Arriving at the First division barracks behind Kiyone and Suzume, Neji leaned forward, resting his hands on his knees and panted while he caught his breath. He felt the feint heat of a blush tint his cheeks when his stomach loudly growled.

Kiyone offered a sympathetic smile as she reached into the bag she'd been carrying with them and pulled out a baked good wrapped in a white cloth, offering it to him. He accepted it with a sheepish expression on his face and thanked her.

"You have Reiatsu, you wouldn't get hungry otherwise," Kiyone informed him. He considered this while he uncovered the baked good finding it to be a steamed bun. Biting into it however he found it was filled with curry and froze on the spot.

Kiyone was immediately aware of this and asked "wh-what's wrong?"

Suzume watched Neji before throwing her weight behind her arms as she pushed the doors to the first division open and ran in.

"Chiaki! Something's wrong with Neji," She called into the barracks.

Immediately a tall man wearing a standard shinigami uniform, with a white haori and a woman's pink kimono over his haori appeared. He had long wavy brown hair and a patch over his right eye. He had thin facial hair on his mouth and cheeks. On his head was a straw hat, and his obi was pale blue, he wore wooden sandals but no white tabi with them. In a blink he was at Neji's side and as soon as he appeared there he vanished, reappearing at the other side of the room with Neji who was hurriedly gulping down some water.

Looking to the steamed bun Shunsui remarked, "I take it you don't do well with spicy foods."

"No," Neji agreed looking remorsefully at the steamed bun, and his stomach growled painfully.

"Ah, that's the real issue. Come and join us then. We have Shabu-Shabu in the other room," the man offered.

"I don't wish to be a bother," Neji objected.

"It's fine, have some sake with me. Normally I'd drink with Chiaki but these days she's sticking to water. Good thing too," the flamboyantly dressed man countered.

He glanced at Suzume when her own stomach gave a slight growl as well. He smiled and added, "Besides, the little one should definitely eat. Most spirits don't get hungry. The fact the two of you are means that you do have some Reiatsu and need to replenish it. Easiest way to do that is by eating. Come along now, you as well Lieutenant."

"Yes sir," Kiyone replied as she followed him. Neji glanced to Suzume who bit her lip in hesitation. Neji knelt down to be eye level with her and hinted, "he seems nice."

Suzume nodded but was still biting her lip. "what's wrong?"

"I've never ate with someone like him before," Suzume answered, shyly.

"Ah, neither have I. Let's face this together," he suggested, holding his hand out to her. She accepted his hand and they followed the others into another room. He felt his stomach tense, he had a rough idea of what to expect but not entirely.

He entered the room finding several people sitting around a kotetsu, there was a bowl placed in front of each occupant and two more with chopsticks at the ready, at the center of the kotetsu was a hotpot. There was an elderly man with wrinkles on his forehead and cheeks. He had a moustache and mostly white hair with a black streak, he wore what Neji now recognized as being the Shinigami uniform and a lieutenant's badge was affixed to his left arm. Next to him was the man he'd met briefly earlier, next to him was a woman with slightly oval shaped glasses, she had light blue eyes with a hint of deep violet added to them. Her black hair was pulled up and held in place with hair pins. She wore a lieutenant's badge on her left arm. Next to her was the woman he kept having visions of.

Her chestnut brown hair was pulled half up and held back with an orange ribbon. She wore a sleeveless kimono shirt which now hung loosely instead of being tucked into a red obi. She wore shortened black hakama and had a bird shaped earring in her left ear cartilage, she wore a golden chain necklace with a bird shaped pendent on it and a silver chain that had a white yin symbol. She looked up at him, her face slightly rounder than he remembered and seemed nervous.

Next to her was a boy who had his back to Neji, from what he could make out the boy would've been around roughly nine or ten years old, with shaggy black hair. But it was the woman with the modified uniform that held his attention. Her amber eyes were warm in colour but there was pain, sadness, and uncertainty within them.

That look in her eyes, almost as if she was lost, or feeling awkward in the situation was cutting into his heart more than his empty stomach. If not for the dull ache he would've completely forgotten his hunger.

She seemed to be watching him, waiting eagerly before she hurried up to her feet and moved to leave the room by slipping past them. Neji grasped her hand and stated, "you don't like sweets, but you'll indulge in raspberry cheesecake because it's equally sweet, tart, and savory. You like Shabu-Shabu over Sukiyuki because the broth isn't as sweet. You can't stand mushrooms. You love spinach salads. When we met, you felt like a Pariah because of something that you had no way of controlling or stopping. I don't remember everything. I get flashes of what was but the one thing that's almost consistent in each flash I get is you."

She stopped and looked to him, he then noticed she was wearing her shirt loose to try to hide her growing stomach. He smiled as he added, "I compared you to a daisy."

She giggled and nodded, her eyes brimming with what he hoped were now happy tears. As they spilled out from her eyes and down over her cheeks she hurriedly brought her hand up to wipe them dry. He soon joined her efforts and she laughed a little as she apologized for crying.

"It's alright," he assured her. He glanced at the little girl he had with him and introduced her, "Suzume, this is Chiaki. Chiaki meet Suzume. We met shortly after I arrived here. She didn't have anyone so I—I've sort of adopted her."

"Hello Suzume," Chiaki greeted her.

Suzume looked at Chiaki and blurted out, "your belly's big."

This caused the adults in the room to erupt in laughter as well as the boy seated at he Kotetsu. Chiaki nodded and agreed, "yes. My belly is big. It's going to get bigger as the baby grows."

She returned to where she was seated before and the boy moved over next to the elderly man so that Neji could sit next to Chiaki and Suzume could be next to Neji.

The boy, Neji realized had fiery red eyes but a friendly smile as he introduced himself, "nice to meet ya! Aunt Aki can't stop talking about the white eyed guy. I'm Tetsuya."

Chiaki went around the table introducing them to Tetsuya, then next to him was Genshiro Okikiba, then Shunsui Kyoraku, and then between Shunsui and herself was her cousin Nanao Ise, and he already knew Kiyone who was squeezed in between Shunsui and Genshiro, no bowl but she was drinking what he could only guess to be sake.

Chiaki explained that Nanao along with Genshiro was co-Lieutenant of the first division while Shunsui was the Head-Captain.

"I've already beento the 12th, we're waiting on the results," Neji informed Shunsui. To this the flamboyantly dressed man gave a nod and smile.