My Favorite Weapon
Kisuke & Ururu

Jinta sidled up, his broom held tightly in his hands. He swept the dais I was sitting on, carefully avoiding the cushion and the tips of my feet. As the broom moved, the faint hiss of the bristles reminded me of the ocean. I cocked my head to listen as Jinta swept. With a suddenness that managed to surprise me, the broom stopped.

"There's something wrong with me isn't there?"

That was even more surprising, "No, Jinta, you're perfect, what's that all about?"

"You love her more than you love me."

"I just love you differently, Jinta. Let me tell you a story, okay?" The red haired boy sat at my feet and nodded solemnly. I ruffled his hair and started, "Once upon a time…"

Yoruichi stared at the component parts littering my worktable, "What are you doing down here, Kisuke?" She picked up an arm and poked its fingers at me.

"I think I can combine gigai technology, mod soul tech, and weapons research to make the ultimate weapon."

The dark skinned woman frowned at the arm she had been playing with, "This is an ultimate weapon? This arm isn't even as long as mine."

I nodded happily, and took a couple gulps of stale coffee. "Gaaah!" I wiped my mouth, "That stuff needs freshening."

"Is this," Yoruichi put the arm back down and looked at the other components, "a child's arm?"

Her eyes were wide and held an edge of disgust, "Yeah. That's what is going to make it so amazing! Imagine, a little girl with the ability to kill hollows with a single blow! She'll look just like any other girl, but she'll have powers other kids couldn't even dream of." I looked up to see that the disgust had grown, "What?"

"What do you mean, what? A little girl as an ultimate weapon? That seems wrong, and if she's got a soul, you can't just make her do whatever you want, Kisuke. You can't possibly miss Sarugaki that much."

"This isn't about her. No, you aren't understanding my genius, as usual. We need more fighters. I can make them. A weapon that can talk and understand, and can live and be useful for more things than just killing. Any fool can kill. This will be a weapon that can identify friend from foe. The ultimate smart bomb."

"You're right, I do not understand," she shook her wild purple hair, "I'm leaving for awhile, Kisuke."

"Fine. I'll see you when I see you."

She walked out. I had to wait for over twenty years for her to show up again. Had I known then what I know now, I would have done things differently. I should have thrown those gigai parts back into the rendering machine. But, I didn't. Instead, I let my mind take me to places I shouldn't go. You'd think I would learn my lesson someday.

I worked on the tiny body for weeks trying to get everything exactly right. Coaxing the machinery I had to work with in the Living Realm to be what I needed. I built whole programs and computer databases to hold all the knowledge this girl would need. It took months to finalize everything, and when I finally had it all ready, I had no one but Tessai to share my joy with. Let's just say he was less than enthusiastic.

He worked the healing Kido while I got her living with the most modern technology Japan had to offer at the time. When she opened those huge blue eyes and smiled, I was in love. She was precious in her seeming perfection. She sat up, and we took turns talking to her, and showing her everything she knew instinctively, but had never experienced before.

I worked with her, teaching her fighting skills at which she excelled. Tessai tried to teach her kido, but she could not master even the smallest spell. She had the reiatsu for it, of that I was certain. But, as they say, you can't have everything, so I just refused to think about it anymore. So what if she couldn't work a spell, she was a fantastic hand-to-hand combatant, and she was stronger than even I anticipated.

It only took a few weeks for me to realize that I had taken a wrong turn with her somewhere. She was almost terminally shy with anyone outside of Tessai and myself. I had tested her on a few hollows, and while she performed admirably, she came back scared to death, and remembering nothing. It's a blessing, I see that now, but then I was so disappointed. She was not the ultimate weapon. She was the ultimate failure.

It got to the point where I decided to just scrap her, start anew. I even started to put her under when she grabbed my hand and whispered, "It'll be okay, won't it, Kisuke-san?"

"Yes," I whispered. My free hand dropped away from the dial, I was setting, and I looked at my creation. Really looked, not just saw her. The way she ate rice one grain at a time when she had a favorite meal in front of her. The way she smiled so sweetly at everything. The way she had stolen my heart. "Yes, of course, everything is fine. I'm just going to do a routine check up."

I couldn't do it. Was this what Yoruichi had a problem with? Had she known somehow that Ururu would not work in the way I had anticipated? No, that wasn't it, I understood her finally. Although she was most definitely not a child, she was my child. She would never again be my favorite weapon. She would only…

"…be my baby." I finished the story and Jinta's dark eyes scrutinized me.

"She's not supposed to be that way?"

"No. After I made Ururu, I took all that I had learned, and made her a brother. Someone much more stable both in personality and power level." I held up my hands, covered in swordsman's calluses and inventors burns and scars, "You're both my children, Jinta. I could no more catch the moon in a fish net than I could change how I feel about the two of you. You may not have come from my body, but in every way that counts, I am your father."

AN/ Sorry for the wait, I've had some extreme family issues come up, and writing has been the very last thing on my mind. Don't worry, this has one more story, and it's already done! Thanks to my beta Hasty, who shouldn't be faulted for caring! Hey, you know, it would be awesome if you were to let us know how were' doin'.