"Mom! Dad! Where are you?"
A young girl ran through the burning building in search of her parents. "Where are you?"
"Nariko!"
"Sachiko? I'm coming!"
Nariko ran towards her brother's room. "Sachiko where are you?"
"Nariko..!"
Nariko moved the heavy burning beam from her brother's bed. His leg was broken but he looked otherwise unharmed. "Let's get you out of here."
Sachiko wrapped his arms around his sister's neck and she lifted him up, pulling him out from underneath the bed that was slowly crushing him. "What about Mom and Dad?"
"I don't think they made it, Sachiko..." Nariko said as she ran outside with her brother clutched to her. He was only a few years younger than her, but he was her whole world now.
They hurried outside and reached the tree line as the house collapsed in on itself. Nariko and Sachiko watched as the smoke climbed higher and everything they had ever known crumbled into ashes.
"Children, are you alright?"
The two now orphaned children looked behind them to find the local hermit, Matsuki, coming out of the forest towards them.
"What happened?"
"The house just caught fire." Nariko said. "Mom and Dad are gone... Sachiko is hurt..."
"Come with me, you children can stay with me until everything is settled."
Nariko followed Matsuki and held her brother close to her. One last look back at their lost home and Nariko knew they would need to fight for their future, fight to survive.
-O-
"Nariko, are you listening to me?"
Nariko's pointed ears twitched at the irritated sound of her friend's voice. She glanced down and looked at the snow haired young Captain, Toshiro Hitsugaya. "Calm down, Toshi, I heard you the first sixteen times."
"That's Captain Hitsugaya, Nariko. Why won't you ever do what is asked of you?"
Nariko scoffed at that. "Because, Toshi, I'm not a member of any squad, in fact I'm only here as a favor to Matsuki."
Toshiro winced at the name. Matsuki was the man who raised Nariko after she was orphaned and lost her brother ten years later. He remembered the day that Matsuki died, how devastating it was for Nariko.
"Nariko, Matsuki is gone... When are you going to let go of him..?" Toshiro said, shocked to find Nariko standing in front of him, looking him down.
"You know what he did for me, Toshiro Hitsugaya, so please don't ever speak of him like he is nothing." Nariko said, smiling as she offered him an apple.
Toshiro took the apple, confused, as she turned and walked away. He sensed her spiritual energy raging up and down, spiking as she fought to control her emotions. "Nariko..."
Nariko heard him say an apology as he watched her walk away, but she ignored him. She went through the streets of the Seireitei and found herself wandering aimlessly.
"Nariko, are you OK?"
Nariko looked down as a small hand grasped her own and smiled sadly. "I'm fine, Sachiko."
Ever since Sachiko died, his spirit had stayed with Nariko in the form of a secondary zanpakuto. She knew that it shouldn't be possible, but somehow her bond with her younger brother or perhaps even her need for him to stay with her took his soul and created another zanpakuto for her. Shakunetsuno- her primary zanpakuto- found it both endearing and strange, but she supported Nariko either way and looked after Sachiko were they were sealed in the blades.
"You seem really sad, Nariko. Were you thinking about Matsuki?"
Nariko nodded. "Toshiro and I were talking earlier and he was brought up. I miss, him Sachiko." she said, looking up at the sky as they reached her favorite tree near Squad 6's barracks. "He took care of us, but I feel like somehow I failed him. Like I failed you."
"Nariko, you didn't fail anyone. You tried to protect Matsuki, you tried to save me when I got sick, but it was just how things worked out. I'm here with you now and Matsuki is in a better place."
Nariko reached down and ruffled her brother's hair. "You've always known exactly the right words to say, Sachiko."
Sachiko smiled as someone called out for Nariko.
Nariko looked up to find Renji Abarai, the lieutenant of Squad 6, coming over to her. "Hi, Renji!"
"Hey, sorry, was I interrupting something?" Renji said as he joined her.
"No, I was just talking with Sachiko." Nariko replied, smiling. She noticed that Sachiko had disappeared and realized that while he liked to give her privacy when she talked with people, she was also the only one that could see his manifested form.
"Oh, that's one of your zanpakuto right?" Renji asked. "You know, I have never met someone who actually talks to their zanpakuto like you do. You treat them as actual people."
Nariko wanted to argue, but she knew with her emotions swirling in a tempest inside her that it would be a bad idea. "Well, my zanpakuto are not just my weapons. They are my equals, they are my friends and my family. They protect me and in return I protect them. Besides, talking with your zanpakuto isn't that strange. Everyone does it when they discover its spirit, the one that resides within. For me it's Shakunetsuno and Sachiko, and for you it's Zabimaru."
Renji rubbed his neck. "You have a point there. Anyway, I wanted to ask if you wanted to come with me and a couple of the others to get drinks later."
Nariko smiled. "Sure, that sounds great."
Renji smiled. "Alright, so I'll pick you up once I'm off duty."
Nariko smiled. "Alright, I'll see you then."
Renji blushed a little as he turned to leave and gave her a small wave as he went back to his barracks. He glanced back to find Nariko leaning against the tree, an apple in her hand and looking down at a little boy he had never seen before. 'I wonder who that is.'