It's Father's Day in Australia and I got this request from my lovely friend, Gingery, a few weeks prior, so it just had to be done.
…
Card
Rangiku was a she-devil.
She knew that, in fact she celebrated it.
She was the Queen of Pranks, the Purveyor of Gossip, the (not so noble) Lady of Embarrassing Others. The list went on, and she was damn proud of it.
Naturally Toshiro was an easy target, both because of his age and generally high strung demeanor. She picked on him easily, being that he was her closest subordinate and also like a little brother to her. Of course she would never actually hurt him, that would be taking it too far and she didn't want to genuinely upset the poor boy.
Still Rangiku found the perfect opportunity for such a harmless prank when she was in one of the retail newsagent stores littered throughout the Seireitei. She dropped in on Monday afternoon to buy a new magazine and it was in that aisle she stumbled across her third seat looking at the greeting cards.
He had picked one up and opened it, reading the message on the inside. He was so engrossed in what he was doing that he didn't even notice Rangiku approach, and he was usually rather in tune with her Spiritual Pressure.
"Hey Toshiro," she greeted him brightly. "Someone's birthday coming up?"
Well the boy jumped half a foot into the air, flinching away from her. Rangiku frowned in surprise as Toshiro turned to her with wide eyes, his cheeks suddenly turning pink as he spluttered. It was the look of a kid being caught doing something he shouldn't be doing.
"L-lieutenant!" Toshiro stammered, tripping over his words. "I was- I-I was just looking."
Rangiku raised an eyebrow. This was interesting.
Just what was he 'just looking' at?
The lieutenant reach down to the card in Toshiro's hands which he immediately snatched away from her and held to his chest protectively.
Rangiku sent him a challenging look. Was he really going to hide something from his lieutenant? Well he could try hide that card but he couldn't hide the whole rack of cards beside them. Rangiku turned towards the rack and blinked at it.
It was full of chichi no hi cards – Father's Day, the celebratory day coming up that Sunday.
It clicked in Rangiku's head quickly and she turned back to face the boy, ready to tease him about it but found that Toshiro had vanished. The space where he had been standing was empty, the boy disappearing and leaving nothing behind except a trace of his Spiritual Pressure and the card that he had been holding which had fallen to the floor.
Crouching for a moment, Rangiku plucked the discarded card from the floor and straightened as she inspected it.
It was indeed a Father's Day card. On the front, a cartoon picture of a grape – clearly the dad – holding hands with a raisin – clearly the kid – and inside the message read:
'Thanks Dad, you're doing a grape job of raisin me.'
Rangiku snorted loudly in the store, causing an unfamiliar Soul Reaper further up the aisle to glance over at her.
Oh goodness, that joke was so terrible it was brilliant. Isshin would eat it up, and the more Rangiku looked at the card the more she thought it was perfect to describe the relationship between her captain and third seat. Isshin was raising Toshiro, and even though there was no biological relation, and even though the captain was a tall and burly nobleman while Toshiro was a scrawny street kid, they were both just Souls right? Or in this case, grapes.
Obviously Toshiro was still too embarrassed to fully admit that, since Rangiku had never known him to celebrate Father's Day with Isshin before. She wondered vaguely if this was the first year he had come to this store, or if he came every year only to talk himself out of buying anything.
He definitely wouldn't buy anything now that he had been caught out by Rangiku, the embarrassment would be too much for him.
The lieutenant smirked. Now here was an opportunity for a bit of fun.
Rangiku grinned, tucking the card under her arm before swiping up a new gossip magazine from the stand opposite the cards and navigating the aisles until she found the novelty gift section. Of course, being that Father's Day was coming up, the gifts were targeted for such. Rangiku's eyes swept the shelves and immediately found the perfect present to give Isshin on Toshiro's behalf.
Oh yes, Isshin was going to love it.
…
The rest of the week went slow from there.
Toshiro had been avoiding her as much as possible, and of course Rangiku made sure that was the week she turned up to the office every day.
The sly comments went unnoticed by Isshin, but certainly not Toshiro. By Friday, Rangiku was sure the tick on his forehead was going to become a permanent feature.
"I'd love some grapes right now," Rangiku drawled playfully from the office couch she had been reclined on. "Toshiro, could you get me some grapes please?"
She could see Toshiro and she smirked as he froze over his paperwork, his face paling, the tick ticking.
"Oh and I suspect you want him to peel them and feed them to you, Princess?" Isshin muttered sarcastically from his desk, oblivious to the joke.
"Maybe some raisins even?" Rangiku smirked wider, ignoring the captain for a moment.
Toshiro's expression was warning when he finally looked up from his paperwork. His eyes screamed at her to back down, his cheeks bright red with embarrassment.
Rangiku sent him a wink.
"Hey Captain," she sung, turning to face Isshin. "Will you be back from the Manor on Sunday?"
Isshin spent weekends at Shiba Manor with his family. Rangiku had to factor that in when she started planning how she was going to go about this little Father's Day prank to embarrass her third seat.
"I'll be back for dinner as usual," Isshin answered, not glancing up from the report he was reading. "It's Father's Day so we're going to visit my father's grave."
Rangiku hummed and nodded. She knew that, so did Toshiro. Isshin and his family did it every year.
It was another reason why Rangiku was pushing for Toshiro to get over his embarrassment and fears and celebrate Father's Day with Isshin – it didn't have to be a sad day anymore. It could be something the captain looked forward to.
After all, he was doing a grape job raisin Toshiro.
Ah, that joke would never get old.
Rangiku turned back to Toshiro and found the boy staring at Isshin now, but he felt her eyes on him and turned back to her.
'Back in time for dinner' the lieutenant mouthed to the boy silently. Toshiro's caught it and flushed red again.
"Toshiro, are you alright?" Rangiku asked, false concern in her voice then and immediately piquing Isshin's interest as she saw him look up from the corner of her eye. "Your face has gone red."
Toshiro's eyes went wide as he stared at her like he couldn't believe she was doing this to him, and when Isshin's concerned eyes fell on his, the colour of his face deepened.
"You're not getting sick, are you?" Isshin was up out of chair and coming around to Toshiro. Before the third seat could protest, Isshin had the boy's face in his hands. "You're burning up."
Yeah, with embarrassment.
Toshiro stammered, shaking his head, before he twisted out of Isshin's grasp. He walked swiftly for the door.
"I'm f-fine. It's just hot in here," he lied quickly, the pitch of his voice higher than usual. "I just need some fresh air."
With that he disappeared out the door. The office was silent as they heard his light footsteps quicken, until he seemed to be running at full pelt down the hall.
"I should go after him," Isshin sighed.
"Don't be such a helicopter parent, Captain," Rangiku laughed, lying back down on the couch. "He's fine. You'll feel it in his Spiritual Pressure if he's not."
"It could be early symptoms," Isshin disagreed. "Keep an eye on him over the weekend and if he does come down with something, give me a call."
Rangiku rolled her eyes, "Sure, Dad."
A hint of a smirk played on Isshin's lips then, and Rangiku wasn't surprised. She knew he loved that title. Well, he really was going to like his gift then.
…
The weekend passed quickly, but not quickly enough for Rangiku who had been waiting most of the week for this.
Sunday night had finally arrived, and Rangiku had just spotted Isshin entering back through the gates.
Squealing in excitement, Rangiku ran back to the office where she knew Toshiro was doing a poor job of hiding from her.
"Come on!" She burst through the door, startling him from where he had been reading on the couch.
"Lieutenant?" Toshiro yelped when Rangiku flash stepped over to him and scooped him up, before making for the door again.
She didn't care which passing soldiers saw him being carried in her arms as she ran towards the Captain's Quarters. In fact, she had slowed a little going past the canteen so they could see it, much to Toshiro's mortification.
"What are you doing?" the boy hissed at her. "Put me down!"
"We're almost there," Rangiku giggled, tightening her hold on the kid.
She gave one final flash step and a second later, landed softly on the front porch of Isshin's quarters, just as the man was approaching. She beamed at the captain as Toshiro froze in his struggle to get out of her arms, and Isshin faltered in his steps at their sudden appearance.
"What are you doing?" the captain asked, a little exasperated seeing Rangiku's cheeky expression as she put Toshiro down but kept a tight hold on his wrist – he was still a flight risk.
"Toshiro and I have a surprise for you, Captain!" Rangiku announced happily.
Beside her Toshiro paled significantly, his wrist going cold in Rangiku's grasp.
"Lieutenant, you didn't-" Toshiro started to hiss.
"Close your eyes, Captain," Rangiku cut over the boy, ordering Isshin. "You'll like this, I promise."
The captain eyed Rangiku with suspicion, hesitating as he did usually did where she was concerned. However Rangiku did, in fact, have all evening for this, and she would wait. She lifted a challenging eyebrow at him, and pursed her lips in patient determination.
The captain gave a suffering sigh, before carding his hand through his hair and muttering something the lieutenant couldn't hear but wouldn't have trouble guessing. His eyes seemed to fall onto Toshiro who was now trying to hide behind Rangiku.
Eventually Isshin closed his eyes.
Rangiku grinned and turned back to Toshiro, handing him the key to the Isshin's Quarters. It was his key actually, but Rangiku had stolen it from his bunk that morning to set up. It was very little wonder why Isshin had never trusted her with her own key.
"He needs this today," Rangiku told the boy seriously, her tone quiet. "And he'll love the card."
Toshiro's eyes went wide as he glanced back at the captain standing at the bottom of the stairs with his eyes closed. After a moment, the boy swallowed and nodded, turning to open the door as she carefully released his wrist.
Rangiku jumped down the few steps and grabbed her captain's hand, leading him up towards the door.
"Keep those eyes closed, Captain," she told him cheerily.
"Don't you dare walk me into anything, Matsumoto," Isshin gritted his teeth, not the least bit trusting of Rangiku's blind man navigation skills.
Rangiku could only giggle, until a few seconds later when she accidentally walked him into the cabinet in the hallway. The captain stubbed his toe and hissed in pain.
"Sorry," Rangiku grimaced. "Honest mistake."
"Rangiku…" Isshin clenched his jaw, but Rangiku shushed him.
"Almost there, Captain."
Rangiku passed Toshiro who was standing over at the dining table inspecting what she had set up, seemingly every nervous and unsure of himself, but Rangiku steered Isshin into his bedroom, and closed the door behind them.
"Open your eyes, Captain," Rangiku told the man and when he had, she pushed him slightly forwards. "Get in bed."
The captain turned to her sharply, his eyes shocked at the request.
Rangiku supposed, from his ignorant perspective, it did seem like a highly questionable request of a lieutenant to make to their captain.
"Get in bed?" he repeated disbelieving.
"That's what I said," Rangiku smirked, humour in her tone. She had to admit it was a strange thing to say to him, but she had done her research and figured this was going to be very enjoyable. "Go on."
The captain kept his suspicious eyes on her as he slowly slipped into the bed, sitting up against the headboard and looking at her with great distrust.
"Stay right there," Rangiku beamed. "We'll be back with your surprise in a second."
She didn't wait for confirmation, turning quickly and slipping out of the room. She found Toshiro right where she left him. He was holding the envelope containing the card.
"Is the raisin one?" he asked, those teal eyes wide with nerves.
"Yeah," Rangiku grinned at him. "I thought it was grape."
Toshiro frowned at the joke, and looked entirely unsure of himself. Rangiku patted him on the back and reached for the wrapped present, handing to him.
"Give that to the captain," she told him.
"What is it?" the boy asked.
"You'll see," Rangiku smirked widely.
Toshiro started spluttering, clearly not liking being out of the loop on the nature of the present he was about to hand to his captain. The lieutenant ignored him and turned to the large tray she had set up, picking it up carefully. She turned back to Toshiro and nodded her head towards the bedroom, gesturing him to go first.
The boy hesitated for a second before he swallowed his nerves and walked over to the bedroom door, opening it up.
"What's this?" Isshin stared up at them in confusion as they entered.
"Happy Father's Day!" Rangiku sung, entering behind Toshiro.
She carried the tray over to the thoroughly confused captain, and placed it gently in his lap.
On the tray sat three bowls of chicken katsu curry – Isshin's favourite.
"Father's D…" Isshin trailed off, voice disbelieving as he stared down at the food, flickering his eyes up to Toshiro and Rangiku.
Toshiro was clutching the gift and card nervously, and flinched when Rangiku placed her hand on his shoulder.
"It's dinner in bed," the lieutenant explained brightly, "I know it's supposed to be breakfast in bed, but…"
She shrugged. Isshin knew, he wasn't here this morning as he usually wasn't on Sundays.
"We got you a gift too," Rangiku nodded down at Toshiro.
As if only just suddenly realising his cue, Toshiro's hands holding the gift and card shot out abruptly, almost throwing the items at the captain.
Isshin caught them before they could fall into the curries below as Toshiro's blushed brightly. The captain must have sensed the boy's nervousness as he patted the place next to him on the bed.
"Up you come, Kid," Isshin called Toshiro to him. "We'll open these together."
After again hesitating for a second, and with a bit of an encouraging boost from Rangiku, Toshiro climbed up onto the mattress, slipping under the covers and settling close to Isshin. Rangiku grinned to herself and rounded the other side of the bed, sitting on the edge of the mattress. Isshin put his arms around Toshiro and drew him closer. He kept his arm around the boy even as he used two hands to open up the envelope.
"Card first," the captain murmured, and Toshiro's face stayed that same shade of beetroot. The third seat seemed to find great fascination in a bit of loose stitching on the hem of the duvet cover.
The envelope was torn open before Isshin pulled the card out, flipping it over to see the front of it. He grinned widely at the grape and raisin design on the front, the characters holding hands sweetly. He opened it up then and the lieutenant could see the moment he read the joke as the captain erupted into loud laughter.
"Oh this is perfect," Isshin wheezed. "I love this."
"Toshiro chose it," Rangiku threw the boy under the bus (Isshin's fatherly love bus). "Probably because of all those awful dad jokes you make."
"Hey now," Isshin pretended to be offended. "I am hilarious."
"Yeah, sure," Rangiku rolled her eyes and the captain went back to reading the little message Rangiku had scrawled inside.
'Happy Father's Day, Old Man! Thanks for being a grape captain and an even better dad. Love, Rangiku and Toshiro xoxo'
Isshin's fingers traced the words, his smile soft and his eyes lost in the message for a moment. A strangely emotional moment seemed to pass over him. Rangiku noticed his arm tighten around Toshiro and the boy sink a little into the captain's side.
"I'll keep this forever," Isshin smiled, breaking from his retrieve as he placed the card gently on his nightstand. "Right here where I can look at it every night."
Rangiku beamed brightly – she knew Isshin would love the card. Toshiro seemed to release a shuddering breath of relief.
Next Isshin opened the gift. Toshiro appeared to be somewhere between desperate to see what he had supposedly gotten the man and too scared to know at all.
The captain opened the box, and chuckled as he pulled out a white coffee mug, black lettering printed across the front and back reading '#1 Dad'.
"I think I got my own father one of these once," Isshin grinned. "Every dad should have one."
"And now you do!" Rangiku clapped her hands together happily.
Isshin nodded in agreement, still chuckling. Beside him, Toshiro was staring at the mug with disbelief. His eyes, when they landed on Rangiku, were accusatory.
'This is what you got him?' teal seemed to say.
Rangiku flashed him a grin. Yeah this was what she got him – it was the classic gift, not to be underestimated. It wasn't just a mug with a cheesy design, it was a symbol. It was Isshin's right to drink out of one knowing that he was considered a father by the two Souls he looked after.
"I love it," Isshin grinned, placing it on the nightstand too. "I'll take that to the office for my morning coffee tomorrow."
Out of his line of sight, Rangiku shot Toshiro and 'I told you so' look and in return he rolled his eyes.
Isshin turned back to them, positively beaming.
"Thank you both," he told them sincerely. "You're both my kids and I adore you two. I'll do anything for you."
If Rangiku was a lesser woman, she might have gotten emotional and cried. Well… she did get emotional, but she blinked back the tears and leaned over the tray in her captain's lap and hugged him tightly. Toshiro slipped in between them, hugging Isshin's stomach while the man wrapped his arms around the both of them. Rangiku felt him plant a quick but sweet kiss in her hair before he did the same to Toshiro.
They hugged for a few minutes, until the captain's rumbling stomach had them breaking apart with a chuckle.
Isshin was still grinning as he handed out the bowls, and the three of them got comfortable on his bed, tucking into their dinners.
The rest of the evening passed in lovely companionship. They told each other about their weekends as they ate. Afterwards Rangiku made teas – Isshin got his tea in his new mug of course – and they settled down to have a game night. It started raining outside, and Toshiro fell asleep against Isshin's side, even though he was just about to defeat them in Monopoly.
They decided against moving him, and Rangiku moved out to the couch, deciding she wanted to sleep over tonight too, despite the fact she lived in the quarters next door.
Isshin came out to get some water for himself and Toshiro and on his way back into the bedroom, he stopped by the couch to tuck Rangiku in.
He brushed the hair out of her eyes as she smiled tiredly at him.
"Thank you," he murmured to her. "I needed that today."
Rangiku hummed and nodded, closing her eyes and snuggling into her pillow.
"You're welcome," she sighed happily. "Dad."
…
Please leave a little review if you liked this chapter :)
Next week we have a request from guest reviewer, Heba! BYO tissues *sobs*