He had only a handful of minutes to start planning before a sniffle caught his attention.
Kisuke froze, then cautiously turned to follow the too-familiar sound of almost-crying child. It didn't feel like one of the Kurosaki children, but… it was late and the park was dark and there was something familiar about the barely-there presence.
A black-haired boy sat at the base of a tree, knees drawn up to his chest and head buried in his arms, shoulders shaking with silent sobs.
"What's wrong, kid?" Kisuke asked, kneeling just outside of arm's reach in an attempt to look less threatening. "You really shouldn't be out here so late. Are you lost?"
The kid shook his head, peeking over his arms at Kisuke. "Kaa-san's dead," the kid told him, tears streaking his cheeks and glasses askew. "Kaa-san's dead a-and t-tou'san's… s-still cutting i-in-into her…"
Kisuke bit the inside of his lip until he tasted blood; he'd left the shoten to think, not to fall straight into another mess caused by one of the two empowered fools who called Karakura home. He didn't know Ishida Ryuuken even half as well as he knew Isshin, but the boy's untrained signature was similar enough to place.
(What the hell was Ishida Ryuuken doing?)
(Never mind. He wasn't going to leave a distressed child alone in the park anyway.)
(Kami, Ichigo and the twins were making him soft.)
"You're alright, you're safe," he murmured soothingly, reaching out slowly to gather the boy into his arms. The boy flinched at his touch, body stiff and hands trembling, and it took all of Kisuke's self-control to keep the sudden fury from leaking out where the boy could sense it. He adjusted his grip so the boy could easily slip free if he wanted to and said, "Hey now, hey, it's alright. What's your name?"
"I-ishida Uryuu," the boy answered, tone wary.
"A fine name, Uryuu-kun," Kisuke said, aiming to keep his tone light. "I'm Urahara Kisuke, it's nice to meet you."
Uryuu mumbled a response, head down and body already beginning to curl inward once more. He didn't burst into tears, but Kisuke hadn't expected him to; it had taken weeks of Ichigo knowing him before he gave into his grief where Kisuke could see. He doubted Uryuu would be much different.
"This really isn't a comfortable place to stay the night," Kisuke told the boy in his arms. "My shoten isn't very far. I can have Tessai make up some snacks and you can stay over, how about that?" Because whatever Ishida Ryuuken was doing, it had been enough to send his son haring off alone to cry in the park.
Uryuu hadn't just hidden himself away at home, he'd fled the building in order to find somewhere to cry where his father was unlikely to find him.
(Kisuke was in no mood to deal with a second fool so soon after the first.)
(Why did it seem like he and Tessai were the only ones who gave a damn about these kids?)
Uryuu peeked up at him again and nodded slowly, then squeaked in surprise and latched his arms around Kisuke's neck when Kisuke rose and settled him on a hip. He didn't struggle though, just watched Kisuke until they left the park, then lowered his head to rest it on Kisuke's shoulder.
The trip back to the shoten was silent but for Uryuu's small sniffles and hitches in his breathing. It hurt to hear, but there was nothing Kisuke could do for him at the moment but be there; he was a stranger and not to be trusted, after all.
(He really shouldn't be.)
Tessai was a blessing of efficiency. Drinks and snacks were laid out soon after they entered, and not long after that Uryuu had been shown to a guest room and given a spare set of Ichigo's sleep clothes to change into.
(None of them got much sleep that night.)
(He'd left to clear his head and come back with another child. Sometimes Kisuke couldn't believe his twisted luck.)
The next day, Kisuke informed Uryuu of the Kurosaki family and how they spent time at his shoten almost every day. He didn't want Uryuu to be surprised by the siblings, after all.
("Do I… have to spend time with them?" Uryuu asked, fidgeting with his chopsticks and watching Kisuke from the corner of his eye.
"No, of course not," Kisuke reassured. "You can come and go as you please. The only requirements I have are that you make sure to eat something every day and that you keep up with your school work."
Uryuu frowned and poked at the remains of his breakfast. "Okay," he said, tone cautious and filled with disbelief.)
He had a similar conversation with the Kurosaki siblings, telling them of his new guest. It seemed only right to make sure that both sides knew of the other, after all.
("He's a bit withdrawn right now," Kisuke cautioned Ichigo, Yuzu, and Karin. "His mother just died and things aren't well at home, so he's staying with me. Be kind if you see him, but try not to overwhelm him, okay?"
"But isn't it better to be with others when you're sad?" Yuzu asked, staring up at Kisuke with wide eyes.
Kisuke hummed and reached out, ruffling Yuzu's hair. "Everyone grieves differently, Yuzu-chan. Some people just need time by themselves to come to terms with everything. Our job is to be here when he reaches out at last."
Ichigo nodded solemnly. "We'll give him time.")
Uryuu remained shy and reticent as the days went by, ghosting through the shoten on carefully silent feet, watching from doorways and corners. The boy left for school every morning and returned as soon as class let out, retreating to his room the minute Ichigo and his sisters arrived. He spoke little and asked for less, not even asking for Kisuke or Tessai's help to fetch his things from the Ishida mansion. He just showed up one afternoon with two backpacks stuffed full, one with school supplies and the other with clothing, and settled more firmly into the room Kisuke had given him.
Kisuke did what he could. He spent time with Uryuu and helped wherever the boy allowed, but he felt lost, unsure whether he was helping or harming the boy with his quiet and somewhat hands-off approach. At least Uryuu didn't appear to mind his presence and had begun to relax around him.
(He would take what small victories he could.)
Several weeks into his stay, Uryuu began to drift closer to them, lingering out of sight instead of retreating to his room. The sadness began to ebb from his reiatsu and nervousness and uncertainty replaced it.
(Had Uryuu never had a friend..?)
(He would intervene but… how best to do so?)
It was Ichigo who broke Uryuu's self-imposed isolation.
One afternoon, he set down his book-bag at the table and kept moving, darting into the hallway before Uryuu could react.
Kisuke straightened up and turned to focus on the doorway, cautious but willing to allow Ichigo the chance. It helped that he could sense both of their reiatsu and didn't sense anything concerning from them; Uryuu's nervousness had spiked but he didn't feel afraid, just… confused and uncertain and a little hopeful.
The quiet murmur of Ichigo's voice, tone gentle and coaxing, reached Kisuke's ears and settled the last of his worries.
(Ichigo was a perceptive child. He'd know how to reach Uryuu when Kisuke didn't.)
When Ichigo returned, it was with Uryuu in tow and an adorable little scowl on his face. He nudged Uryuu to sit at Kisuke's side then returned to his sisters and sat between them, opening his workbook and starting to work.
Uryuu fidgeted with the hem of his shirt, nervous and uncertain and shooting the three siblings cautious looks every few moments. It was clear he was out of his depth, so Kisuke played host, pouring the boy some juice and giving him a plate of snacks to nibble on.
Tessai brought out Kisuke's shogi board and it didn't take much to entice Uryuu into learning the game. It gave the boy an excuse to limit his interactions with the Kurosaki siblings, which helped to settle his nerves and make him more comfortable.
Not that Uryuu's focus was captured by the game; he kept darting glances at the siblings, caution fading away to be replace by a puzzled longing that made Kisuke want to hurt someone.
(Preferably Ishida Ryuuken.)
Uryuu slipped away as soon as dinner was over, retreating to his room while Ichigo, Yuzu, and Karin were preparing to leave. He'd barely spoken the entire afternoon but Kisuke considered it victory enough. Small steps were better than no steps.
Ichigo continued the trend as the days went by, seemingly at random. Some days he'd go into the hallway and return with Uryuu in tow and other days he wouldn't even bother checking. Kisuke couldn't tell what Ichigo was basing his decisions on, but whatever it was seemed to be pretty accurate.
("He needs more quiet than any of us do," Ichigo told Kisuke when he asked, voice serious and tiny scowl firmly in place. "Sometimes everything's too much for him; you can tell when he's getting there because he just starts… hiding in plain sight, I guess? Uhm. It's hard to explain. But anyway, I'm not gunna make him come out when he feels like that."
Kisuke promised himself that he'd start paying more attention to Uryuu's body language. If Ichigo could spot Uryuu's tells after so little time, surely Kisuke with all his training could do the same.)
So Kisuke taught Uryuu games or helped both boys with their homework or (rarely) sat back and observed. He learned to read all four of the children as best he could and tried to determine what their favorite things were.
Uryuu slowly came out of his shell and began to interact more with everyone. Some days he even came out to sit at the table without Ichigo needing to fetch him, and whenever that happened he was more vocal and outgoing than usual.
Kisuke learned first hand exactly what was hiding under Uryuu's quiet, reticent surface: sarcasm, snark, and the makings of a truly brilliant young man. It left him almost giddy with delight to watch Uryuu open up to them without fear or nervousness.
(Yoruichi rolled her eyes and called him a sap. Tessai clapped him on the back and congratulated him on such a wonderful son.
Kisuke acted like the mature adult he was and stuck his tongue out at both of them.)
The more comfortable Uryuu became, the more often he and Ichigo fell into friendly bickering. He was more awkward around the twins, always keeping an eye on Ichigo and taking his cues from him, but he didn't turn either of them away.
And still Ishida Ryuuken never really came calling. Kisuke caught the man at the edge of the property just once, staring at the building with a dark frown, but he turned and left when Kisuke opened the door and stepped out.
It wasn't too difficult to catch up with the man though, and Kisuke matched pace and settled in to wait Ryuuken out as they walked down the street together.
"I don't have time to raise him," Ryuuken said, three blocks down from the shoten. "Just don't fill his head with any of your damn Shinigami tomfoolery. Otou-san did more than enough damage with his Quincy ideology before he died."
"Mou, maybe the boy just needs a bit more perspective, then?" Kisuke offered, eyeing Ryuuken's tired visage thoughtfully. He wondered if Ryuuken's marriage had been more than one of convenience or if the man was just a workaholic.
(Either way, Ryuuken had just washed his hands of his responsibility to Uryuu.)
(Kisuke wanted to stab him.)
"There's nothing good about being a Quincy these days," Ryuuken shot back. "All the reiryoku in the universe will do him no good in the face of trying to survive in the modern world. The Quincy heritage will die with me, you understand me, Urahara?"
"Maa, I think I'll leave that decision up to him," Kisuke said, baring his teeth in something a little too sharp to be a smile. "It's his life, after all."
Ryuuken gave him a dark, unimpressed look. "When he dies because you encouraged his foolish fascination with things better left in the past, on your head be it."
Kisuke stopped walking. If he took a single step more at Ryuuken's side, the man would not make it home alive.
(He would not do that to Uryuu. Not now.)
(The fool was still Uryuu's father, no matter how little the boy spoke of him; if Uryuu wanted him dead, that was Uryuu's choice to make, not Kisuke's.)
"One day," Kisuke began, as Ryuuken paused and turned to give him a puzzled one. "One day, you will regret this decision with your entire soul. There is no undoing this, Ishida Ryuuken. You are abandoning your son into my care and I will do everything within my power to assure he grows strong and capable."
Ryuuken gave him a narrow-eyed, assessing stare, before finally coming to some unknown conclusion. "On your head be it," he hissed. "Don't come running to me when your foolish decision causes his early death, because I will not help you."
Kisuke watched the man stride away, his fingers numb from the grip he had on Benihime's form. Rage — his own and Benihime's — coiled through his gut like lava and left him frozen with the urge to end the threat to his young ward's life.
(It would be so easy.)
(A briefly burst of shunpo. A blade between the ribs.)
(He could ensure the body was never found again.)
He took a deep breath. Held it. Let it out. Another.
(Uryuu wouldn't thank him.)
(Uryuu's opinion was what mattered here.)
He tore himself away. Turned back to the Shoten and the kids he'd claimed as his own.
(How the hell was he supposed to break this news to Uryuu?)
(Just when the boy was becoming comfortable, too. Damn. Damn Ryuuken and damn Isshin and damn Kisuke's own heart for putting him in this position in the first place.)
Come visit me at akaluan over on tumblr if you'd like! There's a fairly large collection of drabbles and other oneshots available there - do a search for Masterpost By Month and most of it will come up!
If you'd like to read other stories that I'm currently working on, check out my wordpress at akaluan . silveredmagic . com . I've currently got four stories running that update on Wednesdays, all Bleach or Bleach crossovers.