When Erisia came to she was on the futon in the room she'd stayed in before. Something did not feel quite right. Her head felt fuzzy and she felt just plain strange. She wasn't entirely sure as to why. She sat up and tried to take some slow, deep breaths to calm and center herself. Slowly her memory started to right itself. When the murky puzzle pieces became clear and started to fall into place, panic bubbled up within her.

At that moment the door slid open. There was Byakuya. Of course with the way her energy was right now Kurosaki could probably feel her distress. The Captain's face was a nearly perfect mask of neutrality as he met her gaze, but there was an apology in his eyes. He could not help but feel like he had failed her. As a shinigami it was his job to keep Hollows from killing innocent people.

"How do you feel?" He asks though he did not really need to, for she was radiating just how lost and confused she was.

"I feel... strange." She says in barely a whisper, her eyes looking down to the covers on the futon... Without looking back up she speaks again. "I... I... died... didn't I?" She asks.

"You did." He answers. He saw no point in lying to her. She was a smart young woman, she deserved the truth.

She swallows hard at that. "What... what happens now?"

Some small part of him wanted to go to her, but that was not his way. "You do have options Nakayama-san. Come on out and we will explain things."

She nods and gets to her feet... She slipped out into the main area. Her gaze was still averted. This was all so surreal. She did not know how this was all possible. Yet she had always seen spirits, ever since she was a small child... It was so strange to think that she was now among them.

She sits between Byakuya and Uruhara at the table. Her gaze fixes on some random spot on the tabletop. They all watched her. She was always soft spoken, but she had never been this withdrawn. It bothered each man at the table in some way. Uruhara cleared his throat, and it had the desired effect, Erisia looked up.

"Eri-chan... please... do not be so distraught. I know that a lot has happened and I know that this is hard to take in. As Captain Kuchiki said, you do have options... You are in a unique situation... and while things have not happened as we would have liked it to. Meaning we would have had all this happen in a more controlled environment..." He pauses... sighing. "That is one topic we never quite got to speaking about because it hadn't become relevant... if things panned out and you would have to be trained, you were going to have to undergo a process that would have had similar results to this hollow attack."

Her eyes went wide. "You... you were going to..." She couldn't finish that sentence.

"In a way... yes. You were going to have to die. It is a difficult thing to explain because such things are not as clearly black and white but it will suffice well enough. You could not have trained your abilities while in a physical body, Erisia. You would have had to enter into spirit form. This would have occurred in a controlled environment and you would have been able to return to your body as if nothing had happened." Uruhara continues.

"Would have been able to?" She asks... her eyes once more focused on some random spot... she couldn't look at them right now.

"Due to how your death has happened... We will not be able to return you to your original body. However, if you choose to walk away from this I can make you a new body. One that no human will ever be able to tell is any different than the one you were in... and as time goes on if you wish to age, I can arrange that as well... though aging is a much stranger thing for those of us who are not in the living world. That is something that can be addressed later... Before we continue talking about this, do you have any questions?" Uruhara asks.

She still didn't look up. She was trying to focus and she was trying to sort everything out as she took it in. "So, I could go back to my life? I could go back to school? They... they don't know I'm dead?" She asks softly, tentatively.

"Yes. You can return to your life if you want to. You can go back to school and no one will know anything happened. Captain Kuchiki brought back your body as well as you so no one has to know you died." Uruhara explains in a cautious manner. He was trying to be gentle about this... He might not always be tactful but he was capable of it. Erisia was a girl with tremendous potential... but it wasn't just that. She was a nice young woman and what had happened was tragic... They'd all come to think of her in friendly terms at least. Either like a little sister, or a friend... and in someone else's case perhaps something more than that... She had endeared herself to them in the short time they'd known her... which was why he was trying to be as gentle about all this as he could.

"That sounds so strange... that he brought me and my body back. I mean... I... I know that I've been separated from my body. That's what made me faint... it just... this all sounds so crazy." She sighs... "So what exactly is this.. artificial body you spoke of?"

"Something I invented. It is called a gigai. It is a container for a soul just like a normal body is. It will look and function exactly the same. I originally invented them so that Shinigami who come to the real world for missions can do more than just interact on a ghostly level. Souls do not normally remember the lives they had before they died. So none of them remember what it was like to be living. It is always interesting to try new things." Uruhara explains with a broad grin. He was quite proud of his work after all.

"Why do they not remember?" She asks.

"Well sometimes souls do not get reborn right away and it would be cruel to make them remember what they were missing while they were in Soul Society, don't you think? Any souls the shinigami come across that are not at rest are generally put through what is called the Soul Burial. It is like a reset button that wipes the soul's slate clean so it can go on to the after life in peace."

Her eyes got big as saucers then and she looked up to Uruhara as if startled. He offered her a small smile to try and calm her down. "We have no intention of putting you through that Erisia unless it is your wish. If you wish to go back to your life, I will make you a gigai and you can return to it as though the Hollow never attacked you. If you wish to continue on with your training there is no need to perform a soul burial because we can just take you through a senkai gate to Soul Society. You will keep all your memories and lose nothing. Remember that you would have had to go through something similar to this in order to continue with the training anyway..." He explains carefully.

She nods and then goes quiet, she had a lot to think about. Of course there was the shadow panther as well, perhaps he would have some insight for her.~ What should I choose to do? ~ She asks the panther inside her head... She felt so lost and confused and overwhelmed.

~ The choice is up to you. Though I do have a question for you.~

~What?~

~ Do you wish to help people still? ~

She thought about that for a moment... though she was so overwhelmed and part of her was so sad right now... She had asked the panther to drop the barrier knowing full well that she was likely going to die... She had known that and accepted it. She had done it because in her mind it had been the only way to ensure that no innocent people would get hurt by the Hollow.

~ I gave up my life to do so... Strange as this all is, my desire to help people has not changed.~

~ Then take the training Erisia. Become what you were meant to be. ~

~ And what is that? ~

The panther was smirking again, she could feel it.. ~Shinigami~ it responds simply.

She looks to each one at the table after the little internal dialogue finished. "I gave up my life willingly. I knew full well what asking the panther to drop the barrier would bring about. I knew the Hollow would come after me. While I had hoped that someone would be close enough to reach me in time, I did not delude myself... I knew I was probably going to die... and I did it anyway. " She pauses, taking a breath to calm herself and to try and refocus her words... "I only have another month and a half of classes to finish... I think it would be a shame to turn my back on that now when I have worked so hard to get there...After I am finished with University..." She pauses again trying to think of how best to word this... She still felt quite overwhelmed after all.

"After I have finished with University... could I go to Soul Society then and see if I could truly become someone that can help?" She asks looking at Byakuya...

All three men at the table ponder her words and her question... Byakuya simply nods...

"What a marvelous idea Eri-chan. After you finish your schooling you could go to Soul Society full time and even attend the Academy. It would be much better than just having a few random teachers here and there... You could become a true shinigami." Uruhara says in that sickeningly happy tone of his.

"What about my apartment?"

"Well do you own it or merely rent it?" Uruhara asks... It was not uncommon to own apartments since space was always at a premium.

"I own it."

"Well then we could keep it up and running for you... take care of it and when you come back to the real world you can still use it..."

"I will not be back for a while initially... will I?" She asks. Even overwhelmed the girl seemed quite astute...

"If you attend the academy you will not likely return until after you graduate. It is not unheard of to graduate in a year... but it is not common... It will depend on you Eri-chan."

"Someone will have to adopt my cat Hana then... unless she can go to Soul Society."

Uruhara chuckles about that. "Well I don't have a problem with cats at all... I have one that likes to wander in and out as it sees fit so I'm quite used to the feline nature."

Byakuya glares at him, knowing exactly who Uruhara was talking about and he was sorely hoping that speaking about the demon cat wouldn't bring her around. He would rather not run into her right now. His mood was already far too sour and she would only make it worse. Erisia was oblivious to what was going on between the two men, she was focusing on processing all this overwhelming stuff...

"Well Hana's a house cat. She doesn't much care for the outside... But she's house broken and her only bad habit is waking you up a little early so she can get food." She says with a small shrug...

"Well that's nothing at all, par for the course in owning a cat. My cat's habits are far worse... so I'm sure we won't have a problem with Hana at all." Uruhara laughs.

"How long will it take you to create a gigai for me?"

"You should be able to return to class on Monday. If any modifications are needed to be made we can do that as the need arises. I know you will be busy the last month especially, Eri-chan but we should start teaching you some of the things you will have to know if you choose to go to the academy. Not everyone gets a head start but there is at least a general knowledge of what things a shinigami can do... Have you ever had any self defense training?"

"No, Uruhara-san, I have not."

"Well that will have to change. We'll start you on some rudimentary stuff. We'll just get you a little bit of a foundation started so you're not completely lost and overwhelmed when you get there." He says with a broad grin.

"Alright..." She says softly...

"Why don't you and the Captain take a walk Eri-chan? It will help you clear your head I would suggest you go alone but for the fact that right now you would be even more vulnerable than you were when you were still attached to your body." Uruhara suggests...

She looks to Byakuya. "Would you mind terribly accompanying me?" She asks softly.

"I do not mind." Comes the simple reply. She nods and smiles and rises... Soon they are both outside...

"Are you really all right with this Nakayama-san?" Byakuya asks once they are away from the shop.

"I am still quite overwhelmed... but... I will be... Really." She says with a small smile. It doesn't reach her eyes but that she is even attempting to smile when she is surely in a world of chaos is a good sign - right? Of course she did not fully believe she was going to be completely all right with all of this, but she had just died... It was just going to take some time. As soon as she had that gigai thing and was back to her normal life, she would probably feel a lot better... Right?