The next day, Hotaru went in early to visit Kuchiki Rukia. Rukia sat with her back to the door in utter silence, something Hotaru found completely disheartening.
"Rukia?" she asked softly, and was a little taken back when Rukia faced her with a heart-breaking look in her eyes.
"Hello, Hotaru. How have you been?" she asked in an eerie voice.
"Worried, of course. I can't say I'm not glad to see you, Rukia, although the conditions aren't so great" Hotaru said, unlocking the door and entering Rukia's cell. She crossed to the wall Rukia was staring at and leaned against it.
"Thank you for coming to visit me"
"Don't be silly, of course I want to come see you. I missed you, you were gone for so long" Hotaru said, and was met with silence. "I heard from the guard that you won't eat"
"I'm not hungry" Rukia stated matter-of-factly.
"I don't really believe that" Hotaru replied, raising an eyebrow.
"You know me too well, Hotaru-chan. I just can't bring myself to eat. What's the point?"
"Don't be like that. We'll work this out, I'm sure there are exceptions to the rule that they don't know about that would change things. Just don't give up hope yet" Hotaru tried her best to console her. Rukia's eyes got wet as she thought about this, and Hotaru tried to act quickly. "That's enough of this sad stuff, let's talk about something else. I've been dying to know: what was it like in the human world?" she asked, only barely remembering it from her field training back at the academy, and in that case she only got to see a small closed off area of it.
Rukia looked down into her lap for a moment as if the memory was painful, although then a smile appeared on her face, however small and brief.
"It was...rather amazing. Things were hard there, but still so rewarding. I was more vulnerable than I have been since my days in Rukongai, but...I was safe" Rukia said, before explaining some of the bizarre things humans did or the things they had, all the while the life in her eyes slowly growing. Hotaru listened on in wonderment.
"I hope I have the chance to go there someday soon and see all of these things" Hotaru said.
"I'm sure you will. There are always problems that require a higher seated division members attending to. But when you go, be certain that you try something called a juice box..." she started to explain when a loud scuffle was heard outside.
"Let me go check that, I'll be back later on today to see you" Hotaru said, dusting herself off since she had ended up sitting on the floor at one point during Rukia's story.
"Ah, see you then Hotaru-chan" Rukia said with a small wave. Hotaru went out into the hallway and saw Renji had kicked a guard over.
"That's nice of you, Fukutaichou" Hotaru said sarcastically.
"That's right, I AM Fukutaichou" Renji said, crossing his arms over his chest. Hotaru shook her head and started to walk past him.
"Hey, Hotaru" Renji said, and she looked up at him. "Is she still depressed?" he asked a little more seriously. Hotaru smiled softly at him.
"Why don't you ask her yourself?" she said, bending down to help the guard up from the floor while Renji walked further on towards Rukia's cell. "So what exactly where you doing?" she asked, then shushed him when she spotted the fake butterfly. She glanced around the room and saw the hell butterfly fluttering softly at the other end of the hall, and made her way over, holding a finger out for it to land on. It did so gracefully, and she listened intently to what it had to say before handing it over to the Shinigami guard.
"These little guys are smarter than you think, that fake butterfly won't work" she explained.
"Arigato, Uchiumi-sama" the guard said before rushing off down the hall upon hearing what news the butterfly brought with it. Hotaru watched him go, although a loud commotion erupted from further down the hallway. She looked over and saw Renji shouting and clutching at the bars, sure that Rukia was making fun of him for something. She rolled her eyes *Only she can make him act like a fool*. Hotaru went to go shut him up, although she could see from several feet away that Rukia had said something to accomplish that already.That's when Hotaru heard Renji's response.
"Of course, with someone like you, it's an immediate death sentence" he said, and Hotaru stopped dead in her tracks. Not long after Renji was explaining it was a joke, although Hotaru felt herself getting angrier. She stood off to the side for a moment longer listening to the sadness in Rukia's voice, and it wasn't long before Renji was saying goodbye. He turned to leave and spotted the look on Hotaru's face, which made him stop for a moment, clearly afraid of walking to his ultimate demise from her. He started walking again, however, and Hotaru fell into step beside him, ready to yell as soon as they were out of Rukia's earshot.
"What in the hell is wrong with you, idiot?!" she shouted outside the doors of the prison. Renji pulled back slightly, before frowning and leaning back into her in a threatening way.
"Who're you callin' an idiot?" he shouted back at her, and she smacked him on the back of the head.
"You! What made you think it was okay to talk like that to anyone on death row, even if it was your friend?"
Renji paused and straightened up. "It'll be fine, Kuchiki Taichou'll fix it. He won't watch his sister die, no matter what Rukia thinks" he said, although Hotaru was certain he was saying it as a way to convince himself more than her.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that, Renji" she said, pushing her way past him. A few seconds later she heard him speak up behind her.
"It's Abarai Fukutaichou!"
