(Ryoto's pov)
Another 30 years flew by, and that ans that I am over a century old. To be more precise, I'm ~127 years old, not counting my years as Jacob.
Jesus, I'm starting to get old, and I still have about a hundred years to go before returning to my ho world.
In these 30 years or so, my children entered the worst nightmare of every parent, their teenage years.
Masaru didn't change much, surprisingly. I was ready for his dad-hating phase since he acts like a protagonist, but it didn't co. He was as calm, friendly, and soft-spoken as always.
Yukima... was Yukima, but more. She is as much a trouble magnet as I am. How does she find Hollows to fight so often? I don't know.
Now, into the problem child, Akio.
I don't know what happened, but he was distancing himself from everyone. It's not like he wasn't talking with us or ran away, but it was noticeable, and he doesn't want to talk to anyone about that or refuse to even admit that anything changed, and I can't exactly force him to talk.
Akio was a bit closer to Isane, so it wasn't completely hopeless, but it would indicate that I was at fault, and I don't know what I did wrong. I tried to be a good and fair father to all my children. Maybe it's the famous rebellious phase, or he is just embarrassed by his father for so reason.
At least he still wants to train with and the rest... sotis.
Why is being a parent so hard...
"Hey Gin, do you know what's up with Akio?" I asked my son, who refuses to call a dad even after all these years.
"For the 10th ti, I don't know anything. If you worry so much, you can follow him for a day, two or a week... Not like he'll sense you." Gin answered between his practice swings.
Gin's got a point. It's certainly a possibility, but it doesn't necessarily an that I'll find out what I'm looking for, but I'm hesitant to do it.
"I know that much, but I don't want to be an overbearing parent who controls everything their child does. It doesn't even guarantee anything. If sothing wrong is going on, I'll interfere, but otherwise, I'll be holding out my hand until Akio decides to grab it. It also isn't unusual for a child to get a bit distant from his parents, but it doesn't make any less saddened."
I explained my reasoning. It was the way people around helped . Lala was around , sharing her positivity until I opened up more. The sa could be said about Rio and Kaede. Al was a bit different, and so was Rin. With Rin, I was the one who was there for her, and Yoruichi, while knowing more than she let on, always waited for to explain first before confronting unless it was urgent.
I don't have a great example with Isane. Sorry Isane, but it doesn't an I love you any less.
I can only think of one other reason besides the rebellious phase why Akio is distancing himself. He isn't much of a fighter. It doesn't an that he is weak for soone his age, but he lacks that sothing. I didn't treat him differently because of that, and I trained him just as hard as the others to not make him feel like an outcast in the family.
His talent lies not with fighting but with sothing else. Science. That's why he spends more ti with Kisuke than .
Well, as long as he is happy...
As I was watching over Gin's training, a Hell Butterfly flew towards . I allowed it to land on my finger to get the ssage that was sent to .
...
...
...
That's strange. I don't rember doing anything troubleso as of late, so why does Yama-jii want to co to the Captain's Assembly Hall... alone. And it's not another Captain eting, from what I understand.
Sothing is going on.
"Gin, I'm being called, so we need to cut the training short." I inford my son.
"Yeah, yeah, I'll keep practicing for a while longer. Have fun." Gin answered dismissively while jot stopping his sword for a mont.
Well, let's see what Yama-jii wants from .
---
What waited for was a group of 5 people and Yamamoto himself, who, after ordering to accompany these individuals, left alone. Hikifune was also with the group, but I didn't pay attention to her at the mont.
Why are they here? Should I be afraid? Even if I try to run away, I don't have a chance of escaping with all of them here in this room. Maybe if there was only one of them, then I would see a chance, but against the group, I can't see myself winning or even escaping.
For now, I'll be confident and pretend I don't know anything.
Scrap that; I really don't know why they want to et . If this was about murder, then Squad 0 wouldn't even blink about it. They just wouldn't care, so it must be sothing different.
The only thing I can think about was my eting with the Soul King, but no one should know about it besides Kisuke.
"Hahaha! Is this the famous Ryoto Yuuki?"
A monk like Shinigami approached with a big smile and a healthy laugh.
Ichibei Hyosube, the leader of Squad 0. I like his beard, but he terrifies at the mont, even if he looks friendly. I remained calm on the outside, not showing my nervousness in any way.
"That's . Now, can I know why I was called here to et all of you? You seem to wear Captain's haori, but I haven't t any of you except Hifune... Squad 0, I presu?" I took a quick glance at Hikifune.
I pretended to just figure out their identities. It would be strange to know them. While as a Captain with a few decades of experience, I have knowledge about Squad 0, I never t them.
Hearing , the monk grinned but didn't say anything.
Before I could ask again about their reason for calling here, I felt soone using Shunpo to get behind , so as a form of defense, I sidestepped as fast as I could to see who was trying to sneak up on . I didn't want to attack for obvious reasons.
The whole exchange didn't take even a second, but if I wasn't careful from the mont I entered the Assembly Hall, I wouldn't even notice.
"So, the boy has a quick reaction. At least we know that he isn't a pushover."
A tall man with an old-style delinquent hairstyle said. Wait, this hairstyle isn't old style by today's ans, and he could even be called a pioneer.
The tall man didn't say anything more as he was karate chopped on the head by Ichibei.
"Don't scare the young man! We talked about it already!" Ichibei turned to . "Sorry about him. Now let explain our reasons for being here."
---
END
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