It was decided that they should leave soon to make certain they would be back in time for Byakuya to make it before the senkai gate closed. Though she should have been leading the way since they were going to her home, she fell into step just two paces behind him. A fact which Uruhara noted and would likely be talking with Tessai about later. They began going back towards where the Hollow had attacked her. It was quiet. Not that anyone could call the Captain of the 6th squad talkative - normally. However since those dreams began very little seemed normal.

"You are taking this all rather well." He muses.

"Is there a choice in the matter?" She asks softly. They were now walking more together than with her behind him. He had slowed his pace until they were side by side if only to make speaking easier.

"You live near where the Hollow attacked, correct?"

"Yes. Thank you for accompanying me."

"Are you afraid?" He asks... it would be perfectly normal if she were.

"I suppose I am a little. I would be more so if I saw the rip in the sky again since I know what it means. The sky is always ripped when one of those things comes through." She says with a soft sigh.

"Most people would have just run the other way if they had the gift of sight as you do." He observes.

"I am not most people. My mother would never have forgiven me had I turned and ran to leave innocent children to fall victim if there was even a small chance that I could save them."

"Your mother sounds like a very strong woman."

"She was not strong always. But she had a sense of pride and she tried to teach me to be a better person. She always told me that it was my duty to be better than the others would expect me to be."

"Was there any specific reason that motivated her to teach you this?" He was curious, she was such a strange girl - truly an anomaly.

"I suppose it was her small way of trying to be noble. It might not have been the traditional sense of the term... but in these modern times very little can equate... Still since my mother was descended from an Empress she tried to be a better person... It is why I took her maiden name instead of carrying my father's name."

"Is your father the one responsible for the other scars you bear?" He pauses, realizing how casually he'd just asked that. "Forgive me, I noticed them when I first assessed the wounds the Hollow caused, it was improper of me to ask it of you. You need not answer." He corrects his misstep.

"It is alright. Most of the town knows the story anyway. My father was a businessman and he believed that children should be seen and not heard. On nights when he had too much sake, he would physically emphasize his point. It matters little now, both he and my mother have left this world behind."

"I am sorry you had to endure such things. You do not strike me as a noisy child."

"I was not. But a drunkard does not care what makes sense." She says quietly. The rest of the walk to her home was continued in silence. Both reflecting on things. Byakuya was chiding himself for being so casual with the girl. He wondered what it was about her that had sidestepped his usual mask of indifference.

Her home was a small apartment in a nice enough building. It was by no means a structure that befit a girl that carried herself with such grace... But this was the real world and seldom did things make sense here. It had surprised him to know that she was descended from any kind of nobility. She opened the door and welcomed her into her humble home.

It was very nearly devoid of personal items. A few pictures and some odds and ends but by no means did this seem to be a place belonging to a girl attending university. Not that he had any real idea what such would look like. It was merely that having a sister, he had figured a girl would accumulate something. There were a few small paintings and in the corners of them he noticed that symbol again...

"What is that symbol?" He inquires as he gestures to the one on the painting.

"It was the Empress's personal stamp. I do not know if the one my mother passed on to me is the original that was handled by the Empress herself, but the women in our family have always kept it. I had it enlarged and marked myself with it to try and bring beauty to a canvas marred by experience." She explains.

Well that explained that, but it did not explain why he had had dreams that showed that symbol. He would have much to discuss with the Captain Commander it would seem. She distracted his mind then with offer of tea. She fixed some quickly and poured him some like a gracious hostess and then excused herself to gather things.

"How much should I bring?" She asks...

"Bring enough for a couple of days if it goes beyond that time, I am sure Uruhara-san or Tessai-san will accompany you to retrieve more if you have a need. It should not go beyond that time frame however."

She nods at his answer and retreats back to her room. She packs a small rolling suitcase with enough clothes for four days and her sketchbook as well as her toiletries. One last look around and she retreated from her room. She was going to miss it.

~ Do not worry I will be with you even there. ~ Came that purring voice again. She had already emerged when the voice came to her and so she was within his sight when she froze.

"Is something the matter?" He inquires though he shows no concern.

"The panther was speaking."

"What did it say?"

"It told me to not worry that it would be with me even at the shop."

"You do not wish to stay there."

"I do not wish to impose. But I am not a shinigami... I do not really understand about Hollows and I doubt very much that throwing rocks at them will do anything more than anger them. So if you feel that it is safer for me there, then I will go there until it is decided otherwise."

"You threw a rock at the Hollow?"

"I had to get it's attention off of the children." She explains as she begins to clean up the tea cup and the small pot she'd used so as to leave nothing amiss while she was gone. He nods, that made sense but what did not make sense was that the rock actually hit it. When she held it she must have unconsciously put her intent and thus her reiatsu onto the rock and that is what allowed it to hit the monster.

"I am ready, I would not want to keep you from your business any longer. Thank you again for accompanying me." She says softly with a polite bow. Once more she receives a nod in acknowledgement.

He leads the way back to Uruhara's shop... Once more she has fallen into step behind him. Modern folk with no knowledge of the past or nobility would not realize that she was walking at the distance that would have been kept in order to acknowledge his nobility. Not his servant, but not his equal.