Dawn burst over the walls of the Seireitei. The air was crisp and clear. The sunlight streamed in through the east facing window of the master bedroom.
The light illuminated the walls causing Ichigo to frown in annoyance. He and Rukia had only gotten back a few of hours ago and after doing up a quick report up had gone upstairs and crawled into bed.
"An hour and a half is not enough sleep. Somebody turn out the sun." He lamented silently. He squinted an eye open and saw Rukia sprawled over him and quite asleep. He freed one arm and poked her gently in the shoulder. "Hey sleepy head, we have to go into the office."
"Nrg murf fun zzzzz" (rough translation: "Poke me again and you die.") She mumbled into his chest before pulling the covers over her head.
"Well I have a meeting that I have to go to so just let me up so I can make it in time. I'll come and wake you up after the meeting if it isn't too long." He stroked the spot where her head was.
She responded by rolling off from him and taking all the covers with her. Ichigo smirked and rousted himself from the bed and went in search of clothing to start the day. He slid back the door to the changing room and there was laid out his clean and pressed uniform and a fresh haori. "This is convenient. I guess having some staff servants is kind of handy." He quickly dressed himself and flung his haori over his shoulder before descending the stairs.
At the bottom he was greeted by an elderly woman. "Kurosaki-dono, your breakfast is ready" She indicated the dining room.
"Ok, who's the head servant here?" He asked while scratching his head.
"That would be me Kurosaki-dono" The elderly woman spoke up. "Takashi Hana"
"Ah, well then Hana-san, let's get one thing straight. Call me Ichigo or Ichigo-san or Kurosaki-san. This dono stuff is driving me crazy. And while you're at it, I like people to look at me when they talk to me. I know that it sounds a bit different from when you worked for the Kuchiki household but I'm not like that. I want you all to feel like you want to come to work. I wasn't raised in the feudal times." He scanned the room pausing at each servant's face to note them. "This goes for all of you." He paused for a second. "Rukia is the same way so act like we are normal people, please."
The look of shock was quickly replaced with a look of admiration on the servant's faces. "Kurosaki-san, we will do as you wish but when you have guests it may be more appropriate if we referred to you as dono."
Ichigo smirked a bit. "Ah, you're right. I think that I can live with that. Now, where is that breakfast you told me about? I still don't know my way around this place all that well."
First Division Meeting Hall:
"Good to see you all could make it" Jushiro said with a smile. "I think the first order of business should be Thirteenth Divisions report on what happened last night. Kurosaki-dono?"
"Well, I made the report out last night after returning but just to give you some more insight into what happened. Last night an Espada, Nel tu, went to the real world in search of me." He started but was interrupted by a snicker from Renji.
"She still have a crush on ya does she?" Renji smirked.
Hitsugaya just frowned at the interruption while Kenpachi started laughing. A faint smile crossed the lips of Ukitaki, Kyoraku, and Unohana.
"Renji, shut it. As I was saying, she came looking for me because she was concerned about the number and strength of Adjuchas class Menos appearing in Huco Mondo. We discussed this with Urahara at length and determined that it is a natural phenomenon as the hollows are regrouping. She also assured me that the remaining arrancar are still firmly under her command." He paused for a moment. "As a percaution I would suggest sending a recon team to verify the situation and make sure that what our assumptions are correct. I, myself would volunteer for this assignment as I am most failure with the situation and the major players there."
"Yer gonna hog all the glory for yerself?" Kenpachi asked with a malevolent glint in his eye.
"We could send you there but I doubt that you could find your way back." Sniped Soi Fon.
"An this comin from the ninja bitch who can't even figure out which way she flops?" Kenpachi shot back.
As the argument escalated Ichigo just rolled his eyes. "How have these idiots managed to keep from killing each other?" He concentrated for a second then blasted out his reiatsu in a tightly controlled burst to get everyone's attention. "Back on topic." He glanced at both Soi Fon and Kenpachi. "Again, I recommend sending a scouting party to verify the information and I offer to lead it."
"Thank you for the information Kurosaki-dono. I think though that your suggestion is the correct action in this case. I do not doubt the Espada Nel tu one bit but there may be more going on than even she is aware of." Jushiro paused for a second. "However, I think that it may be better to send someone else in your stead. Abarai, you also are on friendly terms with Nel tu, are you not?"
Renji looked up slightly confused. "I only know her in her child form. I haven't met her in her adult form."
"Here ya go buddy." Ichigo passed him a photo from when she had visited Urahara's shop to discuss the situation.
Kyoraku looked over his shoulder at the photo and made a loud wolf's whistle. "Count on me if you want back-up"
Renji quickly hid the photo. "Ah, I'll be fine on my own I'm sure. She hasn't changed… that… much… just… bigger." He peeked another look at the photo then blushed slightly. "Why did you take a photo of her putting on a gigai? And why wasn't it dressed?" He shot at Ichigo.
"Hey, don't blame me. Urahara took the picture and Kami-sama knows where he hid the camera." Ichigo said defensively.
"OK, Calm down. Abarai? Would you like to have your wife and child brought to Soul Society while you are on your mission? For their safety?" Jushiro asked.
Renji thought about it for a moment. "No sir, we just got moved back to Karakura Town. We're in the house next door to where Ichigo used to live and where the current Resident is staying. I don't expect that there will be any issues."
"Fine. Ok, let's get the rest of the business out of the way." The remainder of the meeting went smoothly and ended an hour later.
At the end of the meeting Ichigo stopped Unohana.
"Unohana-san, would you have a moment?" He asked softly.
"Of course Kurosaki-dono, what can I do for you?" She asked in her motherly voice.
"I have a request from the daughter of Uryuu and Orihime Ishida. She would like to learn some of your techniques for healing. She would come here but we both know what the chances of that happening are. So I was wondering if there was the possibility of you going there and teaching her."
"Does the girl posses her mother's abilities?" Unohana asked now that her interest was piqued.
"She has both of her parent's abilities to some degree but wishes to strengthen her healing skills as much as she can. It seems that she has developed a crush on the shinigami that I posted in Karakura town."
"I see. And is she aware that her 'crush' could have dire consequences for your shinigami?" She asked somewhat pointedly.
"I have made them both aware of the possibilities and problems. She seems dead set on making sure that he survives though."
"Is the young man accident prone, or unreliable?"
"Well… a few months ago I might have said yes but it seems that he is actually getting better at his job. Of course she is always reminding him about what his duties are so it does get somewhat humorous watching them."
Unohana smiled as she remembered the first time that she saw Ichigo and Rukia together when they thought that no one was around them. How she constantly berated him about how to act and what to do, and how he constantly argued back with her. She thought at the time that theirs was a very abnormal relationship, but it worked for them, for that matter look where it finally led them. "With her mother's abilities, why does she want my tutoring? Orihime could completely rebuild someone from almost nothing last I knew."
"Well it seems that she uses far too much spirit energy to effect repairs. She thought that you might be able to give her a few tips to save her some energy and still get the job done."
"I think that I could arrange to take a couple of days off and see what I can do for her. I think that your father and his clinic will come in handy for this training." Unohana said thoughtfully.
"You know that my father will be trying to spend as much time with you as he can, don't you?" Ichigo asked feeling another headache coming on.
"Your father had his chance a long time ago, so don't worry. I can handle Kurosaki Isshin." Unohana smiled before covering her mouth as she laughed softly.
"I hope you're right." Ichigo said as he rolled his eyes. "I don't know your history with him but I can't imagine him being more than a nuisance."
Kurosaki Mansion:
"Why didn't that baka wake me up for work?" Rukia stormed through the upper levels finding her clothing and dressing quickly. "He knows that I hate being late for work. Now I haven't got time to take a bath and half the day is already shot."
"For your information I did try to wake you up. You were completely exhausted so as your CAPTAIN and husband, I decided to let you sleep." Ichigo said from behind her.
Rukia jumped as he spoke and whirled to face him. "Why? There is so much work every day. We won't get home until late tonight."
"You know those loud third seats, Kiyone and Sentaro? You remember what their duties were before you were promoted to vice captain?" He paused for a moment to let that pair of questions sink in. "They did all the paperwork in the absence of a vice captain and even more when Ukitaki was feeling sick. I already told them to handle the paperwork this morning and expect us in around lunch time." He smirked at her dumbstruck expression. "Now about that bath…" His smirk changed into a leer.
Downstairs the servants giggled as they heard the ranting stop and the shrieks of laughter start.
Urahara Shouten:
"Are you sure that I couldn't interest you in a more custom fit for your gigai Nel-chan? I guarantee the fit to be one hundred percent to your liking." Urahara's eyes twinkled with mirth.
Nel was currently standing behind Tessai. No that's fine. I'll just leave it here and go home, if that's ok?"
There was a sudden blur of motion as Yourichi slapped the back of Urahara's head with her shoe dropping the ex-captain to the floor. "I thought that I told you to stop being perverted!"
Urahara looked up at her with a grin on his face. "Old habits die hard?"
"Nel, keep the gigai as a token of our thanks. I'm sure it fit perfectly knowing Urahara." Yourichi glared at Urahara daring him to contradict her.