If I could heal your wounds with words of love...

[dearlydeparted]

There were so few days like this now--days when they could be Byakuya and Hisana, instead of the heir to the Kuchiki clan and his wife (for all that she was not so naive as to miss the subtle slights and insults regularly pointed her way). But today, they had made their escape, walking in plain clothing (though far better than anything she'd worn before they met) through some of the upper districts of the Rukongai.

Though the search for her sister was always in her mind, she smiled as she pointed something out to him, admiring the decorations and brilliant colors of the fans being set up for display.

Perhaps it was living so long in the Rukongai, where one must be always on one's guard. Perhaps it was a glint of light just at the right angle, but she turned her head to see a man just pulling out a sword, lunging towards her husband. Without thought, she threw herself at the man with a cry of fury, slamming his head to the ground as she went, and grabbing a rock to defend them with, old instincts born from blood, terror, and thirst emerging. But as the man didn't move--unconscious, she grew aware of the blood streaming out from her stomach and soaking her clothes. She stared for a moment at the nearly comical sight, the sword still sticking through her, as she turned to meet Byakuya's eyes.

Comments

[sakurabito]

A pleasant day in her company was all he could ever ask for. So busy he was with his duties and she her own, beyond being his wife, but that need to visit the Rukongai to find that precious thing left behind. He could never be upset for that. What made her happy made him just as much and while he worried, wished he could do so much more for her, he would do all he could, even if, in the end, it was simply soothing her heart.

Rukongai was not known for its safety, and he was no stranger to the dangers of his work or name, but perhaps this time he was just a little too complacent, drawn by her smiling face and their few precious moments together that he missed it until it was too late.

He'd always known Hisana had a strength he could never possess, a survival instinct that no noble shinigami could possibly develop, but to see it in a flash, before his eyes... it wasn't his pride that was wounded, when her adversary, and his, now, regardless of who his target was, fell. He only knew the clench of fear around his quickly beating heart. Was it not his job to protect her?

And as one moment passed to the next, that fear inside gripped so tightly he thought he might be sick. What might have been comical in some story shot pain through his very core and when her eyes met his, he gave in to that fear, rushed forward, forgetting about the man who lie unconscious and those that might be around. "Hisana...!"

All he could do, then, was grab her and hold her close, mindful of the sword still in her, desperately trying to calm himself to remember even common sense. But no matter how hard he tried, his mind raced too fast for him to understand anything it was telling him.

[dearlydeparted]

The pain only starts after a few moments, searing through her as though her blood has turned to fire in her veins. For what seems like an age, she's unable to talk at all, her lips moving futilely, as if the very air had vanished.

His arms are warm, so warm around her--how can she not feel safe when he holds her? Has she not always been secure in his arms, despite their different worlds? Even now, it seems as though the pain ebbs slightly when he holds her, despite the gasping she's only now realizing is her own.

"Byakuya-...sama..." There are so many words she wishes to say, so many things she must say now. For she knows she will never have another chance, not now. She can feel her strength slipping away as the blood pours from her body, soaking his as well.

Coughs rack her body and she shakes with them, only pushing the sword in more deeply, tearing muscle and flesh further as the tremors rip through her. There's blood on her lips, so much more than there ever has been before.