Uryuu silently cursed his luck as the storm that had been building all afternoon finally broke and cold rain poured down atop his head, drenching him in moments. The day had started off so sunny that he hadn't bothered to bring an umbrella, and apparently Ichigo, Yuzu, and Karin hadn't either, since none of them pulled an umbrella out of their bag.
Instead, Ichigo just twitched and scowled at the ground, his shoulders rounding and his reiatsu radiating grief-fury-exhaustion as he kept pace with Uryuu, though his footsteps seemed… heavier than usual, as if the rain was weighing him down, or as if he had to force himself to keep moving.
(It was strange. Unwelcome. Wrong.)
(Uryuu wished he knew how to fix it.)
Karin glued herself to Ichigo's side, her already poor mood souring further, and even Yuzu sank into cold-wet-miserable silence as the rain continued to fall.
Questions lingered on the tip of Uryuu's tongue, begging to be asked, but he shook his head and shoved his curiosity aside; he didn't need to be skilled at reading people to know that now was a terrible time to ask anything of the three. So… he didn't. Instead, he gently nudged Ichigo's side and said, "When we get to the shoten, we can curl up in the den and get warm and dry again. Sound good?"
Ichigo grunted in response, but a touch of gratefulness slipped into his reiatsu and brushed against Uryuu's senses.
Taking that as acceptance, Uryuu did his best to keep them moving in the right direction and not stepping into traffic on accident, but it was…
Well, it wasn't difficult, exactly, but trying to wrangle three miserable people — even if two of them were much smaller than him — was exhausting. Add to that the constant, unrelenting press of Ichigo's grief-fury-exhaustion against his senses, and by the time he spotted the shoten, Uryuu wanted to cry with relief.
(Urahara would make everything better.)
(Or Tsukabishi would.)
(One of the shoten's adults would!)
Uryuu shooed the three siblings through the shoten's front door and gave Urahara a small wave of greeting as they passed; he didn't want to bother the man while he was technically at work, no matter how often Urahara had proven he was willing to skive for their sake.
(Uryuu could handle things just fine for the moment.)
(Everything would be okay.)
He ushered Ichigo and the twins into the common room and then turned to face Ichigo. "Here, wait a moment. I'll find Tsukabishi-san—"
"Find me for what?" Tsukabishi asked as he appeared from the kitchen as if summoned. He paused to take in their drenched, dripping figures, then smiled faintly and said, "Well, you four look a mess. Come along, lets get you dried off and into some fresh clothing, hmm?" He stepped forward and gestured for the four of them to proceed into the back. "Into the bathroom with you lot," he said fondly, then asked, "Uryuu-kun, if you could go dry off and change in your room real quick, then bring back a change of clothing for these three?"
"Okay," Uryuu said as he darted ahead to his room, pleased to have something concrete to do. It didn't take long to grab a towel from the hallway closet, slip into his room to dry off and change, then rifle through the spare clothing for outfits for Ichigo, Karin, and Yuzu.
After how they'd felt on the walk back, the three would probably appreciate something warm and comfortable, Uryuu decided as he stacked up three sets of sleepwear and headed back to the bathroom. Tsukabishi had already wandered off — probably back to the kitchen to prepare something warm to drink — so Uryuu just knocked, then slid the door open a crack and shoved the clothing through without looking, saying, "Here you go," as he did.
"Thanks," Ichigo said gruffly as he took the clothes. "We'll be out in a minute."
"I think Tsukabishi-san is making warm things for us," Uryuu told his friend as he withdrew his arm and slid the door closed. "I'll meet you in the den, okay?" he said as he stepped back and glanced down the hallway towards the stairs up, an idea beginning to form.
He didn't wait for Ichigo's acknowledgment, just slipped away towards the staircase, double-checking where everyone was—
Good. Urahara was in the kitchen with Tsukabishi. The way was clear.
Uryuu paused at the base of the stairs and nibbled on his lip, mind warring over whether his idea was actually a good one or not.
If he went upstairs, if he went into Urahara's room, he could find one of the man's haori and bring it back down. It wouldn't be quite as nice as tucking himself against Urahara's side so that the haori draped over him, but… but it would be close enough, right? Especially if Urahara's reiatsu lingered in the fabric at all. Yuzu and Karin would probably appreciate it too.
(But what if Urahara threw him out for breaking into the man's room?)
(Urahara hadn't said anything about it, but… but maybe that was because Uryuu hadn't asked yet?)
(He could… he could always just go into the kitchen and ask, but what if Urahara thought he was a baby for wanting something like that?)
(What if he laughed?)
Uryuu wavered, torn between his options, then scowled at the stairs and crept up them as quietly as he could, making sure to keep his reiatsu contained. It seemed like they went on forever, before finally, finally he reached the landing.
He stopped. Stared at the short hallway with several near-identical doors. Paled as he abruptly realized that he had no idea which room was Urahara's.
(Oh no.)
(Was he going to have to try all of them?)
(What if there was something up here that Urahara didn't want anyone to see?)
(No, he would be okay.)
(Urahara would surely lock things, right?)
Uryuu took a deep breath and scrubbed at his eyes, trying to gather himself to start looking. He could pick a side and start down the hall from there, just sliding each door open a crack to peer in before closing it again.
He could do that.
Plan made, Uryuu settled his glasses back in place and scanned the hallway again, trying to decide which side—
(Wait.)
He paused. Turned slowly back to the door on his right. Stared at the sign hung upon it.
('Kisuke's Castle'?)
('Kisuke's Castle'?)
(That was so— so childish!)
Uryuu stalked forward with a noise of protest, glowering at the sign and the door it was hung on. He steeled himself and reached out, tugging at the shoji door—
It slid open whisper quiet without a hint of resistance, and Uryuu cautiously poked his head into the room. He had no idea what he expected to see after a sign that ridiculous—
It was just a normal-looking room.
There was a window across from him with a low desk under it, a closet to his right, tatami mats laid down against the wall to his left, and a small dark green area rug in the center of the room. The walls were painted a pleasant cream color, the curtains were dark green, and there were other bits of dark green accent scattered around as well. All in all, a pleasant but ordinary room.
(He'd expected something vastly different after seeing that sign on the door.)
(But he supposed this wasn't a bad result.)
Uryuu huffed, took a moment to double-check that Urahara and Tsukabishi were still busy, then darted into the room and to the closet, sliding it open before his doubts could get the better of him.
The first thing he noticed was the sheer number of identical outfits hanging up — how many sets of the same clothing did Urahara need?! — and the second thing he noticed was, well… exactly how terrible Urahara's taste in clothing was.
(Maybe he could fix that when he got better at sewing.)
Before his indignation distracted him too much, Uryuu stood up on his tiptoes, snatched one of Urahara's haori from the hanger, and bundled it against his chest. This close, he could feel the faint traces of the man's reiatsu woven into the fabric just as he'd hoped, evidence of how often the man wore these ridiculous things.
(This would work.)
(His idea would work.)
(Hopefully Ichigo, Yuzu, and Karin appreciated it too.)
Goal achieved, Uryuu slid the closet closed and retreated, closing the door behind him as he left.
(Urahara would undoubtedly figure it out in a heartbeat, but there was no reason to be rude about it.)
It was a quick trip back downstairs and through the common room into the small den beyond, where Urahara had set up a TV, a couch, a small table, and a couple plush chairs. It wasn't much of a room, since the furniture took up much of the space, but it was cozy, and warm, and also warded such that the sound of rain was muffled and dim.
Perfect for what they currently needed.
Ichigo, Yuzu, and Karin were already settled on the couch, huddled together and holding cups of tea in their hands; they looked better — more like people instead of the weird, exhausted zombies of before — though Uryuu didn't need his reiatsu-senses to tell him the trio was still tired.
Not wanting to disturb them, Uryuu slunk closer, clutching the haori tighter as doubts once more tried to gnaw at his mind—
(What if this was a terrible idea, what if they didn't think Urahara's haori was comforting, what if, what if, what if—)
—he shoved his doubts aside. Slipped carefully onto the couch next to Yuzu. Unfolded the haori and tossed it over Ichigo's shoulders.
Ichigo blinked, rousing enough to stare at the haori in surprise, then huffed and flashed Uryuu a tiny, wan smile. "Thanks," he murmured as he leaned forward to set his cup down, then did his best to adjust the haori over all of them. It was a bit of a stretch, because no mater how tall Urahara was, and how small the three Kurosaki siblings were, they were still three people to Urahara's one.
Still, Ichigo made it work. He tugged a grumbly Karin into his lap and tucked one edge of the haori around the two of them, then reached over and beckoned to Uryuu. "Come here," he said as he held his hand out.
Uryuu frowned and shook his head, something warm twisting in his chest as he did. "I'm fine. You need—"
"My friend." Ichigo cut him off with a scowl. "You got us here. You got this for us. Get over here."
Uryuu wrinkled his nose and opened his mouth to protest, then caught sight of the wide, pleading look Yuzu was sending him. He ducked his head, shoulders rounding in embarrassment, and slowly inched closer.
Yuzu immediately crawled into his lap and tucked herself against his chest, a ball of warmth-exhaustion-trust that made the breath catch in Uryuu's throat and the warm something to curl tighter in his chest. And then Ichigo tugged him even closer, until the two of them were pressed side-by-side and Ichigo could finally tuck the haori the rest of the way around them.
Uryuu carefully, cautiously, wrapped one arm around Yuzu to make sure she didn't slide from his lap, and slowly leaned into Ichigo's side, wary of taking advantage of Ichigo's kindness.
But Ichigo didn't protest. He just sighed and leaned into Uryuu in turn, his head listing to settle against Uryuu's.
It was warm. It was comfortable. Urahraa's reiatsu was all around them and Ichigo, Yuzu, and Karin were relaxing at last.
Uryuu let his eyes slide closed.
Breathed out.
Slept.