I'm back! Hopefully I won't have to go anymore anytime soon.
Thought of the day: I found these wonderfully cool slippers of awesome for my step-dad but they were not in his size. Not only that but no where had them but where I was looking. To top it all off the man had the nerve to buy himself some slippers the very same day. What part of it's almost Christmas doesn't he understand? If he keeps this up he's getting a toboggan ski hat, when we live in Florida, with one of those puffs at the end.
Peer Pressure
"Yoruichi where are you going?" I asked her as we began to leave the Aoki compound.
"The question is where are we going?" she said with a very evil smirk, if you ask me.
"I am going nowhere." I answered her quickly knowing I would be in trouble with my parents if I left.
"Why not?" she asked stopping in her tracks causing me to stop also.
"I am not supposed to leave without an escort, you know that, Aoki clan rules."
"So pretend I am your escort."
"But you're not."
"That's why I said pretend."
"But there is a reason behind me not being allowed out." I pointed out thinking about the millions of times that I was told the reason and that I wasn't allowed.
"Right the whole your riatsu is yummy thing." She said then paused for a bit in thought. "Aren't you able to suppress your riatsu since you have been taking lessons from Tessai?"
"Yes."
"Then that rule shouldn't apply to you."
"That's no reason to disregard it."
"But I am going somewhere fun..."
"You are probably just going to bother little Bya..."
"How did you know?" she asked a fake look of awe and surprise on her face.
"You do it all the time and you always want me to go because it is easier for you to tease him."
"You know me so well."
"Unfortunately."
"So what's the verdict?"
"If I get caught you used some kido spell that my family does not know to force me to come." I told her thinking of an excuse to leave.
"Of course. That spell is so useful." She said playing along with my excuse.
Flashback within the flashback...
"Tessai!" my father greeted a large man who was wearing a strange shinigami uniform.
"Aoki-sama." He greeted back with a bow.
"This is Eri."
"Hello Eri-chan." the large man greeted energetically.
"What brings an Aoki out of the compound on such a day?" Tessai asked since it was drizzling.
"I have a favor to ask you."
"What?"
"I need you to train Eri in Kido so that she can control her riatsu, because as it is it's just leaking everywhere."
"I did feel her riatsu. I suppose that would be why there was an increase in hollow activities for the past several years."
"Yes, that's why she needs to control it. Plus the sword is restless with her around." My father said then whispered the last sentence to Tessai. I still heard it. Yay selective hearing.
"That would be a problem. I will teach her all I know." Tessai declared smiling kindly at me. I smiled back for once not just being polite but because his happiness was contagious.
"Unnecessary. She only needs to control her riatsu." I love having people talk about me while I am there as if I am not there.
"Using Kido will help her control her riatsu and will get rid of some of the excess."
"What if she does not get rid of the excess?"
"Then she would just be holding in all the riatsu and when it reaches a certain point would cause her pain and then would just burst from her. Probably attracting all the hollows in the vacinity."
"Fine you may teach her kido." father said sighing. I think he was trying to figure out if the Kuchiki's would mind having a female in their family that knows kido.
The next day I was allowed to take my escort, about five shinigami that my father hired, and start to study kido with Tessai.
"Hello Eri-chan!" Tessai greeted happily.
"Hello Tessai-san." I said not knowing anything else to call him.
"You can call me Tessai or sensei." He informed me smiling kindly at me.
"Yes, Tessai-sensei." I said smiling happily at him.
"Well first we will work on your riatsu control."
"Try to release your riatsu."
"Wouldn't that be the opposite of what my father wants me to do?" I asked thinking about how that is counter productive.
"Yes, but it is easier to stop something once you know where it comes from."
"Oh, like if there is a leak somewhere it is easier to stop if you know where the hole is."
"Yes, exactly."
"Well how am I supposed to release my riatsu?"
"Concentrate on the power within your body, it is different for each person so I can not help you sense it. Once you feel something release it from yourself."
"That's not very specific."
"Like I said before it is different for each person."
"I'll try." I said as I closed my eyes concentrating on myself. I felt something rushing through me that I always assumed was my blood. Are you supposed to be able to feel your own blood flowing? I tried to grasp that flow of whatever. After a few tries I clogged the stream, that's what it felt like anyway, and then pushed it out of myself. I opened my eyes to see Tessai and myself completely surrounded by hollows. Luckily I had five shinigami and Tessai to deal with the aforementioned hollows.
"That was more riatsu then I expected." Tessai seemingly apologized to me.
"Good."
"Good?"
"Well if you told me to do that and you knew we would be swarmed by hollows I might think that you were crazy."
"Good to know that I am not crazy."
"For now."
"I suppose we should get back to the problem at hand..." He suggested ignoring my remark and started looking around suspiciously.
"What are you looking for?" I asked curious.
"I just sensed someone's riatsu." He informed me.
"Seems that I am caught." Yoruichi said grinning at me as she appeared from behind some bushes.
"What are you doing here?" Tessai asked pleasantly.
"I felt the riatsu of my friend, the princess here," Yoruichi said pointing to me at the princess part, "increase greatly so I came here to make sure that she was not in any danger."
"No she is perfectly safe. I am just giving her some riatsu lessons so that she can hide her extra delicious riatsu." he said smiling at me. I raised my eyebrow at his extra delicious comment and Yoruichi laughed.
"Well since she is okay I should go back, I was sitting in on some boring meeting thing..." Yoruichi trailed off trying to think of a reason not to go back.
"Bye Yoruichi."
"Bye princess." Yoruichi said rudely leaving Tessai out of the goodbyes. She dose not like grown ups that much so occasionally she will be rude to some poor unsuspecting older person.
"She is always a character." Tessai mused out loud.
"This is true." I said turning back to him after watching Yoruichi disappear from sight. "So how do I stop the riatsu?"
End flashback within a flashback...
"Hello little Byakuya!" Yoruichi said happily as Byakuya glared at her after she stole his hair thing which is something that she does every time she sees him.
"Must you do that?" He asked annoyed.
"Yes, I must."
"Don't worry little Bya she does things that everyone does not like." I informed him appearing behind him.
"Where is your escort?" Byakuya asked looking around as if some dude was going to come out from behind a tree, which could happen if my escort was with me.
"She left them today to come with me to visit you. You should be grateful that she is taking such a risk merely to visit you, ungrateful brat."
"I am pretty sure that she is just going along with whatever scheme that you are planning."
"Why must everyone be able to figure me out?" Yoruichi whined.
"Because you do similar things all the time?" I mused.
"Stop being logical and help me tease him, princess."
"Fine, little Bya," I said turning to him looking for something to tease him about, "Why is your hair nicer than mine?"
"Your right it is." Yoruichi remarked laughing hysterically.
"You are just jealous that I have nice hair."
"Sadly yes."
"What are you really doing here, Yoruichi, you usually don't just come here to bug me. Especially not if you bring Eri with you."
"Why do you both know me too well?"
"Spit it out." Byakuya said impatiently.
"I was going to warn the two of you that I heard my father talk about a plan to move your wedding forward."
"How much forward?" I asked nervously.
"To this year."
"What!" Byakuya asked more frantically than necessary.
"I just thought that I would warn you both."
"I will go talk to my grandfather." Bya said rushing off.
"He left in a hurry." I remarked after he was out of hearing range.
"I think he is hiding something from us." Youruichi noticed.
"I think that he does not want to marry me." I voiced my concerns for the first time to her.
"What would you do if that was true?"
"Well, since I want him to be happy I would try to get out of the marriage."
"Then I will be rooting for you to be wrong for your own happiness."
"Thanks Youruichi."
"Is Byakuya here?" I asked one of the members of the Kuchiki clan whose name I forgot, well it's not that I forgot but that its unimportant. Okay honestly I never asked for his name nor was I ever introduced. In fact I believe that this was the one time I talked to said Kuchiki clan member.
"No, he said he was going to go relax in the forest."
"Okay, thank you." I said walking towards the forest clearing that I knew Byakuya would be in. I had shown it to him myself. You know what would be fun? Scaring the crap out of him by hiding my approach and then pouncing.
I walked through the woods, ignoring the trail, and made my way to the pretty meadow that has an oddly good sitting tree in it. When I got close I began to hear voices; one I recognized as Bya's and one womanly voice.
"I wish we could be married right away." I heard Byakuya say through the trees.
"What about your finance?" the womanly voice asked worriedly.
"She will understand. I have known her for years, she will probably wish for my happiness."
"What about your clan?"
"I will probably be excommunicated."
"Why?"
"The Aoki clan and the Kuchiki are looking forward to our marriage. If I back out of it I will be hated by my clan members." Byakuya explained to his loved one as I hid behind a tree crying softly with being rejected.
"Then you should just forget about me and marry your finance."
"No, I don't love her..." I heard Byakuya say right before I turned and ran from the clearing as fast as I could go. This means that I went really fast. Flash step tag with Yoruichi can make you really fast.
I don't know what to feel right now. I feel a mix of sadness, disappointment, relief and sympathy. I feel sad because I am not loved, disappointed because he did not trust me to know about his affair, relieved because I now know what Byakuya was keeping from me, and sympathy because Bya is going to have a hard time with his parents.
Preview from next chapter: Excommunication
I managed to avoid him for three days until he came to my house and basically busted down my door. Okay so he actually just came to my house to talk to me and my father let him in my room with a key while I was sleeping. Doesn't the first version sound more interesting. So I woke up and he was there, some parents letting some guy into their daughter's room while she's sleeping.
"Bya?" I asked tiredly as I woke up from my sleep.
"Why are you avoiding me Eri?" Byakuya asked trying to look me in the eyes but failing.