Perfect Imperfection (Mayuri Kurotsuchi)

Eight months later. . . If I promise. . .

I sat in Ginrei's Squad 6 Headquarters office and had been for over thirty minutes. Ginrei-sama had been my closest friend in the last eight months since Nii-chan has been spending countless time at the Institute and Byakuya has been making excuses as to why he can't hang out with me. I'd basically made the corner nearest to his desk my own little area. I had a fluffy pillow to sit on, a few snacks, and even a small easel with paints included set up for my enjoyment. The seasons had changed and it was late Fall-early Winter, but it never felt like such a thing in Soul Society despite the snowing – though it hadn't begun to snow since it was merely October.

Ginrei, like all the other days, was working on paper work that always came for Captains and I could only sit silently until he finished before we could go out with the rest of the squad and practice. I never brought my Zanpakto but I'd still go through the drills with the squad, it was a nice thing to do and filled time. I couldn't bring myself to go to the Institute to see Kisuke because Mayuri would be there and he'd call me a specimen and he seemed to be the only one who could really upset me. Brother would get upset with me again. I could only believe that he was still upset that he'd found Mayuri and I fighting and me using my Zanpakto when I told him I wouldn't use it, because when I woke up he was nowhere to be seen and I have only seen him once since. And that was only because I'd slept in his room one night when waiting and he'd come back to get a few things from his room.

"Such an elegant painting, Dalia-chan." Ginrei praised me quietly.

I removed my paint brush from the canvas and looked up at him before looking at the painting I'd made. It was an odd painting. In the middle of it was a red bird – the phoenix – soaring up towards the sky with several faded humans on the far away looking ground looking up at it. The sun was setting behind the humans and the clouds had been bathed in the sunset and were closer to the Phoenix's color than the actual sky color.

"Thank you, Ginrei Kuchiki-sama." I smiled at him faintly.

"You're very welcome, Dalia-chan." He smiled at me.

"Are you done with paperwork now, Kuchiki-sama?" I placed my brush in the nearby bowl of warm water for it to soak in.

"Yes. Let's go join the rest of the squad for drills, okay?" He stood up from his chair and came over offering me a hand.

I took the hand and thanked him." Yes. Let us."

He turned and walked to the door opening it for me to walk through. I thanked him again, walked through, and we walked through the headquarters before making it to the training room where all of the Soul Reapers under Ginrei's command sat waiting patiently. I took my ordinary place on the end of the first row of the Soul Reapers. As I passed them they all greeted me, even they had gotten used to seeing me.

Ginrei gave a short inspirational speech before he instructed them that today they would be running throughout the Seireitei and they had to run for at least two hours and if they stopped before he would know. He informed me and Sōjun – his son and lieutenant – that we didn't have to but we could if we wanted to. Of course I said I would and Sōjun agreed he would too. Of course he whispered to me and told me we'd go at a slower pace than others.

The running soon started; I and Sōjun dropped to the back of the squad as we jogged. We watched as everyone else sped along as we took it at a casual pace. Sōjun looked at me and I looked at him. He smiled down at me." You haven't been coming to see my son lately. Did you guys have a fight?"

I frowned and looked straight ahead." I have been coming by but it seems he does not want to see me Sōjun-san. He makes up excuses of why we cannot hang out."

"How odd. And all he does is complain about how he wants to hang out with you. He whines nonstop about how he misses seeing you too." We chuckled.

"I guess he's just being a boy then. Were you like that with his mother, Sōjun-san?"