A/N Sorry this took so long, guys. Between writer's block, my laptop having a funny five minutes and many other things it's taken a lot longer than I was hoping... But here's chapter 2 hope you enjoy :) Also, there's a big author's note at the end explaining a few things about the story and such. It's not necessary to read all of it if you don't want to but the first paragraph is fairly important to the story further on, so at least try to read that much ;)
Ku found herself unable to relax as she listened to her mother cleaning in the kitchen. It was as though she was a spring someone had coiled too tightly but refused to let go, pent up energy caused her hands to shake whilst she waited for some sign of life from the boy in the other room. Every now and then she would find herself moving to stand but she forced herself to remain seated; her mum had said it was just a case of time and rest, and having her around wasn't going to help him.
Eventually she managed to get herself under control and settled down with a book which had been recommended to her by someone from her dad's division. Just as she was starting to get into the story she heard a mumble from behind the door on the other side of the room and before she knew it she had leapt to her feet approaching the door. This time she didn't stop herself, after all, for all she knew he might be hurt.
When she reached the door she slowly twisted the handle, slipping inside as quickly as she could in order to stop too much light slipping in- she didn't want to risk waking him if he was still asleep. Once her eyes had adjusted to the dark room she turned around, only to jump when she saw the boy sat straight up in bed, his eyes wide open but completely vacant.
A chill swept through Ku's body as she watched the child, his lips moved frantically as he tried to form words in what Ku assumed was a dream of some sort.
"More like a nightmare…" she murmured to herself as she moved closer, attempting to understand what he was trying to say. When she realised what was being said she wished she hadn't tried. Pleas for help and desperate whispers of escape fell silently from the boy's lips. Ku wished she had had the common sense to get her mum before entering the room because now she felt rooted to the spot, dragged gradually further and further into the boy's terror.
A single tear falling from one dark green eye snapped her out of it and she shook her head violently, attempting to clear it of second-hand fear. Rubbing her eyes she found that her face was damp with tears shed for the boy before her who still sat whispering to the phantoms which haunted him.
Ku slumped into the chair at his bedside before reaching a cautious hand out to touch his own; for a moment his body tensed, but it quickly relaxed as she began drawing gentle circles into his skin with her fingertip. She managed to catch him as his body fell backwards and carefully placed him on his back, drawing the quilt up to his chin to ensure he wouldn't get cold.
Once she was sure he was once again fast asleep she settled herself down on the chair and waited for him to wake up. She didn't try to leave the room, but even if she had tried she thought she would have probably failed; something about this boy caught her attention and she just couldn't bear to leave him alone after what had just happened.
When Karin went searching for Ku about an hour later she found her daughter slumped over the bed of her sleeping new friend, one hand holding a smaller one clasped within it, and she couldn't help but smile. Her daughter was growing into an amazing young woman and she couldn't be more proud.
A short trip to the closet yielded the blanket she had stored away for the winter. She draped it over Ku's shoulders, careful not to wake her. Once she was done she backed out of the room and closed the door silently behind her, returning to her seat on the sofa where her book awaited her. She knew it would only be a matter of time before Toushiro returned and when he did she wanted to be the one to talk first.
And if that meant staying up until he got home at whatever ridiculous time he finally managed to finish his work, then she was willing to face exhaustion the following day. She knew that if Toushiro saw the boy before she could explain then he wouldn't listen to reason. At least, not in time to help the poor kid- he needed help now. She had no delusions that he would survive another night on his own; he was exhausted and malnourished and chilled to the bone and something in her screamed that she needed to do everything in her power to protect him.
Her plans to stay awake began slipping away once 2am came and went. She rarely stayed up later than midnight as a response to caring for Ku (a natural early bird, her daughter had never slept in later than 7am in her life) and found that her body rebelled against her mind as she was dragged into a fitful sleep.
Toushiro yawned silently as he landed in front of the pretty house they had been gifted several years ago, although in the dark it was difficult to make out any of the features which made the building home to him and his small family. Pushing open the door he spied Karen asleep in one of their plush armchairs and smirked; trust her to fall asleep in such an uncomfortable-looking position. She had one leg hooked over one of the arms of the chair and her head resting on the other, one of her hands was hanging off of the front of the seat and swaying slightly, no more than an inch above the floor with a book resting on the ground just below it.
He chuckled as he made his way towards her and stopped just in front of the chair before crouching down. He reached out a hand and gently shook her shoulder. "Karin? You should probably go to bed." He smiled as she opened her eyes just enough to squint at him and let out a tired groan.
"Urgh, why does my back hurt?" She sat up slowly, massaging the muscles in her lower back in the hopes that it would help alleviate some of the aches which had developed there.
"Because you fell asleep in the chair instead of going to bed." He leant down to pick up the book which still lay on the floor. "I'm guessing you were reading." He smirked at her, "or were you waiting for me?"
Karin laughed at him before remembering exactly why she had been sleeping in the chair. "Actually, I do need to speak to you, it's kind of important." Toushiro knew to listen carefully when her voice fell to that sombre pitch so he found himself settling down to allow his wife to speak freely.
"What happened? Is something wrong?" He asked, slightly concerned by the worried crease between Karin's brows.
"Not exactly wrong… Just, I need to speak to you about something, and I need you to listen to me before jumping to any conclusions." She looked down at him, one eyebrow raised enquiringly. Toushiro found himself nodding in answer to her silent question, curiosity overtaking as he waited for her to begin.
Karin took a deep breath and launched into her story, placing particular emphasis on the boy's physical weakness and his lack of memories. Even with her extra effort she could still see a small frown developing on her husband's face as the story progressed, she could only hope that it was because he was worried about the boy and not because he thought there was a potential threat.
"He passed out so I put him in the spare room; Ku was keeping an eye on him until she fell asleep too. He's not a danger is he? I mean, he's just a little boy and he can't even remember where he was a week ago…" She glanced at Toushiro nervously, hoping to receive one of his small smiles of reassurance.
"There are lots of reasons why he could have memory problems, he could have hit his head or eaten something which scrambled his brain for a little while. Or it could just be from lack of food; I never got to that point when I was a kid, but food was never easy to come by and when I was at my worst there would be moments where I would forget where or who I was…" He looked thoughtful for a moment. "I need to see him."
"So he can stay, at least for a little while?" Karin asked hopefully. She wanted to unravel the mysteries surrounding the boy's origins.
"For now, but if I think he's iany/i danger to you or Ku then he has to go." Karin wasn't happy that she may have to just leave the boy on his own in the future, but for now she would just have to accept it. "You said he was in the guest room?" Toushiro asked, approaching the door as quietly as he could.
"Mmhm, he's asleep though. Try not to wake him or Ku up; they've both had tiring days…" Toushiro just waved a placating hand at her before opening the door and slipping into the dark room.
He blinked slowly, allowing his eyes a moment to adjust to the near-pitch-black darkness of the room before he approached the bed. A smile snuck its way onto his lips as he saw Ku sleeping peacefully in the chair beside the bed, her blanket pooling around the base of the chair after she'd shifted about in her sleep. He moved to her side and tucked the blanket back up around her chin, smiling softly to himself when she snuggled down into the soft wool.
The smile slipped as he turned back to the bed, taking in the sight of the small boy who currently occupied it. Physically he couldn't be more than six, but he knew as well as anyone else in Soul Society that high levels of reiatsu could stunt growth; by his estimate the boy could be anywhere between six and ten. But what turned the non-smile on his face into a frown was the strange reiatsu signals which he was getting from the boy. They seemed almost non-existent, certainly not strong enough to starve the boy to this point in such a short amount of time.
A few minutes later he returned to the other room, pulling Karin away from her position of constant vigilance beside it as he went. He could tell that she wanted to tell him off for it (maybe even do a little indignant shouting like she would have when they were younger) but she let it go with little more than an annoyed snort in his direction so that she didn't wake the kids in the next room.
"So?" She asked in a rushed whisper, desperate to know what her husband thought of the boy. Although a big part of her would be happy with him just accepting the boy staying for a while, a small thought at the back of her mind shouted in the hope that he could shed some light on the situation which she had been thinking about so much since she first found out about the lad.
"He has a low level of reiatsu, probably enough to drain him completely if he didn't eat for a month or so; but at that level I don't think it could have put him in this condition… And I have no idea what happened to make him lose his memories like that…" He glanced at Karin as she watched him fiercely. "That said, I don't feel any sort of threat from him; in fact I would recommend that he stays in bed for another five days at least."
"So he can stay?" Karin asked warily; she loved Toushiro, she really did, but sometimes he could be as cryptic as the kung fu masters in those old movies she used to watch with Ichigo when they were kids. Her face split into a grin when she saw her husband nod slightly, wrapping her arms around his neck and placing a kiss on his cheek. "Thank you, Toushiro. I don't know whether I could send him back out there, he just looked so small and scared when he got here…"
"I know, don't worry. As long he doesn't pose a threat I won't make him leave, at least not until he's feeling better." He brought one arm around to support Karin at the waist as the other hand traced the slight bags under her eyes, "now, I think it's time we got you to bed. After all, now you get to look after two kids instead of one, won't that be fun?" He chuckled slightly when Karin gave him a light slap to the shoulder in response. "Come on, bedtime for you."
He scooped her up suddenly, holding her bridal style in his arms as she squirmed in an attempt to get free. "I'm not a child, you know. I can walk by myself."
"I'm not doubting that you can, but-" he leant down and pressed his lips to hers, watching her eyes close as all the tension he could feel in her body melted away. When he pulled away he smiled slyly at her before finishing his sentence, "it makes doing that a lot easier."
Karin smiled up at Toushiro and for a moment it almost felt like they were back at the clinic all those years ago, still getting used to the idea of being a couple, a real couple. She ran a hand through soft white hair and sighed, resting her head against his shoulder.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Toushiro was looking at her with a concerned look on his face.
She chuckled dryly before answering, "I don't know, I just… I suppose it feels like things are moving too fast. I mean, I still remember finding out that we were going to have Ku, and now look at her…"
"I know what you mean, but she had to start growing up some day. I suppose today's that day." He smiled at her reassuringly before giving her a comforting squeeze. "Come on, it's bedtime for Karin." Toushiro manoeuvred his way into their room as quietly as he could without jostling Karin too much before setting her on the bed as he went to get changed out of his uniform.
When he returned he found her wrapped in the duvet meant for both of them and he couldn't help but laugh lightly. Making his way to the bed he slid onto it beside Karin and gently unravelled part of the covers from his apparently incredibly-cold wife before pulling her into his arms and pulling the duvet over the both of them. She smirked up at him, already half-asleep. "Night, 'Shiro, love you."
He dropped a kiss to her temple before snuggling closer to her in the darkness, "love you too."
A/N I feel like I should leave a little (or not so little…) note here to give you guys a bit more of a grip on the Bleach world as I see it in this story. The most important thing I wanted to talk about was that the Forbidden world isn't quite the same as the regular Bleach universe in that there are slight differences in who is and isn't alive as well as certain differences in the events which have happened. Orihime never went to Hueco Mundo and therefore the whole kerfuffle that happened after that never occurred. Because of this, as far as we know all of Aizen's arrancar are still alive and kicking and could possibly be popping up at some point in this fic ;)
Secondly I've always wondered how exactly aging in Bleach works, so when I started Forbidden (all that time ago) with the intention of it running over a long time period (I think we're currently about 20-25 years into it, I'm too lazy to go back and work it out…) I started up my Bleach-aging-theory. Essentially, aging in soul society does not mirror aging on Earth.
- A regular (adult) soul will age only 1 year for every 5 which pass on earth, the soul of a child (because it is constantly growing) ages at a normal speed until it reaches the age of about 14 or so when it begins to act like an adult soul.
-The shinigami were more difficult to nail down (what with characters like Ukitake being supposedly several centuries old and having aged about 20 years, at a push) so I've decided that at least in this story a shinigami ages at a rate of about 1 year per every 10 passing on Earth. But, because this still didn't quite add up I had to keep expanding the idea. A shinigami has slight control over their aging; this can be controlled by conscious thought or subconsciously. For example, during Toushiro's separation from Karin he consciously kept his body aging at a normal rate for Earth so that when they met again he wouldn't still be a little kid. But when he was younger his body subconsciously slowed down his aging (and his growth) because of his high level of reiatsu placing pressure on his body.
Okay, done, if you read all of that then I'm impressed and would seriously like to know what you think about my theories, they've been stewing in my brain for so long now that I just accept them as facts but I want to know whether they make sense to you guys too. Thanks for reading, hugs for all :)
