As Sakiya returned to the apartment she briefly caught the sense of someone else she once knew fairly well. She had a split second before she found herself blocking an oncoming fist with her forearm. She sent a kick at her opponent's knee, causing him to back away from her, his gaze was down but she knew that wavy blond mop of hair anywhere. Without looking up he vanished from her line of sight, reappearing behind her and trying to trap her with a blade to the front of her neck. She quickly snapped her head back. The back of her head collided with his mouth, she took the brief moment to kick his knee hard enough to hear the bone crack .She twirled around and delivered a palm thrust to the man's chest, sending him back.
He held up his empty palms to her in surrender, a light chuckle coming from him as he raised his gaze to meet hers for the first time, his crimson eyes dancing with delight as he proclaimed, "you've definitely improved, Lady Sakiya."
With that, he lowered one hand to his broken knee, and raised another to his mouth, both of his palms emitting a light green glow from them. She scoffed as she reminded him, "I'm not the one who spent twelve years frozen in time, Uncle Kiyoshi."
"Clearly," The Shinigami agreed as the glow faded from his hands and he rose back to his feet, no signs of the previous injuries in his appearance or movement. She smiled as she observed him for a moment then asked the question she had wanted to ask for a while now, since he'd been revived in fact,"How does it look for mom and Minori?"
He ran a hand through his hair as he admitted, "I don't know yet. Minori is most likely going to be able to be revived as long as we can get her in a body of water large enough to accelerate her healing—but your mom's the tricky one."
"Because of her nature," Sakiya concluded.
Kiyoshi nodded and placed a sympathetic hand on her shoulder as he assured her, "but you've still got me. Your Dad's here now, along with a few others that are very skilled fighters and some skilled healers as well. I'll be taking the healers to see your mom soon. With any luck we'll be able to figure out a solid method to revive her."
Sakiya nodded her head a little as she conceded, "you're right. We may have to complete this without her."
Kiyoshi blinked as Sakiya shrugged his hand off of her shoulder and headed towards the washroom while announcing she was going to take a bath. The blond man ran a hand through his loose curly blond locks and gave a small sigh.
He then took notice of the dark skinned boy who was bringing in basket of laundry from the balcony. He observed him before approaching the teenager and inquiring, "You live here?"
Iwabe regarded the blond haired man for a moment before nodding and adding, "and you're Kiyoshi. Sakiya told me you're like an uncle to her, but you're her mother's cousin."
Kiyoshi nodded a little as he added, "how much do you know?"
Iwabe shrugged a little as he recounted, "I know Sakiya is born of two strong Shinigami bloodlines. I know her mom was an elite lieutenant of the sixth squad, and her paternal side made up the top three ranks of the sixth squad as well. I know before she was a lieutenant her mother was the third seat of the second squad, and when she was sent off world she was about to attend the inauguration ceremony to become the second squad captain. I don't know much about the actual mission her mom was sent on."
'That's far more than any human should know,' Kiyoshi thought as he ran a hand through his loose curls again. Iwabe was now sitting on the couch, folding the laundry. He hesitated before adding, "I also know that once your mission is over, I'll likely never see her again."
At this Kiyoshi regarded the boy before asking, "Who is she to you?"
Iwabe's dark eyes met the man's red eyes while admitting, "I call her 'big sis', but if I'm being honest—I suppose she's more like a mother to me."
Kiyoshi nodded his head while replying, "I see. What about your real parents?"
"My Dad died in the war before I was born, my mom passed away when I was a toddler. Sakiya witnessed it, and from that moment on she protected me," Iwabe answered.
'Damn. No wonder Sakiya intervened. It's against our laws but one of our oaths is to protect humans even if it means our life,' Kiyoshi reasoned with himself. He smiled a little while offering, "she's a pretty compassionate girl."
Iwabe gave a small nod of his head in agreement. He stood up with the folded laundry and headed towards his room. Kiyoshi regarded him before asking, "why are you doing the laundry, kid?"
His response was without hesitation, "She usually does it—but if she isn't going to be here soon I may as well get used to doing my own laundry. Who else is going to do it?"
From inside the bathroom the dark haired girl caught her trembling lower lip in her teeth. He saw her as more of a mother than a sister? Well, she could understand that. She had potty trained him, taught him life and combat skills. She'd taught him to be courageous, tenacious, taught him about humility, and that while he may want to help everyone a person who is about to die will not be able to help anyone.
As much as she tried to convince herself otherwise, the truth was glaringly obvious every time that Iwabe talked about her leaving. It was going to be one of the most difficult things she'd ever do, and yet she knew she had no choice but to leave once the mission completed. She was a direct descendent of the Kuchiki clan, the first noble family of Soul Society. Even if she was a sworn member of the Guard squads and convinced the Captain Commander to let her stay, eventually, she'd have to leave.
She would be called upon to lead the Kuchiki clan one day, unless her father had a legitimate heir. That was the one thing she still hoped for, but her hope was waning. She had neither seen or heard any evidence that he was married and thus it was unlikely he had any other heirs. That crushing reality weighed on her as if an entire building had been placed upon her shoulders. She'd love to see Iwabee become a Jonin, watch him become a strong and famous Shinobi, but the odds were against her. She felt her lip tremble as the lump in her throat grew. Then she bowed her head and watched as the shed tears fell onto the soft pink carpet. One good thing, the light colour and absorbency of the fabric would hide that they had ever fallen.
AN: I know, it's not my best. Sorry for that. I've spent most of the month sick, the 13th was the anniversary of the passing of someone very dear to me, and the 25th was their birthday. So, a lot was going on and writing wasn't a big priority. I'm gonna aim to do better in the coming months.
