A/N: It´s been such a long time since I posted something…I´ve decided to come back after almost a year. I missed this place, ha.
I do not own Bleach. Good ol´ Kubo does.
He sighs for what feels like millionth time that day.
He´s not sure he actually appreciates where all these years have gotten him. At the beginning, it had been what he wanted. What he felt like he deserved after all the sweat and dedication he put into his battles. But now that he´s achieved it, he´s starting to wonder if being a Captain is really worth it. All the hours of paperwork really are a waste of time.
Finally, he gets up, ready to leave for the day. All the hours spent on those papers had gotten to him. It´s late, and he´s sure they are not waiting for him.
Quietly, he makes his way back home, not too far away from where he stands. She has her paperwork too, she knows how it is, surely she understood his position. And yet, the guilty feeling kept tugging at his chest like it was his entire fault.
He opens the door, trying his best to make as little noise as possible. Slowly, he feels a rare smile tug at his lips as he sees the form of his wife and child clearly sleeping in the couch. The smile drops as soon as it came, though. Had they been waiting for him?
His wife´s short raven black hair is all over her face, but her expression is one of pure calm. The little girl on her arms, however, is frowning. He wonders why she had to get that from him; he´s not exactly proud of his constant facial expression. The girl´s shocking hair, much like his own, contrasts well with her mother´s, who is holding her tightly against herself.
He can´t shake off the guilt. It´s three in the morning and neither of them are in bed. He usually arrives late at home, his duties being important for everyone´s sake. But he never arrived this late. He can imagine it. His daughter wanting to know why her father was so late again. Today more than ever. And he can imagine her, Rukia, doing her best to calm the toddler down. He wants to laugh bitterly.
He debates for a few minutes on whether waking them up so they can have, at least, a more comfortable sleep. He decides against it, finally, mostly for his own sake. He would feel even worse seeing their faces at the time he had arrived.
In a few steps, he´s at the kitchen´s door. He´s spent the whole day working and hasn´t eaten since morning. But he regrets opening the door because he sees they had been preparing a surprise for him. And he suddenly remembers that today is the fifteenth of July, his birthday. He quietly curses and grits his teeth. All the more reason he should have spent the day with his family and yet…
He´s not hungry anymore and he makes his way back to where the two most important people in his life are. Kneeling down in front of the couch, until he´s at level with them, he just stands there and stares. He doesn´t know what he´s waiting for. His eyes sting, but he refuses to let any drops free. He can´t be weak, he can´t-
The woman in front of him opens her eyes, slowly, and he just wants to run and hide, like a little boy caught doing something he shouldn´t. The eyes slowly scanning him are blue with a hint of violet in them and even in his despair, he knows he´s never seen eyes more beautiful than hers. He´s thankful every day that his daughter managed to get them, too.
And suddenly he feels stupid. So, so stupid for taking pity on himself. Because her words come out soft, without any traces of anger, a smile to go perfectly with it, and he knows she loves him. He just does.
"Happy birthday, Ichigo."
A/N: I´m under the impression I should´ve written this for Ichigo´s birthday, but I was being a lazy bastard and didn´t do it. Yay. This is way cornier than I usually am.
Oh,and hurray for short fics. If you review,please tell me if you´d like longer stories. I´m not sure what people would like me to do.