It had been a month, a month, since either Isshin or Masaki had had a full night's sleep.
The reason? A little something named Ichigo.
Isshin had come to realize in that month that Nii-san lied.
He lied, he lied, he lied!
Children were not "Eternally a blessing to your home." No, no, no.
They were Terrors in the Night.
During the day Ichigo was angelic. He did that burbling thing that babies did and smiled at the world. It was nearly inconceivable that a monstrous hollow was irrevocable wound with the child's soul when he was such a happy and innocent child. But every night without fail…
"WAAAAAAA! WAAAAA!"
There was that. They'd looked at parenting books of all kinds after the first week, but nothing worked. Ichigo never stopped crying until one of them picked him up. And that was probably the worst part. Moments after he was picked up and rocked a bit he'd go back to cooing and being adorable. It made no sense.
"Hush, hush. I'm coming." Isshin tiredly mumbles, pushing himself out of bed.
Masaki usually insisted on taking care of Ichigo's nightly wails, saying Isshin was the one who had to work every day, so he needed the sleep more, but tonight it fell to Isshin. Masaki would have protested he was sure, as he padded over to the cradle, but she'd reached her limit for how long she could go without proper sleep and was lost deep, deep in dreamland tonight, easily proved by the fact that the previous two tantrums of this night had already been slept through.
"Come here, little guy. Daddy's got you." Isshin murmurs, scooping up the wailing baby and gently rocking him. Ichigo calms, looking at his father with sleepy eyes.
A small wave of hollow reiatsu washes over the small house, quickly followed by a burst of shinigami reiatsu.
Ichigo whimpers, drawing Isshin's attention back to his now scrunched up face.
"It's okay, daddy's here." Isshin soothes, resuming the rocking that he had unconsciously paused upon feeling the battle.
Wait? Could it be…?
Isshin wracks his brain, trying to remember if he sensed hollows during the previous tantrums. He thinks he might have, and it would make sense… if Ichigo was reacting to hollows showing up at night. It was no secret that Ichigo had plenty of reiatsu for such a small child and he was part hollow, even if that was effectively sealed, so it wasn't impossible that his little baby mind picked up on the energies of the big, bad monsters, leaving him afraid until his parents soothed him with the safety of their arms.
Isshin looked down at his child. Soft breathes raising the little chest, small fingers gripping his night shirt. A soft smile spread across his face.
Okay, so maybe Nii-san wasn't a complete liar. It was a blessing to have this little life he held in his arms. Something he cherished as much as his wife, another person he'd risk his life to protect.
"You don't need to be scared of the big, bad hollows. Daddy's here and he'll always protect you, Ichigo."
Author's Note
Ichigo may suck at sensing now, but I think that's cause his own power blinds him. He's so strong that it takes someone else of considerable power to create enough pressure for him to notice on a normal day. Remember that he tracked Yuichi, the parakeet, pretty easily once he focused, so I'd say that as a weak baby with a bit of hollow instinct he'd cry when another hollow showed up until he felt safe.
Also remember that this fic is in no way in chronological order.
Please comment/review.