WHEN THE SNOW FALLS
by Yih

Chapter Nineteen
The Third Seat

"Why have you not officially instated Rukia as the 3rd seat?" Kaien demanded as he entered Jushiro's office with impatience written on his face and apparent in his voice. "It's been a month!"

Jushiro looked up from his current research project that he was conducting with Shunsui on the surge of Menos Grande recently. The Hollow that had murdered Miyako had instigated this project and after having delved into it a bit, Jushiro had realized that something strange was going on. There were a far greater number of stronger Hollows when looking at old records than there had ever been before. Either it was a matter of simple evolution or something was brewing…

"My recommendation to promote Kuchiki to the 3rd seat was rejected by Yamamoto-sou-taichou."

Kaien looked surprised, which wasn't surprising considering he didn't know that Byakuya was actively blocking Rukia from a seated position. Jushiro didn't know how to convince Byakuya to back down from his stance or to persuade Genryusai-sensei to override Byakuya and allow Rukia to be seated. Neither option was going to be easy, though, considering both men were stubborn and insisted on following the rules to the letter.

"But—"

"Is Rukia upset?" Jushiro asked.

He had yet to speak to Rukia about why the seated position that had seemed pretty much sewn up was now being denied to her. It was going to be hard to explain to the rest of the squad, especially the newer recruits that had thrived under her guidance in Kaien's absence. They were very fond and loyal to her and they thought she deserved a seated position even more so than Kaien.

Unfortunately, Byakuya didn't see that. Jushiro understood why Byakuya didn't want Rukia to be in a seated position. Seated officers did undertake more difficult and dangerous missions than unseated ones. But the problem was Rukia was too good not to be seated. Jushiro sighed. He wasn't exactly sure how to approach Byakuya about the issue – if he could even approach him at all.

He could even promise not to give Rukia any missions that were possibly dangerous. He could keep that promise, since Rukia was an excellent mentor and she might be best utilized in that way. She'd be stepping into Miyako's shoes and that was a position that Jushiro never thought would be filled. Rukia certainly did things differently, but both she and Miyako were wonderful at inspiring the new recruits.

"I don't know," Kaien replied honestly. "She hasn't said a word."

"I see." Jushiro looked out his window where he caught sight of Rukia once again training the new recruits in the main courtyard. "When she has time, please tell her to come see me."

Kaien nodded, but didn't make any motion to leave. "Ukitake-taichou, you've always been fair and just. Rukia has deserved a seated position for a long time simply based on her kido caliber skills, even with her subpar zanjutsu. Now that she excels at shunpo… her zanjutsu is quite above average. How can she remain unseated with such talent? It would be folly."

Jushiro said nothing to that. What could he say that Kaien hadn't said? He thought Rukia deserved to be 3rd seat and it was a pity he hadn't been able to convince Byakuya that she was quite capable of keeping herself protected even if she was sent on those missions.

"Don't forget to tell Rukia to come see me," Jushiro reminded as he bent over to do his paperwork, effectively dismissing Kaien.

-

Kaien wasn't happy at all as he left Ukitake-taichou's office and sped over to the courtyard where he could survey Rukia training the newer shinigami amongst them. They had improved greatly with her tutelage and soon he would organize a mission for them to the real world to test their skills against minor Hollows with Rukia as their commanding officer. He would like to do that as her first mission as 3rd seat, but that didn't look like it would be happening anytime soon.

He balled his hand into a fist and tried to control the frustration he felt at the situation. Rukia was like a sister to him and he felt like she wasn't getting what she rightfully deserved – and he couldn't do anything about the situation.

"Kuchiki!" Kaien called, signaling for her to come to him. He watched her apologize to the others before breaking away from them.

"Is there something you needed, Kaien-dono?" Rukia asked.

"May I speak to you for a moment, if you can spare it?"

"Of course," she answered with a bright smile and turned back to the group she'd been training to say, "I'll be back in a bit!"

Kaien led her off to a more private area where they wouldn't be overheard. "I had a talk with Ukitake-taichou."

"About what?"

"About you."

Rukia looked up. "Why?"

"I was wondering why you haven't been formally acknowledged yet as the 3rd seat."

"What did he say?"

"He said that his recommendation had been rejected by Yamamoto-sou-taichou." Kaien studied Rukia's face carefully, wondering at how she would react. "I don't understand why. You passed the test of qualifications, what other objections could he have? I've never heard of Yamamoto-sou-taichou interfering before with a Taichou's recommendation. I mean, you are being promoted to a high seat fairly early, but Kira and Hinamori are already lieutenants!"

"They were in the advanced class—"

"Regardless!" Kaien exclaimed. "You are as worthy of your position as they are of theirs."

"Maybe Yamamoto-sou-taichou has a good reason," Rukia said. Her expression was bland and Kaien couldn't read what she was thinking or feeling. "Besides, there's nothing we can do about the situation. Just let it go, Kaien-dono."

"Rukia…"

"Is there anything else you wanted to discuss?"

Kaien was frustrated at the entire situation. There was little chance he could keep bothering Ukitake to do something about Yamamoto's rejection when Rukia didn't even seem bothered by it. Why was she not at least as annoyed at the injustice of this as he was?

"Does it not bother you?" he asked bluntly. "The injustice of this? You deserve this position."

"Of course, it does," Rukia responded. "But what can we do? Yamamoto-sou-taichou's decision is not something we can go against. Maybe it's too early and really I'm fine with being an unseated officer."

"Rukia…"

"If there's nothing else you need, I'll head back."

Kaien watched her turn around to walk back to the main courtyard, but he put his hand on her shoulder to stop her. "There is one more thing."

She looked over her shoulder at him. "Yes?"

"Ukitake-taichou wants to speak with you."

"I'll go see him now," she said. She started walking in the direction of Ukitake's office, but suddenly stopped and whirled around. "Thank you, Kaien-dono, for always supporting me."

Kaien smiled back at her. "I'm very proud of you, you know."

"I know."

-

Rukia wondered what Ukitake-taichou would want to talk about and wondered if it had to do with the group mission that was coming up with the new recruits. The first one had had gone well and she hadn't been as confident with her second dance as she now was. She had even gotten Sode no Shirayuki's approval to learn the third and final dance of her shikai release. She doubted this new dance would be mastered any time soon, but she was glad she was finally making some more progress.

"Ukitake-taichou?"

"Come in, Rukia," he said.

She entered into his bright, well-organized office and took a respectful seat on the cushion in front of his desk. She noticed that once again he had a large stack of paperwork. "Are you working on another project?"

"Yes, it's about Hollows," Ukitake responded. "There's been a recent surge of Menos Grande and I'm looking into that."

"That's good," she said because she didn't really know how else to respond. She didn't have the camaraderie that Kaien and Ukitake shared, but they had spent years and years together. One day, she hoped to be as comfortable with her Taichou as she was with her Fukutaichou. "Kaien-dono said you asked to see me?"

"Kaien probably has already told you about the fact Yamamoto-sou-taichou has declined my recommendation for you to be the 3rd seat of Squad 13. I was wondering how you felt about it."

"Disappointed," Rukia replied honestly, "but not too surprised. I am still rather inexperienced to be granted such a high seat."

Ukitake looked at her, actually staring at her in a thoughtful way that if it had been anyone else she might have thought it an unkind look, but not with her Taichou. Rukia glanced away, though, not able to meet his gaze.

"I have not given up yet," Ukitake stated. "I'm sure Yamamoto-sou-taichou will eventually come around."

Rukia nodded. "When he does, I'll be glad to be your 3rd seat."

"And I'll be glad to have you as such."

-

A/N: I'm sure a lot of you will be disappointed b/c (1) there's no Byakuya and (2) there's no Byakuya/Rukia confrontation about 3rd seat. I hope you understand my explanation of things… that no one really goes against Yamamoto-sou-taichou, since he is the Sou-taichou! Anyway, I hope you still enjoy this chapter and please review and maybe I'll get up one, even two chapters before I head to DC for Christmas! Thanks again for reading and please, please review!

Released: 12/22/08