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

三十一

However, she realised something. Why was Byakuya giving her gifts all of a sudden? He wasn't the type of person who would give his friends and family gifts. Even when Michiro was still alive, the Captain didn't bring anything with him. It was usually the other way round, especially when Michiro was known to bring a bottle of exquisite sake every time he visited Byakuya despite that the latter didn't drink. Besides that, Asa noticed the same expression held in his eyes - guilt. Was he still guilty about what Senbonzakura did to her, even though it was an illusion conjured by Kage Odoriko? No, that can't be it. There's something else, and she could tell that it was bothering him a lot.

"What's the matter?" he asked suddenly, interrupting her chain of thoughts. "Do you not like it? I can get the merchant to change it if you'd like."

"N-No, it's not that." she quickly corrected. Her gaze then went back to the kimono, and she murmured, "It's just..."

"What?" he pushed when she wasn't giving him an explanation.

Asa closed her eyes for a mere second before opening them to look at him, standing up and walking towards the patio. Just before she stepped out, she glanced over her shoulders to look at him and said, "Come with me." He looked back at her and didn't say anything, but soon got up to follow her to the patio.

It felt like yesterday the last time they spent a peaceful, quiet time with each other in the Sasaki Manor's patio. This time, there were no cherry blossoms, nor a full moon hanging in the night sky. Instead, there were countless stars in the sky, and trees with green leaves. Some of them fell to the ground when the wind blew. The two Shinigami repeated what they'd done on that night; walking along the river, eventually stopping at the clear lake where koi fish were swimming inside. The five ducks had returned to their nest as well, but they could hear them quacking from far. That night was a peaceful and comfortable one, but Asa wasn't sure if it'd be the same for this night.

"Why do you still fear something that has happened in the past?" she suddenly asked after turning to face him, interrupting the silence. Byakuya may have not shown any response, but the faint grunt of surprise coming from him was more than enough for her to continue. "You have been giving me gifts when we came back from the Human World, but all this while, I can't help but think you are obliged to do so, as if you want to settle your guilty conscience. And I know it's just about what Senbonzakura did to me."

Byakuya would've responded with "It's none of your business", or something else to avoid the topic. But Asa was too smart for her own good. She could read him like an open book, even though he was known to be stoic and rarely expressed his emotions; and she was right about his intention of giving her those gifts.

Before Michiro left Soul Society for his mission with his teammates, Byakuya promised to protect Asa and make sure no harm comes to her. Ironically enough, the latter had to carry out his promise from Day One itself; but things didn't really turn out the way he expected. He was starting to fall in love with her, the widow of his best friend, and no matter how hard he tried to remind himself of that fact, his heart gave in. One would think that it was fine for him to move on after Hisana's death, but that wasn't the case. The problem was he felt like he was betraying Michiro by loving his wife. And when Senbonzakura slashed across her back, the little guilt inside of him grew. Byakuya thought his world had ended there and then, for he thought that he had killed the woman he loved and swore to protect. So now, even though she had assured him that she had forgiven him, he still felt guilty, because of his feelings towards her and for what he had Senbonzakura done to her. He felt he had to do something to pay back for what he had done, and hence, he thought that showering her with gifts and luxuries that he knew she wouldn't splurge on would help him, like Asa said, settle his guilty conscience.