Kuchiki Manor

"Time Together":

As a bell tolled out the hour of afternoon and the shadows of the sakura trees overhead moved to cover the other side of the estate. A hawk soared on the peerless sky overhead. As the gates of the Kuchiki Estate opened, guests in various dark or plain kimonos exited. After much delay, the memorial for the greatest of the noble clans was complete. Would it offer any closer when adhering to that tradition when those vows were completed at such a late date? No one knew. But no one dared to say it would cast a curse on the house. The greatness of the Kuchiki Clan could not be questioned lest they draw misfortune towards their own houses for such shameful words. But the events of the dour day revealed the state of the clan without any threats. When only one male heir kneeled at the plaques, the last of his pureblood lineage. When the only one who sat at his side was not a wife but a common sister tied to him through a wrong marriage. Perhaps it would have been better to keep the loss of so many elders a private affair with such a meek show of strength.

Even if the two kneeling were a veteran captain and lieutenant of the Gotei, having both conquered the trial of Bankai and multiple wars, it painted a bleak picture. The heir had no pureblood family to carry on the mantle if he died. And if the clan fell to the sister, it may remain standing, but its true noble lineage would be lost to the ages. For generations, the Kuchiki clan, like others before it, had been losing its luster, unlike the timeless sakura trees that stood inside its gates. Maybe the noblest clan would withstand this trial as it others — even a rebellion if whispers were to be believed — and maybe this would mark the beginning of the end. In time, they would have their answer.

For now, the two leading the ceremony could only bear the renewed scrutiny and wait to prove their strength to those that remained.

Rarely did Byakuya Kuchiki feel the weight upon his shoulders as an actual burden, but today marked an exception. He dared not hunch his shoulders as a child would but the pressure of his position built up like an immense hand. It pushed down on muscles used to much work as if they were weak limbs of a young solider learning his art. It bore down on him as the stillness had when he were still a boy frowning after his father passed and his grandfather impressed upon him a different kind of study. It dug into the scars hidden beneath his robes both from his sins and failures. As the head of the Kuchiki clan he could reveal none of this. But he could not mask the relief that seeped from his dark eyes when the clan’s grounds emptied.

He closed his eyes to mask his incoming headache, turning to the woman beside him, the only comfort on a day like this. “You did well, Rukia.”