"What did you say, said Koji"
"This letter is from my aunt.
-My father was apparently out on a mission to take care of some Hollows but he never came back. Other Soul Reapers found two survivors this morning who told them what happened"
The others saw the look in Jūshirō's eyes as he lowered the letter and Shunsui placed a hand on his shoulder.
"I need to talk with Yamamoto-sensei"
"Do you want one of us to come with you?"
"Please..."
Shunsui nodded and looked at the others.
"I'll go with him. You guys can go to the dorms"
"Okay, tells us what happens later, said Masaru"
The two nodded and left their friends, walking as fast as they could to Yamamoto's office.
When they got there, they knocked and waited for their teacher to tell them that it was okay to come in.
"What can I help you boys with?"
Jūshirō didn't say anything. He just walked up to Yamamoto's desk and showed him the letter.
The man read it before looking at his student with sympathy in his eyes.
"I'm sorry for you loss, Jūshirō"
The young man nodded before bowing his head.
"Sensei, I need to go home. I have to be with my family right now"
"That you do.
-Don't worry. I'll speak with the teachers and make sure the work you miss will be sent to your home"
"Thank you so much sensei"
Yamamoto nodded, stood up and walked over to his student, putting his hands on his shoulders.
"I'll send a message to Hiroshi, telling him you will come home tomorrow seeing that it's getting too late for you to leave now"
"Yes sensei"
Yamamoto then looked at Shunsui.
"Shunsui, tomorrow I want you to accompany Jūshirō home but you are to come back here right away once it's been done"
"Yes sir"
The two then left and made their way to their room.
"You okay?"
"I never thought this would happen to my father"
"I understand that.
-I may not know what you feel right now Jūshirō but I'm here to listen if you need to talk"
"Thank you Shunsui"
The dark-haired student smiled at his friend.
"What are friends for.
-And I promise that tomorrow, we'll leave as soon as we can so you can be with your family"
Jūshirō nodded with a slight smile and as they reached the dorms, they saw the others outside their room.
"So what's happening, Yamato asked"
"Sensei gave me permission to go home. I'm leaving first thing in the morning"
"And he told me to make sure Ukitake got home safely, said Shunsui"
"Okay, good to hear things to solved nicely, said Masaru"
"Yeah and don't forget that we're all here for you Ukitake, said Koji"
"Thank you everyone"
"Do you know how long you'll be gone, Yamato asked"
"No. It depends on how long it takes to plan and hold my father's funeral.
-And since I'm the oldest, I guess I have to take over as the head of my family as soon as possible"
"In other words, it can take a few weeks at least, said Masaru"
"Yes. But Yamamoto-sensei promised that all school work I'm missing will be sent to my home so I won't fall behind"
"That's good, said Koji"
The Shiba heir then placed a hand on Jūshirō's shoulder.
"I hope everything will be fine for you and your family"
"We all do, said Masaru"
Jūshirō looked at his friends all smiling at him and he smiled back, a single tears escaping the corner of his eye.
He had really found some great friends.
The next morning, Jūshirō and Shunsui got ready and left the academy after breakfast.
"I know you may not wanna talk that much about him after the news yesterday but I've wondered, what was your father like"
Jūshirō looked at Shunsui and then up at the sky.
"My father was a very kind man. He always put me and my siblings before anything especially after my mother passed away.
-He would use his days off to spend time with us, showing places his father used to take him and my aunt to when they were younger"
"Wish I could have meet him"
"He would have wanted to meet you too, all of you.
-During our first break last year, I told my family about you, Kuchiki and the others and he was surprised that I had become friends with the heirs of three great noble clans as well as an aristocratic family"
"Really?"
"Yes. But he and the rest of my family was happy that I had found friends. Father was also happy that I had found a friend who accepted my illness as well as you did"
"Why wouldn't I?
-It doesn't change who you are Jūshirō. You're the kindest guy I've ever meet and you're always so happy despite living with that illness"
Jūshirō smiled at hearing Shunsui say that, it felt good knowing that's how his friend thought of him.
They kept talking and soon reached the Ukitake estate were they saw Hiroshi in the garden.
"Great-uncle"
Hearing Jūshirō's voice made the elderly man turn towards them and he smiled seeing his great-nephew.
Walking over to them, he was quick to hug Jūshirō.
"How are you?"
"I still can't believe it"
"None of us can"
He let go and turned to Shunsui.
"Who's your friend?"
"I'm Shunsui Kyōraku, Jūshirō's classmate. Yamamoto-sensei wanted me to follow him home"
"It's nice to finally meet you Shunsui. My great-nephew has told me about you.
-I'm Hiroshi Ukitake and I guess you could call me a clan elder"
"Nice to meet you sir"
Shunsui bowed before turning to his friend.
"I better head back to the academy or sensei might get mad at me.
-Take care Jūshirō and I'll see you when you get back to the academy"
"We do Shunsui"
The dark-haired young man smiled and gave his friend's shoulder a pat before he started to walk away.
"Seems like a nice guy, said Hiroshi"
"I told you that didn't I"
"You did"
They two then walked into the house were they meet a teary eyed Emi.
"Aunt Emi"
"Oh Jūshirō"
She hugged her nephew.
"How are you?"
"I can't believe this has happened. When I got the letter, I didn't know what to think"
"Neither did we when we got the news"
Emi then let go of him.
"Your siblings are outside. I think they'll be happy to see you"
Jūshirō nodded and walked through the house to the backyard were he found his brothers and sisters.
They didn't notice him at first until Izumi turned her head towards the door.
"Big brother"
Jūshirō smiled as she got up to hug him, the others not far behind her.
"We didn't think the academy would let you come home, said Kazuki"
"I explained everything to Yamamoto-sensei who also is the head-master and he let me come home"
"For how long, Ayame asked"
"For as long as needed"
All seven smiled a bit and hugged him a bit tighter.
The days that followed, Jūshirō spent with his aunt and great-uncle, planning his father's funeral and when he wasn't busy with that, he spent a lot of time with his siblings.
The funeral was traditional, held in the way Jūsanrō had wanted it.
A lot of family friends were there and once the cremation fire died down, the ashes were collected and buried at the family grave.
A photo was also put up in the shrine in the house.
As the day turned into night and it was just the family in the house, Jūshirō sat in his room with some assignments from the academy.
But his mind was on his family, especially his siblings.
They may have their aunt and great-uncle but the eight of them were technically orphans now with both their parents dead.
While he wanted to finish up the Soul Reaper academy so he had a job, he also wanted to stay at home to take care of his siblings.
He sighed and put his pen down, deciding to finish the assignments the next day.
There was a knock on his door and Hiroshi came in.
"Great-uncle"
"Are you busy Jūshirō?"
"No. I was gonna finish a few academy things but I can't get anywhere"
"Come then. Emi and I wanted to talk to you"
"Okay"
He got up and followed his great-uncle to the living room were his aunt waited.
"So what did you wanna talk about?"
"It's about the position as head of the clan, said Emi"
"Okay"
"We know that it's supposed to go to you as the oldest son but uncle and I talked about it earlier"
"The two of us will take care of all that until you graduate from the academy, said Hiroshi"
"But ..."
"No buts. Jūshirō we know you're worried about what to do now when your father is gone and we want you to finish your studies to become a Soul Reaper.
-Once you don't have the academy to worry about anymore, you can take over as the head of the clan"
Jūshirō looked at his great-uncle and his aunt who both smiled at him and it felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.
He didn't have to worry about his family or his future career as a Soul Reaper.
"Thank you"