At the end of a session, he and Ishida exchange a quick farewell before Ichigo heads out. Ishida goes to his desk to read through some things as usual. Leaving the office, Ichigo steps into the reception area and stops cold. Both of his sisters are standing at the desk pestering Nanao.
"We can't?" Karin asks with an annoyed hand on her hip. "Are you sure?"
"Just for a little?" Yuzu adds.
"I'm sorry, but Ishida-sensei is—"
"What are you two doing in here?" Ichigo sighs, muttering a terse apology to Nanao. "I told you guys to wait outside! Why are you bothering Nanao and throwing a fit?"
"But we just wanted to see where you spend so much time these days," whines Yuzu.
"It's two hours a week, not twenty—"
"And we wanted to meet the doctor who is supposedly helping you," Karin interrupts. "Since you're ditching your family to make sure you're here on time."
"I'm not ditching you guys," Ichigo groans, rubbing a weary hand over his face. "Who asked you to schedule the picnic during the one time I was busy?"
"It's the same time every year!"
"Well, what did you want me to do, huh? I have to come here or they'll put me in jail!"
"Ichi-nii…"
"Actually, your mandatory sessions ended last week," Ishida startles him as he steps out to correct Ichigo. "If you wish to end services—"
"No!" Ichigo smothers the panic he feels at the very idea, taking a calming breath to recover. "I don't want that. If it's about money…"
"That is not a concern. As I mentioned at our first meeting, I do a bit of pro bono work."
"You're not charging him?" Karin interrupts. "You mean you willingly talk to this guy for free?"
"Karin-chan," Yuzu gently rebukes. "That's very nice of you, Ishida-kun."
Obviously startled at his sister's familiarity, Ishida nods once in recognition. He turns to Ichigo, who stops scowling at his sisters to return the look. It occurs to him that they are probably bothering the man by making a fuss in his reception room, though there's no one else here yet. Ichigo opens his mouth to apologize but Ishida beats him to it.
"I have a little spare time, if you'd like to chat."
"Really?" both women blurt in unison.
Ishida smiles at them and gestures for them to follow into his office. But Ichigo catches the raised eyebrow he shows Nanao, and her answering smirk. Inside, Ichigo foregoes his usual spot across from Ishida's chair in favor of a seat further away. Yuzu and Karin plop onto the couch and excitedly gape as they look around the room.
"It's so normal," comments Karin.
"It smells really nice," grins Yuzu.
"You guys…" grumbles Ichigo, embarrassed.
"So this is where you shrink my brother's head?"
"Karin-chan means: is this where Ichi-nii talks with you?"
"Yes. This is my office," Ishida answers as he takes his seat. "I'm sorry to hear we interrupted the family picnic."
"It's no big deal," Karin shrugs. "Dad's probably crying alone on the lawn without us but he does that once a week anyway."
"She's joking!" Waving her hands in distress, Yuzu negates her sister's assertion. "Dad doesn't really cry all that much."
"That's good to hear," Ishida laughs a little. "But don't worry: I don't make a habit of diagnosing those who aren't my clients."
"O-of course."
"So what do you two do here—I mean besides talking." Karin's eyes are on Ishida so she doesn't see the way Ichigo stiffens behind her. Ishida does, however, and he sends Ichigo a reassuring glance. "I watched this movie about all these experiments and stuff psychiatrists do. Drugs and hypnosis and mind games. Stuff like that."
"I'm afraid I can't discuss those topics. You would have to ask Kurosaki, but I doubt he'll tell you."
"Nah, we've already asked him a million—hey, aren't you supposed to use a suffix with your patients?"
"I made him drop it," Ichigo finally joins the conversation. "Since he refuses to use my given name."
"Uwah…Ichi-nii is a rebel!" Yuzu breathes. "I heard it's really serious how doctors are supposed to act, what they should say and do."
"Ishida's cool. Not like those stuffy old geezers."
"How old are you, Ishida-kun?" Yuzu asks him. When he tells her she gasps. "So young!"
"I get that a lot."
"That's probably why Ichigo likes you so much."
"Karin!"
"What?" she innocently asks with a backward glance at Ichigo. "I just meant since you've stuck with Ishida-kun longer than anyone else. You'd have to like him, right?"
"Yeah, and you seem really nice."
"Thank you, Yuzu-chan."
She giggles and mirrors Ishida's pleasant smile. Karin gets swept up in it next and suddenly the three of them are practically beaming at each other. Ichigo rolls his eyes at them and fights an urge to walk out and let them be maudlin all they want. He doesn't like the idea of his shrink and his sisters being so chummy for some reason.
"Anyways, Ishida has better things to do than indulge you two. Let's go."
"But we still have so many questions," cries Yuzu. "Like…where did you grow up?"
"In this town, like us," Ichigo says, standing to tug at their shirts. "Come on."
"Are you married?" Karin asks as she fends him off.
"Single," Ichigo grits when she slaps at his hand.
"Any children?" Yuzu continues.
"None," Ichigo snaps.
"What do you do for fun?"
"He studies, writes papers, and occasionally watches TV. Now stop bugging Ishida and get out!"
Now all three of them are staring at Ichigo, probably for the same reason. Karin is the one to voice it.
"Wow, Ichigo, you know a lot about your psychiatrist. You know his shoes size, too?"
Ichigo snorts and rolls his eyes in dismissal. Then he registers the look on Ishida's face and sobers up. Ishida has had to tell him several times to stop asking invasive questions because, as Yuzu said, doctors are supposed to keep distance with their patients. If Ichigo wasn't so good at annoying Ishida to the point that he answers just to shut him up, Ichigo is pretty sure the man would never volunteer information about himself.
"No, I just—it's not like that. Ishida is just kind of interesting so I end up asking him things."
His sisters take turns glancing between them. Yuzu looks confused while Karin seems suspicious. If one of them were to mention this to the wrong people, it could potentially get Ishida into trouble. Ichigo resolves to make them promise to keep their mouths shut as soon as they get home.
"Makes sense," Karin decides. Standing, she motions for Yuzu to do the same. "It was nice meeting you, Ishida-kun."
Ichigo inwardly sighs with relief when Ishida rises to take her offered hand, throwing in a shallow bow for good measure. Turning to show Yuzu the same courtesy, he is startled by a light hug. Ichigo laughs at his widened eyes over her short shoulder.
"Thank you, Ishida-kun," she says when she pulls away. "For helping Ichi-nii. It means so much to us."
"I'm happy to help," he softly replies. She nods, acknowledging his sincerity.
Watching Ishida return their waves as they leave his office, Ichigo pauses near the entrance and turns to him with a pensive expression.
"Sorry about that. They've been nagging me for a while to see this place but I didn't expect them to ambush you."
"It's absolutely fine. They're great girls."
Nodding absently, Ichigo frowns towards the floor before raising his gaze to lock onto Ishida's. All at once his discomfort is replaced with determination.
"Thanks for not saying anything to them about…all of this." Ichigo gestures to Ishida and the room in general. "I mean I know you can't anyway, but thanks."
"Of course. And Kurosaki, about their questions—"
"Yeah, they're nosy, huh?" he huffs a fake laugh, demeanor becoming tense and awkward as he realizes where Ishida is going with this. "They watch too many dramas."
"That's not what I mean."
"Well, I'm sure you're busy and we have to get back to our cry-baby dad before he eats all the cheese by himself. See you later, Ishida!"
"Kurosaki, wait."
But it's too late. He is out the door and herding his sisters from the reception area towards the hall in a flash. In the hall just out of view, Ichigo pauses at the sound of his name. His sisters keep walking as they chat about Ishida on the way out. Feeling like a creeper, he lurks behind the wall and listens.
"It's always rush in, rush out with Kurosaki-san, isn't it?" Nanao comments in a bored tone.
"He lives fast, that's for sure."
"Complete opposite of sensei in most ways."
"Agreed."
Ichigo can't see how that would be a good thing. Being the opposite of someone like Ishida would mean Ichigo is dumb-as-dirt, messy, dangerously impulsive, and completely inept. Maybe that's not how they mean it, but…No, he doesn't like the idea of being anti-Ishida one bit.
"Although…"
"In what ways are we not complete opposites?"
With a smile in her voice, Nanao answers, "Compassion for others, of course, and the strength to act on it."
Isshin's pathetic blubbering can be heard from the walkway before they even open the door. Rolling his eyes, Ichigo unlocks the door and pushes it open to let his sisters walk in first. By the time he closes it behind them, their father is already whining about being abandoned.
"What have I done to deserve such neglectful children?" he warbles from a pitiful sprawl on the living room floor. As they predicted, he has eaten most of the cheese from Yuzu's picnic basket by himself. Bits of gouda litter his shirt and stick at the corners of his mouth. "On this all-important day of remembrance, the only day we always band together as a family and—"
"Oh, shut up already," Ichigo cuts him off, out of patience after a trying afternoon. "We're here now, aren't we? Let's go see Mom's grave before it starts to get dark."
"Karin, can you get the other block of cheese from the fridge?"
She answers Yuzu in the affirmative and does as requested. Meanwhile, Ichigo's youngest sister packs the basket back up and gets their things ready to go. He takes one look at the streams of forced tears crusting in his father's beard and sighs. Isshin accepts the hand his son offers and allows himself to be pulled off the carpet. Wiping those stupid tears, he eyes Ichigo with something a little too much like pride for his comfort.
"My boy…"
"Let's go, Dad. Mom's waiting for us."
"Yeah."
Ichigo doesn't really know why he didn't tell Ishida it's the anniversary of his mother's death today. The first time he had mentioned her to Ichigo, asking such a casual question, he had tensed up instinctively. The only people he wants to discuss her with are his family, and only on very rare occasions. As it is, Ichigo ends up feeling depressed for weeks around this anniversary without the added difficulty of discussing it with others.
Yuzu sets the basket aside and takes the cloth Karin hands her. Ichigo brushes oak leaves and pine needles from the memorial while Isshin kneels to replace a vase of sunflowers. They work in tandem to spruce it up just like always. There is a quiet comfort in this ritual, the ease of an established process perfected over time. Each of them immersed in their own contemplation and communion. Together and apart.
"Mom would be really happy you're making strides to get better, Ichi-nii."
"Not that she wouldn't already be proud," Karin adds, to Yuzu's nodded agreement. "It's not every Joe Schmoe off the streets who can make it through all that and become a nurse, dedicated to helping others."
"Though you shoulda been a doctor," his dad grumbles. "Still can if you'd go back to school."
"Dad…" Ichigo warns, having had this argument with him before. "You know I can't afford it."
"Girls, why don't you two go set up the picnic for us?"
They watch the two of them uncertainly for a moment before Karin takes her sister's arm to lead her away. Once they're out of earshot, Isshin lowers his voice and addresses him with rare solemnity. Ichigo takes a steadying breath.
"Ichigo, your mother and I always had the highest hopes for you. From the moment you were old enough to walk we knew you were special."
"Dad, don't—"
"Hear me out, son. This is important."
Seeing the truth of it in his stoic face, the terse angle of his thick eyebrows, Ichigo sighs and resigns himself to listen.
"Okay."
"I know all parents think their kids are special, but you had a light that most kids lack. A keen intelligence, sure, but the real value of your character is the depth of love and affection you would show us every single day."
Miraculously, his father gets choked up as he speaks. His tone lacks the usual melodramatic pitch denoting frivolity. Ichigo almost shivers to see the goofy rock that is Isshin fraying at the edges.
"I know that," Ichigo tells him in a murmur. "I was a happy kid thanks to you two and I'll always be grateful."
"That's my boy," he smiles fleetingly. "But that's not why I'm saying this."
"Then why?"
A brief moment's contemplation precedes his answer. "What you've been through…no one should have to face that alone. I'm so glad that you finally found someone you trust enough to help you work through it."
"Me, too. Ishida's a decent guy."
"But you haven't told him about Masaki, have you?"
Scowling and looking away, "No."
"That's okay. Take your time, Ichigo. Take your time and when you're ready to pick up the pieces at last, I will be there. Whatever you need, just ask."
"Got it," he nods, feeling on the verge of a good weep himself now. "Thanks, Dad."
"And when you've reached the point you feel you can finally move on, I'll help you go back to school. I've been saving up everything you've given me and adding to it when I can. You deserve that and so much more."
"I give that to you so you won't lose the clinic!"
"I won't," he hurriedly assures Ichigo with a wide grin, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I can handle it, I promise. Think of me as your personal bank, kiddo. Just say the word and it's yours."
Rendered speechless by this gleaming picture of fatherly benediction Isshin paints, Ichigo swallows and returns the hug he is dragged into. Luckily it doesn't last long. They separate none the worse for emotional wear and join the girls for a very late lunch in the dying sun. Ichigo takes the bowl of fruit Karin passes him and thanks Yuzu for pouring his drink. His father beams while chatting amiably about nothing at all.
When Ichigo thinks of his mother, imagines her here with them again, a precious wash of peace settles into his bones.
AN: This chapter is kind of short and sweet, setting up a little back-story for some events later. So the next update will be tomorrow, with a guest appearance by Shirosaki!
