Given Choice [Byakuya x OC]

5

It became routine to go to the lake after lunch. Byakuya and Ora married eight months ago, but they were still complete strangers to each other. Byakuya stopped calling for her, stopped going to her room and Ora made sure that she was at home at the time of curfew. Dinners were lonely, nights were lonely. Ora admired the stars from her room since she couldn't do it from the lake, it didn't have the same feeling, the stars looked empty and sorrowful from the mansion. Ora felt empty too, those eight months weren't very pleasant, Byakuya would make harmful comments everytime she made a mistake. He would call her useless and pitiful. He would say that she's a disgrace to Kuchiki clan. Ora learned how to bear those comments, they wouldn't hurt her as they did before. She only felt sad because her hero wasn't the one that she remembered. The one that took care of her when an Adjucha invaded a side of Rukongai, the one that fled with her to a safe place while the captain took the monster down. The one that told her that everything was going to be okay.

"Well, people change" Ora muttered as she kept doing her paperwork at her office. Her lieutenant activities were back to what they were, so she took care of the household matters early in the mornings before going to the thirteenth squad. Everyone respected her for being hardworking, but like her grandfather said, overworking was not good for her health.

Like that day, Ora was unwell. She had a high fever and her vision was blurry when she woke up. The servants noticed her unhealthiness and advised her to rest for the day, however, she didn't want to face Byakuya's negativity. He would insult her when he had the opportunity, she was not going to give him the chance.

Some paperwork needed to be sent to the other squads regarding the sudden dryness of certain areas of Rukongai, Captain Ukitake suspected that a Hollow was the cause. The paperwork was already given to the majority of the squads - except for the fifth, the sixth and the twelfth.

Sighing, Ora got up from her chair and stumbled a little before recomposing. The sixth squad was the only one she started to avoid the most, she would send the documents through the third seat officer, but she was taking care of the captain's health.

She walked to the twelfth squad since it was the one near from her own squad. Ora gave the documents to Nemu, the lieutenant of the twelfth squad. She gladly accepted and walked back to her captain's office. Thankfully, Ora didn't have to face Captain Mayuri.

The fifth squad was the next stop. There, she spotted Momo with papers in her hands. She called her and gave her the papers for her captain. She thanked her and walked away to fulfill the remaining duties.

Ora didn't have the luck to see Renji around when she arrived at the sixth squad. She got nervous to face Byakuya, it passed weeks since she last saw him - he scolded her for not watering one of the flowers.

She knocked the door and she heard Byakuya tell her to come in. Once again, he froze for a second when he saw her. "I told you not to visit me unless I called for you."

"It's not personal matters, Lord Byakuya." She bowed to him. "There's paperwork that I've been giving to all squads."

"Leave it there and get out." He turned his back to her.

"C-certainly." Ora was feeling a little light headed and stumbled a little on the way to his desk. He must have noticed the irregularity of her steps.

"You're getting excited to get out of your duties." He said. "Who's the man you had charmed today?"

"What are you talking about?" Her voice sounded weak. She pinched the bridge of her nose.

"The servants are gossiping around the house, you go out once you're done with your duties. Every day." His voice became colder. "They are saying that you meet with a lover." He turned around and walked towards her. "I must say that you're more naughty than I had thought."