Dear Kumichika,
I will never stop and stare directly into the sun. To do so everything and everyone would disappear. So would I. As time passes; that vision seems to warp into reality. The actions of every person is one worldly cycle and thought is true judgement of ones true self. Everything is connected. Like the pieces of a Go board.
You never notice until its over and gone.
"Your win, Lady Junko. Your Go tactics have improved."
I forgot to tell you I met with Kisuke today. Yes, the one shaggy hair.
"You loose a battle but you are never defeated, Kisuke." I grinned.
He laughed "You got that right."
"On defeat, you will have to give this box to Lady Yoruichi. Opening without the proper chant would mean certain death." I handed out an old wooden box with the shihoin crest on the lid.
"Where do you get all the noble house antiques?"
"My grand fathers mansion of mechanical madness has all kinds of forgotten treasures laying about." I foretold putting the board away. Do you remember when we were little children; Grandfather made toys for us. So that we would leave him alone. He isn't that fond of children but besides that he always smiled when we played with the toys.
"Good luck with your wedding ceremony on Friday. Farewell!" He grabbed the box and left through the shoji door.
Anxiety grew inside me. It was just like him to remind me of that. Oh, Kami!
Kumichika, I know you will always be with me. Although not on my wedding day.
Chapter 1: The Death Of A Nobleman
It is universally known in soul society in every generation of a noble family a member under goe's the most honorary task: to be trained to become a soul reaper at the Shin'ō academy.
I am Junko Saito of the noble clans and that is exactly what happened to me. But I never thought how difficult to would be to do that and do my noble duties.
Mother...
She wanted me as her eldest daughter to join the court squads. Her last demand of me. She wanted me to be strong and do what she should have done long ago.
The deaths of my father and brother were a mystery.
My mother Takibana Arashi did not shed a tear. She wasn't the one to show emotion. As it was a sign of weakness in the jungle of court gossip and conflicts.
Mother was a model example of the wise and cautious noblewoman. I wanted to be like her all my life. Her voice was one of few words with meaning. Her posture elegant and graceful. That is probably why my father married her. She was an idol and my dad was her most ardent admirer.
Her word was final and now the life span of this repenting husband cut short. Something died inside my mother. Like a forgotten shrine she was to decay in mind and spirit. No matter the efforts of her surviving children to help her feel whole. She was stubborn.
I was focused on whom of my cousins would try to take my father and brothers titles and take possession of all the households property. That transition could take several years. I had to ground my family members and everything we had, but how?
As I said; I found the deaths of my father and brother Mysterious. The both of them disappeared at different times but in the same way. The bodies never found. No traces of kidnapping or death. Missing persons?
Iie Takakage, a cousin on my father's side already had his eye on the families wealth and titles.
I wondered what central 46 and their investigators thought about the disappearances. Their funeral didn't seem like one due to the missing corpses and why did my mother presumed them dead?
Now, I cannot shed tears. Action and wonder crossed my mind.
The Arashi palace was a traditional Japanese castle with a garden and running water through out the small rivers crossing the garden. This belonged to my mother who inherited it from her father and mother.
My father's family heritable palace was abandoned hundreds of years. So they lived in a newer and smaller mansion until my father and brother passed on. They were the last of that clan. Yet they were not...