Kurosaki Enka had given up everything to be with her older brother. She lived as a human, became an aunt to his three children. She loved and lost alongside them. But one day, a shinigami from her past showed up and sent her down a path she never th...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"About the kid"
"Hmm?"
I gazed down at Kukaku, who had her head resting on my lap. We were in her bedroom, enjoying some sake and catching up while the kids were working on the Reishūkaku. While it was easy enough for me, since I had years to learn perfect control over my reiryoku, the teens hadn't. Ichigo especially, while he had an insane amount of it, he didn't have any control over it.
"The orange haired one"
"Ichigo?"
She hummed a confirmation. "Is he yours?"
I ended up choking on my saliva. "W-what? God no. I'm not old enough to have a kid that old"
"Isshin's then?"
"Obviously. My kid would be way cuter" I scoffed.
"Is he the reason you left?"
Her question caught me off guard. I spared a glance down at her, and the expression she had on her face reminded me of when she was a child. Kukaku was always a energetic child, always smiling, always trying to make people happy. But after Ganju's birth and the resulting loss of her mother, I had been her only female relative. With me, she was alot more open. And it seemed like that hadn't changed.
"No. But he was one of the reasons I stayed there"
"Then why did you leave?"
"Isshin, of course. Him leaving Seireitei.. it was just so out of character. I had to find him, find out why he'd just leave me... and when I did find him, I couldn't leave him behind"
"Why not? Isshin was a captain. He could have taken care of himself"
"That's the thing... Isshin didn't have powers anymore. I had to stay to keep him safe. I had already lost two brothers.. I didn't want to lose another.."
It went silent after that. All the losses our family was hanging over our heads. It started with my mother, who died in childbirth. Then my father, a shinigami who was slain by a hollow. My sister in law, Kukaku's mother, died from an illness not long after Ganju's birth. My brother, their father, followed soon after, another victim to a hollow... then Kaien.
There were only four of us left now. And we'd been split between two worlds for a long time. It broke my heart, we were all very close once. Kukaku was my baby sister, and Ganju was just my baby as we all helped raise him after the death of his parents. Now he doesn't even recognise me.
"This is depressing" Kukaku sighed.
"Tell me about it" I reached over to the jug of sake and filled our glasses again. "Let's drink"
Kukaku grinned and sat up, taking her glass before she knocked it back. I laughed softly, but then copied her actions. Soul Society sake was still the best I had ever tasted, bittersweet memories and all.
