Starry Night

Chapter 3: Kuchiki Manor

A/N: Minor spoilers about why Rukia was adopted into the Kuchiki family and about her battle with the ninth Espada. If you don't know about these, I suggest you do not read any further, or you can do so at your own risk.

Rukia-san still seemed a bit distant. But I was extremely grateful to her so I didn't say anything about it. I felt guilty for not trying to help her, but it wasn't like I was extremely close to her or anything, although I felt really comfortable with her. I wondered why that was – I had never felt so comfortable with a person before.

We walked towards the West Gate.

Rukia introduced me to the Guardian of the gate – Jidanbo Ikkanzaka. He was extremely large and muscular, and he was at least nine and a half metres tall*, towering well above Rukia-san and I – I was a little shorter than Rukia-san.

Most of his hair was tied up into a long ponytail. The parts which weren't were tied up into small ponytail-like tufts, or were covered up by his red hat. He wore armour on part of his left arm, and a significant portion of his chest was left exposed by the shinigami uniform that all shinigami wore.

Rukia-san told him that she was going to bring me to enrol in the Shino Academy, and the giant nodded knowingly, though his eyes betrayed slight surprise. I assumed it was due to the fact that I was being personally escorted by a shinigami to sign up for a place in the Academy. I had heard that a lot of people who went to the Academy were looking for an escape from their lives in Rukongai, and that applying at the Academy was their own decision.

I gulped at his imitating appearance and introduced myself timidly, forcing a smile.

He chuckled at how scared I was as he lifted the gate. He seemed to be quite friendly, a stark contrast to his appearance.

We stepped inside Seireitei and thanked him as the gate closed.

Rukia-san brought me to her house pretty quickly.

To my surprise, the entrance to her house was heavily guarded. Rukia-san did a lot of explaining before the guards let up and let us both into the house.

It wasn't a house, not really. It was more like a huge manor. It was old, but very grand. Everything was orderly and peaceful. It was beautiful.

This was Rukia-san's house? How could she have afforded something so huge, so wonderful?

My thoughts must have been visible in my eyes because Rukia-san gave a sort of wistful smile and told me, "There are four great noble houses in Seireitei. The Kuchiki house is one of them. I was originally from Rukongai, like you, but I was adopted into this house. It isn't very common for something like that to happen." She looked away for a while.

"Wow, you must be really talented, then," I told her, smiling.

"No, it's not like that, Nii-sama adopted me into the family because-" she stopped abruptly.

"Never mind. Seiki, could you wait here? I'll go and pick up my things, I'll be right back…"

"Sure." I seated myself on a bench beside what appeared to be the Kuchiki family's personal river and watched the gigantic koi fish swim in the waters, mesmerised by their brilliant colours.

Rukia-san disappeared into the huge manor.

I tried to shake the thoughts of Kaien-dono out of my head.

I was starting to realise that it was weird that I should be thinking this way – relying so much on my heart and not on my brain.

I looked at Seiki, wondering if she had some kind of talent to make people feel so close to her that they'd question her inner resolve…

It was probable… Right?

We'd reached the West Gate, and I saw Jidanbo, its guardian. I introduced him to Seiki, and told him how I was going to bring her to enrol in the Shino Academy. He looked slightly surprised. I assumed that Seiki thought it was because a shinigami was escorting her personally to apply for a place there, but it was most likely because he was really feeling her reiatsu for the first time – how different it was. His eyes widened, but returned to their original size too quickly for Seiki to notice.

Seiki introduced herself. She seemed intimidated by his appearance. I would have chuckled, but my thoughts were somewhere else.

Kaien-dono had taught Jidanbo about Rukongai.

It was a fact that had suddenly jumped to the front of my mind. It was weird, because I'd never drawn that relationship before.

Then again, I'd seen Jidanbo pretty few times, too.

It was as if Seiki was bringing out all my innermost thoughts… It just so happened that the ones she was bringing out were about the people I really cared about and thought about the most…

I felt guilty over Kaien-dono's death every day, although it had gotten slightly better after I'd battled Aaroniero and realised that no matter where Kaien-dono's physical body might have been, his heart was with me, and all his friends, where it would remain and be remembered forever.

I was vaguely aware of Jidanbo lifting the gate and chuckling at Seiki.

We stepped inside Seireitei and thanked the huge shinigami as he let the gate fall.

We arrived at the Kuchiki manor sooner than I expected. I talked to the guards so that they would let Seiki in along with me, and after a lot of explaining, she was staring at the humongous interior of the manor.

I made eye contact with her. She looked shocked. I realised that the manor of one of the four great noble families would be incredible to anyone who was already living in Seireitei, but to someone from Rukongai…

I remembered how I felt when I first entered the manor. Confused, overwhelmed…

Kaien-dono had helped me find my place – he was the only one who would treat me normally, instead of someone special just because I was a Kuchiki.

There, my thoughts had gone back to Kaien-dono.

Seiki's eyes were filled with shock.

I gave her a wistful smile and told her the bare basics about the Kuchiki house and how I had gotten into it.

"There are four great noble houses in Seireitei. The Kuchiki house is one of them. I was originally from Rukongai, like you, but I was adopted into this house. It isn't very common for something like that to happen." I looked away for a while. Had I gotten her hopes that she might have found a family up? Because… No, Nii-sama would never allow it…

But I had already been thinking of it, in the back of my mind…

To adopt her into the Kuchiki clan.

"Wow, you must be really talented, then," She told me, smiling.

Talented… To be frank, I was at the level of a seated officer, but I was not one, because Nii-sama pulled some strings and took me out of the candidates since he feared for my safety… Seiki, on the other hand… If my hunch was right, she was nothing like Seireitei had ever seen before.

"No, it's not like that, Nii-sama adopted me into the family because-" I stopped abruptly.

How had the conversation gotten so far? It was Nii-sama's personal matter. I had no right to tell anyone else. I felt so comfortable talking with Seiki, yet I felt uncomfortable around her because she reminded me of Kaien-dono.

"Never mind. Seiki, could you wait here? I'll go and pick up my things, I'll be right back…"

"Sure," she replied, watching the koi, as I walked away.

Seiki… She really was something to be able to make me feel so comfortable around her, to have such a strong, distinct reiatsu, to pull out my deepest recollections of Kaien-dono – it wasn't just the colour of her eyes which did that, it had to be something more… My thoughts didn't even flow coherently most of the time when I was around her.

She would find out in the Shino Academy. She would figure out what her powers were in time.

For now, I'd do my best to help her. I'd made up my mind. It was not solely because of Kaien-dono. It was because she needed the help. She needed to be able to control her reiatsu, if that's what was making this happen.

I walked towards Byakuya nii-sama's room, where he would be at this time of day, to talk to him about Seiki.

*9½ metres is approximately equal to 31 feet and 2 inches, for those of you who don't go by metric measurements.

A/N: Thanks for reading. Reviews are appreciated!