Hisana could feel the slightest tremble of his hand as he guided her through the streets of Seireitei. She didn't question him though, and pretended the slight tremor she felt as he pressed his hand against her back is nothing more than just the turbulence of the road. Besides, even if she did ask, she knew that he would just wave it off and say it's nothing. He was like that.

"Where are we going Byakuya-sama?" She asks softly, her voice never raising above a shout to be heard above the hustle of everyday life. He looked down into her violet eyes and smiled just as soft as her voice.

"We're going to see a few friends of mine. We'll tell them the good news together," he stated. He looked away at the last part and she saw a small flash of either worry or fear, she couldn't tell. She stopped and he stopped with her, looking down at her inquiring why she halted.

"Why are you so worried Byakuya-sama?" Byakuya looked away before pressing her forward. She allowed him to lead her this time to the unknown destination. After a few moments of silence and walking, Byakuya decided to fess up to her.

"I'm ... a little scared to be honest."

"Byakuya-sama is afraid? I'd never thought to see the day," she teased. He didn't smile at the joke, staring intently forward. Sensing the mood, she stopped smiling and she couldn't help the seed of fear from growing inside her stomach. How bad were these friends of his to make him afraid?

"Don't worry. You'll see what I mean when you meet them," Byakuya reassured her. They walked to the Third Company barracks before he knocked on the door with the fukutaichou symbol on it. She was curious that he would be friends with the fukutaichou of the Third Company, but it stood to reason that he would be friends with like ranked individuals seeing as how just recently he was promoted to fukutaichou of the Sixth Company under his grandfather.

The door opened to a short and pretty young woman. But Hisana was confused. The Shinigami officer had a healing pack, signifying that she was apart of the Fourth Company. So why was she in the fukutaichou of the Third Companies barrack?

"Byakuya! I never expected to see you here, let me call Agito. Come on in!" Hisana was also surprised that the young woman would refer to Byakuya-sama with his first name without the proper inference but Byakuya wasn't rebuking the woman for it so it must be alright.

They both entered the barrack into a spacious living space separate from the bedroom. The decorations were minimal but elegant with soft rugs covering the floors, sitting cushion lining the wall ready for use and a small low table off to the side.

"Stop being anti-social and act like a normal human being for once," the young woman said, talking to someone from within the bedroom before entering the living room.

"I'm not human," said a voice from the back, the sound like rolling thunder and earthquakes, "I'm a Shinigami."

The woman, fukutaichou of the Third Company, entered the living room as one would a battlefield. She was tall for a woman, standing up to Byakuya height but unlike him who used his height as a simple statement of superiority, she used her height as a weapon. The woman's head tilted while measuring Hisana and goosebumps danced along her arms and spine, the chilling notion of a predator toying with the idea of eating her prey.

"Wow, like you aren't edgy enough," the other woman said, breaking the tension. Hisana looked away from the imposing woman, finding reprieve towards the smaller young woman who - wait a minute, they look alike.

"Hisana," Byakuya said, "I would like for you to meet two very close friends of mine, Agito and Rue Diabolos. Agito is the fukutaichou of the Third Company. Rue is the fourth seat of the Fourth Company. They're twin siblings."

It was rather obvious that they were twins even though they were so different. Rue Diabolos was smaller, softer and had long beautiful blue hair that fell down to her waist with two braids framing her face. A pair of warm golden eyes gazed kindly at everyone around the room and her aura screamed comfort. Agito Diabolos was tall, muscular, her hair cut into a swept back blue mohawk with shaved sides and sharp lined designs. Her eyes were also gold but were cold, sharp, unfriendly and her aura threatened to wound anyone who came near. The two sisters had the same blue hair, golden eyes, shape nose, brow, and lips but that was where the similarities ended.

Just by chance she caught sight of their zanpakuto and her heart sped up.

"You," she said hesitantly, "You are the Golden Two?"

"What?" the more intimidating one, Agito, asked. The kinder one, Rue, smacked her hand against her sister's arm.

"You are completely oblivious aren't you?" she chastised her twin before turning to Hisana, "Yes, we're the Golden Two."

Hisana was shooketh.

The Golden Two were whispered legends among Rukongai. They whispered in the streets, 'Do you know of the two? They came from us. They were us. And now they're the best Gotei's ever had. They were worthless and now they have gold upon their zanpakuto. The only Shinigami to ever have gold upon their zanpakuto and they come from us.'

To see both the of the Golden Two, together, and friends with her Byakuya-sama was daunting.

"Hisana," Rue said, "Breathe."

She took a deep gasping breath, leaning back onto Byakuya-sama cause her knees were weakening.

"The Golden Two?" Agito questioned her sister, "What fresh hell is happening?"

"The public likes us cause we've beaten the Nobles at their own game of hierarchy and are representing the slums of Rukongai more than honorably," Rue explained.

Agito's cold eyes narrowed and her mouth twisted down in a frown. She crossed her arms over her chest and said, "Now isn't that interesting? The PR team could be using our relative success in Gotei as a recruitment tool. I'll have to find a way to dissuade them of doing so. Either that or-"

"Hey!" Rue said, snapped Agito out of whatever mindset she was adopting, "No revolution speak when meeting people. Hello! Byakuya, who is this?"

"Agito, Rue, I want you to meet my fiancee, Hisana."

"FIANCEE?!" screeched Rue before jumping up and down, "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god. Byakuya! Why didn't you tell us sooner?! How long have you been courting? Oh my god, is this where you go whenever you were being super secretive? I totally called it!"

"Rue," Agito said, cutting her sister off in her excitement, "You know what this means, don't you?"

"That I can plan the entire wedding? Oh! Please tell me it's in spring! A beautiful spring wedding under the sakura trees! I swear to everything mighty, if you don't do this I will beat you with your own zanpakuto."

"No," Agito calmly stated, "It means that Byakuya can get a girl to like him."

Suddenly, the intimidating aura Agito seemed to pour out of her transformed when she turned to look Byakuya straight in the eye with the worst shit-eating grin Hisana had ever seen.

"Agito," Byakuya groaned in tired frustration.

"Hisana-san," Agito asked, "Was he shy in the beginning? Awkward a bit? Please tell me he embarrassed himself."

In a flash, Hisana remembered exactly how she had first met Byakuya-sama and flushed when she realized that yes, yes Byakuya was very awkward. He looked at her, knowing exactly what she was remembering.

"Hisana, no."

"Do it, Hisana," urged Rue, "Don't listen to the man. You tell us this one story and we'll tell you everything we have on him for blackmail."

"Oh god," Byakuya cursed. Both Agito and Rue laughed at his predicament and even Hisana giggled.

Rue and Hisana got along like a house on fire but Agito adding tidbits every now and then to the conversation. The more stories that came out, Byakuya started getting stiller and stiller, skin paling as if he realized that there was nothing he could do. The three women in his life have formed a strong front and they were sharing battle secrets.

Before Rue could share the story of when Agito and she stole all of his fundoshi, tied them to different boars and set them loose on Seireitei, Byakuya left the barrack and stood outside of the apartment.

When he had introduced Hisana to his two closest friends, he had hoped that they would approve and welcome Hisana into their fold. Hisana was from the lower Rukongai. Not as low as Agito and Rue once were but low enough to cause the Noble's to start acting up. His introducing Hisana to them was an act of alliance. He had hoped that Agito and Rue would teach Hisana how to deal with the Noble's and would form a bond so that Hisana would never feel backed into a corner. It worked. But at the price of his pride.

"How is the Kuchiki Clan taking this?"

Byakuya turned around to see his dear friend, Agito standing next to him with a much more serious face than she was showing to Hisana earlier. He was glad for it because it showed the she could guess the problems that have recently risen.

"Grandfather approves," Byakuya said.

"Of course Papi approves," she said, "If you're happy, then he's happy. But I'm not asking about him. I'm asking about those old geezers that have bee stuck too long in their own coffins to know better."

"They're not taking it well," he admitted.

Agito scoffed, "What a way to sugarcoat it. They're infuriated?" At Byakuya's nod of agreement, Agito began to plan.

"We can start by introducing her to some of the other free minded Nobles, get them to pass their blessing on the marriage. The Shiba Clan would no likely want to throw the entire wedding on their funds, seeing as how a Kuchiki is finally following their heart," she teased a bit before continuing on with seriousness, "Shunsui-taichou and Ukitaki-taichou, though they are not of high standing nobility, are popular enough that their approval can sway the entire opinion of the Gotei Juu-san. Rue would praise Hisana to Unohana-taichou and if we have a formal tea ceremony where Hisana can truly shine, Unohana would most likely take a liking to her."

"You've already had a plan," Byakuya mumbled with barely contained surprise.

"The first moment I saw Hisana's hands, I knew exactly what had to happen," Agito admitted.

"Her hands?"

"Take her to the spa. Hisana has callouses on her fingers that only a person from hard work could have. Her hands need to be exfoliated for the softness of a true Noble Lady. She also needs to be trained in how a Noble Lady should act and their duties. If Yoruichi-san were still around, I would have suggested that woman's tutelage but now with her gone-"

"Actually," Byakuya said, "I was thinking you."

"Me?"

"Yes. You train Hisana how to be a Noble Lady."

"My sister would be a better teacher than I would be," Agito said, "I'm still learning from my taichou. Oh, my taichou could be of-"

"No," Byakuya said, "You."

"Why?" Agito asked was suspicion. He was being rather forceful and though she didn't feel pressure to agree to his wants, it was still interesting that he would keep to his recommendation.

"You were trained under the tutelage of some of the greatest and fiercest of minds," Byakuya praised, "Shion, Yamamoto, my own grandfather, and because of their tutelage you've been transformed from some street thug to that of a war general. I believe that under your guidance and shared experiences both in Rukongai and the change of pace within Seireitei, I believe you would be an invaluable help to Hisana."

"Just as you said, I am more war general than anything else," Agito said, "I'm not a Noble Lady, nor do I know anything of the duties of a Noble Lady."

"You know how to handle the Kuchiki Nobles," he said and that's when Agito understood.

"You want a thinly veiled threat," Agito said. To have the future Lady of the Kuchiki House trained under Agito Diabolos who was known to have a particular ... behavior toward the Elder Nobles. Agito absolutely hated them, no secret about it. Somehow, in very single interaction between the fukutaichou of the Third Company and with the Elder Kuchiki Nobles they have all ended with Agito besting them in a parry of words.

Hisana needed that training. She also needed to know the secrets with how to best deal with certain individuals and learn how to gain the upper hand when all the cards were in the other players hold. Plus, if the Elders know that Agito was behind Hisana, training the young woman, it would be an insult to the fukutaichou of the Third Company if Hisana were to be spurned by them.

"Yes."

Agito measured him from the look of his eyes to the stance of his feet. She asked, "Do you love her?"

Byakuya knew not to answer her immediately. A hasty answer would incur her immediate distrust. He thought about his answer in his deepest of hearts. He thought about how the sakura blossoms in his Inner Sanctum never looked more beautiful. He thought about her smile and the rare, full laughter she gives when she was genuinely pleased. He thought about the softness in her eyes when she looked at him and how her kindness was what really drew him in.

"Yes," he said, "I do love her."

"Then I will train her."

"You will?" Byakuya couldn't help but ask because it was such a sharp turn from her previous behavior.

"Of course," Agito said, "Cause I'm your friend."

When she looked at him, Byakuya felt the primitive part of his being cower in fear because there was something different in her eyes. Something like madness. Something like War who learned their lesson.

"And love is going to hurt you in the end," she said, her voice vibrating through the air like the deep growl of a tiger stalking through the brush. For an instant, he hallucinated. Her golden eyes bled blood red and for a second he could see her skull, her gleaming teeth filled with oozing rot. He would not know that he saw Michael, rising from the depths and pulled forth in her skin. He would not know that his vision was foreshadowing. "Love is the only thing worse than death."

And the vision is gone.

He will forget all about it later, only to remember bits and pieces of inhuman teeth and eyes that lusted for blood in nightmares.

"Shall we go back inside? I think Rue would be done with sharing all of the stories now," Agito suggested with a smile on her face.

...

"Michael!" I called out into the roar of the forest fire, "Michael! Get your ass out here!"

It's been ... some time since I fist started to search for bankai. It was all for naught. I couldn't find Michael. No matter how much I call for him, he doesn't come. I haven't seen him in months.

"Michael!" I call once more, growing more and more desperate. The fire has been more active lately. The sound of crackling wood and the roar of flames building up and up until I could barely hear above the howl. I've walked from clearing to little clearing and yet there was nothing of Michael to trace him back. I haven't heard a whisper from him.

And it was pissing me off.

Here he was a year ago spitting out how he wanted me to gain bankai as soon as possible, getting pissed at me when I decided not to take the next step and suddenly when I decide that it's time he just up and leaves? What the hell gives? Now I was getting more and more angry at him, more and more spiteful.

"Fucking hell," I curse, "Where are you, asshole?"

A voice as cruel and as cold as a dead star spoke into the empty spaces of my head, my soul. Full of voices never given sound, choking on empty graves, and the cesspits of black holes. I knew who this was. The Devil.

I turned slowly around. And there he was. He was all shadow and darkness, vague edges and the rare glimpse of something, nothing underneath the black smoke. There was no face to look at. Enfolded around him was a cloak, a coat, a goddamn blanket, I don't know -fuck it, wings!- it was made of a starless night sky, the pulsing insides of a heart, palpable dark matter beating in time with the beat of the universe screaming.

the Devil mused,

Fear was turning into anger, making me twitchy.

"Where is he?" I snarled.

"That son of a bitch, Michael," I spat, "Where the fuck is he?"

the Devil whispered,

"Did you not hear me?" I questioned cause the Devil was being a stupid cunt at the moment, "I said-"

the Devil interrupted and for once I shut up my anger cause he spoke with the voice of someone you simply did not want to test,

"Yes," I said, "His name is-"

"His name is-"

I shut up and really thought at it. I was looking for Michael, my zanpakuto. But the way the Devil ... asked for a 'whom' and implied that I don't know exactly who I was searching for was a clue. Who EXACTLY was I searching for?

I was searching for Michael, my zanpakuto. But who was Michael?

Michael ... was a warrior. He was made for war, war is his right, his creed, his moral and lover. He loves the blood, the sweat, the scars. He would look Death right in the eye and call it good. He has looked into the ugliness of war and called her beautiful. He is wrath, red hot and sizzling, burning from the inside out. He was blood curdling madness that demanded violence. He was a type of murder done for a higher power's name. He had a mountain of bones dedicated to him. He was the ripping and tearing flesh, teeth digging and ripping and gnashing. He was a bellowing war cry, a wildfire with no restraint. He was-

The more I thought of him, the more the forest fire in my heart burned brighter, hotter. The roar of the flames becoming a din and if I had actually looked I would have seen my entire world consumed. But I didn't because the more I thought of him, the deeper down the rabbit hole I fell.

-war. Burning hot down my veins, tasting of mercury in my throat. Electricity lighting through my veins and it feels ... so ... good. God, he was blood lust and the anticipation of battle. He was the feel of a blade in my hand cutting through flesh.

He was the first taste of heart still warm in my mouth. He was a pile of corpses, all rotting. He was black blood from the battlefield and circling vultures. Michael was weeping widows and orphaned children ... and not caring. He was filled coffins and laughter. He was the absolute desire to die in a fight with blood between his teeth, heart beating fast, knuckles bruised and blooded, body too broken to go on.

And how I loved him.

My eyes were closed when the fire of my heart went out. I did not see the night consume the silent trees. I didn't know that the entire world was anticipating the revelation of me.