[Death · Bailu] Flower Story

The bright afternoon sun fell on the overlapping broad leaves, casting wet shadows on the freshly watered stone road.On weekdays, the birds looking for food do not know where to hide. In the quiet courtyard, except for the sound of cicadas, there is only the occasional sound of water when the koi in the pond swim.The unpredictable and turbulent light spots that the sunlight rippling on the pool water are now unscrupulously falling on the slender figure sitting by the window on the attic opposite.

Rukia seemed to be awakened by the rippling waves. She closed her eyes and rubbed her eyes tiredly after reading the gift list all morning. The direction of the direct light was compared with a gift list and itinerary drawn up by the butler the night before.

On her right hand, carefully separated and collected in a black lacquer box decorated with mother-of-pearl, it is a detailed record of the visits to the royal court by the heads of the Kuchiki family that have been safely stored in the library. The name list and the gift list to be carried, the royal families to be visited and a brief introduction, even the number of servants to be carried, the specific time of the planned departure and return, and the progress of the route are all included.Rukia lightly brushed over the top shelf, and there was a not-so-thin stack of record sheets carefully wrapped in ermine [1] Tang silk with uniform specifications and elegant colors. A look of unknowing dependence crossed his face.

In the lower left corner of the last page of each document in that stack of record sheets, there will be a name that will make her feel at ease as long as she sees it, signed in centennial brown [2] ink.

It was the first time she noticed the handwriting of her strict and meticulous cold-faced elder brother, but it was unexpectedly elegant and romantic.

Sometimes it's just a simple signature, but more often it's a comment and supplement on the document, and as expected, there will be another " Revision".

Working under the eldest brother is indeed more difficult than serving the former algebra masters. I really want to ask how Renji survived these years.

Rukia was amused by the "bullying" red-haired man whose eyebrows and eyes were squeezed together in her mind. She turned her face and glanced at the pile of jade paper under her hands. Sighing at the barely neat handwriting, he pulled a new piece of paper and "snapped" it on top in an attempt to destroy the corpse.

"Tuktuk." A knock on the door outside interrupted Rukia's little slacking off.

"Miss, the Patriarch of the Sifeng Courtyard has just sent a message that he will wait for you in the small tea room next to the Library Pavilion in a quarter of an hour." The maid's voice was low, leaking in from the opposite side of the sliding door that opened a little gap. .

"Oh, I see." Rukia stood up holding the gift list for reference, and was about to reach out to pick up the stack of "labor results" that had been studied all morning, but the cuffs of the kimono swept off the bento box at hand Cover and a few pages of Chiyo-colored Chiyo paper.

"Ah, wait a minute." Rukia hurriedly leaned over to pick it up, but when she got up, a stream of light flashed across the floor deep in the reference room.

"The binding is beautiful, this... who dropped it?" Turning to a tall bookshelf that blocked her view, she walked over to pick up the poor book wrapped in a layer of black rags Caught deep in the crevice of the bookcase, it was originally a large thick book covered with light gold embroidered white peonies that looked very expensive, and he couldn't help frowning.

Because Bai Zai often consults the archives and records of the Kuchiki family's major events in this reference room that can only be accessed with the permission of the head of the family, this small Japanese room has naturally become the "key supervision object" of the Kuchiki family's huge library. One, even she, an idler, has heard about the intensity of cleaning and tidying up on weekdays, so the book that appeared on the floor at this time seemed to have been disguised with rags for some years, and Lu Qi was shocked. Ya was keenly aware of some strange aura.

"Huh? These places were torn off by someone..." How can there be such a disturbing thing, and what kind of secret is hidden in this book that I don't want to be known.Rukia, who was curious for a while, simply sat down on the ground regardless, put the book on her knees and flipped through it at a faster speed.

"...Speaking of which, this 'Floating Boat Hall'... I really haven't heard of it..." I have always claimed that under the pressure of my cold-faced elder brother, I can memorize the memorization of the soul world's major events and the royal family chronology. Someone in the book, but when he saw a prince title that remained after a few pages were torn off, he questioned his academic level for the first time.

"It counts... from the generation of Ichigo's grandfather?! Not good, I almost forgot that Your Excellency Yoruichi is still waiting." Awakened by the hesitant knock on the door reminded by the maid outside the door, Rukia hurriedly got up and tried her best to get up. The calm voice replied, and after a moment of hesitation, he rewrapped the book in a rag and stuffed it in a deeper place than before.

"When you see Your Excellency Yeyi later, let's try to ask."

When Rukia walked into the small tea room holding the transcribed materials, the four or five figures approaching her shocked her so much that she almost forgot the idea that had been lingering in her mind before.

"Your Excellency Liuli?! And...!!"

Before the figure sitting upright in the black drape coat reacted, Rukia covered her mouth very consciously, then smiled and bent down to salute the familiar figure with the corners of her eyes bent.

"Lukia, I escaped, so get up quickly." The boy who had just released his orange hair from the black turban smiled heartily, and in the blink of an eye, it had moved to her body. side.

Is it a gift from Muhua Festival to see you at this time, Ichigo?

After Rukia greeted everyone and knelt quietly at Ichigo's lower left hand, she realized that her palms, which had been clenched tightly since entering the tea room, were already wet with fine sweat.

"I came here in a hurry today, and I really don't have the mood to taste tea. I have to ask Master-san to forgive me." Ichigo half-jokingly broke the delicate silence in the room, and then exchanged for the helpless smile of Liuli next to him, which was similar to that of Rukia. The expression of knowing but not understanding.

"Lukia Palace, His Highness Ling Wang has been looking forward to this day since he received the secret letter from the Kuchiki Patriarch," said Liuli, who was dressed in blue and had blue hair, with the same gentle and elegant expression as when she first met Rukia. He said quietly with a smile, "I can't stop it anyway, so I have no choice but to follow along."

"...Your Excellency Liuli said the words there," Lukia showed a calm smile, but her hands under the desk were already unconsciously clenched together, "The Spirit King and the chief guard came to the rotten wood house, it is really rotten wood Fortunately, I just don’t know what orders Lord Lingwang has this time.”

Brother, what did you find out, and what did you tell Ichigo?

Brother, how are you now?

"Lukia, I've already said, I disguised myself as a ninja and escaped with Ruri," said Ichigo, who couldn't get used to what his former friend said now, and interrupted the two in front of him with a wave of his hand. One push and one block of Tai Chi kung fu, "This time I came here, apart from needing to check some things in the book library of the Dead Wood House, the main reason is that I heard that a certain reckless girl got into trouble again..."

He paused, looked narrowly at Rukia's complexion which alternates between red and pale, and continued, "Byakuya sent a letter to allow Ruri to travel freely in the Kuchiki family's library, and mentioned that this time, the chief nobleman of Seireitei, the Kuchiki family. You are Miss Lucia who is in charge of Shangluo affairs, how can I not come to join in the show?"

To make the arrogant Kuchiki Patriarch move out of the support of the King of Souls, who exactly did Rukia provoke this time.As soon as I think about this problem and think about this girl's situation, Ichigo, who is far away in the royal court, feels like sitting on pins and needles, so he can only step up the investigation of that matter, and at the same time, send a team of royal family hidden guards to check the whereabouts of this girl in January completely.When Byakuya's biography and Yinwei's investigation results were placed in front of the young Lingwang, Kurosaki Ichigo, who had always believed that things were man-made, had to feel that the world was unpredictable, like a destiny in the dark, This reckless girl was obsessed with slamming into this conspiracy without knowing it, and she was really tricked by someone with a heart.

This realization made Ichigo, who was far away in the royal court at that time, not know whether to laugh or cry.

Ignoring the iron law that the royal family cannot enter and leave the royal court without permission, he just took advantage of the fact that the hidden guards of the royal court were struggling to investigate that matter, changed his attire, and finally succeeded in coercing and luring Liuli, avoiding so many eyes from the royal court staring at him eyes, saw the child in front of him.

"So Rukia, you just treat me as the agent of the god of death at that time, if you continue to be so polite, I will be captured by Yingluo and the royal spies." Ichigo changed into a lazy posture and sat back. In a few cases, he complained to Rukia half-truthfully.

"Ah~ Then I won't be polite. Speaking of which, Ichigo, what are you here to investigate this time? Could it be related to Byakuya and the others' going to the virtual circle?" Sifeng, who had remained silent since Rukia's arrival, Yuan Yeyi took up the conversation naturally, and ignored Liuli's uncontrollably amused expression by the way.

"It's almost the same thing, and it involves a lot of people. Speaking of it, Rukia really made a great contribution. If you hadn't faced off with that group of Xu twice before, we really couldn't do it so quickly. Lock that person's position." Ichigo still smiled brightly, but there was no smile in his dark brown eyes, the cold and gloomy light made Rukia's heart go cold.

"So, Ichigo, you've been investigating that person for a long time?" Sensitively catching the subtext in Ichigo's words, Rukia frowned, a little annoyed by a key sentence she had missed before.

"...Yeah, ever since I sat on the throne of the spirit king, no, even earlier, that person has been planning something, and I only discovered it recently." Ichigo frowned and slowed down. His tone showed his uncertainty, "Wang Ting's information about that person is really...too little, and what was left was inexplicably dissipated during the turmoil ten years ago. Now I think it may be part of that person's plan. Let’s go among them.” Ichigo paused, raised his head and looked at Rukia with piercing eyes, “As close relatives of the royal family, the Kuchiki family is also the head of the four nobles of the Seireitei, and the secrets of the royal family that have been mastered for thousands of years are also It should not be underestimated, so I have to come and try my luck.”

Rukia looked at the familiar yet somewhat unfamiliar man in front of her, wanted to smile but couldn't lift the corners of her mouth.

Brother, what kind of trouble did Rukia get you into?

Now I really have the heart to apologize by cutting open my stomach.

If the person related to the internal turmoil of the royal family ten years ago was the one who lured herself into the barrier and then released her, and the one who deliberately placed the portrait of her sister in the living room deep in the bamboo forest, then she revealed Isn't Qia now a suspect in conspiring with the rebellious spirit king?

If it weren't for this turmoil ten years ago, the five captains of Team Zero would not have lost two of them, the blood of the royal family would not have withered to this point, and the position of the Spirit King would not have changed.

Heh, as an accomplice to such a heinous crime, the impact of this is much greater than that of any suspect in the riots.

Wait, according to Captain Unohana, the sister painted on the scroll is still dressed as a maiden, so isn't that... that person, even the eldest brother, has been included for a long time? !

What exactly does he want to do...

"By the way...Your Excellency Yeichi..." Now that her thoughts were so confused, Rukia suddenly remembered the piece of news she had missed before.Her pupils constricted suddenly, and she tried her best to calm her tone, but she still saw herself in the eyes of everyone who had lost all color for a moment, "You said before, Brother Bai Zai, he... went to... Xuquan ?”

The last two words were almost like a whisper, but the slightly trembling voice hit Ye Yi like a heavy hammer, causing pain in Ye Yi's heart.She didn't know why Rukia suddenly showed such despair, but she could only give a nodding reply with a very cold expression.

Everyone looked at this girl with a pale face and body trembling like a leaf falling in the wind. After standing there for a moment, she regained her firm expression. When they felt the spiritual pressure that calmed down for a moment, they heard that the child was firm and calm. the sound of.

Rukia slowly bowed to Ichigo, who was sitting on the side, as she would formally meet the Soul King.

"Lukia will fully cooperate with Lord Lingwang in all investigations in the Deadwood House. In addition, there is one more matter, His Highness Lingwang please agree no matter what, please." Discussing the gift list and draft itinerary with the store manager Sang again, I just feel that everything is like a huge joke.

Brother, Rukia doesn't know how this summer can pass so slowly.Is the night of the Muhua Festival that I'm looking forward to so much really tomorrow night?

No matter how you feel, you can't wait anyway.

In Rukia's mind, you should be a noble person standing on the top of Sumeru. These lowly plots and frame-ups should not have anything to do with you.For the trouble I caused you before, Rukia is really sorry, what I can do now is to cut off so much damage here, and hope that it will never extend forward and bring you more What a disaster.

It seems that this year, whenever Rukia returns to Seireitei, it will not be the right time for you. I'm really sorry.

"...Regarding this matter, Rukia may know some useful information, so His Royal Highness, please allow Rukia to assist in the investigation of this matter, and, if necessary, please announce that Rukia will be expelled in the name of the Spirit King. Out of Kuchiki's house."

Even if you are weak and useless like Rukia, there are people you want to protect, and there are things you want to do.

The chirping of cicadas outside the window was still loud, and the hot fumigated wind blew into the curtain, but it couldn't blow away the icy breath lingering around the thin little girl.

There is no more smell of flowers and water, no more fragrance leaking from silver smoked balls, no more lively festivals lingering with the smell of candy and grilled squid, no more grand fireworks that illuminate your brows that summer night.

In Rukia's view, this long summer has come to an end.

Hanasa Monogatari

Sixteenth, Everlasting Summer

Finish

The author has something to say: Note:

[1] ermine color: a light gray

【2】Hundred-year-old brown color: similar to indigo blue, it is a kind of bluish black, and the color of poisonous feathers below is a kind of purple that A Zong likes very much. They are all Japanese names for colors.