Title: Anniversary
Pairing: Byakuya x Hisana
Rating: G
Summary: Rukia is not to disturb Byakuya on this day.
Author's Note: This was written for a friend during a Christmas exchange.
Disclaimer: I am not Kubo Tite, thus I do not own Bleach. I do not own these
characters. I am only borrowing them for my own enjoyment.
She was told, implicitly, that she was not to disturb her brother on this day. It was the first rule murmured to her by those that attended to the noble family, the oft-repeated statute always muttered in hushed tones that even surpassed the moderated sounds of typical speech in the Kuchiki home. It was a secret that everyone knew, law that was never once uttered by the lord of the house himself. Rukia never questioned it--not aloud, anyway. Why this day was special she didn't know, and none ever gave a reason. It was the elephant in the room, the thing no one wanted to say but all who knew were thinking.
Do not disturb Kuchiki-sama on this day.
As the years passed Rukia's curiosity festered, like a wound that hadn't been treated properly. The weak lid on her inquisitiveness couldn't hold forever, though she couldn't bring herself to ask any of the servants exactly why, every year on this day, her brother was to be left undisturbed.
Asking Byakuya himself never occurred to her. That would be akin to wandering over to the elephant in the room and poking it awake. Openly acknowledging it was a crime worse than presenting her troubles to him on this day. Still, the question of the why never left her, and when that day came every year she spent the hours puzzling over thatwhy.
Why this day?
Why on this day did Byakuya look even darker than normal? Why did his expression, forever the kind of dark, passive mask that showed nothing, show a trace of...something...just under the surface? Why, after his duties were done, did he retreat into the confines of his room and remain, not even leaving for dinner? What was it about this day..?
Rukia figured it out on the fifth anniversary for this event since joining the Kuchiki family. It clicked into her mind as she looked at her reflection in the mirror that morning, a brief glance that returned back to Rukia her own image...and just beyond her the image of her older brother, glancing at her as he passed her room, that fathomless emotion in the depths of his eyes.
And then it clicked in her mind.
Being told that she resembled Byakuya's late wife.
Late wife.
Late.
Do not disturb Kuchiki-sama on this day.
Rukia watched her brother walk down the hall, back straight, head high, showing nothing of his mourning except on the edges of his sharp gaze, muted and held restrained. He left no clue that, on this day, he acknowledged the death of his late wife.
Rukia would never ask if this really was why Byakuya was left to himself on this day more so than usual. Would never pry into this issue, instead thinking to herself that a man should be given peace to mourn as he saw fit. Be it all at once, or slowly, a prolonged process celebrated only once a year.