Verse: 'Half-Canon'

It had all started when Hisana had walked down the streets of Seireitei on her way back from the Rukon District. She'd been venturing towards the Sixth Sector, Kizokugai, where the Kuchiki Manor was situated, when she'd been unexpectedly accosted.

By now, she knew the path that led her home like the back of her hand. It had been roughly two years since she'd moved into Seireitei, and though she rarely explored its streets, she had memorised the same routes to the Rukon District in perfect detail. Even after two years, she still didn't quite feel like she fit in here. The majority of Seireitei were either Shinigami or aristocrats, and she identified as neither, despite her official title as Lady of the Kuchiki House.

Perhaps she was considered a noblewoman now in her husband's eyes, but to most of the other aristocrats, and even to herself, she was nothing more than a fraud. She didn't enjoy interacting with the other aristocrats, which was why she chose to stay cooped up in the Kuchiki Manor whenever she could. She didn't have ties with most Shinigami from the Gotei Thirteen either, so passing through the main streets of Seireitei always made her feel mildly uncomfortable and out of place.

That sense of discomfort only heightened when she spotted a female black-haired Shinigami, who looked about in her late teens, making a beeline for her. All the other Shinigami on the street had scampered off at her approach, giving her a blatant wide berth. Some of the Shinigami even used Flash Step to flee from the girl.

Hisana couldn't for the life of her fathom why. The Shinigami looked decidedly harmless, with shoulder-length smooth raven hair that framed large emotionless dark eyes on an innocent, cherubic face. She was carrying a tray of butter cookies shaped in cute animal faces, including those of cats, dogs, rabbits, foxes, and mice.

"Hello," the girl intoned in a deadpan voice, stopping in front of Hisana. "Would you like to try one?"

Hisana blinked.

"Hello," she responded hesitantly. "Are these on sale?"

The girl looked back at her blankly for several seconds.

"Yes," she finally said. "Would you like to buy one?"

A chagrined Hisana wondered how to go about declining. It wasn't that she didn't have the money, of course. Whenever she left the Kuchiki estate, Akari would hand her a kinchaku bag packed to the brim with coins. She'd assumed at some point that Akari would stop handing it to her given that she had never spent any of the coins, but she was wrong. Akari—or rather, her husband, whom Akari was instructed by—continued to assign the bag to her without fail.

Ultimately, Hisana knew it was her husband's money, not hers. It was free money that she hadn't earned, and she couldn't bear to spend it so frivolously on any of the trinkets in the market.

But then again, it wasn't as if she could bring herself to spend it on anything expensive either.

"You'd be the first," the female Shinigami said, in the same toneless voice as before. "Would you like to be the first?"

Hisana looked back down at the full tray of cookies, and a pang of sympathy struck her. Why had no one bought any of these cookies? The animal designs were extremely endearing. The cookie shaped like a cat struck her in particular, and she gave a half-smile.

She knew how much her husband deplored felines. Now and then a stray cat would find its way into the gardens of the Kuchiki estate, and the servants would go into a panicked frenzy trying to chase it away before the Head of the House returned home. She'd asked Akari what the fuss had been about, and her handmaid had mentioned the former Head of the Shihōin House.

Hisana still didn't know much, but from what she'd been told, Shihōin Yoruichi had been Byakuya's 'mentor' in his adolescence, though it was a role that had never been explicitly established. She was apparently the reason for his expertise in Flash Step now, even if no one in the household dared to say it aloud, at least not in front of the Kuchiki Head.

He, however, held his peer with a disregard that verged on contempt. According to Akari, the Shihōin Head was not known for her tact, and she'd often resorted to light mockery during past training sessions with the young master. Unruly and mischievous, she had been unlike most members of nobility. Interestingly enough, Yoruichi possessed the ability to shapeshift into a cat, and Akari had explained that the sight of one tended to remind the Kuchiki Head of her.

Even now Hisana had mixed feelings about the information. Her husband's feelings towards Shihōin Yoruichi sounded so antagonistic that it seemed to hint at another emotion altogether. She'd never dared to broach the topic of Yoruichi with him—she didn't want to find out if her suspicions were correct. God knew how inferior she already felt compared to the other noblewomen in Seireitei; she couldn't possibly compare to one that was the former Head of one of the Four Noble Clans as well as a Captain-level Shinigami.

"So, do you want it?"

Hisana blinked. The Shinigami was still eyeing her expectantly. Forcing a smile, she studied the animal-shaped cookies once again. Tempted as she was to decline, she couldn't bear to leave the Shinigami hanging. Judging by how the crowd had avoided the poor girl like the plague, Hisana knew that she wouldn't make a single sale at this rate. It didn't make any sense. While admittedly a little strange, the Shinigami didn't seem all that intimidating.

"I'd like, um…" Hisana couldn't help herself. She pointed at the cat-shaped cookie on the tray. Pale lines of frosting had been coated on to mimic feline whiskers. "This one. How much is it?"

"You can have it for free," the Shinigami said blandly, holding out the tray towards her.

"What? No, of course I'll pay." Hisana reached into her kinchaku bag and pulled out a coin. She paused awkwardly, not knowing how to pass it to the other girl when she was carrying the tray with both hands.

As if sensing Hisana's uncertainty, the Shinigami let go of the tray with one hand and silently accepted the coin. Then, with the same hand—the coin now securely tucked in her fist—she picked up the cat-shaped cookie using her fingertips and offered it to Hisana.

It was warm, and Hisana guessed it was freshly baked from the oven. She gingerly held the cookie, conscious of the other girl peering unblinkingly at her. Feeling pressured by the Shinigami's flinty stare, she brought the treat obediently to her lips and bit delicately onto one of its triangular ears.

Her violet eyes widened. Considering the reaction from the crowd earlier, she'd expected it to taste strange or even horrible, but she was completely wrong. The crumbly texture of the cookie was rich, hot and buttery, and it melted onto her tongue almost instantaneously like a creamy slice of heaven. Why on Earth had the crowd avoided the poor girl? They were missing out.

"How is it?" the Shinigami inquired bluntly.

Hisana smiled at her.

"It tastes wonderful," she said, without hesitation. "Thank you for this."

The other girl said nothing. She merely continued to watch Hisana, who gave her another polite smile before departing down the road, the half-eaten cookie in her hand. Delicious as the cookie was, there was no denying that the female Shinigami was somewhat odd. Hisana had no idea what to make of her.

She shrugged, taking another mindless bite of the hot, delectable cookie. Her limbs felt heavy, and she was too worn out to think about the strange Shinigami anymore. Her stamina was no longer what it once was; for the past couple of months, her trips to the Rukon District had grown increasingly taxing.

She wanted nothing more than to go home and rest.

Kurotsuchi Nemu freed the crackling walkie-talkie from the front of her shihakushō.

"Mayuri-sama," she said. "We have our first test subject. Height, 147 centimetres. Gender, female. Weight, approximately 35 to 45 kilograms..."

:tbc: