Hello. Sorry if you thought the update was for a new chapter. I just decided to give a more definite finish to what happened with Shunsui and Seto after Nanao vanished.
I do not own Bleach.
"Happy Birthday Seto!" Shunsui and Nanao stood in the doorway of their son's room. They smiled as he rubbed his eyes and looked at them.
Nanao walked over to her son's bed and kneeled down in front of it. "Morning sweet heart." Nanao kissed his brow while he tried to get back to sleep. "You sure you want to sleep more? The party has already started." Nanao smiled as her son threw off his blankets and ran to his bathroom.
"You know how to wake him up very well." Shunsui leaned on the doorframe as he watched his wife walk over to him.
Nanao smiled and tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear. "That's because he is your son." Nanao leaned on Shunsui's chest with her arms wrapping around his neck.
"He's your son too, Nanao-chan." Shunsui leaned down and kissed her gently.
"Gross." Both parents looked at their son as he went to his closet to pick out clothes for the day.
"It's not gross, Seto-chan. It's my declaration of love to your mother." Shunsui leaned Nanao back into a dip before kissing her again.
Seto covered his eyes and looked away. Sometimes he agreed with his mother about his father being a little strange. And very enthusiastic most of the time.
Nanao laughed at Shunsui's reaction to their son's comment. She stepped out of Shunsui's arms and picked up the box that was on the floor by their feet. She held it out to her son. "Why don't you wear this for the day?" She winked at her son once he caught sight of the bright pink wrapping paper.
"I can tell dad wrapped this." Seto took the gift and sat on his bed. He tore the paper off, ignoring his father's hurt look as he tore it to shreds. His eyes lit up as he opened the box. "Really?! I can wear this?"
"Yep." Nanao smiled as her son hugged the box and ran to the bathroom.
Shunsui chuckled at his son's enthusiasm. Even at the age of eight he could still act like the small child he once was. He walked over to Nanao and wrapped his arms around her. "You're sure you don't want another one?"
Nanao laughed at his question. She honestly didn't know if she wanted to have another child. It wasn't so bad now since Seto was older. Maybe she did want another. "You will have to wait and see." She caressed his check as he kissed her neck, avoiding her ticklish spots. She flicked his forehead when he started nipping. "None of that, Shunsui. Or I might have to start acting professional with you while we are around our son."
Shunsui gave her a mock pout. "My Nanao-chan can be so cruel at times." He laughed once she raised an eyebrow at him. "Nanao-chan is so cute." Shunsui placed a kiss on her brow and hugged her. At times he still thought that the life he had was a dream. But everyday he found ways to prove it wasn't.
"What do you think?" Seto walked out of the bathroom and spun around. As much as he hated to admit it, he had the same enthusiastic personality as his father. It was just toned down a bit. But he always acted more childlike on his birthday. It made it more fun.
Shunsui smiled as he picked up his son and spun around with him. "Seto-chan looks great in a shihakusho."
"Do you have to keep calling me 'chan'? I'm eight now!" Seto knew his father would still call him that. So he didn't sound completely serious.
"But Seto-chan will always be my Seto-chan." Shunsui smiled as he set his son back down on the ground. "Shall we go?"
"Where are we going?" Seto knew there was a party, but he didn't know where.
"There seems to be a party going on at 8th division. And it seems to be missing it's guest of honour." Nanao smiled as her son realized where they were going. He hadn't been back to 8th squad since his sixth birthday.
"Race you there." Shunsui poked his son's shoulder before stepping into shunpo.
"No fair!" Seto tried to catch up with his dad, but he had only just recently learned shunpo.
"Then lets catch him together." Nanao landed beside her son. He smiled and wrapped his arms around her neck. Nanao hugged him as she stepped into her highest level of shunpo.
Nanao stopped in front of the gates to 8th squad, her squad. She set her son on the ground as they waited for Shunsui. He appeared a few seconds later. "No fair. My wife conspired against me."
"Mommy is always on my team." Seto grinned at his father. Every time they played a game, he and his mother always teamed up.
Nanao placed a hand on her son's shoulder. "Why don't you go find Lisa-chan? She should be in the office. Maybe you can convince her to practise with you." Nanao smiled as her son's violet eyes got big and his smile grow.
"Yay!" Seto turned and ran towards the squad buildings. He knew this place like the back of his hand.
"He is most definitely your son. Running happily towards an office filled with dreaded paperwork." Shunsui pulled Nanao into an embrace. He smiled as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "I no longer have my beautiful Nanao-chan to brighten up my office."
"That's your own fault. You were the one that asked me to be Taichou of 8th squad. Remember?" Nanao smirked at him, he was being himself. Nanao sighed as she felt a familiar reiatsu approach. "Your work never leaves you alone does it?"
"At least they stopped showing up outside our bedroom at night." Shunsui understood his wife's complaint. They had been interrupted many times by the messenger currently heading towards them.
Not two seconds later, there was a messenger kneeling in front of the two Taichous. "Kyoraku-Soutaichou. This requires your attention." The messenger held out a scroll.
Shunsui took the scroll from the messenger. He left once the scroll was no longer in his possession. Nanao took the scroll from Shunsui. "Sometimes I do have to do some work, my lovely Nanao-chan."
"Not today. This is the first day off you have had in three months. Seto misses spending time with you." Nanao smiled gently at her husband. He had started taking his job more seriously after Seto was born. "Go spend time with him. I will take care of this." Nanao held up the scroll and shook it. "Now go." Nanao made a shooing motion with her hand.
"Okay, okay. I love you, my sweet beautiful lovely Nanao-chan." Shunsui gave her a quick kiss before heading into his old division. His wife certainly knew how to make him do things.
Nanao laughed as she turned away from her squad and began walking towards first squad. She was surprised to find the scroll unsealed. She unrolled it and read the first line. "Kyoraku Nanao, thank you for offering your assistance." Nanao continued to read. 'So they knew I would take this from Shunsui. I'm surprised they could anticipated that.'
'Well considering how he normally is...it isn't all that surprising.' Nanao smiled at Katen Kyokotsu's comment. 'So what is the job?'
'Please don't report it back to Shunsui. He hasn't spent much time with his son. They both miss each other.' Nanao continued to read through the scroll. Her eyes stopped on one word, or a name rather. "Bastard." Nanao whispered under her breath as she quickened her pace.
'Are you sure you don't want his help?' Nanao listened to Chishitoge's worried voice. It wasn't like him to worry.
'I can take care of myself. Plus he isn't as powerful as before.' Nanao got to the Soutaichou's office and found the floor had been torn apart. "Well he certainly didn't act subtly." Nanao scanned the room for any traces of the man's reiatsu.
She easily found his sickeningly gentle signature. She followed it, but stopped when it's path intersected with another. And the other was heading for the Sokyoku hill. "What is he doing there?" Nanao headed off in the new direction. She stopped once she reached the top of the hill. The ground was still uneven and scarred from long ago battles.
"So they sent you, Ise-san." Nanao spun around and drew one of her Tantou. There was no one behind her. "So rude. And here I thought you would be more civilized than Kyoraku-kun." Nanao looked over her shoulder. There he stood, not ten feet from her, Aizen Sosuke. "Did you miss me?"
"Not a chance." Nanao gave him a cold glare. "By order of central 46, I have permission to terminate you if you don't cooperate. You are going back, and hopefully under better security." Nanao faced him fully, he was hardly emitting any reiatsu. She could over power him easily.
"I won't be cooperating, but you won't be stopping me either." Aizen pulled out a strange device from within what little robes he had. "They should really have better security around some of Urahara's little devices. Some can be rather dangerous." Aizen took hold of both sides of the device. "Fair well, Isa-san. I'll make sure to cause as little pain to you as I can."
Nanao didn't understand what he was talking about. But if he had a device Urahara had made, it couldn't be good.
She moved towards him.
"Thank you." Nanao was caught off guard by his words. Until she saw the second device in his hand. A high pitch screeching sound came from the small ball. Nanao could feel all of her muscles seize up as she fell to her knees. When the sound stopped, Nanao could feel her own reiatsu coming from it.
"I do not have sufficient power to use this device, but you most certainly do." Aizen took the small ball in his hand and slid it into the machine. "And now to be rid of you."
Nanao could hear the sound of scraping metal. But she couldn't move. Her body felt unresponsive, and drained. She waited for the blade to cut her down, but she was instead greeted by a flurry of pink.
"You will not lay a hand on her, Aizen." Shunsui stood in front of Nanao with one of his blades crossed with Aizen's. He glared at the man in front of him. What had he done to Nanao?
"It matters not if I do it here or there. It just might be easier there, but I would rather finish this quickly." Aizen sighed heavily as he moved away from the man. "But it seems this will have to wait. Fair well Kyoraku-kun. I will be seeing you soon, Ise-san." With that said he turned the handle on the device he was holding. A flash blocked him from view. And then he was gone.
Shunsui sheathed his blade as he turned to his wife. "Nanao? Are you alright? Did he hurt you?" He held her face in his hands as he knelt in front of her.
Nanao smiled weakly at him. "I'm not hurt. I just feel...off."
'That's because he forcefully pulled reiatsu from you.' The couple nodded as Chishitoge explained. 'I wonder what that thing he used was.'
"It was one of Urahara's inventions. So it can't be good-" Nanao suddenly got the strong urge to vomit.
She lost her balance, but Shunsui had her in his arms instantly. "Don't worry Nanao-chan. I've got you. Do you want to go see Isane-chan?"
"Yeah. I think..." Nano stopped when she caught sight of the fear in Shunsui's eyes. "Shunsui?" Nanao reached up to try and catch his attention. But she noticed she could see through her hand. "What?"
Shunsui could see and feel Nanao vanishing from his arms. He could also see how frightened she was. "It's okay Nanao. I will find you, I promise." He saw a small glimmer of hope in her eyes. "I love you."
Nanao smiled at him as the world around her faded into a white landscape. "I love you too."
Shunsui caressed her cheek and kissed her. But the feeling of touching her ended all too soon.
He didn't know how long he stayed kneeling on the hill. But soon he had someone shaking his shoulder. He looked towards the person and was met by green eyes and white hair. "Shunsui? What are you doing?"
Shunsui smiled at his friend weakly. "Just saying goodbye. What are you doing here, Juu-chan."
Jushiro rolled his eyes at his best friend. "Who were you saying goodbye to?" He stood and helped his friend up.
"Just my lovely Nanao-chan." Shunsui smiled sadly as he fixed his sakkat.
"Who?" Jushiro didn't know of anyone named Nanao. Was she Shunsui's latest girlfriend?
Shunsui looked at his friend curiously. "My Nanao-chan." Jushiro still had a confused look on his face. "My wife." His friend's jaw dropped.
"When did you get married?" Jushiro certainly hadn't heard about his friend being engaged. Least of all married.
ShunsuI was starting to worry for his friend. "Let's see...about eight years ago. To the day." Shunsui was half wondering if he needed to take Jushiro to 4th squad.
"Stop!" Shunsui saw someone running towards him. Two people actually. One of them just ran into him. The other stopped a few feet away from him. "Sorry, Kyoraku-Taichou. The boy was just running around. I will-"
"It's okay." Shunsui smiled at Lisa. "I will take care of him." Shunsui placed a hand on his son's head. He seemed to be crying while trying to catch his breath.
When Lisa left he picked up his son and held him tightly as he continued to cry.
"I didn't know you were good with kids." Jushiro watched curiously as his usually lazy friend transformed into a responsible adult. It was a shocking sight to behold.
"Well I do have a certain way with my own son." Shunsui ignored the obvious distressed look his best friend was giving him and looked at his son. "You okay Seto-chan?" He kissed his son's cheek.
"Daddy, why does no one know who I am? No one remembers mommy either." Seto wiped his eyes. He couldn't believe he was acting like a five year old again. But he was scared, and he didn't know what to do.
"I don't know Seto-chan. I don't know." Shunsui hugged his son as he began walking back to their house. And hoping that it was their house. 'Please be safe Nanao.'
The wind picked up and blew Shunsui's sakkat away. He looked up at the darkening sky. 'This doesn't look good.' Lightning crackled across the clouds and thunder boomed through the air.
"Where did his storm come from?" Jushiro handed his friend his hat back. "It doesn't look natural either. Do you think something went wrong at 12th again?" Jushiro was nearly shouting, but it still sounded faint against the howling wind.
*CRACK*
Both men fell to their knees as the ground split and shifted beneath their feet. They could pick up faint screams around them, but the disaster around them was consuming it all.
Seto clung tightly to his father. "Daddy, what's going on?"
Shunsui held his son tightly with one arm and grabbed Jushiro's shoulder with the other. He got a solid foothold on the crumbling earth beneath his feet and shunpoed into the air. He landed in an open courtyard and looked back towards the Sokyoku Hill. It was crumbling into a pile of dirt and rock.
"Maybe Sensei will know what is going on." Jushiro dusted himself off. Today was begining to take a very dramatic turn.
Shunsui looked towards his friend with a surprised face. "Yamaji...is alive?"
Jushiro became very worried for his friend. "Maybe we should go see Retsu-senpai first."
"Retsu-chan is also alive?" Shunsui was as confused as his friend.
"Daddy, who is Yamaji and Retsu-chan?" Seto had heard the names before, but he had never been told who they were.
Shunsui looked toward his on with a smile. "They are very important people. Yamaji is-"
*BOOM*
The ground burst open where the Sokyoku Hill once was. Then began to collapse and fall in on itself. Only a hole remained, then it began to grow and swallow more land.
"Daddy!" Seto shut his eyes and clung to his father tightly.
Shunsui took a step back before turning and running from the hole. He saw Jushiro follow his lead and catch up to him. "Any idea what's going on?" Both men smiled as they had both asked the same question.
"Ukitake-Taichou! Kyoraku-Taichou!" Both men looked ahead of them. Two people stood in their way, but fell into step behind them. "What is going on?" Lisa eyed the small child hugging her Taichou. She recognized him from earlier.
Shunsui didn't really hear Lisa. He was too busy being shocked at who was running beside his best friend. "Kaien-kun is alive as well?"
Kaien gave Kyoraku-Taichou a hurt look. "We just had tea this morning and I'm already dead to you? And here I thought we were drinking buddies."
"Now's not the time to be discussing this!" Jushiro caught himself as he tripped over a large piece of rubble and continued running. "Shunsui, what happened before I found you?" Everything started to go wrong after that, so it was a logical starting point.
"I don't really know. Aizen had escaped from Muken and had used a strange looking device on my lovely Nanao-chan." Katen Kyokotsu had given him a brief synopsis when she told him Nanao was in trouble. "It was probabaly one of Urahara's strange little contraptions."
"Who's Aizen?" Jushiro was starting to think Shunsui messed with something he wasn't suppose to. A lot of strange things tended to happen, and this was most definetly strange.
"What does Urahara-Taichou have to do with any of this?" Lisa was starting to worry for her Taichou a bit. 'Maybe he drank a bit too much this morning?'
Shunsui gave an exaggerated sigh. "Why don't we get to a safer spot first? Then we can discuss whether or not I am losing my mind. Because I would very much like to know that-" He felt something grab his foot and trip him. He landed on his hand and knees so that he wouldn't hurt Seto.
"TAICHOU! DON'T MOVE." Lisa stared with wide eyes. A bone hand was wrapped around Shunsui's ankle. She slowly drew her katana. "Don't move a muscle."
"Put your sword away, shinigami." A deep resonating voice spoke from the ground. The bony hand held fast to Shunsui's foot as the ground beneath it opened up. Shunsui had stood up and was staring down at the now glowing ground beneath his feet. he remained silent as a black hooded figure rose from the ground. A second bony hand grasped Shunsui's wrist as the first released his ankle. "You have something that belongs to me." Shunsui frowned at the skull that spoke to him.
"Who are you?" Shunsui frowned more as he watched flesh begin to grow on the skull. "What do I have that is yours?"
The skull now had a face, the face of an old man. "I am the true god of death, but I am also the god of life. And of time. For without time, life can not become death." The voice became softened and became less raspy as the face continued to regress in age. "And what you have that is mine, is a small life that should not exist here without its creator." The man reached out towards Seto, but Shunsui moved his son out of his reach. Death smiled gently at Shunsui's fatherly instincts. "Now Shunsui, let's not make this difficult. This world does not know who your wife is. That little 'toy' Urahara made, erased her from existence here. Otherwise she would have been torn apart while traveling through time. Unable to exist in any world."
"Then why do I still know her? Why does no one remember Seto? How did Urahara even create anything capable of doing that!?" Shunsui was more yelling out his frustration rather than being mad at Death.
Death placed a hand on Shunsui's shoulder. "Mad men always manage to create the impossible, but sometimes the impossible should stay that way." He gave Seto a sad smile. "You where the only one that saw her as she was erased. That is why you still know who she is, and because you knew, Seto could still exist here. But he can't stay here. I have to take him with me."
Shunsui tensed at Death's words, but a small voice drew him away from his thoughts. "Dad." Shunsui looked towards his son. Seto smiled at his father. "It's okay. Mommy's waiting for me somewhere else." Seto wrapped his arms around his fathers neck as he tried to hide the tears that where stinging his eyes. "I love you daddy."
Shunsui hugged his son tightly. "I don't want to lose you too Seto." Shunsui knew he was crying as he dropped down to his knees. He was trembling while trying not to cry out loud.
Seto stepped away from his father and smiled at him. "You won't. I will always be right here," Seto pointed to where his father's heart was. "Just like mommy."
Death placed a hand on Seto's shoulder. "Are you ready?" Death now looked like he was beginning to age again. Wrinkles formed on his face and his hair was more grey than black. His gaze fell upon Shunsui And he gave him a reassuring smile. "Do not worry, he is in good hands."
Death took Seto's hand and turned his back to Shunsui. Both began walking away. And slowly they began to fade away, till not even a shadow remained. Shunsui just stared after them as tears streamed down his face.
"LOOK OUT!" Shunsui ducked as a sword cut through the air where his head had been.
*ROAR*
Shunsui watched as a Hollow dissolved above him. "What was that!? You were completely spaced out there. What where you day dreaming about?! Why are you crying?" Lisa gave her Taichou a confused look.
Shunsui looked around him. Everything in front of him was completely destroyed. Hollows crawled over the rubble as shinigami tried to subdue them. He wiped his eyes of the moisture that was there. "I don't know Lisa-chan. Probably just a bit of dust." Shunsui got up and dusted himself off.
"You sure you're alright?" Jushiro was worried for his friend. He never dazed off like that usually. "Do you want to go see Retsu-senpai?"
"Nah. Let's get this over with so I can go back to relaxing." Shunsui placed a hand on each of his zanpakutou.
Lisa rolled her eyes. "Of course you only want to do work so you can be lazy." She shook her head at Shunsui's smirk. "Fine. But don't you start relaxing before we have even finished. And remember that invasions can last for more than a few hours."
Shunsui chuckled at Lisa's comment. He knew exactly how long an invasion could last. He just hoped this one didn't last that long.
Please leave a comment or a question. Let me know what you think or how you liked it. And what parts you liked. Or if you need any clarification on anything.
so how was the added part? i just had quite a few people say that they wanted to know what happened to Seto, so here is what happened. If you guys didn't realize that Nanao going back in time would have meant that Seto didn't exist yet, i decided to create an event so that it was a bit more clear.