As promised, Hachi returned to the Shoten to fulfill his vow to the young Kurosaki twins to visit them, with a tagalong. Mashiro hummed as she approached the Shoten with her fellow Vizard. She'd been intrigued by the Kurosaki siblings and wanted to know more about them.
(It didn't have anything to do with how she could more easily identify with two young girls than with adults. Really, it didn't.)
When they got to the Shoten, it turned out Ichigo was gone for the day, first attending school and then going to karate, as Tessai told them. Mashiro pouted. She wanted to see Berry-tan again.
But his oh-so-cute sisters were in, and Mashiro was happy to play with Yuzu, Karin, and their toys while Hachi watched, occasionally chiming in softly.
The kids were making up some story about how a group of people called the Karakura Superheroes were taking down Hollows that the weak, sad, pathetic Shinigami couldn't handle. Karin's color was red, Yuzu's was yellow, and three of their stuffed toys were brown, maroon, and indigo. Mashiro was, of course, invited to join as Karakura Green, while Hachi was assigned Karakura Pink. Together, after a series of perilous misadventures that required the power of the entire team, they heroically slayed a Hollow that was threatening the poor defenseless Urahara Shoten and saved the day! Mashiro was quite taken with these Karakura Superheroes and with the masterminds behind their creation. Hachi seemed to be enjoying himself, too. It was a nice break from training and worrying about whether the Gotei Thirteen or Aizen would find them.
As they left the shop, Mashiro and Hachi were both given big hugs from the twins. "I wish you could come back soon!" Yuzu said adorably.
Mashiro thought about it. She and Hachi would be busy with the jobs they'd picked up to survive in the Human world… but maybe she could send some of the other Vizards along. Her friends seemed to like the kids (which was a bit surprising, but she wouldn't question a good thing), so maybe coaxing them into visiting wouldn't be all that hard.
"Oi, Urahara! You in?" Hiyori hollered as she unlocked the normally open door to the Shoten with the key she knew was buried in the dirt. She tapped her foot impatiently while eyeing the bowls of candy arranged in each aisle of the store. Mashiro had finally cajoled her and Shinji into visiting the Urahara Shoten in a thinly veiled attempt to get them to hang out with the Kurosaki kids. They'd finally capitulated. Not because they were going to see the kids, but because they had legitimate business at the Shoten. (At least, that's what Hiyori liked to tell herself.)
"Shh! My sisters are taking their nap!" Ichigo hissed from the front of the shop.
"Where's Urahara?" Hiyori asked in a more normal tone of voice. "I need to speak with him." Honestly, what was Urahara doing, leaving a little kid in charge of the store?
"Oh. He's gone out on a supply run with Tessai-san. He's not here. That's why the door was locked." Ichigo rolled his eyes.
Hiyori threw up her arms in exasperation. "Of course he's not here! That flaky man is never here when I need him! Ugh."
"…He has shown me where the candy is stored and how to ring up a purchase. Do you need anything like that?" Ichigo offered.
"Nah, I need him to take a look at my gigai. I'm having some difficulties with it," Hiyori said. "But! Since you're here, you can entertain us while we're waiting for Urahara. How's your training going?" Okay, so she was a bit curious about the boy she'd been thrashed by Urahara for.
Ichigo glared at her but said nothing.
"How's your training goin'?" Shinji repeated.
Ichigo grumbled under his breath, but, to Hiyori's irritation, the boy's respect for Shinji was stronger than his respect for her (which was understandable, considering how they'd met, but it was still irksome). "…My Bakudo #1 is getting a little stronger, and I've started learning Bakudo #2: Bou. But they're hard!" he complained. "My reiatsu just doesn't do what I want it to."
"Your control will get better over time," Shinji assured. "Why don't ya show us your Bakudo #1? Ya can cast it on Hiyori."
"Huh?! Why do I have to be the guinea pig?!" Hiyori shouted, irate, immediately grabbing Shinji's tie and getting in his face.
"Because you're a more convenient size for him!"
"Are you calling me small?!"
"Shh! Be quiet! My sisters are sleeping!" Ichigo snapped.
"—just saying he might find it easier ta cast on ya—"
"Then why don't you volunteer to be bound?"
"Because I don't want ta be bound!"
"Yeah? Well, neither do I, you asshole!"
"Bakudo #1: Sai!" Ichigo, momentarily forgotten, proclaimed.
Hiyori yelped as her arms were restrained behind her back. For a second, at least, before she broke the weak spell and whirled around, grabbing Ichigo by the front of his shirt. Shinji, meanwhile, was snickering, but she'd deal with that bastard in a minute.
"You brat! I never actually said you could cast it on me!" Hiyori growled.
Ichigo refused to back down. "My sisters. Are. Sleeping! Keep it down!"
"I won't take attitude from a punk like you! And after coming all this way just to see you, too!" Hiyori regretted the words the instant they were out of her mouth. The last thing she wanted was admitting what she'd just revealed. If the others heard, they'd never let her live it down.
"…Just to see me?" Ichigo parroted, immediately wary. Which was fair, because last time they'd come to see him, he'd been thrown across a room and kidnapped across town, even though they'd really been doing him a favor, in the end.
"Came ta check up on ya. How are ya doin', kid?" Shinji asked. "Hiyori wanted ta know if ya were okay."
"Hey! Don't go pretending like I'm the only one who came here to see him, Baldy!" Hiyori protested. Well, now that her cover was blown, might as well go all in.
"I'm fine," Ichigo said, fidgeting like he was embarrassed by the attention but still a little pleased. "You don't need to worry."
Shinji eyed him carefully, assessing. Ichigo squirmed a little bit under the scrutiny but didn't look away. Shinji gave a wide smile, then reached forward and ruffled the kid's hair before Ichigo could protest, earning Shinji a squawk and a hand batted away.
"Looks like you're doin' okay. Ya don't need any more interference from us. Let's go, Hiyori."
Hiyori snorted. While she couldn't stand breathing the same air as Shinji sometimes, she did recognize his skill in gauging people, and if Shinji said that Ichigo was fine, then there was no more reason for them to stay.
Shinji turned to leave and said, "Bye, kid. It was nice seein' ya again." Hiyori followed him without saying a word.
"Wait!" Shinji and Hiyori stopped and glanced back. Ichigo fidgeted for a second before blurting, "You should come back sometime. To help with my kido."
To Hiyori's surprise, instead of flat-out rejecting him (like he would have done with almost anyone else), Shinji appeared to be considering it. He must have really taken a liking to the kid. (Then again, considering how far out of his way he'd gone to help him, perhaps it shouldn't have come as a shock.) "We'll see," Shinji said, grinning.
"And don't forget to lock the door when you leave!" Ichigo called as they left the store.
Mashiro bugged and pleaded and whined, and finally Kensei gave in and went to the Shoten with the intention of seeing Urahara's adoptees. He didn't even make it inside the store, though, because he saw the honey-haired girl – Yuzu – outside, determinedly sweeping with a broom that was taller than she was. She waved happily when she noticed him.
"Hello, Kensei-san! What do you need? Urahara-san is in the back, if you want him," she said helpfully, pointing.
Might as well start here. "Hi, Yuzu-chan," he said, crouching. "What are you doing?" He tried to keep his irritation at Mashiro from entering his voice.
Yuzu beamed up at him, and he glanced away, uncomfortable. Children were too easy to please. "I'm getting rid of dust!" she announced proudly, awkwardly brandishing the broom.
"You're a little young to be doing chores like that," Kensei noted, eyeing the height difference between the little girl and the broom.
Yuzu's eyebrows drew together as she pouted. "You sound like Urahara-san!" she complained. "I'm five! That's old enough to do things like this!"
Kensei coughed, acutely feeling the difference between his centuries of experience and just how young human children could be. "Aren't you supposed to want to play with dolls or something?"
Yuzu's expression shuttered, suddenly somber. "Kaa-san did the chores and cooked," she said quietly. "I want to be like her."
"What happened to your kaa-san?" Kensei asked automatically, insensitively.
Yuzu sniffed. Oh, crap, was she going to cry? "She was killed by a monster. A Hollow," she said, looking at the ground.
Now that he was thinking about it, Kensei had heard something about how the kids Urahara had taken in were orphaned by a Hollow. He probably should have remembered that, but in his defense, he hadn't really been interested at the time Shinji and Hiyori had been talking about it. "Uh," he said, trying to figure out how he was supposed to comfort the girl. "There, there," he said awkwardly, patting Yuzu on the back. He squawked in alarm when Yuzu latched on to him, burying her face in his shirt. Silently cursing Mashiro and hungry Hollows in general for getting him into this mess, Kensei resigned himself to being Yuzu's handkerchief for a while. He was the worst with crying little kids. How to get her to stop sobbing? His first instinct was to yell at her, but that would probably just make it worse. His eyes fell on the broom, and an idea started to form.
"Hey, uh, kid, let go for a second. I've got something to show you," Kensei said, trying to gently pull Yuzu off him. She let go, sniffling and generally looking miserable. He swooped down, grabbed the broom, and struck a wild pose with it, pretending it was a dance partner.
Then Kensei began to sing, a striking baritone that almost no one knew he could produce. It was some upbeat song from a few decades ago in the Human world, something about sunshine and love. He twirled around the broom, contorting himself into strange positions that certainly weren't part of any dance tradition he'd ever heard of in an attempt to cheer up the little girl.
It seemed to work. Yuzu's face transitioned from red and blotchy to… still red and blotchy, but she'd stopped crying, at least, and was watching him with fascination. Finally, she started giggling, and Kensei took that as his cue that he'd done his job and could stop singing and dancing like a lunatic. He stretched, making sure he hadn't damaged his gigai (which he'd worn specifically so Yuzu could see him easily), and crouched by her, handing the broom back to her.
"You doing better, kid?" he asked gruffly, a bit embarrassed by his display. At least his audience had only been a little girl.
"I am. Thank you, Kensei-san," Yuzu said, stepping forward to hug Kensei. After a few seconds, he gently hugged her back, a soft smile unknowingly flitting across his face. Even he had to admit, Yuzu was a pretty adorable little girl.
Yuzu stepped back and wiped at her eyes, presenting Kensei with a watery smile. It made all the singing and dancing entirely worth it. …All this emotion was making him mushy. But he wasn't too bothered by it, for some reason.
"Okay. I'm okay… I should get back to my sweeping now, Kensei-san," Yuzu said, gesturing with the broom. "But thank you so much for visiting! Was there anything you needed from the shop?"
"Oh, uh. Not really?" Quick, he needed a cover story so it didn't seem like he was being a softie. "I, uh, was just in the neighborhood… and I wanted to make sure the shop was still standing?" Crap, that was lame.
Yuzu giggled. "Urahara-san hasn't destroyed the shop yet! Thank you for worrying, though."
"…Yeah, okay. Bye, Yuzu-chan." He turned and walked away, waving over his shoulder without looking back.
"Please feel free to come back sometime!" Yuzu called cheerfully.
As Kensei returned to the warehouse, he thought about his encounter with Yuzu. He wasn't sure if he'd ever been that gentle with anyone in his entire life. It was… different. And for a little kid that had cried all over him, Yuzu was such a kind and likable person.
…Maybe he'd direct Rose, their best cook, in Yuzu's direction. She'd said something about wanting to learn to cook and would no doubt appreciate talking to someone who could teach her how to.
(And maybe, just maybe, he'd find it in himself to visit Yuzu again.)
"So, Lisa, you need new manga, already… Rose needs new strings for his guitar, and Love needs a new tracksuit?" Urahara asked skeptically. Lisa didn't blame him; their excuses were pitifully thin. The Vizards were many things, but discreet was not one of them, at least when it came to personal relationships. Plus, the other Vizards had already been snooping around the shop more frequently than usual.
"I run a candy shop," Urahara said long-sufferingly, continuing with the charade. "You people are going to have to go somewhere else to find what you need."
"I actually came to visit Ichigo-kun's sister?" Rose said, earning himself an elbow in the gut courtesy of Lisa.
The damage was already done, however. "Oh, you wanted to see the Kurosakis? Why didn't you say so!" Urahara said cheerfully. "Ichigo-kun! Karin-chan! Yuzu-chan! There are visitors here to see you!" he called while Lisa facepalmed. So much for checking up on the kids covertly. It wasn't that she was personally involved with the children, and neither Rose nor Love had really interacted with them… it was just that the other Vizards seemed to be getting attached, for some reason, and Mashiro had been particularly vocal in trying to get them to visit the Shoten. Unexpectedly, Kensei had also jumped on the bandwagon and had asked Rose to teach one of the girls some cooking. (Discreetly, of course, but nothing stayed secret for long in the Vizards' warehouse.)
Three children scampered into view, the lighter-haired girl looking particularly excited. "Visitors!" she exclaimed. "Welcome! It's nice to meet you!"
The boy, whom Lisa recognized as Ichigo, was squinting. "You're, um, Rose-san… and Love-san?" he said, pointing first at Love, then at Rose.
Love chuckled. "Other way around, kiddo."
Rose, meanwhile, was studying the two girls. "Which one of you is Yuzu-chan?" he asked kindly, crouching.
"I am!" Yuzu said energetically, pointing to herself.
"Hello, Yuzu-chan," Rose said warmly. "Kensei has told me about you."
"Kensei-san? You know him?" Yuzu wondered.
"Yes. We live in a commune-type of situation. It's where a group of people live together," Rose explained upon seeing the children's confused looks. "…So I heard, Yuzu-chan, that you want to learn how to cook."
Yuzu brightened. "Yes, I do, Rose-san! Will you teach me?"
"Sure," Rose said, smiling as he rose and held a hand out. Yuzu, smart girl, looked at Urahara for permission before taking his hand and following him to the back, where the kitchen was located.
Karin was scowling, jealous that her sister was getting lessons. Lisa later learned that she had tried to follow her sister's footsteps and help around the house but just wasn't suited for such work. But Karin soon distracted herself.
"Hey, what's that you've got?" Karin asked, pointing at Love's shonen manga.
"This?" Love said, surprised, as he held up the manga book. "It's shonen manga. A little girl like you wouldn't be interested in it…"
"Show me!" Karin insisted with big, determined eyes. Love shrugged and sat cross-legged next to Karin to show her his book.
Well, it looked like the other two Vizards had paired off with the girls, so Lisa supposed she was left with Ichigo. Which wasn't a problem, because Shinji seemed to like him (an impressive feat, because Shinji was a paranoid bastard), and Lisa wanted to know why. "Guess you're with me," she said to him. "Oi, Urahara! Let us use the training room in the basement."
Urahara tugged at his hat. "Very well. You know the way, Lisa."
She tucked Ichigo under her arm and, before he could protest, jumped down the ladder to the training room. They'd hardly be using the whole space, but it was better than trying to fight in a crowded room in the Shoten.
"Now. Show me what you've got, kid."
Ichigo's skills were about average, for a kid his size and age, but what interested Lisa was that he kept getting back up after she knocked him down for the umpteenth time, refusing to cry and refusing to quit, even though he was obviously completely outmatched even with Lisa in a restricting gigai. A lot of adults and Shinigami Lisa had known didn't have the stubborn staying power this kid did. He'd also, apparently, recovered from his parents' deaths remarkably quickly from just a few choice words from Shinji. So this was what had impressed Shinji enough that he'd wanted to visit the kid again.
Later, she'd discover that Love had read the entire volume of his manga out loud to an enraptured Karin and that the cooking lessons with Yuzu had gone well, the little girl a surprisingly attentive student (and a sweet girl, besides). Both Love and Rose had unexpectedly found that they'd enjoyed their time with the tiny Human girls. It was a remarkable change from interacting with annoying Humans at their jobs. They really were extraordinary kids. But, then again, when had anything associated with Urahara ever been completely normal?
"You're doing very well, Karin-chan!" Hachi said, carefully watching as the young girl struggled to form a small ball of reiatsu in the air above her hand. She'd definitely improved from the last time he'd seen her, when she could just produce wisps.
With Yuzu, meanwhile, he was playing a simple game of catch – except that the ball could only be seen by people with who could see spirits. Yuzu was able to see and catch the ball most of the time, but she was still having difficulties, even though her reiatsu had gotten stronger since the last time he'd seen her.
Half an hour later, Karin collapsed, winded. "This is… so much harder… than Ichigo makes it out to be," she huffed.
"I have a headache," Yuzu added. Which was understandable, because she'd been straining her eyes for some time now.
"Let's take a break," Hachi suggested, impressed with both girls. They had good work ethics, for five year olds, and didn't complain when they encountered difficulties in their training. He wondered who their parents had been, to produce such remarkable children. "Would you like to watch something on TV?" Maybe not the best cure for a headache, but it would likely cheer the children up.
"Super Sentai!" Karin instantly declared.
"Yeah!" Yuzu agreed. "The Karakura Superheroes need some new recruits!"
And so Hachi found himself introduced to the children's show, Super Sentai. And maybe got a little too invested in the show, courtesy of two happy, cheering girls. There was a TV in the warehouse, but it was almost never used. Perhaps it was time to fix that…
"Okay, now my gigai is actually giving me trouble. Where's Urahara?" Hiyori asked as she entered the Urahara Shoten and saw only Ichigo and one of his sisters – Yuzu, judging by the hair – sitting up front. Seriously, who left that flake in charge of kids? Making them man a shop was bad parenting.
"Oh, welcome back, Rose-san! And, um…" Yuzu greeted, unsure of Hiyori's name. They'd never met, so it was understandable.
"Name's Hiyori," she said.
"Hiyori-san, nice to meet you! Urahara-san just stepped out for a minute and will be back soon," Yuzu informed them.
"Yuzu-chan, it's nice to see you again," Rose said, smiling at the young girl. He'd tagged along when he heard Hiyori would be visiting the Shoten, wanting to check up on Yuzu. That little girl had apparently enchanted Rose like she had Hachi and Mashiro.
"Thank you so much for teaching me your recipes!" Yuzu said enthusiastically.
"Hey. How are you doing?" Hiyori asked, approaching Ichigo, whose resting expression seemed to be a frown. "How's your kido coming along?"
"…I'm a bit stuck on Bakudo #2: Bou. My reiatsu just kind of… runs off when I try to get it to do the spell," Ichigo grumbled.
"Well, the first spells are supposed to be the easiest, with each spell after getting harder to cast, since they're more complex," Hiyori explained. "Numbers one through ten aren't that difficult, though…" Ichigo gave her an annoyed glare. "It might be just because you're young and don't have a good handle on your reiatsu yet. It's pretty impressive you can cast Sai already," she offered awkwardly.
Rose seemed to be having a much easier time with Yuzu. Hiyori liked kids okay, but she wasn't that good interacting with them simply because of her temper.
"Hiyori, hello! I hear you need someone to take a look at your gigai?" Urahara said jovially as he stepped to the front of the shop.
"Yeah, it's acting up. Can't move it like I should," Hiyori said, stepping forward. "Fix it!"
"Okay, okay," Urahara said, holding up his soul-separating cane and hitting her in her sternum. Hiyori's gigai flopped limply to the floor while Hiyori herself staggered back.
"Warn me next time you do that!" she roared. "And don't you dare do anything perverted with that gigai!"
"Yes, yes," Urahara said, stooping to pick up the gigai. "In the meantime, I'm sure you can keep yourself occupied." Then he swept out as quickly as he came, taking the gigai to the bowels of the laboratory.
"Ugh, that flake," Hiyori complained. How would she spend the time while Urahara was fixing her gigai? Maybe she'd spend more time with Ichigo…
"Ichi-nii! Super Sentai comes on soon!" Yuzu said, beckoning her brother towards the back.
"What's Super Sentai?" Rose asked, bemused.
"It's only the best TV show ever!" Yuzu answered enthusiastically with stars in her eyes. "Won't you come watch it with us, Rose-san?"
"Sure," he said, capitulating instantly.
Ichigo looked a little more reluctant, but he seemed to be quietly enthusiastic about whatever was on TV that Yuzu wanted to see. Hiyori was curious, and it wasn't like she had anything better to do with her time while Urahara was fiddling with her gigai. "Can I come, or is this a special invite only kind of thing?" she questioned brusquely.
Hiyori regretted ever asking, because then she and Rose were introduced to Super Sentai, and from then on, like Hachi, they both were completely, unashamedly hooked.
Love… may have been a bit fond of the feisty little girl he'd read his manga to last time he'd visited. And the other Vizards were all visiting the kids, so why not him, too?
"Love-san! Welcome!" said Urahara as he entered the shop. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
Love fidgeted a bit. It was one thing to admit to himself that he wanted to visit a little Human girl; it was quite another to tell it to another person, particularly Urahara, who was a bit intimidating and a lot creepy.
"You're here to visit the Kurosakis," Urahara deduced astutely.
"Ahaha, yeah, you got me," Love said uncomfortably.
Urahara gestured behind him. "Go on; they're in the back," he said. Love needed no further prompting and entered the home portion of the store after politely taking off his shoes, tracking three tiny reiatsu signatures. Two were in the kitchen; the last one, and the one Love was looking for, was in a room by herself. He knocked on the door, which soon slid aside to reveal Karin.
"Oh, Love-san!" she said, surprised. "What are you doing here?"
Love held up the latest edition of Weekly Shonen Jump. "I thought you'd appreciate finding out what happened to Naruto-kun. That is, if you want to…"
Karin immediately brightened, excited by the offer. "Yes! Come in!" Love entered the room, which looked like the twins' bedroom, sporting two futons and a smattering of stuffed animals. Karin settled herself on one of the futons and patted the space beside her. Love sat crossed-legged and opened the manga magazine to the first page, where the editors had put their most popular manga.
Love read the entire magazine to an enraptured and attentive Karin, who was enthralled by the action sequences and fascinated by the artwork. Love had to admit, sharing his manga with someone else was a lot more fun than just reading it alone. It also kept him from spoiling things, like Lisa complained he often did.
After he finished, Karin stood and bowed formally to him. "I'm going to start school soon and learn how to read, but in the meantime, please keep reading your manga to me!" she requested fervently.
"So you enjoy it, then?" Love asked.
Karin straightened and look affronted. "Of course! It's a nice change from just watching Super Sentai and Sailor Moon, or playing Karakura Superheroes with Yuzu, or training with Urahara-san." She paused for a moment, then continued, "It's a little boring here, to be honest…"
"I'm sure that will change when you start school," Love assured. "And I would be happy to read my manga to you more. It's actually pretty boring where I live, too."
"Awesome," Karin grinned before giving Love a hug. Love couldn't help smiling, and he vowed he'd stop by once a week to read to the girl.
…He could see why the other Vizards were getting attached. It was a nice change of pace, interacting with a child.
…Okay, this time, Shinji had no excuse to dismiss that he was visiting the Urahara Shoten solely to see Ichigo. Hachi tagged along, completely taken with Ichigo's younger sisters. Shinji was sure that they were very nice girls, according to what some of the other Vizards had disclosed, but second-hand reports weren't enough to lure him to the Shoten. Now, first-hand experience with Ichigo, with his unwillingness to be broken and determined spirit uncommon even in centuries-old Shinigami, on the other hand…
All three Kurosaki children were scattered around the shop, obviously bored. Yuzu was listlessly fiddling with a stuffed tiger, Karin was playing catch with the wall, and it looked like Ichigo was napping right on the hard wooden floor in back near Kisuke. But the instant the twins noticed Shinji and Hachi, they immediately perked up, and Yuzu and Karin scrambled to greet the larger Vizard.
"Hachi-san! Hachi-san! You're back!" Yuzu exclaimed, attempting to wrap her arms around one of Hachi's trunk-like legs.
Karin was a little more sedate but no less excited. "Hachi-san, will you play with us some more?" she asked.
"Karakura Pink, at your service," Hachi said demurely.
"Karakura Pink?" Shinji wondered, utterly confused. Was it some game that the girls had made up or something?
"Oh! Oh! Shinji-san! You haven't played Karakura Superheroes with us, have you?" Yuzu said, leaving Hachi and latching her arms around one of Shinji's spindly legs. "You can be Karakura Black! Won't you play with us?"
"I'm actually here ta check on how Ichigo is doin'," Shinji said, unwilling to sacrifice this visit on the off-chance that he wouldn't enjoy hanging out with the girls.
"Oh, Ichi-nii can play too! He's Karakura Orange," Karin piped up. "Right, Ichi-nii?"
Ichigo had awoken from his nap and looked between his sister and Shinji with trepidation. "I don't know; I really should be training my reiatsu—"
"Like you were doing so much of that before," Karin scoffed. "Well, Shinji-san?" Both she and Yuzu looked up at Shinji, pouting. The twins' combined puppy dog stare – Yuzu's, especially – was a force to be reckoned with. How was he supposed to resist that?
"Okay, fine. I'll play with ya girls and Hachi," Shinji capitulated, wondering how it was he'd once been feared across all of Soul Society as one of its strongest captains and was now a playmate to a pair of five-year-old girls. "Shall we head toward the back?"
"Yeah!" Yuzu cheered, holding Hachi's hand and guiding him. It was slightly comical to see the large man being led by a tiny slip of a girl.
"C'mon, Karakura Orange, don't be slow!" Karin said cheerfully as she dragged her brother behind her. Glancing back at the spectacle, he also noticed Kisuke staring at the group with a slight bit of incredulity and a lot of amusement – at Shinji's expense, the bastard.
"Am I goin' ta regret this?" Shinji whispered to Ichigo as they moved into the house.
Ichigo gave a rueful smile. "Nah. It's just a pretty big game of make-pretend," he said. "It's kind of childish and a bit outlandish, but my sisters are young, so…"
"Well, after we're done here, I would like ta see how your kido is comin' along," Shinji said as they settled in the sitting room.
Once the girls had returned from their room with an array of stuffed animals, Shinji asked, "Why am I Karakura Black? Why not Karakura Yellow for my hair, like Hachi?"
"Because we already have a Karakura Yellow, and Rose-san has blond hair too, so he's Karakura Gold when he joins in the future," Yuzu explained seriously. They'd evidently given this a lot of thought, if they were including Vizards that hadn't played with them yet.
"Then why can't I be… Karakura Saffron, or something?" Shinji complained.
Karin made a face. "Because that doesn't sound as awesome as Karakura Black. C'mon, Shinji-san, don't be uncool." Shinji sputtered indignantly. Hachi looked completely indifferent, but Shinji was sure the large man was laughing on the inside.
"Okay! It's my turn to make the story! Here are your characters," Yuzu said as she tossed stuffed animals according to color to each player. "So, the Karakura Superheroes sense a group of Hollows heading towards a weak Shinigami…"
Shinji had to admit, for a pair of five-year-old girls, Yuzu and Karin sure were creative. As Ichigo had warned him, the game was a bit childish and overblown, but it wasn't unbearable. Thankfully, it didn't take too long, either, the twins impatient to kick Hollow butt without too many overdrawn dramatics. It left plenty of time to check on Ichigo's kido before Shinji had to leave for his shift as a bartender at a local nightclub.
Ichigo's Sai was getting stronger. Slowly. And his Bou was getting more sophisticated, binding both arms and legs like it was supposed to. Shinji had a feeling that kido wouldn't be Ichigo's strong suit once he started learning the other Shinigami arts, though.
How did Kensei find himself in this situation? He was a terrifying Vizard, and a powerful Shinigami captain before that. He'd struck fear into the hearts of all of his enemies. And yet…
"Karakura White! One of the Hollows is approaching you! What do you do?" Karin narrated.
"Ooh! Kensei, what are you going to do?" Mashiro trilled, excited.
"It's Karakura White!" Karin reminded her.
"…I punch the Hollow in its face," Kensei said in a monotone, shifting the white stuffed bear that represented his character forward toward the plastic figure that represented the Hollow.
"Karakura White is an expert at punching Hollows in their faces," Mashiro added seriously.
"Karakura Red, does Karakura White shatter the Hollow's mask?" Yuzu asked earnestly.
Karin contemplated the conundrum carefully. "Well, considering his beefy arms… I suppose he does. But! Another Hollow sneaks up behind the first one and tackles him! I'm too far away; Karakura Yellow, Karakura Green, what do you do?"
"I heroically sweep in and save Karakura White!" Yuzu squealed excitedly.
Looking at Yuzu's smiling face, Karin's obvious enthusiasm, and Mashiro's zeal, Kensei couldn't help but think that the humiliation of playing make-believe was worth it.
…As long as none of the others found out.
Rose had moseyed on down to the Shoten to visit Yuzu again with Lisa tagging along, bored during her off-day from working at a bookstore (which, to her chagrin, didn't carry the perverted manga Lisa seemed so fond of). But when they reached the shop, they couldn't sense any of the Kurosakis' reiatsu signatures.
"Yuzu and Karin started school today," Urahara informed them when questioned. "So they're all at school, and Ichigo told me he'd be staying late to clean."
Rose was willing to wait the half hour it took for Yuzu and Karin to return to the Shoten, and Lisa figured being bored at the Shoten wouldn't be much different from being bored at the warehouse. Finally, they felt two tiny reiatsu signatures approaching the Shoten. Yuzu and Karin, both out of breath from running and looking cute in their elementary school uniforms, appeared in the doorway.
"Rose-san! I could sense you from outside the Shoten!" Yuzu said, beaming.
"Excellent work, Yuzu-chan," Rose praised. "So, how was your first day of school?"
"I think we saw a Shinigami on our way home! He jumped across the street from the roof, and he was wearing a black hakama, and he had a sword!" Karin told them excitedly.
"Oh? Did he bother you at all?" Lisa asked.
"No, he didn't pay any attention to us," Yuzu said.
"So, what was school like?" Rose asked after neither twin volunteered any more information.
"It was fun! We got to play with crayons, and sensei was super nice. But I think learning to read and write will be hard," Yuzu said.
"Not to mention math," Karin added.
"Well, I suppose I could help you with reading and writing," Lisa offered. Neither Yuzu nor Karin were much like bookish little Nanao-chan, but reading to the girls wouldn't be so different.
She was rewarded with a big smile from Yuzu. "Thank you, Lisa-san!" These kids weren't Nanao-chan, who was likely grown up by now… but maybe they could be special to her in their own way.
"Hey, Super Sentai comes on soon, and there's a special double episode of Sailor Moon right after! Won't you watch with us?" Karin said, pointing toward the back of the shop.
Lisa had never heard of either Super Sentai or Sailor Moon. Might as well see what entertained the kids nowadays.
She regretted the decision. She'd known Hachi had been more interested in the TV lately, but she hadn't known that he'd been watching this… this… perfection. Maybe there was less bare skin than she would have liked, but the shows were charming in their own rights. Looking over at Rose, she could see that he was interested too, perhaps in the style of music that the shows utilized on in the artwork or special effects. Humans sure could be creative.
After both shows had finished, Yuzu, who was sitting in Rose's lap, said, "Hey, while we're waiting for Ichi-nii, why don't we play Karakura Superheroes? We based it off Super Sentai! Rose-san, you're Karakura Gold! And Lisa-san, you're… hmm…"
"Karakura Purple!" Karin declared.
"Oh? A game based on Super Sentai? This could be interesting," Lisa said. These kids were far different from Nanao-chan, less mature and more excitable, but they were still cute. And purple… she could live with the designation purple.
Karakura Superheroes was fun, for a game cooked up by a pair of five-year-olds. When she got more time off, she'd have to visit them again sometime – not just to play with them. She missed reading to little kids.
"Who's the leader?" Hiyori asked, sitting in a rough circle with Yuzu, Karin, Hachi, and some stuffed animals. She had visited the Shoten with Hachi to see Ichigo, but the boy was at karate, so she had to make do with playing Karakura Superheroes with his sisters.
"Red," Karin informed her proudly.
"Well, then I want to be Red!" It matched her coat and the markings on her mask. Besides, she was obviously fit for a leader position.
"We already have a Red!" Karin said indignantly. "I'm Red!"
Hiyori was nothing if not stubborn, though. If she couldn't be red red, she'd just have to be an awesomer red. "Then I'll be Crimson, and you can share responsibility with me!" the newly dubbed Karakura Crimson declared, pointing at herself with her thumb.
Hachi shook his head and Yuzu pouted as this started an argument, but in the end, Hiyori was not to be denied. She graciously allowed Karin to be main leader, though, because Hiyori couldn't always be present.
"Ready or not, here I cooooooome!" Mashiro sing-songed, peeking between her fingers at the rocky expanse of Urahara's training grounds. She could sense Ichigo just fine, and Karin if she focused, but Yuzu… she'd have to wait for little Yuzu to lose concentration before she could find her.
In the meantime, she skipped around rubble and boulders, humming to herself. No shunpo allowed, but she was still faster than all of the kids combined. She bent over to see into a small crevice between a boulder and the ground which Ichigo had somehow shoved himself into. He was scowling, no doubt knowing that his shoddy ability to hide his reiatsu was the reason he'd been singled out first.
"Tag! You're it!" Mashiro exclaimed, poking Ichigo in the forehead. He grunted in acknowledgement as he wriggled out from under the boulder. Now, to find the girls by sensing them in their hiding places…
Mashiro giggled to herself. This kind of hide-and-seek was so much fun!
"…and so the sad little ghost finally had a friend," Lisa narrated, Karin cuddled up by her side. Yuzu and Kensei were on the opposite side of the Shoten, the former sitting in the latter's lap as he read a short chapter book to her, something about fairies. Lisa inwardly snorted; Kensei was such a pushover for Yuzu.
Ichigo, meanwhile, was working on his reiatsu control. Both Vizards would occasionally call tips to him as he struggled to corral his wild reiatsu. With control that bad, it was pretty miraculous that he could pull off any kido at all. Or maybe he just had enough extra energy to make up for any deficit he wasted (which was impressive, for a Human).
Shinji stared at a small, red-haired boy about Yuzu and Karin's age who was sitting just outside of the Shoten. Now, he could be dense about certain social conventions, but he was pretty sure that Humans didn't spontaneously de-age (though he had found out their hair could change into some pretty cool colors with dye nowadays). Also with the boy was a tiny, black-haired girl who definitely wasn't Karin, judging by the pigtails and the shy, soft demeanor. What were these squirts doing at the Shoten without their parents?
"What are you looking at, you weirdo?!" the boy yelled belligerently, shaking a tiny fist at Shinji.
Shinji shook his head. It wasn't any of his business, and besides, he was here to see the Kurosakis anyway (who were much cooler kids, in his opinion).
"Now, now, Jinta, don't go scaring off potential customers," Kisuke said, stepping to the front of the store to see what the commotion was about. "Shinji-san, Love, Hachi, welcome. I assume you're here to visit the Kurosakis?"
"Those losers?" Jinta scoffed, scuffing the dirt with his toes. Shinji could read the jealousy plain as day on his face.
"Hey, now," said a frowning Love, who was more confrontational than laid-back Shinji or quiet Hachi and had gotten rather defensive of the Kurosakis (specifically Karin) even among the Vizards.
"Your kids seem ta have multiplied," Shinji commented to Kisuke as Love started low key scolding the kid and the kid high key yelled back.
Kisuke snorted. "Yes, the Shoten is getting a bit crowded."
"So what's the deal with 'em?"
"Jinta's a spiritually sensitive orphan. Couldn't just ignore him, especially not after the Kurosakis. Ururu…" Kisuke lowered his voice. "She's a cast-out experiment from the Twelfth. Yoruichi rescued her and brought her here."
Shinji raised an eyebrow. "Didn't take ya ta be much of a bleedin' heart," he commented. Kisuke looked away uncomfortably.
"Kisuke's always had a kind heart. I guess you just don't notice it between all the experiments," Yoruichi said, having stealthily sauntered up to Kisuke and Shinji while they were conversing.
"Don't give away all my secrets, Yoruichi," Kisuke complained.
"Hachi-san, I thought I sensed you outside the store!" Yuzu exclaimed excitedly as she emerged from within the Shoten, followed by her siblings and Tessai. The two girls latched on to the larger man happily.
"Hey, be professional! Those are customers!" Jinta yelled at the twins, ignoring both Love and his lecture.
Karin stuck her tongue out at Jinta before turning back to Hachi. "Will you play Karakura Superheroes with us?" she requested, eyes wide and guileless.
"That stupid kiddie game?" Jinta jeered.
"Hey!" Ichigo frowned.
"J-Jinta, don't be mean," Ururu timidly said.
"I didn't ask you!" Jinta yelled, corkscrewing his knuckles into her head.
"He's got an attitude problem, doesn't he?" Shinji noted as Love separated Jinta and Ururu, Karin yelled at Jinta for being a jerk, and Yuzu checked to make sure Ururu was okay. Urahara made an uncomfortable noise.
"Karakura Superheroes is not just a stupid game! Play it with us, and we'll prove it to you! We have enough people for two teams!" Karin shouted angrily.
"Fine, but I'll win! I'm the leader, Karakura Red!" Jinta retaliated.
"I'm Karakura Red! It's already taken! Even if there's two different teams, there can't be two different Reds!" Karin snapped.
"Fine! Then I'll be Karakura Scarlet, and I'll prove that I'm a better leader than you!" Jinta yelled, face red from the force of his anger.
"I'll be referee," Shinji volunteered, grinning. Mediating a feud between some small children would prove to be highly entertaining, more than participating would be. And children working out frustration in such a way was more constructive than outright violence, at any rate.
"Shinji-san, what are you doing?" Kisuke whispered.
"Right!" Karin said, looking determined. "Then it's me, Yuzu, Ichi-nii, Hachi-san, and Love-san!"
"What did I just get dragged into?" Love wondered, scratching his head.
Shinji snickered. "You'll see."
"Okay! Then I've got Ururu, Urahara-san, Tessai-san, and Yoruichi-san!" Jinta announced, pointing at each one in turn.
"Teams, assemble in the back room!" Shinji proclaimed. "If ya don't have one already, pick your name and coordinate with your team leader!"
"This could be fun," Yoruichi commented as she stepped inside, followed by Tessai and Kisuke, who turned the shop sign to 'closed.'
"Might as well do this properly," Kisuke sighed as he was chased by Karin and Jinta, each vying to get to the designated battleground first.
"Sorry about this," Ichigo said after Yuzu and Ururu had entered the Shoten. "He's just been a jerk ever since he came…"
"It's no trouble," Shinji said, guiding the boy inside, Hachi and Love behind him.
It took some time, but finally everyone had been settled into two parties, introductions had been made, appropriate stuffed animals had been distributed, and names had been assigned. When the noise quieted down, Shinji took that as his cue to begin.
"In the blue corner, we have… Karakura Red, Kurosaki Karin! Karakura Yellow, Kurosaki Yuzu! Karakura Orange, Kurosaki Ichigo! Karakura Pink, Ushoda Hachigen! And Karakura Blue, Aikawa Love!" Shinji announced, enjoying himself immensely. "And in the red corner, we have… Karakura Scarlet, Hanakiri Jinta! Karakura Rose, Tsumugiya Ururu! Karakura Jade, Urahara Kisuke! Karakura Pitch, Shihouin Yoruichi! And Karakura Violet, Tsukabishi Tessai!"
It was a long and hard-fought battle, but Karin's team eventually pulled a win from the Karakura Superheroes civil war. Jinta's aggression faded to grudging respect for the Kurosakis, and it looked like each of the adults had had fun. Shinji thought back to some of the highlights of the battle:
Yoruichi cackling as she advanced on Love, who, despite his initial misgivings, had become incredibly invested in the game.
Karin and Jinta squaring off as the leaders, fierce and determined in their roleplaying.
Yuzu and Ururu, hilariously, splitting off from both teams to form their own friendship coalition, unwilling to seriously fight each other (because it seemed they'd become good friends).
Ichigo valiantly facing off against the might and cunning of Urahara Kisuke and losing badly.
Hachi and Tessai battling with miniature live kido above everyone's heads, until sparks had rained down and almost caught Yuzu on fire and Shinji made them stop.
Shinji hadn't helped with any of the children's schoolwork or budding reiatsu abilities this visit to the Shoten. But he actually found he didn't mind.
"Yuzu's in bed, sick," Karin said, trying to hide her worry. "Sorry, Rose-san."
"It's quite alright," Rose said kindly. "I've heard quite a bit about you and your brother from the others. How is school going?"
Karin brightened at the question. "We've started learning to read and write! It's super hard though," she informed him seriously. "Let me show you!" She scampered off to grab her backpack.
"What about you, Ichigo-kun?" Rose asked while they waited.
"Um, we're learning Japanese history… also math, math is a pain. And we're always learning more about the Japanese language," Ichigo informed him.
Rose chuckled softly. "Japanese is a difficult language to read and write," he said as Karin returned, brandishing a small stack of papers. "Let's see, Karin-chan." Karin proudly showed shaky renditions of simple first-grade characters. "Excellent work, Karin-chan," Rose praised, critically eyeing the legible but inelegant characters – standard work produced by a first-grader, but still impressively readable. "Can I look over your work too, Ichigo-kun?" Ichigo scowled but left to grab some of his homework.
Meanwhile, Karin nervously pulled a sheet of paper from the stack. "You can keep this," she said, looking away in embarrassment. "Yuzu and I worked on it together."
Rose looked over the page and felt his heart melt. All eight Vizards had been inexpertly but lovingly drawn together. Looking over the large ball that was Hachi and Shinji's comically wide smile, Rose felt he'd been given a gift greater than any he'd ever received in the past. Being held in high enough esteem by children that they would draw him was special. He hadn't interacted with Ichigo and Karin as much as he had with Yuzu, but he felt valued all the same.
Maybe Aizen had turned him into a monster a century ago, but as he was regarded by a trepidatious but hopeful Karin, he couldn't help but think that he couldn't be so bad, if sweet little kids like Yuzu and Karin liked him so well.
"Everyone else is going to love this," Rose said warmly. "I'll put it on the fridge, where we can all see it."
Karin gave him a broad grin just as Ichigo returned with his math and kanji homework, and Rose spent the next hour helping Ichigo with the unfinished portions. It was an oddly soothing experience.
Rose checked in on a sleeping Yuzu before leaving, carefully holding the picture she and Karin had drawn.
And, as he predicted, the other Vizards were beyond flattered to see the drawing. It was pinned with magnets in its place of honor on the refrigerator door.
"Slumber party! Girl's night in!" Yuzu announced as she dragged a pillow bigger than her own body into the Shoten's living room, where there were a bunch of futons and sleeping bags already scattered about, which Ururu had arranged.
"Yay!" Mashiro cheered, helping Yuzu with the pillow as Lisa looked up from her book and Hiyori reluctantly grinned.
"I've got all our girl stuffed animals!" Karin proudly announced, stumbling into the room with a huge armful, followed by Yoruichi, who was holding a stuffed cat in her mouth.
"We'll have so many friends with us tonight!" Yuzu said excitedly as they started arranging the stuffed animals. "We'll have the epic-est team of girl Karakura Superheroes, and we can paint our nails—" Yoruichi had brought nail polish in all shades of the rainbow from who knew where, "—and Lisa can read us bedtime stories and we can have a pillow fight and—"
"What the heck is going on?" Ichigo wondered as he poked his head in through the door, eyeing the conglomeration of people and pillows that had accumulated in the living room.
"Didn't Kisuke tell you? We're having a slumber party," Yoruichi loftily informed him.
"Get out! No boys allowed!" Hiyori hollered as she lobbed a pillow at Ichigo's head.
Ichigo yelped and quickly retreated. "Okay! Okay! I'm going!" Yuzu giggled at her brother's misfortune.
It was, as Yuzu had said, the epic-est slumber party ever. They played Karakura Superheroes – Karakura Red, Karakura Crimson, Karakura Yellow, Karakura Green, Karakura Purple, Karakura Rose, and Karakura Pitch all working together to save all the boys who were a part of the Karakura Superheroes! Then they happily watched some recorded episodes of Super Sentai and Sailor Moon – neither of which Ururu had seen, but she seemed to enjoy them, too (though it was a little hard to tell, because she was so soft-spoken). They painted toenails – Karin and Hiyori got red, Lisa's toes were purple, Ururu's were painted pink, Mashiro somehow found a lime green that matched her hair, and Yuzu got a sunny yellow. Yoruichi declined the polish, saying that it would get in her fur and be a hassle. After the nail polish was dry, all three young girls were nodding off, so Lisa read them a bedtime story and tucked them in.
"Best… slumber party… ever…" Karin murmured as she dozed off. Lisa smiled.
Hiyori made sure the girls were asleep before she turned to Lisa and whispered, "You know, this has been fun, but why aren't the girls doing this kind of thing with kids their own age instead of with us?"
"Oh, you don't know?" Yoruichi said, equally quiet. "Yuzu and Karin… they don't really have friends at school. They tried to bring some kids over one time and, well… let's just say one of Kisuke's experiments went wrong, and now none of them want anything to do with the twins."
"So who do I have to beat up?" Hiyori asked, cracking her knuckles ominously.
"Hiyori! No beating up little kids!" Mashiro scolded.
"You're getting loud. Quiet down. In fact, we should all go to bed. It's pretty late," Lisa said calmly, diffusing the argument before it could even really begin.
"That sounds like a splendid idea," Yoruichi said, curling up by the twins and Ururu and steamrolling past Hiyori's and Mashiro's attempts to pick a fight. "Good night, everyone."
"Who's this?" Kensei asked bluntly as he eyed a black-haired girl about Ichigo's age staring up at him. It was a good thing he'd decided to wear his gigai; this girl didn't seem to be spiritually sensitive at all. "Did Urahara adopt another one?"
The girl bristled at the implication. "No! I'm just here to see Ichigo," she huffed.
Kensei raised an eyebrow. "Oh? You're friends with him or something?"
"Duh. What else would I be doing here?" She rolled her eyes.
"Tatsuki, where'd you go—oh, Kensei-san. Love-san. Hi," Ichigo said, stepping out of the Shoten.
"You know these people?" Tatsuki demanded.
"Yeah. They visit so much they're practically family," Ichigo replied.
Kensei felt a pleased blush rise to his cheeks at the sentiment. But such a small statement shouldn't have had such an impact on him. He was getting too attached to the Kurosaki kids. He probably should have minded more, but he didn't.
"Weird," Tatsuki grumbled.
"So how do you know Ichigo-kun?" Love asked diplomatically.
"We go to karate together," Ichigo explained.
"Oh? Are you any good?" Kensei wondered curiously.
Tatsuki puffed up proudly. "I'm the best in my age group!" she boasted. "But Ichigo isn't too bad, either."
"Hmm. How about you show us?" Kensei suggested, grinning. Hand-to-hand combat was his forte, and he wanted to see how children were taught to fight in the World of the Living. He could visit with Yuzu and Karin a little later.
Tatsuki seemed at first a bit reluctant, but Ichigo assured her it was okay, and Kensei spent the next half hour testing both children, one-on-one and two-on-one, with Love refereeing. Kensei demanded that the two children give their best performance by the intensity with which he engaged them. Tatsuki seemed determined to succeed for her own reasons, and he knew Ichigo wanted to be strong to protect his sisters. For little kids who had been studying karate for only a few years, they were pretty impressive. Not nearly impressive enough to beat him, but still. The two children took the consequent yelled lecture and critique of their loss with fiery resolve.
Before Kensei entered the Shoten to visit Yuzu, with Love following to read to Karin, he heard Tatsuki say, "He might be even better than sensei! How often does he show up here?"
"See, to get a more powerful kick, you have to move your leg like this," Mashiro demonstrated, the soccer ball she'd kicked almost tearing through the net Urahara had set up for Karin once he'd discovered that she had an affinity for soccer.
Karin watched with stars in her eyes, completely taken with the display. "Show me again! I want to learn to be as great as you one day!"
Mashiro squealed and glomped the girl. "I'm sure you'll be awesome someday!" she cooed.
Meanwhile, Rose was helping Ichigo and Yuzu inside the Shoten with their reiatsu control. "Excellent job, Yuzu," he said as her reiatsu warped the air in front of her, not quite coalescing into a ball but not completely ineffective either. Yuzu had long passed the point where she could see spirits without aid, to be able to use reiatsu in such a way. Ichigo, meanwhile, had the opposite problem – too much power (for a Human) and not enough control, so Rose had him working on a simple exercise to help with finesse. To keep the children motivated, he'd brought his guitar and would play a simple lyrical melody every time they were able to successfully complete the exercise to his satisfaction.
Eventually, Rose, Ichigo, and Yuzu were joined by Jinta and Ururu, who were also curious about how to develop their powers (though Ururu seemed to already have experience, for some reason). The competition between Jinta and Ichigo kept things lively.
"I didn't know you could cook, Hiyori-san!" Yuzu exclaimed as she watched Hiyori whip up a snack from the stool Urahara had gotten ahold of specifically so Yuzu could reach the counter. "Can you show me what you do? Rose-san is great, but it's good to learn from more than one person, you know?"
"Uh—" Hiyori started, fully intent on denying Yuzu because she wasn't the best of cooks, but Yuzu was determined to bond with the cantankerous Vizard and Hiyori stood no chance.
"They're in back," Urahara said without looking up. Kensei winced, the practiced excuse dying in his mouth. The Vizards were all getting too predictable, if Urahara knew that they visited the Shoten more for the Kurosaki kids than for anything related to the Soul Society.
"Thank you, Urahara-san," Hachi said, bowing slightly, before entering the home and being accosted by two excited young girls.
"Hachi-san! Hachi-san! Are you going to show us more kido?" Karin asked excitedly. Neither twin had been deemed old enough to begin learning kido like Ichigo, but they still enjoyed demonstrations nonetheless.
"Kensei-san! I thought I sensed you!" Yuzu said, tugging Kensei farther into the house. "Will you help me with the laundry? After Hachi-san's done, of course."
How could Kensei say no to a face like that?
"Oh nooooooooooo! I can't believe we missed it!" Shinji moaned. Lisa looked genuinely distressed as Kisuke and Tessai cleaned up the remnants of the party they'd thrown to celebrate the twins' sixth birthday. "Kisuke! Why didn't ya tell us Yuzu and Karin had a birthday comin' up?"
Shinigami didn't really celebrate birthdays simply because many had come from the Human world and hadn't actually been born. But thanks to their century of experience in the World of the Living, the Vizards were well aware that birthdays were particularly important to Human children.
"Slipped my mind. Sorry!" Kisuke said cheerfully, whipping out his fan. "I'm sure the girls would be happy to see you, though."
"We can't face them like this!" Lisa protested.
An idea popped into Shinji's mind. "Lisa! Ya distract them! I'll be right back!" Shinji ordered, glad he'd thought to bring along his wallet. He shunpoed to the nearest toy store, found the latest Super Sentai action figures, wrapped them in the store's gift section, hastily left the correct amount of money on a counter (because he wasn't in a gigai and didn't have time to go back to the warehouse to get it or the other Vizards because this was a crisis and he couldn't afford to dawdle), and returned to the Shoten just in time to hear Lisa stammer through some excuse about why they hadn't been able to make it. From the sounds of things, she was blaming Kisuke.
"I heard ya girls had a birthday!" Shinji said jovially as he entered the store, sweating under the accusing gaze of Karin. He held out the present to the girls as a peace offering. "Here. We, uh, got ya something."
Shinji noticed Ichigo looking unimpressed as he handed off the gift to Yuzu, who was determined to be cheerful. The kids had obviously been hurt by the Vizards' absence. How had Human children gotten so attached to a bunch of part-Hollow ex-Shinigami exiles? And why had they allowed it in the first place? It was probably all Kisuke's fault.
Yuzu tore apart the wrapping paper to get at the gift inside, Karin hovering over her shoulder. When they saw the Super Sentai figures, though, instead of brightening up like Shinji and Lisa hoped they would, they looked confused and a little downcast.
Shinji panicked as Lisa sent him a look of death. He hadn't exactly gotten ahold of the toys legally so he couldn't return them. What was wrong with what he'd picked out, anyway?
"Thank you, Shinji-san," Yuzu said tremulously.
"What's wrong?" Lisa asked gently, kneeling to see what Shinji had chosen.
"Oh, Yoruichi-san got us these exact figures," Karin explained. "It's kind of funny you got the same thing."
Shinji made a distressed noise and sat on the ground, defeated. Of course he'd manage to screw it up. Yuzu walked over and patted him on the knee.
"It's okay, Shinji-san," she said, her smile more genuine this time. "You didn't know about our birthday in the first place, and you tried to fix it when you found out. That's enough for me."
…How did a little six-year-old show more maturity and insight than some of the centuries-old Shinigami Shinji had known? He couldn't help but being impressed. The Kurosaki siblings were truly remarkable. Thinking back to that first meeting with Ichigo and all the memorable encounters since, was it truly any wonder that the Vizards had been drawn in?
Mashiro chattered while Love directed Ichigo and Yuzu to mop the floors. Some parts of the Shoten needed a good cleaning – like the storeroom – and Yuzu had volunteered to clean, and Ichigo had been dragged into helping, as well. Love and Mashiro had found them buried up to their elbows in dust and cleaning agents and decided to keep them company when they came to visit. While perhaps not the most entertaining of afternoons, it was soothing and quiet (though with Mashiro, the latter was always debatable).
"It's not just your kicks that you need to work on. Footwork is also very important in soccer," Lisa instructed, bouncing a soccer ball lazily on her knee while Karin watched, enraptured by the Vizard's dexterity and balance.
"Mashiro's shown me some things," Karin said as Lisa passed her the ball.
Lisa snorted. "Mashiro's kicks are legendary – and she has some pretty good footwork to back it up, too – but I bet she's just been teaching you how to kick the ball hard and far, yes?"
"Er…"
Lisa shook her head. "Not good enough. I want you to destroy the competition, understand?"
"Hey, how come she gets special treatment? I want to learn, too!" Jinta proclaimed, having quietly wandered outside and spied the lesson.
"Who's this again?" Lisa wondered disinterestedly.
Karin sighed and braced herself for the oncoming explosion. She'd have to get those lessons from Lisa later, it seemed.
"So just how strong are you guys?" Ichigo wondered one day once Kisuke, Shinji, Rose, and Kensei had emerged from sharing Soul Society gossip in the living room of the Shoten.
"Plenty strong," Shinji grinned widely, ruffling Ichigo's hair fondly. It was a testament to how much Ichigo had taken to Shinji that he didn't complain about the affectionate act. (It was also a testament to how deeply invested Shinji was with the Kurosakis now against better judgment, especially Ichigo, but Shinji tended to ignore that.)
"Can I see?" Ichigo asked, eyes sparkling excitedly.
Shinji opened his mouth to immediately deny the kid – they were way beyond a level that Ichigo would even be able to appreciate, and their spars tended to be pretty devastating to the surroundings (and therefore dangerous to Ichigo) – before stopping. If they held back by a lot, and if Kisuke let them use the training grounds under the store (which he should)…
No shikai. Definitely no bankai. And absolutely, under no circumstances, Hollow mask. For one, it was complete overkill. For two, there was no need to let the kids know that their closest adult friends were part monster, the same kind that had killed their parents. What if they didn't want to see the Vizards anymore? They were all too attached to the kids by this point, and a rejection like that would definitely hurt. Shinji frowned at the depressing thought before pushing it aside for later contemplation. Right now, he had to figure out if sparring in front of Ichigo was a good idea.
…Why not? Captains had occasionally held demonstrations of their might for their subordinates. So long as one of the Vizards hung back to protect Ichigo from any fallout, it should be fine.
"Hey, Rose," he said, smirking. "How 'bout a quick match down in the training grounds for Ichigo?"
Rose frowned thoughtfully, no doubt weighing the similar concerns Shinji had had and glancing at Kensei, who didn't seem as displeased as he'd expected for being relegated to babysitter. "Sure," he eventually said smoothly. "Rules?"
"No releasin' anything. Otherwise, anything goes. Just make sure Ichigo can see ya," Shinji said. "Kisuke! Can we use your training grounds for a bit?"
"Of course," Kisuke piped up, looking highly amused. "I'll even referee." Shinji gave him a quick stink-eye to convey just how unimpressed he was with being Kisuke's entertainment. If it really came down to it, it was all the shopkeeper's fault they'd been introduced to the Kurosakis and had therefore gotten so attached, anyway.
"Okay, kiddo," Kensei said, tucking Ichigo under a muscled arm. "Hang on tight."
They jumped through the trapdoor to the basement training room (which Shinji knew Ichigo and his sisters couldn't access on their own, for their own safety) and landed in a swirl of dust. Kensei put Ichigo on the rocky ground while Rose and Shinji retreated some distance away, readying their zanpakuto, which they always brought with them in spirit form wherever they went. Shinji glanced at Ichigo, who looked like he was vibrating in his excitement.
Both combatants slid into a ready stance and then, at a silent signal, charged at each other. Their zanpakuto collided with a clang and, with that opening move, they were off, putting their zanjutsu skills to good use. It was Rose who used the first kido spell, calling out a Shakkaho, but it was Shinji who first incorporated hakuda, sweeping down low with a foot to kick Rose's legs out from under him. On an unspoken agreement, neither used shunpo, because someone at Ichigo's level wouldn't be able to see them at all if they did, and that would defeat the point of this exercise. They were careful to keep their attacks pointed away from Ichigo, but whenever it was unavoidable that some kido spell or something was aimed in the boy's direction, Kensei would either pull Ichigo out of the way or block.
Shinji kept an eye on Ichigo whenever he could during the spar, which wasn't too hard because neither combatant was really pushing themselves hard. Ichigo was completely enamored with the performance, a rare smile flitting across his lips as he watched.
An hour later, Shinji called for the demonstration to stop. Since neither Rose nor Shinji had been going full-out, they weren't really injured – a little bit of light scorching from a kido spell here, a patch of dusty clothing there from whenever they had to take a tumble. Rose immediately started looking over his clothes, grumbling softly at the stains, while Shinji returned to Kisuke, Kensei, and Ichigo (who seemed mightily disappointed that the fight was over).
"That was awesome!" Ichigo exclaimed once Shinji had approached. "I want to be that strong someday!"
Shinji snorted. "Kid, I have no doubt that one day, you'll be even stronger than that."
Ichigo nodded, determination settling into his gaze. "Can I start learning to swordfight like you?"
Shinji stroked his chin thoughtfully. His job as a bartender kept him busy most nights, and Ichigo was typically occupied during the day. They wouldn't be able to train very often… and much as he liked the kid, Shinji wasn't sure if he wanted to take on a student. Kisuke or Tessai could teach him, though. But when he looked over at Kisuke, the shopkeeper shook his head. Still too soon, then. Maybe once Ichigo hit double digits he could start learning? He'd have to ask Kisuke.
"Sorry, kid," he said out loud. "Maybe once you're older."
Ichigo scowled and looked ready to argue, but Shinji cut him off before he could get started. "No buts. I know ya want ta, but you're not ready yet," he said firmly.
Ichigo reluctantly nodded a moment later. "Fine," he said sullenly.
A little later, before Shinji could join Kensei (who was again holding Ichigo) and Rose on the ladder up to the shop, Kisuke tugged him aside. "He really respects you, you know. He would have been arguing with me for hours," the shopkeeper said in an undertone.
"He's a good kid," Shinji replied absentmindedly. "So are the girls."
"Perhaps they would be happier with you than they are with me," Kisuke said lightly. "My home is getting a bit crowded."
Shinji snorted, not taking the suggestion seriously at all.
"And this kana says…"
"Sa," Lisa replied, her fingers trailing over Karin's kana homework. Love was sitting on the floor in the doorway, waiting patiently for Lisa and Karin to finish so he could share the latest issue of Shonen Jump with Karin.
Karin snuggled into Lisa's side, much like Nanao-chan had. Lisa felt a pang of sadness at the thought of the little girl she'd bonded with a century ago, but the ache… it wasn't as bad as the first time she'd felt it. Maybe being around Karin was a good thing for her.
In a good mood, Lisa quickly finished helping Karin with her homework before beckoning Love over. She directed him to sit against the wall, made sure Karin was cozy on one side of Love and then sat on the other side. Maybe she hadn't completely caught up with Naruto's escapades yet, but it would still be fun to spend time with her favorite Kurosaki.
"Ah, Hiyori-san, welcome. What can I do for you today?" Tessai asked, eyeing the short Vizard.
Hiyori expanded her senses and while it seemed the two other brats Urahara had taken in were in the back, the Kurosakis (who should have been home from school because it was a weekend) and Urahara himself were nowhere to be found. Which automatically put her in a foul mood, because she had the day off from work, and she'd so been looking forward to pounding Ichigo into the ground in training. And maybe helping the little girls with some housework, because she was nice like that.
Frowning, Hiyori said, "The kids and Urahara. Where'd they go?"
Tessai adjusted his glasses. "Ah, well, they're not here. I'm sorry."
"Where are they?" Hiyori asked, trying to keep a lid on her temper for the deflection.
"I can't tell you. The Kurosakis wanted to be alone today but needed a chaperone, so Kisuke took them."
"So what's the occasion?" Hiyori needled.
Tessai's features took on a solemn cast. "Today is the one-year anniversary of their parents' death."
"Oh," Hiyori said, her annoyance dissipating. They were probably all at one of the cemeteries, mourning. Hiyori, for all her brusqueness, knew better than to interrupt something like that, so she turned to leave. "Tell them I came by, would ya?"
She'd have to tell the others to stop by if they could. They were better at cheering people up than she was. And they seemed closer to the kids than she was, too.
A week passed, and Hiyori knew all the other Vizards save for her had gone to the store to visit the Kurosakis. Shinji had to snap Ichigo out of another funk and the other Vizards' shirts came home wet from tears, but overall it seemed the visits were appreciated.
"You know, the kids were asking after you last time I visited," Lisa said quietly during dinner that evening.
Hiyori's head snapped up. They wanted… her? But she knew she wasn't the greatest company and probably set a bad example, swearing and violent as she was. So why?
"Missed you, Hiyori-san," Yuzu said the next day when Hiyori visited, the girl's face buried in her shirt. Since there was no one else around to see her being emotional, Hiyori hugged Yuzu back. So she was cherished just as much as the other Vizards despite all her flaws?
Stupid Humans. She hated all of them and their oversentimentality. (Except maybe for the Kurosakis. She couldn't lie to herself that badly.)
"Hey, is Kensei-san done playing with Ichigo and Tatsu-whatever yet?" Jinta huffed impatiently.
"It's Tatsuki, Jinta," Ururu said timidly.
"And they're not playing, they're learning to fight!" Karin added.
"Like I care!" Jinta scoffed, rolling his eyes.
"Now, now, be patient. I'm sure they'll be done with their lesson soon," Rose said diplomatically. "We'll get to Karakura Superheroes soon enough."
It was probably a good thing Hiyori hadn't run into Jinta recently, Rose thought to himself as he watched Jinta argue with Karin. The last time the two foul-tempered individuals were in the same vicinity as each other was… explosive. If Rose squinted, he could still see a little superficial damage on one of the walls. It wasn't that he disliked either Hiyori or Jinta – he was easy-going by nature and he tended to not fall in the way of either's warpath – it was just that they didn't get along well. Which was kind of an understatement.
"How's school going?" Rose asked Yuzu to pass the time.
Instead of brightening at the attention, like he'd thought – Yuzu was generally a happy person by nature, the aftermath of her parents' deaths notwithstanding – her eyes dimmed and, in a less than enthusiastic voice, she said, "It's okay, I guess."
Rose raised an elegant eyebrow. "Oh? I thought it was going well. Are you having problems with the schoolwork? Or are you being bullied?"
Yuzu shook her head. "No. We're… mostly ignored." Which, for a highly social person like Yuzu, had to be difficult to live with. "I think Karin will make some friends if she keeps playing soccer, but it's just… lonely. I wish we could be homeschooled like Jinta and Ururu, but tou-chan and kaa-chan wouldn't want that," Yuzu finished, surprisingly candid about her dead parents.
Rose frowned thoughtfully. "Do you know why they're treating you this way?"
Yuzu nodded sadly. "Karin and I… we're different from the other kids. It's like they have nothing to worry about, while I…"
Rose understood what she was trying to say. She knew about how the afterlife was more of a dangerous existence than a peaceful one, and because of her higher than average spirit energy, she could be a target for a Hollow. Rose could understand why the Kurosaki parents hadn't wanted their children involved with the spirit world – it forced them to mature faster than their peers. Still, from the sounds of things, Ichigo had been dying on the inside when Shinji found him, and not putting a stop to it would have ultimately led to nothing good.
Telling the Kurosaki kids about the spirit world was a balance between risk and reward, the risk being the physical danger and the reward being improved mental health. He was pretty sure Ichigo didn't mind the risk because the reward had helped him a lot, but his sisters were different – grieving but not crushed under guilt. Did they resent Shinji and the other Vizards for butting into their lives and bringing danger?
Before Rose could take that depressing train of thought further, Yuzu continued, "But I have you, and Kensei-san, and Hachi-san, and all your other friends. It makes up for it, mostly."
Rose's eyes widened. He'd known that he was attached to the kids, and so were the others – but he hadn't realized it had been reciprocated. Though perhaps he shouldn't have been as surprised, because children did tend to become attached to people who treated them kindly.
But they didn't even know the worst part about the Vizards – that they were part monster, like the Hollow that killed their parents. It would probably come out one day in some dramatic, tragic fashion, and then the kids would undoubtedly hate them.
It would probably be best to just cut ties with them before anything like that happened. But staring at Yuzu's little cherubic face, so open and trusting, Rose couldn't help but be selfish. They'd been handed a shitty lot a century ago, and happiness had been fleeting in that time. Why couldn't they continue associating with the Kurosakis for the time being when he'd seen both himself and his fellow Vizards noticeably happier?
But was it fair to the Kurosakis that they had a bunch of old, exiled Shinigami for company instead of other Humans? How could the Vizards justify interacting with the Kurosakis when it might not be the best thing for the kids?
This wasn't the first time these kinds of doubts had come up in his mind and in discussion with the other Vizards, but it was still upsetting every time they appeared. But now, Rose was also worried it would be too late to gracefully withdraw from the Kurosaki kids' lives without causing a large disturbance.
"Rose-san, are you okay? You look upset," Yuzu said, craning her head up to examine his face.
Rose smiled, even through the tumultuous turn his thoughts had taken. Best not to let Yuzu know he was having problems with how continued relations with the Kurosakis would fare in the future. "I'm fine. Why don't we go set up for when Kensei comes? I'm sure Karakura White would appreciate it."
"Excellent work, Ichigo," Shinji praised as Ichigo wiped sweat from his face and panted. They'd just finished a hand-to-hand sparring session to get Ichigo used to fighting bigger opponents than himself. Of course, Shinji didn't tower over the boy like Rose did or muscle his way through things like Kensei did, but it was still helpful training.
Shinji ignored the little voice in his head that pointed out that it seemed like he was taking on Ichigo as a student anyway, despite his misgivings. He wasn't really teaching the kid, just… giving him a few pointers.
For a Human child, Ichigo really was learning hand-to-hand combat quickly, and from what he'd seen earlier, he'd moved on to Bakudo #3 and Bakudo #4 since finally mastering Bakudo #2. His reiatsu control could still use some work, though. Ichigo was slower than the average Shinigami recruit at picking up things, kido especially, but that could be chalked up to his age and relative youth, because children at a similar developmental stage (below seventy-five years old) in the Soul Society didn't pick up things nearly as quickly as Ichigo did.
Shinji couldn't wait to see what he could do with a sword. Kisuke had grudgingly agreed that Ichigo could have a wooden sword to practice with for his next birthday – which was coming up soon. He knew the other Vizards were anticipating it, too, and had already asked for time off from work to help Ichigo celebrate. There would be no disaster like there had been with the twins' birthday.
"Thanks, Shinji," Ichigo said. Shinji had finally gotten him to stop calling them all by an honorific a little while ago.
"How are your sisters? I haven't seen them today," Shinji said. He could sense the twins back in the Shoten, sleeping. His favorite may have been Ichigo, but that didn't mean he wasn't fond of Yuzu and Karin. The former was just so cute and sweet, and the latter was so much like her brother. (It made him miss his own family, sometimes. It had been over a century, but he still wondered how they were doing, even if they hadn't been able to do anything with regards to the Hollowfication.)
"They've been good. They're learning their colors now," Ichigo said, and from there, the conversation delved into what the girls and Ichigo had been doing at school and what the Vizards had been doing at their jobs. Shinji told a humorous story about something that had happened at the construction site Hiyori worked at that had Ichigo snickering and was in turn regaled with a tale of how the twins' physical education was going – or, namely, how terrifying Karin was turning out to be in that arena.
Shinji left the Shoten with a genuine smile on his face, leaving Ichigo to take a shower and work on his homework, but the grin soon dimmed as he remembered what had been happening back at the warehouse.
Rose had been more agitated recently about their association with Kisuke's adoptees, maybe because he'd noticed that the relationship between the Vizards and the Kurosakis ran a bit too deep to be appropriate for centuries-old Shinigami and less-than-a-decade-old Human kids, even though it had developed slowly and naturally. Shinji had to admit that Rose raised valid points. Maybe Kisuke would be able to keep them safe, out of the spirit world's conflicts, but the Vizards would be right at the center of whatever Aizen was doing when he finally made his move. It was, frankly, dangerous for them to continue associating with the kids, and it would probably be best for both parties if they broke contact. But leaving the Kurosakis alone… Maybe the Vizards could have left earlier, but both parties were too attached to each other by this point, too reliant on the other for emotional stability. And Shinji couldn't blame Kisuke for the predicament, not when Shinji had been the one to talk to Ichigo in the first place.
He'd have to talk things over with everyone.
Well, days later, nothing had been resolved because everyone was just too attached, and since everyone had asked for the time off, anyway, all the Vizards found themselves scattered throughout Kisuke's home, which had been decorated top to bottom with streamers and confetti, to celebrate Ichigo's birthday. The boy in question seemed to be in awe that they were all visiting at once, just for him. Yuzu and Karin were taking advantage of their presence, too, and seemed to enjoy interacting with Kensei, Mashiro, and Lisa while Rose and Love observed. Poor Hachi, large as he was, could only watch the proceedings from another room. Hiyori hounded her former captain, even through the cutting and distribution of the cake (which was a delicious vanilla, though Shinji would have been amused if it had been strawberry). Then it was time for presents.
All the Vizards had pooled together to get Ichigo's present: a bokken sized just right for the new ten-year-old. Ichigo was the most excited Shinji had ever seen him, determined to start training with it right away.
Kisuke, for his part, promised to start teaching Ichigo Hado spells. "You're old enough to start learning offensive spells, so long as you use them responsibly," he said.
"You're still allowed to be a kid, you know, responsibility aside," Yoruichi said as Ichigo stared wide-eyed at the GameBoy Color (from Tessai) and the Pokémon Gold cartridge (from Yoruichi) in his hands. "You don't have to spend all your time on schoolwork and training."
Jinta and Ururu got him candy from the shop – it wasn't like they had a wide range of options to choose from – and the twins got Ichigo a new helmet for karate.
Finally, there was an expansive, no holds barred, free-for-all session of Karakura Superheroes – Yuzu and Karin must have asked Ichigo to include it in the proceedings – in which the goal was to slay as many Hollows as possible. There were so many people it was a little difficult, but it was fun all the same.
Jinta and Ururu were put to bed early (the former protesting that the twins got to stay up later, but since it was a special day for their brother they were allowed to stay up), and the Vizards started to disperse, Lisa, Love, Hiyori, and Hachi heading home while Kensei and Rose stayed behind to help clean up. Mashiro kept Karin occupied while Ichigo tried to find a quiet space to start playing his new game. Shinji would have headed home, too, except he was drafted by Yuzu to help return all the twins' plushies to their room.
Shinji arranged the last stuffed animal – a unicorn – in its proper place, according to Yuzu, when Yuzu came up beside him and leaned into him. Since it was Yuzu, Shinji supposed he could allow it.
"Thanks for your help, Shinji-san," Yuzu said.
"Of course, darlin'," he replied.
Yuzu puffed out her cheeks. She'd been a bit distracted all evening, ever since the Vizards had all shown up. "Seeing all you guys together was pretty cool," she admitted.
Shinji chuckled. "Well, we are a pretty cool group."
"You are. …You know, Shinji-san, Urahara-san is fine – there's nothing wrong with him – but it would have been nice if you and the others had adopted us instead of him," Yuzu said wistfully.
It was nothing but idle speculation, but hearing those words from Yuzu after Kisuke had hinted his house was getting crowded… Shinji knew he and the other Vizards were completely fucked.
A/N:
So I'm an incurable idiot and in my excitement to post forgot to give proper credit where credit is due last chapter. The idea for the Vizards adopting the Kurosakis comes from the tumblr user bleachlists. Thanks to her for allowing me to use this idea!
For those of you who were wondering, this takes place over about a year.
Not a lot of action this chapter, just lots of fluff. Action will be coming in later chapters. And there were Vizards. So many nerdy Vizards and so many scenes and ARGH.
So making kido spells is a lot harder than I thought and, to my dismay, I will probably have to do it again. For those of you who are wondering, the kanji for bou is 妨, which can mean disturb, prevent, hamper, hinder, or obstruct. If I had to choose one for an English translation… I'd choose hinder. That sounds like a good spell name, doesn't it? Way of Binding #2: Hinder! There were a couple other kanji to choose from, but I liked bou the best.
Answering some questions: this will be a multi-chapter story, not a series of oneshots, but it kind of starts out as a series of oneshots. Also, this is crossposted on both AO3 and ff . net.