Supernova
By Willow Athena
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach…but Girl X is definitely mine
Author's Note: A supernova: It is both creation and destruction in one. Life and death. Beauty and chaos. In the very moment of destruction, it gives birth to new life, ripples through time and journeys across space.
But that's just my take on it.
I don't really like summaries, I don't even read the blurbs on the backs of books, but I understand why some people crave them. Although I don't like to give any thing away, I will give a general summary of characters and the beginning plot.
Please review, this is my first story, and I crave encouragement.
Summary: Staring in no particular order: Byakuya, Renji, Rukia, Ichigo, Ishida (I will update each chapter as new characters appear). A mysterious girl appears & kisses Byakuya, and everyone catches him in the act. He is enraged by her actions, and their repercussions. Everything about her is a mystery and Ichigo and the team attempt to solve it and uncover all the beautiful girl's secrets.
Chapter 2
That which we'd call a rose…
She weighed nothing in his arms as he shunpo'ed to the 6th squad's barracks. Everyone on guard at the holding cells were also taken aback by her serene beauty – even unconscious she looked indescribable. As he placed her down in the lone hard cot in the cell, he knew he would react to her the same as the others did if his heart was not already occupied.
"Beautiful enough to affect even the coldest of hearts!" He whispered referring, to his taichou. She looked so peaceful, so innocent.
It took Renji half an hour to clear the holding area of all the spectators who wanted to see 'the naked girl in Kuchiki taichou's haori'. It took him another 15 minutes to quash all the hopes of the volunteers who eagerly wanted to watch her until morning so they could be close when the scandal broke the next day.
An hour after Renji's arrival, Ichigo and Ishida arrived to fill him in.
"Rukia?"
"Resting until morning." Ichigo off-handedly replied.
"Well?!" Renji probed.
"Byakuya had his eyes closed and was holding and kissing the naked girl when I got there." Ichigo smugly recounted as he placed his hand behind his head and began to blush.
Ishida related the rest of the story to Renji without the innuendo attached.
" Where is her katana?" Renji asked.
"I didn't see it when I got there," he added, a little worried.
Ichigo realised that in his attempt to save Rukia, he had missed what had happened to the katana. "Umm…", he searched his memory. The blank look on Ichigo's face often annoyed Ishida, who missed nothing. Honestly, how could the brute be so blind, he thought.
"It disintegrated as she let go of it, but before it could hit the ground – just like her hand, and I'm guessing, her whole body appeared out of thin air." Ishida authoritatively stated, trying to piece things together. Ishida had been contemplating all the possibilities, but was still no closer to the truth. This dumbfoundedness was not something he was used to, and it did nothing to improve his mood.
"Byakuya wants you to put a spirit suppressing collar on her before she wakes up – just in case she tries to escape," Ichigo added, having been suddenly reminded of the possible danger the girl could pose.
"I can't sense that she has any reiatsu at all – not even a little," Ishida offered. Both Renji and Ichigo agreed with him, but Renji followed his taichou's orders none the less.
Ishida would not sleep easily until he figured it out, but his mind was an exhausted, empty blank at the moment. They all sat around the desk discussing what she could be and how she had managed to get into Byakuya's room, but their circular arguments were getting them nowhere.
Morning broke.
Ishida, Ichigo and Renji were woken by Rukia pulling the keys grasped in Renji's hand, and noisily heading towards the cell where the girl lay soundlessly.
"Rukia!" Renji chased after her as the other two woke up.
"She's probably still unconscious!" Renji added as he tried to calm the obviously furious Rukia. But, the rattling of the keys in the lock had startled the girl, who quickly retreated to the corner of the bed with her legs tucked under her chin. As they all entered the cell and saw her hidden in the corner, Ishida's heart softened at the look.
"Why did you try to kill Nii-sama?" Rukia accused, drawing her zanpakuto, and lunging for the girl. Ichigo and Renji deftly held Rukia back as Ishida stood protectively in front of the terrified girl.
"Nii-sama?" Her voice rang like wind chimes from behind Ishida.
"Byakuya is her brother." Ishida offered, not trusting himself to turn around and look at her. The memory of her soft skin still distracted him.
"Bya-ku-ya…oh!" She seemed like she was still piecing things together herself. She gingerly bit her bottom lip in concentration, as though trying to remember a dream eluding her waking mind.
"I would never hurt Byakuya. I was trying to protect him from the men with the katanas." She sounded child-like and sincere.
Ishida turned around to look at the girl. She looked confused, innocent, like a child – but, her height and build put her at around 18, maybe more.
"Where is your katana?" Renji interjected, trying to get to the bottom of their midnight discussion. He planned to surprise Byakuya with his competence, at how easy it was to solve this mystery. His need for respect from Byakuya, and his goal to exceed him were often at war with eachother. All he really wanted was to be worthy in Byakuya's eyes, worthy of the only thing that mattered to him, Rukia.
"I don't have a katana." She chimed at them innocently. Renji's hope plummeted with her words. Maybe he should try to look more menacing, he thought, but dismissed the idea as he looked at her bright, trusting face. He would never make a girl cry, and he hated men who did.
"I saw it in your hand last night!" Ichigo accused. Ishida let out a doubtful 'hmp' at his words. They really weren't getting anywhere with her.
"Huh?" She still looked confused.
Maybe she still needs to recover, Ichigo thought.
"One side of the katana was black, and the other side was pure white." Ishida had noticed this last night, but said nothing until now. This was one of the reasons he had been so bothered by the whole situation.
"Like a zanpakuto?" Renji blurted what they were all thinking.
"I don't think so, she has no reiatsu to speak of. I don't think we should jump to conclusions." Ishida attempted to assure them, although they were no closer to explaining it.
The plainly written confused and innocent look on the beautiful girl's face had made Rukia's anger fizzle out. The girl looked so friendly and trusting. Perhaps she was just some poor departed soul who got side-tracked into Byakuya's room, due to some glitch in the soul burial ritual. Had Rukia been there last night, she would have known that they had discounted this theory already, but the thought gave Rukia some peace.
Ichigo put his hand on Rukia's head, turned her around and bent down to her height. "See, no one is trying to hurt your Nii-sama." Rukia returned his warm smile.
Renji had to leave before his anger lashed out and maimed Ichigo – permanently. "I'm going to take a nap." He abruptly announced.
"Ichigo, keep the spectators out today!" He added as he turned to leave.
Renji had noticed a change in the way Ichigo and Rukia interacted this past year, and it angered him. Ichigo was to turn 21 in a month – maybe he finally became interested in girls. All Renji knew was that Ichigo had better stay away from Rukia if he wanted to live to be 21.
It comforted Renji to think of how old and decrepit Ichigo would look in a few yeas time, and that he and Rukia would continue to look as young as they were today. The thought gave him solace everytime he saw Ichigo dare to touch her.
"What's your name?" Ishida finally asked the question he'd been holding in, his voice almost betraying his anxiety.
"Um…uh…" she looked like she was searching, and then she became very quiet. "I don't know", she finally offered despondently.
"Where do you come from?" Rukia threw in.
"Um…I'm…I'm not sure."
Ishida saw these truths begin to dawn on her, and the girl's face became sad and distant.
"Maybe we could call you something for now – I mean, until you can remember your name." Her eyes brightened at the idea. Ishida could not bare to see her sad face staring back at him, her look tugged on more than his compassion, although he would deny it if asked.
"Can you suggest anything?" He began hopefully. She furiously shook her head in response.
"How about Kitty, or Mau, or maybe Chappy?" Rukia suggested.
"She's not a pet!" Ichigo argued. "I think we should call her Kimiko, or Isana – I've known some nice girls with those names." Ichigo beamed, trying and failing to make Rukia jealous.
"No, Isana sounds too much like my sister's name – I don't think it would be wise considering…" Rukia countered. She ignored the spark of hope underlying Ichigo's suggestion, he had been acting so strangely lately. Rukia could not tell his mood from one day to the next recently, and she occilated between concern and annoyance at his often illogical suggestions, like when he asked her to the movies then threw her dirty stares when she and Renji showed up for the movie.
"How about Rien?" Ishida suggested, cutting through their squabbling.
"Ren?" Ichigo said shocked.
"No, you fool – Reen." Rukia corrected.
"No. Ri-en – it was my mother's name." He blushed slightly.
The girl flung her arms around him to thank him for the name. It was more than he had hoped for, a smile would have been sufficient, he thought, but this was so much better. He felt her softness creep into his heart, causing it to race, ensnaring him to her, he briefly thought about resisting, but the thought was quickly dismissed as he succumbed to her.
After hours of talking to the beautiful girl, they knew nothing about her – because she knew nothing about herself. But she was charming and kind-hearted, and was slowly creeping her way into all their hearts. Even Rukia, who had been hell-bent on at least maiming Rien earlier, now felt a little protective of the girl's innocence.
"Rien, since you cant remember anything, what's the first thing you do remember?" Ichigo interrogated, attempting to give some direction to Rien's thoughts.
Her hand immediately went to her lips and her golden skin turned copper as the blood rushed to her face.
"Hai", Ichigo said as the picture entered his mind as well.
"Nothing before that?" Ishida probed further, hoping for some answers to his arsenal of questions.
They could see she was distracted by the memory of it, then she ran to the barred cell window and looked into the empty courtyard of the 6th division barracks. "Byakuya's coming." Rien happily stated as though she did not remember his last moments of anger before she collapsed on his bedroom floor. A feeling of apprehension rose in them all. This was not going to be pleasant- for anyone.
"How does she know he's coming?" Ishida whispered to no-one in particular.
Ten minutes later Byakuya arrived with Renji. It was 6 o'clock at night now – they all wondered what he had been doing all day, though no-one dared ask. His mere presence shifted the atmosphere of the room. This was not going to be pleasant at all.
"Rukia, what are you doing with the ryoka?" Byakuya observed, ice coating every disinterested word.
Rukia stood bolt upright and moved away from Rien, and towards her brother. "We just interrogated the prisoner to try and get to the bottom of this incident." Rukia defended while hanging her head down in shame. She tried to sound impartial, professional, as soulless as he did - but, she could not mask her concern for the prisoner.
"And?" Byakuya inquired, without hope, as he soundlessly slammed the cell door closed when the last of them had exited.
"Not much." Ichigo offered, as the others remained silent in his menacing presence.
Rukia looked ashamedly at Rien, all alone in the cell. She hadn't moved any closer, she stayed at the window at the other end of the cell. Rien could feel Byakuya's murderous mood which had exponentially increased since last night. She dared not anger him anymore. She didn't feel afraid, fear is something that is taught, she didn't know she should be afraid, all she knew was the pain reflected in his soul, turned into anger by his countenance, and directed solely on her. She assumed herself to be the reason for the pain, it was the only logical explanation – she had done this to him.
"I'm sorry." It escaped in a whisper as a solitary tear fell to the ground.
"Please forgive me." In another whisper she knew only he would hear. Her voice sounded ethereal, carried on the smallest of winds to only him. She dropped her head and let her long veil of hair cascade to block her now tear-streaked face. Ishida's fists clenched in anger at Byakuya's arrogant behaviour.
"Abarai fukutaichou, take the prisoner…"
"Rien," Ishida interjected. Byakuya ignored it.
"…to the Technological Research Bureau's lab in the morning." He coldly stated – not having been moved by Rien's whispered words. They meant nothing to him, whispered words of an insolent child who would never be able to grasp the gravity of their crime. The sincere sound of the words was just an underlying beat in a melody that would never be able to understand the complexity of its own composition. She knew nothing, understood nothing, and would be forgotten before her name was ever remembered.
"Why there Nii-sama?" Rukia was confused by this odd decision. Was there going to be a trial? The punishment could not be so harsh, Rien hadn't really hurt anyone. Would Kurotsuchi-taichou question her? There were so many things that suddenly seemed so wrong to Rukia. She remembered her own incarceration with pain and worry now filling her big eyes.
"It doesn't matter – I'll go." Rien's voice was clear and lyrical, with no trace of the tears they could see fall under her veil of hair.
"Of course you'll go. You have no choice." Byakuya coldly added. He could not help but respond to her insolence in assuming she had any choice in the matter, that anyone would care, or even ask what she desired.
"Yes, your right." Rien chimed as she turned away from him to look at the sun finally setting on her first memory.
Author's Note
I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and that it lived up to my promise at the end of chapter 1. I have so much more of the story worked out, but I would like some input before I just droll on, just in case nobody likes or reads it. Even just an anonymous 'Hi, I read it.' Would be cool as a review right now.