After Dark: Unexpected Blossoming

3: The Findings of the Innocent

Yuzu awoke, quickly opening her eyes in hopes to find that what happened yesterday was all a nightmare. That she truly was just sleeping and that she'd be home and ready to make breakfast for her family. But her hopes were soon brought to their knees when she was met with the familiar plainness of the world around her and the never ending darkness that seemed to loom outside of her window.

She didn't move from where she lay, uncertain with her actions. She hoped that if she just lay there without moving and close her eyes, she'd wake up in her own bed with familiar surroundings. Of course, when she tried, she found that it was no use. She was still stuck in this unfamiliar place, trapped like a princess in a tower.

'This is all too much', Yuzu thought, finally sitting up on the cloud like bed. The covers atop her shifted, allowing a shaft of cold air to hit point blank at her bare shoulders and sides. She shivered slightly, wrapping the blanket around her for a few more minutes before she thought it okay to begin moving.

Her bare feet touched the ground next to her bed, seeming to make them instantly numb from the coldness it brought. She couldn't tell what time it was, but she had a feeling that it was still very early. It was as if nobody was awake and she was the only one who disturbed the silence of the castle.

But something wasn't right. She didn't know how she was able to tell, but she felt like there was someone she knew near the area she resided in. A familiar tug seemed to pull at her and she quickly pulled on a pair of silky white boots that had been placed beside her bed and tested them out for a moment.

"They feel a lot like ballet shoes," she whispered to herself. Ballet shoes had a tendency to not make a sound when you walk, which seemed perfect for what she was about to do.

With the sudden urge to find out if her feeling was correct, she dashed towards the door on silent feet. She turned the door handle, surprised that it was unlocked.

'Tier must have forgotten to lock it on her way out last night,' Yuzu thought to herself, giving a soft thank you to Hallibel through her mind as she peered through the crack in the door.

The corridors were empty, much to her relief. She had a feeling that something bad would happen if someone were to find her out of her room and report it to Aizen-sama. She slipped out of the room, closing the door silently behind her and locking it just as a precaution. Taking a deep breath, Yuzu turned to her right and began to trudge down the hallway.

The door to the next room over seemed to be so far away, for the time it took to reach it seemed to last an eternity. Her heart pounded in her chest, the exhilaration of the task at hand finally taking over her fear and putting a little bit of bravery in her. She wasn't sure just how she had gotten the feeling, but the adrenaline pumping in her veins because she chose to do something she wasn't supposed to do felt really nice.

As wrong as she knew that what she was doing was, she was happy that she chose to do it. It was the first time she chose to do something wrong, so she got a feel of what others did when they did the same thing. Now she understood why they did it. it felt great to do what your not supposed to do.

But what about afterwards?

She had heard from her friends who did things that they weren't supposed to do, and they had said that they felt just like she does now when they were doing it, but the weight it put on them seemed to drown them. Rule number one about breaking the rules, they had said, was that you don't admit that you did it, even if you are caught.

Yuzu quickly shook her head, taking a deep breath. She has been able to keep the secrets of her own friends, so keeping her own secret can't be that hard to do. Plus, she felt confident that she wouldn't be caught.