Disclaimer: Bleach is property of Tite Kubo.

Note: "Let's spill some blood in Seireitei." Enjoy!

Chapter 26:

Back home, Shihana felt as if a heavy weight had been taken from her shoulders.

She passed the rest of the day softly humming to herself doing calligraphy in her rooms. When it grew too dark to see properly, she put down her brush and walked out to sit on the edge of the veranda.

Outside, night had already closed in. The sky was a dark grey sheet where only the pale moon shimmered through thick clouds.

Hours ago, it had started snowing. Shihana could hear the soft whisper of the falling flakes and smell the sharp scent of wintry cold.

The garden, always beautiful, had transformed into a world of black and shimmering white. The lake had frozen over and from the branches of the maple spread above, now and then a small shower of snow rained down.

Just beneath the veranda a spider's net had iced over, looking all the way like an expensive piece of lace.

Shihana jumped slightly when she heard the crunching sound of steps advancing.

It took her a moment to discern Byakuya between the trees, molding so perfectly into this snowy world as if he was a part of winter itself.

His grey eyes had fixed on her and she thought she saw the ghost of a smile on his lips. She smiled back sadly.

Shihana remembered Rukia telling her that Byakuya enjoyed a walk in the dark to clear his head.

She just hoped it wasn't worry for her that had driven him out into this icy night.

An unknown urge to be near him made her stand up and step out into the garden.

Shihana saw a look of alarm pass over her cousin's face when he noticed her bare feet on the snow. She didn't truly care nor felt the cold.

"Please, Byakuya-san, hold me", she whispered, she knew not why.

With a gesture of rare affection, the head of Kuchiki house wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. He smelled of jasmine and Shihana buried her face in the folds of his shikakusho.

Suddenly, her heartbeat quickened. She felt a red veil covering her eyes and her chest burned like in was on fire.

A knife was in her hands and within seconds it had buried itself between Byakuya's shoulder blades.

With a soft gasp of surprise, he sank down.

Shihana ran.

Her ears were filled with cruel laughter and still she couldn't see properly, as if blood had dripped down over her eyes.

When she came to the banks of a small river, she threw herself into the water without hesitation.

When the icy waves closed over her head she knew nothing any more.

Shihana awoke outside in the first pale light of morning. She was lying on the bank of a small river, her kimono clammy. She had no memory of coming there and shivering, she stood and tried to find the direction of Kuchiki manor.

Had she bent over and gazed into the muddy water, she might have caught a glimpse of shimmering metal, yet she didn't.

Forcing her freezing limbs to move, she took off into what seemed the right direction.

Kuchiki Byakuya regained consciousness to the chatter of many voices. He felt warm softness around him and weakly wondered how he had gotten into bed.

When he finally forced his eyes open, he looked into the worried face of Unohana-taichou.

"How do you feel, Byakuya-kun?" she asked gently.

"Exhausted", Byakuya answered honestly.

"That would be because of the blood loss", stated the healer. "Fortunately the stab missed your heart by mere inches. Do you remember what happened?"

The grey eyes closed and Byakuya wracked his brain to put the pictures together that swam in his mind.

He had been walking in the garden. Shihana had been there and she had approached him, barefooted in the snow. He remembered her slender body pressed against his and then the sharp pain in his back.

Yet, something didn't quite fit. It had been very unlike Shihana to display such emotion and her expression had been somehow dreamlike. Then there were only fragments of memories. Red eyes and a painstakingly familiar laughter. The voice of Ichimaru Gin whispering cruelties in his ear. Byakuya's eyes flew open.

"There is something wrong with Shihana", he mumbled. "Something we didn't quite notice. Don't let anyone be alone with her right now. She might be dangerous."

As an afterthought, he added: "Could you please send for Abarai-fukutaichou?"

"Of course", assured Unohana gently and at a sign from her, a young healer left the room.

The door hadn't quite closed behind him when it opened again and Rukia burst into the room.

"Nii-sama!", she gasped and hurried over to the bed.

With a pang, Byakuya noticed that her eyes were rimmed with red as if she had been crying.

"What happened? The guard wouldn't tell anything!", she asked.

"I am fine", replied Byakuya. At a sharp glance from Unohana he corrected himself. "I have been better, but there's no reason to worry, right Unohana-taichou?"

"But Nii-sama, how did this happen?"

Byakuya hesitated for a moment, but instantly realized that it would do more damage to hide the truth from Rukia and might even put her in danger.

"It was Shihana-san", he said, his voice betraying no emotion.

Rukia went white as a sheet. "Impossible!", she cried, "Shihana would never do something like that!"

"Calm down", demanded Byakuya and his grey eyes shot her a strict glance. "I do not think she did so willingly. It is likely that it has to do with what she experienced in Hueco Mundo."

Rukia nodded slowly and cast down her gaze. Then her head snapped back up. "I forgot! This morning, I saw Shihana on the way to her quarters. She was dripping wet. I called out and asked her what was wrong. Then she just screamed at me to leave her alone and shut herself up in her quarters. I found it strange, but I was on the way here so it slipped my mind."

"That is rather interesting", mumbled Byakuya. "It might indicate that she is perhaps half-aware of what she had been doing and shut you out in order to protect you."

Before he could complete his train of thought, the door opened again and revealed the flaming red hair of Abarai Renji.

"You called for me, taichou? Taichou!" Renji jumped when he realized that Byakuya was at the 4th as a patient and immediately came over to the bed to stand at Rukia's side.

"What the heck happened to ya, taichou?", he asked.

"Shihana-san happened", answered Byakuya, already a bit tired of repeating the same facts over and over.

"It seems she doesn't have full control over what she is doing." He silenced Renji with a wave of his hand.

"That is why I called you here. You are to guard her and by all possible means prevent her from running away again or hurting anyone else. The 4th and 12th will have to run a few tests to find out what is wrong with her. You will have your Zanpakuto ready at all times as it is possible she will try to harm you. Be aware that this might be Aizen's doing. Don't underestimate the risk. I trust you to fulfil your duty, Abarai-fukutaichou."

"Yes, taichou!", answered Renji, bowed and left the room.

Surprised? Please tell me what you think! So far I've only written 30 chapters and I'm struggling to get enough motivation to continue.
So reviews are deeply appreciated.