Defying Gravity [Byakuya Kuchiki]

Chapter 17

        "You can't go in your Captain's robe!" Momo protested, crossing her arm in response. Though it had only been a day, the Lieutenant had developed a bond with her new Captain.

        "I can if I want to. It's only dinner with his stuffy advisors. From what I remembered they didn't particularly like me hanging around a hundred years ago, and if it's still the same ones then they will be even more against me now."

        "Then shouldn't you dress up to show how much you have matured to help change their minds?"

        "Nah, not worth my time."

        Momo grew frustrated, pointing a finger at the woman. "You're wearing the kimono Isane and I got you for your promotion and that's final!"

        Katrien raised an amused eyebrow at her Lieutenant. "Are you raising your voice at me?"

        The young woman squeaked in response, waving her hands around in embarrassment. "N-N-No, I mean-! I'm sorry! Forgive me, Captain!" She concluded her apology with a bow, Katrien blinking in surprise.

        She then broke out laughing, waving her hand. "Get up, Momo, I was only teasing you. I'll wear the kimono."

        "Really?" the teary-eyed girl asked.

        "Of course. I have to present myself as a Captain now, so showing some class would be a plus, no?"

        "Yes, Captain!"

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        A maid answered the door at the Kuchiki Household, the woman's eyes going wide at seeing the person on the other side. "Miss. Katrien!"

        "Hello, it's been a while," she answered with a smile.

        "Ages! You look beautiful."

        The black kimono hugged Katrien's body nicely, a silver pattern of a dragon running down the back with the same colored trimming around the collar and wrists. Her hair was pulled back in a tight bun, two chopsticks sticking out of it. "Thank you."

        "Right this way. Master Kuchiki is waiting."

        He was sitting at the main dinning table with his advisors and Ginrei. Katrien's eyes lit up at seeing the retired Captain, who had noticeably aged over the last hundred years. "Captain Kuchiki," she greeted, bowing.

        "Katrien, it's been a very long time," the old man spoke, standing. He held a cane in hand, hobbling over to the woman. "But I am no longer a Captain, so Ginrei will do." The man then whispered in her ear, "I was hoping that it would only be the three of us, but these uptight advisors insisted they join in."

        "I'll behave if they do."

        Ginrei chuckled. "You're still the same Katrien from a hundred years ago, though I can tell you've matured in many ways."

        They sat at the table, a light course being served before the main one. "It's been a while, Captain Kotetsu," an advisor started the conversation.

        "A hundred years, yes," she answered, sipping her drink. "Time flies, that's for sure."

        "Yes indeed," agreed another. "And what have you been doing since your absence in the Society."

        "I was moving around from place to place, killing some Hollows along the way in the World of the Living. However to keep myself busy I opened my own shop."