A/N: Hello everyone thanks soooooo much for the reviews :) happy times. Yeah that's pretty much it. Read and enjoy XD
Disclaimer: Stillllllllll don't own Bleach.
The persistent knocking was getting to me very quickly. I curled up further into the sheets and squeezed my eyes shut tighter. Neither my father nor my sister would ever wake me. I woke up whenever I wanted to. Unless I was with Mom… And she didn't knock.
And yet there came that knock again.
I didn't know why I had the urge to pretend to sleep. It wasn't like I was actually asleep anymore or that by pretending to sleep that annoying noise would go away.
So I sat up. Blinked a couple times. Then got out of bed in a zombie like way and walked to the door. Opened it.
"What?" it came out as a sleepy command.
I blinked a couple times. Byakuya? … And then events came oh so sadly crashing back. I was in the Kuchiki manor trapped because of my own damn stupidity. Last night after the brief conversation with my sister I had fallen asleep out of boredom.
At the same time as I had been recalling what had happened yesterday Byakuya had been staring at me… And then he closed the door. In my face.
What to do? What to do?
I was now fully awake and annoyed and confused. So naturally I open the door again.
He was still standing there, now running his hand through his hair. An amazing feat really. He could do it without moving the hair pieces an inch.
"Hello?" I asked it as a question. He was acting weird and I'm going to to be straight. I am not a morning person. I hated mornings and wasn't in the mood for this. "So I am now officially awake. Did you want to ask me something?" I asked.
He blinks a couple times. "I will come back when you are properly dressed."
Properly dressed? I looked down at my outfit. I was wearing a nightgown that fell right before my knee. It was a peach color. Had thin straps and lace at the top. It did reveal some cleavage, but not a lot. As nightwear went it could get worse. A lot worse.
I laughed. "Have you ever been to the human world before?" I asked thoroughly amused.
He wasn't amused. "I believe-"
"So what are you here for?"
He sighed averted his eyes from me. Really? "I was escorting you to the dining hall."
I looked at his eyes that were focused behind me. Could it possibly be that I actually had managed to have some sort of affect on him… No… "Well escort away."
Another sigh. He turned around with that same damn expectation that I would follow and then of course I did. But one day I wouldn't, I swear I wouldn't. I scoffed. I don't think I'd be around long enough to find out if that was true or not.
So like a little puppy I follow him throughout the halls. Navigation was definitely an issue for me so there was no way I could get anywhere in this place without following him around.
Great.
Well I guess he kind of banned me from moving around on my own... We'd see how that worked out.
We entered the dining hall. I blanched at the long table that could seat over twenty. At the end of it Rukia sat silently, she hesitated between standing and sitting when Byakuya entered the room finally deciding on standing.
"Good morning brother," she said. Politeness edged her voice in way that made me feel awkward.
I glanced between the two adopted sibling. Black hair and dulled amethyst colored eyes. She seemed to be taking the loss of Ichigo's power and communication to Soul Society harder than Ichigo himself.
I looked between them again. Byakuya slowly approached the end of the table and sat down. I wrung my hands together. I really hated feeling awkward. I followed behind him. He sat at the head of the table with Rukia at his right. I sat on the left.
"I'm Miyako," I said with a bright smile.
She responded. Of course it was with overbearing politeness. Not concerning… Not concerning at all.
I looked away and grabbed a peach from the center of the table. I didn't eat it yet, smothered under some unknown social pressure. Instead I passed it from one hand to another.
This went on for about ten minutes. I didn't know what to do. "So what are the plans for today?" I asked still playing with the peach. I wonder if this was how every morning was. I didn't have any of Byakuya's poise. I couldn't even pretend to deal with it.
There was a look in his eyes that I could possibly describe as mischievous, but really Byakuya and mischief don't go together. They may actually be opposites.
"Rukia." Rukia looked up. "Did you get the item I asked you to retrieve?"
I hate when I don't know what's going on. She gives him an affirmative answer. Rukia reaches over to the chair next to her and retrieves a shinigami uniform. She gives it to Byakuya, who in turn gives it to me.
I don't reach out to take it I just kinda stare at it. "What's that for?"
"You did not believe that I would allow you to stay here to your own devices."
I shook my head still staring at the uniform. "O-of course not." It came out as stuttered words. This wasn't happening. No way. "But why do you have that?" I ask.
"You will be one of the new recruits."
My eyes widened as I tried to keep my excitement at bay. "Can you do that?"
"It is just a temporary arrangement." A gentle warning.
"But I'm going to be a soul reaper for a few days?"I ask and there it was. The excitement I was supposedly keeping contained.
"For a few days," he says in agreement.
My face breaks into a big smile. Before I can even check myself I squeal. I jump out of my chair rush up to him and hugged him. "Thank you. Thank you so much!" I say, unable to stop myself. Finally I pull myself away, taking the uniform with me.
I looked at the two of them. Byakuya was looking at me with a shocked expression of complete disbelief. Obviously to him what I just did wasn't in his realm of possibilities. Rukia was stifling laughter. I was about to go off to my room to change only to realize I had no idea how to get there. Instead I sat back down with the uniform back in my lap. I picked the peach back up and began rotate it in my hand.
I cleared my throat. "Thank you."
He stared at me and didn't answer for a few seconds too long. "You are welcome."
Rukia stands up. "I am going to go meet with Urahara again brother," she says as she leaves. We both watch her as she retreats.
"Really this means a lot," I begin again. I don't think I've been more excited since the first day of the academy. I felt a need to constantly verbalize it. I finally take a bite out of the peach, finally. Since Rukia left I don't feel as awkward. I feel juice run from my mouth down my chin, only to stop at my collar bone.
"You have expressed your… gratitude enough," he said.
It wasn't just the hesitation in his speech, but the sudden rough tone it had taken on that made me look up. There was nothing special to note. He was staring at me blankly.
I grabbed a napkin and wiped up the juice.
Okay then. It didn't matter nothing could ruin my mood anymore.
Until twenty minutes later.
He was knocking on the bathroom door now as I was inside doing the stubborn child role justice.
"Miyako we need to leave now."
"I refuse," I say, warring with embarrassment and anger.
"I am sure you are making this worse than it is in reality."
"What in the world would make you think that I would fit in Rukia's clothing? Are you completely dense?"
Trust me he was completely dense. Luckily I was pretty thin or this would be a complete disaster. The problems that were occurring is one Rukia is short. I'm not super tall or anything, but I'm no where near short. Her uniform came up to mid thigh on me. The other problem was… Well Rukia was pretty flat chested. I wasn't. My breasts were basically sticking out of the top. That is what I call a problem.
"I look like a cheap prostitute. I can live with looking like an expensive one, but cheap no way," I say through the door. Anger was coming out clearly.
"You are being ridiculous."
"Am not."
"You will have a uniform with your exact measurements by tomorrow," he said in reply.
I sigh. I was an adult. I was going to handle this with maturity. "I at least need to wear shorts under this. Preferably black. I refuse to flash everyone my cute underwear while fighting."
"Miyako," it came out as a sharp command.
"It's really that bad Byakuya." I hope using his first name had the desired affect.
"I am certain you are being overly dramatic." He did not know me well enough to know how dramatic I could be.
"I assure you I am not, but you want to know what fine. If I step out and you think it's even a little bit slutty you go get me shorts… If not well I guess I'll go just like this."
"Agreed," he says on the other side of the door.
…
Twenty minutes later I had the shorts.
