Noble Love - Bleach (Kuchiki Byakuya x Oc x A bit of Various)

六

"My, my." said Yoruichi as she and Asa flew upwards, while Sado, Orihime and Uryu, and Ichigo and Ganju were thrown into other directions. "Who would've thought I would be stuck with you, Asa-chan?"

"Neither did I." she said with a sheepish smile.

As much as they wished to travel in the air, they eventually had to land somewhere. As they prepare to do so, they saw a few Shinigami, lead by someone whom Asa knew, waiting for them with their Zanpakutou unsheathed. When the orange energy that shrouded the two began to approach them, it suddenly disappeared without leaving a trace, catching them off guard at the suddenness.

"It disappeared!" said a Shinigami.

"Find it!" ordered the leader as he lead them away. While his subordinates were too focused on searching for the Ryoka, the leader glanced over his shoulder at where he last saw them right before they disappeared, and furrowed his brows before diverting his gaze back ahead. 'I don't know what Asa-san is thinking, but I hope she's aware of what she's doing.'

Meanwhile, Yoruichi and Asa were sitting on a nearby roof, watching them leave to find the two of them. "Do you think we should split?" asked the latter with her gaze still fixed on the leaving Shinigami.

"I would end up alone." replied the cat. "But, that may actually be more convenient."

The woman nodded before standing up. "I'll see you and the rest later." she said.

"Be careful, Asa-chan." said Yoruichi before walking away, leaving Asa to use Flash Step to head towards the other direction.

Despite that she was hiding from her own kin, going around Seireitei was like a walk down the memory lane for Asa. Even though twenty years seemed like nothing to a Shinigami, she had missed her home terribly. There were many occasions when she would dream of Soul Society while sleeping during her mission, and sometimes, she wondered if she had made the right choice of leaving home. She was aware that she had to leave her friends and family behind, as well as the warmth of the people in Rukongai who often welcomed her whenever she visited them. But still, she had to, for she thought it was the only way of moving on from the past that kept haunting in her sleep.

At that moment, Asa suddenly stopped in her tracks. Something was not right with the whole situation at hand now. Rukia was charged with the unauthorised lending of reiatsu, the subsequent loss thereof, and the exceeding time limit; there's no doubt that those were serious crimes, but what didn't settle with her was how the matter had been handled. Asa may have been away for two decades, even if things were to have changed during that period, she still found it odd. Too odd to be brushed off as something that had already been decided within the framework of the law.

Again, she picked a hiding spot where no Shinigami was in sight. She looked down at her Zanpakutou and touched the hilt. "Come out and play Onigokko (tag), Tamako (Ghost Child)." As soon as she murmured that line, she opened the pummel, and out came a dark purple miasma that soon manifested into a little being. It took an appearance of a little boy, who was wearing a brown robe bound by a black obi, with pale skin and ivory hair, with the exceptions of black eyes with red pupils, and a prominent stitch mark that extended from his forehead, down to his nose bridge, curved to his cheekbone and ended right next to his ear.

"Asa-nee!" greeted the boy happily. "Are we going to play a game today?"

Crouching down to look at him in the eyes, she smiled at him and replied, "Not really, Tamako-kun. I just need you to go around Seireitei and find out what is happening. Once you're done, I'll give you a snack. Is that okay?"

The said boy nodded, seeming to be content with the deal. "Okay!" he sang before running off to the corridor, where Asa watched him disappear into the shadows.