Bleach Secrets of the Moonflower

**Hiya all! First and foremost, thank you all for taking some time out of your day to validate my existence and read this story when you could've been out actually having fun. For your information, I'm going to be making this a soundtrack fic (and I have no clue if that's actually a name that exists or if I made that up), meaning I'm going to name each chapter after a song and will post the artist name if you feel so inclined to listen to the music. For those of you who follow me, I'm going to be taking a hiatus from my Wolf's Paws fic while I revamp the plot. That looks like it's going to last for the rest of the month, and the way it's going right now I'm probably going to be rewriting and reposting most of the chapters so, yeah… sorry about that.**

**Secrets of the Moonflower**

**Chapter 1: The Girl Next Door**

(Artist: Saving Jane)

Cara woke up in the morning with an absolutely fantastic headache. Groaning, eyes open the barest fraction, she groped around her nightstand for the pouch of lavender she kept there. Finding it, the girl grabbed it and held it up to her face. The soothing scent of the dried blooms eased the pounding in her head almost immediately, and Cara couldn't help but sigh in relief as she leaned back against the pillows. She noted the faint pink light creeping through the slats in her window shades and knew that the sun was just starting to rise. Good. That meant her sister and her parents wouldn't be up yet, but the cook and a few of the maids probably would be. Throwing the covers off and stepping quietly out of bed, Cara grabbed the blue and green silk yukata she kept by her bedside and wrapped it around herself, tying the obi as she pushed the door open and stepped out into the hallway.

The top floor of the manor was dark, as it always was at this hour. Cara made her way carefully over to the stairs, grabbing onto the railing so as not to trip. Reaching the ground floor, the girl proceeded to walk toward the kitchen. Seeing that the light was on, Cara walked forward on her tiptoes and peered cautiously around the corner.

"Don't even think of hiding from me, child," Kyra the old cook said, even though she wasn't looking at the door. Cara sighed as she straightened and stepped inside.

"Man, I'm losing my touch. How'd you know I was coming?"

"Miri told me you were talking and rolling in your sleep again," Kyra answered with a look in Cara's direction. She nodded toward the stove, where a little brown pot was gurgling. "I've got your tea on already. Should be done in a couple minutes."

"Ginger?" Cara asked as she took a chair near the door.

"And chamomile. I know how you like the stuff to settle your nerves."

_Boy, do I need it after last night._ "Thanks, Kyra."

The cook smiled back warmly. "It's the least I can do, what with all the help you give me and the girls."

Cara snorted. "Don't let Yuri hear you say that. I've had enough 'A young noble lady does not do such-and-such' speeches to last a hundred lifetimes." 

Kyra laughed. "I heard that you two had another of those rows yesterday. What was it this time?"

"I was helping one of the grooms deworm Rio," Cara said, rolling her eyes. "That horse will fight off a black bear, but he sees a dewormer and he turns into a skittish colt."

"And of course your mother enters the barn right when you're sticking the syringe in his mouth," Kyra grinned.

"Yeah, things pretty much went downhill from there."

The teapot whistled, putting an end to the conversation. Before Cara could even think of standing, Kyra had taken the pot off the stove and poured the tea into a small earthenware cup. Cara muttered a thank you as she accepted the cup and took a few sips, relaxing as the warmth filled her.

"You'll be wanting your breakfast in here again, I take it?" Kyra asked as she returned to her cooking.

"If you don't mind. It's the day of Misa's promotion, which means the whole lot of them will be essentially unbearable."

Kyra laughed as she tossed an egg onto a plate.

After a quick breakfast of eggs benedict, Cara thanked Kyra for the meal before walking out of the kitchen. Walking back toward the staircase, she cursed under her breath when she heard voiced coming from the dining room, which she had to pass to get back upstairs. Taking a breath, she straightened her back and quickened her pace. _I'm not here, I'm not here, I'm invisible, I'm invisible…_

"Cara."

_Damn._

Barely keeping her shoulders from slumping, Cara stopped in her tracks and turned toward the owner of the voice. "Yes, Ainero?"

Said man frowned. "That is Lord Ainero or Father, if you must, girl. How often must I remind you?"

"My apologies, Father," Cara said, mentally rolling her eyes. "Did you wish to speak to me?"

Apparently not catching the sarcastic undertone, Ryko Ainero nodded in approval of Cara's address and leaned back in his chair. "As you know, today is the day of your sister's promotion," he said. Out of the corner of her eye Cara saw Misa's gloating smile. "I expect you will be attending the ceremony?"

Knowing there was only one answer she could give, Cara said, "of course."

"Ryko nodded again. "Good. I expect you to look your best, and you are to be seen and not heard, is that clear? If you cause any sort of disruption, I can assure you you will not like the consequences."

It took a good amount of Cara's self-control not to allow her rage to show at the thinly veiled threat in Ryko's words. Taking a calming breath, she responded evenly. "I can assure you I will do no such thing, Lord Ainero."

She didn't miss the slight upturn of his lips at the formal address and suppressed the urge to grin. _Egotistical idiot._

"If you will excuse me, I need to go make myself presentable," Cara said. She gave a quick bow before turning on her heel and speed walking out of the room.

"Yipe!"

Cara had to do a bit of fancy footwork to avoid running into Miri, who was just turning a corner with a basket of laundry in her arms.

"Oh, goodness, I'm so sorry Miss Cara!" Miri said, blushing a bright crimson.

"Nah, that was my fault. And please, call me Cara," Cara reminded the girl for the fifty thousandth time. "You wanna ditch the laundry and help me get ready for the ceremony?"

Miri looked nervous. "I… I don't know… Mistress Yuri…,"

"What if I made that an order? She's always yelling at me about being too kind to the servants."

Miri beamed. "Okay!"

Grinning, Cara took the laundry basket and set it on a hall table, and then the two girls dashed upstairs to Cara's room.

xxXXxx

"There we go," Miri said as she set the hairbrush down on the table. "What do you think?"

Cara's long golden-brown hair had been brushed to silken perfection and then drawn up into a tight bun at the back of her head. Her shihakusho had been brushed and ironed until it looked brand new. Her white obi shone even in the dim light of the room. Cara reached up and fingered the butterfly shaped clip that was keeping her hair in place.

"I don't think Ryko can complain," she said. She grinned. "I certainly don't look like a 'backwoods slob'."

"To borrow his favorite phrase," Miri giggled.

Cara's grin widened. "Got that right. I really like it, Miri, thanks for the help. You'd better head downstairs before Yuri notices the laundry."

Miri grinned at Cara in the mirror before dashing out the door. Cara sighed as she heard the door close. Almost the instant it did, an image rippled to life in the mirror; a forest shrouded in fog, a headstone in the middle of an empty clearing.

"I _get_ it," Cara muttered, swiping a hand across the mirror. The image disappeared without a trace.

"Jeez, the dream was enough," the girl muttered as she got to her feet. "Ah, well. Time to head to hell."

Cara turned toward the door with a glance back at the mirror. "I'll deal with _you_ later."

xxXXxx

Cara hung at the back of the room, as close to a corner as she could get, as Captain Tosen formally accepted Misa as the new fourth seat of Squad Nine. She made certain she was smiling at least slightly whenever Ryko glanced in her direction and was extremely pleased that he was the only one who took notice of her.

Someone bumped into her shoulder so roughly she was nearly knocked off her feet. When Cara regained her balance she found herself staring at Shino Takahashi and his friend Hatsuna Tokoro, both members of Squad 11.

"Sorry, Princess. Didn't see ya there," Shino sneered at Cara. Hatsuno giggled before taking Shino's arm and guiding him toward the front of the room. Cara sighed as she leaned back against the wall, plastering a fake smile to her face and watching the proceedings with half-lidded eyes. All too often she had to pinch herself to keep from yawning or falling asleep completely. _Now I really wish I'd gone to Hell. They're way more interesting down there._

Cara's eyes actually had been closed when she felt a familiar chill creep down her spine. Eyes snapping open, she straightened up as though uncomfortable with her position and allowed her senses to expand, examining the surrounding life energies. Getting a fix on the intruder she'd sensed, Cara's eyes rolled to her right. There was nothing there. Unless you knew how to look. Allowing her senses to sharpen enough to penetrate basic shield and cloaking enchantments, the girl blinked and looked to her right again. And there it was.

A shadow. A shadow without a caster, vaguely humanoid in shape, was sliding across the wall toward her. A small smile crept onto her face as she returned her gaze to the front of the room. The shadow, unaware it had been noticed, moved closer and closer. One dark limb stretched out, reaching. A second before it touched her arm Cara reached out and grabbed it, yanking it off the wall.

The shadow screeched loudly enough to shatter glass, but no one in the room reacted to the noise in the slightest. Cara brought the writhing, hissing shadow up in front of her face.

"Well, it's been a while since I've seen one of your kind," she mused as a featureless face stared back at her. "Tell me, what is your mission here? Or did your master just give you free reign to feed?"

The shadow hissed in alarm and Cara raised an eyebrow. "Man, I guess you really didn't know who I was when you tried to drain my life force. Don't you think it'd be a bit smart to check? You are what you eat, after all."

The shadow hissed, whether from fear or fury was difficult to tell, as Cara's grip tightened. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't really give you a chance to answer my question."

The shadow spat and snarled a bad word at Cara in its own tongue.

"Am I to assume you know nothing, then?" Cara asked. There she scoffed. "Of course you don't. You're just a foot soldier. No, scratch that, you're a dog."

The shadow squealed in terror as it felt power gathering at Cara's hand, but was powerless to do anything as a bolt of light magic tore it apart. Sighing, Cara returned her attention to the ceremony. She smiled and applauded along with everyone else as the tedious ritual reached its close, but did not join the shinigami as they crowded around Misa to congratulate her, or in the case of some of the higher seated officers and captains, around Ryko and Yuri. She hung back, unnoticed, and brooded.

"Well," she said at last. "Time to get the ball rolling."


End file.

Bleach, Adventure, Supernatural