*i will go down with my ship*

Wandering Eyes

.

.

.

.

A look at Ichigo and his relationship with Rukia, through the eyes of his son

.

.

.

It was just supposed to be a normal trip to visit grandpa Isshin.

His parents had dragged him over to the spirit world or Soul Society or whatever it was called so his grandpa and dad could bicker and his mom could fret over them fighting and they'd spend the whole time in this boring cycle of arguing and fretting until it was finally time to cross back over. Usually Kazui didn't mind going but he was missing his friend's birthday party (he was having a real python and a huge dessert buffet) and was gonna be the only kid in his class who didn't go, and was gonna have to hear about all the fun he missed next week during school. But his dad insisted he come and 'spend time with your Grandpa because you don't get to see him a lot.'

(Technically they're cheating the system because he's dead and he shouldn't be able to see him at all.)

But then HE didn't even stick around to spend time with him. In fact, his dad had left no more than fifteen minutes after they'd arrived, with the excuse of needing to run an errand (who needs to run errands in a different dimension?) and left with the promise of being back by supper. And when that didn't happen, his mother tasked him with finding him while she caught up with some other lady with the biggest chest Kazui had ever seen, because he was "almost thirteen and old enough to go off by him now."

And that's how he found himself wandering through the woods trying to trace his father's reiatsu (he was doing a terrible job) and wondering if it were possible for living souls to spend too much time and end up becoming dead souls until he finally feels another spike, this time the strongest it's been and finally he think he's found him until-

"WILL YOU KEEP IT DOWN?!" A familiar voice whisper yells, pulling him into a nearby bush and smashing him into the leaves, "Your reiatsu is all over the place can't you be a little more discreet?"

He doesn't need to see her to know he's somehow stumbled onto Ichika. Truth be told he's glad he's run into her, albeit a little more painfully than he would have preferred. She was his only friend in this place, and was always up for exploring or sparring or some other mayhem she had cooked up.

"Nice to see you too," He mutters, pulling leaves from his hair. "I was trying to find my dad, I can tell he's around here-"

"I know," she interrupts, turning to scan the forest. "My mom's around here too. If you were any good at sensing reiatsu you would've been able to tell that too. I think they're sparring and I wanna watch."

He nods wordless and follows her lead, trying to be quiet and "control your reiatsu would you?!" at Ichika's command. They finally come to a clearing, and Kazui almost can't believe what he's seeing.

His dad and Ichika's mom are both donned in the traditional shinigami garb; he can see a captain's haori carelessly strewn over a nearby tree branch. His eyes are struggling to keep up with their movements, the way they meet and clash and then recede and then clash is so fierce and formidable and-

"Fast," Ichika says breathlessly, completing his thought as she too is captivated by their fight.

They might have been dancing with the way their movements were so fluid and synchronized; every dodge was graceful, every stroke strong. They seemed to know, through instinct or familiarity, the other's moves just well enough to avoid being hit yet never actually striking a decisive blow. Once his eyes adjusted he could tell neither stayed on the defensive or offensive for more than a few strokes, the upper hand was constantly changing.

He could count on one hand the number of times he'd seen his father's zanpakuto, and he could never remember him actually using it. He knew he was some kind of war hero years ago, but he never imagined anything like that he was watching, the level of raw power being displayed, and neither side seemed like they were truly exerting themselves.

He realized another moment later that what he thought was meaningless battle noise was actually them talking, talking casually and easily like they weren't swinging weapons at lightening speed at each other. Their quips were usually short like nice try there or Come on Ichigo you're better than that but there was a level of comfort, a level of intimacy in those short phrases that makes Kazui almost uncomfortable watching.

He had never seen his dad so...free with another person before. Certainly not with his mom. Kind, yes, gentle, and thoughtful, but never so uninhibited. He wonders if Ichika is noticing the same thing and is nervous to look over at her.

Another loud clash and they're actually laughing and he's never heard his dad laugh like that and realizes he doesn't want to watch this anymore. He tugs Ichika's sleeve and nods and they both shunpo away as discreetly as possible, using every ounce of energy not to flare their reiatsu or hit a tree. Once they were far enough away they're both silent while they catch their breath for a few minutes, until Ichika finally speaks up.

"I've never...never seen my mom like that," She mutters, looking at the ground. "Whenever my dad asks her to spar she always just makes fun of him or rolls her eyes. I thought she just didn't like fighting but I...uh.."

"I've never even seen my Dad use his zanpakuto," Kazui says with a nod. "Or act like that..at all."

"Well they were friends for a while, weren't they?" Ichika says with a shrug and an unsure smile. "I'm sure there's a lot about our parents we don't know," She adds, uncharacteristically serious.

Suddenly Kazui feels a lot younger than twelve-almost-thirteen. He never gave a lot of thought to what his dad was like before he was born, or what his life was like when he lived a double life as both human and shinigami.

"They used to live together you know, your dad and my mom," Ichika continues, thinking more out loud than actually conversing. "Or I dunno if that's really how it was, I just remember hearing my uncle make fun of her for complaining about her bed being uncomfortable…he said something about her 'living in Kurosaki's closet for months.' I don't think she knows anyone else with that name."

Kazui is silent. He feels like he's uncovered something that he's not entirely sure he wants to understand, or if he ever will.

He and Ichika part ways with the unspoken promise of never speaking of what they saw again.

Later, when his dad comes home and his mother asks what took him so long he answers with a smile Kazui finds more familiar, (like the one he has when he sits down to dinner, nothing like the wild grin he had on earlier) and says he was catching up with Rukia. His mother nods and pecks him on the cheek, and says she hopes they had a nice time together.

He knows his dad is telling the truth, but somehow the answer doesn't seem entirely honest, like it doesn't convey the level of closeness of what transpired before. He waits for a moment to see if he says anything else, but nothing else is said about Rukia or his day and they go to talking about grandpa Isshin causing trouble around the Seiretei. Everything is normal and yet-

"So Kazui," His father turns and asks, that same but not same smile, "What did you do today?"

Doesn'tunderstanddoesn'twanttounderstand-

"Nothing," He beams, "Just hung around with Ichika."

Like it never even happened.

I think Kazui and Ichigo's relationship is so interesting to write about. I can see them having such a weird dynamic, especially because Ichigo apparently underwent a lobotomy in the ten year timeskip (his eyes were so dead in all those panels) and didn't hide his son's heritage, but didn't seem to be actively using his own powers, so I envision Kazui as being kind of ignorant to what his dad was really like and being freaked out when he sees because it's so different from the image he had of him. Kind of the same thing with Ichika, and both of them never getting to see this side of their respective parent and not knowing how to handle not only seeing this completely different side, but seeing them interact in this other manner with someone other than their respective spouse. (ex: the kids are the ones with the 'wandering eyes')
Plus I think kids can be so protective over their parents' relationships any little perceived unfaithfulness would make them very uncomfortable, such as this case where they're obviously not cheating with each other but Ichigo and Rukia express a side of themselves their kids had never seen with their other parent.
Oh well. That's what happens when the relationships that aren't as strong become cannon!