Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.
Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead.
~Oscar Wilde
Kimiko senses him the minute he steps foot into her barracks; she's been on high alert all day after all. By the time his fist connects with her door, she's positioned herself sitting atop her desk, feet swaying and Tomo curled up in her lap. A nonthreatening, innocent, childlike pose.
Aizen coming to the fourteenth division barracks could only mean that he plans to try and throw Kimiko off their trail. He's never stepped foot in her barracks before; she'd know if he had. Nothing gets past the captain, especially concerning her own territory.
"Come in Aizen-san." She calls cheerfully. Her door creeks open to reveal the aforementioned captain, standing there awkwardly clothed in the typical Shinigami uniform, the white captain's haori atop it. Most captains have altered their uniform in some way or another to match their personality. Aizen has nothing. Kimiko, for example, always wears a flower in her hair –courtesy of a certain little girl- and wears a think violet kimono over her captain's haori, mimicking Shunsui. He is the one who bought it for her after all, over a century ago with his excuse being 'it was so beautiful it reminded me of you'.
"I'm sorry for disturbing you Kimiko-taichou, but I was wondering if you'd take a stroll with me?" A light blush dusts across the male's cheeks and the captain has to resist to the urge to roll her eyes, something she's been doing a lot of lately. Playing the 'love' card would hardly work with her, but she could humor him at least. Maybe get a clue into their real objective.
"I'd love to!" Kimiko replies, jumping off her desk and putting Tomo down, the red panda is used to roaming the barracks on its own accord by now. The woman practically skips to Aizen, a cheerful smile on her face, and links her arms around one of his.
The two captains walk around the first district Rukongai until Aizen leads Kimiko to a more secluded location. There's a beautiful river in front of them, and the pair is surrounded by greenery. The captain stays on her guard. Though the pair had been making pleasant enough conversation through the walk, and she caught the man stealing glances at her, she knew this was only an act.
Barely giving her time to think, Aizen turns and takes Kimiko's hands in his larger ones. Her entire body tenses, ready to leap into action should the situation call for it.
"I apologize Kimiko-taichou, but I simply cannot conceal my feelings any longer. I've been watching you from afar for a long time now, and you beauty, strength, compassion, and intelligence have simply captured me." The woman has to stop herself from laughing at loud. He's surely laying it on thick. "I know you haven't considered anyone since your spouse's demise, but I would love to step in and help you care for your daughter-"
Kimiko snaps. Before Aizen has time to react, the woman's hand is wrapped around his neck and the fury on her face would be enough to send even the strongest of Shinigami running with their tail tucked between their legs.
"I've been humoring you Aizen-taichou; you're pitiful attempts to through me off have hardly worked. Obviously my warning wasn't taken to heart so let me give you another one. If you do anything to harm any person within the Soul Society, I will personally kill you. And if you ever mention my wife or daughter again, you'll be begging for death by the time I'm done with you." This is a side few of Kimiko few have ever seen. Normally she stays cool, level-headed, and rational; she has to when leading hundreds of Shinigami. However, Aizen knew just where to poke and prod to get a reaction.
Not giving the man the time to retaliate, she's gone. The mention of her late wife hurt, it always did, but she was dead, he was unable to harm her. Kimiko's daughter on the other hand, was very much alive.
It's stupid to worry, she knows that. There are hundreds of kido surrounding her house, a babysitter with her daughter, and a handful of Shinigami always patrolling her house. In her heart, she knows the little girl is okay. It doesn't stop her worrying.
"Kaa-san!" A very small, very much alive and unhurt little girl calls cheerfully when Kimiko rushes into her home. The child attaches herself to the woman's leg, causing relief to course through her. Alive, unhurt, alive.
"Is everything alright Kimiko-taichou?" The captain's fifth seat, Aimi Kimura, questions worriedly. It may seem like an abuse of power to station on of the divisions' strongest fighters as a personal babysitter, but Aimi has always loved the job. The girl has never been a fighter.
"Everything's fine Aimi-san, just thought I'd come check on my precious flower before going back to the barracks." It's not a complete lie, but the look Kimiko gives Aimi clearly translates to 'we'll talk later'.
"Kaa-san, come play with me!" The child, Hanako, whines, pulling on the woman's haori insistently. Kimiko smiles down at her daughter, feeling her heart warm at the sight.
"Later my flower, I have to get back to work. Go on and play while I talk to Aimi-san." Though Hanako pouts, when Kimiko kneels down and gives the little girl a kiss on her forehead, she immediately brightens up and runs off.
"What's wrong Kimiko-taichou?" The gentle girl asks, obviously concerned.
"I have reason to believe Hanako may be targeted. Don't let anyone into this house except for me or Shikima. Be on guard at all times." Though Aimi may not enjoy fighting, she's been in her fair share of battles, and the battle-hardened look her usually gentle face takes one puts Kimiko at ease.
"I will protect Hanako-chan with my life."
"Let's hope it doesn't come to that." With a small smile, Kimiko continues on to her barracks.
She hasn't been in her office for a minute when there's a knock on her door. When she calls for the person to enter, her fourth seat -Tamaki- saunters in. Despite the fact that blonde haired Shinigami is never seen taking his duties seriously, Kimiko has nothing but the utmost trust in him. He didn't get his position by slacking off.
Kimiko makes it a point to personally interact with every single member of her division. She wants them to be able to come to her with their problems, to trust her as she trusts them. The captain views every single one of her subordinates as one of her own children. Because of this, she has one of the most dutiful and loyal divisions in the Gotei 14.
"Kimiko-taichou, I have a report of current events involving the Ryoka," The boy begins before smiling at his captain. "And might I say, you look lovely as always. Won't you join me on a date later?"
"Get on with the report Tamaki-san." Kimiko replies with a grin.
"Eleventh division third seat Ikkaku Madarame and fifth seat Yumichika Ayesegawa have been defeated by Ryoka, as has almost the entirety of the eleventh division."
"Kenpachi's guys are strong but much too hasty." Kimiko says with a chuckle. "Ikkaku and Yumichika aren't pushovers. These Ryoka sure know what they're doing. Thank you Tamaki-san, you're dismissed."
Finally alone in her office, save for Tomo, Kimiko sinks into her chair. She undoes the sealing kido on her top desk drawer and pulls out an old and slightly worn picture. In the picture there's an average height girl with messy orange hair and the toothiest grin, a look of complete adoration in her crystal blue eyes as she looks down at the shorty, curvy girl with deep burgundy curls and tan skin, looking back up at her with a similar look of adoration. It was taken the day of their engagement. The sorrow washes over Kimiko in waves, almost drowning her. Her hand plays with the ring she still wears on her left hand, despite all the years that have passed.
"I miss you more with every day Hotaru." The woman says softly to the girl in the picture, feeling as if she's aged a millennia as the grief fills her.
Kimiko doesn't allow herself these moments of grief very often. She's a captain after all, she has responsibilities, there's no time for the ghosts of her past to haunt her. In this particular moment though, she can't help it.
"All these years and you still worry every time I have a mission!"
"Is it wrong for me to worry about my wife?"
"Of course not! Besides, knowing my cute wife is waiting all alone at home for me just gives me more incentive to finish my mission as quickly as possible."
"Just make sure you come home to me, I don't know what I'd do without my cute wife."
"It's just a Hollow; I'll make it back in time for dinner!"
"I love you."
"I love you too."
The dinner Kimiko fixed that night went uneaten that night, and for the next three nights. She didn't sleep those three nights, waiting, hoping, praying, for her wife to walk through their front door. But she never did. Finally, a recon team was sent. All that was left of her wife was a barely recognizable body. She knew it was her though. Kimiko would recognize Hotaru's crystal blue eyes anywhere, even if they lacked life.
In the end, the grief stricken captain had to be forcibly removed from her spouse's body. Unohana had to call in Shunsui who in return brought her to Jushiro's family estate. Between Shunsui, Jushiro, Shikima, Akane, and Jushiro's lieutenant –Kaien Shiba-, they never left Kimiko alone in fear she would do something drastic.
For years after Hotaru's death, Kimiko was simply an empty husk of the person she used to be. Depression clouded her mind; leading her to the edge many times before one of her friends had to bring her down. Eventually she returned to her duty as a captain, but it wasn't hard to see she wasn't the same person.
If Kimiko hadn't been walking the lower districts of the Rukongai, had never found Hanako, she would still be that empty husk.
The citizens of the seventieth division of the Rukongai look on in awe of the woman wearing a captain's haori as she glides past them, her steps light as a feather. It's a rare sight to see anyone in a position of power to pass through the lower districts. Kimiko had been making it a habit though. The treatment and living conditions of people living in the lower districts was something he late wife was passionate about. Therefore, she makes weekly visits to bring food to hungry citizens.
"This'll teach ya' to try an' steal from me ya' brat!" A gruff voice bellows, followed by the sound of a thump and a whimper. Kimiko made her way over to see the commotion, and what she saw made her blood boil. Cowering beneath the figure of a large man was a little girl with navy blue hair and tears running down her cheeks. Right as the man was about to bring the large stick he held down upon the girl for a second time, Kimiko disappeared in a flash, only to reappear in front of the girl, stopping the stick with her hand.
"Do you make it a habit to beat little girl here?" She questions coldly. The man simply glared in return; her haori and status mean nothing to him, she's just some dumb woman who doesn't know her place.
"This little bitch stole from me, she's getting' what she deserves." He replies with a scowl on his face.
"You know, its little girls like her who has the potential to join the Shinigami Academy and be leagues above people like you." Kimiko observes. The only reason someone in the Rukongai would be hungry enough to steal is if they have Reiatsu.
"You think you're so much better than me just because of that fuckin' haori of yours. I'll show ya' your place ya' dumb bitch!" The man raises his stick to hit the captain in front of him, but before any one of the people that gathered round to witness the commotion could blink, the stick was broken in half.
"You lack intelligence if you believe you could as much as scratch a captain of the Gotei 14." Kimiko doesn't have a trace of emotion on her face, which serves to infuriate the man even more. Instead of respond to her, he charges at the woman whom was half his size. With little to no effort, she raises her right foot and slams it into the man's side. The impact sends him flying into the nearby wall, a crack running down the wall due to the force.
With the pest taken care of, Kimiko turns to look at the child cowering behind her. Blood is running down her pale face and though tears are still running down her face, she looked up at the woman in awe and wonderment.
"Don't worry child, you're safe now." Kimiko says tenderly, kneeling down in front the girl. Cautiously, she reaches a hand forward to the source of the wound, and when the girl doesn't jerk away, uses her healing kido to heal the wound. She then takes a pack of three rice balls and hands it to the small girl. She hesitates the smallest bit, looking up at the stranger as is asking permission. Once the woman nods, the child takes the rice balls and completely devours the first one.
With the child taken care of, Kimiko rises to her feet and begins walking away, needing to get back to her duties in the Seireitei. She's stopped, however, by an insistent tugging on her haori. Looking back, the captain sees the child smiling at her while holding onto her haori, following her. Something happened to the otherwise emotionless woman. Whatever fragments that were left of her heart came together the moment that child smiled at her.
"Do-" The troubled young woman started. "Do you want to come with me?"
The child eagerly nods before uttering the word that saved Kimiko. "Kaa-san."
That's all it took for Kimiko to scoop up the child and take her into her home, taking the child as her own.
Like most children in the lower districts, the child didn't have a name. Kimiko named her Hanako, her light pink eyes reminding her of the cherry blossoms. From that moment on, the woman wasn't completely healed, but Hanako sealed the majority of the woman's wounds. The captain was able to return to a semblance of herself. Children were always something Kimiko and Hotaru wanted, but they never had the chance to adopt.
It was Hanako whom gave the broken woman the will to survive when her friends couldn't.
Kimiko is broken out of her musings by the feeling of a fast approaching Reiatsu. She'd felt it the moment the Ryoka arrived, but before now it'd been keeping its distance. Besides, the captain knew they would come eventually. In preparation for their arrival, she opens the window behind her desk. Seconds later, a small black figure flies into the room.
"It's been a long time," Kimiko begins, a grin on her face. "Yoruichi-nee-san."
A/N: Chapter Two finished! I usually don't update this quickly but I already have a few chapters written and just have to go back and make some edits. I didn't get any feedback from the previous chapter so here's hoping this one gets something.
Also I left some hints that Kimiko would be a Shihoin, I mentioned the tan skin, burgundy hair, and golden eyes. It wasn't really a secret but there ya go.
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