- -Man, today is the- -
This is what Amami wrote in her diary that morning. No matter how much she focused, she couldn't think of an apt way to describe how she felt about the upcoming day, or what she felt right then. Amami sighed as she set down the book and headed to the barracks of squad six. She had heard some nerve-racking things about her new squad.
As she began walking her mind wandered. Kuchiki Byakuya was the captain of her new squad. As the 28th head of the Kuchiki clan, he was apathetic and cruel. She also heard stories that he had almost executed his own sister.
She knew stories of the vice-captain Abarai Renji that made him seem like a rowdy, whimsical guy. She wondered how the sixth squad could function properly with two polar opposites at the lead. A few days ago, Amami was simply too exhausted to care anymore. Whatever issues the two may have, she simply decided to stay out of it.
Amami's knowledge of Kido extended far past the number she could use, which was not a small thing. She was very comfortable with her Zanpakuto Harunokiri and was aware of her strengths and weaknesses. This made her confident she wouldn't fail any tasks. The sixth squad was known for strict protocol, so all she had to do there was follow the rules. Why wouldn't she fit in? Thinking about it, she seemed decidedly generic.
Amami slammed into something, abruptly returning her to reality. She began to get her bearings. Three things came to her attention:
She was very, very lost. In some dead-end alleyway by the looks of it. There was a strange door a few feet away. Something about it was familiar. Harunokiri was trembling. There no other way to describe the subtle movements.
Of course, Amami immediately examined the sword worriedly. Nothing appeared at wrong physically. She attempted to contact Harunokiri. She felt the familiar presence and Harunokiri was withdrawn into a sleep-like state. Amami couldn't find any reason for the trembling, and it almost seemed the more she focused the harder it was to sense. Frustratedly she turned her attention to the door.
Looking at it, Amami realized why it was so familiar. The very symbol her uniform bore was carved into door. It held a five petaled flower and the number three above it. This etching was notably seamless; it gave the impression of being unnatural, yet she couldn't picture the door without it.
Off to the side and much more rough looking was another symbol. It was faint, and hard to make out. Nonetheless, it also seemed familiar. Inside a diamond stood a mirror image. One the left side was a u shaped curve, branching at the bottom, slightly tilted downward. Out of this swirl cam a wing to the right. In the center was a small flower, with clouds in the background.
The door was cracked open, and creaked open a bit more, as though there was a breeze she couldn't feel. Giving up on the second symbol Amami considered a few things: things like the consequences of missing her first day and how she was already late, and how Harunokiri still vibrated. Most of all ,though, how the thought of the second symbol made her mind itch.
Fed up, she knew one way to know what the symbol was. She entered the door.
The door that had creaked earlier flowed open seamlessly now, inviting Amami in. She stood for a moment, then heedlessly stepped inside. The door closed noiselessly behind her. After it clicked close, there was nothing. No light, no wall to lean on, no sound of her foot steps. She thought of leaning down to see what the floor was, but a gut instinct told her not to. Instead, she activated Shikai.
"Flow out, Harunokiri." The japanese blade obediently and eloquently took the shape of an intricately carved bamboo staff. Amami immediately felt calm and collected, both because of Harunokiri's healing ability and the soft natural light it gave off.
This relief was short lived. The light did nothing to pierce the darkness around her, the only thing illuminated was her fingers curled tightly around the staff. An irrational fear rose up in Amami as she considered lowering the staff until it illuminated the floor, if only to prove to herself it was there. Again, a gut instinct stopped her.
Amami came to a second, shocking realization. Harunokiri's Shikai ability was to heal herself and anyone she chose in a vicinity of 200 meters using others Riatsu. This meant someone else was here.
The silence seemed oppressive. As Amami became increasingly panicked, Harunokiri also reacted to calm her. This of course, only worsened Amami's state. Eventually, the light given off was bright enough to reveal a few things about the surroundings.
There was some sort of mist floating in the air around Amami which could now be seen in the flection of the light. Amami quickly regained focus as she logically studied it. She felt nothing, no dampness, so it wasn't water. She didn't breath in anything, so it wasn't dust either.
The realization struck her! It was Riatsu, materialized as a thick smog. Curious to what could create such a phenomena, and fear completely forgotten, she moved forward. After a few steps she became used to the lack of noise and swirling air around her.
The thought that she could probably see the ground now crossed her mind. Almost instantly, some part of her screamed NOO! And her chin and eyes locked forward. Like this, she walked on.
*THunk*
A muffled shriek escaped Amami as the fumbled backwards, falling. For a moment, she blacked out from shock. Slowly, her senses returned to her. This did nothing to solve her confusion, however.
She was back in soul society proper. Moreover, she was not in the alleyway. Not even close to it, the Japanese tea garden she sat in screamed out that it belonged in the upper echelons of society.
"Who...are you..."
It was spoken so softly and calmly that Amami almost couldn't make it out. Flinching, she looked up to see an unbelievable thing. There stood the sixth Squad's captain, Kuchiki Byakuya!
"Wha-what are y-you doing?!" Amami gasped, her voice on the rise. The captains eyes only became colder, if that was possible.
"I think that is what I should ask you." he spoke clearly this time, still eerily calm.
She looked away from him, embarrassed. Glancing at the scenery, Amami forgot all of the previous events.
"This is your house!" Amami couldn't even articulate her surprise, and the end of the sentence was unintelligible. Kuchiki Byakuya looked at her with disgust.
"What squad do you belong to?" he questioned. Amami didn't know which was more piercing, his tone or his gaze.
An awkward silence grew alongside the blush on Amami's face. When she could no longer take it, she blurted out her answer too quickly too be understood. Kuchiki Byakuya continued to wait for an appropriate answer, not accepting the first or repeating the question. His dignified actions only made Amami feel ashamed of her embarrassment.
"Y-yours..." Amami responded after a deep breath. The quiet only got louder as Kuchiki Byakuya absorbed this.
"...I see."
Amami didn't see his expression, but she could imagine it. With painful accuracy. Amami was pulled out of her thoughts when He Kuchiki Byakuya spoke.
"Lets go." Kuchiki Byakuya had already started to push past her toward the gate.
"Huh?" Amami couldn't make heads or tails of the situation anymore. Kuchiki Byakuya stopped and turned, irritation finally showing on his face.
"Don't tell me you intend to skip your first day? That is a shameless act of forsaking the rules. To do so right in front of your captain, no less." Kuchiki Byakuya retorted sharply. It was more words than a captain had ever spoken to her.
Amami scrambled up to follow him, scattering noisy pebbles everywhere. There wasa few softly spoken words masked by the sound, so soft Amami couldn't hear it all.
"If you... Ever speak of that place...then...have to...discharge. You got that?" A stern glance from Kuchiki Byakuya told her she better! Amami nodded assurance without thinking, even as the few words she had heard jumbled up in her memory and faded.
- -Man, to- -
Amami erased what had been half written in her diary that morning. After a moment of trying to sort out her chaotic thoughts! She penned a single sentence.
- -Just what has my life become?- -