A/N: I never named Ancestor Kannuki, so I chose the name Hiroko. There is no clear cut date on when Kannuki Wakaba joined the bureau, so this can be a few decades before the manga started.

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Standing inside of Chief Konoe's office, Ruka clenched onto a handkerchief to busy her hands from focusing on her nervousness. Her sadness at losing one of her oldest friends, one of the many who welcomed her into the fold, left for reincarnation. No surprise. She still felt sadness whenever someone retired from their post. A majority of the people who worked during her early years, left for eternal slumber or reincarnation.

When her first partner, Jiro, left for reincarnation, she fell into a depression once he left. She never let him see her sadness at his departure. Jiro seemed thrilled at another chance at life and she didn't want to sour the moment for him. This event happened every couple of years.

Kannuki Hiroko warned her ahead of time. The day before she expected herself to leave for the reincarnation floor. The priestess received a notification of a family member, a priestess, applied for the position of guardian of death. When the last Kannuki priestess applied, Hiroko chose to stay, prompting Konoe into rejecting the offer in her favor. Years later, Hiroko grew weary, desiring a new chance at a normal life. When her descendant, Kannuki Wakaba applied, she sent in word to Chief Konoe of her choice.

Ruka didn't blame Hiroko for taking a decision to live again. Hiroko appeared worn out once she hit a milestone in her career and waited for a new Kannuki to push for this position. Not every Kannuki priestess accessed their powers to the fullest potential. Meaning, Hiroko took a gamble in leaving her post to an inexperienced priestess. Although, any new priestess was inexperienced compared to Hiroko.

According to the application, one such priestess held enough power to handle the Southern Gate. This gave Kannuki Wakaba a leap of a chance to grow used to her post.

Ruka pushed down her sorrow at having to interact with the new Kannuki priestess taking on the mantel. From Chief Konoe's word, she appeared fresh faced and young in her photograph. Way younger than Hiroko was when she died. A teenager. She died due to an unfortunate accident and applied due to feeling unaccomplished. Also, Kannuki Wakaba found the clues which spurned her decision to apply.

For most of the night, Ruka cried in the privacy of her home. Encased in her brother's arms, he whispered comforting words, sad as well to lose Hiroko. They soothed themselves in having seen previous guardians in their reincarnated forms. Despite having a new name and face, they recognized the spirit inhabiting the person in question.

Ruka entered the office with a subdued, but sincere smile. No one other than Chief Konoe, Tatsumi, and Asato noticed the somber atmosphere which surrounded her. After multiple guardians leaving the office, those didn't affect her much, but the original guardians who guided her, caused her heart to break the most.

She wondered how Konoe managed to keep a nonchalant attitude in saying goodbye.

Then again, Konoe kept tabs on his family every once in a while. Sating his curiosity enough where he stayed in his position. After working the ranks for the longest time, abandoning his post might cause the Summons Section to collapse. No one could imagine the bureau without the chief.

After lunch, she entered the main office, Konoe greeted her with a beaming smile. "Ru-chan!"

"Chief." Ruka's smile grew due to Konoe's bright mood. "Has Kannuki-san arrived yet?"

"No, not yet." Konoe told her as she walked over to his side. "She's finishing her paperwork with Tatsumi before coming here in the office."

"Did she ever find out about Hiroko?" Ruka kept a level enough voice where Konoe didn't give her a second glance. "She must have been curious about the previous Southern Gate keeper. Maybe to gain some clues to help her in her duties."

"Yes." Konoe leaned back on his chair. "She seemed surprised that Hiroko lasted so long. The family seemed to think that she reincarnated to catch up with her deceased husband. Not that the sentiment wasn't in her mind, but Hiroko always seemed less than inclined to abandon her duties. Her husband is married and old in this reincarnation cycle anyway."

A knock on the door prompted Konoe and Ruka to turn their gazes toward the entrance.

"Ready?"

Ruka shook her head. "No, but she's here. Hiroko wouldn't want us to treat her any different than everyone else." Konoe arched a brow. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me, Chief."

Chief Konoe bellowed out. "Come in!"

Ruka gulped as the door opened.

Tatsumi pushed the door even further, letting a brown, curly haired young woman walk before him. She appeared even younger due to the school uniform she wore. An outfit that wasn't against regulations at all. Her mismatched eyes were obvious, giving a clear indicator of her status as the Southern Gate keeper. Tatsumi nodded at their direction before he closed the door behind Kannuki Wakaba.

Chief Konoe spoke up, motioning Wakaba to move on forward. "Hello, Kannuki-san, I hope the paperwork wasn't too draining." He chuckled light. "Tatsumi tends to go overboard when he brings out the paperwork."

Wakaba bowed, bringing down her bountiful curly hair to cover her face. "It's great to see you again, Chief Konoe." Bringing herself up, she rubbed the back of her large mane, almost tangling a hand in one of her ribbons when she retreated her hand. "Not really. I expected to sign a lot of papers when I sent in the application. My hand is cramping from signing my name, but I'm just so happy that I got the job."

Seeing an opening, Ruka bowed in greeting. "I'm Tsuzuki Ruka. A pleasure to meet you."

Wakaba bowed again, "It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Tsuzuki-san."

Automatically, Ruka told her. "Call me, Ruka." She let out a chuckle at her stunned stare. "My brother is in the bureau as well. Tsuzuki Asato. You'll hear about him soon enough. It would get confusing to have two Tsuzuki's running around if everyone called us by our last name. Trust me, we had a tough few years because guardians meant me and not my younger brother, or vice versa."

Wakaba gasped. "I never knew that family members ended up becoming guardians at the same time. That's amazing!"

Ruka's smile dimmed. "Ah...I joined first to overshadow my brother back in the living. Asato joined our ranks a good couple of years later. I would have wanted him to live longer, but we cannot stop events from happening."

Chief Konoe added in to stop Ruka from elaborating further. Having witnessed the events for himself, he didn't want Ruka to linger in her past memories of her first few years on the job.

He boasted with a grin. "Ruka-san and Tsuzuki are one of our best. You'll learn a lot from these two!" He looked up with Ruka, pride in his gaze, he continued on. "I trained both of them myself. They learned all I know, but Ruka has obscure spells in her arsenal."

Ruka hunched her shoulders, sheepish at his praise. "Chief..." Any anguish left her mind as she tried not to blush from the Chief's compliments. "You're an amazing teacher. Who wouldn't be able to learn under your tutelage?"

"I give praise where it's due!" Konoe nodded his head. "I don't give compliments often. Now, Kannuki-san, we already have a partner ready for you." He lifted up a manila folder which contained the information on Wakaba's sector. "Once you acquaint yourself with your partner, you may come back to me for some training. You may choose someone else if I'm not who you want."

Wakaba walked forward and took the folder from Konoe. "I'll be happy to train under you, Chief."

Ruka let out a deep breath before she smiled big. Her sadness dissipated a bit as she interacted with this new Kannuki priestess. "Kannuki-san, I hope you enjoy your stay in the Summons Section. We're so happy to have you join us."

"Thank you!" Excited, Wakaba opened the folder and read through the contents. "Oh..so I'm in this sector...and my partner is..."

Konoe and Ruka shared a smile as they waited for Wakaba to ask them any questions.

The end.