Dinner With Her

A/N: Um... another ByakuyaXRyorin pairing. Don't ask why, but the idea of Bya having a rather.... violent wife is..... *giggles* cute. ^^
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Sounds of fighting came from the Eleventh Division's yard, and Ikkaku's voice echoed around the confines, yelling at the unseated Shinigami that he was training. "Hora, hora, hora!! Get up and fight, ya wimps! It ain't time t' rest yet!"

"Wimps don' make it in here, geddit?! So up on yer feet and fight me!"

The rough female voice made Byakuya falter in his steps as his head involutarily turned towards the source of the voice. Ryorin stood in a ring of groaning Shinigami, one hand on her hip with a boken on her shoulder, looking both eager and irritated. Ikkaku was yelling again, waving his boken at them. All of the trainees had wounded looks, almost as if Ryorin had beaten out their prides with her boken.... which she probably did.

Byakuya turned his whole body to face her, deciding to talk to her for a while. He hadn't spoken to her even after she had left the 4th Division, though he knew unleashing his shikai on her had caused Zaraki's rage to blow up. Walking towards them, his silent footfalls naking no sound, he took a deep breath.

"Kamaitachi-san. May I have a word?"

Ryorin turned, and her eyebrows rose in surprise. Sending a glare back at the trainees, she thumped her boken on the ground. "What are you guys starin' at?! BACK T' WORK!" Her roar was enough to send them scrambling to their feet, and Ikkaku, ever eager for a fight, eargerly took her place. Byakuya almost smiled. While having such a small and seemingly fragile frame, this young woman was formidable, and could project her voice in a roar similar to Zaraki's to control her subordinates. He hid the small twitching of his lips when she approached him to pull him to a shaded area under a tree, well away from the sparring that was going on, though. Ryorin's emerald eyes glowed with vibrant health and energy, though she had just had an intensive sparring session.

"I see you're all healed, Kamaitachi-san. But shouldn't you be resting instead of sparing so vigourously?"

"Nothing I can't handle, Kuchiki-taichou." Ryorin flashed him a grin. "Besides, I went easy on those guys."

Byakuya nodded. "About last time...."

"No need to apologize." She chuckled. "I went into shikai first, so it's only fair that you release yours. I've felt pain worse than that, don't worry about it. Demo.... I should apologize for Taichou going after you in the 4th Division." Her head lowered as she sighed. "It wasn't your fault after all... It was me who wanted a sparring."

He shook his head slightly. "No. Don't apologize. It was bound to happen. I shouldn't have unleashed shikai on you. If anything, I would like to apologize for hurting you badly and making you end up unconsious in the 4th Division. Is there... anything I can do to compensate?"

Ryorin had opened her mouth to protest, but she closed it slowly at thought for a while. "How about.... coming over to my quarters for dinner tonight? If you want to apologize, Kuchiki-taichou, you can do it by gracing me with your presence over dinner."

Byakuya's eyes widened in surprise, then he nodded. "So be it. And... another thing, Kamaitachi-san."

"Nani?"

"In doing so, you must allow me to address you as Ryorin. You may address me simply as Byakuya as well, but only in private."

"Ehhh...." A blush crept up Ryorin's neck, and she nodded shyly before abruptly turning and running over to the fight, hollering at Ikkaku long enough to get him to pause before she promptly threw herself into the dust, her two ponytails swishing about her shoulders. Byakuya allowed a small smile to briefly flash across his lips before his cold mask settled on again, and he left the vicinity of the 11th's training grounds.
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6pm sharp. The quarters of the seated Shinigami were the size of a small house, and private, unlike the barracks that the other Shinigami shared. It was one of the things Ryorin was thankful for, being a girl. It wasn't as if she couldn't live with the other men, but she needed privacy... especially when she was always stricken with "illness" each month that required her to run to the ladies every two hours or so.

Thankfully, Unohana and Zaraki always gave her leave on those days.

She was still cooking when there was a quiet knock on the door, and she gasped, scurrying to open it. Byakuya stood before her, wearing a dark blue yukata and carrying a bottle of sake in the crook of an arm. "Kuchiki-taichou! You're early!"

"I take it that I wasn't expected till much later?" Byakuya's smooth baritone carried a hint of amusement in it.

"No, not for another another." Ryorin opened the door wider and let him in. "Come in."

Byakuya slipped out of his sandals and took a step into the quarters, casting his eye about. To his surprise, it was neat for someone so active and rough. Ryorin herself had her hair up into a ponytail, and was wearing a white camisole and shorts, something of her purchase in the Living World, no doubt. The rumours about her addiction to the Living World was true after all.

"Surprised?" Ryorin came back out of the kitchen with a tray, bearing two cups and a pot of tea. "I've been living in Ichigo's world for so long, it doesn't seem right without having some stuff to remind me of it here."

"Iie. I'm mostly surprised by the... neatness of your home." Byakuya watched as she poured out the tea for him with skill. "Compared to others... Yumichika included, I'd say that yours is the neatest I've ever seen before."

"I AM a girl, Kuchiki-taichou," Ryorin reprimanded teasingly as she offered the cup to him. Music was coming from her computer, the type that Ichigo and his friends listened to often, and the type that Rukia enjoyed nowadays. The girl winced and got up, fiddling around with the contraption before the rock music turned into soft piano.

Moonlight Sonata

A/N: Moonlight Sonata. Composed by Beethoven. First movement: Adiago Sostenuto. Play it to your heart's content, till you fall asleep.
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She sat playing at the piano, the whole room dark except for the moonlight coming in through the window, illuminating both the Grand Piano and it's player. A bitter smile was on her lips, her long black hair falling down her face in a curtain. Her simple white gown was dotted with blood, the same crimson trail running down her fingers to mar the pristine white keys of the piano. Dull emerald eyes closed, then opened again in a half-hearted effort to stay awake, as if a part of her told her to cling so desprately to life, even if she didn't want it. But she still played the song, over and over again, on autopilot.

The Moonlight Sonata.
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His presence filled the room as he appeared in the room with her in a ghostly presence, a chill ran through the air, followed by the room having a small breeze of cherry blossom petals as they flowed to her from behind, making his presnce known to her silently. She stiffened slightly because of the chill, but she made no acknowledegement of his presence, and kept on playing, playing to her heart's content.

Inwardly, he frowned, but kept his expression neutral, instead raising his spiritual pressure to catch her attention, slightly irritated at being ignored. The air around her got heavier, the Sakura petals that swirled around her leaving small scratches on the mahogany wood of the glossy Grand Piano.

Still, she didn't face him, and he wondered if he should treat her likewise, and silently take her, but she suddenly spoke.

"It's my birthday today."

"You don't say... Happy Birthday, then." He softly spoke in a calm tone as he walked around the piano to face her.

"Arigatou.. you know.. I just turned eighteen today..." The young girl looked up at him with tired, lifeless eyes, but a smile twitched the corners of her lips. "It's ironic, isn't it? You, who I've been chasing after, coming to me on my birthday."

He wasn't surprised that she knew him. After all, he had been watching her, waiting for her, waiting for the perfect moment where she would finally travel over to his world one day. She intrigued him, fascinated him, for he had never seen a human so eager to court Death, calling for him patiently without giving up in the past years. "Why do you wish.. for Death?" He slowly stepped up to her, his silver-grey eyes calm, betraying no emotion as he gazes into her faded emerald irises, gently placing a hand on the side of her face.

The girl shuddered slightly at his cold touch, and her bloodied fingers stopped moving, silence reigning in the room. "Because life is so full of despair. I... I want something that cannot be found in Life, something only Death can offer me." She raised a hand, her fingers, bleeding after playing for hours on end, leaving imprints of blood on his ivory skin.

"I see..." His eyes focused on hers as he gently caressed the side of her face. "Would you die without regret?"

"No regrets... I have no regrets... I just want to leave this world, which is so full of despair, behind..." Her eyes flicked between his and the empty bottle of pills on the floor. "I saw you.. Death... I saw you, a long time ago at my grandmother's funeral, and at the pool where my friend drowned. I could never forget how you looked like... pale ivory skin, long black hair... I wished I could see you one more time, to end all my depression, my suffering."

Death said nothing, but the piano began to play on it's own, the soft strains of Moonlight Sonata rising from the unmoving keys as he raised her into his arms, holding her closely to him. It was almost time now.

The girl sighed, leaning her head on his shoulder, suddenly feeling weariness creep upon her lithe form. "What will happen after this?"

He kept her in his embrace, closing his eyes, pulling a withered lily out of nowhere and placing it in her hair. "Do you... tuly wish for death?" The funeral flower fitted her, a flora mourning a girl that was alive yet dead.

She gave him a laugh, liliting and bitter. "Death is holding me in his arms even now." She sucked in a shaky rattling breath. "Tell me your name, Death."

"My name.. is Byakuya." Death leaned down in a mocking gesture of a dance move, gazing into her eyes as his lips lightly brushed against hers, sending a deadly chill throughout her body. "and what is your name, little dead girl walking?"

"Risa..." she murmured. Yes, she was a little dead girl walking. She had been that, for the past four years. She could feel her body shutting down even now, the unbearable tiredness creeping into her voice and making it soft. "Tell me... what will happen to me after this?"

"You will depart from this world... And find peace in my kingdom, the Soul Society." Byakuya closed his eyes, keeping her pressed against him as he straightened, almost overwhelmed by the sweet smell of a one who was nearing her last breath.

"Will I be with you?" Risa murmured, already drifting away with the soothing melody of her favourite song.

"You will." Oh, he was so close now...

She closed her eyes, smiling bitterly as the lily dropped from her hair, shattering into pieces of glass at their feet. "I feel so tired, Byakuya-sama.... just so tired...."

Triumph sang in both their veins as he tilted her head up with a finger, his icy touch and breath ghosting over her skin. He knew this was her final cry to him, a final cry for her death and to be at peace. But still he teased her, wanting to savour this sweet last moment. "Shall I help you to rest.... for now?"

"Please..." She opened her eyes and looked up at him, and he inwardly smiled. "Make me your Queen."

"And so you shall be." He held her closely as he gazed into her eyes, and devoured her soul, sucking out her last breath with a Kiss of Death, ending her mortal life in a kiss of cold, fiery passion.

Her very last breath left her in a silent gasp, stolen by him, and she couldn't reply, eyes lifeless and unseeing, her body cold and unmoving, already dead.

Her heart had stopped beating, and the little dead girl walked no more, truly in Death's clutches now.

Death turned and walked away, holding her body gently against him as he disappeared in a flurry of Sakura petals and cold wind.

And Risa ceased to exist.
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The room slowly fell silent as the piano played itself out, the moon's soft rays falling on the still body of a young girl that had died on her birthday to her favourite song. At her feet lay eighteen withered flowers.

Lilies, a sign of mourning.
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Byakuya kept her in his arms, even after he had laid her down to rest on his bed, watching the time as it went by. And why not, when he now had her and they had all the time in the world to wait? From now on, she was his and would only be his. "You are mine, my white Queen, for all eternity, and I will be your Black King."

Risa's emerald eyes fluttered open, and she looked up at him, a spark of life in her irises. "Will I always be with you?"

He nodded slightly and kissed her forehead, spreading a comforting iciness throughout her body, marking her as his.

She gave him an empty smile as her eyes slid shut again, and his rose to play the piano. "Thank you... Death."

Moonlight Sonata rose in the air again.

Warmth of a Phoenix

A/N: I redid Chapter 2 cause the other one was crappy. Jeez... sorry for the totally long update, but I had some issues that were not easily solved.... Would a hug from Byakuya compensate?

Byakuya: ......... -_-"'............
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Warmth of a Phoenix
Chapter 2- Akamatsu Arisa
MazdaKitsune

She burns as bright as the sun
And she falls darker than night
She shines as light as these days
And she fades faster than time
Phoenix in flames
~Phoenix in flames~
~Converge~___________________________________________________________________

The first thing he saw was the flames.

The next thing he heard was the screams of the people in the building.

A fire had broken out in the neighbourhood, in one of the hotels in the area. People were pushing each other, trampling on those that had fallen in their haste to escape the burning inferno instead of moving orderly.

Byakuya only watched emotionlessly at the Living beings that rushed all around him, jostling each other uncerimonously, without any sign of order. Uncivillized... he thought absently to himself. In Sereitei, if such a thing happened even at the Academy, the students know better than to panic and run about screaming like this. They would've organized themselves into orderly lines and walked out without a fuss. There wouldn't be chaos as for something as petty as a fire. Now where was I...?

Obvlious to the raging fire about him, he continued walking on, wondering if Mayuri had purposely given him the wrong coordinates out of spite. But Ukitake had been watching and opening the Gate as the 12th Division's Captain prattled on about 'taking extra care when handling her' and other nonsense, and certainly Ukitake of all people wouldn't have a grudge against him.

To exit the Gate in the middle of a raging fire. Incredible... Byakuya pulled out his cell phone to double check his location, and found his coordinates matching those prepared for him by Yamamoto.
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(Flashback) "There was a flaw in Kurotsuchi-taichou's gigai. One that he failed to see when he created it," Yamamoto explained, leaning on Ryuujin Jakka as he spoke. "He wanted to create a rieatsu-absorbing gigai, much like the one Kisuke Urahara used on your sister, Kuchiki Rukia. I believe the man even took some samples on the gigai before we had it destroyed in order to create his version of it. Apparently, Akamatsu Arisa was assinged for patrol duty in Karakura at that time, and he sent me a request, asking if he could test his gigai out on her. Akamatsu-san initially refused at first, but after some persuading by Kurotsuchi-fukutaichou, she reluctantly agreed to help him try it out." "Unfourtunately, it absorbed too much of her rieatsu, trapping her in the Living World. Things were going rather smoothly, but Akamatsu-san sent back a report saying that she was unable to open the Gate to Soul Society in her Shinigami form. Therefore, I have to send someone to open the Gate and escort her back." "Such a task can be assigned to an unranked Shinigami," Byakuya reasoned. "Why should a captain be bothered by this?" "This was Kurotsuchi-taichou's request. He requested that a captain be given the task, because according to him, he didn't want his, I quote, 'precious gigai to be hurt.'" Yaamoto's look was slightly apologetic. Slightly. "I could only think of you, Kuchiki-taichou, because you are one that will give me the least problems. Besides, it would help in the bonding between the Akamatsu Clan and yours." Byakuya resisted the urge to sigh. Of course the General-Captain would choose him. His effiency and capability of completing a task with minor problems, no matter how menial would've already selected him as the best candidate to... retrieve Kurotsuchi Mayuri's gigai. His eyesbrows creased. Akamatsu. Akamatsu Arisa. Was fate trying to play some kind of twisted game with him? First, he had an audience with the Head of the Akamatsu Clan, and now... he had a task to escort one of their members back to Soul Society? She had to be a noble, no doubt. Her name gave that away. "Yamamoto-soutaichou. May I please have some details about Akamatsu-san's appearance?" Yamamoto looked at him strangely for a while, as if contemplating, a silent question on his face. 'Do you not remember her?' he seemed to ask, but when he opened his motuh to speak, he said, "She will know how you look like, Kuchiki Byakuya. You need not have to worry. Dismissed" Byakuya frowned openly at this as he turned. Had Yamamoto and Akamatsu Hachiro planned something behind his back, setting him up on this mission? There was definitely something suspicious here.... (End of Flashback)
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Suspicious indeed... Byakuya felt like snorting dersively. The Elders of the different Clans were close to Yamamoto, so it wasn't a surprise that the Head of that degraded Clan would have met him right before arriving for his audience with Byakuya.

/There is no time to think about this, little one.../Senbonsakura's gentle voice chided him. /Focus on the task ahead.../

Byakuya resisted the urge to roll his eyes when he heard Senbonsakura's words. The zanpakutoh had not given up the habit of calling him 'little one' though he was in his twenties right now, about 200 years old by Shinigami standards. True, he had obtained his zanpakutoh at the tender age of 10, but-

"Ah!"

A woman gave a surprised cry as she ran headlong into him, almost causing him to drop his cell-phone. Byakuya stumbled back with her in his arms, and hurriedly let go of her, straightening as he stowed his phone back into his uniform, giving her a glare. To his surprise, her eyes immedieately met his, shining with unspoken apology for stumbling into him. You can see me...? He wanted to ask, and implusively reached out a hand to her, but the woman's eyes shifted to a female teenager about 17 who had fallen beside him, bending down to help her up.

"You'll be alright," the woman murmured as she helped the girl up and pushed her into the arms of a man, presumably her boyfriend. "Keep going and don't look at the flames."

As the man thanked her and rushed away, Byakuya turned, dismissing the earlier incident as coincedence. There was no way she was looking at me. I must've been mistaken...

"Kuchiki-taichou...?"

The woman's soft voice caused the noble to whirl around in shock. She was standing clamly there, looking at him, and by the look on her face, it was clear that she was apologizing for bumping into him. After all.... she was looking straight... at him.

She was almost his height, slender in build, with slightly narrow emerald eyes and long, black hair held loosely in a topknot ponytail. There was an aura of thoughtfulness about her, showing in her features. Getting over his inital shock, Byakuya cleared his throat and nodded at her. "Akamatsu Arisa, I presume?"

Her face broke into a smile of relief. "Yes. Gomen, Kuchiki-taichou.. for not greeting you earlier because I was helping that girl.. and forgive me for stumbling into you."

"Apology accepted," Byakuya said curtly. "It surprises me that I didn't sense your rieatsu, though, Akamatsu-san."

"Not didn't.. couldn't is more like it," Risa corrected. "The gigai's power is a bit too potent, eating up most of my power. If I didn't send a message to Yamamoto-soutaichou, I would've been rendered a normal human whithin a day."

"Sou ka.... I see it now.." Byakuya murmured as he unsheathed Senbonsakura and opened the Gate to Soul Society, watching her out of the corner of his eye. Clearly she was of noble upbringing. He could see it in her posture, the proud way in which she held herself and the quiet air about her that most noble ladies had. "After you, Akamatsu-san."

"Arigatou, Kuchiki-taichou." Risa was about to step in as two Jigoku Chou fluttered out of the shoji-like doors, but froze when a male voice called out to her.

"Risa!" A male voice shouted and a man burst into the burning area, his long ebony hair falling about his face. "Risa!! Come on!! You'll die if you don't move!!"

She paused in her steps, biting her lower lip slightly as she turned around. "I apologize, Kuchiki-taichou... I had forgotten about.... a minor problem."

Byakuya nodded. "Do not take long." He vanished into the Gate.

"Risa!!" The man yelled again, frustration and fear evident in his voice. "Are you mad?! You'll die if you stay any longer!!"

Risa composed herself and turned calmly, one hand moving behind her back. "I'm sorry, Leon.... but I can't..." A wistful but slightly fond smile lifted the corner of her lips. "How can I leave, when I'm about to go home?"

From whithin the Gate,Byakuya watched as she discreetly made a motion with her hand, and the flames in front of her grew higher, causing the ceiling to collaspe, effectively blocking her from Leon's view, noting the uncanny way in which she controlled the fire. So... she wasn't really in danger from the fire after all. "Akamatsu-san."

"Hai?" She looked inquiringly at him as she turned back to join him.

"Strangely, the fire obeys you. When you made that gesture, it was more of a controlling motion than just a simple move of a hand. You've had this ability, I suppose?"

"Yes." A small smile found it's way to her lips as she stepped through the Gate. "My zanpakutoh, Houkatori (Firebird), has the element of fire, therefore I have the ability to control this particular element as well. It's the same way Hitsugaya-taichou can effect the temprature wih Hoyrinmaru... Houkatori allows me to control heat however I like it."

A pyrokinetic. Byakuya was starting to become rather curious about her. As the shoji doors closed, Leon's howl of despair reached their ears and a look of regret flitted across Risa's face. "Sakurai Leon.. Gomen ne.."

"I take it that your stay in Karakura got you... attached to him?" Byakuya stated mildly.

"Iie. I simply regret allowing Sakurai Leon to get too close to me," Risa replied softly. "He got to know me when I took a job at this hotel, working as a secetary. I had noticed the signs of him having a.. 'crush' on me, as the humans would put it, but I regret not doing anything to stop it in time. My heart, still belongs to Soul Society and it's occupants."

She gave him a smile and quickened her pace so that he was staring at her back and hair, which swished gently from side to side with each step she took. Intriguing... this Akamatsu Arisa, he thought. What do you think, Sen?

/What I'm thinking... is that my young charge is curious about her and wants to get to know her more./ Senbonsakura's tinkling laughter rang at the back of his mind with a gust of pink sakura petals as the zanpakutoh teased him.

Stop that. Irritation rippled through Byakuya's reiatsu, effectively stopping Sebonsakura's laughter, but still.. the young noble could not help but remember the first time he had met Risa's eyes. Those emerald eyes.... held a thousand and one mysteries to him that made him want to explore it.

/In due time.../Senbonsakura purred lightly. /All in due time.. Byakuya-bo../