CHAPTER 12—Meet the Parents:
"I'm going to miss you guys," Midori told Toushirou and Rangiku one morning.
"Really?" Rangiku said. "I'm going to miss you, too!"
"Maybe I should throw a party at my place tonight," Midori suggested. "Before you guys go."
Toushirou and Rangiku had told their third seat about the new assignment they had gotten. The two had to go into the human world and watch out for any attacks on Karakura Town. Besides them, Renji, Ikkaku, and Yumichika were also going. To Midori, it sounded like a party. There would be the ryoka, the ones that she had wanted to see since day one. She wished she could go.
"Why are you in such a good mood?" Toushirou asked Midori.
"Because she's been spending time with Shuuhei," Rangiku smirked.
"It's not like that," Midori quickly said. "We're just friends."
"Really?" Matsumoto teased. "What about yesterday?"
Toushirou tried his best to tune the two blondes out, not in the mood to hear what they had to say.
"What about yesterday?" Midori challenged.
"Shuuhei had his arms around you."
"That's nothing."
"Right after Yumichika said you looked beautiful. I think's that what you call a jealous ex."
"It's not like that!"
The door opened and Shuuhei walked in. Apparently, Toushirou was the only one who acknowledged his presence in the room; Matsumoto and Midori were too deep in their debate to notice that their main subject was within hearing.
"Seriously, why don't the two of you just get it out of your system and fuck each other?"
"We're just friends!" Midori protested.
"Shuuhei's hot! Don't use that 'friends' excuse and try—!"
Shuuhei cleared his throat loudly and the women sheepishly looked at him. He couldn't recall a time that he heard women openly discussing a topic about him and sex. It was somewhat flattering but it was also awkward. When he stared at Midori, her face got redder and redder until she had to look somewhere else.
Rangiku laughed nervously. "We were talking about another Shuuhei in our squad."
Midori sighed, knowing that Shuuhei wasn't buying it. "What do you want, Hisagi?"
Shuuhei walked over to the blonde and placed a hand on the top of her head, shaking her head slightly. "I heard some people are looking for you. They should be coming here anytime now."
Midori frowned. "Who?"
"I don't know. I heard from Renji."
The door was opened by a lesser seat in Squad Ten. "Ono-dono, you have two visitors," he said and moved aside to let the people through.
In walked a man with grizzled brown hair and even browner eyes. His face showed wrinkles that had developed from sternness and frowning. Next to him was a blonde woman who had crystal blue eyes. Her hair in a high bun and her chin slightly raised, she looked slightly more superior than the surrounding people. Both individuals were wearing expensive kimonos, outfits that those of some sort of nobility could afford. That was something that stuck out to Toushirou, Rangiku, and Shuuhei. They were not soul reapers but members of some important family.
Midori stared in horror as the couple's eyes landed on her. Suddenly the blonde woman rushed forward toward Midori. "Mimi-chan!"
"Mimi-chan?" Shuuhei questioned, glancing at the third seat. Suddenly, the third seat jumped over onto the other side of the couch.
"What are you doing here?" Midori said, not bothering to disguise the anger in her voice. "Over forty years and now you visit me? I don't know what game you're playing at but I'm not going back home with you. I'm not quitting my shinigami duties."
Shuuhei looked at the visitors. Are these her parents?
The man groaned and looked at his wife. "Kagami, we don't have time to deal with her stubbornness. She was stubborn then and she's still stubborn now."
"Shinichi-san, we have to be patient with Midori," Ono Kagami said before turning to face her only daughter. "Mimi-chan, we're not going to take you away from your work here. You made us proud."
Shuuhei raised an eyebrow. He didn't believe that the couple could be proud of their daughter. They had been angry with her for going to the Academy and becoming a shinigami. At least, that was what Midori had said. He glanced at Squad Ten's fukutaichou and saw that she was clueless about the whole thing. Apparently, Midori did not go around and flaunt her family.
Midori shook her head. "That's a lie. You never wanted me to be a shinigami!"
"But honey," Kagami said soothingly. "Can you blame us? We didn't want our family name to be tarnished by some scandal. That what happens to all nobility that suddenly wants to be a shinigami. Do you know how ashamed we were when there were stories of you trying to murder Ichimaru Gin going around?"
Midori rolled her eyes. The more she looked at her parents, the more upset she became. They had no reason to be here except to make her life miserable. And that reason was not even good enough for them to show their faces now.
She folded her arms and tapped her foot, her glare not softening. "But now you're proud of me?"
"Yes," her mother replied. "Mimi-chan—!"
"Don't call me that here," Midori said.
Her mother raised her eyebrow, giving her daughter a look. "Midori-chan, we're proud of you because you like a hero now. When we heard that Ichimaru Gin was a traitor, it made sense now. You were trying to stop all this from happening and that's why you tried to kill the man. We shared all the wonderful news with our acquaintances. They no longer looked down on us, I mean, you." Kagami stopped and looked at her husband, indicating he should say something. The man sighed.
"We are un-disowning you," he finally stated. "You're part of this family again and you shall be treated like it."
"Why?"
Her father didn't answer the question. "Perhaps you can get married. I know this young man from a very good family. And we need an heir."
"This is what this is about!" Midori said immediately. "You want someone to bang me and get me pregnant!"
Kagami's mouth dropped opened at the use of her daughter's language. "Mimi-chan, there are young ears in the room," her mother said, glancing at Toushirou.
Toushirou looked up, an annoyed expression on his face. "I'm the taichou of this division," he said, wanting to show his maturity and that he was not just some little kid.
The father raised an eyebrow. "You're nobility?"
"No," Toushirou said, not understanding where his social class came in. But he noticed the looks Kagami and Shinichi were exchanging and the looks were not good.
"What about the rest of you?" The father suddenly asked. Reluctantly, Rangiku and Shuuhei admitted they were lower class. The old man nodded. "I see," he said, glancing at his daughter. Midori's brown eyes were on the floor. "Tell me, Midori," her father started. "Is that man with the tattoos your boyfriend?"
"He was," Midori muttered.
"Really?" Shinichi said and then glanced at Shuuhei. "Young man, have you touched my daughter in ways you shouldn't touch a married woman?"
"Excuse me?"
"You can answer. Most of us are adults," he added, staring at Toushirou. Toushirou looked up before returning to his paperwork.
"Why would that matter?" Shuuhei did not want to answer that question. He would lie about it but the truth would probably be written all over his face.
"Midori must be doing something degrading if she's willing to hang out with Rukongai street scum."
Midori widened her eyes. She wasn't shocked at what they said; she was waiting for them to. But she just hadn't expected it to be in front of Shuuhei, Rangiku, and Toushirou. She looked up and saw the glare that the three of them were giving her parents. Her parents looked totally unaffected by it, feigning innocence. The third seat didn't know what to say in this situation to lessen the tension. Midori could already feel traces of her taichou's reiatsu in the room and Shuuhei looked like he was about to charge at them.
Kagami crossed her arms and thought for a bit before turning toward her husband. "Perhaps we can get her to change squads. There's that taichou of nobility, Kuchiki Byakuya."
"Aw yes, perhaps."
That comment did not settle well with the taichou of Squad Ten.
"Leave now," Toushirou said and pointed at the door.
The mother looked at the white-haired young man. "But we're not finished talking to Mimi—!"
"Out," Toushirou repeated icily, "before I force you to get out."
There was a moment of silence.
"Fine," Kagami said. "Midori, we'll discuss important matters with you later." With her husband, the woman left the room.
Midori stood there before going to the door. "I'll be back, Hitsugaya-taichou." She left the room. She needed to have a good talk with her parents.
It was a full moon tonight and the skies were clear, providing plenty of light. For this reason, Midori decided to take her house party outside. It was a small group that included Matsumoto, Shuuhei, Izuru, Ikkaku, Renji, and Yumichika. Surprisingly, Momo and Toushirou decided to show up. Kyouraku said he might swing by if he had no business to take care of.
Midori came outside, a tray of drinks in her hands. She walked around, allowing the partiers to take one each.
"I'm sorry about my parents earlier," Midori suddenly apologized, sitting down.
"You're telling us now?" Toushirou questioned.
"I'm sorry. I just realize I didn't. I had other things on my mind."
"You're parents came by?" Yumichika said. "That's weird. What are they like?"
Before Midori could answer, Shuuhei replied, "They're the worse versions of Midori. The father has bigger superiority complex. The mother is more fickle and ruder."
"That's make sense," Ikkaku said thoughtfully. "When you combine the two, the end result is Midori."
The blonde hit Ikkaku on the head. "I'm nothing like them!"
"Are they really that bad?" Renji asked.
Matsumoto sighed. "First they asked Shuuhei if he touched Midori in the ways an 'unmarried woman' should not be touched. Then they called me, Shuuhei, and Toushirou 'rukongai street scum'."
The ones who considered this new news stared at the blonde. She looked the away from their stares, folding her arms. Great, she thought bitterly. Now they'll be out to get my mother and father. Sighing, she looked at Matsumoto. "My parents are just like that. And they only asked that because they didn't want me to 'sully' myself in such an 'unlady-like' manner."
"What did they want to talk to you about?" Matsumoto asked.
Midori sighed. "My father said he wants an heir and he wants one soon. So he said he wanted me to get married and have a family so I can pop out an heir."
"What happened to your brothers?" Shuuhei asked. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. She couldn't seriously be planning to get married anytime soon, nonetheless to another man. He couldn't see that happening and he didn't need to.
"Well, one of them wants to be a bachelor and my parents decided that an illegitimate child is worse that no child. And the other one, well, he's no longer interested in women."
"Seriously?" Rangiku grinned. Midori nodded, almost returning a mischievous smirk. All these years, her parents had treated her brothers like they were the pinnacles of the world. And now, her parents, instead on relying on their wonderful sons, had to rely on their troublesome daughter. At times like this, Midori appreciated irony the most.
Yumichika felt a small amount of reiatsu coming near. "Someone's coming."
It turned out to be an extremely handsome man. Azure hair and golden eyes, the man was a sight to stare at. Except for Momo, the female shinigami gaped in amazement. The men couldn't help but noticed the star-struck women. Was the guy that big of a deal?
The mysterious man stopped in front of Midori and took her hand in his. Then he pecked the back of her hand. "You must be Midori."
The blonde nodded. "And you are?"
"Masakazu," he replied. "Your parents mentioned that you could be my bride."
Matsumoto came over and stepped next to Midori, putting herself out there. "I'm Rangiku. I'm assuming that you're rich."
"I am. Is that a bad thing?"
Rangiku laughed. "Not at all."
"I'm glad." Masakazu looked back at Midori. The blonde woman was from a rich family, had a pretty high status in the Gotei Thirteen, and was decent looking. Maybe with a little more prepping she could actually be very beautiful. Yes, she could be a very beautiful bride indeed.
The next day, Midori was alone in her taichou's office. It was so depressing without her taichou and fukutaichou around. To add to her melancholy, she was in charge of the Tenth Squad until their return. She wanted to be captain but she always figured her fukutaichou would do all the work. She had learned well from Ichimaru.
The blonde plopped down on the couch and closed her eyes. She was close to sleeping when the door opened up. Peeking with one eye, she saw it was Shuuhei. "What happened now?"
"I came to check on you in case you need help. I've been doing taichou work for a bit now and if you need anything, you can ask."
Midori smiled. "Thanks."
The woman sat up, already sensing that there was more to this meeting than offering help. She patted the seat on the couch next to her. Shuuhei raised an eyebrow before taking seat as far away as the couch would permit. He looked away from her, figuring he was safer without her seeing his face.
"Tell me: are you interested in that Masakazu guy?"
Midori started to swing her legs, feigning disinterest. "Why?"
"Is it too personal a question?"
"I just think it's a weird one."
"It's not when you consider the fact you were drooling over him."
She scoffed, "I was not. If it makes you feel any better, I told my parents this morning I was not interested in him."
"What did they say?"
"That they'll fix it and that by the end of the week, I'll be in love with him."
"Is that so?"
"Heh, don't get the wrong idea. I don't want children anytime soon. Can you imagine how horrible a mother I would be?"
"You might not be that bad," Shuuhei said after a while. Midori looked at the acting taichou in surprise. The man shrugged. "Just a thought . . . Are you going to meet me tonight to spar again?"
Midori looked away. "I can't. I have a date . . . My parents convinced me to go."
Shuuhei nodded. So much for not being interested in him.
At that moment, the door opened revealing Kagami and Shinichi. Their eyes landed on Shuuhei and then on Midori. Kagami cleared her throat. "I'm glad you're here, Midori. I wanted to talk about what you will wear tonight. Those shinigami robes are not enough."
Shuuhei stood up, already seeing the way Shinichi glared at him. "I'll see you later, Midori."
"If she's not busy," Kagami interrupted. "Now shoo, we have important business to discuss with Mimi-chan."
Shaking his head, Shuuhei left the room. He saw no reason to stay around people who hated his guts.