𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐕𝐄 | 𝐁𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 [MINOR EDITING]

𝟗 | 𝐎𝐥𝐝 𝐋𝐚𝐝𝐲

Wake up, girl.

Yeah, wake up!

As hard as I try to, I can't. I hear the voices loud and clear, but I can't respond to them. Is this sleep paralysis? I wonder.

"Fight it. Fight it."

"Fight, fight, fight!"

What are these voices in my head? So obnoxious. I must truly be dreaming, then.

"I'm afraid not."

"You're not dreaming! But you're not awake, either."

Then I was right. This is sleep paralysis. Or at least, something like it.

"Open your eyes, and face your new reality."

"Your mother is dead, and now you have to take her place."

"Take... her place?" What on earth...?

"We are now yours."

"Yours! Yours!"

"What are you talking about?!"

"We are now your Zanpakutō. Our name is Bōkyaku."

"Please take good care of us!"

"Gyah!"

I shoot up from underneath the covers, panting. What kind of dream was that? Who did those voices belong to? And who on earth is Bōkyaku? My mother's... Zanpakutō?

"Sister?"

I glance over at Shōri, whose one eye remains open and on me.

"What is it, Shōri?" I ask.

"Are you okay? Did you have a bad dream?"

I frown. "Something like that," I mumble. "Say, Shōri... You don't ever hear strange voices when you're asleep, do you?"

She rolls over onto her back and shuts her eyes again. "No," she says.

"Ah, okay." So it's just me, then. This, I am thankful for. This just means it truly was a dream.

"Lady Abaron, Lady Shōri," a voice calls from outside the door. "It's time to wake up."

"We're up, don't worry," I call. "You can come in."

The paper doors slide open, revealing Inari, and behind him, two women: one elderly, one middle-aged.

"What's... going on here?" I ask. "Not to be rude or anything, but... who are you two?"

"They are your etiquette masters," Inari says.

"Huh? Etiquette masters?" I repeat. "For what? What do we need etiquette lessons for?"

"For your horrendous speech and posture, that's what!" the old woman trills. I grimace at her.

"I just woke up; the last thing I care about is how I'm sitting or speaking," I argue.

"Believe us when we say that you will when it becomes necessary to present yourselves to the other two noble families," the other woman says.

"What? We have to do that?!"

The old woman crosses her arms. Inari sighs.

"Please, milady," he says. Scurrying over to me, and in my ear, he quietly adds, "Arguing with them will prove a big mistake by the end of it all."

"But..." Inari's pleading eyes grow even wider. "... oh, alright, already," I say. "We'll take the dumb lessons."

"Hooray!" Shōri suddenly cheers. I can't help but give her a look of exasperation. "It sounds like fun, sister," she says, in response to my expression.

"Fun," I repeat. "That's one word for it, I suppose..."

"Lesson one will consist of improving your grammar," the old woman explains.

I sigh silently into my palm as she goes through her explanation of the day's lesson. While I'm stuck playing school with the old bat, Shōri's off playing princess with that other woman. Truly, nothing could be more exhilarating than this. And I know I just woke up and all, but I'm already tired all over again.

"Wake up!" she screeches, stamping her foot on the floor. "This is no time to be lax!"

"I'm not, it's just... it's hard to focus on what you're telling me," I grumble.

"Miss Abaron," she says. After being called Lady Abaron so many times, it's strange to hear the word "miss" before my name. "In three days time, you will be introduced to both the Kuchiki and the Shihōin clans, so it is depended upon that you make a good first impression on both of these noble families."

"Hey, when it comes down to it, I can be formal," I say. "That's not anything you or Inari need to worry about."

"Oh, but it is," the old woman says. "Your mother proved to behave just as yourself once upon a time. However, it was by her own means that she improved herself."

"The way I speak doesn't reflect on the kind of person I am!" I growl, pushing myself off of my knees. "I don't need these damn etiquette lessons, and come two days from now, I'll prove it to you, old lady. I can be as prim and proper as any noble, because as unfortunate as it is, it runs in both sides of my family."

Updated October 10th, 2022 | 750 words