Chapter 21: Regaining My Confidence
I shunpoed all the way to the tenth squad to meet up with Rangiku. I was late. Whoops… I almost ran into my captain in the process. He looked up at me curiously with his normal scowl. "Shinkiro-chan! You're late!" Rangiku said annoyed, "Now, we don't have much time to go shopping, so you have to let me and taicho pick out what you're going to wear!" I sweatdropped and looked at Toshiro-taicho apologetically. He glared at Rangiku-chan, but surprisingly didn't argue. From the office, we shunpoed all the way to the shopping district of the Seireitei. We stopped at a store, and my eyes widened. This looked way too expensive for me.
"Shinkiro-chan, this is my welcome home gift, so don't worry about it okay?" Rangiku-chan said as though reading my mind, and I smiled at her in thanks. "I really don't understand why I had to come along," Toshiro-taicho muttered angrily as we entered the store.
"Gomen nasai, Toshiro-taicho," I said smally. I really felt bad that he was dragged along. He looked at me and shook his head, "Someone has to make sure she doesn't give your father a heart attack by what she puts you in." I giggled at that.
"Come on, Shinkiro-chan! We're short on time!" Rangiku-chan said as she pushed me into a changing room with a huge stack of clothes. Dang… That was fast. I looked through the stack. There was almost nothing here I would voluntarily wear. "Come on, Shinkiro-chan! Put one on and show us already!" Rangiku-chan urged. I sighed and quickly threw on the first thing in the stack that didn't look too inappropriate.
I came out of the changing room and Rangiku-chan smirked and Toshiro-taicho turned red. I looked at them shyly. I was in a short, short sleeved coal gray kimono style dress with cherry blossom petals flowing from the bottom to the top. The strap across my waist was the same color pink as the cherry blossom petals. It hugged my curves and the dip in the front went a little further down than I was comfortable with and exposed some of my cleavage. The worst part was though, is that you could see most of my scars. Especially the scary burn ones on my legs.
"Shinkiro-chan, you look amazing in that!" Rangiku-chan exclaimed smiling. I blushed and looked down. "But… I-it shows my scars really bad," I said sadly, very self-conscious as I looked at the scars on my legs. "Ukitake-san," I hear my captain say, and I looked at him nervously, "You're scars are fine. They are a part of you and proof of your strength. Kuchiki-taicho accepts them and so will everyone else. You look very nice in that." That made me happy. Toshiro-taicho wasn't one to be real comforting or anything, so the fact that he put up with all of this to comfort me made me feel much better.
"A-arigato, Toshiro-taicho," I said getting teared up. Rangiku-chan hugged me, "Shinkiro-chan! You have to quit being so cute! Everyone will end up falling for you! Now come on! Let's buy this, and I picked out some shoes for you too! We need to get our makeup and hair done!" I sighed and laughed lightly before hurrying back into the changing room and changing back into my robes. I threw the clothes over the door to Rangiku-chan and went out the door to see her already paying for the clothes. We all left the store after I thanked Rangiku-chan relentless. Toshiro-taicho split from us as Rangiku-chan and I walked to her apartment. We quickly got into her apartment and began getting ready.
"Shinkiro-chan, can I do your hair and makeup?" Rangiku-chan asked excitedly and in a tone that told me that I couldn't really argue with her. "Hai(Yes). I guess so," I said a little nervous. She squealed in excitement and then began to pin back my bangs which by now had grown out to where they framed my face. I feel her begin to tug on my hair and pull it back into a high ponytail which made me nervous because this way, part of my back would show with the dress, and I had a rather large scar that ran down my back. Oh well. I guess there's no use hiding them anymore.
After Rangiku-chan and I finished getting ready, she let me look in the mirror. I was shocked. My hair was pulled back into a sleek high ponytail with the exception of my bangs which hung on both sides to frame my face. She left my lavender locks their normal curly ways aside from them being in a ponytail. The makeup up she put on me was pretty subtle. She had put on a light coat of mascara on eyelashes and a thin layer of black eyeliner around my eyes further highlighting their ice blue color. She also had put on that same cherry flavored lipgloss that she used on me on Byakuya and I's first date. I flinched slightly at the memory.
"Oi, Shinkiro-chan! Here are the shoes I got for you!" Rangiku-chan threw me a pair of coal gray open-toed 6 inch stiletto heels. Laughing lightly about the comment Toshiro-taicho had mentioned about me giving Oto-san a heart attack, I put on the shoes and walked around a little to get used to them. Rangiku-chan smirked her approval. She looked stunning as always. She had on a simple long navy blue dress with a very low neckline and a very high slit with a pair of matching stiletto heels. At that point we heard a knock on the door.
"Who issss ittttt?" Rangiku-chan asked in a sing song voice. A very familiar voice answered, "It's Jushiro Ukitake. I was told I could find my daughter here and wanted to walk her to her welcoming party." I grinned and walked quickly to the door and opened it to see my father whose jaw dropped slightly from what I was wearing.
"Gomen nasai, Oto-san… Rangiku-chan insisted," I said apologetically with a shy smile. He just shook his head and smiled. "This is what I get for adopting a grown up to be my child," he joked before stepping out of the way of the door so that I could get outside and winked at the sad face I gave him, "I wouldn't have it any other way." I grinned at this and took my father's arm as we started to head out. "I'll catch you guys at the party!" Rangiku-chan said waving to us. As we walked to the club, I looked up at Oto-san, not knowing how to bring up the thing about Byakuya and me.
"What's wrong, Shinkiro-chan?" Oto-san asked stopping. I looked at him nervously. Was I that easy to read? "Yes, you are." I heard Kagekishi say in my head. I hushed him. "You know you can talk to me about anything, right?" I heard Oto-san insist. I looked at him shyly. "Well, I wanted to ask your advice about something," I said nervously. "Well, let's hear it! I can't guarantee I'll know the answer, but I'll do my best to help," he said encouragingly. I smiled.
"Well, it's about Byakuya," I said nervously. "So you two are already back on a first name basis I see," he teased. I nodded nervously and continued, "Yes… He wants us to be in a relationship again, and I'm nervous about it. He said that it's normal for people to get to know each other through relationships, and I've never actually had a relationship before. And he's been married. What if I do something wrong? What if I don't meet the expectations of those around him?" I felt myself rambling and getting more upset, and Oto-san sat a comforting hand on my shoulder and looked me in the eyes with a serious look on his face.
"Byakuya-taicho is a very well respected man in the Soul Society, and he's well-liked by the women especially. His standards are very high, and, frankly, I can't think of a girl here who is more capable of meeting those standards. Shinkiro-chan, you are beautiful, kind, smart, determined, and insanely talented; however, it ultimately is up to you if you are ready for a serious relationship with him. I don't believe it will be easy as the Kuchiki elders are not the kindest of people. But please realize, the Ukitake clan is a noble one as well, though not as up there as the Kuchikis. We accepted you. He accepts you. The only thing left is for you to choose to accept yourself and whether or not you will accept Byakuya-taicho," Oto-san lectured seriously. Wow. I'm glad I got to ask him about it. He's so wise.
"Arigato, Oto-san!" I said with a small smile, and with that we continued walking to the club. "Anytime, my daughter," he said with a kind smile. I seriously have the best father in the world. Just saying. When we finally reached the club, I felt my chest tighten. Apparently, our little conversation took longer than I realized. From the noise and the look of the club, everyone else was already there. I took a deep breath, and Oto-san put a reassuring hand on my back as I realized what I needed to do. Tonight was gonna be interesting.