"I'm sorry I'm late." Uryu told Nemu when he entered his room. "Here is your shihakoshu back."
"Thank you, Uryu." she almost smiled as he gave it to her. "May I put it on now?"
"Oh, yes. I'll get you something to eat while you're changing." Uryu almost fled to the kitchen.
"I appreciate you taking care of me." she said when he returned with the tray of food and tea.
"I sense a But." Uryu set the tray down on his desk.
"Do...do you have any pike fish?" she asked as she sat down to eat.
"Um, I'm not sure. I'll find out later. That's your favorite food?" He was pleasantly surprised to find out she had food preferences, it indicated she had more of a personality than expected.
"Yes, the Captain and I love pike as much as we hate onions." she explained.
"I see." Uryu said blandly, then changed the subject. "You seem glad to be back in your shihakoshu."
"Oh, I am. I don't have much that's really mine, just this and my zanpakuto." she replied.
Her statement changed Uryu's mind about telling her he didn't like it. Noticing that she had neatly folded his Quincy bathrobe and placed it on his bed, he got an idea to get around it. "I promise to get you plenty of pike tomorrow if you'll wear this over your shihakoshu." He picked up the robe and held it out to her.
"Thank you." she agreed, though putting wearing a robe over her shihakoshu felt like she was trying to imitate a Captain. It seemed important to him though, and even if she hadn't promised, she was under orders to obey him, and she did really want some pike.
"Quincy colors make you even prettier." The words came out before he could stop them, and they both blushed. Wanting to change the subject again, he pointed to the stack of books on his nightstand. "I see you read some books while I was at school. Did you like them?"
"They were interesting." she tactfully answered. "Might I ask you a question?"
A knock on the door interrupted Uryu from answering. "Ask me after dinner." he said before leaving.
"From now on, please don't ask me if you can ask me a question, just ask it." he told her when he got back. "What was your question?"
"Are you considered a juvenile or an adult?" she asked.
"What? Why are you asking me that?" Uryu stared at her.
"You're young compared to us, I know that, but your library is varied, some books are very simple, while others are clearly meant for developed minds. You being in school means nothing to us, Soul Reapers are considered adults when they enter the academy. And you had significant battle skills, which takes years to acquire." she replied.
He relaxed at her explanation, and thought carefully before answering. "I suppose it depends on your criteria. Legally I'm a juvenile, though if I committed a serious enough crime, I could be charged as an adult. Physically I'm not fully developed yet, but close enough to it...I'm not a child anymore. Socially I consider myself more of an adult than my peers. Does that answer your question?" Uryu couldn't believe how pompous he sounded to himself.
"Are you saying that you're in a transitional phase towards adulthood?" she asked.
"I suppose that's an accurate assessment." Uryu was relieved that she seemed oblivious to his almost self-important verbosity.
"It's not easy not being sure where you belong." she said so quietly that he almost didn't hear her.
"How old are you?" he asked without thinking.
"I suppose I'm young too, I'm not even 100 yet." she replied.
Uryu would have spit out his drink if he had one. He stared at her for a moment before a dark thought occurred to him. "Does that mean you...you helped with the experiments on my grandfather?"
Nemu bowed her head. "Yes." she admitted in a whisper.