28 year old Ichigo Kurosaki sighed, tears running down his face. He was standing in front of his late wife Rukia's grave with his two daughters, Hisana and Tsukiko. Hisana was 14 and had orange hair and purple eyes, though she looked and acted like Rukia. Tsukiko was 7 and had black hair and purplish- grey eyes. Her personality was very much like Ichigo's. Hisana was crying. Little Tsukiko's face was blank. She was shyer and more closed off than the rest of the family.
Ichigo told his daughters that Rukia had died from a car accident. Only he and the Soul society knew the truth about what happened to Rukia. She died from a hollow attack. She went off alone to reap the hollow without waiting for Ichigo. Little did she know, the hollow was strong, too strong for her. Ichigo got there just when Rukia was cut down.
"Rukia!" Ichigo yelled. He quickly leaped out of his body and pulled Zangetsu out. His fury made him all the more powerful and he quickly killed the hollow. Ichigo rushed to where Rukia lay dying.
"Rukia! Rukia, stay with me! Rukia? Can you hear me?!" Ichigo said through tears. Rukia's breathing was heavy as she whispered, "Take care of Hisana and Tsukiko." She took a shuddering breath and her last words were, "Ichigo…I…".Then, Rukia Kurosaki was dead.
Ichigo hugged Hisana's shoulders. Byakuya and Renji had rushed to the scene as soon as he heard the news. The girls had only seen their uncle and his co- captain a few times, because Byakuya had cut almost all ties off with Rukia after she married Ichigo. He and Renji came for birthdays and that's all.
The funeral was private; Ichigo, Hisana, Tsukiko, Byakuya, Renji, Uryu, and Orhime we the only people who came. Orhime was sobbing hysterically and at one point, she had to leave the funeral to pull herself together.
After the funeral, everyone went home except for Byakuya and Renji, who were staying at Ichigo's house. They sat around, saying nothing. So when Byakuya and Renjis' soul pager suddenly went off, everyone jumped.
"God dammit, why can't someone else get that?!" growled Renji, banging his fists on the table. Byakuya put a calming hand on Renji's shoulder. Renji took a deep breath and said, "Fine, I'll go. Taichou, are you coming?" Byakuya shook his head. He hadn't said anything since he found out about Rukia's demise.
Renji went out the back door, out of view of Tsukiko. Hisana had fallen asleep crying on the sofa and Ichigo had carried her up to her room. Now he was pacing around the living room and stopping every few seconds to look at a picture of Rukia, silent tears streaming down his face.
Tsukiko looked between Ichigo pacing and Byakuya sitting in Rukia's favorite chair with his head in his hands. She went over to Byakuya and put her hand on his.
"Uncle Bya?" she asked in her quite voice. He didn't look at her when he said, "Yes, Suki?" he said, just as quietly.
"Why do the scary monsters follow me?"