Jūshirō, Shunsui, Masaru, Koji and Yamato all stood outside the academy, ready to leave for their break.
They then saw five people appear by the gate. Three of them looked like body guards and each had a symbol on their cloathing.
One looked kind of like a ninja with a symbol that looked like two rectangles forming a cross with a star on the shorter edges and a laying crecent moon in the middle of it.
Another was dressed like a Soul Reaper but wore a shorter version of an Haori with the symbol on the back looking like two cranes with some clouds by their wings.
The last one was big muscular man who wore a spiral symbol on his cloathing.
The other two were a black-haired woman with glasses dressed in a pink kimono and she was talking with Jūshirō's great-uncle.
The five boys then walked up to them.
"Ready to depart master Yamato?"
"Yes. See you in two weeks everyone"
"We do, said Koji"
Yamato left with the ninja, Masaru with the man in a shorter Haori and Koji with the muscular man.
"Good to see you Jūshirō. We've missed you at home"
"I've missed all of you too, great-uncle"
He then turned to his friend.
"Have a good break Shunsui"
"Same for you Jūshirō"
Jūshirō and his great-uncle then began to walk home.
"I guess father is busy since you came"
"Yes. He wanted to be the one to come but something with his work came up and I offered to go while Emi looks after the little ones"
"Are they still as wild as when I left?"
"Yes. Especialy the twins"
Jūshirō smiled a little at the thought of seeing his siblings for the first time in months.
"Were those your friends back there, Hiroshi asked"
"Yes"
"Being friends with the heirs to three of the great noble families is something"
"I meet them through Shunsui except Yamato who I meet a couple of weeks ago when he transferred to our class"
"I see.
-I'm glad you've found some friends"
"So am I"
Jūshirō then looked up and saw that they were almost at their home.
"Get ready for the little ones to tackle you when we go inside"
"It won't be the first time"
Hiroshi chuckled and they walked in.
"I'm back"
Emi was the first one to appear and she smiled at the sight of her nephew.
"Welcome home Jūshirō"
"Thank you aunt Emi"
She hugged him and once she let go, they heard a lot of footsteps get closer.
Before Jūshirō knew it, he had been tackled to the floor by his four youngest siblings.
"Big brother you're home, said Kazuki"
"We've missed you, said Ayame"
"I've missed all of you too"
"Children get off your brother and hug his properly rather than knocking him to the floor like that, said Emi"
"Sorry aunt Emi, said Kenta"
The four got off and once Jūshirō had gotten up so he knelt, they hugged him more gently.
He then stood up and the three oldest hugged him as well.
"Welcome home big brother, said Tatsuya"
"It's great to see you again, said Izumi"
"It's great to see all of you as well"
"So how is the academy, Ryouta asked"
"Very good. Yamamoto is a great teacher and so are the others as well"
"That's good to hear, said Emi"
Jūshirō then walked to his room to change his uniform into something more comfortable to walk around at home in and once he had done that, he walked to the living room.
He sat down and the rest of the family soon joined him.
"So what's the academy like, Tatsuya asked"
"There are a lot of studying since there are four fighting styles we need to learn in order to become Soul Reapers.
-There's Zanjutsu which is sword fighting. Hakuda that's hand-to-hand combat. Kidō which are these spells were taught to use and last there's, Hohō which is more of a defensive style of fighting and it focuses on footwork"
"Sounds like a lot, said Kenji"
"Well it's needed for me to know all those things so I can become a good Soul Reaper"
Emi and Hiroshi couldn't help but smile at the younger kids bombarding their brother with questions.
"Your father mentioned that in the letter you sent, you wrote something about a friend, said Emi"
"I did. His name is Shunsui and he's part of Kyōraku clan. Through him I also meet the heirs to three of the great noble clans"
"Those were the other three with you earlier, Hiroshi asked"
"Yes. Yamato is from the Shihōin clan, Masaru from the Kuchiki clan and Koji is from the Shiba clan"
"That is not a bad thing"
Everyone turned to the door were Jūsanrō stood, smiling at his oldest son.
"That you have a friendship with the heirs to three noble clans as well as an high aristocrat will help our family build a relation to other clans"
"Jūsanrō you're starting to sound like your father when saying that, said Hiroshi.
-We should just be happy Jūshirō has found some friends, one of them even accepting him despite seeing the condition of his health"
"I was a bit surprised myself but Shunsui said that he wouldn't let something like that get in the way of our friendship, said Jūshirō"
"I'm happy to hear that, said Jūsanrō
-Others have always had trouble knowing about your health but this Shunsui sounds like a man who keps his word"
"What about the other three, Emi asked"
"I haven't told them yet. When I returned to class a couple of weeks ago, I told them that my health is weaker than others' and that I get sick easily.
-I'm waiting a bit to tell them since Shiba is one to jump to conclusions and things like that. I haven't had time to get to know Shihōin that well yet. The one who would understand the most is probably Kuchiki"
"Well it's up to you if you wanna tell them or not but if it happens again while you're at the academy, they might start to suspect something, said Hiroshi"
"Agree, said Jūsanrō"
The next day.
Jūshirō woke up and looked around his room a bit confused until he remembered that he had his break from the academy and had come home.
He got up and changed out the Yukata he had been sleeping in into a grey kimono and a pair of black hakama before walking out of his room.
Once he entered the dinning room, he found three of his siblings there.
"Morning big brother, said Ryouta"
"Good morning"
"Slept well, Izumi asked"
"Yes. I was a bit confused at first when I woke up but then I remembered that I came home yesterday"
He then sat down next to Tatsuya and a while later came Hiroshio with Emi and the four youngest.
"Good morning everyone"
"Morning aunt Emi, great-uncle, said Tatsuya"
She and the youngest kids all sat down with the four of them.
"So what are you all gonna do today, Hiroshi asked"
"I don't know, said Izumi.
-Maybe Juu can tells us some more things about the academy"
"Yeah, we wanna hear more, said Kenji"
Jūshirō chuckled a bit at his siblings eagerness.
"How about I show you something I was taught instead"
"Really, said Kenta"
"Yes"
"But Jūshirō, don't you wanna rest from all that since you have a break from the academy, Emi asked"
"It's okay aunt Emi. My break is two weeks so even if I show them something today, I'll still have time to rest before I have to go back"
"If you say so"
So after they had eaten breakfast, Jūshirō took his siblings with him outside.
"Great-uncle do we have something I can use as targets?"
"There should be some wood pieces I was gonna throw away so you can use them"
Hiroshi walked away and came back with a couple of wood pieces that he helped Jūshirō set up.
"That good?"
"Perfect"
"Okay"
Jūshirō then turned to his siblings that were sitting on the porch.
"Ready?"
"Yes!"
He smiled and turned towards a target, holding out his finger.
"Hadō #4 Byakurai"
A bolt of lightning came from his finger and shoot through one of the targets which amazed his siblings.
"Hadō #31 Shakkahō"
A red ord formed at Jūshirō's palm before he shoot it towards another target.
"Good thing I managed to keep it smaller than usual"
"Big brother that was amazing, said Kazuki"
"They can get even stronger if I use the right incantation but I didn't want to risk using too much power right now.
-There is also so other spells we get to learn but they are more defensive than these two"
"Can you show us that too, Kenji asked"
"Sure"
He turned back to the targets and put his hands together
"Bakudō #4 Hainawa"
A yellow energy rope surrounded his hands before he threw it at one of the targets, the rope wrapping around it.
For most of the day, Jūshirō showed his younger siblings what he had learned at the academy so far both Kidō and different Hakuda techniques.
Soon, there was only a couple of days left before he had to return to the academy.
"Two weeks sure goes by fast, said Jūshirō"
"Too bad your break wasn't longer, said Hiroshi"
The two had been the ones to wake up earliest and were now sitting on the porch.
"It will be during winter. I believe that one is almost a month"
"That sounds good
-You looking toward to see your friends again?"
"Yes"
The door behind them then opened and Jūsanrō came out to them.
"Father don't you have work today?"
"I asked to take today off.
-Since you return to the academy in two days, I wanted to take you kids somewhere so we could spend some time together"
"Where?"
"There is a lake in the 3rd district of Rukongai that your grandfather took me and Emi to when we were around the age of the twins.
-I thought it would be fun to take all of you there like my father took us"
"Sounds like a good idea"
So later when everyone was awake, Jūsanrō took the kids to the 3rd district of Rukongai.
While the younger kids were kick to get into the water of the lake, Jūshirō sat down in the shade along with Tatsuya.
"It was a nice idea to go out here"
"Father said he wanted to spend time with everyone since I'm going back to the academy in two days"
"We'll miss you when you go back"
"I know. But in winter, I'll be home for a whole month rather than just two weeks"
That made Tatsuya smile.
"I'm glad"
Jūshirō smiled at his brother before they decided to join the rest of their family.
They had a really fun time, the younger kids were splashing around in the water and as they were eating lunch that Emi had prepared, Jūsanrō told them about the times their grandfather had taken him there.
The five youngest as well as Ryouta and Izumi who never had a chance to meet Jūjirō (or remember him for the two older) listened to their father and loved hearing things about the grandfather they never had a chance to meet.
Two days later.
It was time for Jūshirō to return to the academy and he was standing outside the estate with the rest of his family.
"Take care now son"
"I will father"
"Keep doing your best, said Hiroshi"
"Of course"
"And don't do too much if you're not feeling well"
"I promise aunt Emi"
Jūshirō then turned to his siblings who one after another hugged him.
"We'll miss you big brother, said Kenta"
"I will miss all of you as well but I'll come home again soon"
He then left and once he reached the gates of the academy, he saw Yamato and Shunsui.
"Shunsui, Yamato"
The two turned around and smiled when they saw him.
"Hey Ukitake, had a nice break, Yamato asked"
"Yes. It was nice seeing my family again
-My siblings wanted to hear a lot of stories of my time here and see me practice"
Shunsui chuckled.
"Good to hear you had a good time"
"What about you two?"
"I spend time with my brother and his wife. It was good seeing them again"
"My father mostly spent my break away so I had the Shihōin manor to myself. Minus the servants of course"
The three of them then walked inside, ready to reassum their studies the following morning.