WHEN THE SNOW FALLS
by Yih

Chapter Seven
The Early Morning

The morning was young, the sky outside still mostly dark as the sun had quite risen, when Byakuya woke with a start. He narrowed his dark eyes and gazed out of his window. There was nothing amiss on the grounds or in the mansion, but he trusted his instincts and they were telling him something was wrong. The question was what?

Byakuya closed his eyes and concentrated, letting his mind wander throughout the Seireitei, feeling out for the different reiatsu's until he found himself feeling hers. His eyes snapped open when his mind processed that hers had been weakened. He got out of bed in one smooth, swift movement and donned his robes, his kenseikan, and his white scarf. Then he ran out of the mansion and used shunpo to get to where he sensed Rukia was.

He arrived outside the gates of the headquarters of Squad 13 at the same time Rukia and Kaien did. "Rukia," he said softly, but with an edge, "explain yourself."

"Now look here— " Shiba-fukutaichou began before Rukia held her hand up at him and shook her head.

"It's okay," she whispered to him so faintly that Byakuya almost couldn't make out what she was saying. "Why don't you go make the report to Ukitake-taichou?"

"Are you sure?" he asked brusquely.

"Yes," she said a bit more urgently, "I'm sure."

Byakuya watched Shiba head to Jushiro's office for a brief moment before turning his attention back to Rukia and he found her approaching him with her graceful way of moving. It was unfortunate that he could see the cuts and bruises on her face and the way she was favoring her right arm. His Rukia had been injured and he had not been there to protect. What had Jushiro been thinking to let Rukia go on a mission by herself? He was right; she had not been ready.

"I'm sorry for failing," she said, looking down at the ground. "I wasn't strong enough."

The way she said it made Byakuya reach out his hand instinctively to tilt her face up. "You weren't ready yet."

Her violet eyes, dim with disappointment, met his eyes for a bit before she averted them away from him. "I let the family down."

"Perhaps," Byakuya murmured, letting his hand fall back to his side, where he still felt the warmth of her skin on his, "it is time that I undertook your training personally."

Rukia's head jerked up and he saw the surprise in how her eyes widened. "What…?"

"Do I need to say it again?" Byakuya asked, keeping voice bland and bored, even though he felt nothing like that.

He was too used to what his grandfather, Ginrei had told him constantly in his youth, that he had to keep his temper in check, that he was a Kuchiki and that the others in the Soul Society looked to him for guidance. At first it had been hard, to always be calm and collected, but as the years had passed, his control had become absolute. Now he only showed emotion if he felt like it, instead of showing it because he couldn't control it.

"I would be honored if you would teach me," Rukia said softly in a way that Byakuya was sure that Ginrei would have approved of.

It was ironic to Byakuya how he knew that his grandfather would have approved of Rukia, but not of Hisana. Mostly because Rukia was able to exude the quiet grace of a noble and she had a strong character. Hisana had been shy and elegant, but she didn't have strength. His family had worn her out and it had been his fault for not protecting her better.

"Byakuya-sama?"

He snapped out of his thoughts and gave Rukia a look that told her to continue.

"Are you not upset with me anymore?" She nibbled on her bottom lip and he found himself staring at her mouth, wondering what it would taste like. "I know that you weren't please when I left yesterday…"

"I was displeased with the situation," he admitted, forcing his eyes away from her and noticing that the sky had lightened up as the sun was beginning to rise. Soon he should be safely ensconced in his office, doing boring and repetitive paperwork that would get his mind off of Rukia. "You should report to your Taichou. It was your mission, after all, not Shiba-fukutaichou's."

"I suppose I'll see you at dinner…"

"Yes," he confirmed, "we will need to discuss when we'll meet for your training."

"Of course." Rukia made an awkward bow and he again could see clearly that she was unwell. "Have a good day, Byakuya-sama."

"Rukia."

"Yes?"

"Please tend to your wounds."

Rukia nodded and he watched her until she disappeared around the corner. He looked up at the beautiful dawn and sighed. Byakuya turned away from Squad 13 and used shunpo to quickly get to his office, where he found his Fukutaichou already hard at work sorting through the pile of paperwork.

"Kuchiki-taichou," she greeted politely, bowing her head in respect. "You're in early."

"As are you, Kinomoto-san," he stated.

"I always get up at this time," she said, "especially since you send me home early every day."

Byakuya took a seat at his desk. "I see we have more paperwork."

"They do seem to like assigning you to do this type of work," she responded. "Would you like me to get you some tea?"

"Yes, please," he answered, taking his brush and dipping it into the ink.

Byakuya stared down at the proposal that he needed to tend to, wondering why he had been assigned to desk duty so much recently. It wasn't that he particularly reveled in battle like Zaraki, but that didn't mean he liked being confined to his office to write report after write. There was one particular assignment he would need to see too, killing that damn Hollow that dared to harm his Rukia.

He would also have to set aside more time to train her as well. It was a pity Jushiro was always sick, he was well known to be a good teacher. Byakuya had his doubts about Shiba's instruction to Rukia. He was too impetuous by far and he'd probably taught her to head straight into battle without thinking. That would be his style, Byakuya thought darkly.

It was dangerous, though, Byakuya would fully admit, to spend too much time with her when he was already beginning to feel tempted. He was used to denying himself what he wanted, so why was he finding it so hard to resist? Byakuya sighed and stared out the window, wondering how to control the feelings that were threatening to burst to the surface.

-

A/N: I'm still wondering how close to canon I'm going to stick to, not sure on certain things yet, but we'll see. I introduced a little ACC, but mainly because Renji it is way, way, way too early for him to be a Lieutenant and Byakuya has to have one (even though Ukitake has been missing one since Kaien was killed in canon). I thought making this Lieutenant the polar opposite of Renji and more like Byakuya might be interesting in the long run… Anyway, thanks for listening to me ramble and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'm sure you're going to enjoy the next one . See you soon!

Released on: 11/22/08