The Gift

Kuchiki Byakuya found himself in a dilemma. A rather unusual one.

In the majority of situations, he could always resort to either three things: his skills as a Shinigami Captain to win battles against Hollows; his status as one of the four noble families whose service to the Seireitei stretched back earlier than anyone cared to remember; or his wealth, which generally ended any argument point blank. However, his current dilemma did not feature in any of the above categories.

Interacting with people had always been a weakness for Byakuya. In his youth, he was too hotheaded to care much about the opinions or emotions of others. More than two hundred years later, that still has not changed except for the fact that he has learned to cool and restrain his temper. After Hisana's death, it was easy to lock away his feelings. He is still working on this aspect in relation with Rukia.

So heaven forbid that Byakuya needed to praise someone or worse, in the present situation, be involved in gift giving. Actually, that's not quite accurate. He is presently pacing up and down the length of his gardens, unable to admire the sakura blossoms or the koi today, because he did not know what to give to an eighteen-year old girl's – really in ningen terms, a young woman's – birthday.

Inoue Orihime.

This name would have meant nothing to the twenty-eighth head of the Kuchiki clan two years ago. These two words would not have held any significance or brought to mind a female ryoka with hair the colour of sunset with a similar to his own pair of stormy gray eyes, distinguished from his by the soft permeation of dusky amethyst in hers.

He certainly took little heed to her when she came with Kurosaki and their nakama,blowing into the Seireitei like the storm that she was to rescue Rukia. He may have raised a brow at Unohana's frequent mentions of her name, combined with the near obsessive interest that Unohana, the fourth division, and Kurosutchi displayed at her healing abilities in the aftermath of Aizen's betrayal.

He can honestly say that he would have continued obliviously in that indifferent state towards her until the month that she came with Rukia to the Seireitei to train and hone her abilities. Orihime had stayed at the Kuchiki manor at Rukia's insistence, and he had no particular objections as long as it was not Kurosaki. Grateful as he was towards the substitute shinigami in forcing him to recognize the importance of his imouto and Hisana's promise, the two of them had difficulty coexisting in the same room without both their stubborn attitudes, tempers, and reiastus flaring.

In mentally dismissing her merely as that brat's comrade had been his first mistake.

He was taken off guard when she turned up outside his study the second evening of her stay, three hesitant but clear knocks on the doorframe being his only warning before he saw her, taking a moment too long by Kuchiki standards in attaching a name to her face. (He had not met her the first night as a result of patrol duties, having returned late and left early the following morning.)

"Is there something I can help you with, Inoue-san?"

"I-ie Kuchiki-taichou," here she drew a deep breath, as though to fortify herself, "I wanted to just say 'Thank you' for allowing me to stay here. I didn't want to impose, but Kuchiki-san insisted … and I'm not too familiar with anyone else apart from Zaraki-taichou and a few members of the eleventh division…and I'm sorry, did I interrupt you in the middle of something, Kuchiki-taichou?..."

He remembered every word of their conversation and her expressions multiple expressions that he did not believe a person could express in such a short amount of time – gratitude, sincerity, earnestness, and slight embarrassment combined with her dancing hands like sparrows just learning to fly when words failed her. He had not expected any politeness or gratitude from any friend associated with Kurosaki, and upon being confronted with living proof of quite the contrary, he found himself trying rapidly to readjust his assumptions and standards.

He must have been staring at her for too long in surprise because her features turned concerned with a touch of curiousity and her reiatsu she probably did not even realize it reaching out to comfort him.

"Is everything alright, Kuchiki-taichou?"

"Yes. … Everything's fine." An awkward pause had followed, neither knowing what to say. "You were not interrupting me."

Then in an extraordinary moment that completely broke the tension with a finesse that she had not intended Orihime had laughed.

"I'm glad."

Two words… two warm words with not a trace of pretense that he found so common in others within his own clan, and he could never look at her with quite the same eyes afterwards. And with each increasing encounter there was no way to avoid her when she was living under the same roof as him – though Byakuya would never admit that he had greater trouble in avoiding her and remaining indifferent than he did with his fifty years with Rukia – he found himself learning more about this strange human who was so alive.

He could barely keep his stoic composure when he found her singing and trilling in the kitchen not very loudly but nevertheless, ignoring the servants who had stared and whispered behind her back while she had rapidly sliced celeries, mushrooms … and was that wasabi she was dipping them in?

Their shared enjoyment of spicy food had increased their… association. Byakuya found himself conversing, actually conversing during dinnertimes with her and Rukia as though it were normal for him.

It was after a rather bland day at the sixth division that he learned another surprising fact about the girl – she was a good Go player…

and she was absolutely wicked with a deck of cards.

So it became a near daily habit that he would return from the sixth division to two cups of honey, ginger tea and a Go chessboard with Orihime putting down a textbook with a smile and 'Tadaima, Kuchiki-taichou', a habit that continued until dinner was called.

He learned through Rukia that Orihime, despite her looks and moments of ditziness, never ranked below the top three in her academics. Did he mention that she was the personification of Surprise?

Just when he thought he had learnt all there was to know about Inoue Orihime, he was thrown for another loop.

He did not expect her to find Hisana's shrine; after all these years, Rukia never did.

'But she's not Rukia,' Senbonzakura had whispered in his ear.

No, she wasn't. She was different from Rukia – and very different from Hisana.

He had initially thought that there was an intruder, given that servants rarely visited this section of the household, when he heard her voice.

"Oh, you must be Hisana-sama…"

He had drawn back behind the shoji doors when he caught sight of her hair. He found himself, surprisingly, unable to be angry with her as he would have normally with any else in this situation. Surprised, uncertain, maybe even curious at what she would say… but not furious…

"I am one of Kuchiki-san's friends, and she has so kindly invited me here to stay while I train in Soul Society. She is such a good friend that … I must confess that Kuchiki-san is sometimes too good to me, especially when I find myself jealous of her. She is so good and capable at helping Kurosaki-kun, at giving him back his smile… when I can't… because I'm too weak to fight…"

Byakuya refrained from contradicting at this point, if only to conceal his presence.

"But these past three weeks, I find myself feeling worse because I … have another reason to be jealous of Kuchiki-san … and this one, I don't think the feeling will stop, not even when I've turned green, like a leprechaun…"

He couldn't repress a smile at her imagination, before it returned to its usual frown.

"I'm jealous of Kuchiki-san because… because she has such a wonderful brother like Kuchiki-sama… always with her. She's never lonely… and each day, she can return home to a family…"

All speech broke down at this point because she was quietly sobbing, with the expertise of someone who routinely hides her tears.

"And this only makes me miss Sora-nii-chan all the more…"

Gasping for breath, the teenager wrapped an arm around herself as though to stop herself from… shattering (would that be the right word?)

"But he is such a good brother to her, regardless of the Aizen incident… a good man… Oh Hisana-sama, please excuse my blubbering, but you should be so happy and proud of the both of them… as I'm sure you are…"

When Orihime left, she had no awareness of the darker shadow lodging itself in the corner behind a silk screen. A shadow which stared intensely after her, long after she turned the corner, and her footsteps could no longer be heard.

Byakuya readily agrees that that last encounter (though he never showed himself) had overwhelmed him. She was jealous of Rukia? She had a brother? She thought him a good elder brother? She thought he was a good man?

Such was the state of his emotions that he couldn't face her for two days, needlessly and anxiously worrying her.

She managed to crash into him – literally – on the third day he was planning to avoid her, and she had tearfully asked him what she had done wrong, apologizing before he could give an answer, and pleading with grey diamonds in her eyes could they still not be, "pardon my rudeness in assuming", friends again?

He had led her to the gardens, trying to buy time and in a strenuous effort to compose himself when he did not know what to say. He had a sudden flash of envy at her ability to express herself with no inhibition or thoughts to propriety, circumstance or society.

He reassured her multiple times that she was not at fault. Somehow, he had irrationally let loose his temper on her – he forgets the meanderings of their conversation – questioning how she could be so certain that he was a good sibling, was capable of emotions, and was, more importantly, a good man. Looking into her wide eyes then, he had even startled himself at the intensity of his frustration, at how much her words had stirred and bothered him.

Instead of listing off reasons of their past interactions, his act of taking the blow of Shinsou for Rukia on the execution hill, or even a plain "I just know", she had surprised yet again when she spoke with a watery smile and a trembling voice.

"From your zanpakutou attacks to your gardens, I know Kuchiki-sama is all of these things because, even though Winter claims your heart, your favourite season is Spring."

It was a baffling response, and yet, a response that embodied her logic … a logic, which he found himself able to understand.

Thus, he is now in his current predicament, trying desperately to think of what to give Orihime for her birthday tomorrow evening. Matsumoto-fukutaichou of the tenth division had persuaded her human friend to spend her birthday in Soul Society with a huge party, and Byakuya could not stand the thought that his gift to his kokoro no tomo – "we'll be soul friends, Kuchiki-sama" when he told her he did not think they were just friends – would be without meaning or second-rate to the others. Yes, he was a Kuchiki damn it, and he has a Kuchiki-standard of pride. This was especially difficult for him, Kuchiki pride or not, because he had shamefully never properly celebrated Rukia's birthday or gave his sister presents.

Of course, there were the finest crafted combs and woven scarves he could afford for her. Arguably, his most special gift had been the big Chappy bunny he gave her when she was recuperating from her injuries…

He was between a stone lantern and sakura tree when an idea dawned on him. Unorthodox, yes, but brilliant in its originality, and … he gave a quick mental calculation, there would be enough time – he was the best placed with his influence and position to pull strings to obtain Orihime's gift. Without any word, he shunpoed out of the garden.

The following evening…

Orihime sighed as she gazed out at the crowd of her friends, present to celebrate her birthday. Oh, she was happy, beyond ecstatic really, at not being alone, having an enormous chocolate-strawberry-matcha birthday cake with plenty of wasabi sushi and red bean manjuu on the side, and receiving so many presents.

She had finished opening all of them from everyone. Well not everyone, since Kuchiki-sama was not there.

'Silly girl, he could be busy with a mission or clan duties. Don't be so selfish!' she reprimanded herself.

There was a sudden lull in the party atmosphere. Looking up, Orihime met the granite, grey eyes of the man she was reminiscing about. She blushed when she knew she shouldn't since there was nothing to blush about.

"Never pegged you for a party crasher Byakuya. Did you not know what to get for Inoue?" Ichigo remarked with a smirk.

"Kuchiki-sama, I'm so glad you're here." Orihime immediately interceded, hoping to prevent katanas from being drawn in a roomful of people.

"Forgive my late arrival, Orihime," Byakuya ignored the astonished gazes and looks he was receiving, yes, being her 'friend of the heart' after two years gave him the right to address her by her first name, and there's nothing more to it "but there was someone I was searching for –" he gently touched her shoulder to indicate he was not finished yet when she parted her lips to reassure him no doubt that there was no problem and she is just glad that he could make it despite being so busy with so many different duties "- who really wishes to see you".

She gave him a curious look then. Who? Her eyes asked him. He gestured towards the doorway.

And her breath lodged in her throat. She was choking up.

Byakuya heard Kurosaki sputtering in the background and the confused murmurings of the other shinigami, but his sole attention was focused on the birthday girl, watching the flitting of emotions in her eyes. Just as he begins to worry that he might have made a mistake, and that his non-stop efforts during the past twenty-four hours for a two-day pass were wasted, Kuchiki Byakuya experienced his first tackle-embrace from a girl.

Had it not been for his training, he would have collapsed in an undignified heap on the floor instead of simply sliding one foot backwards how does she have that much strength? when he found himself with his arms full of Orihime. She was too small to reach his shoulders; hence, her arms were wrapped tightly around his waist.

He finally saw her eyes when she gazed up at him, and again and again he was floored by the degree of happiness, joy and gratefulness within them. He soon realised that she was repeating something while he had been in a daze –

"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Oh thank you so much, Kuchiki-sama. It's the most wonderful birthday present I've ever received!" and Byakuya could not help the shadow of a smile that insistently tugged at the corners of his lips, which threatened to become a full-blown smirk when he noticed the Quincy tensing at her words and glaring not so subtly at him.

Not wishing to see her cry though, he wiped away the tear trails on her cheeks before bending down a little to whisper into the shell of her ear, "I think someone wishes you to hug him as well." She smiled, a dazzling brilliant smile at him, whispering one more 'thank you' before she turned, running towards the figure at the doorway with open arms –

"Sora-nii-chan!"

A/N Hello minna! Please review. Constructive criticisms are most welcome. Flames shall be ignored. And I do not own Bleach.