Summary
Rukia contemplates the fact that her closest friend in Soul Society is famous. Kagome has a lie in. Byakuya wonders what his sister is hiding from him.
A/N: I'm baaaack! Sorry about the delay. Details are in the A/N at the end. But anyway, on to the next installment!
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Last Time
"You should tell them. And soon, milady."
"Yeah. I know," Kagome sighed, smoothing back the little girl's bangs absently before giving the Zanpakuto a strained smile, "But, how do you tell your superior officer that you were once a priestess? And, not just any priestess, but the Guardian of the Shikon no Tama?"
"You were what?" a voice behind her gasped, making the priestess whip around in shock. Hotarubi, in her surprise, let go of her corporeal form and burst into a multitude of tiny little lights, flittering around Kagome in her distress before she remanifested in her sword state.
Rukia stood there, a slack-jawed expression painted across her face as she held loosely to an umbrella. It was obvious that she'd come out here looking for the other woman in order to usher her indoors and out of the rain. Had Sango tried to get the other girl to help look for her?
"Rukia..."
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Kagome panicked. What the hell was wrong with her, damn it?! How could she have just blurted out one of her most important secrets for someone to hear?! Why hadn't she sensed her?!
'Are my powers really getting that bad?' she thought, her stomach dropping in horror. If she couldn't sense Rukia, who on the quick path to completely recovering her shinigami powers, then what would she do if she couldn't sense Hollows or a Captain-level shinigami. 'Hell, Captain Kuchiki could sneak up on me with hardly any effort before!'
"K-Kagome?" Rukia stuttered, shuffling a few steps closer to the distraught girl. The priestess's reiatsu was roiling about her in agitated waves, and if she didn't do something about it soon, she was going to start attracting trouble. "You need to calm down. I'm not going to tell anyone, if that's what you're worried about."
Kagome brought herself out of her thoughts and blinked slowly. "You won't? Not even your brother?"
"Not unless you tell me it's okay or if it involves a life and death situation," the noble replied, breathing a sigh of relief when Kagome's volatile aura retracted and settled.
"... I'm sorry. I should have said something sooner, but..." the former time traveler started hesitantly, trailing off for a moment before taking a deep breath and continuing, "but I don't even know where to start. Or how to go about telling anyone. I just... I just wanted to be me. Just Kagome for once."
Rukia bowed her head for a moment and stared at her feet. Then, with a newfound resolution, she lifted her gaze and squarely met Kagome's troubled blue eyes. "You're a bit of an idiot, you know." The other girl gaped at her and she happily continued. "I don't care if you're famous, or what you did in your past life, or even if you're powerful or not. We're friends, Kagome, and it's my impression that friends stick together no matter what. Or do I have that wrong."
"Rukia..." there was an inflection of wonder in her voice as Kagome watched her noble friend rant.
"I mean, I wasn't born a noble. Byakuya adopted me because my sister begged him to before she died. I'm from one of the worst districts out there, so I have no room to talk." Violet-eyed girl had been prepared to continue to make her case, but cut herself off abruptly when Kagome tackled her in a fierce hug.
"Thank you! Thank you so much! I am so happy that you understand!" the priestess whispered, the urge to start crying again nearly overwhelming her vow to not shed tears. Finally, there was someone that understood her need to be just Kagome! Sure, Miroku and Sango understood in a sense, but they and the others all still saw her as the Shikon Guardian as well. It was a title that she knew would forever haunt her.
And Rukia didn't care.
"But before you tell me everything, I think we need to get out of the rain. We'll go to my home," the noblewoman demanded, re-situating the umbrella over the two girls and starting the trek to where Kagome was quickly starting to call her home away from home.
'Funny how that works,' the priestess thought, pulling off her wet clothes and shivering when the cool air hit her skin. She decided to forgo a hot bath in lieu of the situation and donned a sleeping yukata. She was just belting the waist when there was a knock on her door.
"Come in!" Rukia stuck her head in and looked around, before nodding and sidling in. Sliding the door closed, she immediately made her way to the bed and curled herself around a large pillow for the all important 'Pillow Talk'.
Establishing a resolution to herself, Kagome sat next to the other girl and slowly started to explain her story to the wide-eyed noble. She'd never told anyone everything, but once she started, the words couldn't seem to wait to stop tumbling from her mouth.
It took hours, and so many questions that both girls' brains were mush, but when she finally took a cleansing breath, the former time traveler felt... light. Airy.
'Free...'
"Okay, so I understand that you came from a time period of ten years ago and that you traveled through a portal that took you five hundred years back, but that doesn't explain how you came to be in Soul Society," Rukia surmised, leaning back against the bed next to Kagome and closing her eyes. "You survived the Final Battle, and you weren't grieviously injured. So, what happened?"
The former school girl took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling. "I came back home, to the era I was born in, and the well closed. Six months later, my little brother Souta was accidentally pushed into oncoming traffic by some people standing on a curb. They were my age, and just joking around, and one of them bumped into Sou-chan. He went into the street, and I pushed him out of the way of the car that couldn't stop in time."
She remembered the screech of tires, the honking of the horn, people screaming, the intense pain. Her brother's eyes that were the same color as her's staring down at her in horror... Kagome blinked back tears again.
"I died in his arms before the ambulance could get there. My spine had been snapped and there wasn't anything anyone could do."
"Oh Kagome..." Rukia murmured, putting a hand to her mouth in shock. What a horrible way to go...
"I didn't regret much, you know. Just that I hadn't been there for him a little more. I didn't realize we would get so little time together after I came back."
"And then you moved on?" Oh gods, she hoped that the other girl had!
"I stayed and watched over them for about three months after, and then a shinigami came and sent me on," Kagome concluded, closing her eyes and shoving the regret that she always carried deep down in her.
The two girl's were silent for a few moments, letting everything that had transpired between them settle before Rukia turned to face her.
"I won't tell a soul. Not unless it's an emergency."
"... Thank you, Rukia. You're a wonderful friend."
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Morning dawned bright and early for Byakuya as he rose and dressed for the day. Yesterday had been hectic at best, and with Kagome's brief disappearance that had set more than a few people on edge, he'd put several of his family affairs on hold. It had been a relief when Rukia had informed him later in the night that she'd found and brought the soaking priestess home with her.
'It was, however, odd to see Rukia so subdued after speaking with Kagome.' His sister always seemed to be a bundle of smiles and energy after a talk with her friend, but this time, the other noble had been subdued and jittery. Almost as though she'd wanted to tell him something but couldn't bring herself to.
Shrugging it off for the moment, he made his way to the informal breakfast room, expecting to see Kagome sitting there chattering with the other noble as though she hadn't caused him the worst night of sleep that he'd managed to get since the passing of Hisana.
What he was met with was Rukia paging through one of the old family books on Soul Society History and Legends and a sorely neglected breakfast as she devoured whatever she was reading.
Byakuya took a moment to gather his fraying temper-
'Don't snap at her. It's not her fault.'
-and asked in a polite voice, "Where is Higurashi?"
Rukia barely glanced up and took an absent bite of her cooling rice. "Probably still asleep. She was pretty emotionally drained last night."
"From what?" His sister looked up then and became instantly guarded.
He didn't like it. Not at all.
"Rukia..."
"I'm not allowed to say. She said she'd tell you when she could muster up the courage," the smaller shinigami babbled, waving her chopsticks in the air as a sign of her agitation. "Please don't try to force her! It's an enormous thing for her."
He nodded jerkily and sat at the table for a few minutes before he got up and headed towards the door.
"Byakuya..." And somehow the way the younger sibling said his name just now reminded him of his mother.
"I will not ask her, but she will eat breakfast with us whether she falls asleep in her miso or not." With his resolve stated, the current Kuchiki head swept from the room and elegantly made his way towards Kagome's guest room.
Rukia sighed and turned the page in her book as she rolled her eyes. "Men. They never listen."
'We'll see if he keeps that bravado when she's given him an earful for waking her up so early.'
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Kagome groaned when she felt fingers playing with her hair before a gentle tug made her come out from under the blankets. Gods, but she felt awful! It was like everything was spinning and stuffy!
'Maybe I shouldn't have forgone that bath last night...' But she'd been so exhausted after talking to Rukia! Well, now she was paying for it. She was sick.
"Mmph!" she grunted, taking a swipe at whoever was disturbing her. Cracking her eyes open, she was met with the visage of her Captain standing over her. She didn't even try to muster the energy to be surprised; the man was popping up everywhere nowadays.
"Higurashi."
"Captain... Let me sleep..." the former school girl croaked, pulling the lock of hair he had in his grasp away before deliberately turning away from him.
"You weren't at breakfast."
"I know. I was here. Sleeping." She hoped he would get the message.
The bed dipped and she rolled back over to face him. Just short of sticking her tongue out and ranting, though, his gaze sharpened and he reached out a hand to rest on her forehead. The priestess sighed at the contact. It was definitely something she wouldn't have done under normal circumstances.
"You're sick," Byakuya murmured, letting his hand slide from the top of her head to her cheek. Kagome's eyes closed blissfully and she leaned into his hand. "You have a fever." He started to pull away but stopped abruptly when the girl actually whimpered.
"Don't go. Your hand... feels so nice..."
"How long were you out in the rain yesterday?" It was his tone that made her realize he wasn't going to go anywhere until she answered.
"I dunno... Couple hours maybe?"
"Hours!" he ground out, clenching his teeth. The noble glared at her. She didn't even have the decency to flinch. "What persuaded you to do that?"
"I was thinking about some things," Kagome harrumphed, crossing her arms and glaring herself, "I am allowed to do that without permission still, aren't I?"
Byakuya took a deep breath and steadied the mounting anger in him. The woman was going to be the death of him! Hisana had never made him worry so much!
'She's not Hisana, though,' he had to remind himself. No, Kagome was in no way Hisana. But that was why he was so captivated by the blue-eyed girl staring him down.
"You are being childish, Kagome," he intoned with a sense of calm.
"Then I guess that makes me a child!" the priestess hissed, sitting up to get a better angle on her glare, "You didn't even know I was gone until Rukia brought me here anyway."
"You know nothing!" the Captain snapped, rising up and pacing the length of the room several times. "I was on patrol of the barracks for most of the evening looking for you! Especially when your monk friend crossed paths with me several times doing the same thing! I was worried!"
Kagome slumped back into the pillows in dawning comprehension. Looking him over, she winced inwardly as she noticed the smudges under his eyes. He'd lost sleep because he'd been looking for her. Probably had been forced to stay up to finish paperwork he'd neglected in the process of looking for her too.
'I'm such a bitch...' the former time traveler thought miserably. And the mounting headache building behind the back of her eyes was only making her feel worse. Tears pricked her eyes and she tried to force down the urge to cry. She wouldn't cry over this, damn it!
Byakuya stared as he watched the tears building in Kagome's eyes with a growing sense of horror. Gods, he'd made her cry! When was the last time he'd made a girl do that?! When he was a boy?
'Now I feel terrible.' She reached up a shaking hand and hastily wiped the almost tears away.
"M'Sorry... It's not your fault I ran off," the smaller shinigami whimpered, "I'm not mad at you. I'm just... There's so much I'm stressed out about. I needed some time alone..." Kagome lifted one of her arms and covered her eyes. She couldn't stand the idea that she looked so pathetic and weak in front of someone she admired so much.
"I apologize, Kagome. I should not have said what I did to you, especially when you're ill," the Captain murmured, sitting back down next to her and running a hand through her tangled hair, "I realize things are difficult and I suppose I should respect your need for space."
'Please, just please don't cry.'
"... I'm so afraid right now," Kagome murmured, already starting to drop off again. The emotional rollercoaster she'd run herself on recently was starting to catch up to her with a vengence. Sooner or later, she was going to break.
"What is it you fear?" Byakuya asked gently, trying not to disturb the lulled she'd put herself into.
"... Death."
"Why would you fear death?" That made no sense to him at all!
"You would fear... it too... if you were dying..." the priestess slurred out, lashes fluttering as sleep claimed her, "but don't tell... Captain Kuchiki... He'll be mad... and I don't like... seeing him upset... M'not worth it..." Her voice finally gave into sleep and she said no more.
Which left one Byakuya Kuchiki paralyzed in stunned horror. She was dying?! But why?! How?! How long had she known?! How could he have not realized it?!
'It's that smile of hers. It's so disarming, you never suspect something is wrong until it's far too late. If she hadn't been sick and half-delerious, would she have even told me?' These questions left him with a whirl of thoughts and what if as he stepped out of the room. Outwardly, he was the picture of calm. Inwardly, his mind was swirling with questions and possible solutions.
He needed to speak with Miroku immediately. Even if he had to beat it out of the monk, he needed to know everything about Kagome in order to find a way to save her.
"But first, I need to know what Rukia seems to be keeping secret," he muttered, turning down the hall and making his way towards his sister's room.
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Rukia paced and fretted. And fretted as she paced. She was torn in two over loyalties. On one hand, her brother deserved nothing but the outmost respect and honesty from her. To deliberately lie to him would leave such a burden on her conscience that it would eat away at her. On the other hand, Kagome had given her greatest secret to her to keep under wraps. And what a secret it was!
'The Shikon Priestess! It's so amazing that I've been friends with someone so famous!' Kagome's actions in her life had literally shaped the way the Soul Society had grown in those five hundred years. And, now that the other shinigami had given up the ghost about her time traveling capabilities, it all made sense too!
A knock on her door stirred her from her thoughts and she pulled back the shoji to meet her brother's troubled gray eyes.
"Nii-sama? What's bothering you?"
Byakuya took a breath and steadied his emotions. The worry in his gaze was replaced by a no nonsense cool gleam. "We need to talk."
"All right. Come in." Stepping aside, she allowed the other noble into her domain. It was highly unusual for her sibling to come to her in private like this.
Byakuya looked around the room for a moment then chose a spot against the wall near the small table that was set up. "... What has Kagome told you about herself?"
"Excuse me?" Rukia blinked. She hadn't been expecting that question.
"Your defense at breakfast was a clear enough indication that she told you something important," the Captain retorted, an accusing sting to his words that made the girl wince.
"She asked me not to say anything!"
"How could you not! Do you not realize how dire the situation is now?"
"What do you mean? It's not that big a deal, Nii-sama!"
"You're not worried at all?!" he hissed, glaring furiously at Rukia. She harrumphed and crossed her arms.
"I don't see why you're getting upset. So she's famous and the building block for Soul Society's current laws! It's not any more important than the Kuchiki family's achievements for peace!"
Byakuya blinked slowly and processed what his sibling had just said. "I have no idea what you are talking about, Rukia, and I believe that you may not know why I'm so concerned."
"You don't? Kagome didn't tell you that she's the Shikon Priestess?" the girl asked, slapping a hand over her mouth in horror when the other noble's gray eyes dilated in shock and he thumped himself onto her bed.
"Kagome is the Shikon Priestess?"
The tiny shinigami hesitated, decided that the cat was out of the bag, and finally nodded. Byakuya hissed and jumped back up.
"It all makes sense now!" he snapped, pacing one way then the other as the pieces started falling into place. "The reason why I suspected her reishi was purer than normal. The way the seal is eating into those powers. The healing! It was all there!"
"... Byakuya... What did she tell you?" Rukia asked, dread filling the pit of her stomach at how badly her normally stoic brother was ranting. It had to have been because his emotions were so deeply involved at this point that everything was having such an effect on him.
The Captain slowed to a stop and clenched his fists in anger.
"She's dying."
The adopted noble stared at him as he sank slowly onto the bed and held his head in his hands.
"She's... dying?" her voice cracked but she hardly cared. Rukia was still trying to wrap her mind around the possibility.
"Yes. Her soul is intimately connected with her powers. Powers that the seal is draining away. When they die out-!"
"She dies too," his sister finished breathlessly, the grave urgency of the situation finally sinking in. "Do you think Miroku knows?"
"I doubt it. He would have told us of it if he did." As she watched the way her older sibling simply took deep breaths to try to calm himself, a ringing thought presented itself to her suddenly.
"You love her, don't you." It wasn't a question. I didn't have to be; she already knew the answer.
"... I do," Byakuya murmured, closing his eyes to try to ward off the feeling of helplessness that was swamping him. All he could see was Hisana's serene face as her casket was closed and she was lowered into the earth. Forever asleep.
A warm body wrapped itself around his waist and he had the sense of mind enough to realize that Rukia was hugging him. It was odd; he'd never really been the type to hug. It was somewhat comforting.
"We'll save her, Nii-sama. We'll find the cure and she'll be back to normal in no time."
Slowly, he returned the embrace, Rukia's conviction lighting the determination inside him to see this through to the end.
"We will."
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A/N: Oh no! What are the Kuchiki siblings going to do now! Will they be able to pull together and save Kagome? Find out next time!
And I sound like those cheesy narrarators off a tv show. -gets pelted- I know I know! I'm a horrible evil mean person for pulling another plot twist. But it just makes it so much more dramatic when all is said an done. This is where it's starting to get into the climax and the thick of the plot. Don't worry though. That doesn't mean the story is almost over. I have such plans...
Sorry it took so long to get this out. Life hit me pretty hard in the last week or so. My dad got married again, so I went to New Jersey over the last weekend. My mom had to have major back surgery because she ruptured two discs in her lower back. And she's going to need my help for the next six weeks, so everything else is going to be put on hold for a little while. I'll work on the next chapter when I can, but it's just not my priority at the moment.
Hopefully, I'll see you all soon! Keep us in your thoughts!