Isshin pats Yuuki on the back while she cries her heart out. After a while she calms down a bit and resumes on writing.
~Thank you, but are you sure about this?~
"Yes. There's no way I'd let a good little girl like you wander off the streets. Plus, you're so cute that bad people might want take you away again like last time.", Ishhin said.
~Then I promise to be good and not to burden you anymore than this. I'll also help around the house, it's the least I can do.~
"We never thought of you as a burden right, Ichigo? And aren't you a little too young to help around the house?", Isshin asked.
"That's right, maybe when you get a bit older.", Ichigo said.
"You can call me 'dad' from now on. So then, let's leave at that for now, you two it's time for bed. Yuuki, I'll take you to your room.", Isshin said.
Yuuki stands in front of them and bows at them politely.
~Please take care of me from now on!~
Isshin and Ichigo smiles at her.
"Now then, shall we?", Isshin asked.
Yuuki nods at him in response.
"Goodnight dad, Yuuki.", Ichigo said as he yawns.
He retires to his room first. Yuuki follows Isshin closely behind as he leads her to her new room. Isshin stops in front of a certain door and opens it. He gestures for her to enter and Yuuki does so.
"Here it is, this will be your room from now on. I know it may take you a while to settle in so I'll leave you alone for now. You still have a slight fever and we still have things to talk about tomorrow so rest well.", Isshin said.
Yuuki looks around the room taking in its detail. She straightens herself as she faces Isshin and bows at him in gratitude.
~Hai. Oyasumi nasai... tou-san.~
"Oyasumi.", Isshin said.
He leaves the room with a smile on his face while Yuuki went straight to bed to get some rest.
(For now I'll do my best to recover quickly. I don't want to trouble them any longer), she thought and slowly closes her eyes.
*******
Yuuki fully recovered after a few days and is ready to help around the house.
(First I need to tidy up this room.), she thought and stretches her arms.
She started with the closet and organizes her clothes. Over the span of five days, she has been using them, yet she doesn't remember Isshin buying some. She wondered who they belonged to since they were already there when she first entered the room. Deciding to ask about it later, she continues to clean up and organizes the desk's drawer. Inside, she saw a family picture with a couple of photo albums. Isshin, Ichigo, beautiful woman and twin girls she hasn't seen before.
(I've been here for almost a week now but how come I haven't seen them yet? I should ask Isshin-san later, I'd really like to meet them.), Yuuki thought.
"The twins on the photo are Yuzu and Karin and the woman is Masaki, my wife.", a familiar voice said from behind.
Startled, Yuuki whirled around and saw Isshin leaning by the door frame.
"Masaki died over two years ago. Yuzu and Karin went missing eleven months ago.", Isshin continued as he approaches her and takes the photo from her hands.
Silence fills the room as he gazes at it with a sad expression on his face in which the young girl didn't fail to notice.
"About eleven months ago, we were supposed to have a family vacation. But then a sudden mysterious storm sunk the ship we were on. Only a handful survived including Ichigo and I. The other hundreds of passengers were never seen again along with Yuzu and Karin.", Isshin said as tears glide down his face.
Yuuki wipes his tears away and hasn't noticed that she too is on the verge of crying. She knows the pain of losing someone all too well. Even though she might not remember anything but that's what her instincts tell her.
Isshin hugs her tight and they both comfort each other. After a while they both calmed down. He was the first one to pull away from the hug.
"But I still haven't lost hope yet. The truth is, I can see spirits and if they're really gone then this is the only place they can return to. But after almost a year, they still haven't shown themselves so I guess they're still alive somewhere.", Isshin paused for a while. "That's what I want to believe in. But to be honest, I don't know anything. But I still haven't lost hope finding them alive and well.", he said with a sad look on his face.
He stares at the floor with a frown on his face for a short while and took a deep inhalation of breath to compose himself. When he turns his attention back to Yuuki, he was calmer.
"This will be secret between us, okay? Don't tell Ichigo specially the part I cried. Now then, breakfast is ready go wake Ichigo up.", Isshin said.
Yuuki nods at him in response and leaves the room to wake Ichigo up. Afterwards, the trio eat breakfast happily together.
"Oh yeah, Yuuki starting next week you'll be attending school. There's a Nursery School near Ichigo's school. I'll arrange everything so when you start you'll be using the name Kurosaki Yuuki. I know you've only been here for almost a week and still settling in but you need to start school to make new friends. You'll get used to life here in no time.", Isshin said.
"Dad, I thought we're going to a specialist to check on her once she fully recovers?", Ichigo asked.
"Oh yeah, good thing you reminded me, we'll go tomorrow. Ichigo, wanna come too?", Isshin asked.
"Sure. I'll come home right away after school.", Ichigo said and smiles.
Yuuki felt really blessed knowing that she found such good people.
~I can't thank you enough for all the good things you've done to me.~
She always carry a notebook around with her to communicate.
"That's what families do.", Isshin said with a light smile on his face.
"That's right. This is also your home now so you better get used to it. Dad said we're a family now so you can call me onii-san.", Ichigo said with a smile on his face.
~Okay, Ichi-niisan.~
Ichigo chuckles.
"Just onii-san is fine. If you still put 'san' then it might sound like you're counting...", he sheepishly said.
Ichigo and Isshin both laugh. For the first time in a while, a small smile formed on Yuuki's features.
"Now then, you two finish your breakfast. We have a lot of things to do today." Isshin said.
"What do you mean?", Ichigo asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Don't you remember? 'Every Sunday is family day', so you two go get changed, we're going out!", Isshin enthusiastically said.
The kids finish their breakfast before rushing to their rooms to get changed.
Ichigo was the first one to come down. He wears a simple red long sleeved t-shirt with a large '15' on the back and jeans.
"Where are we going anyway?", he asked Isshin.
"We're going explore around town and have some fun while we're at it.", Isshin said.
"Explore? Why would you want to explore all of a sudden?", Ichigo asked, puzzled.
"Yuuki has been cooped up in here for days. So I thought it would be nice if she might want to go out and have some fun. Plus, she might remember something or might see something that's familiar while we're at it.", Isshin said.
"Oh, I see. That would make sense.", Ichigo said.
Yuuki came down wearing a blue green one piece dress with floral patterns and a yellow headband. She also has a cute rabbit printed pouch where she keeps her notebook and pen.
"You look really cute. Anything you wear looks really good on you.", Isshin commented making the young girl blush. "If you two are ready then let's get going!", he cheerfully said.
Urged by Isshin, the family of three went around town. They first went to have a glimpse at the school where Yuuki will be attending. Next they went to the park, then the shopping district and lastly the amusement park. Ichigo and Isshin noticed that Yuuki wasn't having fun that's why they decided to take her to the amusement park.
"Okay, you two wait for me here I'll just go get us something to eat.", Isshin said.
After his dad left, Ichigo tries to make conversation with Yuuki so she won't get bored.
"Hey, Yuuki have you been to an amusement park before?", he asked.
At Ichigo's question, Yuuki writes something on the notebook that she always carry around.
~I don't know, I can't remember but I think I haven't yet.~
"Eh? Why'd you think so?"
~Everything here seems new to me, I'm not very familiar with things around here... I don't know... it's a bit hard to explain.~
"Then you must a foreigner. No...you know Japanese so you must be from a province perhaps?", Ichigo mused. "It must be tough. Is that why you've been down all day? Because you're not familiar with the environment?", he asked.
Yuuki responds at him with a small nod.
"Then dad's idea to go out wasn't so bad afterall. You'll get familiar with everything eventually and this is just the first step!", Ichigo said to cheer her up. "Uhh... Excuse me for a bit, stay here I'll be right back.", he said.
~Where are you going?~
"Bathroom.", Ichigo whispered. "Don't go anywhere and wait for us here, okay?", he said.
Yuuki nods at him in response, seeing this, Ichigo left. She looks around the crowd while waiting for them.
(Wow... this is my first time seeing so many people..... I guess.), she thought.
Among the crowd, her eyes suddenly widen in surprise upon seeing a familiar figure walking amongst the crowd.
(Isn't that..... Shiro! I'm sure of it!), she thought without taking her eyes off him.
Without thinking, she quickly follows after him. However, he seemed to be in a rush so she wasn't able to catch up to him with her little legs and eventually lost sight of him. She stands on the spot where she last saw him and looks around then realized that she's already lost. She stood there for several minutes thinking of what to do when a beautiful woman with voluptuous body walking towards her but doesn't seem to have noticed her yet.
"Where'd taichou gone off to this time?", the woman said and sighs.
She looks around and finally notices the young girl all alone so she decided to approach her.
"Ka-Kawaii! Hi there! What are you doing here all alone? Are you waiting for someone?", she asked.
Yuuki looks down at her feet sadly.
(Oh no! I've caused trouble again, they might be looking for me. I really should get back, but I don't know how.), she thought.
The woman crouches down to get a closer look at the young girl.
"There, there don't be sad... here!", she said as she shoves a stuffed toy to her.
Yuuki stares at the white rabbit plushie for a while and smiles lightly reminding her of Toushirou by the expression on its face. She turns her attention back to the woman grinning at her.
Then the woman's phone began ringing so she stands up to answer the phone.
"Hello, Matsumoto here.", she said.
"MATSUMOTO, YOU IDIOT! WHERE THE HECK ARE YOU?!!", the person on the other line yelled as Rangiku inched the phone away from her ear.
"I'm still at the amusement park, I already finished what you asked me to so I played a shooting game and won a stuffed toy that looks just like you!", she jovially said.
"We came here to investigate! Not to play! Meet me at the front gates, now!"
"But taichou, since we're here anyway why not have a some-", Rangiku started but got cut mid-sentence.
"No! Get in here immediately!"
"Yeah, yeah I'm coming.", Rangiku said as she sighs.
She ends the call and turns her attention back to Yuuki.
"I'm sorry little girl I have to go, but I can't leave you all alone like this..... ahh! I know! Why don't you come with me? I'm on my way to meet someone maybe we can look for your parents while we're at it!", Rangiku cheerfully said and stretches her hand towards Yuuki with a smile on her face.
(She doesn't seem to be a bad person...), Yuuki thought as she takes her hand with slight hesitation.
"Okay then, let's go!!", Rangiku enthusiastically said.
While on their way to meet up with Toushirou, Rangiku keeps getting distracted with everything around her clearly enjoying herself. As they walk around, Yuuki saw a quick glimpse of Isshin and Ichigo frantically talking to a staff member so she immediately ran towards them. Rangiku failed to notice her as she finally met up with Toushirou.
"Taichou!", she cheerfully called as she waves her hand to get his attention.
(*cross popping veins*) "What took you so long?!! You better have a good explanation for making me wait for almost an hour!", Toushirou said with an irritated look on his face.
"S-Sorry taichou it's just that... I saw this cute little girl all alone and was about to cry so I gave her the stuffed toy that looked just like you to cheer her up! Then I realized she was lost so I'm helping her and brought her here so we can look together!", she frantically said.
"Where?", Toushirou asked raising an eyebrow and crosses his arms in front of his chest.
"Eh? She's right.....", Rangiku started.
She looks around for the little girl but she was nowhere in sight.
(*sweat drop*) ".... here?", she finished.
She nervously turns her attention back to Toushirou and braces herself to get an earful lecture.
"You could have just taken her to the security staff! For sure her parents were out looking for her and reported there! Then meet me here right away!", Toushirou scolded.
"Ehhh? That's no fun...", Rangiku whined.
(*cross popping veins*) "Shut up and let's go! We wasted too much time already!", Toushirou said.
"What about the kid?", Rangiku asked.
"We got more important things to tend to than your skeptical excuses.", Toushirou said.
Rangiku gave up knowing that anything she says will fall on deaf ears and heaves a deep sigh.
At the same time:
Yuuki saw Isshin and Ichigo frantically talking to a security staff and immediately runs towards them. Ichigo was the first one to notice her and runs towards her.
"Yuuki!", he yelled.
This immediately caught Isshin's attention and saw Ichigo met up with Yuuki. He quickly runs up to the two.
"Yuuki! Where have you gone off to?! Did you know how worried we were?!", Isshin said.
~I'm very sorry! I shouldn't have wandered off on my own like that.~
"No. I should be the one to apologize I shouldn't have left you alone in the first place. I'm sorry.", Ichigo dejectedly said.
~It wasn't Ichi-nii's fault! You told me to stay but I disobeyed!~
"Alright! Break it up you two. The more important thing is that Yuuki is back with us. Now let's go home." Isshin said.
Then Ichigo notices the plushie she was holding.
"Where'd you get that from?", he asked as he points finger at it.
~A kind, beautiful lady gave it to me and helped me look for you.~
"I see... so where is she so we could thank her.", Isshin said.
Yuuki looks around but Rangiku was already nowhere in sight.
~She was in a hurry so I guess she left.~
"That's too bad then, we didn't even get the chance to thank her.", Isshin said.
******
Meanwhile Toushirou and Rangiku are somewhere in the middle of Karakura Town's shopping district.
"What are we doing here anyway?", Rangiku asked.
"There was some kind of space disturbance here a several days ago. It was only a minor scale so Soul Society didn't put much interest in it at first.", Toushirou calmly said.
They arrived at the spot where Yuuki got transported several days ago and saw the bright golden light still lingering there. Normal people can't see it.
"This is the important matter you were saying?", Rangiku asked.
"Yeah, I was near this area, maybe even passed by here when it happened but I haven't noticed anything unusual...... and this light seems familiar.", Toushirou said.
He remembered the time when his body got covered by the same light when Yuuki touched him. He was deep in thought for a moment until,
"Taichou?", Rangiku called.
Toushirou snapped out from his thoughts and turns his attention back to her.
"Anyway, ever since then, the appearance of Chained Hollows has increased particularly in this area. So this needs to be closed up right away.", he said.
"So you think the sudden appearances of Chained Hollows and this light are somehow connected?", Rangiku asked.
"Yes. But I can't make any conclusions just yet, I think there's more to it.", Toushirou said and turns to Rangiku. "I'll leave this up to you.", he said and walks past her.
"Wait! Where are you going?", Rangiku asked.
"I'll find the Chained Hollows and finish them off.", Toushirou said and heads off.
"Okay, be careful.", Rangiku said.
~ ¤ ~ ¤ ~ ¤ ~ ¤ ~ ¤ ~ ¤ ~ ¤ ~ ¤ ~ ¤ ~
Japanese words used:
Hai (はい) - Yes / Okay
Oyasumi (お休み) - good night
Otou / Tou (御父) - father
-san (さん) (honorific) - Mr. / Mrs. / Ms.
Ichi (一) - one
Ni (二) - two
San (三) - three
Taichou (隊長) - commanding officer / squad leader
Kawaii (可愛い) - cute / adorable / charming / lovely / pretty