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

六十六

While running alongside her group, Asa noticed that someone was missing. "Where's Kurotsuchi-taichou?" she questioned Tadashi.

"Huh?" he initially responded before looking around him, seeing no sign of the said Captain. "Beats me. Maybe he thought that going on his own would be better than joining the group. Don't worry about him. He's not one to be taken down so easily. Besides, I think Zaraki-taichou is with him, since his squad is missing as well."

She then realised that members from Squad 11 had also disappeared from the group. "I see." she said, then looked ahead to focus. A smile etched on her face as she added, "You're right. We shouldn't be worrying too much about them. After all, we've got bigger things to worry about."

Tadashi nodded, agreeing with her statement as he glanced around. "The Reiatsu around us has been getting dangerously thin." he commented. "To the point we can feel slight changes even from far away."

But there was something that suddenly made Asa felt uneasy. Albeit the distance, she picked a Reiatsu that was nearing the group, but she couldn't tell from where exactly. She looked around for the source, only to realise that she wasn't the only one. Her gaze fixated on Tadashi, who nodded his head to the back, telling her that the enemy was coming from behind. Exchanging glances with each other, they immediately stopped running and stood still, prompting the rest to follow as they looked at them with confusion.

"What's wrong, Asa-chan, Tadashi-kun?" asked the Captain-Commander.

The two of them didn't reply him. A few seconds of silence later, the former said, "Is it okay if Tadashi and I stay back?" Of course, everyone was not pleased about the sudden request.

"What are you talking about, Asa-dono?" asked Rukia. "Our enemies are not that easy to be defeated alone."

"That's right!" agreed Hinamori. "We need to stay together and fight them."

"It's not that we wanna stay for fun." explained Tadashi seriously, occasionally glancing back to check how near or far the approaching enemy was. "Someone's approaching us from behind. If Asa-nee and I don't handle that enemy, how can we reach the main one without wasting so much time?"

Shunsui tilted his hat and said, "I see." After staring at them for a few seconds, he finally agreed. "Alright, we'll leave the two of you to with whoever the enemy is. Just be careful and make it out alive. Besides, you still owe me dinner, Tadashi-kun."

The said Shinigami chuckled. "Of course, Captain-Commander." he said before turning to face Asa. "Let's go."

The said woman gave him a curt nod as a reply. Before they made a move, she looked at Byakuya over her shoulder, just like the time when she had to join Ichigo and Urahara to sneak into Kageroza's laboratory. The only difference was that it wasn't about her being worried over him; he was worried about her. Staring into his onyx eyes, Asa gave him a gentle nod and a look of assurance, earning a nod from him. With one final look, she and Tadashi moved away using Flash Step.

"Alright!" said Hirako. "Let's just leave them and move on!"

"Eh?!" exclaimed Hinamori, who was one of the few who protested the idea of having the two Shinigami separated from the rest. "Are you sure it's a good idea to let them go on their own? Shouldn't we help Asa-sama and Sasaki-san?"

"Why should we?" he responded nonchalantly. "We're running short on time here."

"Yeah, but...!" she trailed off. She wanted to help the two Shinigami, but didn't know how.

"Don't worry about them." assured Shunsui, joining the conversation. "Like Hirako-taichou said, we have little time left. Besides, this is Yama-jii's granddaughter and the Head of the Sasaki Clan we're talking about."