Title: How Coyote Starrk became a Member of the Gotei 13 (On Accident)
Author: darkling59
Fandom: Bleach
Date: 7/6/2014
Disclaimer: Bleach and all associated characters, settings, concepts, etc within this story do not belong to me. Character spellings will attempt to follow those on the Bleach wiki.

Epilogue

One year later…

Shunsui ambled along the wooded path behind the thirteenth division, humming quietly to himself and sporting a sizable jug of sake. The day was pleasantly warm even though the sun had long since passed its zenith and the flowering greenery turned the forest into a dappled wash of rainbow, occasionally rustling in the gentle wind or as small creatures foraged in the brush. The shinigami turned his face into the breeze and allowed it to blow his hair back and cool his cheeks; it was a final remnant of winter and a refreshing addition to the spring afternoon.

It was hard to believe the Winter War had occurred almost two years ago, and stranger still to contemplate that Starrk had only been their ally for half that time. The arrancar had fitted himself easily into shinigami life; not seamlessly because there were a select few shinigami who protested vehemently to his presence, and there were always well-intentioned miscommunications when two such different cultures (Hueco Mundo and Soul Society) tried to mingle, but with effort and good will, those obstacles had been overcome.

The first month had been the most difficult, mainly because no one knew what to do with their new consultant. He'd been ordered to shadow various captains to learn their duties and culture, but he quickly grew bored and either wandered off or fell asleep, making him more of a nuisance than anything. On top of that, both Soifon and Mayuri were actively trying their best to prove he was a dangerous monster, for their own reasons. The head captain quickly put a halt to that when he realized it was happening; the shinigami wanted him to succeed, after all. He'd never be a loyal ally if they did not treat him well.

By the second month, things had settled down and Starrk was free-ranging; they'd stopped trying to contain him to any one division when he proved to be less of a hindrance on his own and willing to keep the contract regardless. Left to his own devices, he split his time between shadowing the shinigami he liked and seeming to vanish off the face of the earth. Had the tracker in his badge not proved he was still in Seireitei, this might have caused a problem. It was at the end of the second month, while the captains were reporting their troop statistics and supply needs, that they realized no one actually knew where the arrancar was living. He'd been assigned quarters in the first division barracks upon his acceptance but they'd never been used.

It didn't take long to figure it out; Starrk was hardly keeping it a secret. He'd claimed a secluded patch of the forest behind the thirteenth division to use as he saw fit. There was no building or bed, but he'd slung a hammock brought from the living world between two trees and piled it high with blankets, pillows, and bedding. Jushiro offered him a room in the thirteenth division barracks when he found out the arrancar was essentially homeless, but Starrk only used it if the weather was poor.

After that, things settled into a routine. Starrk's friendships with the less prejudiced shinigami blossomed and he was gradually pulled into their daily lives. He had no division or formal rank and his title was purposefully vague, but the weaker shinigami treated him like a captain and he was willing to dispense advice and suggestions regardless of rank or division. (They loved him for it; the lowest unranked soldier and the highest lieutenant were equal in his eyes.) Even the students he'd met during his initial incursion into Seireitei received equal treatment (a situation that caused the captains endless amusement; the kids followed him around like ducklings whenever they could find him).

The only other notable thing that had happened was that more arrancar crept out of the woodwork as time passed. Starrk's presence proved worth its weight in gold at that point; Harribel, apparently the new queen of Hueco Mundo, had been ready to declare the shinigami mortal enemies when Starrk stepped in and explained that 'they really weren't that bad'. She'd been completely poleaxed at the sight of the presumed-dead primera but at the end of their confrontation, after an intense private conversation between the two arrancar, the Gotei 13 had a tentative new treaty with the ruler of Hueco Mundo, war was no longer an option, and everyone was happy. (Except Mayuri because he was now banned from using hollows as lab rats in his twisted experiments, but no one cared what he thought.)

Otherwise, Starrk had proved to be a practical, level-headed presence capable of everything the shinigami asked of him. These days, there was no question of panic if he walked down the street; the only ones who even shot him nasty looks were Mayuri and Soifon.

Lilynette's acceptance had paralleled Starrk's journey; at first, she refused to leave his side and greeted shinigami with hostile glares and snappy comebacks. Her appearance was less intimidating, but her attitude kept everyone at bay.

Almost everyone.

Yachiru immediately latched onto her candy buddy, apparently under the impression that her presence would provide an endless supply of sweets. This put Starrk in the unenviable position of babysitter quite often, a responsibility he tended to accept with resigned grace. Granted, he often fell asleep and let the girls do whatever they wanted but Lilynette refused to roam too far from his side and Yachiru stayed with her. This made Starrk much loved by the squad members Yachiru had terrorized in the past. Even after Lilynette had become comfortable and stopped using 'shinigami' as a slur and communicating through violence, she did not like to be separated from her partner for long. He was similarly attached.

(That probably meant they still had trust issues with shinigami, but Shunsui wasn't worried. Unraveling thousands of years of prejudice would take time and patience, both of which the immortals had in spades.)

Shunsui's musings came to a halt as he stepped into the clearing that had become Starrk's home. It was oddly comfortable with plenty of throw rugs and lawn chairs scattered around along with an extremely out of place toy chest nearly the size of a small bed. (Jushiro had gotten it for Lilynette because he was loath to let a child have so little even if she was happy. He was sure Starrk had only allowed it because he did not know exactly how huge of a gift it was – he did not accept charity.)

Lilynette loved it and she'd claimed the patch of grass around it as 'hers' and snarled at anyone who came into her territory, even though she actually spent a lot of time with Starrk. His 'territory' was on the other side of the clearing and consisted mainly of a giant woven rope hammock slung between two trees and piled high with pillows and blankets, many of which had fallen off and littered the ground around it in a tribute to laziness. The swing itself was more than long and wide enough to accommodate three people and Starrk could often be found sprawled out comfortably, taking up most of the space on his own.

Like Lilynette, a lot of his acquisitions had been gifts (at least, those that had not been brought from the living world); especially the pillows. They were in a multitude of patterns and colors, none of them matching and most coordinated with the likes of the gift-giver. Just from a glance, Shunsui could pick out three pink and purple pillows with different Chappy designs that must have come from Rukia, a more expensive silk specimen with an intricate snowdrop winding around the edges from Jushiro, a factory made and store bought cushion with a wolf on it that was probably from Ichigo, a garish pink one from Yachiru, a lacy white one from Rose, an oddly shaped green one with cats on it that was probably from Urahara (he should check that one for surveillance bugs)…

"Taicho-san?" This particular afternoon, Starrk was actually awake and sprawled on his back on the grassy ground instead of the hammock, with a book lying open on his chest. Lilynette was absent for once; Shunsui knew she was with Jushiro getting ice cream. "Can I help you?" He raised a quizzical brow.

"I hope so!" Shunsui turned his attention from the pillows and lifted his sake bottle with a grin. "Happy anniversary! You've been an honorary shinigami for exactly one year!"

"Oh." He blinked. "Wow. I guess that's why I've been getting so many gifts recently…" He levered himself into a sitting position and indicated the pillows around him in invitation.

Shunsui chose a particularly lurid lime green specimen of unknown origin that was decorated with tiny, big-eyed caterpillars stitched along the seams, and plopped down, setting the sake bottle between them on the grass with a rustling thump and producing two cups from his pockets.

"I'd like to personally thank you for your services." Shunsui extended a full cup with a twinkle in his eye. There was none of the wary tension that had underscored their first drink together; this time, the arrancar accepted with wry amusement.

"Sure. I mean, it's not like I've really done anything…"

Shunsui settled back with his own glass. "You underestimate yourself, Starrk-san. You've been a great help in managing the troops. And you have opened communications between shinigami and arrancar; that is not to be taken lightly."

"I'm still expecting that to end in tears." He remarked idly.

"Harribel seems like a reasonable sort of arrancar. I don't think she would betray us."

Starrk eyed him silently and Shunsui grimaced as he realized he'd gotten it backwards.

"…Oh. I assure you, we have no intention of reneging-."

"I've heard THAT before."

"…Well then, I suppose we'll just have to prove our good will. I'm glad you'll be staying so that we can."

Starrk snorted in amusement and sipped his sake. "You know, you're not so subtle when you know you've already won." He lay back down on the ground, balancing the sake dish on his chest and staring up through the tree branches at the blue sky, eyes half-lidded and lazy.

"Well, what's the point?" Shunsui smiled easily and shuffled closer to his side. "You are intending to stick around, are you not?"

"I'm not planning to leave, if that's what you mean. Unless you want me to?" One eye turned towards him in sudden worry and Shunsui shook his head.

"Of course not. We're glad to have you here." Starrk's fear of rejection and loneliness still caused him undo anxiety and Shunsui felt a pang of sadness every time he had to reassure the arrancar of his worth. He had obviously suffered greatly in Hueco Mundo and bore lasting mental scars; even though he claimed his time there had been uneventful.

For a while, they sat in silence, just thinking, drinking, and enjoying each other's company while they worked their way slowly through the alcohol. Starrk had been mollified by Shunsui's assurance and as the amount of alcohol in his system rose, he allowed himself to enjoy the buzz and relaxed, closing his eyes in the warm afternoon sun. He would have looked asleep, if he weren't lifting his cup to his lips every once and a while. Shunsui, however, was thinking about the possibilities of Starrk's past and what he might have endured at the hands of both shinigami and hollows. His imagination conjured horrible things and darkened his mood considerably.

But dwelling on the past was rarely beneficial and Shunsui had thousands of years of learning how to distract such dark musings. His favorite coping mechanisms were humor and curiosity.

Starrk jolted awake with a startled cough when something cold touched his hollow hole, sending a jolt of ice through his body. Confused, he raised his head and blinked bemusedly at what he saw on his chest and at the shinigami whose hand had just lifted away, a mischievous smirk on his face. The arrancar let his head thump back with a huff of amusement.

"Did you just put your sake cup in my hollow hole?"

"Mhm." Shunsui poked at the half inch or so of the nearly empty cup's rim protruding over the top of the hollow hole, causing the cup to twist, and Starrk shivered slightly at the trails of cold condensation that followed the movement. "It actually fits!"

"Hn. I'm not a cup holder." He mumbled. But he was already falling back asleep. The cold felt good against his skin in the increasing heat of the warm afternoon.

"What's it feel like?"

"Cold."

"It doesn't hurt, does it?"

"No. It feels good in the heat."

"Ah."

Shunsui settled down beside him again and Starrk watched him with one half-lidded eye, amused rather than upset by his antics.

"I'd say you make a better cup holder than the ground, at least." Shunsui remarked playfully, entertained by the lack of response. He turned his gaze towards the scenery (though he continued watching his companion out of the corner of his eye).

Starrk hummed quietly and closed his eyes completely. The cold was a bit numbing against his bare skin, like someone had placed an ice cube in that spot, but so long as it kept him cool against the heat, he didn't care. Shunsui didn't address him again; just relaxed next to him enjoying the serene landscape and occasionally taking long draws of sake from the jug.

It was a bizarre scene but peaceful and the two of them stayed like that; a hollow and a shinigami, together, for a long time.

Over the past year, they had become comrades and friends. Hopefully, that connection would last for many years to come.

Author's Notes:

And so it ends.

This story has been a great ride, and I'm proud to have shared it with all of my viewers and reviewers, especially those of you who have stuck with me from the beginning. You are all awesome and amazing and it is thanks to your continued encouragement and interest that I've made it this far.

I hope you enjoyed the ending and that I hear your opinions in the comments. I also hope I'll see you again soon, in other Starrk-related adventures!

(P.S. Since many people expressed interest in the deleted scenes, they have been posted as chapter 47 in 'Howling at the Moon'. Enjoy!)

(P.P.S. There is a possibility of a one-shot sequel - likely a more serious piece on the academy students discovering the truth about Starrk - but currently it's just a bundle of plot fragments so I'm not sure when or if it will get done.)

A special 'Thank You' to those of you who reviewed last chapter! Krazyfanfiction1, Isame Kuroda, FatesShadow83, MerryKitten, Weasel Fu, Guest, wisdom-jewel, Saj te Gyuhyall, urs-v, evilmastermind no.1, lovewrath, Guest (2), scottusa1, SentinelOfTheWest, tryal-leaf, CurrentlyOccupied, Sgt. Rill, ClearShadows117, and anon; You guys are awesome!