Chapter Six
Heather's POV
After the awkward breakfast, Byakuya had taken me back to my room and had dashed off as quickly as possible. I thought nothing of it until he had come back when I was done with my class of Japanese Clothing 101. He told me that Ginrei had decided to allow me to explore my temporary home. Byakuya had stayed by my side the entire time and had given me a tour of the manor. He was a very spirited and social kid which surprised me a lot. Without anyone but the servants to talk to and Ginrei constantly working, this poor guy must be climbing the walls on a daily basis. It actually made me sad to know that he is growing up this way. With the way he was talking, I couldn't help but have the impression that he was dying to talk to someone. I was closer to his age group than Captain Kuchiki that did not drive him absolutely nuts. Hell, Yoruichi ruffled a few of my feathers after a little while but I could still stand her…hopefully that won't change. I could only imagine how long she had been grating on his nerves since the two had known each other longer. That little fact had actually led me to wonder whether his bad temperament was exaggerated in the manga or not. Hopefully, he and I will be on really good terms since I'll be bunking here as long as his grandfather would allow me.
The next morning, Ginrei had woken me up suddenly; he was almost an hour earlier than the clock. "What's up?" I yawned as I stretched out and leaned my neck to the side. I felt my neck pop back into place and I sighed happily. The old man made a face but did not comment. "The Head Captain had called a meeting and requested for your presence." Captain Kuchiki informed me. Panic hit my chest and I had instinctively exclaimed, "What did I do?!""What makes you think you did anything?" he asked me and I calmed down and shrugged, "That's why I asked." the Sixth Division Captain shook his head and told me before shutting the door, "Meet me at the entrance in ten minutes." I rushed to get ready; thanking my lucky stars that I was blessed to gain a warden that had taken it upon himself to provide me with some clothes and had a servant teach me how to wear the garments properly. I think the servant did not know what to think of me, it must have sounded ridiculous for a grown woman to not know how to dress herself. I looked at the clock and I realized that I had to be at the entrance of the manor like yesterday. I grabbed the hair tie on the vanity and dashed out of the room.
The elder Kuchiki waited for me where he told me to meet him and I stopped right in front of him, panting lightly. He raised an eyebrow at me. I didn't care I made it just in the nick of time. He nodded and quietly made his way toward the First Division. I still was not used to the idea of walking with someone and not sharing a conversation with them so I tried to talk 'business'. "So, do you know why the Head Captain wanted to see me?" "Everyone wants to see you." he answered as if it were obvious. "Is it that hard to believe that I'm normal?" I asked. "You will never be normal; you had done the impossible to end up here." Ginrei replied and I had shut up, not knowing how to respond to that. The walk in general was uneventful until we were in the First Division.
I had stayed close to the older man. I had no intention of getting lost because I just happened to get distracted with just about anything that moved at this point. A conversation from up ahead caught my attention, the voices seemed familiar and suddenly realized whom these two voices belonged to. "Mr. Kuchiki, Sir. I can't do this." I tried to tell the Captain of the Sixth Division. "I'm afraid that you have no choice in the matter." Ginrei responded, continuing forward to the main meeting room. Before I could protest, two men came into view. I seemed to have lost my voice when Ukitake smiled in our general direction, "Hello, Ginrei. How are you this morning?" Jūshirō greeted politely shortly followed by Shunsui's greeting, "G'morning." I wanted to back away from their line of vision but my feet felt as if they were nailed to the floor. I didn't want to speak out of fear that something idiotic might slip out of my mouth. It was prone to working before I thought through what I wanted to say. Instead, I resorted to keeping still and quiet, praying that I would not be noticed. Thankfully, I was a few paces behind Ginrei and his height helped conceal me.
"Heather!" A voice yelled from behind me. I made a loud yelping sound as I jumped a figurative ten feet in the air and bumped into the older man in front of me whom made a domino effect and fell onto the two younger men. I apologized profusely, more than likely beet red in the face as I tried to help everyone to their feet as the Second Division Captain was in mass hysterics, leaning against a wall for support, holding onto her gut. "You're horrible to me, you know that Yoruichi?!" I couldn't help but to shout as I was trying to put my heart back behind my ribcage. "I never— would have thought… your reaction–would be so… priceless!" the dark skinned woman gasped as she tried to regain her composer. "Oh, go chase a ball of yarn!" I retorted with a chuckle, her laugh was contagious.
"Heather? You mean that girl that broke into the Seireitei not too long ago?" Shunsui inquired and looked me over. "I didn't break in." I defended myself, slightly offended. "Hey, hey, easy: I wasn't trying to ruffle any feathers." the man said in a teasing tone. "Shunsui, behave yourself." Ukitake gently scolded, "You do this to every girl with a pretty face." I could have fainted on the spot but my traitorous body kept my knees locked and a blush on my face. "Alright, alright." The bearded man sighed, "Pleasure bumping into you, Heather. Next time, leave poor Captain Kuchiki out of this." My brain was torn in half; was that a flirt or a witty remark? It almost killed me to answer out of fear it would be the wrong thing to say. "O—okay." I replied shakily. My brain could not stop screaming at me about all the things in the English language I could have said but didn't. My tongue had seemed to have already filed a clutter complaint by the time the two men had walked into the meeting room. "Well, that went smoothly." Yoruichi commented with a giggle. "I don't know what you're talking about." I tried to lie out of the conversation that was about to come up. "Oh, don't be so upset, there's always next time." The Second Division Captain had teased. "Oh yeah, right!" I replied skeptically, "and besides I wasn't upset."
"Now would not be the best time to discuss such things." Ginrei pointedly suggested. "Okay," I sighed and he gave me a look but did not say anything. Yoruichi had looped an arm around my neck and pulled me down to her level, "Let's just get this meeting over with." "Sweet deal, but can I have my neck back?" I replied with a question. The woman let go of me and I followed both captains' lead into the meeting room. I honestly did not want to be in this room; just being here gave me a foreboding feeling. I couldn't help but wonder if I was in trouble or not even though Ginrei had assured me that I wasn't. The room was dimly lit, as usual. It had just enough light where I could see the faces of each captain perfectly yet there was a light shadow cast over their features, making them appear slightly foreboding. Ginrei and Yoruichi had left to take their places and left me alone, directly facing the Head Captain.