Chapter Seven
Heather's POV
"This meeting has come to order." the old man announced and spoke directly to me, "Are you the one the reports refer to as 'Heather'?" I nodded stiffly and replied, "Yes sir." "I have heard a great deal about you and there is a lot of speculation going on." he informed me. "There is?" I replied awkwardly, "I never would have considered myself anything worth talking about by far." "Be that as it may, I would like to hear your side of the story first hand."
I cocked my head back, "There isn't much to say, to tell you the truth. The last thing that I could remember was walking to a shop, next thing I know I wake up in the fourth division's prison." "You failed to mention that you are from another world. Is this claim true?" "Well, I don't know much about the scientific details but, yeah, I am." "This is indeed something serious. How do we know that you are not using a Kido that we are not yet aware of?" the old man questioned me. "And out of all the billions of places I could have chosen to wreak havoc on; I choose a place where the medical caretakers can kick my ass blindfolded and with an arm tied behind their backs?" I replied skeptically. Most of the occupants of the room tried to be nice and attempted to stifle themselves but a few had laughed out loud. Yamamoto huffed then cleared his throat before saying, "You have quite the mouth. I believe Kisuke had already mentioned that." I looked to the blonde man whom chuckled lightly. The only word that surfaced in my head was, 'Jackass'. I ignored the urge to say it out loud and turned back to the Head Captain. "Sorry," I apologized half-heartedly.
"It's alright." He dismissed the word of apology and inquired, "Tell me about this time travel, where are you from?" "I'm from the United States in the year 2013." I explained in a bored tone. "I read the manga about this world, watch the anime, and all that fun stuff." "What?" Shinji inquired with a smirk. I sighed and explained reluctantly, "Where I come from, you exist only as drawings in a series of books that came out in early 2000 and the time frame that we're in right now is a hundred and ten years before the main plot-line. Depending if it still exists, that is." "What do you mean?" Rose asked in concern. "I can try and be fancy but it all comes down to: my standing here this very second may have altered everything for the future." I explained feeling a little self-pity wash over me. "So what you are trying to say is: You're not supposed to be in this 'story'?" Unohana inquired softly. I shook my head, "Nope, not in the book."
"So what does that mean? Something bad is going to happen to us?" Kensei half demanded. I noted the irony in question and the person asking it but had replied, "I hope not." "Maybe you should tell us what to look out for, then." Yoruichi suggested cautiously. "It would be smart if we didn't ask for any information at all." Ukitake came up for my defense before I could have a chance to speak. "Why's that?" the second division captain inquired. "Things may wind up changing because she's just standing here, imagine the disaster that would happen if she told us what to expect." Kyōraku explained grimly.
"Indeed." Yamamoto spoke up and turned to me, "I appreciate that you understand the severity of the situation. So you will not oppose to keeping silent about any knowledge that you may possess about this world until Captain Urahara can find a way to get you out of here." I nodded, "Yeah, no problems on this end." "Well, there is one." Urahara spoke up. I could have stopped breathing; he would wait until now to tell us what was going on. "What's the problem, Kisuke?" Yoruichi asked with a straight face.
"All the DNA I had collected from her is synchronizing its composition to something similar to a Shinigami." he reported, "That means that Heather has already adapted to her environment through all of the spirit energy that is flowing freely throughout the Seireitei by everyone that she had come into contact with." "Soo, that means?" I asked slowly, not really understanding the problem. "You were dying when you got here due to the strain of your travel. You were not treated because nobody could sense anything wrong with you due to your lack of Spirit Energy. So, it led to you dying in your cell. Your spirit took in your human body and turned it into your own spirit energy. If it weren't for your constant exposure to captain-class Soul Reapers, we could have just let you lead your own life in the Rukongai." Kisuke explained to me. I tried to absorb what I could, it was unbelievable. I could hardly speak, let alone breathe. "What do you mean by "we could have" just let her live in the Rukongai?" Ginrei questioned curiously. "I wouldn't now." Kisuke replied bluntly and explained, "Heather's power levels are about in range of a lower ranking officer, in time she could be a suitable candidate for a twentieth seat right off the bat and she'd have room for improvement. Our own energies made that much of an impact on her."
The room was silent; the captains looked to me as if wondering 'what now?' some seemed deep in thought for a possible solution. I took a step back wanting nothing more than to hide away from their gazes. I never asked for this. "Why not allow one of us to train her?" Rose suggested casually. I looked to him and paused, this is the first time I really paid enough attention to him. He didn't look very interested in the conversation but he kept his eye on me. The Head Captain opened an eye at the Third Division Captain, "What an odd suggestion, Ōtoribashi." "That actually sounds like a brilliant idea," Urahara praised. I looked between the two men confused then finally broke down and asked, "I give up, why?" "You're a little late to sign up this term," Rose explained, "So why not train you to stand on your own two feet here so you don't wear out your welcome with Captain Kuchiki?" "You had me at I'm too late to sign up." I replied softly. "It might also be beneficial if we kept an eye on your progress as well." Kisuke informed me, "Your type of energy is new and we don't want anyone accidentally winding up hurt."
"Point taken," I responded taking the information to heart. "Yeah, that would be the most convenient way to do this." Yoruichi reasoned and the Sixth Division Captain questioned, "Who will be the one to train her?" "You don't want to do it, Ginrei?" Kyōraku hassled. "He's doing enough for me," I defended; he really was when he did not have to. "I could do it. It's no problem at all." Rose offered in an impartial tone. I couldn't help but to think on how much of a bore he seemed. I wondered why he would want to reach out a helping hand when we haven't even officially met. Yamamoto's voice had shook me from my thoughts, "It seems that your mind has been made up, Captain Ōtoribashi. I will leave you and Captain Kuchiki to discuss the details. All of you are dismissed."