Kaito couldn't resist a laugh as they all tumbled from the senkaimon and into the air over Karakura, body jittery with the exhilaration of his fourth escape from the Cleaner.

He solidified reishi beneath his feet the minute he was free of the gate, using one hand to steady Yoruichi and catching Hanataro with the other, stabilizing his friend even as the teens tumbled down-down-down—

Only for a large blanket to intercept their path, tangling around their limbs and bundling them together for Jinta to thwack with his bat, redirecting them—

Right at Urahara Kisuke's flying carpet.

Tsukabishi caught the bundled teens and gave the blanket a flick, spilling the group out across the flying carpet just like Kaito remembered happening in his time.

(It was funnier to watch than it had been to live, that was for sure.)

Kaito chuckled at the groans of the teens and darted forward in a burst of shunpo, landing on the carpet next to Tsukabishi and letting Hanataro go. "Tsukabishi-san," he murmured in greeting, unable to tear his gaze away from his— from Urahara.

(From his father.)

(He was… he was right there!)

Kurosaki slowly sat up from where he'd tumbled, rubbing at the side of his head with a scowl. "Ow. What the hell happened…?"

"Maa… welcome back, Kurosaki-san," Urahara said, voice steady-even-serious as he turned to look over his shoulder at them. His gaze darted from Kurosaki to Kaito, mouth a thin line and stress written across every inch of his body.

The breath caught in Kaito's throat and he clenched his hands, body tensing as he resisted the urge to dart forward, to grab his father and bury his face in the man's chest and—

"Welcome home, Kaito-kun," Urahara added, relief plain in his tone as he moved to face them.

Kaito swallowed and ducked his head, unable to force words past the lump in his throat; instead, he reached out with his reiatsu and brushed relief-exhaustion-homesickness against his father's senses.

Urahara's jaw clenched as he tangled the edges of their reiatsu together, pressing care-safety-relief against Kaito's senses in return, then forced his attention back to Kurosaki. "I suppose you heard the whole thing, then," he said, tone so controlled that Kaito knew his father was nervous underneath everything else.

"That Aizen framed you and got you exiled? Yeah," Kurosaki answered, head tilting as he crossed his arms over his chest. "What of it?"

"What—" Urahara cut himself off with a grimace and a small shake of his head. He hesitated a moment, then sighed softly and reached up, pulling his hat from his head and pressing it to his chest as he bowed, gaze fixed on the carpet beneath them. "I'm really… really sorry," he forced out, voice heavy with emotion.

All four teens froze, exchanging looks of disbelief as they tried to understand what was happening.

(He remembered this moment.)

(Remembered Urahara's words, Ichigo's words, the stunned realization that someone was apologizing to them, and…)

Kaito slipped past the teens as if in a dream and hesitated at his father's side, uncertain-awkward-uncomfortable before… before he turned towards the teens and sank to his knees as well, head bowed and hands trembling as he planted them in front of him, stomach churning at what he was about to do, at the potential retaliation he was about to invite—

He swallowed. Gathered his nerve. Forced himself to say, "I… I'm sorry as well."

Kurosaki's reiatsu blazed with discomfort-frustration-annoyance as he growled, "Don't do that, either of you. I knew going into this there was something extra fishy going on. Kaito's reactions were obvious enough, even if you were harder to read, Hat'n'Clogs."

Kaito suppressed a flinch as best he could, gritting his teeth against the words of protest trying to crawl up his throat; he could have done so much more to explain things, could have laid out at least some of the truth, but… he'd kept his mouth closed. He'd kept the teens in the dark despite wanting to be better, wanting to give them the information they needed, and—

"Stop over-thinking things!" Kurosaki snapped as he strode forward, feet coming to a stop right in front of Kaito as he reach out and—

Ground his knuckles into the crown of Kaito's head.

"Ow!" Kaito jerked back, jerked away, toppling backwards to sprawl on his ass. Yoruichi mrowed in surprise and tumbled from his shoulders, landing on the carpet with a soft thump.

"I'm not angry at either of you," Kurosaki declared with a dark scowl, hands on his hips as he looked between Kaito and Urahara. "I don't care that you kept secrets. We'd have gone anyway, even if you'd told us everything."

"You — all of you! — could easily have died because of us!" Kaito protested as he struggled back into a seated position and rested his clenched hands on his thighs. He wanted to say more, wanted to drive home his point, but Kurosaki's sharp-thoughtful-knowing look froze the words in his throat before he could give them voice.

(What had Kurosaki figured out?)

(What had he given away?!)

Except Kurosaki looked away. Focused on Urahara instead. Said, "That's why you helped train all of us, right?"

"I… yes, of course," Urahara murmured.

"Then don't be sorry. You helped us. You got us there. We're grateful for your help!" Kurosai declared firmly, then hesitated a moment before adding, "Besides, you let your son come with us, so you knew we had a chance."

Urahara grimaced and gave Kaito a sidelong look. "I hoped you had a chance," he admitted awkwardly, hat starting to bend as his grip on it tightened. "The odds were good, but there was always a chance for failure. If we'd calculated something wrong, if Aizen had acted outside of my expectations—"

"But he didn't," Kurosaki interrupted mulishly. "So stop over-thinking it, both of you! It's over, we're all safe, and if you truly feel bad about what you did, just don't do it again."

"Maa… you're an opinionated one," Urahara joked weakly as he finally straightened up and began to fidget with his hat. "But if you're certain…?"

"I am." Kurosaki crossed his arms over his chest and glowered down at both of them. "You both did what you could to help us, and that's good enough for me."

Kaito exchanged looks with his father, then sighed and shook his head. "I suppose that's that," he murmured awkwardly, not quite daring to glance up at Kurosaki as he did; after everything that had occurred during the invasion — and everything that could have happened — being forgiven so easily felt… wrong.

(*Believe it or not, but Kurosaki and I care more about who you are moving forward than about who you were,*) Ichigo said as he settled against Kaito's mental presence and pressed reassurance-acceptance-care against his senses. (*You understood this before, so what's so different now?*)

(*I helped Urahara lie to all of them!*) Kaito snapped as he clenched his jaw and focused on the open sky over Karakura. (*I used them for my own purposes—*)

(*And you helped them in return!*) Ichigo bit out, then huffed and added, (*Kurosaki and the others were going to invade Seireitei anyway, you know this. No amount of information could have convinced them to turn away from what was going on, so how is withholding information that we never had any different from when I forgave you for calling a swarm of Hollows down on Karakura?*)

Kaito froze, scrambling for something, anything, that Ichigo would accept as an answer; the Hollow invasion had been bad enough in retrospect, but… but surely keeping secrets about the danger they were in was worse?

(Wasn't it?)

Ichigo snorted in exasperation and pressed closer. (*I'm sure they'd have appreciated more info, but in the end, they knew there were things they hadn't been told and they still chose to put themselves at risk. The Hollow invasion, however, put everyone in Karakura at risk without them having a chance to agree to it.*) He settled, draping warm-reassuring-kind across Kaito's senses as he added, (*Accept Kurosaki's forgiveness and keep these worries in mind going forward; the only thing he and I have ever asked is that you do your best to never repeat your mistakes once you understand what they are.*)

(*Sometimes I really hate you,*) Kaito grumbled even as he brushed care-acceptance-thanks against Ichigo in turn and cautiously pulled his attention back to the world around him.

(He needed to get better about that.)

(Ugh.)

Kurosaki had moved back to sit with the other teens, all of whom seemed at least somewhat content to chatter about going home and relaxing as if it was the only thing on their minds; he doubted it was, but at the same time he understood their desire to pretend that it was.

(It was certainly what he planned to do for the next few days.)

(At least until enough time had passed for Aizen to grow overconfident.)

(A week, maybe two at most.)

(He was so close to ending it, so very, very close…)

With a sigh, Kaito wiped his palms on his kimono and then carefully inched closer to his father until he was nearly touching the man, reveling in the threads of safe-warm-comforting reiatsu lingering in the air around them.

"Brought back a friend?" his father asked lightly as he fiddled with his fan, a small smile curling at the corners of his lips.

Kaito ducked his head and mumbled, "He's nice, and he agreed, and Unohana-san agreed, s-so… so it's fine, right? Sorry, I… probably should have figured out a way to ask, but I—" He stilled, blinking in surprise at the fan pressed against his lips, and cast a confused look at Urahara.

"I will never mind you inviting friends over," Urahara said firmly as he lifted his fan to tap it against Kaito's nose. "We have space and extra futons aplenty. Now, introduce me."

"Since you asked so nicely, I suppose I must," Kaito drawled as he reached up to swipe at Urahara's fan; when all Urahara did was pull his fan back and grin at him, Kaito snorted and looked over at Hanataro. "Hanataro? Father wants to meet you," he called, ignoring the sharp-thoughtful-considering look his words earned him from his father.

"Y-yes, of c-course," Hanataro answered as he carefully walked from where Kaito had left him at the back of the carpet. He stopped a short distance away and bowed as he said, "H-hello, uhm… I'm Y-Yamada Hanataro, S-Seventh Seat of the F-Fourth Division."

Urahara bowed in return, then fixed Hanataro with a thoughtful look when he straightened up. "A pleasure to meet you, Yamada-san. Thank you for taking care of my son while he was in Soul Society."

"It… it was n-no pr-problem!" Hanataro hastily responded, a touch of color dusting his cheeks. "K-Kaito-san i-is n-nice."

"I'm glad to hear you say so," Urahara said with a smile, then nodded towards Kaito's free side and added, "Come sit with us while I direct us down. Once the teens are on their way, we can all return to the Shoten and have a meal together, how's that sound?"

"Sounds perfect," Kaito said as Hanataro settled next to him and leaned in a bit, pressing their sides together.

(He was finally home, finally safe…)

(He never wanted to leave again.)

Kaito nibbled absently on a piece of mochi as Tsukabishi started to clear the table; as good as the food had been in Seireitei, there was something… better about Tsukabishi's food that he honestly couldn't put his finger on. Maybe it was just relief at being among familiar — safe — faces again or maybe it was something else, but he wouldn't trade this for the world.

At his side, Hanataro was relaxing with a cup of tea, gaze drifting about the room and reiatsu soft with contentment-peace-calm.

"I take it everything went well?" Urahara asked as he pulled the teapot closer and poured himself another cup, then nodded at Kaito's cup in question.

Kaito nudged his cup closer in agreement and watched his father refill it, turning possible answers over in his mind. "It went… about as well as it could have. To an extent," he admitted with a grimace, gaze darting up to his father's face then back down again. "I… may have lost control a few times."

"Are you alright?" his father asked in concern, setting the pot aside and leaning towards him with a tiny frown. "Those charms I gave you—"

"Helped!" Kaito interrupted, then shrugged awkwardly when his father arched an eyebrow at him. "They did, I'm serious. Just… being in Seireitei was… difficult," he said as he sit aside his half-finished mochi and carefully clasped his hands in his lap; his father hadn't been mad when he'd accidentally revealed his nature to the teens, but… how would the man react to finding out that Kaito had revealed himself to Shinigami like Ukitake and Kuchiki?

(The damage that they could do was… immense.)

(And Urahara would know that.)

"Kaito-kun…?" Urahara prodded, his lips pursing when Kaito just grimaced and stared down at the tabletop; after another moment of silence, Urahara pushed his teacup across the table towards Kaito and shuffled over to sit at Kaito's side. "I'm not a mind reader, you know," he joked as he wrapped an arm around Kaito and tugged his close. "Can you tell me what happened?"

The breath caught in Kaito's throat at the easy-warm-caring gesture and he twisted in his father's grip in order to burrow closer. He pressed his face into his father's shoulder and grabbed the man's jinbei tight, soaking up the comfort he'd so desperately wanted for days.

Urahara stiffened, reiatsu shading with surprise-confusion-uncertainty, then took a careful, deep breath and relaxed, tightening his arm around Kaito and wrapping him in warm-safe-protective reiatsu.

Hanataro fidgeted a bit, cloth rustling and reiatsu flickering with uncertainty before settling on determination. "H-he, uhm… S-several C-Captains kn-know about… about Shiro-san."

Urahara hummed at that, something dangerous creeping into his presence as he asked, "And how did they react?"

"It's fine," Kaito muttered petulantly, poking his father in the side as he did. "Nothing happened."

"Ukitake-taicho a-and Kyoraku-taicho were uhm… f-fine with it, I th-think?" Hanataro answered thoughtfully. "Uhm… I th-think Unohana-taicho kn-knows, but she… she never said any-anything a-about it. I… maybe Zaraki-taicho? Kaito-san, d-did Shiro-san come f-forward d-during any of your… of your fights?"

"Yeah. Needed hierro so Shiro helped. Kenpachi probably noticed because he never said anything." Kaito huffed a bit and wriggled in his father's grip until he was tucked comfortably against the man's side, giving Hanataro a wan smile as he did. "Kuchiki Byakuya also knows, but… Yoruichi seems to think he'll stay silent about it."

Urahara remained silent for a moment, clearly thinking their words over, then cast a glance at Hanataro. "And you, Yamada-san? What do you think of Shiro-kun?" he asked with deceptive mildness.

"Shiro-san i-is my friend," Hanataro said with conviction, then smiled faintly and added, "He's gr-growly but he's j-just trying to, uhm… he just w-wants Kaito-san t-to be safe!"

(*I ain't just growly, an' I ain't lookin' out for ya!*) Shiro snarled in affront.

Kaito snickered at the protest, then caught Hanataro's puzzled look and tapped his temple with one finger. "He is very insistent that he's more than growly, and that he's looking out for himself, not for me."

Hanataro gave him a flat look, then turned his gaze to Urahara and said, "Sh-Shiro-san is… is also sh-shy."

Urahara burst into surprised laughter, his head tipping back and his eyes nearly closing with mirth. "Shy?" he forced out as unholy glee lit up his expression. "Shiro-kun is shy?"

(*I ain't fuckin' shy!*) Shiro snarled as he stalked closer to front, giving Kaito a mental jab as he did. (*An' tell Hat'n'Clogs that I'mma stab him if he keeps callin' me kun.*)

"Shiro's going to stab you if you keep teasing him," Kaito informed Urahara dryly, amusement growing at the way Urahara's expression shaded towards mischievous. "He also wants both of you to know that he's not shy and that he takes offense at the very thought."

Hanataro giggled at his words, something soft-warm-fond in his gaze as he said, "M-my mistake, s-sorry Shiro-san."

(*Tch, I guess he's too cute fer me t'be mad,*) Shiro grumbled almost petulantly. (*Hat'n'Clogs on th'other hand…*)

"He says Hanataro's too cute for him to stay mad at, but you're still on the hook, father," Kaito repeated with amusement.

Hanataro's squeaked and ducked his head, eyes wide, cheeks burning red, and his reiatsu muddled with emotions that Kaito couldn't place.

"Maa, how cruel, threatened by my own child," Urahara teased as he ruffled Kaito's hair. "Whatever have I done to deserve such a fate?"

"Father!" Kaito batted at Urahara's hand and then half-heartedly tried to put his hair back in order; of all the things he'd gained from Ichigo, the absurd hair was one of his least favorite pieces. How Ichigo had ever put up with his he'd never understand!

(*I kept it short and let it spike how it wanted,*) Ichigo said in amusement. (*You could try it.*)

Zangetsu chucked and offered, (*Or grow your hair out longer. The weight of it would pull it a bit straighter, though it will take more effort to care for.*)

(*Neither option sounds appealing, but I'll think about it,*) Kaito told them, then huffed in exasperation and twisted in his father's grip until he was comfortable again. "Back to what we were talking about, I don't know if any other Captain picked up on Shiro's presence," he said with as much seriousness as he could muster after the ridiculousness of the last few moments.

Urahara tucked his arm more firmly around Kaito and said, "Best to assume they did, then. Did Aizen…?"

"He knows I'm your son," Kaito said softly, then grimaced and focused on his hands. "We… got into a bit. Verbally, I mean. Kurosaki might have some questions about what was said, but… I'm not sure if he'll decide to ask one of us or just let it be."

"Whatever happens, we'll handle it," his father said with confidence, then took a deep breath and asked, "What about Kurotsuchi?"

Kaito shook his head. "I avoided him, and managed to make the others avoid him too. He did see me during the execution, but didn't seem to interested after, uh… after…"

"After?" Urahara prompted, tone bemused and one eyebrow arched as he shifted them around enough to fix Kaito with a look. "Kaito-kun, what improbable thing happened to you this time?"

He wrinkled his nose and glowered up at his father as he replied, "It's not improbable, just… unlikely."

"So something that definitely would never have happened to anyone else," Urahara said with a straight face, pale eyes sparkling with laughter.

Hanataro snickered at their interaction, then leaned back a bit and raised his hands in surrender when they both turned towards him, though the amusement in his reiatsu didn't lessen in the slightest. In fact, it only grew as he opened his mouth and said, "K-Kaito-san is th-the Fourth Seat o-of th-the Eleventh."

Urahara stilled, staring at Hanataro as if the healer had grown two heads, then slowly looked down at Kaito, expression pinching with contained mirth as he said, "You gained a seated position. While invading."

"I didn't mean to," Kaito protested as he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned more heavily against his father's side; the glittering amusement-cheer-pride in the man's reiatsu was a relief to sense, letting his worries finally settle with the knowledge that Urahara truly didn't mind. "I just ended up mostly winning a battle against Kenpachi, and then we sheltered in the Eleventh the night before the execution, and Yumichika put us up in the Fourth Seat's room and… sort of implied that it was mine? So I had to clarify with him later and he met me with an entire contract! Hanataro didn't see anything odd about it, and Yumichika didn't seem like he'd take 'no' for an answer so I just… I mean… I never really wanted to be associated with Shinigami but the Eleventh aren't bad precisely, and I really don't have to do much of anything except show up every couple of months for a few days and maybe some paperwork—" His words ground to a halt as a finger settled over his lips and he blinked, glancing up at Urahara in confusion.

"Kaito-kun, answer me honestly: are you alright with this or do I need to step in?" Urahara asked as he lifted his finger from Kaito's lips, his expression serious and all traces of amusement gone. "Because if you only accepted because you thought you had no other option, I will gladly show everyone the error of their ways."

Kaito stared at his father, unsure how to react to the man's declaration; Ukitake had offered something similar, but his seemed different, even beyond the wording the two men had used.

(It certainly made him feel different.)

(He… he didn't know how to answer.)

(Was he alright with it?)

His father waited patiently, only moving to pick up his teacup and take a sip, neither urging Kaito to make up his mind nor apparently inclined to pick something for him.

Even Hanataro remained silent, giving Kaito a warm smile when their gazes met but otherwise doing nothing to indicate which way he would prefer Kaito to lean.

(*If you don't know, why not give it a try?*) Zangetsu asked kindly. (*If it doesn't work out, I'm sure Urahara's offer will still remain.*)

Kaito frowned at the suggestion, wondering if Zangetsu was right; Urahara hadn't mentioned it as an option, but Zangetsu seemed confident that it was.

(*Won't know until you ask,*) Ichigo said with a mental shrug.

(He supposed Ichigo had a point.)

(His father hadn't reacted poorly to anything so far, so… maybe he could ask.)

Kaito fixed his gaze on the table and took a moment to steady himself, gathering the nerve to ask, "If… if I said I don't know, but would like to try… would that be alright?"

"Of course it would," Urahara said instantly, setting his teacup down and reaching up to run his hand soothingly through Kaito's hair. "If you don't know for sure, trying it out is the only way to know. But if you find you don't like it, let me know and I'll sort things out for you. There's no reason to stick with something you don't enjoy."

Kaito swallowed and tried to keep from curling in on himself, struggling to speak past the odd lump that had formed in his throat; hearing Urahara — hearing his father — say those words was more of a relief than he'd expected it to be. The fact that he could just… just quit if he didn't like the work, despite it being something that Urahara had once done, was so freeing…

(He didn't know what to do.)

(Didn't know how to react…!)

Urahara hummed thoughtfully and asked, "May I see the contract? I have no doubt Yamada-san knows his business, but I'd like to see the exact terms written out."

Kaito nodded and forced out, "Yeah, that's… that's fine. It's in my bag."

"I'll g-get it f-for you," Hanataro offered as he rose to his feet.

"Thanks, Hanataro," Kaito called after his friend as he left the room, then sighed and dropped his head back against Urahara's shoulder.

"He seems like a nice young man," Urahara said lightly as he rested his chin atop Kaito's head and wrapped both arms around him.

Kaito jabbed his elbow into Urahara's chest and hissed, "Don't you dare pester him or pull your usual shenanigans. He's picked on more than enough in Seireitei, I won't have you doing the same."

"Maa, I was just making an observation," Urahara protested playfully. "Pinky promise I'll behave!"

"You better," Kaito grumbled, knowing all too well how off-putting Urahara could make himself be at times. The man had sounded sincere though, no matter how ridiculously he'd phrased his promised, so hopefully everything would turn out alright.

(He really hoped it would.)

(He wanted this to work.)

(He really did…)

Hey all, some good news! I finally know when the last chapter of DE will be posted - this June. From there, I'm going to take a few months break from writing anything DE related and then start finishing off Tiger Cubs at last.