Komamura Manor Garden

Shunsui Kyoraku sighed. “It’s probably not….” he muttered, “but it’s not like we can control what our fears are. What we can control is what we do about them. Your mother may still fear that man, but she’s decided she’s not going to let that ruin what she built with you guys. Me….” he shrugged, “I’m afraid that one day that my efforts won’t be enough. That it will all come crumbling down.” He rubbed his chin. “Or that all those expectations and hopes people have placed on me will finally be misplaced when my complacency gets the best of me.”

He tilted his head and pushed his hat down on the giggling toddler. “Yeah… sometimes blood can rule someone, but you have to remember that it’s not just one person that created this bundle of mischief. It’s not his fault that his birth was messed up.”

Saburou batted at him. “My hat! Mine!” he squealed, hiding under it again.

Shunsui chuckled. “And there’s one more thing, Shunsui. Sometimes…..It is necessary to be hurt to find your true strength and what really matters to you. You don’t live unless you bend some rules, some limits, or some aspects of yourself.”

He plucked one of the climbing flowers on the terrace. “He’s your brother, too. Isn’t that something much more important than a vague thing called the future? Even the possibility of something worse on the horizon?”

The captain commander sighed. “Your belief and attitude don’t help the situation, Sui. If you’re so scared or angry at what has happened - but won’t do anything but become further angered - you have little chance of doing anything for yourself or family. You could be headed into a hole that will swallow you whole.” He looked to Ryo and Sajin. “I have to agree with your parents. You need to do something. Or you will become a pawn of the man you wish to defy.”

"Lighter":

After her conversation with her Lieutenant, Ryo made her way to her office. Once at her desk, she found herself distracted by a book of poetry sitting on top of a pile of paperwork. It was a book she had read dozens of times. A book that both she and Sajin shared a love for. Ryo smiled at the thought of her husband. So, she decided to go pay him a visit. It was still earlier enough in the day. But, when she arrived at the Seventh Division Captain's office, he was not there. Assuming her went home, she went there. 


Ryo walked into the manor's garden. Despite the season it was still relatively warm enough that, while the trees were bare, some flowers were attempting to bloom again. She smiled at the sight of the massive man leaning against a pillar of the garden's porch. "Hello, Puppy." she whispered. But, she knows he heard. Ryo leaned against the pillar closest to Sajin, her hands tucked between her and the pillar. "I-"

Sajin handed her an apple, an action that cut her sentence short. "Thank you." she said, taking the apple from him. "Can we talk?"

Ryo chuckled. "Strangely, that was moment I felt the heaviest I've been in a long time." She looked at the apple in her hands. "Staying my blade was hard, Sajin." Ryo looked up at her husband. "Putting it away was harder. But, stepping away," A tear rolled down her cheek. "That was easy."

Sajin raised a hand, gently caressing her cheek and wiping away the tear. "I can't imagine what you felt in that moment, my dear Ryo." He spoke softly to her. "But, I can see how you feel now."

Ryo placed a hand on top of his as she turned her head enough to place a kiss in the palm of his hand. "I love you, Sajin Komamura."

"The Captains Komamura":

Sajin stood in the doorway that led into the garden from their bedroom. He had a small haori draped over his left arm. On it was the symbol of the Ninth. The haori had been given to him by the Captain Commander who had called him into a private meeting post the emergency Captain's Meeting after Urahara's arrival in the Soul Society. Sajin smiled as his pups ran by him back into the house. He smiled at Ryo as he stopped in front of him. 

"Hello, Ryo..." 

Ryo stopped and leaned against the wooden pillar behind her. "Hi."

Sajin stepped forward, holding the haori out to her. "This is for you. I was hoping that we could talk. I am-" Sajin's words cut off as Ryo scoffed and turned her back to him. She sat down on the edge of the open porch. "Ryo..."

Sajin sat silent for a few moments. "The thought of losing you makes my heart ache, Ryo. And, it isn't just us anymore. It very quickly wasn't just us anymore. We have children...Who need their mother."

"And, yet none of that explains why you believe you have the right to take this from me."

"I am - "

"Do not," shouted Ryo. "Tell me that it is because you are the head of this family! That does not give you the right to strip me of my autonomy!"

Sajin slammed a heavy fist into the wood below him. He opened his mouth to speak then went silent. "I will not let this ruin us, Ryo."

"Then stop!" Ryo stood and turned to face Sajin. "Holding me so close and so tight that I break is not protecting me, Sajin Komamura. As Captains, we are equals."

"But, as your husband, it is my job to protect you. This is only way I know how."

Sajin rose to his feet quickly. He brought his fists together and lowered himself into a bow. "Captain..." As he rose from his bow, he looked to his wife then back to the Captain Commander. "You did not trust that this conversation would go as you wished?"

"This is the great Kyoraku you question." Ryo sighed as she turned away from the two men. "It isn't that he believed you wouldn't do what he demanded of you." Ryo looked over her should at her Commander. "He is here because he knew I would stay my anger..."

"Why are you so angry with me?" questioned Sajin. "So what if I changed my mind on you remaining a Captain...As you've said...I've done this before."

"Yes." said Ryo. "Except the first time was because you made me a mother. This time...because you see me as weak..."

Sajin looked at Ryo. He was confused. "I..." He looked to the Captain Commander. "That is not why!" He stepped towards Ryo, reaching out and grabbing at her arm. She pulled away. "Ryo...I've never said that."