A/N: Hello, hello! Long time since I've posted anything, and for that I apologize :( Here, have this sad little oneshot I thought of one gloomy day.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Bleach, and probably never will.
Fandom: Bleach
Pairings: Kurosaki Isshin/Masaki , Ishida Ryūken/Kanae Katagiri
Characters: Kurosaki Isshin, Kurosaki Masaki, Ishida Ryūken, Kanae Katagiri.
Scrabble Nights.
Thursdays were Scrabble nights.
At least, that was what Masaki and Kanae had firmly established between their two families, and forced their husbands to comply with, regardless of how much the males hated being in each others' presence.
So, every Thursday, regardless of how many patients Ryūken protested having to see, or how many hollows or conspiracy theories Isshin claimed to have to tend to, the two women would drag their husbands to either one's houses, no matter what.
So this was why Isshin and Ryūken were currently sitting at opposite ends of the table, a Scrabble board between them and almost identical frowns on their faces while their wives chattered merrily to each other, shuffling their Scrabble tiles.
"B-I-V-O-U-A-C." Ryūken spelled out in a bored tone, laying down the tiles.
"Are you sure that's a real word?" Isshin asked skeptically. "See Masaki, I don't know why we bother playing with them, Ryūken always cheats!"
"And you, shinigami, have a brain far too tiny to comprehend simple words." Ryūken shot back acidly.
"Bivouad isn't even a proper word!"
Masaki just sighed and laid down her own word, 'osmosis'.
"Not you too!" Isshin groaned, putting his head in his hands.
"It's your turn, Isshin." she smiled serenely.
"Uh…" Isshin stared at his tiles. Honestly, what sort of word could he be expected to make with x, a, t, c, d, f, s, and e?
"Okay… Here it is. C-A-T." Isshin said triumphantly, laying down the tiles.
"Seriously?" Ryūken scoffed. " 'C-A-T' was the best word you could make? You do realise, shinigami, that the point of this game is to make the longest word you can. Oh wait, I forgot. You don't know any long words."
"You wouldn't be any better if you'd gotten the words he has!" Kanae teased, peeking over Isshin's shoulder to get a look at his tiles. "They're absolutely terrible."
"Oho, wait, I'm hardly finished!" Isshin crowed and slapped down his 's' tile. "CATS!"
Ryūken facepalmed.
"I'm going to make some eggnog. Anyone want some?" Masaki asked cheerfully, going into the kitchen.
"I still don't quite understand why we drink eggnog when its in the middle of summer and not at all near Christmas, but may I please have some?" Ryūken asked politely.
"Sorry, buddy. Sour-plums don't get any. House rules." Isshin said, happily propping up his feet on the arm of his armchair.
"You're being a terrible host!"
"And you can't even take a joke!"
"Kanae, I don't understand why we have to see them every Thursday."
Indeed, they may have hated this, or rather, pretended to have hated these Thursday rituals, they certainly couldn't deny that there was something comfortably normal about it, like they were really a family- which of course, they were.
The deaths of Masaki and Sayuri were on the same day, ironically a Thursday.
But why Isshin found himself on Ryūken's doorstep with a worn Scrabble set under his arm and a few bottles of hard liquor in a bag, even though his wife had just died a few hours previously, he had three small children sleeping fitfully at home that he should be looking after, was anyone's guess.
(Later, Isshin would kick himself for being so stupid as to leave his children at home alone, but now he was just too tired to care.)
Ryūken opened the door, and wordlessly allowed Isshin to come inside. They paused for a moment, as if reciting the lines to a play— here, their wives would greet each other, and it was their part to scowl at each other.
"Uryū's asleep?" Isshin asked drearily, absentmindedly, because it was something his wife would say, after all. He got a nod in response. "Since 8'o clock." Ryūken responded in the same manner.
So they played Scrabble, the silence all too acute, yet strangely comfortable, as if they were practicing for a play, and they drank spirits until the sun came up, far longer than Isshin and Masaki would have stayed normally, but nevertheless, it was time for him to leave.
"Keep the Scrabble set." Isshin said. "I don't want it anymore."
Ryūken stared at it for a while, uncomprehending. Then, in a single, swift motion, he flung it into the fireplace, and the two of them watched it crumble into ashes.
Isshin left soon after that, neither speaking a word to each other. What had previously held them together was now dissolved, and there was nothing left that required them to be in each others' presence anymore.
But on Thursdays, and always Thursdays, the two of them would feel a little lonelier, and a little more inclined to word games on that particular day.
A/N: Did anyone spot the Artemis Fowl reference? (it was very vague, but still, ahaha!) :D Brownie points if you did, and reviews are very much appreciated, and thank you for reading! :D