Warning: Yuzu does something she really shouldn't in this chapter.

Breath of Life
Cruel World

The queasy feeling in Yuzu's stomach wouldn't go away as she walked down the hallway, her notebook having been tucked safely into her backpack before she left the classroom. "Maybe you should have talked to Karin about what those girls said."

"Maybe though those girls are right. This man can't possibly be her uncle, so why can't she have feelings for him."

"He may very well be her uncle. Even if they aren't, they're living under the same roof and she shouldn't act on such feelings."

"Her father's the one who said it was all right for this man to be there, so he must trust him. It can't be that big of a problem."

"It can't be that big of a problem."

"If it's not that big of a problem then you can go back to class."

Yuzu looked right at the nurse sitting at the desk in the infirmary glaring at her. "That's... not... I mean..." The teen took a deep breath. "That's not what I meant. It's something else I'm worried about. I honestly don't feel too good."

"You just lied to an adult."

"She's avoiding Karin as well. So what?"

"The fact she's avoiding her own twin should say something here."

"She's old enough and mature enough that she doesn't need Karin. Karin will just antagonize the situation by worrying anyways"

Yuzu placed a hand over her eyes. "No... I don't want to worry Karin. I don't want a lecture from her about how I'm wrong either."

The small female remained there for a couple of hours when the nurse spoke again. "Look, if you're feeling this badly just go on home."

The girl's throat tightened but she found herself complying with the woman's orders. Instead of picking up her feet the brown haired teen drug them across the ground so that she could feel the texture of the cement vibrate through the ground. Finally despite taking her time she arrived at home and opened the door to the house and walked in. She walked over to the table and set her bag on top trying to avoid eye contact with her uncle.

Kaien however looked up as soon as she entered from the where he was on the couch instead of remaining focused on the television he had been watching. "You're home early."

"I didn't feel good."

"I see..." The man's tone tightened.

"You don't believe me?"

"Just come and sit on the couch why don't you and watch television. You can talk to your father about coming home early."

Yuzu again complied with what she was told to do, going to sit near her uncle on the side closest to the kitchen. Her hands clutched her skirt while she bit her lip. "You're near him. You're near him and you can't look him in the face. You need to do something about this."

"That's because you like him. It wouldn't hurt to react for once to the feelings you have, right?"

"Something the matter?"

"No... I mean... don't worry about it." The girl's hand's tightened around her pants. She didn't hear the sound of the stairs creaking but did notice when a cold feeling brushed by her. She attributed this phenomenon to the air conditioning suddenly turning on. Finally she turned to him. "Are you going to tell dad that I'm skipping school."

She didn't hear the sound of the cupboards opening and closing as someone got a glass out of the cupboard. Kaien frowned at her. "So you are skipping school then."

"I am not!" Yuzu's cheeks puffed out. "Why don't you believe me that I don't feel good?"

The man let out a sigh and reached out to brush her hair away from her forehead. "So you have a fever?" He leaned forward, touching his forehead to hers, frowning as he did so.

The small female could feel her cheeks heat up and wondered if he could tell. "Just do it!. Just do it, do it, do it!

"It doesn't feel like..." Kaien's words were cut short as Yuzu's lips locked with his. It was then that a glass hit the ground and they both heard the sound of glass breaking.

M

"Why did you say that? Never mind." Toshiro could feel his throat tightening as he avoided the subject with Kaien.

"If I'm pissed off with him why wouldn't you be? You always were getting pissed off with taicho for doing some really dumb stuff and this really takes the cake." The boy drifted off to sleep and woke up the next morning to the smell of food. Yuzu seemed to note that he was there and it was almost as if she wanted to blurt out something about him being together with Karin. To his surprise she didn't say anything or act like the silly female he expected her to normally act like.

Brushing this aside he went and sat down at the table where Isshin spoke to him about various games from the living world that he thought Toshiro would be interested in playing. His attention though remained focused on the entire environment, which was why he heard Yuzu say, "He's your uncle..."

This caused him to look up just as Isshin did, the man completely oblivious to what she said. Toshiro's eyes had gone wide as well. "Why would she say something as strange as that? There has to be a reason she said that in particular."

"No... I mean... if you didn't hear anything... I mean... um... Toshiro-kun, you didn't hear anything did you?"

"Me?" Toshiro continued to stare at her. "She's trying to hide something."

"You had a kind of surprised look on your face." A smile spread across her face that the boy knew was fake.

"Yes... something isn't right." Toshiro began to speak. "I was surprised t..." The words were supposed to be, "...to hear you say that." Out of the corner of his eye he could tell that Isshin was likely picking up the same vibes he was and remembered how it was to have the man but into his personal business at times. His words changes to "...to hear" and "...your dad said anything as I didn't hear you say anything. You're rather... quiet. Is something wrong?"

Of course, the words didn't come out right at all and at first he thought he knew full well that he suspected something because of his bumble, but instead she went back to cooking breakfast. Eventually Kaien came down and help bring the food to the table much like he used to do when he had been alive. That at least felt normal. He then joined Ichigo and Rukia in heading to the orange haired teens school. Everything was proceeding like normal as he pretended to be a student.

Ichigo however suddenly spoke up. "Teach... I think Toshiro needs to go and see the nurse."

The small boy's head shot up. "There isn't a hollow."

Rukia however leaned over. "Hitsugaya Taicho, you don't seem to have fully recovered from yesterday."

The worry about Ichigo's sister hiding something fled his head as she realized that he had been so preoccupied with the situation from that morning that he hadn't noticed how he was feeling. To his dismay, the teacher spoke up. "Actually... Hitsugaya. You look rather green. Why don't you just go on home?"

The boy let out a deep sigh and stood up knowing full well this was one woman from the living world he didn't want to argue with. He slipped out and arrived at the house where he saw Kaien at the couch. "You're home early."

"I got sent home because I'm not fully recovered from yesterday and it showed enough that the teacher as well as Kurosaki and Kuchiki noticed." The boy glanced away.

"I see. You're not missing school because you want to. Get yourself upstairs resting before my brother catches you or else he'll pour medicine down your throat."

"Taicho would do that too..." The boy let out a deep sigh and headed up the stairs to lie down on the bed. Eventually though he needed to get a drink of water. He headed down the stairs to find that Yuzu had come home early as well. "What is wrong with her? Well... I don' want her realizing I'm here despite the fact she seems to be better off then I am."

"Are you going to tell dad that I'm skipping school."

"Taicho's going to be mad at her. At least I was made to come back against my will. Of course, knowing him I'll be in trouble for not noticing sooner."

"So you are skipping school then." As Kaien said this Toshiro reached the cupboards and opened them slowly so that Yuzu wouldn't notice him. He then heard Yuzu complain and then Kaien say something about a fever He knew full well it was in Kaien's personality to check his niece for a fever that wasn't there.

"She's going to be in big trouble." It took a bit of time for him to get turned around and when he did the glass dropped, ruining the fact he was trying to avoid Yuzu as the glass broke once it hit the floor, making a sound that could easily be heard.

Note – For those worried here, I am not going to pair Kaien and Yuzu together. This is being used to add conflict to the story.