Resolution
It was a week before Juushirou's seventeenth birthday that a stranger came to the Ukitake estate.
For Juushirou and his siblings, to have visitors was hardly a new sensation. There were, after all, several families in the surrounding area of a similar social standing to their own clan, and since the death of the Ukitake lord Hidenobu, many of them had leant support to his widow and children in order to ensure that no one was able to harm the estate. Hidenobu had been popular among his neighbours after all, for his fair minded way of doing things, and his even-handedness when dealing even with the most obtuse of border disputes. Consequently, it was not strange for someone to come to the manor, or to request a private audience with his stepmother Kaede.
Yet somehow, this visitor was not like other visitors.
"All the maids were bowing to him, and even Kamikura-sensei bowed right at the waist too, Juu-nii."
In the small room which had once been Hidenobu's study, Juushirou glanced up from the book he had been working his way through, casting his young companion a quizzical look.
"Bowing to who, Rouhei?" He asked softly, setting the book aside as he interpreted his younger brother's hyperactive excitement. "You'll have to start at the beginning - what are you talking about?"
"Didn't you see him?" Rouhei stared at his companion in disbelief. "The visitor who came to see Okaasama, of course! The old dude who came to the manor! Chi-neechan thinks maybe it's someone from the Kuchiki estate, because everyone was fussing around him and tiptoeing about like he was King of Soul Society or something equal to it. But no one from the Kuchiki-ke's come here since Papa died. And it's not like there've been any more Hollow attacks here, right? So..."
"Shh." Despite himself, Juushirou smiled, pushing his book aside as he eyed his younger brother fondly. "Slow down, take a breath and explain to me clearly. Okaasama's had a visitor, has she? An important visitor, from the Kuchiki-ke?"
"Yes. Well. Maybe. I don't know." Rouhei admitted unhelpfully. "He might not be from the Kuchiki-ke. Just he's someone really important or something, that's pretty clear. They've been in Mother's parlour for at least an hour, and Kamikura-sensei's been there with them, too."
"I see." Juushirou pursed his lips. "But it can't be about the family estate, surely? I'm not even seventeen yet - a long way off being accepted as Head of the family, and besides..."
"Maybe he's come because of that." Rouhei pounced, thumping his hands down on the desk as he gazed at his companion eagerly. "Your Kaa-san was a Kuchiki, wasn't she? Maybe that's why. After all, Chi-neechan said that when the Hollow killed Papa and hurt you, they came right away."
"My mother was a distant descendant of the Kuchiki clan, maybe, but a long way from the attention of the Clan leaders." Juushirou shook his head, getting slowly to his feet. "And I don't know what Chi-chan's been telling you, but the only reason anyone from the Kuchiki manor came to our land that night was to eradicate the Hollow. It was a Gotei duty, that's all. Nothing else."
He sighed, running his fingers through his lank white hair.
"I hope it isn't trouble." He said apprehensively. "Did they look like a nice person, Rou-kun? Or...?"
"He was super old." Rouhei remembered. "But he moved like he was as young as Kamikura-sensei, and he looked like...well, like he'd come here for a specific reason. I don't know what," As Juushirou raised an eyebrow. "I'm not a mind-reader or anything like that. But that's the look he had. The 'I'm coming here for something' look. That's all."
He grinned.
"Chi-neechan sent me to tell you." He added. "Just in case you needed to know."
"Mm." Juushirou frowned, pursing his lips. "I wonder if it has anything to do with the conversation I had with Kamikura-sensei last week. About the family, my health, and everything else. If it did..."
He sighed, shaking his head as though to clear it.
"Thank you for telling me in any case, Rou-kun." He said softly. "I was immersed in studying the family records, and I didn't even notice anyone had arrived."
"Didn't you even feel him coming this time?" Rouhei looked curious. "Usually you do, though, don't you? When someone comes to the estate."
"Usually, yes." Juushirou agreed. "But if this is someone important, Rou-kun, they're probably also really strong. And that means they can probably hide themselves - at least more than my feeble senses can manage to detect."
He cast his brother a rueful look.
"I know you think that because I'm the eldest, I can do anything." He added. "But I'm really not all that powerful, Rou-kun. You shouldn't over-estimate my abilities."
He sighed.
"As it is, this past couple of years I've put everything into recovering my health back to the level it was before Otousama's death." He added sadly. "And applying myself to my studies in as much detail as possible. I haven't had time to think about anything else - not when I've had all of that to do."
Before Rouhei could respond, there was a knock on the door, and Juushirou frowned, his gaze flitting to the wood divide.
"Come in, Anika." He said softly, and the door slid back to reveal the maid, a wry look on her face.
"You are surprisingly good at that, Juu-sama." She observed lightly. "Soon I won't be able to put a foot out of line without you knowing about it, will I?"
"See, you knew Anika was there." Rouhei put his hands on his hips. "You can do it, Juu-nii, if you try."
"Rouhei-sama, you're here too?" Anika glanced at the younger boy in surprise, and Rouhei nodded.
"I came to tell Nii-sama about Okaasama's visitor." He said importantly.
"Well, then that makes my job easier." Anika seemed relieved. "I came on a similar errand, Juu-sama. Your stepmother's asked for me to bring you to her parlour as soon as possible - it seems she wants you to speak to her guest yourself, though I don't know her reasons."
"To speak to...myself?" Juushirou looked anxious. "Anika, who is this guest? Is it someone from the Kuchiki-ke? Are we in some form of trouble? Because..."
"I know no details of that nature." Anika shook her head. "It's not my place to ask for them, either. But I can tell you that this visit has nothing to do with the Kuchiki family. It's someone I've never met before."
"Then why...?" As she led him through the hallways, Juushirou cast her a confused glance. "If he's a stranger, why has he come here all of a sudden?"
"I don't think he's a complete stranger." Anika reflected. "Kamikura-san knew who he was, and so did your mother. Well, I think he's someone whose name is known in certain circles these days, shall we say. I'd never encountered the gentleman myself, but even I've heard them talk about him. Though why he's here is anyone's guess. I wouldn't like to speculate, so I won't. I'll let your stepmother explain herself, it seems easier that way than trying to theorise."
"I see." Juushirou chewed down on his lip. "Very cryptic. I feel like I should be worried, even though I don't know what I'm worrying about."
"Well, you'll soon find out." As they reached the door of the parlour, Anika patted him on the shoulder, shooting him a smile. "Good luck, Juu-sama. Just hold your head up high and remember how your Father would have done it, that's all. You'll be fine."
She reached over to knock on the door, releasing the catch and pushing it back on its runners to reveal the room beyond.
"Please excuse me, my Lady, but I've brought Juushirou-sama." She said, bowing her head very properly, and Juushirou, who had frozen like a rabbit in headlamps at the sight of all eyes on him swallowed his nerves, lowering his own head.
"Thank you, Anika. You're dismissed." His stepmother's voice was soft and even, yet somehow unlike her, and as Anika bowed again, withdrawing from the chamber, Juushirou kept his own head down, peering at the stranger from beneath his lashes.
"Your son has good manners, Kaede-dono." At that juncture the newcomer spoke, his voice low and slightly gruff, somehow fitting his wizened appearance. "It's quite all right, Juushirou. You may raise your head. I wish to speak to you, after all."
"Yes, sir." Juushirou did as he was bidden, meeting the other's gaze for the first time. As he did so, he caught sight of an emblem on the man's sash, and his eyes widened as sudden realisation sank in.
"What is it, Juushirou-sama?" Kamikura asked gently, and Juushirou blushed, gathering his composure as he shot his teacher an apologetic look.
"I'm sorry." He said quietly. "I was just wondering whether our honoured guest was perhaps a member of the Yamamoto clan."
"Ah, you have sharp eyesight as well as a good mode of address." This seemed to please the stranger, who got to his feet, moving so that he was standing a mere few feet away from the teenager. It was then that Juushirou realised the man was not even his equal in height, yet somehow even lowering his gaze to the other man's dark eyes did not seem for a moment like he was looking down.
"As you surmise, I'm from the Yamamoto-ke." The visitor continued evenly. "Yamamoto Genryuusai Shigekuni. Pleased to make your acquaintance."
"Ukitake Juushirou, sir." Juushirou murmured, sending a questioning look towards his stepmother, who slowly shook her head. She looked weary, he realised, as though something they had been discussing had brought her displeasure, and Juushirou found his doubts and worries building up once more inside of him.
"Tell me, my boy, what age are you now?"
"Sixteen summers, sir. Seventeen before the turn of the month."
"Almost seventeen, is it? I see." Yamamoto brushed his long beard thoughtfully. "A good age, without a doubt. Yet I had somehow got the impression that you were older - at least, from the level of your studies, it would seem to be the case."
"Sir?" Juushirou was floored, and Yamamoto chuckled, shaking his head and somehow taking the tension in the room down a notch or two.
"Kamikura, you haven't explained a word of this to the boy, have you?" He asked admonishingly, and Kamikura looked sheepish, shaking his head.
"I'm sorry, Sensei. I haven't." He admitted. "I confess, everything has been done entirely behind his back."
Juushirou frowned, casting his teacher a startled glance.
Behind my back? What on earth does he mean?
"Then I must apologise too, and explain myself more clearly." Yamamoto said simply. "Your sensei thinks that you have a good deal of potential, Juushirou. Academic potential, as well as other skills that may or may not yet be apparent. Two months previously, he made contact with me regarding a way in which to test that potential to its furthest limits. After having discussed the matter with him in some great detail, and having viewed some of your work, I agreed that it was worth seeing exactly what you could do."
He smiled.
"Last month, I believe, you sat a series of academic and, shall we say, more unusual tests?"
"Yes, sir." Juushirou was totally bewildered now. "But Sensei told me that they were simply guidance markers - after all, since Father passed away, I'm the eldest child, and...my health's always a concern...so..."
"Being head of any family brings with it heavy responsibilities." Yamamoto murmured. Juushirou reddened slightly, nodding his head.
"Yes, sir. Responsibilities I haven't always been equal to, so I strive now to do my best."
"And you're sixteen? It's a heavy burden to bear so young."
"My Father would not have wanted me to do otherwise." Juushirou said softly.
"I see." Yamamoto smiled. "It's just as your mother's said, then, I see. Your sense of duty and responsibility are second to none, even in a boy of your young years."
He reached out a hand, brushing it against Juushirou's shoulder thoughtfully.
"I had heard that the eldest son of the Ukitake-ke was stricken with a hereditary plague and therefore sickly and weak." He reflected. "Yet even from this distance I can feel the strength radiating within you. You're aware of it too, aren't you, Juushirou? This inner spirit power that courses through you like angry ocean waves."
At the mention of the sea, Juushirou's eyes became huge.
"Can you see that...inside of me?" He murmured, forgetting for an instant his good manners as he stared at the older man in shock. "The waves and...and the fish, too?"
"Fish?" Kaede's brows knitted together. "What are you talking about, Juushirou? What fish? What do you mean?"
"I..." Juushirou reddened, shaking his head as he realised how stupid he had sounded. "Nothing, Okaasama. I'm sorry. I think...for a moment I became confused."
"I would like to hear more, if I may, about these fish and waves." Yamamoto said softly, and Juushirou bit his lip, bowing his head apologetically before his companion.
"I'm sorry, sir. I didn't mean anything in particular."
"There's no need to be shy." Yamamoto shook his head. "I can feel it, after all. Your spirit power radiates from you like waves. Even though you've done remarkably well at suppressing it to a base level, I can still sense elements of it, flickering against my skin. I don't think it's foolishness at all."
He eyed the boy keenly.
"You've seen fish, then, as well as waves?" He asked gently, and slowly and mutely Juushirou nodded his head.
"How many times?"
"Only...only once." Juushirou twisted his hands together. "But I had a fever at the time, so I might not..."
"And did these fish tell you their name?"
"In and You." Juushirou coloured red again. "Though they said they had another name, they didn't tell me what it was. One was a black fish, and the other a white one. One spoke with Father's voice. And one with Mother's."
"With your mother's?" Yamamoto's gaze flitted in surprise to Kaede, who shook her head hurriedly.
"I'm afraid you've misunderstood, Genryuusai-sama." She said quickly. "Juushirou is not my son by blood - even though so far as I've been concerned I've always considered him as much mine as any of the others. He was only a year old, after all, when I married Hidenobu and he's been in my care since then. Juushirou's birth mother died when he was born...Juushirou never knew her."
"I see." Yamamoto's expression became thoughtful. "Yet even though you never knew her, Juushirou, you heard her voice?"
"The fish called In said she was my mother's love." Juushirou said reluctantly. "So I assumed it was that way, sir."
"Juushirou's birth mother was a distant descendant of the Kuchiki-ke, Sensei." Kamikura added at that point. "Her name was Kuchiki Raiko-sama."
"Really." Yamamoto's eyes could not get any narrower, and Juushirou wondered what thoughts were passing through that furrowed brow. "Well. Then I understand, now. I hadn't realised that you were Raiko's son, Juushirou. That makes everything clear to me...clear as crystal, in fact."
"Sir, did you...know my mother?" Juushirou ventured hesitantly, and Yamamoto nodded his head.
"For a brief time, yes. She studied with me for six months, before her Father withdrew her from her spirit studies in order for her to marry." He said evenly. "She had a good deal of potential that was never fully reached, I'm afraid."
Juushirou's eyes flitted to his teacher once more, then,
"Did...Kamikura-sensei, did you maybe also study with...with Yamamoto-sama? You called him Sensei, before, and..."
"Yes, for a short while." Kamikura looked rueful. "But I didn't inherit more than a trace of spirit power from my father, and being born illegitimate, there wasn't much to be done with me. So I gave it up when your father asked me to come and be your tutor here. Still, I owe Genryuusai-sensei a lot, Juushirou. He's a man you can have faith in - he'll look at you as you are, and not as your bloodline dictates. If he says you have promise and potential, well, it's not an exaggeration. He means it."
"I'm still not sure I'm happy with any of this." Kaede said slowly. "With Juushirou not knowing anything about it, and all of it going on behind his back. I don't know...it doesn't seem...he already has so many things here that need him, and..."
She trailed off, and Juushirou stared at her in confusion.
"What do you mean, Okaasama?" He asked gently. "Where would I be going? No one's said anything like that."
"That's the next part of why Anika was sent to bring you here, Juushirou-sama." Kamikura said pragmatically. "To at last be able to fulfil a promise I made a long time ago, if you like. I'm sorry it's been done without your knowledge. But even so..."
"A promise?"
"A promise I made to your Father, before he died." Kamikura nodded his head, and shock flooded Juushirou's features.
"What kind of promise?"
"That I'd make sure you weren't wasted in this world." Kamikura smiled. "We've talked often about the Gotei, after all. And your Father knew as well as I did that your potential far outstrips the Ukitake clan. That day you faced the Hollow was his final proof of it - before his eyes he saw it, felt it...your true strength pouring out of you as you tried to protect yourself. Only you weren't strong enough to master it, and it hurt you instead."
Juushirou closed his eyes briefly, remembering the burning sensation and the overflowing terror that facing the Hollow had awakened inside of him.
"Your Father hoped that would never happen, you see." Kaede said sadly. "That by shielding you, he would prevent your true raw strength from ever being fully unleashed. He knew it would hurt you, if it was allowed to rage free. He remembered how hard it had been for you to cling to life when you were at your smallest, and he feared for you."
"That day in the forest, I think he realised that shielding you from it would never work, and so in the hours before he passed away, Hidenobu-sama asked me to make sure you had a chance to control and use that potential instead." Kamikura continued. "But you were so ill for so long after that event I worried you'd damaged yourself irreversibly and that it was already too late. However, in recent months, your health has been far more stable, and so, I thought, it was time to do something about it. I contacted Genryuusai-sensei, and asked his advice about the best way to help you hone that spiritual ability to Gotei level."
"Gotei level?" Juushirou's eyes almost fell out of his skull. "But I...surely I...only the Great Nobility are ever involved in..."
"Things are changing on a large scale, Juushirou." Yamamoto shook his head. "It's been my initiative for some time to find alternative ways of training Shinigami of suitable skill to go to the Real World and tackle Hollows before they become a problem here. The fact that so many have begun to appear in Soul Society is a sign that we're losing the battle. The Gotei can no longer cope with the numbers being thrown their way. If this continues, it could spell serious consequences for the whole of our world. It's a delicate balance, after all - as anyone who's ever crossed the divide knows all too well."
Juushirou just stared at him, not comprehending, and despite himself, Yamamoto laughed.
"You may not realise it fully yet, but the level of your spirit power, though raw, is high." He added. "Over the past fifty years, I've worked at training promising individuals with the intention of creating actual squads, not simply representatives, who can take on the fight and spread the burden. Ten years ago, I opened an Academy, which has allowed many lower-born members of the Great Nobility - the Eight Clans - their chance to utilise their reiatsu and harness that reiryoku into something useful. But I intend on taking it further. There are, after all, ones like you born to a lower social level who have the requisite skills to train and fight against this threat. Who knows? One day, maybe even souls from Rukongai will be able to do the same...maybe we'll truly find a balance, then, when we have enough Shinigami to truly keep the Hollows under control."
"This...Father said...this is what he wanted me to do?" Juushirou managed faintly, his mind whirling, and Kamikura nodded.
"Unequivocally." He agreed. "He hoped that you'd be able to train and get strong enough to make a difference - to your life and to other people. I think he knew that if you did, you'd help this world be no longer plagued by those things. He gave his life to protect his family against them, after all. But in doing so, he left them behind to manage without him. He left you with a burden on your heart, too. Though he knew bare bits and pieces that Raiko-sama had taught him, he never managed to draw on any significant power and he died because of it. Besides, he knew that his reiatsu didn't even register compared to the potential you have. He'd seen it, from time to time, when you'd been practicing Kendou. That even though you had the family curse, Juushirou-sama, you weren't weak."
"But I...I'm Father's eldest child." Juushirou whispered. "If I went away, how could I protect my family here? How can I be head of the Ukitake family when I come of age, if I'm so far from home? And if I...if I was able to go to the Real World, and fight Hollows, then I wouldn't be being a proper head of the clan either, would I? So...even if Father did want me to, how can I? There's too much here...how can I?"
"This has always been part of the problem for the Noble Houses, also." Yamamoto agreed. "That the head of a Clan's responsibilities often clash with those of the Gotei. Some succeed and some fail. Some Clans choose a separate representative from their Clan head, but that can create a divide in interests. Others simply pass on the Gotei haori with the leadership, but then the leader by blood is not always the one most suited for Shinigami service."
He sighed.
"Either way, most of the Great Noble Families are in agreement that the current system is outdated and flawed." He continued slowly. "From this spring, therefore, the first squad manoeuvres will be tested out. I have enough lower born Clan recruits currently to furnish the existing Gotei and create four additional squads of six or seven fighters each. In time I hope to take it beyond that. Now the Academy is in situe, I hope that I might form greater and more varied squads around the existing Gotei representatives and their new colleagues. As time goes on I'm sure that I'll be able to do that with the eventual graduates that come from that school. However, it's a big project, and it will only succeed if everyone does their part."
"And Father really...wanted this for me?"
Juushirou's gaze flitted to his stepmother, who sighed, nodding her head.
"He did." She admitted sadly. "Which is why I haven't tried to stand in the way. I know that you feel your debt to Hidenobu is high, Juushirou. And I felt, maybe, this way you could repay that debt you imagine you had. Besides, I know that if you can't learn to control your spirit power, it will keep attacking you. And I hoped, if you learnt to use it properly, maybe you wouldn't be sick so often."
"Is that possible?" Juushirou stared at Yamamoto, who nodded.
"I understand there is no cure for your underlying condition." He said gravely. "But it's apparent from what Kaede-dono and Kamikura have told me that the high level of reiatsu your soul produces is having a detrimental effect on your overall health. Having felt it for myself, now, I understand why. The Ukitake family have a certain amount of spirit power of their own, after all – but you also have your mother's Kuchiki blood, which, although a distant connection, has probably helped to make your potential above average. Unfortunately, those two things have combined in a body that's not strong enough to contain them."
Juushirou's mind flitted back to the day in the forest once more, and he sighed.
"Father told me something like that too." He murmured. "He said that's why most cursed babies stop breathing and die within their first few hours. Only Mother stopped me from dying – she gave me her strength and I survived."
"I rather think that in your case the circumstances are exceptional." Yamamoto admitted. "But now, having sensed your spirit level for myself, I'm even more convinced that Kamikura was right to contact me. You are exactly the kind of person my Academy was set up to aid, my boy – one who would not otherwise get a chance within the Gotei on account of your low birth, yet even so possessed of the skills to do the job if properly trained. The one caveat would be that, in your case, with your physical frailty and your overwhelming reiatsu, you would need to be trained very purposefully. You'd need to obtain complete control of your spirit power to use it to its best advantage. In the end, such control levels are desirable in any Shinigami – but it would mean a hard path getting to that point. You would have to be one hundred percent committed to completely mastering your abilities – in your case, a half-hearted attitude would as good as kill you."
Juushirou was silent for a moment, digesting this with some trouble.
"The truth is, I always wondered how I could be head of the family in any case." He said sadly, glancing at his hands. "I hadn't said it to anyone, but it had been bothering me more and more of late. I've been reading through the records of the family, and most of the time a cursed baby is mentioned, the child dies quickly after birth. But going back further than that, there are ones who survived. And the ones who did...whenever one did and became head of the clan, there were always...problems."
"Problems?" Kaede stared at him, and Juushirou nodded.
"With providing the family with a living heir." He said softly. "I asked Father once, and he told me I shouldn't worry about it. But now I have to worry about it. If I married and had children, the chances of them being infected is high. The chances of them dying even higher. Maybe I wouldn't even be able to have children of my own."
He grimaced.
"That is, providing any woman would want to marry someone with the kind of troubles my health often causes." He added frankly. "Living with that may be too much for any wife to bear, no matter how kind her intentions."
"At sixteen, you've already thought that far ahead?" Kamikura stared. "Juushirou-sama, even with your health situation, I'm sure that..."
"That someone would see the potential in what Father's achieved for this family and want their daughter to play a part in it, regardless of the burdens involved." Juushirou said pragmatically, seeing Kamikura and his step-mother exchange startled glances at his frankness.
"Juushirou..." Kaede began, and Juushirou shook his head.
"I won't have a wife who seeks to use the family's current position for her own gain and puts the needs of my kin second." He said softly. "Even more, though, I won't have a wife who only wants to invalid and take care of me. I don't like either choice, Okaasama. And I don't see any other option. Not for a cursed child of the Ukitake family. I know what people say, around these parts. It's exactly what our honoured guest spoke of - the sickly child who was born with the family's disease and is weak and helpless as a result."
His eyes became steely.
"I'm not weak and helpless." He said firmly. "Father didn't raise me to be that way, and I won't settle for it. I may be ill, but I'm not governed by that illness. Not now, maybe not ever. And I won't let it live my life for me. Even if it proves that time is only short, or if it proves to be long. I'm not going to let it rule this family, no matter what."
He smiled ruefully, taking in his stepmother's consternation.
"But I realise that attitude is a difficult one for outside people to stomach." He admitted. "And I don't want to cause the family any bother because of it. My curse has already taken my Mother and my Father, after all. I don't want it to take or trouble future generations of the Ukitake-ke, too."
"You really do think deeply about things, even at such a young age." Yamamoto reflected, and Juushirou blushed, suddenly realising how frank he had been with their Noble guest still listening.
"Not really, sir." He admitted. "For a long time I didn't think about things at all in the way I should. But I've really tried, this last couple of years, to be someone my Father would be proud of. And I think...if he did say he wanted me to do this...it was because he knew it too. That I couldn't really be head of the clan, even though I'm the eldest. That I wouldn't settle for pity or ambition in order to forge the family's future. Because of the curse...it's not right for me to be in that position. Chihiro or Hiroyuki should take it on. Not me."
"Juushirou..." Kaede's expression became pained, and Juushirou met her gaze.
"You've always treated me like your son, Okaasama, and I'm grateful." He said slowly. "But the truth is, I'm not. Neither of my parents are here any more. I have to think about things for myself. And the more I do...the more I know it's useless. No matter how hard I try to be a good head of clan, it still won't work."
"Then you intend on accepting our suggestion that you enter training with Genryuusai-sensei at his Academy, Juushirou-sama?" Kamikura asked softly. Juushirou hesitated for a moment, then, slowly, he nodded his head.
"If I can learn to protect people that way, and how to control my power, then yes. If you'll have me, I'll not refuse." He said carefully, bowing his head low before Yamamoto as he did so. "I don't know if I'm as strong as you think I am, sir, or if I'll let you down in the end. But at the very least, even if I'm not good enough to be involved with the Gotei or go to the Real World, maybe I'll learn how to protect my family properly. And even if I can't be head of the clan, I can still learn to do that."
"Then it's settled." Yamamoto looked satisfied. "Come the Spring, I'll expect to see you with the other new recruits at the Academy. Understood?"
"Yes, sir." Ukitake raised his gaze. "From here on in, I'm in your hands."
------------------
Author's Note:
That's it for Juu, at least for the prequel ;)
One note, though, because it may be a tad confusing. Ukitake's family - as I've said before - are lower level nobility who have done well under Hidenobu's guidance but are by no means anywhere near Great Noble status.
I've taken to referring to the big families as the Clans - capital C. Ukitake's family is also a 'clan' (Ukitake-ichizoku or Ukitake-ke). But with a small c. Shunsui's on the other hand is a Clan with a big C - one of the Eight. I've stuck with that way of denoting them throughout the Academy story I've been writing so far, so hopefully it's clear enough to understand ;)