Epilogue

Kinji reached for the alarm clock and pressed the snooze button. He didn't want to get up. Not just because he'd been up most of the night, not just because he enjoyed the feeling of his wife laying against him, and not just because he'd shelled out a good deal of money for this opulently comfortable bed. He didn't want to get up because that meant picking up the cane and feeling pain with every step.

But like every morning for the past 50 years he gritted his teeth and did it. Sui-Feng stirred sleepily when her source of warmth during the cool morning shifted. Kinji smiled at the memories that movement sparked. It had taken him a while to get used to someone sleeping in the same bed as him, ditto for Sui-Feng, but once they had it was one of their favorite pastimes. It was comfort and refuge from the challenges of their work lives. But it was time to get back to his work life. So he grabbed the cane and put both feet on the floor. The pain spiked through his thigh and hip as he put weight on his eternally wounded leg. It was a long familiar pain but the constraints it put on Kinji still chafed.

"Time to get up." He shook Sui-Feng gently.

"Twins or Kitsu?" she asked sleepily, as one of them did every morning.

"I'll take the twins today. They haven't spent much time on kido lately."

"Just because Kitsunebi happens to be a child prodigy doesn't mean all of our children will be."

"Well, maybe not in kido but the twins are very good with close combat. Especially when they work together."

"Being able to read each other's minds does help with that." Sui-Feng said neutrally. They'd had this argument before and she didn't want to start it up again.

"Probably." Kinji said in an identical tone. He didn't want to start up with the argument again either, especially since the oddities their children possessed were almost certainly his fault. When all five of your children are born with fox tails covered in fur that is as hard as steel, you look to the guy who has nine such appendages for an explanation. In addition to the physical strangeness was the mental connection between the twins and the almost freakish learning curve of their oldest daughter. Sure these all sounded like very useful benefits, but there is a price to be paid for being different. Sui-Feng cracked her eyes open. She took a long look at her husband's lower back, specifically at the spot where his tails sprouted during combat. One of the silver tails slipped seamlessly from his back and deftly plucked his robe from the door hook where he'd left it the night before. Then is disappeared back from where it had come, perfectly smooth skin showing no trace. "I'll pick up Satoru and Nobu from Renji and Isane's place this afternoon." He said, talking about their two youngest sons.

"Just make sure you're back for dinner." She reminded. Kinji had a way of losing track of time once the sun started going down. It was like every night was time to have fun and damn the consequences. Sometimes that was a good thing, like when she needed an evening off from the kids. But other times…

One year prior

Kinji and Renji were both leaving a meeting with the ambassador from Hueco Mundo. It had been a pain in the ass, it always was when Ulquiorra was involved. The man had no sense of subtlety yet he was an excellent manipulator. As a result, the economic negotiations had gone on for hours as the arrancar nihilist and the former Lord of Hueco Mundo tried to outwit each other. Renji was there to ensure the Seireitei was getting a fair deal. Officially anyway. Unofficially he was there because Isane kept pushing him to be friends with her brother. Renji and Kinji had never gotten along. But for the sake of family they both made an honest effort to stay on friendly terms.

"You want to go get something to drink?" Renji asked. Kinji was sitting on a floating blue disk, a kido spell he'd repurposed to ease transportation.

"Well…" he looked at the sun sinking in the sky and mentally checked if he needed to be back at the manor early. Nothing came to mind, and Kinji did want to have some fun apart from his kids and wife. Not that he found anything about his family objectionable, but every man needed some space once in a while. "Yeah. I'm assuming you know a place nearby?"

"And then she broke my nose!" Kinji said, much more loudly than he needed to since Renji was sitting right next to him.

"No offense but your wife is really violent." Renji wasn't much quieter and his words were more slurred.

"No argument from me. But we make it work, ya know? Besides, a little pain can be refreshing once in a while."

"So she's violent and you're weird. Yeah, I can see how that works."

"And it did, before we had kids. Trust me man. Nothing, and I mean not a damn thing, is as tough or as life changing as kids. The only time we've ever gotten into a real fight is over the kids or because of the kids."

"You did have five really close together." Renji said, almost jealously.

"In hindsight I'm really glad we did." Kinji said, sobering for a moment. Renji gave him an odd look.

"Why?" the red-haired Captain asked, honestly confused. Kinji swirled his drink and stared into it, the atmosphere gaining tension.

"You remember the Quincy invasion?"

"Sure but what does that have to-" Renji stopped mid-sentence as the memory of Sui-Feng covered from neck to toe in bandages.

"Shaolin was up against this living machine called BG-9." Kinji said, using his wife's real name. "When it beat her it… played with her. There won't be any more kids for us." He finished the rest of his drink in one long swallow.

"Shit. Sorry, I didn't know." Renji said, feeling almost guilty for bringing it up.

"We didn't tell anyone. Well, Isane knew but that's only because she was the healer who checked on Shaolin when the war was over. My little sister… I'm surprised she didn't tell you."

"I asked her not to tell me that kind of stuff. People need their privacy."

Kinji and Renji drank for a while longer before stumbling out onto the streets. They weren't completely smashed but they weren't very far from it. They ambled back towards Kotetsu Manor, or what Renji thought was Kotetsu Manor in his inebriated mind. Where they actually ended up was the home of Byakuya Kuchiki.

"Hey! Captain Kuchiki!" Renji yelled at the top of his lungs from the mansion gate. This prompted a pair of guards dressed in white robes and carrying staves topped with metal prongs that would deliver a powerful jolt of spiritual energy.

"What business do you have with Lord Kuchiki?" one of them asked politely.

"Oh, we were just hoping Byakuya would come out with us for a bit of fun." Kinji said with a friendly smile.

"I'm sorry but you'll need to come back at a more reasonable hour." The guard said with a raised eyebrow for the stumbling Renji.

"Oh c'mon! What's 3am for if people don't go out drinking?!"

"I am terribly sorry, Captain Abarai. Please go on your way." If it had just been Renji the night might have ended there. Kinji, however, had a scheme brewing in his booze-addled mind.

"Is that any way to speak to the Lord of the Kotetsu clan? And his favorite brother-in-law?" Kinji said, slinging an arm around Renji's shoulders. The guard blinked in surprise then he recognized the insignia that was stitched into Kinji's coat.

"I'm terribly sorry, Lord Kotetsu. May I ask the nature of this business so that I may inform Lord Kuchiki?" After only a brief pause Kinji came up with a surefire answer.

"Tell him it's about Rukia Kuchiki. That's all I care to say." The guard was used to being treated as an untrustworthy middleman by visitors so he didn't take offense at Kinji's words. The two men waited with the other guard while the first went to wake Byakuya Kuchiki. When the lord of the manor made his appearance, dressed in a plain shihakusho and scarf rather than his Captain's coat or noble attire, he did not look happy to see the two drunk men.

"I would expect this from Abarai, but not from you, Kotetsu."

"Just because we've been out drinking doesn't mean that what I have to say isn't important." Kinji said with a smoothness that belied his level of intoxication. "We're here to talk about Rukia and I think it would be best for all of us if the conversation took place over a bottle of quality sake'." Byakuya looked at the expressions in front of him and realized that Renji was likely an innocent bystander of whatever plan Kinji had cooked up. But Byakuya had asked the devious Kotetsu noble for advice from time to time so this visit hadn't been entirely out of the question. And it wasn't out of character for his old "friend" to just drop by in the dead of night for a conversation.

"Alright." Byakuya relented. "Do you have a venue in mind for this conversation?" roughly two hours later they were drinking the night away with Captain Commander Shunsui Kyoraku and Captain Anrak Ushii. Byakuya had been goaded into doing shots of whisky by Anrak and Renji with Kinji continuing to offer tidbits about Rukia to keep him from simply storming off. But eventually Kinji did get to the point.

"You asked me to try to arrange something for Rukia several months ago. I've genuinely tried but nothing seemed to work out. I even tried to get my mother in on it but she came up dry too. You adoptive sister simply doesn't want a relationship right now. I think she was indecisive about Renji but then he went and married Isane. There could have been something with Ichigo several decades ago but, well, he went with the ditzy and busty red-head." Kinji downed a bit more sake' and shook his head. "Sorry Byakuya, I don't think you're going to be an uncle anytime soon." Byakuya's expression shifted ever so slightly and his gaze shifted from Kinji to his sake' dish.

"I was hoping for better news." The Kuchiki noble admitted.

"Hey, I got married to the leader of the Onmitsukido and managed to stay alive for 50 years. Stranger things have happened. But I'm out of ideas." Kinji took a pull from a bottle of sake'. Then a mischievous smile played over his features. "Well, maybe I have one last idea."

"I don't want to hear it." Byakuya said immediately. He'd had 50 years of Kinji's too good to be true offers and he knew where this sales pitch was going. The option being offered would probably work but it would be something he would find completely objectionable. The Great Vase Fiasco of 20 years ago wasn't so long ago that he'd forgotten.

"Don't be so stiff, Byakuya. I wouldn't tell you to do anything I wouldn't do myself." Kinji said with the smile that meant he thought he was being clever. But Byakuya was not letting that narrow-eyes bastard get him involved in another disaster. Yes, Kinji's plans did tend to bring about a net positive result but only after a substantial amount of collateral damage. Visions of tiny animals being chased by larger animals flashed through Byakuya's mind as he recalled the horror Kinji had unleashed on the Seireitei.

"That does not put my mind at ease." Byakuya set his drink down and started to get to his feet. Then Renji tripped over him and knocked them both into the small koi pond.

"Oh damn." Kyoraku said, tipping his straw hat up to see the drunk Renji and indigant Byakuya struggling to extricate themselves from the water and tangle of limbs. "I thought we were going to have a nice, relaxed evening of drinking."

"You invited him and you expected a relaxed evening?" Anrak asked with a skeptical tone and gestured to Kinji with his drink, spilling half of it.

"Huh, you've got a point there." Kyoraku said as he poured himself another drink. Nanao appeared at his side with an armful of papers.

"Captain Commander, I have the…" she trailed off as she saw the struggling Renji and Byakuya in the pond under the light of a full moon. Their robes were open and exposed bare muscled chests. Nanao adjusted her glassed as a thin trickled of blood leaked from her nose. "…the reports from our diplomates to Hueco Mundo."

"See something you like, little Nanao?" Kyoraku teased. Nanao dropped the heavy stack of papers into his lap and flash stepped away.

"You and your lieutenants. Seriously, what is that about?" Kinji asked as the glasses wearing lieutenant disappeared. "Lisa was just like her."

"I wouldn't throw stones if I were you." Anrak remarked. "You dated two members of the Feng family."

"And only one of them tried to kill me. I still call that a win." Kinji said, almost tipping over when he tried to stand up. "Maybe I overdid it a bit." It was Kyoraku's turn to have a sly thought and he kicked Kinji into the koi pond just as Renji and Byakuya managed to separate themselves. All three men went down and started thrashing around in the water.

"Oh Nanao!" he called, certain that his loyal retainer would be within earshot.

"What is it-" she spotted the three men in the water and saw the moment when Kinji slipped on a smooth rock, trying to keep from falling by grabbing Byakuya and Renji's robes. He missed and got their sashes instead which opened their robes down to their fundoshi. Blood shot out of Nanao's nose like a fountain and she collapsed.

"Someone just passed out. Guess this really is a party." Anrak mused. "Now if only we had someone start a fight." He said wistfully. As it turned out, a small brawl did break out over in the 11th Division's barracks later that evening when Anrak and Renji paid them a visit. Kinji and Byakuya spent the rest of the night arguing over the plausibility of Kinji's plan to get Rukia to tie the knot, and Kyoraku spent it watching over the unconscious Nanao while she muttered strange things in her sleep with a goofy smile on her face.

Present Day

Sui-Feng shook her head to clear the memory. She discovered some of the details when Byakuya had come to see her the next evening with dark circles under his eyes. The rest she had gotten from Renji after threatening him with extreme discomfort. The end result of that little scheme her husband came up with had the desired effect, Rukia was now married. However, Rukia's husband nearly died of hypothermia in the process. And Kinji's brilliant plan wasn't even that brilliant, or original. He'd knocked out Rukia and her future groom then placed them in a bed to wake up together. When Byakuya confronted him about the stunt he replied "Well it worked on me". Byakuya nearly killed him. Sui-Feng shook her head and silently prayed her husband wouldn't do anything clever this time.

That evening the entire family was eating dinner together. Not only Renji and Isane but Haru and Kiyone as well. Not to mention Isane and Renji's only child, Akihiko. Kinji and Sui-Feng's five children were there: Kitsunebi, Ankoku, Taro, Satoru, and Nobu. Kitsunebi was the oldest and had her mother's build combines with Kinji's silver hair and her aunt's blue eyes. Ankoku and Taro, girl and boy, were twins and the next oldest in line. They both had slight builds and black hair with silver eyes. Satoru and Nobu, both boys, were the youngest and had the odd distinction of having salt and pepper hair from childhood. All five of them possessed tails from birth, tails just like Kinji's own, though each of them only had one.

"So, Akihiko, I heard you've enrolled at the Spirit Academy." Nobu said, breaking the awkward silence that had fallen over the gathering. Sui-Feng gave her son a disapproving look.

"Yeah, I got top marks in all categories." The red-headed youth said with a small amount of enthusiasm. "I'm starting off a year ahead of the incoming class."

"Good for you." Kitsunebi said, obviously jealous. Ankoku elbowed her lightly as a warning.

"So, how come you guys aren't enrolling?" Akihiko asked his cousins. Kinji's facepalm was audible. His oblivious nephew hadn't just talked about the elephant in the room, he smacked it on the rump and let it break all the furniture.

"Buddy, could you take your cousins outside for a minute? The adults need to have a conversation." Renji had developed a very fatherly voice since his son had been born.

"Uh, sure Dad. You guys want to play some tag?" This might have seemed like an innocuous childhood game to an outsider but among the next generation of the Kotetsu family that was a serious challenge with real stakes. And it was full contact. The children were out of the house in a moment, leaving the parents to hash out their suspended argument.

"You should just let them attend." Isane said to Kinji and Sui-Feng.

"Absolutely not. And you shouldn't let Akihiko attend either." Sui-Feng snapped.

"Why? We've been fighting over this for almost a week now and you still won't give me a reason for not sending the kids." Isane shot back. Sui-Feng gave her a hard look but Isane didn't flinch away. Kinji and Renji just sat there silently and let their wives do all the talking at first. Then they got up and left the room to have their own argument. Haru looked at the women, then over at the men. She sighed heavily and went outside to make sure the kids didn't burn the place down. Kiyone followed for no better reason than to be out of the potential line of fire

In the next room over, Kinji poured Renji a drink and one for himself. "Well, and here I thought we were going to get into a fight." Renji said.

"Oh, that's probably going to happen. But I can keep my temper in check long enough for a drink." Kinji said. Their wives were still arguing in the dining room and quite loudly. Kinji gulped down half his glass at once and shook his head. "I knew this would be a problem at some point but part of me thought it was never going to happen."

"So, you know why miss ninja is against letting the next generation attend the Academy. And you're not telling us because…?"

"Because I'm not even supposed to know. This is classified in a big way, Renji. And we can train the kids ourselves better than the Academy ever could."

"And keep them from forming bonds that will last the rest of their lives!" Renji's voice rose along with his anger.

"Oh, is that right? Funny, I don't remember any such thing." Kinji said with some disdain.

"Just because you couldn't keep your friends alive doesn't mean your kids will have the same bad luck." The words were said in anger but Renji really did mean them.

"Don't snap at me, mutt. Just because you're my brother-in-law doesn't mean I won't use your head to renovate the pavement if you piss me off." He finished the rest of his drink in a single gulp. "They're not going." He said with finality.

"You can make choices for your own kids, not mine." Renji asserted.

"You're a member of my clan, Renji. If I wanted to I could get Akihiko kicked out of the Academy in a heartbeat. Don't mistake my generosity for weakness, Captain." Kinji heaped scorn on that title which let Renji know exactly how he felt about Renji's military rank.

"Oh, so we're back to this? I got my rank fair and square."

"Whatever you say." Kinji said dismissively.

"You want me to prove I have what it takes? Let's go, right now."

"Fine, but let's go underground where the kids can't see us."

"Why?" Renji asked, honestly confused why Kinji would want to fight in the catacombs under the Kotetsu mansion.

"Because it's not good for a child to see his father with his face in the dirt." They left the house altogether while the women continued their verbal argument.

"It's a bad idea. Once they're in the Academy we can't protect them." Sui-Feng said, skirting the line of what she could tell Isane about the business of the Onmitsukido.

"Eventually they have to learn to live life on their own." Isane said, thinking that Sui-Feng was just being overprotective.

"Sometimes it's painful to talk with soul reapers so ignorant of the actual workings of the Seireitei. Don't do this, Isane."

"Akihiko is going to have a real Academy experience. He's going to make friends and become a member of the Gotei 13. He made that decision and I'm standing by him." Isane folded her arms and gave her sister-in-law a stubborn look. Sui-Feng weighed her options. She could tell Isane about the Maggot's Nest and what Central 46 uses the Academy for but that would break her oaths as head of the Onmitsukido in a way that actively rebelling against the Seireitei's government didn't.

"We're not going to see eye to eye on this subject." Sui-Feng said, trying to end the argument before real damage was done. "Where did our husbands go?" she asked Isane. She'd been so focused that she hadn't realized they were alone in the dining room.

"I don't know. They were here a minute ago." Isane said. Then they both felt the massive surge of spiritual pressure under their feet. "Not again." Isane said, knowing she would be patching up injuries very shortly.

Even though the next generation of the Kotetsu clan hadn't been enrolled in the Spirit Academy they had all been given Asuachi as soon as they were old enough to understand what a sword could do. Kitsunebi's sword had been the first to develop into a genuine zanpakuto with a personality and since then she'd used it mercilessly against her siblings in these competitions. Her sword was named Jimeisho and it was a sword of illusion. Hearing the bell attached to the sword hilt caused a distortion in the listener's sense of time, making their own movements appear sluggish while their opponent's movements seem incredibly fast. A trick of the mind, to be sure, but in battle such distortion of perception can be fatal. But her siblings were beginning to get used to this distortion of their senses and could compensate somewhat.

None of the other siblings had learned their swords' names yet, though not for lack of trying. However, despite the eldest daughter's advantage in zanjutsu and kido, she was not good enough to take on the twins alone. Ankoku and Taro fought together so seamlessly that someone who did not know them would assume that the same person could be in two places at once. Ankoku's wakizashi, like all of their swords, had been blunted with padding for this game. But the strike against Kitsunebi's own sword knocked her off the rooftop and into the trees. Taro was forced to guard his sister's back against Akihiko who was the most aggressive of the new generation. His red hair was tied back to keep from getting in his eyes but it made a good handhold for Ankoku as she spun back around and took the pressure off her brother before Akihiko could bowl the smaller man over with brute force.

"Let go!" Akihiko kicked out like a mule and caught Ankoku in the stomach then bulled ahead and drove Taro from the roof. They'd played this game for over a decade and no repetition was ever quite the same. The goal was to hold the roof for a full five minutes. The rules were quite simple: no overly dangerous attacks or destruction of the roof itself. Other than that any tactic or weapon was permissible. And these youths were very creative when properly motivated. No sooner had Akihiko knocked Ankoku and Taro away when the two youngest brothers hit him with a blast of water and a freezing wind. The attacks were not harmful in the least but it covered the surface of the roof in a slick sheet of ice. Akihiko struggled to maintain his footing. A job made infinitely more difficult by the conjured gale that Satoru and Nobu were conjuring to blast him from the roof. Akihiko wasn't much good at kido, like his father. He had no way to shield himself from these attacks. But, fortunately for him the silver hair of Kitsunebi appeared behind her youngest brothers and the wind vanished. A single sword stroke from behind had knocked them out cold. Needless to say, the two youngest brothers had never won a single game. The others were more experienced and a good deal stronger, but Satoru and Nobu knew that one day that gap would shrink and their tactics would carry the day. But not that night.

Akihiko would have been happy about two competitors being knocked out if Kitsunebi hadn't immediately conjured an even more powerful wind in their place. He was tossed from the roof and into the garden on the other side of the wall surrounding the Kotetsu estate. But Kitsunebi didn't try to take the roof once it was clear. She knew that the moment she did the twins would be on her again. So she faded back into the forest and waited for a chance to take down the next person to claim the roof.

As good as Kitsubebi was at hiding she wasn't good enough to hide from Ankoku and Taro. All of Sui-Feng's children had undergone extensive training in stealth and concealment but the twins had a natural talent for that kind of combat. Taro had an arm around her neck before she noticed her was there and Ankoku quickly bound her arms and legs with steel-woven cloth. Kitsunebi's tail came out and sliced the bindings in the blink of an eye. Ankoku took the next hit across the face, unable to react in time with her own tail. Taro managed to tangle up Kitsunebi's tail with his own but one on one he wasn't strong enough to completely stop his older sister.

Akihiko watched with a bit of jealousy as Kitsunebi tossed Taro several hundred feet into the air, well over the roof and into the garden behind him. As much of an oddity as it was for a soul reaper to have a tail they were incredibly effective in combat. He'd even seen them shatter a zanpakuto once. But since he didn't have that advantage he had compensated by training his body at a level that his cousins simply couldn't match. He was faster and stronger than them by a significant margin and he'd played this game long enough to read the unconventional movements of those iron tails. He charged Kitsunebi without hesitation and dodged the tail she used to lash out at him from more than 20 feet away. The fur was lying flat , as it always did when they played this game. If the fur spiked up it could shave away flesh and bone with ease and remove almost half of a person's chest in one pass.

"You can't hit me with that anymore, Kitsu!" Akihiko bragged. Then he got hit from above by what felt like an iron bar. Ankoku had dropped from the tree above them and drove Akihiko several inches into the soft earth.

"Eyes open, braggart." Ankoku scolded. Then she and Kitsunebi fought with both swords and tails. It was a bizarre sight for any outsider to see. Their movements were far different from average swordplay and even to those accustomed to seeing it there was a dizzying strangeness to it.

"No matter how many times I see it I never get used to it. Kitsune no Odori." Haru said from her seat by the window overlooking the whole affair. Kiyone was in charge of keeping time for each of the grandkids when they made it to the roof. "That style of swordsmanship will be the hallmark of the main clan for generations to come. And it came from the Kotetsu with the worst swordsmanship this family has ever seen."

"Well, it's not like Kinji made it. His kids did that all by themselves." Kiyone said, keeping an eye on her two youngest nephews who were sneaking onto the roof while everyone else was fighting in the trees. "These kids… the Gotei 13 won't know what hit them when they're old enough to enlist. My Captain is already getting ready to recruit them."

"Captain Ushii? He and Kinji don't exactly have a warm relationship."

"Well, actually Lieutenant Nel is the one hoping to recruit them. But the Captain won't turn away fighters as capable as these kids. They could probably take seated positions right now, if Kinji would let them." Kiyone trailed off. Kinji had been adamant about his children never joining the Gotei 13. Sui-Feng had, surprisingly, been just as adamant about it. Now, with Akihiko formally enrolled at the Academy, the tension that stance had created was coming to a head. It wasn't just pressure in the family either. The Feng clan had a long tradition of service in the Onmitsukido and the elder Sui-Feng was not happy that her descendents would not continue that tradition. Central 46 was also trying to apply pressure by delaying permits and creating unnecessary regulations on the type of goods the Kotetsu imported from Hueco Mundo. With all of that pressure weighing on Kinji and Sui-Feng their marriage had become a bit strained. Haru could see it in their behavior, even though they were trying their best to hide it. The small touches in passing that no longer happened, the distance they stood apart even when they were together, and the tension in their bodies when they did show some form of public affection. She knew the signs. But Haru had hope that they would patch things up before too long.

"Looks like we have a winner." Haru remarked. Akihiko was standing on the roof, and had been for nearly five minutes.

"30 seconds left." Kiyone said, counting down until the five minute mark. Kitsunebi and Ankoku were still locked in their duel while Taro had been knocked out by Akihiko. Satoru and Nobu were still out cold. "Ten seconds." Kiyone intoned.

"Yes! No chores for me this week! I guess you five will be washing dishes tonight!" Akihiko crowed from his perch.

"Akihiko finally broke his losing streak. I told my cute little granddaughter not to use her zanpakuto power so frequently. Now it's not able to help her here anymore." Haru rang the gong and put an end to their mock-battle.

"What do you two idiots think you were doing?!" Sui-Feng shouted at the battered men being treated by Isane. Neither Kinji nor Renji would look her in the eye while she was yelling at them.

"Just settling an argument." Kinji pouted.

"It was a conversation among men!" Renji proclaimed. "We were talking with our fists."

"We can see that." Isane said, remarking on the cuts and bruises they both had.

"Did you at least settle something while you were beating each other senseless?" Sui-Feng was not happy with her husband at that moment. But Kinji just gave her a guilty smile and shook his head.

"We reached an impasse. I think they would agree with us if you told them our reason, Shaolin." Kinji hadn't asked this of her, even in private. But he was asking now.

"You know I can't." she said, her voice gone cold.

"But they already know you're the commander of the Onmitsukido, what's the harm in one small detail?" Kinji wheedled. Sui-Feng's anger spiked and she grabbed her husband by the collar and pulled him in close, like he was an unruly subordinate. He smiled slyly in her face. Sui-Feng blinked. That expression meant he had tricked her somehow but when had that happened? What had he done?

"This has something to do with the Onmitsukido?" Isane asked. Sui-Feng's stomach dropped. That sneaky bastard! He really was playing with the line between discretion and treason here.

"I'm bound by oath not to reveal the reason to anyone, not even my family. My husband," Sui-Feng put a lot of anger into that word, "figured it out on his own with no help from me. He wants to tell you but he won't because I'm the one who would suffer if anyone found out."

"Man, I hate this spy bullshit." Renji groused. Isane tightened his bandages roughly causing him to groan. He got the message.

"Sorry about that Shaolin, but I had to bend just a bit more for the sake of my sister and nephew."

"What about me?" Renji asked.

"Honestly, I wasn't suffering that much keeping you in the dark." Kinji said.

"You little-" Renji started.

"I'm kidding. You know you're my favorite brother-in-law." Renji still hadn't caught on to the double meaning there and it amused Kinji to use that phrase as often as possible.

"Your foot is on the line, Kinji." Sui-Feng cautioned him.

"Sorry, dear." Kinji said. Sui-Feng couldn't tell if he was being serious or sarcastic. A bit of both, maybe? Either way, she knew he wasn't going to push any further. "I love you, Shaolin." That had the ring of truth, at least. Sui-Feng found her anger dissipating as that truth sank in.

"So, have we finally reached an understanding?" Haru said as she walked into the room with Kiyone and her grandchildren in tow. "Good, this family has been upset for too long now. Even if the rest of the Seireitei turns against you your family should be your refuge." The grandchildren looked a bit beat up themselves but were surprised to find their fathers in roughly the same state.

"What's up, Dad?" Akihiko asked, concerned.

"Just a polite disagreement between men. Nothing to worry about."

Later that night

Kinji and Sui-Feng were laying in the same bed together for the first time in months. It wasn't as if they'd resolved all the problems between them but for at least that night they laid aside all personal hurts and disagreements.

"I love you too. Idiot" Sui-Feng said with her face buried in his chest.

"We should probably tell each other more often." Kinji said, nearly asleep and feeling at peace for the first time in what felt like an eternity. "Now get some sleep, you'll need it for tomorrow." With those words Kinji let sleep overtake him. Sui-Feng huffed at Kinji getting the last word.

"Never leave me and I'll let you have the last word whenever you want." She promised her sleeping husband. "Just not tonight." Then she pulled the blanket over both of them, checked the knife under her pillow, and went to sleep.

"How did you and Mom meet?" Kitsunebi asked the next morning at breakfast.

"Why did you bring that up?" Akihiko asked. "We're eating here and I don't want to listen to some boring romantic story."

"Men." Ankoku muttered before tipping up her bowl of rice.

"C'mon, Dad. You've never told us before. Every time we asked you just told us to ask Mom."

"And what did she say?" Kinji asked Kitsunebi.

"She told us to ask you." His daughter answered. A light flashed in Kinji's eyes for a brief moment and he looked over at his wife.

"Is that so?" Sui-Feng pretended not to hear what was going on and delicately picked up a bit of fish with her chopsticks.

"Come to think of it, I don't even know how you two met." Isane said. "Have you heard the story, Renji?"

"Nope." Renji said instantly. Ever since a prank gone wrong he kept his nose out of Kinji and Sui-Feng's relationship. A devious grin split Kinji's face and he set his chopsticks aside.

"Well then. Everyone, let me tell you a tale. It involves alcohol, thieving ninjas, and a not entirely sturdy door."

"More like a story involving lack of poison immunity, a lawful order, and felony trespassing." Sui-Feng said without even looking up from her breakfast.

"This doesn't sound like even remotely the same story." Taro remarked, trying to sneak a bit of his younger brothers' breakfasts while they were paying attention to his parents.

"Well, how about this. I'll let your mother tell the story, then I'll tell the story, and you all can decide which one you think is right." Kinji said. "Honey?"

"It wasn't too complicated. Kinji was running Division 3 with a moderate amount of competence so I offered him a much less stressful position in my Division." Kinji was already trying to hold back laughter but he kept it silent. "He offered me a drink which I did not know was laced with a particular type of poison. Suffering from the effects of this poison I ordered members of my Division to obtain his remaining supply for future use, with his permission." Kinji couldn't believe the spin she was putting on this story. It was like reading a mission briefing. "Kinji was a little upset about my acquisition of his home-made poison so he came to my Division to lodge a complaint."

"That's one way to put it." Kinji said before sipping his tea.

"I gave his poison back and we went our separate ways until after the Blood Faction tried to kill him and he ended up in the hospital."

"No offense Mom, but that's not romantic at all." Ankoku said plainly.

"I have a feeling Dad sees the whole thing a bit differently." Taro said, watching his father try not to explode. All eyes turned to Kinji who had a hand over his mouth and his eyes screwed shut.

"Well, Dad?" Satoru said impatiently. "Tell us." Kinji took a deep breath, cleared his throat, and opened his mouth.

"Everything your mother said was true, but there's a bit she left out." Kinji finished the rest of his morning tea, keeping the room in suspense. Sui-Feng cleared her throat loudly when he stretched the silence out. "First, I didn't poison your mother. I offered her a drink with alcohol in it, there's a difference. Second, when a host tells you to take as much as you like of something, that doesn't mean tell a group of thieving ninjas to clean out the cellar. And third, she left out the scope of my reaction to the theft of my mead. It was the culmination of 40 years of study and experimentation which was supposed to last for at least 3 years. I had a slight psychotic episode." Kinji admitted, scratching the back of his head and closing his eyes in embarrassment.

"Wait, was this the time you screamed loud enough to wake half the Seireitei?" Isane asked, remembering her brother's enraged outcry reaching all the way to the 4th Division barracks. She'd heard from members of other Divisions that they'd experienced strange things that early morning.

"That's the one." Sui-Feng said. Kinji shot her a look and decided to go into detail with his story.

"So, she showed up in my barracks with no warning and offered me the position of Lieutenant. But after she downed two bottles of my mead in less than two minutes she was basically hammered. Then she got close to me, pressed herself right up against me," the rest of the room started to look uncomfortable hearing Kinji beginning to describe a tryst, "and hit my pressure points until I agreed to give her as much mead as she wanted. Then she cleaned out my fridge and left. I didn't realize her goons had cleaned me out until I woke up the next morning. So I went to her barracks, kicked the door"

"This is how you met? I think Mom's version was more romantic."

"We didn't actually start our courtship until nearly six months after we met. And the romance took a little while after that." Sui-Feng said.

"Well, there was the thing in the hospital…" Kinji said. The kids were utterly confused by what happened next. Isane blushed, Renji went white as a sheet, and Sui-Feng smacked Kinji in the back of the head. "Hey! It wasn't like I mentioned your cousin." She smacked him again. "Would you quit that?!"

"When you stop bringing up embarrassing memories."

"Fine, then what about our actual courtship? You know, before I committed treason and declared war and whatnot."

"Well…" Sui-Feng wasn't completely won over. Kinji wracked his damaged memories for something she would agree to telling the kids.

"How about the Christmas Party?"

"When you stripped another woman naked? I don't think so."

"I did what?" Kinji asked, a bit surprised.

"You cut Lieutenant Nel's sash so her robes fell open." Kiyone reminded.

"That does sound like something I would do." Kinji said, trying to sort through the jumble of impressions that always flooded his mind when someone brought up one of the memories that had been taken from him. "Maybe I should do it again so I can remember this time." He mused aloud. Sui-Feng tried to smack him again but Kinji's tail caught and wrapped around her hand before she made contact. "I'm kidding." He insisted, though he actually wasn't sure about that himself. "What about the night of the meteor shower?" he suggested. Sui-Feng actually cracked a smile, a rare sight for anyone other than Kinji and her children.

"I suppose even you can't do damage with that story." Sui-Feng said in a fond tone, but then her voice firmed. "Just don't tell them the whole story." She insisted. That night was a precious memory for her but the later part of that night, the part they'd spent in the bedroom, was not suitable for her children or inlaws to hear. Kinji started the story from the beginning of the day…

Kinji and Sui-Feng were in the 4th Division barracks for an appointment with Isane, recently made Captain of the Division and the head of the medical corps. Sui-Feng was seven months pregnant with Kitsunebi and worrying constantly about the health of her first child. She'd been the youngest of her family and had never seen a woman go through pregnancy.

"Everything is fine." Isane said with an indulgent smile for her sister in law. "You and the baby are in perfect health."

"And there's nothing strange, or wrong?" Sui-Feng asked without her usual hard shell in place.

"Well, the baby's spiritual energy is surprisingly dense for a child in utero but that's a sign of exceptional health and growth. Everything is fine."

"What about travel through the Dangai?" Kinji asked, to his wife's surprise.

"No problem. But I would recommend using a gigai once you're in the World of the Living. Pregnancy requires a lot of reiatsu from the mother." Kinji and Sui-Feng thanked Isane and headed back to Kotetsu manor.

"Why did you ask her about the Dangai?" Sui-Feng asked her mischievous husband.

"I've got a surprise for you tonight."

"What kind of surprise?"

"The nice kind." He said, putting an arm around his wife. "Just trust me, you'll love it." Sui-Feng looked a bit uncertain but she didn't press the issue.

"Let's stop there first." Sui-Feng said, a blush coloring her face as she pointed to the shop just down the street. Kinji saw where she was pointing and suppressed a laugh. His wife hated meat, didn't matter if it was pork, chicken, beef etc. But since the second month of pregnancy she'd been eating chicken and tofu almost every night. It embarrassed her to no end that her body was forcing her to do things she didn't normally do. But Kinji was more than willing to indulge is wife without making her feel even more uncomfortable.

"Alright. I could use some lunch anyway." Kinji said, reaching for his wallet. Sui-Feng ordered three Inari-zushi and two bowls of Kitsune-udon with extra aburaage. Kinji got himself a bowl of Chashu-pork Ramen and a side of salmon sushi. Sui-Feng ate with consummate manners but it was like watching a tape on fast forward. Her food disappeared so quickly that she finished her food before Kinji finished his even though she'd ordered twice as much.

"What kind of kid likes tofu this much?" Sui-Feng wondered.

"Well, in the old human stories a desire for tofu mean that a person was possessed by a fox spirit."

"I already agreed on Kitunebi for a name. You don't have to keep pushing it." Sui-Feng muttered, one hand going unconsciously to her stomach.

"I love you." Kinji said, pressing a gentle kiss to her lips and putting his own hand over hers. "Both of you." Sui-Feng's blush deepened but her expression went stony. She didn't like public displays of affection. Kinji left a generous tip and they left. Kinji escorted his wife back home before running off to get things ready for his surprise. The sun was starting to set before he came back to get Sui-Feng. He arrived to see her chewing out one of her Onmitsukido subordinates. Something about the Stealth Force needing to be adequate at being stealthy. The masked man shot a hateful look at Kinji before vanishing.

"Husband, I would refrain from going near my barracks in the future." Sui-Feng said. Kinji blinked in confusion, not just at what she said, but by the fact that she called him "Husband".

"Alright. Care to tell me why?"

"The Onmitsukido blames you for my mood swings." Sui-Feng said, as if such a statement was obvious. Kinji started grinning, then he started laughing, then he fell over as his grip on his cane slipped. "I'm glad you find that so amusing."

"I can't help it." Kinji was trying hard to breath, talk, and laugh at the same time but he had to settle for two out of three. When he did finally calm down he was on the floor with Sui-Feng kneeling next to him, an impatient frown on her face. "Sorry. It's just- I've thought about how to get back at those thieving ninjas for years but I never imagined that this would happen. It's like Karma."

"Well, at least someone find the situation funny. You wouldn't be laughing so hard if you had to deal with these hormones."

"Sorry. Let's get out of here. I've got everything all set up." Kinji used a tail to prop himself up and walk to where he'd dropped his cane. He took her through the Dangai and into the World of the Living where they slipped into their gigais. Kinji had even prepared clothes for each of them.

"Are we going to a festival?" Sui-Feng asked as she put on the kimono. It was black but threaded with gold creating intricate patterns. She was having a bit of trouble getting her clothes on but Kinji helped her into it. His own clothes were patterned in the same way as hers but with deep blue cloth and silver thread.

"To start." Kinji said cryptically. Once they were dressed they walked a couple blocks to a street that had been closed off. There were booths lined up as far as the eye could see selling sweets, fresh food, and offering traditional festival games. There were hundreds of people of all ages bustling about and enjoying the atmosphere. Sui-Feng was tense at first, she didn't like being around so many people in a crowded area without any security precautions. But when Kinji assured her that the only potential problems would be from ordinary humans she relaxed considerably. Then she began to enjoy herself. Kinji bought her some sweets, took her around to some of the games he knew she'd like. He had planned on winning her a neko mask but she won the prize herself so quickly that the stand operator practically begged them to not play again.

"We will, if you hand over one more thing." Sui-Feng said and pointed at the kitsune mask on the wall of his stand. The operator handed it over without hesitation. Sui-Feng pulled her husband down so she could fit the mask to his head. "Hey there handsome." Sui-Feng teased and kissed the cold mask over her husband's face.

"Careful, you might make me jealous." Kinji said with heat in his voice. He slid the mask over to the side of his head and kissed his wife.

"seven months since the wedding and you're still so easy to tease." Sui-Feng said in a quiet and intimate voice, not even caring that they were in public. "I love that about you."

"I've got one more surprise left for tonight. Come on." He lead her past the stalls and out to a tall grassy hill far enough away from the lights that they could see the stars.

"You brought me out here to look at the stars?" Sui-Feng asked, not believing that her husband would go to this much trouble for something so simple.

"Sort of. You'll just have to wait and see." The two of them laid back in the grass, looking up at the sky. Then a small white light shot across the almost black canvas above them. Then a cascade of light shot across the sky as if the heavens themselves were alive and dancing.

"Beautiful." Sui-Feng breathed, almost silent with wonder. Kinji held her close, sharing a once in a lifetime moment with the woman he loved and the soon to be born child. For the first time in his life he felt truly content.

"This is how I feel every day I wake up next to you. Like everything good in the world is right in front of me, impossibly beautiful. I wanted you to see what I see every day." Sui-Feng kissed Kinji like it would be the last kiss they would ever have.

"I love you so much." She said as tears dripped down her face. They stayed there until the stars stopped falling and Kinji carried her back through the Dangai like a husband carrying his new bride over the threshold.

The women in the room all had tears in their eyes, Even Sui-Feng's looked a little misty. Kiyone was outright crying. The men in the room all looked uncomfortable and refuse to make eye contact with the women. But Kinji ruined the moment when he started talking again. "And then, when we got back home-" Sui-Feng's hand hit him in the back of the head hard enough to make him head-butt the table they were sitting at.

"Just couldn't leave it there, my loveable idiot?" Sui-Feng asked her husband's unconscious body.

"Well, it was nice while it lasted." Haru said sorrowfully. "Kids, take this lesson to heart." The Kotetsu matriarch sipped her drink and sighed. "Always know when to end a good story."

A/N: Thank you to everyone who continued to read this story. Without the encouragement offered by readers this story would have died out a long time ago. This is it for this story but it was fun while it lasted.