One night when I was five, I was playing in the living room. My sister had already gone to bed, and my mother was sitting on a chair, watching me play. I can't clearly remember her face, but I remember that she was smiling at me warmly. My dad hadn't returned yet, which meant that he was very late. There was a knock on the door, and my mum went to answer it. I remember hearing voices, one very sad and my mother's. They were talking about something, and soon my mum began crying. I went over to see what was wrong. At the doorway stood one of my dad's friends, miss then-Arisawa. She was looking very sad, with her gaze to the side, avoiding looking at my mother. My mother was crying, her hands covering her face and her breathing erratic. But my attention was elsewhere.
"Daddy!" I yelled. And indeed, there he was, standing a step behind Miss then-Arisawa, looking very sadly at my mother. I began running towards him, but when I passed my mother she stopped me, enveloping me with her arms and burying her face in my shoulder, still crying.
"Daddy's not coming back, sweetie," She gasped, trying to stop her tears,"Daddy's gone forever."
But he was right there, I wanted to tell her. He was standing right there, with his black coat over his red shirt, although I was sure that he was wearing a white one when he left...
"She can't see me." He said softly, his voice as kind and gentle as ever. "She can't see me because to her, I'm gone." He gave me a sad smile, and began to explain. "I'm a ghost now, and most people, like your mother, can't see ghosts. I'm going to have to go soon, and I won't be able to come home." He said.
"It's time to go." Said a voice, coming out of nowhere. It's a voice that even then, I knew that I'll never be able to forget. It was kind, yet cold. Caring, yet emotionless. Its owner soon appeared out of the darkness, a small, thin, seemingly human figure. It wore a black kimono with a reddish-brown wooden badge on the left shoulder, with a white piece of cloth underneath. The left sleeve was shorter than the right, and their face was obscured by a hood.
"Just a moment, shinigami-san." My father told the figure, before turning to me, "Remember the gift I gave you for your birthday?" at my nod, he continued. "Well, keep it close to you. It's important that you always have it on you." He smiled at me" and look after your mother and sister for me, okay?" He asked me, and leaned in to kiss my forehead, but I never felt him touch me, although he clearly did. He then stood up and faced the dark figure. She, and I was certain that it was a she, drew her katana from the sheath strapped to her waist, and raised it above her head. For a moment I thought that she would slash my father, but she only hit him lightly on the forehead with the hilt. My dad began to break into many tiny orbs of light. As he vanished, he spoke to me some final post-mortem words; "Grow up to be strong, my son. Remember to fight to protect those precious to you. Do well, and don't get into unnecessary trouble. Make me proud, my son. We will meet again, probably sooner than you think. Farewell, my dear Sa..." He completely vanished before he could finish, his last words echoing in the silence of the night. The figure, Shinigami, my father had called her, turned around and began to leave. I finally broke out of the stupor which had paralysed me in my mother's arms, and I fled out of the door, after her.
"Wait!" I called, and miraculously, she did. She turned her head just a bit, probably so I could hear the words she spoke next.
"If you ever want to see your father again, if you ever want him to hold you in his arms, and tell you how proud he is of the man you've become, then grow stronger. Strong enough to one day defeat me." She said, and the light shown on the badge on her shoulder. On the badge where two things I have come to detest. The number thirteen and a snowdrop flower.
For the rest of the night, I lay in my bed, her words ringing in my ear.
"Defeat me! Sangetsu Kurosaki!"
It was only when my mother died the following year that I began to wonder how she knew my name.
Disclaimer: Bleach is the property of Tite Kubo.
Although this story and Sangetsu are mine.
Sangetsu- three moons.