Chapter II
Exiting through the doors out of yet another captains meeting, Isshin mulled over the news about the coming wars. Yamamoto had played for them a recording of Ichigo speaking about his time fighting in Hueco Mundo against hollows and Aizen, and his subsequent failures to beat Juha Bach by himself. Everyone left the meeting stuck with their own thoughts swirling at the thought that half of them would be gone within the next two centuries.
"Captain Shiba!" called the ever composed and smiling Captain Unohana. "May I have a moment of your time?" At his abrupt halt and nod, Unohana asked, "Can you and Lieutenant Kaien Shiba meet me in my office? There's something we need to discuss."
Isshin let out a boisterous laugh, "Two young men meeting you privately in your office? Oh what will everyone say should they hear of this?" Unohana's brow twitched at his antics.
"Captain Shiba, do keep in mind who is in charge of your check ups and evaluations. It would be a shame that the tenth division had to pick up the slack of your paperwork because you had to stay overnight for a few days because of a possible health risk."
"And now she's asking me to stay with her overnight? Oh my poor innocent soul, whatever will I do?" He yelled out causing the shinigami performing their duties out in the streets to stare at the loud captain. Isshin swore he could see a young brunette girl blushing.
"I promise to run every invasive test with overly large needles should this continue." Isshin yelped in fear.
"Now, now, Retsu, there's no reason to overreact," Isshin pleaded. Unohana's brow had an enlarging vein that pulsed in time with her anger. With a huff, she turned her back to the infuriating captain and strutted back towards her office. Isshin smirked in victory at once again getting through her perfect mask before closing his eyes and casting his senses outward for the familiar signature of reiatsu of his head of house and nephew. It seemed like he wasn't in the office.
"That's strange," Isshin thought, "Whenever Ukitake was in a meeting Kaien would be there to keep order of the division. That he would go against this habit implies something serious must have happened." Running in a shunpo Isshin expanded his range and found Kaien's signature at the edge of the Seireitei a few blocks away from the west gate. Right beside him was the signature of the less familiar 3rd seat. "What was her name again? Miyako?" Both the lieutenant and third seat together could only be cause for concern.
"Who fucked up so badly that it warrented the both of them?" Isshin mused.
Speeding up to meet them, he stopped on an adjacent roof. Looking down at the situation, he saw the two of them were not in fact disciplining a squad mate, but actually were sitting down together at a table for lunch. Looking at the sign displayed on the building, Isshin saw they were seated on the outside patio of a tea shop. He quickly realized they were on a date judging by the flirtatious glances and smiles. He almost hated to interrupt judging by the looks shared, however this created an excellent opportunity to tease his young nephew. Landing beside their table, Isshin adopted a wide smile and threw his arm around Kaien's neck.
"Hello my adorable, innocent nephew. Who is this delightful lady that is way out of your league?"
"Uncle Isshin," Kaien growled, "What are you doing here, other than bothering me?"
"Ah! My sweet nephew is angry at me! What did I do to receive such cruel treatment?" Isshin cried.
Kaien just continued to glare at Isshin. Kaien normally tolerated his uncle's behavior, especially since he was similar in wanting to have fun while working, but this was Kaien's first date with Miyako. They had been working alongside each other ever since Captain Ukitake had collapsed into his coughing fit. Miyako had offered to share the load of paperwork when she saw Kaien stuck behind his desk late at night struggling to juggle both the captain's and his own duties. Running a division is not easy, much less for someone who had no previous experience. Kaien was appreciative of her efforts as they slowly bonded and grew to be great friends.
They had been trying to find time for the last two months where their schedules allowed them to both be off duty for a day out to relax and better feel each other out. He had finally worked up the nerve to ask Miyako on a date and now his uncle has completely ruined it.
Isshin tightened his hold around his neck before whispering something into his ear. When he pulled away, Kaien's back was rigid and his face was pale. He rose quickly from his chair and bowed to Miyako. He apologized for having to cut their date short and offered an explanation in the coming days. Both Shiba men then quickly left for Unohana's office while Miyako was left staring at her empty table bemused at how her day had so abruptly shifted.
Miyako had known that Kaien was interested in her for some time, and while she doesn't usually agree with some cultural norms that the man has to ask the woman out on a date, she did know that if he wasn't willing or able to take that first step of overcoming his fear they would never be able to have a real relationship. You have to ask uncomfortable questions in a relationship and you have to push boundaries to find what topics your potential spouse is not capable of speaking about. A very hard line needs to be drawn otherwise there will be a day where you unknowingly step on a landmine filled with suppressed aggression.
Miyako had heard rumors of a squad 11 seated officer who was acting irrationally in the healing ward and had said something incredibly stupid to Captain Unohana. Apparently he was hospitalized and she had only given the bare minimum of treatment before leaving him to heal on his own. He was stuck in the ward for almost 3 months. He resigned from his post the moment he was released from the hospital and quit being a shinigami all together. Miyako amused herself with idle thoughts while she sipped the rest of her tea. Even if her date was now gone, she still had the rest of the day to enjoy. The tenth squad lieutenant Rangiku Matsumoto had mentioned an excellent spa bath being nearby, perhaps she should check it out. With a blinding smile that would've sent Kaien stumbling had he seen it, she practically skipped to indulge herself at the spa.
Isshin and Kaien arrived just outside the squad four captain's office. On their trip over they were conversing about why one of the founding captains wanted to speak to them. Isshin kept making ridiculous claims of Kaien secretly having a bastard child without telling anyone much to his chagrin. He didn't want any rumors spreading to Miyako, the thought of bastard children can be quite the damper on romance. He was far too young to have a kid! He was only a little over 200. Kaien in return would say Isshin had flirted too much with Unohana and was being blamed for something, and Kaien was required to oversee his sentence of execution. No protest Isshin could offer convinced Kaien that he wasn't interested in the older captain.
"I am just saying that you are always telling her annoying jokes. Most people would assume you secretly admire her."
"How many times do I have to say it Kaien? I don't like her like that!"
"So you do like her?"
"As a captain class shinigami, skill with the sword, and an excellent record as a healer, yes I do admire her. As an individual I would be interested in, not a chance in hell."
"What do you mean?" Kaien asked in confusion.
"She has a mask that hides the demon underneath, and that's all I'm willing to say. I've been there when she let it out, it isn't pretty. During the last uprising in Rukongai, she left a trail of bodies that stained the ground and turned the nearby streams into rivers of blood." Kaien gulped at the news. "But, when you annoy her to her face, she only lets out a sliver of the devil to try and scare you. She tries to keep the mask firmly in place except when she wants to remove it and I am one of the only people who have unwillingly gotten her mad enough where she couldn't contain herself. She's like a shy maiden hiding her bosom underneath layers of clothing."
Kaien never understood how his uncle could flip on a dime between offering a serious warning to not piss her off too much, to joking around calling her a maiden. But all Shibas have a screw loose somewhere. It helps prevent them from having a stick up their ass. Deciding to quiet down less she hear them, they both shut their mouths before someone said something stupid.
Upon their knocking, Unohana led them into her office. Unlike Yamamoto's strict and spartan room, Unohana's office was colored a soft green and creamy tan furniture. There were two large leather couches on the side for a more relaxed meeting area should the topic not be of importance where they sat down waiting for her to reveal what, Kaien, thought was an emergency. Isshin's whispering had led Kaien to the worst possibilities.
"As I'm sure you are aware Kaien, there was an anomaly in the dangai," Unohana said pleasantly while brewing a pot of tea.
"Captain Ukitake was a little vague on the details. He did mention something about a boy with a high reiatsu falling through a portal."
"Yes, his name is Ichigo. He said he was from the future." Unohana and Isshin sat quietly observing as Kaien absorbed the information. Time travel has always been a fanciful idea to ask around with friends about decisions they wished they could change, or what they could've accomplished had they had better information at the time.
Kaien had only been a shinigami for a short time. He graduated the academy in two years, a record only broken by Gin Ichimaru, the third seat of squad five, before he quickly ascended the ranks to join Jūshirō's side. But in that short window of time he had the misfortune of having sent men to their deaths. He wished he could send in the right team if only he had the proper information. But Kaien could not let the guilt and regret take hold. If he blamed himself for every mishap in the field, he would never be able to last in this profession. He loved being a shinigami. For Kukaku, for Ganju, for his parents, for the rest of his clan, he would bear the burden so he could protect them.
"Shibas are protectors," his parents had told him. He would uphold that vow he made that night to protect his family.
Collecting his thoughts Kaien asked, "My captain seemed to have forgotten to tell me that part." Both captains let out a quiet laugh at his attempt.
"The head captain put out a gag order for the information to remain amongst the captains. We had a meeting to discuss the information Ichigo shared. He was a survivor from a war that's been building for the last thousand years."
"Why are you telling me then? If this is for captains only, why am I included?"
"Ichigo's lineage," was her reply. For a moment Kaien's blood ran cold. All of Isshin's remarks of him having a child out of wedlock were at the forefront of his mind. Was Ichigo his kid from the future?
"During the captains meeting, the only information Yamamoto revealed was that war was coming and he was apart of it. What we didn't discuss was who his parents were."
"Shit!" Kaien thought. "This is it, she's telling me I have a son!" Panicking internally about what this could mean, Kaien put all of his noble born training to work to hide his racing thoughts behind a mask of indifference.
"Congratulations, you have a son," Unohana turned away from Kaien, "Isshin." Kaien let out a shuddering breath. Unohana offered Kaien a wink at her prank.
"Be sure to take responsibility," she teased. Isshin just stared gaping at her uncomprehendingly, his mouth slacking. He closed his mouth and then opened it again to say something but the words wouldn't come out. For a minute he repeated this pattern before Kaien gave his uncle a hard slap on his back, sending the captain forward in his seat.
"Wow uncle. A bastard, who would have thought you'd be sleeping around getting random girls pregnant." Isshin still didn't say a word. Putting his palms on his forehead, Isshin leaned his elbows onto his knees.
"Are you sure?" He asked quietly.
"I haven't cross referenced any blood tests, but given the amount of family history we discussed and all the other secrets he shouldn't know, I am inclined to believe him. I have already had his blood drawn when examining any possibility of poison being in his wounds or residue left from the dangai's walls," said Unohana, passing a folder of Ichigo's records to them to review.
"I want you to know the only reason you two are here is because you," she looked at Kaien, "are his clan head, should he be integrated into the Shiba clan, and you," looking at Isshin, "are his father. I take patient confidentiality quite seriously. Please don't reveal anything you don't already know right now.
"I talked to Ichigo for several hours," she said, "and what I discovered is that he has continually been pushing himself to grow stronger. While it may sound admirable, I believe it has become a coping mechanism. His life has been filled with danger and he was forced to adapt or die. Instead of taking a breath to relax and take time to process, he would instead start a new training technique or person to learn under. He has become more accustomed to being in battle than out of it. He hasn't been dealing with his problems, he's just been forcing them down so far, he can't acknowledge they're even there anymore," Unohana finished gravely.
Closing the folder after reading through it, Isshin stared her in the eyes and asked, "What can we do?" Unohana let out a small smile that the two looked determinedly back at her willing to help their unknown relative. They haven't even talked to him and already they were looking like they would go against orders from Central 46 themselves. All other nobles would say Shibas are bullheaded fools, lacking all social graces and self-preservation, but no one can deny that they are loyal to the core. If a family member is in danger, they'd drop everything, if they were hurt or betrayed, the entire clan would come howling for blood. No petty thing like rules, laws, orders, or unknown information would prevent them from protecting their own. Even if they had to travel to the furthest reaches of the Rukongai to save their clan member from hollows or kidnapping.
"Isshin, I'm not going to lie, Ichigo can't completely trust you, it will be your job to ask the hard questions, even if you know he won't answer them. Kaien, as someone new to his life, you have to be the person willing to keep the door always open and a bed to sleep in."
"What do you mean he can't trust me?" Isshin asked.
"You, or rather your future self, often left Ichigo to fend for himself. While it is clear he loved his father, and he most certainly loved Ichigo in turn, I think he feels betrayed."
"Betrayed?" Isshin shouted standing over her. "I would never betray my son!"
"I don't mean you would do so intentionally," Unohana calmly replied. "Please understand that this is only my belief from what little I've observed. We talked about how Ichigo made a name for himself in his town defending himself from thugs and bullies, you'd patch him up after the fight but you never attempted to intervene. He also said that you never informed him of his abilities or heritage until he was fifteen and already fighting in a war as a captain class shinigami."
She paused a moment before continuing, "I want you to understand that I'm not blaming what your future self has done. What decisions he made could have been the best option available to him, or maybe he thought it was the best method in keeping his son safe." Isshin let out a sigh and apologized, "Sorry. I guess I am just a bit stressed from reading the report." The record listed multiple puncture wounds inflicted into nerve clusters and aggressively twisted and torn out. The kind not meant to ask questions during interrogation, but purely for the inflictors sadistic amusement.
"As Nodt," Unohana practically whispered. "Ichigo hardly said a word about it, wanting to change the subject, but he said As Nodt was the one who pierced him with those thorn wounds. I couldn't get the name of the person who whipped his back but he said it was a woman. He was only held by the quincy for a couple of weeks, but that kind of trauma lingers. I am amazed he's as intact as he is. He's a real Shiba," Unohana whispered. Isshin and Kaien tightened their fists in anger that someone hurt Ichigo. They vowed to kill As Nodt before Ichigo ever saw his hide or hair again.
"As I was saying before because Ichigo can't completely trust you, it will be Kaien's job to look after him. Whatever you do, don't push him. Let him come to you. Let him decide what he can and can't say, and then eventually he might open up. There is no guarantee that he'll do so. He might say a little thing, he might say a lot, just always keep an open mind no matter what you hear.
"But don't be a pushover either," Unohana said passionately. "If he did something stupid or horrible, offer advice on ways he could have improved or changed his Shibas always go charging in, tell him an alternative. If you never give anything negative, he'll distance himself from you, emotionally speaking, because he won't trust you. Try mostly positive reinforcement with a little discipline sprinkled in."
"You have my word that I'll do whatever I can to help Ichigo," Kaien finally spoke up.
"One last piece of advice," Unohana said. "Sometimes trauma needs to be suppressed. While contradictory to what I've been saying so far, there are some people who can't deal with their trauma because what they have been suppressing is too painful. Living with that buried in you is unhealthy, but it certainly beats being unresponsive to the outside world because they've become trapped by visions of the past. I don't think that's the case with Ichigo here, but be careful." They nodded in acknowledgement at her wise words before departing the office.
Taking a breath of fresh air the two Shibas stopped by the gardens of the hospital courtyard. Enjoying the silence they sat on a bench both wondering at the development of a new Shiba arriving from the future.
"So, off to see your baby boy next?" Kaien asked smirking. "Or do you want to be the one to go tell Kukaku you got a girl pregnant?"
Isshin's face paled at his violent niece and the beating she'll likely give him at having a child out of wedlock- or at least that's what he'll have to tell her. Isshin knew that the knowledge of Ichigo being from the future must be kept secret at all costs. If central 46 heard he was, they'll probably have him executed the moment they hear the balance remains in the future to prevent any possible outcome of him negatively influencing it. No deed is too evil or unnecessary in their eyes in maintaining the balance, even if that meant massacring thousands in the Rukongai or a hundred newborn babies. They are hardly noble like their titles imply.
Isshin always tried to uphold his family values. He was fortunate to be born into a noble family and it was his duty to help those under him. Whether that is in his work as a shinigami slaying hollows or as a man helping someone who has dropped their groceries, he puts in the effort to help those around him. Though he has no shame in pushing his paperwork off onto his lieutenant. They didn't really get along and he'll probably transfer out in a few years. Every person had their flaws and Isshin acknowledged that he could be lazy unless the situation called for it. However, he was loyal. And Ichigo is his son, so no matter what comes his way he'll be there for him, even if that meant lying to his niece to protect him, and possibly receiving the worst beating in his life from her.
"Yeah, let's go."
Their trip was short, and all too soon Isshin was outside the door to Ichigo's room. Taking a deep breath to settle his nerves he knocked on the door.
"Come in," came a quiet reply. Inside Ichigo was just putting on a fresh change of clothes as the door slid open. A sharp intake of air had Ichigo glancing over his shoulder at his guests. What he had thought was more doctors to take a few more tests turned out to be his own father and a slightly older version of himself had he been born with black hair.
"Dad," Ichigo startled Isshin out of the sight he had come into, the faded crisscrossing scars Unohana had finished healing. Her skill in healing is unrivaled, but the residue left from the Quincy's attacks still remained leaving her unable to completely erase the scars. The Quincy specialize in destroying souls, but due to the more recent war, the fourth division had come up with techniques to mitigate or flush out their reiatsu to better heal their patients.
"Ichigo," Isshin tested out. The name rolled nicely off his tongue. Isshin hadn't thought about what he would name his children should he eventually have any, but Ichigo sounded nice, a strong name. One guardian. It also gave him the ability to tease him by calling him strawberry from the other meaning of the name.
"Hi Ichigo," Kaien interrupted with a large smile. "As you may know, I'm Kaien Shiba the head of the Shiba clan, it's nice to meet you," he finished with a flourished bow.
Ichigo stared at him dubiously, he could see the resemblance in mannerisms to his father. From the stories Ichigo had heard, Kaien was a prodigy who breezed through the academy in only two years before immediately joining the 13th division, quickly rising in rank to serve alongside Ukitake after only five years. He was practically praised as a saint who could do no wrong, but considering that came from his siblings and Rukia, he took their judgement with a grain of salt.
Offering a polite bow Ichigo remained silent staring at his lookalike. The room filled with awkwardness as they all stared at eachother, everyone hoping someone else knew what to say to say to break the tension. It was Kaien who mustered up the courage, or stupidity, to tease Ichigo, "Would you look at him Uncle, the universe decided I was so handsome that it needed another to share in my splendor. How does that make you feel? Then your offspring would look more like me than you?" Isshin looked like someone kicked a puppy right in front of him, shocked, slightly angered, and pained.
"My nephew is so mean to me!" Isshin wailed. Ichigo just sighed with a fond smile. Not even traveling back 200 years can change his father from acting like a child. It pained him to see his father look at him like a stranger. His father had secretly been teaching him a few Hakuda techniques while they were play fighting in the mornings, he also taught him the Final Getsuga Tenshou, which in turn was the catalyst which allowed him to bring out the real Zengetsu. He will always be grateful to his father even if he can be an insufferable pain in the ass.
While Ichigo was lost in his thoughts, the other Shibas were watching his reaction. They took Unohana's words to heart and didn't want to possibly overwhelm ichigo too quickly. Had Ichigo been able to read their minds he most certainly would have pummeled them for acting like he's delicate. He had won two wars and practically killed gods. He didn't want their pity.
After the war he had felt complete and finally asked Orihime to be his girlfriend. For the longest time he felt unworthy, no that's not quite right, he felt incapable of offering what she was looking for. Ichigo wasn't an idiot. While it is true he could certainly be oblivious to certain things he realized Orihime was attracted to him. So, together over the next five years, they slowly opened up to each other, speaking things they could only say if one had complete trust in one another. Much like when Orihime shielded him from Juha Bach's attacks, she offered him a shield where he couldn't be judged from the outside world. His secrets laid bare of his time spent in captivity of the Quincy.
While As Noct could inflict fear with his thorns as he methodically stabbed him for information, it was Bambietta Basterbine that truly scared him. She had an inferiority complex a milewide she hides behind a just as enormous mask of pride. Her sense of pride demanded her to humiliate Ichigo when he refused to bow to her whims. Stripped naked and shackled by reiatsu draining cuffs made from sekiseki stone, he was nearly as helpless as a normal human. She whipped him until he collapsed in agony and then to add salt in the wound, she would rape him until completion. Her poisonous filthy words echoed in his mind for weeks.
When Ichigo finally revealed what happened to him as the Quincy's prisoner Ichigo had the misfortune of seeing Orihime's face turn wrathful. An unhappy Orihime is an unpleasant sight to behold, but her enraged face is a hundred times worse. Ichigo hated Basterbine with every fibre of his being, but even he questioned if she deserved facing Orihime looking like that. Zangetsu egging her on in the back of his mind certainly didn't help matters. Even if he didn't admit to himself that he absolutely wanted to see Basterbine scream in fright at the normally pascifist exert the inner darkness suppressed in her soul.
"So as I was saying," Kaien interrupted Isshin's crying, "While this may seem strange and unorthodox, especially since this is the first time we're meeting, I would like to extend my hand for you to formally join the Shiba clan."
Ichigo was stunned. He knew all Shibas are crazy, but this… wasn't there supposed to be some kind of screening before a noble family accepts a new member? I mean what if he was an excellent lier who just bullshitted his way through Unohana's questions? If Aizen could incriminate Kisuke and Tessai into being the masterminds behind hollowfying the captains he ambushed in front of the entire Central 46, surely he could bluff to the female captain? Casting off his wayward thoughts Ichigo answered as honestly as he could, "I would like that." With the simple agreement his fate was sealed; the Shibas would look after their own.