as years pass | kyoraku shunsui

twenty - 'love'

When the day of the winter festival finally arrived, morale in the Gotei 13 was the highest it had been in quite some time. Since Yamamoto had first announced his idea for such an event, most every Soul Reaper who knew of it had been excitedly awaiting this very day.

Of course, there was one singular division that would not be taking part in the festival. Kigango Kenpachi's Eleventh Company would be completely absent due to their captain's less than stellar opinion of the whole affair. No man dared to try and sneak in under his nose.

Shuriken found herself situated in the mess hall Yamamoto had assigned to her and her companions as they prepared the feast for the upcoming night. While the majority of the food would be situated in the ballroom, there would also be a smaller buffet area available for those who chose not to attend the dance.

Unohana had given Shuriken complete creative control in the kitchen, something that Shuriken found somewhat awkward due to Unohana's older age and higher rank. However, as soon as Unohana had entered their make-shift baker's room, the Fourth Captain had made it abundantly clear that Shuriken was in charge.

"How's the drink crew doing?" Shuriken asked as Taro approached her. The man had been given the duty of being Shuriken's middle-man during their preparations. "Did Sasakibe fix the, ahem, 'situation'?"

The event in question was a horrible mishap that involved some of Shuriken's subordinates misplacing vital ingredients for the party beverages. It was Lieutenant Sasakibe that Shuriken chose to resolve the problem.

"Yes, ma'am. They're back on course," Taro reported. "Lieutenant Sasakibe has asked me to inform you that everything is going according to schedule now and that they should be finished right on time."

"Perfect. Can you check on Lieutenant Yamada's appetizer group for me?"

"Absolutely."

-

Despite the complications that were bound to occur at one point or another, by the time all of the food had been prepared, Shuriken was quite proud of the way things turned out. In fact, they had actually managed to finish with an hour to go before the festival began.

"You know," Shuriken spoke as she stood beside Unohana, watching their subordinates move the buffets to their proper locations. "I really wish Kirio was here to cook with us today. We were able to create masterpieces when we got together."

Although Shuriken and Hikifune weren't ever the closest they could've been, they had bonded on more than one occasion over their love for food. Hikifune's abilities as a Soul Reaper were centered around cooking and while the same couldn't be said about Shuriken, they were both very good at what they did.

In fact, the special soup recipe that Shuriken had chosen for the day's festivities was one that Hikifune had created.

"Most certainly," Unohana gave a soft chuckle as she looked over at Shuriken. "It's a shame that we were never able to have the two of you work together in such a capacity."

"I think so, too. But hey, she's off to bigger and better things now. I can't say I blame her," Shuriken would've taken the opportunity to move to the Royal Guard too, at one point in her life. Now, though, she couldn't imagine life outside of the First Division.

"Her promotion worked out well for you too, didn't it?" Unohana hummed. When Shuriken caught her eye, the older woman smiled. "It's hard to say whether or not Captain Urahara would've come into your life, had Kirio never been promoted. That the two of you were brought together is a blessing in itself."

The grin that crept onto Shuriken's face was unavoidable. Regardless of the drama that had accompanied her relationship with Urahara, Shuriken cared deeply for him. Having Urahara in her life was for the better; he really, truly gave Shuriken the sort of love and stability that she needed (and craved) so desperately.