I am a horrible person for posting such a depressingly sad chapter. Bya-angst ahead, m'maties!
Blossom
When Byakuya had tasted love—real, actual love—he had been ecstatic.
His stomach had made the strangest of small flip-flops, it caused him to smile secretly at practically all times, it caused one of the Seated Officers to drop the tray of tea he had asked for. It only got even more confusing for the poor woman when he didn't even reprimand her but rather asked her to make a new one while Renji would clean it up.
All of that came to a halt when Hisana died.
He remembered the casket they buried her in, he remembered the beautiful decorations that practically drowned the room where the ceremony were taking place, he remembered everything.
He even remembered the fake expressions of sadness and grief that the Elders dared to show up with.
"Byakuya-sama, we are all terribly sorry for your loss."
No, you're not
"She died too young, Byakuya-sama. I feel horrible for never learning more about Hisana-sama."
No you don't, you were one of those opposing her marrying me
"Hisana-sama were the flower of the Kuchiki Clan, Byakuya-sama, her death is a hit to all of us."
You're lying. Hisana never meant anything to you; she was disposable as soon as the Clan found out that she was unable to carry a child
He had tasted love once, fleetingly as if it was a sparrow feeding from the seeds that servants lay out on the board in his private garden, it had escaped him almost just as soon as he had found it.
No longer did he feel his stomach do small flip-flops every now and then, no longer did he find reason to smile except on the anniversary of their wedding day, no longer did he unconsciously touch his lips as if trying to remember the feeling of Hisana's lips on his own.
His heart was like stone now, not a single beam of light would ever be able to warm up the cold place where his heart now resided.
Review for Byakuya-bo's sake. He needs to lovin'!