Spring Madness

Part 3

Hisana was rolled up into a tight ball when they reached to the house. Her entire body was trembling and cold like ice, as he touched her forehead. "What happened to her?" Ukitaki Taichou asked as the healer sat beside her and checked her condition. "She was wounded by a hollow yesterday but I healed the bruise. She said that the illness is from since she was young." Byakura explained it as he watched the girl coughing and shivering. She opened her eyes slightly and smiled at him, "Shiniga...mi kun?" "Shinigami kun?" Ukitaki Taichou repeated after her and turned to look at Byakura. "It wasn't necessary for me to introduce myself." "Aww..." Ukitaki said and nodded although he didn't understand what is there to wonder about and he went over to the girl. "Is she ok?" he asked as the healer wiped away the sweat from her own face. "Her sickness is deep, Taichou. I can't do anything here. We don't have necessary medicine or anything." She said wiping the specks of blood off the girl's mouth.

"We can't just take her to Seireitei." Ukitaki Taichou said looking worried as the girl continued to cough. Byakura remembered him arguing with himself whether or not he should take the girl. It wouldn't be a problem for him to take a commoner into the Seireitei if he took her in as a guest of the noble family. But why would he do that? It concerned him little whether or not this commoner withered. Why would he do something like that and angered his grandfather or worse tinted his family's title? But he couldn't leave her to die. Couldn't leave her to die? Are you out of your mind, Byakura? His reasoning mind shouted at him inside his mind. "What should we do, Taichou?" the healer asked as Ukitaki Taichou stood stunned behind her. "I..." the girl said softly, her face was so whitened and so pale that he was starting to wonder if it really was her normal complexion. "Please don't speak; your illness has penetrated the lungs. The more you speak or move, the longer it will take to control it." the healer warned her and wiped the tiny droplets off the corner of her lips.

He couldn't leave her, definitely not here, Byakura thought as he watched the girl continue to cough. "I will take her to my house." He finally said struggling the words to spill out of his mouth. Both Ukitaki and the healer looked at him with wide eyes. He ignored their surprise and said, "She treated my wounds yesterday. It wasn't for her, I will be in trouble." "Really? I mean, is it really ok for you to take her into your house?" Ukitaki Taichou asked staring at him with wide eyes. "I will handle it.:" he replied knowing what he was hinting and went beside her. The healer got up from her place and waited beside the Ukitaki Taichou as Byakura lifted up the girl into his arms. "Shinigami...kun...what are you..." "Don't talk. Just rest, I will take care of u." he replied and steadied her within his arms. "Ok, If that is fine with you, then, let us leave." Ukitaki said and they both shunpoed ahead. Byakura followed them within a few seconds. "Thank you, shinigami kun..." she muttered as they ran through the woods. "My name is Kuchiki Byakura. You can stop calling me shinigami." He replied not taking his eyes off the road. "I...I am...Hisana..." she replied and she buried her face into his chest.

He looked up the sky, foams like clouds sailing across the crystal blue canvas, slowly and quietly unlike his mind. Digging into the past was not a good idea. He had better thing to do than wallowing about the past that won't do any good to him. He turned toward the main house hold and suddenly he thought he got a glimpse of... He shook his head slowly, reminding himself that these are all childish fantasies and spring madness. "Opening up to your own feelings are not childish. Sealing in them is what children do." Hisana's words floated into his mind. He remembered those words pretty well.

It was right on the porch the night that he got injured in a mission. He could have gone to Unohana Taichou but he preferred Hisana's bizarre herbs treatments. She had wrapped his body with strange smelling herbs and bandages while kept asking how he felt. He remembered how worried she looked although the wound wasn't life threatening and somehow, the way she took care of him and the way she worry about him pleased him. After her long and irritating procedure, they sat outside on the porch. The moon was full and shining brightly upon them as they both sat in silence, both drawn into their own thoughts. "Are you feeling better?" he asked her and put his coat around her as he noticed that she was cold. She smiled as she pulled the cloth tight and said, "I am much better, Byakura sama. It has been a long time since I had this illness. I am used to it."

He looked at her, her bright dark blue eyes glowing against her white face. Her dark hair fell around her tiny face framing it in a way that make her pale skin much more radiant than it always does. How could she smile and say it is ok even though it was hurting her? He turned to the sky and said, "You look much paler than before I left." She chuckled as she touched her cheeks and said, "I am not. My skin has always been pale, that's normal for me. It is you, Byakura sama, that I am worry about." He was kinda surprised by her answer but kept his composure serene and asked, "Why?" She looked down at her hands which were gripping onto her clothes. "Because...Byakura sama is going to become the head of Kuchiki clan and even though I believe in your strength...I can't...I can't stop worrying about you." She turned to face him and said, "Byakura sama, should careful in battles. I believe you are powerful but you should be more careful. For your clan, for your division, for Kuchiki Taichou and for...me..."

Byakura remembered being a bit angry at her words for he thought she was trying to lecture him. He knew he was a bit hot headed and temperamental in the battles (which his grandfather too reminded him most of the time) and got injured most of the time but that was what fighting meant, at least to him. What did she know about fighting or leading a noble clan? But when he saw that she was really worried about him and on the verge of crying, his anger dissipated. He sighed and closed his eyes. "Hisana, I know my duties as a Kuchiki and I am completely aware of the dangers in battle. You don't need to worry about me." Hisana's face darkened at the end of his words and she turned away. "I...I see, Byakura sama. I am sorry for stepping out of line, Byakura sama." That particular line irritated him. Did he hurt her feelings again? He wasn't intending to; that wasn't even what he was saying. He was just...trying to reason with her. "It is getting late. You should rest. You might have another mission in the morning." Hisana said and got up.

He remembered thinking what it is with women. They got offended easily, they got mad easily and they didn't like man to reason with them. She handed him his coat and smiled as she bowed before him. "You will catch a cold if you say out like this." He took the coat but swiftly grabbed her hand as she drew away. "Byakura sama..."she exclaimed softly as Byakura held onto her hand and looked intently into her eyes. Her face flushed and even the paleness somehow shy away as the blood flowed up into her head. "Hisana..." "Hai..."she replied batting her lashes as she watched him with wide eyes. "I didn't mean to offend you. It is just..." Byakura shifted his eyes to the ground but Hisana covered her other hand over his and smiled. "I am not offended, Byakura sama. I know what you mean and I understand them. It is just I can do nothing to help you. The only thing I can do is worry about your well being." Her face shied away from his at the end of her words. Byakura drew her closer to him in her surprise and gently caresses her face. "You had done more than anyone for me. You being here is enough." Hisana stared at him with wide eyes as she had never heard him talk about his feelings or his thoughts out loud.

"What?" Byakura asked as she chuckled softly, he removed his hand but Hisana put her hand over it and said, "It is just... this is the first time, I hear you say such thing." Byakura felt a little awkward but she didn't give him a chance to falter back. "You always keep your feelings inside and never show them to others, Byakura sama. You always hold back your feelings, instead of facing them head on." "Feelings are childish thing." He said coldly but her smile never waned away. She continued to hold onto his hand and said, "Opening your feelings to others is not childish. Sealing them in is what children do. I understand you have to avoid feelings and emotions as a leader but I really don't want you to hide them from me, like I never hide from you." He remembered him saying nothing back but just stared at her face and somehow, he felt, no he realized that he had gotten attached to this girl in ways that he never thought he would to another person.

"That is the least I can do for you. I have no other ability to help you, Byakura sama, but just be there when you need me. So please don't take that away from me." She said softly as she let go of his hand on her face. Byakura remembered him wondering why his heart beat this loud every time he was around her. He held onto her hands as he watched her, smiling and blotting away the tears from her eyes with her cuffs. You truly were always there for me, Hisana even though I wasn't when you needed me. His forehead twitched and the brows drawn into a knot as the images of the day before her death floated across his mind. He was just returned from a mission when he saw the 4th division healers coming out of his manor. He remembered his inside turned cold at the sight and for once in his life; he couldn't find a rational answer for that. He held on his stern composure as the medical experts explained him that Hisana won't make it pass this night and that they are sorry for whatever it was that they said for he didn't hear anything after Hisana's condition. He didn't even let them finish their speech and headed quickly to his chamber.