After Ten Years - Chapter 14

Byakuya had come knocking gently on Rukia's front door. She had been rather shocked about his presence so early in the morning, but knew better than to question him.

'I'm sorry brother,' Rukia started, 'I don't have any noble-worthy food prepared... Would you like something to drink?' She asked as she put water on for tea, in the event that Byakuya actually wanted some.

'Tea would be refreshing after my early morning walk...' Byakuya agreed solemnly.

Rukia pulled out a coffee cup and her tea leaves. After stuffing the leaves into a small, fine-mesh bag, she placed it in the coffee cup, waiting for the hot water to pour on top of it.

'Do you want to sit?' Rukia asked hospitably.

Byakuya shook his noble head, 'Rena's tutor has informed me that you have taken in a stranger from the Rukongai.' Byakuya questioned as he began to pace the kitchen.

Rukia sighed. She knew he was going to question her judgment. 'He's an orphan, but also a student at the Academy, and seems to be the only one that has genuinely befriended my children.' Rukia clarified as she held her head up higher. 'At first, I was only repaying the favor the Kuchikis showed me, but now, I think we've all come to love him as family.'

'But you do know about his real family, correct?' Byakuya asked with a raised eyebrow.

'Ichigo had a hunch...' Rukia sighed. 'Although it's pretty blatant, all the striking resemblances are there...'

'Where is Ichigo?' Byakuya asked, suddenly noticing that Ichigo wasn't in the house.

Rukia searched for her words carefully. 'Ichigo went to the archives for the morning to see if he could find anything concrete.'

'He's wasting his time.' Byakuya said firmly. He exhaled, and spoke again. 'As you know, the Captains thoroughly examine all new admissions at the Academy. As soon as I went over Kentaro's application, I immediately recognized the face of Sosuke Aizen in him. Just like Ichigo has, I went straight to the archives, to confirm my worst fear.'

Byakuya paused for breath pulled a few worn pages from his robe. In a fluid motion, he straightened them out and set them in front of Rukia, who was sitting at the kitchen table.

'Sosuke Aizen did indeed bear a child while he was still in the Soul Society, at least sixteen years ago, just before he rebelled. To whom, we don't know, but more than likely, a poor, desperate woman from the Rukongai. She is probably dead by now.' Byakuya explained, pointing to the worn papers, wherein everything was fully explicit.

'You knew Aizen had a child all this time?' Rukia asked in disbelief. Byakuya simply nodded.

'Even in the deepest sector of the archives is there no record of it though. It is known only to the higher members of the Squads and Central 46.' He corrected.

Rukia nodded solemnly, not wanting to accept that the boy she had come to love was the son of her worst enemy, of the Soul Society's worst enemy... 'Kentaro's fifteen and a half, and he did say his mother was dead.'

Byakuya nodded. 'I know, we, the Captains, have concluded that the boy is in fact the spawn of Aizen.'

Rukia had too many questions. 'Why don't you list him as 'Kentaro Aizen', then?'

'We have reason to suspect that he knows his parentage, but to protect him, we chose to let him have his way, since he claimed he couldn't remember his last name. If the students in the Academy, or even the inhabitants of the Sereitei, knew that Aizen's son lived in their midst, Kentaro would have been killed in a heartbeat.'

'Has anyone told him?' Rukia asked.

Byakuya shook his head, 'We figured there was no need. Due to the possibility of him becoming unstable with his own powers, assuming he inherited them, we didn't want to risk anything. It is highly probable that he won't even be placed into a Squad.'

Rukia couldn't believe what she was hearing. 'Just because he's unfortunate enough to be Aizen's son, you're not going to put him into a Squad? He wants that more than anything!'

'A few of the Captains, and even some Lieutenants, wanted to kill him on the spot. Even a number of years ago, before he was ever found, they wanted the child dead. Others wanted the boy locked up for eternity.'

'What did the Head Captain say?' Rukia questioned.

'He was intent on merely observing the boy, and if he ever got out of hand or proved a threat, then we would slay him. We cannot simply disregard the fact that he is his father's son. Aizen's blood flows in his veins. The same malice and hunger that drove his father might one day drive Kentaro as well. The Soul Society cannot have that...'

Rukia wanted to cover her ears. 'He's not like that, not the compassion I've seen in him. Aizen's name and picture have come up, and every time he sees it, he reels back in horror and disgust. We said he looked like Aizen, and he didn't want to hear it. He doesn't want anything to do with Aizen! I even think he's ashamed of it!' Rukia argued passionately.

'What you've seen of him in three weeks isn't enough to clear him.' Byakuya's voice elevated, 'What about in three years? Or five years? Or ten years? What will he be then? Will he be a monster as well?'

Rukia felt her tears coming. 'I'm not kicking him out. I said he could stay, and he wants to stay...' She started, trying to think of a way to talk sense into her brother, to explain that Kentaro was nothing like his father. 'What if he stayed with us forever, and we helped him, help him become better than his father? You'll have to promise to treat him just like any other person, and that he'll never have to fear for his life.' Rukia pleaded.

'You will have to take the case before the Head Captain...' Byakuya stated as he turned his head away.

Rukia gasped. 'Brother, you know I can't do that. I have enough strikes against me in his eyes. What with my transfer of power in the first place that nearly got me killed, to the entire scandal with my pregnancy and everything else? Certainly me being married to a human isn't going to help me...' she reasoned with him.

Byakuya thought for a moment, 'That is true... The Head Captain will never give in to your request. It was hard enough for me to get your children into the Academy.' Byakuya stopped to think for a few more long moments. 'I will talk to the Head Captain, and see what he will allow to be done with the boy. I will make it clear that as of now, the boy doesn't deserve to die, and that you wish that he be kept under your jurisdiction...'

'And that he'll be just like a regular person. No strikes against him just because he's an unfortunate offspring of the worst man in Soul Society history. That wasn't Kentaro's fault. None of it was. He deserves to live a better life than a labeled criminal.' Rukia enforced.

'We haven't labeled him as a criminal-' Byakuya was interrupted by the sound of an opening door. Homura and Kentaro had returned from their walk.

Rukia looked around the kitchen in angst. Breakfast wasn't finished. Hell, it was barely started. The water boiling on the stove shook her thoughts. 'Oh, Brother!' She exclaimed, pulling the boiling pot off the stove. 'Your tea! I'm sorry I forgot!'

Rukia looked back to her brother, but quickly realized that he had gone to greet Homura and Kentaro.

'Hello Uncle...' Homura started with a polite bow. She motioned for Kentaro to follow.

Byakuya returned with a slight nod of his head, eyeing Kentaro. Kentaro shifted uncomfortably.

At the same time, Shizuku and Rena bounded down the stairs, fully dressed and ready for the day. At the sound of their Uncle's voice earlier, they had supposed they had better go down and meet him instead of staying in bed.

Rukia ventured nearby to see what Byakuya would say or do to Kentaro, as she was sure he would.

Byakuya eyed the four children that were watching him intently, waiting for him to say something. Finally, Byakuya spoke clearly, firmly, and unemotionally to the boy that had been identified as Sosuke Aizen's only son.

'Kentaro...' He started coldly. 'That is your name, correct?'

'It is...' Kentaro nodded uncomfortably.

Homura also began to feel uncomfortable. Something just wasn't sitting right with her. Her uncle was being overly inquisitive.

'I understand you're living with my sister and her family now... How do you like it? Is it fitting?' Byakuya questioned sternly.

'I like it very much...' Kentaro said, before thinking for a moment. 'The Kurosakis are the nicest people I've ever met. Their unreserved generosity is astounding...' Kentaro spoke, trying to sound educated, trying to stand out to the noble.

Byakuya raised an eyebrow. Rukia smiled.

'My sister claims that you are a pleasant and fine young man, I trust that you will do nothing to change her opinion of you, Aizen's son...' Byakuya added with a growl.

He was trying to see if Kentaro actually knew anything about himself. If he did, surely the reference of 'Aizen's son' would be enough to drag it out of him. Byakuya watched the change of expression on Kentaro's face from confusion to horror to dread to shame.

'You are Aizen's son, are you not?' Byakuya repeated. Kentaro's face was frozen in a look that begged, 'Why did you have to say that? Why now?' Byakuya savored it for a moment before storming out the door, leaving Kentaro to work everything out by himself.

The three Kurosaki children gasped, as did Kentaro. In all honesty, the subject of his father had been something he had hoped to bury inside him, so that no one would ever have to know. It was something he was ashamed of, terribly.

'Tell me my Uncle just has his facts wrong!' Homura pleaded as she grabbed Kentaro by the shoulders and stared with her misty eyes deep into Kentaro's soul. 'There's no way such a wonderful person could come from such a horrible man!' Homura cried.

Kentaro looked around to the other Kurosakis, Rena and Shizuku, who were equally shocked and horrified. Not too long ago had Aizen's story in its entirety been relayed to them. They had shed many tears as well. Aizen's son standing in front of them, even if he was their best friend and brother-figure, was the last thing they needed to hear.

'He was indeed my father...' Kentaro said woefully to Homura, who instantly began crying into his broad shoulder. Kentaro wrapped a tender arm around Homura and looked to the rest of the Kurosakis nearby. 'I'm sorry... You didn't deserve to learn it this way...' Kentaro quickly released Homura and approached Rukia, who herself looked sad.

'I'm sorry again... I should go now... I guess it's as simple as that. I can never live a normal life with a normal family. Thank you for everything...' With that, Kentaro ran upstairs to get his belongings.

'Wait!' Rukia called, but Kentaro didn't hear, he had his stuff and was already out the door, running as far away as possible as fast as he could.

Homura, Shizuku, and Rena peaked out the window to watch their best friend disappear deep into the Sereitei, running away from every memory he had of the Kurosaki home.

Silence and misery hung heavy in the air. The children couldn't believe anything they heard in the last five minutes. Why did their Uncle have to come and ruin everything? Why did he have to say what he did? They were living just fine and happy without knowing who Kentaro really was. They were just starting to be happy again.

Rukia stood behind her children and tried to hold all three in one embrace. Out of the four individuals, everyone had at least a tear in their eye. Homura cried the hardest, and she had become closer with Kentaro than the rest.

'Is he going to come back?' Rena whimpered meekly.

Rukia looked down into Rena's eyes. 'Do you want him to?'

Rena thought for a moment and nodded her head. 'Yes...'

'I want him to come back too...' Shizuku sobbed. 'Even if he is Aizen's son, he still feels like, and is, a part of our family...'

Homura couldn't even speak. She couldn't believe that her dearest friend had just run off with the least of explanation as possible. She didn't resent him for that. She understood that this must be the most painful of subjects for him, and that the easiest way for him to get over it was to run away from it, even if it meant running away from his home, from his friends, from her...

'I'm sorry your Uncle had to say that...' Rukia started, 'He was only doing what he thought was best for you. I think he wanted to see if Kentaro would own up to it, and at least tell us. I'm sure your Uncle didn't mean to make Kentaro leave.'

'So what's going to happen to Kentaro now?' Homura wondered aloud to no one in particular.

Meanwhile, Kentaro was still running as fast as he could, already in sight of the Rukongai, where he knew he belonged, and where he knew he should've stayed. He should never have left so he could put himself in that position. He hated to leave the Kurosakis, especially Homura, but he just couldn't torture them with his presence. He had to leave, that was all there was to it.

Did anyone know that just because Aizen was his father, doesn't mean that Kentaro was horrible too? Kentaro tried to think, it hurt, but he tried nonetheless. From all of Kentaro's memories, he could remember finding a father-figure in his life, at the most, three times. He couldn't even remember if it actually was Aizen, he was so young. But, he could remember that he never felt comfortable or happy around his father. It wasn't fair... He deserved to be loved, too.

Kentaro hoped that everyone would forget about him, so he could go back to living his miserable existence in what he thought would be peace. If they ever came looking for him, he would explain everything. He didn't expect them to, but he had to hope they were as good of people of they seemed, as he knew them to be.

For now, he would try to forget about them, and all the fun they had shared during their brief time together. Maybe he would go back, if the invitation was ever open again. He didn't expect it to, because he had blatantly lied to them. Although he thought he did it for good, he knew he should have simply told the truth. A boiling hot tear rolled down his cheek as he ran through the dirty streets of the Rukongai, back to his dingy shack, hoping that some other unfortunate individual hadn't commandeered it...

AN: Poor, poor Kentaro... :'( Not exactly what I had in mind for the great 'Revelation' but, I think it worked nicely once I finished writing it. If nobody likes it, I can rewrite it easily, as I have some other possible ideas. Byakuya didn't particularly mean to be the bad guy, he simply wanted to test Kentaro to see if he would admit that Aizen was his father himself, which he did. I hope it all made sense!

The story still looks pretty bleak, but I promise, there will be a happy ending, Kentaro and all! Thanks for reading and being so darn patient! Feedback Please! :)