Supernova

By Willow Athena

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or any of its characters, but Rien and this story are definitely mine

Author's note: Thank you to all my reviewers, Daydreamer1606, InfinityOnHigh, Erin, and Lu especially…your reviews really encouraged me. I appreciate all the thoughtful feedback all of my reviewers have been giving me, I really do take all you say into consideration. I also accept requests or interesting suggestions of something you might want to see, I'm not promising anything, but if something fits I'll consider writing it. For a while there I was wondering if I'd lost my touch, and if it was worth continuing the story at all. I'm glad readers are enjoying the couple's interaction so far and are excited about Slayer info…everything will hopefully be revealed in time. I'm glad there was positive feedback about my portrayal of Byakuya in love, and that so many of you agree with me that he's really caring and passionate on the inside. I've read a lot of fanfics where people take him at face value, and don't bother to look deeper. Byakuya is complicated, and I think that's one of reasons I enjoy writing him so much, he's just so interesting.

Warning: Rating for this story is M, since chapter 30, so if you're not whatever age this site says then stop reading now.

CHAPTER 32 – Good Morning…Byakuya?

Rien's bleary, sleep deprived eyes, opened slowly. Her deep black hair was scattered wildly all around her. She shifted slightly, only then noticing her pillow was breathing. She was on his shoulder, she realized as her eyes shot open. All that pale skin and toned muscle, and in this bed.

"Ishida?" she yelped and snapped away from him. This could not be happening again, she thought.

He looked annoyed, maybe even irritated. A gentle crease formed between his brows as he pushed himself up into a sitting position. He turned to glare at her as he crossed his arms across his bare chest and leaned against the headboard.

She suddenly began to laugh uncontrollably and even doubled over from the exertion. Her sleepy mind had taken all of the evidence in and had jumped to the most likely conclusion, and it was still wrong. Byakuya's reaction had been priceless though. Ishida would have probably given anything to be there at that moment.

Her laughter stilled somewhat as she looked back up at his irritated expression. "I'm sorry," she laughed a little as she said it. "I could explain why it's funny, but I still don't think you would find the story amusing,' she said between chuckles. He threw the covers off, getting ready to leave her to her mirth.

"Hey wait," she said more seriously, scrambling towards him. She was surprised that he had stopped in his tracks and leaned back against the headboard, like he never really wanted to leave in the first place. "Let's start over," she suggested, to an imperceptibly arched eyebrow from him.

"Good morning, Byakuya," she radiantly smiled at him as she moved closer and out from under the duvet. She snaked her arms around his neck. "I love you, Byakuya," she added while gently kissing his cheek.

"Are you sure you called the right name this time?" he curtly responded, removing her arms from around his neck. He knew he shouldn't have let it affect him, but he was instinctively jealous. He had been needlessly jealous of the Quincy for a long while now, and it would take time to replace the habit. This was not helping. Why did she instinctively call for the Quincy every time? Byakuya wanted to be that person for her – the first person she thought of. Whether it was good or bad news, he wanted to be the only person she called for.

"Guess I fell asleep again, huh?" she quietly said, sounding a little unsure and deflated after he had removed her hands from around his neck. "Thanks for last night, for seeing things my way," she added, beginning to blush and then grabbing a pillow to hide behind, as though she had just realised that all she was wearing was a little strappy cotton top and silky black sleeping shorts.

"That doesn't mean I'm going to give up on making you my wife," he replied, amused at her sudden nervousness.

"But you said I win," she accused, her eyes finally snapping up to his quicksilver.

"You have. You were right, I cannot be apart from you," he clarified, holding her gaze and leaning in. "I will not challenge you so impulsively in the future," he whispered as he played with a long length of her hair that had fallen over her beautiful shoulders. He looked down at her bare thighs that were not covered by the pillow she was now clinging to for dear life. He wanted his words to sink in, she needed to understand that he was not going to give up on this.

"Look, I've promised to hear you out," she began, unconsciously leaning a little further away from him. "But you know I won't just give in," she added less convincingly, as her voice quivered at the end. She lightly coughed, pretending to clear her throat in the morning due to disuse.

"I accept the challenge," he chuckled at her priceless reaction. She always seemed fearless, but her sudden nervousness at his close proximity was unexpectedly amusing.

"Hey, I'm not doing stand-up comedy here…," she began but stopped mid-sentence. "Did you just chuckle?" she asked, astonished. It had been such a brief care-free sound that she had almost thought she imagined it. "Do it again," she commanded, completely forgetting about her comforting pillow and moving to shake his shoulders. She wanted to be in a better position to completely remember every note of it this time.

"It would not sound genuine upon request," he argued. The chuckle had escaped so naturally and sounded so normal, that even he had not noticed the rarity of the sound. He couldn't remember the last time he felt at ease enough to laugh. Was he happy?

"I suppose," she sighed and dropped her hands from his shoulders until they both lingered lightly on his pectorals. Her eyes slowly took in his beautiful ivory chest, every muscle toned to perfection. She smiled at his blue cotton pyjama pants and his long legs stretched out straight and crossed over in front of him, completely at ease. She had never seen him like this before, comfortable.

"See something you like?" he teased.

She immediately turned copper and tried to pull her hands away from his chest, but he held them firmly against him before she could retreat. "No…I mean, I wasn't…," she tried to explain.

This was going to be fun, Byakuya realised.

"You're smiling," she accused.

"Am I?" he innocently replied.

"It's not funny," she protested, realising Soi Fon had accused her of the same thing the previous day – smiling.

"Should I stop?" he playfully threatened.

"Never," she replied, now also smiling and relaxing a little.

He ran his fingertips from her wrist, along her arms, and down her back as he pulled her closer to him. His hands continued their journey, past the small of her back, across her toned, perky bottom, and along her bare thighs. He effectively lifted her so she now straddled his thighs.

"Um..Byakuya?" she said, more than nervous all of a sudden.

"Ssh," he instructed as he leaned forward and held her against him. He wasn't expecting anything; he just wanted to savour the feeling of finally being this close to her. He knew he would not see her for the rest of the day, and he wanted to get as much of his drug as he could so that he would not have to sneak off to see her. She relaxed inside his arms and scooted even closer, across his pelvis now.

"Since I was away for those two days, I have a number of things to catch up on," he stated, moving his hands down her back and to her hips, and lifting her slightly so things would not become inappropriate. "So we won't be having afternoon training for the rest of the week. I presume I'll see you at dinner," he added, inhaling her strawberry scented hair.

"Sorry about that. Um..what did you tell everyone about the other day?" she softly asked, trailing her fingertips down his back and affectionately kissing his shoulder, then only noticing the slightly purple bite mark she had inflicted on him the night before last. She blushed a little, she must have bitten down harder than she realised – well, it had really hurt at the time. It was almost completely gone now, even though he had let it naturally heal. She wondered if he had noticed it at all, and if he had, why hadn't he used kido to heal it.

"I have more leave accumulated than I care to remember. They are always happy when a taichou takes time off. I simply told them I needed time to meditate and train, in private," he revealed. No one would ever question his whereabouts.

"Hey, wait a minute, what time is it?" she asked, leaning back to look at her clock, concerned. "It's almost 7, won't someone be looking for you?" she asked sounding a little panicked that someone would look for him and suspect something.

"You forget that I don't care who finds out," he teased. She was just too easy to work up.

"Come on, it looks fishy if you're late for breakfast. Me, no one would think twice about, but you're rarely late for anything," she rambled, trying to unsuccessfully wriggle out of his immoveable arms.

"Are you kicking me out?" he asked more evenly, but he was internally amused. His tone made her stop in her tracks, and lovingly caress his cheek.

"You know better than that," she assured him, looking at the dangerously handsome way his hair fell over his left eye. He really did wake up looking uncharacteristically beautiful.

"They will simply assume I stayed at the sixth squad's barracks as I often have in the past," he assured her, so she would stop trying to move away.

She let out a relieved breath. "Being away from you is not easy for me either," she revealed, "I'm just used to the distance," she explained.

"Perhaps I should make it more difficult for you," he playfully suggested as he leaned in to kiss her frozen lips. His lips moved gently against hers, slowly increasing the pressure he applied. All he wanted was a kiss; it had been all he could think about since she had so suddenly fallen asleep in his arms. He was a gentleman, he would never just assume things even if they had already made love, he would never assume he had any right to her. Even though she kept saying she was his, she also refused to marry him, so he felt uncertain about where they stood with each other.

Her soft liquid lips continued to move compliantly against his as her hands rested against his chest. She felt his heartbeat quicken as their kiss continued to deepen, and she smiled against his lips. His hands moved slowly up her hips, past her waist, dipping only slightly under her top, and pulling her urgently against him as their kiss became more passionate.

His tongue traced her lips before entering and moving against hers. Just a brief taste, he justified, but felt his control slip with every sweep of her tongue against his. Once she committed, she really committed, he noted as her hands ran up his chest and knotted themselves in his hair. He was trying to control the passion and desire that threatened to take her right there, but found that it was becoming an increasingly difficult task.

She moaned inside the kiss. He found the sound so enticing that he lost his battle and pushed harder against her lips, wanting more. She instinctively rolled her hips into his causing him to growl and pull away. He was panting heavily, but managed to control the small amount of reiatsu that had flared out of him when he had lost control.

Even though she was giddy and a little light-headed, she noticed him glance over at the clock – it was 7:25. Had they really been kissing for that long?

"Oh my God, Byakuya!" she exclaimed, jumping off of him and the bed. She had been right, he thought as he ran his fingers through his hair and stood up as well, they would both be late for breakfast.

"We only have like 5, maybe 10 minutes at the most before breakfast," she chided as he stood up. "Go get ready," she commanded, almost pushing him out the door. He stopped at the door and turned around to find that her cheeks were a beautiful shade of copper. A self-satisfied smirk appeared on his beautifully serene features as he leaned down and kissed her on her adorable petite nose.

"I will miss you immensely," he intimately whispered.

"You're blushing," she warned in return, causing his hands to snap up to his face to feel the heat in his own cheeks before shunpo'ing away.

Perhaps she wasn't cut out for keeping secrets, she realised. Training with Jyuushiro was uncomfortable, and only partially because he no longer wore a shirt. Rien felt unnecessary guilt about keeping this hurtful secret from him. There was nothing between them, so surely she didn't owe him an explanation. Then why did she feel like she did?

Every word she spoke to him felt like a lie, even though they weren't. Every lunge, flip, and pin felt too intimate to be casual. Had it always been like this? Perhaps it had, but she only now felt uncomfortable because she was in a relationship. Was she really in a relationship with Byakuya? She smiled at the thought, only to have Jyuushiro affectionately caress her cheek and kiss her forehead.

"A penny for your thoughts," he beamed down at her as he moved slightly away again.

"Uh…oh, just something Yoruichi said," she had nervously stuttered out. Now, that had been a lie, Rien thought. Jyuushiro had recently become increasingly more affectionate since she had given him a peck on the lips over a week ago. She hadn't meant to lead him on or confuse him, and now she sincerely regretted her thoughtlessness. She had been drowning for so long that she had become thoughtless and had clung to anything to keep her afloat. She had given him a peck on the lips, and in that very same breath told him to stay away from her – it was too much like Byakuya. Rien knew how awful it felt to have the person you cared for dangled in front of you, but just out of reach. Perhaps Byakuya had also felt this same inner turmoil the first few times he had kissed her. Rien found it in her heart to feel some compassion for his struggle now that she understood it.

She didn't know what to say to Jyuushiro now, not without telling him everything, so she tried to avoid him and his innocent affection. He was just confused because her Ki still coursed through his veins; it was unlikely that it was more than that, right?

A block away from the Shihouin manor and on her way to shunko training, Rien encountered a little child with bright pink hair and russet coloured eyes, blocking her path. She politely smiled at the child and tried to walk around them, but they were too quick and continued to block her path. Rein noticed the fukutaichou armband she wore and realised who she was.

"Hello, you must be Yachiru-chan," Rien beamed down at her, realising the introduction was now unavoidable even though she was in a hurry.

"That'll be fukutaichou Kusajishi-san to you, Ryoka," Yachiru sternly informed her, folding her arms and tapping her little foot at Rien. Rien was instantly annoyed by her rude posture and tone, and hated being referred to as Ryoka; it brought back a lot of bad memories.

"Allow me to introduce myself," Rien coldly began. "I am Shihouin Rien, princess to the noble Shihouin Clan. It is a pleasure to finally make you acquaintance, fukutaichou," ice coated every syllable, and it sounded like it was anything but a pleasure for Rien. The way she had said fukutaichou, sounded like an insult compared to her own title – not that Rien actually felt that way. Rien really respected and admired all of the fukutaichou's she was friends with and hoped that maybe one day she would attain their level of skill. Rien also felt at little embarrassed at having said her name in that way, she had never said her name that way before, and she was a little ashamed to admit that it felt poetically powerful – no wonder Byakuya did it, she realised.

"I don't like you," Yachiru clearly stated, poking her in the hip.

"You don't even know me," Rien argued, batting away another poke.

"I know enough. It's all your fault!" Yachiru insisted, grabbing a long lock of Rien's hair and pulling it so she was at eye level with Rien.

"Ow! Stop it, that hurts," Rien protested, rubbing her head where the little fukutaichou had yanked some of her hair. This child was really getting on her nerves now.

"It's supposed to! Now you know how it feels," she stated as she pulled a long lock of hair on the other side of Rien's head, causing her to crouch down to Yachiru's level. Yachiru knew eye contact was needed for this next part.

"Stay away from Byakushi," she warned. Rien's patience was drawing to an end, and she was about to use her shunko to send the naughty child flying when Yachiru had made the above perplexing threat, and she looked really serious about it too.

"Byakushi is MINE, and when I grow up, he's going to marry me," she confidently insisted as she released Rien's hair. Rien blankly blinked at her a few times, wondering what the hell she was talking about. Rien straightened up and was about to respond when Yachiru kicked her in the shins and ran away crying.

"Ow! Who the hell are you talking…," Rein shouted after her. She couldn't mean Byakuya, could she?

"How could you be so mean, you made her cry," a menacing voice said from on top of a nearby building, purposefully releasing some reiatsu to try to scare her.

"I didn't lay a hand on her," Rien argued, rubbing her throbbing shin. "What is this, ambush day?" she sighed as the taichou also shunpo'ed in her way, releasing more reiatsu to signal his presence and strength. It didn't affect Rien in the slightest, if only he had known how much of Byakuya's wrath she had incurred, he would have known not to use such a cheap trick – she could handle a lot of reiatsu.

"You're a pretty little thing, aren't you," he smiled widely at her. Whatever he meant, Rien didn't feel like it was a compliment. She recognised the taichou from the Shihouin Clan's Onmitsukido security reports.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Kenpachi taichou," Rien stoically said, putting on her most detached noble expression.

"He'd probably get really mad if I hurt you," Zaraki grinned even more widely and said, like he wasn't even talking to her but trying to work something out in his own mind.

"Do you think he'll be mad enough to pick a fight with me?" Zaraki asked as he shunpo'ed behind her and twisted her arm behind her back, immediately spraining her wrist and leaving large finger shaped bruises that he knew Byakuya would not be able to miss.

He felt pressure build around her injured arm, and before he knew it, she had used shunko to flip him onto the ground and then punched him in the face with the reinforced shunko in her uninjured right fist. She was fast, he realised.

"Stay the fuck away from me," she glared down at him as she allowed the shunko to dissipate around her body. She stepped over him, head held high, and walked off. He sat up as he watched her walk away. A goofy smile appeared on his lips as he wiped the small trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth. Maybe she was more interesting than he initially assumed, he realised as a familiar glint appeared in his eye. She certainly wasn't like any princess he had ever met.

Dinner was exactly as it used to be. Byakuya barely spoke or looked at her. Rukia had smiled and provided most of the conversation, as usual. She was a little disappointed, but she realised that he was only complying with her request for discretion. What had she expected him to do?

Rukia excused herself early again, not even bothering to make up an excuse or explain anymore. She knew Rien would cover for her if necessary. Rien walked quietly beside Byakuya as he walked her to her room as usual. He had remained conspicuously silent, even though Rukia had left early. Perhaps he was just not used to talking without insulting her, or maybe he didn't have anything relevant to say, either way, it was making Rien uncomfortable.

"I saw you around the manor this afternoon, what were you doing?" she asked, finally breaking the silence.

"I had to place a dampening spell around the Kuchiki manor. We have never needed one before," he concisely stated, finally looking towards her. There it was, the reason he would not look at her while others were around. She saw her whole world and all her happiness reflected in his beautiful grey eyes – if he kept looking at her like that, they would never succeed in hiding their relationship from anyone, even the blind.

"A dampening spell, like at the beach?" she shyly asked, looking away from his intense gaze.

"Yes. The spell hides reiatsu. All the barracks and the taichou's residences have them in place, or the situation would become embarrassing for any taichou," he explained. "Unless you're in close proximity to the person, you won't feel any spike in reiatsu. The barracks mainly have them so training will not become distracting for other squad members, and to respect squad members privacy if they are in a relationship," he revealed.

"So, if we continued earlier…," she began but couldn't finish the sentence.

"Yes, they would have all guessed that I was at the very least kissing someone, and you're still the most likely suspect," he answered, amused by the intense blush it induced from her.

"Why didn't the Kuchiki manor need it before?" she curiously inquired. He had after all been married almost 7o years ago, and his grandfather had also been a taichou, and his father a fukutaichou.

"It is only necessary when two shinigami of significant reiatsu are involved with each other," he elaborated. Rien should tell Rukia about her good fortune up until now – it turned out that making out at the squad's barracks was a good idea after all.

"Those with significant reiatsu in the Kuchiki Clan have tended to marry partners who are not shinigami, so the spell has never before needed to be performed."

"So it's normal for your reiatsu to keep spiking when we kiss?" she quietly asked, looking everywhere but at him.

"It has rarely happened, so I would not call the phenomenon normal, but it is not unheard of," he explained. A slight spike in reiatsu would have been normal, not the complete and utter lack of control he had over his reiatsu when he was intimate with her – that was far from normal. Byakuya hypothesised that the phenomenon may be due to his shinigami powers reacting to the fact that she was a Slayer, but he would protect her from that knowledge until she was ready.

"I found you, the Quincy, and Ukitake taichou with the Espada that night because you had kissed him and his reiatsu had significantly spiked," Byakuya revealed, suddenly irritated by the memory of her kissing him.

"So…you stooped this morning because you were trying to keep our secret?" she shyly asked, stopping in front of her bedroom door.

"It certainly was not because I wanted to," he assured her. Rien had been wondering if she had crossed a line, or had done something wrong all day. She didn't know what was expected in a relationship after all, everything was new to her and without anyone to talk to about it, she was fumbling through it all by trial and error.

Rien backed into the open door of her bedroom, but he did not follow. He simply caught her hand, leaned down and kissed it, then turned and stoically walked off.

Guess that was goodnight, she assumed, as she watched him walk away. She walked into her bedroom and prepared for sleep. She again brushed her teeth for longer than she should and finally took that long soak in the large bath this time, since all she was able to get this morning was a five minute shower before rushing off to breakfast with Rukia and a somehow pristine and punctual Byakuya.

She put on a black chiffon negligée and inspected her arms in the light – the bruises and the sprain had healed pretty soon after, but she double-checked to make sure. She dried and brushed her hair and looked into the mirror for a while wondering if all the romantic things he kept saying to her could be true. It still felt like a dream. She had never before been in a relationship, and they were far more complicated than she had initially anticipated, perhaps it was just Byakuya who was more complicated – Inoue didn't seem to have any reservations with Ishida. She wished she could ask Inoue's advice, but she couldn't, and that would be too awkward – she mentally slapped herself for comparing the two relationships. Rien knew her inexperience was holding her back from initiating anything with Byakuya, but she vowed to circumvent that conditioned response soon.

Rien closed the silk screen doors to her lounge shut, and walked zombie-like to her inviting bed. She flopped down on the edge of the bed, only to snap right back up.

"You should really lock this, you know," Byakuya suggested, leaning across the open door frame.

"It's unnecessary when I have the entire wing to myself," she replied. He was beautifully distracting, nonchalantly leaning across her doorway in nothing but black silk pyjama pants, the moonlight reflecting off of his toned ivory chest, his dark hair caressing his marble –like shoulders.

"Come in?" she posed it as a question because she didn't know what she was supposed to say, and she couldn't figure out why he hadn't already – he didn't need an invitation. She had guessed right. He immediately pushed himself off the door and walked purposefully towards her as she stood up at the foot of her bed.

"I had hoped to be a complete gentleman about this," he informed her as he caressed her cheek, "and let you control the pace of this relationship however you saw fit," he sighed. "But I did not anticipate how much I would miss you today," he explained, kissing her forehead and then both her cheeks as he said it.

She watched her fingers run up his torso, briefly stopping at every curve of muscle until her arms snaked around his neck. She stood on her tip toes, lifting herself closer to his quicksilver. Without hesitation, his hands wrapped around her hips and pulled her against him in an undoubtedly possessive gesture.

"How about we make a deal with each other right now?" she suggested while placing a small kiss on his chin, causing his eyes to slide shut. "You should never have any doubt how much I want to be with you in every way, and I'll assume the same unless either of us says differently. Agreed?" she asked, her lips almost touching his by now.

The only response she received was a deep growl as he claimed her lips with his. There was no need for any hesitation from either of them anymore, and it was evident in the unrestrained passion of their kisses and caresses as their clothes were discarded without a second thought.

The desperate need that they both felt to be near each other was tangible. The friction of their naked bodies rubbing against each other was enough to make them both ignite. Kiss swollen lips met kiss wet skin in an attempt to savour and devour, but it was never enough. She rolled her naked pelvis up to his and he understood. He shared her desire to be closer, to lose himself inside her, only to be reflected in her loving eyes.

After a tangle of many sampled and discarded positions, Byakuya knew she had found one she liked. He lay flatly on the bed against some pillows and watched her in a similar position to that morning, only now there was nothing metaphorically or physically between them. It was probably the most erotic sight he had ever seen, he concluded. He watched her perfect perky breasts bounce with every roll of her hips, and briefly wondered why he had denied himself this for so long. His hands fisted in the sheets as he tried to control his instinct to thrust deeper or faster. He did not want this to end. He enjoyed having her in control of his every moan and in command of his every growl. Once she allowed herself to relax, he found that she had the most amazing instincts. Her pace quickened and she held onto his thighs and caressed his nipple between her fingers – and that was the last euphoric straw that sent them both falling over the edge into oblivion.

She lifelessly collapsed on top of him. He gathered her inside his arms and held her against his sweat slicked chest. She adjusted her head in the crook of his neck so she could get cool air. He continued to hold her as he felt the aftershock of her orgasm continue to pulse around him. They just stayed there for a while, neither of them saying anything.

She finally sat up and then uncoupled herself from him, collapsing in the space next to him, completely spent. After a few minutes he got up, went into her bathroom and returned cleaned up and with a large glass of water for her. She managed to pull herself up on her elbows, and gladly accepted the water. If he had felt a little dehydrated form all the kissing, then she must have been parched.

"My legs feel like jelly," she stated after finishing the entire glass of water in one go. "I know it's a common expression, but I think it may have actually happened this time," she joked as she rolled under the sheets. Byakuya climbed under the sheets with her, and like a magnet, she was immediately against his left shoulder and her petite naked body was moulded around his. He affectionately kissed the top of her head as he cradled her around him.

"Your assessment the other day was correct," he said in his deep wistful voice, like he had been thinking about this for a while. "I was afraid to feel something this intense for someone," he acknowledged as his fingertips traced along her bare back.

"And now that you do?" she brightly asked, filled with hope.

"I am terrified of losing you," he confessed in barely a whisper. He had lost every happiness he had ever had, and now he did not know how to stop this intensely desperate feeling…he loved her too much to ever bear losing her. He would not survive it. He would not want to survive it.

She lifted off of his shoulder and turned his face towards hers so she could read his eyes in the ambient moonlight.

"You will never lose me, my love," she whispered, her eyes full of sincerity.

My love.

She had only used the term of endearment a few times, but everytime she had said it, he felt precious to her, and it caused this warm, hormone-filled feeling to spread inside of him and steal his breath away. As much as he loved the sound of her moaning his name in pleasure or whispering it in affection, this was far better. He wouldn't care if she forgot his name completely, as long as he remained her love.

Her only love, he added as an afterthought.

Author's Note

Hope you enjoyed it. I was wondering what type of things you guys most enjoy about the story, so I can include more of it in here. I'm getting to the Slayer parts, but it's nice that you guys are enjoying it. I know this is such a couple's chapter, but I think it's important to develop their relationship properly, and Rien is so new at this that I think it just brings Byakuya's lighter side out – and we know he has a dry sense of humour.

I've had a few requests for more steamy and cute scenes between Rien and Bya, so I'm going to discuss that here. I think there are often two extremes in anime and manga: excessively romantic with very little physical affection, or excessively sexual without much emotional depth. Both extremes are incomplete and unrealistic. I want to write some hopefully realistic medium between the two. As art imitates life, sex is usually always better when you deeply care about the person, and is supposed to enhance a relationship. So, if I add steamy scenes for any characters, it will only be to enhance the reality of the relationship.

She called him Ishida –LOL! All the readers who were feeling sorry for Ishida in the earlier chapters, I hope you got some satisfaction from that. I wonder if Yachiru is going to come back to bite Rien, and I'm not just talking physically.

I hope this chapter accurately portrayed some of the realistic thoughts and reservations that both characters would feel at the beginning of a relationship. He didn't want to push her and wanted her to make the first move, and she didn't know what to do and was waiting to take his lead…But Byakuya was thankfully adult enough to come right out and say it, and she was only too happy to reassure him.

Please REVIEW. I look forward to your encouragement and your constructive feedback. I'd just like to say thank you to everyone who enjoys this story enough to read and review. It has really been a pleasure to hear from you guys.

~Willow~