"Onii-chan! You have mail!" Yuzu yelled up the stairs, sorting through the day's mail and putting all of the clinic-related things in daddy's in-box. Every once in a while, there would be a letter or post card for either her or Karin, or an invoice or something for Onii-chan, but this one looked special. It was folded traditionally, bearing a seal that she only saw a handful of times a year. Biting her lip, she debated on whether to bring it up to his room or just leave it on the table for him to pick up later. Whatever was in the letters, never made her brother happy, that was for sure. But if she tried to ask him what it was, he would become close-lipped for the rest of the day. Deciding that it was better to leave her brother alone, she left it on the kitchen table for him to find later, yelling upstairs to say that she had done so. Sometimes, when he left things on his desk when he was asleep, he wouldn't find it until much, much later. His desk was never messy, per say, but it wasn't exactly a cleared surface most days either.
A while later, she heard rustling around in her kitchen and went to see if anyone needed any help (and to gently remind them that dinner was still about an hour away). It was Onii-chan but… not. Yuzu squinted trying to make the form out clearer. She could swear that he had been upstairs taking a nap. At least, that's what she thought she had seen when she had peeked inside his room earlier to drop off a load of laundry. Then again, he was awfully unresponsive. Though, it wasn't the first time that she had found her brother sleeping that hard in the past. Squinting, she looked at her brother, trying to make him clearer. "Onii..."
"Hey, Yuzu." Ichigo said, closing the refrigerator after pulling out a bottle of water. Noticing her squint, he moved closer and touched her shoulder, giving her enough energy to see him clearly. "Better?" She nodded. Biting her lip, she didn't want to say anything but… she could have sworn that her brother had been upstairs. And he had most definitely not just come from upstairs. "Hey, what's for dinner?" He asked, drawing her attention back to his face. Hadn't she also yelled that up the stairs not ten minutes ago? Then again, that hadn't gotten a response either.
"Tonkatsu. Like I said earlier Onii-chan, and it'll be ready in an hour." She saw him wince and a spark of knowledge lit up in her eye. "There's also a letter on the table for you. It looks like one of those fancy ones. The wince turned into a grimace as he gave her shoulder a squeeze.
"Thanks, Yuzu." He said letting go and moving to the table to grab the letter. As he walked away, the clarity of his shape fuzzed out as well, though it wasn't her eyes. Everything else stayed just as clear as ever. She was just barely able to watch as he opened the envelope and absently started up the stairs.
"A-ano..." She spoke up at the last minute, earning a curious glance from Ichigo. "You…'re out of your body right now. A spirit."
Giving an embarrassed look, Ichigo nodded. "Sorry about that. I was out training. I'll warn you next time so you're not startled when I leave my body around. I forgot."
Yuzu shook her head. "It's ok, Onii-chan. I just thought you were really asleep. Just be careful."
"Yeah." Ichigo nodded, absently wondering where Kon went, and if he should bother asking Geta-boshi after him, or if he should just leave things be. Dad and Karin knew exactly why 'he' was unresponsive while he was 'taking naps', and now it seemed like Yuzu was getting some sort of idea to the same end. Especially since he was trying to make the practice to spend as much time out of his gigai as possible, so it wouldn't burn out too quickly. "Thanks Yuu." He repeated, holding up the letter and walking upstairs.
"Ooh, my dear Yu-zu-cha-an," Isshin stuck his head through the door that separated the house from the clinic, "Could you be a dear and help daddy for a minute?" In the background, she could hear quite the temper tantrum building up. Listening for a moment, Yuzu understood exactly what the issue was and gave her father a smile, trying to remember if there were any stuffies left in the office, or would she have to grab one from her room.
"Just a minute, Daddy." She chirped, putting down the duster and absently washed her hands in the kitchen sink. Deciding that there should be one or two still left in the clinic (they had to be specially washed and disinfected after each child, and more often than not, they ended up going with the child as well.), she ducked into the clinic and pulled on her 'nurse uniform' (It was a small lab coat that was dyed pink) and perched the small nurses hat on her head with the help of a pair of bobby pins. Sitting in a cabinet right next to the door was her 'special equipment': a teddy bear (spring green with a bright pink heart) in plastic packaging, a hand rattle and a small rain-stick that was about the length of her forearm. The rain-stick was only used in dire emergency, but she brought it along anyway. Smiling to herself briefly as she tucked the rattle into her pocket and the stick up her sleeve, she remembered her last birthday and Onii-chan's friend Sado had given her the instruments as souveneers from his last trip back from Mexico. Karin had gotten the largest, most ridiculous straw hat. If she remembered correctly, Sado-san had called it a Sombrero. Yuzu had promptly stolen it and used it while she was gardening.
Knocking, Yuzu opened the door and 'walked' the green bear into the room. "What seems to be the matter, Kurosaki-sensei?" She asked in a squeaky play-pretend voice. Carefully, she peeked around the door, careful that only her arm holding the bear was visible. Her father was sitting in his usual swivel chair, facing a three-year-old boy that was crying up a storm on the bed. One pant leg was rolled up to the thigh and the skin under was still wet from the alcohol swab. The mother, who was sitting in the guest chair, looked almost about ready to cry herself.
Turning enough to just barely see the door from where he was sitting, Isshin gave a wide smile, "Well, we have what seems here to be a level two emergency, Nurse Midorikuma (green bear)."
"Oh no!" 'Nurse Midorikuma' gasped, putting it's fuzzy stump-paws over it's equally fuzzy muzzle, "That's a real emergency! I should get help!" the nurse 'walked' out, nearly closing the door behind it. She had to take a moment to compose herself. The boy's crying had lessened, though it hadn't stopped completely and a silly smile wasn't what she needed at this time. Their little 'routine' always cracked her up, at least a little, even if it only worked on a handful of the younger patients that came through the clinic. A level two though, not only meant that things were beyond her father being able to handle by himself, but that he thought that her 'special talent' would be useful. A level three meant that both her and Karin were needed and a level four meant pulling out the big guns and bringing Onii-chan down to deal with an unruly patient that wasn't cooperating with treatment. One, on the other hand, pretty much meant a little bit of aftercare while Isshin went to get something, not wanting to leave the patient by themselves for one reason or another.
Giving a brief knock, Yuzu herself slipped into the room, quickly taking stock of what she couldn't from the crack in the door. She spotted a tray that had more than one needle on it, waiting to be used. Ah, that's what the screaming was about. "Hello," She addressed the toddler, holding up Midorikuma, "I'm really new here, and I'm really scared, can you give me a hug?" 'Midorikuma' spoke, dancing around easily within the toddler's reach, only to receive a glare that would make her big brother proud and the toddler crossed his arms, turning away. "Aww. But I'm really scared. Can you tell me what you're scared of?" The boy didn't respond, but his eyes flicked over to her father's direction. Ah. "Do you…" 'Midorikuma' pouted while Yuzu turned so that her father was completely out of the boy's range of vision. Isshin, knowing what was happening, gave the confused mother a subtle thumbs-up, but otherwise stayed perfectly still. "Do you think that Mommy-san can give me a hug instead? Since I'm really, really scared too."
It took a couple moments, but the boy nodded. His mother looked like she really did need a hug as she took the stuffed bear. "Hey," Yuzu said in her normal voice, though a bit lowered, "Do you want to play a game instead? I know a good one that makes everything bad go away." She smiled, pulling the hand-rattle from her pocket and shook it a few times while she held it in her fist. It was shaped like an oblong rock and about the size of the boy's fist. It was made from stiffened leather with thick stitching running all along the sides for grip. "It's called the noisy game. And with this rattle," She gave it a few more shakes, "It can make all the scary things go away. Do you want to give it a try?" The boy looked interested. At the very least his screams had reduced down to hiccups. This time when she held out the toy, the boy grabbed it and started to shake it with everything he had. She had a feeling it was more for the racket that the toy made than to scare away any bad things. Though, with a racket like that, it would certainly do the job!
Pulling out her rain stick, she gently tipped it to one side, creating a trickling sound. "Do you mind if I join you?" She asked, keeping her voice level and quiet, but somehow managing to capture the boy's attention anyway. For the next few minutes, Yuzu and the boy 'played' with their rattles. She kept the trickle from her rain-stick steady, staring into the boy's eyes as they slowly drooped. "Good..." Yuzu murmured, turning the stick to start again, "See, it's not so scary, is it?" Slowly, the boy's eyes drooped and the vigorous shaking of the rattle started to slow.
Risking a flick of her eyes over to her father, she gave a small nod, immediately going back to the boy's eyes. "Now, can you close your eyes for me?" She murmured, her voice blending in with the stick and, whether the boy meant to or not, he closed his eyes and slumped to one side, the rattle falling from his limp grasp. "Good boy." Turning, she gave the mother a reassuring smile and tilted the rain-stick again, catching her eyes. "Everything is ok." While Yuzu spun a tale about sailboats and blue skies, Isshin quickly did all the shots that the boy needed. Two in one thigh, and one in the other. It was no wonder the boy was so panicked. Even with how good her father was, three shots at once was scary!
Holding up a selection of band-aids toward the mother, she quickly chose two Sgt. Frog ones with different poses and a Doraemon that was grinning. He put them on and then gave each of the boy's legs a quick massage, making sure that the medicine didn't bubble in one spot and become painful before giving Yuzu a nod. The girl nodded back and leaned forward with a smile. "Can you come back to me?" she asked. "Come back from your trip, because your Mommy-san really misses you, in Three… two..." The touched the boy's nose with a fingertip, startling him awake. "Hello sleepyhead!" Yuzu chirped, standing back and dramatically looking around, "See, all the scary things are gone, you did it!" She cheered, making sure the boy look around himself. Indeed, the needles had been tossed into the hazard bin and everything else indicating the procedure had been swiped away. Her father had even rolled the boy's pant legs back down.
"Thank you for your help, Nurse Yuzu." Her father said, giving her a proud smile that she absolutely thrived under. "I think we're done with everything today."
"Ok." Yuzu nodded, tucking away her rain-stick and turning to leave. She was positive that her father could somehow manage to wrangle the rattle away from the toddler. Let him be the bad guy. And if he didn't, well, it wasn't the first one that she had lost. Leaving the office door cracked a bit as she put her uniform and tools away, she was able to hear the mother as she and her father hashed out some final details. She was surprised, but not too much so, when the mother brought up that she had never thought to hypnotize children to help with medical procedures. Isshin replied that it was usually kept as a last resort and that Yuzu really was the best when it came to dealing with patients.
"Again, thank you. I think we might come back next time we need to see a doctor. I'm glad that the other clinic was full and sent us over. You and your daughter are wonderful."
"It was lucky, wasn't it? I hope that the travel time wasn't too much of an inconvenience. I hope you do think of us next time, but that you won't need to see us any time soon! Here, don't forget to take a card." The conversation quickly devolved into a series of goodbyes and by the time Yuzu finished folding and tucking her uniform away, Isshin had flipped the sign and locked the door, more than ready for dinner. "Yuzu-chan!" He glomped his youngest, "You did so good with Kotaro-chan and his mommy back there! Now, it's time for dinner, isn't it? I'm starving!"
"Hai, it'll be ready in a few minutes. Can you get Karin-chan and Onii-chan?" She asked, drifting into the kitchen before remembering something. "Oh… Daddy? Onii-chan was… fuzzy, when I saw him last. And wearing that black uniform that he was wearing that one time we went to the fireworks."
Isshin nodded in understanding, heading upstairs to wrangle his other two. Now, if only he could convince Rukia-chan and Shiro-chan to come visit, then he would have all his kids under one roof. Though… he should probably invite Tatsuki-chan for that. And Ichigo's other friends, if he wanted to be broad about the subject. At the top of the stairs, he decided to get Karin first. He had learned, through the grief of all three of his biological children, to wait at least a few seconds after knocking before bursting into the twins' room. "Karin-chan! It's almost dinner time!" He did a little twist, acting as theatrical as he could, just for his middle child to practically ignore him as she flipped through a textbook, her hand posed to write something. "Ka-chan! Di-Urk!"
"I heard you the first time, old man." She had chucked a paperweight, clipping him in the ear. "Ugh, I'm going to have to ask Ichi-nii about this question." She muttered, flipping between two pages and still not getting the answer that she was looking for.
"Here, let me look at tha-" Prancing over, Isshin looked over her shoulder, blinked and tilted his head in confusion. Was that even in Japanese? "Have your brother look at that. He has a better memory for that type of thing. Or, at least, a more recent ones." Giving up on her math problem, she looked up and gave her father a 'no duh' look as she slammed her book closed with some finality.
"I was nearly done anyway." She stated, standing up and pushing past her father. "I'll ask Ichi-nii to check my work after dinner." Having had her say, she went downstairs to set the table.
"Mou," Isshin pouted to himself, missing the days when his children actually respected him. They truly were growing up. It was times like this when he wished that he would have raised the in the spirit world, if only to hold on to their childhoods just that much longer. But then they wouldn't be where they were right now, and that would be just as bad. Crossing the hall, Isshin didn't bother knocking on his son's door, sensing that he had arrived home earlier. Taking a breath and bouncing a little, he hyped himself up enough to paste a large grin across his mug and kicked the door open. "Dinner ti-ime!" Was his dinner cry as he lunged for his son, who promptly ducked and retaliated, tossing him out of the window. Unseen by his son, he managed to flip himself upright before landing on the front lawn. "Good shot!" He shot his son's window a thumbs-up before scrambling back up to perch on the windowsill. "I-Chi..." His son turned, giving him a downright pissed glare. "Go?"
Without a word, Ichigo moved back to his gigai and slipped inside, somewhat muffling his hostile aura before turning to leave back downstairs. "Ah." Isshin murmured, slipping in the rest of the way and looked around the room for clues about his eldest's sour mood. There, sitting innocuously on his desk, was a letter with somewhat familiar handwriting. He didn't have to read his son's mail to know, at least vaguely, what had turned his mood. It wasn't the first letter he had gotten from them, and it likely wasn't going to be the last, either. And it always turned Ichigo's mood for the worst. Quietly, he followed downstairs and sat at the head of the table. Ichigo would make his announcements concerning the letter sooner or later, and until then, he had learned to just let the boy sulk in his own way.
Sensing the mood in the room, dinner was mostly silent. That was, until Karin cracked and decided to break the silence. "Ichi-nii?"
"Yeah?" Her brother replied, a bite of rice halfway to his lips and a carefully neutral expression on his face.
"Could you," she marched bravely ahead, undaunted, but not encouraged either, "check my homework after dinner? I'm having some issues with one of the problems."
Ichigo nodded, taking a his bite. "Sure. Yuzu, do you want me to look over yours too? Do you have any problems either?"
"Yes, thank you Onii-chan." Yuzu tried to smile, but the atmosphere squashed it a bit. "That would be nice."
Ichigo nodded.
A beat.
Finishing off his last bite, Ichigo carefully replaced his chopsticks and stacked his dishes to be washed. Not looking up, he spoke. "I got a letter from Uncle Nagare today." The only one who hadn't known was Karin, but none of the Kurosakis said anything, knowing Ichigo would continue on his own time. "He… requested… that I spend new years at the house." They knew that it wasn't so much a request, as a demand. The family home rarely had reason to contact them, but when they did, it generally wasn't over simple pleasantries, nor able to be ignored. Thankfully, at least in Ichigo's mind, the main house never bothered with his father or sisters.
"I'll make excuses for you at school." Isshin said, keeping an even tone (his 'Taicho' voice, his kids were slowly realizing). Ichigo nodded in thanks, already knowing that it was his responsibility to make excuses for himself with his friends, work and Soul Society.
"How long will you be gone this time, Onii-chan?" Yuzu asked, quietly pulling dishes to take into the kitchen, having lost her appetite, even with only having a few bites remaining.
Managing a small smile, Ichigo was able to give his family a small amount of reassurance. "Only about a week this time. Though, I might do some visiting since I'll be on that side of Tokyo." Isshin nodded, not expecting any different. There were times when it was difficult for Ichigo and he had to get out of Karakura before he broke. Through some old connections of his mother's, Ichigo had connected with an old family friend that often took him in and didn't ask questions. He had spent a lot of time with them the past few years, especially after Masaki had… passed, and again after losing his powers for nearly two years.
"Don't forget to bring them enough sweet rolls this time." Isshin stated and that was that. Without a lot of grief from his family and his wife's family, that was pretty much all he could say. And visiting his friends in Tokyo? He would have brought up the idea himself if Ichigo hadn't. There was a wonderful place for him to decompress without having to deal with his responsibilities before he had to return. Plus, his Tokyo friends were the type that could take one of his son's punches and give back twice as hard, if needed. Sometimes, he was honestly amazed that his son was able to find friends in the strangest places. "I would suggest telling your friends sooner, rather than later."
"I was planning on telling them tomorrow at school, then spending some time at Urahara's after." Ichigo told his father, who read the words that he would be spending at least a few hours in Soul Society, at least to give them a heads-up on his future whereabouts. Last time that Ichigo had decided to go traveling, Isshin had been on the receiving end of a royal snit from Yama-jiji for moving around without approval, thusly dropping off their radar because he had left his 'useless' badge behind. Of which Isshin had gleefully passed on the message to Ichigo when he returned from his trip. Isshin couldn't help when a small smile appeared at the memory. Oh, wasn't it a photo-worthy expression on his face when Ichigo realized that Soul Society hadn't just outright forgotten him, even when they were being idiots and leaving him on his own.
Though, Isshin had to sigh this time, maybe that was his fault. Nearly dying, Ichigo being in a coma for a month, Isshin had warned off the shinigami and others to leave his son alone until he adjusted. Well, it seemed like they had taken his warning a little too close to heart and practically dropped Ichigo like a hot potato. Thankfully, his human friends still kept an eye on him when they could, of which he was more than thankful. Still, it was difficult though. More often than not, Ichigo had just… taken off, just to find out that his son was on the other side of Tokyo when he returned on Monday, just in time for school. And when he returned, more than once, it looked like he had gone through the wringer.
Finishing his dinner, he helped Yuzu bring the rest of the dishes back to the kitchen to be washed. With only a minimal fuss, he waved his youngest off to have homework time with her siblings. While he was virtually helpless when it came to actually cooking anything (like most shinigami, if he was honest), he could handle successfully packing away the leftovers and washing the dishes.
(O)
The next day, Ichigo suppressed a yawn, sliding open the front door of a small two-story house that sat by the outer edge of the Thirteenth Division's grounds. While it was easily accessible to the main roads and the other divisions, it was its own little plot of land, complete with a back garden that, while a decent size, wasn't visible from the front. Ukitake-taicho had surprised him with it not even two weeks ago, saying that it was all his to play with. Unfortunately, at the moment, the entire house was practically empty, save for a full-size taicho desk in the front 'receiving/business' area and a few futons tucked into a back corner of one of the upstairs rooms. Even the kitchen (at least there was one) was bare of everything. The only reason he had even bothered to stop by the small building was because of the small innocuous stack of paperwork that was sitting neatly in the middle of the desk. That, Ichigo was positive, hadn't been there on Sunday. While he wasn't too surprised, he had still hoped that there wouldn't be any.
Walking over, he grabbed the stack of papers and sat down on the floor (He didn't even have a chair yet!), intending to look over what had been dropped off. Requisition forms (useful), a budget report (he had practically none), reports (From who? ...Oh. Kami, give him strength, that might be Hiyori's handwriting.) and some other various forms that he needed to fill out. On top of it all was a helpful note from Ukitake-taicho, saying that he could use Rukia to help him get started (with her permission) and, if he had any questions (a big 'no duh' there), to not be afraid to come over and ask. Or come over period, for dinner or even just to have some company. Ichigo couldn't help but to smile. He had just that intention in mind, anyway; at least until he had some personality (and a chair!) in his brand-spanking-new home-away-from-home.
Looking in the desk drawers, he noticed that, while there was a 'welcome to your new office!' bottle of sake in the bottom left drawer, there were no pens. Or brushes. He would have even taken a pencil at that point. Nodding to himself, he realized with a touch of resignation, that he would have to go over and ask Ukitake-taicho for help even with his beginner forms. There went his plans to at least attempting to have a head-start before giving in and calling in the cavalry. Well, there was no time like the present, apparently, as Ichigo turned around and left the house, tucking the forms into the front of his uniform and jumping the fence into the thirteenth division.
He was greeted with a somewhat-surprised look from Rukia when he casually knocked on the door frame and called out a greeting. "Ichigo! We weren't expecting you until Friday!"
"Yeah… about that..." Ichigo grimaced, not wanting to really say anything, since it was his business, "I'm going to be gone the next two weekends, so I figured I'd get a head start on this before I head out." He said, holding up the forms, now all folded crisply in half from when he tucked them into his kosode.
"Oh?" Ukitake looked up with interest, "Going on a trip?"
"You could say that." Ichigo said reluctantly, moving into the room, "I'm going to visit my family's house for the New Year."
"That sounds pleasant, is your whole family going?" The captain asked innocently with a happy smile.
Rukia, on the other hand was a bit more confused and was more than willing to admit it, "You have a second house?"
"No," Ichigo said in response to both questions, "It's mom's older brother and he probably wants to talk about my heir-ship again. Dad and the girls are staying in Karakura, but I wouldn't be surprised if they decided to visit Mom while I'm gone."
Rukia started choking on air, while Ukitake just blinked in surprise, "You, an heir?" Rukia sputtered, groping for her tea so that she could breathe again.
Ichigo shrugged nonchalantly, intentionally slumping a little, "Yeah, surprised?" He asked defensively, "The Kurosakis are actually a really old samurai family, so it's not that big of a deal." Honestly, he would rather leave the heir-ship to someone else, but unfortunately the direct heir had died a few years previous and his uncle hadn't had any more viable children. And his second uncle… That was the one thing that Uncle Nagare and he agreed on. Iwao-jii was crazy and just... No.
"Not that big of a deal he says," Rukia muttered mutinously, quaffing the last of her tea before going to get more and downing that cup too in a sulk, "It's only being his family's heir." Well, it was a big deal to her! It had been a major fuss when Byakuya-nii had finally named her as his heir, despite the elder's objections. And even then, she was only heir until 'someone more suited to the Kuchiki name' came along.
"Well," Ukitake offered up with a welcoming smile, "may I be the first to congratulate you then?"
"If you want to." Ichigo shrugged, waving his folded paperwork as a visual reminder, stepping further into the room. "Do you think I can borrow a pen or something in the meanwhile?"
Nodding easily, Ukitake pulled out a spare brush, ink-stone and handed over his ink-stick, "There's an extra zaisu in the storage room, if you want, next to the rest of the zabuton. We may be here for a while." Giving his stack a dubious look, Ichigo decided to defer to the senior captain's judgment and grabbed a particularly over-stuffed floor cushion and the extra floor chair from the storage room. He doubted that a few measly forms would take long, but he would soon learn.
"As long as I'm able to get my homework done tonight too. I can just take the rest of this home and ask Dad if I have any questions if it gets too late." Ichigo didn't notice Ukitake's expression, as if he was a small child that had said something amusing, but didn't want to laugh and ruin his fantasies. "Or… not." Apparently Ichigo had seen the expression anyway. "If dad's anything like he is with the clinic paperwork."
"Then it would be best to save any questions until next time you are able to come to me or any of the other active taicho, yes." Ukitake interjected politely, getting a small nod from Ichigo. "Now, which one should we start with?"
Starting at the top, Ichigo handed over the requisition forms, "Ah, yes, if I recall, you don't really have much yet, do you? Could I see what your budget..." Ichigo handed over his budget report without a word, making Ukitake gape for a moment before he wrangled his expression back to neutral. "How about I ask around for you? I'm sure that between all of us Taicho, we can cobble together something a bit more livable for you to use. I'll bring it up during the next regular meeting."
"That bad, huh?" Ichigo asked with a wry look. "I'm planning to bring some stuff from home, but I wouldn't say no to some help in the meanwhile."
"You could, hmm… buy a nice wall scroll for the front office? Or maybe a tea service?"
"I was actually just thinking of buying some kitchen essentials, since I'll be staying there during the weekends. Like Rice and flour. And in the meanwhile I can steal some pots from Yuzu until I can get my own." It almost reminded him of tentative plans that he had about moving out of the clinic after high school. Starting from nothing and working his way up. "And I prefer to make my own wall scrolls anyway." He stated, not really meaning anything by it. Taking up the ink stick and stone, Ichigo absently worked up enough ink for himself to make notes on a spare sheet of paper. Ink, brush, pen, scissors, find paper-maker shop, flour, rice, futon covers… He wrote in a delicate script that wasn't quite the standard kanji, but wasn't quite any style of grass script that Ukitake had seen before.
"You have beautiful handwriting, Kurosaki-kun." Ukitake murmured, nearly mesmerized as Ichigo continued his list. The last time he had seen such art in even just notes was Byakuya. "I thought calligraphy was becoming a lost art in your generation." His generation, as in including most of the lieutenants, not just the children from the human world.
Ichigo shrugged, starting to flip through his other paperwork to get ideas to add to his list. "It mostly is. I actually prefer using a western calligraphy pen, but I didn't think to bring anything. Honestly," He looked up, "I didn't think I was going to walk in to a stack of paperwork when I came in today." Not able to think of much else to write on his list at the moment, he put the lid over the ink stone to keep the ink he ground fresh and rinsed out his brush, setting it aside. "Now, why the hell is-" He picked up the chicken-scratch report and flipped to the last page, "Hiyori writing me a repor… oh." His eyes scanned the page, picking out words like 'idiot' 'shoulda ducked' 'stupid Shinji' and 'fourth division'. "I know what this is about. Why did this come to me though?" He asked himself with just the barest hint of a whine.
Ukitake just gave him a sympathetic smile, like he had heard the same exact thing from every captain that had ever come and gone in their own time, which he had. "Because, baka," Rukia answered his mutterings from her desk across the room, "apparently the Visored are your responsibility."
"...Oh." Not saying much more, he attempted to plow through the actual report, leaning against the back of his zaisu in preparation for a long, difficult read. Filing cabinet was soon added to his list, along with some sort of e-reader. Make chicken-scratchers type reports instead of writing them. For the love of god and my sanity. Apparently, the report was Shinji's side of the story and, since it correlated with what the Blonde captain had said nearly a month ago in the hospital, he simply signed off on it and stuck the report into Ukitake's done pile to get a copy filed in the first division.
Flipping through the rest of the paperwork, he spotted a few requests (Huh, he didn't think there was anyone that would need his permission…?) and quickly red through those as well. With only a small note, printed in standard Kantian this time, saying that illegible handwriting would be thrown out the window next time, he passed the requests without bothering to do more than glance at the names. They were simple requests anyway. Training and such, and one travel permit. Strange, though. He had thought that the Visoreds had a free pass between the two worlds, now that the war was over and half of them had returned to Seireitei. Especially since his friends, who were human, had free passes themselves. Shrugging, he moved on. He assumed it was just more paperwork to make sure that people knew where 'dangerous' individuals were at all times.
Looking up for a moment, Ichigo grimaced when he noticed that the sun was starting to set. "Ah, shit." Ichigo mumbled, realizing how late it was as he gathered up his paperwork (keeping his thumb between the 'done' and 'not done' piles) and stood up, intending to clean up his borrowed equipment.
A pale hand stayed him as he reached for the ink-stone with the intention to dump out the unused portion and clean it for storage. "If you need to leave, Kurosaki-kun, you just needed to say so. I can take the rest of your ink and clean the stone up later. I was running low on my own anyway."
"Oh..." Sometimes Ukitake's kindness still caught him blindsided. "Thank you. Should I put the Zaisu and Zabuton away for you?"
Ukitake shook his head, pulling Ichigo's borrowed supplies toward himself, "You can put them in the corner, if you wish. So that you won't have to pull them out of storage next time you come by." Even though that wouldn't be for the next two weeks, Ichigo nodded his thanks anyway and did as he was told.
"And..." He held up the paperwork.
"Take what you can work on. You can leaved your finished ones with me and I can have Rukia-chan deal with them when she does mine." Ichigo looked over at the Lieutenant and she nodded her head, not minding the few extra pieces of paper in her pile.
"Thanks." Ichigo nodded, tucking his greatly-diminished pile into his shirt front. "Then I'll see you around then…?"
"I'll pass around the message if anyone asks."
"Thanks." And with that, Ichigo sprinted for the Senkaimon. On the other side, Ichigo poked around the shoten, intending to find its shopkeeper and/or his body. "Geta-boshi?" He called, peeking into the lab and not seeing much beyond the darkness. "I'm back!"
"Ah, Ichigo!" Urahara's voice floated out from the darkness, "just give me a moment and I'll be right out." The lab wasn't actually dark, but Tessai put a fogging kido spell just on the inside of the door, making it impossible to look in by the casual passer-by, but easy to look out into the hallway. Like a one-sided mirror. Not wanting to wait, Ichigo stepped inside the lab instead, not prepared to see what Urahara was actually doing.
"What the hell?" He knew his body was a gigai and all and that it was starting to break down, needing frequent maintenance, but even knowing that hadn't prepared him to see Urahara elbow-deep in his carcass.
"Ah, yes, I suppose it is a bit disconcerting, seeing something like this the first time," Urahara spoke, all the while wrenching something with a sickening crack in his chest cavity. Ichigo could feel the phantom pain in his chest just watching Urahara do his thing. "Hmm…" Urahara looked at the gigai, debating something. "I think it may be at least another hour, or two," he coughed under his breath, "before this will be ready to be used. You don't mind now, do you? I'm sure you can think of at least a few things to do during the wait."
"Uh… yeah." Ichigo looked ready to leave, turning a faint tinge of green. Even growing up in a clinic, there were still some things that he was squeamish about. Seeing his own body on a slab? Apparently that was one of them. "I still have some reports to work on, and homework to finish. I'll… just go… now." He barely waited for Urahara's absent wave (Ugh, was that his blood on Urahara's hand?) before slipping out the door and to the dining room, picking up his backpack along the way. "Hey Yoruichi." he greeted, seeing her lounging on one of the over-stuffed cushions shoved in a corner.
"You're back early." She replied in her masculine cat voice. "Kisuke's not done yet."
"Yeah, I… saw that already." He sat at the table pulling out the paperwork and setting it to one side before pulling out his textbook and worksheet, intending to work on his homework first, then go back to the reports. The end of the semester testing was giving him a headache and he couldn't wait to get them over with. Except then that would mean it was time to go visit his uncle in Kamakura and… Ugh. He'd rather be dealing with the tests than that.
"Oh-ho?" She gave a little cat-smirk, slinking up to the table and rubbing against Ichigo's leg. Without any real conscious thought, he started petting her head with his left, propping his head up with his right as he stared at the textbook. "You went into his lab while he was working on your gigai, didn't you? It's not something for the faint of heart."
Ichigo shook his head, not even wanting to think about it, even as his hand started wandering around, scratching Yoruichi wherever she moved to. Eventually, she flopped to her side, inviting him to rub her belly, which he did without acknowledging her movements. Normally, at this point, he would realize that she wasn't a normal house-cat and stop, sputtering some nonsense about harassment and not wanting to get arrested for touching a woman 'there'. And he usually had the cutest blushes while he was backing away too. "Hey… Yoruichi…?" Ichigo muttered, making her look up and realize that he was watching her out of the corner of his eyes, but kept his face pointed toward his book. "I've been wondering something for a while now." He flipped a page, "But I keep forgetting to ask, or we're too busy doing something else," he flipped the page back and he made a note on his homework.
"Hmm?" Well, he definitely had her attention now, even if he was pretending to not watch her every move. Rolling back to her feet, she propped her front paws on the table to give Ichigo a closer look.
"I just..." Yoruichi moved closer, not expecting the gusty sigh that ruffled her ears as he intentionally turned away from his books to look her head-on. "How do you do that?"
"Do what?" She decided to be obtuse, wanting Ichigo to ask correctly.
"That." He murmured, waving his hands at her body. Reluctantly, he spoke again. "Changing into a cat. I've never seen any other Shinigami do it, so is it a special technique or a family thing… or is it just a you thing?"
"Hmm." She hummed, delaying her answer by hopping up on the table and sitting, demurely wrapping her tail around her paws. "I supposed it would be more of a me thing. Though Sajin does have something similar, from what I hear. He doesn't use it much.
Sajin, he had to think for a moment where he had heard that name before, was the wolf-faced captain of squad seven. "Oh." And that was that. Ichigo looked back at his homework and started working on the next problem. He knew, from the few times that Ichigo had spoken to the man, that a wolf was his natural form. So… That would mean that Yoruichi was originally a cat.
"But!" She walked closer, promptly sitting on his worksheet, not liking the immediate dismissal of the subject. If wasn't like Ichigo to give up, even with the supposed 'impossible', "It took me years of training myself before I could do so. It's like bankai in a way. Theoretically, everyone could do it, but ultimately not many have the patience to try. If you did try, I would not be surprised if you were eventually successful."
Taking his time to think, Ichigo carefully extracted his worksheet out from under Yoruichi's butt and used the page as a bookmark before sliding his book away. "So… if I were to try then… what? How would I go about doing that? And if it's like Komamura-taicho… then you were a cat first."
"No, I was definitely human first. That's where our major differences lay. That, and I believe that he isn't able to freely transform into a fully human shape." Humming in amused thought, Yoruichi tilted her head and tried to think of the best way to describe what she did, oh, it seemed so long ago. "First, and I think the biggest part about transforming, is trying to figure out what type of animal to attempt to turn into. It was almost like, hmm, like trying to talk to your zanpakutou spirit the first time. You know it's there, but you can't see or hear it at first." She found that she had closed her eyes, lost in trying to vocalize what she knew instinctively. "But at the same time, it's nothing like your zanpakutou. It's completely different. Sometimes talking to others, or analyzing your own natural movements, or even flipping through a book of animals could help. And eventually… you just… know."
"And then what?" he asked, reaching out to scratch at her ears as she laid down in a sphinx position.
"Then?" Yoruichi shrugged, "Instinct, I suppose. I can't really describe what happened. One day I was a human, training in the back field of our family compound, and the next thing I remember was opening my eyes almost a week and a half later and looking a long way up at Yushiro." She chuckled at the memory, "re-learning how to walk was a pain, but surprisingly learning how to change back after the first time was relatively easy." Seeing Ichigo's confused expression, Yoruichi expanded, "Yushiro is my little brother, and currently the head of the Shihoin clan since I left."
"I didn't know you had a brother." Or family, for that matter.
"You didn't ask. Just like you didn't ask about my transformations." Ichigo nodded. There really hadn't been time before to ask. And after a while, it just didn't seem important enough to actually bring up. It made him wonder, though, about Geta-boshi and Tessai, and if they had left anyone behind either.
"So…" Ichigo absently tapped his pencil on the table, "That's it then, instinct?"
"Mostly, yes." Yoruichi nodded, curling her front paws up under her body into a loaf position. "One thing, though, that I realize, looking back, is that after a successful transformation, your form is never quite one-hundred percent human again. My nails are much tougher and I have to be careful to file them dull, otherwise they'll start growing into claw tips. And my eyes used to be, hmm… a few shades lighter than Rukia-chan's." As long as he had known her, Yoruichi had bright cat-yellow eyes.
Well, that wouldn't be so bad, Ichigo mused, as long as he didn't have some unusual animal eye like a lizard or something. "...Hey, Yoruichi…?" He asked not wanting to ask, but needing the answer anyway. "Do you think… having a hollow form would affect having an animal form?"
"Perhaps." She saw the boy pale, but didn't want to discourage him, "but then again, you've always been a unique case. Being human first, and even if you were born a soul, you are still growing into yourself, and it'll be quite a while before anything concerning you will be concrete. That's why you have such a high learning curve, or at least part of the reason, is that youthful adaptability of yours. Sure, your inner hollow might have some say in the matter, but I'm positive that he won't have final say. It's like… remember that book series that you liked when you were younger, about those… demons, I believe, that kept changing animal shape until their human partner matured?"
"Daemons." Ichigo corrected, blushing. He had been obsessed with the His Dark Materials series when he was younger, always imagining that he had a daemon by his side, always wondering what form it would settle in to. Sometimes, though he realized it was only his imagination now, he imagined animal noises responding to his thoughts. Sometimes it was a tweet, or a hiss, sometimes he could even make out words. Now, while he knew for a fact that Daemons (in the book series sense) didn't exist, he did have his zanpakutou and hollow spirits that acted in part the same way. It had been pointed out to him, he couldn't remember by who, that while his inner hollow remained an exact negative copy of himself, that his mask kept changing, almost with every time he pulled it out to use. He could only imagine now, what that mask looked like. He had noticed, though, that none of the other Visored's masks ever changed. So that would make sense, that he wasn't even quite 'settled' into what his true hollow form looked like. Did that mean…
'No,' Zangetsu interjected, feeling the spiral of Ichigo's emotions as a turbulent wind twisting through the skyscrapers. 'I am as settled as I will ever be. You have not learned all the abilities that I possess, true, but I, myself, will remain the same.'
'Oh. Good.' Ichigo couldn't help but to give a small sigh of relief. So many other things changed in his life, it was good to see that at least the old man would be a constant presence in his life.
"Daemons. Right." Yoruichi shook her head. Children's culture seemed to move so quickly these days. "I would imagine that you're much like the children in the series, always changing from one form to the next. It's part of your unpredictability that makes you so powerful. Beyond the natural amount of spiritual pressure you normally exude. And your hollow would be your demon, daemon sorry, that is constantly changing, reflecting your true self on the inside. I would imagine, especially while you're still in your human body, that things like this will keep changing for a while yet. While it'll be hard, you can start meditating on what animal you would like to transform into. At the very least," she mused, "You'll be able to knock the 'definitely not' animals from your list."
"Lizard's out. Most amphibians. Fish… would suck." Ichigo started thinking, absently doodling and setting his mind back into that head-space that occupied the fantasy world of daemons. "Birds would be fun, but I think keeping my feet on the ground would be better..." He paid absolutely no attention to what he was drawing as he thought, caught up in his thoughts as he was. Homework… he could easily finish it at home or before class the next day. He wasn't in the mood for studying anyway. And this was a light enough topic that he used it to drown out his thoughts about his upcoming trip.
Yoruichi didn't mind being stared at, especially with the dreamy thoughtful eyes that Ichigo so rarely had these days. They were intense, usually, with strong emotions and even stronger conviction behind them. This, was the dreamer that existed before the sun of his life had been taken by a hollow. She didn't mind as his fingers first traced her ears, then her cheek and jaw as he continued to sketch. She was more than happy to sit still and do whatever he wished. He wouldn't pull her tail like this, like he had when he had that nightmare during Rukia's rescue. Thinking back, he still hadn't told her what the dream was about. He had only said that he never remembered his dreams. That was a lie. She could see it as clear in his eyes like she could see nearly everything else. It was only when they were clouded that she would ever worry about the boy.
Casually standing up, she walked over and rubbed under her godson's chin, stealing a casual look at what he was drawing. Oh, her eyes widened, maybe he wasn't so far behind in the process after all. The drawing was beautiful, if not a bit strange in places. What looked like skyscrapers towered over a small copse of bamboo and trees. In one corner, there was a pond that… looked sinister, for a lack of any other words. In the center, drawn the clearest out of all the other sketches, was a cat form. It was… different from her form, but she could see where he had used her for a model. It, also, was the most incomplete of all the sketches. It wasn't for Ichigo's lack of trying or talent, but his hand kept sliding away from its form, drawing details on a tree here, or what looked like a lopsided flagpole on one of the skyscrapers.
After a while, Ichigo blinked and looked down at his art. Scowling, he drew a huge crescent moon in one of the last free spaces and hung a grass-script word off the tip. Pushing the page away, he pulled his homework closer. Maybe it was better to finish his work now and leave dreaming for sleeping.
Looking between Ichigo and his art, Yoruichi saw that his eyes were clouded in frustration. It was better, she learned, to leave it alone. On the page, only the animal, whom she assumed was some sort of cat, remained near-blank. There were small details, like a long, thin tail, large paws and rounded ear tips, but that was really it. Its body had been drawn, re-drawn and erased so many times, that she couldn't make out anything in the smudges. "Don't push yourself." She murmured, pressing her face into his cheek, "you have no need to rush in this. Being able to transform is just for you, nothing else."
It took a moment, but he eventually released himself and nodded, agreeing with the statement if not the sentiment "Yeah."