Warnings: Rated Mature for language, gore and adult situations. Readers under the age of 18 are discouraged from reading.
Pineapple Hearts & Sparrow Kisses
Chapter Two
“Daydreams and Reality”
~ Suzume ~
 |
| Gates Of The Seventh |
The walk to my division was a bit uncomfortable as Hisagi continued to harass and tease me about Captain Abarai’s blatant fascination with me.
Admittedly, I was both excited and nervous about the upcoming outing with my new friends. It had been so long since I had spent time with companions of my choosing that I wasn’t all that sure where to begin. An outing of any kind in my past was such a coordinated affair that I usually found myself in the throws of a full blown panic attack long before the event itself started. That was not something I was looking forward to this evening. Hisagi assured me that this party was nothing like what I was used to and that I shouldn’t worry. Easier said than done.
It was in Hisagi’s second verse of Renji and Zume sitting in a tree that it hit me. It slammed into me like a tidal wave of nerves, instantly halting my stride as I stood wide eyed and basically glued to the seki-seki stone beneath my feet.
Did Renji ask me on a date? Was he courting me?
“Sure seems like it t’me.” Shühei commented with a rye smirk. His face was highly amused but the longer I stood there gaping and staring into space the more he seemed to grow concerned.
Oh Kami, I just said that out loud, didn’t I?
“Yeah, ya did. You alright, Zume?”
“No!” I yelled frantically. It wasn’t directed at him but was meant more as a scolding for myself for being so naïve. “He invited you as a guest. He was merely being polite to a new recruit.” I told myself through a deep breath, shrugging off the slight disappointment that followed my own revelation.
“Whatever you say,” my friend chuckled, ignoring my slight bout of insanity. “I know Renji and he wouldn’t have asked if he wasn’t interested.”
“Really?” I asked a little more hopeful.
“Really.” He agreed.
~
After leaving Shühei at the gates of the Seventh, I entered the inner courtyard with a silly smile on my face. Tetsuzaemon shot me several concerned looks as I drifted past throughout the day, but I was on cloud nine and paid him little mind.
 |
| Lt. Tetsuzaemon Iba of the Seventh |
My duties for the day were relatively simple and for that I was grateful. Most of my morning was done playing catch-up with the paperwork left over from the previous Third seat and by mid-day, I would’ve been happy to never see a few of the repeating documents ever again.
My day brightened marginally with a new recruit just after my lunch. As it was my duty to meet and greet any of the new female subordinates, I was to oversea our new squad member. Misuke was friendly and everything I had hoped for in a fellow female officer. She was a petite woman with short blonde hair in the most adorable pigtails and caring blue eyes. We spent the remainder of the day showing her around the barracks and making sure she was settled, ending our day with making sure all of her entrance paperwork was completed and her physical was up to par.
 |
| Mizuke |
For so long he had instilled insecurities and negativity, forcing onto me his belief that no man of worth would ever want me.
Freak… Demon… Spawn of Hell…
His words were a constant reminder of my differences and exactly where I stood in family standings…
No, I told myself. Shühei would never allow me to get hurt. He wouldn’t lie to me.
With my hopes renewed, I allowed myself to feel as any other woman would when faced with an evening shared with an impossibly handsome man. Thrilled.
~
When the clock chimed six o’clock, I breezed from the office, happy and now more excited than ever for the evening to come. Clutching a beautiful hibiscus I picked from the private gardens, I practically floated past my father.
 |
| Captain Sajin Komamura of the Seventh |
He chuckled at my antics as I circled him spinning and dipping to the song only I could hear. “What has you so happy, child?”
I beamed at him, for once not caring if I exposed the small but sharp canines I had always fought to keep hidden in the past. Nothing, I just ran into Shühei this morning.”
Taking my hand and spinning me once, he smiled. “Yes, Captain Hisagi has missed you greatly, but I hardly think seeing your childhood companion would bring about such a glow to your cheeks. You are positively radiant.”
“Well,” I answered sweetly if not hesitantly. I was still unsure how father would react to his only child, his daughter being called upon by a fellow Captain. So, I decided to be vague, totally aware that it was more than likely fit to failure. He would see right through my skirting. “I was asked to the gathering for Lt. Kuchiki and Ichigo Kurosaki.”
His eyes narrowed in thought as he grasped his chin, pinning me to were I stood with his calculating gaze. “I still find it hard to believe you are this happy because Shühei-” he stopped his eyes going wide with understanding before his whole face dissolved into a dopy smile. “Captain Hisagi was not the man who asked you, was he?”
I shook my head to the negative, my cheeks burning and my smile going impossibly wider. “No father, he was not.”
“Intriguing,” he commented, very professional like as he puffed up his chest and took the tough father stance. “And who may I ask has called upon my daughter?”
My face was flaming as I replied. “Captain Abarai.”
“Abarai, huh?” he replied despondently, scratching at his muzzle again and giving nothing away. If he approved or not, I couldn’t tell. “He’s a good man. Honest and a honored warrior. But Suzume, be careful-”
“Why?” I nearly shrieked, searching his face. Was I making a poor decision in seeing this man outside of our duties to the Soul Society? “Is there something wrong with Captain Abarai?”
“Not at all,” he answered immediately, his eyes shining with mirth as he threw his head back with full belly laugh. “I was merely commenting on the fact that you, no matter the age, are still my child.” He said seriously, then added. “That and I’ve heard that his bankai is particularly vicious, don’t go making the boy jealous…”
I laughed along with him this time, taking the proffered hem of his captains robes as we departed from the grounds together, heading for home.
~
It wasn’t long after I arrived home that I found myself in a tailspin of strong nerves as I dug through the countless boxes of kimono and obi’s I had strolled through the dressing area of my bedchamber. I fretted over the color and tread counts, not wanting to go dressed to formally nor too informally. After all, the Kuchiki’s were nobility.
Then there was the question of seasonal patterns. Was it too early for winter patterns and fabrics?
I sighed, getting angry with myself.
Never in all my years of being formally courted had I ever spent so much time trying to impress a man, yet here I was falling all over myself for a man I wasn’t even sure was interested in me romantically.
After a few more minutes of wanting to tear the mahogany locks from my head, I decided to drown my frustrations in a bath of sandalwood and yuri and forgo the decision all together until I had relaxed.
My bath was pleasant and exactly what I needed to relieve some of the stress. Forcing myself to look at this situation in a new light. Even if Renji’s intentions were just of a friendly nature I would take it in stride and be happy in the making of a new friend.
Keep telling yourself that, Zume! I thought, almost hatefully at myself.
A knock on the door caused me to halt in the setting of my hair. “Mistress?”
“Yes, what is it?” I asked, struggling with a stubborn pin at the crown of my head.
“You have a visitor?” Cho replied nervously.
“Who is it?” I nearly yelled, my heart racing as I fully panicked.
He wasn’t supposed to be here until seven… I was supposed to have another thirty minutes!
“A Miss Matsumoto, Mistress. Shall I show her in?”
Sighing in relief, I laughed. “Yes.”
She entered similarly to this morning, in a flurry of pink silk and grand smiles. “Wow,” she stated straight off the bat. “I never knew Komamura had such a swanky place, is he nobility?” she asked, surveying my room and some of the trinkets my mother had collected over the years.
“No,” I answered truthfully. “My mother was.”
“Huh?” was all she said as she started shifting through the forgotten boxes packed with kimono that lined the floor. “Well, Shühei said something about you being nervous about what to wear tonight, so I thought I’d come lend a hand.”
“Thank you,” I told her sincerely, then added with a laugh. “I don’t even know why I’m so flustered to begin with. I don’t even know if this is a date.”
Her face grew serious as she shook out a dusty chocolate overcoat, sparsely decorated with printed and embroidered fall leaves. The embroidery matched my eye color perfectly. It was one of my favorites. “Oh, It’s a date alright.” she told me, flinging the chocolate garment into my lap and reaching for another box. “Shü told me what a bumbling idiot Renji was when he first met you. Is it true that he just stared for the first five minutes?”
“Yes,” I answered, my cheeks tinting as I thought back to the dumbstruck look on his face.
Plucking another strand of hair and securing it with a fall inspired comb, I added in a whisper, “I thought he was just noticing my differences.”
She looked thoughtful for a moment, then tossed a beautiful silk piece of burnt orange and copper at me along with a crimson obi detailed with an embroidered forest of barren trees. “Well, I was with Renji after you left, hiding from my captain, you know.” she stated as if she were speaking of the weather outside. “I’ve never seen him so speechless, he could barely form commands for Izuru when he arrived at the Third. It was pretty funny.”
It may have been the look of pure disbelief that colored my face or the fact that I had completely stopped moving that sent Rangiku into such a distress. But before I knew it she was kneeled before me shaking my shoulder and rambling about Renji would kill her for breaking me.
When I finally came too, you couldn’t wife the silly smile from my face or the ridiculous blush that seemed to be permanently pinking my cheeks. “Thank you, Rangiku.”
She smiled at me, a true genuine smile as she patted my hand. “No problem.”
~
By time the doorman announced the arrival of my guests my nerves had returned with a vengeance and wave after wave of dizziness hit me.
“Just breathe, Zume.” Ran scolded. Her eyes were suggesting that she was frustrated with me, but also concerned. “You look beautiful and you’ll see that Renji’s not worth half the fuss you’re making over him.”
“It’s just that… I’ve never-”
She cut me off with an impatient scowl. “Well there’s a first time for everything. Now, get out there and make him stupid with your beauty.” She commanded with a generals order complete with stomping her foot and pointing out my door.
~
As we entered into the gathering area of my father’s den I could fairly easily pick up the voices of three men? Three? I thought curiously before I all at once, understood. Father!
Dragging a protesting Rangiku the rest of the distance was surprisingly harder than I thought it would be as she struggled, begging me to tell her what was wrong. But as we came closer a look of amusement and understanding seemed to radiate from her.
Rangiku stopped me at the entrance, signaling for me to wait and watch before doing any rash, like bursting into the room and threatening to shave my old man bald! After a moment, I was glad she did.
My father in all his wolf glory was hounding my date and Shühei for information about this evening. Renji took it all in stride, answering question after question with respect and enthusiasm. He even cracked a few jokes that had my father smiling warmly at him. Shühei, who was obviously used to my father’s ways, looked terribly bored and practically flew from he seat when he became aware of our presence.
Renji stood just after my friend and then froze. That same dumbfounded look was quickly crossing his features as he basically ogled me in front of my father.
I took the quiet moment to do much the same. He was just as gorgeous as he was this morning. Tall but not ridiculously so, standing just a few inches above Shühei. He was lithe but not scrawny and it was easy to ascertain that he was built for combat. I studied everything about him from his long garnet hair that spilled from under his black bandanna, to the black robes he wore. It was fascinating and curious that even with his prestigious status that he never seemed to wear the formal whites of a Captain’s robes, and I wondered why? To any other they were seen as a badge of worth and honor.
It took a strong elbow from Hisagi before Renji spluttered to life, and humorously so. “Ow jackass, what’d you do that for?” he yelled turning on Hisagi and punching him in the arm.
If I knew Shühei half as well as I thought I did, this was about to become a full on pissing match. He didn’t disappoint. “You’re the jackass, jackass! I was just trying to help out instead of letting you stand there, staring at Captain Kamamaura’s daughter like a t-bone stake!”
“I was not!” Renji defended, shaking his fist at Shühei. By this time Hisagi and Renji were both nose to nose. Personally, I didn’t think either of them knew what they were arguing about anymore.
My father’s roar of laughter had me snapping from my astonished staring. He was rolling on the floor, clutching his sides as tears of joy sprang from his eyes. It warmed my heart to see him so happy. After Tösen defected from the Gotei Thirteen, my father wasn’t the same. It had forever changed him, and it was visible to my eyes even now. Watching him only strengthened my resolve to kill that bastard before the Winter-war was all said and done. I would go against orders should I have to.
“Excuse me,” Matsumoto chirped happily as she approached the two circling men with abandon. Apparently she didn’t deem them threatening enough to even use caution. “Alright, you two idiots!” she scolded, throwing their heads together. “We’ve got a party to get to and free saki to drink. That is, if you two are done playing with each other.” she added, giving them a playful smile and a sultry crook of the eyebrow. It wasn’t lost on me… the insinuation in her gaze.
The reaction I assumed she was looking for was instantaneous. They lurched apart, red faced and dusting out their already immaculate uniforms. “Forgive us,” they said in unison and bowing to my father who was just sitting up himself.
“Think nothing of it,” he told them, wiping the tears of mirth from his eyes. “You two are welcome here anytime. But,” he paused for effect, his gaze washing pointedly over Renji. “Take care of my little girl.”
It was plain to me that my father was using his double meaning tactic… and honestly, I didn’t know whether to be moved or offended. He basically just told a man I just met this morning not to break my heart and not to get me pregnant all in one sentence.
“Father!” I growled lowly, quietly thanking the heavens that my friends didn’t seem to have the hearing capabilities gifted to my father and I. I would be mortified to think they heard me growling like a wild animal.
To his benefit, he smiled innocently and acted as though nothing had happened as he ushered us out the door and into the quickly cooling air of the evening.
“That was entertaining.” Rangiku commented as the four of us stood at the entrance to my estate, unaware of what had just happened.
“You can say that again,” I agreed sarcastically.
"Thank you,” I replied nervously, falling into step as we climbed into on of the two man pulled rickshaw carriages that would be our transportation for this evening. I was admittedly, impressed by the gesture, though I was unsure of what to think to begin with.
Did you honestly expect him to show up on foot and demand you shunpo there?
~
The ride, though long, was extremely pleasant. The company was even better.
Renji was nothing like I expected him to be. From Shühei’s letters I was expecting a man pure in his lust for battle and dense as they come, but nothing could be further from the truth. I decided from that moment on to take my own theories on ’not judging a book by its cover’ to heart.
Captain Abarai was intelligent, sincere and forthcoming. He held nothing back as he told me about himself, leaving little to the imagination as he spent a particular amount of time discuss his and Lt. Kuchiki’s involvement with one another, or how he was nothing more than a hard working man from the seventy-eighth district of the Rukongai.
“What about you?” he asked, nudging me with his shoulder. “How did you end up friends with Hisagi?”
“Well,” I told him thoughtfully as I tried to hide my blush. “I guess I should start by saying that I was not a planned pregnancy for either of my parents.
 |
| Ami Kannogi |
My mother, as I said, was a noble but unlike many nobles, she was a very kind woman and held no prejudices of anyone. She took my father’s appearance as nothing more than a difference in skin color or height. She didn’t care that he wasn’t human, only that the man underneath was goodhearted and honest.
It wasn’t long after that their relationship developed from friendship into lovers,” To which I added with a laugh. “I’m not even sure I understand it… they physical aspect of it, anyways.”
The next part was a little harder to tell. “My Grandfather, however was not as understanding of their relationship and looked on it as an abomination. When he found out he forced a terrible ultimatum on my mother. She could leave him of her own free will. My father would live and she could keep her unborn child… or, he would’ve had us both killed.
Of course, my mother being the kind of woman that she was couldn’t stand the thought of my father being killed. She was happy in the understanding that he and I would both be alive and well.”
I chanced a glance at my companion from under the fringe of my bangs. His face was red and his eyes hard. I swallowed nervously, wondering what could possibly be going through his mind. He had been honest with me and I would do the same, even if it meant never seeing him again. So, I pressed on.
“Things did not turn out as my Grandfather had hoped. My father stormed his shoji anyways, bent on rescuing my mother as well as revenge against her father. He was outnumbered and outmatched by the guard, but he fought until he was near death…” I paused again, letting the unsettling feeling that comes with the near death of a loved one pass.
“I believe that was when the Captain Commander stumbled upon him and excepted him into the academy. Unbeknownst to my father, I was already deeply seeded in my mother’s womb. It wasn’t until shortly before she died did he find out about my existence.”
“It’s alright,” I told him with a watery laugh. “Shühei and I met when we were children. He was a few years older than me but he was the only other child living on the estate with that would play with me. His mother was my mother’s handmaiden and her greatest friend.
We did just about everything together until I was forced to leave. Believe it or not, I was actually with him when he first met Captain Muguruma.”
“Really?” He asked me in astonishment.
“Yes,” I laughed, playfully smacking his arm. “I was hiding in a tree just over head.”
“The Captain didn’t sense you?” He asked with wide eyes.
I laughed as his face grew more incredulous by the second. “Like my father, I’m very good at hiding my Reiatsu.” I told him a little smugly.
“Yeah, I guess. So, it was after that, that you parted ways, right?”
“Shühei talked about you a lot at the academy, well… after I saved his ass, anyway.” he yelled loudly enough that I knew Hisagi had heard him. “I always kinda thought that you two were… ya know… involved.” he added quieter.
“Ew!” I told him scrunching my nose at the very suggestion. “He’s like my brother.”
“Right back at ya, sister…” Shühei called from the carriage next to us.
“So, Captain Abarai, what can I expect tonight?” I asked, switching the subject to a less disgusting nature.
Honestly, I couldn’t believe I had told him as much as I did. I’ve always thought of myself as a fairly private person, and only Shühei knew anything of my past before now. But Renji was different and I found the words spilling from my lips unbidden but I wasn’t sorry in the least for being so open with him.
“At the party?” He asked looking a little confused, though I couldn’t understand how the question was in any way unclear to begin with or why he blushed after he responded.
He chuckled lowly to himself. “Well, Suzume, you can expect a lot of hung-over Shinigami in the morning.” He looked at me pointedly before adding. “And call me Renji, that Captain Abarai stuff is for my subordinates, not you.”
I smiled, trying no to let his words go to my head. “There will be a lot of drinking?” I asked, hoping my question didn’t come out disapprovingly. I cut my eyes up at him from under my lashes, blushing hotly when I found his gaze already on me.
“Yeah, most of the wedding party on the grooms side is from the Eleventh and they’re all lushes.” he said casually, then turned on the rouge charm. Turning to me with what I considered to be, the sliest smirk I’d ever seen, he asked. “Do you drink, Suzume?”
From the next carriage over I could hear Shühei’s loud cackling and Rangiku’s tinkling laugh as we pulled up to the front gates of the Kuchiki manor. “Yeah, try drinking with her and find out!” He yelled, louder than necessary while helping to unload Rangiku without tearing her delicate robes.
Dear Kami!
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