As the first ray of water hit his chest Ichigo realised his Zanpakutō and Kon had been right. Really, he shouldn't have fought them on it thinking he knew better, he rarely was when it concerned his own wellbeing. Feeling the water pour down on his skin, washing away the grime, dirt, and blood had been exactly what he needed. The heat soaked into his muscles, easing them out of their tight coiled-up state that today's events had tied them in. It gave him a sense of closure, that the fight had been fought and that he had succeeded in protecting what needed to be protected—that he too was safe—and he could relax.

Though Ichigo knew it wasn't over quite yet and that the most difficult part might be yet to come.

'You done, yet?' Kon's muffled voice asked through the bathroom door. 'You're taking forever'.

'I'm not', Ichigo denied. 'And, almost'.

The last bits of soap vanished down the drain and Ichigo turned off the faucet with a twist of his wrist. With renewed energy and peace of mind did Ichigo get out of the shower and dried himself off with the guest towel. After giving his hair a quick rub down he dressed in the spare yukata he had brought with him. His clothes were still in the wash but that didn't mean he couldn't get back into his body.

'Finally', Kon said as Ichigo unlocked the bathroom door. 'Took you almost fifteen minutes! What are you, a girl?'

'Even if I were, fifteen minutes isn't that long', Ichigo replied as he put his zanpakutō down and against the wall. 'You're just impatient'.

Kon rolled his eyes, 'Whatever you say'.

'Still, thanks for insisting. I needed that shower more than I thought'.

'It's nothing', Kon dismissed as he shut off his phone.

Ichigo knelt down beside him and put a hand on Kon's chest. Pressing his palm into the breastbone he effectively ejected the ModSoul from his body. He caught the small orb with his free hand and gave it a quick wipe down before he put it into the lion plush Kon had on his lap.

'I should find you a new body someday', Ichigo said. 'I don't think Ūryū will be able to extend the life on that one for much longer'.

'Finally!' Kon exclaimed, jumping up and off the lap. 'Take me with you when you do, I want to make sure you don't put me in an abandoned, roadkill toy again! I deserve a nice body that does my amazing personality justice!'

'That, you do', Ichigo agreed in a murmur. He slipped back into his body, feeling the many bruises Kon had acquired thanks to Kazui. Those he didn't mind that much, what he did mind was how tight his skin felt around his soul. Not just uncomfortable but one-wrong-move-and-he-would-tear-his-body-apart kind of tight. It would fade after a while, Ichigo knew. Though it concerned him how severe it felt.

'You okay, Ichigo?' Kon asked with genuine concern.

'I think so'. He carefully flexed his fingers. 'I might need to let Urahara check me over'.

'Why? There wasn't anything wrong with your body'.

'I don't know. It feels tighter than normal'.

'It's not just you growing old, is it?'

Ichigo gave the ModSoul a deadpan look, 'I'm not that old, Kon'.

'Just checking', Kon assured. 'But you aren't gonna tear it to shreds, are you?'

'I hope not'.

'Wait, that's a possibility?!'

'Uhm, yeah?' Ichigo looked at the lion on the floor before him. 'Did you think I wear those seals for fun?'

'You wear seals?' Kon sounded betrayed. 'I thought you'd got better at control!'

'I may have improved but I am not that good', Ichigo said as he rose to his feet. He hadn't even reached his full height when darkness claimed his sight. He felt his back hit the wall as his legs failed to support him, the ground unforgiving as it caught him. He was aware of someone shouting but it took Ichigo a moment before he realised it was Kon.

'Hey! Hey! Ichigo! You alright? Say something!'

Ichigo fought his eyelids open—when had he closed them?—and the darkness slowly faded as the light reached his eyes once more. His head more or less rolled down to look at the ModSoul who was hitting his thigh with his stuffed arms.

'You with me?! Say something, dammit!'

'Yeah, I'm with you', Ichigo breathed out, awkwardly moving his hand to rest on Kon's head. 'I'm…I'm with you'.

'What the Hell just happened?!'

'I think the—the adrenaline is finally wearing off'.

'Nu-uh, that had already worn off when you arrived', Kon countered. 'Something is wrong'.

'No, there isn't—'

'You only stood up and you sound like you just ran a marathon!'

'I don't—'

'I'm gonna get Ki—'

Ichigo pushed Kon down, pinning him in place. 'No, you're not'.

'You nearly fainted!'

'I just got a bit lightheaded', Ichigo denied. 'I must have stood up too fast. It happens'.

'Liar, liar, pants on fire!'

'Not now, Kon!' Ichigo hissed. 'I've got two taichō that need assurances, two spirits that need to be kept safe, and a son that really shouldn't be sleeping right now. I can ask Urahara to look me over later'.

His second attempt to stand went a lot more smoothly. Stretching his legs and finding them sore but movable, Ichigo carefully stood up. He took a moment to give the rest of his body a quick stretch as well to get the worst of the aches out before he scooped Kon up, grabbed his zanpakutō, and started to walk down the hallway and towards the guestroom where Kisuke had told Kazui was sleeping.

After waking his son and giving him a simple, child-friendly explanation of what had happened, Ichigo spared some time to call his wife to assure her everything was alright as he had promised her to do. Ten minutes later he was finally done with all his tasks and he could get to the main point of the evening.

'I'm sorry for the wait', Ichigo apologised as he entered the tearoom. He had his son at his side and Kon on his shoulder. 'I had some things to take care off'.

'It is no problem, Kurosaki-san', Jūshirō assured. 'We have all the time that is needed'.

'And who is the little one?' Kyoraku asked. 'Don't think we've met him before'.

Kazui perked up at being noticed and he gave the two captains a big smile, 'Hello!'

'You haven't?' Ichigo questioned. 'I thought that—No, wait. You were sick that day'. Inconsistency resolved, he shook his head and let go of his son's hand. 'Go on'.

'My name's Kurosaki Kazui, pleased to meet you', Kazui introduced, giving a quick but deep bow.

'He's your son?' Jūshirō asked with a hint of surprise. When Ichigo nodded the captain looked between the two before giving a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. 'My, the time really goes fast, doesn't it?'

'Yet it drags its feet at the same time', Shunsui agreed.

Jūshirō nodded before he turned his attention to the youngest member of the Kurosaki-Family. 'It is nice to meet you too, Kazui-kun. My name is Ukitake Jūshirō, I am an acquaintance of your tou-san'.

'And my name is Kyoraku Shunsui. It is nice to see a face to go with the name'.

Kazui looked at them with curious eyes, taking note of the white haori they both wore. 'Are you…are you Taichō?'

The two captains raised their brows at the question, eyes going to Ichigo for an explanation of his son's knowledge.

'Hime and I decided to not keep a lot of secrets about the Afterlife', Ichigo told as he moved over to the table with his son. 'It is a too large part of our lives to keep hidden and I know from experience that it will only hurt him in the long run'.

'How much have you told him?' Shunsui asked.

'The basics about Souls, the main four races, and the three worlds', Ichigo replied.

Kazui hummed and nodded, chest forward in pride. 'Uh-huh. I know there is the Living World, the Hollow World, and Soul Society—that's where baa-chan lives!'

Ichigo smiled, ruffling his son's hair in praise. Kazui didn't see it that way, batting at his father's hand with a whine.

'And you don't mind if he is here while we discuss?' Jūshirō asked.

'I doubt we will talk about things he doesn't already know and even if we do, he will probably stop paying attention after ten minutes', Ichigo waved off. 'Besides, I couldn't let him continue sleeping if I still want him in bed at a decent hour tonight'.

'The joys of parenthood', Shunsui said.

Ichigo looked at his son who eagerly accepted Kisuke's offering of drawing supplies, his bright smile bringing one to the surface on his own face. 'Wouldn't trade it for the world'.

'Don't worry about me. I'll be quiet and pay good attention!' Kazui said before focussing on the blank piece of paper before him.

With his child occupied, Ichigo turned his attention to the two captains across from him. 'So, first things first, what are your opinions on the matter?'

'From what I have seen I don't think your Zanpakutō will cause any problems', Shunsui told. 'Your Tensa Zangetsu didn't do anything any other Zanpakutō wouldn't have done, aside from the obvious'.

'I concur. We arrived there a little before, uhm... you were disarmed', Jūshirō said carefully. 'I will admit, to see your Zanpakutō react so strongly made me fear it would be him we would have to fight next but he was surprisingly in control of himself'.

'Hollowfication, at least the kind we are discussing here, doesn't cause Souls to suddenly crave other Souls', Kisuke piped up. 'From what I understand it takes away or suppresses certain emotions and amplifies others. For example, without a heart, they experience love differently, or not at all, while their anger will be more intense'.

'So, whatever he was feeling before he Hollowfied made him angrier once he lost the ability to feel them?' Jūshirō questioned.

'It depends', Ichigo said. 'Sometimes those emotions just cease to be, other times—like when he is already mad—it fuels his anger'.

'I take it today was an example of the latter', Shunsui noted. When Ichigo nodded the captain smiled, 'So we're talking about a Hollowfied Zanpakutō Spirit who in blind rage still shows more restraint than some people in the Gotei Thirteen?'

'In a nutshell, yes', Kisuke confirmed. 'Kurosaki-san's Zanpakutō has tremendous control. You can literally poke him with a stick while he is Hollowfied and he will at the most break the stick and yell in your face'.

Jūshirō chuckled, 'I believe that to be a fair response in such a situation'.

'So... does that mean we're good?' Ichigo asked.

The two captains could only offer him sympathy.

'I'm afraid we can't leave until there is a measure taken that can satisfy all parties', Jūshirō told.

'If it were up to us, we wouldn't even have this discussion', Shunsui added. 'However, if we don't take some form of cautionary measure, Yama-jii might blow a fuse and then we would really have a problem'.

Ichigo heaved a sigh, 'Of course'. He had known it was hopeful thinking but it had been worth asking.

'Perhaps a tracker would be sufficient?' Kisuke proposed. 'A way to keep track of their location and Energy should be more than enough to keep the old man at ease'.

A tracker? Ichigo mulled the idea over. That should be fine, right? Especially if Kisuke could adjust it so that Soul Society would get slightly altered data… 'Would that be enough?'

The two captains shared a look, words going back and forth with only their eyes to convey them.

'That… might be enough', Jūshirō said carefully.

'And if I wear one too?' Ichigo suggested. 'Would that help?'

Shunsui smiled, 'I think that would, actually'.

'So if Urahara makes Zangetsu and me a tracker, we are all good?'

'If we say Urahara-san and Isshin-san are also keeping an eye out then yes', Jūshirō said.

Ichigo felt a weight fall off his shoulders. He had been prepared to fight tooth and nail to keep his Zanpakutō "free", to find that wouldn't be needed was a relief.

'Uhm, tou-san?'

Ichigo looked at his side, 'Yeah, Kazui?'

'What's a tracker?'

'That's something you use to know where someone is'.

Kazui frowned, wiggling the colouring pencil between his fingers as he took in that information. He turned to the captains across of them, 'Why do you need something to know where tou-san and jii-san are?'

The room went silent, the rather pleasant and easy-going mood vanishing at the simple question that laid the bias bare. They all knew it was unfair but how do you explain the reasoning behind it to a child of barely five years of age?

Kisuke chuckled, 'A very good question, Kazui-chan. I'm sure your tou-san will answer that'.

'Wha— why do I have to explain it?! It isn't my fault!'

'But it was you who let Kazui sit with us', Kisuke countered with a smile. 'Any questions he may have because of that are your responsibility to answer'.

Well, Ichigo couldn't exactly argue that logic now, could he? He hadn't expected his son to actually pay much attention to the conversation, especially when he had something to occupy him. I guess that was a mistake on my part, Kazui had said he would be listening.

'Tou-san?' Kazui looked at his father with curiosity and slight unease.

Ichigo knew that everything he said would be like paint in Kazui's hands, paint that his child would use to colour his view of the world. Lying would give Kazui the wrong colours and would cause him to mix them incorrectly later. Ichigo didn't want the painting Kazui was making to be too different from the original, for it would mean his son would need to paint over it once he was old enough to understand.

'The trackers are there in case a dangerous situation occurs', Ichigo said carefully.

'But tou-san and jii-san are like, the strongest!'

'Even strong people can be taken by surprise, Kazui', Ichigo told. 'And jii-san and I have gotten hurt during our fight, remember? So if we get into big trouble, they will know where to find us'.

'Oh~' Kazui nodded in understanding. 'Oh, okay'.

'It seems your son likes your Zanpakuto quite a bit', Jūshirō noted.

Kazui nodded with a smile as he piped up, 'Uh-huh, that's cuz chichi-ue is the best!'

'Chichi-ue?' Shunsui repeated.

'Yeah, he—' Big grey eyes went even wider, hands going up to cover his mouth as Kazui looked at his father with panic.

Ichigo sighed, ruffling his son's hair. 'It's okay'.

'I suppose there is a secret behind "chichi-ue" that we can't know?' Shunsui guessed.

'Normal people, can't know', Ichigo corrected. 'When Kazui was younger he called Zangetsu "chichi-ue", which caused some confusion when he started talking about his parents at school'. Even after clearing it up with Kon in another Gigai, Ichigo still got distrusting glares from the teacher and other parents who thought he was cheating on his wife with men.

'Still, it makes one wonder', Jūshirō mused. 'Kazui-kun, is there a reason why—'

A wave of Spiritual Pressure rippled through the room. The captains sat up a tad more straight, their eyes flicking to the doorway that led to the hallway. Katen hummed, taking another sip of her tea. Kisuke tried to not make it obvious he had taken notice of it as well, pouring himself another cup of tea. Ichigo cocked his head a little as if he were trying to listen to the source of everyone's sudden alertness. He wasn't. Merely acknowledging the presence of one certain Pressure. Kazui, however, took the out when it arrived.

'Jii-san!' He sat up straight, the pencil he had still been holding almost flying from his hand. He made move to stand up but Ichigo kept him down.

'No, Jii-san needs some time for themselves'.

'How do you know?'

'Cuz one: jii-san is part of my soul and I know them very well. Two: if they wanted us around, they would have come here'.

Kazui crossed his arms with a huff, 'But I love jii-san'.

'And they love you too but sometimes people need space', Ichigo explained.

'Like kaa-san and tou-san sometimes?'

'Yeah, just like kaa-san and tou-san'.

Kazui nodded in understanding. Sometimes, after a really bad nightmare, his mother and father needed a moment to themselves. They often brought Kazui to one of his many aunts and uncles for the day or the remaining parent would take care of him.

'Does jii-san also have bad dreams?' Kazui asked.

Ichigo hesitated but nodded, 'Yeah'.

'Then I will make them a nice drawing!' Kazui declared before abandoning his current project and starting anew with vigour.

'If I may? Would it be possible for me to have a talk with Tensa Zangetsu-san?' Katen asked. 'I understand he may not appreciate us all asking questions', Katen said. 'However, if only one of us were to ask them it might not be as much of an issue'.

Ichigo glanced to the side, gauging his Zanpakutō's Pressure. 'I don't know... I would have to ask'.

'Can I ask?' Kazui piped up.

'What about your drawing?'

'That can wait. I wanna see Jii-san!'

'You saw him just this morning', Ichigo pointed out.

'But that was just Getsu jii-san. I haven't seen—'

Ichigo opened his mouth to intervene.

'—Tensa jii-san yet!'

But it wasn't needed. Ichigo blinked, mouth closing. He noticed? Not only had his son sensed both spirits, but he had also correctly identified which form the Quincy Zanpakutō was in. Could I have done that at his age if I had been trained? Would mom— He swallowed hard. 'E-even so, jii-san isn't feeling well, neither of them are'.

'So?' Kazui challenged. 'Doesn't mean I can't see them'.

Ichigo sighed, 'They won't like it if you're loud'.

'Then I will be quiet'.

'They aren't going to play with you'.

'I know that!' Kazui crossed his arms. 'I just wanna see them, that's all'. And escape the questions the captains might ask him while he was at it.

Ichigo was suspicious. Kazui wasn't normally as insistent as he was now. Perhaps he had missed Tensa? It was rare for the Quincy Zanpakutō to materialise, no matter which form he was in. How long ago was it now? Almost half a year?

'Please, tou-san. I haven't seen him in forever!'

So it was that. Ichigo sighed and Kazui's hope skyrocketed.

'Alright—'

Kazui cheered and immediately made for the door but Ichigo caught him.

'No, not yet. You first have to listen to me'.

'Tou-san—'

Ichigo cut him off, 'No, Kazui. I mean it. Look at me. You need to do the same whenever kaa-san or tou-san needs space, do you understand?'

'Wait, Kurosaki-san', Jūshirō interjected. 'You aren't actually—'

'Understood', Kazui said seriously, ignoring the captain.

'Okay, then what will you do?'

'No running, only walking', Kazui said. 'I will knock and wait for them to answer'.

'And then?'

'Uhm...' Kazui looked around the room quickly while dragging out his words. 'Ask if they are okay with—' his eyes landed on Katen. 'The eyepatch-lady asking questions!'

A hint of a smile pulled at Ichigo's lips. 'Very good. Now go, I trust you, Kazui'.

Kazui nodded sternly. He gave a salute and walked stiffly out of the room with all the determination a child could have. He couldn't quite hide his eagerness enough—his pace a bit too fast to be considered walking—for Ichigo to be completely sure this was not a mistake. Oh, well.

'Are you sure that's a good idea?' Jūshirō asked.

'It will be fine, Getsu won't hurt him', Ichigo waved off.

'Then why were you hesitating to let him go?' Shunsui asked.

'Cuz I know Kazui is at that age where he likes to push boundaries and Getsu might get snappy'.

'Snappy?' Jushiro echoed concerned.

'Snarl or growl to scare him off', Ichigo elaborated.

'Which won't look too good in your eyes', Kisuke added.

'Then why let him?' Shunsui questioned.

Ichigo looked at the doorway his son had gone through and then back at the men around the table. 'Cuz I trust Getsu more than all of you'.

#

To Be Continued