Camping
Isshin's eyes scanned the large clearing in the forest – nice, even ground with short lush grass, plenty of surrounding trees and, best of all, a wide plunge pool at the base of a gushing waterfall, the water of which was crystal clear.
"This will be perfect," the captain announced, turning back to his troop.
Well, less troop, more family.
Rangiku groaned dramatically in relief, making a show of dropping her bag off her back.
"Finally," she moaned as Isshin rolled his eyes. "That bag was so heavy and we've been walking for hours."
Around her, the Shibas filed into the clearing and dropped their bags with tired sighs and huffs, though they didn't complain as much. Toshiro, who was almost the same size as his bag, fell backwards as he tried to take it off. He turtled on his back for a moment until Isshin walked past with a sigh, picking him up by the top handle of his bag and standing him back up.
"Your bag wouldn't be so heavy if you didn't insist on bringing all those clothes and cosmetics, Rangiku," Isshin told the lieutenant sternly as he helped Toshiro get his bag off without falling over again. He turned his pointed look on the boy then. "And you wouldn't keep falling over if you hadn't packed all those books."
"You said to bring things to entertain myself," Toshiro frowned, rolling his shoulder once the bag came off.
"I meant like a deck of cards or some spinning tops," Isshin told him. "Small, light things."
Toshiro shrugged, reaching into his bag and grinning as he pulled out 'The Tales of Toshiro'. Isshin couldn't help but smile at that too – Toshiro must have read that book a hundred times by now, but he just loved it.
"Novices," Isshin muttered, straightening and ruffling Toshiro's hair as he went, "the both of you."
"Well sorry," Rangiku huffed. "Toshiro and I don't understand why you would want to go camping anyway. It's like living on the streets of the Rukongai, but for fun."
"It's not that bad," Isshin sighed. "Camping is great."
Every year since Isshin had been a boy, his father had taken his family on a camping holiday. They would hike for hours in the deep Rukongai forests to find the perfect spots and would spend a few nights telling stories around the campfire and sleeping under the stars. The clan hadn't been camping in years though, not since the passing of Isshin's father, so the captain had decided his family needed to get back to some old traditions.
Isshin had invited Toshiro, seeing as the boy had once again managed to overwork himself to the point of exhaustion and refused to take off his holiday days; the captain suspected Toshiro didn't like to use his holiday days because he had nowhere to go with no one to go with, so with that in mind, convincing the boy to join the Shiba clan camping trip was relatively easy. Eavesdropping and not wishing to be left out, Rangiku had all but demanded she be invited too.
The Head Captain must have been in an excellent mood that morning, because he had approved Isshin's request to have the top three seats in his division take a holiday together.
Takeo was in charge until they got back, but since Hollow activity had been fairly light recently, Isshin was sure the fourth seat could handle it with the help of his fellow seated officers. Toshiro had had a strict word with Takeo about not messing up the paperwork and, more importantly, remembering to feed Tobio, Toshiro's pet water dragon.
"It looks like we're going to lose light soon," Isshin informed the group, eyeing the sky which was taking a darker tinge of blue, some grey clouds forming. "We best get set up now."
Everyone nodded and set to work setting up their tents, the campfire and the awning under which they would cook and eat if it rained.
Kukaku and Mari set up their shared tent on the softest part of the grass and close to the awning. Ganju had brought a one-man swag to sleep in and had set it up at the furthest possible point in the clearing away from the rest of the set up. Kaien and Miyako had brought a modest little tent, and of course Kaien had gravitated naturally towards the waterfall to set up. Isshin guided Toshiro quickly to a nice spot that would be quiet enough – Isshin planned to sleep in and didn't want the early risers in the family to wake him up, and he also planned on putting Toshiro to bed at his regular bedtime, so it would help the boy to be away from the communal set up. Looking entirely unsure of herself, Rangiku followed them.
Rangiku had purchased a brand new tent for the occasion, and boy was that thing a monster. Isshin had to help her set it up, leaving Toshiro to set up their tent – despite probably never seeing one in his afterlife let alone setting it up, Toshiro (ever the prodigy and genius) got a handle on it instantly. Meanwhile, Rangiku's tent was huge and had three rooms to it, and even Kaien and Ganju had to come over and help with it.
Of course her air mattress was queen sized, while the rest of them all had singles. Thankfully blowing up the mattresses was made easy with a bit of help from the Soul Reaper powers around the clearing – a little bit of kido-born wind manipulation didn't hurt anyone.
"This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen," Ganju muttered next to Isshin and the captain nodded.
They were standing in the 'entrance lobby' of Rangiku's humongous tent, watching the lieutenant swan around the rooms placing décor around to 'liven things up'.
Décor – in a tent.
"How did she fit all that in her bag?" Ganju asked with a grunt and Isshin shrugged.
"The humans call this 'glamping'," Rangiku told them happily, as she pulled a fluffy pink rug out of her bag and shooed them out of the way so she could place it at the entrance. "Glamorous camping."
"Glamorous camping," Isshin echoed the words, his tone not quite believing.
Only Rangiku Matsumoto could make camping 'glamorous'.
Sighing and leaving her to it, Isshin returned to his tent to find Toshiro sitting on the floor, unpacking his books at the foot of his mattress.
Their tent, compared to Rangiku's, was tiny. It was tall enough that Toshiro could stand under the centre of it without his head touching the top, but Isshin would have to duck. They had their two mattresses laid down side by side, and there was enough room to walk between them and to spread their bags out.
"Come on, Kid," Isshin gestured the boy up. "Let's get this campfire set up."
They emerged from the tent to find Mari and Miyako already starting on dinner, cutting up some vegetables and setting up the portable gas cookers they had, while Kaien and Kukaku tied off the last corner of the awning overhead. Ganju appeared to be collecting some firewood so Isshin instructed Toshiro to go help while he set up the fire pit, creating a wall of rocks around it.
Ganju returned with some bigger logs while Toshiro had collected the kindling, and with another convenient use of his powers, Isshin lit the fire effortlessly. They dragged some camp chairs around the fire and sat down comfortably with some sake (or in Toshiro's case, water), waiting for dinner.
The first night was relatively quiet; clearly the walk had tired everyone out, and the alcohol and big plate of Mari's special stir fry had certainly not helped them. Toshiro, being that he was already so exhausted, was practically nodding off in his chair. Isshin decided to call it a night when the boy almost fell out of it.
"'M not tired," Toshiro's voice was partly slurred as Isshin pulled him up and pushed his toothbrush in his hand.
"Neither am I," Isshin humoured him, his grin thankfully hidden in the dark, "but everyone is going to bed now too."
Toshiro blinked tiredly at the campfire, around which the adults were dispersing for bed. The captain was grateful the others were winding down now too, because if they had still been up, Toshiro would surely have tried to push himself to stay awake.
Finally, they were getting into their beds and Isshin groaned, lowering himself down to the air mattress and struggling his way inside the sleeping bag. There was a reason he had done away with the traditional futon and invested in proper beds in bed frames for both his bedrooms at the manor and then Tenth – he was getting too old to be sleeping on the floor like that. He didn't want to admit it but the walk today had taken its toll on his muscles as well.
"Are you ready for me to turn off the-"
Isshin stuttered on his words, silencing himself when he glanced at the mattress next to him to find Toshiro already fast asleep. The boy must have fallen asleep the moment he laid back because his sleeping bag was still around his knees.
Stifling a laugh, Isshin helped him into it properly, shushing the kid gently when he groaned tiredly and mumbled for Isshin to 'go away'.
Once all the way in his sleeping bag, Toshiro settled quickly again, and Isshin couldn't help but pinch his cheek playfully.
"Not tired," Isshin scoffed quietly, remembering Toshiro's lie from before.
Grinning, the captain laid back on his own mattress.
He reached for the flashlight and turned it off, plunging the tent into darkness.
He rolled over and closed his eyes, slowly but surely falling asleep to the gentle sounds of nature – the leaves in the breeze, the gushing waterfall, and the chirping crickets.
…
The next morning, Isshin woke to the sounds of gentle but constant rain hitting the side of the tent.
The captain blinked, reaching for Soul Phone and checking the time. He thought it had been early, but upon flipping open his phone, the captain saw it was well past when he normally started work. It was even more of a surprise to find Toshiro still totally asleep.
The kid was an early riser normally, but clearly had been just exhausted. The rain helped too, Isshin was sure of it, since Toshiro's powers had such heavy ties to the weather and he often reacted to changes in the weather emotionally – storms excited him, snow made him happy and playful, hot and sunny weather made him irritable. Rain, especially gentle rain like this morning, seemed to calm him.
Isshin could hear some of his family up, chatting just over the rain, but he took a few more minutes to lie in his camp bed and simply enjoy the sounds of the rain.
Eventually it was Kukaku's loud and brash voice that got Isshin up and out of the tent. The captain yawned and stretched his arm as he dashed quickly towards the awning, finding Kukaku cooking some eggs while Mari, Miyako and Kaien sat on the small table under the awning eating their breakfast.
"Good morning, Sweetheart," Mari beamed at him when he approached. "Did you sleep okay?"
Isshin nodded, "Slept better than I thought on an air mattress. When did it start raining?"
"Around three in the morning," Kaien answered. "This is the heaviest it's been since then but I think it will ease off this afternoon."
Like Toshiro, Kaien also seemed to feel the shifts in the weather before they happened. Isshin supposed it was because the two of them had water-based elements tied to their souls. Though Isshin was an elemental too, albeit at the opposite end of the scale, he never felt connected to the weather.
"I hope the rain stops by tonight," Kukaku chimed in, cracking some more eggs in her pan for Isshin. "I want to let off some fireworks."
Isshin hummed, "I am glad for it this morning. Toshiro is still fast asleep thanks to the rain."
"He needed that long sleep, didn't he?" Mari sighed. "The boy works too hard."
Isshin snorted – that was an understatement.
As a captain and father-type figure, Isshin felt responsible of Toshiro. He gave the boy a bedtime, and was strict about making sure he did go to bed at that time, even though it was "earlier than the other guys' bedtimes". Isshin more than happily pointed out that the other soldiers weren't children, much to Toshiro's offence.
Still, he couldn't always help it if Toshiro was up at five and heading into the office or out to the training grounds. The kid was a machine – a sneaky machine that tiptoed quietly around the barracks while his captain was sleeping.
Isshin settled at the portable table with his breakfast as Rangiku finally emerged from her tent. She was dressed and had a full face of makeup on. She ran from her tent to the awning, using a magazine to cover her hair from the rain.
She looked mopey and flopped tiredly into the nearest chair under the cover.
"Where is the sun?" she complained. "I wanted to tan today. I need my Vitamin D."
"Here's a coffee instead," Kukaku laughed, placing a freshly brewed pot in the centre of the table.
The lieutenant grimaced, and started pouring coffees for everyone.
The rest of the morning went quietly, as Kaien went for a swim in the deeper-than-expected plunge pool (despite the fact it was cold and raining), Rangiku painted her nails and read her magazine, and Miyako, Mari and Kukaku took to playing a card game. Isshin snuck back to his tent to borrow one of Toshiro's books – finding the boy still soundly asleep though he had since rolled over – and returned to the awning to read.
Ganju too slept on, but no one expected to see him before midday any day of the week.
Surprisingly, it was closer to lunchtime than breakfast when Toshiro finally woke and emerged from the tent, walking slowly through the rain like it didn't bother him.
"Well good morning, Sleepyhead," Isshin teased the boy as he approached but Toshiro seemed unfazed, yawning and climbing straight up onto Isshin's chair and into the captain's lap.
The captain grinned, hugging the damp boy close as he settled with his head against the captain's shoulder.
Granted, there were no other chairs left now that hadn't got wet overnight and Isshin had unconsciously opened his arms for the boy. Still, Isshin was elated every time Toshiro showed him affection, and it was becoming more frequent as the years wore on, especially when they were out of sight from the rest of the squad.
"Do you want some breakfast?" Isshin asked him but the boy shook his head, his eyes closed and looking like he was ready to fall asleep again.
Mari, who had caught the moment, just chuckled and shook her head.
"I'll get him a small plate," she murmured, standing up and moving back over to the cookers.
"Are you reading one of my books?" Toshiro asked sleepily, his eyes blinking awake again and noticing the book Isshin had been reading.
"I believe it was one of my books first," Isshin nudged the kid playfully. Toshiro had a long running history of taking books from Isshin's collection and not always returning them.
"You told me I shouldn't have brought books," Toshiro frowned, noticeably steering the conversation away and turning the accusations back onto the captain. "Now you're reading them!"
"Eat your breakfast," Isshin ordered then, as Mari conveniently returned with a small plate of eggs with furikake.
Toshiro had stopped saying no to Mari a long time ago.
"Thank you, Granny," the kid murmured, taking the plate.
Seemingly distracted for the meantime, Toshiro silently ate his breakfast and Isshin picked back up his book, continuing with their quiet morning.
…
As Kaien predicted, the rain stopped in the afternoon and the sun emerged.
Toshiro became more alert after his breakfast and joined Kaien for a swim in the plunge pool. He wanted Isshin to join them, but the captain had complained it was too cold. Toshiro pouted but ran off quickly to join Kaien, diving into the water without even testing its temperature first.
Isshin remembered being surprised that Toshiro knew how to swim. Squad Ten had had a group beach day and the captain had just assumed Toshiro couldn't swim, since he supposedly had no memories of his human life and Isshin hadn't seen him in water deeper than the Shiba Manor bath tub. Toshiro had just scoffed and ran straight into the water in response – apparently Hyorinmaru had a hand in that one, but yes the boy could swim.
It seemed silly to even question it now, watching the boy duck under the water to avoid Kaien's splash attack, only for him to re-emerge nowhere near when he had gone under.
Eventually Ganju emerged from his swag on the other side of the clearing, smelling Mari's teriyaki chicken dish as the family matriarch began cooking lunch.
Just as they all sat down for lunch, the sun finally appeared. No one was happier than Rangiku, who immediately ran to her tent to change into her bikini, and dragged her chair and lunch out to the middle of the clearing, so the trees wouldn't 'disrupt' her sunshine.
"Now that the sun is out, are you going to come for a swim, Captain?" Toshiro asked. "It's much warmer now."
Isshin glanced up from his book to see the boy leaning over in his chair, his teal eyes wide with excitement, his hair still wet from earlier and sticking to his face. Just like Kaien, Isshin's third seat must have been part-fish. It seemed that he was going to be almost impossible to keep him out of the water for long.
"You're not going to have your afternoon nap?" Isshin queried.
"Naps are for when I deserve them," Toshiro informed the captain, straightening, "and for when I haven't slept well. I haven't worked today and I did sleep well so I don't need a nap."
Logical, like only Toshiro could be.
Isshin sighed and nodded, supposing he had promised earlier to join Toshiro for a swim if it got warmer.
Changing quickly in the tent, Isshin returned to the plunge pool to find Toshiro and Kaien already back in the water. The captain tried not to hiss as he took his first step in – it was freezing! Toshiro actually laughed when Isshin expressed that, which made the captain purse his lips. Suffering silently from then out, Isshin moved quickly into deeper water and eventually ducked his head under.
Toshiro was there in front of him when Isshin popped back up, and those teal eyes positively beamed at him.
"Good, Captain?"
Isshin nodded, chuckling as he grabbed the boy, dragging the small third seat quickly through the water as he spun on the spot. Toshiro laughed more than Isshin had heard him laugh in a while, and it was music to his ears. Children should laugh often.
It didn't take long to get Kukaku, Miyako and Ganju to join them, and even Mari sat on a rock and dangled her legs in. With almost everyone in the water, it made perfect sense that Rangiku should join them.
"Nuh uh," she clicked her tongue, calling back from where she now laid in the sun, tanning her skin. "I've got makeup on and I just washed my hair yesterday."
Isshin rolled his eyes and with a mischievous glance at Kaien's direction, the brothers thought up a silent and evil plan. They reined in their Spiritual Pressure and snuck up on Rangiku, grabbing her quickly by her wrists and ankles. She screamed and struggled, all the way to the plunge pool, until they swung and tossed her into the water.
Ganju, Kukaku and Toshiro cheered when the lieutenant splashed into water, while Mari only pursed her lips disapprovingly, and Miyako chuckled quietly.
"My hair!" Rangiku screeched, bursting back through the surface of the water. "Idiots!"
"Hey!" Isshin shouted back before he smirked. "That's Captain Idiot to you."
Everyone laughed at that, but no one more than Toshiro. Isshin was worried he might drown, or throw up his lunch, he was laughing so hard.
It only took five minutes of further complaining before Rangiku seemed to accept her fate and finally relax into the fun of it, even as the mascara ran down her cheeks. Isshin grinned, watching as Toshiro climbed onto her shoulders and had a chicken fight with Kaien and Miyako; this was exactly the thing the kid needed to unwind, and exactly what the captain had hoped would happen when he invited Toshiro on the trip.
…
That evening around the campfire went surprisingly similar to the first night, with everyone feeling tired and lethargic from the afternoon swim. The only person with any energy at all was Toshiro, who was practically bouncing off the walls (or surrounding forest trees) with excitement. As it turned out, he loved camping.
It reminded Isshin that beneath that overly worked, ice dragon wielding, paperwork machine of a third seat was just a little kid that liked to do little kid things.
Like play with a soccer ball.
"How many are you at now?" Isshin called over to the boy. "Dinner is almost ready."
Toshiro was kicking the soccer ball up to about chest height, letting it fall back to his foot and tapping it back up again, repeating the process over and over. He called it 'juggling' and liked to see how many times in a row he could continue the pattern for without dropping the ball.
That was another human thing that seemed to take off in the Seireitei after Soul Reapers patrolling the World of the Living brought it back with them. Toshiro, as always, picked it up very quickly and thankfully so had a number of Squad Ten soldiers so they often played after work on the training grounds.
"Eighty-seven," Toshiro counted kicking the ball up again, and on the next repeat added, "eighty-eight."
"At one hundred, you're coming to eat," Isshin smirked at the boy as he pouted but didn't once mess up his juggling, and sure enough, a few moments later, Isshin counted one hundred. "Times up, Kid."
Toshiro caught the ball with his foot but this time, he placed the ball down carefully on the ground.
He hurried over to the table where Isshin placed the bowl of ramen in front of him. Despite the fact he would have preferred to keep his juggling streak going than eat necessary sustenance, the boy tucked straight into his dinner, almost choking on his noodles. He also loved Isshin's ramen.
The adults ate too, scattered between the table under the awning and sitting around the campfire. Soon after, Kaien brewed a big pot of tea and the family gathered around the fire.
They told stories, and Ganju in particular knew almost every legend from the constellations.
"Then there is Draco," Ganju pointed up to the stars.
"The dragon," Toshiro's eyes lit up, as they did when they spoke about anything dragon or snow related.
Ganju nodded and told them all the story that came from Greek Mythology. Toshiro had been very excited, until the part of the story in which the dragon was killed. He gasped at that, and Isshin patted his back gently from the chair next to his.
"Zeus placed Dracos' constellation in the northern sky," Ganju finished, "because Draco had been so faithful in guarding the caves and their contents. His constellation never sets so he can guard all the treasures of Zeus."
Toshiro hummed and settled back in his chair, seemingly settled a little by that, and he brought his tea to his lips, expression thoughtful for a moment. Ganju was onto the next story, about Andromeda, when Isshin noticed Toshiro yawning as he stared up at the sky.
"Come on, Little Dragon," Isshin sighed, pushing himself out of his camp chair. "It's way past your bedtime now anyway."
"Dragons don't have bedtimes," Toshiro's retort was instant, his eyes still up with the stars and expression unchanging.
"The babies do," Isshin replied dryly.
Toshiro's eyes snapped to the captain and they were deeply offended.
Around the fire, Rangiku and the Shibas chuckled. Isshin smirked, plucking the kid easily from his chair. He ignored the disgruntled yelp, and wrapped an arm around the kid's middle, tucking him under his arm like a rugby ball – another human sport that had taken off for a while in the Soul Society before soccer became all the rage.
It was a pity, because Isshin had been much better at rugby.
Isshin snatched the now empty tea cup from the boy's hands and placed it on the chair he had just vacated.
"Say good night, Toshiro," Isshin ordered the kid happily, enjoying this whole exchange.
"Good night, Toshiro," Toshiro responded with a smirk, getting more laughs from the family while Isshin rolled his eyes.
"Very cheeky," the captain shook his head, turning sharply and carrying Toshiro towards their tent. "Now it's definitely bedtime for you."
Toshiro just laughed at that, and Isshin sighed knowing it was going to be harder to get this kid to sleep tonight than last night.
…
Unlike the previous morning, Isshin woke to find his tent-mate missing from his bed.
He didn't have to worry though; the boy was an early riser normally and the captain was in tune enough with his third seat's Spiritual Pressure that he knew Toshiro was calm and content, and still within the campsite clearing.
Rolling over, Isshin went back to sleep.
When he woke next, the tent was warmer, the sun beating down on it.
Groaning, the captain struggled out of his sleeping bag and off his air mattress, stumbling out of the tent.
Today it was sunny and rather warm. Rangiku was once again tanning on the grass, while Kaien and Miyako were in the plunge pool, seemingly having a bit of a romantic moment. Kukaku was assembling some fireworks, and Isshin found Toshiro helping Mari in the makeshift kitchen.
"Good morning, Sleepyhead," Toshiro teased him this time as the captain ruffled his hair and leaned over him to reach for the coffee pot.
"Morning, Kid," Isshin murmured, collapsing in a chair as Mari handed him a mug for his coffee.
"I made you breakfast," Toshiro beamed at him, holding out a bowl of rice with a cup of Miso soup.
"Toshiro has been very helpful this morning," Mari added as she sat down opposite Isshin with some breakfast of her own.
Isshin hummed in agreement sipping on his Miso. Even to this day, well over a decade since Rangiku had brought the injured, no-name boy to Shiba Manor, Toshiro always made sure to do his share of chores for Mari. Mari never gave him any, he just did them. Isshin didn't know if he liked that or not – on one hand, he was glad the boy wasn't lazy and liked to help his 'Granny', but on the other hand, Toshiro was a kid, he shouldn't have to worry about pulling his weight.
Though, Toshiro had once told him that he liked doing chores around the manor because it made him feel like less of a guest, and more like family. Well, Isshin couldn't argue with that, and besides, he had endless chores at Toshiro's age.
For helping with breakfast, Isshin gave Toshiro a pat on the head and promised to clean up.
Their last full day at the campsite flew by in much the same manner as the first. Ganju got up around lunchtime, Isshin spent much of the morning reading, Toshiro was in and out of the water, seemingly torn between wanting to swim and read, while Rangiku made sure to rotate her body for an even tan.
Isshin felt a slight twinge in his chest, watching as Kaien threw Toshiro up into the air in the water and let him splash back down, as their father had always done to them as kids when they swam. Isshin felt something paternal stir in his stomach, like he wanted to pass on his father's legacy to Toshiro, the closest thing the captain had to a son and assumed he ever would have.
What to teach him though?
It was only when the sun was beginning to set that Isshin had a brilliant idea.
He re-lit the fire and called Toshiro over.
"When I was your age," Isshin started, "my father used to take us camping every year, and my favourite part was always roasting the marshmallows."
"Roasting the marshmallows," Toshiro repeated sceptically, looking mildly disgusted.
He had been off the squishy treat since Rangiku had challenged him to see how many he could fit in his mouth – he had managed fourteen but Rangiku got to twenty-two. Naturally it had ended in stomach aches and complaints.
The captain chuckled and nodded, grabbing the packet of marshmallows that Mari had remembered to bring for them.
"You'll like this," Isshin told the boy. "Grab that stick there."
Toshiro picked up the thin stick Isshin had nodded to and held it up to him. The captain pulled a marshmallow from the bag and pierced it with the end of the stick. Toshiro watched with wide eyes as Isshin held the other end of the stick and lowered the skewered marshmallow down into the flames for a few seconds before bring it back up.
The marshmallow was still alight, it's white skin bubbling before becoming dark and crispy.
"Blow it out," Isshin instructed and the boy did. "Now eat it."
"Eat it?" Toshiro asked, tone a tad alarmed.
"Yes," Isshin laughed. "Come on, it won't hurt you."
Tentatively, Toshiro took the stick from Isshin's hand and eyed the marshmallow. After a moment's hesitation, the boy ate the marshmallow off the end.
As the captain had predicted, Toshiro's teal eyes lit up.
"This is so good!" the kid exclaimed, mouth still full.
Grinning, Isshin took back the stick and skewered another marshmallow onto the end.
"I wanted to teach you something my dad taught me," the captain admitted, handing back the stick for Toshiro to lower into the flames this time. "I would have taught you how to fish but I don't think there are any fish in that plunge pool."
"There's not," Toshiro agreed like he knew for certain, though he didn't explain any further than that, apparently distracted by his current task.
He lowered the marshmallow in for a few seconds and brought it back out, but he offered this one to Isshin to eat. The captain smiled and did, and made sure to hum in satisfaction at the taste.
"I always prefer mine a little burned," Isshin smirked, grabbing a second stick so they could roast marshmallows at the same time. "Kaien used to only like to warm them up – he wouldn't eat it if it caught on fire."
It was said with an eye roll and Toshiro smirked.
"I'm going to try them all the different levels of roasted," Toshiro told him then, taking another marshmallow and skewering it on his stick.
"Leave room for dinner," Isshin warned. "My mother won't be happy if I've filled you up on sweets."
Toshiro snorted as he pulled the stick back from the flames.
"You won't be happy when I can't sleep tonight," the boy chuckled, his eyes glinting cheekily as he bit off the melted marshmallow.
Well that was true, but it was also possible the kid would crash from his sugar high early.
Thankfully, it only took a few more marshmallows for Toshiro to decide that he liked the first one Isshin made him, in which the outer skin was crispy but the inner fluff was only gooey. The boy ate all of his dinner as Isshin had hoped, but it was clear the sugar from earlier was peaking his energy levels as he started climbing trees and swinging from branch to branch.
He eventually settled when Rangiku called him over to rub some sort of after-sun gel on her slightly reddened back, before the two of them snuggled in a camp chair together, watching Kukaku's brief firework show. Toshiro indeed crashed, falling asleep in the chair an hour before his bedtime.
Isshin sighed, scooping the boy up, and carrying him back to the tent. He heard no complaints that night as Toshiro was helped into to his sleeping bag and lowered back onto his pillow.
…
It was in the wee hours of the morning, when it was still too dark to see that Isshin woke up.
This time what woke him wasn't Kukaku's voice or the beating sun, it was the repeated gasps and shuffling from the Soul in the next bed, and the little body wiggling into Isshin's arms.
Opening his eyes, Isshin frowned groggily in the dark, trying to make sense of his freshly awoken state. He lifted his head, trying to see.
"Toshiro?"
Though the kid wasn't really visible in the dark, his white hair glowed just enough to be seen. He continued to work himself into Isshin's arms and the captain lifted one to allow him entry.
"Bad dream," Toshiro murmured.
His voice, even in whisper, was shaking with fear (and held just a note of embarrassment). It clicked quickly then for Isshin - nightmare.
This was now the second time Isshin had witnessed the boy having nightmares and while this time he wasn't trying to freeze Isshin's hand off, he seemed just as scared. He had to be seriously shaken for him to be climbing into Isshin's bed with him.
Exhaling as he pushed himself up, Isshin tiredly reached out for the boy, finding his sleeping bag and mattress and dragging it closer.
Pushing Toshiro gently back down, Isshin laid back on his side. Automatically, Toshiro seemed to curl into him and the captain ran his fingers through the soft, albeit knotty from all the swimming, hair. Isshin could feel the panic in Toshiro's Spiritual Pressure, not to mention in his laboured breathing and erratic heartbeat.
"Shhh," Isshin shushed him softly. "You're okay."
Toshiro nodded against Isshin's chest, swallowing.
It took several minutes, after which Isshin felt totally awake, that Toshiro seemed to calm down and fall back asleep.
…
Isshin must have eventually gotten back asleep because the next time he opened his eyes, it was daylight again.
Toshiro was still beside him but was no longer curled into him like the previous night. He was awake, though sleepy, and murmured about Isshin being warm, and he didn't necessarily mean that as a compliment. Isshin didn't mind, as long as Toshiro was feeling better, and he seemed to be.
The captain got the boy up and made sure he ate a substantial breakfast before they started packing down the campsite.
It was their last day, since the Soul Reapers across the family had only managed to get the four days off.
Naturally, Rangiku's tent and all the items in it were the hardest things to pack down and get back in her bag, and of course she complained about the weight of it the whole hike home.
Toshiro seemed back to his more playful self, further cementing his position as 'Mari's favourite grandchild' when he walked with her and helped over the odd boulder in their path. They played 'I Spy' for a large portion of the walk and Isshin couldn't help but grin to himself as he led the family through the forest.
It was just like the family camping trips his father had taken them on.
…
Next up, we have a request for my friend, Gingery! She PM'd me her headcanon on our discord server (The Seireitei) so I will be posting that next Sunday.
(In case anyone is interested, the discord server is an excellent way to chat Toshiro headcanons with me – PM me for the joining link!)