Chapter Text
"You remember the Kidō we've been practicing?" Nanao asked.
"Yes."
"And you know how to get in touch with me or your father if you run into trouble?"
"Yes."
"And you know which squads you must avoid?"
"Eleven and Twelve."
Sasoriza had been going to the Squad Thirteen barracks with her father for years now, but this would be her first time going there on her own. Papa said it would be good practice, and he gave her the 'mission' of checking up on uncle Jūshirō. She was told to come right back home and tell papa if Jūshirō was sick, but if he was fine… "You have my full permission to spend the day there, if you like," papa said.
Sasoriza just hoped that Nanao knew this, too.
She waved at Squad Eight's lieutenant, before taking a deep breath, adjusting her glasses, and starting on her journey.
She made her way to the Squad Thirteen barracks without any trouble, going ignored by the few Shinigami with whom she crossed paths. Upon arrival, she was let through the gates by Kiyone, who greeted her loudly, seemingly unfazed by the fact that Sasoriza was unaccompanied. Sasoriza walked to the captain's office, politely knocking on the door.
"Come in," she heard Jūshirō from the other side of the door.
Sasoriza slid the door open. Inside, Jūshirō was sitting at his desk, a brush in hand and a stack of papers in front of him. "Hi, uncle Jūshirō."
"Hello, Sasoriza," he greeted, smiling. He seemed lively and not at all ill — whatever nervousness Sasoriza might have felt about her lone trek melted away at the prospect of staying with Squad Thirteen for the day. "Is your father with you?"
"No, I came on my own," Sasoriza answered, quickly adding, "Papa said I could."
"I hope you didn't run into any trouble on the way here," Jūshirō said, a faint furrow of concern between his brows.
Sasoriza shook her head. "I was fine," she told him. "Are you feeling okay? Papa said to check up on you."
Jūshirō exhaled a quiet laugh. "I'm feeling just fine, thank you." He set his brush down and opened his desk drawer, pulling out a small paper bag. "Would you like to feed the fish?"
Sasoriza grinned and stepped over to him, letting him deposit the bag in her hands. "Thank you, uncle Jūshirō!"
Jūshirō smiled as Sasoriza turned and raced outside, nearly forgetting to close the door behind herself. She headed for the pond, where numerous koi fish of varying sizes could be seen swimming in the crystal clear water. Sasoriza had given a name to each and every one of the fish in uncle Jūshirō's pond — Peachsprite, Princess Stardust, Amethyst Angel, Lady Cinnamon… the list went on and on.
She began humming to herself, some song she heard her father hum on occasion — unbeknownst to her, it was actually quite the bawdy little tune, and Nanao would most likely have an aneurysm if she heard the young Sasoriza humming it.
Spreading the food on the water's surface for the eager fish, she heard someone exclaim, "Woah, are those koi?!"
Nearly dropping the bag of fish food in the water, Sasoriza whipped around, finding herself face to face with a boy her own age. He had wild, black hair, and eyebrows that looked like they belonged on a full grown man.
"Um, y-yes," Sasoriza answered, taken aback by the boy's sudden appearance.
The boy walked up beside her, peering into the pond. Hesitantly, Sasoriza held the bag of fish food out to him, and he reached inside, tossing some into the water. The fish happily gobbled up every last bit of food, and the boy let out a soft, "Ohhh."
Sasoriza watched the fish for a moment longer, before turning to the boy and asking, "Um, who are you?"
The boy turned to look at her, then pointed a thumb at his chest. "My name's Ganju Shiba!" he told her. "I'm Lieutenant Kaien Shiba's brother!"
"Oh," Sasoriza said. "I'm Sasoriza Kyōraku. Uh… Captain Kyōraku's daughter."
Ganju's smile faltered slightly. Sasoriza didn't see what the big deal was — she was just sharing what she had in common with him.
"Are you going to become a Shinigami, too?" Sasoriza asked.
Ganju immediately perked back up. "Yeah, I'm gonna be the best Shinigami in the whole Shiba family!"
"Second best, baby brother."
Ganju yelped, losing his balance and nearly falling into the pond. Sasoriza looked up to see Kaien standing behind his brother, a big grin on his face.
"Don't call me thaaaat," Ganju groaned.
"I'll stop when you get a little taller," Kaien said, reaching down and ruffling Ganju's hair. He then glanced at Sasoriza. "He's not being a bother, is he?"
Sasoriza shook her head, ignoring Ganju's grumbling about nicknames and height. "No, sir."
Kaien smiled at her, then turned his attention back to his younger brother. "I've got some stuff to do, so try to stay out of trouble, okay?"
"Okaaay," Ganju said.
Kaien turned around and headed toward the captain's office, leaving the two children alone.
Sasoriza asked Ganju the first thing that popped into her head: "Do you know any Kidō?"
Ganju raised a brow at her. "Do you?"
"Only a little bit," she told him sheepishly. "But I could show you."
Ganju put one hand on his hip, and the other against his chin. "Hmm… I guess you could," he said. "If you're good enough, I might show you a super secret Shiba family technique!"
"Okay!" Without even thinking about it, Sasoriza grabbed Ganju by the hand and led him to Squad Thirteen's training ground, which was unoccupied at that moment.
She released his hand, then held her palm out in front of her, facing upwards. "Bakudō number two, Hotaru." An orb of white light appeared above her hand.
Ganju blinked. "That's… kinda lame."
Sasoriza frowned, cradling the orb in her hands. "It would be better if it was dark out." With a quick flick of her hands, the orb dissipated.
"Don't you know any offensive Kidō?" Ganju asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Well… there is one," Sasoriza hesitantly said.
She turned to face one of the nearby targets. Holding both hands in front of her, she whispered a quick incantation, then said, "Hadō number four, Byakurai!"
A thin, pale blue spark whipped out from her hands, licking the target. It was hardly but a small shock in comparison to a Byakurai that a trained Shinigami would be able to pull off, but it still left a tiny scorch mark on the wooden target.
Ganju ran over to her. "Coooool!"
Sasoriza turned to him with a grin. "Can I see your secret Shiba technique now?"
"I guess," he said, mouth twitching with a barely concealed grin. "C'mon."
Sasoriza followed Ganju to the far side of the training ground, where there was a small cliff, just a little taller than the average adult. She watched as he put his hand against the cliff and traced a spiral into it.
"Turn to sand," he said, brows knit together in concentration. "Seppa!"
Immediately, a circle of earth crumbled into sand, pouring down the cliff and leaving a perfectly round hole.
"Wow," Sasoriza said, stepping closer to inspect the hole. "I've never seen a spell that can do something like that." She turned to look at him. "Can you teach me?"
"Nuh-uh, it's a Shiba-only power!" Ganju crossed his arms. "And I'm the only Shiba that can do it!"
"So, you came up with it yourself?" Sasoriza asked.
Ganju grinned, opened his mouth — then, his smile fell and his shoulders slumped. "No, my dad taught it to me."
Sasoriza nearly asked how he was the only Shiba that could use Seppa if he learned it from his dad, before she put two and two together. Oh…
"Um… well, Nanao taught me all the Kidō I know," she said, changing the subject "She's my dad's lieutenant, but she's also kind of like my big sister."
Ganju snorted. "My big sister never teaches me anything," he groaned. "She's too busy being mean and scary."
Sasoriza giggled. "Nanao can be scary sometimes, too."
Ganju opened his mouth to respond, when the two children heard, "Ganju?"
They looked up to see Squad Thirteen's third seat, Miyako, standing at the edge of the training ground.
"Hi, aunt Miyako," Ganju said, walking over to her. Sasoriza followed close behind.
Miyako smiled. "Some of the Shinigami are about to sit down for lunch," she told them. "Would you two like to join us?"
"Yes, please!" Sasoriza immediately said, making a break for where she knew the Shinigami of Squad Thirteen usually took lunch.
"Wait up!" Ganju called after her.
--
"Did you have a good time at the Squad Thirteen barracks today?" Shunsui asked his adoptive daughter as they sat down for dinner.
"Yep!" Sasoriza answered. "I got to meet Kaien's brother!"
"Well, don't keep me waiting," Shunsui said with a smile. "Tell me all about it."
Sasoriza proceeded to regale him with all the details of her day, starting first and foremost with Jūshirō's condition, then how she met Ganju, the two children's Kidō practice ("Don't tell Nanao," Sasoriza whispered — Shunsui gave her a conspiratorial wink.), lunch with the Shinigami of Squad Thirteen, and the arrival of one furious(ly worried) Nanao.
"Next time, remind me to fill her in on what's going on," Shunsui said.
Sasoriza perked up, looking at him with wide, hopeful eyes. "Next time?" she repeated. "You mean I can go on my own again? Kaien said he was going to bring Ganju with him again day after tomorrow, can I go then?"
"I don't see why not," Shunsui told her.
Watching as Sasoriza grinned ear to ear, Shunsui decided he was going to have to give Kaien one of his best bottles of sake — it was the least he could do for the lieutenant for making his daughter so happy.