Laws

A/N: Dec. 5, 2011 : I don't know if I posted this one before? But everytime I watch Bleach and see Byakuya, I remember how life was for him. This is how much I cry for him.

Disclaimer: The names, the setting, all of the Nippon terms are owned by Tite Kubo. Only the story is mine.

Byakuya Kuchiki, the 6^th Division Captain, rarely smiled. In fact, he never did, except for a few smirks that are not qualified as such. He has a stoic nature, poker-faced even at times of great pressure. He never shows remorse, any kind of emotion. One would deduce that personality to be caused by never-ending wars he witnessed, or caused by maturity. But that is not the case.

A man who follows the law experiences no pain. That has been instilled in him ever since he was born.

He is now that man. But once in his life, he experienced pain. For him, there is no greater pain than that of losing a beloved. The woman who saw and brought out the real him. The woman he cherished and was the reason he broke rules. He never regretted it. The day he made his grandfather, the patriarch of the Kuchiki clan at that time, submit to his wishes, and accept her as his wife. Hisana, who was of no noble blood. She was from Rokungai, but that didn’t hinder him from making her his. If that isn’t love, then love itself doesn’t exist.

And it all ended so soon. Three years is too soon for people whose love for each other transcends worlds, societies, status. For Byakuya Kuchiki, those three years were years of bliss, with his wife on his side. He could still remember everything clearly. From the first time day met, a smile was formed from his ever-tight lips, to the time when he was cradling her dying body, outside the comforts of their home, at the streets where Rukia is supposed to be in.

The succeeding days witnessed Byakuya as a man bound by the rules, by the laws. Never had anyone saw his smile again. His wife’s existence has been everything to him, and that everything has been taken away. But he must live, for there was a promise. He is going to search for his wife’s long-lost sister, and take her under his wings. And even if that is the last thing that he’ll do, he will. Because Byakuya Kuchiki honors promises, especially those he made in respect to the one person he loved the most.

His advisors were right, after all. A man who follows the law knows no pain. Letting yourself be ruled by your emotions will only be your downfall. The head of the Kuchiki clan is now that kind of man. Nevertheless, along with that belief is hope. He is not scared of death, for he is a shinigami. He might not acknowledge it, but there is still a tiny flicker of light in his heart. He is waiting, hoping. For that day when he’ll meet his Hisana again. Until that time comes, he would live, for that is a promise.