Two Masters of Unusual Zanpakuto Spirits

The blue haired girl sat straight up in bed and screamed, Byakuya calmly placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, giving it a very gentle squeeze, "Mi-chan, you're safe."

Minori sat, her breathing ragged before she threw herself at him, and wrapped her arms around the noble Captain's neck and cuddled close to him.

Though he'd never admit it in public, nor to anyone save Tama herself, he hugged the child back, stroking her dark blue hair in an attempt to soothe her.

"Was it a Shinigami Captain?" He asked in a stoic tone, though inside his anger boiled at the thought of Aizen causing such a sweet child to have nightmares.

Minori shook her head 'no', "I was drowning... there was a voice... calling to me."

'She's a Shinigami,' Byakuya realized. Often he and Tama had both wondered about that. Was Minori a Shinigami herself? Did she have a Zanpakuto? If she did, how long would it take before that spirit began to surface?

"It's been happening for a while now I ju- I jus-" she lost what small grasp of composure she had left and began to tearlessly sob.

"Mi-chan, I believe that you like Tama and myself possess a Zanpakuto spirit. If you wish it, I will assist you in your studies so you can converse with her," Byakuya offered in a soothing tone, and rubbing her back as he spoke.

Minori bit her lip in thought for a moment before nodding, "Okay."

Byakuya's lips curved upward ever so slightly into a very small smile, "Are you hungry?"

Minori nodded, "d-do you have tuna?"

"Of course," Byakuya replied and looked over as a staff member brought over a tray of tuna sashimi for Minori.

In the human world, Tama sat between Kisuke's legs, his arms wrapped around her as they watched the sun setting from the roof of the shop.

"How did you meet Keiko and Minori?" Kisuke asked.

Tama sighed, "I was about 89 years old when I met them, I'd been surviving on my own in Inuzuri for the past 19 years. I was out looking for food that would be easy to steal when I heard an infant crying. I knew nothing of babies, but I knew that if someone didn't try to look after it, it wouldn't stand much chance of survival, so I went to investigate, and I saw a young girl, about 5 years younger than me, holding a baby close to herself while a couple of adults closed in on them. I fought the adults off and led the girl back to the abandoned house I stayed at. There wasn't much room there, I knew eventually I'd have to try to find something bigger... but for the immediate issues, it was more than sufficient."

She stopped to choke back a few tears and steady her voice, taking a deep breath before continuing, "Keiko said that they had been left with a relative when their parents fell ill with some sort of disease. Their parents didn't survive the illness, and the relative turned abusive. Often believing that scaring a baby with a katana was a good way to stop them from crying. Keiko got in between Minori and the Katana every time. She had the slashes on her back to prove it. One night after the relative passed out drunk, she bundled Minori up, grabbed the few things she could carry, and ran away. They'd been running since that day, six months before I found them. So we formed a tag team. One of us would stay with Minori while the other one scavaged for food, water and clothing."

Kisuke blinked back his own tears, and nuzzled his face into Tama's neck, "you're incredible Snowflake. You really are."

Tama nuzzled into Kisuke a bit, "I love you Wolf."

"I love you," He answered as they shared a kiss.

'Such a beautiful woman, inside and out,' Kisuke thought to himself as he placed a hand at the back of Tama's head to pull her closer.

Tama allowed herself to move in closer to Kisuke while her mind was else where, 'I should've told him by now. I'm just- I'm scared to say anything. I don't want this to end.'