Disclaimer: I claim no ownership over 'Bleach' nor am I profiting from this.
I am very much alive despite the long absence. I've undergone a wringer both emotionally and mentally, but things are slowly becoming better. I am busy with school and come home exhausted in the best possible ways.
Izuru presses his forehead against the cool car window and draws another shallow breath through his mouth. He won't get carsick here in Mister Tessai's car, especially not when the man is taking him to another home this close to midnight.
His previous foster parents weren't terrible people by any over caffeinated authors imagination. An older couple, who'd operated their foster home for over twenty years and raised a mix of adoptive and biological children, were looking forward to closing their foster home. The mother hugged everyone and did her best to maintain contact with those who wanted it. Sometimes the father yelled, but it was usually a deserved scolding.
"I always enjoyed their home and will miss visiting with them," Tessai says. "I understand their desire to retire from fostering, though. They gave a very long commitment."
"What is this new house like?"
"Juushiro and Shunsui have no children themselves but have been longtime foster parents. I've never seen men with such patience or baking skills for that matter. Shunsui owns a local and very popular bakery, and Juushiro's chronic health problems make it difficult for him to work, so he operates the business from home."
Izuru presses his knuckles against his mouth and wills a startled hiccup down. No children aren't some shocking or taboo thing amongst the fostering world. A single person or older couple wading through empty nesters certainly isn't abnormal either. A same-sex couple is a first for him, though, and might just be enough to get Renji kicked out of another home. His removal will mean their removal and probably no more chances.
Tessai turns the radio up ever so slightly. "You're panicking again. Take deep breaths in time with the music."
A whiny violin bleeds through the speakers. He knows where and how to breathe with this music. Tessai's agreed not to change the station until he gets a better handle on his anxiety.
"Renji will have a problem," he says between deep breaths. "You know his foster parents haven't always been the most tolerant people."
"I know," he sighs. "He can unlearn those teachings, though. Kenpachi intends on having a discussion with him before he enters the household."
Kenpachi Zaraki: caseworker with the power to scare foster parents into rejecting his phone calls and Renji's current idol. Could anyone get him to behave, it would have to be Kenpachi.
"Will I see them tonight?"
"I don't know." Tessai slows for a red light. "You should get some sleep. I have a pillow and blanket in the emergency kit; you know where it is."
Izuru gulps another hiccup, crosses his arms, and squirms down. Reaching for the emergency kit might just cause him to lose all that carefully earned control. He falls asleep with a crick developing in his neck, a churning stomach, and whiny violin music pitching up and down.
Someone dumps a weight onto his back before tugging on his eyelids. Izuru groans and presses his face deeper into the pillow. It does him no good as the weight crawls over him, digging into his kidneys and clawing at his neck.
"I'm awake," he groans. "You can stop now."
"Come here, Toshiro." Momo lifts him onto her hip. "You're going to miss
breakfast."
Breakfast and his baby brother crawling across his back? Momo's bouncing him in her arms? Right, he's no longer in Mister Tessai's car going to the foster home. Momo and Toshiro's clothes appear clean and mostly wrinkle free, which means they must've gotten here sometime this morning. Izuru gives a quick glance around the room before throwing the covers off.
"What're the parents like?" He whispers. "Is Renji here yet?"
"Mister Juushiro looks super old." Momo wrinkles her nose. "Mister Shunsui's still sleeping because he stayed up late getting an order filled. We don't have to call them dad or anything like that, or even use the mister part. It's all I used in my last house, though. Renji should be here this afternoon."
Renji's arriving in the afternoon means he's still got time to enjoy breakfast and maybe get to know the house. Izuru curls his toes takes a deep breath and gives her a nod.
Momo guides him through the house with Toshiro on her hip and an air of confidence surrounding her. As he nears the kitchen, he hears someone humming under their breath and sees a long white braid whipping back and forth. Juushiro doesn't pause as he moves pancakes from a skillet onto a plate already piled high.
"Good morning," he chirps. "I am unsure what everyone likes or doesn't like on their pancakes, and always make a variety. I also have allergen safe pancakes should anyone need those."
"Toshiro is lactose intolerant," Izuru says. "We haven't been tested for any other allergies, though."
"I won't be alone in my allergy anymore than," he replies. "I'll actually have someone else to try recipes with. For being a baker, Shunsui is quite the picky eater. Please sit down and eat."
Izuru reaches for Toshiro. "I can keep him entertained while you get his food ready?"
Peeling Toshiro from her hip and immediately bouncing him and making faces is easier than attempting the slow trade-off. Toshiro watches, uncertain as she hurries around the kitchen, grabbing three small pancakes, and sloppily tearing them apart. His fingers wander towards Izuru's earlobes, twisting and rolling them around his fingers. Izuru reaches up and pats his hand.
"Momo isn't leaving," he promises. "Look, you can still see her. Momo's just getting breakfast."
Juushiro turns away from the stovetop and watches their interactions with a neutral expression. Retsu and Isane had given him several folders loaded with paperwork and advised him to read them just moments before the children ran off to find their brother. He reaches for the fruit basket and breaks a banana in half.
"His pancakes will need to cool." Juushiro carefully pulls the plate from her hands. "Does he enjoy fruit?"
Momo, ever accustomed to being the mother, appears prepared to object and refuse his offer. Reluctantly, she gives in and allows him to pull the plate from her hands.
"Toshiro likes bananas," she says. "You have to make them into super small pieces, though, and it has to be an even number or else he won't eat them."
"Does he have a favorite even number?"
"I don't think he does…" she murmurs. "He just likes even numbers…"
"We always keep bananas in the house." He grabs a clean butter knife and cutting board. "Does he have any other favorite fruits? It would really help us, did you write down any favorite foods, snacks, and whatever you don't like."
Izuru tugs his hand away from his now mangled earlobe. "We're getting bananas for you."
Toshiro resumes his mangling mere seconds later, and this time he cannot bring himself to demand he stops.