Things had been different since Ichigo was born.

There were stinky diapers, wails in the night, and tiny fingers that tried to yank on anything and everything in reach. (I had to be careful he didn't grab my hair when I blew raspberries against his belly)

But in these few days of new parenthood, something felt… different.

Not that different, "Oh, I'm a dad now, gotta look out for the kid," thing (not to say I didn't feel that). It was a different different, if that makes sense. It was something inside. Something just beyond my sight or reach, but I could feel it all the same. It felt… it felt like something had split in two, but what?

I kept thinking about this in the few quiet moments I got, searching inside me for this change.

Then I realized it wasn't inside me, at least not entirely, and that terrified me. I slipped away that night to visit a shop I hadn't seen in nearly a year, hoping the last few nights without sleep had messed with my head, lead me to incorrect conclusions.

"Ara, ara. Do you know how late it is, Isshin-san?" Urahara tiredly asks.

"I need you to check the threads. Something's felt off ever since Ichigo was born."

His eyes light with interest and intelligence, all traces of sleepiness gone.

"Please come inside."

"Well, I have good news and bad news. Which would you like first?" Urahara asks, looking over a paper spat out by a machine he had used to check me.

I nervously grip the tea he had made while waiting for the machine to process its tests. "Um… good?"

"Well, the good news is the strings are still tight and going strong."

I sigh in relief. Masaki's not going to suffer handling a full hollowfication process. Everything's fine. Wait. If that's the case then…

"What's the bad news?"

"The hollow is no longer inside Masaki."

Huh?

"Shouldn't that be good news too? That means it's not tainting her anymore. She can be a regular Quincy again, right?"

"If you'd like to look at it that way, sure. However, you ought to think about how the hollow was able to leave her system and where it went." He cryptically answers.

How? Didn't it just get fed up and leave her? I mean, nothing had really changed about her on the inside like tha-

"No way. It can't. It can't be."

"It would appear that it can be." Urahara looks sad while he says this. No no no. Don't say it. It can't, can't be. "Little Ichigo-kun has inherited the whole hollow from Masaki-san."

"Bu-but how?"

"Understand that I can only theorize, but I would guess that it has to do with the nature of Masaki-san's hollowfircation. In essence, another soul was grafted onto hers artificially, however it was impossible for it to fully integrate. It could not truly be a part of her. A simple comparison would be attaching a prosthetic limb or putting on roller-skates. They function as needed under the wearer's command, but they're not truly a part of the wearer."

"When Ichigo-kun was being formed I would guess that the hollow wove itself into him and his soul simply integrated it and formed around it. You could liken this to a liver replacement. A case where the body successfully accepts the foreign piece placed into it, makes it a part of the structure."

He makes it sound simple, like it won't hurt our little baby boy, but it's a hollow. A soul devouring monster locked away in a baby, in a child who can't do a thing on his own. And he's made it very clear that even trying to remove it will result in death.

"The string will hold, right? He won't ever have to deal with being part hollow, right? Right?!"

"So long as the hollow, as Ichigo-kun, remains weaker than your power can handle."

There goes my dream of seeing him wield a zanpakuto or even a Quincy bow. To teach him how to be strong and fight hollows, even if I could only watch from the sidelines. I'll have to push a little harder for raising our kids ignorant of the world of spirits, but to avoid this hurt, it'll be worth it.

"Can you do me a favor?" I receive a hum of interest, an indicator to ask. "Can you prevent Ichigo from ever encountering a hollow while he lives? I want him to be able to live a human life for as long as possible. Please."

"I'll do what I can, but don't expect it to last. He's the child of a pure-blood Quincy and a shinigami captain from one of the Great Noble Clans. It would be strange if he didn't have a lot of power, and you know how hollows love lots of power."

I numbly nod. Even the best defenses have their weaknesses. It would be a bit of a miracle if Ichigo went his whole human life without seeing a hollow, but we could try to make it so. We would try. We, no, I will do my best to protect this new life, this changing bond.

Author's Note

Back to an Isshin point of view for this one. He finds out how the hollow is in Ichigo but still tied to him. I kind of half like the idea that Masaki never knew what happened with the hollow, herself, and Ichigo and it honestly makes a lot of sense when you consider how Isshin didn't let Ichigo know what he was until had almost no choice. It also explains a bit why Ichigo never saw a hollow when he had enough reiatsu to see spirits for pretty much his whole life, making him hollow bait.

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