Chapter Two: Ramifications
"Grandfather, you can't be serious?"
In the big study belonging to the Leader of the Endou Clan, the young man banged his hands down on the wooden desk, staring at his companion in a mixture of shock and disbelief. "You can't seriously be considering doing something as foolish as that? After so many years of mistrust - Grandfather, don't you realise that it's simply a part of a plot to bring you down?"
"You are very active today, Seimaru, in your opinions and your actions."
At length the old man turned from the window, casting his heir a glance as he did so. "And neither of them befit the heir to the Clan when he speaks to his Leader and overall commander. You know this already."
He looked his age that morning, Seimaru reflected bitterly, taking in the wizened lines on the man's face that seemed to have deepened threefold since the death of his wife only a matter of days earlier. People had lined the streets all across the region to pay their last respects to Yayoi's funeral cortege as she had been taken to the family's great mausoleum for her final, eternal sleep, and since then, Shouichi had seemed lacking in focus - as though his purpose and drive had withered and died when his wife had taken her last breath.
She had been a tyrannical matriarch of epic proportions - yet for Seimaru she had only ever been a nusiance in the way of him grasping more power. Had Shouichi not always been so fond of her - or so willing to defer to her - he had often thought that he would have solved the problem of her existence long ago.
But here we are, with her finally out of the way. And now I find you've done something like this? What kind of foolish decision is that, anyway? To bring a man that you hate back to your council - has that old bat's death finally made you senile?
Seimaru clenched and unclenched his fists, fighting to keep a hold on his temper. It would not do, after all, to strike out at his companion - but even so, it was hard to retain his composure. Even more than Shouichi, he hated his Uncle's family with a deep rooted, heated passion, and the announcement, coming as it had so unexpectedly, had thrown him completely for six.
"Misashi will return to the council from the beginning of next week." Shouichi continued now, his pale eyes somewhat clouded. "It is a decision made. It requires no input from you."
"Yes, Grandfather, but I don't understand!" Seimaru protested, frustration in his pale eyes. "I can't understand any reason under the sun why you'd allow Misashi-jisama back onto your council! Didn't you throw him off it long before Father died? And didn't you swear that he'd never touch active Endou politics again? Yet now...why are you reneging on that? You're a man of your word, Ojiisama! I don't understand why you'd go back on it just like that!"
Shouichi's eyes narrowed and he crossed the room towards his junior, bringing his hand down hard enough across Seimaru's cheek to send the boy sprawling to the floor. Angry reiatsu spiked and prickled at his aura, and as the old man gazed down at him, Seimaru suddenly felt afraid, recalling in an instant that there was a reason Shouichi had survived so many years as Clan Leader despite all the intrigue and plot that existed in his family's shadows.
"I will not take insubordination from you." He said now, his deep voice rumbling through the chamber like a burst of sudden thunder in a once sunshiny day. "Not now and not ever. Do you understand? You are my heir and my chosen successor. But if you displease me, I will remove you. Understand that before you presume to tell me what to do. I am the head of this Clan, and the one who wears the haori. In comparison, you are just a child."
"I...I'm sorry, Ojiisama." Seimaru scrambled into a kneeling position, bowing his head hastily before his companion's broad knees. "I didn't mean disrespect. I just...it worries me. That's all. It worries me a lot. Misashi-jisama isn't someone either of us can put trust in. He's sent his only son away to be trained by outsiders - and that son already turned against me once and attempted to bring shame down on the Endou family. It concerns me greatly - I worry for our safety and the safety of the Clan as a whole."
"The safety of the Clan as a whole?"
Shouichi rubbed his white beard for a moment, then,
"Are you afraid, then, of an insignificant whelp like Hirata? I thought I had trained you better than that."
"Hirata has underhand ways and underhand allies in District Two." Seimaru muttered. "And he might yet bring war down on our heads because of them. He is a traitor, Ojiisama. Why else would Genryuusai-sama allow him to enter District One but no other of our Clan? He is clearly not acting with Endou interests at heart. He has bad intentions - and allowing Misashi-jisama to be involved in government only helps to exacerbate those plans."
Shouichi eyed his grandson keenly, then he sighed, shaking his head.
"Do not grovel before me. You are not a servant and it makes you appear pitiful." He said abruptly, grasping the boy's shoulders in his meaty hands and hauling him back up to his feet. "You seem to have a good many concerns, and I will answer them. But I will have you understand, first and foremost, that I am not a naive fool. I understand the divisions in this Clan better than you ever will - and what is to be done about them. For that reason, I've acted thus. For that reason, Misashi will rejoin my Council as an advisor. More, until you marry and produce an heir, he is by definition your successor. That is how the Clan have agreed it - that is how your Grandmother wanted it. That is how things will be - you will accept it, or you will be removed. Do you understand?"
Seimaru frowned, biting his lip, and Shouichi nodded.
"I have no intention on lifting Misashi's ban on sword training." He added. "He will still be forbidden from engaging in anything of that nature. I do not anticipate him outliving you, or ever being able to inherit this Clan, after all. You have a powerful sword and he has nothing. You will not be in any danger from a man who can barely swing an asauchi to defend himself."
"But what about Hirata?" Seimaru murmured, and Shouichi snorted.
"The boy is a coward and afraid of his own shadow." He said derisively. "Maybe Misashi has sent him to be trained - but he is insignificant to me. At best, he will make a low-level soldier who can be deployed and foddered at some future point among the Endou ranks. At worst, he will never return and we will have nothing more to do with him or utilising him. If Misashi is within my government, Hirata will also keep out of our way. He idolises his Father, after all, and he is an Endou at heart. Otherwise he would have betrayed you sooner - when you took silly risks and tried to make him your assassin."
"I still believe he has betrayed us, Ojiisama."
"The Council have said nothing. You overestimate the boy's ability or sense." Shouichi shook his head. "He is a coward, Seimaru. A weakling. He should not concern us either now or in the future. Besides, Misashi also has a daughter - Eiraki - and she is the only girl of her generation. Women are useful for marriage contracts and alliances, and Eiraki is fourteen years old now. That is another advantage in this arrangement - with Misashi on my side, Eiraki becomes my tool to manipulate just as much as he does."
"I...I still don't understand why Obaasama's death has made you decide this way." Seimaru murmured, and Shouichi sighed.
"Your Grandmother was a widely respected lady in her own right." He said softly, and Seimaru could hear the faintly wistful note in the soldier's tones as he spoke of his recently departed wife. "You only knew her as an old and sickly woman, but many others did not. When she was younger and fitter, Seimaru, there were none as strong as she was on the battlefield, spilling blood in the name of the Endou Clan. Her reputation was more fearsome than most of the men with whom she fought. You don't understand that, but nevertheless it's true."
"But with all respect, Obaasama was a woman, sir." Seimaru pointed out quietly. "And a woman does not wear the armour of the Endou-ke."
"Yayoi did." Shouichi cast his gaze out over the landscape that stretched out beyond the window to the border with Sixth District. "Her father expected a son, and got a daughter - so raised her with all the skills a son should have. She was ruthless and gifted, Seimaru. Her zanpakutou was the strongest zanpakutou spirit within the Endou-ke for a good many years, surpassing even mine. With her in command, the Endou won many battles over land and territory - driving Kuchiki-ke back from the boundaries and forcing them to abandon their attempts to annexe parts of our terrain. She was the true spirit of the warrior Endou. And because of that, she has the respect and admiration of many of our Clan...as well as fear from those outside."
He sighed, then,
"Even to the end, she was shrewd and ruthless." He added frankly. "Without her acknowledging you, Seimaru, you would not be accepted as my heir now. So in return for her doing that, and casting her seal down in your name...I agreed to let Misashi return to my council."
"But Obaasama has passed away." Seimaru pointed out. "Why should it matter now, what things she said then?"
"I keep my word - to her most of all, else she'll haunt me." Shouichi said evenly. "Besides, in the final event, I think it's wise. I do not like Misashi - I have never liked him, nor trusted his wish to reach out to bordering Clans instead of focusing on matters here at home. But documents have been signed and sealed and witnessed - and I believe that it is a good, safe move to make. If he is close by, I can keep better tabs on him and how he acts. Now Yayoi is dead and no longer there to handle him, that becomes a pressing need. And more, if there is any outside doubt about our Clan - this will quell it. I have not forgotten, after all, how close we came to having our research exposed by your foolish dabbling."
Seimaru's eyes darkened.
"Aitori was to blame, Grandfather. Not me." He said evenly. "And Hirata too played his part."
"There has also been some concern raised at the Council of Elders about our policy regarding the District individuals currently fleeing our land for District Eight." Shouichi added. "Tokutarou-dono has raised the question several times of what should be done about it, and with his links to the Shiba, I don't wish him to keep pushing too hard. He might be happy enough letting District children grow up powerful, but I am not. Our laws reject such a thing in every way - and I will not have them think that they can use instability in our main house as a reason to try and interfere in our laws."
"Tokutarou is an interfering idiot." Seimaru muttered, and Shouichi nodded.
"No doubt that is the Shiba in him." He said darkly. "But with an ally like Kyouki-sama, I think we'd do better not to cross him. Especially as you and his brother have already clashed once - I believe Tokutarou to be unnaturally fond of his wastrel heir and I don't need him finding reasons to declare war on District Seven."
"Then all I can do is accept it? Is that it?" Seimaru bit his lip. "Ojiisama...with Grandmother now having left us, I wanted to talk to you about the research program. But if Misashi-jisama..."
"There will be no more research program." Shouichi said categorically. "That too was one of your Grandmother's dying terms. It is not written, of course, that particular one. But she wanted me to make sure that I kept a handle on it and on you - before it renders us like the Shihouin. There will be no more contact with the exiled Urahara. I will be sending out forces soon enough to track those who remain here down so that I can see and speak with them myself. Whatever they know, it must be stemmed at once. That chapter is over, and not to be returned to again."
"Not to be..." Seimaru blanched, then, "Grandfather, are you going to put them to death?"
"Probably." Shouichi nodded. "It seems the most logical solution, and we have land enough to do it quietly. These are people that no longer exist, after all - people who have been denied and hidden for years. Nobody will care if they are dispatched - certainly there will be no Urahara up in arms to save them. Their work was adequate and interesting while we could allow it - but now it is too dangerous. And the only way to prevent leaking rumours is to silence the sources completely. It is the most obvious solution - when I have spoken to them, I will have them removed."
"But..."
"That covers your back more than anyone's." Shouchi's eyes suddenly became dark and menacing as he glared in Seimaru's direction. "Since there is still the matter of this letter that the Shihouin girl apparently has in her possession. So long as that exists, Seimaru, you must know that there is no possibility of the Endou-ke ever returning to research. All traces of that work - the people too - must be destroyed. There is no other option. That chapter is closed."
Seimaru gazed at his Grandfather long and hard for a moment, then he bowed his head in submission, lowering his eyes so that the old man could not see the anger that festered there.
"I understand, Ojiisama." He said softly. "As you wish it."
The beach stretched out for miles, a golden meadow of glittering sand, pebbles and shell-fragments that seemed to go on as far as anyone could see.
In the far distance was the sea, a faint blue-green haze that seemed almost unreal in the heat-haze of the summer's day.
Yet even though it was summer, the sand was damp, and the sky still held a brassy edge, as though a storm had been and another was on its way.
The small boy padded purposefully along the sodden surface, his tiny feet sinking into the grains and making prints to track the way he had come. As he walked, occasionally he paused, his child's eyes drawn to the glittering colours of the broken shells that speckled the golden wave of sand. Some belonged to creatures he recognised, yet others were a mystery, like tiny, fragile pieces of nature's ceramic scattered there by an unknown hand.
He loved the beach. Even alone, he was never scared of anything if he was by the sea.
But he was not alone today. He was looking for someone, he knew that, though try as he might he could not find her. The sand seemed never-ending, no matter how far he walked, and his infant lungs twitched and protested at the forced exercise, until he sank to his knees, tears of frustration on his dark lashes as a tiny cough spasmed through his chest.
Over his head, the clouds had begun once more to gather, their colours ominous and dark as they cloaked the sun from his view, and a sudden chill wind began to whip across the beach, casting patterned whirls in the sand with the force of its breath.
"Juushirou."
The voice was little more than a whisper, yet as he heard it, he became aware of the flickering, indistinct silhouette of a figure. It was both somehow there and yet not quite there - a barely tangible aura that brushed briefly against his consciousness and then was gone.
"Ukitake-kun, wake up!"
Suddenly Juushirou was aware of a rough jerk and the world of water began to ripple and fade as he little by little became aware of the real world once more. Someone was shaking him, he realised, struggling to open his eyes as once more the anxious, fearful tones of his travel companion pierced through his senses.
In that instant, he remembered where he was.
That's right. I'm in a ryokan, in Seventh District. I'm on my way to school with Kira-kun in District One - we crossed the border from Six to Seven just this afternoon. I'm miles from home and the sea - why would I be dreaming about them when I'm moving in entirely the opposite direction?
"Ukitake-kun! Wake up! Wake up, please?"
As Kira's voice grew more insistant and penetrating, he opened his eyes, pulling himself into a sitting position. He rubbed his eyes blearily, staring up into the anxious blue gaze of his thin, nervous companion. Kira was clearly on edge, he realised, more even than usual, for he was gripping hold of the side of Juushirou's blanket with his left hand, and the knuckles were almost white with the tension of his grasp.
"Kira-kun? Calm down." He said firmly. "What's happened? It's still dark outside, why are you…?"
Before he could finish, however, there was a tremendous crash and thud from the floor below them, and Kira let out an exclamation, fear flooding his expression.
"There are guards outside. Lots of them. Twenty or thirty at least!" He hissed, his tones babbling and half-hysterical and Juushirou frowned, fully awake now as he got to his feet, pulling his robe loosely around his shoulders.
"Guards? What kind of guards?" He asked, muting his own tones now as a further crash and rattle from the floor below was followed by indistinct voices and the sound of a woman's scream. "What happened, Kira-kun? I was lost to the world – was something wrong?"
"I don't know. The crashing woke me up and then I woke you." Kira bit his lip, his gaze darting anxiously towards the door of the small chamber. "I wondered if I should lock that…but…if they want to speak to us…if we locked it…they might be…angry. I mean...it's latched...but I thought...should we? Or do you think...?"
He trailed off, absently twisting his fingers together as he eyed his companion apprehensively.
"Sounds to me like they're already pretty angry." Juushirou hurried to the window, pushing all thought of fish and water out of his mind as he absorbed the situation at hand. "You're right, too. There are guards surrounding the whole of this inn – it looks like some kind of a raid."
His gaze narrowed as he struggled to make out the emblem on the men's clothing.
"Endou-ke retainers, I think. Well, that makes sense. We are in District Seven."
"The Endou-ke do horrible things, don't they, to District people with high reiatsu?" Kira eyed him nervously. "Ukitake-kun, what are we supposed to do?"
Juushirou did not answer at first, resting his fingers against the glass as he counted the number of retainers gathered outside. Kira had exaggerated the number in his fear, but even so, the dark-clad men gave him a distinctively uneasy feeling.
"Six, maybe seven." He murmured. "Plus whoever's come inside. I think the first thing we do is not panic. There's nothing worse than letting people like that see that you're afraid."
"But I am afraid." Kira said, with self-effacing honesty. "Aren't you? They have swords, and with all the noise..."
"Well, it's not the nicest wake-up in the world, I have to admit." Juushirou grimaced, swallowing his own fears as he sought to reassure his companion. "But I think we should be all right so long as we stay here. They've come with a real purpose, by the looks of them. It doesn't seem like a random raid, and we're on the top floor - so they might not come up here at all."
"Do you think…they're looking for us?" Kira's eyes became big. "I heard a rumour from one of the maids that an old woman in the Endou-ke passed away recently – do you think they think we did something, because we're foreign to this District?"
"An old woman…passed away?" Juushirou swung around, his expression becoming one of consternation. "What do you mean, Kira-kun? Is that all you know or did you hear anything else?"
"Not much. Just that she was very important and she died." Kira twisted his hands together anxiously. "Two or three days ago now, from what they were saying downstairs when they were serving us our dinner."
"Two or three days?" Juushirou's lips thinned. "I don't remember them talking about anything like that when we were eating dinner."
"No...no but..."
Kira reddened, then,
"While you were changing, one of the girls started talking to me. She was interested, she said, because I was foreign and she didn't know anybody with blond hair and blue eyes in District Seven. So we talked for a bit and then her friend came and told her that she shouldn't be waylaying customers, not when gossip was already rife enough about the old woman's death."
He blanched suddenly.
"Ukitake-kun, do you think…could it be because I...?"
"Why would they suspect two school students of anything?" Juushirou cut across him, his tones sensible and even as he came across to his companion's side. "No. You chatted to them about innocent things - there's no deep dark secrets in your family's past and even if there were, they wouldn't be interesting to even the most paranoid of soldiers in District Seven."
"Well, there was the time that my cousin decided to marry the dancing girl instead of the daughter of Otousama's old friend." Kira murmured. "The way Otousama talks about that, you'd think that..."
Juushirou sighed.
"I didn't mean that kind of secret." He said heavily. "Listen. We're just travelling through. We've been on the trader's route since we crossed the border and we're blatantly not the kind of people who'd have the money or means to stray from that path even if we had the time. They might have come for some specific reason, but I'm sure that finding us isn't it."
"Do you really think so?" Kira looked doubtful. "I mean…"
"I'm sure of it." Juushirou said firmly, although inwardly he was trying to suppress anxieties of his own. "How would they even know who we are? Be sensible, Kira-kun. We're foreign students. They wouldn't pay us a blind bit of attention, now would they? And besides, if the old woman died two or three days ago - where were we then? We only crossed the border this afternoon. Obviously it's nothing to do with us at all."
"But even so...we…we're District…and…"
"And foreign." Juushirou repeated patiently. "We both come from District Six. We're not under their jurisdiction – we belong to the Kuchiki-ke. They wouldn't have a right to persecute us – we don't come under their laws because we're not residents here. We're just passing through."
"I…I suppose you're right." Kira bit his lip. "That does make sense. It's just…they're making so much noise, and…"
"No, it's unnerving, I know." Juushirou sighed, dropping back down on his futon with a sigh. "And we won't get much more sleep while it's going on, either. I don't know what time it is – early hours, most likely. We'll be falling asleep on the road tomorrow, Kira-kun. Of that I'm absolutely sure."
"I won't be sleeping until we're safely in District One." Kira said fervently. "I don't like District Seven – the rumours you hear about it get worse and worse and now this...!"
"The old woman who you said had died – that was important." Juushirou said softly. "Was she…the Clan Leader's wife, by any chance?"
"I think…something like that." Kira nodded. "But I didn't hear any names. Why? Do you know her? Do you know something about them?"
"Not me." Juushirou shook his head. "But this is Hirata's Clan land. They're his family. That's why I wondered – they're his kin, after all."
"I'd forgotten about Endou-kun." Kira's expression cleared, and he nodded. "But he's exiled, isn't he? He isn't in District Seven right now."
"No, he isn't. He's with the Shihouin-ke in District Two for the time being." Juushirou agreed. "But even so, Kira, these are his people. I think the woman you're talking about must be his Grandmother. He said she was ill – and old – so it would make sense."
"Ooh." Kira let out a sigh of relief, then, "If she was old and sick, nobody will be looking for anyone as a potential murderer, then, will they? So in that case…"
"I doubt it." Juushirou reined in his anxiety and impatience, nodding his head. "And like I told you, even if they were, we were in the wrong District when she died. My point is that, either way, I'm sure it would be upsetting news for him. I wonder if word has spread that far – I think that his Grandmother was a very important person in the Clan, after all."
"Yes, I suppose it isn't nice for Endou-kun either way." Kira looked contrite. "I'm sorry, Ukitake-kun. I didn't mean it to sound that way. It just…"
"Open up! Open up at once!"
At that moment there was a loud clattering at the door, and Kira froze in mid-sentence, eyes wide like a rabbit caught in headlamps. Juushirou cast him a glance, then got to his feet, crossing the room to pull back the latch and open the door.
"You're not going to…" Kira's eyes widened, and Juushirou nodded.
"Better we cooperate than have them bash the door down." He said sensibly. "They're armed and we have nothing to be afraid of. We're students, that's all. We have nothing to hide, so stop looking so terrified. That will only make them think you're guilty of something and they just haven't discovered it yet."
With that he grasped hold of the door, pulling it back on its runners and finding himself face to chest with a broad, bulky man in distinctive Endou brown and red attire.
"Stand back." He growled, and Juushirou immediately did so as he and two other officers swarmed into the room, tipping up boxes and rummaging through bags and belongings as they systematically searched the chamber. One of them grabbed Kira by the arm, roughly pulling him out of their way and throwing him up against the wall, and Juushirou darted across to steady his companion, for Kira was far too struck with terror to think about his own sense of balance.
"Names?" As two men searched, the first man turned back to them, glancing at them suspiciously as he did so.
Juushirou eyed him for a moment, realising that Kira was too terrified to speak, and he sighed.
"Travellers under the name of Kira, from District Six to One." He said quietly. "Students at the Academy – as you can see."
"Foreigners, huh?" The man peered closely at them both, and Juushirou could smell his fetid, ale-tinged breath as it brushed against his cheeks. He pulled his weapon from its scabbard, using the hilt to roughly turn first Kira's head then Juushirou's own from side to side, then grunted.
"You look foreign, an' all." He muttered. "Well? Where are your papers? If you're travelling from Six to One, you must have papers granting you transit, else you'll be arrested for border hopping and trespass!"
"Yes, sir." Juushirou cast Kira another anxious glance, half-wondering if his glazed-eyed companion would manage to stand upright on his own, or would topple forward onto the floor. "They're right there – in the bag your men are kicking around the floor."
"Bag?" The brute raised an eyebrow, turning and glaring at his companions.
"Check it!" He barked out. "Make sure the boy is telling the truth."
"Yes, sir." The men immediately fell to obeying his instructions, pulling apart the fabric of the bag with little care or attention as they dug down to the documents within. As papers and two metal tokens fell out of the bottom, the soldiers were on them in an instant, squinting at them then holding them out.
"Confirmed, sir. Travel papers in the name of Kira, and two tokens from the Yamamoto-ke granting them passage as students of the Academy."
"Let me see that." The burly man grabbed the tokens, putting one between his teeth and biting down on it as if to ensure its authenticity. Then he frowned, clearly disappointed as he tossed the items down onto Juushirou's disturbed futon.
"All right. They're for real." He said gruffly. "Out of here, boys. Next room."
"Yes, sir." At once the two accompanying officers abandoned the mess they had created, withdrawing from the chamber and Juushirou could hear them down the hall, banging and yelling threats and demands to the next door resident.
The first man made to follow them, then paused, eying them both darkly.
"Tomorrow you ride from here." He said flatly. "Cross the border and don't come back again. Understood? Your permit only lasts until sundown tomorrow. If you're still here by then…"
He paused, sweeping his fingers across his throat, and Juushirou bit his lip, bowing his head in acknowledgement.
"Yes, sir. We understand and will do as you advise. Thank you." He said softly.
"Hrmph." The guard grunted again, stomping out of the room and banging their door shut behind him.
For a moment there was silence, then Kira let out his breath in a rush, sinking down to his knees.
"Kira-kun, are you all right?" Juushirou hurried to his side, and Kira nodded, raising a hand to his head as he did so.
"Yes…I think…but…Ukitake-kun, you were so calm! How were you…when they…"
"It was the only way to be." Juushirou sighed. "Because they weren't going to leave us alone otherwise. Like I said, we have nothing to hide. They've seen our papers and our tokens and they know we are what we say. Whoever they're looking for, it isn't us."
"It sounded like they were just looking for a fight to me." Kira shivered. "As though they were looking for anyone who might be travelling into District Seven – or out of it – illegally. People they could hurt and imprison, just because they want to."
"But they followed some kind of rules, because they left us alone." Juushirou pointed out. "The protection of the Yamamoto-ke is a valuable thing, it seems, when travelling through this place."
He sighed.
"And we're not Clan, so we're not important." He murmured, more than half to himself. "If Shunsui had been here, maybe, they would have taken him away."
"Kyouraku-kun? Why?" Kira's eyes became huge, and Juushirou shook his head, inwardly berating his lapse in discretion.
"No reason, not particularly. I just used him as an example – because he's a Clansman, after all."
"Oh, I see. Yes." Kira sighed. "They might get money out of a Clansman trying to cross the District in secret, mightn't they?"
"Undoubtedly." Juushirou agreed. "In the meantime, let's try and tidy up our things and put them safely. They probably won't come back to us now – we're not what they're interested in, so I think for now we're safe."
"Yes." Kira agreed. "They did make a lot of mess – we'll have to be careful not to leave anything important behind."
He laughed half-hysterically.
"Imagine turning up at the border and us not having our tokens with us, after all."
"Right." Juushirou sent him a concerned glance. "Kira-kun, are you quite sure you're okay?"
"Mm. I think so." Kira nodded. "And glad I wasn't here alone – thanks to you, they went away."
He frowned, pursing his lips as he eyed his companion thoughtfully.
"But Ukitake-kun – something just occurred to me."
"Yes?" Juushirou paused in the gathering up of their scattered belongings, eying his companion quizzically. "What's that?"
"When they asked for our names, you gave them mine." Kira said slowly. "And now I think of it, it was my family who made our travel arrangements, wasn't it? You didn't give them your own name at all – why not?"
"They only wanted to know the name we were booked in under. They didn't care about the specifics." Juushirou said dismissively. "Don't worry about it. If they'd have asked me more clearly, I would have told them – but if I'd have said Ukitake Juushirou, they might have questioned why the travel arrangements say Kira. That's all."
"Oh. I see. That makes sense." Kira sighed heavily. "You think laterally, even under pressure. No wonder you're top class – I wish I could do that."
Juushirou shot him a rueful smile, inwardly glad that his neighbour had not pressed the issue.
But Ukitake Juushirou is a name known to the Endou-ke, and one I'm sure Seimaru hasn't yet forgotten. Better to be safe than sorry, after all – Sensei warned me that grudges like that don't dissipate instantly. Whether Seimaru does or doesn't care about what I'm doing, I don't know. But there's no sense in creating additional dangers if I don't have to. It just might be, after all, that those men were looking for me. And even though they left and didn't push the issue – there's no guarantee that travelling through District Seven is ever going to be a completely safe prospect for me again.
He sighed, setting his belongings down beside his futon.
And I won't put Kira-kun in danger because of my reckless behaviour last summer. Time has passed since then, true enough, but somehow I doubt it's enough. And now, if Hirata's Gran really has passed away…she was the one holding the two sides of the family stable. Without her, what happens now? Without her, what happens to Hirata's parents and little sister? That a raid should happen so soon after…is this a sign of the Endou-ke to come?
Author's Note
The council Shouichi is referring to is his own Endou administration - not to be confused with the Council of Elders which involves all eight Clans.