So this is the longest chapter I believe. I think it might be too rushed and if anyone agrees let me know and I'll try and make it a little smoother. Please leave a review if you have the time. I'm assuming by now that if you have gotten this far (or are even reading this A/N, lol) you have enjoyed this at least a little so I hope this chapter is acceptable, too. Also, I hope the OC's name doesn't sound too mary-sue-ish. It was a friend who I met in elementary's name and I've always liked it. It is pronounced My-yah in case anyone didn't know. It does look kind of funny but it's simple and I like it.

Chapter Three: Apologies

It was around noon in Seireitei when a small shinigami, who introduced himself as Hanatarou, told the captain of the eighth division that the girl who he had brought to them showed signs of waking soon. The shinigami brought him to her room and took his leave. She looked like she was lightly sleeping, but looked a lot better than the night before. She had an IV set up at her right side. He sat down in the same chair that was there the night before after he opened the windows curtains to let in some light. She mumbled something quietly and turned her face in the opposite direction. As she turned, a red bump on the side of her head came into view. It didn't look new, and he was surprised that the others did not tell him of it. It might have been possible that they missed it if they had no reason to expect it, but you could clearly see it when her hair, which was now washed and pulled into a loose tie, was out of the way. She probably got it from the ground when she fell.

Some of her side bangs fell out from her tie and landed in her face. He reached to tuck it around her ear when her hand shot up, throwing his arm away from her, and she fully sat up, pushing herself as far away as possible from him. Now against the wall, she saw the IV in her vein and, being afraid of needles, unwrapped the tape holding it to her and pulled it out with a small flinch. Blood trickled down her arm before she put her other hand over the small opening near the inside of her elbow. She had so many thoughts going through her head, she didn't hear him say 'don't, you'll hurt yourself' as she pulled it out, nor the pain that should come along with it. She gasped, panicking, not knowing what to do. Where was she? Why was this man here? He didn't seem like a threat, after he saw her panicking and realizing that the majority of this anxiety was coming from him he held his hands up to her and backed away until finally he lowered himself to the chair, slowly. He had a calm look on his face and waited for her to settle down a little before he spoke again.

"Would you like me to call someone to fix that for you?" he asked. When he realized that she wasn't going to respond he added,"at least let me get you something to wrap it up if you don't want anyone else to do it. We don't want you to lose too much blood. From what I hear you are already weak and need to rest."

"Who are you?" she asked him, watching his every move. He didn't seem dangerous, but waking up in some unfamiliar place with an unfamiliar man after the crazy past two days was kind of frightening. She had no idea what was going on and everyone else did. She didn't like that, it gave them too much control.

"You may call me Shunsui," he replies. "I live here in Seireitei along with all the other shinigami. Are you new to Soul Society, have you recently passed away?" he asks, speaking in a low voice. She looks at him closely. He is wearing some sort of white robe over a black one underneath and ontop of both, a bright pink one. On his head he's has a straw hat and two pins sticking out from his hair which is resting in a tie.

"Passed away? What...what are you talking about, I'm not...Soul Society? I can't...is that what...?" she stammers. Dead? No. The people she has seen the past two days seemed very much alive. That couldn't be what heaven, or Soul Society, or whatever they called it was like, could it? She can't be...dead? "I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm not dead, and... neither are you. I'm just lost. I'll be going now." She takes a step in the direction of the door. He is there within a second and he places a hand lightly on her shoulder. "I'm afraid I can't let you do that. You are not fully healed. Come, sit down and let us have some tea," she looks at his hand on her and slides from under it, backing away. He seemed like a very laid back guy, someone who she could easily get along with back home. But she wasn't home now. That could be a very good situation, or a dangerous one.

"Just please, leave me alone, I, I have to go." She is up against the wall now but he sill hasn't come any closer after she pulled away, that is a good thing. "Please, let me go," she looks down at the ground, shoulders hunched. From where he is standing, he can see the them slightly shaking; she is afraid. Obviously the shinigami who did the burial did not do a very good job of explaining. She didn't even know she was dead! Her breathing is erratic and tears form in her eyes. She must have thought she looked silly backed away in a corner because she looked around, wiped her sleeve across her eyes, and stood up straighter, her eyes still focused on the ground, though.

"Come and take this chair, I am going to go get a nurse to wrap that up for you, it still hasn't healed. Then we'll get you cleaned up and we'll talk over some tea. How does that sound." She knew there was nothing she could do. He was holding all of the cards. She was very familiar with the game of control and what you do when you have none. He gave her a small smile, opened the curtain and left. She started to feel dizzy and decided to lean against the wall. A small cup was on the side of the bed she was previously laying in. She took a small sip, it was some sort of juice. She finished the rest, happy to get some sugar. He returned a few minutes later with a girl who looked a little older than herself, she was dressed similar to him but didn't have as many layers. She finally looked down at herself and noticed that her clothes were also similar but a light tan color and that someone had revently bathed her. She hadn't noticed before with all of the commotion and felt uncomfortable knowing that someone had seen her naked, but put that thought aside, happy to be in clean, comfortable clothes, and her hair had been washed and combed through, too.

"I can do it myself," she says as the woman comes over with what looks like a warm cloth and some bandages. The woman shakes her head.

"That's alright dear, that's what I'm here for," the lady replies, smiling. She decides not to argue. She already has a big enough headache, and lays out her arm in front of her across the bed. The nurse quickly washes the wound and puts a small bandage around it. A small dot of fresh blood soaks through the bandages and the girl looks at it strangely.

As the woman leaves she stands a little straighter and says, "thank you very much, ma'am." The woman just smiles again and walks through the doorway. This whole time the man, or Shunsui, as he said he was named, had left and brought in another chair and placed it on the other side of the small table where she previously found the cup of juice. He brought in two cups of tea and set them down on it. Now that the woman wasn't here she didn't know what to do. Should she run for it. He wasn't between herself and the doorway like he was before so maybe she could make it. She was sure he had other things to do than sit around talking with a stupid person like her.

"Come sit down. What is your name, dear?" he asks as he leans into the cushion of his seat, taking a sip of the tea.

She decides against running, she was sure that he could easily catch up with he when she was already this weak. She took a cautious step towards the chair, and when nothing happened, she took another, and then another, and finally decided to sit. "I'm sorry, I don't drink tea," she says looking down at her fingers which were laying on her lap. Her hair falls in her face and she tucks it behind her ears. Her headache is slowly leaving and she is grateful, they always make everything seem worse.

"Oh? Well would you like something else to drink, maybe just some water? Or perhaps, something to eat?" He asks.

She thought about about it for a moment. "No thank you, sir. Please forgive me for my earlier actions. I was just... confused," she says, still looking at her hands, her head bowed foreword.

"Don't worry about it, I ca -"

A woman with black hair and glasses comes through the door. She is holding in one hand a large book and in the other a handful of papers with neatly written handwriting on them. It almost looked like caligraphy. "Taichou, I -...Oh, I'm sorry Taichou," she says, bowing, "I did not realize you were in the middle of a conversation. They told me you were here and -"

The man stood up and walked over to the other woman. He opened up his arms and said, "there, there, my Nanao-chan. You know I could never be mad at you. Here let me introduce you ,this is, hmmm...I'm sorry, but I still don't know your name," as he he embraced Ise. She clearly looked uncomfortable and embarrassed.

"My name is Maia...Maia Bennet,"she says rising. She apparently rose too quickly because all of the sudden she felt faint. Her head felt very light and she swung an inch or so the side before grabbing a hold of the corner of the bed. Shunsui took a step foreword, to see if she needed any help but she had already sat down and was holding one hand on the arm rest of the chair and the other out in front of her, showing she didn't want him to come any closer, "no," she said, a little too loudly," I'm sorry, I'm fine."

He nodded. Ise bowed to her captain and excused herself. "I'll leave you two to talk." She turned to leave and walked out the door. Shunsui turned his attention back to Maia.

"Are you sure you're alright?" he asks.

She nods quickly,"I'm fine," she pauses," I have some questions, though if you don't mind." He reaches for his tea again and takes a sip.

"Of course you do," he responds," I also have some for you but why don't you go first?"

She takes the cup of tea. Even though she has never liked the taste, its warmth calms her down and allows her to think a little clearer. "Um, okay. Well...you mentioned earlier something about my death?" she looks up at him," is that true, am I really dead?" Her face has a shadow of desperation as she looks him in the eyes for the first time since they met. She quickly looks down and instead looks at his chin which doesn't feel as uncomfortable even though she probably looks silly. He adjusts himself so that he is sitting a little straighter.

"Yes I'm sorry you are just now being informed of this," he almost looks embarassed. "I cannot imagine what you must be feeling right now. Usually just after someone passes away a shinigami comes to guide them to the Soul Society. I've never heard of someone not informing a spirit of what was going to happen to them so let me tell you now. After you die a shinigami performs a soul burial, called konso, and brings you here to the Soul Society. It is normally a peaceful place, I am sorry you have had such a rough start," she looked at him again. He generally seemed interested in her and what she had to say. She thought that was strange.

"It's okay, it's not your fault," she mumbled.

"Do you remember anything before you came here? What is your last memory?" he asked. No! She wouldn't think about that. She had finally gotten away, she wan't going to bring that up. No one needed to know. It wasn't even important.

"I don't remember anything before that. That whole day just seems blurry," she lied. He looked at her for few moments and could tell that she was used to lying because she didn't give away any of the physical clues besides not looking him in the eyes, but he could feel a change in her spirit and he had a lot of experience with liars as a captain so it was easy to detect. A normal human probably would have never noticed, though.

"Hmmm. Okay. Well, what's the earliest memory since then after that day?" he asked after a period of time. She shifted nervously. She truly did only remember bits and pieces of this.

"I think I woke up in this small field. It was far from where I ended up. I just woke up in these clothes," she looked down," oh, well, I guess they are gone now, I forgot." She paused again, thinking. "I woke up and I just sort of went to sleep again, I felt so tired."

"It isn't uncommon for new spirits to feel like then when they first enter. The trip can be tiring, " he adds. Her head is feeling heavier and heavier so finally she leans it foreword a little; it feels a little better.

"Actually, I'm sorry to interrupt but I am very tired right now and was wondering if I could get some rest. It's not that I don't appreciate the time you've given me," she adds quickly," I just don't think I can stay awake much longer. I'm sorry to inconvenience you." Her eyes close for a minute before she realizes that he is still here. She immediately opens them and apologizes but he is already standing by her side.

"That's alright, I understand. I shouldn't have kept you awake this long anyways. You should be resting."

"I have one quick question though, Shunsui. How long do I have to stay here, and when I can leave...um, where will I go?" she asks tentatively. She honestly doesn't know. He's the only person in the world, well this world, that she somewhat knows and she really doesn't want him to leave. Unlike when they first met, she feels safe around him. She doesn't think he will let any harm come to her. She's never felt like that with anyone before, he was the first to really reach out and seem genuinely interested. It was a nice feeling.

He actually didn't know what to say. He didn't often talk with people who didn't live in Seireitei since he came her many years ago so he never thought about things like this. Where did one go if they didn't have anyone here? He had been of nobility and everyone knew each other in the family. He settled for a soft," we'll figure it out when we get there. For now, though, you need rest. You've had a rough few days. I hope your remainder here are more pleasant"

She crawled onto the bed and unfolded the blanket halfway and laid it across her legs up to her waist and laid on her side. He closed the curtains on the window and made it almost complete pitch black if it weren't for the open curtain in the doorway. She exhaled. She could finally rest, but she didn't know how she could sleep with all of these thoughts racing though her head. He waited a few more minutes for her to settle, then came to the side of her bed. He unfolded the remainder of the blanket and draped it up to under her chin and tucked it around the curve of her back. She pressed her eyes close together and gripped the covers, every muscle in her body taunt. A shiver slid up her spine. He ran his hand across her hair and down her back a couple of times whispering goodnight like he had done the previous night. She slowly relaxed and allowed him to continue for a little longer. It felt nice.

He knew she was hiding something. Whether it was big or not, he had no idea though. For all he knew, she could be a Aizen's spy, or it could be something as simple as she had stolen some food to survive and felt guilty. But something was off, and he was determined to find out what. He felt protective of her, even though he had only known her a short while, and didn't want any more harm to come to her. A soft smile was on her lips but she quickly hid her head under the covers when she opened her eyes and realized that he saw.

"Sorry!" she said quickly. Why was she acting like this? She probably looked like a child to him with the was she was acting. She was seventeen! She needed to start acting her own age.

He reassured her,"there's nothing to be sorry for. Now rest and I'll see you in the morning. I promise." He saw her nod underneath the covers. He hovered his hand a few inches above her face once she came above them again and she immediately fell into a deep sleep. He couldn't leave her to lay here and stress of what has happened the past few days, she needed to heal so she could be well again. He glanced one more time from the doorway and shut the curtain leaving only a crack of light falling through across her incase she woke up, although he highly doubted that. It was only just past noon and he still had his captains duty's to fulfill for the day, plus, he needed to speak with his Nanao-chan of what happened.

TBC