It was two days after meeting with Rukia that Byakuya at last received his new cadet roster, though any form of irritation he may have felt about the roster's arrival dissolved before it ever became apparent. His and Rukia's last conversation had left him uncharacteristically shaken. He took it upon himself to blame his circumstances, what with his haunting dream of Hisana's death and dreadful voice preceding a heartfelt discussion about children and what could have been. Careful measures were taken to make sure none of this foolishness disturbed his work, for heaven knew Kuchiki Byakuya didn't feel anything but focused while working, but a few hours' distraction at the office, as he saw it, did little for when he retired at the end of the day. All thoughts he had bottled up, all regrets and memories, flooded his mind in a great torrent, perhaps worse than if he were to contemplate each as they appeared during the day. But he accepted this. It was the path he had chosen long ago, and he had no right to suddenly turn around and demand otherwise.

Or maybe you're just punishing yourself, Senbonzakura suggested.

Dropping the roster he had just pulled from its envelope, Byakuya closed his eyes and let out a slow breath. Just because you know the answer, he began, does not give you reason to state it.

Why, because you don't want to face it? Too honest for the man who values honesty so much? Senbonzakura was not even trying to hide the mockery in his voice, and there was a distinct note of challenge in it as well.

Byakuya slowly clenched and unclenched a fist. You think you know me so well—

Senbonzakura let out a rough "ha." Byakuya, we are well past simply "knowing" each other.

Then you should know better than to taunt me so.

You need closure once and for all, or to relieve even a little of this pressure. Tell Rukia, she may understand—

I'd rather hand over the manor to Kurosaki.

With a smile on your face, yes? Learn to be happy, Byakuya, good gracious….

Choosing to now ignore the annoying buzzing in his head, Byakuya picked up the roster once more and scanned it. Twenty new recruits, fresh from the Shin'o Academy, were arriving today to settle in before tomorrow morning, when their first day as official Shinigami began. Their names were listed alphabetically, and brief notes from their professors were given alongside each. The first, Akamori Moriko, was quoted to have a penchant for swordsmanship, but an unfortunate habit of blowing up everything within a 40-foot radius whenever she attempted Kido.

Better hand her right over to Renji, then….

A certain Arita Masaharu appeared to have the exact opposite problem, wherein he was flat out not to be trusted with a sword unless heavily supervised.

And they let him graduate?

And so the list wore on, until a name halfway down the page had Byakuya's vision narrowing even as his eyes widened, his ears closed off to any sound save the crinkling of the paper as he clenched it tight. His full body had tensed as it might just before battle, though his enemy was far less significant than a foe pressing at him with a sharp sword. No. What Byakuya had to face, what had him so unbearably shaken, were but four printed characters on a piece of paper.

Hokutan Tsukiko.

The family name held far less significance in the grand scheme of it all; near everyone from West Rukongai District Three had taken the district's name as their own. It had little to no reason to make Kuchiki Byakuya's heart flare in some godforsaken combination of fear and guilt. But when coupled with that first name, rare in its own right yet undeniably tied to that very district... This had to be the reason his wife spoke to him all those nights ago, why she warned him to keep his distance.

This had to be her.

But, what if this truly was just a coincidence? Here he was, shaking in his office over something he didn't even know was worth panicking about. So what if he had a new recruit who shared a name and home with that child from all that time ago? It wasn't as if she was that child…. And yet, things that were not tied to cruel memories turned reality did not leave you an emotional train wreck. They did not commandeer your axis and roughly tilt it to the left. Only real, present phenomena had that power, so perhaps he really was about to confront her again.

In a need for hints, Byakuya sped through the comments accompanying Hokutan Tsukiko's name:

Fairly well-rounded in all subjects, though elementary in the essentials to sword meditation. Beyond her years in Kido spells; capable of performing a level 33 spell without incantation up to four times successively.

Though notable, Byakuya interpreted this information on a different level than that of a curious captain. To a point, yes, Kido was an easier concept to grasp than swordsmanship because it allowed and encouraged distance between one and one's enemy. That was purely instinct, desiring separation from harm, and so it was only to be expected for many young Shinigami to be partial to Kido. But that was only within reason. Typically, recent graduates of the Academy were incapable of performing a level 33 Kido spell without first reciting its incantation; half the cases still struggled to remember the incantation itself. To see such prowess in a girl as aptly named as Hokutan Tsukiko, Byakuya was uncomfortably reminded of someone he had known for years, someone with long black hair tied back in a ponytail, his gray eyes narrowed in focus as he eventually let that hair down and rose to become lieutenant, family leader, then captain.

Byakuya knew it was foolish, but that did nothing to soothe his pounding heart. He distractedly spread his hands and looked down at the pale fingers extending from beneath the white gloves. Worn from battle and age but nevertheless steeled, they were the hands of a noble fighter. They had commanded scores of men, guided millions of miniscule blades, fired innumerable spells... But that was just the problem, wasn't it? A coincidence this just could not be. The details were falling into place a little too well.

And yet, who was Kuchiki Byakuya to let something as simple as Kido prowess affect him so much? Rukia also had outstanding abilities, and they were unrelated by blood. Aizen Sosuke too, for crying out loud. So what was there to panic over—?

BANG.

Any amount of training and practice vacated the office, and Byakuya jumped against his better judgment at the loud sound. As a reluctant silence replaced the obscene sound, Byakuya chastised himself for allowing such a basic shock to startle him. At the very least, he could thank it for breaking his train of thought, though an undercurrent of anxiety remained—

BANG.

"...YyyyyyyyyEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

Evidently, someone was getting a little too excited over some sort of achievement, perhaps in their ability to thoroughly annoy Captain Kuchiki. That was his theory, anyway. If his squad members knew anything, it was that their captain was a progressive yet firm man, and he did not take well to childish outbursts. He typically gave the situation a chance to burn itself out, but if necessary, he'd make an appearance and utterly annihilate it before—

CRASH.

"I will NEVER fail!"

Admirable though the screaming's resolve was, this was certainly the time to intervene.

Recovering in record time from any and all thoughts but to exercise authority, Byakuya was at the door in an instant. He wrenched it open and glared down the hallway, gray eyes scanning like a hawk for the source of the loud crashes and incessant shouting. Fortunately for him, the cause behind the commotion came tearing around the corner of the hallway moments later. It was of short stature, had a mass of curly, light brown hair, and bore such a look of determination upon its face it was very near terrifying even to someone who had faced the likes of Fear itself during the Quincy War. However, unnerving as the look was, Byakuya fully entered the hallway and positioned himself before the fierce girl careening straight at him. It was with a rather impressive halt she came to a stop at his feet, though in an instant the girl had thrown herself to the ground in what could only be described as a very emotional kowtow.

"This is the best day of my LIFE I am FINALLY meeting CAPTAIN KUCHIKI BYAKUYA oh my god I'm so unworthy." The girl repeatedly bowed before Byakuya, her face now bearing a wide grin and a copious amount of tears that stained her shihakusho.

Unsure if he needed to call for the Fourth or ask Captain Kurotsuchi if something of his had escaped, Byakuya simply observed the girl as she bowed excessively, shouting praises to him as though he were the answer to every prayer she had made since birth.

"Let—go—of—me!"

However, Byakuya's attention was drawn elsewhere as a sharp voice pervaded the hallway. Around the corner came another girl, this one with long black hair and a group of squad members holding her back. Byakuya hardly cleared his throat for their attention and they all looked his way. He offered a nonverbal signal for them to release the dark-haired girl, though as he shifted his gaze to the girl to ask from her a proper explanation—

He froze.

He froze as the walls suddenly closed in, his vision tunneling until the space between him and the girl was much smaller and much closer. For at the end of the hallway, her arms roughly shifting her shihakusho back into place, a look of upmost frustration upon her face…overall femininity most certainly graced the girl's features, but the general shape of her face, the color of her hair…this was her.

Hokutan Tsukiko.

"Captain Kuchiki, from the very depth of my being, I apologize for this incredibly rude disturbance," the girl said, blowing her long bangs from what Byakuya assumed were only stone gray eyes.

Forcing himself away from the shock, forcing the hallway to widen to its original size, forcing everything but annoyance to leave his features, Byakuya stared on at the girl.

The girl sighed and bowed at the waist, defeat shaping her lips as she went on. "My friend got a bit excited when she learned I was to join your squad—but I promise not to let her come back! She's a lot to tolerate, even on a visit, and I accept any punishment you see fit—"

"Your name, cadet?" Byakuya said, needing confirmation immediately.

"Hokutan Tsukiko, sir, at your service." She stepped forward and bowed again.

Byakuya nearly swayed, but his many witnesses kept him on his feet. "You will take your friend and you will return to the barracks," he said. He shocked himself with how smoothly the words came from his mouth.

The cadet glanced up at him—gray eyes indeed meeting gray eyes—but hurriedly looked back down. "I…I understand, sir. I understand if you don't want me in your squa—"

"And you will arrive tomorrow for drills at eight o'clock. Do not be late."

Though she managed to disguise it as resolution, relief flooded into Tsukiko's eyes. "Thank you, sir. We will leave you now."

Another nonverbal from their captain, and the squad members moved aside for the dark-haired girl, who, without another word, marched forward, seized her sobbing friend from the floor, and hauled her away to the nearest exit.

Ignoring the apologies from his squad members for allowing in such loud intruders, Byakuya stared down the hall at the space where Tsukiko had been long after her image disappeared.

He had just locked eyes with the daughter he had never thought he'd see again.

It would seem that if you don't pursue closure, closure pursues you, Senbonzakura said, his voice soft and matter of fact.

That's the problem, Byakuya said. He turned back to his office. I thought I had closure. I'd locked up the matter and thrown away the key.

Well, the key just came back. Will you carry her close to your heart or toss her away again?

…I don't know.