After Ten Years

by Bleachfan493

Ten years after 'In the Blink of an Eye' Ichigo, Rukia, and their children, Homura, Shizuku, and Rena are now living in the Soul Society. The story continues as Homura and Shizuku discover their powers, but also fight their growing pains.

10. Chapter 10

After Ten Years - Chapter 10

Rukia was busy in the kitchen when she heard the front door open and what she thought were her two oldest children entering.

'You can just leave your shoes there...' She heard Homura say.

Rukia wondered what would possess her daughter to say that... Rukia heard the thump of a heavy bookbag on the wood floor, then she heard another thump, presumably Shizuku's. Her thoughts were jarred when a third bookbag landed on the floor. Rukia quickly dismissed the oddity. Then, she heard the first two pairs of shoes kick off... Then finally, a third pair. Rukia assumed she misheard, as she had some music playing quietly in the background while she cooked.

Meanwhile, Rena had bounded down the stairs to greet her siblings. Rukia expected to hear Rena's usual greeting for them, but what Rukia heard alarmed her.

'Who the heck is this?' Rena blurted out in disbelief. Homura quickly shushed her sister.

Rukia nearly choked on the sauce that she was in the middle of taste-testing.

'What is Mom gonna say?' Rena shouted again. Homura and Shizuku responded with quieting hisses and Rena continued to ask loud questions.

Rukia was inclined to let her children just work out their argument by themselves, but since this particular argument involved a 'who', she made haste to get to the bottom of the problem.

She untied her apron and hurried out of the kitchen. She moved so quickly, she hadn't bothered to put her spoon down.

Rukia found her three children standing at the bottom of the stairs arguing fervently.

'What's the matter you three?' She asked gently from the nearest doorway.

The arguing children gasped in unison, and a mop of brown hair and the person to go with it quickly hid behind Homura's back.

'Ummm... Mom?' Homura began nervously pulling Kentaro out from her. 'This is Kentaro... Uh, can he join us for dinner? He goes to the Academy, but he lives in the Rukongai all by himself and doesn't have any parents, and well...' She thought for a moment. 'We're all friends now. Could he stay? Please?' She finally finished.

Both Homura and Kentaro waited in anticipation with large pleading eyes.

Rukia was already going to let the stranger boy that had befriended her children stay for dinner, but her heart had been softened even farther when Homura mentioned that he lived in the Rukongai. Being from the miserable place herself, she had a soft spot in her heart for all the children of the Rukongai.

'Please?' Kentaro whimpered pitifully.

Rukia sighed and smiled kindly at the pleading children before her. 'I'm sure we have enough dinner for everybody... Make yourself welcome Kentaro.'

At Rukia's unreserved hospitality, Kentaro's eyes instantly lit up brighter than Homura had ever seen before.

'Show Kentaro where the bathroom is so you all can wash up and be ready for dinner. I expect your father to be home any minute now...' Rukia told Homura.

'Thanks Mom!' Homura bounced happily, already halfway up the stairs with Kentaro tagging closely behind. Both of them were followed apprehensively by Shizuku and Rena.

'I wonder what Dad's gonna say...' Rena mused to Shizuku.

'I don't think he'll have a problem. Kentaro's a pretty nice guy...' Shizuku answered.

Rukia smiled to herself and went to finish dinner.

-XX-

It took a quite few long moments for Ichigo to thoroughly and properly register the presence of an extra young man in his house, and at that, a young man that followed his oldest beloved daughter around like a puppy. But after proper introductions on both Ichigo and Kentaro's part and a delicious meal prepared by Rukia, the two became friends fast.

'That was absolutely delicious Mrs. Kurosaki!' Kentaro crooned enthusiastically.

''Rukia' is fine...' Rukia corrected him gently with a compassionate chuckle. 'I'm not the greatest cook, but any food from outside the Rukongai tastes like it came from heaven.'

Kentaro nodded his agreement eagerly, and then finished guzzling down his water.

'What part of the Rukongai are you from?' Rukia asked as she cleared Kentaro's plate from in front of him.

'The twenty-seventh district... I can't remember the name, though. I don't particularly care to.'

Rukia chuckled again. 'I know what you mean; I myself grew up in Hanging Dog.'

Kentaro gaped in awe. 'The seventy-eighth?' He breathed. 'How'd you get to be a Kuchiki then?'

Rukia shook her head. 'I was no different than you... Some kind family simply took a liking to me and wanted to help me out...'

Kentaro nodded.

Rukia continued her brief story. 'It wasn't until many years later that I learned that my adoptive brother's late wife was actually my older sister.'

Kentaro tilt his head in thought. 'So instead of his sister...' He mused difficultly, 'That would have made you his-?'

'Sister-in-law...' Rukia finished for him. When she saw his awed eyes, she continued. 'I know, it's kinda confusing. It took me years to fully understand it all myself.'

Kentaro blinked a few times. 'It is...'

Rukia nodded and carried the dishes to the kitchen, followed by Rena and Homura carrying the empty cups and dirty utensils.

'So how old are you Kentaro?' Ichigo asked, wiping his mouth and looking at the boy intently.

'Fifteen-' Kentaro started to answer before he craned his neck, as if doing some extra math in his head. 'And a half...' He finally finished.

Ichigo nodded understandingly. 'Homura and Shizuku will be fourteen in a few months.'

'That's pretty cool.'

'And you don't remember much of your parents?' Ichigo asked. 'Surely they must have held some position amongst the Soul Reapers if you were admitted into the Academy at such a young age.'

Kentaro nodded. 'I was told once that my father was in the Squads.' He affirmed.

'Do you know which Squad, or even his rank?' Ichigo continued to press.

Kentaro shook his head. 'I've lived in the Rukongai as long as I can remember. I can barely remember what my father looked like. If I saw his face, like a picture or something, maybe I would remember, but...' He faded out.

'You can't even remember your last name? That would help me out a lot; I could look through the archives for your name and see what I could find.'

Kentaro shook his head again. 'Nope. No last name. I've been just 'Kentaro' all my life.'

Ichigo studied the older boy for a bit before speaking again. 'Hm... Last name or no last name, you look familiar, like I've seen your face before, but I can't think of why that would be...'

Kentaro shrugged again. 'Maybe I just have one of those faces?' He tried to smile.

Ichigo chuckled and stood up. 'Well, no matter what, you'll always be welcome here. If you ever need anything, anything at all, you just come calling, okay?' He asked, patting Kentaro on the shoulder.

Kentaro nodded slowly. He wasn't used to this kind of hospitality or kindness at all. 'Thank you sir!' He smiled.

'Call me Ichigo.' Ichigo said warmly as he walked away to help Rukia. When he reached the kitchen, he quickly excused all three of his children to go mingle with their houseguest.

As soon as the three children were out of the kitchen, Rukia chuckled.

'He seems like a nice enough boy...' She mused sweetly to her husband.

'I like him.' Ichigo agreed. 'Homura does too... I'm not sure what Shizuku or Rena think of him, but I think they'll warm up eventually.'

'Maybe what this is just what the kids need. A friend to help them ride out their troubles.' Rukia added.

Ichigo nodded. 'Does he live anywhere you used to, as a kid?' he asked.

Rukia shook her head. 'Are you kidding? He lives on the 'good' side of town... But still, I feel bad for him. With no parents, and recently, no friends, all while trying to make it through the Academy. He's quite a trooper, I'll give him that.' Rukia finished fondly.

Ichigo nodded and from a distance, Ichigo and Rukia watched their three children talk with their new friend.

After a few moments of silence, Rukia dared to speak. 'I'll feel bad for all of them when we finally leave the Soul Society...' Rukia sighed. 'It might be even worse.'

Ichigo continued to watch the four children giggling merrily on the couch. The four looked like they had known each other forever. Like Ichigo had said, Shizuku and Rena had warmed up just fine to Kentaro. Growing up with two sisters, Shizuku had eagerly welcomed a male companion, even if Kentaro was a year older than him.

'Yeah!' Rena chirped happily. 'I like to blow on the flowers with the big puffs on top and then all the seeds scatter and fly away!'

Kentaro laughed gleefully, reminiscing about dandelions. 'Yeah, me too!'

Shizuku joined in on the laughter, 'I remember one time we blew on a flower like that, and like, all the seeds got stuck in Homura's hair! I think it took at least two hours for Mom to pick them all out!'

Homura laughed harder. 'I had forgotten all about that!' She spluttered.

'So you guys actually lived in the World of the Living?' Kentaro asked.

Shizuku nodded. 'Uh-huh, for almost ten years.'

'Wow, that's pretty cool...' Kentaro had always been interested in the World of the Living and its lifestyle. 'Did you like it there?' He asked.

Homura shrugged, 'It was okay, I guess. We had a lot of modern conveniences, but there, we were just normal people, nothing extraordinary. Here we're different, our whole family is... We're the people looked down on.'

'Modern conveniences?' Kentaro struggled on the words. He had lived in the Rukongai and the Soul Society all his life, he didn't know what Homura meant by the phrase: modern conveniences.

'Oh you know,' Rena chirped in, trying to help, 'Microwaves, and soda fountains, and space heaters, and CD players, and cars? You've never heard of any of those?'

Kentaro shook his head. 'Were you allowed to bring anything like that to the Soul Society?'

Homura shook her head, 'Not really... Mom was never fond of microwaves to begin with, so she was happy to not be able to bring it, but we did manage to be able to bring our CD player. It's kinda like the one thing that ties us with the two worlds. The music ties us to our humanity. Although we're here as Soul Reapers, by listening to music, we're reminded who we really are.'

'What kind of music?' Kentaro asked, 'Can we listen to it?'

Homura thought for a brief second. 'I don't see why not, as long as we don't get too loud...' She reasoned.

'Let's go!' Rena jumped at the opportunity and before Homura could get off the couch, Kentaro and Rena were bounding up the stairs.

Shizuku quickly followed, with Homura close behind.

By the time Homura and Shizuku got to the girls' room, where the CD player was kept, Rena and Kentaro had already gone through the CDs and Kentaro had picked one he wanted to listen to.

'So where does the music come out of?' He asked genuinely, studying the thin disk in his hand.

'You have to put it in the player.' Rena helped, pushing a button on the player, causing the disk tray to pop open.

'What did he pick?' Shizuku asked, hovering nearby.

Kentaro held up a CD. 'I don't really know...'

Shizuku squinted at the print on the disk, and after a few moments of reading, announced the title. 'Shiro Takasu: Music from Motion Pictures...' He read, then looked to Homura in confusion. 'How did we get that one?'

Homura shrugged. 'I think it was Dad's or something... My guess is that Shiro Takasu is a composer, and this album is a compilation of some of his more famous works.' She turned to Rena and Kentaro. 'Put it on and let's give it a listen.' She said.

Rena showed Kentaro the 'play' button, and after a cautious press, beautiful instrumental music began to play, to Kentaro's delight.

'That's pretty cool!' He exclaimed as he turned a dial, which unbeknownst to him was the volume dial. The sudden increase of decibels in the room pounding from the CD player caused him to reel back and cover his ears. Homura quickly fumbled for the dial and turned it back down. Kentaro cautiously uncovered his ears.

'Sorry...' He said sheepishly, but soon recovered back to his usual curious self. 'What's a motion picture?' Kentaro asked.

'It's a movie...' Rena said, in a reminding tone. Apparently, the fact that he didn't know what a movie was had never occurred to her.

'What's a movie?' Kentaro asked innocently.

'It's like a CD, and when you put into a TV, you see moving pictures as well as sounds.' Homura helped.

'What's a TV? Is it like a CD?' Kentaro asked, still obliviously.

Homura sighed tiredly. Nine o'clock at night was too late to try to explain electronics to an already confused person.

Homura's attention snapped back to reality when she actually processed how late it was.

'Oh my gosh!' She exclaimed. 'Look how late it's gotten!'

Kentaro didn't have to look too far to find out. The darkness streaming through every window in the house was proof enough. He jumped straight to his feet.

'And I still have to walk back to the Rukongai!' He exclaimed as well. 'I have to get going, I'm sorry!'

With that, Kentaro raced down the steps.

-XX-

'What's the rush?' Ichigo asked as his three children thundered down the steps after Kentaro.

His children didn't answer, they were too preoccupied with their new friend, who was suddenly leaving them.

'No!' Homura insisted. 'You can't walk home through the Rukongai in the dark!'

'Yeah!' Shizuku added. 'You'll get mugged or something!'

By this time, Rukia had come around as well to see what the fuss was about.

'I'm sorry, but I really have to go! It's only going to get later!' Kentaro insisted.

'What's the matter?' Rukia asked.

'Kentaro's leaving...' Rena whimpered.

'Ohh...' Rukia moaned sympathetically. 'You guys were having so much fun too...'

'Can he spend the night?' Homura blurted out as Kentaro picked up his bookbag. She quickly clamped her mouth shut when she saw her parents' and siblings' (and Kentaro's) jaws drop to the floor.

'Sorry... I just thought that he shouldn't walk home, and he really doesn't have anywhere to go to, and we all have to go to school tomorrow-' she started to ramble, trying desperately to justify her insane idea.

Homura's heartbeat slowed down as she saw her parents begin to seriously consider her outrageous proposition.

'Oh no, I really couldn't...' Kentaro defended. 'I don't want to be in the way of anything, and besides, where would you put me?' He continued. 'Don't worry about me, I'll be fine!'

'We could roll a futon out in the living room...' Ichigo mused. 'Or even in Shizuku's room...'

Rukia nodded in agreement.

'He could sleep in my room!' Shizuku interjected somewhat excitedly. He was beginning to pick up on Homura's idea.

Rukia and Ichigo nodded again.

'Really, I can't stay here!' Kentaro continued fervently. 'You barely know me!'

Rukia finally cut him off. 'I know you enough to know that I like you, and I don't want to see you in trouble because you walked through the Rukongai alone at night...' She reasoned gently. 'There are too many bad people in there.'

'You're staying here, and that's that.' Ichigo added with a smile.

Kentaro dropped his bookbag, and the Kurosaki children cheered. His heart warmed at the thought that this family hardly knew him, and that they were willing to not only open their fridge to him, but to open their entire home to him as well. And he was only a little more than a stranger to them.

-XX-

Shizuku had eagerly rolled out a futon for his new companion, and after a few more minutes of conversation and music, the four exhausted children unanimously retired to bed. Ichigo and Rukia were getting ready for bed themselves.

'You handled a strange young man in our house quite well today, Ichigo...' Rukia teased lovingly.

'I promised myself when I was a kid that I wasn't going to be like my dad... Kicking strangers the moment they came through the door, and most certainly keeping my mind out of the gutter. I think Kentaro's a pretty nice kid.' Ichigo finished. 'I can't get over how familiar his face looks. I almost feel like I knew him, or a relative, a long time ago, but I don't know how that could be, if I grew up in the World of the Living... He reminds me of someone I've forgotten.'

Rukia giggled. 'Have you seen the way Homura's looks at him?'

'No...' Ichigo shook his head. 'What? Does she have hearts in her eyes or something?'

'Very small ones, I think... He stares at her too.' Rukia agreed fondly.

Ichigo rolled his eyes. 'I wasn't planning on that this early...' He sighed.

'Just relax about and go to sleep, dear.' Rukia whispered as she teased his lips with hers. 'They won't end up like us...'

Ichigo's widened, but soon closed when he met her lips halfway. 'God, I hope so...' He sighed as he savored her touch. 'Goodnight, Rukia...' Ichigo breathed.

AN: Oh, this just keeps getting funner and funner for me! This chapter is the longest so far! I don't want to go back to the story, but I will! Anybody wanna guess why Kentaro looks familiar? I don't think anybody will, but who knows? I hope everybody is liking it so far! Feedback Please! :)

Meanwhile:

Homura laid in her bed with her eyes slamming shut, when a voice from across the room roused her.

'You like him, don't you?' Rena teased fondly.

'Oh, shut up and go to sleep...' Homura growled playfully. 'We're friends, and that's all.'

Homura didn't know if she was lying or not.

PS: I normally don't reread any of my writing, I just update it and forget about it, leaving it totally to you guys. But, I finally completely reread both of my stories, and I just realized that a good majority of it was laden with horrific typos! I'm so sorry about that! I realized that I skipped letters, and even whole words! I pride myself for being able to type fast, but I better slow down. If I ever miss whole words again, feel free to put in your own word, then call me a dipstick in the review! :) Thanks for your patience everyone!