Chapter 5

"Wait, jii san! You cannot do that! She does not belong in Soul Society! She might have family who will—"

Yamamoto sou taichou slammed his walking stick onto the floor to interrupt Ichigo. "This decision is final! Kurosaki Ichigo, you have my thanks for pointing the way to the real villain of Soul Society. But this is not of your concern. We Shinigami will decide what to do with this girl. You are all dismissed."

"Jii san! I will not let you take her prisoner even if I had to fight you all!" Ichigo put his hand to the hilt of his sword. R put a hand on his arm to stop him.

"No, Ichigo, don't do that. You are supposed to be on good terms with Soul Society. You will need each other's help." She looked at all of them and sighed. "It's been great. To actually have a conversation with you all, and to laugh at your antics. It feels like I can't remember a time when I though Bleach was fiction." She sighed again. "I'm pretty sure I am going to be okay. Soul Society is not that cruel that they would kill a useless human being over perceived spying. Ichigo. Go back home and train yourself… Especially your mind. You might come close to breaking point."

"R San…" Orihime suddenly looked scared.

"Fret not, Orihime," R soothed her. You will all be fine in the end. But you all need strength.

"Stop talking like you actually know the future, R!" Ichigo shouted in her face. "That's just more encouragement for them to keep you here!"

"Nothing is absolute, Ichigo," R calmly told him. "Even with their focus on beating Aizen, Gotei 13 will not ignore the fact that with my entry into the picture, things are not going to play out the same way anymore." She raised her hand to stop Ichigo from saying further. "Go home."

"If I don't hear from you in two weeks, R, I will come back here and look for you." Ichigo declared and walked out of the room, followed by Ishida, Orihime and Sado, who had concerned looks on their faces. They did not trust the Gotei 13. But she could not blame them. Even she did not.

"Kuchiki taichou. If I may trouble you to take care of this woman till we start investigating her proper." Sou taichou's voice rang out in the midst of the confusion.

With a whoosh, he was beside her, looking down at her with his cold expression. "You will follow me to my quarters. We will not hold you in a cell. Not until you're proven guilty." Kuchiki taichou said this in a monotone so precise, she was getting waves of fear in her heart. She nodded and followed him out of the room along with the other captains.

"Do not worry, R chan," Kyouraku taichou fell into step beside her. "If you do not have any evil designs, there is no reason for us to ill-treat you." R felt a sense of comfort from this man. But she knew, from the story, that he was not one to contend with. Kyouraku taichou had his own darkness, perhaps even psychopathy, if his shikai's deadly game was any indication.

"Thank you, Kyouraku taichou," she replied, looking down. "I do not plan to stay here too long myself."

….

Kuchiki taichou lead her to the 6th squad barracks where intensive training was going on, led by Abarai Renji, his fukutaichou. At the presence of unfamiliar energy, Abarai taichou perked up his head and shunpo-ed immediately to Kuchiki taichou, kneeling by his side.

"Kuchiki taichou! Who is this person and why is she here?" Renji's voice was not as rugged as in the anime. R felt quite disappointed at that, but it was still pretty much similar to the character voice.

Kuchiki taichou held his stance, staring further ahead, and opened his mouth with a frown, saying "ka—" but R interrupted him, feeling quite sure that he was going to say the word, "kankeinai" (doesn't matter) to his lieutenant, and quite rudely too.

"I am R from the WOL," she said.

"You are not supposed to speak." Kuchiki taichou retorted, frowning at her.

"I heard no such thing from the sou taichou. I believe I am not a prisoner. Yet." She turned to Renji. "Abarai fukutaichou. My name is R and I have unknowingly made an illegal entry into Sereitei. As I just mentioned, I have not been named criminal yet, and I will be housed in Squad 6's barracks till further notice. Pleased to meet you. May I call you Renji?"

Renji, taken aback first at the sight of this woman and then at the way she daringly interrupted his taichou, could only murmur his agreement. "Uh… un. Uh, so I shall get back to training then. Kuchiki taichou, please let me know if you need anything." He flash stepped back to his training.

Kuchiki taichou led her the rest of the way to her room. It was set apart from the other rooms for the squad members and closer to the Captain's office. It was simply furnished, with a low table, a lantern, a jug of water and foldable mattresses. She put her bag down and sat at the table.

"Bathroom and toilet are attached behind the room. Most probably you will be called out tomorrow to speak to the captains who will investigate this case. Do not even consider escaping because we all have your reiatsu noted down." He turned to leave.

"Byakuya san," Kuchiki taichou froze and spoke without turning back, "I believe I did not give you the permission to speak to me informally," he said.

"What exactly does Gotei 13 want from me?" she asked, ignoring his rebuke. "I really cannot see the future. And even if I could, I wouldn't reveal anything that would majorly change the course of nature."

"Whether you can see the future or not does not matter. What matters is our isolation and how you managed to get in here. Do not ask me any more questions. I am tasked only with your housing, not your investigation." He finally turned to her. "Is there anything else you need?"

"Nothing." She stared up at him emptily. She was good at monotone too. She would match his tone.

Her stomach growled loudly and by instinct, she hugged herself and blushed. Plan failed, obviously. She started, to see Kuchiki taichou blushing too. "I'll send one of the squad members to bring you your dinner." He said hurriedly and left.

Alone, R sat at the table and when the member came with her dinner, she requested for a pen and paper. He told her he would have to ask his captain for permission to pass her that. He left with her instead a simple blue kimono for her to change into before bed. That was when she realised that she had been walking around the whole day in her pajamas and carrying a totebag. How strange she must have looked to the Shinigami.

She could not stay here. She loved Bleach and its characters, but while it had been fun rooting for them from her bed or sofa, it had not exactly been joyful to interact with them. She had forgotten how stuck up Byakuya was, or how inflexible the Gotei 13 could be. She could not, would not change the turn of events by telling them what would happen. She still held doubts as to whether this world was real. Real was her mum, her job, her cramped little flat in Tokyo. She could not stay, she had to go back home.