This story marks my return into the world of fanfic writing, and so, I hope it will be of good quality.
Title explanation: 'Byakuya' means 'White Light'
'Orihime' means something like 'Weaving Princess'
I know it is not the most imaginative title in existence, but it has been a long night and this one was the only one that "clicked" during the title choosing phase.
I am aware that all my previous stories have supported Byakuya X Rukia, but time it is different. During my absence I have started liking Byakuya X Orihime for reasons that I may or may not explain at a later time. I am aware that it is a complete crack pairing, but everyone has a crack pairing that he/she likes and this one is mine.
I'll take this opportunity to inform readers that I shall not continue my "Heaven's not enough" fic, simply because it ships Byakuya X Rukia and it is not my style to pair a character with multiple others at the same time. If I ever come back to liking Byakuya X Rukia (which is unlikely), I will consider continuing that fic.
Even though Byakuya X Orihime is a crack pairing, I dislike cracky plots, so because there would be no original, realistic and sense-full way to get them together within the already existing Bleach universe, this story shall take place in an AU. Despite this, I shall do my best to keep all characters in character, as well as bringing the maximum amount of references from the Bleach universe.
Enjoy.
"Inside my soul dwell ancient secrets and heavy longings."
. . .
Had the night passed already? The shy sunrays that managed to slip past his window curtains caught him completely awake. He turned his face away from them, closing his eyes, hoping in vain that maybe he could fall asleep for just a few moments before he had to get up. Perhaps he could stay in bed for the entire day and simply disregard the traditions, the rules. The ruckus he would create with yet another delay would be too much.
Kuchiki Byakuya mustered the strength to get up, letting out a long sigh before parting the curtains, allowing summer sun to bask his room in warmth. He had already delayed this for decades and now there was no turning it around. In truth, he did not mind the responsibilities and prestige that came with his rank, but if there were days in which he wished he had not been born as the Avatar of the white ones, this day would be one of them. What if he renounced his title? That would solve his problem. He could be one of the warriors or commoners that could not care less about avoiding such traditions. A small smile curbed his lips in amusement – amusement towards the utter absurdities his mind could concoct simply to avoid what had to be done. He repeated that again to himself… it had to be done. All Avatars were obliged by thousands of years of traditions to go through the same process, although some of his current peers could not care less. For a moment, he tried to envision Zaraki Kenpachi in his position.
"Dreadfull…"
Regardless of what other Avatars would do, he understood the risk of him not following such customs, especially in dire times like these. Him, most of all, had to do it, because of his double status; both as a noble lord and as Avatar. Leading by example is one of his roles, which he would fulfill without fail, he thought to himself… as his heart was breaking.
[…]
"Are you enjoying your breakfast, Byakuya-sama?" Byakuya could have sworn the bite he swallowed had gone the wrong way at hearing the question. From behind his emotionless mask, he often took advantage of his rank to insert sarcastic lines towards his fellow members of the Kuchiki house and observing, in silent amusement, their reaction of trying to understand whether he was serious or not. A habit from his childhood, that simply took its time to die, he thought to himself with a smile. This time, however, the nobles sitting at his table had cornered him and were more than content at the opportunity to finally thrown their own spears.
"It is… up to Kuchiki standards." He answered, complimenting every person at the table in a subtle attempt at soothing the beasts.
"Please do not hold back on eating bread, Byakuya-sama." Came another pointy tip…
"Oh yes, indeed." …and another.
During all but the rarest occasions, the table in the main dining hall would be close to empty at the time he would eat breakfast. At best, Rukia would keep him company, seated at the other end of the table, barely within her voice's reach. This was due to the fact that his business at the 6th division would require attention at early hours – too early for the bulk of noblemen and women residing within the many wings of the Kuchiki estate.
Today, however, Byakuya could not help but notice how every possible family member and their dog had, through pure coincidence, gathered at the table, exactly at the time of his breakfast. Not to say that such an event would make it less boring or silent. Oh no… This was not at all like the loud lunch get-together that occurred at the 6th division barracks. The white ones were all well versed in maintaining stoic faces and displaying proper manners at any and all events; apart from the occasional hushed whisper – and now the sarcasm filled remarks – breakfasts at Kuchiki manor had little to no difference in execution, regardless of how many members attended.
"You will be going to the human world today, right, Byakuya Nii-sama?" as if possible, the room got even more silent at Rukia's intervention.
"That is correct, Rukia." Poor, clueless girl, he thought. Despite knowing that she did not put salt on the wound intentionally, he could not help but ponder on her bad timing to be asking such questions.
"You should take her with you, Byakuya-sama." Ginrei Kuchiki's voice came as a knife, cutting through the tension in the room. "That is, If you so desire. I am certain that Miss Rukia would enjoy the short break from our world." Being Byakuya's grandfather, Ginrei would not normally address him with such honorifics when the conversation was just between the two of them. However, with the crowd in the room, he did not miss the chance to remind everyone in a subtle way that, without exception, all must show the head of the family respect – even the former head. After all, Kuchikis were supposed to lead by example.
"I…" Rukia opened her mouth, but words did not seem to form past the first one. Upon looking at the dismissive expressions of her 'family members', she decided it was best to wait for her adoptive brother's response.
"I will take it into consideration." Byakuya could not help but notice Rukia's face light up to the prospect of her actually going to the human world. Ginrei seemed to be satisfied with this much, given his nod. Despite having initially opposed her adoption into the family for the same reasons that every other white one did, except Byakuya, he would be the only one who would ever notice or address Rukia nowadays. Byakuya assumed that Ginrei's long years had given him sufficient wisdom to know when pride was less important than a life.
"Preparations for your departure are already being set into motion, Byakuya-sama." His attention was brought upon Ginko Kuchiki, one of the eldest whites. You will be escorted into the human world by four others. One of them shall be Abarai Renji, your lieutenant.
"I am perfectly capable of taking care of this task without assistance." A frown instilled itself upon Byakuya's visage.
"It is not a matter of aptitude, of course…" the elder took in a long breath, finding his words "…but rather a respect of protocol."
"I see." In truth, it was because they feared he would change his mind, he thought. Could he blame them? They had already agreed to delay this event by so many years, and with the death of his wife, Hiasana as painful as ever, he himself wondered if he was actually going along with this. He even understood why they would send his lieutenant – to remind him that this was not only his duty as the head of the family, but that of an Avatar as well.
[…]
"Phew… It has been a loooong time since I came here, Kuchiki-sama." The redhead took in a big whiff of the surrounding air "Well… the smell has gotten worse."
"Right this way, Rukia-sama." One of the escorts helped the petite girl pass through the Senkaimon, right before the portal closed behind them.
"Oy, Rukia… don't ya think it smells worse than before?" Renji elbowed her slightly, narrowing his eyes. Since she had been taken to their world, Rukia seemed to had developed a very strong bond with the red haired man next to her, and while they both displayed a short fuse in temper when it came to eachother's presence, Byakuya knew the bond was genuine. It made him glad that she could connect to one of their kind, despite everything she had been through. It was also the only reason why he allowed frequent visits from his lieutenant at the mansion, as well as sending him invitations to events in which Rukia would participate. "Then again… I doubt humans can smell as good as we can. Well, in case you can't sense the difference, I'm telling ya… it smells worse than before."
"Lord Kuchiki… we are exactly where you specified. Is there any part of the city where you would like to start the search?"
"Contact our acquaintances at Urahara Shop and inform them of our arrival." Byakuya chose to ignore the probability that the elders had probably sent word with the event's date and time to the shop owner.
"Ka-ra-ku-ra…" Renji interrupted their conversation by reading the name of the city Byakuya had chosen from what seemed like a map. "Why Karakura town? I heard all the good ones are in the big cities and-" He immediately felt his body tense up as cold sweat traveled down his spine, when making eye contact with Byakuya. "T-Then again… Karakura town seems more than… perfect… sir."
"Idiot…you dare insult Nii-sama's tastes?!" she pulled him down into a bow, facing her brother.
"Psch… I said it was perfect, didn't I?"
"And how would you know where the best ones are, Renji?" came the emotionless reply from his superior "I had not believed you took active interest in such things, yet."
"I..." His face had turned completely red.
"I understand, however. It is never too early to start, given the situation of our species." The coming days might not be his definition of pleasurable, but that did not mean he could not have fun at his lieutenant's expense.
"No! It's not like that at all. I… errm…" the fact that Rukia was looking insistently at him, waiting for an excuse at how he got such knowledge was weighing him down even more. "I'm sorry, sir." An apology seemed the only thing that came out.
"They are already expecting us, sir." One of the servants intervened after having removed a cell phone from his ear. "Transportation has been dispatched, and will take us to your reserved villa on the outskirts."
A simple nod was enough to dismiss the man in front of him. Renji had been right; the human world did smell different. It had been decades since he came here last, to find and adopt Rukia into the Kuchiki family in order to respect the dying wish of the woman he loved. The moment of meeting her was not a pleasant memory in his mind, and though he knew better than to blame Rukia for being a near-perfect image of Hisana, his late wife, he could never bring himself to look upon her during the first years of her stay at the Kuchiki mansion. This, in turn, lead to a wide chasm forming between them, and yet, despite all the rough treatment she had received from the family members, she always looked upon him with respect and awe. The little girl's impeccable behavior would only be disrupted when she would be in the presence of his simple minded lieutenant; proof of such was happening right behind him as the two had not finished arguing about Renji's last slip-up.
"So tell me… what make the biiiig city girls so 'good', oh wise and knowledgeable one? Hmmm?"
"Rukia… it's not what you think, ok? Besides…you don't have to feel frustrated because you are a small town girl."
"What?!"
Byakuya would have allowed himself a slight smile, as reaction to their ongoing argument, if the limousine which was supposed to pick them up had not arrived.
[…]
The remainder of the day had not been as fruitful as those surrounding Byakuya had hoped. A message sent to Sereitei described that the White Avatar had refused every possible option displayed to him. Despite the growing desperation of the Kuchiki elders, they could not subvert the importance of his reason for denying the ones presented – that his choice had to represent the peak of its species, in order to be worthy of an Avatar's attention – and so, their stay in the human world was agreed upon to be prolonged by a number of three days. Byakuya had to hold in a smile upon receiving their response; a short lived smile, however, as he knew that within three days, they would be the ones smiling.
"D'you hear, Rukia? Our vacation has been extended for another 3 days. Cheers to Lord Kuchiki, huh?" Renji gulped another sip out of his sake bottle, knowing full well that his duties for the day had ended.
"Idiot… Nii-sama is here on important business!" she looked with reluctance at the food in front of her.
"Yeah… and while he is handling his important business, I'm gonna enjoy the time spent here, right, Urahara-san?"
"Between you and me, your… brother is one tough customer, Kuchiki-san. You'd think the man would be more easily satisfied." Kisuke chose to ignore the rambling half-drunk.
"That's one huge understatement!"Renji's voice resonated in the background.
"He is simply keeping in mind the future of the clan… "
"Won't be he joining us for dinner? An old friend of his will be arriving at any moment."
"An old friend? Wh-"
"I saw Kuchiki-sama leaving the villa about a half hour ago. I just assumed he went to hunt the prize by himself, so I didn't say anything… hehe…" Renji stopped her from finishing.
"Is that really all that you can think about, fool?!"
"My, my… Yoruichi-san will be disappointed that he's not here."
[…]
"Thank you, again, for helping me with this, Sado-kun… Tatsuki-chan."
"Of course we'd help you. Walking around in the park at these hours for a girl is not safe, damn it! So why have you brought us here?"
"Uhm… well…" she opened one of the bags she was carrying.
"Bread?!"
"Not just bread. Croissants, baguettes, sweet-rolls… Since I've been working at the pastry shop, I've noticed that everything we don't sell is thrown away at the end of the day, so I asked my boss for permission about taking the leftovers myself to give away to people without food."
"How is it that you still have enough energy for this, with a job and college on your schedule?" Instead of answering, however, Orihime shoved one of the bags in Tatsuki's hands.
"Quick. Quick! Dinner time has already passed and I'm sure these people didn't get a healthy meal."
"Uhm… These sweets can't really be considered a healthy meal either." Chad's words did not seem to phase the orange-head who had taken the lead, bread-bag in hand.
The lamp posts that littered the alleys of the park started flickering to life just as Orihime finished handing out the last baguette. It wasn't much - definitely not enough to fill their bellies - but even this was better than nothing. She took a deep breath, enjoying the warm summer breeze. The sun was barely visible from behind the houses that bordered the park. Tatsuki and Chad must have finished their share and were waiting for her.
"Sado-kun… is everything alright?"
"That man has been staring at you for the past 15 minutes."
"Yeah… tall, dark and creepy over there is exactly the reason why girls like you should not be out here this late."
The man did not appear to look elsewhere even when Orihime turned to face him, and she could not help but feel a shiver travel down her spine.
"Ok, now he's coming towards us. Let's just get the hell out of here!" Before Inoue could object, Tatsuki grabbed her shoulders, turning her in the opposite direction and pushing her forward.
"Tatsuki-chan, that's rude."
"Yeah, well… he can sue me."
"Uhmm… so, am I to understand that you guys are not going to help me again, tomorrow?"
[…]
The next day, Orihime woke up before her alarm clock could do its job. Getting out of bed quickly, as if she had awaited for the moment it would ring, she hurried to get under the shower. The first few seconds of cold water made the hair on her body stand up. The nightmare that woke her up in the middle of the night and prevented her from falling asleep flashed through her mind. She was back in the park, again, but nobody was in sight, except the man who had been looking at her when she gave away bread to the homeless; this time, as he stood there, watching, his shadow grew and grew into a huge, winged, white ghost. The man did not seem to be scared by this, as his face remained serious, with his gaze still fixated on her. She tried to run, but the monster started following her, trying to reach out and grab her with its claws. The dream had ended when the ghost managed to finally grab her.
"Maybe Tatsuki-chan was right…" she curled up in her tub, wrapping her arms around her knees, as the water pouring over her had finally warmed up "Now who's the rude one?" she scolded herself for giving into her friend's paranoid behavior.
A normal day at the pastry shop she was working at would start earlier than others, given that they were preparing and baking their own products. Every one of the 4 employees would rotate to fill in each and every spot needed to run the small shop, and today, Orihime would assume the role of cashier and take requests via phone call, while her boss and the two other employees would take care of baking.
It was not until noon that she received her first customers. From behind the glass panels that represented the front of the shop, she saw a black limousine pull over, its driver quickly getting down to open hold the door for those he served. The short, raven haired girl that got out first was wearing a violet sundress inscribed with silver butterflies, as well as a pair of big sunglasses which she took off as soon as she turned to face the shop with a smile on her features. The second person that came out was a tall man with red hair, whose attire, although not of matching elegance to the girl's, did not denote bad taste. At the sight of the third man that came out of the car, Orihime's eyes widened. It was him. The man in the park. He was wearing a black suit with black tie now, but it was definitely him. Her nightmare flashed in her mind again.
The sound of the door being pushed open brought Inoue back to her senses. This was nonsense. She would put any silly thoughts out of her mind and greet her customers with proper manners. The girl came in first, followed by the red-head, which kept the door open for the third man.
"H-Hello!" she forced a smile "Can I help you with anything?"
The girl looked around the shop, clearly interested in the sweets, but did not answer.
"My name is Kuchiki Byakuya." The one in her dream moved his gaze to meet hers. "And yours is…?"
Inoue felt the air leave her lungs under the intense stare.
"You would do well to answer him, girl." The redhead had let go of the door and turned to measure her.
"I-Inoue Orihime…" the words came out on their own.
" Ori-hime…" Byakuya repeated her name under his breath, noticing that, perhaps through some coincidence, he found even her name fitting.
"Is she the one, Kuchiki-sama?" Renji interrupted his train of thought.
A simple nod from his superior was sufficient for the lieutenant to act.
"Inoue Orihime…" he started walking towards her "… you have been chosen as the mate of the White Dragon Avatar."
"Wha-"
Before she could finish, Renji disappeared from sight and appeared next to her, behind the counter, placing one hand on her shoulder.
"Do not struggle." Was the last thing Orihime heard before sliding into unconsciousness.
This is the first chapter. I have no beta, so excuse the mistakes, if you find any.
To explain the joke with the "Do not hold back on eating bread" made by one of the Kuchiki family members at the table: It is a known fact that bread and other food made out of grain help replenish a man's semen faster… therefore, during a couple's attempts at conceiving, the man is encouraged to eat a sufficient amount of above mentioned food types, in order to keep being… productive even after repeated attempts within a short period of time. And since Byakuya was supposed to find a mate with which to conceive… well you get the point.
'Hime' means 'princess' and Orihime means 'Weaving Princess', which is why Byakuya thought that even her name fits… given that he is a Lord and the girl he found suitable to be his mate had a Princess name. Get it? Good.
That aside, I do not know when the next chapter will be up, given that this one took several days to write. I have not written anything in a long time so inform me if my writing style has become encumbersome and hard to read.
Reviews with honest opinions are welcome.
Thank you.