Kiss
Posting before deadline comes...thanks to my beta!!!
For the 30_kisses community.
Title: What's truly important?
Author/Artist: lady_nepheene
Pairing: Kuchiki Byakuya/Unohana Retsu
Fandom: Bleach
Word Count: 2177
Theme: 25. Fence
Beta: kurippu
Dedicated: To my friend Panacea for the RP that inspired this
Disclaimer: I don’t own the characters, wish that I did but they belong to Kubo Tite and his people, me only borrowing them for awhile.
A/N: Set in the Soul Society/Save Rukia ark, I conclude that most people has already read/seen that already but still for the ones that hadn't seen it yet...well beware for spoilers.
Themes: 12/30 [ Table ]
Nakashima Kimiko was vivid with anger, pure raw anger that rolled from her like waves of electricity. Some members of her division could swear that they could see the aura of anger surrounding her when they walked past her. Those who were in her way moved parting like the Red Sea for her, not feeling like being killed off by their division’s third seat for something that was not really their fault.
Everyone in their division, probably in all of Soul Society, knew that Kimiko was not on the best ground with the sixth division captain, who was also her cousin, after Rukia had been as good as arrested in the human world and brought back as if she was a criminal by Byakuya and Renji. Though she could understand that what Rukia had done probably hadn’t been the best course of action, she also knew that her cousin had had reasons to do it and that these reasons were justified. Therefore she couldn’t find a reason for Byakuya not to help Rukia, but he hadn’t done anything which only angered Kimiko more because his lack of action was going to end with Rukia’s execution.
So at that moment Kimiko hated Byakuya, she hated the Gotei 13, she hated Sereitei, she hated the council of the 46 and she was praying that the ryokas, who had just managed to get inside, were successful in whatever they were planning to do.
“Oi…errr…Nakashima-san.” A very brave member of her division approached her.
“WHAT!” She spat and glared at the poor girl who had approached her. When she noticed that the young shinigami was trembling she took a deep relaxing breath and tried again. “I’m sorry, what do you need, Yui-san?”
“Well…Abarai-fukotaicho…” Yui back tensed when Kimiko’s glare returned full force. Suddenly she felt the need to run far away from there before saying what she had to say. “…Abarai-fukotaicho wants to talk with you.”
“Does he? So Renji wants to talk with me, interesting…” Kimiko’s emerald eyes flashed now, wave after wave of pure raw anger reflected in those eyes “Tell Renji that he can fu…”
Quite apparently Kimiko’s anger was not only directed only towards their captain, their lieutenant was also on her bad side, considering the foul mouthed answer. The division members had never heard Kimiko speak like that and half of the words were ones they didn’t even knew existed. When she saw the young shinigami run off in fear and shock, Kimiko felt a slight mix of smugness, because Yui would let Renji know that she was angry with him, and shame, for having treated the poor girl like that when it hadn’t been her fault.
“My, my…it seems that your anger just manifested full force.”
Kimiko’s back tensed like a tightened bow when she recognized the voice. Feeling very embarrassed, the flush on her cheeks proof enough, she turned around with her head lowered and her anger now more subdued than any of the members of the sixth division had ever seen.
“Unohana-taicho.” Kimiko said very, very softly not feeling like acknowledging Unohana’s presence after the horrible moment she had experienced. “What are you doing here?”
“Well I have come to see Kuchiki-sama, but instead I…”
“To see Kuchiki-taichou?” Kimiko suddenly had quite an epiphany, so powerful that she momentarily saw that she had rudely interrupted the 4th division captain. She finally raised her head with her eyes shimmering in excitement. “Thank the kami for your visit, this is just exactly what I needed. Kami finally heard me.”
Before Retsu could say anything, Kimiko’s hand shot out and took a hold of the gentle captain’s wrist to drag her to her captain’s office. The members of her division just watched in pure shock as their third seat pretty much manhandled another captain while sputtering something like ‘beating some sense into his thick head’ and some other things that they preferred to ignore, just like the bewildered expression on the fourth division captain’s face.
They stopped in front of the captain’s office. Kimiko gave Unohana a meaningful look before she left, not in the mood to see her captain. The fourth division captain only shook her head before she lightly knocked to make presence known, when no one answered she tried again. Slightly taken aback she dared to open the door only to notice that the office was empty, maybe she should wait for him for a little while.
•¨¤¨•§•¨¤¨•§•¨¤¨•§•¨¤¨•§•¨¤¨•§•¨¤¨•§•¨¤¨•
Since the situation with Rukia the atmosphere in the sixth division had become uncomfortable due to Kimiko. The young girl didn’t even try to disguise her anger towards him, which Byakuya had to ruefully admit was worse than he had anticipated since she had turned very rebellious and refused to see him in any type of circumstances. She had devised ways to completely avoid him even in the most menial of tasks, giving them to other members instead to avoid seeing him.
That wasn’t a big problem, Byakuya knew that she just needed to cool off and accept the fact that Rukia had broken the rules and needed to be punished. He didn’t like it either, but Kimiko’s wrath was affecting everyone in the division. Now they were more fearful of the repercusitions of crossing Kimiko in any way, it was like walking on thin ice when she was around. The only time they had seen each other, after Rukia was condemned, she had gave him such a vicious glare that he was sure that, had it been possible, she would have killed him a billion times over.
Therefore he had needed to get away from the division, leave the anger of Kimiko behind and try to forget that Rukia was going to die with him doing nothing to prevent it.
When he stepped into his office he was a surprised to find the fourth division captain waiting for him. For a few seconds they only looked at each other before he finally closed the door and tried to ignore her presence. He sat behind his desk and tried to focus instead of fixing the barely present disorder on his desk.
“You know that you don’t need to ignore me, right?” She finally said not really standing the silence anymore.
“Don’t I?” He retorted before he finally looked up at her. “Because if you have come here to talk to me about the situation with Rukia…”
“I didn’t come to do that. I’m well aware that Ukitake has already come to talk to you about that and apparently Kimiko-san wants me to beat some sense into you as well…” She said with a slight smile on her face “…But I have learned that there are some lines that I must not cross with you and this is one of them.”
He looked at her for a few tense seconds. “Then what are you doing here?”
“I came with a report for you…” She placed said report on the desk and gently slid it to him over the smooth surface. “It’s the report of the members of your division that used the fourth division’s facilities last month as well as the record of the supplies given to your division.”
“A report?” His voice echoed a bit dully while he took the offered report.
“Yes, I decided to deliver it myself this time.” She answered as if it wasn’t a surprising thing at all. “Now the first pages will show you the detail of the injuries and statistics of the members that used the division and…”
As uncharacteristic as it was on him, Byakuya wasn’t really paying attention to what she was explaining to him. At the moment it was the last thing on his mind, he hadn’t even opened the report yet she didn’t see, or more likely ignored, that he hadn’t and kept up her deliverance of the report, keeping the visit as formal and official as it was meant to be between two captains.
“Just tell me your opinion.” He interrupted the healer rudely, though that wasn’t his intention.
She immediately grew quiet and looked at him. “My opinion, do you truly want to hear it?”
“Aa.” Was his simple answer, but the guarded dubious look that she gave him left it more than clear to him that she hadn’t truly believed him. “You know that I wouldn’t bother to ask if I didn’t want to know.”
“I know that, but I’m not sure if you will truly want to hear what I think about the situation your sister currently is in.” When he gave her a poignant look it became obvious that he did. With a small sigh she stood up and walked around the desk to get closer. “Before I say anything I want you to promise me that you won’t interrupt me. I want you to think on the words that I say to you.”
“…Aa.” He didn’t exactly say ‘I promise’ but with that answer it was understood that he did.
“Alright then, I’m sure that this situation is giving you more stress than Kimiko-san. She thinks that the anger that she feels for you is justified for not doing anything to aid Kuchiki-san when she clearly expected you to do so but…I know the issue that has prevented you from taking action. Since you became a part of the Gotei 13, even before, I have always admired your great sense of honor and loyalty towards what you think is right as well as to the rules imposed within the Gotei 13…your grandfather taught you well when it came to that…
“But this situation has left you in a spot where you don’t know exactly what proper course of action is. There are two different oaths binding you, oaths that you gave to people that had, and still have a big influence on your life. You have honored those promises for a long time, yet right now they are clashing with one another and that’s what Kimiko-san doesn’t understand. She doesn’t know like I do how hard this is for you, right now you have to ask yourself what’s truly important.”
He looked at her while she leaned a bit against his desk “What’s truly important?”
“Yes, you have to decide which one of those two oaths is closer to your heart and which one should you follow in the end…” A small sad smile appeared on her face when he looked at her with a barely repressed lost expression. “Sumimasen, but this is a choice which I can’t and won’t help you make. You should do it on your own.”
After what seemed like an eternity he finally nodded, she was a bit worried that maybe her words had angered him. Being honest with herself and saying her opinion had also been very hard for her but she had needed to say it. She had to try to give at least a little bit of help since she couldn’t do anything more for him than that and being there for him.
When the atmosphere in the office started to become a bit more bearable, at least enough for Byakuya to finally take a look at the report she had brought him, Retsu decided that it was more than safe for her next course of action. Very gently she ran her fingertips over his cheek, effectively causing him to look up at her with a questioning expression at the sudden touch. With a fleeting smile she bent down a bit and kissed him.
“I know that you’ll make the best decision…” She commented once she stood straight and pushed away from the desk with the intention to leave. “Just think of this of another obstacle that you need to pass.”
Byakuya only looked at her, thoroughly taken aback and Retsu had wanted to laugh at that, it was so rare for her to manage to catch him by surprise; usually it was the other way around. Barely managing to suppress at least some giggles she nodded at him before she left his office knowing that right now he needed to be alone.
After all the decision he was about to make is, if not, more important than the one regarding them and like last time he needed to make it on his own.
For the 30_kisses community.
Title: What's truly important?
Author/Artist: lady_nepheene
Pairing: Kuchiki Byakuya/Unohana Retsu
Fandom: Bleach
Word Count: 2177
Theme: 25. Fence
Beta: kurippu
Dedicated: To my friend Panacea for the RP that inspired this
Disclaimer: I don’t own the characters, wish that I did but they belong to Kubo Tite and his people, me only borrowing them for awhile.
A/N: Set in the Soul Society/Save Rukia ark, I conclude that most people has already read/seen that already but still for the ones that hadn't seen it yet...well beware for spoilers.
Themes: 12/30 [ Table ]
Nakashima Kimiko was vivid with anger, pure raw anger that rolled from her like waves of electricity. Some members of her division could swear that they could see the aura of anger surrounding her when they walked past her. Those who were in her way moved parting like the Red Sea for her, not feeling like being killed off by their division’s third seat for something that was not really their fault.
Everyone in their division, probably in all of Soul Society, knew that Kimiko was not on the best ground with the sixth division captain, who was also her cousin, after Rukia had been as good as arrested in the human world and brought back as if she was a criminal by Byakuya and Renji. Though she could understand that what Rukia had done probably hadn’t been the best course of action, she also knew that her cousin had had reasons to do it and that these reasons were justified. Therefore she couldn’t find a reason for Byakuya not to help Rukia, but he hadn’t done anything which only angered Kimiko more because his lack of action was going to end with Rukia’s execution.
So at that moment Kimiko hated Byakuya, she hated the Gotei 13, she hated Sereitei, she hated the council of the 46 and she was praying that the ryokas, who had just managed to get inside, were successful in whatever they were planning to do.
“Oi…errr…Nakashima-san.” A very brave member of her division approached her.
“WHAT!” She spat and glared at the poor girl who had approached her. When she noticed that the young shinigami was trembling she took a deep relaxing breath and tried again. “I’m sorry, what do you need, Yui-san?”
“Well…Abarai-fukotaicho…” Yui back tensed when Kimiko’s glare returned full force. Suddenly she felt the need to run far away from there before saying what she had to say. “…Abarai-fukotaicho wants to talk with you.”
“Does he? So Renji wants to talk with me, interesting…” Kimiko’s emerald eyes flashed now, wave after wave of pure raw anger reflected in those eyes “Tell Renji that he can fu…”
Quite apparently Kimiko’s anger was not only directed only towards their captain, their lieutenant was also on her bad side, considering the foul mouthed answer. The division members had never heard Kimiko speak like that and half of the words were ones they didn’t even knew existed. When she saw the young shinigami run off in fear and shock, Kimiko felt a slight mix of smugness, because Yui would let Renji know that she was angry with him, and shame, for having treated the poor girl like that when it hadn’t been her fault.
“My, my…it seems that your anger just manifested full force.”
Kimiko’s back tensed like a tightened bow when she recognized the voice. Feeling very embarrassed, the flush on her cheeks proof enough, she turned around with her head lowered and her anger now more subdued than any of the members of the sixth division had ever seen.
“Unohana-taicho.” Kimiko said very, very softly not feeling like acknowledging Unohana’s presence after the horrible moment she had experienced. “What are you doing here?”
“Well I have come to see Kuchiki-sama, but instead I…”
“To see Kuchiki-taichou?” Kimiko suddenly had quite an epiphany, so powerful that she momentarily saw that she had rudely interrupted the 4th division captain. She finally raised her head with her eyes shimmering in excitement. “Thank the kami for your visit, this is just exactly what I needed. Kami finally heard me.”
Before Retsu could say anything, Kimiko’s hand shot out and took a hold of the gentle captain’s wrist to drag her to her captain’s office. The members of her division just watched in pure shock as their third seat pretty much manhandled another captain while sputtering something like ‘beating some sense into his thick head’ and some other things that they preferred to ignore, just like the bewildered expression on the fourth division captain’s face.
They stopped in front of the captain’s office. Kimiko gave Unohana a meaningful look before she left, not in the mood to see her captain. The fourth division captain only shook her head before she lightly knocked to make presence known, when no one answered she tried again. Slightly taken aback she dared to open the door only to notice that the office was empty, maybe she should wait for him for a little while.
•¨¤¨•§•¨¤¨•§•¨¤¨•§•¨¤¨•§•¨¤¨•§•¨¤¨•§•¨¤¨•
Since the situation with Rukia the atmosphere in the sixth division had become uncomfortable due to Kimiko. The young girl didn’t even try to disguise her anger towards him, which Byakuya had to ruefully admit was worse than he had anticipated since she had turned very rebellious and refused to see him in any type of circumstances. She had devised ways to completely avoid him even in the most menial of tasks, giving them to other members instead to avoid seeing him.
That wasn’t a big problem, Byakuya knew that she just needed to cool off and accept the fact that Rukia had broken the rules and needed to be punished. He didn’t like it either, but Kimiko’s wrath was affecting everyone in the division. Now they were more fearful of the repercusitions of crossing Kimiko in any way, it was like walking on thin ice when she was around. The only time they had seen each other, after Rukia was condemned, she had gave him such a vicious glare that he was sure that, had it been possible, she would have killed him a billion times over.
Therefore he had needed to get away from the division, leave the anger of Kimiko behind and try to forget that Rukia was going to die with him doing nothing to prevent it.
When he stepped into his office he was a surprised to find the fourth division captain waiting for him. For a few seconds they only looked at each other before he finally closed the door and tried to ignore her presence. He sat behind his desk and tried to focus instead of fixing the barely present disorder on his desk.
“You know that you don’t need to ignore me, right?” She finally said not really standing the silence anymore.
“Don’t I?” He retorted before he finally looked up at her. “Because if you have come here to talk to me about the situation with Rukia…”
“I didn’t come to do that. I’m well aware that Ukitake has already come to talk to you about that and apparently Kimiko-san wants me to beat some sense into you as well…” She said with a slight smile on her face “…But I have learned that there are some lines that I must not cross with you and this is one of them.”
He looked at her for a few tense seconds. “Then what are you doing here?”
“I came with a report for you…” She placed said report on the desk and gently slid it to him over the smooth surface. “It’s the report of the members of your division that used the fourth division’s facilities last month as well as the record of the supplies given to your division.”
“A report?” His voice echoed a bit dully while he took the offered report.
“Yes, I decided to deliver it myself this time.” She answered as if it wasn’t a surprising thing at all. “Now the first pages will show you the detail of the injuries and statistics of the members that used the division and…”
As uncharacteristic as it was on him, Byakuya wasn’t really paying attention to what she was explaining to him. At the moment it was the last thing on his mind, he hadn’t even opened the report yet she didn’t see, or more likely ignored, that he hadn’t and kept up her deliverance of the report, keeping the visit as formal and official as it was meant to be between two captains.
“Just tell me your opinion.” He interrupted the healer rudely, though that wasn’t his intention.
She immediately grew quiet and looked at him. “My opinion, do you truly want to hear it?”
“Aa.” Was his simple answer, but the guarded dubious look that she gave him left it more than clear to him that she hadn’t truly believed him. “You know that I wouldn’t bother to ask if I didn’t want to know.”
“I know that, but I’m not sure if you will truly want to hear what I think about the situation your sister currently is in.” When he gave her a poignant look it became obvious that he did. With a small sigh she stood up and walked around the desk to get closer. “Before I say anything I want you to promise me that you won’t interrupt me. I want you to think on the words that I say to you.”
“…Aa.” He didn’t exactly say ‘I promise’ but with that answer it was understood that he did.
“Alright then, I’m sure that this situation is giving you more stress than Kimiko-san. She thinks that the anger that she feels for you is justified for not doing anything to aid Kuchiki-san when she clearly expected you to do so but…I know the issue that has prevented you from taking action. Since you became a part of the Gotei 13, even before, I have always admired your great sense of honor and loyalty towards what you think is right as well as to the rules imposed within the Gotei 13…your grandfather taught you well when it came to that…
“But this situation has left you in a spot where you don’t know exactly what proper course of action is. There are two different oaths binding you, oaths that you gave to people that had, and still have a big influence on your life. You have honored those promises for a long time, yet right now they are clashing with one another and that’s what Kimiko-san doesn’t understand. She doesn’t know like I do how hard this is for you, right now you have to ask yourself what’s truly important.”
He looked at her while she leaned a bit against his desk “What’s truly important?”
“Yes, you have to decide which one of those two oaths is closer to your heart and which one should you follow in the end…” A small sad smile appeared on her face when he looked at her with a barely repressed lost expression. “Sumimasen, but this is a choice which I can’t and won’t help you make. You should do it on your own.”
After what seemed like an eternity he finally nodded, she was a bit worried that maybe her words had angered him. Being honest with herself and saying her opinion had also been very hard for her but she had needed to say it. She had to try to give at least a little bit of help since she couldn’t do anything more for him than that and being there for him.
When the atmosphere in the office started to become a bit more bearable, at least enough for Byakuya to finally take a look at the report she had brought him, Retsu decided that it was more than safe for her next course of action. Very gently she ran her fingertips over his cheek, effectively causing him to look up at her with a questioning expression at the sudden touch. With a fleeting smile she bent down a bit and kissed him.
“I know that you’ll make the best decision…” She commented once she stood straight and pushed away from the desk with the intention to leave. “Just think of this of another obstacle that you need to pass.”
Byakuya only looked at her, thoroughly taken aback and Retsu had wanted to laugh at that, it was so rare for her to manage to catch him by surprise; usually it was the other way around. Barely managing to suppress at least some giggles she nodded at him before she left his office knowing that right now he needed to be alone.
After all the decision he was about to make is, if not, more important than the one regarding them and like last time he needed to make it on his own.