Ok yes, it is an Ukitake chapter. We will eventually be seeing a lot more of Komamura, so just bear with me. Yay two chapters in a day!
and another random thought… I may start doing these for each chapter. random thoughts, that is. Ok, here goes:
Gin needs a hug. no, seriously. He needs a great big hug: watch this video and you will understand. Just go to 2:29 and pause it and just look at his poor sad face when Luppi says he doesn't like him… awww! I just want to hug him and tell him it's okay! It won't let me put half the link on here, but it's on youtube, so you can just type in the other half of it.
.com/watch?v=H1-u2xepw_w
Chapter Six
Sunny got up early the next morning, surprisingly having gotten a lot of sleep; Yoru no Futago hadn't visited her the night before, a fact for which she was thankful. Aiko was still asleep when she left; Sunny left a note on the kitchen table telling her where she had gone. Sunny breathed in the morning air happily. With her short black kimono and pink hair, she was unmistakable as she walked down the main street of town, where everything was just coming alive. People waved to her as she passed; everybody knew who she was. She tricked a rich trader out of a cinnamon roll the same way she had attempted to trick Ukitake out of his food, and walked down the street eating it contentedly. She was just about to start heading back home when she noticed a man in a white haori walking through the crowd; she looked closer, and saw that he had long white hair and was wearing a black kimono as well.
"Oy! Captain Freeloader!" Sunny called; Ukitake turned around. People walking down the street around her gave her funny looks as she shouted.
"Oh, hi, Sunny." He greeted as she ran up to meet him. "How are you?"
"Fine." She said wryly. "And you?"
"Oh, I'm great!"
"Yeah, well at least you're not hacking up blood. That was unpleasant." Sunny said sarcastically.
"Yeah, it was…" Ukitake considered something for a moment. "Hey, Sunny, are you free today?"
"What exactly do I have to be free from?"
"Uh, good point. Can you leave Aiko alone for a while? I think it might be too late to go back and get her now…"
"Too late for what? And yes, Aiko can take care of herself just fine. She's got shinigami powers anyway. She'll just blow anyone who messes with her to smithereens; she's pretty friggin amazing." Sunny said proudly.
"Aiko's got shinigami powers? Since when?" Ukitake asked incredulously.
"Yesterday, actually."
"Oh…" He digested that for a second. "That's weird. Well, I wanted to ask you if you want to come to my estate-"
"You have an estate…" Sunny muttered, still irked by the fact that Ukitake was rich.
"Uh, yeah. Um, so I was wondering if you wanted to come to the estate with me for the day."
"Is there food?" Sunny asked.
"Well, yes, but-"
"Good food?"
"Yes, I suppose."
"Then I'm there." Sunny decided.
"Um… good?"
Sunny laughed at Ukitake's puzzled expression. "I have a one-track mind." She declared proudly.
"If you say so… Anyway, follow me. I'll show you the way to the estate, Ugendo."
"Estate…" She fumed.
Sunny followed Ukitake along a maze of winding roads- he seemed to know his way much better than he had when she had first met him. As they walked, they slowly entered a high-class neighborhood, with bigger, nicer houses, well trimmed landscaping, and fewer people on the streets. Sunny looked around, impressed by the neighborhood but definitely not about to say anything.
"So… tell me a bit about yourself." Ukitake said after a few minutes, attempting to start a conversation.
"Well, I'm not going to tell you anything about myself without knowing anything about you. You know about Aiko and my status as a trickster- tell me about you first." Sunny said sensibly.
"Well, there's not really much to tell… You already know that I'm the captain of the thirteenth squad. My best friend is named Shuunsui Kyoraku. I have five brothers and two sisters-"
"Whoa, that's a lot of siblings."
"Yeah."
"Are any of them as interesting as Aiko?"
"No, thank goodness. Aiko is great, but I don't think I could handle seven siblings that light things on fire constantly."
"True that."
"What about you? Tell me. My history isn't very interesting, in general."
"Oh, I think you're interesting. Very interesting… and I'm sure you have a lot of good stories." She said with an impish grin. Ukitake laughed weakly.
"Gee, thanks…" Ukitake said uncertainly; Sunny laughed. "What about you? What is your history like?" He asked.
"Well, my history… I suppose it could qualify as interesting." She replied bitterly. "I'm not sad about it or anything, but it kinda sucks."
"Huh?" Ukitake asked.
"Well, if you really want to know, my mom had shinigami power, and abandoned me and left to become a shinigami when I was too little to take care of myself. I became a trickster in time, but it was bad for a while." She continued.
"Sunny… I'm sorry for bringing it up…"
"Don't be. It's okay. I don't try to hide it or anything. Besides, it's ok. I'm fine. I don't need anyone. I've got me!" She smiled, and skipped forward and started to walk backward in front of Ukitake, who met her eyes sadly.
"Are you sure it's okay?" He asked.
"Mmm-hmm." She grinned. "I'm sure." She turned around; behind her, Ukitake wore a gentle smile.
"You don't always have to be so strong, you know." He said quietly.
She turned around again, and stopped. The confident, cynical smile left her face, and was replaced by a somewhat sad, soft smile. "I know." she said calmly. "But I want to be." Ukitake smiled back at her; they held each other's gaze for a few more seconds.
"Oh, hi!" A voice called from behind them; they turned to see another shinigami, his brown hair pulled back into a ponytail; he wore a round straw hat and an ostentatious pink coat over his black uniform; underneath the garish coat, the corners of a white captain's haori were peeking out.
"H-hi, Shuunsui." Ukitake stuttered, startled. Sunny could not see it, but his cheeks were a pale pink; Shuunsui noticed it right away.
"Oh-ho-ho. What have we here?" The captain said slyly, pulling his hat down. "Is this your girlfriend, Juushiro?"
"Nope. My name's Sunny. I'm just a well, I suppose I'm his friend." Sunny said flatly. "I make it a rule not to date guys who hack up blood all over you the first time you meet them."
"Eh…heh…heh…" Ukitake laughed, embarrassed. "Sorry about that…"
"Let me say, I am never going to get the blood out of that kimono. It's not good."
"Sorry…" Ukitake apologized; Shuunsui chuckled.
"Yeah, yeah." She waved off his apology, and turned her attention to the new captain. "So who're you?" She asked directly.
"Shuunsui Kyoraku. Nice to meet you." He answered. "You two get along well, don't you?"
"Well enough." Sunny replied.
"Hey, Shuunsui. Where's Nanou?" Ukitake asked loudly. Quickly, the newcomer captain shunpoed over and covered Ukitake's mouth.
"Shhh!!!!" he exclaimed. "Don't say that so loud! She's looking for me, trying to make me do work or something-"
"God forbid she make you do work." Sunny said sarcastically.
"I know!" Shuunsui said, dead serious.
"He totally missed that, didn't he." She whispered to herself, and looked down for a few seconds; when she looked back up, he seemed to be complaining loudly about this Nanou person, who he seemed to be calling Nanou-Chan.
"Shinigamis are all nutcases." She said to herself, her voice cracking. "They're all insane…"
"But Juushiro, you've got to help me! Nanou-Chan is scary when she's mad! I mean, I can't take a decent nap around her at all, and she's in an especially bad mood today because I didn't finish something that was 'due three months ago' or something ridiculous like that." Shuunsui begged, making quotes in the air. "Just take me to Ugendo with you and let me sleep, please!"
"But you have work to do!"
"No I don't."
"Yes you do. You, sir, are lying through your nose. Go do your work." Sunny jumped into the conversation.
"But I wanna sleep." Shuunsui said simply.
"No. Bad. Go." Sunny said shortly, pointing back in the direction where he came from.
Shuunsui laughed. "Juushiro, you sure know how to pick em'. She's a wild one."
"Heh…" Ukitake smiled.
"Gee, thanks." Sunny said wryly. "Now go."
"Fine, I'm going." Shuunsui pouted, and slouched back past Sunny.
"Good boy." She said dryly. As he passed her, he whispered quickly into her ear, making sure that Ukitake could neither see nor hear him.
"Be good to him, Sunny. He likes you, which doesn't happen often-he usually doesn't even make distinctions between people. He's just too nice to everyone."
Sunny was puzzled, and watched the captain in the pink coat go around the corner until she couldn't see him anymore.
"Weird guy." She mused.
"Come on, Sunny." Ukitake called. "This way."
She smiled and followed him.
