The giant metal doors of the Research and Development center swing open and Ayumi took a step back as she tried to mentally prepare herself for the meeting. She willed herself to have a bit more confidence and she found herself hoping she could stem her awkwardness for once.
"Hello. You must be the new recruit." She was greeted by a young male Soul Reaper who looked to be in his teens but she knew he was probably much older.
"Uh…Yes, I am. I'm Ayumi Otsuka." She replied back as she took in his appearance.
He was rather short and looked quite slim, his brown hair fell to his shoulders and on the top of his head his bangs were pulled back into a cute pony tail that stood straight up. She found herself smiling at the poor guy but she couldn't help that she found him instantly adorable.
"I am Rin, one the department heads here." He explained as he turned his body and held out his hand gesturing for her to enter the building.
"I see. I was instructed by my transcripts to seek out Lieutenant Akon." She replied.
"Yes. He is currently occupied at the moment, so I am afraid I will be the one to give you a quick tour until he can arrive." Rin continued to explain with an apologetic look on his face.
"I would love a tour." She replied with a smile as she stepped inside.
Rin smiled back as he closed the large metal door and secured the large latch that locked it from the inside. She couldn't help but wonder why the Division felt the need to keep the building under such safeguarding but she decided to keep her questions to herself.
"It's been quite a few years since our Squad has been sent a new recruit. So we may be a bit clumsy in our welcome, I hope you can forgive us." He stated as he turned on his heel and started to walk down the dimly lit corridor.
Ayumi followed him closely as she looked around at her surroundings. It seemed a bit eerie to her as she walked down the hallway but she pushed the feeling aside.
"I hope my coming is not any kind of inconvenience." She spoke softly.
Rin paused mid-step and gave her a reassuring smile.
"Not at all, we can always use an eager mind and an extra set of hands. I have been informed that you will start your training with me anyways so I figured why not be the one to show you around. I think I will take you to your room first, that way you can change. The Lieutenant instructed me to let you know the first uniform will be free of charge but you will have to purchase some more once you receive your wages." He rambled.
She smiled at him and a part of her was pleased that she would be working with him, He seemed like such an easy person to be around already.
"Thank you that was very considerate of him." She replied as Rin turned and lead her down another hallway that lead to the Squad 12's living courters.
She noticed the deeper into the building he lead her that the hallways seemed to fork out in all kinds of directions she found herself feeling a little bit flustered and she hoped she wouldn't become a nuisance to anyone by repeatedly getting herself lost all the time. Rin turned again leading her down another hallway but this time she noticed the doors that framed the walls on each side. It reminded her of her Student housing back at the Academy.
"Will I be sharing a room here?" She asked him.
Rin paused in front of one of the doors and she noticed the silver numbers. Number 1101.
"No, you will have your own room but we all share a communal bathing area that is a couple halls down, I had planned on showing you the basics today. This will be you're room." He replied as he took a small key from his pocket and unlocked the door for her and pushed it open.
Ayumi walked forward as he held the door out for her and she stepped inside the room. It was a lot more spacious then she had first expected. She turned her attention to the futon that laid on the floor to the right and noticed the folded up black Shihakusho and the white lab coat. She smiled to herself as another rush of excitement filled her.
"I'll give you a few moments of privacy." Rin commented before he stepped out of the doorway and let the door close behind him.
She didn't waste any time as she tossed her Duffel bag down on floor and slipped her feet out of her sandals. She pulled the Red and White top she was wearing open and shrugged it off allowing it to fall to the wooden floor and made quick work of removing the bottoms. She bent down and grabbed the Shihakusho from the bed and unfolded it. She glanced at the fabric and her heart skipped a beat as she wondered if the size would be right. Her height and weight was in her personal file, but it seemed that her Lieutenant had not thought about the possibility of her having a curvaceous figure, which she did.
She stepped into the bottoms and pulled them up her thick hips and sighed in relief when they didn't get stuck but seemed to sit just right. She left the tie loose as she thrust her lean arms into the top and wrapped it closed around her large breasts. She tucked the black fabric into the bottoms and secured it in place by tying the band into a knot below her belly button. She raised her arms and tested the fit of the top, it was a bit snug and showed off more the she would have liked but she wasn't going to complain about her Lieutenant's friendly gesture. She was able to move freely enough, she would just have to make sure the top didn't slip open and end up giving her new Squad members an unexpected view.
She stepped back into her sandals and almost forgot about the white lab coat that laid neatly folded. She reached down for it and quickly shook it loose and tossed it on over her the Shihakusho. She sighed in relief as the coat seemed to hide just how form fitting it really was. She bent down and picked up her old Academy uniform and folded it up placing it on top the desk that sat on the opposite side of the room with a matching wooden chair. She left her Duffle bag on the floor and decided not to keep Rin waiting any longer as she reached out and pulled the door open.
She found him standing patiently in the middle of the hall, he had the white stick of a lollipop hanging out of his mouth. He turned his dark gaze to her as she stepped out into the hallway.
"How's the fit?" he asked as his eyes seemed to scan her for himself, his hand reached up and removed the candy from his mouth.
"It will do for now." She replied not wanting to be picky.
"Hmm, Are you sure it's comfortable? It looks a bit snug in some places." He replied back honestly.
"Is it really that obvious? I thought the lab coat hid it." She admitted as she brought her arms up and wrapped them around her middle.
"That made it worse." He replied.
Her cheeks flushed red as she realized her habit of holding herself when she felt insecure had only managed to bring even more attention to her chest. She dropped her arms to her sides and willed herself to gain some composure, it wasn't indecent it just extenuated her body's natural curvature.
"I will be okay, I don't want to be rude." She replied.
Rin lifted is gaze and shrugged his small shoulders at her before sticking the purple lollipop back in his mouth.
"Very well." He replied as he stepped forward.
"I'll continue the tour by showing you the bathing area." He stated as he trudged forward.
She sighed to herself as she continued to follow the kind Soul's lead.
About an hour and half later Ayumi was ushered into the main station in the lab, She passed by a setup of multiple computer screens and a giant table with many keys that almost resembled a Piano to her, each key had a symbol engraved in it but she couldn't make out what they meant. She turned her attention back to Rin as he continued forward turning away from the station that was set up, she noticed an exam chair and even a medical bed set up farther back in the room.
"This is the Captain's personal area, nobody is permitted to touch anything when passing through, and the main lab where we will be working is located down this hallway." He explained to her as he turned to his right and led her down a short hall and her eyes filled with wonder as she looked up at the giant screen filled with so much information.
"My main job is to keep an eye on the comings and goings of each Soul Reaper and Soul as they pass through the Dangai Pressapace World into the Human world or the Soul Society. I make sure that travel is safe for each Soul the passes through...or Human for that matter. I will be teaching you what to look for and how to monitor situations correctly and the protocols we have for if something goes awry." He informed her.
"Okay." Ayumi replied feeling a bit unsettled by the information.
She hadn't expected to be working in such close proximity of the ranked officers so soon, but she wasn't going to let it intimidate her, if she paid enough attention and even took notes on what he taught her she would be fine she assured herself. He walked her farther into the large room and she noticed the way the other officers looked up from their personal computer stations and studied her closely. She kept her gaze forward as each pair of eyes she passed scrutinized her.
"I took the liberty of setting you up your own station next to mine, I figured that would be the easiest solution for when you had any questions. I know this may seem like a lot to take on, but it's fairly simple after you get used to it." He assured her.
She smiled over at him softly.
"I am sure under you guidance I will be catch on quickly." She replied giving the high ranked Soul a compliment.
He smiled back at her as he stopped in front of a computer station in the front of the room. Ayumi noticed the man who sat in a large swivel chair but under closer inspection she wasn't so sure man was the right way to describe him. He didn't resemble a normal Soul or a human in any regard. He was quite round and bulbuls and his skin tone was an odd shade of green. He appeared to be more amphibian looking to her as she tried to stem her curiosity and turn her gaze away from him. She didn't want to insult him by staring too hard.
"Hiyosu, this is Ayumi, the new recruit that will be working with us." Rin addressed the frog man.
She allowed herself to look at him again as he turned in his swivel chair and gawked at her with a wide toothy smile.
"I see...That's nice." He replied as his gaze passed over her entire body before he swiveled the chair back to face the giant screen in front of him.
Rin turned to her and shrugged his shoulders again.
"He takes some getting used to." He offered as he held out his hand.
"This will be your station, if you would like to take a seat I will help you create a password that will allow you access into the system. I will have to scan in your fingerprints." He continued.
"Right, Okay." She replied as she sidestepped into the cubical and carefully took a seat in the second chair. Rin slid in and sat down next to her.
"Please excuse my reach." He offered as he extended his arm and she felt his body lean into hers as his small fingers typed in a code on her keyboard making the screen in front of her come alive.
She had no clue what she was staring back at, but it almost looked as if it were a map of every inch of the Seireitei itself and she could see blinking red dots and green lines strategically placed in certain area's marked by a blue circle. She guessed that the different colors were used as some form of code.
"Ah, there you are, Rin." She heard a deep male voice speak and she looked up from her station.
She met the man's dark gaze as he stepped forward.
"You must be Ayumi. I am Lieutenant Akon. Sorry I could not meet with you personally the Captain and I had an unexpected meeting." He explained as he leaned forward extending his hand out to shake.
Ayumi smiled as she leaned across Rin's lap just as she caught the site of a baggy white Captain's Haori standing next to Akon.
"It's nice to meet you." She replied as she took the man's hand in hers.
"Uh…Yeah…It seems I may have picked the wrong size for you." He commented referring to her uniform.
Her brow furrowed as she wondered why he would bring that up so suddenly and her cheeks turned red as she looked down realizing she had just given her new Lieutenant and her Captain a view of just how curvaceous she actually was. She let go of his hand and sat ramrod straight in the chair wishing she could disappear completely. She pushed her embarrassment aside and braved a look at the man she had admired for years.
Mayuri Kurotsuchi grinned down at her as his exotic golden gaze seemed to be studying her closely. She locked eyes with the brilliant man and her lips parted. She had yet to see him in person but she had seen many pictures of him and she realized they had not given him justice. His gaze was intense and the way he was grinning at her made her stomach do a somersault. He was wearing one of his signature headdresses and this one resembled two white horns that drifted back behind his head and his face was painted black and white. While she didn't personally understand the man's eccentric style she found herself ever curious about him all the same. She knew that he was the type of personality that would wear something to make himself stand out from the crowd, a way of allowing everyone he came in contact with a warning that he was not like the average man.
"I'll be sure to have another Shihakusho delivered to you later on." Akon continued bringing her attention back to him.
"Thank you, that is very kind of you." She replied as she looked up at him.
The man was also not bad to look at she thought, although he too felt the need to express his own uniqueness she noted as she seen the three silver horns protruding from his forehead.
"What exactly is going on with your eye?" She heard Captain Kurotsuchi ask her.
Ayumi turned and looked over at him and her heart skipped a beat at the sound of his unique voice. It was a mixture of both high pitch and a monotone rasp. Her eye? Nobody had ever taken enough notice to even bother asking her about it before.
"I was involved in an accident almost twenty years ago." She replied.
She kept her gaze on him as he stepped forward his intense stare peering down at her.
"An accident you say? Do you have permanent damage to the retina?" He continued.
She turned her gaze away from him as she lifted her hand and pushed the purple glasses she wore back in place.
"I only have partial vision in that eye, but I assure you it will not interfere with any of my work." She answered.
She heard him snort at her.
"I could really care less about that, honestly. I'd like to take some time to examine you myself if that would be something you are interested in?" He asked as he smiled down at her.
Ayumi felt her mouth go dry as she heard the Captain's offer of an examination. She wasn't sure what would prompt the man to have such an interest in her scarred eye. She allowed herself to look back up at him and she hoped she didn't look too awkward when she replied.
I…uh…That would be fine." She managed to answer him.
"Excellent. I will make some time in the next couple days, until then we will let you get accustomed to your new environment. Come along, Akon we have work to finish." Mayuri replied as he turned on his heel and walked away.
"If you need anything feel free to ask one of us and welcome to Squad 12, Miss Otsuka." Akon added before turning to follow Captain Kurotsuchi.
"T…Thank you." She called out to his back.
She took in a deep breath in order to attempt to calm herself. She hadn't expected Captain Kurotsuchi to be so forward with her and even though she knew he was most likely only interested in her eye from a biological stand point but the attention he'd shown her had given her pause. She wiped her clammy hands on the bottom of her Shihakusho and tried to calm her racing thoughts…This was Mayuri Kurotsuchi she was talking about here it was no wonder he picked up on her flaws, that man made it his mission in order to create and to perfect the things around him, she needn't make it so personal she told herself as she looked back over to Rin who was still sitting patiently at her side.
"Shall we continue?" She asked him.
"Ah…Yes of course…You seemed to need a moment to clear your mind." He replied back before he leaned his small frame back in next to her and began his first lessons on the system in which she was expected to learn. The only problem was no matter how hard she tried to concentrate on what Rin was telling her the image of her Captain's hypnotic golden eyes looking down at her filled her mind and even though she wished she could deny it, it seemed that her admiration may have just shifted to something a whole lot more personal.