Disclaimer - I do not own Bleach
Chapter Three - Adjusting
Kaien and Masaki had just completed their first week as students of the Shinigami Academy and, despite the fact that they didn't have to be there for two whole days, the twins still accompanied their parents to the Seireitei. Ichigo and Rukia had a meeting to attend, one of the rare joint meetings that included both captains and vice-captains, and the twins went along so that they could visit their best friend. While their parents were stuck in a boring meeting at Squad One, Kaien and Masaki spent their time under a shade tree, talking and laughing with Ayana.
Ayana had grown up with the Kurosaki twins, being the only child in the Seireitei who was close to them in age, and the three children were very close. Younger than Kaien and Masaki by a month, Ayana greatly resembled her mother; with the same long hair and chocolate colored eyes, although her hair was a shade darker than Hinamori's. Her personality was also similar to that of her mother, she had the same quiet and unassuming personality. This changed only slightly when she was around Masaki, since the older girl was more outgoing and tended to attempt to convince her friend that causing trouble every now and then is a good thing. The saving grace was the fact that Kaien balanced things out enough for her to fight the urge to be a trouble maker. After all, one of them was more than enough and Masaki had that role covered.
"So what's it like at the Academy?" Ayana asked, her wide-eyed gaze focused on her two friends. Kaien and Masaki were sitting side by side and, briefly, they glanced at one another before answering in unison, "Boring."
"Boring?" Ayana repeated, at a loss for how they could find attending classes at the famed Shinigami Academy boring. She would give almost anything to be going to classes with them but, unfortunately, her reiatsu still hadn't developed enough for her to pass the entrance exam. Her parents kept telling her that it was only a matter of time before her powers were strong enough for the Academy but she was still slightly envious of her two best friends. "How can learning so many new things possibly be boring?"
"That's just it," Masaki said, running a hand through her orange hair, which she had left loose and flowing about her shoulders on this particular day. "We aren't learning new things. Apparently first year classes focus heavily on kidou and Nii-san already taught us the basics. . . and some that aren't so basic. We're too far ahead of our classmates for it to be fun."
Kaien nodded. "Our teachers have even given up on trying to teach us. We simply have to demonstrate the kidou once and then they move on."
"Like we said," Masaki said in a slightly irritated tone of voice. "Boring."
Ayana opened her mouth to speak however before the words formed on her lips she noticed someone walking toward the spot where they were sitting. Her chocolate colored eyes lit up in excitement the moment she realized who their visitor was. "Shiro-kun!"
Kaien and Masaki glanced toward the direction that their best friend's gaze was focused and watched as their elder brother walked toward them, his captain's haori flaring out behind him as he walked. The young man always looked so confident and today was no exception. There was a smirk on his face which made him look somewhat cocky.
"Nii-san," Kaien said, offering his brother a friendly wave by way of greeting. "Shouldn't you be at Squad Ten? Don't you have work to do?"
Shiro smiled as he heard these words from the young boy. Leave it to his little brother to remind him that he had work that he should be doing. Having taken after their mother more than their father he was the responsible one of the group. Which was probably a good thing considering his twin sister's personality. He'd always had to be the responsible one in order to keep the two of them from constantly being in trouble. "I took a brownie day."
"A what?" Masaki asked, her violet eyes showing her curiosity.
"A brownie day," Shiro repeated with a mischievous grin. "A day to sit around, be lazy and bake brownies. However, I don't really like brownies, so I just sit around and be lazy. Everyone deserves one now and again. In fact every member of my squad gets one as well. After all, it wouldn't be fair if it were just me."
"Nii-san," Kaien said in a reproachful tone of voice, shaking his head.
Masaki and Ayana however were less disapproving than Kaien and the two girls each jumped to their feet and grabbed Shiro by the arm. "Hey Nii-san," Masaki said, pulling on her brother's arm and gazing up at him with a pleading look in her violet eyes. The look that never failed to get her brothers to do anything that she wanted. "Let's go out to the training grounds and have some fun."
Shiro hesitated. "I don't know Saki-chan. . ."
"Please Nii-san," Ayana begged, gazing at Shiro with the eyes that she had inherited from Momo. The look from the young girl triggered a brief flash of memory from Hitsugaya's childhood with Hinamori and Shiro shook his head to rid himself of it. It really wasn't fair that even people from his past life were helping with his younger siblings' efforts.
"Come on, Shiro-kun," Kaien said, effectively sealing the deal. "It could be fun."
"Fine," Shiro said with a sigh. He knew when he was beat and it simply wasn't possible for him to continue to refuse with all of them staring at him with the huge, innocent eyes that all children had. "Come on. But if anyone asks you where you learned this. . ."
"We know nothing," the three children chanted in unison.
"Good," Shiro said as he led the way across the Seireitei toward the Squad Ten training grounds. This was the safest place to hold their little lesson, as Shiro controlled who had access to it, however to double the security, the white haired young man placed a kidou barrier around the entire area. "You can never be too careful," he thought to himself as the three children followed him to the center of the training grounds.
"So, what do you guys want to do?" Shiro asked as Kaien, Masaki and Ayana turned to face him.
Masaki turned to look at her best friend before saying, "I think we should teach Ayana some more kidou. All she knows is a couple of basic ones."
"What do you think, Ayana?" Shiro asked, turning his attention to Hinamori's daughter. "Would you like to learn some more difficult kidou moves?"
"Alright," Ayana said, a broad smile on her face.
So Shiro and his two siblings taught Ayana a few intermediate kidou spells and then stepped to the side of the training grounds while she practiced. "So," Shiro said, using this opportunity to speak to his siblings. "How are things at the Academy?"
"Boring," the twins chorused, giving him the same reply that they had given to Ayana.
"I know the feeling," Shiro said, far more understanding of their feelings than Ayana had been. He'd been there himself and thus knew how they were feeling, being so far ahead of their peers. "But hang in there and I promise that things will get better. Just wait 'til you get your zanpaktou, things get interesting after that."
Masaki's gaze went to the hilt of her brother's sword which Shiro wore strapped across his back. "Interesting huh? Is that why you're always fighting with Hyourinmaru?"
Shiro laughed softly, thinking about his zanpaktou's irreverent attitude. "You should probably prepare yourself for a similar situation. Your zanpaktou will not start out as your friend. Hell, they may not even like you. It's up to you to gain their respect and become their partner."
"Hmm," Kaien said, a thoughtful expression in his brown eyes. "So, is it hard?"
"Depends on the person and the zanpaktou," Shiro told his little brother. "Just like everything else in life it comes easier to some than to others."
"Like you and Hyourinmaru?" Masaki asked, knowing the story of her older brother and the zanpaktou that he had possessed through two lifetimes.
Shiro nodded. "I had an advantage because my soul already knew Hyourinmaru since we had been a team in my past life. But that doesn't mean that he didn't have his stubborn moments. Like with Bankai."
After letting them play around at the training grounds for a couple of hours, Shiro decided that he should probably return the three children before someone noticed that they were missing. "Now remember," Shiro said as he left them in the front yard of Hinamori's house. "We didn't do anything except hang out and talk."
"We know nothing," the three children said in unison.
"Good," Shiro said. The Squad Ten Captain began to walk away but paused after only a few steps and turned to gaze at the children over his shoulder. "I'd tell you guys to be good but that would be a little hypocritical on my part. So, I'll settle for saying if you're going to do anything that you shouldn't then make sure that you don't get caught. Or at the very least, have a plausible explanation for doing whatever it is that you were caught doing." With a smile and a wink the Captain of the Tenth Division continued on his way.
Masaki laughed out loud as she watched her brother walk away. "You know Kai, he knows us too well."
"Knows you too well you mean," Kaien said. "I at least make an attempt to stay out of trouble."
"I know you do," Masaki said, walking over to her twin and ruffling his spiky, black hair. "And it's a good thing you have me around to liven up your boring life."
"Yea, lucky me," Kaien said sarcastically, however the light in his brown eyes belied his words. Despite the fact that she was constantly getting him into trouble, he loved his twin and wouldn't trade her for anything. Although, he did occasionally wish that she had come equipped with an off switch.
"So, Nii-san thinks that school will be more bearable once we begin training to acquire our zanpaktou," Masaki said, a thoughtful expression in her violet eyes. "I really hope he's right about that; I don't know how much longer I can take the boredom."
"It'll be alright Saki," Kaien said, placing a hand on his sister's shoulder. "At some point we'll get to learn about something that we don't already know."
"Right," Masaki said, her eyes shining. "And when we do I'll be ready for it." Then her eyes took on the mischievous glow that normally was accompanied by huge amounts of trouble for whoever was involved. "But until that time I think it's time to have a little fun at the Academy. You know, to liven things up."
Kaien was afraid to ask his sister what she had in mind and really hoped that it wasn't anything that could get them kicked out of the Academy. After all, they'd only been students there for a week and Kaien wanted to at least learn one thing that he didn't already know before his sister got them expelled.
"Please don't get us kicked out of school Masaki," Kaien said in a quiet and serious tone.
"You worry too much," Masaki said, offering her brother a bright smile. "I mean come on, if Shiro-kun didn't get kicked out of the Academy then what are the chances that you and I will?"
"I don't know," Kaien said with a shrug of his shoulders. "Knowing you, fairly high."
Masaki couldn't help but laugh at the serious expression on his face and knew that her twin was only half joking. "Don't worry Kai," she thought to herself as she wrapped her arms around her twin and pulled him into an embrace. "I promise I won't do anything too bad."
A/N- and thus ends chapter three of Kaien and Masaki's story. Both CynricShadowInk and myself hope that you are enjoying this joint effort of ours. Feel free to review and tell us your thoughts and til next time this is Hitsu-taichou signing out.