This is Week 5: Challege 1 ~ part 5: I'm working with each flower for each Gotei Thirteen division as well as the meaning.

Summary: Toshiro didn't think twice about sacrificing his powers to save Karin. He didn't know though the irony of the situation.
Notes: This story is another AU.

Lily of the Valley
~sacrifice, danger, pure love, humility, sweetness~

Before Toshiro met Ichigo he would have said that unlike his former taicho he was responsible enough to follow the rules and not randomly take off to the world of the living. After meeting Ichigo he started breaking rules as he felt he needed too. He also met Karin because of her brother which caused him to sneak off to the living world to spend time with his new friend.

There was the chance Rangiku knew but in the long run he always felt she was the only one. Well... Mayuri had to know too as Toshiro had to go through him to get the seal on his powers to get to the living world. The man never asked though so the idea he was speaking off, even rebelling a bit was there. It also for some strange reason felt good.

He didn't stop and think about how his behavior had shifted somewhat to being like Isshin's. He didn't want to think about the man as his disappearance as well as being labeled as dead due to missing in action circumstances. E didn't want to think of a similar thing happening to him. For once in his life he had a friend and for once he was having fun.

Toshiro ran across the soccer field passing the soccer ball back and forth between Karin and her friends. The win from running across his face felt good as it cooled his sweaty skin. He could also feel the corners of his mouth trying to twist up. Eventually though the game was over. Karin hugged him from behind while her friends gathered around telling him how he was supposedly supper cool.

Why they insisted on saying this he still didn't understand. They waved good-bye eventually. "Hey... Toshiro?"

"If it's about coming over to your house the answer is I can't until your brother gets his powers back. It's not fair to him if I show up and remind him of what he's lost."

The small female grabbed his hand, tugging him after her. "Come on."

Toshiro scratched his head. "I said I'd rather not go to your place."

"We're no. Just walk with me for a bit."

The boy frowned, the female's behavior confusing him slightly as they walked along. Karin stopped in front of a small pet shop as she watched the puppies and kittens play with each other. Toshiro leaned forward. "So... are you enjoying yourself?"

"Yes... but I'm not exactly understanding the point behind this activity."

"There doesn't need to be a point. I just want to spend time with you." Karin leaned forward. Toshiro blinked a couple of times, his cheeks heating up slightly before he shook his head. They then continued walking, heading to the special spot where the child taicho enjoyed watching the sunset before. The white haired youth leaned on the metal rail as he watched the sunset with her. "So... how are you doing?"

"Obviously I'm doing fine."

"That's not what I meant. I meant how do you feel about Ichi-nii loosing his powers?"

The boy's eyes widened before looking away. "I don't like it. I want him to get his powers back."

"How long do you think it will take for him to get his powers back?"

"I don't know. I honestly don't know." Toshiro closed his eyes. They snapped open when he sensed a hollow of the Arrancar level coming through. From the corner of his eye he saw that Karin was unsettled by its appearance. He took his soul candy and popped it into his mouth. He then used the metal railing to excel his movement into the hair, reaching for his blade.

The two exchanged words and their blades clashed. The small kept taicho maneuvering himself between the hollow and Karin. He concentrated on keeping her safe from the hollow which in turn threw off his movements slightly. He moved to make the killing blow, only to find himself looking down at the disappearing blade sticking out of his body.

He could feel his Bankai crumbling away as well as his shinigami robes as he lost his power. He could feel his eyes rolling backwards as his power levels suddenly tanked. He could also feel his body suddenly falling, the air rushing past him as he fell. He could feel a choking sensation in his throat and then he felt his body smashing against the trees below. He could hear Karin yelling at him before he finally blacked out.

M

Karin watched the fight from below, watching as Toshiro kept maneuvering between her and the hollow despite the fact she was truly in no danger. He finally landed a blow, only to find himself stabbed. The next thing she knew he was falling and crashing into the trees below. "Toshiro! You're idiot!"

She jumped the rail and hurried down, trying to find where he landed but for once she couldn't feel his spiritual pressure. Reaching for her phone she flipped it open, pausing for a few seconds wondering if this was the best idea. She the placed the phone to her ear. "Urahara?"

"Karin-chan? What can I do for you today?"

"Toshiro. A hollow showed up near where I am now and he choose to fight it. He got stabbed and fell. I can't find him."

"I'm heading in your direction now with Tessai. Can you describe what happened?"

"I'm not sure. His Bankai disappeared and it looked like his shinigami robes were disappearing."

"Karin... are you sure you saw his robes disappear."

"I'm positive." Karin looked around, frowning as she did so. She closed her eyes. She opened them, catching out of the corner of her eye a flash of white. Hurrying she went over to the tree and ignored the scrapes she had received on her way down the steep slope. She climbed up the tree to find Toshiro caught in the tree.

"Toshiro..." A smile at first came over her face, only to suddenly go away. For some strange reason the black part of his uniform was gone and he was unconscious. "Toshiro..."

She waited then for Urahara to show up, looking down when he man called her name. "Karin..." There came a pause then. "We'll handle this." The man then maneuvered up into the tree and tossed the small taicho over his shoulder. "Now, let's get back to my shop and see what we can do."

They walked back with Tessai and when they arrived Karin watched as Toshiro was layed down on the mat. "Karin, why don't you go and help Tessai make some tea."

Frowning, the female complied despite the fact she was worried about her friend.

M

Toshiro felt pain in his entire body right before his eyes snapped open. "Ah... good. You're awake."

"What happened?"

"What happened is a good question, considering the story Karin gave me."

The boy's voice tightened. He glanced down at the injury. His hand reached up to touch just over his heart, his lip trembling upon realization. "My binding chain and soul sleep were cut..."

"Well... I can't be sure about this, but the fact your powers have completely disappeared I'd say it is quite likely. Of course, it could also be due to some effect of that Arrancars blade. I need to run some tests to honestly be..."

"You're just trying to be nice Urahara." The boy looked away, biting his lip as he did so. His small hand remained over his heart. His head jolted up upon hearing Karin and Tessai returning. He looked at the man with his eyes wide. "Please! Don't tell her I lost my powers!"

"She's eventually going to find out."

"Yeah, but... for now... just tell her I need time to recover." Toshiro looked away. "I'll go and stay and Inoue's place I guess, though I'm not happy about begging a place off of her."

"Toshiro! You're awake!" Karin came over, a smile on her face. "You scared me!"

The small taicho flinched at this comment. "What do you mean I scared you?"

"You fought that Hollow and you suddenly passed out. You didn't respond to anything I said and when I found you... well, you're like how you are now. Your uniform is gone." The small female knelt on the floor next to the futon. "It's as if you suddenly lost your powers."

"Don't be ridiculous. I wouldn't lose my powers that easily." Toshiro's mouth twisted up into a smile causing the female to narrow her eyes at him. "Really... don't worry. I'll go get my gigai and see if I can't stay with Inoue for a bit."

"You can stay at our place."

The smile quickly left. "I've already told you, I don't want to be rude to your brother by staying at your place. He..."

"All right, all right." Karin glanced away, almost as if she knew Toshiro was lying to her but this concept didn't register with him. She looked away as he got up and headed to the back room for his gigai. She refused to look him in the eye when he came back but got up to leave the candy shop with him. They walked for a bit in silence, not speaking to each other.

Toshiro's hands remained in his jean pockets. "You should tell her."

"She'll be upset with me. I'm not going to tell her." The boy reached one hand up to brush the sweat on his forehead away. "I hate the heat. Why did this have to happen when..."

The next thing he knew his legs gave out from underneath him and he collapsed to the pavement, his hands at his side.

M

Karin knew Toshiro wasn't telling her the truth about something just like she knew that her brother was hiding things from her. She knew better then to push for answers and instead choose to not speak with the boy hoping that it would make it clear that she was not pleased with him. The silence was broken by the sound of the child shinigami collapsing to the ground. She turned her head to look at him. "Toshiro?" There came a pause in what she said. "You say you're all right but you're not."

Walking over she bent over and nudged him only to receive no response. Looking around she noticed that the few people walking by were paying them no mind, causing her irritation that they would ignore someone who obviously needed help. She some how managed to get him situated into a piggy back position on her back while his head lagged over her shoulder. "I guess you're not staying with Inoue like you were planning. Heat sick of all things..."

She began to walk towards her house hoping that none of her friends would notice. In truth she passed only a couple more people and again she was irritated that the adults ignored what seemed like an obvious situation in front of them. She arrived at the house just as Ichigo turned the corner. "Karin?" The teenager quickly spotted Toshiro on her back and let out a deep sigh. "Hold on." Ichigo walked over and lifted the boy up off her shoulders and into his arms. "Go open the door for me will you?"

Karin walked over and opened the door and then watched as her brother carried the boy over to the couch. Her brother of course spoke. "What is wrong with him?"

"I believe he's heat sick." The female walked over to the bathroom and wet a cloth. She then walked back and set it on Toshiro's forehead, sitting next to the boy on the couch.

"Hey... is that the only thing wrong with him?"

The girl looked up and saw the worried look on her brother's face. "Something wrong."

"No. Nothing." Ichigo glanced over at the kitchen. "Should I get him some water?"

"Room temperature." Karin reached out to touch Toshiro's arm, shaking it slightly. A groan came from the boy. "I see you're coming too. You don't handle the heat well."

"We're back at Urahara's shop?"

"No. We're at my place."

This comment caused Toshiro to suddenly sit up straight, his stomach lurching as he did so. Ichigo brought the glass of water and handed it to Karin. "I'll go get some of my older clothes."

The boy's body trembled and one hand reached out to grab Karin's arm. When the orange haired teen disappeared he spoke with an irritated tone. "I thought I told you I couldn't come to your house."

"Says the person who got heat sick. I figured it was best if you see my father. Plus, Ichi-nii's fine."

"Fine? Your brother's good about hiding how he feels! He hates letting people know he's upset about stuff."

"Are you talking about me or yourself?" Ichigo tossed a pair of pants at the back of Toshiro's head. "You mean to tell me every single one of you have been avoiding me because I lost my powers and you don't want to hurt my feelings?"

"You deserve a break. You sacrificed a lot."

"I think the biggest sacrifice was not getting to see you guys. Get changed."

"Here? Are you crazy Kurosaki?" The boy turned to glare at the orange haired teen. "You're kidding right?"

"No, I'm not."

"I'll go get dad and tell him that I have a friend who needs medical attention. I'll feel him in that you're having to change clothes in the living room so as to not freak out about that part."

"Yeah. Go get dad." Ichigo waved at her and sat down at one of the kitchen chairs. "Get dressed Toshiro." The white haired boy began to grumble as he changed. He fumbled with the clothing, cursing under his breath about how being heat sick made it hard to change. He stopped fumbling when he saw the other male in the room stand up causing the chair he had been sitting in to crash onto the ground. "Wait... getting dad might not be a good idea."

Toshiro blinked a couple of times where he stood, only to have his head turn when the door between the clinic and the house opened up. His jaw dropped and his eyes went wide when he saw the man who was frozen in the doorway staring at him. The man stopped so suddenly that Karin managed to crash into the man's back while the corner of the man's mouth twitched. "Toshiro..."

The one female in the room spoke from behind the man. "Wait... I didn't tell you my friend's name."

"Karin, could you step out of the room so dad can speak with Toshiro?"

"Hold on..."

Isshin took a deep sigh. "Karin, please. Toshiro has to change out of his clothes and he shouldn't have to change in front of a clothes. That is he's going to change into new clothes if he doesn't need to go into the bath to cool off."

The girl shook her head. "How about I just start the bath water running?"

"Thanks. Call when you have it done." The man continued to stare at the small shinigami. "Toshiro, what happened to your powers?"

"I was actually wondering the same thing."

The boy crossed his arms across his chest as his entire body shook. "I don't want to talk to you about that."

"Why are you mad at me?" Ichigo shook his head frowning at the boy."

"I'm not mad at you Kurosaki."

"You do realize that we're both Kurosaki's, right?"

"No, you're..." Toshiro frowned.

"Don't say it Toshiro."

"Oh? Because you haven't told him that you're a Shiba?"

"No. I hadn't." The man walked over and made to scoop the boy up under the arms.

"If you do that I'll throw up again."

"I'm not going to do that. Just..."

Karin called from the other room. "It's done. All three of you owe me an explanation you know."

The door to Karin's room slammed shut. Isshin began to nudge Toshiro towards the bathroom, his face twisted up in frustration. Ichigo choose to lean on the wall outside while the door remained open a crack. The doctor helped the boy pull of the clothes and get into the water. "Ichigo... can you go and get the glass of water." The person in question didn't move. "I won't start talking to him until you get back."

There came a sigh from the other side of the door. Ichigo came back and handed the glass through the crack in the door. Isshin handed the glass to the boy in the tub. "You know the rules. Drink it nice and slow."

"Hai, hai."

Ichigo leaned against the door. "Toshiro... how come you know my dad?"

"Hmm... he used to be the head of the Shiba clan and also the taicho of the tenth division before me."

"That's not what I asked."

"Yes it was!"

Isshin reached out to touch Toshiro's shoulder in order to prevent the boy from getting out of the tub. Ichigo let out a deep sigh. "No it wasn't. I didn't ask you who my father was back when he was a shinigami, I asked you how you know my dad."

"I told you, he was the former taicho of the tenth division before me."

The eldest male listened to his son let out a deep sigh. "Toshiro used to be my third seat. He tends to be very vague in his answers Ichigo."

The boy blinked a couple of times before moving to lean over the edge of the tub in a relaxed manner. "I was being vague because I figured you would be telling him. Since it is all right for me to speak then I'll also say that Matsumoto wasn't originally my fukutaicho but yours and that you're Shiba and Shiba's eldest brother and Shiba's twin brother and your zampaktuo is fire based, which I trained against because it was the only think that could counter my abilities and otherwise keep things safe."

Isshin found himself blinking a couple of times before turning his head to look at the boy. Toshiro continued. "Also, your father is a pervert Kurosaki... or should I call you Shiba... I honestly don't know. He used to say some really weird things to Matsumoto. Which is kind of funny because she's tried hitting on you in the past. I wonder how taicho feels about that. Taicho also never did any paperwork and would constantly take naps."

"Yeah... the heat sickness is really getting to you." The man let out a deep sigh. "He's normally not talkative like this Ichigo and I honestly would be telling you this stuff myself but if he wants to tell you... well, I hope you don't take it as an insult."

"I don't."

"The heat sickness isn't getting to me." Toshiro shook his head only to have to place a hand on his forehead. "The older taicho's... some of them say I've gotten too talkative for my own good. Particularly that nasty... I'll just say the nasty taicho from the twelfth that I wonder about... things about him. Kuchiki's funny because he thinks my rambling is amusing and only lectures me about it when I go over board."

"What brought on this change?" Isshin shook his head.

"Matsumoto, Ukitake... a lot of people say it comes from me interacting with Kurosaki."

"Yes... but do you understand why that is?"

Silence came then as Toshiro leaned his head against the cold side of the tub. "I honestly haven't figured that one out myself. I do know that ever since Kurosaki came tearing through Soul Society a lot of things have been changing for the better. Those old captains came back and despite the fact I've only been working with them for a short period of time I find myself getting along with them. Soifon doesn't though."

"Since you're so talkative why don't you tell me what is up with your powers being gone?" Silence came then. "Toshiro."

Ichigo let out a laugh. "Remember? He told you he doesn't want to tell you. From what I understand he's mad at you for what ever reason you left soul society for."

Isshin let out a sigh. "I guess we just need to ask Karin, though I honestly don't want to ask her."

There came a sudden sound of water moving."

"Don't!"

"What do you mean don't?"

"She doesn't know that I've lost my powers."

"How can she not know?" Isshin shook his head.

"Because I don't want her to know!" Silence came over the room.

"Toshiro..." The eldest male's voice became stern.

"Dad... don't antagonize him."

M

Toshiro lay on Ichigo's bed with a cloth on his forehead wearing some of Isshin's old clothing. The man had slipped off and brought back an oversized button shirt and a pair of shorts that thankfully had a drawstring so that they wouldn't fall down every time Toshiro moved. The clothing was also light weight. Isshin proceeded then to give him the silent treatment in turn. "Hey... Toshiro, do you want to listen to some music?"

"If you want too. Don't care."

"Let me rephrase the question. Do you think listening to some music will help you feel better, like something classical? I have both western classics as well as Japanese music."

"Either one sounds fine. And thanks." Soon the sound of music filled the air and Toshiro felt the tension in his body calm. Despite having a headache it also didn't get worse.

After a bit Ichigo spoke. "I take it you're mad with my dad?" This caused the boy to sit up, the cloth falling off his forehead. "You don't have to sit up."

"I'm kind of feeling better. And yes I'm mad at him. I might as well look you in the face when I tell you that. He..."

"You're upset because he abandoned you?"

"It's not just that he disappeared." There came a pause. "He left a letter telling us that he was going to go good off in the living world and he told Matsumoto she had to smooth things over with the head captain due to his last venture."

"In other words my dad's always been unreliable."

"He's not unreliable. He... he..." Toshiro paused, frowning as he did so.

"My dad is not reliable until you really need him. He's always been a goofball."

"And... no offense for saying this, but your perverted father obviously decided to chase tail."

"You actually know that phrase?"

"Your father's childhood mentor is Kyoraku. That phrase is used in reference to him a lot."

"So you think my dad's a pervert?" Ichigo's mouth twisted up into a smirk.

"Don't laugh. I actually didn't think he... I thought he was just mimicking Kyoraku taicho. But the fact he... well, he..."

"Happens to have had three kids with a woman." Ichigo frowned. "Can I emphasize the fact he had kids with a woman and not multiple woman."

"At least you hope there aren't any other kids."

"There is." The orange haired teen watched as Toshiro's went wide. "You."

"I'm not his kid."

"Not biologically speaking but it is rather obvious he does consider you to be his kid."

"That..." Toshiro glanced away.

"I honestly don't know why dad left Soul Society but I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Of course, that might have to do with the fact he is my blood relative and I don't want to believe that he would have done it without reason."

"Need I remind you that you're related to Shiba and he made quite a fool of himself when you went to rescue Kuchiki?"

"Need I remind you that I'm related to Shiba and she's pretty cool and it's a shame Karin and Yuzu haven't gotten to meet her?"

Toshiro let out a sigh and flopped down onto the bed. "Great."

M

Isshin did not like the fact Toshiro had managed to get himself into a situation. He went and knocked on the door. "Are you going to tattle on him?"

"I think I can ask Karin what happened without telling her that Toshiro's lost his powers." The man took a deep breath. "Karin, there are some things that I would like to talk to you about, though not necessarily all of them right at this moment." He found himself told to go into the room and saw that Karin was sitting on the bed with her knees pulled up to her chest and hugging a pillow. He went and sat on Yuzu's bed. "So..."

The girl spoke. "What's it like for a shinigami to lose their powers?"

"Where did that come from?" A frown spread across her face. "Please tell me this has to do with me being a former shinigami and Ichigo losing his powers and not what I think it does."

"Well, you're a shinigami?"

"Who would have thought that."

"Well, I didn't. You're not supposed to see ghosts."

"It means you can't go back to Soul Society and be with your family."

"Don't give me the kiddy answer like that. This though means Toshiro's not going to be able to go home? If so is there a way to get his powers back?"

"What?"

"It's not that I hate being here, but most of the people he knows is in Soul Society dad. He's also likely pissed off with you and he didn't want to see Ichi-nii because, well... I kind of get now why he didn't want to go near Ichi-nii not in soul form. Is there a way to get his powers back?"

"I don't know. To be honest if his soul chain was cut, ecetera ecetera there have been to my knowledge no known cases where a shinigami has come back. Of course, it also doesn't help that getting your soul chain cut also means the person cutting is likely to kill you. If that wasn't the case and he lost his powers. Well, in the case of mine they came back eventually after... well, the reason why... well... um."

"Dad."

"There was a lock on my powers. When the lock was gone my powers began to come back slowly. That's the best way to put it. Until then Toshiro is stuck here, with us." The man took a deep breath. "That also said, how did you know? Toshiro thought that he hid that from you quite well."

"Hid it? His shinigami robes disappeared and he was left in the white undergarment that's underneath. I didn't even see his zampaktuo when I found him. Why would he hide that from me?"

"That idiot. I don't know why he would hide it." There came a call from down stairs as Yuzu called up the stairs to say she was prepping dinner. "Could you go tell her that Toshiro's going to be eating dinner with us? I'm going to try talking to him again. I'm not trying to avoid telling you the truth about stuff right now, but I really need to focus on Toshiro right now."

Karin hopped off of her bed. "I'm glad. Toshiro worries me some times..

The man in turn got up off Yuzu's bed and headed over to Ichigo's room. Soft music played. "Can we talk?"

"Nope." The boy folded his arms across his chest.

"Toshiro..."

"I told you that I don't want to talk to you about me losing my powers."

"What were you doing to lose your powers?"

"I was fighting a hollow, all right."

"As if that's what happened! You're a child genius and you don't mess up like that unless there is something else going on."

Isshin suddenly felt a pillow hit him in the face. "I was trying to protect your daughter. So would you just leave me alone already?"

"Because you were protecting Karin? What kind of idiot are you?" Ichigo got up from his desk and headed towards his father. You did something stupid to..."

"You have no room to talk! You're here with three kids! "

Ichigo grabbed his father's arm. "Dad... let's go."

"I'm not done speaking with him."

"You're done. You need to calm down." The teen tugged on his father's sleeve. As Ichigo closed the door Isshin heard something about how he didn't understand. "Come on. Let's see what Karin and Yuzu are doing."

The two went down stairs and Yuzu looked up, a rather excited look on her face. "Isn't it great that Karin-chan's boyfriend is eating dinner with us again?"

"What?" The man looked at his two daughters dumbfounded.

"We've told you Yuzu, we're not dating."

"Yes. Toshiro's not old enough to be dating."

Karin's eyes narrowed. "Toshiro's not old enough? Shouldn't you be more concerned with the fact your daughter may be dating no matter what age she is."

"That... he's not old enough to be crushing on girls!"

Ichigo again pulled on Isshin's arm. "Can I talk to you for a second?" The teen pulled him aside. "I know it's been awhile since you've seen Toshiro but I do know for a fact he does have a crush on Karin. You were getting mad at him for being stupid but he would do anything to make sure nothing happens to her. He'd be lost without her."

Isshin placed a hand on his forehead. "I need to go talk to him."

"Yeah? And have you yell at him?"

"I promise I won't yell at him. There is something I need to talk to him." The man then headed up the stairs.

Ichigo called up after him. "Just to forewarn you about something. Toshiro hasn't figured out he likes Karin yet."

Isshin let out a sigh and opened the door to his son's room. "Toshiro..."

A pillow hit him in the face again. "I told you I don't want to talk to you!"

"Yeah, but I want to talk to you about something. I promise I won't yell. I promise I won't call you stupid. You do dumb things at times but you're really, really smart." The man noticed the wary look on the boy's face but walked over and sat on the bed. "So... I need to ask you something about Karin."

"If this is about me having a crush on her or whether or not we're dating I'm going to be mad at you even more."

"No. The reason you want to protect Karin, this wouldn't be because you think of her as the sun and your world revolves around said sun."

Silence came then and he turned to see Toshiro thinking. "No."

"So much for that idea. Ichigo is wrong about this."

"It's more like this. You know how you brought back a textbook from the living world one time and I learned all about outer space and stuff? You brought the book for me because I've always liked learning about stuff."

"Great. I haven't a clue where he is going with this and I know that Toshiro can go some very strange places with his thought process."

"It's more like I'm the moon. It's a very strange, very weird object in the sky and while I like it despite it being strange and weird I don't understand why others like it because I know it is weird."

"Kind of like how you know that people like you despite the fact you've always found your hair color and other oddities to be rather strange."

"Yes... but that has nothing to do with this analogy."

"Am I going to have to guess where this is going."

"In comparison Karin is the planet Earth. I've had people keep my feet grounded before, you... Matsumoto, granny... others... but she's different."

Isshin let out a deep sigh. "So he does feel the same way but is picturing the feeling a different way then I eventually came to realize it to be." He then patted the boy's head. "I thought we weren't going to have this conversation when you said no, but the fact you came up with a similar analogy means we're going to have the conversation."

He felt Toshiro pull away from him. "I have a feeling you're wanting to try and talk to me about me losing me powers again and I already told you I don't want to talk about it. You wouldn't understand."

"I wouldn't understand?" The man let out an irritated laugh. "Masaki... the kids mother, she was my sun Toshiro."

He watched as Toshiro's eyes widen and knew that the boy wasn't happy with this turn. "First, I already told you I don't have a crush on your daughter. Second, you decided to go and as I told your son chase tail in the living world like Kyoraku."

"That..." Isshin shook his head. "You told him that? That is not what happened!"

"Then what did?" The boy turned his head so he wouldn't have to look at the man.

"The previous time I came to the living world Masaki saved me and she became injured by a Hollow. I went back to Soul Society and found I couldn't stop thinking about her and decided to pay her a visit to thank her for saving me. When I got back to the living world I found that Masaki was in trouble because she choose to take the time and rescue me. If I didn't let Urahara seal up my powers the Hollow we destroyed would have used her to reincarnate."

Toshiro turned to look at the man, swallowing as he did. "I'm sorry I accused you of chasing tail."

"Well, I haven't exactly given you reason not to have such doubts." Isshin took a breath. "Listen to me here carefully Toshiro. I didn't realize until later on that I felt that Masaki was the center of my world. I'd been in the living world for some time and when you lose your powers, well... you know what happens."

"Soul Society abandons you." The boy glanced at his lap. "We didn't abandon Kurosaki and I think.."

There came a pause. Isshin let out a deep sigh. "It's not an act of abandonment. If said shinigami is going to live in the world and have a normal life then as little interaction with them is needed. They have enough regrets as it is. Thing is I had the chance before I rescued Masaki to think of my regrets but you didn't, did you."

Toshiro glanced down. "So?"

"You're not going to be able to hear Hyorinmaru anymore and for you... for you that's going to be hard. I know you too well. You're not going to be able to see your granny, Ran-chan, Momo-chan... everyone. You finally were able to form social relationships."

"I got that." The boy looked at his lap. "But... I told you. She's my Earth. I'd eventually recover if something happened to herself but I would never be able to forgive myself. Not to mention... I don't know how to put it."

"The fact you're in love with Karin?"

"Excuse me... I told you..."

"That you don't have a crush on her? No. You don't. Your feelings for her are more then that. Love... pure, true love is where you're willing to sacrifice anything and everything for said person. Got it?" Isshin watched as Toshiro looked up at him with a scowl. "What?"

"Should you be advocating the idea that you and I daughter have a relationship?"

Isshin took a deep sigh. "If it were any other kid I would be chasing them off right now but I trust you. Also... I already completely flummoxed them when Yuzu claimed you and Karin were dating..."

"She's still going on about that?"

"Yes... apparently. I made the mistake of saying you weren't old enough to date and Karin kind of said the same thing you just did. So it would be really weird to say no at this point when... well, I honestly wasn't expecting you to have grown up this much since I last saw you."

The boy folded his arms across his chest. "I'm not going to be making a move to date her daughter until enough time has passed for them to declare me... well... the same thing as you are. Even then I'm not sure I'm ready to ask her out as this is a foreign concept."

"That's all right. Yuzu's preping dinner so we should head downstairs and join the rest of them."