Mashiro tapped her foot against the ground as she hummed, her brush moving across the boxes on the white paper as she filled out another one of the forms. Her hand moved across the paper as she quickly scribbled all the general, information that she knew before going back to fill in the more important details that were specific to the mission.

Two months had gone by very quickly.

Fortunately she felt like she was getting the hang of the Division. Loud fights, loud people--it was everything the Ninth Division was not. Mashiro hadn't thought she'd like. But she did like it. Even her handful of interactions with the Captain weren't bad, but she could see why Kensei didn't like him. He wasn't really around all that much. But it was alright for her because she had Kensei. Kensei really did run the Division and the only people who seemed unaware were those outside the Division. But the second you got into the Ninth, everyone told you to go to Kensei. And somehow, perhaps by default, she had become his second in command.

"Hey, Mashiro, you seen Kensei?"

"Uh uh," she said shaking her head and looking up at Eishima.

Shinobu Eishima hadn't passed the exams to be a seated officer, but even after three tries he was still determined. Determined in a horribly bored, melancholy sort of way. She didn't think she had seen him excited about anything in the two months she had been there and they had taken out four full fledged nests of Hollows. He approached everything as if it barely interested him. Mashiro liked him. The rest of them got excited about everything so having someone who didn't was a kind of nice change. At the moment he sighed and looked upwards, as if he was trying to figure out something to say in response to Kensei's absence. Instead he looked at her through his red bangs and picked up the box he had been carrying. Mashiro felt her eyes widened.

"Its Kensei's fan mail," he said, "where do I put it?"

"You should probably burn it," she said. Eishima looked at the box, "Kensei's just gonna order us to do it anyway."

Kensei got a lot of fan mail.

She didn't know if it came internally or from other Divisions or maybe some combination of the two but every week or so, Eishima would carry a box of letters. Colored envelopes, envelopes with calligraphy, envelopes that smelled like flowers or spices--all extremely girly except for some of the other Captain's occasional pranks. Kensei wouldn't let them read it or even react to the box of letters. They just disappeared. Even when it was a creepy situation, Kensei protected everyone's honor. He wouldn't respond to their letters, he wouldn't lead them on but he wouldn't outright embarrass them either. None except for one person.

Being observant, Mashiro had noticed there was one person that Kensei took letters from. Only one. Mashiro didn't know anything except that she had very nice, clear handwriting and the ink she wrote the envelopes in was always blue. The envelopes were always white. They were easy to distinguish in the pile of flouncy, girly cards. She had notice that Kensei took them out, sliding them onto his desk while he did away with the rest of them. She knew the other people who got fanmail read them aloud often, laughing at the sentiments that usually came from strangers. She had even gotten one or two and kept them just for when she needed a laugh.

But not Kensei.

The only thing she knew about Kensei's mysterious pen pal was the fact her name was Lila. Lately Kensei had been disappearing more and more, just as Lila's letters had been coming with more and more frequently. Mashiro definitely saw a connection between the two. Normally she would just have asked him, gone to investigate the situation. But for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to do it. She had been in the Second DIvision, gathering intel was almost second nature to her.

But not with him.

For some reason she didn't want to spy on him. She was curious about why he was disappearing with more and more frequency, why Lila was writing to him more and more. She wanted to know but what was worse, she wanted him to tell her and that was the biggest problem of all. Two months and she was already wishing he would tell her secrets. It was kind of silly, she knew it was actually very silly, to think that someone like Kensei would ever share anything really with her.

He was respectful and he had a work ethic that would put anyone's to shame. He was everything that anyone could possibly want in a leader, in a Captain. But he was a very personal guy. It was clear that he was there to get the job done and that was it. She had no doubt he'd take a sword for any of them--her included--but when it came to what he liked, what he didn't like, she realized that she had no idea. They never saw him do anything fun. According to members of the Division, Kensei had rooms there and he used to sleep there as well. But not lately. He left after the work was done and showed up usually early in the morning. For the past month or so, he had been coming in late. Today was the latest and Mashiro's interest was peaked.

"So who do you think Lila is?" she said looking up at him. He looked at her, "she's the only one he takes those letters from," Eishima shrugged and put the box on his desk, "has she been writing for a long time?"

"Yeah," Eishima said, "she was writing to him since, well, for a while."

"And no-one knows who she--"

The door slammed open. Mashiro and Eishima turned as Kensei walked into the Division. Mashiro frowned, he didn't look good. Not at all. It looked like he had been up for the whole night, dark under his eyes highlighting the bright gold color of his irises. His grey hair was even more unruly than usual and she could see stubble on his cheeks. But what really caught her eye was the jacket clutched in his hand. She didn't think she had ever seen Kensei with his arms covered but he hadn't stopped off at his rooms before he came in. All thoughts of Kensei's mysterious pen pal fled from her mind as she looked at him, worry sinking in her stomach. Still she smiled brightly and jumped over her desk.

"Hi Kensei!" she said, "your fan mail's here!"

Kensei looked at her, his features turning from exhausted to the familiar cross between anger and amusement. Mashiro smiled even brighter as she turned back to her desk and picked up the large box of forms she had finished, crossing the space to his desk and putting them on top.

"You gotta sign these too," she said.

He nodded and walked over to the desk, sitting down. Mashiro looked over at Eishima who returned her gaze, his eyes wary as he examined their ranking officer. Kensei pulled the forms towards him and began to fill in the final details and information, all they had to do was be brought to the Captain for the final signature. They should be checked for errors but anyone in the Division knew that they were on their own with the work. Mashiro watched him work over the letters, the jacket cast over the edge of the chair. Her eyes zoomed in on the make of the jacket. It was sturdy and warm and obviously made to last. It also looked really warm--warm and handmade. But who would be making Kensei jackets? She looked over at Eishima who caught her eye.

'Lila' Mashiro mouthed.

'Drop it' Eishima mouthed back.

Mashiro pouted and looked down at the papers still on her desk. Shrugging she walked around and sat back down, getting back to work. The three of them worked for hours in relative silence, the paperwork going far more easily than it would have if there was just one or two of them. But every so often Mashiro would look at the jacket on the back of Kensei's chair and despite Eishima's words, when he went through his fan mail Mashiro was sure she saw him pull four letters from Lila and set them aside.

She did not drop it, she simply didn't mention it to Kensei.

Another few weeks went by and Mashiro's curiosity finally got the better of her.

When she was young, one of her street friends had told her there was nothing good with waiting for something if you really wanted it, you had to go and get it yourself. Kensei was still not talking to her, not like a friend would and Mashiro was tired of waiting. If her grey haired team mate wasn't going to let her in, then she was going to find a way to let herself in. She wanted to know what was going on, she wanted to know why he was acting the way he was. Especially since she really enjoyed fighting with him and didn't want him to get sloppy and hurt. He had already had two close calls. So Mashiro told herself she was just protecting him, him and the Division and surely Kensei could understand that.

Or so she told herself as she followed him through Rukongai.

He had left after the work for the day was finished, silent as usual. Mashiro had counted to ten and walked out, just in time to see him heading for the gateway of the Division. She had followed him out of the gate, out of the Court of Pure Souls. The Giants nodded to him, a gesture he returned, something that Mashiro took to mean he had been leaving the Court on an almost nightly basis. She had gone after him but it had taken her longer to get past them. Fortunately there wasn't a place in Rukongai Mashiro didn't know and it hadn't been hard to find a grey haired man who walked like someone had immobilized his spine.

Mashiro hid in the shadows, following him. Kensei continued to walk down the streets, clearly knowing where he was going. Mashiro knew too. They were heading past the First District, towards the Second. By the time they got to the Third her interest was peaked. At the Seventh District, Kensei veered off the path he had been on and began to walk west, towards the outlying part of the District. Mashiro's foot hesitated but she forced herself to move forward. She stayed in the more urban parts of Rukongai but Kensei was heading for the outlying ones, the ones that had farms. Mashiro kept walking as the buildings slowly began to become less and less frequent. She knew it was going to happen soon but she wasn't ready for when Kensei turned around and faced her.

"Mashiro," he growled, his face betraying how truly angry he was.

"Hi!" she said, trying to sound happy but failing miserably.

"What are you doing?" he demanded, his voice gruff.

"I'm--ah--" she stopped and looked at him, "well you're being all secretive! I was curious!"

He seemed too mad for words and much to her shame, Mashiro felt guilty. She didn't think he'd be so mad when he found her but he looked like he wanted nothing more than to shove her away. Mashiro didn't look away though and she forced herself not to fidget, keeping her face smooth as she looked up at him. She was already in enough trouble, adding shame onto it wasn't going to do anything to help her situation. Neither of them spoke, Knesei because he was livid and Mashiro because, well, Mashiro wasn't going to talk until he did.

Someone else spoke first.

"Kensei?" Mashiro turned her head to see a woman walking towards them.

She was pretty, dressed in a bright blue dress that was high at the neck and wrists. Even so she looked cold. Her eyes were gold and looking between them with obvious worry but what caught Mashiro's eye was the bright grey hair that brushed her shoulders. There was only one person that the woman could be. When Mashiro realized it her eyes widened as she looked between the woman's doll worthy features and Kensei's sharper ones.

"Lila go inside," Kensei said, but his gruff tone was softer for her.

Mashiro stared. That was Lila? The woman who Kensei took letters from? She was clearly his sister but Kensei hadn't mentioned family. Then Mashiro remembered Kensei hadn't mentioned much of anything about himself. Lila stepped forward, coming level with the two of them. Kensei looked at her and she returned his gaze evenly, her chin raising.

"I'll do nothing of the sort," she said drawing herself up, "what are you doing to this poor girl?"

"This is Mashiro," Kensei said finally, realizing he was unable to get out of the situation.

"Oh you're Mashiro!" she cried with unabashed delight, "its so wonderful to meet you! Kensei's told us so much about you, oh you must stay for dinner," she continued as Kensei stood there and looked as though he wanted nothing more than to crawl into a hole and die, "Yuna! Kensei's brought Mashiro for dinner!"

Mashiro looked where Lila had yelled. A fence stretched in front of a small house but the land behind it seemed endless. The door of the house opened and in the doorway another woman appeared. Dressed in pants and a loose shirt, her brown hair was pulled back into a sever tail, more to keep it out of the way than for fashion's sake. The lines on her face made it clear she was older than Kensei and Lila and clearly used to disciplining them. Still there was humor in her gold eyes as she looked at Kensei's embarrassment and Lila's delight. Her eyes settled on Mashiro and her eyebrow rose. Mashiro stared at the two women as Lila continued up the path.

"Are they--"

"My sisters," Kensei said gruffly, "come on," he walked through the gate. Mashiro walked after him.

"You have sisters?" she demanded, "how many?"

"Two," he said finally.

"Is Lila your twin?"

"Mashiro I swear to God," he began turning to her.

Mashiro flashed him a bright grin.

In response to a look that had made grown men quake with fear.

Kensei stared at the green haired woman. He knew he was not the best at letting people in, but he liked order to the world. The Ninth Division was where he had dedicated his life, it was the place he would defend until his last breath. But a hundred yards to their right was the only place he had truly ever called home. He didn't tell people at the Division about the farm in the Seventh where his family was. Most of the people in the Division had come from Rukongai, leaving everything they were on the other side of the Gates. But Kensei hadn't been able to do that. He had come to the Gotei 13 to be a Shinigami but he had come back to the farm when he could. Even as a seated officer he came back to the Seventh Division.

No-one had ever dared to follow him.

He had known someone was following him too. He had thought it was some street kid who was probably debating whether or not to try and mug him. But those thieves usually disappeared in one or two Districts. However when he had turned around and seen her there, that had stopped him in his tracks. But there she was, standing right next to him just like she had in every battle they had fought in the past three months, smiling up at him as if she didn't find him frightening and intimidating which, Kensei reasoned, she probably didn't. And now she was walking up the path to have dinner with his sisters.

He probably could have told her to leave but that just seemed--

It seemed rude.

Plus once Lila had seen her, she was as good as there for dinner. And Yuna too. No, Kensei was just going to have to bite the bullet and have dinner with a woman he had known for three months and his sisters. He was pretty sure that they were getting some part of the order wrong. But as Mashiro skipped happily past him and into the house, Kensei realized he didn't precisely mind her being there. He liked her much better than he had any of his other subordinates and a hell of a lot better than his superiors. He might have found her annoying, childish even but in a Division that had one of the highest annual casualty rates in the Gotei 13, a bit of childishness was not the most unwelcome thing.

"Wow!"

Mashiro stared at the sunny house she found herself standing in the front part of. Whoever was cooking had done an incredible job, Mashiro was sure she had never smelled something so good in her entire life. The walls of the house were a bright buttery yellow and even in the fading light, the spotless surfaces seemed to shine. She quickly undid her sandals, placing them by the door with the other shoes she saw there. Walking forward, she moved into what she assumed was the main room of the house. It wasn't like the rooms in the Gotei with their pristine lines and minimalist approach. There was a couch and a pair of chairs and fireplace. Beyond that she could see a pair of doors that opened onto a porch, there was even a wide swing suspended from the roof.

"You grew up here?" Mashiro asked turning and looking at Kensei who nodded, his expression guarded, "wow!" she repeated looking around before her eyes landed on the mantle. Kensei's eyes widened as she bounded over and looked before he could stop her, "no way," she breathed staring at the photos, "Kensei you were so cute!"

Kensei felt the back of his neck burn as she looked at the pictures. It was clear Yuna was the eldest of them, a fact betrayed by the photo of her holding two babies with the same odd grey hair. Mashiro looked as through the pictures she saw Kensei get older, bigger, stronger. He always looked serious though. Even in the youngest of the pictures. But as he got older the look suited him more and more. What caught her eye though was Lila. In each picture she was smiling brightly but she was also bundled in blankets or laying in bed propped up on pillows, or sitting down. Even in the rare pictures when she was standing she was always leaning against something, as if she might fall at any moment. Mashiro felt her smile slip, just a bit at the sight of it as she checked the pictures again. But Lila was never standing and Kensei was never smiling.

"You're always so serious!" she said instead, turning over her shoulder to look at him, amused by the blush she could see spreading across his cheeks.

"He always is! Maybe you can get us a picture with him smiling?" Lila asked coming into the room, her hand resting against the door frame.

"You bet I will!" Mashiro said.

Kensei looked between the two of them before leaving the room to come into the kitchen where Yuna was putting the final spices on the food. She looked over at him before focusing on the food. Kensei came over to where she was standing, moving next to her.

"Any attacks?" he asked looking at her.

"Not since last night," Yuna said wiping her hands on a rag. He nodded, "but they're not gonna last, Kensei, we know it. Even Lila knows it. You can't keep putting your life on hold for us."

"Your my sisters. And I ain't putting my life on hold," he said.

"Kensei this is the first person from your Division we've ever met," Yuna said fixing him with her gold eyes, "you're shuttin the world out. Its not right. You have to accept who you are."

"I have," he said. She raised an eyebrow, "I will," he said. The other eyebrow went up, "I'm working on it."

"Well that's something," she said picking up the dish, "now lets go get some food in her, she looks like she'd fall over if you blew too hard."

So we've met Kensei's family! I can see him being the one who thinks he's in charge, but having to do a lot of the manly tasks.

We'll explore more of the Muguruma family dynamic. And of course find out about Mashiro.

PLease Review! Reviews make me want to update! So its all win-win!