Breath of Life
Scratched Surface

Kaien found himself heading back to Isshin's place with a set thought in mind. His mind was determined to go through with the plan no matter what. He opened the door and saw that another bag was dropped off on the table, meaning that another kid was now home. Heading over to the couch he saw that Karin was lying on her back staring at the ceiling with a rather discontent look on her face. "Something the matter Karin-chan?"

"Aren't I a little old for you to be attaching chan to my name?" The girl's eyes darted over to look at his uncle while the corners of his mouth twitched.

The words finally came out. "Sorry. Still, something seems to be the matter."

"Both Yuzu and Toshiro aren't talking to me." The girl watched as the man's face twisted up when she said this. "Don't tell me what it is. If they can't tell me then there is likely a very good reason for it."

"I guess so." Kaien glanced back at the clinic. "Toshiro's crush on Yuzu must be pretty bad then." Pointing a finger at the door. "Your dad's in the clinic?"

"Yes..." The girl sat up. "Hey... Uncle Kaien... do you know how to clean blood stains out of the carpet?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Toshiro cut his foot on some broken glass and managed to get blood all over the place."

The man's eyes darted around, taking in then what he hadn't seen before. He carefully rolled up his sleeves and went to where the cleaning supplies were. "I'll take care of it."

"Yeah... but..." Karin stopped short and instead let him get to work on cleaning the many spots that went from the kitchen area and up the stairs. He continued to work on this, not noticing that a person had come in through the door.

"I see you've found something to occupy yourself."

Kaien flinched, turning to look over his shoulder to see the woman who had come in earlier. "Look... if you're worried about telling Isshin I'll do it."

"Are you crazy?" The woman's voice tightened.

"You're the one who said that you would have to tell him."

"That was when I thought. Look... the kid told me what happened. If I had a misunderstanding of the situation then he will as well. Let me tell him." The woman watched as he continued to work on the last of the stains.

"No. This is an honor thing." Kaien flicked the rag he was using around and went to stick it in the laundry basket. "I have to go and tell him."

Kukaku watched as he headed towards the clinic door, realizing then that he was going to go and tell Isshin everything then and there. "Wait!" A hand reached out to grab the back of his shirt. "Isshin has patients right now. You don't need to interrupt. Wait at least until clinic hours are over."

"Who are you?" The question came out of his mouth again and as the question came so did the same look she had given him before. When he didn't get an answer he turned to the female on the couch. "Do you know who she is Kukaku?"

This statement caused the woman to flinch. The girl on the couch watched the expressions carefully. "Uncle... I'm not Kukaku. I'm Karin."

"Then whose... oh never mind." Kaien turned back to the female. "Please. I honestly know that you're someone important to me, but I can't tell if your my wife, girlfriend, old friend..."

"Stop." The woman placed her hands on her hips. "Let's pretend that this is the first time the two of us are meeting."

"Yes... but..."

"Just do it."

The man held out his hand. "Hello. My name is Kurosaki Kaien."

The woman held out her hand. "My name is Shiba Kukaku."

Kaien shook her hand, the frown on his face. "Sorry... I'm not really following. What I mean to say is..."

"It's not helping."

"I recognize your name if that helps any."

"I mean this isn't helping you." The woman removed her hand. "I know full well you recognize my name. I'm simply going to ask that you think about that in particular. In the mean time I'm going to be staying at a friends place."

"I..." The man glanced away before scratching the top of his head.

Karin however moved from behind the couch. "Would it be possible for you to swing by for dinner?"

"I don't know. The situation here is rather problematic, don't you think?"

"Yeah, but you have to talk to my dad don't you?" The female glanced at the kitchen. "I'm not very good at cooking and Yuzu's in a major funk right now as is Toshiro, but I could probably manage with Uncle Kaien's help."

Kukaku folded her arms across her chest. "Why do I get the feeling that it is more along the lines you want to talk to me? I do have to talk to him though, so I'll tell you what. I'll bring dinner tonight. I'll come back around closer to when Isshin's finishing his clinic duties." The woman then pointed a finger at Kaien. "You... stay in the house, don't move from the living room except for the essentials. Taking off like you did is as much trouble as that." She then glanced around the room. "By the way, where is Hitsugaya?"

"He wanted to avoid me, so he went to lie down in dad's room once I got home." Karin remained silent for a few seconds then added something in. "He is keeping his foot up, if that is what you're worried about."

The corners of Kukaku's mouth twisted up as she debated what to do with this particular piece of information, only to reach a hand up and smile at the two. "Bye! See you too around dinner time!"

After they had watched her leave Kaien turned to Karin. "She didn't tell me who she was though."

"I think she dropped a hint and expects you to figure it out."

M

Business would either pick up pick time or drop to nothing towards the closing hours at the clinic. Which of course depended on whether or not an emergency cropped up that Isshin was needed to take care of. He let out a deep sigh as he finished with his last patient, thankful that it wasn't one of those days where he had an emergency case to deal with. He closed his eyes and took in the quiet, only to hear a voice that was eerie like the voices on horror movies. "I...shin..."

The next thing he knew he found himself in a headlock realizing that the emergency for today would likely involve him treating himself. His hands went up to grasp onto the female's arms in an attempt to relieve the pressure on his throat that was causing him to be unable to breath. Somehow he managed to wiggle away and find himself facing a familiar face twisted up with ire. "Kukaku?"

"Oh... you're surprised to see me? I thought my nephew was telling you I was stopping by."

"Barely. How is my darling baby sister?" A smile crept across his face causing the woman to slam her fist down onto the top of his head hard. "Hey! Enough with the abuse! I know you're mad at me, but still!"

"I'm you're only sister."

"I'd rather not call him a baby, the droll faced monster." Isshin glanced away. "So... you've met up with Kaien?"

"Ichigo didn't tell me that he had amnesia." The woman disappeared for a few minutes, coming back with some bags of food.

"Well of course Ichigo didn't tell you that he had amnesia as Ichigo doesn't have amnesia." Isshin mouthed off, flinching when she glared at her. "All right, so this isn't time for my jokes. What is with the food?"

"I promised I would bring dinner tonight so we could eat as a family, though Kaien hasn't a clue who I am."

"I would rather it remain that way." The man flinched again as her eyes narrowed in irritation. "I don't mean I don't want him to know. It's best if he figures out on his own. He might get more of his memories back. Isn't that better for the two of you if he gets more of his memories back?"

"You're assuming that it would be a good thing for him to get his memories back." Kukaku glowed at him, her lips tightening. "He was really in a dark place after you left and it would have only gotten worse after she died. If he remembers..." The woman glanced away. "I just don't want to lose him again and yet he's already trying to avoid confrontation."

"It's not that bad. Kaien is Kaien." Isshin waved his hand in the air before getting up to remove his lab coat.

"So you think things are going to be easy for you because you've always been able to deal with Kaien and his quirks?"

"What is that supposed to mean?" The man shook his head before heading to the kitchen area. Before he got through the door he spoke again. "Aren't we going to be eating dinner?"

"Yes. At least that's the plan." Kukaku glanced away. "Though I wonder if you'll be able to handle this situation."

"You're just saying this because you're mad at me for disappearing on you." Isshin walked through the door in time to see Karin sitting on the couch with her uncle.

The girl looked up. "Ichi-nii and Rukia took off to take care of some of those things. Yuzu's sulking in her room again while Toshiro's stuck in your room because he stepped on glass today."

"Daddy can try and cheer her up. We can also prepare a plate for Shiro-chan." Isshin's mouth twisted up into a wide smile while Kukaku rolled her eyes. Kaien though stood up and turned towards his brother.

"I need to apologize for something." The younger brother went onto his knees and bowed low to the ground."

"Kaien... what..."

Karin's eyes widened as she watched her uncle. "I don't get it. You shouldn't be apologizing for not watching Yuzu properly. It's not his fault."

"Wait... you know what happened?" Kukaku's mouth twisted into a frown as she turned to look at her niece.

"Kaien... what did Yuzu do?" Isshin's voice suddenly tightened up. The man prostrate on the ground opened his mouth to say something, only to find himself interrupted by his brother. "Never mind. I have a good idea what she did."

The man stormed up the stairs then only to find the door to Yuzu and Karin's room to be locked. He knocked on the door hard. "Yuzu. Unlock the door now." The door clicked open and the small female peeked out of the room. Her eyes were puffy from crying so long and her lip trembled. She backed off and let him into the room. "Yuzu, what happened between you and your uncle Kaien?"

A couple of hiccups came from her mouth, her eyes widening. "He came onto me and... kiss... that... I... we're no really related are we?"

The corner of Isshin's mouth twitched and without realizing it his hand went out to slap the small female, only to be grabbed before it got far. The man then felt himself pulled back by someone, their arms gripping him under the arms, pulling him back as his anger boiled over. "Nii-sama! I told you that it was my fault. If you're going to take your anger out on anyone, take it out on me."

Isshin slammed the door shut and turned then on his brother. "Are you telling me you kissed her?"

"What of it?"

The former taicho of the tenth division slammed the other man into the wall. "The Kaien I know would never do something like that."

"Yes. The Kaien you knew would never do that, but I don't know this Kaien. In case you've forgotten I've lost my memories, so I could very easily have turned into the bad guy here."

"He's lying." A young male voice caused both men to turn their head towards Isshin's bathroom. "They're both lying as I'm assuming your daughter tried telling you it wasn't her fault. Your brother was just trying to step in for you because you weren't there at the time to handle the situation and she used it and took advantage of him, not the other way around."

Isshin's grip on the man's shirt tightened. "I know they're both lying Toshiro. I don't understand why though."

"She's lying because she's in denial about doing anything wrong as well as the fact he's actually her uncle. He on the other hand is trying to take the roll of the bad guy so your relationship with your daughter won't get ruined." The words came out of Toshiro's mouth. "I may have my social issues, but this scenario seems logical."

The older brother turned to look Kaien straight in the eye. "Why? You're also family."

"I'm a stranger. I'm a stranger even to myself Isshin." Kaien slapped the man's hand away just as Rukia and Ichigo came through Ichigo's bedroom door.

"What is going on here?" The orange haired teen frowned.

"Ichigo... could you and Rukia go downstairs. Kukaku's there with Karin. If you don't mind can you give Toshiro a lift as well as he's injured his foot I need to talk to my brother."

"Yes... but..." The substitute looked at Toshiro, only to see the look on his face. He scooped the boy up under his arm, for once not getting a complaint about being carried like an invalid.

"Kaien... you're not a stranger."

"Isshin... I am very much a stranger. You and everybody else are walking on tip toes around me as if I'm going to break. I don't think I can stay like this. This... I feel like I'm a someone else looking in on everyone else."

"Come on."

"I'm leaving. I've been enough of a bother. If I hadn't shown up you wouldn't have had to ever deal with this situation. I'm in the way and I'm useless."

"Kaien..." Isshin tried to stop the other man, to say something but he slipped away quickly causing the former taicho to curse under his breath.

Author's note ~ I almost finished the first part to this fic, the scene between Kaien, Kukaku and Karen. Except it didn't feel right as Karin took way to much amusement at the fact she had realized that Yuzu had transferred her crush onto Ichigo and she pretty much was the reason why Yuzu was getting in trouble with Isshin.