Disclaimer - I do not own Bleach
Chapter Seven - Secret Kidou Lessons
"Nii-san!"
Upon hearing the two excited voices calling out to him, Shiro glanced up from his stack of nearly completed paperwork and watched as two little terrors ran toward him. He saw what was going to happen mere seconds before disaster struck and the young captain held out his hands and called out, in his most commanding captain's voice, "Halt!"
Kaien and Masaki froze immediately.
Shiro quickly gathered up his stack of paperwork and then stuffed it in a drawer so that it would be out of harm's way and wouldn't get demolished when the twins pounced. Then, once the fruit of all of his hard work had been hidden, he shifted his gaze back to his siblings, who were still standing as still as statues in the center of the room. Smiling at their uncharacteristic obedience the Squad Ten Captain said, "Resume."
The children bounded forth as though nothing had happened and, leaping across the desk, they tackled their older brother. A smile appeared on Shiro's face as he wrapped his arms around his siblings, one arm around each child. "Hey runts. How goes it?"
"We came to stay with you Nii-san," Masaki said in an excited voice as she gazed up into the face of her beloved big brother.
"That's right," Kaien added.
"Sorry about that Shiro-chan," a feminine voice called out in an amused tone of voice. "I've been attempting to teach them self control but it appears that we still have a long way to go."
"That's alright Mom," Shiro said, offering his mother a smile as he watched her walk across his office.
Rukia longed for a camera as she gazed at her three children. Shiro was sitting in a large chair behind his desk with Kaien on perched on one arm of the chair and Masaki on the other. The older boy had his arms wrapped protectively around his siblings and there was a protective glint in his blue-green eyes. "I came by to ask if you cared to watch them again. I was going to leave them with Orihime but she wasn't home."
"I don't mind," Shiro said, anticipating the pleading looks that his siblings were going to turn in his direction. "After all I'm nearly finished with my work and it's only mid-morning." A questioning gaze appeared on his face as he gazed at his mother. "So where are you off to?"
"It's time once again for the Squad Five meeting," Rukia replied. "Which is why I couldn't find a baby-sitter for the twins. Not that I would have left them with anyone other than Kaiya but she has to go to the meeting so. . ."
"I think that hurts my feelings," Shiro said, placing his hand over his heart as though he was in pain. "So I was your last resort huh?"
"Yes," the twins said in unison, answering for their mother.
"But only because I didn't want to disturb your work," Rukia added hastily, not wanting to hurt her eldest son's feelings.
Shiro was forced to laugh at the appearance that had appeared on his mother's face. "It's alright Mom, I was just giving you a hard time." The white-haired young man got to his feet, picking up both of his siblings and easily juggling one in each arm. "You go ahead to your meeting. Kai, Saki, and I will be just fine, I promise."
"Alright," Rukia said, once again smiling at her children. "Kaien, Masaki you guys behave for your brother and try to stay out of trouble."
"Right," the twins chorused, already accustomed to this warning.
Shiro laughed as he watched their mother leave the office. Then, once she was gone, he gazed down at the two young children that he held in his arms. "If I didn't know better guys I'd think that Mom doesn't trust you. You wouldn't happen to know why now would you?"
Masaki merely shrugged while Kaien looked somewhat sheepish and seemed to be gazing at his sister out of the corner of his brown eyes.
Shiro's laughter increased in volume as he placed the twins down on their own feet. "Come on guys," he said, offering each of the children one of his hands. "Let's go and find something fun to do."
"Alright!" Masaki exclaimed, her violet eyes lighting up in delight.
"But Nii-san," Kaien said in a slightly hesitant tone of voice. "Shouldn't you finish your work before we go?"
"It'll be okay," Shiro assured his little brother. "There isn't that much left and I have plenty of time to finish it before the end of the day. Don't worry about it."
"Kay," Kaien said in a quiet voice.
"Come on guys," Shiro said with a smile. "I think we'll take a little field trip."
"To where?" Kaien and Masaki asked in unison.
"We'll go and visit Kasumi at school," Shiro said, making his decision a split second before he announced it to the twins.
Both sets of eyes, one brown and one violet, opened wide as they gazed up at their older brother.
"Come on," Shiro said, leading the way over to the door. His siblings followed along willingly and the three of them made their way across the Seireitei toward the campus of the Shinigami Academy. The twins gasped as the buildings came into view and they gazed around in awe.
"So where's Ka-chan?" Masaki asked as Shiro led the way across the courtyard.
Shiro thought about the time of day and then ran a mental checklist of Kasumi's class before he answered his sister. "She has kidou right now." Gazing around Shiro thought about the best route to take before he began walking, the twins trotting along beside him.
Kasumi was kneeling on the ground, awaiting her turn to show the teacher that she could perform the day's chosen kidou, and she glanced up as she felt a familiar reiatsu enter the practice arena. Gazing toward the entrance to the outdoor classroom she was shocked to see Shiro standing there, along with his two younger siblings.
Shiro winked as he caught her eye.
"What are you doing here?" she mouthed.
"Observing," was the reply that he gave.
"Of course you are," Kasumi muttered as her name was called. Getting to her feet the young woman bowed to her teacher before taking her stance and demonstrating her knowledge of the kidou. Then, once the demonstration was complete, she rejoined her classmates.
"That was excellent Ishida," the instructor said.
"Thank you sir," Kasumi mumbled, preoccupied by Shiro's arrival.
"Alright everyone. Next time we're going to work on defensive kidou. Until then you are dismissed."
And without another word to the students the instructor walked over to the spot where Shiro and the twins were standing. Kaien and Masaki's eyes widened as the strange man approached, fearing that they had inadvertently done something that they shouldn't have.
"We were quiet," Kaien said in their defense, moving to stand in front of Masaki.
"You were both great," Shiro said, placing his younger siblings behind him as he faced the man. "Don't worry about it guys." This said he turned his attention back to the teacher. "Is there something that I can help you with?"
"Yes," the instructor said, in an irritated tone of voice. "You can tell me why you felt the need to interrupt my class."
Somewhat confused by the question Shiro eyed the man for a moment before saying, "You're new aren't you?" That was the only way to explain the fact that this guy didn't know who he was. After all he was somewhat infamous in Soul Society.
"I'm filling in," the instructor snapped. "But that doesn't mean that I don't deserve the same respect as everyone else and I don't. . ."
"Captain Kurosaki!"
Shiro cringed as he heard the group of female students call out to him. Damn, he'd actually forgotten about all of the girls who seemed to have a thing for him or else he never would have came here. However the look on the instructor's face was almost worth it in his eyes.
"C. . . Captain?"
Shiro nodded, still slightly surprised that the man didn't know him. "Captain of Squad Ten, Toushirou Kurosaki."
The man paled, now deeply regretting the way that he had treated his young guest. "Forget that I said anything. Please feel free to come and observe the class anytime that you wish."
Shiro nodded and watched as the man quickly made himself scarce. "Well that was amusing," he thought to himself as Kasumi walked toward him, shaking her head.
"Nii-san," Masaki said, stepping from behind her brothers. "That looked like fun."
"You think so?" Shiro asked.
Masaki nodded and Kaien quickly followed suit.
"Well how would the two of you like to learn some kidou?" Shiro asked, his blue-green eyes locked on his siblings.
"YES!" two little voices exclaimed in unison.
"Are you sure this is a good idea Shiro-chan?" Kasumi asked, an uncertain look in her eyes.
"Sure," Shiro said. "As long as Mom and Dad don't find out about it. I'm not sure how they would feel but come on. Every kid needs to learn some kidou. I could already do it when I was their age and I turned out just fine."
"That's debatable," Kasumi countered.
"Oh shut up," Shiro snapped before turning his attention back to the two small children who were looking up at him as though Christmas had come earlier. "Alright guys. I'll teach you some basic kidou but before that what's rule number one when you're with Nii-san?"
"No matter what happens," Kaien began.
Masaki finished the sentence, "Don't tell Mom and Dad."
"Exactly," Shiro said, offering his brother and sister a smile while Kasumi shook her head.
"Alright," Kasumi said, gazing at the excited looks in the twins' eyes and the determined look that Shiro held in his own. "But I'm coming with you guys just to make sure that things don't get out of hand."
"But you have class," Shiro reminded her, a slightly taunting edge in his voice.
"So I'll skip it," Kasumi said in a casual tone of voice, making it sound as though she did this kind of thing everyday. Which of course she didn't but she was way ahead of the other students and knew that she could afford to miss a couple of classes. Keeping Shiro and his siblings safe had a much higher priority than a bunch of classes that she didn't need.
"And you've now officially been corrupted," Shiro exclaimed, a smirk on his face.
"Shut it," Kasumi ordered.
Shiro began to laugh.
"I said shut it!" Kasumi growled low in her throat before regaining her composure. "Come on. If you're going to break the rules we may as well get it over with."
"Yeah," the twins chimed in.
"Born trouble makers," Kasumi thought to herself as the quartet left the Academy grounds and began traveling across the Seireitei. "All three of them."
Shiro led the way to the Squad Ten training grounds and when they arrived there the first thing that the young captain did was to erect a kidou barrier around the area. It wouldn't do if his parents felt their reiatsu and he didn't particularly want an audience either. While he was certain that the twins would be powerful he didn't want other people to see what they were capable of.
At least not yet.
"This should be good," Kasumi mumbled as she sat down in the grass at the edge of the battlefield.
"Alright guys," Shiro said, gazing down at the two small children who were staring raptly up at him. "The first thing that I'm going to teach you is Red Flame Cannon."
"Yay!" Masaki exclaimed while Kaien said, "I've seen you do that one Nii-san."
Shiro nodded. "This is one of the first kidou attacks that I learned and I think that it's as good a place as any to start your training."
The twins nodded, both excited about the prospect of learning kidou. Their parents hadn't even mentioned any training and the two children were delighted that their older brother was willing to teach them some moves. It was exciting.
Kasumi watched in awe as Shiro worked with his two younger siblings and she noted that her best friend would make a very good teacher should he ever choose to do so. "Who would have thought," she muttered to herself as she watched him correcting the twins on their form.
Once the twins had memorized the incantation involved Shiro took a couple of steps back. "Alright guys," he said, pointing toward a dummy that was positioned at the far end of the training grounds. "Let's see what you can do."
Masaki glanced at her twin for a brief second and Kaien saw that his sister was slightly scared. Reaching out to her he offered Masaki his hand. "Let's do it together Saki-chan."
Masaki nodded, grasping the hand that her brother was holding out to her.
Together two little voices called out, "Ruler, the mask of flesh and blood all things in the universe fly. That which names all in nature, gathering of heat and war. Beyond the seas in reverse, take steps to the south. Hadou 33, Shakahou Red Flame Cannon!"
Shiro watched as two balls of red energy erupted from the twins' outstretched hands and flew toward the target. One of the blasts nicked the edge of the dummy however the other fell just short of the intended target. Still it was impressive that they had actually managed to pull it off on their first attempt. "That was very good."
"But I barely hit it," Kaien said in protest of the praise.
"And I missed," Masaki whined.
"Shiro's right you guys," Kasumi said, leaving her spot on the sidelines and walking over to the spot where the Kurosaki siblings were standing. "There were people in my first kidou class who couldn't do it on the first try and they were all way older than the two of you."
"Really?" Masaki asked.
Kasumi nodded.
"Alright!" the little girl said, jumping into the air and raising one fist in triumph.
"Alright guys," Shiro said, offering his brother and sister a smile. He could tell by their features that this use of their reiatsu had left them drained, even though they were doing their best to hide it. "I think that's enough for today. And make sure that you never use kidou unless you're with me alright?"
Kaien and Masaki both nodded. "You got it Nii-san."
"Good," Shiro said, offering the twins his hands. "Now let's go back to Squad Ten and get a snack."
"Yay!" Kaien and Masaki exclaimed in unison. "We want watermelon!"
"Sounds like a plan to me." Shiro cast a glance in the direction of his best friend. "Are you coming Ms. Juvenile Delinquent?"
Kasumi ran to catch up to the group and when she did she slapped her best friend on the arm. "That's not funny."
When Ichigo and Rukia arrived at the Squad Ten barracks to pick up their younger children they found the twins sound asleep on the sofa in Shiro's office. "I don't know how you did it," Ichigo said as he gently scooped his son up into his arms. "But you should do it more often."
"He has no idea what he's asking for," Shiro thought to himself as he watched his mother gather his sister in her arms. "You can count on it Dad."
"Thanks for watching the twins Shiro-chan," Rukia said, walking over to her son and giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. "You're a life saver."
"You may not think so later," was the thought that went through the boy's mind but it wasn't what he said to his mother. "No problem Mom. You can leave the twins with me any time. We had a lot of fun today."
Rukia nodded as she came to stand beside her husband. "Well, I guess we'll see you later Shiro-chan."
"Bye," Shiro called out after his parents.
"So do you think Kaien and Masaki will keep your little secret?" Kasumi asked once she was sure that Shiro's parents were out of earshot.
"Of course," Shiro said, his voice filled with confidence. "After all this isn't the first time that we've done something that they wouldn't approve of. They know how it works."
"Should have known," Kasumi said, rolling her eyes.
A/N - and there's chapter seven. Shiro's going to corrupt his siblings, poor Ichigo. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, please review and tell me what you thought. Til next time this is Hitsu-taichou signing out.