Disclaimer: This story is made completely from request from a friend which means the OC, Voltaire, is not mine. I am writing this story for Red Cr0w and I do hope it is to their liking and to everyone else's as well. I do NOT own Bleach or Voltaire.
Summary:Byakuya Kuchiki, a stoic noble and Captain of the 6th Division, for all important pretenses, holds back any and all objects of his past from anyone. Aside from Hisana, not even Rukia knows about the life he spent with a woman whom claimed his heart for nearly 8 years. Even as he stands alone as the leader of the Kuchiki clan, his heart still aches for the person he truly loved. He is able to keep up this façade until he is sent with a recon team to Zaraki to investigate a sudden surge of reiatsu. When they arrive, what will Byakuya do when he finds the woman who disappeared all those years ago beaten and broken and without any memory of him at all?
Castle Of Glass
Chapter 3: Wash The Poison From Off My Skin
As V lay back on the white sheets covering her hospital bed, her thoughts raced through her head like a cheetah on a treadmill. Out of all the things that flooded her mind, there was three things she was absolutely sure of: One, she was not who she thought she was; Two, the life she lived before she lost her memory was apparently a significant one because the highest ranking officers in Seireitei were pursuing her; And three, that man-that noble who held her hand and smiled her meant something to her...but what?
'This is all too much...' She thought, rubbing her temples in an attempt to contain the raging headache that had accumulated recently upon the discovery of the true reasoning for her rescue.
"Volt-ah, I mean, V." A quite voice caught her attention.
"I forgot your name." She commented, watching the man's snowy locks gently fall from his shoulders to in front of them.
With a light chuckle he introduced himself again. "Jyuushiro Ukitake, Captain of the 13th Division. You forgot it so quickly."
"Sorry. I have a lot on my mind at the moment, Ukitake-san." She tentatively stressed the man's honorific.
"You used to call me Uncle Jyuu. And you called Shunsui 'Oyaji-Shun'." He smiled lightly.
"Gomen. I don't know you all that well. Or rather I don't remember you enough to call you such a name." She knitted her brows together at his politeness.
"Just Jyuushiro, then?" He offered.
"Jyuushiro-san."
"I guessed that'll do." Ukitake sighed at her stubbornness. "Anywho," he peered at her scarred face, "I'd like to talk with you about Byakuya."
"Byakuya? That noble guy who was here before?" She softened her gaze. 'Finally get to find out what the hell was up with that guy.'
"Yes. It would seem you have no recollection of your time together and when I went to speak with him about it, he would share audience with me. He was quite upset with your previous meeting." Ukitake analyzed V's saddened expression and reassured her. "You shouldn't worry. You don't know who he is. It was only natural for you to react that way when he showed you such affection." He placed a hand over hers.
"I...what can you tell me about him?" V lowered her eyes and waited for a response.
"Well, before you disappeared, the two of you were mated souls."
"What?! You can't be serious?!" V nearly fell out of the bed at her conversation partner's words.
"Hai. You two were together for 8 years, and when you two were together for the first time, your souls were connected. Although it took such an action for them to become bonded, you both shared an incredible connection that never needed it. Even if you hadn't became spiritually bonded, I believe your relationship would still have lasted for so long. You loved each other so passionately and when you left, he adopted the icy, stoic visage he holds now. He closed up completely because the woman he had loved for years had seemingly left him behind without notice. He was so damaged by it." Ukitake's tone became sorrowful. "And when you rejected him just a few hours ago, it stirred up those feelings he tried so hard to forget."
"I'm so sorry..." Tears filled the red-head's eyes. "I...I didn't know. I just..." She began to sob, her hands covering her glossy emerald orbs. "I didn't know who he was...please...I w-want to see him...can I see him?" She peeked through her slender extremities at the captain who let a sorrowful expression paint his soft features.
"I don't know if that's such a good id-" He was cut off.
"Please!" The young woman shouted. "I want to apologize for what I did! I need to see him...he didn't deserve what I said. Please..." She pleaded.
Sighing Ukitake complied. "Alright. Ill take you to his manor. But try not to cause a commotion there. It's the home of nobles and you need to show respect to it and its members, understand?" He instructed.
"Yes. I understand. Please, take me there."
Karakura Town
"III~CHIII~GOOOOOO!" A shout came from Ichigo Kurosaki's long time friend, Keigo Asano, as he darted down the hallway towards the carrot topped substitute.
A lariat waited for him at his destination along with an angry reply to his song like calling. "I get enough of that crap from my dad. I don't need it from you." He glared at the crouching brunette before headed out of the schoolyard and on to the street that led to Kurosaki Clinic.
"But Ichigo~!" Keigo whined.
"You should stop that." Mizuiro commented, splitting his path with Ichigo and Keigo. "You'll end up with a strained neck." Thumbing the pad of his phone, he waved goodbye to his friends and walked home.
"Well Ichigo, I'll see ya later." Keigo waved, turning on the street that guided his way home.
"Yeah, see ya." He waved back and continued on his path. 'Today was a long day...' He thought, staring up at the sunset that painted the sky beautifully. 'Clubs really get outta hand this time of year...that and I have to go to the Soul Society in a couple of days, too. The old man said there was something he needed to talk to me about.'
"Ichigo!" A familiar voice drug Ichigo from his thoughts.
"Huh? Renji, what're you doing here?" He stopped to wait for his friend to catch up.
"Hey. Captain Ukitake sent me. He said to tell you you'll have to come sooner than planned." The red-head told of his orders as he motioned for the sun-kissed soul reaper to continue walking.
"Why's that? Something happen?" He questioned. This would really put a damper in his plans if he had to leave.
"Yeah. Turns out when a recon team came back from their assignment, they found a woman in Zaraki District." Renji recalled the strained expression on the 13th captain's face.
"Oh yeah? So why do I have to go?" He scowled. This wasn't a good enough reason to make him leave early.
"Well it was the way they found her." He returned the scowl as if he was saying it wasn't his fault.
"What's that supposed to mean?!" He shouted.
"She was found in a desolate, barren district that had no plants, streams or any type of greenery to call for. When her body was discovered, she was surrounded but bushes, trees a river and green grass. She was shrouded in a powerful reiatsu like she was transported there by something, or someone." He looked at Ichigo who now stood wide-eyed. "Yeah, according to Hisagi-senpai, the whole place that she was recovered from was made from something like ash."
"Why was a recon team told to go there anyway?" Ichigo asked, spotting his house in the distance.
"There was a spike of reiatsu. The head-captain sent two captains out to survey the area because it was so significant in power." Renji told him about the odd way his captain was acting when he returned to the barracks and that he had taken personal leave for 4 days.
"Doesn't sound like Byakuya." IChigo got a little worried by that when Renji told him. He walked through the door of his house after telling Renji to meet him in his room.
"Good afternoon, Ichi-nii." Yuzu welcomed her brother.
"Hey." He smiled lightly.
"Dinner will be ready in about an hour, okay?"
"Alright. Where's Karin and dad?" He questioned, noting the lack of unnatural welcoming from the goat-face.
"Dad's at a convention and Karin went to visit a friend."
"Huh." With that he went upstairs to continue his conversation with a certain red-headed lieutenant.
"What the hell took you so long?" A crossed arm, slightly irritated man barked.
"I do have a family, ya know." Ichigo scowled at his comrade's idiocy.
"Whatever, like I was saying." Renji straightened up before finishing his thoughts. "The head-captain said he'd like you to help investigate the woman's sudden appearance and the occurrences surrounding it."
"Why me?!" He slomped in his desk chair after laying his bag next to it.
"They think you have an uncanny ability to draw the enemy out if there is one. I mean, you did make Kugo Ginjo come out of hiding, sparked the Bount War and made convinced Muramasa that your powers were enough to set his master free, so...they kinda have a point." Renji teased.
"Dammit! I have stuff to do!"
"Well you'll have to put it off. Sorry." Renji laughed when Ichigo yelled at him for his lack of care for the life Ichigo was living outside of being a Soul Reaper.
"Yeah, right." The defeated shinigami sighed, accepting he'll have to go to Soul Society in the morning. "I guess I'll be at Urahara's in the morning. Now leave, I don't want you attracting any hollows here." Ichigo held his trademark scowl the entire time Renji complained. "Just leave, you big idiot."
"Fine!" Renji 'hmphed' before leaping from Ichigo's window. When he landed on the ground he yelled back up to his friend's room. "Oi, Ichigo!"
"What do you want?!" Ichigo headed to the window and looked out.
"When you get to the Soul Society tomorrow, come to my apartment, alright?! I wanna tell you something important!" The red-head shouted.
"Why can't you tell me now?!"
"Because it's a secret!" He laughed, taking off in the opposite direction.
"What an idiot..." Ichigo replied, backing away from the window and sitting properly on his mattress. He pulled out his phone to cancel the plans he had for the next week, expecting this trip to be a long one. 'What a pain in the ass...'
Kuchiki Manor, Soul Society
"Alright, we're here." Jyuushiro and V, who was now dressed in a pale, ocean blue kimono with winding vines that held dogwood blossoms, stopped at commanding gates opening up to the Kuchiki Manor. "I'll leave you here to talk to him, but remember what I said." With a nod, opening of the gate and welcoming by Torio, Byakuya's personal assistant, Jyuushiro left V alone to meet with Byakuya.
"Right this way madame." Torio motioned for V to follow him down a labyrinth of hallways until they reached a small section of housing held off from the rest of the mansion. He continued across the open garden and approached a room with shoji screens. Waving nonchalantly for V to join him after spotting her in the middle of the garden admiring the array of botanical beauties, he called out to the lord of the Kuchiki clan.
"Kuchiki-sama, you have a visitor." He spoke lightly.
"If it is either the head-captain or the captain of the 13th, I do not wish to speak with them." A deep voice erupted from behind the flimsy doors.
"It is not, my lord. It is a young woman who wishes to speak with you." A small rustling came from the room before footsteps approached the entrance.
Slowly, the sreens opened up to reveal a yukata'd, kenseiken-less noble. V automatically blushed at the sight of the handsome figure standing before her.
"Um...can we talk?" V's words were weak and slightly cracking as she spoke.
"...what do you want to talk about?" He sounded cold, emotionless.
"About before...in the 4th Division Barracks." Her voice got stronger but still cracked.
He paused for a moment before telling his assistant he required no one to interrupt while this woman is here. I expect these orders to be fulfilled immediately." He gave Torio a knowing glare as the old man nodded, leaving the two alone together.
"You can come inside." Byakuya moved out to the side to allow V access.
"Thank you." She shivered when she passed the taller man, his towering presence slightly overwhelming her.
V took a look around the exceptionally lit room. The large scrolls decorating the walls seemed to suit the room nicely along with the painting of ancient warriors and of past family members. The was a king-size futon at the right corner of the master bedroom and a small section closed off from the rest. V suspected it to be the bathroom but didn't ask. She also noticed the small desk that lay opposite of the bed overflowing with books and papers and ink brushes.
'This seems so familiar...' V thought as she took a seat on a cushion next to a tea-table positioned in the middle of the room. 'But this...wasn't here before.' She knew the table wasn't there the last time she was in this room but she couldn't quite fathom how she knew it.
"Something wrong?" Byakuya's commanding tone summoned V from her scattered thoughts.
"Oh! Um...no, nothing's wrong. Actually...I wanted to tell you something..." She lowered her eyes and trailed off.
"If this is about the way you reacted, forget it." Byakuya closed his onyx pearls as V shot a confused look his way. "I understand why you acted the way that you did. You do not know who I am. I understand that the affection I showed was uncalled for and, for that, I do apologize."
"But...no, wait!" V waved negatively. "I cam here to apologize to you! Even if I didn't know who you were, you didn't deserve the way I blew you off, or the way I talked to you! So..." She started to bow. "I'm sorry!" She jerked up when her forehead smacked the table. "Ouch!" V rubbed her sore forehead, noting the amused expression on her companion face.
"Are you alright?" The stoic noble, keeping his icy façade, asked.
"I-I'm fine." V replied, still rubbing the sore spot. She blushed lightly when a small but noticeable smile danced across Byakuya's sharp features.
"I will make some tea." Byakuya went to stand only to be stopped by a firm hold on his wrist.
V had, in one fluid motion, pushed the table out-of-the-way, gripped Byakuya's arm and pulled him back in to a seating position, all the while her eyes stirring from a light, emerald-green to a smoky forest tint.
"V-Voltaire?" He held an incredulous look in his eyes as V's grip tightened. "What are y-"
"I hate it..." A low growl emitted from the young woman.
"What?" Byakuya bent his head slightly to get a better view of V's bowed face.
"I hate it. I don't ever want to see it again. That face..." V lifted her head to meet Byakuya's concerned gaze as she continued. "When I pushed your hand from my face after you called me that name, the face you made was...gut wrenching. I hated it. I know I don't know who you are or what I really mean to you, but no one deserves to be rejected so bluntly. No one deserves to hear the words I spoke to you." V let her hand loosen around the noble slim arm. "When you looked at me so incredulously, so hurt...I felt like my heart was being ripped from my chest. Please, I don't really know what's happening to me, but I want to know why I feel this way when you're around me."
"What are you talking about?" Byakuya stared at the woman who sat before him. What the hell was going on?
"When you looked at me...when I saw you're face for the first time, my heart practically melted. I don't think I've ever had anyone who could make my heart a million miles a minute and stop at the same time. I don't understand why, but when you called me that name...when I heard your voice, something stirred in my chest..." She pulled her free hand up and over her pulmonary cavity. "I don't know for sure, but the way you make me feel, the things you do to make me feel that way and when you call me...Voltaire...I love it. I think, Kuchiki-sama, that I'm in lo-" She was cut off the sudden interruption of Byakuya's personal assistant, Torio, who ripped the shoji screen open and shouted.
"Kuchiki-sama! Seireitei is...the Seireitei is under attack!"
A loud explosion erupted behind the old man and Byakuya released his arm from V's grip. "Voltaire." He spoke just before leaving the room. "We will continue this conversation when I return. Stay here." He bolted in the direction of the explosion, leaving an unbelievably upset woman behind in his wake.
"Byakuya..."
I've been out for about two weeks on what you would normally call vacation. But here is the next chapter for this, Red Cr0w. Don't be mad it took so long to update. REVIEW!