Chapter 33: The World Of The Living II

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Yet even despite losing such a precious part of herself and her laziness, she still managed to reach such a level, 'If only I had her talent.'

'I have to wonder though, is laziness the reason why she couldn't master Bankai, or the part of her soul taken from her?' Akashi was curious, but he could only bury his curiosity now.

He motioned toward Rukia, "This one's Rukia Kuchiki. Thought she'd fit in here."

Rukia looked slightly flustered but offered a polite bow.

"Ahh, Byakuya's little sister," Yachiru giggled, "Ne, ne, do you like candy?"

"Uh… sure?"

Rukia was tense, having all those eyes upon her, eyes of some of the most famous women of Seireitei, especially a Captain like Soi Fon.

Yachiru immediately shoved a handful of sweets into Rukia's hands, beaming. "Then you're good!"

The simple-minded Yachiru immediately broke the uneasiness in Rukia's nerves.

"She wants to make friends, but as you can see, she's quite shy," Akashi gave her a helping hand before taking a seat before Nanao.

"Kuchiki? Byakuya's sister?" Rangiku's eyes lit up, "You must be rich, right?"

"Huh?" Rukia was confused though Rangiku didn't give her time to respond as she warmly welcomed her in.

"Welcome to the Shinigami women's association. Here, each of us contributes to the cause... You'll be responsible for bringing liquor to m... us. For celebrations of course," Rangiku stressed.

"Don't listen to her," Nanao interjected, shaking her head in exasperation, "Rangiku, stop scamming newcomers please."

"Tch, killjoy," Rangiku groaned in annoyance before falling back to her seat, lazing around once again.

Nanao, ever the professional, brought the conversation back on track. "You have more stories for us, then?"

Akashi nodded, handing over the neatly compiled pages, "Second set. Soul Society seems to be enjoying them."

Nanao flipped through the pages, adjusting her glasses, "Yes, your work has gained quite the following. Though I have to ask… why horror?"

Akashi met her gaze and shrugged, "Because it's what I know best."

There was a pause.

He leaned back slightly, his expression subtle, "The farthest districts of Rukongai gave me a lot of inspiration."

"Moreover, the people there. They're used to living in a nightmare. If you survive long enough, you learn to appreciate horror. So I thought it'd be pretty popular." His lips quirked up in a smirk of remisence.

Silence settled over the room for a moment before Rangiku hummed. "Well, that's suitably dark."

"I understand," Nanao cleared her throat, seemingly uncomfortable, but still said what she had in mind, "Why don't you try your hand at some positive stories for once?"

"Oh? Why?" Akashi was confused, "My stories are very popular, so why make a change?" He felt no shame whatsoever in saying that, otherwordly plagiarism is serving him well after all.

"Don't you think that us Shinigami see enough horrors? Hollows exist. We see enough horrors in them, so a fresh positive story when we come back would be most welcome," Nanao explained.

'Does she not like horror?' Akashi was perplexed. After all, Seireitei doesn't lack positive stories. Horror stories, on the other hand, are rare.

"I don't know if I'm very good at positive stories, but I'm going for freshness. That's why I came up with a foreign story like Harry Potter which is fairly positive," Akashi reasoned.

"Speaking of which, the next book in the series is there, so that should suffice for now. I can't promise you much more positivity than that," Akashi shrugged, "After all, my Zanpakuto helps a lot in getting inspiration for my stories, but assistance only for horror stories."

That's something Akashi wanted to do a while ago, sneaking in a reason or a hint for his fondness for horror.

Then he'd leave it to the listeners to do some rationalizations to make sense of the rest, all the oddities surrounding him.

Besides, Akashi isn't interested in writing positive stories. Even in the Harry Potter series, he's been making some small changes to it to give it more horror elements, just enough to make Voldemort more of a horrific character, but not too much so as to not ruin the story.

"Hmm, okay, I'll take a look and contact you," Nanao narrowed her eyes in realization and could argue no more.

She didn't prey on his secrets any further. A Shinigami's Zanpakuto abilities are; more often than not; kept secret.

"I don't think I'll be available for the next several months, so just do with the stories what you see fit... I trust your judgment," Akashi reminded her.

"Field work?" Nanao gently asked, receiving a nod from the man, "Good luck."

"I see what you're doing, delaying our date again and again til I become an old hag, bad junior," Rangiku broke the gloomy atmosphere with a charming purr, giving Akashi a teasing glance.

"Date? Are you sure you aren't trying to swindle me out of all my money?" Akashi's mouth twitched as he scrutinized her.

Rangiku suddenly stood up and approached Akashi, her eyes watering up, every step reeking of allure.

She clutched the collar of his outfit and pulled him closer to her. Only in this way can her lips; with her short stature; reach his ears as she let out a captivating breath and muttered, "Buy this beauty a drink and she'll show you the best night of your life."

Akashi was stunned. No, everyone in the room was left stunned and speechless though Rangiku focused on his expression, catching his bewilderment.

"Hehehe," It's then that Rangiku let out a giggle, an expression of triumph emerging on her face as she took a few steps back and settled down in her seat.

Akashi slowly regained his composure, scratching his head as he glanced at everyone in the room, Rukia whose mouth hung wide open, and Soi Fon who scoffed at the odd display.

Then his eyes fell on Rangiku, trying to comprehend something from her unreadable expression.

"..." In the end, Akashi just shrugged, feeling like she was just messing with him, trying to get a reaction out of him, so he bid them farewell and went on his way.

"Rangiku, that's too far even for you, no?" Nanao couldn't help but remark, eyeing her weirdly.

"Was it?" Rangiku shrugged it off, uncaring as usual. It's not as if she ever cared for decency, "I wonder, though, what he went through in Rukongai to become like this."

She, too, came from a faraway district in Rukongai and went through her fair share of suffering.

"Ohh, I see!" Yachiru's cheerful voice suddenly resounded throughout, her eyes lighting up, "Rukia-Chan! Do you have noble candy?"

"Ah? Noble candy?"

Before Rukia could even comprehend what she heard, Yachiru continued joyfully, "Yosh! From now on, our candy reservoir is on you! I gave you candy, now you fill the candy warehouse!"

Nanao's mouth twitched, though this time, she couldn't really stop the exploitation happening before her, not when Yachiru was the president of the association.

She could only eye Rukia with sympathy, the latter dizzy from the myriad shocks she had gone throughout the day.

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