Of Birthdays and Siblings

Progression of Life

Snow began to fall right before the group got back to the palace. Toshiro felt his stomach grumbling again and he felt the corners of his mouth twisting up in frustration. He thought back to when he had taken the time to eat and realized that while he had eaten lunch with the Kurosaki family yesterday, that was his one major meal. He had missed breakfast the day before, had snacks the night before at the party and gotten a small breakfast this morning.

He could feel his rieatsu beginning to tank and overwhelm him and he honestly hoped he would get to eat something soon. That was the honest problem with the reiatsu levels he had was the fact he had to eat more then anyone else his age. Having to do so had always made him feel out of place. He continued to frown as the headed into a great hall like area.

Food was spread out on the table and he found himself blinking at the number of foods, many of which he didn't recognize. He let out a deep sigh as he wasn't sure what he was going to do next. He suddenly felt a tap on his shoulder and realized that everyone was handing their jackets to the people who seemed to be serving the table.

He blinked a couple of times until his uncle tugged on the jacket. "You can take it off now."

Toshiro found himself pulling the jacket off and handing if off to someone. He could feel the eyes of some of the older members of the group on him and he looked at them with a wary look on his face. He wasn't sure they were happy with the fact that he was there or not. He slipped into a chair next to his uncle and watched as the dishes were passed around and people dished their food up.

Gabrielli noticed that he wasn't making a move to dish up food for himself and she quickly shoveled some food from various dishes onto his plate. One of the elders tapped her on the shoulder and she looked over. The shake of the head they gave her indicated that her behavior wasn't something that they were pleased with.

Toshiro continued to glance at the food, not at all sure where to begin when his stomach grumbled again. His uncle spoke up from the side. "Eat. We always have a large meal after we come back. Each and every person here has a high level of reiatsu, so they need to eat a lot during meal time. Plus, you missed having a large breakfast this morning because I let you sleep in."

"Thank you." Toshiro stated as he picked one food to try and pick at and eat slowly.

"By the way, how does your head feel this morning?"

"I have a dull ache, but it is starting to subside." Toshiro put the food in his mouth and chewed it carefully, deciding whether he liked the food or not, or whether he could go ahead and simply eat it despite it not being something to his taste. He glanced around and swallowed, making the quick decision that he wouldn't bother complaining as there were a lot of older members there.

He finished the one plate and was glancing around to see what he wanted to eat next when someone came hurtling into the hall. "Uncle!"

The small male found himself suddenly flinching, his plate dropping to the table as he turned his head towards Bambietta. He watched as she suddenly launched herself at their uncle, wrapping her arms around his neck and holding on tightly. She blinked a couple of times while looking at Toshiro. "I was going to ask you where Toto-chan got to, but I see he's with you."

Gabrielli suddenly frowned. "Toto-chan?"

Toshiro heard a disgruntled muttering from the direction she was in and noticed that some of the older members were chiding her for her behavior again. The female turned to look at him, frowning as she did so. She had a look in her eyes as if she was had done something very wrong. The look was very familiar, one he remembered a few Shinigami using when they had found out they had not treated him with due respect because they hadn't realized he as a captain.

"So... you're Lady Bambietta's brother?" The female stated out loud, causing the younger members of the group to look up in surprise. Toshiro found himself glancing up at his uncle to see how he was reacting to the situation and there was a rather stern look on his face. The man reached out though and smiled, ruffling his hair. There was a bit of silence.

"Gabrielli babysat me when I was younger, so she heard me taking to you." Bambietta responded.

The situation was still tense and out of the corner of his eye he could see a few of the other look at each other in confusion. Toshiro continued to frown.

The other female let out a coughing sound. "Wait a second. If your the brother that she was always talking about, that would mean that your her twin brother. You're shorter then her."

Toshiro found himself flinching when the female pointed out something that rather bothered him. He glanced down at the empty plate and he found himself frowning. Bambietta tugged on his arm. "Let's go play."

Two teal eyes glanced up and blinked a couple of times. Toshiro opened his mouth, still confused as to what was going on. His uncle let out a deep sigh. "Bambietta, you should let your brother finish eating."

"But I want to play with him now." The dark haired female launched herself at Toshiro and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Please Toto-chan?"

"I'll bring him around to your room when he is finished eating." Her uncle shook his head in disbelief. Toshiro heard his sister storm off and he could also feel other people staring at him.

"I'm full. I'll just go now." He stated, standing up to follow his sister. He couldn't look anyone at the table in the eye as they were honestly a bunch of strangers to him.