Thread: Stick With Me Now; My Story Gets Better (NobodysAngel80 x Collector of Rarities)

Kuchiki Byakuya had known that this day would come. For most of his life, he'd always put duty before everything else, but after encountering Kurosaki Ichigo, he'd been reconsidering that stance. While his duties as the head of the Kuchiki family and the captain of Squad Six of Soul Society were always present in his mind, he'd started to take time for himself every now and then. That had been easier said than done the past few years, what with his sister's almost-execution, the fight with Aizen and his Espada and, finally, the fight with the quincies that had nearly destroyed Soul Society and the mortal world. Now that that was all behind him, though, things were much more peaceful and he had time to truly look inward. He prayed daily at the shrine of his previous wife, Hisana, ensured that his squad was helping with the repairs to Soul Society and spent the rest of his time relaxing. It was strange he hadn't felt relaxed in quite some time. He'd certainly felt happy, especially having Rukia around, but he'd never really felt relaxed ever since Hisana died. And now he was to be remarried. He wasn't particularly thrilled by the idea he still loved Hisana, but after much consideration, he came to the conclusion that she wouldn't have wanted herself to become a roadblock to his happiness. He remembered the times he had with her fondly, but he supposed that now was as good a time as any to start making new memories with someone else. And besides, it was his duty as the leader of the clan. All of the arrangements had been made and the Nayumichi family had gone through great lengths to even set up this meeting. The clan didn't have much to offer politically, but they'd put together an impressive dowry impressive enough that Byakuya couldn't simply turn them down. So, he put on a formal kimono, left Senbonzakura in his quarters and went out to meet the Nayumichi family. He could tell that something was wrong the moment he laid eyes on the girl he was supposed to marry. She was many things, but what she wasn't was the woman the family had claimed she would be. The girl he was expecting to meet was a noble who hadn't seen a day's hard work in her life the girl before him not only bore obvious callouses on her hands from manual labor of some variety, but her spiritual pressure was also far too high for her to be a mere noble. In fact, it was quite obvious that she was a shinigami, even if she didn't currently have her zanpakuto with her. His expression stayed the same as he examined the girl, but his eyes narrowed ever so slightly and suspicion bled into his gaze. There were many possible reasons why the Nayumichi family could have swapped out the daughter they'd told him he'd be meeting with this new girl, but none of them seemed to fit. The girl obviously wasn't powerful enough to be an actual threat to him, so she would be a poor choice of assassin. Furthermore, it made no sense for them to hire her to kill him they could have easily spent the dowry just to buy a more corrupt and more powerful shinigami to try and kill him. Furthermore, an assassination attempt would make no sense since it would easily be traced back to them. Each possible reason for the switch he ran through his mind made progressively less sense, so he decided to stop guessing and get the truth from her directly. After a long moment of silently regarding the girl before him, he turned to the Nayumichi elders. You may leave, he said, his voice calm and polite, yet somehow conveying that staying would be a very bad idea for them. He turned to Kiki. Come with me. Again, his voice remained calm and polite, but he had not made a request his words were a command. Without waiting for her response, he turned and walked back towards his house. He lead her to the tearoom and made the smallest of gestures with his hand for her to sit. It was strange the gesture was so slight that Kiki should have missed it, but it somehow came across clear as daylight. Byakuya sat across from her and regarded her silently for several long, uncomfortable minutes. In that time, it seemed like he never blinked his gaze was constant and intense, focused entirely on her and refusing to let her look away. Finally, a servant entered, performed a tea ceremony and poured them both a cup of tea before leaving. Byakuya did not touch his cup and continued starring at Kiki until he could no longer hear the servant's footsteps. You are not Nayumichi Sasaki, he said. Who are you?