It's a long, breathless moment before Byakuya remembers himself. He stares, unblinking, at the young woman before it occurs to him that he isn't looking at Hisana at all.
She's much too young, which he gradually realizes, and she's wearing the robe of a shinigami, though it hangs loosely around her shoulders, revealing crisscrossing bandages over her skinny arms and chest.
Her sister, he realizes. The Third Seat of Squad Thirteen is Hisana's sister.
So much like her, and yet so different. He can reconcile her appearance with Ukitake's poor rendering of her—her short black hair, so much like Hisana's, her sharp chin, her eyes, large and richly dark, like amethyst.
His head swims, the thought dizzying. His sister. This woman should have been his sister.
She rests her weight against the door, the exertion plain on her face. Even the effort of standing up seems to be too much for her, her pale cheeks blossoming red.
Their eyes meet, and she drops to the floor.
He mistakes it for a collapse and reaches for her, before he realizes she's bowing to him, her hands folded in front of her. The situation, he fears, is quickly outpacing his ability to think.
His hand hangs in the empty space between them, obtrusive, foolish.
"Please," Hisana's sister says, her voice tight. Her head is bowed, arms outstretched before her, though he can see this action pains her. "Please don't hurt Ichigo, Captain Kuchiki."
He's almost too astounded by the fact that she knows his name to process what she's saying.
"Ichigo hasn't done anything wrong. He didn't know," she continues. Her voice cracks, on the verge of tears. "Captain Ichimaru—he wanted to kill him. Renji had good reason for what he did, and Ichigo was caught in the middle of it."
Her words pass right through him, as insubstantial as air. He hears her, certainly, but his ears are full of a concussive ringing that leaves him unable to process what she's saying.
She's here. I've found her.
There's a long pause, before she finally lifts her head, and their eyes meet again. They're so large, the picture of innocence. It makes his heart seize. "Shamelessly, I know I could never ask something like this of a captain," she says. "But please, I beg that you hear us out."
Her pleading, desperate voice finally jolts him out of his stupor. What had she asked him? So many of the strange happenings around him - including the not-quite-human boy behind him - suddenly seem irrelevant. Unimportant.
"Stand," he manages to croak out, before righting himself. She blinks, and before she can even process, he's kneeling on the floor beside her, offering her a hand to help her stand. He balls his other hand into a fist to hide its trembling, though the tremor in his soul is much harder to ignore.
Her skin is hot, almost feverish when they touch. Rather than tiptoeing around this broken down shop, she should be back at Kuchiki Manor, resting, recovering from whatever injuries she must have sustained from their confrontation with Ichimaru, with an army of servants to see to her every need.
"You've been hurt," he says simply. The moment is so enormous, the emotions rushing through him so great, that he finds himself unable to offer anything but the most simple, straightforward observations. "Let's see to that first."
Despite her weakened state, she takes hold of his robe, her grip tight but unsteady, the exertion clearly costing her. "Please, Captain Kuchiki." Her lip quivers, eyes glassy. "Don't hurt Ichigo. There's—there's so much more at issue here than you know."
Byakuya closes his hand over hers, giving it a tender squeeze. It feels like an inappropriately intimate moment to be shared between two shinigami, and yet he's unable to restrain the protective impulse that's come over him, that demands that he do everything in his power to keep this young woman safe and set her at ease.
"I will hear you out." Slowly, he helps her to stand. "What is your name?" he asks.
"Rukia," she breathes. As if remembering herself, she hastily adds, "Rukia, Third Seat of the Squad Thirteen."
From her perspective, he should have no reason to care, but he can't help himself from asking, "You have no family name, then?"
She stares at him warily before shaking her head slowly. "I have no family, sir. I—I was an orphan in the Rukongai, with no memory of my prior life. I grew up among other orphans."
Such things were not uncommon, and her story was certainly consistent with what he recalled of Hisana's. Rukia would have been a child - an infant, he had always believed - when they parted.
"But—but I have worked hard, Captain Kuchiki, to earn my spot in Squad Thirteen. If you give me the chance, there—there are others who could tell you that about me. Captain Ukitake would tell you I am credible."
Her words are almost incomprehensible, until he realizes that she's confused. She doesn't know him - has no reason to understand their connection - and is trying to plead her case to him, a peasant speaking to the heir of a noble clan.
How little she knows, he marvels. He dismisses her worries with a wave of his head. "I have no doubts of that, Rukia. I—I was only asking to confirm." As he fumbles for an explanation, he recalls Ukitake's story about her. "I have heard that you are favored by the Shiba Clan. Kukaku Shiba's is enough for me."
It is the damndest lie he's ever told, but it puts Rukia at ease. She nods slowly, though her face takes on a shadowed, almost ashamed look.
It's then that another revelation strikes him.
Kaien Shiba was her superior. Likely her direct supervisor, given Kukaku's attachment to her. His death was long in the past, but Byakuya is not surprised that it is still a source of tenderness for her. The specifics of his death had never been wholly clear to him, though he knows enough of it to guess at the role Rukia would have been forced to play.
"Your Captain has sent me here to look for you," he explains. "Captain Ukitake is a good and trustworthy man in his own right." As he continues on, he finds himself trying harder and harder to speak over the pounding in his head that demands that he explain exactly who he is, who she is, and that this business with her lieutenant is the least of his concerns right now.
Not now, he thinks. Later. Rukia is worried now, and that should be his focus.
Byakuya continues, "He is advocating for your lieutenant in Soul Society, but was sure that you were alive in the World of the Living. Your friend and Ichimaru both claimed that you were dead."
"Renji…" She clasps her hands tightly in front of her chest, as if consoling herself. "He—he was lying to protect me. Captain Ichimaru—he tried to kill me." She shakes her head. "He probably thought that he had."
"Likely," he agrees. It is a sobering thought, one that fills him with a sense of unfinished business in Soul Society. "I… I must tell you, however, that part of the reason your Captain sent me in his stead is because of the dire situation there. He believed that they were contemplating issuing the harshest possible sanction against your friend."
Rukia gasps, and her eyes go wide. "No… they can't!"
"Renji?" The other man - Ichigo, Byakuya assumes - suddenly is attentive. "What are they gonna do to Renji?"
It has the unintended effect of reminding Byakuya that others are in the room, namely one of the Soul Society's most infamous criminals. "I don't suppose you know anything of this," he asks Urahara cooly.
The man in question tips his head, tapping his chin lightly with his fan. His thin smile is much too glib for Byakuya's liking. "Well, Ichigo has certainly shared quite a bit with me. Seems there are strange times in Soul Society. Makes me glad that I got out when I did."
Byakuya narrows his eyes at the former Captain. His appearance can't be coincidental, and his involvement is troubling. "If you have somehow—"
"Now, now." Urahara holds up his hands in a calming gesture. "I have no control over Gin Ichimaru's actions and can only speculate as to his motives. Nonetheless, I have no desire to be involved with it myself. That being said, I've generously agreed to allow Ichigo and Rukia to stay here to recover."
There's a brief pause, before he adds, "I've been living a very quiet life here, Byakuya Kuchiki. I'd like to keep it that way if I can." His fan flutters. "I'd be insincere if I didn't echo your suspicions, however… something here certainly seems amiss. Precisely what that is, I can't quite say. I have my own assumptions, but I would greatly encourage you to search further."
"I see." It's a wholly uninspiring response. He looks to Rukia, who is watching their exchange intently when she should be resting now instead of trying to keep up with them.
The other one, Ichigo… Byakuya quickly sizes the man up and sees very little that interests him. Presumably, this is the human who has absorbed Rukia's friend's powers. Likely, coming from a lieutenant, the powers he possesses are not insignificant, and the pressure Byakuya senses is certainly consistent with that, though if their intent is to save their friend by anything other than lawful means…
"Here is what I shall do, then," Byakuya says, turning to Rukia. "I will return to Soul Society and assist your Captain in his efforts. Knowing that the official process here has likely been… compromised, let us say, I will uncover the source of this conspiracy and will settle this matter myself, with the resources of the Kuchiki Clan and Squad Six both working on my behalf."
Rukia's eyes widen, saucerlike, and she clutches at the front of her robe. "Captain…"
He hardens his tone. "You, however, must rest and recover. You have been injured, and you are in no condition to be entering into fights, let alone challenging the governing body of Soul Society. While I am not your captain, I am ordering this as a superior officer."
While it had been his initial intent that Rukia should return with him, this is likely the safest strategy: bringing her back to Soul Society will only further expose her to danger, and he isn't entirely confident that she herself would not seek it out intentionally.
Her determination - while admirable - is likely something that he cannot easily contain, even if he did attempt to have her convalesce under his eye. While her testimony may be useful in appealing her friend's sentence, he finds it unlikely that it would make a difference.
What's more, once it becomes clear that she survived her ordeal with Gin Ichimaru, protecting her will be all that much more difficult.
"Captain Kuchiki…" Her displeasure is obvious, but her hesitation in correcting her superior makes it all the more endearing. What more could he possibly hope to teach her, that Rukia has not managed to learn on her own? "I have to—" She takes a step forward but her footing is uneasy, her injuries impairing her steps.
"The most you can do for your friend, and for yourself, is to remain here. Your intentions, while noble, will only interfere with our work." He turns behind him and shares a knowing look with Urahara.
It makes him feel disreputable, to have joined in such a tenuous alliance with someone so reprehensible, and yet…
And yet his options here are few. It is too risky to bring Rukia back with him. "Do not send her where she is not ready to go," he tells Urahara. Slowly, he bends and retrieves Senbonzakura, where it has been resting since Rukia first entered the first. "If you truly enjoy the peace you have managed here, you will ensure she does not return to Soul Society until it is safe for her to do so."
His movements are far from subtle, and the look on Urahara's face far too amused for his liking, but he can only hope that for now, the threat of his retaliation will be enough.
He turns to Rukia. "I will make arrangements on my end for your reception once you are in better condition to travel."
"Ichigo may surprise you yet," Urahara chimes in.
"Be that as it may." The human matters little to him regardless, save for the fact that he's managed to attach himself to Rukia. Finally, he turns to him - the human - and leaves him with his final charge. "Take her back to wherever she was resting and ensure that she can recuperate in peace. Do not be reckless with a precious life."
The man blushes and scowls. "I was going to do all that anyway," he mutters.
Byakuya takes one last look at Rukia, repressing the desire to let his gaze linger in order to commit each detail of her appearance to memory. Her imperfect resemblance to Hisana is so near that it's almost painful, as if Hisana had been remade into a younger, more tomboyish version of herself, so unlike how she had appeared near the end of her days.
He likes that, he realizes. Likes that she is so resilient, so capable. Delicate like Hisana, with the same stubbornness that even Hisana was prone to, but so much less polished, more brash.
Almost a bit like himself, at a much younger age.
With a soft smile, Byakuya bows, taking no small satisfaction in Rukia's wide eyes. "It was a dear blessing that you and I were able to meet," he tells her.
And while he is certain she mistakes his words for mere courtesy, he means it, so much more than she will ever know.