A/N: Bleach and all characters belong to Tite Kubo. Unbeta'd so all mistakes are mine alone.
Shadows of my mind
The child twitched violently in his sleep. The nightmares were happening more frequently. His parents watch as the child thrashed fitfully on the sweat drenched bedding. The clan's elderly healer was trying to examine the boy but was having little success.
"His reiatsu is too strong for one so young, m'lord." the man shook his head. "You've got to bring in someone who understands these strange powers better than me, else he'll be driven insane by his gift."
"Who should we call for?" asked the concerned lady.
"Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto."
Lord Kyoraku exploded angrily "That old fraud? Why him?"
"He's the best at handling those with overwhelming reiatsu. He'll know just what to do."
The lord huffed haughtily. "A good beating will straighten that child out. All he does is daydream and slack off." His wife merely placed a hand on his arm.
"Send for Yamamoto-dono, I'm sure he'll be able to help." The healer left with those words tumbling out of his mouth.
The child's parents went back to bed after giving the child's caretakers a warning to keep a sharp eye on the boy.
The very next day as the child was with his tutor, he began to drift off into one of his daydreams; staring wistfully at the passing clouds. At least that's what the tutor thought as he saw the boy staring vacantly off into the distance. The crack of the pointing stick against the desk brought his attention front and center, and the lessons began again.
Meanwhile in the clan's great hall, a new visitor was making his presence known to the lord and lady. He was being treated with suspicion in spite of his reputation. There were angry words being flung around on both sides of the conversation.
Suddenly a child raced through the hall, with his tutor hot on his trail. There were nervous chuckles from onlookers and an angry, frustrated sigh from the lord of the manor.
"SHUNSUI!" He bellowed. "Get your ass back here immediately."
The boy complied, but slowly. The tutor grabbed the back of his shirt and drug him forward. "He was dreaming again, m'lord."
Everyone watched as Lord Kyoraku lost what ever patience he had; tore the instructional, pointing stick out of the tutors hand and just began to hit the child in front of him. The lad let out one lone whimper then fell silent as the beating continued.
"Enough!" A new voice called out.
"How dare you." The enraged lord rounded on the speaker. "Stay out of this you fool."
"My lord, you sent for me," The gentleman walked over to were the child lay huddled on the floor. "I think that you should allow me to see what has been going on." He knelt down and lifted the child's face. "Tell me what happened."
"I-I- ... I fell asleep just as Matsuda-san said."
"There's more to it than that."
"Yamamoto-dono, with all due respect, the boy is simply a slacker who suffers occasional bad dreams and lives in a fantasy world." Lord Kyoraku spoke up having finally cooled down enough to speak coherently, "Have him carried into his mother's salon and his wounds seen to." He held out his arm to his wife and they left the grand hall together.
Once he received the all clear; Yamamoto entered the room in order to talk to the boy. "Are you alright?" Was his first question.
"Yeah I'm fine, I'm use to it." The young man nodded. "Why'd you stop him? He'll really be pissed now," There was a flinch in anticipation. "He'll just do it again once you leave."
"I'm here to help." he stroked the end of his mustache. "You are having some trouble controlling your power."
"Nah! I'm just a lazy day dreamer like they said, I deserve to get beat."
"Do you enjoy that?"
The Kyoraku child blinked at him, "W-wh-what?"
"Do you enjoy getting beat for things you have little control over?"
"Who the hell would like something like that?" There was a bit of the legendary Kyoraku temper peeking out in that statement.
"Now are you going to tell me what really happened?" Yamamoto sat down near the couch were the boy was resting. "I sense that what is going on with you is different from the lie's you have just told me." Shunsui blinked at him again, then rubbed the back of his neck with a sheepish look creeping across his face.
"I did fall asleep, but I see things," He cast his eyes downward. "They're dark and scary. I don't like them."
"Do these thing have a particular shape?"
"Bones and flowers," Shunsui visibly shivered. "It's very shadowy and scary."
"I see. And tell me, what happened just now?" Yamamoto crossed his arms. "What sent you racing from the tutors teaching? You looked like you were being chased."
The boy's eyes widened in surprise and his mouth dropped open. "You saw ..." Tears began to glimmer in the corners of his eyes. "They were calling my name. And it felt like I was going to be swallowed up and disappear forever." He was shaking more violently now.
"I'm going to train you to keep that under control."
"You can do that?" He looked astonished.
"Yes!"
The boy's eyes shifted to the side. "I don't know... jii-san. I am kinda lazy."
Yamamoto narrowed his eyes. "Do you want those shadows to devour you? Do you want your father to beat you every day? Or do you want to be strong and fight?"
"I've started a school to train people like you." Yamamoto continued. "Although you're a bit young for it, so I'm not sure you'd be accepted."
"But you said you started it, don't you make the rules?"
"For the most part, but in order for the nobles to approve of this 'school' I had to make some concessions. Age limit is one of them."
Shunsui pursed his lips. "I don't like the idea of school, so that's okay by me."
"I will teach you myself. Your power needs to be trained."
"Awwww man..." the boy whined.
"Your level of power is nothing to play around with. In fact I have another young man that needs the same treatment, but he's too ill at the moment."
"He'll go." Boomed an authoritative voice from the doorway. "He'll go or he'll be disinherited." Shunsui flinched at the sound of his fathers voice. "In fact the essentials are being packed up now, the rest will be sent later."
"You were listening!" It wasn't a question that Yamamoto aimed at Lord Kyoraku, it was more of an accusation. "He won't need much then. I'm confident that I can get him enrolled in the academy within a year. And it would be better if he could control that power beforehand."
"Wait...what?" Shunsui's face was ashen color. "What do you mean my stuff is packed... ARE YOU KICKING ME OUT?" His voice rose to a hysteric level. "Fine.. I'll be glad to leave this place. It sucks anyway." He simply ducked the hand that was raised as he stormed past his father.
Yamamoto sighed deeply and bowed to the manor's lord. He found Shunsui pouting sullenly by the courtyard fountain. "I'm sure he means well by it boy, he's just unable to express it properly."
"No!" The child swiped at an invisible tear. "He meant every word."
"In time you will be a strong fighter and you may even lead a lot of people into battle."
"Sounds like an awful lot of work," Shunsui grumbled. "I really don't like work."
Yamamoto's eyebrow twitched. "You'll get use to it."
"So why won't I be able to get into this academy right away?" Shunsui eventually asked as they traveled toward the center of the Seireitai.
"Well as I said, I had to make some concessions with the nobles in order to establish it. They would only allow me to continue with some conditions. One of which is 'No children allowed' since it's a military group."
"Sounds like typical noble mentality." Shunsui was walking with his hands clasped behind his head.
"And how would you know that?"
"Well... Dad made sure I attended some sessions with him. It was boring as hell."
"So you have a low opinion of the nobles."
"Yeah," Shunsui breathed deeply. "They're too hung up on the pride of their nobility."
Yamamoto laughed. "You, you're a lot smarter than you let on. I'm gonna have to keep my eyes on you."
"...damn." the boy muttered under his breath.
"You have quite the mouth on you too." The older man observed. "I bet that gets you into more trouble."
"Only when I get caught." There was a sly smirk pasted on the child's face.
Yamamoto shook his head, "I've got my hands full with you. I have a feeling you're going to cause many gray hairs." He scrubbed his knuckles on the top of Shunsui's wildly curling brown hair covered head.
He yelped and covered his head, while scowling at the older man. "I'll just call you Yama-jii then." Shunsui skipped ahead down the road.