Author's Note: Chapter 15 should be clear of typos and prose issues.
Penguins, ducks, rabbits, bears, Yuzu sat among her menagerie of fluffy stuffed toys, hugging her favorite giant panda. It had been quite a day. She didn't know quite how to feel; physically, she was a little cold, numb, although full of energy, not sleepy at all unlike her twin sister, who was lying on her bed on her side of the bedroom.
Karin glanced up from the manga comic in her hands, and said, "Your butterfly is back."
Yuzu hadn't noticed it among all her animals. The pretty black butterfly was perched atop a penguin's head, camouflaged. She leaned close to it, swore she could hear distant soothing music, echoing as if flutes and violins were playing at the bottom of a windy canyon. But the more she listened, the louder crickets chirped outside. Then clouds parted, moonlight stamping down into the bedroom like a spotlight on Karin.
"You know Dad told you to shoo it away if it returns," Karin reminded.
"I know."
"Then shoo it away."
"It's not doing anything to me anymore, so why?"
Karin threw the manga comic onto a messy pile and hopped over. She crouched by the stuffed penguins. A quick shrug jerked her shoulders. "Because Dad says so."
Yuzu pressed her ear against the wall. Dad's muffled voice just barely went through the walls from downstairs. For the past however many hours he was on the phone, making calls to a special doctor about her case of butterflies. As if it were a disease. She was sick. In need of special help.
Extending a finger, Karin gingerly touched the butterfly's wing. And the butterfly batted its wings in reply. "What do you want from her?" Karin asked.
Naturally, butterflies couldn't talk, not even ghostly magical ones that faded in and out of existence.
Karin glared.
Sensing violence, Yuzu carefully took hold of the penguin, then changed the subject: "So why'd you lie to Dad?" Good time to ask in private.
Karin's glare rolled into a confused face. "What are you talking about? I didn't lie to Dad."
"Yes, you did. At the cemetery. When Mizuiro and Kiego talked to us, remember? You told Dad nothing happened."
Recognition flattened Karin's expression. "Oh." She waved it away. "That wasn't a lie. Nothing did happen. We were just talking."
"Liar liar. You know what I said to them. You saw them blushing and stuttering."
"Yeah so? People sometimes blush and stutter while talking. It's just talking. It's not a lie."
Yuzu's fake giggle was meaner than she wanted it to be. "Mizuiro kept looking at your body. You liked it, didn't you?"
"Pfft. He wishes." Karin's tongue clicked. "And if he touches me or you, he's going straight to jail. He should stay away—for his own good."
Bitter guilt clutched Yuzu's tongue, welled into her stomach. It was partly her fault. Those boys could get into big trouble. They were about Ichigo's age, fifteen or even sixteen. Sixteen would be worse. Their whole lives could be ruined if people were to find out they liked to flirt with eleven-year-old girls. Talking to them had been a stupid mistake. If only she had a time machine; she'd whack her past self with a baseball bat.
Dad's voice suddenly boomed through the floor: "What?! How can you say…"
Why so angry?
Yuzu hugged her penguin tighter. Her friendly butterfly flew onto her finger. Her cold, numb finger. Maybe she was sick. She exhaled through her teeth. "You don't think Dad called the police, do you?"
Karin's answer didn't need any thought: "Nah, not even he's that big of a hypocrite."
Tendons in the back of Yuzu's neck pulled tight. "Huh? What?"
"I was going to save you, but I guess I should tell you." Karin shuffled closer, then whispered, "There's a locked door in the basement behind the big bookshelves. I heard some noise down there one night, I thought Ichigo was training his secret power again, but when I sneaked down there, it was actually Dad." Karin took a breath, not wanting to tell more.
"And?"
"And…" Her whisper slid lower. "He was with some short blonde girl. I didn't catch a good look, but I'm sure she was wearing Karakura High's uniform. He was covering her mouth. He took her into the secret room."
Yuzu had squeaked into her penguin at the mention of a uniform. "Are you sure you saw that? Did you have another nightmare?"
"Wasn't a nightmare." Karin was both pale and a bit red. "I'd say she was like thirteen or fourteen tops. Worst of it, her hands were behind her back. In cuffs. Dad is a total goddamn—"
"Don't say more." Yuzu applied several cups of bleach to the image in her head. Good thing her mental bleach was a very strong brand. Better yet, her butterfly friend was sending her loving, protective feelings, and she wasn't imagining it.
Karin leaned back against the large stuffed elephant. "So there you go, the horrible truth. Glad to get that off my chest."
Only when Yuzu's heart settled down did she ask, "When was this?"
"Over a year ago." Why she hadn't snooped down there since.
"Who was it?" Yuzu asked. "Did you see her face?"
Karin kind of shrugged. "Not really. Kinda short messy hair, pigtails."
Such a description didn't fit anyone Yuzu knew… but this was a year ago, and the girl was at Karakura High. Fourteen tops. She would be in Ichigo's year. She had to be one of Ichigo's classmates. One of his friends. Had Ichigo known of this? The truth was getting more and more and more horrible. Something inside her was crumbling away.
Karin was silently chuckling. "And Dad has the nerve to stop us from talking to boys. Did you know Kaito wanted to hang out with me after school but Dad said no?" Kaito, a boy in their class. Sporty and sort of cute.
"No, I didn't." But Yuzu refused to believe her own father was some kind of evil two-face man. "He just worries over us, you know?" After what happened to Mother.
"Yeah, sure." Karin sounded half-believing, staring up at the window, at the moon. Hooks of light reflected off her dark-brown irises. As she sighed, Yuzu wasn't sure if something inside her pupils was glowing or if it was just moonlight.
Crack!
A wooden object was broken downstairs. A chair? The dinner table?
Yuzu winced. Why are you so angry, Dad?
Karin stood.
"Wait, what are you doing?" Yuzu took hold of Karin's hand.
"I'm going to find out what that butterfly means." So much strength in her voice. Like Ichigo.
Yuzu felt here face scrunch inward. "Are you sure? He told us to stay in our room."
"What's he going to do? Throw a plate at me?" Karin was joking, and she could easily dodge a flying plate. "Come on, Goat-Chin's got some explaining to do." She opened the door, walked out.
Yuzu's legs moved on their own, and she didn't stop them.
The upstairs hallway was sort of dusty, in need of a good vacuum. A strip of carpet under Ichigo's door was already caked in dust after mere days. An old drop of blood stood out just before carpet met wooden stairs, Yuzu meaning to clean that up for months. It was Ichigo's blood. He had gotten into another fight with punks—again. Since he had started working at that downtown supermarket, fights had been a regular event for him, and Yuzu had worried for him. Ironic that the real danger was here in the quiet suburbs. A monster from the afterlife.
Halfway down the stairs, Yuzu heard voices from the living room. Dad was talking with a woman… and a young teenage boy. Unlike Karin, Yuzu dared peeking around the corner, first spotting a broken chair, secondly a boy with spiky white hair in a black and white samurai costume, thirdly a beautiful blonde woman in an awfully immodest outfit.
The boy's vibrant-teal eyes lazily moved straight to Yuzu, and he said, "You two don't have to hide." Karin wasn't even in view. "We've got a lot to talk about."
"No, they don't," Dad said, then looked over his shoulder. "Back to your room, girls, these are just some old friends stopping by."
The blonde woman giggled, mouth politely covered. "Oh my, Isshin, you really haven't told them anything at all." She had the voice of a singer. Everything about her was beautiful. She could be a famous model or actor. "No wonder Rukia has to work so hard to crack him open."
Karin nearly ran into the living room. With fists out, she demanded, "You two are from the afterlife, aren't you? Are you talking about Ichigo? What are you doing to him?"
Afterlife.
The word struck bells in Yuzu's head.
And Dad was in goofy mode again. "Rangiku… don't say that. They're right here."
The white-haired boy glanced at the sisters, smirking. His eyes closed. He leaned against the wall, hands in pockets. "Nevermind that, you still have to explain yourself, Captain Shiba."
Captain Shiba? Yuzu walked in, noticed sheathed swords at their hips.
"Hey, don't ignore me, shorty," Karin said to the boy.
A facial tick squeezed the boy's eye. "Be quiet, kid," he said as if he were much older. He couldn't be older than thirteen.
"Answer me!" Karin stomped toward him.
Dad held her back by the arm. She didn't fight against the hold.
"Yes," Rangiku said, "we're from Soul Society. And yes, I was talking about your big brother. You can think of Rukia as… his very own guiding angel. He's safe with her." Rangiku giggled again.
So they were angels. Angels from the afterlife.
The answer seemed to placate Karin, somewhat.
The angsty boy cleared his throat. "Explain yourself, Captain Shiba."
In his mature voice, Dad said, "Firstly, I'm not Captain Shiba. It's Isshin Kurosaki, father of three. Got it, Toshiro?"
"Fine, Isshin," Toshiro drawled, "now explain yourself. We already know about Masaki."
Dad crossed his arms. "Where should I begin? I wasn't expecting to report this soon." His sigh was gravelly. "You may not believe this, but there are secretly traitors among your ranks."
Rangiku was frowning. "A secret order from the Head Captain?"
Then Yuzu was also frowning. Karin too. But Dad wasn't.
"Don't insult us," Toshiro began, "secret orders are stamped and signed by Central 46 in addition to the Head Captain. We are here under Central 46 direction."
"I see." Dad strolled to the window. He gazed out at the night sky, his back turned to the two angels. "Yuzu," he quietly said, "call your Hell Butterfly. Keep it with you at all times."
What a monumental U-turn. Yuzu had a million questions but simply nodded at that, mentally calling for her friendly butterfly. Come here, Dad says you can stay now. And like a good pet, it fluttered into sight, landed on her head.
Dad nodded.
"Nothing to say?" Toshiro grumbled. "Then it's as we assumed." His eyes dipped to the carpet.
"I told you," Dad said, "there are traitors among you."
No reaction from Toshiro or Rangiku.
It was as if Toshiro and Rangiku couldn't hear what he was saying. Chilly goosebumps tingling, Yuzu exchanged a look with Karin. Karin who was still frowning in a mix of confusion and worry, confirming Yuzu's thoughts. Dad also seemed to know there was a disjoint. Intuition suggested that the friendly butterfly was somehow a safeguard against what was happening.
Toshiro shook his head. "We'll let Central 46 decide what to do with you. For now, we'll keep watching. Rangiku, let's go."
"Alright, Captain."
Yuzu watched them walk toward the front door, an empty feeling in her stomach growing bigger by their step. These two angels were in trouble, and all she could do was watch, uselessly. A powerless girl. Every fiber of her soul wished she had the power to help them, these two guardians of the afterlife who were watching over her brother. Her right hand reached out. Her fingers trembled.
Tiny little wisps of light twirled on her fingernails and an old cut scar on her thumb from a cooking accident. Fear crushed her heart as her fingers started dissolving into dust, giving way to a second set of fingers beneath. Like a snake shedding its skin. A newborn butterfly discarding its chrysalis. Her new thumb was without scar. Her new skin was untouched by the sun. When the shedding reached her chest, a dozen black butterflies flew into reality, circling and dancing around her—a ceremony of sorts.
People were yelling.
The two beautiful angels were at her side.
Dad and Karin… Faces of terror itself.
Strands of her sandy hair fell to the carpet, also turning to dust. She touched her scalp; to her relief, her new head wasn't bald. To her happy surprise, her ugly pajamas had also been shed, replaced by a pleated skirt and a loose crop-top, same as the blonde angel's. But to her astonishment, a metal chain was swinging from her chest, attached to her chest; it too was turning to dust. When the chain was gone entirely, a light-headed sensation tugged on her spine, although not in a bad way. Her body felt weightless.
It was Rangiku who spoke first, her hand on Yuzu's shoulder: "I think…. I think you just died. Your Human body couldn't withstand your spirit energy."
Yuzu patted her legs, then her arms, then her belly and chest. She felt alive enough.
Author's Note: This chapter may be overhauled a lot, but the key ideas are there. Ichigo's going through bit of a training arc atm, so the current focus is a little more on supporting characters. Hopefully they're written well enough.
review responses
- Admittedly, Rukia's character is one which I've probably changed the most. Some of her personality is still there though.
- Mayuri definitely is a bit of a psycho. He's fun to write.