Things seemed to die down for a while after that. I roamed around Soul Society waiting for the captain's meeting to introduce me to the others. I had to admit; I was a little nervous- even after fighting the head captain and winning.
"All captains and vice captains please report to the main captain's quarters for an important meeting."
Soi Fon looked at the hell butterfly and rolled her eyes. She had met the girl before, and she didn't care for her too much. She was too chipper.
Everyone gathered in the room and there was silence. Soi Fon looked around nervously and nudged her vice-captain.
"Omaeda, do you think we can trust her? I hear she didn't go through Soul Academy. How did she get in?"
Omaeda was busy shoving his face to hear his poor captain; she turned away and looked at the floor, the thought still buzzing in her head.
Unohana and Isane talked nervously to each other, along the same lines that Soi Fon was thinking. They didn't know whether to trust this new recruit or not. Captain Aizen stood happily with his hand on top of Hinamori's head. She turned to him-
"Captain Aizen, how did someone who never went through the academy get such a high ranking?"
"Well Momo, Ichimaru Taicho chose her himself because he obviously trusts her abilities. I'm not sure how they pulled it off, but she's here now. Let's make the best of it." Momo sighed deeply and stared forward.
"Kuchiki Taicho, do you think she'll be alright? Everyone here seems pretty skeptical."
Byakuya just shrugged and looked at his Fukutaicho.
"Does it matter? We're the ones who brought her here and we're going to be the ones that she looks to the most. We're all the same in some way, whether it's the things we believe in or the amount of power we possess." He said.
Renji didn't really know what his captain meant that day, but he just took it and left. He fiddled with the little silver chain around his neck.
Yumichika and Ikkaku were pretty giddy, which made Kenpachi a little uneasy.
"What are you two so excited about? Man up! ...And stop dancing on your toes!"
Ikkaku tried to make his expression serious, but it ended up turning into a hilarious grimace. Yumichika couldn't keep his laughter in.
The door slowly began to open, and Yamamoto stepped forward. Every head in the room bowed down. Behind him, walked in Gin Ichimaru, with the usual grin plastered on his face. Yamamoto raised a hand for everyone's attention.
"As you know, you're all here to be introduced to squad three's new Fukutaicho. Let us have a moment of silence to honor the unexpected death of Kira Izuru."
Everyone raised their heads once more and their eyes were set on the head captain once more.
"I'm pleased to introduce your new Fukutaicho of squad 3. Ariswana Thompson, please come."
I walked out of the room and my blood ran cold. Every set of eyes were on me. Some warm, some extremely unwelcoming. It made me feel a little better when I saw Renji wearing the necklace and Yumichika's warm smile. I bowed once to Yamamoto, out of courtesy.
"Hi. As you all know, my name is Ariswana Thompson, and I'm the new Vice-Captain of squad 3- under Ichimaru Taicho's command. I look forward to working with you all while I'm here."
I got friendly glances from squads 4,5,6(not counting Byakuya, sure he's your friend but he didn't even open his eyes.),8,9,10,11, and 13. Squads 2,7, and 12 didn't look too content.
Everyone was dismissed and as I was leaving, I ran into Shuuhei.
"Hey, Ariswana! You're finally in for good! You can see your sister and her friends in no time. As soon as you get a mission, you'll be on your way!"
I smiled at him and nodded my head. I was planning on going to my barracks to meet everyone, but Hisagi followed me. I decided to take a different path. We walked down it, having small conversation until we walked to the peak of a mountain and stared out over the entire Soul Society. Dusk was setting in, so everything was tinted red.
"Wow, I didn't know what to expect at the end of this road."
Hisagi just smiled down at me.
"Isn't it beautiful? It's my favorite spot in all of Seiretei aside from the pond. Everyone else should be there tonight, waiting for you. You'll come, right?"
"Of course I'll come. You all helped me get here anyway. I wanted to thank you the most though, Hisagi. You helped me out when Gin hadn't listened and hurt me, you stayed with me and gave me someone to talk to. You helped me get here, and you listened to my story about my sister. You felt the need to help me. For that, I would give you my life. No ones ever cared what happened to me before, aside from my sister, of course. I couldn't thank you enough, Hisagi Shuuhei." I smiled up at him.
He blushed a light pink color and put his hand behind his head.
"Aw, don't thank me so much, it was nothing, really! I love helping damsels in distress, and you, my lady, are one good looking damsel." He said with a laugh.
Now it was my turn to blush. He just indirectly called me pretty! This was a good friendship, at least he was honest. As a joke, he put his arm around me and we started toward the pond, where my true journey began.
