Not sure if I mentioned this already but there will be quite a few time skips in these first few chapters, for the sake of plot progression! There will be mentions in the text of how much time has roughly passed (Generally when mentioning Shizuko and her age).

Please let me know if you would prefer me to put at the top of the chapter how many years have passed!

Enjoy reading!

Happy Thanksgiving!


Chapter 2


Kumiko


The excitement I got from the sight of my home never withered. Every time I saw the Kuna estate, my spirit lifted. Every time I dragged my feet through that door, I knew that I would get to see my little girl and be reminded why this was all worth it.

The housekeeper took my traveling cloak and bag as I came through the door, "Ma'am, I'll put your things upstairs in your room."

"Thank you, Mei," I walked through the halls and to the large atrium that sat off the library. I remember playing in here with Haku when he came to visit me as a girl, but most of my memories of this house had faded. They had been replaced with images of my Shizuko sleeping on the benches, or picking the flowers.

Sachiko sat by the fountain with her, reading to her softly. Her hair had faded in color, speckled with grey. She moved with a tiredness I had never imagined seeing in her, and her smiles always felt like a dagger to my heart.

She looked up and grinned widely, pointing up at me, "Look who's here."

Shizuko followed her finger and stared at me with her curious eyes. I snatched her up and kissed her all over until she giggled.

"Hi, baby," I kissed her and she squealed, "Hi, Mom."

"Hello, sweetheart," She came and wrapped her arms around me, "How was work?"

I sat Shizuko on my hip and we made our way to the kitchen, "Busy as always. I had to bring some paperwork home—didn't manage to vet all the transfer requests."

She clicked her tongue as she boiled water on the stove, "If those so-called officers did their jobs then you wouldn't have to do it for them. Don't they realize that you're a mother?"

"It's the food chain, Mom. They're the new champions in the Squad. I'm part of the old Squad Eleven. I'm lucky they let me stay in my seat."

We both sat down at the breakfast table. I bounced Shizuko on my leg. Her hair had grown considerably in the past year—sandy blonde like her father's, but wavy like mine. Every time I looked at her, I still couldn't believe how much she looked like Kisuke. It sometimes unnerved me, and I hoped no one else made the connection.

"She was very good," Sachiko smiled as she took the girl's hand in hers.

I felt the familiar sensation of tears prickling my eyes, and I handed Shizuko to my her. I went to make the tea and then escaped to my room. I quickly unpacked everything and sat down on my bed. There were moments where I realized how much of Shizuko's childhood I missed while working as a Shinigami.

As I walked downstairs to join my mother in the kitchen again, I passed the shrine we had set up for Mashiro. I stood before it and gave a blessing. The hardest thing about the past year was not knowing what became of her. As far as we knew, she was dead. Everything was so confidential that we would never know for sure.

My mother had set up a new photo on the shrine. A picture of us together at my wedding. It was the only photo we had taken together as adults. She was dressed in her uniform and a freshly polished badge. It had been one of the few times she hadn't worn her scarf with her garments.

We were both smiling widely, arms wrapped around one another in a massive bear hug. I had petals caught up in my hair from the ceremony. I remember Mashiro helping me get ready—she spent hours braiding my hair into a series of intricate braids that were pinned back by kanzashi.

I remember being so happy that day to have a big sister. And now she was gone and looking at this photo could only remind me of that gaping hole she left in our family.

"Sorry, I wanted to unpack now rather than later," I took the cup of tea my mother gave me.

"Of course," My mother was good at pretending not to notice the red swollenness of my eyes. She learnt quickly after we had reacquainted ourselves that I was not as open as Mashiro.

The weekend was peaceful and restoring. I spent the mornings finishing my paperwork and watching Shizuko play. I walked with Sachiko in the gardens the first day and we let Shizuko gamble back and forth to us. She had just started walking and she could run in short bursts before she lost balance.

Today, I was taking her to the Kuchiki manor. I had her dressed up in a dark blue dress that made her eyes shine bright. Wrapping her in a blanket that I secured around my back, Sachiko and I started the lengthy walk to our cousin's.

We were greeted by Byakuya at the gate. He was always excited to see babies, though he would never admit it aloud. I didn't keep him waiting and let him fawn over her.

"It's a cute dress," He held her like it was natural for him, something I'm sure my mother and I would have a good laugh over later. "I'm surprised you dressed her in something so—"

"Don't think I'm the kind of mother who won't beat the crap out of you just 'cause my kid is present," I clapped the back of his head, "Are you going to be nice or do I need to take my daughter back?"

He smirked, "I'm sure I can curb the remarks in the presence of the baby."

Just then, Ginrei stepped out of the main hall, "Sachiko. Kumiko. I'm glad you could make it."

We both bowed deeply and Byakuya handed Shizuko to him. It was one of the rare moments I saw my grandfather smile. It seemed that the only way to a Kuchiki man's heart was through infants.

"This little one has grown since I last saw her," He let Byakuya take her again, "Has she started speaking?"

I shook my head. It was one of my biggest concerns for my daughter. She should have started speaking—or at least attempting to—months ago, and she still hadn't. I often wondered if it was because there was too much inconsistency in her life, but Captain Unohana had assured me that nothing was wrong with her. She just seemed to be a late bloomer.

"Haku wasn't a talker either," Ginrei noted, "Byakuya, however, never kept quiet. He was always trying to repeat what everyone said."

I burst out laughing, especially when Byakuya's cheek went bright red. Shizuko began to chuckle at the sound of my laughter, and she was breathless by the time I had stopped. It had brightened us all to hear her little happy squeals.

Ginrei turned to me, "I think that we should pay Haku a visit."

I nodded, leaving my mother and Byakuya with Shizuko. This was only an excuse for Ginrei to talk to me in private. He had made sure to be kept in the loop of what Central Forty-Six had been ordering me to do—to protect me but mostly to protect the family.

We knelt in front of Haku's grave and I told him about my latest orders to execute the Lieutenant of Squad Twelve.

He nodded, "I wondered if that was merely a laboratory accident."

"I had to make sure it didn't look suspicious," I whispered, "So I set the lab she was working on fire after I had…executed the order."

He was looking at me but I refused to look anywhere else but the gravestone in front of me, "And the work she had been working on, I presume."

After a long pause, I met his gaze, "Not all of it."

He was quiet and I continued, "Kisuke had been working on theories of Hollowfication—years before I knew him. And I honestly believe that was all they were…but someone stole his work. He and Captain Shihoin had been convinced of it."

"What became of his research after he was exiled? Surely they would not have kept it in Squad Twelve for people like Lieutenant Chijro to find."

"After we were married, Kisuke and I had moved all those files out of his offices and to our own personal storage. We were worried after it was proven that the Squad grounds weren't secure enough," I took a deep breath and contemplated my next words carefully, "Lieutenant Chijiro only transferred into Squad Twelve two years after we had moved the files. Which meant that she got her hands on the research elsewhere."

"You're still assuming that someone had framed Kisuke and that it wasn't him who gave her a copy of his work," He countered, "To continue his work."

"I mean no offense when I say this, but you didn't know him like I did. He didn't do it."

"I doubt any man and what he's capable of when he can so easily leave his wife and child behind."

I was quiet. What he said was perfectly sound, and yet I couldn't bring myself to doubt Kisuke like everyone else. He wasn't guilty of whatever the Soul Society accused him of.

"Before everything happened to the Hollowfied Shinigami…a member of Squad Eleven was executed for treason. Nari. She had told me about a group of Shinigami working together—I think they're the ones who had framed Kisuke, and I think they're the ones who gave Chijiro the research that they had stolen."

For all I knew, Chijiro was in cahoots with this group of rogue Shinigami and had helped experiment on my sister and the other Shinigami.

"Central Forty-Six have made it clear that they have no interest in finding out the truth behind this situation," Ginrei murmured, "So if what you say is true, you've killed any leads you had to explore this more."

"I didn't have a choice," I insisted, "They would throw me in a prison and take Shizuko away if they knew that I was doing any of this."

"I understand, Kumiko, but it still has made our predicament more complicated. What research did you manage to salvage?"

"It's a list of locations. I recognized a few of them as the places where Hollowfication was experimented on," I felt chills run down my spine, "I think that there were more than we thought. Not just here but in the World of the Living too."

We sat in silence, absorbing the grave enormity of the situation. Who were these people and how were they evading us so easily? I ran a hand through my hair and could only imagine the kind of danger I was putting my family in for knowing this. I couldn't let it go though. I had to know.

I had to know what happened that night.