Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ 30Kisses ❯ Transition ( Chapter 5 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Niu Shiy-Ue 
#15 Perfect Blue
Prequel to 'Biting at the Moon'
Anime/Manga: Bleach Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 11.30.2006 | Pages: 1 | Words: 680 | Visits: 853 | Status: Work In Progress
#15 Perfect Blue
Prequel to 'Biting at the Moon'
Anime/Manga: Bleach Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 11.30.2006 | Pages: 1 | Words: 680 | Visits: 853 | Status: Work In Progress
If it wasn't for Renji he wouldn't have ever noticed.
It was less than a week after the ryoka had gone home. Both he and Renji had been declared fit to leave the 4th Division, but where not yet cleared for anything beyond desk duty. In a whim of generosity, he had opened his home to his fukutaicho, claiming it would be easier to deliver 6th Division's paperwork to one place rather than dividing it between the dormitories and the Kuchiki residence, and that the house servants would be far more quiet and efficient than the lower officers.
It was certainly not a belated apology for the past fifty years and two weeks.
Rukia had played buffer for them the first few days, but finally Ukitate had shown up, claiming her back to the 13th Division for some much needed training. She had left reluctantly, the expression on her face showing that she clearly expected to see a battlefield when she came back.
Fortunately, interaction had been kept to a minimum for most of the day. Byakuya had been out in the garden, stretching out his stiff muscles and Renji had stayed inside, working on the paperwork for the trip to Ningenkai that Yamato Genryuusai had hinted was coming. It was only in the evening, while they were waiting for Rukia to return that they had been left in the same room together.
"Woah, is this Rukia? I didn't think you'd have a picture of her right here in the main hall."
Byakuya drew a deep breath and let it out slowly. Renji had looked like the Rukongai trash he was that first day, gawping at every little thing and he had found it incredibly annoying, though expected. He reminded himself that this would be the first formal dinner in the house since Aizen's . . . departure, therefore the dining room was still all new to Renji, and readied himself to play host once again.
A quick glance over confirmed what Renji was looking at. It was a small portrait of Hisana, made around the same time that the photo on the shrine in his room had been. Same pose, but different media. "No, that is my late wife."
Brown eyes widened. "I'm amazed. I really thought . . . wow, they could be the same person."
Byakuya was about to agree casually, but Renji's own close examination forced him to scrutinize the picture again. The similarities were significant: the same butterfly-boned features, the same ink dark hair with that spiked below the chin and the wide luminous eyes that seemed to fill half of the thin face. Yet, Byakuya couldn't help but be struck by the differences instead. Hisana was just a shade paler, her hair a few centimeters longer. Small, delicate wrinkles marred her face, at the corner of her eyes, shadowing her mouth and one pencil-thin line across her forehead. She was smiling and looked calm, but the smile was sad and her calmness was more that of resignation than serenity. And her eyes . . .
He was saved from answering by Rukia's arrival. "Konbanwa, Niisama and Renji-kun. I hope I haven't kept you waiting."
"Not at all." A swift gesture signaled the arrival of their meal.
Later that evening, when Renji and Rukia had left to discuss the new possible assignment, he found himself staring at Hisana's portrait again. In his mind he compared her features to Rukia's and found them remarkably different. "How can Renji be so blind?" he whispered to himself.
It was the eyes that differed most he decided. Both had dark eyes, almost indigo in color. Hisana's had been even darker, shrouded by sadness till they were a melancholy purple in color. Rukia's on the other hand were lighter, brightened by some internal spark that Hisana had lacked. More liking staring up into a midnight sky full of stars.
Really, they're not the same at all . . .
It was less than a week after the ryoka had gone home. Both he and Renji had been declared fit to leave the 4th Division, but where not yet cleared for anything beyond desk duty. In a whim of generosity, he had opened his home to his fukutaicho, claiming it would be easier to deliver 6th Division's paperwork to one place rather than dividing it between the dormitories and the Kuchiki residence, and that the house servants would be far more quiet and efficient than the lower officers.
It was certainly not a belated apology for the past fifty years and two weeks.
Rukia had played buffer for them the first few days, but finally Ukitate had shown up, claiming her back to the 13th Division for some much needed training. She had left reluctantly, the expression on her face showing that she clearly expected to see a battlefield when she came back.
Fortunately, interaction had been kept to a minimum for most of the day. Byakuya had been out in the garden, stretching out his stiff muscles and Renji had stayed inside, working on the paperwork for the trip to Ningenkai that Yamato Genryuusai had hinted was coming. It was only in the evening, while they were waiting for Rukia to return that they had been left in the same room together.
"Woah, is this Rukia? I didn't think you'd have a picture of her right here in the main hall."
Byakuya drew a deep breath and let it out slowly. Renji had looked like the Rukongai trash he was that first day, gawping at every little thing and he had found it incredibly annoying, though expected. He reminded himself that this would be the first formal dinner in the house since Aizen's . . . departure, therefore the dining room was still all new to Renji, and readied himself to play host once again.
A quick glance over confirmed what Renji was looking at. It was a small portrait of Hisana, made around the same time that the photo on the shrine in his room had been. Same pose, but different media. "No, that is my late wife."
Brown eyes widened. "I'm amazed. I really thought . . . wow, they could be the same person."
Byakuya was about to agree casually, but Renji's own close examination forced him to scrutinize the picture again. The similarities were significant: the same butterfly-boned features, the same ink dark hair with that spiked below the chin and the wide luminous eyes that seemed to fill half of the thin face. Yet, Byakuya couldn't help but be struck by the differences instead. Hisana was just a shade paler, her hair a few centimeters longer. Small, delicate wrinkles marred her face, at the corner of her eyes, shadowing her mouth and one pencil-thin line across her forehead. She was smiling and looked calm, but the smile was sad and her calmness was more that of resignation than serenity. And her eyes . . .
He was saved from answering by Rukia's arrival. "Konbanwa, Niisama and Renji-kun. I hope I haven't kept you waiting."
"Not at all." A swift gesture signaled the arrival of their meal.
Later that evening, when Renji and Rukia had left to discuss the new possible assignment, he found himself staring at Hisana's portrait again. In his mind he compared her features to Rukia's and found them remarkably different. "How can Renji be so blind?" he whispered to himself.
It was the eyes that differed most he decided. Both had dark eyes, almost indigo in color. Hisana's had been even darker, shrouded by sadness till they were a melancholy purple in color. Rukia's on the other hand were lighter, brightened by some internal spark that Hisana had lacked. More liking staring up into a midnight sky full of stars.
Really, they're not the same at all . . .