The broken heart

Catch me if you can

Before Byakuya stood up, the demoness disappeared, seemingly vanishing in thin air. It did not bother the man as he was completely aware of her staying close by, watching and waiting. Still, there was a thing he needed to take care of before participating in the tag of tags.

The nobleman concluded that the faster he could do that, the better. So, he exited the office, entering a long corridor. Without a moment of hesitation, Kuchiki turned right. Not many sounds surrounded him, as if the building was abandoned. It was a fleeting experience as some scrabbing could be heard from afar. The sound was muffled and quiet, but there was no denying it was there. It was followed by a familiar voice, indicating the Captain was heading in the right direction.

A few moments later, Byakuya slid open the ajar door leading to his lieutenant's office. As expected, Renji was pacing around the room, murmuring something under his breath whilst a massive pile of documents lay seemingly forgotten at the desk's base.

"Captain?!" the red-haired man gasped, apparently surprised by Byakuya's visit. "Something happened, Captain?" Abarai questioned afterwards as he regained a glimpse of his composure.

"I need to leave the office, Renji," the raven-haired nobleman stated in his usual reserved tone. "Because of that, you can also finish earlier today. Please, do bring the unfinished document to my office. Any questions?" he inquired, visibly intending to leave the room as soon as possible.

"No, Captain," Renji replied, taken aback. "I'll do as you say. And... thank you, Captain," he continued, baffled, whilst scratching his nape.

The raven-haired man said nothing. Instead, he swiftly turned around and exited the office. Once out, he used flash-step to leave the barracks behind, constantly trying to relax and prepare for what was to come. But unfortunately, deep inside, he knew it was a fruitless endeavour.

After a brief session of flash-steps, Kuchiki noticeably slowed down, allowing himself to limp for a fleeting moment. His body was still weakened, not even partially recovered after the fight he had earlier. It was challenging to cope with the fact that something had awakened in him, yet... he had little to no control over it. But... it was a struggle for another time, perhaps, as he knew he was being watched.

"Master, I can still sense your presence," Byakuya calmly said, looking at the solid ground. "Shall we begin?"

"I see your senses sharpened when I was away," the demoness commented, manifesting a mere few steps away. "Not that it matters, though. You're visibly limping; it's no competition," Yoruichi stated, clearly dissatisfied.

"Eh," the raven-haired man sighed, collecting his wits. "I told you I have not recovered from my earlier training session, Master. Nonetheless, if you seek a game of tags or a race, I will participate," he stated emotionlessly.

"It's no fun in defeating someone who's already defeated," the demoness stated. "But... be my guest. Ready?"

"Yes," the nobleman replied, putting off his Captain's coat. "So... do we race or play the tags?" he questioned, stretching slightly.

"None of these," the woman said, flashing a mischievous smirk. "We're going to run. If you manage to keep up, I'll train you as promised. But the longer this run lasts, the faster I'll push. I wonder what're your limits. But, then again, I'll see them soon enough," she boasted confidently, discarding her coat.

The raven-haired man glanced over at his Master. Like in the past, Yoruichi wore a long pair of sleeve gloves nearly reaching her shoulders. Aside from the woman's hair length, she looked exactly the same as they first met. And... to Byakuya's horror, that glance was enough to trigger something inside. Momentarily, his consciousness was flooded with memories of his past life. Precisely speaking, the memories connected with the damned demoness. For the next minute, he visibly struggled to push back this flood as there were pieces of the past simultaneously making the man happy and breaking his heart and soul.