Lost Child (Bleach Fanfic)

Calm Mind

"I can't handle the way everyone's treated him." The small female continued to say what she felt she needed to say despite the fact her voice strained as she tried telling them how she felt. Tatsukichi stood there staring at her, his eye's wide as he took in what she said. He didn't move from the spot despite the fact Momo's words stung.

The small female continued to look at her feet and silence prevailed. She finally looked up at the elder. "I honestly don't know where to start."

The elder frowned. "You aren't able to pinpoint what direction he headed in for us by feeling out for his reiatsu."

The small female swallowed, her eyes beginning to water. Somehow she managed to keep her tears from falling. "I don't know what his reiatsu feels like. It's honestly nothing I ever noticed when I came back. I wasn't around enough, didn't come home enough."

The older man continued to look at her before Tatsukichi smiled at her. "We'll go and start up a search party. That is what the normal procedure is when a child disappears."

"Normal procedure?" Momo found herself swallowing as her hands gripped the pants of her school uniform. "It was a normal procedure that no one felt should take place for Shiro-chan. They really don't like him, do they? Why though?" Her brown eyes darted to the ground again. "I appreciate that. I should help too."

"No... you stay here. You're still upset about finding out the news."

She remained there sitting, her eyes fixated on the ground. A soft drizzle came making Tatsukichi and Ayumi come and speak with her about coming inside to their place as the weather came down. The academy student looked up, blinking a couple of times. "Yeah... but I should really go and wait for Shiro-chan at the house. He might actually come back. I might be lucky enough to see him come back."

"The village women are still trying to get the smell out of the house."

"From what I understand they're going to place your grandmother in a closed casket as there is the smell of rot." Ayumi's nose wrinkled up. "How could your brother stay in there with the smell like that?"

Tatsukichi looked at the ground. "He stayed there because he didn't have anywhere to go. He may not have even realized that she was dead."

Momo looked up. "So Shiro-chan didn't know granny was dead until someone found him."

"Momo-chan, you need to keep up your strength for when Shiro-chan gets back."

The small female stood up and headed with the two back to the room. "Any news yet."

"No... the adults are having me run messages but..." Tatsukichi paused as if he wanted to say something but then changed his mind to say something else. "... nothing. Nothing at all."

"I should be out there looking for him, but tracking is not one of my strong suit. Even if... even if I wasn't trying to still digest what is going on." Momo walked into the small house and found herself in the corner, glad that the drizzle didn't cause her clothing to be overly soaked. She waited patiently for news but the sound of rain came to her ears, pouring down outside of the room. "I wish Izuru and Renji were here. They would know what to do."

Night came and she found herself asked to sleep in an extra futon but she found it hard to sleep as the worry kept her awake. In the morning she woke up and made to go looking for Toshiro herself, only to notice the broken sandal she had as well as the tabi socks she had removed due to the fact they were being stained with dirt. Her friends mother had washed the socks so they were now spotless but the sandal still needed to be mended.

Their mother came over and picked up her sandal. "Let me mend this for you." After a few minutes she found the sandal being handed to her. "The house is cleaned out smell wise. Someone from your family needs to keep watch over your granny before the funeral."

"Why do I get the feeling that they are trying to stop me from finding Shiro-chan. I'm not sure what to say to them because I have no proof." She headed to the house where a small casket was sealed so that the smell wouldn't bother anyone. Momo sat there and time passed as she waited for someone to find the small child.

"The room feels empty... it feels as if everything has been thrown away, made so that I can't ever reach it again. It's as if I have a big gaping hole in my chest and it feels as if nothing is ever going to be the same. It's all gone." The small female found herself unable to handle it anymore and leaned forward into the palms of her hands as she sobbed hard. Somehow she found herself dozing off and eventually morning came.

The sound of the villagers murmuring caused her head to snap up in attention. She made to go to the door. One of the woman grabbed the back of her school uniform. "It isn't proper to leave."

"I don't care what is proper right now. I want my little brother to be found so I can hold him in my arms!" The female pushed forward and slid the door open, only to not find what she was hoping for. She blinked a couple of times.

A young man with red hair scratched his head. "We asked the head of the academy to allow us to have time off so we could come and help you with the funeral."

In the mean time the other student from the academy looked around. "Something doesn't feel right. I mean, this is a wake before the funeral, but something doesn't feel right."

The next thing Momo knew she flung herself at the two boys, burring her face between the two. "Shiro-chan's missing. I can't find him anywhere."

Renji blinked a couple of times. "What do you mean?"

Izuru touched her shoulder. "Why don't we go inside and talk."

They slipped into the room and sat in and the words came out of her mouth. Izuru foldes his arms across his chest. "When is your grandmother's funeral?"

"It's tomorrow morning."

"After the funeral tomorrow I suggest heading back to the academy and seeing if they won't let us get help in finding your little brother. Renji and I can only cover a small amount of space on our own.