It was days before Kisuke could stop constantly thinking about the sight of all four children curled up comfortably under one of his haori; not only was the image practically branded in his memory — they'd been so cute! — but Tessai, glorious, wonderful Tessai, had thought to take a picture so that Kisuke could have physical evidence that… that something about him was a comfort to the four.
(And wasn't that one of the weirdest thoughts he'd had in this whole mess!)
(No one had ever considered him a comfort before, but those four…)
(They'd clearly been using his haori as a stand-in for him while he was busy.)
(Just the sight of the picture made him feel so much…)
And even after the first blush of novelty wore off, he still found himself glancing at the picture every so often, just to assure himself that it was real, that it had actually happened, that his mind hadn't made it up—
(Tessai pointedly framed a copy and left it in Kisuke's room without asking.)
(He… really didn't mind in the slightest.)
So between that and his inexperience with school schedules, it was probably no surprise that summer vacation snuck up on him without warning; all he knew was that suddenly all four children were spending most of their day at the shoten, to point where Tessai raised an eyebrow, shoved a wallet full of yen in Kisuke's hands, and told him to 'take the children somewhere fun'.
Kisuke may have, slightly, panicked at that.
(What counted as fun?!)
(His childhood was hardly the best example to pull from!)
(What did children even like to do?!)
A night of frantic searching online produced more questions than answers — beaches? Museums? Parks? The options seemed endless — and more gut-twisting worry than he knew what to do with.
(What if he chose wrong?)
(What if he dragged them somewhere they hated?)
(What if—)
Tessai ended his indecision by buying tickets to a science museum and shoving the five of them out the door early the next morning with instructions to 'get some air and not come back until late'. Which, well…
At least the kids found it amusing, even if Kisuke rather didn't.
Still, the day turned out well enough: the museum seemed to be a hit, no one cried, no one got lost, and everyone came home exhausted and loaded down with souvenirs of their time.
Thus began the Great Summer Vacation Adventure, as Yuzu teasingly called it: at least once a week, they went somewhere new and did their best to have fun. And he didn't always pick the right place to visit, but no one seemed angry about it, just bored.
(He learned to quickly gauge their interest and cut 'boring' visits short.)
(Better to wander around without a goal than have the kids get restless and annoyed.)
(Besides, sometimes the local area was much more interesting anyway.)
But all good things must come to an end, and, long before any of them were ready, summer vacation came to a close and school resumed.
The kids went back to school with a grumble, but at least he didn't have to fight them on it.
(He didn't think he could resist if they asked to be homeschooled.)
(Even if he didn't know the first damn thing about teaching children.)
Though it wasn't more than a week into the semester that Kisuke began to revise his opinion on homeschooling: if it kept Ichigo from coming back to the shoten with bandaged knuckles and bruises and sullen silences, Kisuke would damn well learn how to teach children whatever they needed.
In lieu of that, Kisuke took to keeping a closer eye on Ichigo throughout the day, wanting — needing — to know what was going on that Ichigo refused to tell him. He watched as Ichigo was goaded into fighting by various bullies, and how it was Ichigo who was labeled the troublemaker in return. How the teachers looked away and chided Ichigo for dying his hair and inviting trouble.
(Kisuke had to remind himself that Ichigo would not thank him for ruining all his tormentor's lives.)
Kisuke dedicated more time to teaching Ichigo, starting the boy on some basic hand-to-hand that was more suited to group combat than what Ichigo was learning at the dojo. Ichigo had given Kisuke a suspicious look when he'd proposed it, but the boy didn't protest, and he did start returning home with fewer injuries.
It was Uryuu who was the surprise.
He insisted on joining the lessons, learning Kisuke's variant of hand-to-hand with a single-minded focus that was almost frightening. And when Ichigo kept getting into fights even with the lessons, Uryuu insisted on switching schools to be in Ichigo's class with him.
(Or rather, he first insisted that Kisuke change Ichigo's school.
("No," Kisuke told Uryuu with a frown. "It's Ichigo's choice and he has not requested that I transfer him to a different school, so I will not."
"But he's getting hurt there! Why won't you—"
"People are not objects to keep and control, Uryuu-kun," Kisuke interrupted firmly, leaning forward as he did and inwardly praying that he could keep Uryuu from repeating his own mistakes. "I've suggested changing schools to him, and he doesn't want to, so I will not."
Uryuu scowled up at him, arms crossed over his chest, and declared, "Fine! Then I want to change schools! Put me in his class!"
Kisuke couldn't resist smiling at Uryuu's words, but still made a mental note to keep an eye out for any other… familiar… habits beginning to form. Anything to keep Uryuu from suffering Kisuke's fate.)
Of course, as soon as Kisuke gave in and placed Uryuu where he wanted to be, he suddenly had two boys to patch up most afternoons. Not that he'd expected otherwise: Uryuu had practically announced his intentions from the moment he'd asked to switch schools, after all.
But it was okay. Together, their reputation was… not the best, and Kisuke got more than few calls about Uryuu's unruly behavior, but at least the bullying began to taper off.
Only for the two to turn around and start to look for trouble, requiring Kisuke to start healing them every day after school all over again.
He couldn't even reprimand them, not really. Not after watching them go out of their way to protect others from the bullies that had once gone after them. A bit naive of a motivation, perhaps, but it was still heartening to see such good in his boys.
He just needed to keep an eye out to make sure that protective instinct didn't turn dark.
So Kisuke did his best to keep Ichigo and Uryuu in one piece, and did his best to take them to task if they went overboard—
(Which was just him drawing an arbitrary line in the sand based on the reactions of the humans around them, but he figured consistency was what really mattered.)
—and otherwise kept his nose out of their business.
(They were growing kids, they could figure things out themselves, couldn't they?)
Time swept by, until suddenly Uryuu's birthday was just around the corner and they hadn't yet decided what to do for it; he'd been waiting for Uryuu to bring it up himself, but it seemed like that wasn't the way to go.
He just needed to find a good moment to ask.
("What would you like to do for your birthday?" Kisuke asked one afternoon as he finished healing Uryuu's arm, taking the opportunity presented to him.
Uryuu twitched and looked up from watching Kisuke's healing kido, surprise writ large across his face. "I don't… really know? Maybe just… maybe just Ichigo and Arisawa-san if she's free?" he tentatively said, watching Kisuke's expression carefully.
"We can do that," Kisuke agreed as he let go of Uryuu's arm. "I'm sure Arisawa-chan would love to come."
Uryuu relaxed, a small smile crossing his face, and shyly said, "Thanks."
Kisuke resolved to do his best to make it a good celebration.)
He set about preparing for the party the very next day: the Arisawa's needed to know that Tatsuki was invited, Ichigo, Karin, and Yuzu needed to know when it was, cake and treats needed to be ordered, and he need something for Uryuu's gift. There were plenty of options in front of him — from clothing to toys to books and so many things in between — but none seemed quite right.
(Gifts for Ichigo and the twins hadn't been this hard!)
(Damn!)
After dithering about it for days, he finally made his choice, gathering up his notes and observations and every iota of information on Quincy that he and Yoruichi had managed to piece together… and attempted to condense it into a book.
He would never be able to fit everything into a single book, of course, but he could at least aim for a thorough book of the basics; if he did it right, wrote it out as straightforward and clear as he could manage, then hopefully none of Uryuu's descendants would ever need to beg aid from a stranger in order to learn their birthright.
(People skilled in reverse-engineering skills were rarer than Uryuu probably suspected.)
(Uryuu had gotten lucky, and Kisuke didn't want to rely on luck any further than necessary.)
The day of the party, Kisuke waited impatiently for the boys to return to the shoten, hovering and fretting and making such a nuisance of himself that Tessai finally chased him from the shoten and told him to go fetch the boys if he was so anxious.
(He wasn't!)
(He absolutely wasn't.)
(Still, it was as good an idea as any.)
School hadn't yet let out when Kisuke arrived, and he settled in to wait however long it took for Uryuu to get out. He didn't think Uryuu had anything else planned for the day, but he knew better than most how things could crop up at the worst possible moment.
At least here, it felt like he was actually doing something, even if he really wasn't.
(Uryuu froze at the sight of Kisuke waiting at the school gates, then smiled bright-wondering-happy and trotted closer. "You didn't have to pick me up," he said with a huff that did nothing to hide his happiness. "Ichigo and I are perfectly capable of walking home by ourselves."
"After taking a few detours," Kisuke teased gently, thinking of all the times the boys had returned to the shoten with scrapes and bruises gained through fighting. "Besides, I wanted to!"
Uryuu gave him a considering look, then made a rather adorable noise of comprehension. "Tsukabishi-san kicked you out of the shoten, didn't he?"
"Maa, maa, it was merely a suggestion that I liked!" Kisuke defended with a touch of amusement, warmth blooming in his chest at the evidence that Uryuu knew his habits.
Uryuu's and Ichigo's laughter was warm-bright-contagious, and Kisuke couldn't help but join in.)
The three of them settled into a conversation about the day as they walked to Yuzu and Karin's school to pick them up, then met up with Tatsuki halfway to the shoten. By the time they made it back, Tessai had already set out the cake, treats, and the little stack of presents that Kisuke, Yoruichi, and he had picked out for Uryuu.
Uryuu stopped to take in the table, then ducked his head in an attempt to hide the look of awe creeping in, and settled at his usual spot. Ichigo and the others all stepped around him, dropped their presents onto the small pile, and sat down as well.
They sang, and Kisuke cut the cake and handed out slices, and Ichigo prodded Uryuu into their usual banter which got Uryuu to relax at last. Presents also went over well, especially Kisuke's hand-written book once Uryuu had skimmed a few pages and realized what he was holding.
(The bright, pleased smile Kisuke received made pride-pleasure-contentment curl in his chest.)
(He'd already suspected how attached he'd become, but this was definitive proof.)
That night, as Tessai saw off the other four and Kisuke tidied up the room a bit, Uryuu immediately cracked the book open and began to read, barely moving to acknowledge Kisuke or Tessai as they moved about.
(In fact, he kept reading until his head began to nod and the book started to slip from his fingers.
Kisuke chuckled softly and knelt at Uryuu's side, gently pulling the book from the boy's lax hands. "Bedtime for you, I think," he said as he set the book aside and gathered Uryuu into his arms.
"'M not tired," Uryuu protested sleepily, blinking up at Kisuke.
"Perhaps not, but it is time for bed," Kisuke responded with a touch of amusement. He rose to his feet and carried Uryuu out of the room and down the hall. "You can read later, Uryuu-kun. That book is yours to do with as you will."
Uryuu sighed but didn't argue further, just leaned his head against Kisuke's chest and relaxed. "Thank you, tou-san," he murmured around a yawn, then froze and cast a wary look at Kisuke.
Kisuke kept moving through his own shock by willpower alone, his mind racing and his mouth dry, pride-possession-joy tangling into an aching knot in his chest. He mustered a warm smile for Uryuu and said softly, "Anything for you, Uryuu-kun."
Uryuu held still for a moment longer, something odd and fragile in his wide-eyed gaze, then breathed a soundless sigh and slumped back against Kisuke's chest and closed his eyes without saying another word.
Kisuke wished desperately that Uryuu had meant it, but he knew he couldn't be so lucky: he didn't deserve to be a father, not after everything he'd done in his life. In the end, it had to be just a slip of the tongue, something that Uryuu would never have said if he wasn't already exhausted.
Still…
Still…
Uryuu was his, whether or not he claimed Kisuke as his father, and any Shinigami who attempted to harm the boy would face Kisuke's wrath.
He'd never claimed to be a good man, after all.
He'd protect his own to the death.
Always.)
And that concludes this story, I hope you enjoyed it!
This is the last full story that I'm posting here; from now on, all my work will be posted exclusively on AO3, so come follow me there if you'd like to see anything new from me. Thank you all for reading!