A Brother Lost [Mia]

Tatsuo should be back from his mission soon...

He and some shinigami from his division had gone out on a mission a bit far out into the Rukon this morning, so they'd missed breakfast together. It was a shame, they'd planned on it today since Haruki was off with Shiori at a clan meeting.

If he hadn't had work, he could have watched Shiori for them, but...

So instead, the girl had went with her mother.

They....should be back around now though, it was a bit passed lunch and they'd left to that meeting early this morning. Maybe when he was done with work he'd have time to stop by and see them?

He was on a break now, though it wasn't long enough to make visits...So for now, he was on a short walk until it was time to return. The expression on his face was a calm one, though really it didn't show much emotion overall.

She...was again like this. Mia came into a world, the seireitei this time, and realized she could still float. Giving a frustrated stomp of the air, she threw a mini hissy fit on the roof of some building before calming herself. Last time...she had seen Baby Masa. It had been sad but sweet and she had...kissed him...

So this time it might be something even nicer? Following the pull, she gave a happy laugh as she landed in front of the person who was pulling her. She blinked, tilting her head in confusion as she noticed... Papa?

She couldn't say that, but it was definitely her papa though...he looked calm but where was his smile?  Was his hair shorter? Mia stared at the man in confusion and surprise, that was a shinigami uniform on him....

Kaimu was forced to a sudden halt as someone appeared before, a woman having jumped out directly in front of her. He blinked; what...?

She was looking at him in confusion but...she'd appeared in front of him? He should be the one confused...

"Um..."

Her head tilted side to side as she stared, starting to float a little in her preoccupation. Blinking, she moved forward and with both fingers lifted the corner of his lips up in a forced smile and gave a sigh of relief. "Aaah much better."

What...What was she doing? Before he could question that allowed the woman had stuck her fingers to his lips, forcing a...a smile? What? Why?

Much better?

After his momentary surprise wore off he stepped back; "Um, is there something I can help you wi..." His eyes were drawn to her now floating position.

This...What...?

This...must be before Papa smiled all the time. Mia nodded, thinking that thought and floated backwards slightly. Instead she gave him her sweetest smile as he noticed her floating. "You can... I'm some sort of weird ghost thing I think... and I am stuck. So I need to... move on and it seems I am with you for now? Like... a christmas ghost."

Yes, best explanation! This would totally cover her tracks and she could follow Papa around and see what he used to be like... Something was niggling at the back of her head though...something she should...be thinking of...

"..." Kaimu blinked; that...what? What was Christmas, and how was a...floaty ghost even here? "Moving on...ah..."

His eyes went down to his zanpakutou, for konso he just needed to put the butt of his sword and give her the stamp to pass on...

Then she'd go...here? That...It was then that he noticed something...

"Ghosts that require passing on normally have a chain of fate." He stated, blinking again. She claimed to be some weird ghost thing, but...ghosts had chains.

...This papa was so serious. Mia blinked very slowly... Mimicking him unconsciously. She watched his eyes fall to Kuro and followed them back up again as he...seemed to be having trouble understanding. She supposed...references to books that didn't exist yet...possibly...was a silly thing to do.

"...I...am not a ghost ghost?" Mia thought for a moment, falling back onto her butt and cupping her chin. Even if it was an odd Papa, he looked like Papa enough... though the lack of smile was weirding her out.

Papa was always happy to see her... even though she wasn't born yet for sure... Still weird.

"I have special circumstances. I'm a future ghost!" So she could say that! That worked! Yes.

"Future...ghost?" It...didn't really make any sense to him; it seemed impossible, even with the world they lived in. A future ghost? Not a ghost-ghost, but a future ghost?

Was...there even a point in questioning it?

"I...suppose we can settle with that."

...Now what?

"Future ghost. I'm a ghost from the future." Mia pointed out helpfully, hoping to clarify for the...quiet man... Her excited and happy expression faded a bit, hearing him just...accept that.

This was so odd... so...so odd.

"...You should smile more. I bet it'd look nice?" She offered hopefully.

Well, he'd gotten that much but...how was that possible? The concept of time travel...didn't exactly connected with Kaimu, as it wasn't a thing that really...existed. Sure, people sometimes wished for the past or the future, but...it wasn't like it'd just happen at the snap of a finger.

"Hm?" Smile more? "I'm not overly happy or amused though."

It wasn't like he couldn't, there just wasn't a reason to right now. He wasn't upset or anything, but neutral...despite the slight confusion. He was working to, he rarely did so in the workplace; he mostly only laughed and joked around his family.

Mia just...tilted her head. Honestly what was with this odd...papa...

Was this really what he was like before? She reached up again to get him to smile once, beseechingly before they fell. She had been so happy to see her father... And now she felt just sad and disappointed...

His smile woulda made her feel a bit better, which was why she had been so happy in the first place. A bit of a dejected air surrounded the woman, her hair floating and covering her a bit as she...pouted?

Pouted was a good word for it... Dejected moping was another.

"Eh? Hah? Ah..." What...Why did she seem so dejected now? He'd just explained his reasoning for his usual, everyday work face! What...it wasn't like he was upset or anything!

Jeez, what was he supposed to do? If it were Tatsu, or Hikari, or Shiori he'd know how to cheer them up but someone he didn't know-!?

It wasn't like he could just force a smile.

So instead of making things worse by trying to force it, his hand reached out to...awkwardly pat her head. Just...what...?

"It'd...look bad if I tried to force one..."

Papa was confused, she knew that but she couldn't help her dejected moping... Just it was hard being like this and she was trying to take what she can.

"It does... It looks really bad when you force it." Papa had the worst forced smiles in the history of them. She'd only seen a few, but they were even more miserable than the evil ones he got. She sighed though, her pouting fading as a soft smile came over her features once he patted her head. Mia's body relaxed

Attempting to call him Papa failed and she had to twist her lips to speak... and say... "Kaimu...Miura... it feels odd to say that. I'm Mia, you can call me that."

She guessed she was stuck calling him his name...

"Ah..." Kaimu gave a nod, though he was confused on how she knew is name, as he retracted his hand; she'd said she was from the future, but...it all seemed too strange. She knew his name though... "Mia then; if you're not a normal ghost then I'm unsure as to what to do..."

He was trained to pass on normal plus souls, but...not trained to deal with future ghost things as Mia described it.

"I think I just have to be near you... This... is my second time being like this..." Mia admitted, wondering what was going on? She still had so many questions, but the pull was definitely focused on this man, her father. So she'd stay and hope that whatever it was would happen soon and she could move along. Maybe back home?

She waved her arm out. "No one else can see me, I'm pretty sure... Or touch me if its the same as before... So... you were working then? I can follow you to Ninth. Or are you going home?"

Oh...Oh no...

If he was here, they were all alive. Maybe...she could meet them? A bit excited even in her sadness, she floated behind the man and pushed on his back lightly in her obvious excitement. "Come on! Hurry, I want..."

She trailed off, the force stopping her from those words.

She just had to be near him? Well...If she'd been like this before he guessed she had an idea of what to do. That was fine then, it wasn't anything he'd get annoyed over.

"I was on my break, but I'd been heading back to work..." Kaimu replied which made him think...what was he going to do later when he got off? He'd be headed to check in on Tatsu and the others...apparently they wouldn't see her but what if he needed to answer questions...

Hell, how was he going to do that at work even?

"Okay... I can just...follow..." Mia nodded softly, a bit shyly now that she was getting over her excitement since he was working and not heading home. Sad...she had wanted to see... It...

She'd shown up for a normal day in Masaru's life so it should be just the same for Kaimu right? It'd be nice to see what he did during his day... What kind of work did those in Ninth do?

"Say...what does Ninth...d-do? O-Other than..k-kido users..." Did they do paperwork? Train? She tilted her head, deciding to float along beside him while she learned a bit more.

"Other than training I mostly just deliver papers back and forth. It's mostly training though..." He was seated, but it wasn't like he had the job of a lieutenant or anything, but he still did work like one...only in small doses.

Tatsu had it pretty easy, it was...amazing to see how much progression he was making, he was strong and had risen in ranking rather quickly.

"Overall that's the extent of what I handle anyway..."

"That...sounds..." Not the best. Mia was glad she had been shunted away into the Library, at least she had had reading to keep her company. Delivering papers and training constantly didn't sound fun...

At least he was working under Norma! Mia went to say something about the woman but was also stopped. She frowned before letting it fall away.

"That sounds annoying. I-I only like training with..." Another thing stopping her! Mia continued floating alongside the man but was rolling a bit in frustration. Maybe she could... Ugh! Not that either.

Sighing, she hung her arms and head in failure. "I-I am...the Lieutenant of Tenth... in the future..."

A future lieutenant of Tenth?

"Guess you outrank me then." This time, he actually did smile though it was a small one of amusement; it was still a smile, but it didn't say for long.

It seemed there were things she was unable to say, but he didn't question it.

He had...to check in on some paperwork when he returned, he knew that...he could take a peek at the others training he supposed as well.

"...I do. I-I was only recently promoted though! O-Or got bankai...s-so its not a big deal!" Mia waved her hands, turning bright red and trying to wave off anything he might say... though the amused smiled stopped her dead. It was small and went away quickly, but it had appeared!

Laughing, she hovered to him and wrapped her arms around his neck with a hug. "You smiled!"

"Aaah, well I don't even have a bankai, so you still technically outrank me overall." It was rare for a lieutenant to gain bankai, there were only few that had them due to the years it took to master them.

So even if she was telling him to think lightly of it it was obvious that if she was a lieutenant with bankai shew was powerful.

He was surprised as she suddenly came to hug him; wha-?

Smile? Yes, he had?

"Ah..."

"You don't? That's okay..." Mia's head tilted strongly, so strongly her body almost followed suit. Okay so it seemed Papa got his bankai later, outside of the seireitei... That made a little sense so now she knew! Or maybe she had known but forgotten?

It was weird to be...treated like this... Really weird. Especially from a shorter haired, more stoic papa. It was kinda creepy to be honest... She pulled away at the surprised reaction, forgetting he didn't know...so...

Looking crestfallen, she floated to the side in a wave of mope as they continued along. "S-Sorry..."

They were nearing the division, though as he walked he noted her become...saddened? What was she apologizing for?

"You don't need to apologize for anything, it's alright."

She'd seemed confused on the fact he didn't have a bankai, though he had to wonder why that was so odd; it was almost unheard of for someone of his ranking to have one.