Disclaimer: Please see prologue. Harry Potter-Bleach crossover
AN1: The characters are speaking in Japanese. In this AU crossover, Harry's about 2, Ichigo's about 7 and the twins (Yuzu and Karin) are about 4 when he's adopted. And yes, I know I am messing around with the Bleach universe.
Thank you to everyone who took the time to leave a review! You're all great! As for those who realize that Midori is usually a girl's name: 1. the name amuses me; 2. parents have burdened their offspring with odder names (Moon Unit? Banjo? Audio Science? Pilot Inspektor?); 3. it's the sort of thing that would appeal to my version of Masaki; and 4. it amuses me to no end…
Chapter Two
With his bunny glomped to his side, the newly-named Midori Kurosaki curiously looked around the room. It was white and rather bare, aside from a few screens partitioning the room and rows of neatly arranged beds. He timidly wriggled his toes against the mattress, marveling at the feel of clean, crisp sheets and warm blankets. A little table next to the bed held a pink jug of wildflowers, a water glass and a few picture books. The dark-haired child smiled and stretched out his tiny hand to touch the flowers. The bouquet probably wasn't for him but it made him feel warm and tingly inside. His cupboard never had anything like it, something that wasn't spiders or cleaning supplies.
Blinking away moisture from his eyes, the baby cuddled the stuffed toy. He didn't need anything else besides his teddy bunny. But if he was really lucky, the pretty lady would come and give hugs again. She was always smiling or laughing, not like the dark man in the white coat. To be honest, the dark man almost always grinned and ruffled his hair now, ever since the man with the striped green hat and funny shoes visited. But he carried needles and made owies! At least, the brown-haired man brought sweets. Still, the lady was much nicer, like a princess mommy. A noise from the doorway interrupted the toddler's wandering thoughts. Peeking over the rabbit, he saw a little raven-haired girl with sunflower barrettes and pigtails in the doorway. With a scowl on her face and her arms crossed in front of her white t-shirt and yellow overalls, she looked like a smaller version of the needle-man.
"Boys are poop-heads," she announced, marching over to the bed. "Don' want you if you're poopy. Is you a poo-head?"
The little boy whimpered and tightly hugged the bunny, his huge green eyes widening in distress. When the girl clambered onto the bed, he shivered and tried to slide under the covers.
"Momma told us to be really nice 'cos somebody was a meanie to you and you're real sen-sens-ive- little and scared. Is you scared of me?" she asked, pushing her face near his. With a yelp, the toddler nearly fell off the bed but the girl had a firm hold on the blankets and yanked him closer.
"Silly baby," she scolded with a ferocious frown. "If you go plop an' get me into trouble, Momma's gonna spit fire like a dragon and Poppa'll make me go to bed without dinner. An' I don' wanna miss it 'cos Momma's making lots of yummies 'cos you's better. Momo's mine, you know. I'm letting you hold him for a bit 'cos you're sick and he's real good at keeping the meanies away."
Flinching away, the small child appeared to understand what she was saying, even without knowing the words. Pushing the stuffed toy towards her, he started sniffling and sucking his thumb. However, she poked his nest of blankets and shoved the bunny into his chest.
"You's really a baby if you can't say stuff right. You like Momo, don' you?" she added with a grin, awkwardly patting his head. He stopped whimpering and blinked at her. "S'okay, you can keep him for now. I'm a big girl and don't need Momo no more. Don't even need a night light for naptime, not like crybaby Yuzu! But if you don' treat him good, I'm taking him right back!"
His mouth quivering into an uncertain smile, Midori hiccupped. The dark-eyed girl helpfully smacked his back and continued her cheerful rambling. "Me and Yuzu'll teach you to not be a poo-head. You hafta listen to us 'cos we're your big sisters. I'm Karin but you can call me Big Sis! Ichigo's our big brother so you'll listen to him too. 'Cept when he's being poopy. We can have parties an' play house. You're the littlest so you'll be our baby."
Leaning against the door, Masaki beamed while watching her oldest daughter talk at her youngest son.
"What Mummy do? Mummy play wif me?" the dark-haired toddler pleaded, tugging on Masaki's ruffled red skirt and looking up at her with an impossibly cute pout. Leaning down, she patted his tousled hair before standing up and pouring flour into a bowl. Distractedly, she wondered how he got out of his playpen again. For someone who couldn't walk more than a few steps, the petite boy was a genius at mysteriously escaping any child-proof confinement. Honestly, Isshin was getting tiresome with his boasts about Midori as the next Houdini.
"Mama can't play right now, sweet pea. I'm making a chocolate cake."
"Cake? Why?" the baby asked, his face wrinkled into an adorable frown. Dressed in a bright orange t-shirt with yellow ducks (picked because the colors reminded him of his new brother's hair) and denim pants, he hugged his new stuffed toy, Paddy. For the child to willingly surrender the beloved Momo back to Karin, they'd had to bribe him with an animal trio. Always carrying at least one of the animals with him, he dubbed the black dog Paddy, the gray wolf Mooey and the stag Da.
"It's Ichigo's birthday, July 15th. He turns seven."
"B'day? What b'day?"
"A birthday is your special day, when you become a year older. You get your very own cake and a party with lots of presents from the people who love you."
"No gots Ichi pwesent," Midori sobbed, his bottom lip trembling.
"Honey, it's okay. After I'm done with the cake, we'll work on something," his mother replied, mixing eggs and sugar into the flour.
"Mummy, me no b'day?" he asked, his voice shaking. To hide the suspicious wetness of his vivid green eyes, he partially covered his face with Paddy. Surprised by the question, she nearly dropped the bowl into the sink. Alarmed at his words, Masaki quickly sunk to her knees and pulled him onto her lap.
"Of course, you have a birthday! It's… it's May 5th, the day you came to us. You're very lucky, you know. Not only it is the day before the twins' birthday, it's a festival day," she asserted, gently carding her fingers through his hair.
"Fest-al?"
"A big party for everyone in Japan, sweetie. May 5th has many names: Kodomo no hi, Tango no Sekku, Shobu no Sekku... but it's a day when we are very happy that our little boys are growing up healthy and strong. When you came to us on that day, I knew it was a sign you were meant to be my baby."
"Mummy luv Paddy?" the baby questioned, offering his toy to her.
"Of course, sweetie," she answered, quickly kissing the stuffed animal.
"Mummy… luv… me?" he anxiously added, gripping the dog in a choke-hold.
"I love you very much, my angel," she softly responded with a kiss to his forehead and fierce hug.
"Luv pwetty Mummy," the small boy whispered, resting his head on her shoulder. "No go 'way…"
"I'll never leave you, sweet pea," his mother promised, laying her cheek against his silky, untamed hair. "It's only been a few months but I don't know what I'd do without you."
For a few moments, they sat together, as she gently rubbed his back. With a kiss on his cheek, Masaki tried to put him down, but Midori whimpered and stubbornly clung to her. She laughed and tickled him, triggering a bout of giggles.
"Why don't you help Mama with the cake?"
"Paddy me hep?" he asked excitedly with sparkling emerald eyes.
"Yes, darling, you and Paddy can help," she indulgently said, brushing dark locks away from his forehead. "And when the cake's baking, we can draw a lovely picture for your brother."
Scrambling off her lap, the baby looked up at her with a shy smile. Quickly getting up, she poured some ingredients in a small bowl and set it in front of her youngest child. As he happily smeared the stuff on himself and everything in his general vicinity, Masaki chuckled and continued her birthday preparations.
"The clinic's closed today, my princesses! So, what do you want to do?" Isshin asked, pouring cereal into his bowl. Wearing cotton-candy pink frilly sundresses and gigantic hair bows, the twins smiled angelically at their father.
"Wanna play with Ri-chan!" they announced in perfect unison, pointing at the toddler in the high chair. Feeling eyes on him, Midori paused in spilling apple sauce over his rubber ducky bib. As their father theatrically put his hand on his chest in distress, the boy innocently blinked and popped his thumb into his mouth.
"But… but… what about Daddy?" the man whined, his dark eyes filling with tears. "Don't you want to spend time with your most favorite father in the world?"
"We's having a party," Karin declared, her pigtails bouncing with her vigorous movements.
"Ri-chan's a baby so he gots to play," her brown-haired twin sweetly added. "He goes into the bunny outfit."
"Masaki! My precious girls don't want their Daddy! Am I a bad father?" he wailed, dropping to his knees and clutching his head with both hands. Midori watched in bewildered confusion as the dark-haired man made strange, jerky contortions on the floor.
"Momma! Poppa's acting weird again!" the twins yelled. Unaffected by their father's display, Yuzu and Karin blithely continued with breakfast.
"Did you say something, my darlings?" their mother asked, wiping her hands on her apron as she exited the kitchen. Seeing her husband's antics, she sighed and nudged him with her foot.
"Beautiful Masaki, our girls want to abandon me, their beloved father!" Isshin cried, latching onto his wife's waist.
"Oh, Isshin, I told you to behave in front of him, until he's older," she stated in a profoundly disappointed tone. The dark-haired man paled to an ashy-white color.
"Wait, wait, Midori's not scared at all! He looks fine!" he protested, gesturing toward the children. Sucking his thumb, the baby worriedly flicked his gaze between his adoptive parents. Grabbing hold of his ear, Masaki frowned and proceeded to haul a yelping Isshin out of the room.
"Can we play with Ri-chan, Momma?" Yuzu suddenly asked. Their mother paused and looked towards them.
"You'd have to be very careful and gentle, so you don't scare him," she warned.
"He's small and sens-sens-tive!" Karin shouted, banging her fist on the table.
"We'll be good, Momma! We're gonna dress up for Ri-chan's tea party," Yuzu promised.
"As long as he doesn't cry or look upset, you may play together," their mother conceded.
"We promise, Momma!" the girls chorused, beaming at their parents. Still sucking on his thumb, Midori trembled and hugged his Mooey wolf.
"Off with her head!" echoed through the house. Attracted by the noise, Ichigo poked his head into his sisters' bedroom. To his surprise, all his siblings were gathered around a child-sized table. Wildly swinging a toy scepter, Karin stood over the others in a ruffled crimson dress and a dented yellow paper crown perched haphazardly on her dark hair. Demure in a snow-white shirt and navy skirt, Yuzu hummed under her breath and arranged a tea set on the table. Her sandy brown bangs were pushed away from her forehead by a simple black band. By her feet, Midori lay on a pillow and chewed on his stuffed wolf's ears. Occasionally, he would bat away the ears drooping over his eyes, ears attached to the hood of his pale blue bunny pajamas.
"What's a rabbit got to do with a tea party?" the older boy mused, scratching his bright hair.
"It's a Wonderland tea party, big brother," his youngest sister replied with a gentle smile. When the toddler whimpered, she leaned over and patted his head.
"So Ri-chan's the sleepy bunny an' Yu-chan's Alice 'cos she likes blue an' I'm the Queen who yells an' cuts off everyone's head!" the raven-haired girl rambled, jabbing the scepter in the air. "Off with his head!"
"Hey, it's not nice to cut off someone's head," Ichigo objected. "And you can't call him Ri-chan, he's not a girl!"
"Poo-head! Momma gave him a girl's name! She don' care so's we don't care. An' he's our lil browther, so there," Karin retorted, sticking out her tongue at him.
"Besides, Ri-chan doesn't mind," Yuzu interposed, resting her hand on the baby's head. The petite boy offered a timid smile to his siblings, causing his brown-haired sister to return it and hug him. With a heavy sigh, Ichigo trooped over to the table.
"Fine, fine, whatever," he sulkily conceded, slumping into a chair. "Got some time before my karate class. Who am I gonna be?"
Pursing her lips, Karin immediately plopped a black bowler hat onto his head. "You's the old guy with the funny hat," she announced. Yuzu cheerfully handed him a cup. In the hallway outside the room, Masaki quietly snapped a picture of her children.
After they were all in bed, she placed the photo in a newly bought album. Underneath it, she wrote the caption "Midori's First Tea Party."
AN 2: May 5th- Children's Day, Kodomo no hi (Boys' Day), Tango no Sekku (Tango Festival) and Shobu no Sekku (Iris Festival).
