By lunch Ichigo was frazzled to a huge degree. Five scheduled surgeries later, the first set up for nine am the next day for the guy with the aneurism, he was ready to collapse, and he went into the waiting room and flopped unceremoniously into Renji's lap after yanking the magazine from his hands. He oofed and clutched him closer.

"Hey pet, how ya doin'?" he said with a smirk.

Beside him, Shiro had fallen asleep with his head in Grimmjow's lap, who had picked up a paperback novel about some supernatural detectives off the shelf. He glanced up at Ichigo's entrance, and ran hands through Shiro's soft, white hair.

There was a soft knock and Ichigo groaned. "Come in," he said.

Renji started to sit straighter, and pull him off his lap, but Ichigo wouldn't allow it. "Nuh uh. Stay still, not moving," he said softly. Renji rolled his eyes as the door opened to reveal the blonde doctor and Ichigo's father. His father looked at the group with a little trepidation, but he'd brought in food for them all.

"I thought you could use some lunch, so, ah, Kisuke and I thought we'd bring by and I could spend some time with my precious boy and his…friends," he said, a strained smile on his lips. Renji noticed the backwards glance to Kisuke and wondered what had gone on there.

"Not hungry," Ichigo muttered, burying his face into Renji's chest. Renji glanced at Grimmjow, their eyes locking, chocolate on blue. They'd been through this before. A lot, actually.

"Pet…" Renji muttered. "You need to eat. You skipped breakfast, and we didn't say anything. You aren't gonna skip lunch."

"I'm not hungry," he said again, sitting up and glaring at the red head. "I'm not in the mood to eat right now."

Shiro had woke up by then but Ichigo hadn't noticed yet. He snaked a pale, black nailed hand onto the low table and grabbed a riceball with his slender fingers. He poked him lightly in the side, eliciting a gasp, and before Ichigo could react had slipped up and shoved it into the orange haired doctor's mouth.

He grinned at him as the petulant doctor contemplated spitting out what Shiro had put in his mouth, but the look on Shiro's face made him reconsider that. He chewed and swallowed, still glaring at the albino. He didn't want to upset him.

"Now, was that so hard, Ichi-pet? Ya know you aren't getting' away without eating 'round us," he said, holding out a plate with chicken on it. Ichigo glared at it then felt all three of them watching him.

"Fine," he huffed, taking the plate and eating with his head down. "I don't have to like it."

Grimmjow laughed then, rolling his eyes at the doctor. "For a doctor you don't take care of yourself at all," he commented.

Ichigo grumbled in response, putting down the plate, thinking he was finished to their satisfaction. Renji snaked a hand out and handed him a plate with vegetables. "Nope, you're not done, pet," he said, getting his own heated glare.

"What happened to not interfering with workplace stuff?" he muttered, around his mouthful of vegetable stir fry.

Shiro snickered. "Ichi-pet, you aren't gonna take care a'yerself without us around, are ya? We saw that quite clearly. Ya can't starve yerself, even here, we won't let ya."

Kisuke nodded knowingly at Isshin who sighed. "I…am surprised by this development," he began.

Ichigo looked up. He really dreaded the explaining of things. His father looked at Kisuke. "But, I've talked to Kisuke about what's obviously going on here…and he thinks that it may be beneficial to Ichigo, provided that he is…safe."

Shiro was the one that spoke up. "I was raised in this life, Doc. My mom and dad brought me up in it. Renji's got five years, and Grimmjow is new, but his sister is also involved with her own boyfriend."

Isshin looked at Kisuke. "Kisuke has told me that this could be good for him, because of his particular needs, which it seems you are quite aware of by now. Kisuke hasn't been involved in the…lifestyle you apparently lead, but he has been around the block some."

Kisuke smacked him on the back of the head. "I'm not old, old man," he said. "And by being around the block, he's talking about the fact that I've dealt with people with Ichigo's condition for the last twenty years, and I've seen all sorts of things work and fail on people. And considering how calm and collected, Ichigo is since he returned, I recognize something that is working. I am worried of there being three of you…" he said glancing across them.

Shiro shook his head. "Two, I'm a switch, doc. I'm training both them and Ichi. And I also need you both to understand, I'm a stickler for the rules. And the number one being that Ichi-pet gets taken care of, and his well-being is the first and foremost in our lives."

Isshin nodded. "I am still hesitant…I…this is new to me. But I'll give it a shot, as long as he's safe. I don't need, details."

Ichigo stood up then, putting down his empty plate and hugged his father. "Thanks, pop. I know this is weird, but I've never been normal."

Isshi smiled, and pushed him out to arm's length. "I worry for you son. And I get the stress you're under. I know it is hard for you to deal with all this. And if this helps you be happy…then this will work for me. I still don't need the details."

"Don't go in the playroom, then," Grimmjow said with a sigh.

Ichigo nearly choked on his drink. "Shiro's done?"

Shiro beamed. "Not yet, Ichi-pet, almost though. I know you were upset last night when you wandered in there, so you didn't get to look around. But I'm sure you would have been a bit red faced before you left, my innocent one."

Shiro reached out and pulled him down onto his lap. "Now, you feel better? You ate?"

He rolled his eyes and nodded. "I guess. I've got three more appointments this afternoon, then we can go home."

There was a knock to his office and he groaned. "I don't even get a full lunchbreak. Hey pop, could you…talk to Tatsuki for me. She's…she's pulling overprotective sister mode and tried to throw them out earlier…" he said, waving to them as he left to the office, letting in a woman with an adolescent girl.

"What happened with Tatsuki?" Isshin asked, glancing at the three remaining men.

Shiro sighed. "She seemed to think that Ichi-pet isn't capable of making his own choices, and that our intentions are less than pure. She doesn't understand, obviously, what we're trying to do to help him. Honestly, it happens a lot, especially when you're in a polyamorous group, it's even unusual in the lifestyle. Most people don't understand it isn't a matter of sex, but support and care. Though the sex is fun too…" he said, grinning devilishly.

Isshin nodded, glancing over at Kisuke, their conversation from earlier coming back to him.

"What are they doing to my boy? Kisuke, they were all three pawing him, I'm going to have them all thrown out, and Ichigo is coming to live with me, threat or no threat!" he said the minute he entered his office with Kisuke that morning.

"I don't think that's wise, Isshin. I think you need to calm down and consider what our son has been through," Kisuke said, removing the striped hat and placing it on the table. "He was kidnapped, molested, very nearly raped by none other than Aizen. Those three boys rescued him, brought him here to have him looked after, and then all four of them got shoved in a safehouse where Ichigo was by far the most volatile among them, removed from his obsessions, his routine, everything. You and I had the discussions of how bad this could get with the police, but they refused to even let us see him."

Isshin had calmed a bit. "Yeah, we weren't sure how bad he'd be when we got back. Since he would refuse food, or even to come out of his room if he was allowed."

"But he came out with these three and they had taken care of him, very good care of him, by the look, since they were there over a month. He's healthy, hasn't lost any weight, and he's calm. He's not stimming, and it was getting bad even before the kidnapping. So obviously, they're doing something right," Kisuke continued.

"But they're into…that weird…kinky…" he started.

Kisuke sighed. "Isshin, are you really wanting to get involved in your son's sex life?"

"But he's not…" he said and stopped. "Oh gods, I just assumed he'd never have a sex life. That because of his oddities he'd never find anyone…and…oh. I really didn't see this coming."

Kisuke gave him a crooked smile. "You thought your twenty three year old son would just never have sex, really, Isshin?"

Isshin sighed. "He's so logical and I didn't think love would ever be on the agenda. And I really didn't expect him to show up with three men as his love interests."

"Is it the fact he's interested in me, or that there are three of them that bothers you? Or the fact they're obviously into bondage?"

"All," he said honestly. "I mean…it doesn't fit the rules he's been taught, the things we taught him about relationships and the things the therapists trained him and gave him scripts and practiced with him…he's so much in control of everything, he always has been…"

"And that's the problem."

Isshin frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Think about it, Isshin. He gets taken care of, instead of taking care of someone else. He doesn't have to think, plan, control, he lets them take over. He needs it. It lets him relax."

Now, looking at the three, he understood. Their interactions were smooth with each other, attending to Ichigo's needs before they even thought about themselves.

"He won't be treated poorly, right?" he said softly. "I mean, I've had rounds in ER, I've seen some…things go bad."

Shiro smiled. "He's not a slave, doc. He's a pet, there's a difference. We take care of him, that's all there is. He isn't made to serve us, he isn't made to be anything he's not. Trust me, you'll see me with worse than he'll ever get," he said with a smirk.

Isshin frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I guess I should tell ya since we'll be around ya, but I like pain. Got a thing for bleedin' and bruisin', so it may come up. Don't like inflictin' it, I leave that to these two brutes, but when I'm in tha mood, I like to be flogged within an inch of passing out. So if ya ever see one of us in here, it'd be me, just cause that's my thing," Shiro said with a sparkle to his eyes. "And if ya worried about the chances of STDs and stuff, don't be. All three of us are clean, we sent off for tests before we even approached Ichi-pet about the offer to join us. And we are a dedicated group," he said, pointing to the wristband that the three shared. "We don't have relations outside the group. If things go well, we'll take things to the last step and make it a permanent bonded group. Like a marriage, only it involves the four of us."

"And what about the…weird things?" Isshin asked. "I know there are lot of…things."

Renji smiled. "Already wrote an initial contract, doc, don't worry. We know yer son's limits and where he wants to go and where he doesn't."

There was a bit more discussion then the door opened to reveal the dark haired nurse standing there, a frown creasing her face.

"I told you to leave," she said, staring between the three who were now slowly picking at the remains of their food.

Isshin turned to look at her. "Arisawa, that isn't very kind of you to say such things to Ichigo's friends. There is no reason they need to leave, we were having a nice talk."

"In which I hope you were telling them to stay away from your son," she growled, locking eyes with Grimmjow.

Kisuke sighed. "Of course not, Tatsuki. These boys are taking very good care of Ichigo, why would we want them to stay away?"

She gaped at the blond. "What? All they want is his money and to sleep with him! They only want to take advantage of him! He has no idea what they are, and he can't make a choice for himself, so you will have to do it!"

Isshin turned to glare at her then. "What are you saying?"

"Ichigo is incapable of understanding this. He is just doing what he's told, and you need to stop it."

"Arisawa, I suggest you hold your tongue," Isshin said, standing slowly to face her. She took a step back. "Ichigo is more than capable of making choices for himself, and if he chooses to be involved with this lovely group of young men, it is his choice, and I have already discussed it at length with both them and my son. It is not your place to make his choices."

She looked at them, wide eyed. "You…you agree with this? It's…not natural! What they're doing isn't normal!"

"It helps Ichigo," Isshin said softly. "He's calmer, happier, and more put together than I've ever seen him. The only thing bothering him is your attitude. You may choose to accept his partners, or you can be transferred to another floor and I'll find a nurse that will accept him and his partners. Choose to accept it, or choose to leave his side as a friend."

She stared for a minute and turned and left without another word. Isshin saw that the only one seemingly bothered was Grimmjow who looked nervous. Shiro put a hand on his and smiled. "Ren and I are used to the reaction. You will be too. The only place we're safe from it is in the Dangai, you'll have to understand that. People don't get that what we do is consensual. I can't tell you how many times I've had to explain my back to someone who then flipped out about me being in an abusive relationship with someone, then when they found out it was my kink, they decided I had the plague. I've always been careful, and I've learned first aid, and all doms should, by the way, so you two need a class."

"I could help with that, boys," Kisuke said with a smile. "I've given more than one seminar for aftercare in my day."

Now all eyes were on him. Isshin cocked his head. "Were you into this stuff, Kisuke?"

Kisuke hid a smile behind his clipboard. "I dabbled in college, dated a lovely little submissive girl. We broke up because I couldn't take it as far as she wanted, but she had some rather…unusual kinks that could turn life threatening so I preferred not to indulge her."

Shiro nodded. "Asphyxiation, gunplay, knifeplay or electricity?" he asked.

Kisuke smiled. "Electricity and asphyxiation."

"Wait, you…" Isshin said, eyes wide.

"Ah, wait up there protective father figure," Shiro said. "Ichi-pet marked off those things first off the bat as hard limits, so no worries. Those things won't ever happen with us. Turns out none of us are interested in the potentially lethal stuff, so it works out."

Kisuke put a hand on Isshin. "The jewelry tipped me off, in case you were wondering, Isshin, you hadn't asked how I knew the situation. It marks them as a polyamorous group, and Ichigo's necklace with the ring marks him as their submissive. Only someone who knows a bit about it would recognize it. I understand you have agreed to limit your play to the household?"

Renji nodded. "In a way, except of course now we find ourselves here, having to enforce some of those controls on him to get him to eat, so I'm not sure how this is going to work out."

Kisuke nodded. "Yes, well, why don't we set up an aftercare seminar for tomorrow night, here in Ichigo's office, and if there is anyone else you'd like to bring, you can. I'm sure you know a dom or two that could use some first aid training."

"I'd like to help, too, if this is going to be part of my son's life…I want to be involved, though I'm not sure how his sisters will take to this," he said, thinking of his twin daughters and their overprotective nature of their big brother.

Grimmjow nodded. "I'll call Nel, Shinji just turned her dom, so she's in the dark as far as first aid goes. Shiro explained aftercare, but there could be some more, I don't think she quite understands the dangers of subdrop though…can you handle helping with that?"

Kisuke nodded. "I'll brush up a bit on my terminology but I do remember the concept of subdrop. Something you will have to be very careful with Ichigo, once you start more serious scenes, if that is his intent."

Shiro nodded. "Yeah, I had a suck-ass dom once that let me go…fuck, I was out of it for a week afterward because the bastard disappeared ten minutes after he untied me. Fucker. I ever see him again I'll fuckin' kick his ass to the moon."

"Fuck, that's harsh. Were you even outta subzone?" Renji asked, arching a brow.

"No, came out of it alone on the bed fuckin' back bleeding and couldn't even patch it myself. Called fuckin' Gin, I remember, he rode it out with me," Shiro said with a sigh. It obviously still bothered him a great deal. "Fuck, been two years, and still makes me wanna choke the bastard. He never came back to Dangai after that, of course, Gin and me fuckin' tellin' everyone what a shit dom he was mighta had somethin' ta do with it."

Isshin looked up as Ichigo came coming into the room, fuming. There was a loud door bang from his office, and a man and his son were walking away.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck," Ichigo muttered, fists clenched tightly. All three of the others acted, Shiro and Grimmjow separating and Renji grabbing him and steering him to sit between them. Then he kneeled in front of him and rubbed slow circles on his knees.

"Pet, what is it?" Renji asked softly as Shiro and Grimmjow encircled arms around shoulders and waist squeezing tightly.

He exhaled long. "Kisuke, patient Jared Vestmore, the thirteen year old with the brain tumor, damage control, please."

Kisuke arched a brow. "How bad?" he asked, wondering if he came in with a verbal tic how bad it had been.

"Called me a few names, tried to explain, proceeded to get angrier. Held my tongue until I got in here, but he's claiming he's going to sue the hospital for fraud because I'm obviously not who I'm supposed to be," he said, eyes still closed. "Just need a minute. Last appointment in fifteen. This day has been far more stressful than I imagined. Dealing with these people is trying."

Isshin smiled. "Son, you've done amazing today. You've had back to back appointments all day, and you haven't had a complete breakdown. Have you even needed your checklists or scripts today?"

Ichigo leaned forward opening his eyes and blinked, brown eyes unfocused for a second. "Come to think of it, no. I…I haven't even thought about the scripts or checklists today at all…and I've done okay. I've actually done okay."

Isshin smiled and saw the looks on the other three's faces. "Usually, a confrontation with a patient or family sets Ichigo up for a breakdown and he's done for the day and we have to reschedule everything. However, he's already talking about going to the next appointment. If I didn't see this, I wouldn't believe it."

Ichigo nodded. "Now, if you can get Tatsuki off my back."

Isshin smiled. "I had a talk with her already. Gave her the choice, stay here or go to another floor, but staying here means accepting you and your boys. Oh, Kisuke and I are holding a first aid and aftercare training tomorrow night for your group and anyone else that wants to come. Turns out Kisuke knows a bit about this stuff…" he said glancing at the blonde.

Ichigo stared at him. "How do you know…"

Kisuke pointed to the necklace. "I dated a sub once, a very long time ago. Learned a lot before we broke up, so your dad and I talked about it. And so now we'll help out your friends too."

Ichigo looked up at his father. "Pop, are you okay, I mean, I know this is a little off normal…"

Isshin smiled. "I'm okay with this, son. I see that this is good for you."

"Um, also, is it going to be weird if I wear my actual collar around you? If it's too weird, I'll just wear this, but…I like my real one…" he asked, glancing up under hooded eyes. "I mean, it means I'd be…you know…in role, because this is for when I'm here at the hospital."

"Son, whatever makes you happy, and if that is what makes you comfortable, then I won't mind at all," Isshin said with a soft smile. "It may take some getting used to, but as long as you aren't running around in leather…"

"Don't come by the Dangai…" Renji muttered and Ichigo turned red.

Renji received a playful slap. "Ren! Don't talk about that…it was bad enough you wanted me to wear that in public."

Renji gave him a wide grin. "But pet, you looked amazing, there wasn't a dom in there who didn't envy me, and I liked it…"

"Anyway," Ichigo said, pushing all three of them away, then planting a kiss to each of their foreheads. "I've got one more then we can go home. And I'm going to need some serious stress relief," he said with a groan, seeing another parent/child waiting at the door.

Grimmjow yanked Shiro into his lap again. "I think we can handle that stress relief, huh, Shiro?" he said, winking at the albino.

"Hah, I just got out my flogs, blue boy, I expect to get some service out of those powerful arms of yours or Renji's," he muttered, laying back with his head over the arm and his feet resting on Renji's lap when he set down.

Isshin smiled and stood up with Kisuke. "I'll leave him to you, but you know I'll give you the same warning I give my girls' boyfriends, and its pretty simple. Hurt him, and I'll hurt you."

Grimmjow looked up and smiled. "I'm glad you care about him that much, Dr. Kurosaki," he said.

"If you guys are going to be around, call me Isshin. Or pops. Who knew my son would give me more son in laws than my daughters," he muttered, leaving the three smirking men behind.

After a while, Shiro sighed. "I think we take it to the next level if he's up for it. I'm done with the playroom. But we should still take it easy for his first time, both in scene, and first time period."

"So how do we go about this? I mean, we've fucked you six ways to Sunday, Shiro, but he's different. You like it fuckin' rough," Renji said, smirking at the man who was currently wriggling his toes into Renji's rapidly swelling crotch.

"Easiest way is to ask him. See what he wants. I'm subbing tonight, mostly because I am dying for a subzone after all the stress of taking care of our little doctor. But that also means that you two are going to have to do the aftercare for both of us. Are you going to be able to handle it? Or do we need to wait until the aftercare seminar?" he said, looking at them each seriously.

Grimmjow looked nervous. "I…I don't know the first thing. All the stuff we've done with you has been pretty tame…"

Shiro nodded, grabbing his phone and pulling up a website on aftercare. "Here, blue-baby, read up on here, gives you the basics for a painslut and bloodplay sub like me. For Ichi-pet…I doubt he'll want more than some bondage and maybe some playing with toys and if he's up for it, sex. But we'll see."