Why are people so affected by things they're scared of?
"You're asking me that?" Mai stared at the surprisingly serious Narrator. "Like I know! People are just driven by their emotions, I guess."
Wow, that makes a shocking amount of sense…
"Haha, what else can ya expect from me?" The music loving shinigami grinned, patting the Narrator forcefully on her back.
Noisy snoring was heard from the sixth division captain's room. Byakuya sighed to himself; he was beginning to wonder if he had in fact made the right choice when he talked to Jūshirō. Carefully opening the door, he noticed a mop of copper hair leaning against the filing cabinet next to his desk.
Mai looked surprisingly serene. The royal took notice of how his desk had been completely cleaned. All the files he had pulled out that morning had been put back into the filing cabinet, and the tea had been cleared away. She must have been working for a while. He was surprised to see her so calm, not that he actually minded the peace.
Setting down the papers he had been holding, Byakuya kneeled down next to her, watching the tranquil rise and fall of her chest. At that moment she almost looked…
A loud snore stopped the captain's train of thought. "Ukiyo." He said, standing up straight and staring down at her. She didn't respond. "Stop sleeping, Ukiyo." The dark haired captain muttered, opening one of the file cabinet doors and slamming it shut.
"Who's sleepin', taichō?" Mai muttered groggily, stretching a bit as she sat up. "Mm, sorry, did you need something? I cleaned up your desk, and I fixed that wall I burned."
Byakuya nodded, taking a seat at his desk. "Take these to Abarai." He stated, handing her a folder containing the next missions for the sixth, seventh, and eighth seats of their division.
"Happily, Kuchiki-taichō." Kindly smiling at the captain, she then turned and walked out of the door.
Yawning widely as she went, the lieutenant shook her head. She'd been so tired lately. Apparently the only way Jūshirō saw it to be fair to the sixth division would be for Mai to work off what she owed by helping out around the division for a month. Now, usually she'd be perfectly fine with that, she didn't mind helping out a bit every now and then. But what was beginning to get to her was the fact that not only did she work all day at the sixth division, but she also had to go back to the thirteenth division and perform her normal work there. Because of that, she had no time to do anything else, including sleep.
She yawned again. "I'll hide out and sleep in Renji's temporary office for a bit…"
"I just feel a bit bad about over working her." Jūshirō sighed, sipping the drink Shunsui had offered him. "She looks so tired all the time now."
The scruffy captain nodded, downing another drink. "Well, if you feel bad about working her so hard, why don't you give Mai-chan a break? Lighten her load around here."
A cough was heard from the other captain. "Yes, I thought about that. But do you think that she would still learn her lesson if I was lenient?"
"She's a smart girl; she probably has already learned her lesson." Shunsui smiled. "And a cutie like her shouldn't be worked too hard, anyway."
Jūshirō laughed in reply, patting his long time friend on the shoulder. "I should have expected you to think that way…"
"Don't think too hard about this; you're doing well in teaching her."
"I can only hope so." The white haired captain smiled fondly. "So, how've things been with Ise-fukutaichō?"
Slam!
"If you're gonna complain about how I do things then don't fucking ask me to do it!!!"
Thump!
"I thought you were gonna do it better!! But I guess I was wrong since you suck at everything!!!"
Crash!
"Ass hole!!"
Loud bickering pulled Byakuya's focus away from his work. Why did it seem like the two lieutenants couldn't hold a civilized conversation? Not wishing to waste his time, the captain simply continued to work.
Bang!
"MY HAIR!!"
Sighing softly, he stood. Less important shinigami all bowed to their captain as he walked through the halls to the office his lieutenant temporarily resided. Rikichi was there again, this time clearing up what appeared to be broken glass of some sort.
Renji held his hair; part of it had been singed off. "What's with you and shakkahō!?"
She just ignored him; walking over to Rikichi and helping him clean up the glass. "Sorry, Rikichi-kun, I didn't mean to make you clean this stuff up." Mai grinned, putting all the glass into a trash can.
"I-It's okay." Rikichi smiled shyly, a light blush tinting his cheeks as she smiled brightly at him.
"Oh, hey, Kuchiki-taichō!" The thirteenth divisioner turned her smile to the shinigami standing in the doorway. "Did you need something? I just finished re-organizing Renji's paperwork."
A folder hit her in the back of the head as Renji glared at her. "I didn't need you to organize it the first time!!"
"It was sitting on piles in the floor!! I'm supposed to help out, but nothing can help you apparently! You're hopeless!!" Mai turned and threw the folder back at him with twice the force. Knowing that their battle would be resuming, Byakuya turned heel and began walking back to the safety of his office. "W-Wait, taichō!"
To the royal's surprise a warm hand wrapped around his wrist. Her skin felt soft against his; it left his arm tingling. He stared down at her arm, causing her to quickly release it, though he could still feel the sensation of her flesh against his. "What do you need, Ukiyo?"
"Sorry," a blush spread across her cheeks as she grinned widely and scratched the side of her face. "I, uh…I wanted to know if you needed any help? Renji doesn't seem to appreciate my help, so I figured I could just spend my time with you…" Waving her hands in front of her, her blush grew darker. "I-I didn't mean that! I meant…uh, I-I meant help you out…"
She laughed embarrassedly, rocking back and forth on her heels. The royal found himself staring at her once again. "Come with me."
Her lips curved back into a smile once again as she trotted happily behind him. "'Kay!"
"Any idea what she's doing?" Kiyone whispered to Sentarō.
"No clue. She's been standing there holding that door for almost three hours…" Sentarō whispered back.
The two third seats were currently watching their lieutenant hold the door and stare at it without blinking for just about three hours. It was a bit unnerving considering she hadn't moved at all in that entire time. The two were beginning to wonder if she was even breathing…Though they did hear her breath in heavily every now and then, which was a bit reassuring.
A small box flew past the third seats, causing them to jump. They turned around to find Renji watching the box hit Mai in the head before falling to the floor. "There's your music player." He grinned, awaiting her angry response.
None came.
"Hey, Mai! I got you your player! You're supposed to say thanks!" The red head glared, growing annoyed with her lack of reaction.
"She hasn't moved at all, Abarai-fukutaichō." Kiyone pointed out, shifting uncomfortably. "She could be dead!"
He snorted and walked over to her. "She ain't dead! She's probably just being stupid again. Hey, Mai—" Renji shook her arm. To his shock she simply fell over onto the floor, her breathing becoming heavy again "Mai!!"
Everyone ran over to her, checking to see if she was alright. "Is she dead?" Sentarō asked, poking her arm lightly.
A dumbstruck look crossed the sixth divisioners face. "She's…sleeping."
She snored loudly again.
"How is she doing that with her eyes open?" Sentarō asked, staring at her strangely.
Kiyone hid behind him slightly. "It's really creepy!"
Leaning down close to her ear, Renji grinned widely. "MAI!!! Wake UP!!!"
The sleeping woman shot up, knocking her noisy friend in the head as she did. "What?! I wasn't sleeping, I swear!!" Though she remained unfazed by head butt, Renji was busy holding his head in pain. "Huh, what're you doing here, Renji?"
He glared up at her. "How hard is your freakin' head!?"
"It ain't my head's fault! Your head is just too soft!!" She bit back, standing up and stretching. "Ugh, I feel sore…Hey, what're you two doin' here?"
Sentarō and Kiyone both laughed nervously. "We're just looking for Ukitake-taichō!"
"Yeah!" The darker haired shinigami added, standing up with his rival. "We don't see him here, so we're gonna go find him!"
Mai watched them strangely as they ran off. "Okay? Have fun?" She then turned around and noticed a small box with "Urahara Shōten" written on the side. "Music senses tingling!!"
Rukia walked into the small room, stopping dead in her tracks when she saw what it contained. "Fukutaichō, what are you doing? And Renji?!"
She stopped rolling on the floor, continuing to hug the box nonetheless. "I got my music player, Rukia!!!" Mai then began coddling the box. "I'm gonna call you "Otoni-chan!" 'Cause you're my "music two"! Get it?!"
Renji stood up and smacked the happy woman across her head. "Stop giving your music players such stupid names!!"
"I like it!!" She shouted, sticking her tongue out at him at the same time.
The red head scoffed, turning his attention to his other long time friend. "Hey, Rukia, what're you doing?"
The adopted royal cleared her throat, standing upright. "Ukitake-taichō is looking for Ukiyo-fukutaichō, and he requested I help to find her." She looked up at Renji, placing her hands on her hips. "But what are you doing here, Renji?"
He scowled; she had been quite cold to him lately. "What? I can't come here anymore?!"
"Well, people usually come to places with a purpose!" Rukia glared at him.
"I only came to give Mai her music player." He was quick to give in this time, not wanting to argue with her. "You know how she is without music."
Despite her surprise that he didn't continue arguing with her like usual, she remembered her initial purpose. "Oh, right, fukutaichō…"
They both looked to find that the thirteenth division lieutenant had vanished without a trace. "Mai?"
"Great, now I've gotta find her again!" Rukia huffed, running off to find the music loving shinigami.
Meanwhile, in the twelfth division…
"Oh, Rin-chan~!" Mai called, trailing through the labs of the research facility. Finding the small shinigami in front of a computer screen as always, she smiled brightly. "Rin-chan!" She called, tackling him in a large hug.
"Ukiyo-fukutaichō? What are you doing in here?" Rin asked, watching the bubbly girl bounce on her heels.
She held out the small box for him to see. "Music! I wanted to know if you still had my music files, and if you could put them on this for me, please."
It was less of a request and more of a demand, but Rin didn't mind if it was for a friend. However today they were busy monitoring the hallows in Karakura; they had to be prepared to send Tōshirō, Rangiku, Renji, Yumichika, and Ikkaku very soon. "I'd be more than happy to, but today we're kinda busy…"
"Please? It'll only take a second!" She pressed, her music withdrawals getting stronger.
He couldn't resist her pleading. "Okay, one second." In a matter of seconds Rin had plugged in the mp3, loaded all the songs onto it, and handed it back to the lieutenant. "There you go, now go! I don't want you to get in trouble with Kurotsuchi-taichō."
"Thanks, Rin-chan!! I'll get out of your hair now, and don't worry; I know how to deal with Kurotsuchi-taichō." She grinned proudly.
"And how, exactly, do you deal with me?" Mayuri asked, hovering over the lieutenant.
Mai turned around and smiled brightly at him. "Well that's simple, taichō!" In a matter of seconds she had disappeared out of the Research Institute. "You run!!"
You're a bit of a loser, huh?
"Oh, like you're one to talk! You'd do the exact same thing in my position!!" Mai glared at the Narrator.
No, I just wouldn't let my music player break in the first place!
Digging her knuckles into the Narrator's temples, she glared. "Shut UP!!"