Ichigo and Toushiro had been dating seriously for a while. They both felt confident that their relationship was going to last long into the future. Ichigo at first had wanted to keep it a secret from his family, unsure how to bring up the topic, but he was nervous about how his father – and Yuzu – was going to react. Karin maybe suspected something since she and Toushiro were good friends, but Toushiro could keep a secret like a hamster hoarding sunflower seeds, so he wasn't too sure. They hadn't said anything. And Toushiro – asocial, slightly awkward, and oblivious Toushiro – didn't care that he hadn't been formally introduced to his family.

"You've never met my dad, have you?" Ichigo asked, looking up from his work planner. They got a three day weekend next week, and he wanted to go home for a bit. But since he and Toushiro usually spent weekends together...

"No," Toushiro answered without looking away from the movie Ichigo had set him up with.

He hummed. Oh what the hell, Isshin would have to meet Toushiro sooner or later. It made no sense to avoid the inevitable. "I wanted to go home next weekend, so I guess you can meet him then."

Toushiro grunted in affirmative.

"Just a bit of warning," Ichigo sighed scratching the back of his neck, "he's a bit weird."

"Okay."

Ichigo shook his head; Toushiro would learn exactly what he meant by weird next week. He could decide then whether he should run or not.

At least he liked train rides.

Ichigo called ahead to let his family know that he was bringing his boyfriend home. He could almost feel Isshin vibrating in excitement through the phone, and warned him not to scare Toushiro away. He noticed the way his father had paused before he blabbered on about how excited he was to meet him. He didn't press it, chalking it up to his normal weird behaviour. But after he hung up he began to wonder if they had ever crossed paths before; Isshin had used to be a shinigami after all.

However, he hadn't expected their meeting to be a disaster.

He had gotten Toushiro set up in his room and they were waiting with Karin and Yuzu to start dinner. After Yuzu's initial excitement about learning that thye were dating had worn off she served dinner. Karin reaction was to jab Toushiro in his side with her elbow, and cackle about how her team owed her 600 yen each for not believing that he was gay. Isshin was late in coming home from a 'medical conference', so they started eating without him, but when he barged through the door yelling his usual 'I'm home' Toushiro froze. Ichigo thought that it was just anxiety; Toushiro wasn't always comfortable getting to know new people. He grabbed his hand and squeezed it tightly, but Toushiro's jaw only tensed and he sat stiffly in his chair.

Isshin bumbled into the kitchen merrily swinging his arms and Toushiro drew in a sharp breath and his eyes widened. He followed Isshin with his eyes as he sat down next to Yuzu. Ichigo began to feel like he was missing something when Toushiro's brow dipped into a dangerous frown. Only after he was seated did Isshin look over and smile at Toushiro.

He grinned widely, the corners of his eyes crinkling. "Hello-"

Toushiro stood up so abruptly that his chair nearly toppled over. He gripped the edge of the table and was glaring at Isshin like he had committed murder. "What the hell are you doing here?" he spat.

Isshin's smile fell. "Ah. It's nice seeing you again, Toushiro-"

"Don't give me that! I thought you were dead!"

Isshin chewed his bottom lip while Ichigo rubbed his temples. Of course. Why had he thought that this would go any differently?

"I... well. As you can see... I'm not?"

Toushiro clenched his jaw and balled his hands into fists. He took a few deep breaths before storming from the room.

"What the hell, dad?" Ichigo growled. "What did you do?"

Yuzu was looking on anxiously while Karin was glaring at Isshin for all she was worth. The food sat forgotten on each of their plates.

Isshin sighed deeply. "I'll explain later. You should go see if he's okay."

Ichigo found Toushiro in his room, sitting on the edge of his bed and starting at his lap.

"Hey," he said, sitting down next to him making sure to leave a sufficient amount of space in between them. Trying to comfort Toushiro too soon after he exploded was fatal.

Toushiro sighed. "Hey." He clenched an unclenched his hands.

"Are you going to-"

"Did you know that your dad used to be a shinigami captain?"

"Yeah..."

"They why didn't you – did you know that he used to be my captain?"

Ichigo felt his eyes widen of their own accord. "Shit... no, I didn't. He only told me about how he met my mom."

Toushiro breathed heavily through his nose and they sat in silence for a long while. Ichigo was unsure what to do. Toushiro had never gone through the specifics on how he became a captain, and Ichigo hadn't thought to ask. He never would have guessed that his dad had been a part of Toushiro's life, though. What were the odds? Seriously? Ichigo watched the neon numbers on the digital clock on his desk change. Obviously Isshin and Toushiro had parted ways on less than ideal terms. Maybe his dad should be the one trying to fix this.

"Shiro?"

Toushiro sighed again. "He left. He left and I didn't know why."

"Were you close?"

"I was his third seat."

Ichigo scrubbed a hand down his face. "I think you two should talk."

Toushiro grit his teeth. "What do you say to someone who you thought was dead for the past forty years or so? I don't want to talk to him."

"He... he had a pretty good reason for why he left, I promise."

"He still left, just up and went without an explanation. Not even a note, no message or letter. I don't care what his reason was, you – you don't just leave someone behind without any intention to come back!"

Toushiro stood up and gave Ichigo his back as he wrapped his arms around his stomach.

"... If he had stayed, I wouldn't be here..."

Toushiro glanced at him from over his shoulder.

"That's a good enough reason, right?"

He turned around fully, chewing on his bottom lip. "Fine, I'll listen to what he has to say."

Ichigo sat between his father and Toushiro, the twins had gone to their room. Isshin had wanted to talk to Toushiro in private, but Toushiro said that if Ichigo wasn't in the room he wasn't going to listen. So the three of them sat at the kitchen table.

"Toushiro, I'm sorry-"

"No." He held up his hand. "I don't want an apology. You had... important things to do here." He glanced to Ichigo. "I just want an explanation."

Isshin smiled sadly. "I wouldn't have left if I didn't have complete confidence that you and Rangiku would pick up the slack. Believe me, I would never have put you through something you couldn't have handled."

Toushiro snorted. "You have no right to say that. You don't know how many rounds of questionings Matsumoto and I had to go through. You don't know what we had to do to keep the squad running. Because of you I didn't even have a chance to complete my bankai before I had to become a captain. So, no I don't care what you thought. Now get on with it; we don't have all night."

Isshing sighed heavily. "Fair enough."

Ichigo looked awkwardly between the two. Toushiro's face was steeled, and Isshin didn't look too happy. At least there was no blood, he told himself, especially since earlier Toushiro looked like he had wanted to rip out Isshin's throat.

"Well, you see... I met Ichigo's mother..."

Once Isshin had finished his story, Ichigo reached for Toushiro's hand. Toushiro himself looked a little stunned, but he only shook his head. "Only you would do that, dumbass."

Isshin smiled uneasily, tilting his head. "Do you forgive me?"

"Yes. Am I still mad at you? Also yes."

"I expected as much." Isshin scratched the back of his neck. "But I gave you Ichigo so you can't stay mad for too long."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow.

"You didn't give him-"

"I made him," he stated, smugly folding his hands across his chest and grinning.

Ichigo winced and blushed heavily at the same time. He did not need to end the night with that mental picture. "Okay, this conversation is over." He stood up and grabbed Toushiro's hand pulling him away from the table. "Nice talk. Good night."

Sorry for the delay.

I don't think any talk with Isshin can be serious all the way through.

No one is up next, but donations are open if you so fancy.

- Mymomomo