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Summer burns inside our hearts,
After walking the ground of Seireitei on his own two feet instead of being carried around at the hip of his shinigami, Senbonzakura had learned quite a lot about Kuchiki Byakuya's quirks he hadn't noticed before; his likes and dislikes (the latter far outweighed the former), his daily routine, and his habit of going out of his way to accommodate the few people he cared about.
So during the last days he would spend in his humanised form, he wanted to honour his master's wishes and be of assistance to these select few. He hadn't been asked to, but Senbonzakura felt it necessary to do it anyway; his pride as zanpakutou wouldn't allow him otherwise.
When the days were too hot to bear and the sun shone down mercilessly on every shinigami daring to step outside, Senbonzakura's feet led him to the tenth division. He could feel that his master was worried about Hitsugaya's condition even if he didn't say anything about it, so he made it his duty to assure Hitsugaya's comfort during summer as much as possible.
As with all tasks he performed, Senbonzakura did so (almost) to perfection. He had also perfected the art of ignoring the weird stares aimed his way whenever people wondered why the zanpakutou of the sixth division captain was holding a parasol over another captain's head—even if he didn't quite understand why Hitsugaya's ears were bright red. Apparently he wasn't doing a good enough job at protecting him from the heat yet.
***
And autumn lays them bare before us,
Senbonzakura knew how fond his master was of certain flowers. Not all of them—not the garish ones with their screaming colours and ridiculous shapes—but for the ones he did enjoy looking at, he made sure to reserve a special place in the garden of his manor. On quiet days, Byakuya would stroll the narrow paths through the green oasis and marble at all the rare plants and flowers he had gathered over the years. During the time Senbonzakura had been able to walk on his own, he had walked a few steps behind him, as much at peace as a weapon made to kill could possibly be. Now he rested faithfully at his master's hip again.
There was a rare breed of snowdrop that started blooming in autumn already that Byakuya had adamantly tried to find. It didn't surprise Senbonzakura that his master had managed to acquire some seeds, obviously; he merely marvelled silently at the vigour with which Byakuya had pursued his goal. Once the seeds had started to spring, though, he understood why. (His master was rather easy to read for those who paid attention, after all.)
The next time Hitsugaya visited, Byakuya's eyes lit up with an emotion between eagerness and worry. It was unlike any other emotion Senbonzakura had ever seen on his master's face, and he knew it was only because of the other shinigami walking by his side. They approached the small area where the snowdrops were now in full bloom and knelt down before them. Their blossoms were almost as white as the hair of his master's lover.
Senbonzakura averted his eyes too late to miss the lovely shade of pink on Hitsugaya's face when Byakuya called him by the same name as the flowers that surrounded them.
***
Winter strips us down to our bones,
Winter was a time of peace and tranquillity, for the most part. Senbonzakura enjoyed lazy afternoons and early evenings in the garden, accompanying his master and Hitsugaya on walks spent in comfortable silence. Both of them looked at ease against the white scenery.
One time, though—it must've been a day in mid-December—his master unsheathed him during their walk. Despite his confusion, Senbonzakura listened to the command to scatter into thousands of blades.
When he saw the sparkle in Hitsugaya's eyes and the hint of a smile on Byakuya's lips, he understood. To the two shinigami it must've seemed as if they were standing inside a storm of sakura blossoms. Senbonzakura felt a smile tug at his own lips as he continued to create an illusion of spring and warmth.
His master was truly kind.
***
And in spring we're born again.
With spring finally came the time to admire how the real sakura trees bloomed. New life started to emerge wherever Senbonzakura cast his gaze, and with it came more sounds to fill the quiet, more tasks to complete, and thus less time for his master to pass leisurely. Byakuya had significantly less time to spend in his garden or even on his training, but Senbonzakura wasn't bothered by it. He'd rather his master spent the little time he had with Hitsugaya.
And he did, once the season breathed life into his garden again. The sakura started blooming, timidly at first and then with all the unashamed beauty and vitality you'd expect from something that wasn't made to last even a month. In these two weeks of the garden being bathed in all shades of pink, Hitsugaya visited every day.
Byakuya and Hitsugaya walked slowly, side by side. Senbonzakura rested comfortably at his master's hip. One year had passed in the blink of an eye, as they did for beings that transcended life and death, and the cycle started repeating itself.