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(Chapter edited. There might be some minor mistakes.)

Unseen Stranger to Unlikely Companion: The Encounter

"Oyakata-sama, I'm sorry for taking a day-off without informing you the cause of my actions."

A regretful voice echoed in a certain room, illuminated by the shadows despite the bright sun hanging above the sky outside. In response to those words, a masculine yet smooth and velvet tone of man reverberated from the center of the room.

"It is fine, Makomo. You were quite rattled from the last time I saw you so I allowed to have your own spare time to clear your mind."

The first speaker, Makomo, breathe out a relieved air from her lips as she heard those words. But those feelings ended up being a fleeting one as soon as she heard the following statement by the person who sat in the room, in the dark-lit office known by his alias as Oyakata-sama.

"But I expect your 'day-off' is simply a lip service, but rather you were exercising the other task I bestowed upon you, correct?"

A pointed question, no, it wasn't a question, it was seeking a confirmation from her, what she had been doing during the days of her 'rest'. Makomo knew what he was implying about.

"Yes, I have been monitoring Tsuyuri Kanao. Nights ago, she walked through the streets of the Flower District as she passed through the 15th, 16th and the stopping at 17th District before an encounter happened."

"An encounter?" The man inquired curiously, urging her to continue.

"An encounter with Black Zeal. Apparently, those men who tried to take Ama… Hara-san were part of that group."

"Those good-for-nothing idiots. Can't they do better things other than terrorize other people?"

With the exception of the man sitting in the center of the room, Makomo shifted her attention in the corner where she heard the aggressive, rough tone as criticizing words escaped from the man's mouth.

"I guess it can't be helped, Sabito. Ever since the emergence of the new leader, Orange Zeal has been getting chaotic since then."

Sabito scoffed at the quipped from the velvety response of his superior. "Just why the hell did the previous leader go and turn himself into a Shinigami? Don't tell me, he's got fascination for them?"

"I don't know; we don't know and we knew better than to question other people's motives. With us being 'leashed' by them, we have no right to ask about it."

As if upset at The Manager's words he received, Sabito just crossed his arms and looked at the side as if he had enough.

"Is there any more happened to Tsuyuri Kanao, Makomo?"

Makomo snapped her eyes to the man in front of her when she heard her name before she nodded. "Yes, another thing happened, Oyakata-sama. But this time, Kanao-san didn't came out unharmed."

The man named Oyakata was alarmed at this. "Who did it?"

"By The Leader of Black Zeal."

Kanao was back at the familiar scene of damaged buildings and abandoned houses. She had been following the siblings on their trail, watching them whenever they would take their steps. But eventually, she lost her sight on them the farther they go.

She was concerned they might ended up in this district, in this deserted place where there was no single soul can be seen. Though, she can recall of a certain not-really-an-encounter of a woman and man arguing to each other but that was more than just a coincidence. If there really was a group of people living, she had no idea where they are, if the siblings had ended up arriving there, there's no telling what kind of characters was lurking in this area.

Raising her head up as she looked at the certain direction, her eyes landed at the noticeable building of the 17th District. Perhaps in the Orange Zeal, the local residents in this district might be settling nearby since it was close to the establishment of the 'guardians', calling themselves as Rainbow Wardens or something, maybe Rainbow Mantle; she doesn't know. Kanao never received specific information at this certain organization.

Taking a step forward in that direction, she took her time to look around at gloomy surroundings. Almost all the houses are rundown; some had lacked walls that had use a spare wood to cover, albeit not skillfully with carpeting—it's not like she can judge them for it, she had a tent for a 'home' for her lack of skills of carpeting—and doesn't even have a door, just using a worn-out long cloth which she assumed they found from who-knows-where just like her cloth tied to wrist to cover the bruise.

And clearly, there are not a single good candidate for asking directions to her home if she gets lost here.

Ah… do you hate me much that you don't want a gentleman's escort? Every lady wants it, you know.

Kanao briefly stopped her step, surprised where her thoughts had arrived from a certain conversation. Why was she remembering that man just now? Shaking her head, she resumed her walk as she was nearly reached the Orange Zeal.

And also nearly lost her balance when something hugged her thigh.

"Onee-chan! Onee-chan! Help us!"

Kanao tilted her head down as she saw a familiar little girl who had unshed tears clinging to her eyes. Frowning, she crouched down and kneeled to ground, leveling the girl's height. As she recall earlier, her name was… Teruko? Glancing over where she came from, Kanao saw the little girl's big brothers confronting someone while the elder brother, Kiyoshi tried to hold back his little brother, Shoichi who had his wooden sword raising threateningly to that someone.

It seemed like her fear was right they ended up in this area too. Though, who is that person the brothers seemed to be antagonizing? Standing up, she moved forward towards them with the small girl clinging to her in tow.

"Apologize! Apologize, you bastard! How dare you do that to Teruko?!"

When she was within in the hearing distance from them, she can hear the little brother shouting angrily. Listening to his words, Kanao looked back at the little girl behind her. What did the stranger did to her who's clinging at her side with her dear life?

"S-stop them, Onee-chan…" The little girl nervously spoke, trembling, "I don't want my brothers to get hurt…"

Kanao pursed her lips as she frowned while glancing over at the brothers, especially at the little brother. She can stop them to fight each other but… she shook those thoughts away before shrugging her shoulders as if in , well. An interruption won't hurt anyone. Both party leaving out unscathed is a good condition. Kanao turned her attention to Teruko.

"Stay here." She patted the girl in the shoulder while gently pushing her away. "If you come with me, you'll get hurt."

Despite looking like she was about to protest, she paused and thought for a bit before the girl nodded and backed away to a nearby corner. Seeing the girl had hide herself, Kanao returned her eyes at the brothers and to the stranger. She raised an eyebrow at his choice of clothing when she briefly observed him. A mummy? No, the bandage was mostly covering his face with some loose ends hanging and clinging to lack of upper clothing, his yukata being loosely tied in his hips.

And with weapon—two of it—hanging at the either side of his hips.

Looks like the situation would end up badly if the little brother raised the ire of the stranger when she landed her eyes at the twitching fingers in his sides as if itching to grab his weapons.

The big brother was first to notice her approaching as he recognized her before he let a confused, "Onee-chan?"

Wasting no time, she responded, "This area is dangerous. Get out of here."

He frowned, seemingly giving a pleading look, "We will, but Shoichi…"

Instead paying attention to them, the little brother shouted at the stranger, waving his wooden sword, "I said, apologize! If you don't, I'll beat you up with these, mummy man!"

It all happened in an instant. The moment the little brother said those words, the stranger promptly grabbed his weapon—a katana, she realized—and unsheathed it from its scabbard. But thankfully, she noticed it before anyone can as her hand dived towards it and stopped his hand before he can fully withdrew his sword against them. Raising her eyes at his face, she can see his glare peeking among the tresses of white bandages.

A fierce green eyes meeting an apathetic lilac eyes.

She saw something moved as she glanced down and saw his other hand reaching for his katana in the other side. Unfortunately for him, she was faster to react and grabbed the hilt of his weapon that he was about to seize as she pulled it out before he could, unsheathing it from his side while jumping back away from him, his other weapon out of reach from him, gripping the hilt of his katana with her own hand.

Kanao made sure to remember the look in his eyes as he glared to her in the back of her mind.

"Hashibira Inosuke?"

Sabito who was uninterested in the beginning at the report relayed by Makomo, raised his voice in surprise.

"Yes, Hashibira Inosuke, the former leader's disciple. And also the same leader who bequeathed Inosuke-san as the next Leader of Black Zeal. You don't know about this?"

Sabito huffed at the bewilderment he heard from Makomo's voice. "All I know is that there was a new leader and the former leader became a Shinigami. And then, that's it."

"Oh, that's right, you didn't distract yourself at trivial matters, isn't it?"

Makomo didn't use a condescending nor a mocking tone towards him. Sabito knew his partner understood him better than anyone else. She knew his ignorance and his disinterest was part of his personality but not necessarily naïve, she knew his sharp and rough tongue was how he expressed himself; Sabito knew that Makomo can see through him as if opening and reading what was written in a book and he trusted her for it. He decided to respond at his partner's words with an equally amused tone.

"Of course, I wouldn't. Dumb and good-for-nothing idiots doesn't deserve to receive that much attention, right?"

Makomo gave him a wry smile before shaking her head side-to-side, as if he was a hopeless case but her smile continued stay on her face.

As if he just waited for them to finish their conversation, The Manager promptly raised his voice between them. "You can continue your words, Makomo."

"Yes, Oyakata-sama."

Kanao first observed the current situation she got herself into.

A katana in her hand.

A katana in his hand.

The siblings backing away from her.

And also…

She glanced at the person in front of her.

An opponent she can't possibly defeat.

Just what in a world she got herself into? Those were the words she keeps beating herself in her head. It's obvious that the man in front of her was an experienced fighter, seeing how he tightly gripped the sword in his hand, the taut muscles which he obviously trained himself and the faint scars that clearly marked him as a veteran combatant compared to her small petite body, completely inexperienced in the field of combat.

The purpose of her interception was supposed to prevent the siblings from getting into with this person—which was, in a way, she did succeed—but since the person in front of her directed his malicious aura at her compared to the siblings earlier, it was very apparent that the man will never get her away from this.

"You."

Kanao blinked at the person in front of her when he started to talk. Me?

"Why did you interfere? Those brats are just strangers to you."

The question caught her off guard since she never expected to hear those words from him, assuming that he would throwing curses to her. Oh. An idea came to her. Is he the type of person that can be talked?

Kanao raised her hand, her free hand since she was still holding a weapon on her other, as if trying to make amends to him. "No, I know them," she responded, relaxing for a bit—only for a bit since she never know what will happen depending to his reaction. "They're no strangers to me. Those three are with me. Would you let go from your… wrath?"

She doesn't know if she can describe his retaliation against them as wrath but that was the first word she can muster. And also, the siblings being no strangers, was not a complete lie either.

"Then, what's your relationship with them?"

Her breath hitched at her throat. It actually worked? Kanao responded to his question, trying to mask her surprise. "I'm their… guardian of sorts. They're like my little siblings and I looked after them."

"I see. So that's your case," the man started to walk towards her, a katana in his hand still drawn. She bristled in alarm at the sight of it. "There is a saying that I've heard… that a sin committed by a child, the father is responsible of it."

Her eyes widened at the implications of his words. "What… sin did they commit to you?"

"What, it was nothing. That little brat just suddenly whip out his rotten fake sword, screaming at me to apologize."

"Liar!" She snapped her attention behind her and saw the little brother baring his teeth. "You bumped into Teruko and knocked her to the floor! It would have been fine if you just ignore her lying in the ground but instead, you stepped over her body without remorse! That's why I wanted you to apologize to her!"

He… he stepped over a little girl…? She looked back at the man with a shocked expression.

"Huh? So what if I stepped over her?" he raised the pointed end of his blade at the little brother. "Orange Zeal of the Flower District is my turf. I can do whatever I want here and my men can do whatever they want here. If anyone messes with my Black Zeal here, I'll make them taste my Fangs of Vengeance!"

Kanao finally realized why those men went after her. It wasn't because they were valuable men or anything like that. It was simply because they were part of the Black Zeal. The reason why they didn't injure her any further because that was how she injured those men, nothing more, nothing less.

A grip in the wrist and a punch in the gut. That was how she defeated those men.

But they did warn her that if she'll hurt them again, they'll give her the worst nightmare…or something like that. She guessed it depended how she treated those men of Black Zeal.

But wait, the way he said those words… 'My Black Zeal'? Why does he talked like he owned the…

…shit, don't tell me he's the….

"And you there, Guardian." She was forcibly snapped out of her daze when he called her. "The sin of the son is the sin of the father. You know what that means, right?"

Kanao pursed her lips together before she closed her eyes and gravely nodded at him.

"That's admirable. This is what you should expect from an adult, right?"

…is it just her or did she hear a trace of melancholy in his words…?

Without warning, with her eyes still closed, she can feel a tinge of pain from her shoulder. She opened her eyes and glanced down to her shoulder as she can feel growing confusion welling within her. Just a graze? Kanao glanced down at the cut of her yukata and the wound peeking inside it. She thought he would slash her down with his sword but…

"Consider that as my mercy."

She returned her attention back at him. Mercy…? Mercy for what?

"But…"

Kanao was almost startled and rolled her head in her side, noticing that he was literally close to her, almost shoulder-to shoulder. She was standing beside him with a straight spine, as if bracing herself for something to happen. When she saw him move in her peripheral vision, she trailed her gaze at his arms that was raised above him and noticed his hand was gripping his—

Her eyes widened and took a step back away from him.

—sword! He was going to slash her down!

"THIS IS FOR TAKING AWAY MY SWORD FROM ME!"

It was too late. The katana from her hand had slipped away from her fingers. She retreated backwards from him while covering her slashed wrist to prevent the blood from flowing out. But despite her attempt, blood still heavily flowed between her fingers, dripping to the dry ground without stopping. Kanao was confused, bewildered at the actions he just did to her. She thought she had his mercy. Why?

"Hey!" the little brother shouted. "Why did you do that to Onee-san?! I thought you were already done with her?!"

"Done? You're right. I'm done with you, you brat." He picked up the katana she dropped in the ground, with her blood splattered on it. "But my sword is a different case. Anyone who takes my katana, your hand is the price of your mistake."

Kanao discreetly made a step back from him. It was really fortunate she noticed his sword before he can dismember her hand and managed to dodge his sword, albeit only barely. But still… what a twisted man. A hand for grabbing his sword? But, at least, she had learned the lesson in a hard way as her blood was overflowing from her wrist that she can't stop on her own.

Looks like she had no choice…

"You three!" She exclaimed at the siblings. "Go! We're running away!"

The four of them immediate broke into run, making sure the siblings ran in front of her in case if the man ran after them. She looked behind her to check if the man does ran after them—

—she buckled to her knees to the ground as if she had suddenly lost her strength to run.

"Don't run. All I want is your hand and now you're making me take your feet too?"

She was slashed. She was slashed yet she didn't feel the slash at all. Kanao glanced down to her feet and saw the back of her leg slashed open, revealing a red gore under her skin as the blood spilled from it, trickling down to the ground, slowly forming into a pool of blood below her.

Who is this person? And who trained him to fight like that?

And that's when she registered everything.

Everything.

The pain. The excruciating pain. She can feel it. From her wrist covered by her other hand, from both of legs under the heat of the sun; she can feel everything.

She let out a silent scream, her hand reaching out to nothing.

And then everything becomes fragmented.

—Onee-chan! She can hear the scream of a child.

—Onee-san! She can hear the worried tone of the siblings.

—I told you to stay still. She can see the man towering over her.

—Guhaa! She hear a pained groaned along with a crash.

—Who are you? A question of curiosity from the girl.

—Shinigami. A response with a tone that was indifferent.

—A look.

—A familiar look.

—A long dark hair with mint colored apathetic eyes.

That was all she can remember before all faded into black.

He can feel the grave silence that followed the report by Makomo after she was done. He knew that both of his 'eyes' was afraid of speaking up as if they knew what he was currently feeling after he heard the report by the girl in front of him.

Silly, silly children, why did the two of you grew silent? He decided to break the ice himself.

"Thank you, Makomo, for granting my foolish request."

Upon receiving his words, Makomo only shook her head. "It was nothing, Oyakata… no, Kagaya-san. To be quite honest, it has been a while since you've requested a personal one rather than the one that benefits the Flower District."

He gave her a faint smile. "I suppose a break would suffice from all these responsibility, isn't it?"

As if to rebuff his words, Sabito raised his voice from his corner, "Don't do it. You know what happened when you did catch a break and the Flower District almost fell into chaos, right?"

"Kagaya-san was only joking, Sabito."

"…"

Hearing silence on Sabito's part, a chuckle bubbled within him. He can feel the radiating embarrassed presence behind him but he expressed his amusement to his smile and his words. "I guess, Sabito can be a bit an airhead, isn't he?"

A choking noises can be heard behind him as if trying to find some words to rebut him before it was followed by a loud huff. A single chuckle was able to escape from him.

"Makomo, Sabito, I need time for myself, is it okay for the two to wait outside for a while?"

"Of course, Oyakata-sama."

As he dismissed them, both of them dispersed themselves from the room and closed the door to give him his privacy. Grateful at the isolation he was given, a scraping noise entered in his ears as he stood up from his chair and smoothly strode towards the direction which he knew where the windows was positioned. A satisfied smile came to him when he touched the window frame and neared himself to it.

Despite his waning eyesight, it doesn't stop him memorizing his surroundings, most of all, this small confinement of his called the office in this particular room. His bodyguards and his 'eyes', Makomo and Sabito, was doing all the work 'outside' since he can't walk himself out in this office without an escort in his side to guide him and mostly because he was defenseless against physical attacks he would receive from rivalling groups or those who try to usurp him. He doesn't possess the body of a fighter, which, he himself, found unfortunate. All he had was his reputation and his words.

There was a reason of him 'monitoring' Tsuyuri Kanao. Not through malicious means nor something depraved; it was through pure curiosity of the well-being of this girl.

Along with the so-called escort given for one of his Oiran who goes by name of Hara.

He knew, he can feel something within him that he knew. He knew that someday he would face his Oiran who will talk to him with her easy smile that he cannot see through his failing eyes, he knew that the girl with the farthest eyes will observed him and looked through him like an open book; he knew, he knew something will eventually happen.

And he, Ubuyashiki Kagaya, hoped that 'something' he had been knowing these days, was the same what he had longed for.

Something that he yearned while waiting in this dark prison of his room for a long, long time.

Author's Musing:

[warning: spoilers from Can't Fear Your Own World novel]

It is a bit of shame that the five families was not all named: Shihōin, Kuchiki, Shiba, Tsunayashiro… thankfully, what I was musing here before (before these chapters was revised) got answered regarding about the role these Great Noble Families/Houses had to Soul Society.

To be quite honest, when I read about the Shiba ancestor wanting to create a method to purify hollows and I'm like, oh we Kingdom Hearts now? It makes me wonder if someone tried to make a crossover because of this fact.

And also the Original Sin… it was like asking a hero (Soul King) to become a scapegoat for a better world and when he was sealed, his limbs was dismembered and his organs in order to make him powerless because the Tsunayashiro ancestor was afraid of the said hero's power… yikes.

Kagaya's intention of surveillance to Kanao changed. Before, it was because Central 46 was observing her in the shadows so Kagaya 'monitored' her only by pure curiosity. In here, it seemed like he was waiting for 'something' to happen and also 'monitored' Hara by giving her an escort (Makomo).

Mantle can also mean responsibility or role; "taking up the mantle" or something like that.

To be quite honest, I never thought I would expand Flower District as a place when it was originally supposed to be a throwaway first setting of the story. It helps for the world building lol.