~Shattered Mirage of Noble Dreams~

By - ByaRukifan

Timeline: After Aizen's defeat, After the Lay Me Under the Frozen Moon storyline

Pairing(s): Byakuya/Rukia

~Chapter Four~

Klang!

Their swords clashed as they sparred in the dimly lit, outdoor, training area. It was dark, the lanterns and the moon being the only source of light as Byakuya and Rukia trained sometime after having just put the twins to bed.

"Byakuya?" Rukia asked after a short moment, both of them lowering their swords.

"Yes?"

"I think the twins know something is going on." She began to explain, "Mainly Yuki."

Byakuya came closer to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulder before giving her a small smile. "Even if they do know something it doesn't matter. They're safe here, they'll be fine."

She placed her hand on his, "You're right, I just can't help but worry. You know?" She smiled.

He leaned down and kissed the side of her face, "I know. I worry too, not just for the twins but for you too. It's only natural." Byakuya then backed away and readied his zanpakutou, "Now, let's continue."

–

"Hey...Hey, Yuki." Yuichi whispered as he sat next to his sister's bed, trying to wake her. "Yuki."

After a moment, she stirred and her eyes slowly opened. "Wha? Yuichi?...What are you doing?" She asked tiredly. "You need to be sleeping right now."

"I heard something outside. Like metal or somethin' banging together."

Yuki blinked and shook her head, "Doesn't matter...It's probably nothing anyway and if it is we need to stay here."

"I think it's Otou-san and Okaa-san."

The younger twin's interest was immediately piqued. "Really?"

Her brother nodded a small smile appearing on his face.

"If it's them what do you think they're doing?"

He shrugged. "Don't know, but..."

Yuki sat up and looked around, "Okay, we can go see. After we go see though we come straight back and go to sleep like we're supposed to."

Yuichi grinned, "Deal!"

As soon as those words were said Yuki crawled out of bed and followed her brother outside.

–

Rukia brought her sword down hard, but Byakuya blocked it with his own blade. They were focusing on improving Rukia's strike speed, and Byakuya could see that the training was already beginning to pay off. He was pleased Rukia's skill hadn't withered even though it had been years since they had last trained together.

"If I didn't know any better I'd say you've been secretly training yourself." He said, voicing his thoughts.

His wife smirked before blocking his sword and jumping back, "You're right."

He smiled back at her before disappearing with shun po. Rukia quickly turned on her heel and countered against Byakuya's zanpakutou as he appeared behind her. They clashed blades multiple times before Rukia made a quick turn on the ball of her foot and attempted to bring her sword on Byakuya's side; her attack slightly resembling a dance move. Byakuya once again used his speed to avoid her attack.

Yuki and Yuichi peeked from behind a corner to see their parents sparring against one another. They watched them go back and forth between clashes, some of them often too quick for them to comprehend.

"Wow." Yuichi said in awe while Yuki stayed silent at his side.

They watched their parents clash swords for a few more moments before seeing them come close together for a short time, as if they were sharing a secret before they disappeared in a flash.

Before either twin could react they felt a presence behind them. Slowly, they turned around, knowing already that they had been caught. They turned to see Byakuya and Rukia staring down at them with a look that they knew meant they were waiting on an explanation.

"W-we're sorry." Yuki apologized after a brief moment of silence. "We both heard a noise and thought something was wrong. So we got up to go look..."

Rukia and Byakuya looked at each other before giving a sigh.

Rukia squatted down in front of them, "We're sorry we woke you, but even if you were both curious about what was going on you shouldn't have left your room. Even though we're at home and this place is heavily guarded it's still dangerous."

The twins gave a nod, "Sorry." They said, apologizing in unison.

Rukia nodded and stood straight again, "Let's get you two back to bed."

Yuki and Yuichi smiled up at their mother.

"Okay."

"'Kay."

Rukia then offered the two her hands before she and Byakuya turned and began walking, leading the twins back to bed.

–

Once they had put the twins to bed for the second time that night, Byakuya and Rukia decided they should get some rest as well. They had just emerged from the bathroom and were now clean of any sweat and grime they had received during their training session.

Byakuya moved close to Rukia on the bed, both of them getting under the covers for warmth before he pulled her close and kissed her lightly on her head as she cuddled up to him in the dark.

"We probably need to find a better time or place to train so we won't wake them next time." Byakuya said after he secured his embrace around Rukia's small frame.

She nodded against him, "There's a spot right outside the mansion that I used to go to for secret training. It's not far away but it's far enough as to where no one will be disturbed."

"We can try that spot out tomorrow night then after dinner."

"Alright." She said, smiling against him.

Byakuya buried his his face into her hair and shut his eyes. "Goodnight."

Rukia echoed his words quietly before shutting her own eyes. Soon after they were both in a nice, restful slumber for the night.

….What the shit? WHAT TOOK ME SO LONG TO TYPE THIS! I still ask myself this...yes. It's not even a long chapter but I guess procrastination and high school got the better of me. Well its SUMMER NOW! Yeahhhhhh~

I think this is the stupidest I've ever acted in an author's not...Ah well, WHO CARES, RIGHT! I UPDATED! (Happy faise of happiness and sparklies)

Anyways, yeah. I'm glad summer is finally here. Junior year was hectic and I could only focus on writing. That's good though, I ended up getting A LOT of stuff written for my Byakuya Bleach-Movie Plot fanfiction. I even wrote some oneshots involving the main antagonist of the story which will be included as interludes in the story at some points when I release it.

One of the oneshots is actually already online. I posted on a forum that I go on (Club Bleach) because the main antagonist is a character I ended up using as an RP character in the Bleach RP we have going on. If any of you guys would like to read it just send me a private message and I'll provide a link.

I'll get chapter five next weekend now that I actually have time on my side now. Just in case your wondering (though I think I've said this before) I'm getting in as much fluff as I can before all the drama goes down. () Huh? What? I didn't give a hint...What 'chu talkin' 'bout? (Looks away.)

About the movie plot story, I'm actually REALLY happy with how it's turning out. So when it finally does get released I'm hoping you guys will love it to. So far the oneshots/interlude chapters have actually ended up being over twenty pages in Open Office (SO LONGGGGGG) and I actually had to split the second oneshot into two parts.

THANK YOU to all who've stuck with this story and have patiently...or impatiently waited on it to update. Sorry for taking so long and I hope you enjoy this chapter. I honestly had no idea how to start it off right and maybe that's what took me so long, but Idk~ at least I updated.

Well, read and review~

The reviews you guys gave really helped motivate me recently and I'm really thankful for it~

NO FLAMING