Lost Child II: First Christmas
Adoption (Part 3)
"May I have the honor of escorting my adorable…"
"I don't think so." Miyako's voice remained firm, her eyes narrowed as she glared at her brother-in-law. Kaien on the other hand gave her a look of relief from not having to deal with his twin brother's antics which would often lead to a scuffle among the Shiba clan siblings as the two younger ones might join in just for the fun of it. She watched Momo look around, obviously dazed. "I don't blame her. A lot has happened in the last few days."
"I… what's going on?"
"The ceremony is over, so we're heading back to the academy."
Miyako's eyes blinked, carefully taking in the young academy student, a lock of blond hair falling in front of her eyes; she definitely remembered meeting Kira Izuru when he was much smaller. The way he looked at Momo – "He's definitely crushing on her, but her marrying into our family is advantageous to us." Momo's companion with the red hair pulled back into a spikey ponytail folded his arms behind his back, acting as if he didn't really care about the given situation. "And this Abarai Renji would definitely fit in with the Shiba clan."
"We can walk Momo back if you want as we're all headed in the same direction," the one with the red hair suggested.
"Uh…" Despite his crush, Izuru remained quite cautious which in turn resulted in Renji elbowing him in the ribs. "Um, yeah?"
"Wait. Um…" Momo glanced at the floor, rather taken aback by the situation.
Isshin of course…
"No way!" The man crossed his arms, glaring at Izuru while Sojiro let out a chuckle which drew Momo's attention to him. When she looked at him, he gave her a soft smile, but a soft blush spread across her cheeks. Isshin's attention was still upon the one who he considered an intruder upon – whatever it was that went through Isshin's mind which in turn resulted in Kaien putting his older twin brother into a headlock.
"Seriously? Don't make her uncomfortable her first day as an official member of the family, dumbass!"
Miyako let out a sigh, watching Momo look at her new father nervously. "Kaien, you're not helping."
"Perhaps…" Sojiro spoke up, making both of the older two Shiba siblings stop short. "Perhaps Miyako-dono would like to walk back with Momo so that they can have a mother-daughter conversation." The words, of course, made Momo look down at her feet and shift uncomfortably, yet the amount of discomfort she showed – Miyako couldn't tell if it was just the rather loud manner in which the Shiba clan expressed themselves, or if there was something more going on unless she talked to the girl.
"Yeah." A smile spread across her face. "We could also stop by and see Toshiro, right?"
"Shiro-chan?"
"It's a bit of a bummer you've changed out of your kimono, but we can show him how pretty his older sister looks in that kimono another time, right?"
"I'm…" Momo stammered out, her eyes darting away. "I'm not pretty."
"Of course you are!" Kira blurted out, but when Renji didn't respond in kind he elbowed the red-head.
"Uh… yeah?"
Sojiro shook his head, not saying anything knowing full well – Momo blurted out, "You're lying! You're just saying that…"
"We'll be taking our leave, Miyako-dono." Sojiro made a quick bow before grabbing onto the shoulder of Izuru's uniform – likely because grabbing Renji would result in a full-blown scuffle that the Shiba clan were definitely fond of, something Momo wasn't yet used to; he did follow after despite Sojiro not grabbing onto his uniform; Miyako breathed a sigh of relief while Momo looked at her feet nervously.
The girl definitely did feel awkward around the men in the family, shying away from them, but she did let Kukaku give her a hug before they headed out. Of course, despite the intention of the walk being a chance for the two of them to bond, neither said anything and Momo remained nervous until they arrived at Shiro's room back at the fourth; a smile appeared on her face upon seeing the boy drawing, his feet kicking contently.
"Shiro-chan!"
His head darted up, his mouth twisting slightly. Momo walked over and sat down next to her younger brother and he sat up, leaning into her. Miyako smiled at the child and the dragon still on the wall. A voice from behind made her turn her head. "We weren't expecting any of you today."
"Isane…" Miyako turned her head towards Momo. "I'm going to step out to talk to her real quick."
"We'll be okay."
"He's doing fine if that's what you want to know. Or are you hoping for some change?"
"I don't even know what the boy was like before all of this, though I guess we should ask Momo so we can have some way of gauging what's going on."
"That is a thought. I guess Unohana will want to talk to his sister personally about that as well." Isane nodded her head.
"As for why we're here, Momo is on the way back to the academy and we decided to stop by."
"I love how close those two are. Those bonds formed in the Rukongai are quite strong, aren't they."
"Yes…" For a brief moment, Miyako's mind wandered to the bond formed by Gin and Rangiku, yet she wondered how much more Gin was keeping from everyone. After all, he'd not trusted anyone regarding the fact he didn't trust Aizen. More importantly, she wished he could be more involved with the boy and the boy's recovery. She also put into her mental checklist the fact she did need to speak with Ganju about how to treat Toshiro once they did bring him home.
"Anyways, I'll leave the three of you to bond as a family, alright?
"Yes." Miyako's attention turned back to the room, but she stopped upon hearing Momo speak.
"So, Sojiro says that he thinks I'll make a very pretty princess, Shiro-chan," Hearing her daughter speak made Miyako take a pause in the doorway, realizing the girl didn't realize she was listening. "But I don't feel pretty or like a princess. Plus, I think those girls are right. I…"
"What girls?"
Momo's head darted up, startling. Shiro-chan also looked up, his small body tensing up. "I…"
"Shiro-chan, do you think your sister is pretty?" Miyako watched the boy turn his head, confusion obviously appearing on his face. "Oh, sweetheart. I'm sorry for putting you on the spot like that." Taking a deep breath. "You are very pretty Momo, but if you are having problems with any of the girls at the academy, well – tell me."
"Yeah, but…"
"Momo, you and Shiro are our precious children."
"The reason you…" Momo glanced at the ground.
"Admittedly, we decided to adopt the two of you because of Shiro, but the two of you are a packaged deal, and both Kaien and I want to love both of you equally. To us, having children when that's not been an option – that is a precious thing." A grin spread across her face. "Plus, I think when we spend our first time home as a family that you'll learn the Shiba clan isn't the type of clan to judge a person based on what they are, but on who they are."
"But who I am – I'm not anything special."
Miyako watched the way Toshiro looked at his sister but then watched one hand reach up, tightening around the sleeve of her clothing before leaning his head into her shoulder. "Shiro thinks otherwise, as do I and Kaien. Special, it's not always about being super amazing, but more of being yourself regardless of that. That's what makes a person special."
"I…"
"I know. You need to think about that, but don't forget you're still figuring out who you are and what you want to do." Miyako smiled at her two children, deciding she was definitely looking forward to her future as a parent but wished Kaien were there to see what was going on in the moment.