Prize of Victory

Warnings: None other than cute family fluffyness.


It was with great pleasure that Ukitake escort Nanao through the city to the home of Karin and Yuzu. Many of the Arrancar watched them, or more specifically her, for they could sense both her power and the fact she was still unClaimed.

Ukitake’s presence was one reason they had yet to be assaulted. Lilinette’s was another. None of the Arrancar wanted to incur Starrk’s wrath. So while they looked, they were smart enough not to touch.

Karin opened the door before they could even knock, a smile on her face.

“Ukitake-san, Nanao-san, Lilinette.” She greeted them warmly.

“It’s Lilinette-sama.” The girl groused.

“Please, come in.” Karin stepped to the side.

The two Shinigami entered the house while Lilinette waved her offer aside and left now that her escort task was done.

“Karin, who is it?” Another female voice echoed from inside the house.

“That would most likely be Yuzu.” Ukitake guessed correctly.

Sure enough a blond haired woman entered the room from the kitchen. The moment he saw her he fully appreciated what Karin had been talking about. Yuzu was perhaps even more beautiful than Rangiku.

“Yuzu, I want to introduce you to Ukitake-san and Nanao-san. This is my twin sister, Yuzu.” Kairn introduced them.

“It is a pleasure to meet you.” Yuzu bowed.

“And us you.” Nanao returned as they also offered her a short bow.

“Thank you so much for the clothes, Nanao-san.” Yuzu thanked as they made themselves comfortable in the living room.

“I never wore them anymore anyway.”

“No offence to Grimmjow-san, but his taste in clothing is a little….”

“Not what you like wearing.” Karin finished for her.

That earned a chuckled from the four of them.

“What brings you here?” Karin asked.

“I spoke with Starrk-san about permitting me to come by and continue your training with Grimmjow-san’s permission. If you are interested.” Nanao smiled at her.

“I would love that!” Karin exclaimed.

“Is there a place we can train here?” Nanao asked.

“We usually train out back. It’s an okay size yard as long as we don’t do anything too flashy.”

“If you don’t mind, I would like to get to know Yuzu-chan here better?” Ukitake asked.

Karin shared a nod with them before leading Nanao out back, leaving him alone with her sister.

“Would you like some tea, Ukitake-san?” Yuzu asked politely

“I would love that, thank you, Yuzu-chan. And please, call me Jushiro, I get enough formality at work.” He smiled warmly at her.

“Alright, Jushiro.” She giggled, leading him to the kitchen.

The first thing he had noticed about the house was that it was immaculate. He doubted he could find a spec of dust if he spent an hour searching. And when she pulled the tea from the cupboards, it was lose leaf in tins and not prepackaged tea bags.

Everything in the kitchen was in it’s exact place and he knew instantly that Karin didn’t give her sister enough credit in the intelligence department.

“If it is not so bold, may I ask what you were doing before all this?” She asked.

“I was, and still am, a Taichou.”

“Oh. Of what?” She asked curiously.

“Originally our force was called the Gotei 13, and there were 13 divisions. I was Taichou of the 13th. Kuchiki Rukia was one of my subordinates.”

“I know Rukia-neechan. She stayed with us for a while. I don’t know how she did it, but there was nothing she couldn’t get Ichi-nii to do and somehow she was always able to beat him out of his funks. I honestly thought they were dating.” Yuzu smiled fondly in memory.

“They are definitely a good couple.” He smiled himself.

“So the Gotei 13?” Yuzu prompted.

“Ah yes. After the end of the war Aizen-kami rose to power. Being an ex-Shinigami himself he understands the importance of the work we do so he selected a few of us survivors to continue the work to keep up the balance. There are only four divisions now and I am Taichou of the 2nd.”

“I see.” Yuzu poured him his cup of tea before pouring one for herself. “I am afraid I don’t know much about Shinigami or that kind of stuff. Unlike my siblings I have never really been able to see the dead.”

There was a bit of sadness in her voice, but it didn’t last long. She was smiling again in a moment. They shared another few minutes of small talk so he could get a feel for her before he moved into what he really wanted to talk about.

“How has Karin-chan been holding up?” He asked seriously, and was pleased that she wasn‘t the least bit surprised by the question.

“She is doing alright. She gave up trying to hide her relationship after the first week. It would seem Grimmjow-san preferred she remain in bed with him afterwards.” A small smile touched her lips suddenly. “You might find it amusing to know any of the other ‘partners’ he brought home over the years were kicked out after he was done with them.

“Karin always thought I was asleep, but he could get pretty loud sometimes. Also, in the week she was gone, he was pacing around the house like an agitated cat the entire time.” She chuckled.

“You seem happy about this relationship.” He commented.

Yuzu nodded her head while nursing her mug of tea between her hands.

“Karin needs someone to appreciate her. She has always been withdrawn since our mother died when we were little. I get my needs fulfilled by ‘playing mother’ while she gets her needs fulfilled by playing ‘protector,’ just like Ichi-nii.” Yuzu commented.

“I get my love from her, but my love for her is not enough. Are you familiar with the old saying ‘who is the doctor for the doctor?’” She asked.

“Indeed. I do believe Nanao-san asked your sister the very question you are about to ask.

“Who protects the protector?” They said together with identical smiles.

“He has been good for her.” Yuzu commented. “Since the start of the relationship I have never seen such life in her, not even before all of this happened. For the first time someone outside of family is keenly interested in her and it has done her good.”

“Yuzu-chan, I must ask. You are familiar with what Grimmjow-san is and what has happened to this world, correct?” He asked carefully.

“I do. Orihime-chan explained it all to me a while ago. In fact, I might even have a better understanding than Karin at this point.” She said amused. “Regardless of what path Karin takes, I will always be here to support her, just as she would for me. My only regret is that if Grimmjow-san ends up hurting her, I can’t really skin him alive for it. Maybe I will put tacks in his bed and itching powder in his clothes.” She mused.

They shared a chuckle at that.

“Do you think he will?” Ukitake asked seriously.

“No. I do not think he will deliberately try and hurt her. You should try sleeping here at night. It is damn near impossible.” She groused good naturedly.

They shared more small talk and he was relieved to see Yuzu seemed to have adjusted rather easily. It was pleasing that the two sisters had been permitted to remain together for support, but even he could see that Yuzu was starting to feel like the fifth wheel in the household.

When Karin and Nanao returned from their training exercises he was amused to note they were both covered in dirt.

“Don’t ask.” Both women said at the same time before either he or Yuzu could say anything about their appearance.

“I believe that is my cue that it is time to head home. It was a pleasure talking to you, Yuzu-chan.”

“Same, Jushiro. Once again, thank you for the clothing Nanao-san. I do hope we can meet again.” Yuzu walked them to the door while Karin hunted down the shower.

“I will definitely be back.” Nanao promised.

“I am afraid that with my responsibilities I can not promise the same, but I will definitely try.” Ukitake made his own promise.

The walk back to his estate was uneventful and silent as he pondered everything he had learned in the short time he had with Karin’s rather observant sister.

“Karin-chan doesn’t give Yuzu-chan enough credit. The girl is far sharper than Karin-chan realizes. Still, it is good to hear a confirmation about the relationship Karin-chan shares with her captor; and that Yuzu-chan is being well kept.”

“I trust your talk with Yuzu-chan went well.” Nanao commented, breaking him out of his thoughts on the home stretch.

“Very well. She is a charming young girl. How did the Kido training with Karin-chan go?”

He swore Nanao’s entire face lit up in a way he hadn’t seen since sometime before Aizen‘s betrayal.

“She is amazing. Her actual spells are not the most powerful, but her control over her reiatsu is great and…. how can I put this…. It’s like she can actually physically SEE reiatsu.” Nanao exclaimed.

“What?” He asked surprised.

“I was showing her different spells, casting them a few times each, then we started doing a small combat run, and she could tell what spell I was about to use. When I asked her how she said she recognized the pattern my reiatsu was flowing in before the spell went off.

“That is why she is such a quick learner. She can ‘see’ the flow of my reiatsu and she just made hers flow to match. At the end we played a game where I would start the spell without incantations and she would call it as soon as she was sure.’

“If she can actually see reiatsu, it would explain why she knew that Starrk-san’s was overtop of my own. She could see the binding. Or, maybe she couldn’t ‘see’ it at first, but can now.

“From what I understand Grimmjow-san didn’t spend a lot of time around them originally, and now that he is spending more time with her no doubt his own reiatsu is awakening her potential, just as Ichigo-kun’s awakened his friends’.”

“There you are, why the hell didn’t you wait for me like you were suppose to?” Lilinette demanded as she appeared beside them.

“Sorry, Lilinette-chan.” Ukitake apologized.

“It’s Lilinette-sama to you, Shiro-chan.” She groused.

“Forgive us, Lilinette-sama, but we were finished visiting. How about Hana-chan and I bake up a batch of Double Fudge Brownies as atonement?” Nanao asked with a smile.

Lilinette went from fake outrage to star eyed in seconds, and all was instantly forgiven.

“Alright.” Lilinette tried to grumble, but she wasn’t very good at faking grouchy.

They arrived back at the estate and Nanao was barely through the door before Hana was attached to her legs, demanding to know where she had gone. Behind the girl was a rather exasperated looking Starrk.

“I have a feeling Lilinette-chan didn’t return after dropping us off, leaving him to care for Hana-chan.” He guessed correctly.

There were pink paint stains on Starrk’s clothing, and a rather impressive green hand print on his cheek. Hana was also covered head to toe in various shades of paint. It didn’t take a genius like him to figure out what had happened.

Starrk sleeping peacefully + one bored 5 year old + unattended paint = bored girl getting paint and taking advantage of sleeping Starrk. Ukitake was almost scared to see what the room where Starrk had crashed this time for his nap looked like.

“Oh Hana-chan, why are you covered in paint?” Nanao asked.

“Starrk-jii and I were painting.” She announced happily. “I made you a picture, come see, come see.” Hana insisted, pulling on her mother’s hand.

Lilinette was in a fit of giggles leaning against a wall and Ukitake suddenly had a suspicion as to WHO had left the paint drawer unlocked.

“I am sorry about that.” Ukitake tried to apologies, but Starrk waved it off, the barest hint of a smile.

“It is enough to know there is someone else here. That Lilinette and I are not alone.”

Ukitake nodded and followed after Nanao to see just what kind of mess Hana-chan had made this time. Apparently her ambush had happened outside under one of the trees so most of the paint was on the grass and tree.

It brought a soft smile to his lips. Starrk didn’t often doze outside during the day, which implied the Espada was well aware of Hana-chan's incoming actions.

“Set himself up in an area where whatever plans Hana-chan came up with wouldn’t damage the interior.” He noted.

It was true the Arrancar didn’t need to eat like they did, but Lilinette and Starrk almost always showed up for dinner anyway, simply because for two beings that had been alone for so very long, having that company was about as close to heaven as they could get.

Sometimes Ukitake wondered if the only reason Starrk had agreed with Shunsui’s dying wish was because the Espada knew Ukitake was the only one who would be able to survive that amount of reiatsu being pumped into his body. That and because of a desperate need for companionship.

Nanao took Hana inside to get the girl cleaned up, leaving him alone in the garden, smiling amused at the splashes of paint before shaking his head.

“She is just like you, Shunsui.”

Awe cute chapter

/hug those that survived more Byakuya torture and reviewed, or were just plain were brave enough to hit the review button. Remember, you don't need an account to review, just be able to decode that 'i am human' check. Sometimes they are so blurred I can't tell what letters or number they are suppose to be.

The next two chapters are big ones for the story. A lot happens in them. Since they go hand in hand I might post them together, we well see. No promises. We should finally even see Gin soon, for those that have been desperately waiting to see him.