Pissed OFF – Shenanigans.
"I just can't believe it!" exclaimed an angry Ryo Kunieda to no one in general.
"Is everything alright, Kunieda-san?" asked a concerned Nanao, who had just walked into the common room Ryo had been using to express her anger.
"Oh, Lieutenant Nanao. Sorry, I didn't know you were there. I was just..., hm...expressing some anger." Apologized Ryo, embarrassed at being caught losing her temper.
"Oh, I do that all the time. Considering the stuff I have to put up with from Kyoraku, if I didn't, I'd probably go crazy." She responded, understanding Ryo's need to vent.
"Still, I didn't mean to upset you." Ryo insisted, not wanting to make a bad impression on her new superior.
" Don't worry, Ryo, we all need a chance to vent. Is there something bothering you that you want to talk about, perhaps?" Nanao offered.
Since the offer had been so sincerely given, and Ryo had instinctively liked Nanao from the go, she decided to confide in the older woman, thinking perhaps she could offer some advice on what to do. Nanao sat down in one of the couches by the fireplace, motioning for Ryo to do the same, while paying attention to the girl's tragic story, a concerned look on her face.
Ryo began telling her tale: Ryo had not been accepted into the 13th squad, and although she had not given up in the first try, she figured that it wouldn't hurt to take a position in the Gotei 13 with a different squad until she managed to gain admittance to her preferred squad. After all, a girl had to eat. So she took the offer Captain Kyoraku had put on the table, knowing it was probably her best chance to advance until she could convince the captain of the 13th to give her a fair chance to try out. However, the weeks had passed by, and every single time she applied for the vacant spot on the squad, she got denied. So far, she had sent five different applications, all of which had been turned down, the last arriving just this morning. She was unbelievably angry, and confused, not understanding why she kept getting denied.
"Hmm. How bizarre. Captain Ukitake is the nicest man you could ever hope to meet, and Rukia is an extremely fair, intelligent young woman. I've seen how good you are at training, and I paid attention to your reports. You are a very gifted, hardworking young lady. I don't understand either why Ukitake is acting this way." Nanao said calmly, adjusting the ever present glasses on her face.
"So you see, this is why I felt the need to find a place to vent. Don't take it personally Lieutenant Nanao, I do sincerely enjoy your squad. I wish I could stay here, in fact. But I have made up my mind, and I will not be dissuaded." Ryo explained, not wanting to offend the petite woman in front of her.
"Don't feel bad Ryo, I completely understand. I would hate to lose you to another squad, especially since you seem to have adjusted so well here, but you need to follow what you believe is right for you." Nanao replied, giving her a small, understanding smile. "Still, Ukitake's behaviour is definitely strange. I know Rukia had been gone on assignment for the past month of so, and has only recently arrived. Perhaps he didn't have time to review your application?" she inquired, trying to explain away the oddness of the situation.
"No, I don't think so. It's not like I haven't gotten a reply back. It's simply been negative. Look." She said, giving Nanao a much crumpled sheet of paper.
"I see. He simply stamped "rejected" on it, and sent it back. How utterly odd. Something must be going on with him. He's usually the most caring, kind man ever." Nanao commented, completely at a loss.
"In fact, every single captain I've met so far has been odd towards me. I feel like there's something written in my forehead that only I can't read, or something!" she exclaimed, annoyed at the leaders of the Gotei 13, and their odd, particular behaviour.
"Like what? I know some of our captains are, well, I suppose unique would be a good start, sometimes even say...peculiar. Okay, fine, they are down right loonie sometimes, but how exactly have they behaved towards you?" Nanao asked, completely intrigued.
"Hmmm, let's see. First, there was the old man. The captain commander. After our graduating speech, as he was walking out, he harrumphed. That's right. Just out of nowhere, he stopped midway, looked at me, harrumphed, and walked away." Ryo explained, ticking off his name with one finger.
Nanao gave a chuckle, and motioned for her to continue.
" Then there was Captain SoiFon. I ran into her right after the speeches. She stopped cold on her tracks, looked me up and down, gave me an evil glare, then turned back the other way. What the hell, right?" she asked, ticking off another name.
"That's SoiFon for you. If you're not Yourichi, she doesn't give you much more than an evil glare." Interjected Nanao, amused.
"Yeah, up until then I wasn't even suspicious. Then I ran into Captain Kenpachi. He took one look at me, pulled out his sword, and asked me if I wanted a fight. He said "Woman, are you ready to fight me like a man now?" and I just looked at him, scared I was going to die on the spot. Thank God Captain Unohana was right behind him, and scared him away." Ryo continued.
Nanao was losing the fight to maintain a serious face, but bravely nodded for her to go on.
"Then Captain Hitsugaya and Captain Komamura passed right by me. Hitsugaya looked at me and rolled his eyes, and said something to himself that I couldn't hear but sounded like "Here comes trouble."Captain Komamura was even worse. He sniffed me. SNIFFED ME! Then walked away, just like that." Ryo exclaimed, annoyed at remembering that strange, ridiculous meeting.
Nanao had one her hand in her mouth, and an arm across her stomatch, a poor attempt at trying to hold in her laughter. Her muffled laughter came through, as she motioned with her head to keep going.
"The captain of the 12th squad found me right after Captain Kyoraku, a mysterious smile on his face. I thought he was going to offer me a job in his squad, since I placed so well in my research and development courses. But no, he asked me if I wanted to come to his squad and be an experiment. He wanted to slice and dice me, Nanao!" Ryo whined, still scared she might run into the crazed captain in a dark alley.
Nanao was laughing loudly now, given up the attempt to hide her laughter when Ryo mentioned the 12th squad.
"But worse of all...those three. Grr...they are so rude. Captain Abarai, Captain Kira and Captain Shuuhei. They came in together, stopping to flirt with every other girl in the class. I swear they didn't even bother to do any recruiting, unless you count the kind you do in a casting couch. They saw me, looked at me like I was a poltergeist, eyes going as round as saucers, then turned around and started to whisper to each other. They looked back, and kept whispering more furiously. When they finally realized I was aware they were talking about me like a bunch of third graders, they got red in the face, and tried to pretend they hadn't been ogling me like I was an animal at the zoo! They even whistled, hands behind their backs. Who does that, Nanao?" she finished, shouting the last bit.
Nanao was on the floor, rolling in laughter. There were even tears of mirth rolling down her cheeks. She laughed for a good two minutes, then slowly but surely subsidized into giggles, catching her breath after the extreme workout.
"Ok, ok. There's definitely something odd going on. Oh, I wish I was a fly in the wall. If you'd like, I can ask my captain. He might know if there is something going on, or if that was just plain weirdness. Would you like me to do that?" inquired Nanao, wiping the tears of laughter out of her eyes.
"No, I don't want to add fuel to the fire. I just wished...I wish I could get this position. Then I could just ignore everything else. But...I don't want to impose on Captain Kyoraku, or you for that matter. I'll just keep trying, okay?" Ryo said, a small smile for the lieutenant in place.
"Of course, Ryo. Don't give up. I'd be more than willing to send in a letter of recommendation, if you so wish. Sooner or later, Ukitake is going to have to give your application some thought. If not, you can always go there and speak to the man himself. He really is a sweetheart." She said kindly, giving the poor hassled Ryo some much needed support. "Now, if you're not too busy, I'd love some help of the female variety. I'm currently planning my wedding, and I could use your advice with a couple of things. I know we haven't known each other for long, but I know a kindred spirit when I see one. Do you think you could help?" pleaded Nanao prettily, wanting to give Ryo something else to occupy herself with, but also wanting some much needed female advice.
"Of course, Nanao. I'd be delighted. Let's take a look at what you have, shall we?"Replied a happy, helpful Ryo, content to have found a new female friend.
They sat looking at patterns and textures, discussing themes, and possible music for a couple of hours, completely immersed in their girly, wedding related world. They didn't even notice when a very quiet, very serious Kyoraku made his way out of the secluded corner he had been hiding in, leaving the women to talk.