AN: The wedding dress is just this one: p/B8jiD-BAU4-/ by Linda Friesen but in white.
Lilly comes down late for breakfast one morning. She's wearing one of Ichigo's sweaters, hair in an even bigger mess than usual. Going straight up to Kisuke, she loops a chain around his neck with a whispered "for the liquor cabinet" and she's gone, just as soundlessly, back upstairs.
"It's the anniversary of the car crash." He tells the blond, pouring himself more juice. Right now, she just needs to be alone for an hour or two, then he'll have to take her out of the house. "Locking up the liquor cabinet is new though."
"Maybe she should not spend the day here? We could have a quiet day back at the Shouten?"
"Give her an hour first."
Shinji, Hiyori and Byakuya visit them the same day at the Shouten. Ichigo is listening to Kisuke rave about his newest invention while Lilly is working on paperwork, staring off into the distance every so often when Tessai lets them in, Byakuya looking ready to stab one of the blondes accompanying him.
"Cousin Byakuya, Hirako-taichou and Sarugaki-fukutaichou, what a surprise! If I knew you were coming, I would have brought out my mother's best china!" Her voice is deadpan, eyes tired, but Ichigo still has to hide his snicker. He'd seen the china set she was talking about. It was packed away in the attic of her new house, next to his own mothers. Every handle and bowl looked like it was made from delicate little vines and there were miniature artworks in almost every piece. He had no problem with imagining Byakuya using them, but Hiyori and Shinji on the other hand? His in-laws would have an aneurysm.
What followed was a brief declaration of 'we wanted to catch up' and 'check-in', interrupted by a Hell-butterfly from Kūkaku, telling Ichigo he might need to prepare a speech in the near future because she was ready to fight some people into letting him become her heir. The Captains share glances, and Ichigo can swear he heard Lilly growl.
"Did I ever mention Asagiri can activate and fight on his own?" The question is barely audible, but all of them freeze. Her smile is serene, eyes on the wall behind Shinji's head.
"I don't think you ever did," Kisuke tells her, flipping his fan open.
"Maybe. He likes to sit back and let me use his power, but he can see everything I do, and will intervene if needed." Her smile is empty, the shoulders of her shadow fluttering, like a bird moving its wings. "Besides, Horus will only act up if one of us is in danger and I'm incapacitated."
"There's nothing better than a loyal Zanpakuto," Byakuya tells her, mild as milk, then stands up. "I won't impose anymore. Urahara-san, Kurosaki-san thank you for your hospitality. Hirako-taichou and Sarugaki-fukutaichou, we'll see each other soon."
"I'll walk you out, Byakuya."
"And while you're at it, I'll get Tessai to make us some tea. Entertain our guests, Ichigo!" Kisuke disappears before Ichigo can yell after him, followed by Byakuya and Lilly just a few steps behind the shopkeeper.
The blond returns first, with a tray and a drunk Yoruichi on his tail. She flops down between Ichigo and Kisuke, ending up in both of their laps. Lilly trails in five minutes later, with red-rimmed eyes and her hair down, only to freeze in the doorway when she spots the other cat in the room.
Surprisingly, Kisuke reacts first, almost jumping up to lead her over, pushing a cup of tea into her hands and pulling her almost into his lap. The conversation flows above her, snuggled into Urahara's side glaring straight ahead, a touch of Hollow tinting her Reiatsu every time Yoruichi moved. As territorial as a lioness with the mane of a lion, Ichigo chuckled, declining when Yoruichi pushed a sake-bottle in his direction.
"He told me he had his men looking for my family in the Rokunagi. To make sure they'll have a happy afterlife." She tells them after the other Shinigami leave and they are tucked away in Kisuke's bedroom. "And it just hit me that I never really realized what happened to them. I was so caught up on jumping dimensions, on losing my friends to something I had no power stopping. There, I lost my blood-related family early, and the Organization recruited me out of a foster home."
"Lilly..." Ichigo whispers, and the boys sandwich her between them.
"Sometimes I feel like a monster for just forgetting I lost the first ever people to fully support and love me."
"Did you ever think about kids? You've been together for almost three years now." Karin asks them one warm summer afternoon, sprawled out in the gardens of her – It's ours Ichigo, Kisuke, not just mine – their house. Yuzu and Ururu were braiding flower crowns, Yoruichi was sleeping on one of their blankets while Jinta and Tessai were putting away the food they had brought out with them. Ichigo was reading in the shade, leaning against a tree, while Lilly was sketching the flowers growing next to the gate, Kisuke watching her work from her lap.
"We talked about it a while ago. I think adoption would be the best option. Less traumatic for all of us." He told his sister, raising a brow when he saw Yoruichi's ears twitch, the cat suddenly changing her position.
"We'll see what the future brings us, Karin-san." Kisuke also adds, giving Lilly a small smile when she glanced down at him, surprised.
"Yoruichi-san is aware of his...circumstances," Ichigo tells her when they're washing the dishes, Kisuke entertaining their guests. "Her behaviour changed when I mentioned that a pregnancy would be traumatic."
"And yet, she did nothing when he was selling himself to get them money." The tint of Hollow returns to her Reiatsu, her eyes glowing golden in the setting light of the Sun. "Should we..?"
"I don't think their relationship would survive. Look at what happened when he found out they were cousins." She grimaced, scrubbing the sink clean from any remaining suds. Kisuke had taken to treating Yoruichi with cold politeness and barely veiled indifference, this behaviour going on for almost two months.
Lilly disappears from his side in a whirlwind of coloured silks and flowery perfumes, and Ichigo's left alone for a frightening moment. His eyes widen, taking in the decked out crowds and the decorated halls until there's a warm grip on his wrist and Kisuke appears by his side.
"I feel like a farce." He whispers to the blond, smiling and nodding when another random noble congratulates him on his new status in the Shiba clan and his engagement to Lilly.
"Just hang on for one more hour. Then we can finally go home."
"It'd be a lot easier without these on." The ceremonial robes of his clan are heavy and suffocating in the large crowds and fire-lit rooms. Kisuke snaps his fan open in response, trying to cool him down a little. "Has anyone complained about you yet?"
"You can't fight everyone who disagrees with your views, Ichigo-kun." He swats at him with the fan, eyes trailing over the crowds, momentarily stopping in Kyōraku's general direction. "And besides, I know how to take care of myself."
"I know," Ichigo growled out, starting to move when he saw another group of old ladies approaching them. He hoped to the gods Kūkaku or Ganju would step in soon because he was done with being quiet and polite. "Doesn't mean I have to like it."
"I do believe the inner gardens were not opened to the public."
Lilly finds them in what seems like an eternity later, sitting down next to them with an annoyed huff.
"I can't believe how nosy people can be! 'Are you aware you fiance already has a paramour? What will people think of you sullying your family?' Do I look blind to them?! Or stupid? Just because their old wrinkly asses couldn't notice their partner having an affair doesn't mean I am in the same boat! Or even the same body of water!"
"Easy, love. They're just looking for drama. And imagine their confusion when they find out you're cheating on me with the same person."
"'You won't believe who I saw having dinner at that new place on the corner between those streets. That Kuchiki girl who's trying to marry the heir of the Shiba and the former Captain of the Twelfth. You know, the one who lives in the Transient world. The disgrace!" Kisuke raised his voice to a falsetto, holding his fan like one of the women back in the celebration.
They watch Lilly stare at a mirror with bored curiosity. She'd been at it for what seemed like hours, changing from human to cat, then back to human, disappearing completely then appearing on the other side of the room. At one point, she even materialized her Hollow-mask, growling in frustration when something didn't go as planned.
Eventually, she stops, sitting down onto the ground with an empty look. They had pulled their work out in the meantime, waiting for her to finish and tell them what the problem was.
"My powers are gone. I can't change my form anymore."
When they first got together, and he started leaving clothes behind in her apartment, he had to manoeuver around piles of over-sized clothing and shoes in every size out there. Lilly was always changing small details about her body unconsciously, and over the years, he got so used to it, he didn't even notice she had been the same for a while.
"I'm finally over the old Lucifer." She smiles at them, wiping away her tears. He feels his shoulders relax (when did he become so tense?) and Kisuke nods, going back to his papers. "I'll start cooking lunch. Any preferences?"
The wedding of Kurosaki Ichigo and the pretty and wealthy foreigner is the event of the year in Karakura. They hold a western-style ceremony, and there are people on the groom's side that the town had never seen, and a bunch of posh and well-dressed Brits on the wife's side faces hidden behind lacy fans and veiled hats. There are whispers too, about a third member in the relationship, the owner of that old candy-shop that never seems to have any costumers.
They get married in the spring, the old butler of her family walking the bride down the aisle. Kurosaki's wearing a simple black tux and even Blackmoor is underdressed, according to some of the public opinion. Looking like a medieval queen, her dress was simple and white, with cape sleeves and a plunging neckline that has many elders shaking their heads at the amount of skin she'd shown. It would make waves though, the simple design and the ornate shoulders giving her a figure worthy of envy.
"Dance with me, Mrs Kurosaki?" Kisuke bows before her, hand extended for her to accept.
"It would be my pleasure, Urahara-san." They are under the open night sky, a canopy of wisteria and lanterns giving everything a fairy-tale feeling. "What did Fred say? I saw him accost you after the toasts."
"Nothing worth worrying about." He spun her, the heavy fabric flowing around her like a lazy river. "He mentioned something about your grandparents being in a similar situation and a Mister Anderson."
"I'll have to look into my grandmother's diary for this one." She smiled at Ichigo and his sisters dancing by them, Isshin's drunken cries accompanying the music. "I'm so glad Ishida-san had volunteered to babysit our father-in-law for today. I would have stabbed him even before the ceremony started."
"Don't mind him, Lilly-chan. Shiba-san has never reached the emotional maturity needed to become a functioning human adult."
"Says the walking explosion-magnet who thinks eating and sleeping are for the weak."
"That's why I have you two to help me."
"Flattery will not get you out of cleaning duty, Kisuke-kun." She sing-songs, eyes trained onto his face and head tilted to the side. "You look younger without the stubble. It's weird to see how much of a difference it makes."
"Too bad I'm still older than you."
"Only physically. I've been around since the birth of dimensions, after all. Now, how many Shinigami do you think will try to do the Macarena with us to blend in?"