Chapter 4
Ichigo walked slowly towards his house, Rukia and Renji following him a step behind. He contemplated keeping clear of the house until he was sure everyone was asleep as he knew his wonderful father was going to want to talk about the fact he found his son in bed with a girl this morning. That was not going to be a fun conversation. He stopped in front of the door and stared at it.
"Are you sure you want to come in?" He asked Rukia once more. He was trying to save her from the insanity.
She nodded slowly. "It's partly my fault anyways."
"Partly?" he muttered under his breath before he pushed the door open. He cringed, expecting his crazy father to come flying at him, but it never happened. "Maybe they're not home." There was a definite hopeful tilt to his voice.
Luck was not on his side, however and he found his father and sisters sitting in the living room, obviously waiting on them. Something was up. Isshin was calm, and had a serious look on his face. That had to be a sign of the apocalypse. Ichigo glanced out the window. No swarms of locusts or rain of blood…yet.
The three teens took seats around the living room in silence, even Renji was finished smirking about the situation. There was an eerie atmosphere around the room and Ichigo watched his father with wary eyes.
"We need to talk." Four little words. How can four little words be so scary? Ichigo wondered.
"Look, Dad. It's not what it looked like, she had a nightmare…" Ichigo tried to nip this little talk in the bud.
"It's not about that." Isshin said, cutting off Ichigo's explanations. He took a deep breath and continued. "I need to tell you something, something I should have told all of you years ago." He looked between his daughters and his son. "I am a Shinigami."
Yuzu looked confused, Karin covered her face with her cap and muttered something like 'not another one' and Ichigo…well Ichigo was having a slight problem remembering how to breathe.
Isshin continued talking but Ichigo couldn't hear him over the roaring in his head. Rukia seemed to sense he wasn't taking the news as well as his stone expression suggested.
"Ichigo." She shook him slightly.
He blinked as his world came back in focus. Rage blossomed inside his chest and his grip tightened on the armchair of the couch he was sitting on. All this time…All this time his father had known, and hadn't said a word. When his son needed him most, he had kept this from him?
His brain suddenly remembered how to make his mouth work. "How could you?" His voice was quiet and icy cold. His brown eyes flashed to stare at his now flinching father. "I needed…" He growled and shook his head. All the times he had to lie about where he was, what he had been doing were all pointless. All the stress about keeping Rukia a secret from his family for so long…pointless. He felt responsible for keeping his family safe, taking the burden on himself, and now his father was telling him he hadn't had to shoulder it alone? When he was fighting his damn hollow, when he had to rescue friends, when he had to leave for Heuco Mundo without saying goodbye not knowing if he would return…where was he?
"Ichigo, I…" Isshin started, but Ichigo cut him off.
"I need some air." He got to his feet and without sparing a glance at the man on the couch, strode out the door.
He could hear footsteps rapidly approaching but he didn't turn. He knew who it was. Rukia and Renji slowed to his pace on either side of him. They let him sulk in silence for several blocks.
"You know," Rukia started slowly, fully aware that she could get her head bitten off at any moment. "He was trying to protect you."
Ichigo made a noise somewhere between disgust and disbelief. "More like protect himself." He muttered darkly.
"I agree with Ichigo." Renji said matter of factly. "What?" he raised an eyebrow at the weird looks he was now receiving.
"Just that you agree with me about anything is rather strange." Ichigo shook his head and continued to stalk down the street.
"I know what you need." Renji stated a few moments later. Ichigo looked at him sideways and was slightly alarmed to see that alarming smirk on his face.
"What?" he asked cautiously.
"Sake." Ichigo now had a smirk to rival Renji's.
Rukia sighed and rolled her eyes. "I will NOT be dragging you're drunk asses home." She vowed.
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She may not be 'dragging' their asses home, but she was definitely trying her damnedest to make sure they got there alive. She was definitely the most sober of the three. How Renji convinced the bartender that they were of age, she didn't want to know. Renji and Ichigo were stumbling in front of her, laughing like idiots and causing quite of few of the late night passersbys to stare at them.
Renji had one arm slung over Ichigo's shoulder and a bottle held in the other hand. Every once in a while Ichigo would take a pull from the bottle, all without Renji losing his grip on it.
If Rukia wasn't so sure that the idiots were going to stumble out in front of a car she would have been amused at the sight. At last, Ichigo's house came into view. Now she just had to get them inside and on a flat surface so they could sleep it off. Sure, easier said than done.
Somehow, miraculously they made it in the house, without waking any of its occupants. She ushered them upstairs and towards Ichigo's room. She looked back to see Ichigo stopped in front of his sister's door. He suddenly looked older and somehow stone sober.
He slid the door open almost silently and gazed into the room. A teary eyed face peeked out from under a blanket.
"Ichigo?" Yuzu said quietly.
"Yuzu." He breathed. Regret laced his voice and he stumbled the short distance to sit on her bed. "I'm sorry." The small body that hit his side and hung on for dear life surprised him.
He carefully placed his arms around his little sister and rested his chin on the top of her head. "I'm sorry I worried you." He said quietly.
"She wasn't the only one worried." Karin sat up in her bed and fixed her brother with a glare that tried and failed to hide the relief she felt at seeing him home safe and sound.
Ichigo offered her a half smile. "Come here." He held out his other arm. Karin debated against what this would do to her reputation, then decided to hell with it. She crossed the small room and snuggled up to her big brother.
Crinkling her nose she remarked. "You smell like alcohol."
He chuckled lowly. "Sorry."
"It's alright. Just glad you're safe." She mumbled as her eyes closed. Yuzu was already breathing deeply on his other side.
He pushed back from the edge of the bed and leaned against the wall, shifting into a more comfortable position. Pulling the blanket from the foot of Yuzu's bed, he made sure the three of them were covered and he closed his own eyes.
Mumbling to the quiet room, he promised, "I will always come back to take care of you both."
AN: hmmm, think I made Isshin a bit OOC, oh well…that's my take on how Ichigo would feel once he figures out his dad's been practically lying to him…Isshin probably has a great reason…just not in this story…
