Title: My Own Story

Don't watch, don't seize the lost butterfly

Go past the precious things, go past the important things

Break and destroy the key to my heart

I continue to search for my own story until the blindfold that conceals my fate is removed

I'll pierce through these clouds with my wings and go to the distant tomorrow...

- Nana Mizuki, "Meikyuu Batafurai"

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. 'Nuff said.

Author's Note: Just wanted to let every reader out there know that I like to keep my chapters short these days just to make sure I keep writing with the craziness of school and work going on around me.

Chapter Five: From This Day Forward

With aversion, this insertion came so swiftly

Cut the cord, from this day forward

We'll be drifting

No direction, no affection

Watch the soul dive

You're dissected, resurrected

Still don't know why...

- Korn, "Hold On"

Oba-sama and Hanako-chan were so engrossed in the miraculous nature of their seemingly impossible reunion that they hardly noticed my presence. To be honest, I didn't feel right staying and baring witness to such a private moment. As they closed the gap between them, Oba-sama kneeling tenderly down to her daughter and wrapping her arms around Hanako-chan, who tearfully clung to her, I quietly averted my eyes and snuck away to the kitchen.

A few minutes later, while I was snacking on some onigiri, Oba-sama's heartbroken voice drifted to me from behind. "I thought Hanako-chan had already moved on to the afterlife."

I turned around to face my shaken aunt, the guilt of keeping my visits to Hanako-chan secret from Oba-sama written plainly on my features. "I'm so sorry, Oba-sama. I knew she was still here from the start. I would've told you had I been aware you could see her, too…"

The rest of my words died in my throat. What else could I say? This whole situation complicated my relationship between my aunt and me in ways I could not begin to understand or deal with.

Hanako-chan appeared in front of her mother, a small hint of a smile playing on her lips as she, to my surprise, uttered the following, which instantly removed the angst in the atmosphere: "Sumire-chan, why aren't you happy Okaa-chan [okaa-chan=mother] can see me? It's all I've wanted since I died. We finally get to say 'good-bye' properly."

"How kind of you to reassure your cousin, Ojo-chan," Oba-sama commended her daughter, smiling in response to the grin that had sprung to my lips. Boy, was I grateful to Hanako-chan for her great store of optimism rushing to my rescue yet again.

Nonetheless, the lightness of the moment quickly faded when I remembered the dark events of this morning. "Oba-sama, we need to talk," I proclaimed with grim determination.

& & &

As could be expected, Oba-sama reacted with great amazement upon hearing the whole of my history regarding Hanako-chan's time as a yurei, including Kurosaki-kun's recent involvement, from both Hanako-chan and me. She then scolded me for not trusting her or my parents enough to come to them with this matter. "Easier said than done" was my dull reply, and Oba-sama's motherly protective look fell flat.

"Touche, Mei-san," she conceded softly, her eyes clearly echoing empathy in my difficult situation.

"Okaa-chan, how long have you been able to see yurei?" Hanako-chan asked innocently, but Oba-sama's startled expression revealed what a loaded question her child had handed to her.

Then my aunt's features relaxed after the initial shock had ebbed, and she tenderly probed: "Do you really want me to tell you about my ability to see yurei?"

"Yes," Hanako-chan agreed enthusiastically. "I bet Sumire-chan want to hear about it, too."

At the mention of my name, Oba-sama peered at me expectantly. The motion caught me off guard since I wasn't sure in the first place if she'd actually talk about a capability that'd caused her just as much pain as I'd experienced myself. In fact, my aunt's abrupt relentment in front of her own daughter amazed me even more. I suspected, like myself, this situation had pushed Oba-sama into a corner she couldn't free herself from unless she entrusted her secret with others.

"Please, go ahead," I softly prompted my aunt.

She smiled at the encouragement and opened her mouth to begin. "Yes, I've been able to see yurei all my life."

Suddenly, she paused, studying Hanako-chan carefully. I realized that the mother in Oba-sama still had to exercise caution with her daughter present. There wasn't a need for the little girl to learn about the blunter side of yurei seeing.

"I...don't use my ability much, and no one else in the family can see yurei. However, Sumire-san, both your parents know about my power."

"Really?" I gasped out loud. Hanako-chan's hitched breath also manifested her astonishment at the unlikelihood of my stodgy parents sharing a mythological, clandestine revelation with my aunt.

Oba-sama laughed ironically, if a bit forced. "Mei-san, if only your parents knew about you. You would understand why they can be trusted with your secret. Perhaps now is the time to tell them...?"

"No!" I exclaimed in an unusually passionate voice.

A pair of faces stared at me, taken aback by my outburst. Reader, I never acted with this straightforward abandonment to anyone, not even my family. For God's sake, I used polite honorifics with everyone except my little cousin, and I undoubtedly would've converted to "Hanako-san" had she lived a little longer. Surely, all of this evidence pointed to how agitated I'd grown over the short period of time I began this narrative. I wearied of the seemingly endless succession of twists on this merry-go-round of morbid fascination with death and wished to return to my regular existence.

For the millionth time, fate treated me with cruel indifference, for the merry-go-ground sped up with an even more sickly and grisly spin of events: the hungry, terrifying wail of an approaching yokai.