Info
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: None
Category: Gen
Fandom: Bleach
Relationships: Lots of friendships, No romantic ships, they're kids guys please
Characters: Kurosaki Karin, Kurosaki Yuzu, Kurosaki Isshin, Kurosaki Ichigo, Ishida Uryuu, Ishida Ryuuken, OC's
Additional Tags: Family, Grief/Mourning, Humor, Cute Kids, Friendship, Canonical Character Death, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence
Language: English
Series: Part 2 of the In Motion series
Stats:
Published: 2017-05-24
Words: 3786
Chapters: 1/1
Summary: Thunder claps over their heads, but Dad doesn't move to go, so neither does Ichigo.
Notes: I hecking love kid fic, bye.
000
Everything is cast in grey thanks to the dark, angry storm clouds that loom above them.
Ichigo stands off to the side of the grave where the casket that holds the centre of his universe is being lowered and picks absently at his starched shirt. It's become wrinkled from where Yuzu had been clutching at it just minutes before, upset but trying to hide it. She's asleep now, bundled up in Dad's arms with her face hidden in his shoulder.
A graveyard should smell like death, Ichigo thinks. Not that he knows what death really smells like, but he knows it isn't this. With every inhale he takes in the combination of mown grass, crisp and fresh, and the richness of turned earth, and if he concentrates he can even smell the faintest traces of incense. Even if the air he breathes is clogged with grief so thick he wants to choke, the smells themselves aren't bad. Maybe this is what death smells like, he thinks; like grief and ritual, like the static charge of clouds swollen with unshed rain.
Karin has Ichigo's hand trapped in her tight, shaking grasp. No doubt, the atmosphere was what set both of his sisters off. Guests had kept approaching them all day, their faces sagging with the exact same pitying expressions, and with apologies and offers of assistance eagerly falling from their mouths, and then some of them began crying, which made Yuzu cry, who in turn set off Karin. They didn't understand what was happening, couldn't begin to comprehend that Mom wasn't coming back; they were only absorbing and reflecting their surroundings.
As Dad throws the first handful of dirt onto the casket and the sky finally opens with a rumble of thunder, Ichigo isn't sure he understands either.
Karin makes a small, broken sound and pushes her face into Ichigo's side, skinny arms wrapping around his trunk. Wordlessly, Ichigo turns to her and picks her up. She's a small, shivering weight against his chest, but he can barely feel it. He watches numbly as two men begin to fill the grave in, shovelling with practised ease. A fat drop of rain runs down his face, and he thinks it's strange that it's warm, but then he realises, with a distant internal, oh, that he's crying now, too.
A few people approach the edge of the grave one by one and throw flowers in as the diggers do their work. Ichigo recognises Moriyama-obaasan, a kindly neighbour woman who came by twice the previous week bearing sweets and a large pot of stew for their table, and the Usami's, who let the twins come over and play with their cat, and Fujita who helped him this morning with getting dressed, having let Ichigo borrow her son's dress pants. These people are here for Mom, Ichigo tells himself, these are the lives she has touched, they are here, and though she was not the centre of their universe, they'd at some point been caught in her orbit anyway, and when put like that, he thinks he can forgive them a little for making his sisters cry.
The rain begins falling in earnest by the time the guests start to leave for the wake, a shower now where once there had only been a drizzle. The diggers are patting the last of the soil down with their shovels. Thunder claps over their heads, but Dad doesn't move to go, so neither does Ichigo. Karin tightens her hold on Ichigo's neck, and beside him, still cradled in Dad's arms, Yuzu whimpers. Ichigo sniffles and wipes the back of a sleeve over his face. He's about to ask if they can move under a tree or something so that the twins don't get sick from the rain, when a shadow falls over him from behind. Looking up, he's met with the underside of an umbrella; he hadn't even noticed the person coming up behind them.
This time, Ichigo makes an audible, "Oh." And before he can say anything else, Karin lifts her head from the crook of his neck and mumbles something about being cold before falling back to doze on him. Distracted, Ichigo begins bobbing up and down on his heels and adjusts his hold to rub her back soothingly, making low shushing sounds. The person moves closer, and Ichigo turns to get a better view. It's a man. He's thin but tall, a little taller than Dad, and dressed in a dark grey suit. His hair is grey too, right to the roots, but Ichigo thinks that without his glasses he might look the same age as Dad. Karin makes another plaintive noise and Ichigo is forced to drop his gaze to focus on his sister's distress. He strokes her head and hums a song from the cartoon that they watch on Saturday mornings, throwing one more glance at the stranger which hopefully conveys his gratitude.
It's the humming that finally gets Dad to take notice. He hears Dad's sharp intake of breath, and then; "Ah."
The man shifts and bows. "I apologise for not stepping forward sooner, Kurosaki." Ichigo looks between them and notes the way they stand, the lack of honorific.
Dad huffs, and… And did he just roll his eyes? "You're here, aren't you?"
Ichigo stares. Who is this man that he can pull Dad out of that far-away place he goes to when people talk about Mom? Ichigo had resigned himself to it today; the long stretches of half awareness, the vacant, glassy cast to his eyes. Dad is the kind of person to feel things with his entire being, Mom said once. Ichigo hadn't understood what she meant at the time.
The man inclines his head. "I am here," he agrees. "I… I wasn't sure I would be welcome, for a time. Thank you. For this."
Dad shakes his head. "No; you're family – if not by blood. And besides, she," he cuts off, swallowing. With a small upward tilt to his mouth he continues;"She'd never forgive me if you asked and I said no."
Ichigo's darts his gaze between them again, a subtle furrow in his brow, before finally settling on his father. "Dad?" He sounds a lot smaller than he intended to.
Dad blinks and turns his attention to Ichigo. There's a beat where he looks so, so tired, worn down to his core, but then he's smiling again, so gently that Ichigo has to look down at Karin's hair for the way his throat begins to tighten on it's own, something heavy settling on the back of his tongue.
Dad clears his throat, stepping closer to lay a hand on Ichigo's shoulder, and Ichigo can barely hear it over the soft patter of rain on top of the umbrella that the stranger still holds over him. "Ishida, you want to meet my kid? He's pretty great."
The man glances down at Ichigo, and then to Dad, then back again. They must all look pretty funny standing under the one umbrella, no matter how large it is. Dad squeezes Ichigo's shoulder lightly, and Ichigo says, stiff and formal; "Hello. I'm Kurosaki Ichigo. It's nice to meet you." He bows at the neck, the best he can manage while holding onto Karin.
The man sketches out a similar gesture. "Ishida Ryūken. Pleased to make your acquaintance." No one speaks after that, a strange quiet blanketing the group. The man, Ishida, now, is watching him, and Ichigo sees his gaze linger where Ichigo is still stroking Karin's head.
Ichigo, growing restless under the scrutiny, can't help himself and blurts; "How do you know my Dad?"
Dad, standing just beside him, releases his breath in a sudden whoosh of air. Ishida pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "We have worked in the same hospital for many years now. Before that, I was your mother's foster brother."
Ichigo nods, satisfied. "Thanks for taking care of him, then," he says.
Ishida makes a sound not unlike the one Dad just made, and Ichigo comes to the startling conclusion that it's something close to laughter.
Ichigo cranes his neck up to his father. "Dad can we go under a tree? Yuzu's going to get sick if you stay in the rain."
Dad hums. "Actually, can you take your sisters to the car for me? I'd like to catch up with Ishida here."
Ishida narrows his eyes and frowns. "Uryū can take them to my car. We're parked right outside the gates."
Ichigo opens his mouth to protest, because he isn't a baby, he's 9 years old which is old enough to take care of the twins by himself, when Dad butts in. "You brought your son?" he asks, casting around as if looking for somebody.
Ichigo sees him first. There's a tree not far from where they're standing; it has a thick trunk that winds out in lumpy, curling roots that overlap, and it's branches arch up high into the air before they taper off and hang down almost horizontally, some low enough to touch the ground. The canopy is so densely packed that Ichigo knows if he stood underneath it, he would be safe from the rain for a while yet. Peeking out from behind the tree, hidden further by the dark shroud of its branches, is a boy.
He jumps, startled at being discovered, but instead of retreating as Ichigo expects him to, he inches forward. He's the same age as Ichigo, maybe a little younger, and dressed pretty similarly, too. His hair is black, and grown out to the same chin length as Karin's, parted in the middle and swept back. Like Ishida, the boy has a pair of wire-frame glasses on. He looks like his dad, Ichigo thinks to himself; they have the same eyes.
"Uryū," says Ishida, calling out to him. He steps out, umbrella in hand, and makes his way over to them.
"You brought your son to a funeral?" Dad asks again.
Ishida goes to reply, but then Yuzu stirs and shivers against the pattering rain. "Papa?"
Dad tilts his chin and makes that expression again, the one he made at Ichigo, with deep lines of exhaustion running like cracks down his face, but somehow so soft that Ichigo can't look at it for long without feeling like he's going to cry. "Hey, sweetheart. How you doing?"
Yuzu sniffs. "Cold. Can we have stew tonight? Where's Karin?"
"We're all going with Dad's friend now," Ichigo chimes in, and looks up at Dad to purposefully make eye contact. "Right?"
Dad nods. "Can you walk, sweetheart?" He asks, addressing Yuzu.
"That won't be necessary," says Ishida as his son arrives in front of them. "Uryū can carry her if need be."
Dad frowns. "I wouldn't want to impose." Ichigo is starting to get annoyed with all the talking, if he's being honest. His sisters are cold, and all he wants to do is go, but they're still not moving.
"It's not an imposition, sir," says the boy suddenly, reaching up and adjusting his glasses. Dad glances down at him, as if just realising he was standing there. The boy does not look all that surprised to have been overlooked. He straightens up impossibly further and bows at the waist, saying; "I apologise for speaking out of turn. My name is Ishida Uryū, and I am pleased to meet you."
Dad coughs awkwardly at the stilted greeting. "Well then. I'm pleased to meet you, too. Ah, but call me ji, please. Or Kurosaki if that's better."
Yuzu has left the safety of Dad's shoulder and is peering curiously at the newcomers. "Are you strong like onii-chan?" She asks the boy curiously, interrupting any further interaction with Dad.
"I… I'm sorry?" The boy seems at a loss.
"Onii-chan is so strong he once put me on his shoulders like an aeroplane," says Yuzu, barrelling on. She makes a point of looking between them both with shrewd judgement. "You don't look that strong."
Dad has his lips pressed together, his jaw twitching. The boy, Uryū, frowns and pushes his chin out. "I am eight, and I drink all of my milk and eat my vegetables. I won't drop you."
Yuzu's face scrunches up in concentration, but then it clears and she's nodding gravely, already beginning to squirm in Dad's hold. Dad's shoulders are shaking, and there's a distinct quirk to Ishida's lips. "Okay, okay, then," says Dad, huffing, and sets Yuzu down with a kiss to her forehead. Ichigo is confused, but mostly just glad that they're going somewhere warm.
As soon as her feet hit the ground she's bounding over to Uryū, who is frozen, wide-eyed at the sight of Yuzu. "Kurosaki Yuzu!" she practically yells at him, "I'm four. It's nice to meet you!"
Karin grumbles at the noise, and lifts her head up, twisting to look at Yuzu, only to stiffen at the two Ishidas' presence. "Ichigo-nii?"
"Karin!" Yuzu exclaims, arms flapping up in greeting. She points at them both while looking at Uryū. "This is Karin, we're twins. And this is my onii-chan. He's nine and he's super strong!"
Ichigo barely remembers to bend his neck in a shallow bow and mumbles a quick nice to meet you. Both adults are watching them, smiling slightly. Ichigo shuffles on his feet. "Is it okay to go?"
Ishida hums his approval. "Uryū, can you take them to the car? I have some things to discuss with my colleague."
Uryū stands at attention. "Yes, father." He turns to Yuzu and looks at her like she's an alien.
Yuzu puts her arms up and makes grasping motions with her fingers. "Can I have a piggy-back please?"
"I," Uryū stutters, "Ah. Yes." Ichigo exchanges a look with Karin, who seems to have relaxed at Yuzu's antics. Uryū hands off his umbrella to his father and bends down, presenting his back to Yuzu. She lunges and wraps her limbs around him like a monkey.
Once Yuzu is secure, Ishida gives her the umbrella, which she happily takes in hand. Both Karin and Ichigo try to reject Ishida when he offers his own umbrella, but are quietened by his stern insistence that they take it. Ichigo tries to stare him down, but only succeeds in getting a light smack to the back of his head from Dad.
In the end, Ichigo gives in, but ends up saying, "Yeah, okay. Thanks, Ryūken-ji."
"Ryū-ji," Karin and Yuzu echo simultaneously. Ichigo is very satisfied at the way Ishida, no; at the way Ryū-ji's eyes widen comically and dart to Dad, who shrugs as if to say You brought this on yourself.
As they walk away, Ichigo hears Ryū-ji say; "They take after her." And Dad replying with "Yeah, I know."
Yuzu and Karin fill the walk to the car with their chatter, and between them and Uryū, Ichigo can't get a word in.
It's bad when he isn't talking; leaves all this room for him to start dwelling on things, things like Mom, who really isn't coming back, who won't be waiting for them with kisses and tea at home, or Dad and that face he's been making lately, and the way he'll sometimes go somewhere Ichigo can't follow even while he's with them, or all the strange, buzzing noise in Ichigo's head when he thinks about that night too much. It's bad, he knows this, but he still can't bring himself to speak.
"Yeah, and then Mom, she, she…" Yuzu trails off in the middle of a story, blinking rapidly, and when Karin doesn't pick up where her sister left off, Uryū throws a panicked look Ichigo's way. The gate is in sight, finally, and Ichigo speeds up his walk. Uryū matches him without being asked, but he's still shooting Ichigo meaningful glances, as if Ichigo doesn't see the yawning chasm of silence, as if he can't feel it.
A few steps, a few yards, and still no one speaks up. The strange tension is punctuated by the occasional rumble of thunder and flash of lightning. Yuzu jolts at each one, and Karin huddles up and buries her face in Ichigo's shoulder again against the wind, and all those feelings he had about the faceless well-wishers and their empty platitudes abruptly turn inward. Some protector he's turned out to be.
"We're nearly there," Uryū squawks, turning his head to look at Yuzu and probably trying for comforting, but only sounding slightly desperate. Ichigo clenches his teeth. This boy is trying, and he barely knows them. He doesn't know anything about them; doesn't know how to distract Karin, doesn't know how to hold Yuzu when she's scared, wasn't there for all the other storms and tantrums, and the restless nights after Mom— And Ichigo can't finish that particular thought, but he does finish another one. Uryū doesn't know a thing about their family, but he's trying, and that's more than Ichigo has done so far.
Ichigo swallows and pushes past the lump in his throat. He has to, or risk being shown up by this stranger. "Our, our dad said that he works with your dad at the hospital," he says, hoping the crack in his voice was just his imagination, "Is he a doctor too?"
"Yes," says Uryū, almost before Ichigo finishes his question. "He's a surgeon, and one of the best doctors in town."
Karin mumbles something at Ichigo and he repeats it for her so that Uryū can hear. "What's a surgeon?"
As if reciting from a dictionary, Uryū begins; "Surgeons operate on the human body in the event of illness, injury, or disease. Sometimes surgeries are performed to correct problems in the body or to explore a cause of internal bleeding. Surgeons can perform any number of different surgical procedures on the body, including—"
"They're special doctors," Ichigo cuts in, "They're really cool." He can't keep himself from smirking at the put-off glare Uryū is giving him.
"Is Papa a surgeon?" asks Yuzu, much quieter than she was before and muffled by Uryū's shirt.
"Eh?" says Ichigo, exaggerating his puzzlement. "You think he's cool enough?"
And now, Yuzu pokes her head up fully, an affronted puff to her cheeks. "He is!"
Ichigo makes a show of looking to the side and scratching his chin. "Our Dad? Are you sure?"
Yuzu lets out a frustrated whine, and Uryū stumbles a little from her wiggling. "He is, Ichi-nii! Don't be mean, and, and Karin agrees with me, don't you Karin?" She's smacking her fist into Uryū's shoulder in her enthusiasm, and Ichigo sees him wince at the impact.
Karin peeks one eye open, sees Yuzu, and promptly sticks her tongue out. "He's not. Ryū-ji is cooler."
"Wh-what! How can he be cooler than Papa? Hey, hey, glasses-onii-san," says Yuzu, poking Uryū's cheek, "Is Yuzu's Papa cool enough to be a surgeon?" Whether Uryū flinches at the nickname or the physical harassment, Ichigo isn't sure.
Before a real fight can break out, they arrive at the gates. Uryū sags visibly with relief. "There," he says, using his chin to point somewhere off in the distance, "The long silver one. That's our car."
Ichigo gapes. It's a limo. There's someone getting out of it, dressed sharply in black and white. As he draws closer, jogging to reach them, Ichigo notes that this man, like Ryū-ji, has silver hair, but in his case it sits thinner on his head and is accompanied by wrinkles around his eyes and those spots that old people get. He has the face of a grandparent; kind and mild, and infinitely patient. He calls Uryū things like sir and young master, though, and Ichigo would laugh except he's too busy gawking at the limo. Ryū-ji must be a really good surgeon.
"This is Nakajima Shunsuke, he serves my household," says Uryū, casual as that, like everyone has a personal butler. "He's not a butler, he just drives me to school sometimes and takes care of the garden." Oh, had Ichigo said that out loud?
"I'm cold, Ichi-nii," Karin whines.
"This is Kurosaki Ichigo, and his sisters Yuzu and Karin," Uryū introduces, and Nakajima just about folds in half in order to bow to them.
"The car is warmed up, bocchan," says Nakajima. "I also have blankets stored in the trunk, if the young ladies need them." He doesn't question the appearance of not one, but three stranger children, and for that Ichigo is grateful; he's rapidly losing the will to stay on his feet, and practically collapses after he gets his sisters settled in.
The car, the limo, and isn't that a strange thought, comparing it to the minivan that they came here in, it's so warm that Ichigo's eyes begin to droop as soon as the doors are shut. Yuzu commandeers his shoulder and Karin lays her head down on his lap, and Uryū watches the three of them impassively from the opposite aisle of seats.
There's a thunk from the front, and then Nakajima's voice sounds from speakers that Ichigo can't see. "I'm sure your father will be with us shortly, bocchan. There are snacks and water if you or your sisters require them, Kurosaki-kun. I will be here if you need me."
Uryū reaches off to the side and presses down on a button. "Thank you, Nakajima-san."
"Of course," comes the immediate reply, followed by a brief pause where low static crackles to fill the quiet and tell them the microphone is still on. "…Perhaps you could share your books with them, bocchan?"
Uryū thanks him again and assures him that no, they're fine back here. He turns to Ichigo with an expression that doesn't match his young face for how serious it is. "You can sleep if you're tired. I'll wake you when — when we get to the wake."
Ichigo shakes his head to dispel some of the drowsiness. "Thanks, you know, for carrying Yuzu back there," he says.
Beside him, Yuzu sighs happily. "Yeah, thanks glasses-onii-san."
Uryū opens his mouth and closes it, but no words come out. Ichigo ruffles Yuzu's hair, "Don't call him that, he's got a name."
Ichigo can hear the pout in it when Yuzu says; "Mm? What is it then?"
"Uryū right?" says Ichigo. "Or do you prefer Ishida-kun?" Uryū's face is slowly becoming flushed, but he doesn't reply.
Karin gives a drawn out, monotone ha, and says; "Uryū-nii, he's Uryū-nii then."
"Uryū-nii!" Yuzu chirps, bumping her head up against Ichigo's chin in her flailing.
Uryū is staring down at his lap, but Ichigo can see his ears are very very red. He adjusts his glasses, and says, without looking at any of them; "Do whatever you please."