Stars
Title: Stars
Series: Bleach
Pairing/Characters: Kuchiki Byakuya, Kusajishi Yachiru (Characters by Tite Kubo)
Warnings: None
Notes: I promise my next fic won't be about these two. Also, the candy is konpeito, which look like stars.
He was passing by the training field for the 11th Division one day and saw her from a distance. A slender, womanly figure shouting orders, and for a moment, he was admiring her. Then he saw the pink hair cascading down her back, knew her, and with some shock realized he hadn’t had contact with Vice-Captain Kusajishi for what seemed like years.
At some point after the war, during their recovery, she stopped visiting him. There had been healing to do, there had been things to re-build. Buildings. Trust. Relationships. People. And after all that, there had been a fuss, but Vice-Captain Kusajishi had been forced to attend the academy. That had been tense, until she realized she enjoyed it, and Captain Zaraki no longer had to put up with her tantrums over attending. With her days suddenly full, he supposed she simply fell out of the habit of visiting anyone she could find. Not surprisingly, he had heard she was top of her class as far as combat was concerned. She also did as well as could be expected with kido for someone who was raised to disdain it.
From snatches of conversation he caught, he gathered that she began to take her duties as the President of the Shinigami Women’s Association seriously. He would sometimes hear her outside his office, cheerfully asking Abarai to pass along a message to Rukia. And Rukia herself would come back from meetings smiling and energized.
She still visited Captain Ukitake. Passing by the Hall of Heavenly Rains, he would see them sitting outside by the water. (Where his own carp swam, glittering in the sun.) She would take the tea-pot from whoever brought it out and she would pour the tea, first for Captain Ukitake, and then for herself. Their laughter carried on the wind, finding him even when he’d passed by and could no longer see them.
He happened to run into her one day in spring, and if not for the familiar sensation of turning a corner and seeing pink without sensing reiatsu, he once again would not have recognized her. She was a little taller than she used to be, though not by much, and her hair now fell down her back. But it was her face…no longer round and childish, and, for the first time, not a source of endless noise… and alarming in its simple beauty. She bowed quite gracefully. “Captain Kuchiki.”
If he’d needed proof of her changing, those two words were it. He was careful not to show his surprise, but she still seemed to see it. “I haven’t called you that before, have I? I’m sorry it took so long.” She brought a hand up to tuck back a loose strand of hair, but Byakuya had the strong sense she’d originally intended to touch his arm in apology. He watched her hand fall back to her side with a sense of loss.
“You gave up the nicknames.”
She laughed. “Mostly. Baldy and Feather-Face were sad when I first tried it with them. They wouldn’t let me. Ukii is still Ukii, and of course, Ken-chan is Ken-chan. Everyone else…well, they seemed happy when I stopped.”
“I am certain they were.” Just as he was. Mostly.
Her eyes rested on the papers in his hands. “Were you bringing those somewhere? I could take them for you.”
“9th.”
She held out her hands. He handed her the pile, nodded, and started to walk away. He was stopped by one word.
“Byakushi.”
It was whispered in wonder, and when he turned around, she held the papers in the crook of an arm while she looked down into the palm of her hand. She held several brightly coloured candies he had slipped there when she took the papers. She looked at him with wide, warm eyes and he realized he had changed the two of them with that one gesture.
“You still carry these around..?”
“Would you like me to stop? If those nicknames have been left behind you, perhaps you left behind other things as well.”
She shook her head. “No. Please don’t stop. You…” her voice faltered, but her smile grew more certain. “You’re the only one who still carries the stars for me.”
Byakuya had to turn away. He wasn’t prepared for what he saw on her face, couldn’t have prepared for what he desperately tried not to show on his own. “Then I promise to keep on carrying them.”
He walked away, and it was very difficult not to look back.
Series: Bleach
Pairing/Characters: Kuchiki Byakuya, Kusajishi Yachiru (Characters by Tite Kubo)
Warnings: None
Notes: I promise my next fic won't be about these two. Also, the candy is konpeito, which look like stars.
He was passing by the training field for the 11th Division one day and saw her from a distance. A slender, womanly figure shouting orders, and for a moment, he was admiring her. Then he saw the pink hair cascading down her back, knew her, and with some shock realized he hadn’t had contact with Vice-Captain Kusajishi for what seemed like years.
At some point after the war, during their recovery, she stopped visiting him. There had been healing to do, there had been things to re-build. Buildings. Trust. Relationships. People. And after all that, there had been a fuss, but Vice-Captain Kusajishi had been forced to attend the academy. That had been tense, until she realized she enjoyed it, and Captain Zaraki no longer had to put up with her tantrums over attending. With her days suddenly full, he supposed she simply fell out of the habit of visiting anyone she could find. Not surprisingly, he had heard she was top of her class as far as combat was concerned. She also did as well as could be expected with kido for someone who was raised to disdain it.
From snatches of conversation he caught, he gathered that she began to take her duties as the President of the Shinigami Women’s Association seriously. He would sometimes hear her outside his office, cheerfully asking Abarai to pass along a message to Rukia. And Rukia herself would come back from meetings smiling and energized.
She still visited Captain Ukitake. Passing by the Hall of Heavenly Rains, he would see them sitting outside by the water. (Where his own carp swam, glittering in the sun.) She would take the tea-pot from whoever brought it out and she would pour the tea, first for Captain Ukitake, and then for herself. Their laughter carried on the wind, finding him even when he’d passed by and could no longer see them.
He happened to run into her one day in spring, and if not for the familiar sensation of turning a corner and seeing pink without sensing reiatsu, he once again would not have recognized her. She was a little taller than she used to be, though not by much, and her hair now fell down her back. But it was her face…no longer round and childish, and, for the first time, not a source of endless noise… and alarming in its simple beauty. She bowed quite gracefully. “Captain Kuchiki.”
If he’d needed proof of her changing, those two words were it. He was careful not to show his surprise, but she still seemed to see it. “I haven’t called you that before, have I? I’m sorry it took so long.” She brought a hand up to tuck back a loose strand of hair, but Byakuya had the strong sense she’d originally intended to touch his arm in apology. He watched her hand fall back to her side with a sense of loss.
“You gave up the nicknames.”
She laughed. “Mostly. Baldy and Feather-Face were sad when I first tried it with them. They wouldn’t let me. Ukii is still Ukii, and of course, Ken-chan is Ken-chan. Everyone else…well, they seemed happy when I stopped.”
“I am certain they were.” Just as he was. Mostly.
Her eyes rested on the papers in his hands. “Were you bringing those somewhere? I could take them for you.”
“9th.”
She held out her hands. He handed her the pile, nodded, and started to walk away. He was stopped by one word.
“Byakushi.”
It was whispered in wonder, and when he turned around, she held the papers in the crook of an arm while she looked down into the palm of her hand. She held several brightly coloured candies he had slipped there when she took the papers. She looked at him with wide, warm eyes and he realized he had changed the two of them with that one gesture.
“You still carry these around..?”
“Would you like me to stop? If those nicknames have been left behind you, perhaps you left behind other things as well.”
She shook her head. “No. Please don’t stop. You…” her voice faltered, but her smile grew more certain. “You’re the only one who still carries the stars for me.”
Byakuya had to turn away. He wasn’t prepared for what he saw on her face, couldn’t have prepared for what he desperately tried not to show on his own. “Then I promise to keep on carrying them.”
He walked away, and it was very difficult not to look back.