Finding Friendship
Girls New Home

One thing Kyoraku didn't look forward to was dealing with the forty-six. The way the council function didn't change even after the complete forty-six was replaced by new members. The new head taicho wasn't sure if they had in fact changed thanks to the latest war. The original purpose of the council was to prevent corruption among the Gotei Thirteen by maintaining a balance, but in reality there seemed to be corruption within the forty-six.

He stepped into the dark room and frowned at the council and imagined the conversation he would like to have with them. "There is honestly more important things myself to be taking care of then spending time talking to you. I do realize though that you need a report since you have isolated yourselves from what goes on outside of this chambers."

"Such insolence..."

"Yes. I'm intentionally being insolent to you. I'll be as cordial as I need to be with you. Let me make it clear that while I will bide by most decisions that the forty-six makes, I will not stand by if I feel that justice is not being served."

"We wish to place the Quincy on trial."

"So you can make them disappear? Just like you did in the past? I will not stand by idoly while it happens again. It is time we need to be a whole."

The older of his zampaktuo spirits piped up. "Come now... it hopefully will not come to this."

The man took a deep breath and waited for the forty-six to speak first. "We wish to determine whether the Quincy will be a threat to us and Soul Society."

Kyoraku took a deep breath while he held his hands behind his back. "Do you mean to determine whether they are a threat like they were in the past? Twice at least there has been an attempt in our history to erase the Quincy. Is that the best option?"

"Should this not be something that we in fact decide?"

"No. I don't think that this is something you should decide."

"The Quincy are abominations. They should be destroyed."

Kyoraku took a deep breath. "Thank you for making it clear that you feel that you wish to see them destroyed and cover up your past misdeeds."

"Nothing of the sort!"

"Are the Quincy really abominations? Or is it their leader and you who made them out to be this way?"

"Why do you wish to stand up for them?"

"The first reason happens to be the fact some of those Quincy are mere children. The second reason happens to be this. The Quincy have been hiding among us for a very long time. There is no telling which of the children have bloodlines from two sides. You're condemning our next generation if you ask for the irradiation of the Quincy. It's time to put the past in the past."

"And have us look bad?"

"You'll look bad if you order the killing of the Quincy." Kyoraku took a deep breath. "There are a lot of the upper ranks who will not follow the orders to kill the Quincy either. If you order your own guards to kill them, then we will step in. Soul Society has changed for the better. The forty-six also needs to make the move towards making a new start."

The head taicho left then and waited for the decision. "The trials of the Quincy war criminals will be left in the hands of the Gotei Thirteen. The only stipulation we place upon the Gotei Thirteen is to place all Quincy under trial except for the ones that are deemed to be mere children. We place the decision for deciding which Quincy qualify as children under the discretion of not the head captain, but Ukitake Taicho. The Gotei Thirteen is also now their legal guardians."

Kyoraku took a deep breath.

M

The small room the three Quincy female were placed in did not at all appeal to Meninas. The magenta haired Quincy felt like crying as she bit into the pillow. A knock came at the door and the three girls looked up to see the small Shinigami that visited them yesterday standing at the door. Candace glared at the girl as she stepped into the room. "What is it this time?"

Rukia stood there with a frown on her face. "The forty-six and the head captain have finished their discussion."

Liltotto leaned her chin on her knees and muttered at the fukutaicho of the thirteenth division. "Let me guess. They've decided we are all to be executed. So much for Bambi-chan's getting a second chance at life."

Candace let out an irritated sound. "Yeah... great."

"No. Many of the Quincy are going to be placed on trial. They have decided to place you three under the legal guardianship of the Gotei Thirteen."

"Exactly what is that supposed to mean?" Meninas muttered into her pillow.

"This means that the Gotei Thirteen is in charge of your well being. This means needed clothing, food and even shelter."

"But no luxuries..." The magenta haired female's voice fell with disappointment.

"This means no candy for Lil, no cute things for you and no makeup for me. I don't know what Gigi would be missing out."

Lilitto folded her arms down. "What about Gigi?" Rukia gave the girl a confused look. "She's the one who turned Bambi-chan into a zombie."

The small fukutaicho took a deep breath. "They've made the decision that she needs to be placed into psychiatric care."

The smallest Quincy female snorted through her nose. "Shouldn't all of us be placed there, all things considered."

"We didn't bash in Bambietta-chan's head." Meninas's head sunk farther into her pillow. "I don't think she's going to forgive us for not stopping her."

Candace rolled her eyes. "What else were we supposed to do? If we brought her back after failing then his majesty would have killed her. At least as a zombie Bambitta is kind of alive."

Silence fell over the room. Liltotto let her arms slide to her side. "Well? Why are you still here?"

"I'm here to take you girls to your new home."

Meninas let the pillow slide down as her eyes blinked a couple of times. Candace shook her head. "We don't want charity from you Shinigami."

Rukia stared at the girl for a short period of time. "You can't stay in the custody of forth division. They need their facilities for medical reasons. This means we have to relocate you. Whether you feel the need to be grateful for this or indignant is up to you."

The female with magenta hair swung her legs over the edge of the bed. "Are we going to be able to have a bath at this place?"

The two other girl's eyes widened at the thought of having a nice bath. Liltotto quickly switched to pretending not to care while Candace looked away with disgust. Rukia remained in the door way holding onto the door frame. "Yes. The noble estates are far more intact then the other buildings so our bathing facilities are functional. Be forewarned that the bath is an older bath system."

Meninas stood up with the pillow in her arms and a smile on her face. Candace frowned at the magenta haired female. "Meninas... we shouldn't do what the Shinigami asks us to do."

"I really want a bath though. I'm tired of fighting and want comfort. She also told us we can't stay here with the forth division. We might as well go."

Liltotto looked at Rukia. "Is Bambi-chan coming with us?"

The small fukutaicho frowned. "She is supposed to go with you. She is being highly stubborn and yelling at us and disturbing her roommate."

Candace's eyebrows went up. "Roommate?"

"The person who turned her into a zombie also turned one of our younger Shinigami into a zombie as well. They are currently sharing the same room."

Another silence fell over the room. Liltotto broke the silence. "I find that hard to believe. I'd like to see her and this person she is staying with."

Candace stood up. "If we have to go to the room then she has to come as well." She stood up and looked Rukia in the eye. "So? Where is she?"

Rukia let out a deep sigh and showed the three girls to the room Toshiro and the violet haired female were staying in. Bambietta scowled at the two from her side of the room. "What are you doing here?"

"I want to see this Shinigami you're fine being around." Candace piped up.

"I am not fine being around any Shinigami." Bambietta looked at the wall. "I'm just not letting the Shinigami order me around."

Liltotto headed to the other side of the curtain that was being used to divide the room. A scuttling sound was heard as was the sound of bed sheets being shifted. Candace pulled the sheets away to see the young Shinigami who took care of some of the medical issues for them reading a book while sitting on a chair. On the actual bed was a small male child dressed in the uniform of a Sternritter. Candace raised an eyebrow. "Why is that Shinigami wearing one of our uniforms?"

The young Shinigami in the seat looked her right in the eye without fear. "Apparently someone on your side decided to change him into it. We don't have any Shinigami robes that fit him right now, so he's having to make due with what he has."

"Disgrace..." Liltotto turned her head. "He's no Quincy."

Bambietta opened her mouth to say something, only for it to clamp shut as she looked away. Candace though noticed the fact she was about to say something. "Oi! You weren't going to stand up for this Shinigami here. You hate Shinigami."

Meninas watched as Bambietta looked away. "Of course I wouldn't stand up for some damn Shinigami. You know how much I hate them."

"Why?" The magenta haired female blinked a couple of times causing Bambeitta to look up. "Why do you hate the Shinigami?"

"I don't think that is anybodies damn business." Bambietta pushed herself up off the bed. "This is boring, so I'll go ahead and come with you girls. You had better not abandon me again though, as I did not appreciate being changed into a zombie."

"At least you're alive. None of the male children survived." Candace placed her hands on her hips to glare at Bambietta.

Meninas twiddled her fingers. "I noticed that... that his majesty was always harder on the male children."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Bambietta swallowed as if something were bothering her.. Her eyes drifted over to look at the young Shinigami on the bed without turning her head. "So... what is this new home of ours supposed to be like."

"Follow me and you'll find out." Rukia turned on her heals. "I am by the way Kuchiki Rukia, fukutaicho of the thirteenth division."

"Why should I care what your name is? You aren't the one who is taking care of us?" Bambietta's words came out in a snapping fashion. Meninas noticed Bambietta look once more over her shoulder while the other two girls didn't notice. The rest of the way to the Kuchiki manor the violet haired girl continued to look forward without looking back at the place the forth division set up for healing purposes. Meninas could tell something was bothering her.

Four pairs of eyes looked over the Kuchiki estate as their eyes began to widen. Meninas' mouth dropped and she whispered to the other girls so that only they could hear her. "Do you think we'll end up with nice things?"

"More along the lines of we're going to be servants."

"Oh..." The magenta female's voice lowered with disappointment.

Rukia overheard what Candace said and turned her head. "My brother's wife passed away a long time ago."

"Oh... so one of us has the chance to be the new wife?" Candace rolled her eyes as she snapped her words out. Her hands were placed on her hips. "Should we actually be grateful for that?"

"I doubt my brother wishes to remarry. He requested to take you in specifically because he and his wife could have no children while she was alive. I doubt you'll be treated as servants... though that doesn't mean there won't be things expected of you. There were things expected of me when I was adopted into the clan."

"So he's not you're real brother?" Bambietta looked at Rukia in disdain.

"No. Byakuya nii-sama is my real brother. He's my real brother not through blood relations, but marriage. His wife was my older sister."

Candace leaned over to the other girls and whispered so the other girls could hear her. "So... the reason she says we're not potential wives is because she doesn't want her sister replaced."

"I'm too young to be a wife." Liltotto folded her arms behind her head. "I'm not looking to replace my parents. Particularly since there is a chance they may still be alive."

"Lucky you..." Candace folded her arms. The girls remained silent until they came to the room.

The room was a traditional Japanese room with the typical woven mats on the floor. Four futons were rolled up to the side of the room while four kimonos were prepared for the girls. Candace rolled her eyes at the sight of the kimonos. "Are we expected to wear those?"

"Do you object?"

"We don't exactly know how to wear them?" Liltotto spoke up. "We're used to Western clothes." Her head darted over to look at Bambietta. "Except perhaps Bambi-chan."

"I told you not to call me that. I'm not interested in that kind of thing. You know why?"

"We don't know why." Meninas blinked a couple of times.

Liltotto rolled her eyes. "Don't mind her. You don't want to know what goes on in that head of hers. I know full well... you don't want to know."

"Hey!" Bambietta raised her finger to launch one of her bombs at the girl. Rukia quickly grabbed her wrist.

"Don't. I've heard how much you in particular like destroying things. Would it hurt you to behave yourself?"

"I don't like Shinigami."

"Here my brother and I are not Shinigami, but nobles." Rukia let go of the girl's wrists. "We are also to act as your foster family for the time being. Is there anything that you girls want?"

"Lots of pillows with cute things?" Meninas' eyes widened with hope.

"I hope you like chappy themed things. That's what I can get my hands on as of right now."

"I don't care as long as it is cute pillows."

"Sweets..." Liltotto stated

"A nice bath." Candace took a deep breath.

"I don't care." Bambietta stormed off to a corner of the room and began to sulk.