Hey there! Another chapter by Arei, that hopefully explains the relationship between Isshin and Masaki.

At this point, our plan is to alternate chapters between Bleachy and Bleached Hallows for the next few weeks… so next week should be the next chapter for Bleached Hallows.

Still taking submissions for this one-shot, though, so if you have any ideas, or if you wrote anything, send it on.

Chapter 14

Changing Moods

Isshin was frightened.

After bursting in on Ichigo and Rukia, (One; he'd really, well and truly, only thought Ichigo was in the room. Alone. By himself... and two; he didn't realize that if Rukia ever was in the room with his son that the pair would be nekked! Ew!) he'd been cornered by Jushiro Ukitake, Shunsui Kyoraku, Byakuya Kuchiki, Sajin Komamura and Gin Ichimaru. And they were livid.

"There are some things you just don't do Isshin!" Jushiro was scolding. "Bursting in on your son and his fiancé while they are sleeping is one of them!"

"But I didn't know she'd be-" Isshin started, only to get cut off by Shunsui.

"You've been showing an increasingly apparent lack of common sense," Komamura said with a shake of his head. "I'm disappointed in you."

"Iie! That's not-!"

This time Gin cut him off. "Honestly, can't ya grow up some? Tryin' to sneak a peek of a girl is kid-stuff..." Gin said with a frown.

"Hey now-!" Isshin bristled a bit.

"I'll admit to being a hentai and a drunkard," Shunsui said with a surprisingly serious expression on his normally grinning countenance. "But I'd never want to see my soon-to-be daughter-in-law naked."

"Iie! I NEVER wanted-!" Isshin started, honestly upset with what they were trying to insinuate.

"That is my little sister," Byakuya hissed in a deadly soft tone as his gray eyes bored a hole into Isshin. "If I ever find out-"

"Iie!" Isshin shouted, "I didn't know she was in the room!"

The shout finally cut off the others and they eyed him warily as he panted before he finally sat down with a huff.

"I didn't know she was there. I always wake Ichigo up like that 'cause he needs to stay on his toes! He needs to keep aware of his surroundings at all times!"

The others shared a look at that, suddenly faintly amused despite their upset at the rude wake up Isshin had caused them all. He sounded a lot like a certain paranoid one-eyed ex-Auror just then.

"Isshin," Gin started to say, frustrated, "He's a kid. According to Ichigo, you've been waking him up like that for years. It ain't right."

"He needs his training," Isshin said with a firm nod as he crossed his arms, though his face was locked in a petulant sulk.

"That isn't training," Komamura said softly to the upset Isshin, "it's unhealthy."

"Training should be-" Byakuya started, taking a breath and preparing another well worded rant when Gin held up his hand to stop him.

"Isshin-kun, why are you so set on Ichigo training this way?" Gin asked suddenly, wanting to try to get to the bottom of Isshin's reasoning... even if his actions weren't sane, perhaps the reasoning was.

"...Don't always attack him like this... sometimes I'll be in Spirit form so others can't see me, though with normal clothes so he doesn't realize... Don't you guys understand, he's always been able to see," Isshin burst up all of a sudden at that last sentence and started pacing with an almost manic look on his face that startled some of the others.

Jushiro, Shunsui and Gin didn't seem surprised, as if they were used to seeing him go off on odd tangents before and not all of those in their little 'intervention' group had been Captains twenty-odd years ago to realize that this was normal for Isshin.

"Karin was always in denial, Yuzu was only able to sense that 'something' was there and if it was 'safe' or not. But they were born human," Isshin said as he continued to pace. "Ichigo was born a Spirit and he has always been able to See Hollows or Shinigami. I've had to train him from a young age to react! If he doesn't have a good reaction time then he dies! You know how Hollows are when they sense a strong living Reitsu!"

"That doesn't excuse waking up half the Seireitei just so you can test your son's reaction time in a surprise attack," Byakuya said dryly, his eyes narrowing. He might well have rolled his eyes if it wasn't unseemly of someone of his station. "You set up a training course and then maintain a set of hours that you train within said course." Isshin started to say something when Byakuya slashed his hand down. "And you do not pick the entire Seireitei to be that course, especially right before a holiday!"

Isshin slumped down again to sit cross-legged with another pout on his lips. His voice came out in a sulky mutter. "But attacks can happen at any time."

"You're right. They can," came a female voice from behind them.

Isshin's head snapped up and he looked both ecstatic that someone agreed with him and utterly terrified by the sight of his upset wife; Masaki. The others turned to her as well with varying degrees of shock.

"Surely you're not approving of his actions Masaki-kun?" Shunsui said with a grin.

Masaki gave an un-ladylike snort. "Oh no, his actions are and have been appalling when he's like this," Isshin started to tear up. "But his heart is in the right place. I died because I wasn't paying attention to the energies around us. I almost lost Ichigo to Grand Fisher. As crazy as Isshin and Moody can be, they are right in some ways with their equally unique takes on 'constant vigilance'."

"Really? Moody, eh?" Isshin grinned suddenly and everyone shared a look of mutual agreement to never allow Isshin to meet Moody.

Masaki sighed suddenly and took out a small jar from the pack on her shoulder. She opened it and held up what looked... like... a strawberry Pocky stick? The others all stared in confusion which was further compounded by the result.

"Pocky!" Isshin whooped and rushed over to his wife like an eager puppy.

The others watched in various stages of amusement, confusion and incredulity as she slowly handed over five sticks of Pocky. Isshin sighed happily as he chomped on each one with the bliss of one who had found true peace. Once he'd finished the last he let out a moue of noise and fixed a pair of puppy-eyes on Masaki.

"Can't I have more? It's been so long since I've had your home-made Pocky," he said as he added on a pitiful whimper.

Byakuya very gracefully face palmed while the others laughed at the bizarre sight.

"No you may not," Masaki said firmly. "Only five, all at once, once a week on the same day each week. You know the drill," Another moue of disappointment from Isshin sent Shunsui into further giggles that his hat couldn't conceal. "Now, nap-time."

Masaki took out her wand and with a flick a nearby bench was transformed into a high-quality, but exceptionally comfy looking, couch. Isshin simply grinned and plopped face down on the couch. Not even ten seconds later, the group heard him snoring away.

"Thank you, Pavlov," Masaki said with a droll smile.

The group of men looked at Masaki with a raised brow, each wanting an explanation for the insanity that just occurred. She laughed softly.

"In some ways, Seireitei medical practices are indeed superior then Living World practices. In other ways you are far behind, especially concerning Mental Health."

Jushiro looked especially curious at that statement.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Well, you guys know PTSD, being active fighters means you have to deal with and treat that but there are other terms, other mental issues," Masaki tilted her head with a small frown. "There's psychopathy, sociopathy, schizophrenia, anxiety disorders..."

Masaki stopped suddenly when she realized that the men around her were staring at her as if she'd started speaking gobbledygook and she let out a soft sigh.

"Right, that went over your heads didn't it?" she asked.

They nodded.

"Right, so really you don't need to know about any of those others," she waved her hand dismissively. "The only one we need to cover is bi-polar disorder."

"Bi...polar?" Gin voiced the group's confusion.

"Bi-polar disorder is essentially caused by a chemical imbalance in someone's brain," Masaki said as she crossed her arms. "Essentially with this disorder you can get some very strong mood swings; Extreme mania or depression."

"Mania?" Komamura asked.

"Ah, right..." Masaki tilted her head as she considered how to explain to these men what the problem was. "A person who is bi-polar can suddenly become very happy or ecstatic about basic things and then just as suddenly be hit by just as extreme sorrow if not outright depression. They can also have a very frantic standpoint on a situation but then face the same situation later on very calmly."

"But... don't people do that normally?" Byakuya asked, perplexed.

"We can all have this happen to us at random points, those highs and lows in emotion, but not all the time. And some people can be worse than others," Masaki answered firmly. "Shunsui, Jushiro, Gin - you three are used to seeing him act like this, right?"

"For the most part," Shunsui said with a shrug.

"He has his calm moments but yes, he's a... very extreme person most of the time," Jushiro said with a small smile.

"You'd find him patrolling at the oddest hours, too," Gin said with a snicker.

"Always either happy or crying or obsessing," Masaki shook her head and smiled ruefully. "I honestly forgot about it with everything going on but this latest little explosion of his reminded me of his disorder."

"So... the Pocky?" Shunsui asked, still grinning.

"I can't get him to take medication to stabilize his mood the normal way. There's an old saying, 'doctors make the worst patients'," she snorted softly. "That's a true statement for him."

The others nodded at the logic as she continued.

"I make a potion that tastes just like the coating for strawberry Pocky, get the Pocky sticks, dip them in the potion and then give them to him like you saw," she indicated Isshin's still form. "He passes out for about ten to twenty minutes and then wakes up stable."

"A 'stable' Isshin?" Shunsui laughed and looked at Jushiro. "I don't think I've ever seen that unless he's in a fight."

"Indeed, unless it is a serious situation..." Jushiro laughed softly and shook his head. "This will be interesting indeed."

The group settled down to wait, each one (save Masaki) wondering what Isshin would be like with his wife's specialized potion running through his system. Finally the man started to stir and the men fell silent to watch the couple.

"Hrm...?" Isshin's muffled voice was barely heard with his face in the couch. He turned his head and blinked a bit. "Masaki? *Koibito?"

"I'm here husband," Masaki said affectionately as she sat on the couch next to Isshin as he sat up. "How do you feel?"

"Better than I have in years..." Isshin suddenly blinked and then face palmed. "Kami... I've been an idiot haven't I?"

Shunsui had to hide his face under his hat again, but couldn't hide his shoulders shaking with laughter.

"You've always been silly, husband," Masaki said as she leaned against his arm. "But it looks like you got worse when I left."

"Yeah, I just kept thinking that Ichigo had to be able to protect himself, his sisters..." Isshin let out a heavy sigh and rested his head against Masaki's. "Sorry if I ruined Christmas."

"Mmmm, overall, you didn't," Masaki said with a small smile.

"Oh, good," Isshin blinked and looked at the others. "Gomennasai everyone."

Various noises greeted his apology.

"So... what now?" Jushiro asked.

"Now... I apologize to the kids, and then have a long talk with Ichigo. I still want him to train. Strong as he is, he needs to keep his guard up," Isshin said seriously. "But this time we'll set up some sort of schedule for the training."

He said the last with a faint smile as he lifted his head and looked down at his wife.

"That is a much better plan compared to what you have been doing," Masaki said with a smile. "Ichigo and the others will be busy for a while though, so I'd leave them be until they've calmed down and I've had a chance to talk to them."

"Hmm, I think I'll go find someone then," Isshin stood and kissed his wife gently before starting off. Gin, Jushiro and Shunsui all raised their brows at the sudden grin he was sporting as he walked off.

"Urm.. Masaki-kun," Gin started slowly. "You do realize what that grin normally means?"

"Oh yes, I know how much of a prankster my husband can be. What you don't realize is that with him being level-headed now, things won't blow up unless he means for them to blow up."

The men all shared a look before turning back to the smiling woman.

"So who is he going to prank then?" Komamura asked slowly.

"Probably Yamamoto," Masaki said with a tilt of her head. "Or he'll be introducing himself to James and Sirius."

"Normally I'd be worried about the Seireitei being blown up then," Gin said with a grin. "But ya say not to worry?"

"Worry about Yama, or Sirius and James, but this will be far more contained then normal..."

#

Isshin stretched his arms out and yawned. He then gave a contented smack of his lips as he nibbled slowly on a regular stick of Pocky and looked from his vantage point on top of one of the taller buildings at the First Division's barracks.

Normally he knew he'd just have planted what he could in the way of pranking supplies and then hope he caught his target... he'd inadvertently caught some of Ichigo's friends with traps for Ichigo that way.

Now that his head was clearer than normal, and thoughts of particular situations didn't send him into fits of sorrow or joy (He was a trained Doctor and knew about his condition, but had honestly thought he'd been managing it well without Masaki), he could focus and not get distracted.

He'd heard about James' and Sirius' failure in pranking Old Man Yama and he took it upon himself to show the two how it was done.

The two weren't allowed anywhere on First Division grounds without express permission from the Old Man himself, so they were meeting him on one of the taller buildings in a neighboring Division.

"Yo, Isshin," James called as he climbed onto the roof via the ladder the two had brought with them. Sirius climbed up after him and they both sat down by the older man.

"So what are we watching for?" Sirius said.

"Oh, just a gift I left in Old Man's Yama's tea," Isshin said with a grin. "He always makes a personal batch right about now. In fact..."

Isshin took a look at his watch, a long ago gift from Masaki.

"Right about..." There was a sudden flare of angry Reitsu from the First Division that sent James and Sirius to their stomachs. "Now."

Moments later Yama came out of the barracks, anger in his eyes. All three of them burst into laughter at the sight. Yamamoto's beard was sporting one of the Largest Afros they had ever seen.

"H-How?" James stuttered through the laughter and the Pressure Yama was exuding.

"Paid a visit to the Weasley twins in Diagon Alley," Isshin answered smugly as he popped another Pocky stick into his mouth before standing.

Yamamoto caught sight of him as he stood and he saluted his grandfather. The older man seemed to groan as he face palmed and the overbearing Reitsu faded away.

Mission Success!

Author's Notes:

*Koibito = sweetheart.
*Iie = no.
*Gomennasai = formal 'sorry', informal is 'gomen'.