Growing Up Hisagi

A/N: I know I shouldn't be starting another multi-part, but I just got this into my head. It shouldn't be long, though, if I keep to the structure. Upon proofreading this part, I really hate it, but I don't have the patience to re-write it. Hopefully the others will be better.

There will eventually be smut in this fic (and lots of it, hopefully), but this part is just a prologue. But you can see what's coming up from my handy table of contents. Each part will be separated by two or three decades.

Table of Contents
1 ........ Prologue
2 ........ Masturbation
3 ........ Wet Dreams
4 ........ Sex


Prologue (or "How Shuhei came to live with his hero.")


Mashiro was doing something ridiculous again. Kensei couldn't see what she was doing, exactly, but it was clear that whatever it was it was wasting valuable time. He felt an eyebrow twitch as he approached her. It was already noon. She shouldn't still be in the barracks; she should be in the ninth division headquarters, attending to her duties. He made his way past the dormitories that housed the unseated officers, into the green space that Mashiro was currently sitting in.

"Mashiro," he said. "What the hell do you think you're doing here?"

"I'm on my lunch break," Mashiro replied, looking up at him and pouting a little bit. "I've gotta eat, you know."

Kensei's eyebrow twitched even more. "Forget a lunch break, you never showed up to headquarters today at all!"

That's when Kensei noticed there was something in Mashiro's lap. Or rather, someone. There was a little boy sitting in her lap and facing her, his skinny legs draped on each side of Mashiro's waist. Mashiro was cooing at him and squeezing his cheeks. Surprisingly, the boy didn't seem to mind, and was perfectly fine with letting her do so.

"Mashiro, let go of that kid," Kensei said, his face set in his default half-scowl. "And, Kid, don't let her do that to you. Have some pride as a man."

"Aww," Mashiro said, standing up and carrying the kid with her, "but look how cute he is, Kensei!"

She was holding the kid underneath his armpits, and she all but thrust him towards Kensei. The kid was dangling in the air now, his face just a foot away from Kensei's face, his eyes glowing as he looked at the older man. Now that Kensei had a good look at him, he realized the kid looked familiar. Spiky, messy hair that formed a crow's nest around his face, big eyes, and big, round cheeks. He was that snot-nosed kid that Kensei had saved from that huge hollow yesterday.

"Hisagi, was it?"

Shuhei's eyes seemed to light up even more as Kensei said his name. He nodded as a small smile spread over his lips.

"How'd you get in here?" Kensei asked.

It shouldn't have been so easy for a normal kid from Rukongai to get into Seireitei. Shuhei pointed to the side, and Kensei looked to see a tiny hole in the wall that separated the ninth division barracks from Rukongai.

"I'll have to send someone to fix that," Kensei said.

"Noooooooo," Mashiro whined, the sound of it like nails on a chalkboard in Kensei's head. "Then Shuhei won't be able to come and play. It's too small for anyone but a tiny kid to fit through anyway, so what's the big deal?"

"It's a big deal because it's against the rules," Kensei said, knowing better than to rationalize with Mashiro but doing it anyway. "It's a possible security breach, and the kid shouldn't be here, no matter how cute he is."

"But I want to keep him!"

"He's not some kind of pet!" Kensei yelled, a vein in his forehead popping. When he realized that Shuhei had flinched from his tone, he tried to calm down. He gritted his teeth together and smiled. "Look, kid, you've got anyone taking care of you?"

Shuhei nodded. "The older ladies in my neighborhood make sure all the kids are taken care of."

"Well, you should go back to them now, okay?"

It was that moment that Shuhei's stomach grumbled, making a low, rumbling noise. Kensei took in Shuhei's threadbare robe. It was coming apart at the seams, the sleeves held in place by carefully sewn black threads. The fabric seemed like it might have, once upon a time, been white, though now it was a splotchy beige color. Kensei lifted up one of the boy's arms for inspection. He was just skin and bones. Those old ladies might have been trying to take care of things, but they obviously weren't able to do a lot.

"Put him down, Mashiro, I'm taking him to get something to eat."

"Yay!" Mashiro said, gently placing Shuhei on his feet. "Kensei's treating us to lunch!"

"I wasn't inviting you," Kensei said, voice harsh. He grabbed Shuhei's small hand in his and tugged the other boy away, eager to get away from his annoying lieutenant. Shuhei stumbled and nearly fell over with the movement, but Kensei pulled him up again and slowed down his pace. Luckily Mashiro seemed to have gotten distracted by something else, and wasn't following them. He looked down at the boy and slowed down again as he realized Shuhei was practically running to keep up with him.

"What do you like to eat?" Kensei said, only to have the boy blink those big bug eyes up at him.

"I don't know," Shuhei replied. "Anything."

Kensei sighed and pulled Shuhei towards the closest, quickest place he could think of. There were plenty of small restaurants outside the ninth division, in the Seireitei streets and corridors that connected all the divisions together. He made his way into one at random before shoving Shuhei down onto a wooden chair. He took a seat opposite him and looked down at the kid, who in turn was beaming up at him.

"Order whatever you want, kid," Kensei said, as the waitress came up to them.

"Umm. . ." Shuhei's eyes glazed over as he looked at the photos of dishes on the wall. It seemed like he wasn't used to having his choice of so many different choices of food, because a little bit of drool slipped out the corner of his mouth before he wiped it away. "I'll have that one."

The waitress nodded as he pointed to an udon dish topped with beef slices and a raw egg. She turned to Kensei. "And what about you, Muguruma-taicho?"

"Nothing for me," Kensei said. He had already eaten while he he had been working. He hadn't intended to take a long break, and had only gone to look for Mashiro, but he supposed that it couldn't be helped now. The little boy seemed to be beaming even more now, his eyes large and shiny.

"You're a captain?" he asked, voice full of awe.

Kensei rubbed at the back of his neck, a little embarrassed to be so openly admired by the little boy. "Yeah. Captain Muguruma Kensei, of the ninth division."

"Wow," Shuhei said, his mouth a little "o" in the middle of his face. "I knew it. I knew you were amazing."

"I'm not that amazing," Kensei objected, not sure how to deal with the little boy.

"No, you're really amazing. You're a superhero!" Shuhei's little arms shot up with the statement, as though he was flying through the air.

"Look, I'm just a guy with a job to do," Kensei said. That didn't seem to deter Shuhei, though, because they kid was still looking at Kensei with sparkles in his eyes.

"Kid," Kensei said, "how old are you?"

Shuhei shrugged at the question. "Dunno. Eighty, maybe?"

He was still practically a baby. Kensei watched as a large bowl of steaming hot udon was placed in front of the boy. Shuhei's eyes grew even bigger, and without even waiting for it to cool down, he started slurping up all the noodles.

"Wow, kid," Kensei said. "Don't hold back now."

It seemed like he was really starving. Kensei wondered how much food they were able to get for him in Rukongai. Shuhei seemed to have a good bit of spiritual energy, so he probably needed to eat more than the other kids those old ladies were taking care of. As Shuhei ate Kensei reached forward to brush the hair out of his face. He looked healthy enough, despite the fact that he was most likely underweight. Bright eyes, tan skin. No sign of lice or other parasites as far as Kensei could tell. His face was smeared with dirt, but that wasn't something a bath couldn't take care of. Kensei decided that he'd take Shuhei for one after lunch, and maybe do something about the kid's clothing.

"Taichou? It's rare to see you come out for lunch."

Kensei looked up to see a young man with long hair that was so dark a red it almost looked brown. He was eyeing Shuhei with curiosity, but didn't seem inclined to inquire as to what Kensei was doing eating with a little non-shinigami.

"Shinobu," Kensei said to his fourth seat, "I'm glad you're here. I want you to go buy a child's robe and drop it off at the baths for me."

Shinobu raised an eyebrow at that, but didn't say anything. He came closer to Shuhei, feeling his shoulder and arms to better gauge the boy's size. "Isn't this the boy we rescued the other day?"

Kensei nodded his head. "Seems like he snuck into Seireitei. Figured I should get him cleaned up before letting him loose again."

"Of course," Shinobu said, letting go of Shuhei's arms. "I'll get new clothes for him as soon as I've eaten. You're going to take him to the public baths, captain?"

"Yeah. Is there something wrong with that?"

Shinobu shook his head no. He just wondered how other people were going to react when they saw the gruff, no-nonsense ninth division captain taking care of a little boy like this.

Shuhei was done eating now, and Kensei didn't waste any time in paying and getting up.

"I expect those clothes within an hour," Kensei said to Shinobu, as he pulled Shuhei out of his seat.

Shinobu nodded, a soft smile on his lips. "Of course, Taichou."

Soon enough they found themselves in front of the public sento, and Kensei ushered the small boy into the building. Shuhei watched as Kensei took off his shoes and placed them in a locker. The older man then led him into a door labelled "men." It was a changing room, with men in various states of undress, and Kensei shoved him towards a row of lockers.

"Go ahead, Kid," Kensei said, "get undressed."

Shuhei started to pull of his clothes as Kensei did the same. It didn't take him long, all he had on was that thin robe and a fundoshi. He took them off and placed them in the locker, but Kensei took them out just as quickly. Once they were both undressed Kensei led him further into the changing room, where he tossed Shuhei's old clothes into a trash can. Then they were going through another door, and Shuhei's eyes nearly jumped out of their sockets.

Shuhei had never seen so much clean water. In his part of Rukongai, tap water was carefully rationed and used mostly for drinking. Anything else was done using water from the river, which was a two mile walk from where Shuhei lived; it was a trek he was all too familiar with. He often had to go down and fetch water for the neighborhood to use, all the children did as part of their chores. When it was too cold to swim, baths were conducted by heating up river water in a large pot over the fire. The old ladies would fill up buckets and then use a sponge to wipe the children clean.

But here, there were rows of faucets, water streaming out from them, and three large tubs of clean, clear water in the back. Shuhei had never seen such a thing. Kensei pushed him over to a faucet and had him sit down on a low, plastic stool in front of it. A towel was pressed into his hand.

"Wash up," Kensei said. "I'll help you with the back."

Shuhei put the towel in his lap, eager to try out the faucets. He reached out and turned on the knobs, watching in amazement as water gushed out of the tap. He reached underneath it, feeling the water rush over his skin. It came out clear and hot. He couldn't get enough of it.

Kensei was somewhat amused as he watched the kid. You'd think he had never seen water before. He took a bar of soap and started to lather up Shuhei's back. Eventually Shuhei became less enchanted with the water, and he started soaping up the rest of his body. When Kensei was done he took the shower head and turned in on, washing all the soap off Shuhei's back.

"Tilt your head back, Kid."

Shuhei obeyed almost automatically. He tilted his head back, then felt running water flow through his hair. When the water stopped he tilted his head forward again. He felt Kensei's hands tangle themselves in his hair, massaging his scalp as he spread shampoo through it. Shuhei had finished scrubbing his body with soap when Kensei had him tilt back again. He closed his eyes as all the shampoo was rinsed from his head. Then Kensei used the shower head to wash the soap off the rest of his body as well. It felt so much better than being cleaned with a sponge, Shuhei thought. He didn't want it to stop, wished he could stand underneath the hot, running water all day.

"All clean," Kensei said, turning off the shower head. He laughed when Shuhei scowled a little bit. "Go get in the baths, I'll join you after I get washed up."

"What about your back?" Shuhei asked. He grabbed the bar of soap and came around Kensei, and starting rubbing it over Kensei's muscles. The man's back was so large, Shuhei thought. His little hand looked tiny when he placed it on Kensei's shoulder blade. He hoped that one day he'd have a big, strong back like Kensei.

"Thanks," Kensei finally said. "That's enough."

Shuhei nodded and got up, running towards the back of the room. He had never swam in anything but river water, so he was curious to know what those tubs of clean water felt like. When he got there his eyes went from one tub to the other, a little confused. There were a few men in each one, but there was a blond man in the middle tub that was staring at him. The man was skinny, and he must have had extremely long hair because it was currently done up in an elaborate updo.

"The difference is the temperature," the man said, watching him curiously.

"Oh," Shuhei replied. He felt the water with his hand. It was hot, much hotter than the river ever got. He climbed into it and felt his muscles relax in the heat. The water was clear enough that he could see the tiles on the bottom, and it smelled a little bit like cherry blossoms. Shuhei sunk into it. When he sat down at the side the water came up to his chin, and he wrapped his arms around his bent legs as he enjoyed the experience.

"I've never seen a kid so happy to take a bath," the blond man said. "Who are you anyway?"

"Hisagi Shuhei," Shuhei answered.

"Your parents shinigami or something? You don't seem like you're a shinigami yourself."

Shuhei shook his head, not sure how he should answer. He only had a vague notion of how shinigami worked, and only just found out about them after Kensei had rescued him. He had asked everyone in his neighborhood about the people in the black robes, and had sneaked in to look for the silver-haired man who had left such an impression on him.

"Huh?" The man asked. "So what are you doing here?"

"Muguruma-taichou took me here," Shuhei said.

"Yeah? Kensei took in a cute kid like you? That's kind of hard to believe."

"Who are you, mister?" Shuhei asked.

A large grin spread over the blond man's face, his teeth large and gleaming white. "Hiraki Shinji, captain of the fifth division. But a cute kid like you can call me nii-san."

"Wow. If you're a captain, are you as strong as Muguruma-taichou?"

"I'm stronger," Shinji said, smile growing a little. Though it turned upside down when Shuhei gave him a dubious expression. "What? Don't believe me?"

"No one's stronger than Muguruma-taicho."

"Stop teasing the kid, Shinji." The voice came from Kensei, as he sunk in the water to join them. "What are you doing in the baths in the middle of the day? Did you push all your paperwork off on Aizen again?"

Shinji shrugged. "He likes it, so what's the harm? And what about you, taking in a cute little kid like this and not saying anything about it."

"I haven't," Kensei replied. "I'm just getting him cleaned up before I send him back to Rukongai. He sneaked in this morning."

"Ah, what a shame," Shinji said. "To tell the truth, I've always liked kids. Hope to have a litter of my own one day. Say, Shuhei, did you have fun visiting Seireitei?"

Shuhei nodded as his eyes lit up. "Mashiro nee-chan played with me all morning, and then Muguruma-taicho took me out to lunch, and then I got to come here and take a bath. I had a lot of fun."

Shinji snickered a little. "Yeah. Sounds like a ball. Next time you're here, stop by the fifth division. I'll play with you lots, since I'm not as busy as Kensei."

Kensei scowled. "As though you need another reason to slack off on your duties."

"Life's too short not to take a break every now and then," Shinji said.

"Besides," Kensei continued. "There won't be a next time. I'm going to have the hole he came in through patched up today."

Shuhei frowned at that, an expression that Shinji was quick to catch. He decided to change the subject to something else. Shinji and Kensei spent several minutes discussing things that went over Shuhei's head, but Shuhei was content to wait and soak in the water. It felt good to bathe like this. Eventually both Shinji and Kensei got up, and Shuhei followed their lead as the men toweled off and walked back to the changing room. There was a new set of clothing for Shuhei waiting there, and Kensei helped him put on the fundoshi and the robe.

"Are you going to make me leave now?" Shuhei asked, sniffling a little.

"I have to get back to work." Kensei placed a hand on the top of Shuhei's head. "You be a good boy, okay?"

Shuhei sniffled a little more, wiping snot from his nose with the sleeve of his new robe.

"Do you want me to take him home?" Shinji asked. "I've got some time, and I bet you want to get back to your work."

That was true enough. Kensei hated taking such long breaks, and hadn't expected to have to do so today. The sooner he got back to headquarters the better. "If you don't mind."

"Yeah, sure. Come on, Shuhei." Shinji lifted the boy up and placed him so that he was sitting on Shinji's shoulders, his forearms balanced on top of Shinji's head. "Give Daddy Kensei a kiss goodbye."

"That's not necessary," Kensei said, but Shinji was already bending down so Shuhei's face was on level with Kensei's cheek. Small lips pressed a peck on his cheek before moving away again. Kensei sighed. "Thank you, Shuhei."

Shuhei beamed at him, the fact that he had to leave momentarily forgotten.

"Don't worry, Shuhei," Shinji said, as he walked away with the boy. "You'll see Kensei again."

Kensei watched as they left, Shuhei turning around to watch Kensei as they did so. His tiny hand came up in the air to wave goodbye, and Kensei waved back. Really, that kid had been enough of a distraction for one day. Kensei went back to headquarters, intent on getting some work done before leaving the office for the night.

The next day Kensei expected it to be business as usual. There was no reason that it wouldn't be like any other day in Seireitei. But at some time in the middle of the morning, Kensei began feeling as though something was off. He could swear that he was hearing the pitter patter of small footsteps wherever he went. But whenever he stopped they would stop too, and he figured he was imagining things.

It wasn't until near lunch time that Kensei realized that he wasn't imagining things. He also realized that there was probably only one person those footsteps belonged to. He walked quickly down the hallway, then shunpoed into a side corridor. He listened as those little footsteps sped up and little skinny legs appeared running down the hallway. With one deft arm movement, Kensei reached out and grabbed onto the back of a collar and lifted a little boy off the ground.

"What," Kensei asked, lifting Shuhei so that they were eye level, "are you doing here?"

At least Shuhei had the sense to look a little sheepish. "Shinji nii-san told the men at the gate to let me in whenever I wanted."

"I see." Kensei could feel his eyebrow twitching. What was Shinji thinking? At any rate, if that was the situation, Kensei figured he would have to deal with it. It's not like Shuhei was getting in the way, at least not right now. "Look, Kid, I don't know why you're here. I don't have time to play with you."

"That's okay," Shuhei said. "Can I just stay near you?"

Kensei sighed. "Fine, but I'm telling you, you're going to be bored out of your mind. And if I have to leave Seireitei for a mission, you can't follow me, okay?"

Shuhei nodded enthusiastically. Kensei set Shuhei back on his feet, a little uncomfortable with the way the boy was always beaming up at him. He turned to walk back to his office, Shuhei jogging to keep up alongside him.

To Kensei's surprise, Shuhei kept pretty quiet the whole time he was doing paperwork. He was content to stretch out on the tatami mats of Kensei's office, sometimes napping and sometimes drawing on paper he stole from Kensei's desk. He was actually a really patient, well-behaved kid. After awhile Kensei didn't even notice him. And then his door slammed open.

"Kenseeeeeeeiiiiiiiii!" The voice alone was enough to start a migraine in his head. "You didn't tell me Shuhei was here!"

Mashiro ran to Shuhei and caught him up in a big hug, their cheeks squishing together.

"Not fair, not fair, Kensei! Why do you get to be the only one to play with Shuhei? You're such a selfish meanie."

"I'm not playing," Kensei said, through gritted teeth. "I'm trying to do work."

"Whoa." This time it was Shinobu's voice, and the redhead skidded to a stop as he ran into Kensei's office. "Sorry, I tried to keep her out."

"What?" Mashiro asked. "I'm the lieutenant here, I can come see my captain whenever I want. You're a meanie, Shinobu."

She stuck her tongue out at Shinobu as he tried to pull her away, not wanting Kensei to go ballistic and attack her. "Come on, you can bring Shuhei, just play with him in your office or something."

Kensei's eyebrow was still twitching, but it calmed down as the three of them disappeared and his door closed behind them. He wished he had done more research on Mashiro's personality before he had chosen her as a lieutenant. And she had looked so good on paper, too. At any rate, at least Shuhei had someone to play with now. Though he hadn't made a peep or complaint while he was here, Kensei was sure he must have been bored. He was a young child, after all. Kensei went back to his paperwork, and didn't even look up from his desk until the next time his office door opened.

When the door did open, Kensei looked up to see a messy head of hair poke inside. It was followed by a set of big eyes and too skinny arms and legs. The kid held a large piece of paper in his hands.

"Are you still working?" It was clear from the way Shuhei was posed, half in the room and half out, that he would leave if he felt he was being a bother to Kensei.

"You can come in."

Shuhei smiled and bounded over to Kensei's desk. "I have to go home, or else the old ladies will worry about me. I made this for you. Mashiro nee-san helped."

He held out the large paper, and Kensei took it from him. It was a picture in finger paints. A rough depiction of Kensei stood in the middle of it, posing as though he was a super hero in a comic book, the "69" on his chest a sort of emblem. He stood, triumphant, one of his legs standing on the head of a defeated hollow.

"Thank you, Shuhei," Kensei said, touched despite himself. "I think I'll frame it."

"Really?" Shuhei asked, bouncing on his toes and beaming.

Kensei couldn't help but smile. "Yeah. But you better go home now, before it gets too dark."

Shuhei nodded. His little arms came up around Kensei as he stood on his tiptoes to press a kiss against Kensei's cheek. "See you tomorrow, Taichou."

Kensei sighed as Shuhei ran out of his office. As much as he hated to admit it, that little kid was growing on him.

Shuhei came back every single day, and he soon became a fixture of the ninth division. So much so that soon members started joking about making him into an official mascot. When Kensei was doing paperwork, Shuhei would lay quietly on his floor and draw or write. Sometimes he'd wonder over to Mashiro's office to play, and sometimes Shinji would come over to spend time with the boy. Kensei started taking lunch breaks more often, and would take Shuhei out to whatever restaurant had caught Shuhei's fancy that day.

At Shinji's suggestion, Kensei even brought Shuhei to the Research and Development Institute to introduce him to Akon, since the young scientist was just a little bit older than Shuhei. The two hit it off, and sometimes Shuhei would run off to play over in the institute. Kensei just hoped that Mayuri wouldn't do anything to corrupt the little boy while he was there.

The point was, it ended up being extremely easy for Kensei to get used to Shuhei. So much so that he didn't even mind that Shinji was in his office right now, Shuhei in his lap as they played some noisy little handheld game together. It was something that the Research and Development guys had cooked up, a "portable gaming device" as they called it, that ran on spirit particles. It was, in Kensei's eyes, a waste of time.

"Kensei. Oy, Kensei, I'm talking to you."

Kensei looked up. Shuhei had control of the handheld system, though he was still ensconced in Shinji's lap. Shinji was sitting cross-legged, his hands pressed against the floor behind him to prop himself up. "What do you think of what Shuhei just said?"

Kensei blinked. Shuhei had stopped in the middle of the game, and he was blushing a little bit. "What did Shuhei just say?"

"Go on," Shinji said, prodding Shuhei a little bit.

"One day," Shuhei said, "I'm gonna become a shinigami, and I'm gonna enter the ninth division."

"Aren't you sweet," Shinji said, a hand coming up to pull on Shuhei's cheek. "Trying to be just like your hero, huh."

Kensei couldn't help but smile. "If you do, try to get good enough to become a lieutenant soon. I'd rather have you than Mashiro any day."

Shuhei blushed even more and nodded, then turned back to his game.

"Aww," Shinji said. "Look how embarrassed he gets, with just a little bit of praise from his Taichou. I wish I had a cute kid like him following me around all the time."

"Maybe you should settle down," Kensei suggested. "Have that family you always wanted."

"Che." Shinji frowned. "Like there's any one I can do it with. The girls I fall in love with keep breaking my heart."

"Umm hmm."

"Are you listening, Kensei, or did you just go back to your paperwork?"

"Yes."

Shinji scowled as he lifted Shuhei off his lap and deposited him on the floor. Making small talk with Kensei was like trying to milk a monkey. Impossible. He stood up, brushing any small creased from his robes. "Ginrei's having a birthday party for his grandson tonight. Are you going?"

"Am I invited?"

"Anyone who's anyone in the Gotei 13's invited. And it's the Kuchikis, so you know they're gonna have some good stuff over there. Champagne, caviar, all those gross things rich people love."

"Sounds delightful," Kensei said, not looking up from his papers.

"Yeah, well, maybe I'll see you there. I should go get ready."

Shuhei looked up at that comment. "Are you leaving, nii-san?"

"Yeah. Play nice with Kensei, okay?"

Kensei watched as Shinji leaned down to give Shuhei their customary greeting goodbye, an eskimo kiss where they rubbed their noses together. Kensei swore, Shinji always picked up the most useless and embarrassing customs when he was down in the human world. Shinji walked out, and Shuhei closed the door behind him before going back to his video game. Kensei tapped his pencil on the desk. . . one more article. He'd edit this last article, and then he'd stop. A few minutes later, Kensei looked up at Shuhei.

"Kid," he said, "come here."

Shuhei's eyes lit up as he ran to Kensei's side, video game forgotten on the floor. Without any prodding he climbed onto Kensei's lap, leaving Kensei to wonder, not for the first time, how the kid got so goddamned affectionate. He brushed that messy hair out of Shuhei's face, inspecting the boy to see if he needed another trip to the baths anytime soon. He seemed clean enough, though.

"Are you finished?" Shuhei asked.

Kensei nodded as he stood up, lifting Shuhei along with him. The other boy sat neatly on his hip, one leg on either side and both arms wrapped around his neck. Kensei supported him with one arm and stepped away from his desk.

"You're so amazing, Taichou, you finished all your work so quickly. Where are we going?"

"We're going to get some dango," Kensei said, "and then we're going to see some fireworks."

"Wow. Fireworks, really? I've never seen any before."

Somehow Shuhei, the little monkey, managed to climb up Kensei's side to sit on his shoulders. His arms buried themselves in Kensei's hair, and Kensei could feel a stubby little chin dig into the top of his head. He walked out of the ninth division, and bought two sticks of dango from the street vendor. He handed one to Shuhei before making his way to a certain bridge that afforded a wonderful view of part of the Kuchiki estate. More specifically, the part where they would be shooting fireworks from, if this party was like any of Byakuya's other birthday parties.

Kensei lifted Shuhei off his shoulders and placed him on the bridge rail, keeping his arm around his waist so the kid didn't accidentally fall off. Shuhei leaned back into Kensei's chest, his hair tickling Kensei's throat.

"This is where the fireworks are going to be?" Shuhei asked.

"Yeah. We just have to wait." They had to wait longer than Kensei had guessed, but the whole time Shuhei didn't utter a word of complaint. He just waited patiently, content to be this close to his taichou. Finally they started, noise and colors filling up the night sky. Shuhei watched in wonder as the fireworks spread through the sky, leaving smoky tendrils as they flickered and disappeared back into oblivion. It was beautiful, and over much too quickly.

Even after it was over Shuhei stayed leaning back on Kensei's chest, just happy to be there. But then he tensed up, realizing how late it must be.

"I need to go home," he said, "or the old ladies will be worried."

"I'll take you home," Kensei said, lifting Shuhei up to cradle against his chest. "Just tell me where."

Shuhei mumbled his district and ward, and Kensei shunpoed out of there, clutching Shuhei tightly to his chest. It didn't take long to get to Shuhei's ward, and Kensei slowed down, letting Shuhei lead him to wherever he needed to be. They soon came to a moderately-sized house, and Kensei put the boy down on his feet.

"This is where I sleep at night," Shuhei said, opening the door. They walked in, and Kensei saw that the house was only one room, and it was filled with hammocks. Some of the hammocks already had children in them, and other children were in the process of getting ready to go to sleep. One of the women in the room caught sight of Shuhei, and she made her way over to him.

"Shuhei," she said, coming over, "you're back late! We were worried something happened to you."

"Sorry, obaasan," Shuhei said with a pout.

As she shuffled Shuhei towards, the women sent a glare towards Kensei. "I take it you're the the man Shuhei's been so taken with lately."

Kensei nodded as he followed. "I apologize. It's my fault that Shuhei is late."

The apology didn't seem to have any effect on the woman. She lifted Shuhei into his hammock and placed a blanket over him. A blanket that was too thin for the weather, Kensei thought.

"Don't you have anything thicker?" Kensei asked.

"If we did," the woman snapped, "don't you think we would be using them?"

"Obaasan?" Shuhei asked, alarmed by the harsh tone she was speaking with. He was already half asleep, though, now that he was in his hammock.

"It's okay, Shuhei, go to sleep. Your friend and I are going outside."

The woman pushed a confused Kensei outside, where he turned to face her.

"I'm sorry if I offended you," Kensei said, "but I'm just looking out for Shuhei's well-being."

"Are you implying that we're not?" The woman sounded angry, and it was making Kensei angry in return. What had he ever done to her? "We do the best we can with what we've got, and I'm sorry if it's not up to your standards. You shinigami make me sick. You live in luxury in Seireitei, with those walls you built to keep everyone else out, and you could care less that people are suffering out here. You're supposed to be the ruling class, but none of you ever lift a finger for the people out here in Rukongai. You might have decided that Shuhei's entertaining enough to keep around for now, but when you decide that you're bored of him, he'll be heartbroken and back out here every day, won't he? In my opinion he's better off not seeing you at all."

Before a dumbfounded Kensei could say anything back, the woman turned, headed back into the house, and slammed the door on Kensei's face. He could feel the blood rising in him, but on some level he had to admit that there was a kernel of truth in the woman's words. Unable to do anything else, Kensei shunpoed back to Seireitei and the captain's quarters of the ninth division barracks.

Still, even after he washed up and got into his futon, Kensei couldn't stop thinking about Shuhei and that woman. But mostly about Shuhei. Sleeping in the drafty room with all those children, without even a mattress to sleep on. And only that thin blanket to cover himself with. Kensei scowled. The comfort and warmth of his futon only made it harder to fall asleep that night.

Every captain was allocated a small estate with a moderate amount of space. A kitchen, a living room, a dining room, and a bedroom with full bathroom, though a larger estate was permitted upon request. Kensei's quarters were practically the definition of spartan, but even he had more luxuries than those children who lived with Shuhei did. He couldn't stand that Shuhei was shivering in the cold right now. The thought kept him awake all night.

By the time morning came, Kensei hadn't gotten more then an hour of sleep. The first thing he did was grab his third seat Heizo and head to a store where he could buy as many blankets as they could carry. Then they shunpoed to Shuhei's house. The door was open and the children were already waking up, some of them playing outside the building. Some of the womenfolk were outside too, doing their daily chores. The woman Kensei had spoken to yesterday night was there, and Kensei headed over to her.

"These are for the children," he said, handing her a stack of blankets.

"Oh." She looked somewhat surprised, and clearly didn't know what to say. A head of messy dark hair appeared from inside the house, and big familiar eyes blinked up at Kensei.

"If it's okay, some people in my division would like to bring cots over later."

The women nodded slowly, still dumbfounded. "That. . . that would be nice. Thank you."

"I'd also like to ask permission for Shuhei to live with me from now on." Kensei could see Shuhei perk up in the periphery of his vision, the little boy standing on his tiptoes to better hear what his caretaker was going to say.

The woman sighed, looking a little defeated. Finally she turned to Shuhei. "What do you think, Shuhei? Do you want to go live with him?"

Shuhei nodded so fast and so much that Kensei thought his head would fall off.

"Can't be helped then," the woman said. "I guess he's all yours."

Shuhei grinned as he ran up to Kensei, wrapping himself around the man's legs. Kensei pried him off and lifted him into his arms.

"Can I really stay with you?" Shuhei asked, beaming.

Kensei nodded. "Yeah, Kid, if that's what you want."

Shuhei wrapped his arms around Kensei's neck and hugged him tightly.

"Shuhei?" came a little voice, from a boy who was reaching up to tug on Shuhei's robes. "Are you leaving?"

Kensei put Shuhei back on the floor so that the boy could say goodbye to all his friends. He watched as Shuhei hugged and kissed all the women goodbye, as he laughed with his playmates. Kensei had never particularly liked children, and had never wanted one of his own, but. . . somehow, this just felt right. He couldn't help but smile, thinking it would be good that Shuhei would be living with him from now on.