These characters don't belong to me. They belong to the creators of Bleach.
Please read, review, and enjoy this wonderful, magnificent, splendid, grand, impressive…well just enjoy!
Shunsui was different from other children, he was a lazy child. When other children would go outside and play ball or jump rope, Shunsui could be found laying in a windowsill or out on a roof daydreaming. But that wasn't what set him apart from the others. No, Shunsui was very social, but he was a noble. Nobles could only talk to certain people. Nobles couldn't get dirty. Nobles could hardly do anything they wanted to. Nobles have to act on what will be best for everyone else all the time. They have to be considerate and loyal to their family's traditions, they have to act in a way that won't bring dishonor to their family, and they have to honor and respect- blah blah blah…
Shunsui sat on the roof and looked at the clouds. He shouldn't be up here at all. Nobles shouldn't dirty their kimono with roof residue. He sniffed at the thought of his parents yelling and screaming at him, for his dirty clothes the day before. He didn't care if they yelled themselves blue in the face; he was a human being and deserves to do what makes him happy, right? He sighed. His parents could never understand just how relaxing it is to stare at the sky and daydream. To escape the troubles of life and just let your mind wander to a magical place where there are no rules. Where no one can tell you no, or give you disproving glares for dirty clothing, and such.
He closed his eyes, and thought. He'd always done whatever his parents wanted him to do. He always followed all their wishes and respected all their rules….all except the one about dirty clothes. Why couldn't they try and meet him half way? Why couldn't he, for just once, make a decision on his own? And that's when he made up his mind; he was going to do something out of the ordinary. He was going to break the rules. He was going to think for himself and act on his own thoughts for the first time!
…But what will he do...
He stood up on the roof, and looked over the court yard. All the slaves were busy working; they were washing clothes, cutting grass, trimming flowers, they were all very busy.
…but one, small, boy was running… Shunsui smiled at the way the boy ran, flinging his arms around and crossing his legs behind himself. The boy jumped over wash baskets, dove under hanging clothing, and ran in circles around the rose bushes. He was laughing and giggling and having a good time! Shunsui watched him, contently. At least someone was enjoying themselves. He thought.
A woman, who was previously hanging clothes to dry, came forward and yelled to the boy. He stopped dead, hung his head, and began walking towards the green house. The woman shouted again and the boy broke into a run. He was out of sight in a matter of seconds. Shunsui sighed. He was reminded of how his mother always broke up his fun and would always scold him for breaking the rules. He wondered what rule the boy had broken to be yelled at like that. He looked at the green house and thought about the boy's appearance.
He was thin; even from the roof he could tell the boy was close to starved to death. He was also very young; the way he ran around so carelessly Shunsui could tell he lacked common cense and dignity that comes with age. But what really concerned him was the boy's hair. There was a disease they call Devil's Sickness that was going around. It was called that because of how it made its victims cough blood, and the fact that most victims who caught it were children. A sure sign that a child has the disease is the child's hair turns white, and that boy's hair was as white as snow! Shunsui didn't know much more about the disease because whenever he'd ask about it his parents would hush him and tell him its bad luck to talk about it. They were also convinced it was "A poor people disease; upper class people like nobles don't catch diseases as disgraceful as the Devil's Sickness." They would say.
Now Shunsui sat on the roof, gazing at the green house where the boy ran in a few hours ago, he wondered why no one was treating the boy for his disease. Why wasn't he being given more food so he didn't look so starved?
"Shunsui!"
Great now he'll have to go inside and explain his dirty clothes…again. He climbed in the window.
"Shunsui!" said his mother, in a raised voice; nobles don't yell. "What did I tell you about sitting on the roof? If you fall who will carry on the family name? And look at you. You're filthy; you could pass as one of our slave children. Now come, change into some clean clothes and get into bed. As a noble, you should always be well rested."
"Yes mother." Said Shunsui.
"Be sure to brush your teeth and wash your hair." His mother called after him.
"Yes mother."
"And if your sheets aren't warm enough don't be shy, tell Bertha to warm them for you."
"Yes mother."
Shunsui walked into the bathroom and filled the tub. After bathing and brushing his teeth he went into his room. Bertha was there with the heating iron.
"Could I heat your sheets more Young Master Shunsui?" she asked. Shunsui shook his head, and she left. He laid there awake for a while, just thinking about the boy. How would he feel if he was that boy and had that sickness, and had no food or medicine? He drifted off to sleep thinking of how he could help, how he could make the boy better...
Morning came and Shunsui had forgotten all about the boy with the Devil's Sickness. It wasn't uncommon; Shunsui was very relaxed and often forgot a lot of things while he was daydreaming or relaxing in the sun. Now he was sitting on a bench in the court yard listening to the birds play and sing in the bird bath. With his straw hat over his eyes, and his wooden sandals crossed over his legs, Shunsui was a picture of pure laziness. And then he heard it; screaming.
"Noooo!!"
Shunsui got up and jumped to the roof of his room. There he saw the entire court yard; there was the same woman from before, and a bunch of guards gathered around someone. The woman was screaming as though her world was ending right before her eyes.
"NOT MY BABY!!" she yelled. "PLEASE!!"
The guard holding her threw her to the ground three meters away from the others. Shunsui looked closer; the same boy from before was in the middle of the guards. He was crying.
Seeing his chance to act on his own, Shunsui jumped down from the roof and raced towards the guards holding the boy. Upon seeing him, the guards and all the slaves calmed down and stood at attention.
"What's going on here?" Shunsui asked calmly. The guard gestured to the small white haired boy.
"This slave child is unresponsive." He said simply. "And as Your Greatness knows, an unresponsive slave is an inadequate one."
"So, what are you doing with him?" he asked. "Are you going to set him free or something?" The guard looked amused at Shunsui's innocent comment.
"No, Young Master Shunsui. This slave will be put to death." The guard beside him nodded.
"Of course you know," He said supportively, "a slave like him could only bring dishonor to your noble house."
Shunsui looked at the boy. "What's his name?" He asked the guard.
"I think it's called Jyuushiro." The other guards nodded in agreement. "Yea, its name is Jyuushiro." Shunsui looked at him.
"Jyuushiro, are you ok?" He nodded, smiling a bright happy smile. In light of what's happening Jyuushiro doesn't seem at all scared or sad about anything. In fact he'd been smiling at the guards and waving at his mother the whole time.
"I'm a little hungry though." He said. His voice was light; very childlike, and innocent. It melted Shunsui's heart to know that this innocent child was going to die because he wanted to be his own person; because he wouldn't follow orders; because he was brave enough to act on what he wanted, the one thing Shunsui could never do.
"Let him go."
The guards looked shocked. "B-but Sir, this slave is unwilling to carry out his duties to his noble house. He is unworthy of your-"
"Let him go." Shunsui repeated. "I want this slave to serve me personally. He'll be my body guard from now on."
The guards backed away from Jyuushiro, who smiled and thanked them for removing his cuffs. Shunsui took Jyuushiro's hand and led him away from the court yard, passing Jyuushiro's mother on the way.
"Thank you." She whispered to Shunsui, before turning to her son. "Behave yourself, Mommy loves you sweaty."
"Bye Mommy, I love you." Said Jyuushiro, waving as he was being pulled away.
Shunsui brought his new "body guard" to his play room. The room was built for upper classmen…"fun"…there was literally nothing in the room that would interest a child. There was a table, some furniture, a few book cases, a fire place, and a fish tank that divided the room into two separate quarters; one for the adults and the other where the children were kept. The adults had brought in a few odds and ends throughout the week; there was now a chess set, and a few nick knacks on one of the tables.
Jyuushiro looked around the large room happily. He looked about the same age as Shunsui, and yet he seemed to be a lot less educated; as though he were mentally retarded. Shunsui watched him with disgust, but after realizing how like-his-parents he was acting he abandoned the thought and addressed him normally.
"So what did you do?"
Jyuushiro blinked and looked around at him. His face dropped into a frown, and he suddenly looked very sad.
"I played with the hose." He said sadly. "My mom told me not to, but I couldn't help it. It was so much fun, and I was so happy…I think my mom was angry that I played with it when she told me not to. That's why the Bad Men came and took me away. I'm not sad angry though. I like you…What's your name?"
"Oh um, I'm Shunsui. Kyouraku Shunsui."
"Hi, Shunsui. My name's Jyuushiro. Ukitake Jyuushiro. And I like puddles, and bugs, and rainbows, and apples, and chicken, and broccoli, and tuna, and-" Shunsui laughed.
"Are you hungry, Jyuushiro?"
"Yea!! How did you know?" Jyuushiro asked surprised. "Did you read my mind?"
"Just a lucky guess. Stay here, I'll go get you some food."
Down in the kitchen, sneakily making two heaping sandwiches and stuffing his shirt with as many chips as he could carry, Shunsui decided that this was the best decision he could have ever made. It felt good to know he'd saved a life, until he saw the look on his mother's face when he came back to the room.
"Kyouraku…Shunsui!!"
So, what do you think? Wanna know more about these two's past or what? Let me know your thoughts, feelings, and opinions. Please I'll love you forever!! Or at least three minutes… :)