Death Is Only The Beginning

Chapter 5: Sweet Hyacinth

“Too many incantations…” Kagome said as she exited her kidou techniques class. “How am I supposed to remember all of those??” She was a few weeks into her classes and had discovered early on that she didn’t have much of a problem getting the amount of power for the spells, but all of the energy in her body wasn’t going to do her much good on the field if she couldn’t remember the proper spells and incantations. “Maybe Captain Kyouraku could help me practice…or even Captain Kuchiki. He seemed nice when I met him.”

Kagome thought back to when she had met the quiet Captain. He had led her to the proper class without saying a word during the entire walk. Though even after she gave him her thanks he stayed at the edge of the training grounds and watched her. When her class had been dismissed he had asked to speak with her and had asked her several questions such as why she was admitted so late in the term. She had learned his name during the conversation and realized who he was instantly. She had often heard talk of the handsome yet quiet Captain while in the Rukongai. She had gone to visit her children later that day and Yui, the oldest girl, had nearly swooned after hearing that Kagome had met him.

Byakuya was curious about the girl and had recognized her name as well. He had heard talk and rumors of her talents from other Captains…and had heard some rather amusing stories from his Lieutenant. He had gone back a few other times to try to infer which of the rumors held truth and which had been exaggerated. The small size of the girl belied the amount of power she held, he had seen that much. He could feel the power practically pulse off of her in waves when her emotions began to run away with her. But she seemed to be happy and a constant ray of light for those around her. At first he had thought the stories he had heard from Renji to be greatly exaggerated; after all, who could find a way to be angry at such a gentle spirit?? But he had learned that her temper did seem to get the better of her when around his Lieutenant.

One day Renji had come to deliver a message to him as he was watching the girl and once the two had spotted each other, her demeanor did a complete one-eighty. Though he had to admit that she was rather amusing to watch during an argument because she seemed so much like a child. While Renji was brash and would yell and curse, Kagome would call him names, never uttering an obscenity, and stick her tongue out at him. She had even kicked him in the shin once after he had made a particular comment about how his back had hurt due to her weight after he had carried her to meet Captain Yamamoto.

However, Kagome hadn’t seen Captain Kuchiki for several days. But she was able to brush it off as him being busy with the duties of his station. She had worked out a routine for herself over the weeks and finding herself more at ease with her new surroundings. Today was one of her days to go to the Fourth Division and get in some training over there while helping the sick and injured that happened to be there that day. It made her sad whenever she would think of the sick patients because she would be reminded of the kind Captain Ukitake. She had asked Captain Unohana about the man and her heart had ached for him with her answer.

“He has a very severe illness and a very weak body because of it.” She explained. “He’s been going through rigorous and constant treatment for a very long time, but it seems to only help for maybe a few weeks at a time. I think he’s lucky that he has such a strong will to live and good friends within the divisions who look in on him.”

As Kagome arrived in the main hall of the Fourth Division she saw a figure slightly shorter than herself walking by with their arms piled up with sheets making it hard for them to see to walk. Smiling, Kagome walked over and stopped the young man before taking half of his load and saying, “Hello Hanatarou, busy as usual?” She had immediately taken a liking to the nervous but kind shinigami. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but being around him reminded her of the time she would spend with her brother. Captain Unohana was often busy with the paperwork and more serious patients, so Hanatarou had been assigned to be her mentor of sorts. He was well versed in different wounds and illnesses even if he didn’t get much credit for his knowledge by his colleagues.

“H-hello Kagome,” he greeted as a light blush rose to his cheeks. Even though he was ranked higher than the cheerful young woman, he found that more often than not it was Kagome who would stand up against the others who would pick on him. She was kind to everyone and always graced him with warm smiles. From the first day that he had met her and through the subsequent days they worked together, he noticed that his stomach would tighten awkwardly when he was around her and his heart rate would pick up whenever she would smile at him or place her gentle hands on his arm as they talked with one another. At first he had gone to his Captain in fear that he may be getting ill, but after hearing his symptoms she had just smiled at him and said that he would be fine. “Um, Captain Unohana said asked that wh-when I saw you today to tell you that she wants to see you…” he said in his soft voice.

“Thanks, Hanatarou. Let’s go put these away and I’ll go straight to her office.” And several minutes later Kagome did just that. She gently knocked on the door and entered when acknowledged.

“Kagome, I know it’s not your job to run errands for me but I’m covered up with the paperwork from the incident with the Eleventh Division a few days ago. I would greatly appreciate a favor.” The motherly Captain stated.

“Of course, Captain. Whatever you need me to do, I’ll be happy to help.”

“Wonderful, I was wondering if you could take those flowers to Captain Kuchiki at his home. He should be there all day today.”

Kagome turned to find a vase of flowers sitting on a nearby table and turned back to the Captain to question, “White Hyacinth??”

“Yes…he needs to know that others are keeping him in their thoughts at this time. Please make sure that you give them to him personally and pay your respects as well.”

“Why? What happened??” Kagome asked as her curiosity made itself known again.

“He was married once, but the Lady Hisana took ill and passed some time ago. He always becomes very withdrawn around the anniversary of her death, and the other Captains try to pay their respects and let him know that he’s not the only one who still misses her. She was a very kind woman.”

“Oh…alright then, I’ll make sure he gets them and knows that you’re sorry you couldn’t make it.” Kagome said in a solemn tone. Was that why he always seems cold and shut off?

Kagome walked through the Court toward the Kuchiki house admiring the pristine flowers and taking in their sweet fragrance. When she reached the front gates a servant tried to take the flowers and usher her away, but she was determined to go through with Captain Unohana’s request and deliver them personally; she wanted to pay her respects as well. When she was finally allowed inside and showed to the room where Byakuya could be found in front of a memorial shrine for his late wife, Kagome stood in the doorway for several moments watching him sit motionless. “Excuse me Captain Kuchiki,” she finally spoke, “but I have some flowers from Captain Unohana. She regrets not being able to come herself and sends her condolences.” She slowly walked forward and placed the flowers next to the shrine before taking a few steps back to sit and say a silent prayer.

Byakuya watched as the young woman that so reminded him of Hisana prayed for his late wife. When she raised her head and turned to look at him, he looked to his love’s picture and back at the girl before sighing and speaking more to himself than to her, “I was being such a fool. You have the same kindness to your eyes and a similar smile, but the similarities end there. I must apologize for acting improperly toward you for the past weeks. I wanted her to return to me so badly that my eyes were only seeing what they wanted to see.”

It took a few moments for what he said and the meaning behind his words to sink in, but when they did Kagome could only blink at the quiet man who had once again turned his attention to his late wife’s picture. ‘Déjà vu…’ she thought as she closed her eyes and sighed. She stood and turned to leave before pausing and turning around to address the Captain again. “I may be out of line for saying this, Captain Kuchiki…but I can understand where you’re coming from. You miss her and want her back, but you won’t ever find someone exactly like her. You may find someone who looks like her or you may find someone who acts like her, but none of those women will be the same person she was. I’m sure that she would want you to be happy and find someone else to share your love with, but if it was my husband I would be very upset that he thought I was so common that someone just like me could be found on the street. In all honesty, not only is it unfair to the women you see the similarities in, but it’s unfair to the memory of Lady Hisana for you to think that you could replace her with an imitation. I hope you find peace with her passing soon.” She ended her short speech with a bow and left the room.

Byakuya sat unmoving as he thought about what Kagome had said and realized that she was right. He had seen little things in other women that reminded him of his wife, but hadn’t really seen the women for themselves. He looked at her eternally smiling face in her picture as he said, “I’m so sorry, Hisana…”

~*~*~*~

When Kagome made her way back over to the Fourth Division and found Hanatarou waiting for her by the door as he awkwardly fidgeted with the sash of his uniform. He looked up and smiled at her as she approached and said, “Are you ready to get started for the day, Kagome?”

She bobbed her head up and down with consent and linked arms with him as they walked into the large building, never taking notice of how red her companion’s face had turned. “So what’s on the ‘To Do’ list for today, Hanatarou??” She asked as they walked down a hall.

“W-well, there’s a member of the eleventh division who’s still recovering from that Hollow attack a couple of days ago. He’s the only one on out chart for today, b-but…”

“What is it??” Kagome knew that the young man had nervous tendencies, but he seemed especially worked up about this particular patient.

“It’s just that…Eleventh Division patients are really hard to work with. They think that our division is full of weaklings and they like to push us around…”

Kagome could feel her ire rising. Did they not realize that without the medical attention that some of them had received some of them would be dead by now?? “Well we’ll just have to show him that they need to learn a little manners, won’t we??” She said with a smile.

“Kagome???”

“Don’t worry, I’ll just teach him that he needs to show a little respect.”

They arrived at their patient’s room and Kagome saw the man glaring at them through thin brown eyes accented with red at the corners. “I don’t need any.” He huffed at them.

Kagome walked to his bedside and just looked down at him with her arms crossed over her chest. “You don’t, huh? Then why are you still here?? If you’re all fine and dandy then all you’re doing is taking up a bed that someone else might need. Go on, go check yourself out and go back to your squad.” She said as she pointed toward the door.

Ikkaku just looked up at her like she was crazy. “The hell?? You crazy woman? You know I can’t move my arms yet.”

“That’s right you can’t! And do you know why?? No guesses? Then I’ll tell you. It’s because you and your friends charged right into battle, no plan at all, and you got one of your arms broken and the other is practically shattered to bits.”

“And they’ll heal just fine without you pansies touchin’ em all the time!”

“You know that for a fact, huh?? I’ve heard about how you fight, Madarame Ikkaku. And I’ll tell you right now that no matter how good you are it’s going to be pretty hard to only fight with one arm.”

“What??” He asked in a quieter tone.

“You heard me. Did you know that without us ‘pansies’ touching your arm to heal it there’s no way it would heal correctly?? It would be lame for the rest of your life. Good luck keeping that seat of yours. Let’s go, Hanatarou.” Kagome said with a wave of her hand as she walked toward the door.

“HEY!! Hold up! Aren’t you going to do something about my arm?!” Ikkaku yelled after the strange woman.

“Oh, so you want our help now??” She answered as she slowly turned back around with a smirk on her face. “I think you know what I want to hear…”

Ikkaku was quiet for a few minutes as he scowled at this girl who was so different from all the other people he’d met from the Fourth Division. Finally, with a loud groan and a roll of his head, he said, “Fine! You’re not a bunch of pansies. Will ya fix my arm now??”

“I’d be glad to!” She said as she walked back over to his bed with a bright smile on her face. “Be sure to let all your buddies know that they need to be a little more respectful to the staff around here. Why do you mind so much that these people are trying to help you??” She told him as her hands began to glow and she concentrated on rebuilding the inner structure of his upper arm.

“I won’t mind if you help me again.” He said as a wolfish grin split across his face.

“Well that’s too bad because I won’t be here tomorrow, and you WILL be nice when Hanatarou comes to check on you. Do you understand me??” She asked as she gave him a hard look.

“Sure, sure…what’s your name anyway??” He asked.

“Higurashi Kagome,” she answered as she continued to concentrate on his arm. But her attention was drawn to look him in the face when he started to laugh. “What’s so funny?”

“Our Lieutenant has been talkin’ about you. I was just thinking no wonder she likes you.”

“Flirting will get you nowhere. You’re all done for today. Try not to move that arm too much.” She told him as she stood up. She was about to leave when she turned back to him as an afterthought and bopped him on his shiny head with her open palm as she said, “And mind your manners!”

~*~*~*~

When Kagome got home that evening she was practically crawling through the front door. “I’m exhausted!” She said to nobody in particular as she fell face first into bed. She had gone into the Rukongai after her work at the Fourth Division to visit the children that she missed desperately and help any sick and injured that might need her help. But after the energy she used during work and then in the Rukongai she was pretty much spent for the day. Deciding that she needed to relax, Kagome went into the bathroom and ran a hot bath for herself.

About an hour later Kagome emerged from the steamy bathroom wrapped in a sleeping kimono given to her as a house warming present by Lieutenant Matsumoto. After using her towel to wring out the excess moisture of her hair, Kagome began brushing through the long dark strands when a knock was heard at her door. ‘Who could that be?’ She thought as she walked across her living room floor.

When she opened the door she was greeted with a smiling Rangiku and Yachiru. “Kagome! A bunch of us are going drinking, you should come with us.” The taller Lieutenant invited. “We each take our own bottles of sake and we’re going out to sit by the lake tonight.”

“I don’t know Rangiku…I’m already dressed for bed and-”

“No problem! This kind of thing is always spontaneous so most of us are already in our sleeping robes!” Rangiku said as she laughed. “You should come along. It’s really nice. We get to sit under the stars and the moon and drink and talk and everyone always has a good time.”

“Well…I’m not much of a drinker and even if I was I don’t have anything.”

“If that’s the best excuse you can come up with not to go then you can just share with someone else! Now come on, let’s get going.” The taller woman said as she grabbed Kagome by the wrist and pulled her from the house as Yachiru shut the door behind them. On the walk to the lake they were going to the conversation was on who Kagome could share with, but Kagome just walked toward the back of the group. The people gathered were primarily Captains and Lieutenants and Kagome felt more than a little intimidated.

As they continued their walk, Ukitake slowed his pace to walk beside Kagome. Looking down at the young woman and smiled as he said, “I heard you tell Matsumoto that you don’t drink.”

“Not really…I tried sake once before and…well, let’s just say it wasn’t my proudest moment.” She responded with a blush at admitting to being a light-weight.

Ukitake just laughed and said, “No problem. I’m not supposed to drink in my condition, but I still come out with them whenever they do this. I brought tea tonight though, so you’re welcome to share with me and nobody would be any the wiser.”

Kagome’s eyes instantly brightened as she asked, “Are you sure?? I don’t want you to run out early or anything.”

“Don’t worry, Miss Higurashi, I brought more than I could possibly drink by myself.”

“Okay then,” she said with a nod. “And call me Kagome.”

“Very well, and you may call me Juushiro or Ukitake…whichever you prefer.”

They continued their walk in a companionable silence as they listened to the others. Once they reached the lake Kagome was glad she came. It really was beautiful and just the thing to help her relax a little more and get her energy back. She always felt so calm during the nights. Everyone found their seats on the lakes edge and began to laugh and joke around with one another as they drank their alcohol. Kagome and Ukitake found their own spot to sit away from the noisy group, however.

They continued to talk and learn more about one another and were content to just study the moon during the quiet periods. Once, Ukitake ventured a glance at the girl who was making such an impact on the people he worked with. The soft moonlight made her smooth skin seem to glow and her hair to sparkle. He could see the dark blue of her large, caring eyes and noticed the thin lines of grey that wove themselves into her irises. Her body had soft curves, some hidden and some accentuated by the heather grey kimono she wore that was adorned with light pink sakura petals towards the bottom and a matching pink sash around her waist. She turned to see him looking at her and her full pink lips curled into a warm smile as her cheeks flushed to a light pink. Ukitake returned the smile with a blush of his own at being caught.

And unnoticed to the couple, Shunsui was watching the entire time with a knowing smile of his own.

~*~*~*~

Note: One of the meanings of giving someone White Hyacinth is "I'll pray for you"