Winter - Secret admirerer (1)

"Give me shining light

My heart sold, now filled with joy

stay with me, my love."

Byakuya looked up from his paperwork. Hisana had just chanted a poem and he thought that it sounded rather nice to him. "That's a beautiful haiku, Hisana. Did you write it?"

But the look on her face had given him the answer already. Hisana had her eyebrows frowned and her eyes showed confusion. When she looked up from her paper, she shook her head. "No, I just found it near my clothes… I thought that maybe you put it there."

"I did not," Byakuya said. He put his pen away and took Hisana's hand to pull her down. She sat on the bed and handed over the poem. Byakuya started to observe it.

"I don't recognize the handwriting," he informed her.

She shook her head. "Neither do I."

"This is odd," Byakuya said. "We did not really make our marriage a secret, I believe that everybody knows…"

Hisana shrugged. "Maybe it's delivered to the wrong person. Let's put it away and forget about it."

She took the paper back, folded it and wanted to put it back on the place where she had found it, but Byakuya stopped her hand and led it towards the paper bin. "Let this guy take better care of things," he said.

Hisana grinned and threw the poem away. "Now all we have to do is to forget that this ever happened."

Byakuya nodded, but he knew that he couldn't just let this rest.

---

"You've got a secret admirer?" Samoshi shrieked in the living room, later that evening.

"No, no no no no, that wasn't what I said," Hisana said, gesturing that Samoshi should keep her voice down. "I found this poem near my clothes and it didn't come from Byakuya-sama, so actually I think it wasn't even for me."

"Don't be an idiot," Samoshi grinned. "Who else would if be for? Nobody except you guys come near your clothes."

Hisana had to admit that Samoshi was right about this. "But," she suggested, "it could have been for Byakuya-sama."

Samoshi shook her head. "Why would someone write a poem to a man and put it between the clothes of his wife? Besides, you told me that is was a male-handwriting."

"I could be wrong about that," Hisana replied.

"But you know you're not," Samoshi said. Sadly enough, Hisana knew that she was right.

However, she didn't want to believe that she had an admirer. Byakuya was the only one she wanted to be admired by, and that happened more than enough.

"Anyway, it's nothing," Hisana concluded. Samoshi noticed in her tone that she was tired of the subject and wished not to continue. But Samoshi knew better. She would talk to her brother about this.

---

"The silent whispers
the promise she had made him
the missing of hearts."

Byakuya made a noise. "At least this person knows that we are married."

Hisana laughed. "Are you really that scared that I might like this guy when we find out who it is?"

It was the morning after their previous letter, and they just found the second. Hisana had read it outloud again, after which they compared the handwriting with the previous verse.

"It is the same, isn't it?" Hisana asked, while looking at both poems.

Byakuya nodded. "It is."

"Why would somebody put two poems on the wrong place?" Hisana asked curiously.

Byakuya sighed and pulled the paper out of Hisana's grasp. "You are too naïve, Hisana."

"Maybe you should take a more positive look on things," Hisana replied, trying to get the poem back. "You see, someone could fancy you! You're attractive, there must be some guy who likes you…"

"I do not see that as an option," Byakuya said.

"Are you judging?"

"No."

"Well, that's good!" Hisana said. She sat up and looked Byakuya into the eyes. "Hey, have you ever doubted your sexuality?"

Byakuya didn't reply. His gaze rested on Hisana's face and then on the poem. "I think we are drifting off our subject, Hisana. And I know that you are going to cry about me avoiding your question, so I want to make clear that I never had feelings for anybody besides you."

Hisana closed her mouth, which she had opened to -how did he know?- tell him off. "But you did avoid another question."

"Which one was that?"

Hisana poked her husband in the cheek. "Whether you're scared to lose me when we find out who's writing all of this."

The escaped sigh of his lips made Hisana realize that he was indeed afraid to lose her. She cuddled closer to him, wrapped her arms around his torso and let her head rest on his chest. Byakuya rounded his arms around her frame and held her closer. He kissed her head and sighed again.

"Don't be like this, Byakuya-sama," Hisana requested. "I don't like seeing you this way."

"There could always be someone else you could run off to," Byakuya thought aloud. Hisana jumped up, bumping into his chin as she sat straight.

Trying to sit up to caress his face grimly, Byakuya was pushed back into the pillows by his now furious-looking wife. "What do you expect of me? I'm married to you and I've never regretted it for a mere second!"

Smiling a small smile, Byakuya put his hands on Hisana's waist and pulled her closer again. "That doesn't outrule the fact that - "

"Yes, it does."

She had now snuggled her face into his chest and Byakuya never found her more adorable. He lowered his head and kissed the skin beside her ear. A muffled "love you too" sounded from his chest.

---

There was nothing but darkness, yet Hisana felt drowsily happy laying next to her sleeping husband. The moon illuminated parts of their bedroom through the windows and the window-frames were profiled on the floor.

She didn't manage to fall asleep after she had woken up that night. Not wanting to bother Byakuya by waking him up, she just adjusted her position and nestled closer in his arms, warming both their bodies with the thick blanket on their bed. She muffled a yawn and closed her eyes.

Byakuya grunted and moved around, unconsciously scooping Hisana into his embrace. Hisana giggled shyly and gently kissed his lips. He awoke on the same second.

"You're not asleep," he said, his voice still hoarse from the night.

"Don't accuse me of something you're just as guilty of," she murmured, her face still very close to Byakuya's.

His lips curved up to a smile and he pushed her back into the pillows. She yawned. "You better go get some rest, Hisana. You'll need to save up your energy. Otaku's birthday is coming up."

There came no reply. His eyes moved down and he saw Hisana, fast asleep, curled up against him.

---

The first rays of light of that day wormed their way through the closed curtains. A dozy Hisana had her head resting on her pillows. In the mornings, her head seemed to weight a lot more than it usually did.

It's not that her head ached, but it was just heavy. 'Please-ignore-me-and-let-me-fall-back-to-sleep'-heavy.

Maybe it were useless thoughts like these that made it so weighty.

But the moment she shifted into a more comfortable position, their bedroom door opened. Too lazy to say a word, Hisana decided just to peek through her heavy eyelids -what was it with her body parts growing so heavy when she got tired?- and managed to shape out Otaku.

She watched him fold a note and stand still as he looked around. Then he sneaked over to their bed and shoved the note under Hisana's pillow. When he found it was hidden good enough not to notice the instant they would wake up but wouldn't be completely overseen either, Otaku stepped back and left the room.

Hisana had fallen back to sleep before her mind could register what just happened.

---

"You never guess what I just found, laying underneath your pillow."

Hisana turned her head while adjusting her kimono. Byakuya stood on their side of the bed, reaching for his Kenseikan. In his hand, he held… another note. Still believing in the chance that the notes aren't for her, she asked, "Is it for you?"

"No."

She was okay with just shrugging it off. "Then let it be. If we'll just ignore it, that note-leaver will eventually stop."

He was not. Slowly walking to her, Byakuya shred the paper to pieces. "I cannot let it be, Hisana. You are my wife and there is someone in this house who apparently doesn't like that."

"Just let it be," Hisana tried one more time. She stood up to give Byakuya a big hug. "I am your wife and apparently, I do like that."

With her arms wrapped around him, he found it better to take her advice. He would let it be.

For now.

---

The sun gave the garden a pleasant evening-glow and the air was easy. Otaku and Samoshi sat with their legs hanging over the porch's edge, while Hisana hid herself behind the strong arms of her husband.

"So…" Hisana started in a low voice, "have you got any suspects?"

"What happened to 'let it be'?" Byakuya asked softly, nudging his nose in her hair.

"Curiosity overpowered me."

Sighing deep, Byakuya decided not to answer her question. He held her closer and rested his chin on her head. Beneath him, he could feel her sigh as well.

A couple of meters away, Otaku's head turned around and his eyes met the couple's worried expressions. "Hey guys, are you still upset about those letters?"

"You told him?" Byakuya sounded insulted.

Hisana shook her head. "I told Samoshi, but only because I… well… kinda freaked out about it."

Otaku interrupted again. "And what about that letter from this morning? Figured out yet who~"

"You got a letter this morning, too?" Samoshi asked surprised. "You didn't tell me about that one yet!"

"Neither did I tell Otaku," said Hisana defensively. She looked up to Byakuya, who also shook his head. "Which means…"

The sound of a door being smacked shut made Hisana and Byakuya turn their heads, just to see Otaku storming inside of the mansion.

---

"Why did you do it?"

It was not as much as a question as it was an insult, Otaku noticed amused as he glanced over at a confused looking Byakuya.

"Well," he started his answer, "why does anyone send secret messages to someone else?"

Closing his eyes, Byakuya said, "I do not believe you are attracted to my wife."

"You don't know for sure," Otaku teased. "But no, I am not attracted to your wife."

"Then why did you do it?" Byakuya now asked, more careful.

"Some pre-fun for my upcoming birthday?" He tried. But Byakuya did not quite believe this.

"Okay, I just wanted to have some fun," Otaku now admitted truthfully. "I was wondering what you would do if you'd have some competition."

Raising his eyebrows, Byakuya shook his head. "I believe you and I both have very different views on what to call 'fun'."

"What else is new?" Otaku murmured. "Listen, Hisana is my friend and I just wanted to know if you thought she was still worth it."

To his biggest surprise, Byakuya started to smile. Even if it was just a small one, he could definitely see he had found some amusement in the entire situation. Byakuya noticed his curiosity and said, "Otaku, you wrote love letters to my wife. You played it so well, you even had Hisana wondering whether I would be homosexual. You could be the only person who'd have fun with this. I am starting to feel sorry for you."

"Feel sorry for me?" Otaku asked. "Why's that?"

"You long for a girlfriend. You are not in love and you wondered if I still was."

Otaku laughed. "Suddenly, you care about my love life? Bya, I'm happy as I live now. Don't worry. I will not steal away your girl."

"It would not really be the competition, now, would it?" Byakuya answered. "She loves me."

"Do I hear the need for a challenge in your voice, dear cousin?" Otaku teased.

Byakuya nodded. "We will see. We will both ask her out for dinner, tomorrow night."

"Deal."

"Deal."

To be continued…

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