She hadn't been expecting them to give her a room, especially not one that was this nicely furnished. The room's décor was mostly white and midnight blue, with accents of pale yellow in the rug and curtains. There was a large bathroom attached and a closet that already had some simple white shirts and grey shorts stocked, and the bed was neatly made. There didn't seem to be a speck of dust anywhere. It was by far the nicest place she had ever slept in, though to be fair there wasn't a whole lot of competition.
Had they given her someone else's room?
Well, the friendly young man with a bowl cut had insisted she rest here, so it must be fine.
Since she had the opportunity, her first order of business was to take a shower. Even though she hadn't really fought anyone and gotten blood on her or anything, she still felt she needed a shower after the past 24 hours she'd been through. She went through the process of removing her equipment and uniform while still keeping the seal in place, so that all she was left in was a choker of black metal with her sealed zanpakutou hanging from it. She found some shampoo and soap in a cabinet and stepped in. Showering was a relaxing chore, something she could do on autopilot, which was good, as she was still doing her best to keep herself from letting her mind stray.
Afterwards she dried herself and her hairsted.e a gigai to get answers to tumbled around in my . favorite band.
e in a house full of unknow and put her clothes back on.
It would be more prudent to stay in her soul form while in a house full of unknown people, so she didn't make a gigai to get into. Not to mention she was exhausted. This day had felt like it had lasted an eternity, and all she wanted to do was go to sleep for a few hours. She pulled back the sheets and curled up. The bed quickly warmed up as she snuggled under the covers. The mattress was extremely comfortable, but as tired as her body was, she just could not turn off her brain. She curled up even more and thought about the people of the household. Anything to distract herself. What were they, who were they, how many of them there were, why they were in South Korea.
Oh, and how laid-back they apparently were. Her eyebrows contracted as this thought popped into her mind.
They hadn't even posted a guard outside her door. Come on guys, just because she had helped them didn't mean she was trustworthy. Hell, they were already in some sort of feud, what if she was trying to infiltrate them or something?
Unless they had cameras in the room. It was a mark of how tired she was that this thought didn't immediately set her on edge.
Well, it didn't really matter, because she didn't mean them any harm.
But they didn't know that.
Unless they did.
But how could they?
Questions and thoughts that she didn't have answers to tumbled around in her brain. And sometime during her pointless ponderings about the strange people who lived here, she fell asleep.
Judging from the position of the sun it had only been a few hours since she had fallen asleep, but that was fine. She really only needed a few hours of sleep anyway, and she usually slept for less than that. Her sleep had been restless and broken, but she had gotten some, so it would have to do.
She laid there staring at the ceiling for what felt like another hour, knowing she would never be able to fall back asleep, yet still not wanting to get up. The left side of her brain noticed how unusual this pattern was for her. She was usually so motivated and curious. Now she was lying in a bed, in a room, in a country she had never been before, with over a dozen unknown beings who she had never encountered before, and all she could do was stare at the ceiling.
You're being pathetic.
She was mourning. She needed to mourn, find closure. That's what people do in this situation.
You're not mourning, you're wallowing in self-pity. Get your ass up, Arien, you're stronger than this. Aren't you?
She closed her eyes against Nike's twisted way of comforting her and tried to absorb some of Nike's callousness. Nike was right. This wasn't her.
She would have to find a way to get over this, to move on. It would not be easy. In fact, she didn't even know where to start.
Well. She could start with getting outta bed.
She sat up and slung her legs over the side of the bed. Or at least she tried to, if her feet hadn't gotten caught on the absurdly puffy comforter. She had never understood the dangers of Western-style beds before now; after all, you couldn't fall out of a futon! It was ridiculous how she could fight flawlessly on any terrain against numerous opponents and yet still manage to fall out of bed.
She picked myself off the ground with as much grace as she could muster, suddenly glad that no one had been standing guard outside and had rushed in to see her lying in a heap beside the bed. If they had cameras in this room she would have to delete that footage before anyone saw it even if it cost her her life. After making that vow and feeling her cheeks return to a normal temperature, she stretched as she walked to the door. However, as she reached for the doorknob she paused, rethinking her options.
… Should she just go? She had helped these people out pretty well, enough to repay them for saving her. Plus, now they had seen her abilities. Her abilities were coveted; she knew that very well. She also knew how dangerous they were and how devastating they could be in the wrong hands. She had confidence in her combat skills. But still, 13 vs. 1 was not something she would want to enter into if she could avoid it, especially in the middle of a crowded city.
Though if she left now she would never find out who they were or what they were doing here. She knew some of them were werewolves (after seeing M-21 transform all doubts had left her mind about what he was, at least), but she still didn't know who they were.
She mulled it over as she stood in front of the door. Perhaps some kind of exchange? Some information about her for information about them. Unless they already had information on her? Or at least information on Shinigami and Hollows. But she wasn't your typical Shinigami or Hollow. They'd probably be curious as to her enhanced powers. But was it worth it?
The old me would have stayed and found out, she thought. The real me.
She scowled at that thought as if it had been a challenge.
Fine, she'd stay and investigate.
It wasn't like she had anyone waiting at home for her.
So she opened the door and started walking down the hall towards the living room. It seemed they were having a family gathering or something (dinner, maybe? Breakfast? What time was it?) because she could tell everyone was together there. She hadn't been paying much attention earlier when she had briefly seen the others, so she couldn't put a face to every energy she felt, but she could pick out a few of them.
Muzaka, who was all easy confidence and relaxed restraint. M-21, whose human soul mixed almost seamlessly with that of his werewolf energy. And Raizel. She was strangely pleased to notice that Raizel's soul had rebounded wonderfully. She had spent about an hour pouring all the energy she could into him, and it seems his strong will and soul had made the best of it. It didn't even seem necessary to perform the more direct technique she had been planning to use. That was good. That would require her to release her seal again, and she could normally only release her seal once every three days. Combine that with the fact that she may be leaving in a hurry and on bad terms, it was better that she didn't have to worry about him.
Regardless of how this relationship would end, she had always gotten a sense of satisfaction and happiness from healing others, so it pleased her that he would live.
She walked down the stairs to reach the first floor. She had been so exhausted after healing Raizel that she didn't actually remember going this way, but this was the direction the energy was coming from so she just followed it. She walked silently down a long, immaculate, tasteful hallway toward the end of the hall. All the doors she passed were obviously solid wood, ash or alder, perhaps. The doorknobs were simple, but elegant, and appeared to be brass that had aged gracefully. What did the owner do for a living, to own such a well-designed and large mansion? Was he a CEO of a company? Did he win the lottery? Was he a drug lord?
For that matter, which one of them was the owner? Most of them looked like adults, so it could theoretically be any of them. Or all of them, if they were like a commune where each individual pitched in fiscally. She added job descriptions to her seemingly endless list of things she wanted to ask these people.
As she reached the end of the hallway she could hear the boisterous guy with a Hollow talking. She paused right outside the doorway as she heard her name. Something about a soul weapon? And how she used it to heal Raizel? Hmm, 'soul weapon' sounded vaguely familiar, but probably just because it sounded similar to 'soul-cutter sword.' Still, if they didn't know what technique she used then they almost certainly didn't know about the 4th Division. She filed that away as another piece of information she could trade.
The clink of dishes being moved, the rustling of bags and packages, and the steady thud of a knife against a cutting board punctuated the next sentences (spoken by Blondie she was pretty sure), so she wasn't able to catch all of it. She got the gist of it though. While Blondie seemed to be aware of how non-humans constantly absorb energy to maintain their elevated powers, he still was not sure as to what type of non-human she was. Which means he didn't know what a Quincy was.
She smiled to myself slightly. It was glaringly obvious that these guys didn't have clue as to what she was, and them debating wouldn't get them any closer to the answer. The trade would probably work out well then.
She stepped out from the hallway and cleared her throat since no one was looking in her direction.
"Well, at least I'm not the only one confused about what's going on."
That got everyone's attention, every face turning toward her with expressions that held various stages of surprise, from shock to mildly interested.
Muzaka was the first to recover, smiling largely and beckoning her over. Did nothing ever phase this man?
"Hey, Arien, you're awake! Here, I saved you a seat," gesturing to the empty space beside him.
She gave him an amused and slightly exasperated smile as she sat down and crossed her legs, using this opportunity to more thoroughly examine the other people from the household.
The two silver-hair children were sitting across from her. While the girl was completely expressionless as she sipped her tea, the boy was staring at her with a look of wonder mixed with a healthy amount of confusion and a dash of awe.
She then noticed their irises were red.
It wasn't obvious; in fact, it almost seemed like they were making a special effort to hide it. Which certainly made sense; red irises would definitely stand out in the Human World. That must be why she didn't notice it before when she saw them briefly earlier – it was like her consciousness was gazing at it without truly registering what it was seeing. That was interesting. Another question added to the list.
The young man sitting next to them was one of the three with a Hollow. He was tall with blue eyes, and he had very long, unbound, purple-ish hair that probably reached his ankle. He also wore an eyepatch on his right eye.
The boy sitting close to her had short, wavy, blonde hair and a slightly petulant look on his face like he really didn't want her here but didn't want to be rude. He had red eyes as well, she noted.
As did the other blonde man behind him. He was taller than the boy with short blond hair, and his hair was longer. Perhaps a relative? He was standing almost directly behind the other blonde boy in what she imagined to be a protective manner, though his posture didn't indicate that he was expecting an attack.
M-21 she of course knew to a certain extent, though he too was standing protectively behind the young silver-haired boy and the man with an eyepatch. The perpetually cheerful one was standing beside him, grinning sheepishly at her. Probably because she had overheard them talking about her, and he knew it.
Blondie stood in the kitchen area preparing ingredients. For ramen, she quickly realized. What was these people's deal with ramen? He was smiling charmingly, though she could tell he had not appreciated being eavesdropped on. His smile emphasized his canines a little too much.
Lunark stood almost directly behind her, along with a very buff man with a mohawk and a woman with reddish-orange hair in a ponytail. Normally she didn't let herself sit with her back to people she don't know, especially when they were so close, but she didn't want to show weakness in front of them. Weaknesses could be exploited, after all.
Muzaka and Raizel, again, were people she was somewhat familiar with.
It had only taken a few moments to quickly assess the people in the room while she had straightened her uniform and run a hand through her hair, completely at ease. She still felt confident in her ability to escape if need be, so that analysis would have to do until she could get more information. Overall, these people didn't seem aggressive towards her, and she didn't want to make it seem like she was being overly curious. That would be suspicious.
Blondie broke the silence. "Miss Arien, I am very pleased to see you are awake. How are you feeling?"
Was he fishing for injuries, weaknesses? Or was he being sincere? His expression had softened slightly into a genuine smile, so she decided to go with the latter. It wasn't like she was injured either way, so she wouldn't be lying. Besides, she couldn't take him seriously when he was wearing a pink apron.
"I'm feeling fine, Mr. …?" She trailed off suggestively, hoping he would introduce himself so she could stop thinking of him as 'Blondie.'
He blinked and tilted his head before catching her drift.
"Ah, that's right, I hadn't realized, you haven't been introduced to us all."
He set down the knife he had been using to expertly peel and chop vegetables before walking a little further into the living room.
"Well, I know you've already met Muzaka, Lunark, and M-21," he said, gesturing to each person respectively as he spoke. "Beside Muzaka is Ma - Cadis Etrama di Raizel-nim, who you have also met, though I do not think we told you his name."
"But you can just call him Raizel," Muzaka cut in amiably.
Arien nodded and smiled at Raizel, glad Muzaka had spoken. Cadis Etrama di Raizel? She sure as hell didn't wanna say that every time. 'Raizel' was much simpler. Raizel nodded respectfully back and continued drinking his tea.
"Behind you is Miss Garda and Kentas." Garda and Kentas both nodded gravely. She nodded back, fighting hard to keep an amused smile off her face. Were these people always so serious, or was it just because they didn't know her and were being cautious?
"Across from you is Miss Seira," the silver-haired woman nodded gracefully, "Regis," the silver-haired boy crossed his arms and tried to look more dignified as he nodded as well, "Takeo," the man with the purple hair nodded and smiled, "and Rael," the smaller blonde-haired boy nodded, arms still crossed haughtily. She smiled and nodded to each of them as they were introduced.
"Behind them is Tao –"
"Hey there!" Tao grinned, waving as if he thought she couldn't see him well. "It's nice to meet you!"
Good lord, this boy, she thought. She chuckled softly. At least one of them wasn't afraid to do more than nod. "It's nice to meet you, too, Tao." Tao put his hands on his hips and smiled.
"Ahem," Blondie was staring daggers at Tao, who quickly adopted an expression of repentance for his slight interruption.
"And beside him is Karias," Blondie continued.
She had thought Tao's reaction was extreme compared to the others, but Karias was apparently on a whole other level.
Karias immediately stepped forward a few steps until he was directly in front of her. A lovely red rose appeared out of thin air as he knelt down on one knee in front of her and looked her directly in the eye.
"It is my absolute pleasure to meet you, Miss Arien. I could not find a rose as lovely as you, but I would be honored if you accepted this one nonetheless."
His expression was dead serious and completely sincere.
Takeo facepalmed.
Her bewildered expression must have been amusing, because Muzaka burst out laughing. Arien's eyebrow started to twitch at the loud noise, but she took a deep breath as she reached for the rose. She brought it up to her nose and breathed in its gentle scent. Where had he been keeping a fresh, unrumpled rose? Somewhere in his suit? Well, however he did it, it was very impressive. She smiled graciously at him.
"Thank you Karias, it's beautiful. I'm very pleased to meet a fine gentleman such as yourself." She threw an icy look at Muzaka, who covered his mouth a little and quieted his chuckles, though he didn't look apologetic in the least. Karias smiled and nodded grandly as he stood up with a flourish and returned to the space he had previously occupied.
"Well, that's everyone who lives here. As for me, you can call me Principal Lee or Chairman," Blondie – Principal Lee – said. A principal? Like, at a school for children? Well that would explain the school uniforms.
She had also noticed that she had only been given first names (with the possible exceptions of Raizel and M-21). Strangely, though, their caution towards her caused her to feel relief instead of anxiety. It was reassuring to know they had a little prudence.
She smiled at the room in general, "It's nice to meet you all."
"Likewise," The Chairman responded, presumably replying for everyone.
She paused for a brief moment. She really wasn't used to talking in front of so many strangers. But she really didn't want to sit in an awkward silence as they tried to feel each other out. Plus, they already knew she had overheard them speculating about her. Might as well use that as an icebreaker.
"So, it seems you guys have some questions for me as well." She lightly emphasized the ending. She had questions of her own, after all. This wasn't going to be a free-for-all Q&A session staring yours truly.
Muzaka snorted. "That's an understatement. We're completely in the dark when it comes to you."
Hmm. Muzaka was apparently really bad at subterfuge. He had just admitted that she held all the cards in this discussion. She sighed inwardly. Even though she knew she only wanted to know about these people to satisfy her own curiosity and not for anything nefarious, it still made her cringe when she saw and heard such carefree attitudes.
The Chairman spoke before she could respond, his tone earnest. "Indeed, as I am sure you heard, we are curious as to your identity. However, please let me say, I hope you do not feel that we are expecting you to, or going to make you, tell us. I am personally indebted to you already for saving Master and helping M-21. Thank you." Several members of the household nodded at this statement, and the boy called Regis had regained his wondering expression. "In fact, if there is anything that you would like to ask, feel free to do so. I will answer to the best of my abilities."
… These people really knew how to throw her for a loop.
That was it? She hadn't expected them to grill her for info, of course, but only because of their relatively easy-going demeanor. But they weren't even going to suggest an information exchange? That was what she had been expecting, had banked on. It was clear they were absolutely baffled over who and what she was, but just because she had healed a few of them, they were giving her the option to be the one to ask all the questions? They had even gone as far as to say they were indebted to her.
And the weirdest thing about all of this was that he sounded 100% genuine.
She just didn't know what to think about these people.
Something didn't sit right with her about that offer, though. Though she apparently had the choice of not revealing anything about herself, it just didn't seem … fair. These people were so sincere. She knew she would feel guilty about not sating their curiosity while sating hers. She knew what it was like to be overwhelmingly curious, too.
Damn, these people's naivety must be rubbing off on her, but she didn't seem to care as much as she thought she would. Maybe some spontaneity would be good for her right now.
"It's okay," she assured the Chairman and the room at large, "It's true that I have some questions for you, but I don't mind answering your questions as well. It's not like it's a big secret," she said, shrugging her shoulders. The spiritual world was usually kept pretty secret, it was true, but only from normal humans. There was no real reason to keep it from these guys.
The Chairman looked at her for a moment before nodding. "Very well, if you're sure. Well, then how about we go first. What would you like to know?"
She smiled softly. "Well, I suppose I will ask the most general question first. What are you guys?"
Principal Lee smiled back. "Well, Muzaka, M-21, Kentas, Miss Garda, and Miss Lunark are all werewolves." Called it. But wait, something didn't add up. He paused. He must have seen my confusion.
She turned toward M-21. "I hadn't thought you were a full werewolf."
M-21 looked surprised for a brief second. "I'm not," he replied a little sharply. He took a deep breath. "I was originally human, but I was … turned into a werewolf."
She nodded, not really knowing what to say to that.
"How did you know he wasn't a full werewolf?" She glanced behind her at Kentas. She assumed everyone already knew that M-21 was human and werewolf mixed, but perhaps they were just testing her. No matter. She had already agreed to answer questions.
"Because, though his werewolf energy dominated his soul while he was transformed, his human soul is still perfectly discernible, especially when he's not transformed like right now."
Kentas scowled slightly but nodded. Probably a test, then.
"I included M-21 with the other werewolves because you had seen him transform," Principal Lee elaborated. "As I said before, I, of course, will tell you anything I can, but I did not know how M-21 would feel about me revealing his past, and did not feel it was my right to assume he would be comfortable with it." He seemed adamant that she not assume he was trying to deliberately deceive her.
Not that it had really bothered her or anything, she had just been confused.
"It's fine," she said. "It's not my intention to pry or be rude, so if I ask something that upsets any of you feel free to tell me so. I will not take offense." She had already inferred that M-21, at least, had been experimented on, and she knew how sensitive that subject could be.
Principal Lee smiled graciously at her. "Thank you for understanding. To continue, in addition to M-21, myself, Takeo, and Tao are all humans who have been enhanced one way or another, generally for the purpose of improving combat abilities."
"You three are humans?" Not souls in gigais? Not Fullbringers?
"Yep!" Tao said, nodding enthusiastically.
That was strange. How could living humans have such powerful Hollow energy radiating from them? Unless they were just concealing their true identities. But the Chairman was still talking, so she would have to ask later.
"Everyone else here," Principal Lee was saying, "are Nobles."
Nobles, huh? Wait. Like, Nobles with a capital N?! Of course!
She brought her hand up to her head and smacked her forehead. "That makes so much sense!" she exclaimed. How come she didn't realize that sooner? It was so obvious! True, she had never technically met a Noble before, but they were the only other being she knew about.
Muzaka looked at her. "What? So you know about Nobles but you don't know about werewolves?" His tone suggested that he was hurt, but the small smirk gave away his amusement.
Hmph. "What makes you think I don't know about werewolves?"
He frowned a little.
It was her turn to smirk at him now.
"Ah, so you know about Nobles, Miss Arien?" She turned away from Muzaka to face Principal Lee.
"Only some general information," she shrugged. "I know the names of a few of the clans, as well as some of their general abilities and social structure, but that's all."
"Oh, really?" Karias said, clearly interested. "What clans are you familiar with?"
"The Labrys, Kertia, and Loyard clans."
"What?" The boy named Rael spoke for the first time. "How do you know about mine and Seira's clan?" He sounded upset. What did it matter if she did? Still, she hadn't really expected any of them to be from the clans she was most familiar with. That was kinda nice. At least it might make explaining her own side a little easier.
"Oh, what clan are you two a part of?"
"I am the Kertia Clan Leader and Seira is the Loyard Clan Leader. And if someone has been leaking information about our clans I demand you tell us so that we may silence him."
Oh, so he had been afraid of a security breach.
Wait, they were the clan leaders? And Seira was the Loyard clan leader? She had not expected that. They both looked so young. But of course they were immortal, so maybe not so young. Still, this was so exciting! She had never thought she would meet the leader of not only the Kertia clan, but also the Loyard clan!
Well, first she should assuage the boy's worries.
"No, no one has been leaking information about either of your clans. The information I have is over 2000 years old anyway. I am simply familiar with them because the entire foundation of the Gotei 13 is based on the information given to Genryusai Yamamoto by Ravi J. Loyard.
-xxxxxxx-
A/N: Goodness this was a long chapter for me. And I didn't really get any real explaining done! Don't worry, next chapter for sure!
So, everyone's speaking in Korean of course, but I didn't quite know how to indicate that Arien didn't know Franky's name, so I just left it as the English 'Mr…?'
If you can tell me what manga I pulled that rose line that Karias uses I'll give you a cookie :)
Finally, I had to make up a couple of Noble names. Ravi (pronounced with a long a sound) J. Loyard is the name for one of Seira's predecessors and the 'Labrys' clan is Gradeus's clan. Labrys is a greek word for a double-headed axe, plus it sounded Noble-y, so I figured it would do.
Please review and all! :)