish his protest. "Kisuke," he grumbles under his breath, tail snapping. The cat then glances back at Hisana. "Are you ready to go?"
Frowning, Hisana picks herself up out of the chair.
"Hey," calls the cat as she nears the door.
Hisana glances over her shoulder.
"Trust me when I say that I am aware of the irony of this statement, but don't be a dick."
Hisana lifts a brow. "Be a dick to who?"
"You know to who."
The Kuchiki Family.
"I'm really losing it." Hisana says the words quietly to herself as she leaves.
When Hisana reaches the estate, it looks like it is about to rain so she ducks inside what appears to be a glass box. It's not just a glass box, a fact that she discovers once the lanterns fire up. It's a glass box with flora. All sorts of beautiful flora, some of which she has never seen before.
There are wildflowers and plants with vibrant leaves. Each section is beautifully organized and maintained. There are trees dripping with persimmons, apples, bananas, and fruit for which she has no names. Only when her eyes find a ripe bunch of bananas, does her stomach clench into a fist. Yeah. The thing about training is it makes you hungry. Very hungry. Always hungry.
How terrible would it be if she stole a few bananas? She wonders if it's a crime worthy of jail or lashings. Probably neither. It's not like they refuse the staff food. She eats well as a maid. Really well, in fact. The last few months are probably the only times when she could count on three meals a day since arriving in Soul Society.
Also, who would know? It's the middle of the night. No one is around. The Kuchiki guards are all near the diverted stream playing cards and drinking.
Hisana goes for it. She's scaled a tree or two in her era. This one is nothing compared to the trees deep in the hinterland, the ones that puke gas and have venomous creatures scaling them alongside her.
In no time, she has a bundle of bananas in hand and is back on the ground.
"Score!" she says, tearing off a banana and peeling it.
One bite and her heart stops. It tastes amazing. Her eyes roll back in her head, and she swears that she is in love. The second bite convinces her that it is true love. By the third bite, she wants to marry not just this particular banana, but maybe this entire place.
It has all the beauty of the verdant woods set deep in the Rukon without any of their wildness.
"I wonder if this is the greenhouse." She glances around. It is sort of house-like, and it has a bunch of greenery. "Bet this is close to where they store the art units."
Okay, this is definitely a sign. Her love for this place explodes. She's sure her heart will burst. This is pure and wholesome and nothing wrong could ever possibly—
Creak.
Hisana dives behind a table filled with an assortment of flowering vines that fall in thick cascades down the sides. Between the streams of flowers, she can make out a pair of legs. Black hakama. Looks like Shinigami.
Then another pair of legs. Not black hakama. Blue silk. A noble.
Hisana's eyes widen.
"Wow, this place is beautiful," says a woman between giggles. She sounds young, possibly a little tipsy.
Silence follows her words.
Definitely a nobleman.
Part of Hisana wants to tell the girl to run for the hills. But, she's dressed in her servant's uniform, and, well, it's not a great look for the maid to be lounging in the greenhouse without purpose.
"I mean it's storming, it's not like anyone will notice," the girl titters, voice unsteady and high.
More silence from the nobleman.
"C'mon," the girl urges.
Oh, no.
Hisana's eyes widen.
"It'll be fun."
Biting her lip, she crawls on her hands and knees to get a better look at what is happening. The first thing she sees is the kamon on the noble's kosode.
House Kuchiki.
Fuck.
The second thing she notices is the light winking off the gold pin attached to the nobleman's haori and the flash of the ornate lacquer inrō suspended from his obi. So, he's one of the richer Kuchiki. Good for the Shinigami.
"I don't—" the nobleman says, voice quiet and low.
A kiss, she suspects, judging by the abruptness of his silence and the positioning of the legs.
Oh, cripes, please, please, please, stop. As much as Hisana firmly does not care what people do alone in the dark, she very much does not want to bear witness to it.
Okay, so maybe she doesn't like this place as much anymore. Maybe she needs some space. It's beginning to feel too cramped, too overwhelming.
"Lord Kuchiki, don't make me beg," the woman teases.
Hisana wants desperately to jump out of her skin. Frantic, she looks around, gaze shifting to each wall of this glass prison. There is only one fucking exit, and these two dumb-dumbs are standing right in front of it.
Only when the woman drops to her knees does Hisana jolt up, head banging into the ledge of the table, which sends it skittering back. Horrified and slightly bleeding, she stares out at the two lovers, banana held out as if in offering.
She very much wants to say the word "banana," as a joke, but another word leaves her lips instead, "Byakuya?"
Gaping, she stares wide-eyed, terror ripping through her. The urge to faint calls when the center of her gravity shifts. The world feels tilted and jittery.
She should not have breathed the air from that bar.
Maybe that's it. Maybe this is just a very long-lasting contact high from whatever chemical cocktail made up that blue haze. She could accept that.
Or maybe it was the banana? Maybe it's poison? Maybe it will kill her now. Better that than the wave of embarrassment crashing over her.
"Who is that?" asks the Shinigami, glancing over her shoulder as if her being kneeled before the lord is some casual thing.
The lordling rolls his eyes. "Just a maid. Don't worry. She's signed a confidentiality agreement."
Hisana sucks in her cheeks and turns, stiffly, to face the banana tree. Her fingers curl into her hands, but no matter how hard she squeezes, she can't get the numbness off them.
What a mess, she thinks, glancing up at the glass ceiling. The rain pours, and streaks of lightning brighten the sky. Rolling thunder comes a few seconds later. They're in the thick of the storm.
"Hey," the Shinigami calls.
Hisana stirs, glancing askance at the woman. At least she's standing, now, which is far less awkward a position. Byakuya has also distanced himself, wandering over to the left wall. He stares miserably into the tomato plants.
"Come here." The woman waves Hisana over.
Hisana bristles at the invitation. It feels like a trap, and Shinigami have always made Hisana wary. Her worst battles have been against these assholes. She glances at Byakuya, who is sulking.
Against her better judgment, Hisana crosses the floor to the woman.
"You're bleeding," says the woman. "Here." The Shinigami pulls out a little container hidden in her sleeve. "Although—" Her voice trails, eyes finding the lordling. "Lord Kuchiki, want to try your hand at kaidō?"
"No."
"Lord Kuchiki," she sing-songs and bats her eyes. "It's a fundamental discipline of kidō, and that's why you asked me to come with you tonight," she continues sweetly.
Hisana presses her lips tightly together, hoping to repress a smirk.
Byakuya Kuchiki would invent a cover story as a pretext for sex. The part that Hisana can't decide on is whether he invented this story for his benefit or for the Shinigami's benefit. From where Hisana's standing, the Shinigami needed no story. She came prepared and eager to please. Byakuya looks like the one who bit off more than he could chew.
"Well, you can watch me do it, at least."
The lines of his back shift, and he peers over his shoulder. He gives Hisana a fleeting onceover. Pain flashes across his face with the swiftness of the lightning bolts cutting through the clouds overhead.
Hisana doesn't understand this look. It seems out of place on his face.
"It's better if you're closer to observe," says the Shinigami.
"No, Mina." His voice is low and full of grit.
The heaviness of Mina's next breath stirs Hisana's hair. "Alright, Lord Kuchiki." With gentle hands, she calls forth her reiatsu and transforms it into a healing spell.
The skin of Hisana's temple pulls taut, as if being yanked together, until it feels like it is puckering against the pressure. Then comes the familiar sting of kaidō. It starts sharp then morphs into something achy and itchy. Hisana always hated the itchiness. Even now, she can't stop herself from testing the restored flesh, hoping that the pressure from her fingertips might confuse her brain long enough to blot out the lingering sensation of the kaidō.
This technique, however, never works.
"So, is there anything to do while we wait out the storm, Lord Kuchiki?" asks Mina, folding her arms against her chest.
Thunder booms overhead, and the air trembles with fear.
Hisana steps away from the Shinigami and wanders back to the banana tree. She admires the tree and its fruit for a while, but when the silence of the rooms turns bitter, she moves down the line of the southern wall and inspects the lemongrass and the species of avocado trees that follow.
In a little nook between two tables, Hisana finds a palette with playing cards and a half-full bottle of sake. These items are probably remnants from a time the guards holed up here to escape bad weather.
"There are playing cards," notes Hisana.
"Unsanctioned gambling is illegal in Soul Society," says the lordling.
Hisana bends down and picks up the cards. "It's not gambling if there's no money on the line." One look at the lordling is all it takes for her to conclude that his protest sounds from inexperience. He's probably never played, and he's too prideful to learn anything from a mere maid.
"It's inelegant. I agree, Lord Kuchiki," says Mina.
Hisana sits on the palette and begins dealing out a game of solitaire. These two losers can enjoy the blistering silence together. She, however, needs something to keep her thoughts off being trapped here.
Four games later and Hisana wants to crawl out of her skin. If not for the electrical storm, she might have braved the rain alone, which is probably the consensus of the room. Neither Byakuya nor Mina appears particularly happy to be here.
Mina tried, at least. But, after five failed attempts at conversation, she gave up. Now, she appears to have nodded off against the wall lined with lilies and irises.
Losing another game, Hisana shuffles the cards and tries again. And again. And again. And again.
After her twenty-second loss, Hisana glances up at the glass ceiling. It has been a full minute since she heard the last drum of rain. "It's stopped."
Byakuya glances over his shoulder at her. There is a weight to stare that she can't quite place. Not wanting to think too deeply about the lordling and his many moods, Hisana gives him a quick glance before rocking back on the balls of her feet and shooting up into a stand.
Huh.
Hisana looks him over once more and grins.
Who would've thought….
"Thank goodness," sighs Mina, yanking open the door. She frowns when they step out onto the muddy path. The sky is still heavy with clouds, but the golden light of dawn is breaking through the seams.
Hisana's gaze slides from Byakuya, who looks uncharacteristically ruffled, to Mina, who wears her disappointment like a petulant child whose hand has been slapped away from the sweets tray.
"Good evening, milord," says Mina. The Shinigami looks like she wants to say something more, something different. Her lips open and close. Nothing comes out. There are words there. Perhaps an invitation for a future dalliance. Perhaps gratitude that the lordling gave her a shred of his attention.
Whatever it is, it goes unspoken.
Instead, Mina gives a low bow, proper for their relative stations, and flash-steps away.
Now, it's just them. Just Byakuya. Just Hisana.
Hisana begins down the path without a word, which seems to irk Byakuya every bit as much as the failed tryst irked Mina.
Hisana, however, is off duty. Dawn is breaking across the sky. She's exhausted, having waited out a storm with two of the most tedious people that the gods could've sent her way. So, she feels justified in telling protocols and expectations to fuck all the way off.
Byakuya follows after her, and she knows that she's in for an upbraiding. Otherwise, he would have flash-stepped his way back to the manor.
Before he can unleash whatever entitled storm of overweening hubris he has been cooking up since she announced her presence in the greenhouse, Hisana stops him. Dead. With a charming grin and pitying stare.
Byakuya loathes her pitying stares.
"Aw," she begins, words filed down into sharp points, "looks like your lover stole your inrō and your gold pin."
His hands immediately fly to his obi then to his haori. Both items are very much gone. And he never even noticed.
Silly boy.
"I would've gone for the hair clasp, personally. Easier to justify its casual loss during all the merrymaking. You'd assume someone lifted your wallet, and the pin looked to be an heirloom so you'd probably search for it."
"Do a lot of thieving in your spare time?" His voice is bladed, too, but she knows she's got him. He sounds like he's more upset with himself than with her.
Hisana's grin widens and she chuckles. "Yeah, I picked a fair share of pockets to get here all the way from Inuzuri."
He frowns.
"Do you want to arrest me for those crimes, milord? Tie my hands behind my back and march me to the Sixth's jails?" She bats her eyes insinuatingly.
His frown deepens. "You are a profane, tiresome creature."
"Afraid you might like it too much?" She tosses him a suggestive sidelong glance and turns her back on him.
"Why?" he asks.
She saw this going differently in her head.
"Why what, milord?" Hisana doesn't slow her pace, forcing him to catch up with her on the road.
"Why would she do that? Her family is well-off."
Ah, yes. The little lordling may hate her innuendos, but he hates that she caught something that he missed even more.
How irritating.
Hisana shrugs. "Maybe they're not as well-off as they'd like others to believe or…." Her brows pull together, and she grimaces. The reason is so obvious that he must see it: Mina stole the trinkets so that when she tells her friends that she tumbled him, she'll have proof of her conquest. He was just a means to an end for her.
He's probably just a means to an end for most of his peers. Just a thing to confer social capital. Girls can wear his favor like a silk scarf or a fashionable kanzashi.
Things like scarves and hairpins, however, are easily discarded once used.
No wonder why he's so fucking tedious and haughty and prickly.
"Or?" he urges her, sternly.
Hisana sighs. She really doesn't like humanizing the lordling. It's easier to pretend that he doesn't have feelings when she says the things that she does to him. But, one glance at his stupid face, and she can see that he's uneasy.
Here goes nothing.
"They're trophies," she says, matter-of-factly, "Probably not a lot of girls in her tea clutch get a story and proof of their tryst with Lord Byakuya Kuchiki."
He looks mortified.
"Oh, come, now. Don't be so sour. Your intentions weren't pure either." How she hates it when a noble tries his hand at victimhood. "Why was she out here on the estate so late at night with you if-"
"You presume too much."
"Not much to presume."
"She's a Shinigami. We were going to practice kidō together, away from prying eyes."
"I don't remember kissing and groping being part of any incantations." Hisana smirks. "Also, a Shinigami? I thought women who worked were too inelegant to be a wife."
He gapes, indignantly.
But, he knows she's right. "So don't lie. You were going to have your fun then forget all about her. Just a little diversion, slumming it with a lesser noble lady. Her feelings be damned."
"I had not intended for-"
Hisana glances up at him, hoping that he can see the disbelief that grips her just as keenly as she feels it. "Listen, I wouldn't have said a word had I not thought I was going to be an unwitting voyeur to…." Hisana shudders at the thought. "That act."
He scoffs, tearing his gaze away. The muscles in his jaw slide into rigid tension. "You forget yourself, maid."
"Perhaps," she says, drawing the word out teasingly and winning back his gaze. Then, she stops in front of him.
His expression is blank, but the hollow between his collarbones deepens, betraying his apathy for what it really is. Pain.
He is alone. Isolated. Angry.
And, for whatever incomprehensible reason, he seems to find comfort in her thoughts. Probably because they are as bladed as his own.
"You are incorrigible," he says, voice low.
And, yet, she thinks he wouldn't like her any other way.
Hisana grins at him wryly before remembering that she, too, can flash-step.
And, so she does.
Leaving Byakuya alone. On that muddy road. To be shredded alive by the sharpness of his own thoughts.
When Hisana arrives at the manor, she does not expect to be summoned to the Herons Standing room. Nor does she expect the faces that greet her when she crosses the threshold. Protocol forces her down into a low bow.
"Lord Kuchiki," she whispers, voice stuck in her throat. "Mr. Nobutsune."
The Lord Lieutenant tips his head; it's a wordless request for her to enter. Reflexively, Hisana obeys, shuffling into the room and closing the door behind her.
Sirens blare in her head. What has she done? What piece of noble esoterica has she tripped over? Did they actually notice her absence last night? Impossible. Right? Nobles aren't that observant.
"Are you well, Miss Hisana?" asks Lord Kuchiki.
She nods, eyes rooted to the floor. "Yes, milord." Her fingers lace together in her lap, and she holds her breath. "Have I done something—"
The lord shifts uncomfortably before exchanging a fleeting glance with Nobutsune. "Several of the maids reported that you did not report to your room for bed," says Nobutsune.
Hisana's mind flies to the rules around curfews for the maids. They are supposed to turn in for the evening by midnight unless they are on duty. There isn't a formal reporting system to ensure this rule is actually followed nor has Hisana occupied herself with the comings and goings of her roommates.
She's astounded any of them noticed her, either.
So, either she unwittingly made an enemy out of one of her roommates—which is possible but no obvious candidates jump to mind—or someone asked her roommates directly about her whereabouts in connection with an investigation.
Hisana's lips part, but, before she can reach for an explanation, Lord Kuchiki cuts her off with a quiet, "Neither did Byakuya."
Her head jerks up, and her eyes fly to the lord. Icy horror tears down her spine, turning her blood to slush.
No way in the seven hells are they actually accusing her of engaging in some untoward relationship with the lordling. "I didn't—"
"You misunderstand," says Lord Kuchiki with a shake of his head, "you're not in trouble, Miss Hisana." A small furrow forms between his brows. "Did Byakuya do any—"
"Nothing happened," she says, words overlapping his. "We both got trapped by the electrical storm last night. Mina was there."
"Mina?" The furrow in the lord's brow deepens. "The Sixth Seat?"
Hisana's shoulders pull up to her jaw. Hell if she knows. It's not like she asked the girl for her life story. "I know she's a Shinigami."
Lord Kuchiki and Nobutsune exchange another glance. Clearly, the relationship between Byakuya and Mina is news to them. This doesn't appear to be particularly good news, judging by their expressions of confusion, but the heavy tension in the room tamps down a little.
"I don't think it's serious between them," adds Hisana, hoping that she hasn't accidentally condemned some poor Sixth Seat to a similar interrogation.
Lord Kuchiki's brows shoot up, and Nobutsune startles a little.
"They were together?"
"Where were you all last night?"
The lord's and Nobutsune's questions collide midair, and Hisana tenses again. "I took a walk, got a little lost on the servants' trails, and sought refuge in a little glass house with plants."
"The greenhouse." Lord Kuchiki's head falls back a little as if he has been struck by the hammer of realization.
"Yes. And they came in a few moments later. Mina said they were going to practice their kidō. Nothing happened. We all just waited the storm out together."
The lines in Lord Kuchiki's face smooth, and he closes his eyes. "Good to hear."
"Miss Hisana, thank you for your time. You may go now," says Nobutsune.
"Thank you," she says and gives each of them a low bow.
On the other side of the door, Hisana can finally exhale.
What the hell was that about?
It felt like a fucking wellness check. Maybe they thought Byakuya was going to kill her? Which, fair enough. She had been pretty snarky about his form in front of both of the elder Kuchiki lords, and, if she had to guess, Byakuya holds the Lord Captain's and Lord Lieutenant's opinion of him in high regard.
But….
It didn't feel like just violence was the concern.
Hisana shudders a little before packing this thought and its friends away and tossing it into the depths of her unconscious.
No need to linger long there. She's out. They looked satisfied. Just move on.
As she is giving herself this pep talk, Hisana rounds the corner and nearly slams face-first into Byakuya. She manages to avoid the collision by a stroke of luck, but they both stop in the hall.
He stares at her askance. His brows knit together, as if he is trying to figure out why she is there. She thinks she solves this equation quicker than he, but only by a second: Lord Kuchiki is interrogating Byakuya, too. He's probably looking for holes in their stories.
A quick calculation later and Hisana convinces herself that the lordling will mention Mina, too. If he were a friend or even a friendly acquaintance, she'd take him aside to get their stories straight. But, they aren't friends, and, if he forgets to mention Mina, she thinks this omission will hurt him more than it will hurt her. Also, it's not like Byakuya is going to lie about them doing anything untoward. His pride wouldn't allow it.
And, so, for the second time that morning, she leaves him without a word.