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Chapter 5
Before the Moment
Byakuya was awakened by the morning sun's bright rays. His pale hand reached over to the side of the bed, trying to clench onto the item that it was searching for. Byakuya fully awakened when he realized that what, rather who—wasn't there. His grey eyes looked over to the other side of the bed. After experiencing a blissful dream where he had Hisana in his arms, his heart broke when reality kicked him in the teeth. Hisana was gone and there was nothing he could do about it.
He clenched his spare pillow gently as if it was her before he made himself get out of bed. As usual, his clothes were freshly laundered and waiting for him in his bathroom. After freshening up and getting dressed, he roamed to the dining room where a fresh, hot breakfast of grilled fish, steamed rice, miso soup, and vegetable tempura was waiting for him. He dined alone once again—Rukia was currently away in the World of the Living. Her presence was missed during mealtimes; she always brought in a ray of sunshine into the manor even if she was silent.
Byakuya paused momentarily and glanced out towards the garden. He had to resist snapping his lavish chopsticks in half. His quiet morning was ruined by feeling her reiatsu. Her reiatsu disappeared as quickly as it came, leaving him to wallow in irritation. Byakuya gave his breakfast the evil eye before placing his chopsticks on the chopstick rest; he lost his appetite.
He grabbed his zanpakuto and fastened it to his obi before rushing from the manor.
The Seireitei was bustling with the many shinigami and Shino Academy students making their way to their final destinations. Byakuya walked around until the crowd began to dissipate. A brief surge of her reiatsu flowed from the academy entrance, which he wasn't too far away from. Keeping his stoic expression, he clenched his fists slightly. All kinds of thoughts ran through his head. Why did she come past the manor? Was it to challenge his authority? To mock him for not being able to retaliate instantly? Or was it an attempt to put unnecessary strain on his already hectic life?
With those thoughts, he managed to make his way closer to the academy entrance. The last of the students had started to enter the academy grounds. While glancing inside the gate, he saw that all too familiar blue ponytail swaying side to side. Moments later, his cold eyes met her fear stricken ones. Giving her one last callous glare, he quickly flash stepped his way to his division, leaving Miyako to panic about what else could go wrong for the rest of her day.
Minutes later, Byakuya had arrived at his division and walked up to his office where he took a small breather in his chair.
'Whatever the reason is for her offense, I shouldn't bother myself with her and her shenanigans. All of that is in the past and it will not be a part of my future.'
With that thought, Byakuya's soul smiled when he saw the steaming hot cup of fresh green tea on his desk, its fresh aroma brought a well needed wave of peace. While indulging in his peaceful tea time, a knock interrupted the moment. He glared at the door. 'I should've known that this wouldn't last for more than a moment…'
"Come in." he commanded.
Renji let himself in with a smile. "Good morning Captain Kuchiki! How are you today?"
Byakuya took another sip of tea before answering. "I'm doing well as usual and yourself? Are you prepared for another hard day's work?"
Renji nodded. "Yes, sir! I rested well last night, especially when I took a nice walk! Did you see the crescent moon last night? I thought that it was really—" His words were cut off when he heard the ceramic cup shatter into pieces. The hot tea didn't phase the captain's pale hand, nor did he manage to cut himself. The green liquid spread all over the desk, threatening to fall over the edge ready to make friends with the hardwood floor. Renji's small irises were almost invisible when he saw Byakuya's rage fueled glare.
"Nice..." he finished. To say that Renji was scared was an understatement. He'd never seen his captain lose his cool in such a manner like this before; Byakuya seemed too refined to shatter anything but bones and hollow masks with Senbonzakura. An anxious silence filled the room; it was damn near suffocating. Renji didn't know what to say.
"Captain Kuchiki—"
"Get out."
"But Captain—"
Byakuya shifted his glare from the wall to Renji's shocked face. "Talk about something else or get out and get to work!"
Renji swallowed hard and straightened up. "I-I'll go grab something to clean this mess. You also have just received a letter from the academy." he replied before fishing a letter from his robe. "Please read it as soon as possible. They said that it was urgent."
If looks could set things aflame, Byakuya's would've turned the offending letter into ash instantly. He quickly brought himself back to reality and took the letter from Renji. He was secretly furious at himself for losing control in front of his subordinate.
"After you retrieve a towel, you can go and continue the training from yesterday." he replied in his normal tone.
Renji noticed his quick change in demeanor, but he didn't want to question it.
"Yes, captain. I'll be right back!"
With those words, Renji left as quickly as he could. Looking down at his soiled desk, Byakuya sighed in frustration before focusing his attention back at the beige letter.
'Now what could this be about?'
Behind her calm and refined facade, Miyako spent the morning in perpetual panic. After seeing Byakuya stare her down earlier, her mind was racing at the possibility of seeing him after classes were over for the day. The usual day at the academy consisted of each of the four skill set classes, which were an hour and forty-five minutes long each. Everyone had an hour and fifteen minute lunch before resuming for the last half of the day. Usually Miyako had training with Soifon four times a week and today's session was canceled for reasons unknown to her.
But that wasn't on her mind at the moment.
Lunch had finally arrived with the noon sun. Miyako sat alone at a table in the academy cafeteria. She pushed her food tray aside, laid her head down on the wooden table and groaned in agony. She heard voices nearby gossiping about her, but she was too frustrated to even care about the nasty things that was being said.
"HEY MIYA!" Rumi shouted while slamming her tray on the table. Miyako shrieked and almost jumped out of her seat.
"Dammit Rumi, stop that!" she yelled.
Rumi brushed off Miyako's hostility and sat down. "What was up with you today? You almost failed the kido practical! Ms. Kubota looked as if she was very irritated with you."
Miyako groaned as she thought about the practical.
"Yes, Miyako...I have the say that I was little bit surprised myself." a soft voice chimed in.
Another female student joined them at the table. Her long, straight raven hair, pale skin and big lavender eyes gave her a delicate and meek appearance, but she was anything but that. She proved to be a deceiving little flower. Her skills in kido and swordsmanship was nothing to sneeze at.
"Must you chime in about my less than stellar performance as well, Shirayuki?" Miyako moaned. "I truly don't want to relive my shame!"
"I think that 'shame' is too strong of a word…" Rumi replied. "It's more like a 'mess up'..."
"Or a 'blunder'…" Shirayuki added.
Miyako's pupils thinned to that of a cats eyes. "Whether it's a 'mess up' or a 'blunder', I don't want to talk about it anymore!" she hissed. "Can we please direct our conversation away from Ms. Kubota's practical?"
Her harsh tone simply bounced off of Rumi, who rolled her green eyes before she picked up a strawberry and handed it to Miyako.
"Okay, Princess Ichigo," she replied with a sigh. "Take this and chill out."
Miyako tried to glare at her, but her walls quickly came crashing down. She couldn't resist a strawberry offering; they were her absolute favorite fruit. Miyako quietly took the big vibrant red fruits from her friend's bowl and took a bite, its sweet juices sending her taste buds into euphoria. The other two girls also took a bite from their portions and smiled; the academy provided very tasty meals.
"So get this!" Rumi spoke up. "I was walking by the teacher's lounge on my way here and overheard them talking! I heard that there will be an assembly today. What do you think that's all about?"
After taking a bite of her grilled mackerel, Shirayuki gave a thoughtful expression. "I'm not sure. If we're having an assembly, I'm sure that it's something important. We haven't had an assembly since our entrance orientation."
"Maybe it's about a special project or mission? Maybe like training in the World of the Living?" Rumi suggested. "If so, I'm so ready to go!"
"Or maybe it's about the upcoming graduation?" Shirayuki added. "What do you think, Miyako?"
The two couldn't help but chuckle as Miyako was happily eating all of the strawberries that Rumi had given her. "I'm not pressed to know. I'm just enjoying my delicious lunch. I suggest that you'd do the same!"
"You're not the least bit curious about this?" Rumi asked. "It could be life changing! I can feel it!"
"Life changing or not, I'll cross that bridge when I get there. I'm sure it's not that important." Miyako calmly replied.
Rumi shrugged off Miyako's indifference and started to eat as well. "Okay. Whatever floats your boat."
Shirayuki declined to add anything to the conversation and continued to eat her lunch.
The lunch hall was filled with chatter as everyone continued to relax and eat. Halfway into lunch, the head instructors of the academy waltzed in, their commanding spiritual reiatsu catching everyone's attention. With that, everyone quickly stopped eating as the faculty circled the room, clearly looking for certain familiar faces.
The one known as Kubota, the kido instructor, walked around with an aloof smile on her face as she had a handful of letters in her hand. The short middle aged woman walked over to the trio's table and smiled. While they all gave the mid aged woman a smile in return, Miyako was secretly panicking inside.
'Is she here for me? I hope not! It would be dreadful if my performance was reported back to mother, father and Soifon!'
"Good afternoon, young ladies." she greeted.
"Good afternoon Ms. Kubota." they all replied in unison.
She handed them all white envelopes with their names written elegantly on them. "These are for you all. Please take care to read them at your earliest convenience. Good day."
Leaving them to wonder what had just happened, the nauseating feeling that Miyako had when the instructor arrived had been replaced with dread as she stared at the white envelope.
'Something about this letter feels unpleasant…'
She quickly, but reluctantly readied herself to read the letter. She wouldn't dare not follow Ms. Kubota's instructions, especially after her near failure from earlier.
Miyako Shihouin,
Due to your high performance during your time at the Shino Academy, you've been selected to participate in a new curriculum. Please attend today's assembly that will take place in Haru Hall in placement of your third class.
The Shino Academy Administration Team
'A new curriculum?'
"What did your letters say, you two?" Rumi asked, breaking Miyako out of her thoughts. They all gathered around to read each other's letters.
"They all say the same thing." Shirayuki pointed out. "I wonder what this new curriculum is? Isn't it too late to change it? We're almost nearing graduation..."
"This might be what I overheard the faculty talking about!" Rumi exclaimed excitedly. "World of the Living here we come!"
"You can't assume that this new curriculum involves training in the World of the Living just because that's what you desire to do the most, Rumi." Shirayuki replied.
While the two girls continued to discuss the upcoming assembly, Miyako remained quiet as she stared at the letter once again, their chatter now muffled from her ears. To say that her stomach was in knots was an understatement.
'Why do I feel like this is the beginning of something unfortunate?'