Seiko stood nervously outside the main house of Muramba. It had been a few years since she stood outside this noble home; It was often when she would get in trouble as a child that she was required to return to this darkened house. Seiko was unnerved to say the least. She ran through every possible reason to be called back to the main house, let alone required to meet with the clan's council, but most of her scenarios ending in doing her 'duty' as the heir to the Muramba household.

It's not like she wanted the position; Oh, she hated the Muramba name. Since birth, she had been groomed to take over the house, to eventually marry another noble, and produce kin for their clan. It all disturbed her. Silently, Seiko had always prayed that the head of the clan, her uncle Akio, would produce a child with his wife...but deemed impossible due to her extremely poor health. With no other option, Aiko's brother, Fukumu, had already produced a child, who had eligibility to become the heir: Sieko Muramba. Since then, Seiko knew she had to perform the duties assigned to her, though she detested every decision of the clan that secured her fate to follow in her Uncle's footsteps. The only battle she had actually won against the council was when they hadn't wanted her to go into the Academy due to the fear of losing their only possible heir. However, Seiko stood her ground with them. If they wanted to take her life and her choices away, they had better give her some damn good compensation, and that compensation would be allowing her to become a soul reaper.

Seiko's mind shot back to the Muramba estate as a servant approached her,

"Seiko Muramba is it? The council awaits your entry." The servant smiled at her happily, his long dark locks hanging to just above the poor man's shoulders which attached to the skinny arms peering out from beneath his kimono. Seiko just nodded coldly, as she had been taught by Akio to do towards servants, and followed the skinny male. She felt bad for being so mean and...unemotional? towards the man, but if she was to follow in Akio's footsteps, she had to act just as he did towards those in lower positions. It upheld the hierarchy of the clan; gave depth and reality to those who opposed the levels of superiority. This was another thing Seiko hated.

After a few minutes of walking through the vast hallways of the head house, the servant stopped in front of a familiar large set of doors, "Right this way-" Seiko cut him off with a wave of her hand, a pang of guilt flowing through her body. She knew this was the council room. There was no need for the servant to tell her.

She entered to the sight of a round table surrounded by the council, including her uncle and both her parents.

"Hello, Seiko." Uncle Akio welcomed with a hearty smile. Yes, he was a cruel man when it came to business but his niece was a totally different story. Seiko bowed, "Hello, Uncle." She sat in the only remaining chair, which was clearly left for her. After being seated, Akio's smile widened just a bit too large and his eyes gleamed with something unreadable,

"I bet you're wondering why you were summoned, Seiko." A small nod confirmed her Uncle's question, so he continued, "As you know, you are the only heir to the Muramba clan, and therefore must continue your duties to honor our name." Again, she nodded, unsure to where he was going with this, as he was repeating what she had already been told countless times. Akio stood from his seat and circled around until he was behind Seiko, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. What he was about to say would probably break this poor girl, but she had to do it for the clan, just as he had. "Seiko, you're responsibilities do not only extend from your behavior but also your relationships..." Seiko clenched her jaw,

"What are you trying to say, Uncle..." she asked nervously through her tightened teeth, still trying to act as politely as she could. He just looked into her eyes, sorrow deep within his soul. He really did feel bad...

"Seiko, you are to be married."

Time seemed to stop; Seiko knew that this would one day come, but...not so soon! Her breath caught. Her hands began to shake. Married? Like...husband and wife? She stood so quickly that those who sat closest to her jumped in surprise. Akio's hand, still on her shoulder tightened slightly, "It must be done."

Seiko's shock turned into anger at those words. "I won't do it."

Akio's eyebrows raised. He had expected this from his temperamental niece.

"I won't do it." Seiko repeated louder. Murmurs arose throughout the council room. For a moment, Seiko thought about letting loose what she thought about this plan, but her father calmly stood and took Seiko's arm, pulling her back to reality,

"I think she is just in shock. Let her mother and I make sure she knows what must be done." Fukaku said smoothly, quieting the whispers between the other council member. Akio looked from his brother to his fierce niece before nodding; there was no way he was going to try a battle of tongues with the cunning and angered young woman. Fukaku's grip tightened on Seiko's arm; She could feel a bruise forming where his finger's clutched. Then, he practically pulled her out of the room, followed quickly by her graceful mother.

Fukaku opened the door to an empty study and drug Seiko inside,

"This is your duty. You have been specially groomed for this, and the way you acted in there was completely unacceptable." Fukaku began, letting go of Seiko's arm harshly, "Perhaps being with the soul reapers had made you forget about who you are." Anger bubbled inside of Seiko, but she knew to hold her tongue against this man; He could get abusive when angered, and the last thing she needed was to have her mother bear witness to another one of her father's outbursts. "I knew we should have never let you join the Academy. If you hadn't, you would have been able to focus more on being the heir rather than running around playing sword games! You would be more prepared for this, and you certainly would not have acted the way you did inside that council room!" Fukaku seemed to get more angry by the second, "You really are a disgrace to this clan, but by marrying Byakuya Kuchiki, hopefully you will learn your place within this family."

Seiko's eyes dilated. There was no way...She had just seen him this morning! "B-byakuya Kuchiki?"

Fukaku glared at his young and naive daughter, "Yes, Byakuya Kuchiki. You will be married in a matter of days. He will arrive in the next hour to complete the engagement process, and I expect you to have this behavioral outburst handled." With that, he turned on his heels and left the room, slamming the door behind him.

Seiko allowed her tears to fall, only to be wiped away by her beloved mother's slender and perfectly painted fingers.

"It will be okay, my dear," She said calmly, wiping the poor girl's tears, "It seems like so much to take in now, and there will be many changes in the coming weeks, but all will be well."

Seiko had no choice but to look into her mother's beautiful blue eyes and hope what she ways saying would hold true. A moment passed before Seiko ordered her tears to stop, leaving the mother with nothing more to do. "I will be waiting in the council room with your father for Captain Kuchiki. Then, we can all finish the final agreements of the engagement. Take all the time you need to clean up." Her mother gave Seiko a soft smile and kiss on the forehead before exiting the room, leaving Seiko to her own thoughts.

'There is no way I can deal with this! I can't do it! I won't!'

Before she knew what she was doing, Seiko opened the nearest window and raced out into the falling snow.