Sunset in Heaven

Chapter 3

"Can you be my guardian..?" Ichigo asked directly at Ukitake, a little shy now that he was the one asking for it. Kaien was about to snicker until Ukitake gave him a look, again.

"Of course, Ichigo-kun." Ukitake smiled as his kind eyes turned to the boy. "Do you want to live in Seireitei?"

Ichigo shook his head. "I want to stay here. Can you visit me here sometimes?"

"But..." Kaien looked a little worried for a while, and Ichigo was sure the concern was not for him, but for the Captain.

"My health is a little problematic, Ichigo-kun." Ukitake started but when he saw Ichigo's quietly alarmed look, he added, "But I will still try to visit you when I feel well, just like right now. Is that alright? Shiba-kun will take care of you in my place when I can't make it."

Ichigo looked down. A man as strong as this person was sick? "Juushirou, will you be alright if you keep on visiting me here despite your health?" Kaien's eyebrow twitched at the boy's insolence. Not even he would dare call his Taichou by name and name alone. But it seemed this boy could get away with it, what with all the warmth that Ukitake's kind smile evoked.

"Of course, I'm not that weak, really. My body is just a little weaker than most Shinigami, but I'm fine. So, will you be alright for a while? Or do you want us to stay here with you?" Ukitake asked as he held both of Ichigo's shoulders.

Ichigo looked at him from behind his fringe before he nodded. "I'll be fine. You still have some work to do right now, right? About the hollows?"

"So you know about them too." Kaien asked.

"Not really, just a little." Ichigo gestured it with his thumb and forefinger. His expression turned grimmer and Ukitake couldn't help but feel that it would be a long time before the boy could accept everything.

The two Shinigamis stayed for a while with Ichigo until the boy's pale face had color again. They said goodbye for now and Kaien promised that he'd be back even if Ukitake couldn't because of busy schedule.

When they left, it was already dusk. Ichigo used Zangetsu to dig the soil beside the house and put a cross there even though there would be no body to bury. He marked it as her tomb, a remembrance of the life, or the afterlife, that she had in the outskirts of District 32. He didn't weep anymore. He didn't even sob.

"I promise I won't cry over every single thing anymore, Baa-chan. So you don't have to worry that I will drown myself in my own tears and die beside you." He let the corner of his lips twitch a little, a ghost of a smile that he used to have when he was little. "I will become stronger, stronger and stronger until I can protect those who are important to me."

'You better get stronger, King. Or I'll devour you from the inside out.'

'I suggest you don't scare our master.' The familiar voice of Zangetsu spoke.

"Zangetsu? Who is the other one?" Ichigo's eyes widened when he heard a different voice from the one that saved him earlier. It seemed there was another person inside his mind.

'Tch, you don't even know the other part of your soul? How pathetic. What would your mother tell you.' Ichigo tensed. 'She has someone like me too, you know. Inside her.'

"What do you mean?" Ichigo asked, a little dubious about believing the creepy voice.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Ichigo-kun is a very special child." Ukitake said as he and his Fukutaichou shunpo'd towards the other 13th Squad officers. They weren't in a hurry because they knew that their officers were well-capable of protecting themselves and annihilating the two ordinary hollows.