For the next few seconds, Kuchiki locked his depthless, intensive, yet tired eyes on the dark-skinned woman. Even though his battered face remained expressionless and all he said was a mere singular word, Yoruichi felt a rather strange connection between them. Something was going on that hardly required words or even sounds, for that matter, to fill the void. Nonetheless, the woman quickly stepped away from the wounded man, finding it far more challenging than she dreaded to anticipate. A near-constant fear flooded her subconscious, making her question her decisions even as trivial and inconsequential as the one she took a moment ago. In her mind, the current situation was painted as a gamble of the highest stake, with Byakuya's life seemingly on the line. It was plain ridiculous, but the woman's heart unwittingly clenched, envisioning a truly poetic scenery. The 6th Division Captain slowly walked towards the horizon, simultaneously slowly being enveloped by the growing darker and his frame fading into nothingness. Thoughts like this made her heart ache, seemingly forcing it to send wave after wave of pain and anguish that ravaged her very soul. With uncertainty rapidly spreading through her veins, she had no idea why she felt this way, yet one thing was clear. She needed all her self-control not to leap forward and embrace the raven-haired man. As if her fears could turn into reality, she desperately wanted to hold onto him, forbidding him from leaving her behind.

Knowing full well that all of this nonsense had gone too far, Yoruichi energetically shook her head, forcing these bothering thoughts out. Unfortunately, she noticed something she did not expect. As much as she tried to remember when she had clenched her fists, she could not. Still, what she saw before her eyes was undeniable. The woman's palms were balled so tightly that her skin had already whitened. Shaking her head once again, as if repeating the same thing over and over again, was not the definition of madness; she wanted to curse but found herself unable to formulate any coherent sound inside her throat. In all honesty, it was ridiculously baffling how trivial all of these pieces fell into place, seemingly developing as a part of some mysterious event chain that someone carved into the fabric of reality long ago, and now … most likely watching intently as these events unfolded. She had never dared to believe in having Kuchiki back in her life, yet here she was, standing beside his hospital bed. The more she thought about it, the less sense all of this made. How could he so trivially venture back into her life and turn it upside down? Still, it was hardly the worst part of the current situation. The longer she pondered over the matter, the less she minded this intrusion, slowly but surely following a part of her that she hoped she had buried long ago.

A quiet, barely hearable grunt forced this hardly planned trance to halt abruptly. As Yoruichi's vision slowly cleared, she realised that Unohana's hands were on Byakuya's wounded frame, enveloped in a visible green hue aura. The 4th Division Captain wasted no time, starting to treat the numerous slashes that covered the man's body. Refocusing her sight onto Kuchiki's face, she noticed he closed his eyes and finally allowed semblances of discontent to show. Even at his arguably most vulnerable point, he held himself to a higher standard, possibly deeming it inappropriate for him to show that he was hurt.

That being said, this rather unexpected state lasted only a couple of seconds before the raven-haired man straightened up, parting his eyelids.

"It seems I knew even less about Senbonzakura than I feared," he started, looking at his mutilated hands comfortably resting on the once-snowy bedding.

"Would you elaborate, Captain Kuchiki?" Retsu questioned immediately, not halting her technique.

"When you defeated me, Captain Unohana, I was thrown into a part of my subconsciousness I did not know," the man replied, keeping his voice low. "At first glance, it resembled my clan's grand mansion, but the further I delved into it, or rather, the further I was led into this illusory complex, the more it differed from reality," he added, sighing heavily as if trying to buy himself a moment to collect his wits. "At some point, I ended up in a vast hall, facing two throne-like armchairs," Kuchiki paused, taking a deep breath before following up. "A few moments later, I faced their occupants. One was Senbonzakura while … the other was his wife, Moiji."

"This strange blade you've manifested a couple of times … is it Moiji?" the 4th Division Captain inquired, narrowing her eyes at her peer.

"Yes," Byakuya nodded momentarily, shifting his attention towards the first Kempachi. Her eyes were filled with predatory anticipation and hunger. "However, back then, I had no control over her," he added, casting down his sight in sheer embarrassment.

"Are you trying to imply that you can handle it now?" Yachiru slowly asked, trying her best to hide her true identity.

"I would say so," the raven-haired man retorted quietly. "She forced me into a confrontation, deeming me not ready and not worthy. At first, she overwhelmed me with relative ease, but the situation changed when I managed to summon the other blade," he added truthfully.

"Can you manifest it now?" Unohana immediately questioned.

Kuchiki did not respond verbally; instead, he extended his still-mauled right hand and clenched it onto something mid-air. After a painful second of inaction, crimson-red petals formed around the man's arm, then slowly made their way towards his palm, forming an onyx-black heavy sword within moments.

"Is it the awakening you've mentioned recently?" Yoruichi finally joined the discussion, her voice quiet and filled with insecurities.

"I think so, Master," Byakuya replied formally. "As I told you before … I would wish to say proudly that my recent development is solely the result of my training … but it does not seem to be the case. As it appears, I had so much untapped potential sealed inside of me," he explained, allowing his voice to be tainted with guilt and regret.

Before Yoruichi realised it, she found herself on the streets of Seireitei with her head seemingly about to explode due to the recent developments. As much as she wanted to focus on herself and her conflicting feelings towards the cocky and awfully proud Kuchiki, she could not. This untapped potential Byakuya had mentioned was a terrifying concept that flooded the woman's mind with ease. Considering Senbonzakura was a powerful sword in its own regard, this new blackened blade must have carried similar, if not greater, power. In all honesty, it filled her with dread, especially when the raven-haired man had mentioned his seemingly still developing control over this newfound might. More than that, she anticipated the worst-case scenario, a day when this seemingly fragile balance would shatter, rendering Byakuya an enemy. Even if it came to that, there were individuals within the Defensive Corp who should handle that rather unfortunate situation with relative ease. That being said, losing control over Moiji would mean an inevitable death for him. Even something as far-fetched as an imaginary possibility shook the dark-skinned woman to her core. Strangely enough, since her return to the Soul Society, a possibility, no matter how distant, of seeing him dead … was a crucial and the only consistent part of her near-everyday nightmares.

Yoruichi wanted nothing more than for all of these conflicting and contradicting ideas to disappear, clearing her subconsciousness. But … despite her best efforts, the situation only worsened, steadily, unharried, yet inevitably turning her into a walking mess. It would have been appreciated to have something different to worry about. Perhaps it was high time for her to return to her nasty habit of overworking herself if handling matters appeared too complicated. Undoubtedly, there were advantages and disadvantages of such an approach, yet as things currently stood, the dark-haired woman was willing to forcefully simplify if it meant the buzzing inside her skull vanish, sealed in the deepest part of her mind.

After a while, the Goddess of Flash finally realised that she kept walking through all of this. Even though this, on its own, was a surprising matter, the apparent fact that she did not bump into anyone or anything was straight-up ridiculously baffling. When her vision cleared, it became apparent that she unwittingly had chosen Kuchiki's manor as her destination. Well … all in all, the recently reinstated Captain had plenty of memories connected with this place. If not for her long-lasting friendship with Byakuya's late grandfather, she might not have had them. After all, it was Ginrei who had approached her and entrusted his grandson's training. These pieces of her past abruptly appeared, replaying some of her fondest memories right before her eyes. Back then, it had been so trivial. Teasing much younger Byakuya was a bad habit, but it resulted in many good things, as with each session, the raven-haired boy would become increasingly powerful, shattering his previous limits. Flashbacks like these were enough to bring a genuine smile to the woman's beautiful face. Carrying the newfound positivity, she sped up, deciding to venture into the vast compound and wait for the man who had her life turned upside down.

The moment the dark-skinned woman left the room, Unohana expectedly dropped her mask, allowing the man to see the near demonic smirk slowly spreading across her usually cool, calm, and collected face.

"This new blade of yours intrigues me," the raven-haired woman said, her eyes immediately fixing on the still-manifested sword. "It has already wounded me once, something that, with Senbonzakura's help, seemed out of your reach. Yet, this Moiji you've mentioned appears to be making you much stronger than I anticipated," she added, allowing her voice to be tainted with genuine emotions. "The last time you fought Zaraki, it was a stalemate where both of you traded blow for blow. That being said, at least for now, you managed to overwhelm him with relative ease. Not to mention, you put up a good fight when my bloodlust took over. The mere fact that you're still alive speaks volumes about your prowess."

"Unfortunately, I remember only a sliver of what happened," Kuchiki admitted, dropping his head slightly. "However, it does hardly mean I can not read a rather abrupt shift in your demeanour, Captain Unahana," he pointed out quietly. "You are eager to test this newfound power yourself … especially to validate what I said earlier. I can only assume you want to verify how much truth is hidden behind these words, or rather more importantly for you, whether this subtle change makes me a more interesting opponent to fight," he continued, too tired to hide the true meaning of his words behind beautiful metaphors and comparisons.

"I'm glad I don't have to spell it to you, Captain Byakuya," Yachiru responded, smirking maniacally. "You've defeated Zaraki without as much as breaking a sweat. I'm more than interested in seeing how far you can go."

"This much I figured already," the raven-haired nobleman remarked, sighing. "But … it will have to wait till tomorrow. Today, I would like to discuss a few pressing matters with Captain Shihoin," he added immediately, slowly standing up.

"I wonder why was she the only one who could approach you safely?" Captain Unohana switched back to her usual tone, yet a sting of mockery was still present in her voice. "What's so special about her that your own sword spirit allowed her to reach you when you were in a critical condition? Perhaps … you'll find some answers to these lingering questions. If so … don't keep them to yourself and tell me."

The Kuchiki clan's leader only nodded, not trusting his voice. In fact, he had a few speculations regarding this rather unexpected situation, but he would have preferred to keep them to himself for as long as possible. With that, he slowly made his way towards the door, eager to leave the 4th Division's barracks as soon as possible. By no means was his body fully mended, but as long as he could walk, it was everything he needed, at least for now.

Author's notes section:

As I have mentioned previously, the main focus for June and July 2024 will be rewriting as many "My home is where my heart lies" chapters as possible. I'm currently working on rewriting the 5th chapter. As it will take me quite a while to finish, I'm providing you with this piece. I hope you will end up enjoying this chapter while waiting for another rewrite.

Ok ... it's done. It's by no means as long as I would have liked, but currently I'm really struggling with sleep depravity and focusing on writing sth coherent becomes a bit of a hassle. That being said, I'm sorry from the bottom of my heart.

Please note that the dialogues written in italics are thoughts.

As always, I would like to thank you for everything. See you soon :)

Changelog:
[2024-07-31] - A preview was released.
[2024-08-02] - A major update applied and the final revision released.

References:
- Rainbow in the Dark (original: Dio, cover: Khammis )

End of the author's notes section.