Chapter 2.
Byakuya kept observing the thin golden necklace on top of his desk. The Shihouin crest was unmistakable, the fact that it was pure gold gave away that it was not an imitation of some sort, and the fact that the unknown woman asked for Yoruichi the moment she opened her eyes was enough to tell Byakuya that she was connected to the Shihouins.
But, how?
Byakuya stood up as he looked at the acres of forest surrounding his property.
For centuries now, the Shinigamis had been living among humans, and ruling the human realm in order to maintain peace.
Byakuya, along with others, left Seireitei when he was deemed worthy of having his own province and he was recognized, by humans and Shinigamis alike, as the most wealthy and powerful lord among the land. His father and grandfather would visit often, but they were comfortable enough in the Seireitei and it was Kuchiki Soujun the one who passed to his son the province he now owned, and Byakuya had no complaints about that.
Since it was the Edo period in the human realm, the humans considered the Shinigamis demons of some sort and no one bothered to correct them. All that humans understood was that living on a "demon" owned land was convenient and safe, and that they were powerful. Byakuya didn't particularly care about humans, but having them on his land sometimes proved to be useful.
The only problem that Byakuya had regarding his living arrangements was the heiress appointed to his neighbor province.
Shihouin Yoruichi.
Ever since their days back at the Seireitei Byakuya had been annoyed at Yoruichi's antics. The Shihouin heiress had a sadistic fascination with annoying the hell out of Byakuya, and the Kuchiki heir couldn't stand it. Byakuya was relieved when he was sent to fulfill his duty in the living world but his happiness lasted less than a month when Yoruichi was given the province right next to Byakuya.
Yoruichi Shihouin established her own rules around her province pretty quickly.
The Shihouin province was surrounded by the woods and Byakuya's border, and it was a female-only province. No men or boys were allowed and while women were not forbidden to go out they seemed to be pretty comfortable under Yoruichi's protection. If a woman inside the province were to give birth to a boy he could stay until he was sixteen, or he could become a guard of the Shihouin estate.
Byakuya didn't understand the point behind such system, until he realized how several women ran to the Shihouin lands the moment they were mistreated by their husbands, or pursued by disgraceful men who couldn't take "no" for an answer.
The Kuchiki heir decided to give the order to his soldiers to help these women arrive to the Shihouin estate if they were to see them, and thus an amicable pact was born between Byakuya and Yoruichi… and that amicable pact is what brought Byakuya's father, Kuchiki Soujun, to demand such ridiculousness on his last letter.
"My lord?" Robert bowed while stepping into his studio and interrupting his thoughts.
"Yes?" Byakuya asked as he took his eyes off the forest to look at his right hand man.
"As you ordered the woman is under Nonna's care right now," Robert informed "the barrier around the property has been reinforced and everyone is well aware that we have a..." he paused for a second "guest."
"Any reason why you hesitate to call her a guest?" Byakuya questioned smirking.
Robert sighed.
"May I speak freely?" he asked.
"You may" Byakuya nodded.
"I personally believe that such a human does not represent a threat" Robert started.
"She's not human," Byakuya said before he could continue "she has a considerable level of reiatsu."
Robert's eyes widened.
"What?"
"But even more impressive than that," Byakuya continued "is the fact that this was on her neck the moment I found her."
He picked up the delicate golden chain as Robert approached his desk.
"It's real" Robert breathed out the moment he recognized the Shihouin crest.
"It is," Byakuya agreed "she's not a commoner and she's linked to Yoruichi."
"Who is she?" Robert wondered.
"I will find out sooner than later" Byakuya assured him.
"Shouldn't we inform Yoruichi-sama?" Robert questioned slightly alarmed.
"No," Byakuya answered a little bit too quickly "not yet."
Robert found that strange.
"I do not wish to intrude," he said carefully "but may I ask why? She must certainly have the answers you need."
"Certainly," Byakuya agreed "but knowing her she'll throw a tantrum over this and I would rather avoid that."
Robert disagreed. Surely Yoruichi would appreciate being informed? Surely she would explain who the unknown woman is and then she would thank Byakuya? But Robert recognized whenever his lord had made a decision so he decided not to push the matter any further.
"Understood, my lord" Robert bowed.
He only hoped this wouldn't bring problems with the Shihouin clan.
Yoruichi Shihouin was panicking.
It wasn't often that she would lose her cool but oh boy, she officially wanted to set the whole province on fire. A day had gone by and Hisana was nowhere to be found, she knew she was not at the town otherwise she would've already been informed, she knew she was not on some enemy land since Yoruichi would've already been blackmailed. Where was she? How come she didn't contact her? Did someone find her or did she die by that fall?
"No," Yoruichi muttered while pacing around her estate "she's not dead."
But since Hisana, Yoruichi's best friend and adopted sister, seemed to be missing she would've to look for help and she certainly wasn't looking forward to that.
"There's no other way," the Shihouin heiress groaned while running a hand through her hair "I'll have to ask him if he has seen someone around his border," she sighed heavily "hopefully Byakuya-boo will be approachable about this."
Yoruichi scowled.
"He'll help me find her," she swore "otherwise I'm setting his province on fire."
Hisana woke up in an unknown room that was way too luxurious. She opened her eyes and looked around herself, she was in the most comfortable covers and the softest futon she had ever felt. She sat up slowly, her body ached a little but she supposed that considering how she had fallen from the cliffs it wasn't that bad. She noticed how someone had changed her clothes to a light blue kimono.
"Oh my," someone exclaimed next to her "you're awake."
Hisana blinked as she looked next to her. There was an old lady next to her, she was wearing a gorgeous blue kimono with white patterns, she had grey hair and brown eyes.
"How are you feeling?" the old lady asked her out of courtesy.
"I'm…" Hisana cleared her throat "I'm fine, thank you, ehm…" she looked around nervously "I'm sorry for intruding your home like this, you're the one who helped me, right? Did you see someone with me? I…" she took a deep breath "I need to go back home, I don't mean to be rude but… can you tell me where I am?"
The old lady frowned.
"You're quite talkative" she pointed out, Hisana could tell she was annoyed.
"I'm..." she gulped, perhaps she said something wrong "sorry?"
The old lady raised an eyebrow.
"I'm not the one who helped you," she explained "the lord of this estate brought you unconscious, you fell from the cliffs near the border."
Hisana's eyes widened.
"I'm not at the Shihouin province anymore," she breathed out as her heart started to beat with worry "oh no."
"Please, calm down" the old lady said as she placed a hand on Hisana's forehead "you have a fever."
But Hisana couldn't calm down. If she wasn't at the Shihouin province anymore, and if she had been found near the border, that meant that she was in the Kuchikis' territory and Hisana could feel panic building up inside her. She had never met the Kuchiki lord personally but Yoruichi had several meeting with him due to the fact that their provinces were neighbors.
Hisana could recall perfectly every single thing Yoruichi said about the Kuchiki heir but one conversation stood out.
"Byakuya is heartless," Yoruichi scoffed once while arriving at the estate after meeting the Kuchiki lord "he has this powerful bankai, loads of money and, guess what? He sliced a poor weakling idiot that stepped into his province without an invitation."
"Why?" Hisana asked surprised.
"Apparently," Yoruichi explained frowning "only certain people are allowed in his prosperous territory."
"Certain people?" Hisana asked carefully.
"People with powerful reiatsu," Yoruichi rolled her eyes "I hate nobility bullshit."
Did Kuchiki Byakuya helped her when he realized that a weakling like her had fallen inside his province? Was he going to use her to prove a point to other intruders? Did he realize that she didn't have enough reiatsu to stand up to him?
Hisana's hands started to sweat.
She needed to escape!
"Please, stay here" the old lady next to her said finally "I'll bring the nurse, you don't seem well."
Hisana nodded once and, once the old lady was outside the room, she stood up quickly. Looking around the room she realized that she couldn't simply step out and run towards the exit, what if there were guards? The only way out was the huge window across the room, Hisana approached it and she smile slightly, she was on the second floor but that was not a problem for her.
"Thank you, Yoruichi" Hisana muttered as she removed her clothes "your clan's secret technique will save my life today."
Taking a deep breath she transformed, and while she wasn't a cat like Yoruichi, she found convenient to be a more discreet animal.
After all, why would Kuchiki Byakuya hurt a tiny bird that just happened to be around his property?
Byakuya was about to dismiss Robert when someone else stepped into this studio.
"Akie," Byakuya greeted as the grey haired lady bowed respectfully "how's our guest?"
Akie was the housekeeper of the whole Kuchiki estate. She was around Kuhiki Souju's age and she had been the one who took care of Byakuya when he was a baby, she had decided to stay by his side even when he was sent to the human world and, while she didn't have enough level to be a seated officer at the Seireitei, she had been once part of a noble clan.
Her reiatsu was considerable.
"My lord," she frowned slightly "she's… not entirely well. She has a fever and the moment she woke up is like the little color she had drained from her cheeks, I came to ask for your permission to call the nurse from the town, she might need professional help."
Byakuya stood up.
"Has she said anything yet?" he asked as he followed Akie outside the studio, he kept a slow pace to allow Akie to explain.
Robert decided to follow as well.
"Nothing relevant." Akie shook her head "she only asked to be sent home, she's quite…" she sighed "talkative."
Byakuya kept quiet at that. It was a good thing, he supposed, that the woman was talking because he had a lot to ask but his plans were threw out of the window the moment Iburo, the one who had been guarding the guest's room, opened the door for him.
"Akie," Byakuya said masking his confusion "are you certain you brought me to the right room?"
Akie blinked confused by the question but as Byakuya stepped into the room, she noticed how the girl was gone. The futon was empty, how was that possible?!
"She was here a few minutes ago!" Akie assured him.
"Iburo!" Robert called "where's our guest?"
Iburo, who had been diligently guarding the door, stepped into the room and looked around bewildered after listening to the small commotion.
"She should be here," he said frowning "no one has left the room."
Byakuya walked calmly to the open window on the left side of the room. He knew Iburo was not lying, and the girl was in no conditions to fight his guards so the window was her only escape option. He looked down when he realized that she had left her clothes on the floor.
Byakuya frowned.
Was she going around his property naked? The Kuchiki heir observed the landscape through the window, nothing but the garden behind his property could be seen and there were no traces of reiatsu.
"She definitely left though here" Byakuya pointed out calmly.
"But I don't understand," Akie scoffed "why leave her clothes behind?"
Byakuya wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer to that question.
"What should we do, Sir?" Iburo asked.
"Gather the staff," Byakuya ordered "I'll let them know about the current situation."
Iburo nodded as Akie observed the empty futon frowning. She didn't like the idea of an unknown woman around lord Kuchiki's property. What if she was a spy? Or a thief? And why was she naked?!
"Such indecency…" the old housekeeper muttered.
Byakuya chuckled at that as he remembered the woman's blue eyes looking at him the moment she woke up near the river.
"Indeed" he agreed.
He couldn't wait to find her.
Byakuya was about to move away from the window when he noticed movement from the corner of his eye.
He observed curiously a unique bird that he hadn't seen before. This bird had black wings, striking blue eyes and the rest of it's body was white, Byakuya had never seen such a unique animal before so he couldn't help but stare at it.
Hisana paused in a tree just outside the room she left.
It was the first time she had seen the Kuchiki lord but she was left speechless. She couldn't help but stare directly at him as he looked from the window (probably looking for her) and her heart skipped a beat. Hisana had never seen someone so… handsome.
Was this Kuchiki Byakuya?
He had jet black hair, cold grey eyes and white skin. He was tall and regal, his sole presence was imposing and she noticed with fascination his sharp jaw and broad shoulders. Hisana realized then that it wasn't natural for birds to stare directly at humans so she decided to fly away to look for a escape route.
Byakuya assumed that the animal must've felt uneasy under his gaze because it flapped its wings startled and flew away. He sighed as he walked outside the room, he needed to warn his staff about their guest.
Byakuya stood in front of his staff at the front of the Kuchiki estate. The guards kept respectful poses as they gathered in a group at the right side of the garden while the maids, the cooks and gardeners stayed at the left side with their heads slightly bowed towards their lord.
Byakuya waited and once Robert let him know that everyone was present he decided to inform about the current situation.
"As all of you were informed previously," Byakuya cut to the chase "yesterday I brought a guest to the estate, I'm pretty sure that she has been described in detail to the ones that didn't see her as well."
The maids exchanged amused looks. Nothing, nothing at all, was a secret inside the Kuchiki estate but that was to be expected, you cannot keep a quiet household when the lord of the estate was the most desired bachelor around the provinces.
"For reasons that I cannot fathom," Byakuya continued "she escaped from her room."
The guards' showed their surprise as they look at Robert with questioning faces while the maids and the rest of the staff started to murmur between them.
Byakuya allowed a few seconds of that before raising his hand signaling them to shut up.
"I've been informed that she has a fever, and the circumstances in which I found her were less than ideal," he explained "all of this leads me to believe that she will be unable to break the barrier and leave the property."
"Your orders, Sir?" one of the guards asked.
"Once you find her you'll inform me immediately," Byakuya ordered "no one is allowed to touch her, or harm her, in any way."
He wanted to add that they were not allowed to stare if they were to see her, but he still didn't know how to explain the fact that she had left her clothes behind, it didn't make sense to him.
The guards blinked confused.
"Isn't she…" one of the maids said shyly "an intruder?"
Byakuya didn't even look at her.
"She's my guest," he said simply and then frowned "do I have to repeat my orders?"
"No, Sir!" the whole staff answered.
"I'll deal with her accordingly," Byakuya assured his staff "but whoever harms her will face a severe punishment."
The staff didn't hide the surprise at this, but Byakuya couldn't care less. He was not going to reveal the fact that the mysterious woman was linked to the Shihouins, nor he was going to reveal that her reiatsu had been the most unique thing he had felt in quite a long time, the servitude didn't need to know that.
At least not for now, not before Byakuya had the chance to talk to her and make the decision that would free him from his father's latest order.
"That is all," Byakuya dismissed the staff "you may go back to your duties."
The staff bowed and dispersed to their designated area at the Kuchiki estate. Not a single one of them noticed the unique bird watching them from a cherry blossom tree.
Hisana would've screamed if it was possible for birds to do so. What did the insufferable lord mean by dealing with her accordingly? How come the staff was not allowed to go near her if they were to see her? What kind of orders were those?
Hisana flapped her wings angrily. What was she supposed to do now?! She obviously noticed the barrier around the property, and she knew that she wouldn't be able to leave, if some reiatsu source were to approach it the Kuchiki lord would sense her immediately.
Her best chance was to leave on one of the servants' shoulders or at least on some luggage.
Hisana came to the unfortunate realization that she would've to spend a few days around the property as a bird, she only hope she would be able to maintain her form that long.
Yoruichi had decided to ask for Byakuya's help a few hours after Hisana's disappearance. Unfortunately her plans were thrown out of the window because on that same day Yoruichi received Kuchiki Soujun's letter.
The letter was simple and respectful, but Yoruichi wanted to burn it and to curse the whole damn Kuchiki clan impotent.
What the hell drove Kuchiki Soujun to demand such a thing? That single letter contained the most ridiculous order that Yoruichi had received in her entire existence, and that single letter is what prevented her from going to the Kuchiki estate and inform about the missing member of her clan.
Three days went by after that.
After three days inside the Kuchiki estate Hisana had learned quite a few things about the place and it's owner. She noticed how there was only a handful of guards that would leave the property to go on rounds and protect the province, which didn't help Hisana's situation at all since most of them would simply slapped her bird form away whenever they were close to her.
She also realized that, unlike the lord of the land, the Kuchiki staff was pretty lively. The maids would gossip, and work, with smiles on their faces and sometimes they would share meals as if they were family… that was odd. It wasn't as if the staff in the Shihouin household was any different, but Hisana didn't expect that coming from someone as cold as Kuchiki Byakuya.
Then it was the one thing that called Hisana's attention the most: Kuchiki Byakuya.
She had heard several stories from Yoruichi. The Shihouin heiress would often insist how ruthless, cold-hearted, stoic and insufferable the Kuchiki heir was and, after observing him, Hisana didn't agree at all with that. Hisana believed that he could try to smile more often, but other than that she thought that he carried himself as a proper lord and he had a, surprising, soft side. Kuchiki Byakuya liked to walk around his gorgeous garden, which was filled with cherry blossoms threes, and he liked to observe the little stream he had with a whole lot of Koi fishes.
Hisana would often follow him, and she knew he noticed, because he would stare at her and let her fly close to him without uttering a single word (but who would talk to a bird, right?) and that was… unexpected. But what Hisana found even more interesting was the relationship between the Kuchiki lord and the housekeeper Akie.
For what Hisana had witnessed Akie was the housekeeper, and Kuchiki Byakuya had a soft spot for her.
The old lady was in charge of monitoring the lord's meals, cleaning his chambers and making sure his expectations regarding the order and cleanness of the estate were met and she did that with astounding precision, but Hisana had witnessed a conversation a day before that led her to believe that there was a little more to it…
"I've told you," Kuchiki Byakuya said as he walked towards the front gates, he was going to patrol the province "leave the menial work to the younger maids, there's no need for you to overexert yourself."
Akie frowned.
"That will not do, my lord" Akie said, she walked slowly due to her age.
Hisana observed surprised how Kuchiki Byakuya slowed down his pace so she could keep up.
"As your main maid…"
"You're not a maid," Byakuya interrupted her and then looked at her with an unreadable expression "you have never, and you will never be a simple maid," he said "don't you dare to repeat that."
Hisana was surprised at that but for some reason Akie wasn't. The old woman shook her head as if she had heard that thousands of times before and bowed slightly.
"Have a safe trip, my lord" she said.
Byakuya simply nodded as he left through the main gates followed by Robert.
Hisana wondered what he meant by the fact that the housekeeper could never be simple maid, but she knew she didn't have time to find out. Being in a bird form wasted a lot of reiatsu, and Hisana was already getting tired, if you added the fact that the fever seemed to be affecting her even as a bird… well, she needed to find a way out of the Kuchiki estate quickly.
On the third day after the disappearance of his guest, Byakuya decided to go to his private onsen. It had been a while since he had been able to relax, and a private hot bath would certainly help him to think and relieve his stress. He walked through the garden and took the private road leading to the upper side of the estate.
The hot spring inside the property was one of the few things he enjoyed to do on his spare time but, he realized that this time he wasn't alone.
"You're quite the strange animal, aren't you?" he said as he turned around.
He noticed, for what seem to be the thousand time on the last three days, the weird bird following him. Byakuya felt like an idiot talking to the bird because it was a bird but he wasn't as clueless as to believe that the missing guest with striking blue eyes, and the odd bird with striking blue eyes were unrelated. How could it be a coincidence for the animal to show up after the woman was missing?
Unfortunately, he didn't know how to explain that either.
At first Byakuya thought that the bird could be similar to a hell butterfly, but he discarded the idea when he realized that the animal didn't seem to be sending any sort of message, it simply roamed freely around his property and Byakuya didn't exactly like the idea of capturing it to interrogate it.
Birds couldn't talk after all.
Sighing heavily he simply ignored it and, once he arrive at the edge of his hot spring, he started to remove his clothes.
Hisana couldn't take it anymore.
Between having a fever, being almost discovered by Kuchiki Byakuya asking a question, and now having the same handsome lord removing his clothes in front of her she was sure he was having a stroke. She had planned to follow him in case he was leaving the property through a secret exit but that wasn't the case, the Kuchiki lord simply wanted a bath.
Hisana admired slightly alarmed his naked torso, his broad shoulders and how toned he was.
"No!" she admonished herself mentally "this is a private moment!"
She was so damn flustered and so weak that, by the time Kuchiki Byakuya started to remove his undergarments everything went black.
Byakuya heard a little "splash" next to him and frowned confused. He turned around slightly only to find the unique bird floating next to him, was it dead? Deciding that he couldn't simply leave a dead animal inside his hot spring he picked it up. Getting rid of it was the best option so holding it carefully on his hand he stared at it.
The bird twitched.
Byakuya sighed.
Now he had to get a cage, apparently he had a new pet.
Hisana woke up an hour later, still on her bird form, and she realized that she was inside a cage. Panicking she started to flap her little wings and to make a racket, how dare anyone lock her?! Like an animal?!
"I'm doomed" she thought as she looked around only to realize that she was in a room with a wonderful oak desk and several parchments and books perfectly arranged around the walls.
"I thought you were one of the quiet ones," a silky voice said while stepping into the room "it would be better for you to start singing, I do not appreciate such tasteless scandal on my studio."
Hisana stopped flapping her wings as she realized that she had become a pet.
"I'm not fond of animals," Kuchiki Byakuya pointed out while smirking at the cage "but such unique colors must be admired somehow."
Freedom seemed impossible now.
What do you think? Let me know in a review! Kisses!