Chapter 4

Murasaki Hisana's eyes snapped open as the silence she had been forced to bear through was broken. She squinted her eyes, trying to identify who was inserting a key into the lock and before her eyes, a young female soul entered followed by an older looking male. The male went up to her and undid the bindings. She stood up slowly, trying to register what was going on and then it hit her. Shihoin Yoruichi had freed her! A grin graced her lips as they led her outside but quickly disappeared when she realized that they had left rope that bound her hands together.

"You forgot one," she said to the female as the male opened the door. She shut her eyes tightly as sunlight streamed in. Her pale skin sparkled due to the fact that she had sweated in the warm, confined prison. She opened one of her eyes ever so slightly and was led outside. There were stone steps in front of her and to her sides, there was gray walls. The souls completely ignored her when she repeated her sentence and instead, the female nodded towards the stairs. Her lips pressed together in a tight line, she did as she was told to, or rather nudged to. Her bare feet burned with each step and her vision was slightly shifting. There were black stars everywhere and she thought it was because she had been in the dark for so long.

They took her all around the estate. From the prison grounds to the torturing grounds to the main house to a room that they told her to enter before removing the rope binding her hands. Now, as she slid the shoji door open, she was completely confused and scared. They're going to secretly kill me! Once I enter, I have to duck. As soon as she entered, her knees bent down and she placed her hands over her ears. Before she could shut her eyes though, she noticed that there was only one female in the room, who seemed harmless but startled.

"Y-you're the one Yoruichi Josei wants as her personal maid?" the female yelped after Hisana stood up nervously. Not knowing what to do, she just nodded. The woman gaped at her before looking at her up and down. "B-but you're," she began but shut her mouth quickly. Suddenly, a solemn look was placed on the female's beautiful face. "Interesting. I will start formally. My name is Shimizu Fuyu, and I am the Head Servant of this wondrous manor. As of today, you are Yoruichi Josei's personal maid, but at this moment, you are my puppet. I will do what I please with you." Hisana opened her mouth but Fuyu continued, "First and foremost, you must look appropriate before starting this job. Right now, you look like you belong in Rukongai, which you do, but by the end of the next hour, you will look closely similar to me."

The thought of looking like Fuyu didn't bother Hisana. The Head Servant was beautiful. Her face was tanned slightly, due to the time she spent outside guessed Hisana, and her eyes were small, but a brilliant shade of greenish blue. Her black hair seemed long for it was in a thick bun with just a few wasps framing her face. She was wearing a purple hapi, with the Shihoin crest imprinted in the back, on top of a ankle length, indigo kimono. The thing that made Hisana even more excited, was that the Head Servant was wearing a pair of waraji.

"Will I have sandals to?" she asked, her eyes still staring at Fuyu's feet. Fuyu, on the other hand, seemed confused over how eager Hisana was over the straw sandals.

"Of course you will." said Fuyu, slowly. "Now I need you to understand that you must stop acting like that." Hisana's eyebrows furrowed together and she tilted her head to the side. "No, stop behaving like that. You will become Yoruichi Josei's servant. At all times, your back must be straight and you mustn't bend your neck." She did as she was told and Fuyu continued, "When you walk, your hands must never sway. Your eyes shouldn't shift around nervously as they are doing right now. You will become elegant today. Now follow me. You were supposed to be ready before dawn, but Yoruichi Josei said to let you rest a little bit more."

Hisana nodded and followed Fuyu deeper in the room. "Waah," she said as Fuyu slid another shoji door open. In the medium sized room was a tub filled with steaming water in the middle. Clothing similar to the one Fuyu was wearing was being held by one of the many servants in the room. Without waiting for Fuyu to enter, Hisana approached the steaming water and smiled. Her reflection was hazy yet there and her lips pulled down into a solemn look. Should I be happy that I'm going to become a servant for the Shihoins or sad? She was conflicted, not knowing if she should smile or frown. She put one of her hands into the water, but quickly pulled it out, biting her lip due to how hot the water was.

"Would you like to bathe privately or should the servants aid you?" asked Fuyu. To some degree, she understood how the Rukongai girl felt. Afterall, she was a daughter of a noble and a servant. A half-blood noble who was taught like a servant all of her life. An outcast, but look at where she was. Hisana just closed her eyes, signifying she wanted privacy. "Please scrub your hair with that soap," one of the servants lifted a bottle, "scrub your body well, and the cream by the side of the tub is to hide any bruises or scars. The Shihoins take pride of their servants so please do not put them to shame."

"I won't," whispered Hisana as the servants exited the room. She stripped down quickly and carefully slid into the heated water. She smiled as her body got warmer and closed her eyes. This was her very first bath in warm water and without clothing. In Rukongai, she'd go inside the water wearing her torn yukata and, after dipping her head in the cold water, she'd come out. After enjoying herself in the water, she turned to look at the bottle of soap which was liquefied. This intrigued her for in Rukongai, all the soaps came in a bar-shape. Pouring it out to the palm of her hand, she inhaled the sweet aroma. She smothered her scalp with the liquid and slightly scratched it. After washing her hair and body, she tip toed out of the tub and quickly dried. It was surprising to her, how the cream seemed to make her scars and bruises disappear, but it was itchy. When she'd scratch it, the scars would become visible again.

The servants had left her clothing hanging against a chair. She smiled as she slid her hand into the arm hole of the white yukata. It smelled fresh and clean, something Hisana had longed for. The yukata reached above her ankles and on top of it, she wore a happi which was exactly the same as Fuyu's. Instead of a pair of waraji, she had been given white socks. A sigh escaped her lips as she walked out of the bathing room and faced the Head Servant. Now to see what's my job.

"So," began Hisana stretching the 'o' sound, " I just clean this place up?" Fuyu nodded before giving her more instructions on how to clean each thing. Hisana barely paid attention though. She just kept nodding and pretending to, but her thoughts were on how she had changed her mind so quickly. Flashback of the day before clouded her mind.

Without any thought, she had straight out declined Yoruichi's offer to become a servant but where was she now? She had called the noble people who didn't care about souls from Rukongai, yet she had been saved by Yoruichi and the other noble boy, whose name had forgot. Maybe if I would've been more thoughtful and value life more... maybe then I wouldn't have known that Hana wasn't on my side. Truth be told, Hana's betrayal hadn't hurt Hisana much. Perhaps it was because Hisana thought that if Hana wanted to live so badly, there must have been a purpose.

"Is that understood?" snapped Fuyu, clasping her hands together.

"Yes!" yelped Hisana straightening out her back quickly. The noise had cut through her thought quicker than knife through butter. "I wi-will do as you say, Head Servant!"

"Very well," muttered Fuyu, and exited the room as Hisana bowed. The Rukongai girl got up quickly and observed her surroundings. The room was fairly large, but mainly empty. There were yukatas and kimonos lying on the ground, accompanied by other clothing. Papers were scattered on her bedding which was wrinkled. She glanced at the only pieces of furniture in the room and wrinkled her nose. The cabinets were both half open with articles of clothing coming out.

"Let's get started!" she said to herself, smiling. The first thing she did was gather all the clothing on the grounds. She grabbed a basket from outside, where Fuyu had placed different things that she might need to clean the room. Hisana had to admit, it was fun to gather the kimonos. How many possible colors can a person mix? Out of all the kimonos, the one that caught her attention was ripped. Her eyebrows creased in the middle of her forehead as she stretched it in front of her. I'll ask her if I can have it.

The paper sprawned on the bed spreads were placed ontop of one of the cabinets and she proceeded to gather the bedding in a seperate basket, making a mental note to wash that later. After that, she scrubbed the light brown wood, which was smooth under her soapy cloth. It took her quite a while to clean the floor, but afterwards she was content with the results. She cleaned out the cabinets, folding all the clothing neatly and stacking them in the shelves. The sun was setting by the time she completed cleaning the room and washing the beddings. Hisana whiped her forehead with the back of her hand and sighed.

"Wow!" she heard a voice say from behind. "Is this really my room?" Hisana nodded at Shihoin Yoruichi, who walked in the room with a goofy smile. "Looks like you're really good at cleaning. This would've taken me two days to complete." The woman draped her captain's haori on the cabinet before dropping down to her bed sheets. "Ah! They smell great."

Hisana said nothing, but kept her eyes on the haori. She's a captain and a noble. Her life must be great; I envy her. Hisana's heart thumped against her rib cage violently and she swallowed saliva. She was jealous and that was a fact. Looking through her cabinet, which was packed with clothing, washing the puffy comforter, and walking on a floor that didn't break if you'd run; it made her envy noble life. Why has she chosen me as her personal maid?

"I chose you 'cause there's no other openings," Yoruichi stated, cutting through Hisana's thoughts.

"Eh?" she asked confused.

"Originally, I wanted you to be a kitchen maid, but there aren't any openings. Ya know, you're the first personal maid I have, unless of course you count the maids I had when I was younger," began Yoruichi as she sat on her bed spread, craning her neck to the side. "I'm going to try clearing your name, but for now just stay here. Bet you miss Rukongai."

"I don't," Hisana interrupted not meeting the woman's merigold eyes. "I envy you. I haven't been here for long but I already envy you. Your clothing, your room, your happy life, I want it." Yoruichi raised an eyebrow, but immediately began to chuckle. "It's not funny!" shouted Hisana. "You nobles get to have so many stuff that it should be a crime. What makes the people from Rukongai so different from you nobles?"

"Please, stop," muffled Yoruichi, still laughing. Hisana bit her lips as tears formed. "Your idea of noble life is different from our actual life. We also go through hardships, but of course they are nothing compared to the Rukongai kids lives."

"Are you mocking me?" she asked, in a low voice. "What possible hardships do you nobles go through, huh?"

"Do you really want to know?" inquired Yoruichi, grinning and at Hisana's 'yes' she continued, "I'll take you to my friend's house. You met him yesterday. He is going through hardships that probably every young noble goes through."

"And that is?" Hisana prodded.

"You'll see," Yoruichi said. "Go wash up and we'll go. Have you ate anything yet?" Hisana shook her head and Yoruichi smiled. "Okay, we'll eat at his house. The Kuchikis do cook great food anyways."

Hisana exited the room and wrinkled her eyebrows. She had no idea where to go to wash up. A group of maids passed by and she raised her hand, but they just continued walking. "I should've paid attention to what Fuyu was saying," she muttered under her breath and started walking to where her instincts told her to. She opened one room after another, and only one thought staed in her mind; So many empty rooms.

"What are you doing?" asked Fuyu when Hisana finally found her, scolding a maid.

Hisana chuckled nervously, scratching the back of her head. "I was wondering, where can I go to wash up?"

Frowning, Fuyu said, "I thought I told you before."

"Y-you see," began Hisana, but the Head Servant held up her hand, shaking her head.

"Follow me," was all and Hisana found herself in front of icy water in no time. Her forehead was still sweaty and her hands were dusty. She splashed her face with the freexing liquid and quickly washed her hands before turning to Fuyu.

"I'm accompanying Yoruichi Josei somewhere, so do I have any duties left?" she asked, and the Head Servant couldn't hide her surprise from the question. "I can finish them quickly."

"Yoruichi Josei would like to take you somewhere?" Fuyu repeated, before regaining her composure. "You no longer have any duties. If she would like to take you somewhere, then go. When you return though, I'd like to show you around the manor."

"Yes, Head Servant," Hisana chanted, bowing her head slightly. Fuyu smiled slightly as the Rukongai girl scampered out the door. Hisana was a curious person and she looked forward to working with her.

(A/N Not such a good place to end the chapter, but I wanted to have a seperate update for some real Byakuya and Hisana interactions. I find this chapter to be kind of bland, but the next one will be exciting. Since school is starting soon, I want to develop a strict updating schedule. My next update will be next Saturday. Thank you Seasammy13, Panda-Angel-Wings, HarunaOno, and Luafua for following/favoriting my story! Thanks to everyone else who reviewed!

I promise the next chappie will be more exciting. Till next time!)