SSQ Omake: Reassurances

The attack had been swift and merciless.

Kurosaki Masaki had shouted for her daughters to rush upstairs just as the intruder had barged in through the front door, a stocky man with silver hair and a bony crown around his head. His expression was one of complete disdain, for what it was impossible to say.

All they heard was a brief exchange, loud and painful-sounding from upstairs. Yuzu whimpered as Karin shielded her against the wall, for all the good it did... the amount of reiatsu being released seemed to render any of their efforts meaningless. Then there was silence, aside from Yuzu's continued whimpers. The enemy had left, but their mother was absent now as well and their father's presence was only faint.

It was only a few seconds, maybe a minute or two, before two more familiar beings approached. There were voices downstairs.

“Is that... Aunt Riku?” Karin whispers quietly, her eyes narrowed. “But then who...”

The second shinigami began to ascend the stairs... by the foot of her bed Karin finds her softball bat, and positions herself by the door. She waits, holding her breath with the bat held high over her head, until there's a knock at the door.

“Intruders don't usually knock...” Karin realizes with a frown, before turning the knob.

The door is gently pushed open from outside, and an unfamiliar face pokes her way in. “Hello... thanks for not hitting me with that.”

“Who are you?” Karin demands.

“I'm your aunt Yoruichi... I haven't seen the two of you since you were very little.”

“So are you Riku's sister, or...”

Yoruichi laughs quietly, shaking her head. “No, I'm her wife. It's a long story.”

“Wow, never pinned her...” Karin begins, before shaking her head. “Nevermind.”

“So, are the two of you okay?” she asks.

Yuzu stifles a sob. “Our parents are...”

Her voice trails off abruptly, but Yoruichi doesn't need to hear anything more. She already knows.

“Isshin will be fine,” she assures the girls. “Among other things your aunt Riku's a capable healer.”

“But our mom is gone,” Karin mutters, dropping the bat as if the full realization of that fact finally hit her. “Whatever that was... it took her.”

“I see,” Yoruichi sighs sadly, taking a seat on the floor and leaning against Karin's bed. “I'm sorry we weren't here sooner, but there were... other considerations.”

“And what considerations were those?” Karin demands, taken aback at the admission.

“You have friends at school?” Yoruichi asks.

“Of course.”

“Their lives are at risk too,” Yoruichi explains. “The enemy Riku and I have been fighting wants to kill everyone in Karakura town as part of his plans, so we hesitated to commit.”

“Why would he want that?” Yuzu asks, struggling to hold back bitter tears. “Why would he want our mom? What did any of us do...”

“Nothing,” Yoruichi shakes her head. “Sorry, but I can't tell you what's going on in that man's head. Only that it won't be any good for the rest of us.”

The girls fall silent, and eventually Yoruichi sighs dejectedly. “Look, I know it doesn't look good right now... but we'll get through it. We always do. We'll get your mom back, protect the town, and stop Aizen from hurting anyone else.”

Then she kneels down, gesturing for her nieces to join her in a reassuring embrace. “It'll be alright, okay?”

After a few sniffly moments, Yoruichi glances up to find Ichigo standing in the doorway. His expression is one of numb shock... so Riku must have told him, at least a little of what happened.

“I did what I could,” Yoruichi sighs, getting up off her knees and walking to the window, “but your sisters need their brother.”

Then, without another word of explanation, she leaps from the window.

Ichigo stares for a moment in disbelief. “Did she just...”

Karin shakes her head. “Our aunts are weird. But at least they seem reliable?”