Trial of Fire

Chapter 3
Christmas

“Anything else I should bring back?” Kinomi asked, a long list already made of all the things her friends wanted brought back from the living world.

“I can’t think of anything else, which means I will think of a dozen things once you leave.” Taka sighed.

Kinomi chuckled, folding the list and putting it in a safe spot. They would be leaving in the morning for Karakura town for a week. She was so excited that she had the potential to spend a week with her human friends, like Hime-chan and Tatsuki-sensei.

And then there was her Otooji. Grimmjow refused to come to Soul Society and it had been at least six months since they had last been in the living world. There was so much she wanted to share with him.

“Well, shall we do one last ambush before I have to leave for a week, wouldn’t want Kenpachi-sensei getting rusty while I am gone now would we?”

“That would be terrible.” Taka gasped in mock horror.

“Attack plan delta eight?”

“Hmm. No its still early in the evening, he will be wide awake. Lima three?” She suggested.

“I can go with that.” Kinomi agreed.

The two girls headed for the 11th, moving at full speed with flashes and bangs. Their target came into sight, sitting down eating dinner. With wide grins both girls flashed by, Kinomi even daring to steal the rice ball right out of his hand and popping it into her own mouth.

“You are getting slow, Sensei.” Kinomi taunted.

“Brats.” He growled a smile growing on his face as he drew his Zanpakuto.

“Have fun, Ken-chan.” Yachiru cheered as the three of them moved from the house to an open area.

As soon as they were in an open spot where collateral damage would be minimal they began, quickly drawing a large crowd as the rest of the division showed up to observe what all the commotion was.

“My, My. I was just going to deliver a report to Kenpachi-taichou and come across this.” Yumichika chuckled softly as he watched the two girls take on Zaraki, something only Ikkaku had ever dared to do. “He seems very happy.”

“That’s because those two have balls.” Ikkaku commented, joining his old division mate’s side to watch the show. “In a manner of speaking.” He quickly added, noting the look his old friend shot him at the comment.

“True that. Very few have the guts to challenge Kenpachi-taichou.”

Gasps filtered through the court yard and even the two new Taichou looked on in disbelief as blood flew across the field. The fighting didn’t stop, even though Kinomi had a look of surprise mixed with great pride at the red stain on Kyattsuai’s edge.

It wasn’t deep, but a clear cut could be seen on Zaraki’s shoulder where Kyattsuai had gotten past his guard and slashed him. So few had the power to draw blood on the 11th division taichou, and his face split into an even wider grin as he paused to gather some of the blood on his hand.

Taka and Kinomi had been raised well, first by Grimmjow then by Kenpachi. They didn’t waste his open guard in the least bit or pause to celebrate their first time drawing blood. Both of them drove in with killing intent, slashing their blades at different angles to make it almost impossible for Kenpachi to dodge.

Having been trained together for so long the girls worked very well as a team. Kenpachi blocked Kinomi’s blade with his own, wary of the weapon now that it had finally drawn blood, and blocked Taka with his forearm.

More blood flowed. The girls had been expecting such a defense and as such Taka had put all her strength and reiatsu behind her strike, drawing a very thin line on his arm, but it was still a cut.

Kenpachi roared with laughter, easily knocking both girls away from him as he stepped up his own prowess. It wouldn’t do for the girls to have an easy time after all.

Ikkaku was watching now with a grin almost as large as his former Taichou and Yumichicka had a soft smile of amusement on his fair features.

More blood began to flow, though the wounds remained shallow for two separate reasons. #1 was the girls, as strong as they now were, were still not strong enough to penetrate deep into Kenpachi and had he truly desired he could harden his reiatsu even more so no blood was drawn. #2 was because Kenpachi was still holding back to a level just above theirs, making sure his own slashes were shallow least he cleave them in two by accident.

Neither girl cried in pain or complained as scratches started to show up on their skin. Eventually the two girls ran out of reiatsu and Kenpachi ended the fight by sending both to their knees with sharp blows to their stomachs.

“Well, Pantera-chan.” Taka gasped for breath. “Looks like another lucky day for us, eh.”

Ikkaku laughed as he caught the familiar line Kenpachi had told him so long ago, slowly approaching the three in the clearing, Yumichika by his side.

“Yeah.” Kinomi agreed. “How many points this time, Kenpachi-sensei?”

Blade slung over his shoulder, Kenpachi walked up to the two girls panting for breath on the ground.

“153.” He answered.

They looked up at him in surprise. By their count they had maybe 60.

“An extra 25 for each blood draw.” He explained.

The two girls shared a look before leaping into the air and cheering before gasping for breath and would have collapsed again had they not been caught and supported by the former 3rd and 5th seats.

“Yumi-taichou.” Kinomi greeted weakly.

“You are getting blood all over my beautiful, white cloak.” He complained good naturedly.

“Oh how terrible.” She gushed in fake sympathy. “I trust you will somehow survive such a tragedy.”

“I could be scarred for life.” He complained.

Kinomi sighed, then drew something from her sleeve and handed it to him.

“I can’t remember which brand of soap it was you liked again.” She admitted.

“Hmm.” He took the paper from her hand grinning when he recognized what it was.

Kinomi was able to catch herself before she was dropped to the ground as Yumichika began to quickly add items to her list. Sighing in exasperation she made her way over to Kenpachi and Taka.

He was smiling down at them in one of his rare smiles of pride generally reserved for Yachiru only. Kinomi grinned back, pausing only to acknowledge Ikkaku as he was a superior.

She tried not to seem too eager but Kenpachi had stated that 100 points was the next achievement and they had overshot it by over 50 points! What cool reward would they get this time?

“This is sad, Taichou. Has the 11th fallen so far since Yumichika and I have left that little girls are stronger and show more brawn than the seated officers?” Ikkaku laughed.

That earned some loud protest out of the spectators.

“Want to try me next time, Ikakku-taichou?” Kinomi asked with a large grin.

“I’ll duel ya any time squirt.” He promised.

“I’ll hold ya to it.” She threatened.

Taka shook her head, laughing at the exchange.

“Oi, Pantera-chan, we do need to get heading out soon before Okaasan actually wakes Galgo up and sends him looking for us.”

“Right.” She agreed.

“Oi, Neko-chan, Tori-chan.” Yachiru called, appearing before them with two wrapped packages.

The two girls looked at Yachiru in confusion.

“The 150 point marker.” Kenpachi grunted.

Grinning, the girls accepted the packages, doing their best to open them respectfully and not just rip into them in their eagerness to see what was inside.

“Oh, wow.” Kinomi gasped, the soft material becoming clear.

“Oh.” Taka added a second later, surprise and pleasure on her face as they removed the cloth from the packaging.

Kinomi’s was a bright blue-green, Pantera clearly written with the kanji for 11 on the left of her name and the divisions flower, the Yarrow, on the right. Taka’s was similar only with her name and it was brown instead of blue-green.

“How long have they been holding onto these.” Kinomi wondered absently as she finished tying the sash, needing to wrap it around her waist a few times due to the length. It would easily fit her as an adult.

Kinomi leaped at Yumichika the moment the sash was tied, digging for the mirror she knew he kept hidden in his inner, right pocket.

He hardly seemed to notice anything, all his attention on the list, until she produced the item and ran off with it so she and Taka could see how the sashes turned out on their uniforms. He squealed when he noticed his mirror had been taking and chased after Kinomi, only to be stopped by a giggling Yachiru.

“Oh, I love it. Thank you, Kenpachi-sensei, Yachiru-chan.” Kinomi jumped about in joy.

“Watch the mirror.” Yumichika called out in horror.

Kinomi chuckled, casually tossing the mirror back to Yumichika, who gasped and fumbled after the precious item before getting a good grip on it and hugging it tightly, checking for any flaws that may have occurred due to the rough handling.

Time was unfortunately up and with a final bow and thank you for the gifts and lesson the two girls disappeared in a flash and bang of Shunpo and Sonido, Kinomi stopping only long enough to retrieve her list.




“Karin-Obaasan. Yuzu-Obaasan.” Kinomi and Zan greeted their aunts joyfully.

Technically they were only biologically Kinomi’s but that was as minor of a detail as considering Grimmjow her Otooji. Blood relations were overrated in her opinion. What mattered was heart.

Yuzu gathered them up into a big group hug while Karin stood back and offered a smile and wave. Their grandfather made a flying tackle for Ichigo, but was stopped by a foot in his face. Kon made a scene with a joyful scream of ‘nee-sama’ while lunging for Rukia. He met a similar fate to their grandfather.

Use to such behavior from their human family Zan and Kinomi ignored them. It was about three hours later after they had settled in and exchanged tales of what had been going on that Kinomi felt the Reiatsu she had been eagerly waiting for.

No matter how poor her ability to sense and detect reiatsu was, somehow she always knew where his was when he was near and could hone in on it like a shark to blood.

With a huge grin she grabbed Kyattsuai and bolted out of the house, racing towards the dark reiatsu heading her way. Without a moments hesitation she drew Kyattsuai and launched into a Shunpo, slashing at her target as she passed it.
Steel met steel as the two of them passed each other. They came to a halt and faced off, both wearing wide grins. Kinomi raced towards him, arms wide as she hugged him.

“Grimm-ji.” She shouted in joy.

“Hey Pantera-chan. You are looking different.” He commented, playing with the bell in her hair after ruffling it.

“It’s from Kenpachi-sense. Taka-chan and I stole ‘em.” She grinned. “And look.” She presented her blade to him. “This is Kyattsuai. She is so awesome, although I don’t think Otousan likes her much.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because she is a White Panther.” Kinomi answered with a wide grin.

Grimmjow burst into laughter.

“You are kidding right?” He asked.

“Nope.” She beamed at him in pride. “Kyattsuai is a white panther with blue-green eyes. She is soooo pretty and smart and she likes ‘tera.”

“This seems new to.” He commented, playing with the end of the sash that had the kanji.

“I got that today from Kenpachi-sensei for scoring 153 points. We got 25 points for every strike that drew blood.”

“Sounds like my kind of man.” Grimmjow laughed again.

“Oh, you should see the cool tech. Zan-kun learned. You are going to be so proud of him.”

“Hey, I want to tell Otousan.” Zan complained.

Both of them turned to see the boy standing there pouting.

“Hey brat.” Grimmjow smiled at his son.

Zan smiled, and then launched into Sonpo, stopping behind them. Grimmjow blinked in shock, unable to keep up with his sons movements.

“We call it Sonpo.” Zan announced.

Kinomi glowered in annoyance.

“Kinomi-neesan can’t do it.” Zan boasted.

“That’s only because I don’t have the reiatsu of a hollow.” She stamped her foot in annoyance.

“Do it again.” Grimmjow commanded.

With a smirk, Zan did as requested. Grimmjow watched intently, able to follow the first part easily enough, but as soon as the flash of the Shunpo went off he lost sight of Zan, his speed faster than even the Espada could follow.

“Leon-kun discovered it.” Kinomi explained.

“A sonido launched shunpo.” Grimmjow noted as Zan re-appeared before them.

“Are you going to come visit for a while?” Zan asked hopefully.

“I got to make sure Kurosaki is raising you two right.” He answered with a grunt.

“Woot.” Kinomi cheered.

“Do you mind, Kyattsuai?” She asked her blade hesitantly.

“Go ahead, I do not mind. It is sort of tradition and I do like her.”

Smiling, Kinomi held out her hand towards Grimmjow.

“You have your own now.” He grunted.

“Yeah, but it’s tradition. Besides, I think ‘tera likes me more anyway.” She grinned.

Shaking his head, he drew Pantera and handed his Zanpakuto over to Kinomi, who shouted in joy and hugged it close, wheeling about in a circle and moving a few feet away so she could have a ‘private conversation’ with her child hood friend.

“No offense, Otousan, but are you sure you or Okaasan didn’t drop Neesan on her head when she was younger?” Zan asked, looking at his sister talking to what was basically an inanimate object like it was her best friend.

“I sometime do wonder.” He admitted. “And how has your training been coming along?”

Zan grinned as he explained his and Leon’s recent raids into the 2nd division and their missions to steal as much stuff from Soi Fon-taichou as the could. Leon was collecting her yellow sashes, upon which he now had a secret stash of eight of them, while he was collecting the white ribbons she used in her hair, upon which he had seven sets as Leon was one raid ahead of him.

Grimmjow had to admit he was impressed his son was pulling fast ones on one of the Gotei 13 taichou and by the sounds of it one who specialized in infiltration and assassination.

Kinomi returned by that point and surprised them all by handing Pantera back to Grimmjow, who looked at her in confusion. Usually he had to work at getting his zanpakuto back.

“We had a talk. I explained to ‘tera I have Kyattsuai to take care of me now.” She answered.

“If you two do not return to the house to either come in or get a jacket on, you will both be grounded for a month.” Rukia declared before Grimmjow could think to ask a question or form a reply.

“Yes, Okaasan.” The two of them snapped to attention and disappeared in duel flashes of Shunpo.

Rukia shook her head, then turned her gaze to the Espada.

“Grimmjow.” She greeted.

“Rukia.” He nodded. “Pantera-chan and Colmillo-kun seem to be doing well.”

“Yes. Kinomi is at the top of all her combat classes as well as receiving personal training from Kenpachi-taichou. Zan has been taking lessons with Leon from Ggio and I suspect there is more going on with the 2nd division then the boys are letting on.”

“So it seems.” He agreed.

“It is cold out, will you come visit?” She asked.

“If only to torture Kurosaki on the fact Pantera-chan’s Zanpakuto is a white panther.” He grinned in vicious humor.

Rukia sighed with a soft smile, and led the way back to the noisy household. Yuzu couldn’t see him very well of course and Karin kindly asked him to drop his reiatsu as it was giving her a pounding headache. None of the ‘humans’ were the least bit disturbed by his presence.

He was set upon by Kinomi and Zan almost as soon as he was inside, the two of them launching into tales of their time spent in Soul Society and all the adventures they had gone on so far while demanding tales of his own.

Yes, Grimmjow thought he would like this Kenpachi person very well if he was willingly training his Pantera-chan how to be a real fighter. Ichigo, for all his great skill, was still too soft for his liking, especially where the children were concerned.




The week flew by quickly and Kinomi did her best to get everything on the list that had been written up by those back home as well as buying gifts for everyone. Grimmjow visited each evening, and after the first they went to Shinji’s basement to play.

He was highly impressed by how far Kinomi and Zan had come. Fighting a strong opponent and keeping in touch with Kyattsuai during the fight was perfect training. Normally she worked off of Taka, but with her friend not here Kinomi was able to concentrate more on what Kyattsuai was trying to communicate and not need to worry about what Taka was going to do.

“Hitonomi.” The familiar voice came sharp and clear into her mind.

“Hitonomi, Kyattsuai.” She called out without a moments hesitation, taking her Otooji by surprise.

Kyattsuai flashed and the black eye cross guard changed to a blue-green and the blade turned pure white. Kinomi didn’t give Grimm a chance to get over his surprise at the sudden change and rush forward.

She was fast, but she was still no where near his level and he was able to recover in time and block Kyattsuai with Pantera. She wasn’t daunted by the parry and quickly launched into her next attack.

Most families sat down for Christmas dinner and enjoyed a good meal together, and indeed Kinomi and Yuzu had been hard at work all day preparing the grand feast laid out on the tables. However, the Kurosaki family + honorary members spent their Christmas Eve seeing who could pound who into the dust the best.

Aside from the direct Kurosaki’s, Grimmjow, Nel, Chad, Ishida, Orihime, and all the Vizard where here in the basement of their hide out

“Excellent, but move you hand a little bit further down the handle.” Grimmjow ordered, blocking another strike from her.

Kinomi obeyed without a moments hesitation or question. A flash of an explosion briefly caught her eye from where her mother and Zan were dueling. Catching onto a quick idea caused by the explosion Kinomi began to mutter under her breath.

“Byakurai!” She called out once the incantation was done, the weak lightning launching from a pointed finger.

That was fine, she hadn’t cast the spell in hopes of hurting him. Her kidou sucked after all, not like Zan who had learned every incantation Rukia had taught them to perfection quickly. Grimmjow looked at her in shock, taking by surprise as the Kidou spell raced at him. After all she hadn’t knowing Kidou the last time they had sparred.

With a cry of triumph her blade made it past his guard. It didn’t stop when it hit his Hierro though. She was shocked for only a moment when blood splashed across Kyattsuai’s blade. She got over it very quickly and followed with another strike, this one blocked as Grimmjow backed off, silently calling a halt to the duel.

Kinomi fell into a defensive stance, a wide grin of victory on her face and it took all of her will power not to burst into dance at finally drawing blood from Grimm-ji. The cut was very shallow and stopped bleeding almost at once, but it was blood.

He looked at the shallow cut, then grinned and turned his attention back to her.

“Oi, what was that brat?” He demanded, though there was no anger in his voice, only a hint of pride.

“Hadou #4, Byakurai. Okaasan taught it to me.” She answered. “I suck at Kidou, but the intent wasn’t to harm, it was to distract from my real goal.”

“Well, whatever it was it was well played.” He smirked, sheathing Pantera.

Kinomi retained her stance. She was too well trained to drop it before permission had been granted by whichever Sensei she was with. It had shocked the teachers at the academy, as it was a mistake they took great pleasure in correcting in the first years.

“First years indeed.” Kinomi thought to herself ruefully. “Taka-chan and I didn’t even last two days before they had us with the fourth years, and they are still just a good challenge in that their techniques are more solid then ours, which admittedly is what we really need work with.”

“Kinomi-chan, Grimmjow-san, supper is ready.” Inoue called up to them.

With a nod of Grimm-ji’s head she sheathed her blade and the two of them floated softly to the ground to join the others at the very large table set with a wide variety of steaming food.

Off to the side a large tree stood decorated with a large number of presents stacked under it. Everyone took their places, Kinomi pinning Grimmjow between her and Zan, the only two he could stand.

They took one end of the table to give him a bit of space as he really was uncomfortable hanging out with them and did so merely for the sake of the two kids and Nel. Dinner went off without a hitch and then they were back to a final round of sparing before calling it a night, everyone returning to their respective homes with promises to meet up in the morning for presents.



Kinomi was the first awake, stretching and yawning. She paused to reach out and stroked Kyattsuai handle, a soft murmur and quick purr was her reward before she stretched and forced herself to sit up. Apparently her habit of sleeping with Zanpakuto's had reasserted itself after obtaining Kyattsuai

Something had woken her up, but since Kyattsuai seemed to be at ease it couldn’t have been anything bad. She was about to roll over and catch another few minutes of sleep when her eyes landed on a small package laying on her desk. It was very crudely wrapped with far too much tape.

With a frown she sat up again and reached out to grab it. There was no writing on it but there was a small trace amount of reiasu left on it. She would recognize it anywhere. With a wide grin she eagerly opened the package, gasping as the silver chain fell out of the half crushed box.

The chain wasn’t quite long enough to be used as a necklace and it only had a clasp at one end, but it wasn’t the chain that had her attention, it was the charm at the end. Even if she hadn’t managed to recognize the reiatsu all over the item, she would have known who had giving it to her.

There was a note attached as well, the kanji very poorly drawing and she couldn’t help but to smile. Grimm-ji never was any good at writing, he didn’t have much use for it.

With a wide grin she attached the charm to the but of Kyattsuai, the Zanpakuto murmuring in approval and pleasure. The charm at the end of the chain was made from white gold, one panther larger and standing over the other smaller one. The bigger one had sapphire eyes, the small blue green.

It was beautiful and she had no doubt it was Grimm-ji’s way of not only rewarding her for a job well done, but to rub his presence in Ichigo’s face. Either way, she loved it.

Way too excited to go back to sleep she got up, dressed, and headed down the stairs, meeting Yuzu at the bottom. With cheerful, Merry Christmas’s they set to work on breakfast.

The coffee was about half way done when the sweet aroma summoned the house hold to trample down the stairs, regardless of the fact only Ichigo, Karin and Isshin drank the stuff. Still, there was something alluring about the smell of coffee.

They all crowded around the table, cheerful voices filling the room as snow fell softly outside the window.
Wait, snow? It didn’t snow here. Sending her poorly developed senses out she caught a hint of familiar reiatsu.

“How much did you pay him to do this?” Ichigo asked with a sigh, looking at Rukia.

“Nothing.” She answered. “For the last seven years he has done it for soul society. Ever since we were rescued.”

By now the rest noticed the snow and ran outside to stare in wonder and the fluffy white stuff. Kinomi leaped into the air and tackled Toshiro, giving him a big hug.

“Oi, hey.” He complained.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you, Toshiro-taicho. Taka-chan always rubs it in you do this every year in soul society and I was always so jealous I never got to see it.”

With a soft smile he untangled himself from her and they both floated to the ground to land before the others.

“Toshiro.” Ichigo greeted.

Toshiro just sighed, having long since giving up trying to get Ichigo to call him by his proper rank. At least he was one of the few who had never treated him like a kid.

“Toshiro-kun.” Karin greeted warmly.

“Karin.” He acknowledged with the barest hint of a smile.

“I must admit I am surprised to see you here. I didn’t expect to see you now that Ichi-nii is stationed in Soul Society.”

“Yeah, well…” He looked embarrassed. “I came to check up on them. Just because they are stationed in Soul Society now doesn’t mean Yamamoto-sotaicho doesn’t want to keep an eye on them while in the living world.” he explained.

She may only be thirteen, but Kinomi could recognize a lame excuse when she saw one. Toshiro had been the one to volunteer to keep an eye on them while living in the living world, traveling between the two to collect and deliver reports, but it seemed he spent more time with Karin then he did investigating them.

No matter who may say what, the truth was Yamamoto-sotaichou was still weary of the children. He might have let Kinomi slide being that she was Ichigo and Rukia’s daughter, but she had a tight relationship with one of the only surviving Espada and there was no telling if she might sway his way and become an enemy.

And Zan was clearly the son of an Arrancar, and thus also a possible threat, more so because he wielded both powers. Kinomi suddenly wondered how much a relief it had been to Yamamoto-sotaichou when they have moved. She didn’t like him.

Ignoring the rather uncomfortable conversation Karin and Toshiro had backed each other into, a senario she had witnessed a million times and she was half tempted to tell them to just get over it and kiss each other already, she settled for making a sneak attack on her grandfather with a snowball to the back of the head.

A full blown snowball fight erupted, Yuzu and Rukia retreating to the house to gather up jackets to force onto everyone before they caught colds. Some how Karin and Toshiro were omitted, the two of them standing off to the side and still staring at each other awkwardly.

It lasted about twenty minutes before it was interrupted by Orihime and Ishida, the two arriving together to join them on the walk to Shinji’s.

Kinomi and Zan took the lead. Presents awaited them and nothing could get between them and those boxes wrapped in thin paper, not even Kenpachi if he ever learned his Bankai.

The Vizard were already awake and had eaten as well, take out boxes poorly hidden. They didn’t have long to wait for the others to arrive and they headed to the large decorated tree and the mountain of colorful boxes displayed under it.

Being the youngest Zan was the first who got to open a present. As soon as the box was opened and the item removed all hell broke lose. Paper rained down like so much colorful confetti and boxes were tossed where they may land despite Yuzu‘s attempts at trying to keep things clean and organized. If rumour was right Shinji was paying Yuzu well to come clean up their home on a regular bases.

Kinomi kept her pile off to the side and made sure to read where each item had come from. She didn’t want to miss something important, her mother had raised her with some manners after all.

There was the usual new cloths from her parents and Grandfather. Some of it in good taste, the rest would be meeting unfortunate accidents. A new cook book from Yuzu, the inside already signed. Karin got her a new book on sword kata’s, some of the more complex ones in the back Kinomi had never seen before, also signed.

There was even a few from the Vizard. She didn’t know them as well, her Otousan preferred she didn’t spend much time with them and the only reason he even let Zan near them was because other then Grimmjow they were the only ones with a full understanding of how hollow powers worked after all.

“Lets see; Porn manga, dear god go figure. Better hide them before Otousan flips out. A picture book? Shinji, you bastard I ain’t two anymore. Ooo, chocolate, and the good brand to. Thank you Hiyori.

“Oh god it’s white and covered in crosses. Please, it’s fun enough balancing my ‘love’ for Grimm-ji and Otousan. Are you trying to get me killed Ishida-san. Red bean paste? Oh wait, its just the box used to hold the real present thank gods.” Kinomi sighed in relief.

“Oh, it’s so cute.” She squealed out loud. “Thank you Hime-chan.” She waved over to Orihime.

“You are welcome, Pantera-chan.” Orihime grinned broadly and waved back.

Ichigo’s eyebrows twitched ever so slightly in annoyance, much to Kinomi’s amusement.

“Yep, Otousan is going to disown me if I get anymore panther related presents.” She thought as she set the panther plushy aside. “Then again,” she looked over to Zan.

Everything he was getting was black and red, his favorite colors, and covered in red moons. If she was lavished with things that reminded her Otousan of Grimmjow, than Zan was being lavished with things that were reminiscent of Ichigo.

“Otousan and Grimm-ji might not want to kill each other anymore per say, so instead they use Zan and I to fight their war.” She chuckled to herself in amusement. “Still, Grimm-ji did raise me for just under half my life and Otousan has spent more time with Zan-kun, giving the fact he lives with us, than Grimm-ji gets to spend with his own son.

“Well, enough gloom. Let’s see what else I got. More cloths, joy. Some coins from Mexico, cool. Thanks Sado-san. White and blue feathers on a cord?”

Kinomi had to grab the wrapper again to figure out where in the hell those came from.

A beautiful little gift to a beautiful young girl from Ikkaku-kun and I for bringing joy to Kenpachi-taichou

-Yumi-taichou


Smiling in understanding, she paused to ask Yuzu-obachan to braid them into her hair for her. Bell on one side, feathers on the other, yep the 11th has definitely claimed her soul, even if Yumi-taichou and Ikkaku-taichou were no longer of the 11th they still considered themselves members of it.

“Well, that was unexpected. I wonder if Taka-chan got the same thing? Back to the dive. Oh wow, talk about expensive material. Yep, thought this one had to be from Byakuya-ji.” She thought as she fingered the expensive spring Kimono, black with white flower petals.

“Trust Byakuya-ji to get something tasteful. While the petals are Sakura petals, they at least aren’t pink and something like this would be perfect for the Sakura Festival. A subtle reminder of who the gift is from and yet can be completely accepted on its own. That’s Byakuya-ji for you.”

She folded the expensive kimono and made sure to put it properly away while reminding herself to thank Byakuya-ji when she got back.

“Let’s see. Not much left other then the stuff from my friends, but we all agreed to open them together after I got back so I left those ones at home. Ah there we go, knew there were two left. Okay, more cloths, thank you Okaasan for not including anything Chappy related.

“And the last package. Hmm way too much tape. Ah from Otousan. Strange, usually he leaves Okaasan to do all this stuff, but this one looks like it’s from just him. Strange. Ah well. And it’s… a diary?”

She looked at the book with lock in shock. Her FULL name was written down the right side of the cover. Said cover had a picture of a white panther under a red moon with snow flakes falling, a tribute to the three parts of her soul.

“Otousan.” She whispered in shock as she opened to the first page to read the note her Otousan had left for her.

Hay squirt. I am not very good with words and all that other stuff, but there were some things I wanted to let you know.

I love you. No mater what path you may walk I will always love you and I regret every day that I couldn’t be there when you were brought into the world. It is painful to admit I owe so much to Grimmjow, that I owe my daughter her very life to him.

I understand why you follow the path you do and I could no more stop you from walking your own road than my friends could stop me. So even when I look annoyed, even when Grimmjow and I try to kill each other when we fight, it has nothing to do with the path you have chosen.

There were many times I wish I could recall my adventures. As time passes the memory fades. I thought that maybe this book will let you record the journey you will take so you might better recall your journey through life and remember the lessons you learned on that path.

Love you always
Otousan

Kinomi re-read the letter over and over, tears of joy spilling silently down her checks. Who knew he had such a side to him? She wiped the tears away quickly before anyone could notice and pulled the pen attached to the side out.


I will always love you to Otousan, even if our paths are not on the same road.


She added at the end of his letter. Closing the cover she made sure to lock it and put the key somewhere safe before joining Zan to see what cool things he got.

Black pajama’s with swords shaped suspiciously like Zangetsu’s Bankai form. More tasteless cloths. A picture book like hers from Shinji. A bunch of toys as if he was a normal seven year old boy and not trained since he was old enough to hold a katar how to fight.

A new Gi from Tatsuki-sensei. A black necklace with a moon on it. A bunch of novels about martial arts for several different styles. His Kimono from Byakuya-ji was black with red Sakura blossoms.

It was the last item that was confusing. It appeared to be a long, white ribbon with the Kanji for 2 on one end. It took her a second to get it, then she couldn’t help chuckling.

“Wow, is that from Soi Fon-taichou?” She asked.

“Yeah.” he admitted sheepishly. “ It came with a letter.” He handed her said letter over.

“Here is one for yourself. Please refrain from borrowing anymore of mine.” Kinomi read. “Oh dear lord.” She laughed. “I wonder if Soi Fon-Taichou got Leon-kun a yellow sash to go with your ribbon.”

“I see you seem to be copying Yumi-taichou.” Zan pointed to her feathers.

“Yeah.” She smiled, handing him over the letter so he could read hers.

He chuckled as he handed the letter back.

The rest of the morning passed normally, or as normal as things got with this crew. They would be returning to soul society in the late afternoon to eat dinner at the Kuchiki estate as was tradition. She was excited, knowing the others would all be there.


Kinomi had decided, and by decided meant her mother made her, to wear the Kimono Byakuya-ji had gotten her, as did Zan. The others kids were also dressed in similar kimono’s, each set of Sakura blossoms a different color.

Hers were white, Taka’s were cyan, Galgo’s were light brown, Reina’s pink, Barbo’s light blue, Azucena’s a bright yellow, Leon’s a deep gold, Zan’s a crimson red. Rukia insisted on getting pictures of them.

It turned out Leon did get a yellow sash embodied with the Kanji for 2 in a corner with a similar letter from Soi Fon-taichou. He was wearing it with great pride tied off just the way Soi Fon did.

Taka also got a set of feathers, but hers were a molted brown and Kinomi wouldn’t be surprised to learn they came from a hawk or falcon.

Once the doors were closed most of the formal rigor was dropped. Galgo and Stark disappeared into a corner to sleep. Unohana and Rukia were having a pleasant conversation at a table. Even Byakuya-ji seemed to be having a pleasant conversation with Reina

It was after dinner that the kids gathered around to trade gifts between themselves. They didn’t exactly have a lot of money so the gifts tended to be either small or home made, with the exception of Barbo. As the Kuchiki heir he got a fair size allowance.

He always got something nice for Reina, as the two of them were the most alike. Kinomi figured half the reason Byakuya-ji let Rangiku-fukutaichou, Ggio-san, Leon-kun and Reina-chan stay on his estate was because Barbo wished it. After all Lilinette-san, Azucena-chan and Hanataro didn’t live with Unohana-taichou anymore.

This year it appeared Barbo got Reina a white ring made from some sort of rock etched with feathers. She thanked him graciously in so many flowery words that it caused a tick to form on Kinomi’s forehead. Why couldn’t she just say ‘thank you, I love it.’ No, she needed fourteen words just to say those five.

Gifts exchanged, dinner eaten and an appropriate amount of mingling completed they headed home. Kinomi did a quick double check of the stuff she had brought back from the real world, both as part of her shopping list and as gifts for some of the others here. Assured all was well she crashed, asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.


Stay tuned for Chapter 4: Confrontation

Next chapter the conflicts start

One of the reasons I put Toshiro with Karin, and not just because I think they are cute together, is because she would be the one woman strong enough to support him and not be pushed away while he recovered from his breaking at Aizen's hands. She would also not remind him of the hell he went through as Aizen's lap dog every time he looked at her.

I forgot to mention something about Kinomi's name and why it keeps changing. Grimmjow, Taka and the 11th, both current and former, call her Pantera, the far more powerful part of her name. Everyone else calls her Kinomi, her giving name.

As usual thank you for the reviews and I hope to see you all next chapter.