Haruka held her hand all the way from the Naraku manor to the HQ of the Gotei 13. Hotaru decided that even if he had made her angry earlier she was grateful he had made the trip. They left home in an elaborate square carriage decorated with silks and pulled by fat oxen, which did not have any windows and was something of a disappointment. It meant that the scenery outside could not distract her from her thoughts or give her something else to focus on besides what her grandfather had planned for her.
Hotaru had learned many years before that the meetings at Central 46 had two purposes: the first was the obvious administrative job, the second was to show off familial wealth to other lesser ranking noble houses. The Naraku clan was one of the four high noble houses, rivalled only by the Kuchiki, Shihoin and Shiba and so there was no real need for grand gestures, but her grandfather insisted on them anyway. He had custom made robes for the occasion and decorated his fat fingers with equally fat rings, all the while adorning his unnaturally long eyelashes with golden feathers.
As they travelled, he leaned back in his seat and picked grapes from a silver platter he kept beside him. He was uninterested by most things - even Haruka's stories of serving in the King's Guard - and Hotaru's stomach fluttered when she considered that he might have secured her a royal husband. She couldn't wait to brag to her cousins about it later on and watch them gasp in shock. They would have to be nice to her when she was Queen of all Soul Society.
A wry smile made its way across her face as she considered that she would not have to be nice to them at all.
They arrived at the Seireitei with buckets of time to spare - their carriage was the first one there. The driver handed their names into the sentry guards at the access point - Hotaru did not see them, but their voices were loud and booming and she assumed they must be very large men indeed - and drove the carriage through the gates.
Haruka climbed out first and helped Hotaru climb down, followed by their grandfather. He made a great fuss about all of his hair ornaments and every time Haruka repositioned himself his response was to order him to move as 'this one was very expensive'. None of the servants volunteered for the job, Hotaru noticed with a degree of irritation.
She used the time to take in her surroundings as it was the first time she had ever laid eyes on such a place and, if she was to brag about visiting, it only made sense that she should be able to describe it in ludicrous amounts of detail.
The buildings there were on the cheap side, made of wood rather than stone and with two levels at most. The windows were small and dotted the walls at such irregular intervals that she could not help but wonder if they were only added as an afterthought. She wrinkled up her nose at the thought of having to venture inside one of those buildings and silently prayed the Central 46 chambers were more tasteful.
The few people she could see scattered around the area were dressed in shabby black robes and they regarded the three visitors as one might view a circus animal before the show has commenced. Hotaru noticed that the second their eyes fell on her, their jaws dropped and they nudged anyone close enough by. Hotaru supposed they were fascinated with her elaborate clothes and pretty face and paid them no heed.
As soon as her grandfather had safely reached the ground with all of his hair ornaments intact he led them away from all of the buildings and towards a barren area of field. As barren fields went it was fairly ordinary, with dry, brown grass and no flowers to speak of, though the strange thing was that for some reason the area was surrounded by masked guards wearing robes that covered everything except their eyes. Hotaru had never seen anything like it and hoped that she never would have to again.
Her grandfather approached the guards and handed the nearest one a letter, presumably some sort of invitation, which was immediately opened and scrutinised. She watched in confusion as the guard stroked a single finger down the middle of the paper, though it all clicked into place when a black butterfly emerged. It was a very basic kidou spell, Arawasu (written 現す), one she had practised countless times. It was a 'revelation' type, used to show something hidden. The black butterfly's spirit signature must have been embedded into the paper and then hidden as a kind of seal of authenticity.
As she expected, the guards seemed satisfied and stepped back onto the field behind them. The one with the letter drew a sword from their belt and tapped the point of the blade against the floor. She realised it was a more advanced version of the same kidou enchantment as before - the 'lock and key' version. She had used that one only once - to hide her diary. The fact was that while the Arawasu was very useful, it had a fatal flaw and that was that anyone could use it. The 'lock and key' variation was exactly the same in practice until the final stage, where the user inserted an extra layer of spirit energy -referred to as reiatsu in her textbooks - to 'lock' the hidden object. The lock would only open when it came back into contact with the 'key' - that is, the reiatsu signature of the original caster. All reiatsu signatures were unique to the individual they belonged to, after all, just like fingerprints. Once an object was hidden from view and 'locked', only the person who locked it away in the first place could reveal it, meaning it was simple to hide objects even from kidou users.
Hotaru watched as the ground began to move at the touch of the guard's sword and made a wager with herself that the swords of all the guards had been enriched with one person's reiatsu so they could be used as keys. The ground shifted and changed shape until it was fully transformed into a flight of stone steps leading down into what appeared to be some kind of cellar. She glanced across at Haruka and her grandfather and was filled with a smug sense of satisfaction when she noticed that they watched the process with blank expressions. Kidou was the pride of their clan, its intricacies their birthright, and yet she would have betted her inheritance that neither of them could figure out how the chambers were opened. Naturally, any of her female relatives could have worked it out as she had, but she was willing to ignore that.
The guard that had opened up the chamber stepped forward, presumably to escort them to the conference hall, scanning the three of them in the process. When this stranger's gaze fell on her, Hotaru felt it linger and all of a sudden the guard was on its hands and knees in front of her, sobbing.
"My lady," the guard wept. "My lady…you've returned!"
He (Hotaru had determined he must be male from how deep his voice was) ripped off his mask and clutched hold of her hand. She found herself staring into his face as he sobbed. She guessed he was in his mid-thirties, as the youth in his face was still apparent, but betrayed by the odd wrinkle and grey hair. He had chestnut hair and bright green eyes that shone with tears. Hotaru did not like the way he stared into her eyes as if he knew her.
"My lady! Don't you remember me?" he wept, desperation creeping into his words. "It's me - Tominoya Akira!"
His grip on her hand tightened as he mentioned his name and she turned to her brother, eyes wide, wordlessly pleading for him to intervene. Her grandfather and Haruka both watched, with a strange expression across their faces, as if none of what was happening shocked them. In fact, Hotaru was sure she detected a glint of annoyance in their eyes, as if they had known it would happen.
Tominoya Akira's sobs turned into howls of despair and finally her brother caved. He took hold of her arm and squeezed it reassuringly.
"Ah, common folk and their delusions," he said, smiling widely.
The other guards reacted at once, dragging the sobbing man to his feet and begging for forgiveness. Hotaru noticed that none of their eyes met hers as they did so. Another guard was given the task of accompanying them into the conference hall and the three of them followed into the dark. Even over the sounds of their footsteps on the stone, the man's cries were deafening.
Haruka's hand did not leave her arm.