Chapter 4 – Chess

Things were hectic when Byakuya returned to the estate, but no more so than usual. He was relieved that there were no reports of his "guest" acting up and causing problems. It was said there was commotion from her room, but any time a servant would check in to ask if she was all right she would, rather threateningly, tell them to leave her alone. She had been brought food, as well as tea and sake, twice during the day, at Byakuya's request before he had left that morning.

Byakuya strode in a distinguished manner down the corridor. As the servants had said, there was a great commotion inside. Byakuya tilted his head slightly, knocking on the door to the residence and workshop he had given to her. From inside came a rather agitated voice, "I told you a thousand times I'm fine! I'm working!"

Byakuya exhaled, almost amused, and pushed the door open. "Lady Shiba, perhaps you should stop for the day. It's become rather late." He looked over the room. Kukaku sat on the floor in the middle of the room, papers strewn around her, tea mostly untouched, food half eaten. Both bottles of sake were completely empty, one on it's side. On the sill of the window was the sakura blossom from that morning. Byakuya was surprised to see the flower, but decided better than to speak of it.

Kukaku had only felt it appropriate to keep the flower. 'Hanabi' came from 'hana', so it was only natural that the latter should be present for the creation of the former. It had become a symbol of the contract between them, and Kukaku's constant reminder of the work she needed to do. At some point she'd sent a servant to her home to inform Ganju of where she'd gone and what her situation was. She knew he'd be unhappy with her, but it was for the greater good.

Kukaku gathered up the papers and got to her feet, presenting the somewhat messy stack of close to thirty designs to Byakuya. "These are the designs I've begun to work out. Please look them over. I will need you approval before I can move on." Many of the designs had flaws, ones that would need to be greatly worked out before their construction could begin, but it would do for now.

Byakuya stared for a second at the large stack of paper. She had accomplished all of that in one day? Though he would not admit to it aloud, Kukaku seemed to work much harder than he gave her credit for. He had assumed she'd spend most of her day drinking and slacking and maybe have half of a design to present to him. But even though it had been obvious that she'd spent time drinking, she seemed still completely sober and had done far more work than even he might have been able to in her position.

He flipped through the sketches He didn't understand much of what it said, but the designs all seemed fairly light and compact, which made them good for transport. When Byakuya had finished he offered the paper's back to her. "Very good... Tomorrow I will bring you out to the 6th division training grounds so you may get a feel for the way shinigami do combat. Please cease work for this evening and rest so that you are not tired tomorrow."

Kukaku took the stack of papers and set them on a table next to the door. "Wonderful. From that I should be able to narrow these down and begin work on prototypes. That will narrow it down further to which models would be most effective for your purposes." She wasn't going to let Byakuya give her a hard time. She wouldn't even give him an excuse to. Kukaku would honor their contract. A breech of contract on her part would only be bad for her, since she would be in debt to Byakuya, and that was something she refused to let happen.

Kukaku turned, stepping back into the room. "Yes, yes. Of course." She tilted her head back slightly. "Might I ask you a question, Kuchiki?"

Byakuya almost looked offended as she walked away from their conversation, but was slightly taken aback by her request to ask him something. He nodded lightly. "Yes, I don't see why not."

"It's just out of my own misplaced curiosity." Kukaku scratched the back of her head, then looked to the flower on her windowsill. "Why is it that you never seem to smile?" There had to be a reason. Kukaku couldn't bring herself to believe that someone would be unhappy just for the sake of being unhappy.

Byakuya was very startled by the question, and how personal it was. He didn't feel that he was obligated to answer to this woman. "I have reasons. Ones that do not concern you." Byakuya was unhappy. He would not deny this, but he felt he was entitled to his unhappiness after all that happened to him. First all of the struggle his family had put up in regards to his marriage to Hisana, then the death of his parents, and then Hisana's illness and eventual death. All of the vows he had made to them that now restricted the way he lived. They were all reasons for his unhappiness, but they were his alone and not for Kukaku to know.

Kukaku looked over her shoulder at Byakuya, not feeling as though it was worth the effort to turn and look at him fully. "I am just trying to understand you, Kuchiki. Men like you, ones who limit their own happiness, perplex me." Kukaku shrugged lightly and looked back to the window and the darkening sky. "I was hoping you could shed some light on the situation."

"You are just a simple, common woman. The strain of being a noble is not something you could understand." Byakuya's cold, distance tone returned. Who was she to question him? What had she done to earn that right?

Kukaku's previously calm eyes grew annoyed. "A common woman?" She turned to face him fully, hand resting on her hip. "What about me is common, Kuchiki? Have you forgotten that I was raised a noble, just like you?" She took a long stride toward him, taking up a proud stance. "I grew up under your pretty noble laws and I rebelled against them. And because I did, you have me here making weapons for you! Do you think they'd let me do this if I was a noblewoman?" She set her shoulders back, glaring sternly at Byakuya.

Byakuya, in turn, glared back at her. "You do not understand the life I have lived, and you should not pretend that you do, Lady Shiba." He would not be intimidated by her. "The life I have lived is very different from yours."

"Thats why I asked, Kuchiki." Kukaku hissed, "Asking questions is the only way to understand the things you cannot grasp. My life and yours have been different, but you and I are very much the same." Not wanting to hear her, not wanting to think of the reasons he was unhappy, and refusing to believe that they were alike in any way, Byakuya turned to leave her.

Kukaku frowned at the gesture. "When the wise old men have finished their game, Kuchiki, both the noble king and the lowly pawn are placed together in the same box. Remember that." Byakuya pushed the door shut at her remark, walking swiftly down the hall so as to get away from her as quickly as possible.

Kukaku turned quckly, lying down on the unfamiliar bed. Sleeping tonight wouldn't be as easy. She was still riled up from working, and her brief argument with Byakuya. "Kaien, I hope you'd approve of this decision." She wrapped her arm around the pillow on the bed before letting go and rolling onto her back to stare up at the ceiling. "You always said I shouldn't concern myself with battles, or shinigami. That I was to create beautiful things, create light. My only obligations were to myself and my family."

Kukaku shut her eyes against the images in the room, trying to forget where she was and pretend that she was home. But it was no use. The sounds, the smells, the air itself were all different. She hated it here.

Byakuya walked in long, angry strides back to his room. How dare she speak to him in such a manner. If it wasn't for the fact that they needed these weapons, he would have thrown her out. He walked into his room, quickly shutting the door. He changed for bed, still trying to figure out what to do with the obnoxious woman currently employed under his name. He refused to let the pawn topple the king. He'd find some way to get her in line and keep her there.