REVIEWS AND POWERSTONES PLSSS!!!!!Chapter 75: Theater
Suoh Tsukasa watched this scene with smiling eyes.
He raised his teacup for a light sip, then gently placed the other cup of tea before Kuchiki Rukia.
A person's mindset could easily change with the most trivial of small matters.
Just moments ago, Kuchiki Rukia had been hopelessly mired in the swamp of self-doubt and surrounding criticism.
Yet merely through a simple mutual greeting, those dim eyes had rekindled a trace of radiance.
This was the subtle nature of the human heart.
Not necessarily requiring earth-shattering assistance or sermons.
Just a single instant of being treated kindly by a stranger was enough to crack open a fissure in the young woman's frozen heart.
Of course, the human heart could change at any time. At least Suoh had now done what he could.
He had his own training and life. He couldn't constantly look after her, even though he quite appreciated and liked the spirited, resolute Kuchiki Rukia from his memories.
Similarly, this fondness was just fondness. Suoh harbored no improper thoughts whatsoever toward Kuchiki Rukia.
The young woman before him was too short and too thin, only slightly taller than Toshiro, looking exactly like someone who'd just graduated elementary school for middle school!
Even though her age exceeded his own, his mind clearly told Suoh that if he truly pursued her romantically, it would be no different from a crime.
When watching the screen in his previous life, he hadn't paid much attention to her height and figure. Only upon seeing her in person did he truly appreciate this overly stark contrast.
Some boundaries were best kept clearly guarded.
Suoh gently rubbed the warm cup's edge, pulling his thoughts back.
Here, Konoe Shuzo completed the mission Suoh had assigned him, gathering the emptied tea tray and bowing.
"Suoh 3rd Seat, I'll take my leave now. Take your time chatting."
"Thanks for your trouble, Konoe."
Konoe Shuzo withdrew from the side chamber. The room returned to just the two of them.
Only then did Kuchiki Rukia notice the teacup placed before her, hurriedly bowing in thanks.
"Thank you, Suoh 3rd Seat."
"Don't mention it. You're Abarai's friend, which means you're also my friend."
"From now on, if you have any issues in the Thirteenth Division, you can come find me. If you can't find me, looking for Konoe works just as well—no difference."
"Someone probably showed you around the barracks today, but I'm guessing they didn't properly introduce things. Do you need me to give you a proper tour?"
Suoh waved his hand indifferently, speaking easily.
"Um—yes, please trouble you."
Kuchiki Rukia replied somewhat awkwardly.
Because it was exactly as Suoh said—the person leading her had only taken her on a cursory tour.
Many places she'd only heard the names of. Before getting a good look, she'd been led to the next location.
"Alright."
Suoh immediately raised his finger. A simple map of the barracks appeared at his fingertip.
For the following time, he meticulously introduced the Thirteenth Division barracks' functional areas, just as patiently as when Shiba Kaien had introduced them to him.
As for the dormitory area, he only briefly mentioned it in passing. After all, Shinigami from noble backgrounds mostly returned to their family estates, rarely living in division barracks.
With Kuchiki Byakuya's sister-complex personality, allowing Kuchiki Rukia to live alone in the barracks' small single rooms was even more impossible.
He explained thoroughly, and the young woman listened seriously. Their physical distance unconsciously drew somewhat closer.
"Don't keep whispering when in formation. Stand properly!"
As always, the voice arrived before the person.
The paper door slid open. Shiba Kaien glanced at the two figures inside sitting quite close together, thinking he'd interrupted something good.
Raising an eyebrow, he coughed lightly and grinned mischievously at Suoh.
"My apologies, what an intrusion!"
Suoh's expression remained unchanged as he dismissed the spirit particle map at his fingertip.
"That—"
On the contrary, Kuchiki Rukia sharply withdrew, turned to see who'd arrived, and hurriedly tried to stand and explain.
"No need to stand. I'm sitting down anyway."
Shiba Kaien laughed heartily, gently pressing the young woman's shoulder to prevent her movement.
He pulled over a cushion, tossed it beside Suoh, sat cross-legged, and raised his hand enthusiastically.
"Didn't expect Tsukasa really did know you."
"I'm Lieutenant Shiba Kaien. Please take care of me from now on!"
"—Kuchiki Rukia. Please take care of me."
"So tell me, how do you know this young lady?"
Shiba Kaien's shoulder lightly bumped Suoh's as he leaned close to his ear, speaking quietly with a teasing tone.
He'd seen Kuchiki Rukia's file. The two were from different grades yet somehow knew each other, appearing quite familiar at that.
This was quite rare. His gossiping heart immediately blazed intensely.
Suoh didn't answer immediately, calmly raising his teacup for a light sip.
Dragging it out for nearly ten seconds, he finally spoke rapidly with tea-related wordplay.
"Kaien-niisan, not to criticize you, but just now with Miyako-neesan not present, you dared get handsy with a newly joined young woman."
"Your courage is truly too great!"
Slide—
The next moment, the paper door opened. Shiba Miyako, Kotsubaki Sentaro, and Mitaka Hiko standing outside clearly took this sentence in.
"You little—!"
"Miyako, listen to me, it's not—this—I—!"
Shiba Kaien's eyes widened. His figure vanished from his seat, appearing beside his wife as he hastily spoke, momentarily unsure where to start.
"I know, I know."
Shiba Miyako suppressed her laughter, helplessly shaking her head.
Looking at Shiba Kaien who couldn't speak clearly, Kotsubaki Sentaro and Mitaka Hiko had long seen through everything, shoulders shaking from suppressing laughter.
"Ah, Tsukasa, I'm going to strangle you!"
Coming to his senses, Shiba Kaien turned with bared teeth and brandished claws, pouncing toward Suoh.
His hakuda level had never matched Suoh's, let alone this moment which only carried some urgent playfulness.
Suoh gracefully stood, nimbly caught his attacking wrist with a backhand, smoothly pressed him down to sit on the cushion, and spoke with a straight face solemnly.
"Lieutenant Shiba, please be more proper before the new recruit!"
"Damn it, Tsukasa, you little—just you remember this!"
The restrained person struggled unwillingly twice before finally giving up, speaking through gritted teeth.
"Mm, mm, I'm remembering."
Only then did Suoh release his hand, straightening his sleeves as if nothing had happened, composedly returning to sit at Shiba Kaien's original position.
A third-rate comedy performance concluded.
"Don't mind them. They're just like this."
"I'm Shiba Miyako. Welcome to the Thirteenth Division."
Looking at the utterly confused Kuchiki Rukia, Shiba Miyako slowly approached her side, kneeling beside her as she spoke gently.
As she spoke, she naturally reached out to lightly smooth Rukia's hair.
The Shiba family still had a younger sister and little brother. Seeing the well-behaved, adorable young girl before her, she unconsciously adopted her usual habit of comforting her younger siblings.
"Thank you."
Kuchiki Rukia's eyes slightly warmed, her voice low.
These past days in the strictly regulated Kuchiki household, she'd almost been unable to breathe.
No matter how hard she studied etiquette, no matter how she smiled at people, she'd never once received a moment of kind response.
Those perfunctory words, deliberate distance, and cold gazes had formed the dominant tone of her recent days.
Yet at this moment, Shiba Miyako's sudden tenderness completely pierced through her heart.
The time waiting for the ceremony no longer felt so unbearable.
After greeting everyone, Kuchiki Rukia sat quietly beside Shiba Miyako, listening to the surrounding laughter and conversation, feeling a wave of relief in her heart.