Disclaimer: Bleach and its characters belong to Tite Kubo alone.
Note: Thank you for your wonderful emotional reviews! I hope you're still with me after this little display of cruelty against characters.
Enjoy the new chapter!
Chapter 15:
It was Rukia, who was the first to see her.
She hurried through the garden, morning dew clinging to the hem of her uniform. Suddenly she stopped in her tracks. There, right in the middle of the garden, under a tall cherry tree, lay a pale form.
Her heart pounded very loudly while she approached it. Some part of her had already known, but still her eyes widened in terror when she was finally near enough to see what it was.
In the low grass lay the unmoving body of her adopted cousin Shihana. She was naked, her body covered with bruises, her dark hair in blood clotted strands. On the low of her back lay the Kuchiki hairpin, cracked neatly in half.
Rukia's knees gave way and she sat down hard on the wet grass. She wasn't able to produce a sound, simply staring. It took her a few long minutes to finally realize the pale back was stirring, showing that Shihana was still breathing.
Rukia took off with lightening speed.
The way to the senkaimon seemed endlessly long to her. Her shunpo had never been exceptional, but now even Byakuya would have had trouble keeping up.
There, she could see it in the distance. A small group of people were moving about, nearing the gate.
"Stop!", she screamed.
Renji turned around and saw a dishevelled Rukia running towards him, her blue eyes impossibly wide.
She bowed, her hands on her knees, to catch her breath.
"Please...", Rukia coughed. "...come. Shihana's..."
Renji gasped in understanding and took the small woman by her shoulders, shaking her.
"Where is she?", he demanded.
"In the garden", whispered Rukia. "In the garden of Kuchiki manor." Then she fainted.
When Renji arrived at the manor with the unconscious Rukia still in his arms, he found the house alive with bustling activity.
"Hey, you!", he called out to a guard who was just hurrying by.
"Where's Shihana-san? And Kuchiki-taichou, too?"
The guard hesitated a moment and watched him suspiciously. Then his eyes fell on the badge on his forearm.
"Byakuya-sama has requested Shihana-sama to be brought to the 4th squad. He did accompany her there."
"Then let me down, Renji", said Rukia suddenly and tugged at his sleeve. "Let's go there together."
Byakuya had been mildly worried when a hell butterfly arrived at the office with a message which said no more than 'The garden, quick!', but he knew better than to let the feeling come up.
He gestured to one of the guards to come with him, while he entered the house. They rushed through the corridors, the urgent tone of the missive still echoing in his head.
Byakuya immediately saw what was in the garden, his heart skipping a pace. Senses alert, he looked around. This reeked of a trap.
But he felt no trace of reiatsu apart from the barely noticable flicker from the woman lying in front of him.
He shrugged out of his haori and covered her with it gently.
Then he spoke some quick words to the guard who disappeared immediately.
Byakuya lifted the body of his cousin carefully up and flash stepped away in direction of the 4th division's barracks.
Now he sat on a hard chair outside one of the treatment rooms and tried to calm his mind. Absentmindedly, he rubbed at a reddish spot at the hem of his haori. Isane had handed it back to him right after he was shooed out of the room.
Byakuya looked up to the clatter of feet.
It was his fukutaichou, closely followed by Rukia, both looking quite alarmed.
"Nii-sama!", cried Rukia. "How is she?"
The captain gazed at her calmly. Renji stared at the door. No sound came out.
What are they doing in there? he asked himself. What has been done to her that Kuchiki-taichou brought her here himself?
With strange clarity he noticed the stains on Byakuya's usually flawless haori. They looked like blood.
Renji snapped out of his thoughts when he heard his captain's calm voice.
"You two should leave", he said.
Both opened their mouth to protest but were silenced with a gesture.
"This might take a while. It is of my concern what I do, but you should not neglect your duties."
While Rukia bowed her head, Renji bristled.
Byakuya sighed inwardly. He had expected this.
"Well, it is of my concern, what I do!", growled the Red-head. "You seem to forget that I was supposed to be chasing after her anyway!"
"The situation has changed", answered Byakuya.
Renji wanted to strangle him and his cool demeanour. He wanted to hit him until he showed even the slightest bit of emotion.
"You should be aware of your position, Abarai-fukutaichou. You have to stand up for my duties for now. Shihana is my family. What right do you have to care for her?"
Renji gritted his teeth and turned his head away. True, what right did he have? He was just some dirty Rukongai mongrel, not worthy to be on par with a Kuchiki. She wouldn't want to see him anyway. They hadn't parted in the best ways.
With one last glare at his taichou, he grabbed Rukia and left.
Byakuya watched them go with a faint air of regret. It would have been soothing to have them with him. Yet, if there was bad news, it was better to face them alone. Her being abducted from right under their noses had been his responsebility. He would be damned if he didn't bear it now.
The door opened with a soft creak and Isane stuck her head out.
"You can come in now, if you like, Kuchiki-taichou", she said gently.
He stood up regally and smoothed the folds out of his uniform, as if it was of utmost importance to look perfect now. He stepped into the small room.
The air smelled like bitter medicine and the light was dim, the curtains on the window closed.
On the bed lay his cousin Shihana, the covers pulled up to her chest, her pale arms resting at her sides.
She breathed deeply now. Her chest was rising and falling in a steady rhythm.
But when he moved closer, Byakuya noticed that her eyes were moving restlessly behind her lids, as if she was having a terrible nightmare.
Unohana-taichou, who had been sitting next to the bed, was looking up to him now.
She stood up soundlessly and made a gesture at him to follow her.
They moved through another door to a small room with a table and a few chairs strewn about. The shelves on the walls were full of neatly labeled pots and jars filled with medicine.
The two captains sat down.
Unohana looked at the younger man with her usual gentle gaze. Yet, a trace of worry was in her eyes.
"Good news are, she will not die. In fact, her physical wounds are nothing we can't deal with. I don't know if you want to know..."
"Please", said Byakuya. "Tell me everything. You know I can bear it, Unohana-taichou."
She nodded and continued. "There are many minor bruises which cause no problems. The wounds on her chest and wrists, though, will certainly leave scars behind. On top of that, it seems she has been raped, repeatedly. But even these wounds will heal. What concerns me is her mind. You did surely notice that something is off about her reiatsu."
Byakuya nodded. "It feels barely familiar to me."
"When the mind is in great turmoil, this may also affect the reiatsu. Her reiatsu is so entwined with despair that it almost feels like a hollow's."
"A hollow's?" Byakuya's eyes widened.
"Yes. I cannot predict how she might develop. All we can do right now is wait for her to wake up. If we knew what has happened to her, it might help to set it right. There are no guarantees, of course." She stood up.
Byakuya, standing too, nodded at her.
"Thank you, Unohana-taichou", he said. "If you don't mind, I would like to stay at my cousin's side until she gets better."
A more comfortable chair was set up beside the bed.
Byakuya sat there, now and then sipping tea a squad member had served him and watching Shihana sleeping.
Her tangled hair had been cleaned and combed and lay in a silky cloud on the pillow. Still her eyes rolled from side to side behind her closed lids.
Her cousin lightly touched her shoulder, as if to wake her, his face for once free of its polite indifference, showing all his agony and worry and tender affection.
The moment passed quickly and Byakuya rearranged his features.
He took another sip of tea. Why had she been given back? he wondered. With fear he thought that Aizen wouldn't have let her go if he weren't completely sure of her uselessness. That she had just been a means to show them what he could do, seemed to be an unbearably painful thought.
People came by and left again: Matsumoto, Ukitake and again Rukia and Renji. They all just gazed at the sleeping figure sadly. Ukitake immediately started coughing so hard that healers rushed in and forced him to take some medicine.
After he was better, he smiled morosely at Byakuya and laid a hand on his shoulder. "She always was a strong girl", he said.
"She might not be anymore", Byakuya answered gravely.
I hope you like how the story evolves. If you don't or have any suggestions please feel free to tell me.
The next chapter will give a little insight into Renji's thoughts, so stay tuned!
