Chapter 15: The First Date

Rangiku-chan, Toshiro-taicho, and I all turned to the door when at exactly 6pm we heard a knock on the door. Gosh, he's punctual. I walked over to the door and opened the door, and I immediately felt my face turn bright red. Byakuya was wearing a long sleeved, crisp, white button up tucked into black slacks with a black tie. Also, his hair clippy things weren't in either letting his hair hang loose.

I was so distracted by how nice he looked that I didn't notice the single pink camellia flower in his hand as he held it out to me. My face turned even redder as I smiled up at him. I then noticed a slight reddish tint to his cheeks as well. This made me a whole lot less self-conscious, so I had the nerve to stand on my tippy toes and give him a kiss on the cheek.

"Awwwww! Y'all are so adorable!" I heard Rangiku-chan squeal. I turned around to see her with a camera. "Y'all have to take a picture!" she demanded. I looked up Byakuya who looked a little annoyed, but okay with the idea. I just shrugged and turned around to face Rangiku-chan. Byakuya wrapped his arm around me and pulled me to his side, and I smiled. The camera flashed, and next thing I was outside. Byakuya had flash-stepped us out of there.

"You look beautiful, Shinkiro," he said with a small sort of smile. I blushed and smiled widely at him.

"Arigato, Byakuya," I said sweetly, "Where are we going?" This time he just smirks and pulls out a cloth and pulls it over my eyes.

"It's a surprise," I heard him say in my ear as he picked me up bridal style and began to flash step with me in his arms. I giggled as the wind hit my face. When I was younger, I always loved the feeling of wind on my face. Some things never change I guess. Too soon, our trip was over, and I felt Byakuya lower me down.

"Keep your eyes closed," he instructed, and I did as I was told. I felt the blindfold being removed from my eyes. "Okay, you may open your eyes." I slowly opened my eyes and gasped at the sight before me.

We were in a clearing with a waterfall that reflected the moonlight off of it. In the middle of the clearing, there was a blanket set out with a picnic basket on it and some glasses along with two bottles of drinks. It looked like a scene out of a romance movie or something. I guess Byakuya mistook my silence as a bad thing, or it made him worry.

"Do you like it?" he asked, a tinge of worry in his voice. I turned and gave him a big hug.

"It's wonderful," I replied honestly. This seemed to reassure him, and he pulled my face up and gave me a short kiss on the lips before leading me over to the picnic blanket. We sat down across from each other, and he opened the picnic basket.

He pulled out two bentos and passed me one. He then got out two wine glasses. I raised an eyebrow at him.

"You do realize I'm underage to drink, Byakuya-taicho," I reminded him teasingly.

"I am aware, Shinkiro-san," he said emphasizing the san slightly and opening one of the bottles and pouring some into each of our glasses. He handed me mine, and I held it awkwardly. My experience with any kind of fancy stuff was very limited. I mean I came from a house hold where I was beaten almost to death every night. Then again, we were eating bentos, so it wasn't that fancy.

I stared at the drink, contemplating for a second before deciding why the heck not. I took a big drink of it, and to my surprise, it tasted really fizzy and really good. No wonder my adopted parents always drank this stuff.

We ate our meal in a comfortable silence. The bento was really good, and it was nice to just sit out there and listen to the water. I always preferred night time to day time. I have no clue why. After we finished eating, I had the courage to tell him what I was think about the drink as I sipped the last of mine down.

"I'm surprise! I thought alcohol was bitter. This is actually pretty good," I said with a smile. Byakuya chuckled. My eyes widened. What the heck did he do to my drink?! Am I gonna die?! Crap, this isn't about the hair clippy thing is it? Because it was just a joke and-

"That's because it doesn't contain alcohol. It's sparkling grape juice," Byakuya said, interrupting my train of thought. The smirk was pretty evident on his face, and I just looked at him.

"I hate you," I said with a completely serious face.

"No, you don't," he responded, not missing a beat, and then he pulled up the other bottle, "I did bring some wine though, in case you would like to try some. I was not going to force it on you though. And if it would make you feel more comfortable, we can wait till we are around Rukia, Ise-san, or Matsumoto-san for you to try some."

I smiled at him. He was just so serious and stoic all the time for the most part. Yet, he was also almost always thoughtful when it came to people he cared about. I don't think he appreciates my teasing most of the time, but whatever.

"1. I would feel really awkward being around you and Rukia-chan both for any amount of time with stuff like wine and stuff. I mean I feel awkward enough that I'm dating my best friend's older brother. 2. Nanao-chan would kill me if she found out I was trying alcohol before I was of age. And last but finally not least, 3. I would not trust Rangiku-chan to not try and get me drunk off of my arse and embarrass me," I explained exasperatedly, "You really don't understand girls do you?" I was teasing, and I hoped he could tell.

He merely looked at me for a second, and next thing I know I was lifted off the ground and pushed into a tree, not hard enough to hurt, just hard enough to surprise me and knock the wind out of me. I looked up and Byakuya's face was only inches from mine, and he was staring me straight in the face.

The whole situation would have been rather nice for someone who didn't have PTSD from being beaten for years on end. I couldn't help it. I started crying, thoroughly ruining my makeup, and kicking at him.

"Let me go!" I yelled trying to push him back. I held out my hand to push him off, and in my surprise, I felt a surge of spiritual energy rise in my palm as I pushed him back. I was even more surprised to see a blast of red light go right towards Byakuya. His speed allowed him to dodge it, but the blast caused an explosion when it hit the trees behind him.

Byakuya looked at me in shock and then disgust, and I quickly turned and began flashstepping as fast as I could to the gates of the Seireitei. I ran out of the gates and entered Rukongai, tears streaming down my face. I know what that was. When Oto-san was telling me about the different strengths of hollows, he mentioned how the higher strength ones, known as vasto lorde and arrancars, could use a blast of spiritual energy called a cero.

I had blasted a cero at Byakuya in my panic, and I know no matter what I did from here on out, I could not return back to this place I had begun to call home ever again.