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 9: I'm Only a Crack in This Castle of Glass
The cold, wet ground that surrounded the garden just outside the Kuchiki manor accentuated the rain storm that had ended only moments ago leaving behind the dark, gloomy clouds and fresh smell of damp concrete in its wake. Th quite tapping of the remaining drips that were also left behind smacked the steps as a young servant made her way across the walkway and into a room full of kimonos hanging on racks. In the center of the room, Voltaire and another servant, her main mistress, were laughing gently while testing different hairstyles that most matched her wedding dress.
"M'lady...I have a message for you from..." The petite brunette looked at the front of the envelope but there was no name on it. "It doesn't say...but I got it from one of the lieutenants, Aizen I think his name was."
"Thanks." Voltaire took the slightly thick paper from the young woman and tore it open to reveal a long, loaded message from the S.R.D.I. and knitted her brows together. "Are you sure this was from him? It seems like it would come from the 12th squad...something like this wouldn't come from the 5th squad and even from the 12th squad seems a bit strange..." She read through the whole letter and noticed the signature at the bottom. "That's odd..."
"What is, Miss?" The older woman loosened her grip of Voltaire's fiery locks to look at the paper she held in her hands.
"This is...Hikifune's stamp signature. They don't use that anymore in the Research Department. Who did you say gave this to you?" She directed her question toward the younger woman now.
"Aizen...Lieutenant Sousuke Aizen gave it to me and I think he's from the 5th division." The servant explained that Aizen approached her out of nowhere and asked if she knew Voltaire. When she told him that she did and that she would be seeing her today, he gave her this message to pass along.
"That's not suspicious at all." The older servant commented.
"I know, right?" Voltaire mulled over a few thoughts before deciding to look into whatever this letter meant. "I need to find out what's going on but I don't think Byakuya should know about it until something serious comes up. Can I trust you two not to say anything?" She shifted looks between the two ladies.
"Yes, of course." The older servant confirmed.
"But if I don't check in with one of you in 3 days, tell someone something, alright?"
"Yes, ma'am." The younger girl finished.
"Good. I'll see you two off then?" The three of them left the decorated room in their separate ways, Voltaire heading towards the 12th division barracks in her short, ocean blue yukata to investigate the message she received.
Although she had great confidence that it may have been a mistake on the Research Department's part, she had an inkling of doubt in the back of her mind that had begun to scratch its way forward and enlarge the possibility of something sinister at play. When Voltaire reached the entrance to the 12th Division, she was greeted by the blond captain who was moving a stack of crates in the facility with the help of his miniature assistants.
"Hey, Kisuke!" She half jogged over to where the scientist pushed the trailer.
"Hmm? Ah, Voltaire-chan!" The man chimed, letting the handle of the trailer fall to the ground, the weight of the crates push upon the short creatures on the other side, and rushing to hug the tiny woman.
"Do you have a moment to talk?" She released the blond.
"Of course! Anything for my favorite Kuchiki!" He sang, forgetting the supplies in the trailer completely.
"I'm not a Kuchiki yet."
"What are you saying?! You're living with them aren't you, and spending time with everyone in their family? You're a Kuchiki in heart if not in name or blood."
Voltaire only smiled. "So do you need help with that?" She pointed to the trailer the sat motionless at the entrance of the S.R.D.I. and Urahara chuckled softly, remembering his previous task.
"Ah, yes, that's right. You don't mind do you?" The two moved to pull the trailer the rest of the way into the facility.
"It's not a problem, we can talk while we walk."
Voltaire took the side of the trailer Akon and Mayuri had and lifted it to their eye level, carrying it along with Kisuke, the two scientists in training following close behind.
"So what did you want to talk about, Voltaire-chan?"
"I got a letter today that one of my mistresses gave to me."
"And? That's doesn't seem conversation worthy."
"You didn't let me finish. The mistress said it came from the lieutenant of the 5th Division but it had Hikifune's stamp signature on it."
"That's odd...we don't use that anymore. We did at the very beginning when Captain Hikifune first left to finish off paperwork she left behind, but that was no longer implemented with the new paperwork."
"That's what I said. That's not all. In the letter, I was instructed to report to a off-site testing facility for certain preliminary tests that could help produce a line of workups to determine certain illnesses in souls around the outer regions of the Rukongai."
"The hell? Even if something like that was ever sent out, I would have to give authority to send out a message like that or I would write it myself. I did neither. Whoever wrote that letter was not of the 12th Division or proper authority to do something like that."
Just as he finished his statement, the four reached the lab where the supplies were needed and Kisuke motioned for Voltaire to release her end just outside the door and invited her in.
"Whoever wrote that letter is trying to draw you out. I'd suggest that you stay out of it, but I know how you stubborn and hard-headed you are so I'm going to give you this." Urahara grabbed an object off the table in the lab and handed to Voltaire.
"What's this?" Voltaire opened the contraption she held in her hand and a bright screen shined in her face.
"I'd call it a communicator but I believe when the humans figure how to create one, they'll give a new name."
"How do you use it?"
"Whenever you need help or need something, you just press these buttons," Kisuke pointed at three different buttons and how they show up on the screen, "and you'll be able to reach me anywhere you are." He sang.
"Sounds like a problem waiting to happen." She spoke bluntly.
"What do you mean?"
"If I know anything from my experience with any type of advanced technology, it's that it never works when you need it."
"How do you know if you've never tried it?" He whined.
"Fine." Voltaire took the communicator and headed out only to be stopped by Kisuke's goodbye message.
"Just be careful around Aizen, Voltaire-chan. I know you aren't one to judge people by their looks, but don't be easily swayed by that man's words. He may look harmless, but there's something about him you shouldn't be to wary about. Be careful who you trust in this, alright?"
"Yea, don't worry. I won't do anything stupid. I promise."
"V...V...V, can you hear me?" A gentle voice pierced through the red-head's slumber and called her back to consciousness. "V, come on back now. Wake up." The voice was eventually placed with a face when the blurry vision V adopted began to clear up.
Ukitake pulled back slightly when V moaned slightly and raised a hand to her throbbing head, adjusting herself with the other on the pillows surrounding her.
"Nn...where am I...?" Her voice was scratchy and low.
"You're in the 4th Division barracks, you passed out. You've been out for a few days."
"How are you feeling?" Shunsui asked from the corner of the room.
It took a few moments for her to answer as she was still trying to grasp the fact that everything she had been seeing was only a dream, that it wasn't really happening and that reality was trying to catch up with her.
"I'm...mmh...tired..." V tried to sit up and Jyuushiro moved to raise the bed up.
The door to the infirmary slid open drawing everyone's attention before the conversation could continue between the three of them. Ichigo, Renji and Matsumoto walked in with Captain Hitsugaya and they were greeted with questioning looks.
"I know it's unheard of for us to barge in like this and I express my deepest apologies for interrupting you-" The other Shiro was cut off.
"What Toshiro was trying to say is that we need to talk to you about what happened!" Ichigo tied his hands across his chest and held an annoyed look on his face when Hitsugaya barked at him.
"Kurosaki! Show some respect! And it's Captain Hitsugaya to you!" The vein popped out on the side of his head and Matsumoto giggled at his reaction.
"Can we just get on with this? I have to get back to the Captain as soon as possible!" Renji whined, also knotting his arms together.
"Right. V, can we speak with you?" Hitsugaya addressed the lethargic woman.
"You can try." She meant no disrespect by the comment but her consciousness was slipping.
Ichigo uncrossed his arms and approached V's bedside. He ran a hand through his sunlit locks and sighed before introducing himself.
"I'm Ichigo." He half-smiled at V when she sat up against the pillows behind her. "We sort of met a while back but, you kinda passed out, so..." He laughed nervously.
"I remember you..."
"I guess that's a good sign, right?" He looked at Ukitake for confirmation, who nodded in his direction.
"Well," Toshiro interjected. "Let's get started then, hmm?"
Whenever I type "tying their arms over their chest" or "knotting their arms across their chest" I imagine that the characters literally knot their arms together. Weird, right? REVIEW!