Chapter 1: Father Daughter Time
The warm, late-afternoon sun cast warm rays across clay-tiled rooftops. Several shinigami traveled along them, hoping to make time by taking a more direct route to where they were going. However, they seemed to avoid one rooftop in particular, for, enjoying the afternoon and each others company were two taichou. Shunsui Kyouraku hardly ever got to see his aijou anymore, what with her not only being taichou of a Division not located in Seiretei, but having duties as the wife of the head of the Noble Kuchiki family. It was rare that they got to spend an entire day together, let alone three weeks.
He glanced out from under his straw hat at his sweet aijou. She had grown into a beautiful woman, and a strong and well-loved one at that. Her hair was long, curly, and dark brown like his own, but she had her Okaasan's eyes. All the time she had spent doing what they did now should have made her lazy, but she wasn't quite as laid back as he was, not that she hadn't tried. She had gone from a small child of four to a woman with the appearance of someone in the early twenties in the last 120 years.
Feeling his stare, Roxy glanced sideways at the laziest taichou in Seiretei, "What? Do I have dirt on my nose?" she asked jokingly, referring to her Okaasan's habit of cleaning her nose when she was small. The man snorted. "Nah. You're just so... grown now." he turned back to the skies and watched as a cloud rolled by. "It's true when they say kids grow up too fast. You're even married!" Silence fell for a bit as the sun was covered for a moment.
"I'm still your baby girl, I'm just not actually a baby anymore, that's all." The violet-eyed girl said, trying to comfort her Otousan's hidden pain. She knew it was hard on him, with all the changes she had gone through recently. She had been taichou for only about three years before she was married, and that had been a little over a year ago itself. She glaced over at a particular rooftop just as the fuku-taichou of the division it belonged to jumped onto it.
"I wonder if they'll ever find a new taichou for the Fifth Division. Momo-chan's been working so hard with so little relief." She thought out loud, hoping to change the subject to a more easily discussed matter. Shunsui shifted to lean back on his elbows. "Why so much interest in the Fifth? I know you don't wish to leave the Fourteenth again." He inquired. Roxy did not usually show any intrigue with other Division's besides the Eighth, Sixth, and her own.
Sitting up to take a drink from a bottle of hard lemonade, the taichou turned to look back at her hero. "I'm thinking about giving a suggestion of someone from my Division." she softly. "But I want your opinion. They haven't been in my Division long, but I've seen them fight, and I know they have their Bankai and can use it well enough, but I still feel like I'm going into a rather grey area. With the failure of Amagai," she took another, larger gulp "I fear I may be sending them to the lion's den, pun not intended." She let the bottle hang from her fingertips between her knees as she reigned in her emotions. This prompted her father to sit upright and place a steadying hand on her shoulder. "Do you feel strongly about this person's ability to be a good taichou and your decision to nominate them?" He asked, keeping his voice soft but firm. The four-year taichou nodded. "Hai. Like I said, I know their abilities well and have thought about this for a while."
Smiling, Kyouraku-taichou gave her a one-armed hug as he set them both into a standing position. "Then you don't need my help. You've made your decision, so stick with it." He motioned toward the lengthening shadows that now covered most of the ground below. "It's getting late. we had better get home before it gets dark, because you know your Okaasan would have our heads if she caught us out late." He reminded her. Looking at the now blazing horizon, Roxy nodded her agreement. "At least we're going to the same place, huh? That's not something we get to do too often nowadays." she chuckled as they leaped down from the roof to land lightly on the ground. "Hai." The elder shinigami replied as they headed through the Seiretei to a good-sized manor near the Eighth Division's barracks.
By the time the two captains reached home, most of the nearby properties were dark, and those who's occupants were still awake had their lights on to counter the darkness that had fallen. They had already passed through the offices to find them empty and void of life. The neatly stacked papers in the outbox on the fuku-taichou's desk were the only sign that Nanao had been there. They entered the manor and immediately removed their waraji, with Roxy being the only one to remove tabi since her Otousan didn't wear them. Slipping on their house slippers, the father-daughter pair both headed to their rooms to change.
Roxy slid open the door to her reserved room. It was the same as she had left it; a western twin-sized bed draped in different shades of green, a desk with a some ink and paper stored in the drawer, and a small wardrobe where she kept a few spare hakama and kimono. She lit the lamp with a refined kidou spell before tugging firmly on her obi, removing, then draping it over the end of her bed. Her maroon kimono and teal hakama quickly followed, then she stepped over to the wardrobe to extract a simple but warm set of pants and a over-sized t-shirt. After donning these she snatched her bathrobe off the hook on the wall and slipped into it, but did not tie the belt. She let her hair down and tied the ribbon lovingly around the sheath and tsuba of her zanpakuto, which sat on a silk pillow in the back of the desk.
Leaving the room, the brunette padded to the kitchen, where she heard the voices of her okaasan and otousan talking. "I don't know if we should tell her now if she hasn't been able to figure it out with it right in front of her." She caught. 'What's that about? Otousan probably used Flash Step to get changed to be with her sooner.' she mused as she entered the room. She hugged and flashed a smile at the usually uptight and strict Nanao Ise, who was not looking so tight-lined at the moment in a pair of black sleep-pants with her fiance's robe tied loosely over a white t-shirt. It had been Roxy's idea to use modern clothes at times, since they proved to be comfortable for certain things, and Shunsui had jumped on the image of his love wearing something that showed off her beauty better than the traditional things.
Taking her place at the low table, Roxy raised her eyebrow inquisitively at her Otousan, clad in dark-red house-kimono. He seemed to miss this as both of their attentions were grabbed by the delicious smelling food that Nanao had placed in front of them. Dinner consisted of small talk of what was new, compliments to the chef, and a small, playful spat between the three of them over who got the last piece of sushi, the winner being the cat since it dropped to the floor. After a long goodnight from her parents, Roxy made her way back to her room. Stripping off her bathrobe and snuggling under the warm blankets, she decided as she drifted off to sleep that she would go tomorrow to Soutaichou and give both a verbal and written recommendation.