16 Ch. 16 Emotions and Reflections

Jotaro woke up feeling more tired than when he went to sleep. His shoulder no longer hurt but was stiff. He rolled out of bed with a groan.

He went to his mirror and moved his shirt over his shoulder. He didn't se a mark or a scar where the mask had stabbed into him. He changed to his Shinigami form using the glove and also didn't notice anything unusual.

He just felt tired and got that feeling you get right before you have a terrible cold.

He went back into his human body and sat on his bed. He had to change and get ready to leave with the Kurosaki's.

He pushed himself off the bed and went to the bathroom to shower. Now that he thinks about it. He hadn't really gotten sick before in this life.

He turned the shower on and looked into the mirror. He saw Hōfuku-Ryoku standing behind him on his left side.

"Is there something different in my inner world" Jotaro asked his Z-Spirit.

"No, just windier than usual. But I'd say that's due to where we're going today. Nothing else has changed recently besides the grass growing a little over time"

Jotaro closes his eyes and breathes. He really didn't like feeling like this. He took his shirt off and looked in the mirror. He saw a devils figure behind him and he whipped his head around and punched where the figure had been standing. He stopped just before he punched the wall.

Hōfuku-Ryoku asked what he saw. Apparently his Zanpakuto Spirit hadn't seen the figure. Maybe he was seeing things. He had been a bit scared when fighting Yiskan. Maybe he was just worried unnecessarily about it since it was the strongest foe he had fought. And it was random, not even seen in cannon.

Where had it even come from. It seemed more knowledgeable about Shinigami than it should have.

Jotaro takes his shower and gets ready to go.

He goes by his moms room and knocks. She had been sleeping in a bit more lately.

She tells him it's open. He opens the door and lets her know he is leaving and then he closes the door. She wishes him a safe trip and goes back to bed.

He is wearing his black loose waist pants that need the belts to stay up but are still moderately form fitting on his legs. He's not wearing his school blazer and only has a white shirt with a star in the middle of the chest. He picks the black hat for the day.

He puts his shoes on and leaves. He takes Kai with him just to be safe. He doesn't know why Kai offered to protect the town when he didn't have a human body to inhabit, but they both didn't talk about it or bring it up.

Jotaro got to the Kurosaki Clinic and was welcomed in. Yuzu was busy cooking, Ichigo was sleeping. Karin was reading a manga and Isshin was apparently closing up the Clinic and reorganizing things.

Jotaro would have helped Yuzu but he wasn't feeling the greatest. He just rested on the couch.

10 minutes later Yuzu was done preparing breakfast and lunch. Jotaro wasn't feeling hungry so he said he would just eat the lunch later.

Isshin came in soon after and Ichigo came down the stairs as well.

"Let's get this show on the road!" Is shin is full of energy as per usual.

Ichigo moves over towards Jotaro who is picking up the few bags they had. It was mostly just a bag for food. A bag for a blanket. And a bag of items they would place at the grave. They would just place most of them there while they visited and then would take back when they leave. But a few items would be left there. The 3 bags weren't heavy at all to Jotaro.

"How was it last night?" Ichigo asked.

"It didn't take long" Telling Ichigo wouldn't do any good.

"Ah, yeah. I figured" He seemed kinda down.

They left the house and went on their way.

——————

Not many people were around. In fact Jotaro hadn't even seen a soul since they left the town. The Hakabas, Japanese cemetery's, were on the other side of town. And they were way up on a hill. There was a shrine nearby with priests and everything. Jotaro wasn't very fond of this place.

He was walking behind Ichigo and Isshin.

Speaking of Isshin. The guy was blowing a whistle to a tempo like they were marching toddlers or something.

Yuzu and Karin were ahead and were chatting.

Yuzu had her right arm blocking the sun from her eyes. "This hill really is steep~"

Jotaro couldn't tell if she was complaining, stating, or just trying to start a conversation. It had just been the whistle for the past 10 minutes.

Karin had a a visor on. It's band was red while the visor was black. She didn't seem to be having a good time. "Really? I'm fine" Her hands were in her pockets as they all continued to walk.

She looked at her sister. "But if you talk like that….."

Isshin who was blowing the whistle repeatedly for over 10 minutes all of a sudden stops. Jotaro didn't know how Ichigo can stand next to him. He was behind the whistle and his ears were hurting.

Isshin let's the whistl fall from his lips and dangle around his neck. The atmosphere around him gets serious. He was wearing a red dressshirt and a waistcoat, vest, and dress pants.

He all of a sudden goes into a burpee but doesn't jump back up. Instead he kicks his legs up. Now he's in a handstand as he looks at his daughters. "Give it your all, Yuzu!"

Everyone stop walking up the hill and looks at the guy. "Dad's right behind you!"

Karin and Yuzu look at their manchild of a father and sweat a bit.

"See?" Karin proves her point. Then she turns around and starts walking again. "Ignore him, Yuzu"

Karin takes her hands out of her pockets as she walks. "If you respond to people like that, they'll be on your back forever"

Yuzu doesn't follow her sister as she listens to her.

Isshin gets a glint in his left eye as his eyes narrow and he gets serious. "How naive"

But then he immediately doesn't look serious as he rapidly moves his hands forward as walks on his hands. He can't take long strides so he just takes rapid short ones. It's practically him repeatedly slapping the ground, propelling himself forward at a decent speed.

With the serious face, Isshin exclaims. "Even if you don't respond to me, I'll be on your back automatically!"

Karin immediately turns around and sees her fathers current actions. "Run!" She calls out to her sister.

But alas, Yuzu didn't react in time.

Isshin comes sliding in across the ground next to Yuzu.

The poor girl has to hold her weird sundress/hoodie down due to the gust that Isshin generated and because Isshin was now at an awkward angle. "Deadly Dad Sliding" Isshin calls out the name of his move.

"Get lost to the ends of the Earth!" Karin moves in to protect Yuzu. She lines up her fathers head like a soccer all and let's her leg rip.

Jotaro watches as Isshin was still sliding, Karin kicks his head. He sees Isshin get sent flying back. He lands beside Ichigo but doesn't lose his momentum. He merely bounces off the ground before turning into a ball as he picks up speed. He quickly goes all the way back down the hill they were on.

Jotaro just moved to the side. He can here Isshin as he gets farther away. "WWWWAAAAAaaaaaaahhhh"

They see Isshin roll around a corner and assume he's still going.

Karin kneels down and strikes a pose in victory of her amazing kick. She quickly jumps back to her feet as a random victory bell rings kn the distance. She then continues her walk. "Come on. Let's go before he comes back" Karin walks with some pep in her step.

Ichigo, Yuzu and Jotaro just turn around and also continue their walk. They are pretty close to the woods. But then they have to follow a trail to the graves.

Ichigo blocks the sun from his face as it's rays beat down on him. "But man….Today's too friggin' hot for June"

Jotaro knows what Ichigo is thinking. That day…it was raining. The same day as today, but years later. Today it is so hot while at that time it was pouring buckets of rain nearly the entire day.

They get close to the entrance of the trail through the woods.

"Oh, someone's already here" Karin says somewhat surprised. She hadn't seen a person on the way here after they got through the city.

Yuzu also is surprised. But it shows more clearly on her face than Karin. "You're right. I wonder if she's visiting a grave, too"

Ichigo starts freaking out and panicking.

"But….." She sees the person is actually a girl. And that girl is smiling and waving in their direction as she laughs gently. "….she's waving to us"

Yuzu turns to Jotaro and Ichigo. "An aquantance of yours?" She points at the girl.

Ichigo continues freaking out as Jotaro sighs.

Jotaro was also feeling the heat. Along with him not feeling well to begin with.

Ichigo rapidly and exaggeratedly shakes his head side to side in denial. "I don't know her! I don't know her at all! I don't know her the tiniest bit at all!" He stops shaking his head and looks at Rukia.

Karin rests her chin on her right hand as she gets a better look at the girl. "Somehow, I think I've seen her before…." She says to herself.

Ichigo slaps his face with his open hand in another exaggerated manner. "Oh, I remember!" He then closes one eye and smiles awkwardly. He has his right hand on his waist while his left hand points at Rukia. "She's my classmate from Junior High! I totally remember now!"

Ichigo then gets past his sisters. "No way! It's so nostalgic that I just gotta talk alone with her right this minute!" Ichigo starts running in place. "Okay, so I'm just gonna go talk with that girl! You three go ahead to mom's grave!" And then he takes off towards Rukia and drags her out of view.

Yuzu tried to stop Ichigo but wasn't fast enough and had only take a few steps towards him while he was running in place. "But, Bro….!" She calls out after him.

Karin has a knowing look on her face that is also somewhat smug. "Hehehe~" She chuckles to herself.

Yuzu whips around and faces her sister with a worried expression. "What?! Karin, what was that chuckle for?!"

"Well, basically, it means it might be time for you to stop relying on your brother" Karin says.

"Wh-What?! What's that mean, Karin?!" Yuzu demands.

"It means your sister has a crazy imagination" Jotaro walks up next to them. "That was Rukia" Hes still holding the bags.

"Rukia?" Yuzu seems to have calmed down and is now intrigued.

"She's actually still in our class. Ichigo just doesn't pay attention" Jotaro closes his eyes.

"Yeah, he isn't the observant type" Karin says.

"And Karin" Jotaro looks at the small girl. She looks away from the direction the other two disappeared and looks up at him. "They aren't like that"

"How do you know? Ichigo is at that age….and so are you" Karin says.

"Haaaaah. Yare Yare" He looks at the direction they left. "Ichigo is too dense to try anything with romance. And there's already someone else that has their eyes on him"

"He is dense" Karin mutters. Then she smirks at Jotaro. "And I didn't know you viewed Ichigo like that. I guess we really will be family soo-" Jotaro bashes the back of her head.

"Owwie!" Karin rubs her head. "Haven't you been told not to hit girls?"

"Gender equality" Jotaro picks the bag he put down back up. "And no, it's not me. It's Orihime"

"Really?! Her?! I always though she would make a grey big sister!" Yuzu's mood quickly changes.

"Not. A. Word" Jotaro states.

Karin and Yuzu zip their lips and lock them. They throw the key away and give him a thumbs up. They were in perfect sink. They may not look like twins but they sure do act like it.

"Get moving" Jotaro starts walking and the girls also join along.

It takes a few minutes to get there. Isshin still hasn't made it back yet.

Jotaro had already felt the presence of a Shinigami since earlier. He was close to Ichigo and Rukia.

"You feeling ok?" Yuzu draws his attention.

"Yeah. Why" Jotaro shifts the bags he's holding.

"Oh. It's nothing" she then turns back towards the trail ahead of her.

Jotaro looks to Karin who shrugs.

They get to the grave of Masaki Kurosaki. Jotaro stands behind Yuzu and Karin.

Yuzu squats down while Karin gets some water to pour.

"It's been a long time, mom. Have you been well?" Karin is praying to her mom aloud while she stands with her hands together. "I guess you can't be well if your dead. We're all doing well. Me, Yuzu, Ichi, and dad. Even Jotaro is here with us this year. Whatever was afflicting him before he's overcome it or something. Him and Ichi made up and are friends again" She was whispering to herself. Only Jotaro could actually hear what she was saying.

Then she looks down at her sister beside her. She was crouched down with her arms around her knees and her head down. Yuzu was sobbing quietly.

Jotaro had set the bags down and had his arms crossed across his chest.

Karin crouches beside Yuzu and sighs. "Really, quit crying yeat after year. We turn eleven this year. That's grown up already"

Yuzu sniffles and turns her head to look at Karin. She has tears going down her face. "Yeah, I get it. I get it, but…." And then she can't continue and the tears flow harder. She starts crying out loud as she can't hold it in anymore.

Jotaro moves between Yuzu and Karin. He goes down onto one of his knees, he faces the grave. He puts a hand on Yuzu's back as he rubs her back to help calm her.

Yuzu looks up at Jotaro and sees his bright green eyes looking ahead at the grave. She moves towards him and hugs him as she cries.

He looks at Karin. "You don't always need to act tough. Nobody will think less of you"

Karin goes to her knees and bends her head towards the ground. "I know…" She talks in a quiet tone. "I know nobody will think less of me. But, I don't want people to worry about me. I'm strong"

"The ones that truly care for you…" Jotaro looks at the grave. "…they will worry about you no matter what"

Karin looks to Jotaro's face. He has his eyes closed and his expression is neutral like normal.

Jotaro uses his left hand to take his hat off. He puts his hat on Yuzu's head as she continues crying. "People cry, not because they are weak. It's because they have been strong for too long"

Karin mulls over his words. She understands that he isn't just talking about her. Her eyes look at his figure as she thinks about him and the way he acts. She wouldn't think that Jotaro would ever cry. He seemed like the strongest person she knows. He was sort of her role model.

"H-have you…..cried?" Karin hesitated to ask. Her emotions were spinning around inside of her.

"I'm still...human, Karin" Jotaro had already cried enough about Masaki's death. Just as Ichigo beats himself up about supposedly killing his mom. Jotaro beats himself up because he wasn't able to save her.

All he had to do was grab Ichigo. But there were so many rainy days. He didn't know which year it would happen. So many rainy days that he was very careful of. And when it came time, he was in a false sense of security. 'Maybe I've already changed her death by just being here' he used to naively think.

But when he saw the Hollows mask and body. He knew. And he froze. He was taking this life for granted and he paid a heavy price he didn't need to pay.

"I-is it really ok to cry?" Karin had tears at the corners of her eyes. As she looked at him.

He opened his eyes and looked at the small girl beside him. This wasn't a game. He learned that already. She looked at his vibrant electric green eyes.

"Strong people do cry, Karin. Strong people do have tears in them. A person is strong not because they they don't cry but because they know how to control tears. If you don't have tears you aren't strong" Jotaro spoke softly compared to his usual rough tone.

"W-why aren't you cr-crying?" Karins tears are rolling down her face as she sniffles.

"I've cried a lot in my short life" He closes his eyes and thinks about his 15 years in this world and about his past life. He moves his head to the sky above. "I shed my tears for this moment plentifully already. And you don't need to see me cry"

Karin lowers her head and starts crying and wailing like Yuzu. She then clings onto Jotaro like her sister as well.

Jotaro puts his hand on her back as well.

He wonders if anyone cried like this over his death. Did his parents? Had his siblings if he had any? His friends he can't remember, did they go to his funeral and cry for him? He wishes for someone to cry like this for him when he dies. As much as it would hurt to see them crying, it would fill him so much with happiness to know that they cared so much for him. Or if they don't cry, to do things that would show their strong bond.

He could feel the difference between the twins crying. Karins was harder and she had more tears falling. She had held it in much longer than Yuzu who freely let her tears fall whenever she felt them.

He stayed there and let them cry. He didn't necessarily have a pillar to cry on. Sure his mother was strong. But he was a lot like Karin. He rarely cried in front of her. He didn't want her to worry. And he was there doing this for her when she cried. His mom rarely cried to him. But maybe she was trying to get him to cry with her back then. He thinks back to the past with em it was just him and his mom. How he drifted away from her selfishly. He wants to beat his own ass and force him to be there for her. But he won't focus on that. He can't change the past. And the future is unknown. He will be there for her more now. Like he had been recently for the past few weeks.

Isshin arrives and sees his daughters crying on Jotaro. He's about to leave but Jotaro motions with his head to come over.

He stops mid stride and turns back to walk to his kids.

He kneel down behind Jotaro and looks at his daughters. He blinks away the tears in his eyes. Jotaro can't see him, but he knows he's there.

He moves Yuzu and Karin away from him and turns them slightly towards Isshin. He has his arms at his sides. He never knew how to deal with crying kids. That was always what Masaki was great at. That's why he always acted the way he did. To make them not feel sad. Whether that was laughing at or with him. Or being angry at him. Because he didn't know how to stop their tears like his wife would be able to do. He truly was lost without her.

"Dad!" "Daddy!" Karin and Yuzu moved away from Jotaro and jumped into their dads embrace. He was tackled into his butt. His daughters have already gotten so big. "Yuzu. Karin" Isshin put his arms around them both.

Jotaro stood up and moved out of the way.

Isshin looked at the grave. "The tears in his eyes barely stopped at the edges by his sheer will. He hadn't ever cried infront of his daughters. He had only cried alone, mostly in the bed that only got bigger every year without Masaki beside him when he goes to sleep and wakes up.

"Huh...It's already been 6 years" Isshin hadn't noticed the time flying by. He had been focused on his daughters and son that he had barely noticed. He knew it had been six years. But only now realized what that meant. His daughters had been so small back then when they cried in his arms like this. They had not even known what happened to their mother. Hey only knew that they wouldn't be able to see her again. And now seeing how much they've grown, it was scary to think about how big they would be in another 6 years.

And Ichigo. There's a lot to say, but he can only support him along his journey. No matter where that takes him. He's already 15. And so many things are already happening. He's already so grown up.

He is afraid of the future. But happily walks towards it. He may have lost his queen. But he has his prince and princesses. And he won't leave them alone for selfish reasons. He will be there whenever they need him.

A tear rolls down his cheek while he looks at the grave of his wife. Would she be proud of him?

He hopes that she's watching their wonderful kids grow up. Because whenever he blinks or looks away for a second. They change so much. And he would hate it if Masaki missed a moment.