Chapter 9 :) I hope you like it~ And please leave reviews/comments on the story so far~ I appreciate your thoughts on the story :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach nor its characters. All credits go to Tite Kubo.
Haruna and Hayato woke up early in the morning that day, before even the sun came up. They both got dressed up in black and did their hairs a little bit different than usual. Hayato had the kenseikan on the left side of his head, which pulled his hair back on one side. Haruna also had the kenseikan on the left side of her head, and the strands of hair that came out of the back side of the kenseikan were braided to the other side. They went out and were greeted by a much older man, also wearing black. This man, just like Haruna and Hayato, had bluish gray eyes, but his hair was completely different from the other two. The older man's hair was a dark blue that almost looked like black, and it was neatly cut. He also had the kenseikan, but it was on the right side.
"I see you're finally wearing your kenseikan," the older man said, looking at Haruna and Hayato.
"Yes, Father," he replied. "We promised Mother we would wear it starting from her death anniversary because Haruna would be old enough by then."
"I'm sure your mother would be very proud of how much both of you have grown up," the older man said.
"Father," Haruna said, with her eyes tearing up.
They just stood there in silence until the servant Midokawa talked to the older man.
"Ichirou-sama, it's time to go," the servant said and bowed down.
"Yes, Midokawa," the older man replied. Then he turned to his two children. "Let's go, Hayato, Haruna."
"Yes," Haruna and Hayato said in one voice.
They arrived at a big garden inside a mansion owned by the Kurayami house. In the middle of that garden, there was a single tombstone surrounded by beautiful evergreen trees and a few flowers that had bloomed despite the cold winter days. All three members of the Kurayami family, along with their servant Midokawa, stood in front of the tombstone: Ichirou, the father, was standing in the front, and right behind were Haruna and Hayato, and behind the two was the servant.
They stared at the tombstone in silence.
"Kurayami Miyako, wife of the 29th Head of the Kurayami family."
As she looked at the tombstone of her mother, Haruna couldn't help but cry. Hayato put his arm around her shoulder to comfort her, but he himself had teary eyes.
"Miyako," their father started speaking. "Our children have grown up so much in a year." Even though his voice was shaking, he kept talking. "They're doing fine. I already gave Hayato the leadership to the family, and he's been doing great. Haruna entered the new Shinigami Academy set up by Yamamoto-dono, and it seems she made great friends."
Haruna's tears wouldn't stop after hearing this. Surely, her mother would be happy to hear the words her father had just spoken. Hayato hugged her tighter, and the siblings cried together. Now their father also had tears in his eyes.
That morning, the head of the Kuchiki house and the head of the Shihouin house came to the garden to greet the Kurayami family and give their condolences. Then, in the afternoon, the head of the Kyoraku family came.
"I am sorry, Ichirou-san," the head of the Kyoraku family said. "I'm sure she would have been very proud to see your children so grown up and mature."
"Yes," Ichirou said. "Thank you."
Ichirou and the head of the Kyoraku family talked for a few minutes, and the latter said good-bye to Hayato and Haruna before leaving.
"So that's Shunsui's father..." Haruna said out loud to herself.
"They look nothing alike..." Hayato said.
"Heh," Haruna giggled. "You're right."
"Haruna," Hayato called her. "Get some sleep. You must be tired."
"It's okay," she said, restraining a yawn as she said so.
"Haruna," Hayato said in a serious tone of voice. "Get some sleep."
Haruna was going to say something back, but she knew she had to get some sleep. After all, she had stayed awake the whole night. Not like it was her fault. Every time she closed her eyes, she would remember THAT day, so she ended up walking around in the garden outside of her room and looking at the night sky.
"Wake me up if someone else comes," she said and went to a room in the mansion.
When she woke up, it was late in the afternoon, and the sun was about to set. She went outside and saw her brother sitting under one of the trees in the garden and talking to their father. When the two men saw Haruna, they stood up and walked towards her.
"How are you?" Hayato asked her.
"I'm feeling better, thanks," she replied and smiled. "Did anyone else come?"
"Yes," Ichirou answered. "The head of the Ukitake family paid his respect."
"Oh," she said. "Why didn't you wake me up?" she asked her brother.
"I was going to," Hayato replied, "but Ukitake-san told me not to bother you. He was a little worried about you, since he saw you going to take care of his son really often."
Haruna stared at the ground for a few seconds. "I'll make sure to thank him next time I see him."
"Yeah," Ichirou said with a proud smile. "It's getting late. Let's go home."
The three went in front of the tombstone one last time before leaving the mansion, and each said something to their beloved one.
"Mom," Haruna said, "I promise I'll do my best and become stronger..." Her eyes teared up again. "I'll try my best not to cry, and I promise you that from now on, I will protect those I love so that something like this doesn't happen again..."
"Mother," Hayato said, "I'll take care of Haruna and the whole house, as well as Father. I won't let my little sister cry, so don't worry about her. As for me, I'm doing well, so don't worry about me either. We'll come visit you again soon."
"My Dear," Ichirou said, "our kids have grown so much, and I know they'll do great and become great people. Do not worry about them. I love you."
The three of them, along with the servant Midokawa, left the mansion after sunset, and when they arrived home (or their usual place of residency), Haruna said goodnight to her father and brother, and went straight to her room. She changed to her night kimono, laid our her futon, and went to sleep.
It was a dark rainy night, and Haruna couldn't sleep. The darkness made her uneasy, and the sound of the rain scared her. She walked out of her room and went to her parents' room. Her father was in the hospital section of the house, taking care of the patients, and her mother was asleep. She heard Haruna's footsteps and sat down.
"Is anything wrong, Haruna?" she asked with her charming gentle voice.
"I-I can't sleep..." Haruna answered trembling.
"Oh Dear," her mother said stretching her arms, "come here."
But the moment Haruna walked into her mother's arms, everything turned red, and her mother's body went limb.
"Mother?" Haruna cried out.
"Ge-get... Away..." her mother faintly said, blood dripping out of the corners of her mouth.
"Mother!" Haruna cried out in agony.
There was a sword piercing her mother's chest, and behind the dead woman, there was a man wearing a white kimono, which was stained with crimson red blood. He thrust the sword out of the dead body and pointed it at Haruna herself. He lifted the sword ready to slay her.
"NOOOOOOOOO," Haruna yelled as she woke up. She was covered in sweat and breathing harshly and trembling. She heard footsteps outside of her room and became even more afraid and agitated.
"Haruna?!" It was Hayato. He slid the door open with force and ran towards her. "What happened?" he said, extremely agitated with concern, as he hugged her.
"Onii-chan," she said with a trembling voice. Tears started flowing, and before she knew it, she was crying like a child.
"There, there," Hayato said calmly, patting her head with one hand and embracing her shaking little body with the other. "You had another nightmare?"
Haruna nodded while still crying on her brother's shoulder.
"I'm here now, so it's okay. There's no need to be scared," Hayato said with a comforting voice.
Haruna eventually stopped crying.
"I'm sorry, Onii-chan," she said wiping her tears with her sleeves. "I scared you, didn't I?"
"It's okay," he said smiling. "Anything for my little sister."
"Thank you," she said smiling back at him.
"Do you think you can sleep?" Hayato asked.
"I don't know..." Haruna said looking at the floor.
"Do you want me to stay with you until you fall asleep?"
Haruna nodded.
Hayato stayed with her, holding her hand and singing a lullaby, until she fell asleep.
Late in the morning, Haruna woke up at the sound of footsteps outside of her room.
"Ojou-sama," one of the female servants said. "You have visitors."
"Huh?" she said trying to sit up and think clear. "Who is it?"
"They say they are Ukitake Juushiro and Kyoraku Shunsui. Should I tell them you are unable to meet them?"
"Ahh!" she exclaimed when she heard the two familiar names. "No, that's okay. Let them in."
"Yes," the servant said and went away. Then she came back with the two young men.
"Yo, Haruna-chan," Kyoraku said smiling goofily.
"Good morning," Ukitake said, avoiding Haruna's eyes.
"Go-good morning," Haruna said, trying to stand up.
"There's no need to stand up," Kyoraku said. "You look awfully tired."
"Oh..." she sighed, realizing that she must not look her best after such a bad night. "Sorry."
"Why are you apologizing?" Kyoraku said. "Being tired is not a thing to apologize for."
Haruna was too tired to even think about anything to say, so she just blankly stared at her two friends who had come to visit her. Kyoraku stared back, and Ukitake kept looking at the floor.
"Ummmmmm..." Kyoraku said. "Haruna-chan?"
"Huh?" she said, snapping out of her blankness.
"Are you gonna keep us standing outside?" Kyoraku asked jokingly.
"Oh!" Haruna said, realizing what she had done (or in this case, not done). "I'm so sorry! Come in," she said, trying to sound cheerful. She didn't want to worry her friends any more than they probably already were.
The two went in and sat down, and the three stayed silent for a while. Ukitake was still looking at the floor, and Haruna noticed it.
"Juushiro?" she called him.
"Yeah?" Ukitake answered without looking at her eyes.
Haruna realized he was avoiding her eyes on purpose, and decided to not say anything. "No, it's nothing."
There was an awkward silence.
"Oh, Yama-jii said that we wouldn't have any class until you came back to the Academy," Kyoraku said, trying to lighten up the mood a little bit,
"Ohh, really?" she said surprised. She had asked for a day off, but never really expected to miss an extra day, and she never thought that the Captain-commander would cancel the classes until she came back. She smiled at that thought. Ukitake finally looked at her the moment she smiled. She finally smiled, he said, and he smiled himself.
Haruna noticed he finally looked at her, and blushed when she saw his smile. "Why are you smiling at me like that?"
"Oh," Ukitake said, realizing he had been looking at her and smiling, and he looked away blushing. "So-sorry." There was another awkward silence.
"You guys need to talk," Kyoraku said as he stood up. "I'll be back later, so make sure you talk things out to get rid of this awkwardness." And with that, he left.
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