Hey guys! So sorry for the unannounced delay! But I'm back with three chapters for you! Hope those of you in America had a Happy Fourth!

Here is the long awaited reunion!


Chapter 34 (Kumiko/Kisuke)

People are nosy.

Even if it's to their own detriment, or something that is entirely not their business, they'll linger around to see how a scene will unfold. Curtain twitchers—the whole lot of them. Like little, old ladies who position their chairs by the window in the most strategic place so they can catch every scandal that happens in the neighborhood.

I smirked as the Shinigami around us stared at me with wide eyes, like I was some spectacle. A beast that was going to finally put on a show. Too bad for them, it would have to wait.

We were now in Kisuke's little, dainty shop, regathering after the Arrancars' unexpected attack. A couple of the humans were hurt, and Ikkaku wasn't looking too good, but we were mostly unscathed.

Captain Hitsuguya was frowning deeply when he finally spoke to me, "This isn't good."

"Those were low-level Arrancar, which means we're in trouble if they're that strong," Yoruichi murmured, arms crossed and leaning against the wall. She glanced at me and then at Kisuke's but said nothing.

Yumichika tugged at the ends of his hair, "What a headache…"

My daughter sat quietly by me, refusing to look up at me, "What are you doing here?"

They all turned to me, and I shifted against the doorway. It opened and I felt Kisuke behind me with Tessai in tow. I stepped out of his way before he could brush past me, avoiding his eyes as they flickered over my face.

"Kumiko was going to be joining us after we received data from Squad Twelve that there were more Arrancar appearing in the area," Captain Hitsuguya spoke again, "She was deployed earlier once we came under attack and had to activate Gentei Kaijo, and unlock our powers."

The mention of the spiritual pressure limiter had me rubbing at my own. It had been activated shortly after the battle with the Arrancars concluded, and my body was still adjusting to the damn thing.

"Who's running Squad Eleven?" Ikkaku smirked from the room that Kisuke and Tessai had come from. He and the others that were severely wounded lay there, but he was the only one awake.

"You should know by now how well I can multitask," I grinned, glad to see his sense of humor intact. Turning back to the group, the smile dropped and we went back to business, "Captain, I have a small group of men standing by to bring more supplies. If needed, they've been asked to stay in the World of the Living."

"Have them bring the supplies—but be on standby in the World of the Living," He spoke, his eyes deep in concentration, "I don't want to have so many Shinigami in one area. It's bad enough to have so many high-ranking Soul Reapers—we'll only bait in more Hollows if we add to our current group."

"Did you bring extra beds?" Yoruichi smirked, "We're starting to get a little cramped here."

I mirrored her expression and tone, "I'm sure a few of us don't mind sharing."

Her eyes narrowed but those lips stayed curled up like the cocky shit she was. Everyone continued to discuss the strategy from here on out, but Yoruichi and I continued to stare one another down.

Finally, we adjourned. I escaped before I could get pulled back by Shizuko or Kisuke. Once outside, I could breathe again.

"Out of my way, Abarai," I shoved past Renji as he got in my way in the hallway.

I couldn't get out that fucking shop fast enough, and I didn't stop walking until I was off his yard and onto the street. I didn't want to spend a second longer in his new home than I had to.

I had expected to see Kisuke. I knew that it wasn't so much a possibility rather than a certainty that our paths would cross during this deployment. But I hadn't been expecting to deploy so abruptly. I certainly hadn't expected Kisuke to be there as I broke into the battle. The whole situation had been jarring.

I tilted my head up and blinked the ridiculous wetness from my eyes. You'd think after a whole century this would have been easier. I really thought I wouldn't have been so upset to see the life he had created for himself. But I was—I was so angry seeing how he had continued forward without me.

After dialing into Squad Eleven from my device, I relayed the orders to my men.

"We'll deliver everything tomorrow morning, Ma'am."

I hung up just as I heard him step out of the house. Fists tight at my side, I looked over my shoulder and at him.

"You feel different," I muttered. His spiritual pressure was muddied and murky, like the Gigai he wore obscured it. It felt unnatural and anything like it had back in the Soul Society.

He was gorgeous still. I could still hate him and admire his body at the same time, surely. It didn't matter either way, because I shamelessly looked him over. A little unkept and scruffy, and his muscles were stringy and tough like a fighting dog, but he still made my breath falter. Our eyes met and I felt myself choke up again, because despite the changes in him, he still had that soft, grey gaze.

I tore my eyes away, "You need a haircut. And a shave."

His chuckle had me shutting my eyes and clenching my fists even tighter, "You haven't changed a bit."

"Is that so?" I was seething. I wanted to scream and spit in his face, but I couldn't manage it. I looked at my hands and relaxed them… "I would have thought someone would have told you—I'm much meaner than before."

He was right behind me and that was too much. I began to tremble as his hands hovered over my shoulders. They were just as I remembered, and as much as I wanted to do nothing but have them all over me, I couldn't. I couldn't stand the idea him touching me after all that's happened.

"I'm sorry," He whispered. His fingers ran through my hair, tugging lightly on it as they got caught in the tangles, "I'm so sorry, Kumiko—"

I brushed him off and began walking away, "Go touch your precious pussycat if you want attention." He flinched so hard like my words caused him physical pain. I laughed. It was callous, bitter, "You think I couldn't figure that out? I knew the moment I saw you two look at one another that she'd managed to sink her pretty, little claws in you again—"

"It's not like that," As always, he was high and mighty and spoke so calmly.

"No, of course not," I smirked, "You two have just played cards over the course of a hundred years. Especially when you're bored or lonely—nothing like poker to get your juices flowing, right, Kisuke—"

"Better than playing house by myself," He gritted out. There it was. He was just as enraged as I was—just too good to let it show. But now it did.

"And just like that—the truth comes out," I walked up to him.

In the beginning of all this, I never thought there'd be a day where Kisuke and I would look at one another with such venom. But I knew better—I knew what I had done just as well as I knew what he had done.

"I don't think that's the whole truth," He murmured, "I think there's a lot more to this than either of us want to admit…"

I stared at him for a long time before I smiled, "You're just as pathetic as you were a hundred years ago."

"At least he's not you."

We both snapped our attention to Shizuko. She stood a few feet from us, eyes trained on me and all I saw was disgust. It was the kind of look that strangled you, because someone was finally seeing you for what you were. She now saw what I had to see everyday when I looked in the mirror.

"Shizuko—" Kisuke began but I cut him off.

"You're right. At least he's not me. But unfortunately for you, my dear," I walked away from Kisuke and up to her. She never looked away, only scowled as I bent down to her level, "You're not so lucky. Because all of me…is half of you."

"Shut up," She spat.

"The truth hurts," I whispered, "That's what you'll learn from your father and I, Shizuko. The truth fucking sucks—"

I saw her arm raise and I gripped it tightly before she could hit me. That wouldn't bode well for either of us.

Kisuke took a step towards us and I laughed, "Raise a kid and then watch as she trades you in for the other parent. The one who had nothing to do with you."

"Because of you!" She screamed, snapping like a twig in a hurricane. She tried ripping her arm from me but I didn't let go. She was going to hit me—I could see it in her eyes—and when she lifted her other hand, I grabbed that too. "You chased him away!"

"What are you talking about you, you stupid girl," I growled, hauling her to face Kisuke. He only watched with wide eyes. "He left, Shizuko! How many times do I have to tell you that? He let me rot in a fucking prison cell."

"He wouldn't have let me."

I froze. I looked at her and finally caught onto what she was trying to say. She was crying, looking at me through her blurry eyes like I was a monster…like she hated me.

"He never would have left if he knew about you?" I surmised quietly. She nodded and Kisuke opened his mouth to speak but I cut him off, "It must be wonderful living up in the cloud you're on, Shizuko. And you're welcome because I'm the one who let you live up there. Maybe I should have been more honest because then I wouldn't have been dealing with a disillusioned, poor excuse for a daughter—"

"Disillusioned? No. No, for once, I'm not because I'm seeing with my eyes—not yours. All this time, everyone was telling me that one of my parents was a murderer. But it's not Kisuke. It's you. You're the murderer!"


(Kisuke)

Shizuko's words hung in the air like the smell of rain and devastation did before a massive storm. She hesitated slightly as she watched her mother say nothing—do nothing. For a moment, I saw Shizuko's resolve falter, as if she realized that she didn't actually believe what she had said.

I couldn't believe what she had said. The only one who didn't seem surprised was Kumiko. She stood perfectly still, a picture of calm and composure. And then a slow, malicious grin crept across her face—one that I recognized all too well. Suddenly, it was like being thrown back into a time machine when I first met Kumiko. At the academy, where I met a lonely, hurt girl who fought best with her fists and awful, cruel words.

"Shizuko," She said in a deathly calm voice, giving her back her hands, "Go back inside."

"Mom," She grabbed Kumiko's hands but she only let them lie limply in her daughter's grip, "I'm sorry—I…I didn't…"

"Go back inside," Kumiko repeated herself, but her voice was lower. Weaker.

She pulled away from Shizuko and turned from her. Shizuko stared at her desperately, torn between the anger she felt earlier and despair. She looked at me and then back at her mother, unsure what to do.

"Shizuko," I said quietly. Finally, she went back into the house, leaving a thick, tense silence behind.

I turned back to Kumiko. She was crying quietly into her hand. Her shoulders shook up and down, her body shaking as she silently sobbed. I could only stare as she finally broke, and it was a sight that made me go cold. Her bright, blue eyes turned to me and they looked exhausted. Broken. Devastated.

Chatter had both of us looking over our shoulder. Rangiku and Renji were arguing over something. Shizuko was quietly in tow next to Toshiro.

Kumiko wiped her face away quickly and walked further down the street. I followed, grabbing her sleeve and taking her to one of the building tops.

"We're alone now," I smiled, looking down at her. She stared at the lining of my haori, swallowing repeatedly like she was trying not to cry anymore. "…Kumiko—"

"She's right," She whispered, shutting her eyes as she stepped away. "I'm the monster. I'm the murderer…she has every right to be furious with me. To even hate me—because I hid all this from her."

I took a step towards her again, "You had no choice—"

"But I'm not the one who left," She spoke quietly, the strength returning to her voice. It stopped me in my tracks as she turned around and her eyes flashed, "I'm the one who had to pick up the pieces. I'm the one who had to find a way to survive because you left me."

She blinked furiously, dodging as I tried to take her hand.

"I should have told you—I tried to tell you! And maybe you not knowing that I was pregnant might comfort Shizuko, but it does nothing for me. Because you left me. You left me!" She was screaming at the top of her lungs now, marching up to me until our chests touched. She thrusted her hands in my face and yelled, "Do you know what they made me do, Kisuke? Do you even what I had to become?"

I said nothing. No words were going to fix this.

She recoiled away like she was going to be sick just thinking about it. Staring at her hands, she clenched them tightly, "Do you know what it's like to go home and touch your baby after you slit someone's throat? I've watched her grow up…terrified because I know how fragile we all are. Just like a flame, she could have been snuffed out. It would keep me up at night."

I could picture it. I could see Kumiko crying after ever hit they made her track down. It was the reason why I never let Yoruichi push Kumiko's transfer to Squad Two. She had the skills and the instincts, but she didn't have the ability to detach herself from the kill. But they hadn't cared—they carved her inside out with every kill. Aizen did this to her.

I did too.

She was crying again, sniffing and pulling her quivering lip into her mouth, "I hated it. I hated it so much, Kisuke…"

"You did what you had to," I spoke finally, "He would have killed you if you hadn't played by his rules."

"He wouldn't have killed me," She laughed at my words. She looked at me like I was missing the point entirely, like I was an idiot, "He would have killed Shizuko. He would have made me watch the one thing—the only thing—in this world that matters to me…die." She turned away and sighed, "Except, at the time, I thought it was Central Forty-Six."

"I thought you would be safe."

She whirled around, "You really are a stupid, fucking man, Kisuke. You honestly thought that—after what happened to Shinji and the others? After what happened to Takahashi and his sons? All those people Aizen had experimented on?"

I bit my lip for the longest time but finally spoke quietly, "I made a deal with him…"

She stepped back, horror filling her eyes, "You…Kisuke—did you help him—"

"No," I insisted. I stepped towards her and grabbed her before she could move away from me. She stared at me with wide eyes, frightened of what I might say. "He knew that you knew a small amount of what was happening. He…was going to kill or frame you—unless I ran away and let myself look guilty. At least…that's what I believed. I think he was going to use you, regardless, and I was going to look guilty either way. But at the time…I couldn't bare the thought of not doing something…so I left you behind."

Tears spilled freely down her cheeks, dropping on my hands like lava. She was speechless, brows furrowed and mouth open.

"You…Kisuke, don't be lying," She shut her eyes.

I took her face in my hands. When she finally opened her eyes, I whispered, "Kumiko, I love you. I would never have left you there if I thought it would have been…" I shut my own eyes now, feeling them prickle. She honestly had thought that I would leave her to save my own hide. All that trust we had worked on for years, and we both had thrown it away and thought the worst.

Soft lips brushed against mine. I opened my eyes as she pulled me into her, whispering quietly to me, "I'm sorry—I'm sorry I believed them."

"I'm sorry I let him hurt you," I bent down and met her lips with more force. She cried quietly, hot tears wetting my face as she kissed me over and over again.

I held onto her hips tightly, pressing into her flesh. She was really here. She was finally here and I could barely believe it.

She pulled away, staring at me with wide eyes like she could barely believe it. After so long apart, I think we both had finally accepted that this moment would never happen.

"I don't want to wake up," My words made her smile.

"If this is a dream, Kisuke," The deep, husky tone of her voice made my eyelids heavy. I wrapped my arms around her and she rested her head against my shoulder, whispering, "Let me sleep."