𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒖𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒍𝒚 (𝑲𝒖𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒂𝒌𝒊) 𝑬𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕 »« 𝙱𝙻𝙴𝙰𝙲𝙷/ᴋɴʏ

xv.

    Red, black, white, purple, green, blue, violet, grey; a kaleidoscope of butterflies danced around like its namesake. Lavender eyes are filled with the dozens of colors that were merged together in every way except physical. The crying wisteria sways in the gentle, but stifling breeze of summer. A few flowers fall off and land on long black hair pooled behind a small figure.

  Natsue brings a hand up, her palm upturned to let another flower fall into it. She watches with a barely there smile when a flame bordered emperor lands on her index thumb. It slows its wings before staying still.

  "How unfortunate..." Natsue's voice whispers over the bountiful and soulless garden she resides in for the day. There has been a shift with the spirits.

  "Oyakata-sama." Natsue smiles at the answer to her call. She lowers her hand and turns her head towards her left. The flame bordered emperor doesn't even move a wing at the movement.

  Loose black strands fading to a soft silver fell in front of faded pale violet eyes. A blank mask was fixed on a sharp face, pale with a dark red dahlia scar covering the left temple and cheekbone. A green outlined in pink butterfly hairclip kept most of the hair up into a bun. A white butterfly haori, fading into mint green and pink, draped over the person's slender figure and the old demon slayer corps uniform. A chain fell from the center of a broad chest with only three links left.

  Natsue inclines her head towards Kochō Shion, the Flower Hashira three generations ago. "You don't have much time left, Shion."

  "I will make enough time, Oyakata-sama," Shion answers blankly, making the current master laugh softly. It devolves into a soft coughing, making the spirit snap his head up. He reaches over to try and help, but his hand stops before he could touch the girl.

  "I don't have much time left either..." Natsue lowers her hand, appearing almost ignorant to the blood dripping from her mouth. She smiles as her eyes close to bask in the scorching sunlight.

  "The spirits are in danger. I sense that Kibutsuji wishes to do something with them. I wish for you to pass over, Shion," Natsue speaks quietly.

  "Oyakata-sama, if Kibutsuji manages to attack me, I assure you, I can handle myself. I am Ichigo's predecessor and the creator of the training regime he had gone through." The hot temper of Shion finally makes its presence known. Natsue giggles softly and opens her eyes to see Shion's blank mask broken by a crazed expression so similar to his father's.

  "I am tasking you with finding any of my children still left in the World of Spirits. If Kibutsuji manages to find it, or finds a way to turn spirits into demons, we must protect that world from succumbing to his tyranny," Natsue clarifies, eyes glittering in amusement at the pink flush covering the young man's entire face.

  "As you wish, Oyakata-sama," Shion states reverently, bowing his head in a sign of complete fealty.

  Natsue faces the garden once more; the flame bordered emperor finally flutters away. "The World of Spirits is vast and dangerous the farther you are from the center. It has its own flaws and not many virtues to balance, but I have a feeling Ichigo is going to bring a change that completely shatters everything the World of Spirits has ever known."

  "He always does," Shion agrees with mirth and nostalgia filling his voice. It seems Shinazugawa Sanemi's stubbornness continues to find itself in the later generations of the Kochō–now Kurosaki–family.

  "Head to the exiled reaper and tell him I request his summons the moment he brings Ichigo back. Tell him that Ichigo will know what to do." The meeting ends and Shion silently bows before leaping away, leaving Natsue alone in the garden.