Of Birthdays and Siblings

Kingdom Come

"Soul Society may want nothing to do with the children of darkness, but Vandenriech is a safe haven for them. If Society comes after them it will be taken as an act of war."

The words that his captor said caused the white haired child to close his eyes and think about what he had in fact said. "I don't understand why 'children born of darkness' would be safe there compared to Soul Society or anywhere else. We're hybrids and children thrown away for our bloodlines, so why is it he is acting like it isn't something bad."

Toshiro felt a hand underneath one of his armpits tugging him along with him as he frowned. He then opened his eyes to look at the man in charge. The person had dark hair and a cut on his lip. "They called him 'your highness', so he must be someone of great importance. It also seems that Baba-nee is upset about him. He said something about our father being dead, but not our mother."

He felt a tug and he found himself moving through a portal with the people. He then found himself traveling through a dark area and into a place that contained walls made of ice. His teal eyes blinked a couple of times and he paused in his step and watched as various people hustled about the structure. He found himself receiving a quick tug on his sleeve.

"Come." The man tugged on his arm and began to walk away, only to pause when Bambietta didn't follow. He turned to look at her. "Something the matter?"

"You're going to see him, aren't you?"

"Where else do you think I am going?"

The small female made a move to hurry off, but the man reached over and quickly grabbed her by the back of her her clothing. He saw the scowl that passed over his sisters face, but simply went along with the situation, not at all sure where things were heading. He found himself walking through a few doorways, many of which were ranked by guards, who nodded their head at the man leading them around.

Finally he came to a door and let go of Toshiro's arm and knocked on the door, refusing to let go of the back of Bambietta's clothing. A man's voice came from inside the room for them to enter and the white haired child found himself entering a vast study with books. His eyes went wide at seeing the collection. He then noticed a rather large man standing there reading a book.

"You are free to read any book that you wish." The man closed the book, placing a bookmark in. "Welcome home Toshiro."

The boy found himself blinking a couple of times. He suddenly felt a hand patting the top of his head and turned his head to look at the man that had brought him in. "This is the leader of the Vandenreich, which is what we choose to call ourselves. Your to call him majesty when around others, but when it is just the family you can call him grandfather."

Toshiro felt his chest suddenly beating fast and he turned to look at the man. "The leader of the Vandenreich is our grandfather?"

He found himself glancing at the ground. Bambietta let out a deep sigh. "Except if you forget to not call him that in front of people he doesn't care." The silence that greeted them caused her to move over to him. "Toto-chan... is something the matter?"

"Bambietta, leave your brother to think." The man spoke up. "What were you thinking taking off during the night like you did? And heading to Soul Society and getting caught?"

"You're always planning the parties and stuff for my birthday. I wanted to do something, so I decided to break some stuff because Soul Society took mama, papa and Toto-chan away." The girl frowned at him, crossing her arms across her chest.. "I've already decided what the best birthday present this year is getting Toto-chan back. And I got it myself."

"Bambietta, why don't you go with your uncle and prepare for tonight's party with the other children. I would like to speak with your brother and explain some things to him." The female frowned, but he waved her off. The man then pulled out a seat and pointed to another. "Have a seat Toshiro."

The boy sat down folding his arms across his chest. He choose not to speak despite the questions he had for the man. "I'll keep it simple to start off with. You are the son of my eldest male child. He choose to leave this place with your mother. Your uncle was able to bring Bambietta back, but your father was adamant about making it so that they wouldn't return and thus hid you from us after his twin brother had left with your sister so we couldn't find you until recently."

"Why would my father leave here? And wouldn't that make both of our parents Quincy? That would mean that we're not hybrids"

The man frowned. "Your mother was brought here from Soul Society. He wished to return her home. I don't blame him for doing that, but he was also my heir and his leaving was not a good thing for us. However, any attempt to retrieve you would cause problems even after we've received news that your father was dead."

"Who was he?"

"I'll answer that and your other questions at a later time. We have been making preparations for your and Bambietta's birthday."

"How the hell does he know what day we were born in unless we were separated as soon as we were born?" Toshiro frowned at the man.

"Despite the fact we haven't planned for you to join us, I wish for you to join us."

"I decline." The boy pushed his lips together and glared at the man.

"I'm not giving you an option. I know that you aren't celebrating your birthday with the friends you've made in Soul Society, but you'll have to make due. This is your home."

"See... that is the thing. I don't celebrate my birthday. The idea that people want to even celebrate it is unsettling. I'm also not good with socializing with others. I'm not going to be comfortable, not to mention my head hurts from when Baba... Bambietta knocked me to the ground."

"It is all right for you to call her Baba-nee. I have the feeling you were calling her that because you didn't know her first name."

Toshiro glanced away, a frown spreading across his face. "I'm used to calling everyone by their last name."

"She's your blood sister. You aren't supposed to be formal with family." The man leaned forward onto his hands. "I'll make a deal with you. I will hold off announcing that you are Bambietta's twin brother for now. Go to the party because your sister will want you to be there. I'll tell her not to let anyone know you're her brother. By going to the party you can get used to how our society works."

"You're not going to give me a choice are you?"

"No. You'll need to change out of your clothing." The man stated, just as the door opened. Toshiro glanced up to see his uncle and the man nodded his head at his son. "I want you to take Toshiro to your brother's old room. There is a chance some of his old clothing may fit, and if need be it can be taken in a bit."

Toshiro turned to leave, only to hear one more thing from the man. "You coming to the party will be a good thing for you as you'll be attending classes with the children you meet there. They aren't all the children who will be going to class with you, but it will help you get used to being around them."

The small shinigami found himself gritting his teeth together in frustration.