Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.
9. Kurosaki family, Rukia, Urahara; General; One-Shot; spoilers only if you know what I'm talking about
Rukia and Ichigo smiled tightly at the man in the doorway. "This is a bad idea," he whispered. "Why the hell did he want to come over here?"
Rukia elbowed him hard in the ribs. "Shut up and let our guest inside."
"This way, Urahara-san!" Yuzu said brightly, leading the for once hatless man into the house. "We're so glad you could come for dinner."
"Ahh, yes. You must be Kurosaki-kun's little sister. So nice to meet you!" He bowed a little and offered a box to her. "A gift - old-fasioned home remedies from my shop. I'm sure they'll come in handy."
"Yeah, whatever," Ichigo murmured, following behind them. "They were probably just expired."
Suddenly, however, they were accosted by the Kurosaki patriarch. "Ichigo - time for... DINNER!" And he stood in a fighting stance, facing a blond stranger, his three children and Rukia.
Ichigo cleared this throat and stepped forward. "Dad..." He glared at his father. "This is, uh... Urahara Kisuke. Remember? I told you that we'd be having a guest tonight."
For a moment, he was met with only a blank stare. Then his father suddenly snapped his fingers in remembrance. "Ahh! Yes! A dinner guest! Of course, of course - please come this way, kind sir! Experience some Kurosaki hospitality."
Karin rolled her eyes and Ichigo tightly clenched his jaw. At least Urahara was as weird as their dad, Ichigo knew - otherwise the evening would be even worse that it already was threatening to be.
They all sat down at the table soon after that, and for an awkward moment no one did anything but eat.
Urahara wouldn't have been there at all if Ichigo and Rukia had had their say - but he had essentially invited himself. Apparently, he had information about the arrancar; and he had insisted - for reasons he was unwilling to divulge - on telling them at Ichigo's house. They couldn't really tell him "no"; it was possible that Karin could sense that Urahara was spiritually gifted, but other than that - barring a total admission of everything involving shinigami and Ichigo's frequent disappearances - they couldn't foresee Urahara doing anything too compromising.
"So!" Isshin said, suddenly breaking the silence. "How do you know Ichigo, Urahara-san? You look too old to go to school with him. Are you a relative of Rukia-chan?"
"A relative? Oh no, no." He gave Isshin a friendly smile. "I'm... on a soccer team that Ichigo recently joined. He's a... great player, you know."
Karin seemed incredulous. "Soccer? Ichi-nii? I don't - "
"No, Karin," Ichigo said, giving her a stern look that held a promise for explanation later. "I am on this... soccer team. That's right."
Yuzu smiled. "I'm happy, nii-chan! Now you and Karin-chan can play together."
"Um..." Ichigo tried to return her smile. "Right."
"Soccer." Isshin grinned, seeming proud. "Well. I'm glad - Ichigo needs a sport. Maybe some exercise will help him finally beat his old man."
"What the hell? I beat you all the time, you - "
"Ichigo!" Rukia said sharply. "Calm down."
Reluctantly, he lowered the chopstick he had been brandishing like a sword and lost the tension in his shoulders.
Urahara ignored their antics. "Yes," he said, continuing the conversation he had started. "Ichigo's one of our best players. The strongest, and uh... fastest." He took a quick bite. "We're facing some tough opponents soon. Another team - but they're one of the best. All the players are huge guys; and amazingly strong. They could crush us if we're not prepared."
"Sounds like that'll be more of a battle than a game," Isshin remarked idly. He and Urahara exchanged glances.
"You played once, didn't you?" Urahara asked him, his expression holding new intensity.
"What? Goat-chin?" Karin shook her head. "No way."
"No, it's true," Urahara continued. He smirked. "When he was younger, Kurosaki-san here was his team's captain."
Isshin's face dead-panned. "Oh, you know about that Urahara-san?" He took a bite of his food, trying to reign in his irritation. "I, uh..." Then he decided to go the least suspicious route. "Yes! And I was the best player in all of Karakura! Clearly my darling children get their amazing skills from me!" He preened to himself as Ichigo and Karin both rolled their eyes at him.
"If you were that good," Urahara said deliberately, "then I'll bet you would be a lot of help for us."
Isshin laughed; the younger ones missed how forced it sounded. "Is this... recruitment, Urahara-san?"
"Something like that."
I love leaving those not-quite endings. And, of course, Isshin is still fabulous. Here's hoping he'll make an appearance in an upcoming chapter.
