Drama and Showbiz

"So… Yuzu and Karin are alright then?"

Chiaki held a thumbs up in a cheeky affirmation toward Ichigo's question, looking more than a little proud of herself. She knew it would annoy Ichigo a little bit, but it was good to motivate him a little, so he wouldn't become too overconfident or think he was the strongest. It might be good for the future.

"Yeah, they probably didn't even notice I was gone. I actually felt the hollow's power when he got nearby, and I rushed over to deal with it as soon as I could. Luckily for me, this one seemed to be a little on the weaker side, so I got through it no problem."

Ichigo gave her an odd look, seemingly a little suspicious of her bravado, even if he wasn't going to actually call her out. Rukia on the other hand seemed to be shooting daggers at her, to the point that it was starting to make her a little uncomfortable, and she couldn't help but shift a little and avert her gaze.

["Yeesh, I was hoping that she was going to get over that by the end of today, but seems like she really isn't ready to let go, is she?"]

[Ugh, yeah. Ok, hold on, let me try and deal with this.]

Chiaki opened her mouth to speak, but before she could say anything at all, Rukia raised a hand to cut her off, looking entirely unamused.

"I understand that you were protecting your siblings, so I will not lecture or give any official reprimand. All I'll say however, is that you seem to have taken a liking to fighting hollows on your own when possible, and taking Grand Fisher so close to death may have been cutting it too close. The duty of a shinigami is to purify and exorcise hollows, which cannot be done if you destroy and disperse their form in killing them. I ask from now on, you refrain from entering conflict yourself if possible, and do try and run away when you can."

Chiaki's brow furrowed, and despite her best attempts to regulate her own emotion, she couldn't help but feel more than a little exasperated with Rukia's behavior. At this point, she was starting to feel more than a little targeted.

"This isn't about the hollow is it? You're really still mad about the whole thing at the shop, huh? You need to learn that we're not yours to control and direct. If you really hate working with humans that don't follow shinigami rules, why don't you find one of your shinigami friends to replace us instead of constantly hounding stuff to do things your way!"

Rukia's eyes widened in shock, and even Ichigo looked a little unnerved by it. Ultimately though, Rukia's expression simply hardened, as she turned away her face.

"Believe what you want to believe. Simply be more careful in the future."

Chiaki felt a little dejected after going through all that trouble just to elicit a lukewarm response. That said, she knew she should probably just leave it be for now, even if Rukia's response frustrated some part of her that wanted to pick apart the shinigami dogma. After a moment of gathering her thoughts, Chiaki simply sighed.

"Alright, alright, I'll be more careful. You really shouldn't worry so much…."

Something still bothered Chiaki though: Ichigo seemed uncharacteristically quiet throughout the entire affair. Then, it hit her: he probably was just figuring out that the hollow she'd killed was the same one who had killed their mother. How chilled she have been so stupid?

"Ichigo, I…"

"Don't worry… I know… I just wish I could have taken the damn bastard down myself, done a bit more… it sucks to just come in at the last minute."

"Hey well…at least you know that you don't have to protect everyone yourself right?"

Ichigo gave her a weird look, one even she couldn't really decipher, before looking away .

"I guess so…"

—————

The rest of the day was a little quieter, giving the entire family the opportunity to cool down and contemplate whatever problems were still on their mind. For almost everyone, that was contemplating the memory of their mother and death. For Chiaki who had a bit of a different perspective though, her mind was entirely occupied with the issue of Rukia. Chiaki had expected the issue to more or less work itself out with time: the fact that she was stilll mad over a minor issue was worrying, and might signal more problems in the future, ones she couldn't predict yet. Laying in her bed, looking up towards the ceiling, Chiaki could only frown as she contemplated the problem.

"I might have been a little reckless in how I handled things… I hope she doesn't hold it against me."

["I don't think this is the type of rift that is going to go away on its own. Realistically, this is probably going to color her perception of you for a while."]

Chiaki sighed, a restless feeling spreading throughout her body and forcing her to sit up, her mind working overtime to find a solution.

[Well… what do you recommend? I don't mind things being a little weird, but this is beyond that. I just… don't know how to handle a situation like this.]

["Well, an apology would be a good way to start…"]

That caused Chiaki to chuckle out loud, before quickly recovering her composure. She did not need anyone asking why she was simply sitting still and laughing to herself.

[Sorry, sorry, I know you're probably right. But it's just… if I'm going to make an apology, I have to say why my actions were wrong. I can't really do that if I can't explain why I did it in the first place, and explaining that "I'm actively working towards the preservation of the future since I read this world's plot in a past life" is probably not going to work.]

["Well, you do have one good option left to you. It might be the opportunity you've been looking for."]

This caused Chiaki to sit up straighter in anticipation, which also caused her to hit her head on the ceiling, which she'd forgotten was close to her raised bed. Grumbling indignantly, Chiaki frowned as she mulled over the possibilities herself.

[Ok? Stop being so cryptic and tell me already…]

Ayane's chuckle reverberated throughout their shared inner world, causing Chiaki to roll her eyes. Despite that though, she was still interested in hearing her out, but it seemed the Mod-Soul had other plans.

["There's no fun in that is there? I need some entertainment in here… tell you what though. I'll give you the first step, you just need to trust in my boundless intellect. The first part of my plan is as simple as you jumping in when Don Kannonji comes to town, capiche?"]

[Don Kannonji, huh?]

Chiaki laid down, mulling over the possibilities. It was weird that Ayane thought that Don Kannonji was the solution to all of the problems with Rukia, but she trusted her as a confidant and as an intellectual more than she trusted anyone else. In fact…

[Ok, I see what you're getting at. That's a good plan for sure, and besides, I have my own plan for that. That said, we're definitely going to have to work out the details in advance.]

["Well, you've got a day. Let's see what you can cook up!"]