Pendulum - The Butterfly Effect (Bleach FF)

13: An Unexpected Occasion

Winter seemed to get gradually worse and worse over the next few weeks. My enthusiasm for the snow had been overwritten by excitement to begin training; So when the weather didn't improve at the end of February, which was the general time of year for winter to fade out, I was certain that the karma was out to jinx me.

One week at the beginning of February the snow was so deep that no one could open their doors without it spilling inside.

I had been passing through the halls of the manor as a cheerfully unsuspecting Shin had opened the main door on his way into the town and been swallowed by an avalanche falling on top of him.

He had come sailing magnificently past me as I descended the stairs, waving his arms and squealing. Admittedly this was hilarious, but I got assigned to clean up duty as a punishment for laughing instead of helping him.

Every time Yuu had seen her father since then she had done an impression that looked something like a puffer fish with flailing frog legs.

So, I was stuck indoors once again. My injuries had finally healed but I couldn't even send mail by to Hatsu via carrier pigeons due to the gale force winds and not being able to leave the Manor.

In this time, I took to controlling my spiritual energy in my dismally boring bedroom again seeing as there was nothing else to do. Not that I really needed to, I could summon the light instantly now.

I also found, entirely by accident, that I could stand on walls and vertical surfaces. One evening the door to my bedroom seemed to be jammed shut by ice. I rested one foot on it and pulled, but it didn't work. Apparently subconsciously, I rested the other foot and found myself standing vertically without support, my feet glowing a pale white. Then I realized I had been turning the handle the wrong way and pretended the whole thing never happened.

I also once swore that in my deeply concentrated meditation state that I had sensed Granny Chie passing my bedroom via the inside corridor, which we were now using instead of the outside hallways.

I wasn't sure if this meant that I Granny Chie had a small amount of spirit energy, allowing me to sense her, or if my basic sense were just sharpening with practice.

In Mid-April winter finally ended, more than a month later than forecasted.

I awoke one morning and got a real shock. My outside door was ajar as if someone had recently entered. A sliver of warm spring sunlight crept through the gap... onto a huge pile boxes at the foot of my bed, wrapped neatly in colorful, patterned washi paper. I was completely bewildered for a minute until I read a small card attached to one of the gifts:

Happy birthday Kimiko, With lots of love, from Yoshino.

"Birthday? What the-" then it dawned on me. This time last year, I had been waking up in this very same room for the first time. I remembered Shinsetsu's exact words at dinner that night.

"I guess you could call it a birthday, today is the day you joined us."

I got up and opened my door fully. The day wasn't quite the same as last year. The winter had been so harsh that many plants, crops, and flowers had been killed, and the cherry blossom in my garden was only just beginning to show signs of bloom. But the warmth of the sun was the same as that time. "Today... Is my birthday..." I mumbled. Then smiled brightly and began to unwrap my presents. I had so many thoughts flowing through my head as I unwrapped the smallest ones first. I soon found myself having a small identity crisis.

Was today really my birthday? It couldn't be my real birthday; I couldn't remember anything from my previous life so how could I know when I had actually been born... Did I really deserve all these presents?