Hello everyone!
Thank you to nami53, Taiski and hillnicole for favoring the story!
There's finally some Miyako and Byakuya interaction going on! As usual, please enjoy this update and please leave a review when you're finished. Let me know what you think!
Chapter 8
Resistance
A restful night of sleep was something that eluded Byakuya. He worked in the barracks late yet again to prepare for his new interns. He glanced through their files, he seemed to be impressed by his selected group; all except for his old childhood acquaintance—the whole situation mocked him. He quickly tossed the files into a drawer and excused himself from work for the night.
After attempting to sleep and getting dressed, he even skipped breakfast in favor of visiting Hisana's memorial. As he stared into his late beloved's picture, a heavy sigh escaped his lips.
"What did I do to deserve this stroke of unfortunate luck? Please give me strength today, my love."
Staring at it a few minutes longer, he bid her farewell. He knew today was going to be a long one.
The Seireitei was bustling as usual, and this time it was filled with excited interns ready for their first day of work. Miyako stood at the Sixth Division Gate as her classmates and coworkers passed her by. She could feel Byakuya's spiritual pressure inside. She had to cup her hands to stop herself from shaking. She tried to summon the confidence she had when she talked with Soifon and Yoruichi and let out a big sigh.
'Well...it's time to get this over with.' All she could do was pray for a good day.
Inside, everyone had gathered in the inner courtyard, interns and members alike. Renji stood alone at the front of the group. Everyone quieted down and waited for Renji to speak.
"Good morning everyone! As you can see, we have some new faces among us—interns from the academy. They'll be with us for three months until they graduate. It's our job to make sure that they learn as much as possible! Make sure to treat them kindly!"
"Sir, yes sir!" the members replied in unison.
Renji grinned. He loved being in charge.
"Now I'll have our interns introduce themselves and have a friendly spar with the division members to assess their abilities. The use kido will be permitted and you can use shikai if you've learned it. Afterwards, we'll have a tour of the barracks and a small meet and greet. Sound good?"
Everyone clapped in response. 'So far, so good…' she thought. 'But where is Byakuya?'
Her thoughts were pushed to the side as she looked back at Renji. He pointed to an intern in the front. "You there! We'll start with you! Introduce yourself!"
The brunette boy nodded. "Yes sir!"
The brunette boy stood up to introduce himself and set the stage for the other interns until they reached the last three people. A tall man with pale skin, short spiky black hair and slate blue eyes walked to the front of the group. After bowing, he sported a pleasant smile.
"It's a pleasure to be a part of this group. My name is Isshiki Matsushita."
Next a voluptuous woman took her place after Isshiki. Her long maroon hair hugged her frame as she bowed with a pompous smile on her face, making the men red in the face.
"My name is Rika Omaeda of the Omaeda clan. Pleased to meet your acquaintance."
Miyako rolled her eyes as Rika introduced herself. She never really cared for the woman's highfalutin attitude. To make matters worse, she was Lieutenant Omaeda's niece. She would always weasel her way into the squad's barracks and do whatever she wanted whenever she could, using her uncle and family name as a bargaining chip.
Miyako wanted to vomit. 'I was so absorbed in thinking about Byakuya at the group gathering yesterday that I didn't even notice that she was in my group! Could this internship get any worse?'
"Next we have one last intern." Renji announced, snapping her out of her thoughts. Miyako quickly moved to the front and bowed.
"I'm Miyako Shihouin. It's an honor to work with you all."
She could feel the stares on her—she was a dead ringer for Yoruichi minus the hair color. The Shihouin name carried a lot of weight in the Soul Society.
"Great! Thank you all for introducing yourselves! Next, we'll start with our friendly sparring session."
The two groups separated and watched as Renji called members to fight. Renji and the others weren't disappointed with the fights so far.
"Next Yosuke will spar with Isshiki!" Renji said.
Isshiki and his opponent gathered in front of the crowd and drew their swords. After Renji commanded them to begin, they rushed for each other. After a few minutes, they both released their shikai, Isshiki drawing praise as he used his powerful earth-like zanpakuto, Iwa no Haku. It had the ability to encase its target in a rock tomb, blocking spiritual exertion and turning it back on its target.
Next, Rika impressed with her wind type zanpakuto, Kyoufuu no Fan. Her shikai transformed into two razor sharp maroon fans that were connected by a long, thin silver chain that has the ability to create tornado force winds that could cut through its target. She bowed as everyone clapped when she was finished.
"Last but not least, Miyako Shihouin! You're next to spar with Yukio! Afterwards, we'll be taking you all on a tour of the barracks!"
Miyako nodded. "Okay!"
She took her place and drew her sword against her opponent. Following in the footsteps of Isshiki, she spared without her shikai. After observing that her opponent was starting to fight harder, she decided to match them. Pushing Yukio away, she readied herself.
"Drag them under, Una—"
She stopped when she felt Byakuya's reiatsu flare up momentarily very close by. Looking to her left, she saw him standing next to Renji, quietly observing with his usual glare.
'When did he get here?!'
Before she could think any further, she found herself being knocked backwards, hitting the ground. Byakuya narrowed his eyes as Renji stepped forward.
"Okay, that's enough!"
Miyako rubbed her throbbing shoulder and glared at the captain. 'That reiatsu flare...he did that on purpose!'
"You had a rough fall."
Miyako looked up to find Isshiki standing above her with an extended hand, which she gladly accepted.
"Yes...but it was my fault that I was careless. I should've been more focused."
"Would you mind me asking why you were so distracted? You're usually the complete opposite in class."
"Um...I was just nervous about performing, especially in front of the captain and lieutenant." she lied.
Isshiki nodded. "I understand. I apologize that you had to endure that just now."
"It's not your fault, Isshiki, but thank you for helping me." she replied with a smile.
"You're quite welcome." he replied with a smile. "I hope that the rest of the day treats you better and you'll regain your confidence. It's one of the things that I admire about you."
She was quick to blush at his sudden compliment. Soon they realized that they were the only ones left in the courtyard. The rest of the group was on the other end.
"We should get going before we're completely left behind."
Miyako nodded and the two left to join the rest of the group.
An hour later, they had toured around the barracks. Renji and Byakuya led everyone back to the courtyard for their meet and greet. While they were touring, the members had lightly decorated the courtyard for a small party.
"Please enjoy these light refreshments to celebrate the beginning of your internship." Byakuya said. "I expect the best from all of you." he continued, giving Miyako another glare. 'Another jab at me I see…'
Everyone looked to find a generous amount of the highest quality green tea, mochi, fresh fruit, vegetables, sashimi and assorted appetizers. They didn't waste any time in partaking in the food.
Miyako was the only one that didn't run for the food. She was flustered once again as she cupped her face in her hands. 'This is so frustrating! How could I make so many mistakes with him all at once?! It doesn't help that he keeps glaring at me!'
She snapped out of her thoughts when felt a hot, wet stinging pain on her shoulder.
"Oh Miyako!" a familiar voice called out. "Did I do that? I'm so sorry! You have to forgive me!"
She narrowed her eyes at the woman and her now half empty cup of green tea.
"What a surprise! We happened to end up in the same group! How...delightful!"
Miyako resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She knew that her words were anything but friendly and apologetic.
"Hello to you too, Rika."
"What's with the humdrum attitude? Is it because you messed up in front of everyone, especially that handsome Captain Kuchiki?"
"You're assumption is off the mark, Rika."
'I'm more pissed off at your supposed 'accidental' tea spill, you damn hussy!'
Rika scoffed. "If you say so, Miyako. I'm so happy that the professors thought that I was qualified to be an intern here! Now I can really impress Captain Kuchiki and then I'll end up being next one to marry into the Kuchiki Clan! I'll be the most envied woman in the Soul Society!"
Rika's dreams were interrupted as Miyako burst into a fit of laughter.
"Do you have a problem with what I just said, Miyako?!" She huffed. "Or are you just jealous that I performed better than you earlier and had the chance to impress Captain Kuchiki and you didn't?"
Miyako wiped tears from her eyes as she calmed down. She hadn't had a laugh like that in quite a while.
"Jealousy has nothing to do with it. I just can't get over the fact that you think that Bya- I mean, Captain Kuchiki would be impressed by someone like you."
'Especially a conniving bimbo such as yourself!'
"He's not very easily impressed by anyone or anything...especially women with attitudes like you." she replied with narrowed eyes.
Rika barred her teeth and started to turn red in the face. "And you think that you know him enough to say things like that?!"
Her reaction gave Miyako joy. "You will never" she said, closing the gap between them "know him like I know him." she replied with a sly look in her eyes, smirk and all.
"How dare you say something like that! You are so infuriating, Miyako!" she growled through gnashed teeth.
"The feeling is mutual, Rika! Ta-ta for now!" she replied before walking away. She deserved a nice lunch.
The first day of everyone's internship had finally came to a close right before sunset. They all bowed and bid Renji farewell. As everyone dispersed, Miyako searched for Byakuya's reiatsu and made her way to his office. Her heartbeat grew louder with each step she took. Finally, she had reached his office; the door serving as a barrier between them. She nervously ran her fingers through her hair and dusted her robe of any dirt in an attempt to look presentable. Another nervous sigh later, she reached across to knock. He spoke before her hand reached the door.
"What do you want?" his voice asked dryly, causing her cringe.
"Pardon my interruption Bya- I mean Captain. May I have a word?"
She was met with an awkward pause. "I don't have time to meet with you. I'm very busy."
Her nervousness quickly flared into anger. 'That damn jerk! He's as stubborn as ever! I should've known that I was going to be met with some resistance!'
She couldn't take his rejection for an answer. She quickly whipped the door open and let herself in. Byakuya glared at her as she shut the door.
"You obviously have no respect for authority. I shouldn't be surprised, especially after what you did to me the other night."
She walked up to his desk and look him in the eye. "I didn't even know that it was you! You had startled me!"
"You should've had your guard up and had been aware of your surroundings."
"You're one to talk!" she replied as she slammed her hands onto his desk. "You went and startled me and almost got shot by my kido! You shouldn't have been so preoccupied while watching me!"
Byakuya hated that she was right. He did find her training that night mesmerizing. "Why were you spying on me in the first place?!"
He furrowed his eyebrows and stood up quickly. It was his turn to get angry. "I wasn't spying on you! I thought that you were Rukia after I felt your reiatsu!"
Miyako scoffed. "Oh that's rich, Byakuya! That's a terrible excuse! There's no way that our reiatsu is alike! Just tell the truth!"
"That's Captain Kuchiki to you, Shihouin!" he spat back. "I suggest that you remember the difference in our rank!"
"I'm off duty so I don't need to address you in that manner, Byakuya! Our ranks mean nothing to me!"
"You had no problem addressing me as such before you let yourself in!"
"That's because I was trying to get on your good side before coming in! All I came here for was to apologize to you and you turn this into a ridiculous tit for tat argument without hearing me out! And I know that you purposefully flared your reiatsu during my sparring match to distract and embarrass me! I can't believe that you did that! You're so childish!"
"What did you just say?!" he asked with narrowed eyes.
"You heard me you jerk! You're a childish brat and a snobby one at that!"
"And this is coming from the same child that used to cause me grief with her sister whenever she could?!"
Miyako slammed her hands on the table again, louder this time. "I'm not a child!" she yelled, her reiatsu flaring up.
The two remained silent as he rose his as well, the two having their eyes locked on each other fiercely. The building started to shake violently. Soon, cracks started forming in the walls. Once they heard the cracking, they both stopped exerting their reiatsu, but never took their eyes off of each other. She glared at him once more before walking away. She look back at him with a fire in her eyes.
"I'll make you regret calling me a child. And I'm not paying for your repairs, either." she said quietly before letting herself out. She closed the door with an audible slam.
Byakuya could feel her reiatsu moving further and further away. He looked around his office; their little battle left his papers strewn all over the floor and knocked his tea cup over. This was going to be a long three months and this was just day one.