Sorry that this chapter took a while to be posted! I've been working a lot lately since you know, it was Christmas and stuff and yeah, had lots of shifts at work. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy. I made it a bit longer this time. Just a bit though! Yeah, I'm not capable of writing any more longer than this. Sorry about that! I should be able to post a chapter once a week at least, so please be patient. Thank you for reading and for the reviews! Happy New Year too!!!
Rukia stood nervously in front of Byakuya-sama's office, with Unohana beside her. She's supposed to introduce herself to him and let him know that she will be his personal maid. She felt butterflies in her stomach and she couldn't stand perfectly still. She held her head down and watched as her fingers played around with the cloth of her kimono. She wasn't ready for this...
"Come in." said a deep voice from inside, and Unohana opened the shoji doors to let Rukia and herself in. After they were both completely inside and the door was closed behind them, Byakuya looked up too see who has interrupted his work.
Rukia and Unohana both bowed down before speaking. "Sorry for the intrusion Byakuya-sama, but I felt that it was needed for you to be introduced to your maid." Unohana said with a stern face.
Byakuya just stared at them with no expression. He didn't say anything, and looked back down to his work once again, so Rukia thought that it should be fine for her to speak.
"I'm Rukia Kuchicki, and I'm honored to have this position, Byakuya-sama. I will not disappoint you." Rukia said, while staring at him. She noticed that he wasn't looking at her at all. Instead, he continued to look at his papers. He still had no expressions.
"I do not need your help for tonight, so report to me tomorrow morning and I should have something for you to do. You are dismissed." Byakuya replied, and with that, Unohana and Rukia gave a final bow before leaving.
Byakuya was left alone in his office once again, and thought about Rukia for a moment. 'It was the same girl from the gardens, but why couldn't I look at her just now?'
In Rukia's Room...
Rukia lay down in bed, thinking about what just happened. She never thought for him to have been that cold. He seemed more approachable when they were in the gardens. 'Well obviously he seemed more approachable, it was because we were gazing into each other's eyes...' Rukia then put a halt to those thoughts. 'What am I thinking? He was probably just staring at me because I didn't look familiar. Either that or my presence disturbed him while he was walking around. That's probably it.' she thought. She tried to convince herself that their meeting of gazes in the garden was nothing big. 'It was nothing big at all...'
The next morning, Rukia dressed up in her uniform once again, and waited in her room for Hanatarou to pick her up. She still needed someone to guide her around the house. There was no way that she could get to Byakuya-sama's office without getting lost.
She heard a tap on her door and immediately she opened it to be greeted by Hanatarou. "Good morning Rukia-san. I take it that you're ready to work today?" he said with a smile. He looked very energetic. 'He must be a morning person.' Rukia told herself, not knowing anyone else who had that much energy in the morning.
Hanatarou brought her to Byakuya-sama's hallway and wished her luck before leaving. Indeed Rukia needed some luck because for some reason, she felt that today wouldn't be such a good day. She tapped on his office door and waited for a response. She waited a few minutes, but a respond never came. She tapped on the door once again, and she still didn't hear anyone's voice from inside. Not knowing what she had to do, she let herself in. After entering the office, she closed the doors behind her and saw Byakuya-sama fast asleep with head resting on the desk, using his arms as a pillow. He looked very peaceful, and it looked as if he wasn't going to wake up anytime soon.
'Should I wake him up?' Rukia asked herself. Well, if he wasn't awake, how was he going to give her any orders? So she decided that she would. She just hoped that he wouldn't get angry or anything like that at her. She walked closer to the desk and watched his sleeping face. She really wished that she didn't have to do this, because he looked pretty comfortable. She nudged him a bit on the shoulder, but he didn't move, so she inched her face closer to his and whispered his name.
"Byakuya-sama..." she whispered, while nudging his shoulder softly. "Byakuya-sama, it's morning now..." she whispered once again, and Byakuya opened his eyes.
He was awake the first moment he heard his name being called. The way his name was being whispered was so soft, that he wanted to see who was calling him. He really wanted to know who it was. So he opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was purple. He saw beautiful, dark purple eyes, looking at him. It was the same girl from the gardens, it was his maid. He couldn't help but look at her.
Rukia jumped back after noticing how close her face was to his, and after seeing that he was already awake. She was now a bit embarrassed. "Oh, good morning Byakuya-sama. It's already morning, but you were still asleep, so I decided to wake you. I'm sorry if I've bothered you in anyway." she said right away, to cover her embarrassment.
"Hn." was all that Byakuya said. He wondered why he let himself get caught in such a situation. He would usually be awake whenever someone would come to bother him in his office early in the morning. No one has ever caught him asleep on a desk like today. 'I must be really tired.' was all he thought.
"Please get my breakfast prepared in the dining room while I bathe." he added, while heading for the door. Rukia bowed to him when he passed her, and he was gone.
The only trouble that Rukia has now, was getting to the kitchen. She knew that she had some time to get there, but Byakuya-sama wasn't going to be bathing forever. She has to get there to prepare his breakfast and set it down neatly on the dining table. She really didn't have that much time. She couldn't afford to get lost. She left the office and started to walk out of his hallway. After that, she didn't know which way to turn. She just followed her instincts and turned to whichever hallway she felt was right. She wasn't sure at all as to where she was heading. She needed to ask someone for directions.
To her luck, she saw a man walk past her. He was an odd one though, because she saw that he had red hair and tattoos on his face. He also wore an armband, reminding Rukia that he was a guard, so he needed to be treated with respect since she was just a lowly servant. She turned to the direction he was heading and started to follow him. He was walking pretty fast, so she had to jog a bit.
"Excuse me!" Rukia said to the man, while still following him. She tried her best to be polite, but she guessed that he didn't hear her since he didn't turn his head at all or acknowledged her presence. He just continued to walk.
"EXCUSE ME!" Rukia repeated, now with a louder voice, but he still didn't turn around. Now she was losing her patience. It was either he didn't hear her or he was ignoring her purposely. So she decided to go to her last resort. She wasn't going to be polite anymore...
"YOU THERE! WEIRD EYEBROWS-SAN!" she yelled. She didn't care if he was wearing an armband or not. She really needed his help, and by calling him that, she knew that she'd immediately catch his attention. He stopped on his tracks and turned his head right away. It looked like he was about to knock out the person who called him that.
"What did you call me?!" he asked her, looking incredibly angry. He was turning red from the looks of it.
"Well, I had to get your attention somehow! You were ignoring me!" Rukia retorted, not feeling bad at all that she called this man by such a rude name.
The man looked her over, checking out her uniform. He then changed his expression to a cocky smile. "Heh. You're not wearing anything special, which means that you must be just a servant! Look here, you're probably new since you obviously didn't know that a person like me, who is wearing an armband, should be treated with respect! I'll let you off the hook this time. My name is Abarai Renji by the way, and if you apologize to me now, I would gladly consider you as a friend." he said, still holding his arrogant expression.
Rukia hated the way this guy was acting. There was no way that she would apologize! "Well, Abarai Renji, I was quite well aware that your position is higher than mine, but I decided to call you 'Weird Eyebrows-san' because I thought that the name suited you better. My name's Rukia Kuchiki by the way. Glad to meet you. Now, could you help me find the kitchen in this house?" she said, while smiling at him. It was her fake smile of course.
Renji immediately lost his arrogant expression and went back to his angry face. "Why should I help you?! You just called me by that name purposely again!" he fumed. He was really ticked off now that a servant was treating him this way.
"It's because..." Rukia started. "If I don't get to the kitchen soon, Byakuya-sama wouldn't be able to have his breakfast. I need to prepare it for him!" she said, with a serious face this time. She made it sound as if giving Byakuya-sama his breakfast was the most important thing in the world right now, which is probably true.
"Huh? Why would you have to prepare his breakfast? Unless... OH!" Realization hit Renji in the face as he thought about the duties of Byakuya-sama's newly assigned personal maid. 'Oh right! He has a personal maid now, and this must be the girl...' he thought to himself.
"Fine, I'll lead you the way. We wouldn't want to disappoint Byakuya-sama." Renji said, as he started to walk to the direction of the kitchen with Rukia following. "Although I really hate you." he added.
"I hate you too, Weird Eyebrows-san!" Rukia replied, smiling her fake smile once again.
Renji didn't even want to talk to her, she was so rude. Although he had to admit to himself, she was cute. She was full of energy too, and she wasn't afraid of his position. 'Agh! What am I thinking? She's so annoying! No worries, once I leave her in the kitchen, I'll have my peace again.' he thought, as they reached the doors to the kitchen.
"There! Behind the door is the kitchen! I'll be leaving you now." Renji said as he started to walk away.
"Thank you Renji-san!" Rukia said. Deep inside, she was truly grateful that he helped her out, even though he wasn't nice. Because if he hadn't help her, she was sure that she was going to get fired.
Renji just turned his head a bit and smiled while continuing to walk away. He was content that she called him by his real name, and in all honestly, he would want to meet her again in the future and get to know her better. She was a different one...
Rukia opened the door to the kitchen and saw a bunch of plates on the table with already prepared meals on them. She guessed that all she had to do was set up the dining room, and so she did with the help of a couple of chefs. She didn't realize that she didn't have to cook. Of course they'd have chefs though, since there was no way that the Kuchiki clan would have a non-professional cook their meals.
After the table was completely set up, Rukia just stood behind the chair that Byakuya-sama was going to sit on, and waited for him to come. He came just a couple of minutes later, dressed in his haori and kenseikan. Rukia bowed to him as soon as he came in and greeted him. He ate in silence, and Rukia just stood there, also in silence. 'Is everyday going to be like this?' Rukia asked herself. It also seemed odd to her that Byakuya-sama ate on his own on this very long dining table. She thought that the other nobles would at least join him, but it wasn't that way she guessed. 'I wonder if they're distant to each other...' she thought.
Byakuya stood up all of a sudden without warning, and started to head over to the dining room exit. "Come to my office after you've cleared the table." he said to Rukia, giving her a short glance, and then leaving right away. Rukia did as she was told and put away his dishes in the kitchen. She tried to remember the hallways that she and Renji passed going to the kitchen, so that she'd find her way back to his office. Luckily, she didn't get lost. She found her way back and tapped on the doors once again. She entered the room when she heard him say, "Come in." She bowed once again, and walked closer to his desk.
"I'll be leaving today to go to Kuchiki Corp." he said, while packing his briefcase with a bunch of papers from his table. "There really isn't much for you to do, though I would like for you to put away whatever books there are in this room to my library. I also want these stack of papers placed and organized in that file cabinet over there." he added, pointing to the stack of papers he left on his desk and then to the filing cabinet at the corner of the room. There really wasn't much for her to do at all...
"I'll be home by six, so have my dinner ready by then." he said, after closing his briefcase, and then he left the room right away. Rukia stood alone in his office and looked around for books. She noticed that there were only around three of them to be put away in his library. 'I guess he keeps everything neat.' she said to herself, as she also noticed that there weren't much papers to be put away either. After grabbing the three books that were on his desk, she left his office and headed over to his library. She was lucky that she knew where it was. It was right beside his office. It was really convenient for her because she wouldn't have to go through hallways and get lost once again.
While heading over to his library, she saw him leave his room, dressed in a casual suit. He wasn't wearing his kenseikan or haori, he was just dressed like a normal businessman. His hair fell a bit on his face, and it made him look more modern... and kind... if only he would smile though. 'If only he would smile, then he'd look so...' Rukia stopped her thoughts immediately. She really wanted to slap herself for thinking that way. She bowed to him quickly as he passed and said, "Have a nice day at work, Byakuya-sama." He didn't reply to this of course, and just continued to walk. It was something that she should get used to.
After he was gone, Rukia headed to his library and put away the books. She went back to his office and organized the papers in the filing cabinet as he had ordered before, and after doing that, she realized that she had finished within an hour. It was only 11:00 am, and Byakuya-sama wasn't going to be back until 6:00 pm. What was she going to do to pass time? The office was clean, and so was the library. Everything was organized, and nothing was out of place. She didn't want to go into his room because she never got his permission to go there. 'I should probably explore around then...' she thought. Which was probably a good idea so that she wouldn't get lost next time.
Rukia made sure that all of the doors in Byakuya-sama's hallway were closed before exploring around. She then left his hallway and made a turn. As soon as she turned though, she heard two people argue...
"No! I want to bring it to Ukitate-sama!!!" said a girl's voice, sounding as if she was struggling with someone.
"No! I'll bring it! Besides, he asked me to get it for him Kiyone!" replied a man's voice, also sounding as if he was struggling.
Rukia knew that something bad must be going just around the corner, so she followed the voices and turned to the hall where they were. When she got there, she saw a girl and a boy fighting over a bottle of pills. It seems that they haven't noticed her since they were still yelling at each other, oblivious to their surroundings. Rukia noticed that they weren't wearing any armbands or haoris, which means that they must be servants just like her. 'What are they doing here then, and shouting at each other too?' she asked herself. She then wanted to make herself present to them because she didn't want any of them to get in trouble for being loud at the nobles' house. She walked closer to them, and tapped the girl on the shoulder. The girl turned her head right away and let go of the bottle of pills, handing it over to the man that was trying to take it from her. He toppled over of course, hitting the wall behind him, causing a huge racket, with the bottle of pills still in his hands.
"Oi! What was that for Kiyone?! It seriously hurts!!!" he shouted, obviously upset.
"Shhh!!! We're in the nobles' home!" Rukia replied, worried that a noble must have heard their racket, and afraid that they might get in trouble.
"Huh? Oh! Right! Sorry!" said the man, while trying to keep his voice down. He stood up after and took a good look at Rukia. She was a new face around here obviously, since he had never seen her before. "Who are you anyway?" he asked her.
"Yeah, who are you?!" added the girl, also curious about this raven-haired girl.
"I'm Rukia. I'm a new servant here." Rukia replied.
"Well then Rukia-san, I'm Kotetsu Kiyone, and this guy over here is Kotsubaki Sentarou. We're servants in this house too! It's a pleasure to meet you!" Kiyone replied, looking happy. She then turned to the man. "Well Sentarou, since you have the bottle now, go bring it to Ukitate-sama! He needs to take his medication!" she added.
"Oh right! I'll skip ahead of you then! Nice meeting you, Rukia-san." he replied, then ran off to the end of the hallway and made a turn.
"Really now, that guy! What am I going to do with him?" sighed Kiyone. "Anyway, so you're new here right? What are you doing in the nobles' home? Are you a cook? Are you doing laundry? Will you be doing the sweeping and stuff?" she asked, wanting to know more about Rukia.
"Well, umm, I'm Byakuya-sama's personal maid." Rukia replied. After she replied though, what she received from Kiyone were wide eyes of surprise.
"What?! Seriously?! Personal maid?! Wow! That means you must be getting paid more than me. Heh, I'm so jealous! But it's okay I guess, because along with Sentarou, I'm also a personal servant for Ukitate-sama!" Kiyone said, still full of energy.
"Who is Ukitate-sama?" Rukia asked, curious about the new character. He was obviously a noble too, but Rukia wondered to herself if every noble in the house had their own personal maids or servants.
"Oh, you don't know Ukitate-sama?! Well, he's the most wonderful man you'll ever meet! He's so kind and caring and so strong! Anyway, do you want to meet him? You can come with me since I'm headed over to his room anyway!" Kiyone replied, grabbing Rukia's hand and pulling her to the direction that Sentrou went.
"Ah, wait, I don't think that it's appropriate! I'm only a servant here!" Rukia said. She was trying to get Kiyone to let go of her, but Kiyone just wouldn't budge, she continued to pull Rukia.
"Nonsense! I'm sure that Ukitate-sama would love to meet a new friend! Don't worry, he's not scary at all!" Kiyone replied. Now Rukia was getting anxious because she was sure that Ukitate-sama was going to be like Byakuya-sama, and Rukia realized that there was no way she could escape Kiyone's tight grip on her. 'I guess I'll just introduce myself formally and then leave.' Rukia thought. Kiyone continued to pull her until they reached a door. Kiyone knocked, still not letting go of Rukia's hand, and Sentarou opened the door.
"You sure are slow!" he said to Kiyone, and then let the both of them in. When they were all inside, Kiyone finally let go of Rukia's hand and bowed down the person on the bed. Rukia also did the same thing, and after bowing she looked up and got a better look of the man on the bed. He had long white hair, and he also wore a haori. He looked pretty sick. His skin was very pale, and his eyes looked tired, yet he smiled at Rukia.
"Hello there. I'm Jyuushiro Ukitate." he said, still smiling, and then coughed a bit after.
"Ah, I'm Rukia Kuchiki, personal maid to Byakuya-sama. It's a pleasure to meet you Ukitate-sama." Rukia said, while her eyes were lowered. To her, he seemed kind and warm, unlike Byakuya-sama, who was very cold.
"What? You last name is Kuchiki?! Aren't you a noble then?! Why are you a servant? Did you kill someone? Are you being punished?" Kiyone asked, surprised to hear Rukia's last name, but she was making too much of a big deal out of it.
"Ahaha, of course she's not a noble Kiyone. It's just a coincidence isn't it, Rukia-chan?" Ukitate said, knowing that Rukia wasn't a noble. Rukia just nodded. Ukitate noticed that she wasn't comfortable at all at the moment. "You don't have to be nervous around us Rukia-chan, because even I'm not that much of a noble. I'm just a distant relative of Byakuya-sama's." Ukitate added.
"Yeah, don't be nervous! Ukitate-sama doesn't really care about the whole formality thing, and that's why Kiyone here always causes so much ruckus." Sentarou laughed.
"Hey! I'm not the only one! You make a lot of noise too!" Kiyone retorted, and Rukia just smiled. They seemed like a family to each other, and this reminded her of her friends. Ukitate was also smiling at his two servants, and then turned to Rukia.
"Rukia-chan, you must be busy at the moment. I apologize for Kiyone and Sentarou's behavior. You may leave if you wish." Ukitate told her, as Kiyone and Sentarou continued to fight at one corner of the room.
"Umm, I'm actually not buys at all. Byakuya-sama went to work, and he didn't give me much to do. I have the entire day to myself." Rukia replied, feeling a bit at ease knowing that Ukitate-sama wasn't so scary.
"Oh, is that so? What do you plan on doing for the day then?" Ukitate asked.
"I wanted to explore around the house, so that I'd be able to find my way next time... without getting lost..." Rukia replied, with the last part of the sentence turning into a whisper. She didn't want to admit that she was making mistakes, even though the reason for that was because she was new. Ukitate just smiled at her. He got the impression that she was the determined type. He had a feeling that somehow, in some way, Rukia would be able to change Byakuya-sama. It was just a feeling though.
Ukitate released a yawn. "Well then, I'm feeling really sleepy... You should get going, Rukia-chan, since there's nothing for you to do here and take a good look around the house. You should be able to meet more people." he said, while starting to lay down on his bed. "It was a pleasure meeting you by the way. Come by again the future."
"It was a pleasure meeting you as well, Ukitate-sama. Nice meeting you too Kiyone-san, and Sentarou-san." Rukia said, taking a final bow to Ukitate before leaving the room.
"Come by again okay, Rukia-san?" Kiyone said. "Yeah, it was a good meeting you." Sentarou added.
With that, Rukia left, closing the doors behind her, and as Ukitate was about to fall asleep, he thought to himself. 'I hope that you will be able to change Byakuya, Rukia-chan...'