Stray Blossom
The Lord was away from the manor when the child was born.
As his wife delivered the infant into the world, he was far from the main estate, intertwined in the limbs of one of his many mistresses as he slept the deep soporific sleep of the alcohol-saturated.
As the baby took his first breaths, screaming his presence through the huge, elaborate manor house, the head of the clan lay oblivious, neither knowing nor caring that a new life had begun.
In his absence, the child was named Shunsui.
It was the height of summer, yet that year the first twitch of gold and bronze had begun to frame the edges of the trees that stood in the courtyard, and to the many servants that populated the manor, this was an omen. The child was clearly a blessed one, birthed in the season where sun and supplies were plentiful and colours vivid and beautiful for all to see. Yet the faintest of autumn edging that brushed even the most green of leaves suggested something else. Something deeper. Something darker.
He was blessed and auspicious, beyond doubt. Yet even as he bore his father's handsome features in his face, so he bore his father's flaws within his heart.
As his mother held him, she alone cried.
The Lord did not return to the manor for three days.
On his arrival, he was told of the birth of his new son, and asked to join with the family in celebration for the baby's future in the heart of one of Soul Society's most prosperous noble houses.
When he heard his wife had birthed a son, he laughed, dismissing the servants' eagerness with a careless flick of his hand. For him, after all, the baby held no interest. For him, these days, even the heart and home of his family held no interest. He was Lord, as his Father and his Grandfather before him. He was the descendant of one of the richest families in Seireitei, and served by house staff second only to those who paid homage to the great Kuchiki who towered over all, leaving the others in their slipstream and their shadow. For most, to be associated with the Kyouraku family was an honour and a privilege, even at the most base level.
Yet that prosperity lay on a knife-edge, and even the most loyal of retainers knew that, from the Lord's blood-shot eyes and bleary smile, the day may yet come when the name Kyouraku disappeared into the myths of Seireitei past, never to regain their former standing among their peers.
Even now, after all, it had been some five years since the Lord of the Kyouraku manor had ventured from his lands on anything other than the illicit business of begetting illegitimate heirs and soaking his intelligence in the dangerous lure of rich noble sake. Above his desk, the sword by which he was supposed to protect Seireitei gathered dust, the edges blunt where they had once been sharp and precise when it had been wielded against the dark magic of invading Hollows.
In the nursery, oblivious to the politics that surrounded him, the baby slept.
As he did so, many of the Kyouraku family put their hands together in prayer.
That somehow, someone, somewhere would drag the honour of the clan from the depths of despair, and bring them once more to the place that they should be.
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Author's Note It's never been said whether Kyouraku is or isn't a Great Noble House, but it's clear they have higher status than the Ukitake. I figure that even if they're not a Great House now (and they might be, we don't officially know), they could have been one, once (like the Shiba). So I've worked on that premise with Shunsui and his family :)