Bonnie ended up following the man around every day - and without fail, Ganju would be right behind her. That man who looked exactly like his aniki - that man whose name was so similar. Kaito. Kaien. There were many occasions where Ganju almost let his tongue slip and each time he'd feel the guilt build up inside of him like poison. Each time he'd tell himself that he wasn't pretending that this man was his brother. It was wrong - it made himself feel disgusted with himself. He was disrespecting his brother - his dead brother.
Every day - without fail - Ganju grew closer to that man. Kaito. Every day - even with the lingering guilt - he felt happier than he had ever been. And he just couldn't ignore that. He'd tried - he really did.
It was all Bonnie's fault anyway.
He didn't tell anyone about Kaito. Not even his sister. Ganju knew that she'd berate him and tell him things that he already knew. She'd yell at him for being stubborn and look down on him as she did.
So he pretended that nothing was wrong. He pretended that Kaito's children were Kaien's children. He pretended that Miyako - Kaien's wife - was the only one to die that night. He became selfish - and sometimes, when it was quiet and dark, he would lie to himself and say, "Everything is fine. Aniki is alive."
"...Ganju-kun?" A familiar voice called. It was Kaito again - only this time, instead of Ganju being the one to approach the other, it was the other way around. Ganju gave a little smile and made a motion with his hands, telling Kaito to sit beside him.
"Kai - er, Kaito-san," he amended, "what do you want? I mean - why are you here?" Ganju's words stumbled over each other eagerly, and this caused Kaito to grin a little - Ganju's awkward manner had become familiar with him.
"Oh nothing," he grinned wider, "I've just dumped the little ones onto granny, so I've got some free time." Kaito fiddled with the hem of his yukata, Ganju just looked into the distance. The both of them sat on the edge of a small cliff that overlooked the town that Kaito lived in. West Rukongai was quiet the site - the sun shone bright, the sky blue with a smattering of clouds and the town buzzed and busied itself.
In contrast, the two figures of Kaito and Ganju sat on the cliff - it had small patches of grass and weeds. The two of them allowed themselves to drift in silence, neither bothering to break it. The wind did not caress them today. Everything was quiet and still on the cliff, as it should be.
Quietly - almost carefully - Kaito spoke, "Do you have a family of your own?"
Ganju started, "Um, yeah. Just my sister though..." Ganju gave a quick glance at Kaito and looked back at the town, "I used to have an older brother...he was a shinigami." Once again Ganju's eyes flickered over to Kaito.
"Oh, really?" Kaito replied, and for some reason, his polite concern disappointed Ganju. "What happened?"
"He died," Ganju said bluntly. He died. And those were his final words on the matter. No more lingering flickers of hope.
But Ganju's eyes still wandered and stared at Kaito's figure.
Kaito - Harry - Kaien - whatever his name was closed the door to his room and slid down against it. He let out a defeated sigh and rubbed his tired eyes with his fingers. He let himself rest there for a moment before walking to his chair by the desk to sit down. The room was lit by the setting sun which shine through the window.
Kaito knew, Harry knew. He knew it all. He was Kaien. He was Kaien. In a past life, he died. In the life after that he became Harry Potter. He lived as that person for over two decades in which he died several times before dying the final time, when he was sent to Soul Society.
No shinigami greeted him when he died, and none appeared to him when he came to Soul Society to allocate a district for him to live in. He knew it should have happened, and he'd known why he hadn't for a while now.
Harry had sent himself to Soul Society. He hadn't remembered when he arrived District 75 of Rukongai - not until he'd met Ganju. Ganju - his own little brother, someone he had loved dearly, once upon a time.
He couldn't tell them, or anyone else. They were from his other life, and he had no say - he had no right to sway them when they were from another life.
Harry knew, and the knowledge was eating him from the inside out.
Even with his inner turmoil, Harry continued to act normally. He took care of his two children, Katsu and Takeshi, as well as granny - at least when she allowed him to. In the end, he put the matter at the back of his mind and decided to move on with the best of his ability. He continued to run his pharmacy and make small talk with the customers.
As per usual, his first customers were two female shinigami who browsed through his store, looking at nothing in particular. Occasionally, they sneaked a glance at Harry and giggled. Harry rolled his eyes when they looked away, but found himself enjoying his routine. He turned away from them and rummaged through some receipts under the counter, so he could at least feel a little less bored.
Usually, the shinigami came and left with a few words to him - other times they'd purchase some of his herbs before leaving, but today a pink clad man with a straw hat came and interrupted them.
"Aha! So this is where you've been going all this time!" He yelled dramatically, "Why? Am I not lovely enough?"
The two women sighed exasperatedly. One turned away and continued to browse and the other looked at the man, "Taicho, we always go here and...please...where is Nanao-fukutaicho?"
"Oh, her? I'm mad at her." The apparent captain said with a pout, "She says that stealing someone's clothes while they're bathing isn't polite. Psh, where I come from, it's perfectly normal."
"...not everyone are from where you're from," the woman said. "Excuse me while I finish making my purchase," and with that, she grabbed a bag of herbs and walked to the front counter.
It was not until then that the pink-clad captain fully looked at Harry, and it was to no surprise that he stared with surprise before looking away.
"Kaito-san, these herbs please," the woman said.
"70 Kan, please," he said with a pleasant smile. The money was exchanged and the two female shinigami left with a short farewell to both men. The captain stayed behind and browsed the store, while Harry busied himself with measuring various powders and herbs.
Eventually, the pink-clad captain approached Harry and leaned on the counter. "Nice store."
"Um, thanks." Harry looked at him inquiringly.
"So...Kaito huh?" He said as he took off his hat and placed it on the counter, "no last name?"
"None that I can remember," Harry replied impassively, "Is there anything I can help you with?"
"Ah yes, what type of things do you sell?" He asked as he scanned Harry and the surroundings up and down.
Harry gave small, genuine smile as he began explaining, "I sell herbs, powders and medicines that help with sickness, wounds and such, but the majority what I sell are tea leaves that help people relax. Not many people get sick or wounded here, so that's what I sell mostly."
"Then why sell medicine at all? It's not very useful to the people in this district," the man said.
"Well, mainly for the occasional person with reiatsu, or the occasional shinigami like yourself," Harry replied. "Anything else that requires my assistance?"
"No, thank you," the man said as he grabbed his hat off the counter, "I'll see you soon, Kaito-san." He left with a small goodbye from Harry, who couldn't stop his last words echoing in his mind.
I'll see you soon.