He followed her along the corridor; the walls were bare with just wood, plaster and some kind of rock. She slid open a door and brought him into the main room. Byakuya blinked at the sight, there was a hand crafted table, two futons in one corner of the room, on the other side of the room was another sliding door. The walls were almost finished but she spoke of an idea of painting a mural on them, a night sky with stars over a field with a cherry blossom tree.

He smiled, realizing the meaning behind it. This was meant to be their secret place, where they could slip away to be alone. Away from the Elders, away from his grandfather, and just enjoy each other's company without constantly worrying. They'd have to be discreet though, and only come here when they were expected to be somewhere else and if they were expected somewhere in the morning, they would have to be sure to get up in time to arrive at the promised time. Byakuya observed the living and sleeping area of the underground get away she had built and asked in astonishment, "when did you find the time to build this?"

"It was part of my training with Urahara-san and Yoruichi-sama," she replied as she sat on one of the futons. He smiled as he sat beside her and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her in and lightly kissed her hair, then her forehead.

She smiled, closing her eyes as his lips pressed against her nose, then met his lips with her own. It was his way of giving her as many kisses as he could, while still being a bit discreet. He'd done this once before while they were training in Rukongai, away from the others.

A few stolen moments here and there wasn't exactly what either of them wanted, but they'd take whatever they could get. But now they had a place where they could be the last thing each other saw when they closed their eyes, and the first thing they saw when they woke up.

Pulling back from the kiss, he smiled as he sat down on one of the tatami mats in front of a chabudai, Tama made her way to a small kitchen area, spooning out the rice, and chicken curry that she'd left simmering while engaging Ginrei.

She then plated the servings and set one in front of Byakuya, he thanked her as he picked up the spoon and began to eat. She smiled and did the same. After a few bites, Byakuya asked her what the sweet taste in the curry was. Tama giggled a little as she replied that she'd experimented by mashing up a banana into the curry roux.

This seemed to both surprise and delight the heir of the Kuchiki clan, as a smile spread across his lips, betraying that he enjoyed the different blend of flavors. She was always trying to find some small way to surprise him with things he may like.

She then placed a small gift wrapped box on the table along with a small bag. He quirked a brow and looked to her before unwrapping the small square box, revealing a red hair tie. His smile grew as he removed the black hair tie from his hair and pulled his hair back again with the red hair tie. Next he looked to the bag and opened it, almost choking when he saw the contents. Homemade heart shaped chocolates dozens of them within the bag. This would've been a very sweet gesture except for one thing he was now realizing he'd never told her: he wasn't fond of sweets.

Don't get him wrong, he fully intended to eat these chocolates, after all she made them herself! But he'd definitely want some water or something to wash it down afterwards.

"What's wrong Bya-sama?"

"N-nothing," he lied then sighed when he realized how feeble his attempt to assure her sounded. He couldn't bring himself to look her in the eye while he confessed, "it's just—I'm not very fond of sweets. I'll definitely eat them, please don't think I won't, I will, but—it's just about my least favourite thing about Valentine's day."

To his surprise, he heard a slight giggle from her as she pushed, "try one."

Well at least if he did eat some now he had the curry to chase the sweetness with. He braced himself as he took one of the chocolate hearts between his finger and thumb, popping it into his mouth. He hesitated for a moment before biting into it and his eyes grew wide. His slate grey eyes met her, now, medium blue as he remarked, "there's spice to them."

"Some of them, yes. You never said you don't like sweets, but I never saw you consuming anything sweet aside from fruit, so I flavoured each chocolate with something I knew you'd like," Tama revealed.

That was in fact the case as he tried another one which had a hint of banana to it. He gave a delighted chuckle. His eyes sparkled and danced with joy as he caught her eye and expressed, "you're amazing."

The silver haired girl shrugged her shoulders as she finished up her chicken curry rice. He resumed eating his lunch as well, no longer caring if he had something to chase away the sweet taste in his mouth. However, his mind was now racing, first the surprise of this underground area where they could be more open together, then the meal, the hair tie, and the thought put into the chocolate. He had exactly one month to come up with something for her for white day that was as reflective of her as she had made this day about him.

She had somehow managed to surprise him with all of these things while sparring against his grandfather. She looked up at him as she finished her meal, and he held her gaze as he took her hand from across the table. A smile broke out across her lips as she stated, "happy Valentine's day, Bya-sama."

He smiled as he stood up, still holding her hand and moved over next to her. She rested her head on his shoulder, while he rested his head against hers, closing his eyes. He could've easily fallen asleep like this, and he knew if he did he'd wake up with a horrible kink in his neck. At this exact moment however, it would be one hundred percent worth it, and then some. He wrapped his free arm around her back, and rested his hand on her shoulder.

"You are precious to me," he admitted.

"No less than you are to me," she replied as she cuddled into him as close as she could. For his part, he pulled her as close to himself as he could manage. There was only one word he could think of to describe this precise moment: perfect.

AN: In Japan, Valentine's day is celebrated on February 14th and the pressure is on the women to gift the men in their lives. The most common gift given is chocolate. Men who receive obligatory gifts from women, siblings, uncles, fathers, grandparents, etc, will receive store bought chocolates. However if a man is special to a woman, a boyfriend, husband, or romantic interest she'll demonstrate this by making homemade chocolates for him. March 14th in Japan is called 'White Day' and it's like a woman's Valentine's day, where men shower the women in their lives with gifts that are typically white in colour. Jewelery, lingerie, and clothes are common gifts. The idea, from what I understand, is for the man to give back the gift at double or triple what the woman spent. One of the things that I love about Japan is the idea of there being a day for women to express love to a man, and a day for a man to express love to a woman, but not having it on the same day. Let's face it: it can save a few embarrassing situations that way.