Hey, have some free Backstory! It has your daily serving of angst so it's suuuper good for you.

(...D-did I reach 100k words without noticing...?)


150 years ago

Hanging Dog was rough place to live in. Crazy bandits could be found around the edge of town, just waiting for an unsuspecting traveler. Wandering swordsman that had more in common with your average thug than samurai were often seen passing through, just itching to prove themselves. Petty thieves were constantly crawling through the area, and it wasn't too uncommon for someone to just go missing every now and again. The very scum of the Soul Society walked proudly through the streets while most "regular folk" either kept their heads down or stayed indoors.

Tatsuki was not one of these "regular folk", and the bounty of pork buns she was grinning down at, lifted from some grumpy old shop owner, proved it.

She stifled a giggle as she looked down from her perch on the rooftops at good ol' Mr. Toki, huffing and puffing angrily in the streets before finally giving up his chase, and stomping back into his shop, slamming the door behind him. In triumph, she took a huge bite out of the first bun, sighing at the feeling of it melting in her mouth. Mr. Toki may have been a total jerk, but he sure knew how to make good food!

Easing out from her crouched position, Tatsuki let her feet swing over the roof as she looked out at the town before her. The scenery of the day was nice enough, the weather being clear with most of the more violent passers-by nowhere to be seen. If Tatsuki were to give an assessment, she'd say, "better than usual," but that was about it. To be honest, this kind of peace wasn't really her thing.

No, what she always craved, even more than Mr. Toki's left-over lunch specials, was a bit of action.

She took another big bite of her meal, finishing off the first bun and so stuck in her own head that she almost missed it when the gods themselves answered her prayers. She heard, ever so faintly, what sounded like a fight.

There was a little scuffle, the sound of dirt being kicked up, muffled yelling, and the sound of someone hitting the wall. With a grin, she shuffled over, peaking into the alleyway where it was all taking place, but the very minute she laid eyes on the fighters, her heart sank in disappointment.

These weren't swordsmen or brawling gang members or even wrestlers. They didn't even look that good. They were just a bunch of boys that looked about her age (which she thinks is twelve or so, but she's not really sure anymore). She definitely wasn't interested in seeing a bunch of boys that probably couldn't even throw a good punch beat each other up.

With a roll of her eye, Tatsuki got ready to simply leave, to find another rooftop, and hope that one had a more interesting view. She paused the second something else about the fight caught her eye.

Well, it didn't really look like a fight now, from her perspective. There were about four boys, three of which she kinda recognized. She's pretty sure she'd seen them hanging around the old temple scaring random visitors. They were cornering some orange haired kid, sneering and shoving at him, one of them nailing him right on the cheek with a swing of his fist, sending him back against the wall again.

This wasn't a fight. This was just a beat down.

"Hey, dickheads!" She yelled it before she was even sure what she was doing, but she didn't really regret it, even when the boys glared up at her, fists clenched. She climbed down from her perch landing right in front of the three bullies.

"Is this guy so tough all three of you need to gang up on him," she asked with a sneer, "or are you just a lot weaker than I thought you were?"

The three boys looked at her, glancing from her scrawny frame to her stolen bag of goodies. They laughed out loud.

"Scram pipsqueak!" the one pinning the boy to the wall yelled with a toothy grin. "I don't feel like kicking some girl's ass today."

"What, you don't think you could take me?" As Tatsuki said this she brought herself back into a loose stance, fists at her side.

The one to the left scoffed, looking to his leader. The boy loosened his hold on the stranger, letting the boy's collar slip from his grasp before jerking his head in Tatsuki's direction. Without much more prompting, his lackey attacked.

He ran forward, arm readying a way too obvious punch that he put every last bit of his strength into. It was almost too easy! She sidestepped him, leaving out a foot to trip him with. Just as he started stumbling, hands stretched out in front of him, she spun around kicking him in the back and sending him face first into the dirt, dazed.

The two others looked at her shocked, just the type of reaction she liked. Even their victim was looking at her, eyes wide.

The thugs charged with a yell then, though only one got very far. The leader was yanked back by his collar, the orange haired kid grabbing tight, before sending the guy sprawling. Tatsuki couldn't help but grin. Now this was a real fight.

They sent the three bullies running in the end, nursing bruises and goose eggs that they would probably lie about later to save face. She really wished they wouldn't, though. She had her own reputation to uphold, you know?

"…Thanks for helping me back there," the kid said sheepishly with a bow. She didn't know what he was being all shy about now. He was actually pretty good!

Tatsuki flicked away the blood from her lip, shrugging. "You don't have to bow or anything. Those guys were just a couple of cowards."

She did wonder why they picked this kid as their target, though. He didn't look like easy pickings. He was tall, with long arms that he obviously knew how to use. Then again, he did stand out quite a bit. She doesn't think she'd ever seen someone with orange hair before, and those robes looked brand new.

Before she got the chance to ask, a familiar voice was yelling down the alleyway.

"Hey! You damn brat!"

She didn't even have to look to know it was Mr. Toki, but when she did, she saw he was holding a switch, face red with anger.

The kid grabbed her hand, tugging her away and biting out, "Time to go."

"You don't have to tell me twice."

He led her through narrow alleys and into the main streets, weaving through the sparse afternoon crowd and ducking under people a good head taller than them. Mr. Toki was not so lucky, stumbling along and bumping into the pushy townspeople, struggling to keep up.

"I know somewhere safe we can go," the boy whispered back to her. "Just stick with me, okay?"

"How safe we talking?" she asked back, glancing over her shoulder with a grimace. Mr. Toki may have slowed, but he certainly wasn't stopping. She didn't even get to finish those Pork Buns. They were just getting cold in some alleyway, now.

"Safe," he eventually answered with a grumble.

He led her to the very edge of town, the two keeping pace, even when they lost sight of Mr. Toki. She was expecting some kind of hut, maybe a lean-to, an abandoned building, or even a well-stocked climbing tree. When they reached a clearing just beyond the trees, she saw none of those things.

What stood before her was the estate of some kind of Lord! It was huge and sprawling and definitely not where they wanted to be right now. She had heard some rumors about a rich clan setting up shop here, but she hadn't believed them, not until now, at least.

"We can't go in there!" Tatsuki hissed, digging her heels into the ground. Who knew what the Lord of this place would do if he found them. (She'd never met a Lord before, but she assumed they weren't very nice, especially not to trespassers!)

"I've got you now!" Mr. Toki cried out, clambering ahead from the tree line. Tatsuki paled. Apparently, the man was dead set on catching her today. The boy was still tugging at her hand, starting to look frustrated at her obstinance. She simply tugged back. At least she knew what Mr. Toki would do to her if she got caught.

Mr. Toki was getting closer by the second, and yeah, Tatsuki was a little scared. She'd stolen a lot from this guy over the years, more than she'd like to admit. Right now, he looked ready to teach her a lesson. She closed her eyes, bracing herself just as the man reached for her other arm.

"Excuse me?" A rough voice cut through the air, stopping everyone mid-motion. Mr. Toki's arm dropped back to his side, and the boy's grip loosened. Tatsuki slowly opened her eyes. To a young Tatsuki, the man standing before her was like nothing she'd ever seen.

He was tall, a deep-set scowl on his face as his large arms crossed over his chest. He wore black robes, as dark as night, the type she'd seen before on those good for nothings that spent their days getting drunk off their asses. Something about the way he wore it, though, as well as the white haori over them, made her pause.

"My sincerest apologies, Shinigami, sir," Mr. Toki said with a deep bow, "but that girl," he said this, pointing right at Tatsuki, causing her to take a step back in what she convinced herself wasn't fear, "has stolen from me. This has been the second time this week, and I followed here to teach her a lesson. I will make sure she never bothers you again."

Despite saying this, Mr. Toki didn't make another move, waiting for approval. The Shinigami on the other hand was looking at Tatsuki, a heavy frown on his face. He glanced back at Mr. Toki, eyes pausing at the switch in his hand. Beside him the crazy boy was standing, fists clenched, his own scowl on his face, though it was far less effective. After a moment the man let out a long sigh.

"I think the two of us can settle this," he finally said. "There's no need to drag the kids into it."

Mr. Toki made a face like he wanted to argue but wasn't brave enough to actually said anything. All he did was send Tatsuki a quick glare. She stuck her tongue out at him in retaliation.

"Girl," the Shinigami said suddenly. She stood up straight, hoping that the man didn't notice that exchange.

"Yes…sir?" she mumbled.

"How much do you owe this man?"

Tatsuki looked down at the ground, shrugging her shoulders. "I dunno. I've been swiping stuff from him for about a year and a half, though, so…"

The Shinigami seemed to accept this answer, muttering to himself before turning to Mr. Toki again, asking, "Would 1500 Ryō cover it?"

Mr. Toki paled in shock, nodding dumbly. The Shinigami smiled at that, giving the man a pat on the back and directing him to where he'd need to go, pressing a piece of paper into his hands. Mr. Toki listened to the directions silently, moving around as if dazed.

"Just tell them Isshin sent you, and you shouldn't run into any trouble," he said with a crooked smile. Mr. Toki smiled back, muttering a quiet thank you before heading off.

The Shinigami's smile disappeared the moment Mr. Toki was out of sight, and suddenly that scowl of his was back in its place and being directed right at the boy beside him. The boy looked completely unaffected, arms crossed as he glared pointedly in the other direction. Then, in an instant, the man had him in a headlock and was giving him the noogie of a lifetime.

"And what do you think you're doing, skipping out on Shiroganehiko and Koganehiko, huh?!"

"They were hovering! It was annoying as hell!" the boy yelled back. At that, the man switched to pinching and tugging at his cheek.

"This ain't the First District, Ichigo! You can't just run off like that!"

The boy, Ichigo, apparently, tried to yell something back, but couldn't quite get the words through with his cheek being stretched like that. All that came out where a bunch of garbled words, possible threats, and what sounded like the phrase "goat chin." Eventually, his struggling paid off, and the Shinigami lost his grip, Ichigo practically shoving the man off him.

"Stop being weird," he mumbled, rubbing at his face. "I brought someone here."

"I noticed."

The man turned his gaze back on Tatsuki, studying her carefully. He stayed silent for a moment as she shifted around awkwardly.

"I shouldn't have to tell you that stealing's wrong, right?"

Tatsuki nodded.

"Then why'd you do it?"

She bit her lip, hesitating for a painfully long moment before mumbling, "I was hungry."

The Shinigami's eyes softened at that. "Are you still hungry?" he asked.

Again, she hesitated, but in a moment she nodded again.

"Then, there's only one thing we can do," he said, putting his hands on his hips. "Ichigo!"

"What?"

"Don't say 'what' to your father!" he growled. "Bring this…er," he trailed off.

"Tatsuki Arisawa," she said quietly.

"Thank you! Bring Miss Arisawa to the house. I still have some work to finish up, so I'll need you to do this for me." He said this last part with a grimace, but it quickly cleared. "Make sure to see your mother first, boy, and Miss Arisawa?"

"Yes…sir?"

"Welcome to the Shiba Estate."

Seeing the estate from the outside had already been something. Seeing it from the inside left Tatsuki awestruck. The place was huge, well-kept buildings standing on all sides of her as people bustled about. There were fancy looking servants, even fancier looking household members, and every last one of them looked busy. No matter what they were doing, though, they would stop just to greet Ichigo calling him "Young Master," "Boss," or sometimes just "Ichigo." They all seemed to like him, and he knew most of them by name.

"Hey," whispered Tatsuki, "that was your dad back there, right?"

With a deep sigh Ichigo answered, "Yeah, that was my old man."

"So, is he the head of this place or something?"

Ichigo shook his head. "No, that'd be my aunt, his older sister. You'll probably meet her, soon."

An older sister, huh? Tatsuki pictured this woman, the head of the clan. She conjured up an image of some grizzled woman, scarier than a wolf and older than the tallest tree in the forest. Tatsuki shuttered.

They eventually arrived to "the house." It was right in the center of the estate and bigger than any building she'd ever seen, brightly decorated with reds and golds. In the front of that house was a well-dressed servant who was speaking to a beautiful woman.

It was obvious, at least to Tatsuki, that this woman was important here, just by the way the servant addressed her, but she didn't really look like a Noble. She had an elaborately pattered kimono but seemed to forgo the heavy extra layers. She didn't have the pale skin that royalty always seemed to boast, in fact she had the tan of a working woman. That wasn't even mentioning her bright orange hair.

"Mom!" Ichigo yelled, hurrying toward the woman. When she turned to level a withering look at him, he stopped so quickly he nearly tripped over his own feet. Oh yeah, he was still in trouble. Her look only softened when she noticed that Tatsuki was there, too.

"Ichigo, who is this?" she asked. Tatsuki almost blushed. Her voice was so pretty. It was soft and gentle, and it kind of reminded her of…

She needed to stop this train of thought before she started crying in front of a complete stranger.

"T-this is Tatsuki," he answered hesitantly. "She helped me out of a jam, earlier, so I brought her here. I think she's staying for dinner." The last part sounded more like a question than a statement. Tatsuki still perked up at that, though. She hadn't realized dinner was a part of this deal. Maybe she should try and rescue random strangers more often.

"I'm willing to bet you wouldn't have gotten into that jam if you had stayed with Shiroganehiko and Koganehiko like you were told." The words had more humor than venom in them, though the look in her eye said that they were going to have a talk about this later. Ichigo grumbled in response but didn't say anything back. "Go in and wash up," his mother said with a half-smile.

She turned back to the servant, giving him a few more notes on what Tatsuki figured were dinner preparations. Ichigo was already halfway through the door when she hurried up to follow, but at the last minute the Lady of the House placed a soft hand on her shoulder, stopping her.

"And, Sosu, could you find a kimono that could fit this young lady?"

"Certainly, ma'am," he said with a bow. The Lady dismissed him before gently steering Tatsuki into the house.

The rooms were spacious, noise echoing inside with a hallway that seemed to go on forever. The rice paper paneled doors towered over her, and being here in this place just felt so…

"It's a bit overwhelming, isn't it," the Lady said with a reassuring pat.

"Huh?" Tatsuki was pretty sure she didn't say that out loud. "Oh, yeah. It's all a little…big, I guess." The Lady chuckled.

"I thought the same thing when I first came here, you know." Tatsuki looked at her for a second, brows scrunched up in confusion. "I was a Rukongai brat, too."

"Wait, really?" Tatsuki gasped out.

"Yep! I lived in the Rukongai for a few decades as a seamstress before Isshin came along and swept me off my feet." She was smiling as she said this as if recalling a wonderful memory. "Things are different here, but I'm quite happy. The Shiba are very nice people." With a light chuckle she added, "Sorry, that may sound a little odd considering I am one."

Lady Shiba ushered Tatsuki into one of her rooms to "freshen up." She scrubbed as much dust and grime from the girl's face and hands as she could, telling Tatsuki that they could throw her into a tub when they had a bit more time later. She brushed out the knots from her hair, completely giving up on styling it when she realized that it was always a spiky fly away mess.

The kimono came around that time, and it was probably the most expensive thing Tatsuki had ever worn. It was bright red, with a minimal pattern, and she was pretty sure it was made with real silk. She needed help to tie it on correctly.

Tatsuki stood there feeling more done up than she'd been in her entire life.

Walking down the hallways in these stiff robes made Tatsuki feel different, like she ought to keep her back straight and start calling everyone "Sir" or "Madam" or what have you. It felt…weird, but all she could do was stay close to Lady Shiba, face tight as they walked down the corridor.

At least Tatsuki knew what was awaiting her at the end of this walk. It was more than just curiosity that kept her moving forward. It was the promise of dinner.

The door to the dining room was opened for them by a servant who gave them both a deep bow. Lady Shiba bowed back in thanks, but Tatsuki was a little too distracted to pay attention to that exchange.

She was looking into a giant room, the center of which held the biggest short table she'd ever seen. On top of it was an obscene amount of food, with more still coming. There were all kinds of meats, vegetables, dishes that she didn't even recognize, enough to feed an entire army, and it looked like it was going to.

The room was packed with all kinds of people and they were all chatting up a storm. Servants (who were eating off to the side of the table), Nobles who looked about as rich as they come, and those that looked a little more like Tatsuki right now were all talking together casually. She didn't think that kind of thing happened.

"We're pretty relaxed over here," Lady Shiba said with a nudge. Tatsuki could see that. Weren't Nobles supposed to be uptight assholes? "How about you go find Ichigo?" the Lady suggested.

She didn't really need to find him. The second her eyes darted across the rom she saw him waving an arm above his head, sitting next to a burly looking boy, an empty cushion at his other side. Not needing any more prompting she moved ahead, weaving her way to their end of the room and plopping herself down into the empty seat.

"This is my Uncle, Ganju," Ichigo started with, pointing to the boy on his left.

"Uncle?" Tatsuki questioned. He looked like he was their age. Were they pulling a prank on her?

"Don't look so surprised," Ganju said with a defensive frown.

"Sorry," Tatsuki mumbled, though she still wasn't convinced. Still, if it was true, she didn't want to get caught being rude to the brother of the House Head, so she added, "It's nice to meet you."

Ichigo grinned at that, before saying excitedly, "I was just telling him about how we both kicked butt, today. Where was I again?"

"You were at the part where Arisawa had to save your sorry ass," Ganju supplied with a smirk. Ichigo swiftly punched him in the arm.

He continued the story he had apparently been telling, relying on Tatsuki to fill in some of the gaps, like the story behind the angry shop keeper, and where those three bullies had come from. Ganju, of course supplied the commentary.

Ganju was a few years older than her and Ichigo, but you wouldn't know it just by looking at him. He and Ichigo seemed more like cousins than Nephew and Uncle with how they would joke and jab at each other.

Ichigo was in the middle of retaliating against one of Ganju's sarcastic remarks when a hush fell over the crowd. Everyone's eyes turned to the large entrance.

Through the doors walked a one-armed woman in ornate red robes, walking in as if she owned the place. It took Tatsuki half a second to realize that she did. The woman made her way to the head of the table with purposeful steps settling into an empty seat between Lord Shiba and a younger looking man with black hair that looked too like them to not be related somehow.

The first thing she did when she sat down was raise a Sake cup high above her head.

"A toast!" she announced. "To another successful move!"

Claps and cheers were heard throughout the hall while everyone, and Tatsuki meant everyone, knocked back cups of Sake. The taste made her face screw up in an instant, but she gulped it down, anyway. She'd never gotten to try the stuff before, and she didn't want anyone thinking she couldn't handle it.

The rest of the night went by in a blur, not because of the alcohol (they only allowed the kids the one half cup for the toast) but because of the sheer amount of things happening around her.

There was the food, which was amazing, the noise which was almost overwhelming, but in a good way somehow, as well as the general excitement around her, all of which made for the best night of Tatsuki's life.

Everything about this day felt too good to be true. Here she was, wrapped up in a thick sheet, almost drowning in the softest cot she'd ever lied on, Ichigo and Ganju only a couple of steps away, and she was somehow convinced that if she fell asleep, she'd wake up and find out that she had dreamt it all up and that she was just huddling in some lean-to trying to escape the rapidly cooling weather.

This all meant one thing. She probably wouldn't be getting any sleep any time soon. With that thought, she sat up straight in her cot, eyes squinting against the dark. Maybe if she walked around for a bit, she'd tire herself out, or even keep herself awake long enough to last until morning, just to be safe.

Crawling out of bed as quietly as she could, wincing at every creak and croak her feet made on the wooden floor, she slid out of the room.

Looking down the ridiculously long hallway, she could see that a few lights were still on. It was maybe a servant or two finishing up their work, or even some partiers, having a few more drinks before the night truly ended. She wasn't sure, but she was careful to avoid those doors, and any adults wandering by as she snuck past.

She kept walking down, not quite sure where she was going, yet, when she saw a door that was a little larger than the others (though not nearly as large as the dining room door.) There was some light coming from underneath, and she wondered what could be on the other side. She really needed to explore this place when she got the chance.

She began to walk past the door, barely giving it a second thought, when suddenly, she swore she heard her name from the other side.

Tatsuki's steps paused, and she looked back at it, fidgeting. She could have misheard them. Maybe someone was talking about "Tatami," this place certainly had plenty of them. Still, she might as well listen for a bit, just to be sure.

Taking another look down the hall, seeing if anyone would catch her spying, she came up close to the door, nearly pressing her ear against it, trying not to make a shadow in the rice paper.

"…said she was hungry. Do you know what that means, Masaki?" Tatsuki could hear the voice of Ichigo's father from the other side.

"I think you've said a thing or two about it," Lady Shiba joked. Then, she let out a painful sounding sigh. "Gods, I can tell just by looking at that girl…She's had a hard time."

"Kisuke told me what it was like, growing up like that, but seeing it, it's…"

"Heartbreaking?"

There was a long silence after that.

"We need to do someth…" He trailed off, another long silence hanging in the air.

"Honey?" Heavy footsteps could be heard from the other side. Tatsuki knew her time was up.

She jerked away from the door, ready to bolt, but ended up being just a hair too late. The door was open, and she'd barely moved a meter. Shiba was staring down at her, amused.

"Looks like someone's been listening in."

"What are you doing out of bed?" Lady Shiba said, straightening up in her cot. Tatsuki just stared at her feet, hoping that the floor would swallow her up.

"No need to look like that," Shiba said, "you're not in trouble." Tatsuki looked up at him, only relaxing when she saw his soft smile. He and his wife shared a look at that, one that she couldn't decipher.

"We actually wanted to ask you something," Lady Shiba said, moving in next to her husband. "Would you like to stay with us?"

Tatsuki tilted her head confused. Wasn't that what she was doing now?

"Permanently, we mean."

Oh.

"You don't have to answer us immediately, but we do want you to know that you're welcome here."

Tatsuki opened her mouth, closed it again, and opened it again. She wasn't sure what to say, wasn't sure what answer would be the right one.

"For now, how about you go back to bed. You're looking pretty tired," Lady Shiba said.

Did she look tired? She wasn't sure about that either. She didn't feel too tired when Lady Shiba led her with a gentle hand back to her cot, but she still fell asleep the second her head hit the pillow.

Tatsuki never did give a straightforward answer to Lady Shiba, but sometime during the tenth or so dinner, she realized that the she had answered the question, anyway.

It was around that time that she started to realize that there was much more to the offer than good food and a place to sleep every night, even though that was already so much to her. She received every advantage that the Shiba Clan Heir himself did (which Ichigo shyly admitted to being named a year ago by "Auntie Kukaku.") Before she even knew it, she was being groomed for a ranking position within the Gotei 13, right alongside him.

Playing and training started to blend together, each being just as fun. Then the twins were born, Tatsuki feeling as much of a big sister to them as Ichigo was a big brother, and somewhere along the line the two of them had become best friends.

Every day they'd try and outmatch each other and every night they would tell stories about things that happened in their lives before the other was there. As it turned out, they had plenty, like how Ganju lost half his eyebrow, how Tatsuki pulled the biggest heist ever, how Goat-Chin got his nickname, or even just that time Tatsuki saw the fight of the century, right in the middle of town.

Everything felt so perfect. That made it all the more jarring when everything fell apart.

Tatsuki still remembered vividly, exactly what she was doing when she got the news. She was packing her things for Shin'ō Academy into a trunk. A servant was helping her, and she was going through a list, making sure she didn't forget anything important.

She remembered being excited, getting ready to head off with Ichigo for this new adventure. They'd join the ranks with Captain Shiba and Uncle Kaien, they'd take the place by storm because of course they would. She was stuck in her thoughts until the moment she locked up her luggage.

She looked up and realized that the house was eerily quiet.

It had been a fairly lazy afternoon, so this wasn't immediately concerning. Ichigo and his mother had even gone out on a walk earlier to enjoy the weather, but…something about this wasn't right. Servants were murmuring in corners, Karin was crying in the background, Yuzu not far behind. She left her room, if only to get to the bottom of this.

"…was saying something about foul play."

"The poor Young Master, he must be…"

"…the girls what will they…"

Something in her heart twisted as she caught all this, but she tried to pay it no mind. They didn't mean anything, not really. That was what she told herself.

Her search for someone who was making any sense took her all the way to the kitchens. There sitting in a stool, head buried in his arms, shoulders trembling was Ichigo. Shiba was rubbing circles in his back, looking out the window with a thousand-mile stare.

"What…" Tatsuki started. What happened? What's going on? Why is everyone like this?

"Masaki is dead."

Shiba described the whole incident, voice hollow, like he hadn't quite processed it yet.

She was on a walk with Ichigo. There was a Hollow. She didn't make it.

Tatsuki felt her throat tighten. Her eyes started stinging, and all she could think was how wrong the scene in front of her was. Ichigo may be a crybaby, but this was a bit much, wasn't it? Shiba not having that goofy smile on his face? Don't make her laugh.

She felt like she had walked in on something that shouldn't even exist. So, she did the only thing she could think of and ran all the way back to her room. She slammed the doors shut behind her, kicked her trunk to its side, and cried alone where no one could hear her.

Saying that things fell apart after that was not an exaggeration. Sure, Shiba had always been a busy man, but he was never distant, not like he was now. For a while, she barely even saw him, and when he did some back, he looked worse than ever. Ichigio stopped smiling, the twins never stopped crying, and some odd place in the middle all of that was Tatsuki.

She wasn't really family, even if she'd forgotten somewhere along the way. What right did she have to disturb them? She didn't see her die the same way Ichigo did. Masaki wasn't even her mom.

She was stuck in the middle during this horrible year where no one went to the Academy, no one smiled, and everything was miserable.

By the time the year ended, she had lost any nerve she had to even talk to the Shiba. When the school year ended, she didn't go back to the Manor.

She finished her schooling, got into the Eleventh Division, became Lieutenant to the Sixth, and even decades upon decades later, she never forgot even a moment of her time spent in that household.


I have no idea how I managed to line it up where I could get an Interlude right in front of this fight, but it worked out somehow, and I couldn't be happier. More backstory will be coming later, of course, but consider this your crash course to this version of Tatsuki.

Heyyy, if you have a backstory you're interested in seeing or even if you just want to send me hate mail for making you wait another week for the fight hit me up in the comments. (They give me life.)