Perpetual Spring–the Second Song
Meristem:
"Kuchiki-dono, you need not concern yourself over this stranger," the old man set the tray down gently. "I will make sure that she is fully recovered so she may return from where she came from."
"It's fine," Byakuya did not get up from the unconscious shinigami's side. "I have no duties tomorrow. I want to question her when she awakes."
The old man bowed out, "As you wish, Kuchiki-dono."
Byakuya picked up the cup of tea from the tray and stared down at the girl on the futon. Her shinigami uniform had been removed so she was only in her nagajugan with her eyes closed peacefully. Her zanpakuto lay beside her. Its sheath was a deep ocean blue and the hilt was bound with a pure-white fagoting pattern. The hilt guard was a type of white gold in the shape of a lotus. She wasn't dead. Byakuya had made sure of that, and her chest was rising and falling steadily.
It had been a shock when he almost ungracefully tripped over this girl during one of his late night walks in his blooming lotus garden. There should not have been anyone in his gardens, except possibly Rukia. Except, Rukia was now in the sixth division prison. Byakuya had put her there himself. But, the detail that was gnawing at Byakuya was the unconscious girl's features.
It had been difficult to see in the darkness when he was bringing the girl into one of the many empty rooms in the Kuchiki mansion, but he would have dropped her if he had seen her features while carrying her. The girl's face was practically a carbon copy of Suiren's. Her hair was even of about the same length–down to the knees. If she opened her eyes, he would have expected to see the clear aquamarine that he had seen so many times in Suiren's eyes.
"Who are you?" Byakuya whispered. His fingers reached to touch the girl's cheek, but he withdrew them before they made contact. It was unseemly to touch a stranger unless they were fighting. Byakuya paused before getting up in a quiet swish of his haori. He needed to calm himself. He needed to take a walk outside to clear his head. Byakuya took a final glance at the girl before closing the door with a quiet snap.
The girl's eyes opened abruptly, but she made no move to get up and listened for the possible return of Byakuya's footsteps and watching the dark wooden beams above her head. After being reassured that Byakuya would not be returning, she sat up, stretching her arms. She had the smooth agility of an athlete and it was evident when she stood up and bent backwards, forming a D when her hands reached her ankles. Next, she tested out her legs by sliding her right leg up and holding it up, forming a perfect vertical split. She did the same with her left leg.
Everything in order, she thought. Now...where's my stuff...?Urahara-jii's going to pay for this...
During her small stretching session, the girl had not heard the footsteps approaching the door. Byakuya slid open the door again. He had come to retrieve his tea and he fixed his gray eyes on his unknown guest.
The girl turned, startled, and her warm brown eyes met Byakuya's gray ones.
She stared at him, her mouth had fallen open slightly from surprise, "Um... hajimemashite?"
The water wheel of fate had begun to turn.
Vocab: nagajugan--white Japanese underclothing worn under the kimono. Hajimemashite--literally "let us begin," and equivalent to "nice meeting you" I suppose.
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Hello, everyone! This is, as you probably realized, the (hopefully long awaited?) sequel to Withered Flowers. I really did start writing it the weekend I promised, but I decided (28 pages into it of all things) that I didn't like how it was formatted, and how it was appearing to turn out. So, after finishing my last college application, I scrapped Perpetual Spring, and began Perpetual Spring--the Second Song. :) I hope you enjoy this very short first chapter! Some may be curious about why I added Second Song, and perhaps whether it has any symbolic importance. It actually doesn't. I just thought of "the Second Song" because I was thinking of kido spells and another friend's plans to use it in his own fanfiction.
Regarding the title of this chapter, "Meristem." It's an AP Bio word that I had to get from a friend who is more or less of an expert on flowers (b/c she seems to just be an expert on everything...) and it is the shoot of a young flower or plant.
I also need to notify you of a mistake that I made all the way in Withered Flowers. I realized I did the kanji wrong for Suiren's name. It was actually 水蓮. The other kanji I used, 連, actually meant "ripples." My apologies everyone! The author is a little kanji-illiterate. :)
Thank you for starting Perpetual Spring--the Second Song! And, again, please review, I really appreciate them!