Number One Guardian

It was that time again. Two weeks and three days into June with school just about to end for summer break. It has been six years since that day and nothing will make them forget. Tomorrow, they'll take a break to visit a grave with their usual antics. Yuzu and Karin will be off from school along with Isshin off from work.

Isshin always did have too much energy. He would scream directions and chores to his daughters. Then he and Karin will argue over the most pointless things such as positions and rank while Yuzu tried her best to stop their fighting. It was a normal routine for their family.

The usual will happen. With Yuzu cooking and Karin doing most of the heavy work, a picnic will take place and a game would be to cheer up the mood (no matter how much the girls thought how wrong it was) right after they clean up the grave. It'll all start tomorrow. The anniversary of the death of Kurosaki Ichigo.

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"Okaa-san! We're almost there!" her daughters yelled. A generous smile appeared on the mother's face as she walked further up the hill. The sisters looked at each other with worried faces. Every time their mother wore that smile, they knew it was fake. They all knew she wore to hide her negative emotions. It must have pained her, but the family spoke none of it. The father was soon kicked down the hill for being the lunatic father he was by Karin.

"Masaaaaaaaaaaki!" her husband shouted as he rolled down the hill with tears flowing from his eyes. At times like these, she wonder why she even married that old goat.

Another turn, she would reach the grave yard. The sun was scorching the air around her. Tears threaten to fall from her eyes as she moved forward towards her son's grave. The twins would follow after her and the father will somehow appear suddenly and trail after the women.

Two rows up, fifth grave from the right. Masaki directed in her head. After all the trips she made to the grave, she could have made it there blindfolded. She could already feel Yuzu crying from behind with Karin trying to comfort her. Isshin would again disappear leaving her alone to face her son.

"Ichigo, it's me again," she whispered to the grave. At this point, she didn't hold back. Tears ran down her face as she touched the grave. Memories of rain and blood flowed into her mind. Her daughters assisted her with cleaning the grave and left to leave their mother praying in peace. Silence stood between mother and son.

"I'm sorry Ichigo. I-I feel so useless right now. Every time I think about it, I always seem to blame myself for all of this. I don't know what happened down there. I should have told you about Hollows and why you could see ghosts. I'm sorry," she confessed. Some words were lost to her crying as she gasped for breath. She felt Ichigo himself was watching her as she prayed. But she knew it wasn't possible. He's in Soul Society now and probably won't be coming back for a long time.

"You know, he never blamed you," a voiced assured. Masaki didn't even bothered to look up. She new Isshin was behind her. He always was when she was like this.

"I know, but I can't help feeling it was all my fault," she admitted, still not raising her head to meet her husband's eyes. The smell of smoke from a cigarette filled her senses as she suddenly looked up and saw that her husband was smoking.

"I thought you quit," she questioned.

"I did, but I just remembered that smoking was one of the things you thought made me look cool," he smiled. Masaki smiled at her husband and looked at the grave a final time.

"Do you think, he's watching us right now?" she asked, not removing her gaze from the grave.

For once, Isshin had nothing to say. He knew whether comforting her or telling the his opinion would both result in an upset Masaki. He took a long drag and blew out the toxic smoke and finally figured an answer.

"Not sure, but if he is, then he'll probably knock me senseless," he said.

The mourning mother looked up at him. At this point, Isshin couldn't resist a smile.

"We made a promise that if I ever made you sad, he would kill me. Said he was you protector or something," he explained and walked away to let his wife think about his words.

Slowly, a smile appeared on her face. A genuine smile. She looked up to the clear sky and whispered a very soft, "Thank you". And for a quick moment, a soft whispered came from the forest ahead answering, "I'm the number one guardian, aren't I?"