Kaito drifted awake the next morning, rested but so, so lethargic that all he wanted to do was roll over and go back to sleep.
(He had nothing to do and nowhere to be.)
(The teens were safe — everyone was safe — and they were all back in the Living World.)
(His father could handle anything that came up.)
(It would be fine.)
His father's reiatsu lingered in the air all around him, a blanket of safety-protection-watchfulness that felt so good, so perfect, that he couldn't resist tugging it closer to revel in the warmth of it.
(Urahara cared about him.)
(His father cared about him.)
He could feel Hanataro nearby, relaxed-content-calm despite being in a new place surrounded by strangers, and relaxed further in response; if Hanataro was fine, then everything was fine, and he could continue to sleep without worry.
He tugged the blankets higher, cocooning himself in warmth, and let his mind wander.
(Everything was alright.)
(He was safe.)
By the time Kaito dragged himself out of bed and into the common room, breakfast was long over and only Hanataro and Urahara remained at the table.
"Morning sleepyhead," his father teased lightly, then flicked his fan towards the kitchen and said, "Tessai put your breakfast in the fridge."
"Thanks," Kaito mumbled as he stepped past, flicking a small wave at Hanataro as he went. It didn't take long to pull his breakfast out, reheat what needed reheating, and carry it all back to the common room to eat.
"S-sleep well?" Hanataro asked as Kaito sat down at his side, then laughed when Kaito just nodded and set to eating. "G-good. K-Kaito-san needed it."
"Yamada-san was telling me his impressions of the invasion," Urahara said with a small nod towards Hanataro. "It sounds like you did quite well despite the odds, and some of your prank traps were quite inspired."
Kaito ducked his head, shoulders rounding in embarrassment at the praise. "I tried," he mumbled, then shoved another bite of food in his mouth to give himself an excuse not to keep talking.
Urahara snorted and tapped his fan against the table as he said firmly, "You did quite a bit more than try, Kaito-kun. I've known plenty of men who wouldn't have been able to go in there and think up plans on the fly the way you did. You did well."
"I did what I had to," Kaito replied, fixing his father with an exasperated look. "And I had help."
"Ah yes, being able to accept help, how terrible," his father replied dryly. "After all, look where it got you: home safe, with a new friend at your side and several others in Seireitei. How utterly awful. What ever shall I do with you."
Hanataro laughed and swayed into Kaito's side with a bright smile. "K-Kaito-san w-won't win th-this argument," he said sagely, then laughed again when Kaito just scowled at him.
"I am being ganged up on before I even finish my breakfast," Kaito mock-complained, a warm-bright-happy sensation blooming in his chest. "Rude, both of you."
His words sent Hanataro into a third, even stronger gale of laughter that left him slumped against Kaito's side, his eyes squeezed shut with the force of it.
Kaito huffed and poked Hanataro's side in retaliation — which only made Hanataro's laughter worse — then rolled his eyes and gave up; Hanataro would be fine, and the sound of his laughter was… nice.
When he glanced up to see how Urahara was taking this, the stark warm-fond-proud look on his father's face made him immediately look back down, uncertain how to feel.
(Had he truly made Urahara proud?)
(That was… he didn't know…)
(How?)
Kaito swallowed past the lump in his throat and determinedly ate another bite, shoving aside his tangled emotions and trying to ignore how warm he felt at the very idea.
(He'd never thought that he could… that someone would ever…)
(There had to be a catch, right?)
(There had to be…)
He kept eating as he turned the idea over in his mind, trying to figure out if there was a catch to Urahara's odd display; their discussion about the invasion last night had covered many of the things that went wrong or just plain sideways, and Urahara had seemed pleased with him then, too.
(It was… odd.)
(Nice, but odd.)
Zangetsu made a soft noise and pressed forward, asking, (*Why must Urahara's pride be conditional? He listened to you last night and said nothing critical while you were speaking, do you truly think that a man of his intelligence would need a full night and a second person's retelling in order to find something wrong with your actions?*)
Kaito paused to consider that, poking at his food a bit as he turned Zangetsu's questions over in his mind. (*Well… no, probably not. But it's… weird. Being proud of me like that.*)
(*Is it?*) Zangetsu prodded. (*He told you that he's known adults who couldn't plan and execute a diversionary tactic as well as you did. Why would he not be proud of you?*)
(*Huh…*) Kaito tried to find a hole in Zangetsu's logic, but the more he thought about it the more it made sense: Urahara was odd and enjoyed acting ridiculous, but he was also a genius and prized intelligence in both himself and others. He'd also been doing his best to make Kaito think strategically, and Kaito had done his best to follow that example during the invasion.
(So… maybe it was okay.)
(Maybe he didn't need to worry.)
He took a deep breath and did his best to shove his doubts aside; he wanted to enjoy his time with his father, and constantly questioning everything was… tiring.
(He just wanted to relax.)
(Everything would be fine.)
(He didn't need to worry.)
A comfortable silence settled over them as he finished his food and sat back, Hanataro a warm weight against his side and his father a fond presence across from him. At some point, Urahara had picked up a book and begun to read, clearly content to leave Kaito alone until he felt like talking again.
(It was nice.)
(Peaceful.)
(Exactly what he needed.)
"Wh-what will K-Kaito-san do n-now?" Hanataro asked softly as he picked at the hem of one sleeve.
"Relax for a few days, I think," Kaito answered easily, giving Hanataro a wry smile. "I think you of all people would agree that I need it."
"G-good," Hanataro said with a firm nod as he straightened up and tugged the wrinkles out of his uniform. "K-Kaito-san needs the rest b-before he, ah…" Hanataro paused, lips pursed and gaze thoughtful, then gave a small shake of his head and continued, "B-before he g-goes after A-Aizen-san."
Kaito swallowed, stomach clenching at Hanataro's words, and cautiously asked, "Why would you think I'd do that? We're all safe, Aizen's off in Hueco Mundo, and it really is none of my—" He froze, words dying in his throat at the exasperated look Hanataro fixed him with.
"K-Kaito-san w-was too intent, a-and Aizen-san kn-knew you," Hanataro explained patiently. "It's… it's e-easy to see th-that you, you uhm… that s-something happened a-and now it's p-personal."
"If you're right, will you try to stop me?" Kaito asked warily, wondering if this was the limit of Hanataro's tolerance; the man was a healer after all, so surely—
"No," Hanataro answered, then closed his eyes and took a deep breath, clearly gathering himself. "S-sometimes… sometimes killing is… is necessary. He uhm… he w-won't stop, he m-made that c-clear on the hill, a-and if w-we go to war…" Hanataro closed his eyes and scrubbed a hand across his face, breath shuddering in his throat. "He n-needs t-to die, a-and we're not… we can't…"
"Every Captain who could fight him on equal ground is caught in his illusions," Kaito finished for Hanataro, then sighed when his friend nodded.
"I w-won't tell a-anyone i-if you d-don't want me to," Hanataro promised. "Just… just c-come back safe."
"I will," Kaito promised in return, then glanced over at his father and said firmly, "I promise. I'll kill Aizen before he manages to cause any more havoc and I will come home from the fight."
"That's all I can ask," Urahara murmured, grief-relief-hope threading through his presence.
Hanataro nodded in agreement, then leaned forward and poked Kaito's side as he sternly added, "B-but first, rest."
Kaito swiped playfully at Hanataro's hand, giving his friend a lopsided smile as he said, "I will, I will! I don't intend to do much of anything, I promise. Besides, father needs time to set up the gate into Hueco Mundo, so I can't leave just yet."
(He could have asked Shiro to open a Garganta to bring him there, but…)
(It just felt right to ask his father to do this for him.)
From the look his father sent him, he knew the man saw through his words, but at least he didn't seem annoyed by Kaito's excuse. Even Hanataro looked a bit skeptical, though Kaito doubted Hanataro knew for certain that Shiro could create a Garganta.
(Though it was a simple extrapolation from 'Shiro is a Hollow' to 'Shiro can create Garganta'.)
(He was just glad neither of them was calling him on it.)
"Maa, it'll certainly be a bit," Urahara said as he tapped his fan against his chin. "I've never considered how a gate into Hueco Mundo would need to work." He hummed, gaze drifting to the side as he considered the technical challenge of it before shaking his head and refocusing on Kaito. "Well, while I turn the problem over in my head, how about you show Yamada-san around? His gigai is in the training room."
"Thanks." Kaito glanced at Hanataro in question and said, "There's nothing like the Fourth's garden here that I've found, but… would you like to wander around Karakura?"
"S-so long as K-Kaito-san f-feels up to it, I w-would, uhm… I'd l-love to," Hanataro answered with a soft smile.
"I can handle a bit of walking," Kaito replied in amusement, then shrugged and pushed his empty dishes aside. "Though Karakura is a lot smaller than Seireitei, so we can come back whenever one of us gets tired or bored and then relax here, how about that?"
"S-sounds good," Hanataro agreed. "Wh-whenever y-you're ready to g-go."
"Let me take these back into the kitchen and then we'll grab your gigai and go," Kaito said as he pushed himself to his feet and gathered up his dishes, already trying to figure out what Hanataro would find interesting about the town— maybe the park, or some of the little bookstores he knew about, or somewhere that sold tea?
He had no idea if his friend was interested in sewing, so maybe he'd skip those stores, but… where else could he show? Compared to the garden, everything here seemed so mundane, and he really had no idea what would even interest Hanataro.
(*Make suggestions but be prepared to change your plans if something catches his eye,*) Zangetsu suggested with a touch of amusement. (*After all, you're not supposed to have been here very long either.*)
Kaito set his dishes in the sink, considering Zangetsu's suggestion as he did; truthfully, even though he'd lived in Karakura all his life, he'd never really been interested in exploring it before, so it wouldn't be too hard to find areas he'd never been before. (*I… yeah, that sounds good. Thanks, Zan.*)
And even if they didn't find anything interesting, spending time with his friend more than made up for it.
(He never thought he'd say that.)
(His friend…)
(Maybe this second chance wasn't so bad after all.)
Kaito bit back a laugh as Hanataro tried to juggle the armload of small bags full of things that he'd picked out during their walk: never anything large or expensive, but a tin of tea from one store, an interesting looking book from another, an inexpensive but nice brush set from a third… it all added up after a while.
"Come on," Kaito said warmly as he snagged one of the bags from Hanataro. "Let's find somewhere to sit down and consolidate some of that."
Hanataro laughed and surrendered a few other bags to Kaito when they threatened to slip out of his grip. "S-sorry, K-Kaito-san," he said through his laughter, a faint blush creeping across his cheeks. "E-everything's just… I mean… th-there's s-so much available!"
"Yeah, Karakura's like that," Kaito agreed, knowing that Hanataro meant the Living World had so much available but not wanting to say it aloud since everyone could see them. "I don't mind, though. Why do you think father handed me some money before we left?"
"I'll, uhm… I'll f-find a way t-to pay you back," Hanataro promised as he followed Kaito down the street to a nearby bench.
Kaito shook his head. "You don't have to," he said, then hesitated at the stubborn jut of Hanataro's chin and conceded, "But if it bothers you, next time I visit you, you can pay for things."
Hanataro's expression brightened at the suggestion and he smiled up at Kaito. "Th-that sounds reasonable, th-thank you."
"It'll be something to look forward to," Kaito said as he helped Hanataro set the collection of bags down and started to sort through them, repacking everything he could into the cloth bags they'd picked up at one stare. "I haven't seen everything that's available there, so it'll be interesting."
"Th-there's a lot, a-and it d-depends upon wh-where you are," Hanataro said as he emptied bags and set about organizing everything for Kaito to repack; a small stack of books quickly formed next to him and he smiled sheepishly at the amused look Kaito sent him because of it. "I, uhm… I n-never knew th-there were so m-many available," he said in answer. "Th-they aren't… aren't v-very common back home."
Kaito considered that for a moment, then nodded in understanding: with so many Shinigami sleeping in dorms or small rooms like Hanataro's, 'book collecting' was probably the last thing on many people's minds.
Although, since they were on the topic…
"I don't know how much they'll help you, but there are also books written on medicine," he said, unable to resist a grin at the fascinated light that grew in Hanataro's eyes. "I'll ask father to look for a good basic introduction, since it can get complex fast, and I really don't know the first thing about the field." Which was a bit of a lie, but no one needed to know that.
(He'd really rather ignore everything to do with Ryuuken and with being Ishida Uryuu if possible.)
(Less trouble that way.)
"I'll l-look f-forward to it," Hanataro said with a small grin, packing away the last few things into another bag.
"Just stick the empty bags into another one for now, father will sort it out with the rest of the recycling later," Kaito said as he grabbed one of the repacked bags and looped it onto his arm. "Where do you want to go now?"
"Uhmmm…" Hanataro glanced around the street they were on then paused, smiled shyly, and raised a hand in greeting. "H-hello Orihime-san, Ishida-san."
Kaito turned to look, then arched an eyebrow in surprise at the sight of Inoue, Ishida, and Arisawa walking together. Ishida looked a bit bewildered, which was entirely understandable to Kaito; based on the bag of sewing supplies he was carrying, the teen had probably been out shopping when Inoue had spotted him and invited him along.
"Oh! Hanataro-san, Kaito-san, hello there!" Inoue responded cheerfully, hurrying her steps to reach them faster. "Are you exploring the town? How do you like Karakura?"
Hanataro smiled brightly up at Inoue and said, "K-Kaito-san h-has been sh-showing me around, y-yes. Th-there's so m-many interesting p-places here."
Kaito watched Arisawa warily as she stepped closer to him, her expression determined. Whatever Arisawa wanted from him, he had a bad feeling about it.
Arisawa swept her gaze over Hanataro and then Kaito, before she said, "You look better than the last time I saw you."
"Things have… happened since then," Kaito acknowledged a bit warily, pulling his arm free of the bags and tucking his hands away in his sleeves.
"Yes, Orihime's been telling me all about it," Arisawa agreed, wary-sharp-intent in a way that put Kaito further on edge. "Including the details of your recent trip."
Kaito stiffened at her words, trying to gather himself for the reprimand that he was certain was coming; he'd never interacted with Arisawa much in his original timeline, but the few glimpses he'd had of her in both timelines indicated that she truly cared for Inoue. "Arisawa-san—"
"Stop," Arisawa ordered as she raised a hand to reinforce it. "Before you start trying to explain yourself, let me speak," she said, then pointedly waited for him to nod before she continued. "Was it dangerous? Yes. Do I wish Orihime hadn't been involved? Yes. But it was her choice and I want to thank you for taking that seriously and spending the time to help her train."
Kaito froze, too startled to know what to say in response; he'd only trained Inoue because he knew that she'd do everything in her power to follow anyway. To have Arisawa thanking him for it — for the frankly brutal way he'd helped unlock Inoue's powers — felt… wrong.
(Had Inoue really told Arisawa everything, or had she just glossed over the worst of it?)
(He wasn't sure which he preferred…)
Arisawa gave him a thoughtful look as she lowered her hand and settled it on her hip. "I do have one question for you," she said, then pursed his lips, clearly debating how to phrase her question. When Kaito gestured for her to continue, she huffed softly and asked, "Could I learn the same things she did?"
"Ah… perhaps not the exact same things," Kaito answered, then licked his lips and forged on when Arisawa arched an eyebrow at him. "It's a personal thing, how… how your strengths manifest," he continued, hastily avoiding mention of spiritual powers out in the open where anyone could overhear them. "But you have potential."
"Hmm…" Arisawa pursed her lips and glanced at Inoue, who had sat next to Hanataro and was excitedly discussing the town. After a moment of consideration, Arisawa turned back to Kaito and said, "I may take you up on that once my arm is healed."
Kaito stared at her in confusion, wondering what the hell had changed to make Arisawa interested this time.
(Or had she been interested in his previous timeline?)
(It wasn't like he knew Arisawa well at all.)
(*She never brought it up to me,*) Ichigo said with a hint of a frown. (*Hat'n'Clogs never mentioned it either, but I'm… not sure he would have, especially if she asked him not to. But it really is weird, now that you mention it.*) He paused to mull that over, presence flickering with emotions as he looked back at their previous world, before saying, (*You know, she clearly has power — she was awake in Soul Society, last time! — and she's not one to leave herself helpless. So… why was she untrained?*)
(*Maybe she didn't know who to ask last time, or maybe she just wasn't strong enough to join us in Hueco Mundo,*) Kaito suggested. (*I guess we'll never know.*)
"Did I say something strange?" Arisawa asked with a frown. "You look like I spoke a foreign language or something."
"Ah, sorry about that," Kaito said with a thin smile, then glanced over at Inoue warily, wondering what her opinion about this conversation was; he couldn't imagine that Inoue wanted him to subject Arisawa to the same torture that she'd gone through, no matter how powerful it had made her.
But Inoue was focused on her conversation with Hanataro, and if she knew what they were talking about, she'd clearly decided to let Kaito and Arisawa work it out themselves.
(Damn, he almost wished Inoue would simply… put a stop to this conversation.)
(But if she wasn't going to…)
Kaito bit his lip and gathered himself before asking softly, "Did she actually tell you how I trained her, or did she simply tell you that I trained her?"
Understanding crossed Arisawa's features at that, and she nodded slightly as she replied, "She explained what you did in detail."
"And you're okay with that?!" Kaito squawked then hastily cleared his throat and shook his head at Hanataro's confused-worried-uncertain look, hoping his friend would let it be. Inoue's thoughtful look was harder to ignore, but he did his best because he really didn't want to consider what he'd accidentally revealed to her this time. "It's alright," he told them both, "Arisawa-san just surprised me, is all."
Hanataro pursed his lips, but still gave a slow nod and let Inoue draw him back into conversation.
"I refuse to be left behind again," Arisawa hissed at him, planting her good hand on her hip as she did. "If you won't help me—"
Kaito held up a hand to stop her, then sighed and rubbed at his temple as he tried to figure out what to say. "Can we discuss this later?" he asked after a moment. "I'm not… I'm not saying no. But… let me think on it. I really don't want to do that again if I don't have to."
Arisawa nodded, expression lightening as she said, "That's fine. From what she told me, I'm not surprised you wouldn't. And unless you know of any sudden emergencies around the corner, I'm not asking for fast, I just need a chance to learn."
Relief crept through him at her words; if he didn't need to awaken her powers and get her used to them in the span of a couple days, he wouldn't need to— wouldn't need to—
He could just teach her instead of what he'd forced Sado and Inoue through.
"I'll need to speak with my father about… about the best ways to do it—" he didn't know the first thing about training people who weren't Quincy, really— "but I can probably do that."
"Good. I'll come by later to talk with you about it, then," Arisawa said with finality, then moved over a few steps and smiled at Hanataro when the man paused to look up at her in question. "Hey, sorry about that, I needed to ask Urahara-san something. I'm Arisawa Tatsuki, it's nice to meet you."
"N-nice to m-meet you, Arisawa-san," Hanataro replied. "I-I'm Y-Yamada Hanataro."
Kaito watched them interact for a moment, content to just exist, before he remembered Ishida and turned to cast a curious look at the other teen.
Ishida hesitated, unsure of his welcome, then awkwardly stepped closer, his bag of supplies rustling as he adjusted his grip on it. "Hello, Senpai."
"Got swept up in Inoue-san's path?" Kaito asked with a touch of amusement, leaning against the arm of the bench and peering at what Ishida had bought. "Planning on making something?"
Ishida tensed at his idle question, and for a moment Kaito had no idea why, until it suddenly hit him: Ishida expected him to disapprove, just like Ryuuken did!
"There's a lot more options here than where I grew up," Kaito said, thinking about what he'd seen in the marketplace out in the Rukongai; while it had been a well-supplied market with plenty of high-quality materials, it really couldn't compare to the variety that the Living World had to offer. "I've bought some things that were familiar to me so I could start mending my clothes, but the variety is… overwhelming."
(If he'd truly been from the Rukongai, he would absolutely have been overwhelmed by the Living World.)
"You sew?" Ishida asked in surprise, then paused, stared at Kaito thoughtfully, and slowly nodded as he murmured, "Of course you sew, sorry. Uhm… do you… what kind of sewing do you do?"
Kaito shrugged and gave a faint, wry smile as he answered, "I can make and repair clothing, but that's all I ever had the time or supplies for." Which would have been true for someone with his backstory, someone who had to rely on himself for almost everything; he might have had time during the winter to sew things other than clothing, but it would have been unlikely that he'd have had more than scraps to work with.
Ishida fidgeted with his bag of supplies, then hesitantly offered, "If you want, we could go to a fabric store sometime and I could explain anything you haven't seen before?"
Kaito stared at Ishida in surprise, taken aback by the unexpected offer; with how rocky their interactions had been from the start, the idea that Ishida would offer to show him around—
(Except maybe it did make sense.)
(He remembered how much he'd once wanted someone to share his interest in sewing with…)
(He'd even joined the crafts club, even if he'd never really known how to interact with the others.)
(And for that person to be another Quincy?)
(He would have given anything for that.)
(So why would this Ishida be any different?)
Ishida's lips pinched together and he looked away, clearly drawing the wrong conclusion from Kaito's stunned silence and deciding to distance himself before he could be rejected. "Sorry, you probably have—"
"I'd love to," Kaito interrupted, then gave Ishida a small, wry smile when the teen gave him a shocked look. "I never expected that you'd want to interact with me outside of, well…" He tipped his head towards Hanataro in indication, not bothering to finish his thought.
"Oh." Ishida considered him for a moment, then slowly nodded. "That's… understandable. But I don't… it's fine. If… if you're actually interested in learning, I don't mind showing you around."
"Thank you," Kaito said, then couldn't resist smirking at Ishida as he asked, "So, did Inoue-san spot you walking home and invite you along?"
Ishida scowled at him and said, "As if you could have told her no either, Senpai."
Kaito opened his mouth, about to say that he absolutely could refuse her if he wanted to, only for Inoue to call his name and distract him. "Yes?" he asked as he turned back towards her.
"Want to come with us?" Inoue asked brightly. "Hanataro-san said you've been showing him around, but I know you haven't been here that long either, and Tatsuki and I know some places you've probably never been before that I think you'd both like!"
"Oh…" Kaito glanced at Hanataro in question, then huffed when his friend just smiled sheepishly at him. "If Hanataro doesn't mind, then I suppose it's fine."
"I-it's, uhm… I-I'm fine w-with it," Hanataro agreed with a nod, much to Inoue's obvious pleasure.
A spark of fierce amusement-glee-expectation lit up Kaito's senses and he shot Ishida a dark look. "If you laugh at me, or ever bring this up, I will drag you into the training grounds for a nice, friendly spar," he growled lowly, ignoring the laughter coming from Ichigo and Shiro as he did. Those two he would deal with later.
"O-of course, Senpai," Ishida choked out around barely-stifled laughter, eyes gleaming with wicked amusement.
"My kohai is obnoxious," Kaito declared as he rose to his feet and grabbed some of Hanataro's bags. "Come on, before I decide that teaching him a lesson is more interesting than seeing what you'd like to show us."
Inoue laughed at that as she stepped back to give Hanataro room to stand, then nodded in the direction her group had been heading and said, "There's some things just a few blocks down, through a couple side-streets that are easy to overlook."
Kaito hummed, trying to think if he'd ever poked his nose into the area she meant and coming up blank; wherever she intended to lead them, he'd probably passed by it many times in the past. Interesting. "Lead on," he said, then turned to arch an eyebrow at Ishida who was just staring at him, reiatsu edged in shock-disbelief-happiness. "Coming, Ishida-kun?"
"Ah… right, yes," Ishida finally said as he shook off his surprise. "I'm coming."
Kaito gave Ishida a once over, then shrugged and turned away; whatever had shocked Ishida this time, he didn't feel like trying to unravel it.
(He had better things to do anyway.)
(It was enough to know that Ishida would never become him.)
(He didn't need to know anything else.)
(He was content.)