Hello! New chapter's out! If this chapter it's not elucidating Byakuya's and Nene-cha's story the next two chapters will do that for sure.
Once again, thank you CJ for your effort! :)
Enjoy!
"What is it, Toto?… she said "Don't tell me, you don't remember Nene-cha?" Slowly, on Byakuya's emotionless face, a slight smile appeared.
"I knew it!" she exclaimed happily and jumped into his arms. It was an unexpected gesture. Even more unexpected was Byakuya's reaction which he responded to the woman's hug. "I've missed you so much, Toto!"
"So much so that you couldn't visit in 50 years?" Byakuya said. His voice the same as ever, but some of its coolness surprisingly disappeared.
"Oh! Don't scold me know!" she said as she released him from her grip, and put herself into his lap. Again, Byakuya didn't seem to riposte to her movement, but neither seemed to encourage her. "I was married, you know?"
"Indeed?...How many times?" he said impartially.
Looking into his eyes she gave him a guilty smile.
"Four?..." she said not too confident.
"Only four, Nene-cha?...That doesn't seem like you!"
"Really, Toto…Don't patronize me!" she said and got up from his lap looking around with the same curiosity she showed earlier while looking at the 6th Division's barracks. "Nothing seems to have changed around here…" she said out loud to herself before turning to Byakuya. "Anyway…the last one is dead now."
"'The last one', who?" asked Byakuya.
"Husband...my last husband. He died from a heart attack right as I was going to tell him that he had won the lottery. What irony! Anyway, he was old…65…Can you imagine?"
"You're more than 100…" he replied.
"Hmmm… but I'm immortal…" she replied
"So what did you do with the money?" asked Byakuya
"The money from the lottery? Oh, I gave it to an orphanage…or was it a shelter for homeless pets?... Hmmm, I don't really remember the point was that I gave it away. Shortly after, I had started to teach Latino dances to all the children throughout Rio."
"Rio? So you ended up in Brazil after all?"
"Yeah… you know I always loved the music there! Tell me do you still remember how to dance bachata?"
"I don't know…I haven't tried it since then…"
Here her gorgeous face was suddenly shadowed by a slight sadness. "Since then… Byakuya?"
He raised his eyes, as she called him by his name for the first time. It was an awkward moment which showed how vulnerable that playful and cheerful atmosphere was in reality.
"It's been a long time and you have changed an awful lot…"
"It has been a long time since you had left…and I recall that even before that you used to tell me "ever since" Byakuya said.
She lowered her head sorrowful.
"Guess it's time to finally admit that we're not children anymore?"
Byakuya didn't answer.
"Even so…back then…"
But Byakuya remained silent. Finally she decided to change the topic:
"You know I came back last night, right?"
"Yes…I had sensed you're reiatsu…" he finally said.
She turned to him rather surprised. "It's still amazing…I wasn't in the Seireitei last night and yet you still felt my faint reiatsu? No wonder you're a captain…"
"You could easily have been one yourself." Byakuya said impartially.
"I never liked being a shinigami…the responsibility was just too much…but who knows? Since I'm back, maybe I'll break a few shinigami's hearts. By the way, did you know that I met you lieutenant today?...what was his name again? Ahhh…Renji Abarai. I kind of liked him!"
"Of course you did, he's rather stupid" Byakuya stated objectively.
"Still patronizing others, Toto?" she said unpleased. "Doesn't matter anyway I lied about what I said earlier"
"With what you said earlier? Do you mean the part in which you'll break a few shinigami's hearts or the comment about 'liking' my lieutenant?"
"Both!" she replied stiffly.
"I honestly believe that the only word which was a lie was that final one, 'both'"
She raised her eyebrows, but she wasn't able to reply.
"Why did you come back?" he suddenly asked.
"Because I've missed you of course!"
"I believe that to be a lie as well…" Byakuya added emotionless.
She sighed.
"Do I look like the kind of person who would need a reason for coming back here?"
Byakuya didn't answer.
"Indeed, I don't" she answered herself. "I just look like the kind of person who doesn't fit in this place anymore"
She slowly approached the desk from which he hadn't move throughout their whole conversation. However in front of the library she stopped as she saw Hisana's picture. Her eyebrows lowered sorrowfully: "You still keep her picture so close…" and after a few moments of silence she added: "After she died I refused to think about her… or even see any picture of her because I feared that I might miss her…Now I see that I was right…" She lowered her head and took a few steps towards the window. "The day after tomorrow would have been her birthday, right? I suddenly remember that a few days ago and ever since then I just couldn't stop recalling the expression on your face when we were at her funeral. You had that same expression when I left the Seireitei. Even right now, just the way you're looking at me…do you know what they all have in common, Byakuya?... That same lack of emotion!" she said as she turned to him, painting that last word with hate."You've changed a lot! The Byakuya I knew would have never treated me so coldly" as she approached, leaning over to him so close that she had almost touched his nose: "You see…you don't even act startled when I try to kiss you…"
Byakuya's eyebrows shifted downward as he remained frozen in time, looking into those mesmerizing grey eyes of hers.
"I remember this are the exact words you said to me when you left" he said emotionless. In that moment she backed off with an annoyed sigh. "I believe you understand that things have not changed very much…"Since then" he added. "So I'm wondering why you are still chasing the fantasy of a past that vanished long before you had ever left this place?" he finished coldly.
She turned to him with wide yet wet eyes. "Because…I…." she stuttered before finally swallowing her words to not show weakness in front of him. She composed herself with a slight cough before giving him a scolding look: "It's not as if I was expecting a welcome party with scotch, girls and bachata when I came back here! I know some things died along with your parents and as well with Hisana, but you can't blame me for still staying strong and being honest with my feelings after all that has happened… you can't blame me for desiring the same thing with you!"
"Bachata…you say?..." as a slight smile appeared upon his lips, as his thoughts ran to places that only he and the women standing in front of him only knew.
Seeing that slight smile made her approach him again, full of hope. When she met his cold eyes, she once again felt sadness: "As much as I was scared to even think about Hisana…I….I was also so afraid to see you again after all these years" she sighed. "Can you blame me for that, Toto?"
"I would have as well if it was someone that I had longed for…" he stated simply.
"But you haven't longed for anyone 'since then'…have you?" she whispered sadly before getting up and taking a few steps into the room.
"When I came in here last night I wasn't too sure of what I was doing. I knew that if you sensed me, there would be no turning back…so I attempted to stay as far away as I could from the Seireitei" she continued.
"You mean you stayed at the inn… in the Runkogai?" he asked.
"I mean that I was hoping for someplace that would make me change my mind and not interfere with your life." She answered.
"But I did sense your presence…" whispered Byakuya to himself. "Even though it was so faint and hardly possible to have ever been real…"
She raised her eyebrows. "What if you are right and none of this is real? What if this reunion... All of my careless behavior, my lying to you about us being children again…is just your imagination running wild?" Byakuya tuned to her with a frown, as he hadn't eliminated such a hypothesis from his thoughts.
"Don't worry, Toto!" she said coldly. "This moment is as real as the pain you feel!"
His eyes widened distrustful.
"Don't look at me with those cold eyes! I know them better than you think!" she added. "I also know what lies within the depths of your heart. It's still intriguing to me how we both hate this place and our family so much…yet I had left…and you had remained"
"I never said I hated it…" Byakuya simply stated.
"Oh…is that so?...Your memory must have started to fade then…"
"You can't put the burden of a child's words on me, when those words were spoken when he was young… You just wished that I had hated this clan so that things would be easier for yourself…You had always wished that."
Her eyes widened. "Things would have been different had you not become the head of the clan, but I guess you didn't have a choice back then…"
"And I'm glad that I didn't!" he concluded coldly. "As you may have found your salvation by running away…I had found mine by staying here!"
She took a few steps and approached again Hisana's picture. "I wonder if you really found your salvation here…or if you just unburdened yourself with of these responsibilities in order to forget. It's strange… in the 60 years that I spent in the real world I got married 4 times…and you who remained here, kept your dead wife's picture next to your desk this whole time. This could easily make me the bad person in this story…except for the fact that I was at least honest with myself all these years and I always knew that no matter how many times I'd get married, I could never learn how to fall in love. It's an honesty that I can't see in your eyes. You may hate me for saying this… but I truly believe that you keep this picture here, in order to protect yourself. It's not because you might still love her: It's 'I'm still grieving for my wife…even after all these years, so I can never let anyone else approach my heart' isn't that what you have been telling yourself all these years, Byakuya?'"
But Byakuya wasn't making any gestures.
"Toto, you're still grieving for a wound that's been closed for years now" she whispered "… And I honestly believe that it is so unfair to Hisana, to use her as a shield protecting your heart from ever breaking again…"
Byakuya's face turned white as if the whole world was crumbling down above him. And in a way that was exactly what was happening. The walls he had tried so hard to build up around him started to fall apart.
"You've tried so hard to pretend that you don't have a heart that you even started to believe that lie…" she continued. "But deep inside we both know that, between the two of us…the only one who's ruthless in regards to others and their feelings….is me" . She approached him again, so close that she could feel his breath. "You, see… you can't lie to yourself anymore, no matter how hard you try…even your body doesn't seem to listen to you. The very first moment I've called out for your heart, the same one you say is made of stone, your lips began to shake…just as they always had when we were both children and I was trying to kiss you…
Byakuya bit his lips, a poor attempt to hide his feelings and reactions. The woman could so easily read his heart, she smiled to him warmly and put her fingertips over his chest.
"You're saying it's made of stone...yet i can fell your heartbeats..."
Byakuya looked at her with his eyes wide open.
"Toto…I've been watching over you ever since you were born…now that I'm back I'll continue doing the same so that you can free your heart from that ice shield you had put around it…" . "And this way…maybe Hisana will also find peace and her well deserved place…Come on, Toto…it's time to let her go…"
Byakuya remained speechless, almost scared. She couldn't add anything else. She just took a deep breath and suddenly got up.
"You know what?" she said using a completely different tone of voice. "I think I'm hungry! I haven't eaten since yesterday… No matter how much I loved that inn in the past, the food was always terrible. I think I'll go to the kitchen and search for some of those famous Kuchiki dried fruits! I've really missed them. Wait for me I'll be right back!"
And with a graceful hop she disappeared from the study.
Byakuya's heart was beating so rapidly. He suddenly felt exhausted almost as if he had fought with 4 espadas at once. Deep down he knew this day will eventually come…it's just that he never thought it would be so soon.
"Ooooi! I'm hungry! Why isn't there anyone in the kitchen?" His Nene-cha's voice echoed through the halls of the mansion.
He slowly leaned his chest over the desk because at that moment his heart just seemed so heavy. Now, that it had started to finally free itself from all of the burdens he had placed upon it, his heart was starting to absorb all the emotion that it could. The feeling was so overwhelming.
Meanwhile in Urahara's shop, Ichigo was listening carefully to Rukia's words, as she was giving him all the information she had on the escaped Prisoners. "You seem to be well informed, Kuchiki-san…" Urahara suddenly intervened. "The only thing that Ukitake-san seemed to leave out was the nature of these prisoners." Both Rukia and Ichigo turned to him. "The final Level of the prison was built under the structures of the Seireitei. It was conceived by the previous head captain of the Gotei 13. Unlike Yamamoto who also sealed that prison, the previous head captain had noble origins which he hadn't cut ties with after he had taken the highest position in the Gotei 13. So originally the Prison was built in order to punish not the shinigamis, but the noble traitors. The head captain decided that death was not a suitable punishment for a noble and that the humiliation of watching himself disintegrated would have been a better example to others. Later on the prison started to be filled with shinigamis as well, but the most dangerous ones in there, remained the 15 noble prisoners who were first detained there. From my investigation, it seems that the hierarchy had been maintained until now and that the 15 Prisoners once members of the 4 noble families are now leading the others shinigami prisoners".
"14…" Rukia added.
"Hmmm…" stated Urahara.
"14, what?" Ichigo asked looking rather confused.
"It seems that last night Rukia had killed one of the 15 Prisoners" Urahara explained.
"I saw once of them last night and he seemed…different from the others. His body still seemed to be in one piece and when I asked him his name he told me that didn't have one… he simply stated he was 'Prisoner no. 10'. Unfortunately I didn't have the chance of seeing what his powers were or to find out what his purpose was because I had killed him before he was able to attack me."
"His purpose?" Ichigo added. "Does that even matter? We should just crush them!"
"This smells like a revenge plan to me!" Urahara added thoughtfully.
"It could be, but against who? The whole Gotei 13?"
Urahara's eyes glowed from the back of his hat as he turned his eyes to Rukia. "Since their leaders are noble traitors, I have the strong impression that they might not be truly interested in the Gotei 13's affairs. If I had to guess they are probably after the current leaders of the 4 noble houses within the Soul Society."
"Nii-sama!" Rukia exclaimed worried.
"Rukia!" Ichigo stated with the same tone.
"Indeed" concluded Urahara with a strange smile. "Both Kuchiki's might be in danger…one as the actual leader and the other being the official heir."
Shortly, Haruna returned to Byakuya's study, but she found it empty. She approached the desk and saw Hisana's picture missing. She smiled to herself and left the study, heading towards the back of the gardens, where the main Kuchiki shrine was.
"Have you found the dried fruits?" Byakuya asked the moment she stopped behind him.
She approached him and saw next to his parent's memorial stones, Hisana's picture.
"You did the right thing…" she whispered.
"Is this what you returned for?" he asked.
"I guess it worked…" she added softly.
Byakuya kept looking at his deceased wife's picture. Somehow he felt as if he was saying 'good-bye' for the second time. Though this time it didn't hurt anymore. She was right: this had been a wound that had closed many years ago.
"While you were eating…I kept thinking about what you told me…" he said as he turned towards her. "It made me remember your father. In some ways you are still very much like him…"
"My father?" she hissed amused.
"Indeed…He came to me this morning and told me something rather similar"
She widened her eyes seemingly surprised, as they were both started moving away leaving behind the shrine and their heavy hearts. "
You know what, Toto?" she said cheerful. "I think I will retake my responsibilities within the family…"
"I believe your father will be thrilled to hear that…"
"Actually he's throwing a party this weekend for my return!"
"I see…"
"You're coming, right?" she asked
"I believe I have to…" he said trying to remain impartial.
"You don't sound quite enthused about it! And you used to enjoy the parties when you were little…"
"No, it was you who liked all of those parties… especially the wild ones… I was just forcibly brought in the middle of them by you" Byakuya simply stated.
"But you're coming, anyway? Daddy will be so thrilled to see you…"
"I'm not sure about that…"
"Don't tell that he still hasn't gotten over that whole marriage thing?"
"I don't believe he has…He recently started a quarrel in the family regarding this matter"
"What?!" she said with a weary face. "How could he?... It's been over 70 years since then!"
"Yet, he hasn't seemed to have forgotten about it…He used all his energy to stop a marriage within this family…"
"A marriage?..."
"An incest one." He simply stated.
Instantly she began to laugh. "An incest one?! Daddy?! Don't make me laugh!"
"Nanakuma's son…and the third daughter of lord Shokun…apparently they are cousins"
"You're saying that he's trying to stop a 3rd degree cousins marriage…and yet he tried everything in his power to put us together in a marriage which would have been more incestuous then if we had married our brothers or parents? Haha! That's really funny!" she said laughing.
"He believes that this would be his revenge for all of that…"
"I can't believe him! He's hurting some poor children like that…I think he's starting to crack from old age"
Byakuya didn't answer and for a couple of seconds they walk silently through the gardens.
"I wonder…" she finally said "If you hadn't met her back then…would have you finally married me?…"
"You would not have accepted…" he said emotionless.
"What makes you so sure of that?" she said rather annoyed.
"You would never get married to someone you actually love" he simply stated.
With her eyes and mouth hanging wide open she stopped. She wasn't expecting such an answer. She let him take a few steps ahead, before taking a few deep breaths: "I'll see you at the party, Toto!"
He slightly turned his head over his shoulders and he saw her leaving the gardens. "We'll see about that, Haruna…" he answered.
Hearing her name she stopped, facing him with a scolding yet warm expression: "Don't you ever call Nene-cha like that, again! You'll make her really mad!" she added disappearing with a shunpo.
"I'll see you later, Nene-cha…" he said to himself and continued walking.
Ichigo turned to Rukia with a worried expression. The only thing she could think about right now, was her brother's safety. "Nii-sama must be informed!"
"I believe Byakuya can take care of himself!" said Ichigo annoyed. "You should be more worried about yourself!"
"Ichigo, I just defeated one of them last night…So It's pretty clear that I can take care of myself, thank you very much!"
Urahara watched silently as they argued. From time to time pouring himself another cup of tea or watching the clock on the wall.
"It's good that we're going to the Seireitei the day after tomorrow …I must inform Nii-sama…and Ukitake-sama…"
"How can you think of leaving Karakura in this state?"
"Orders are orders!" she simply stated. "Since I defeated my opponent and received new instructions I must follow them!"
"Well…then you follow your orders and I'll follow mine!"
"The only orders you're following are mine and that's the end of it! I'm not leaving you here to break your neck fighting enemies when I'm sure that you can't even release your zanpakuto in its shikai form.
"Oh is that so?...I'll show you I can even release my bankai and scare that hot ass of yours!" he shouted getting up in order to retrieve his shinigami badge, but as he took his first step she put her leg out in front of him leading to him falling right onto his face.
"So that was your bankai show!" Rukia said sarcastically. "Thank you. Can we move forward, please?"
"Kuchiki-san is right, Kurosaki-kun…" Urahara suddenly intervened. "Most of you strength may be gone…"
Ichigo raised his face from the floor. "What?!"
"Kurosaki-san, just think about how much time has passed since you last held your zanpakuto… Your body, as well as your spiritual pressure are no longer in shape to release your shikai…"
"It may take years for you use bankai again…" Rukia said without facing him.
Ichigo looked at each shinigami one at a time with straight face. Before finally turning back to Rukia with a scowl filled with anger: "You knew that, didn't you? You knew that from the very beginning!"
She lowered her head, unable to give him an answer. He got up onto his feet, biting his lower lip until it hurt. That feeling of being tricked and by who? The person who he had trusted the most: "How could you? Or were you planning this long before…."
But before he could finish Rukia silently got up and left the room.
"What?!" he shouted. "And now you're leaving? You don't even have the courage to face me, do you?" As if he couldn't wait for her to return, he ran after her leaving Urahara behind.
"I've tried to tell you this before…" she said from the courtyard. " You're a human…and as a human you must live your life here, not in the Seireitei as a shinigami. You don't understand that because you've always been as single minded as a horse!"
"Huh?" he hissed confused.
"See? Exactly what I was talking about! "
"I've been a substitute shinigami all these years and the Gotei 13 agreed it"
"You don't get it, Ichigo…do you?... You can't continue being a substitute shinigami forever since you have a mortal body…If you'd really want to become a shinigami, then you must first die…" Ichigo's eyes widened. "The Gotei 13 won't agree to this "substitute shinigami" compromise any longer. They will ask you to become a full time shinigami. Now do you understand why I pushed so hard for you to go back to your human life?...So that the Gotei 13 won't ask for your death…."
Ichigo clinched his fists. "You thought that after 6 years…that would be enough to forget everything about being a shinigami?...you played everything on this card, didn't you?" He said with a strange sparkle in his eyes.
"Don't!.." she whispered a little scared. "Don't ruin it now!...Just come with me to the Seireitei and let me do the talking! I'll persuade them to let you come back to your normal life…Please, Ichigo! Don't think of doing anything stupid! I beg of you!"
"Rukia, it's not up to you to make these choices for me!" Rukia's eyes widened scared. "You can go to the Seireitei yourself…I'll remain here training until I achieve bankai once again…so that I can protect my home town!" he added.
"No!" she insisted "No! You're coming with me! You don't have any other choice!"
"I'm afraid he does…" Urahara suddenly said as he appeared inside the threshold of his shop. "And I think it's only fair to let him decide his future!"
"Indeed" concluded Ichigo "And my choice, is to remain a shinigami! Urahara…I'll need your help!"
"With pleasure, but only after you come back from the Seireitei!" Ichigo looked at him confused. "Don't worry…there is nothing to worry about until the spiritual pressure has been restored…because no spirit can fight without it, right? So for the next 10 days Karakura will be free of any hollows or enemies of any kind" Urahara explained cheerful. Ichigo lowered his eyebrows. "The only thing you must be aware of Ichigo, is there is you agree to this there is no turning back."
"I see…" Ichigo added.
"I believe you should start packing for the Seireitei, Kurosaki-san! Kuchiki-san, here is your stuff! I'll see you both in 10 days! Now, If you will excuse me…" he said as he returned to his shop.
Finally the moment the two of them remained alone, Rukia turned to Ichigo with a scolding expression on her face, but before she could say anything…
hope you liked it! See ya next time! Until then R&R :)