Bleach: The Forgotten Captain - The Memoirs of Akari Miyazaki

Chapter 27: Cake and Other Delights

I retrieved the mail from the mailbox and skipped lightly through the door of the small shop. The shelves were all brimming with neatly arranged items. I nodded in satisfaction and left the room.

Today, we were closed.

The door closed behind me, and I strolled into the large room that served as our living room.

Kisuke sat at our small table, engrossed in a newspaper. He briefly peeked over the top of it, offering me a smile before diving back into the article.

I joined him, tossing the mail onto the table, and heard footsteps.

"Akari, here, a coffee for you."

"Oh, thank you, Tessai, you're an angel!"

"You're welcome. I'm nearly done with the soup."

"It smells absolutely wonderful," I praised, and Tessai withdrew with a grin. I took a sip of the coffee and stretched contentedly. My living, human body had finally adapted to my Reiatsu. Gradually, I began to look like myself once more.

It had taken a long time for me to adjust to all these new circumstances. While I had been reborn in the world of the living through Suzaku and Sato's abilities, it wasn't quite the same as most people's experiences.

I had emerged as pure energy, with no parents or family. I couldn't recall a time before I was around thirteen years old.

I had lived in a small apartment and gone to school, always with the feeling that something wasn't quite right. It wasn't until Sato realized that Sosuke was taking his final, ultimate step that he re-entered my life, awakening the Shinigami powers within me.

I shook off the thought. All of that was nearly three years ago now. I took another sip of my coffee and opened the mail.

Many of them were bills from suppliers, but there were also some special envelopes. Messages from the Soul Society. Kisuke had found a way to send mail from there to the world of the living and vice versa, which simplified matters.

"Anything important?" Kisuke asked after I had read through all the letters.

I shrugged.

"A letter from Mana, telling me about an interesting mission, some messages from Shinigami requesting specific items for their use here, and a message from Sosuke asking for your advice on his new concept for the sewage canals in the outer districts of Rukongai."

Kisuke set the newspaper aside and looked at me with a smirk.

"Imagine if someone had told you a few years ago that Aizen would be writing to me asking for advice on sewage canals."

I was about to take another sip of my coffee and choked on it with a hearty laugh.

"Oh, I certainly wouldn't have believed that a few years ago, or I would have thought it was just another one of his sinister plots."

Kisuke patted me on the back and laughed too.

"Who would have thought he'd become so obsessed with this topic? Quite intriguing," Kisuke mumbled, and I shrugged. I couldn't help but think of Sara, who was probably thrilled with every little improvement Sosuke was implementing for the residents of Rukongai.

"Hello!" The door swung open, and I grinned at Shin, who was pulling his son Ichigo with him. Behind him, Orihime entered the room as well.

"Hello, everyone," she said, and I spotted her other friends, Chad and Uryu. "Are we early?"

"A bit. Would you like some coffee or tea?"

Within minutes, they all found seats and were served with hot drinks, thanks to Tessai. Then, our door was pushed open once again.