A/N: i spitefully yeeted myself back into the bleach fandom, and ended up writing another chapter. though it wasn't any hardship! this story is still my baby and it will be written no matter what. besides, having a long break like this let me solidify some story plans
Ichigo woke early the next morning, but didn't leave bed. Normally he hated being sedentary but sometimes moving just felt like too much effort. There really wasn't much to do until his alarm went off anyway and that was- he glanced to his clock- more than an hour away at this point. He could try going back to sleep but he already knew that would be a lost cause.
He sighed. He didn't feel like getting up, and he didn't feel liking sleeping anymore. Looked like it was doing absolutely nothing until he needed to get ready for the day.
At least until his phone buzzed with a notification. He stared at it for a long moment before reaching over to see who had decided to send him a text of all things this early. Ichigo blinded himself momentarily with the light before his eyes adjusted.
It was from Uryu. Do you think Kojima-san would give me a discount if I offered to tailor him some business suits?
Ichigo snorted. Mizuiro offered a discount for friends, but only because it was understood that Mizuiro's friends would never ask for his particular services. They were all pretty self sufficient that way. Depends on what info you want and what kind of suit.
Inoue-san said some fighting words during club today and I need to prove her wrong.
Oof. How desperately and does your pride matter?
I can do it on my own, but time is of the essence. The pride I will feel when I see the shattered look on Inoue-san's face will fuel me for months to come in the cold void of where my heart is.
Oh, wow. Inoue must have really said something if Uryu was pulling out the dramatics. Ichigo would normally say that Uryu and Inoue never fought. Especially since the two of them shared near telepathic understanding of each other in the Handicrafts Club.
What did Inoue even say?
It doesn't bear repeating.
Ichigo hummed. Well, that likely meant it wasn't something catastrophic to anyone outside of the Club. He'd have to keep an eye on the two of them though. Uryu could push himself to exhaustion for the silliest of things, and something told him Inoue was very much the same. At the very least, whatever outcome there was, it was sure to be entertaining.
Still. Ichigo sent a text to Tatsuki in case she didn't already know. Heads up, apparently Uryu and Inoue are feuding in the handicrafts club and it's war now.
No response on that end, but Tatsuki actually kept up a good sleeping schedule. She'd see it when she woke up. Inoue might not have told her; for whatever reason, the Handicrafts Club was very insular. Ichigo was a bit surprised that Uryu even brought it up at all.
Though if Inoue really said something that Uryu was willing to ask Mizuiro to look into it, it could be a matter of scale.
Ichigo thought about it and sent another text to Uryu. Will you need help of any kind in removing bodies and/or escaping prison?
If I couldn't do that on my own I would deserve my father's disappointment. Wow, Ichigo could feel how flat that was response and this was text.
Then again, Uncle Ryuken trained them in escape and evasion first and foremost. If it took them until a couple of years after he stopped training them to realize that it really did apply to unconventional situations like that, it was entirely on Ichigo and Uryu. It was one of the reasons that they operated on a need to know basis with Uncle Ryuken. He was one of their last lines of defense and as a hospital director needed the plausible deniability.
That wasn't an answer on whether or not it would be needed.
Don't worry about it Ichigo. I'll ask Kojima-san later.
That's just made me even more worried!
Oh yeah I went to the cat cafe last week and they've got new fosters.
Unsubtle. Give me the pics.
If Uryu didn't want to tell Ichigo, fine. If it were even half as dire as Uryu made it sound, Ichigo would find out sooner or later. It'd be interesting. Ichigo usually wasn't the one to run damage control.
At least the kittens were cute. Ichigo, of course, made Uryu tell him all about them. Time would tell if Ichigo would remember said information, because Ichigo's problem with names and faces did not stop at humans. But the kittens were cute and it made Uryu happy.
Then the conversation derailed into whether or not cats had nine lives, and if so, did that also mean they had spiritual energy? If they had spiritual energy, did that mean that the reason they have never seen ghost cats mean that they had inhuman spiritual energy, and therefore were invisible to them, humans?
Would it be ethical to test this? Ichigo asked.
Not really but I am curious. Uryu replied.
Ichigo was invested in the conversation, enough so that when his alarm went off he startled and nearly dropped his phone on his face. He reached over to turn it off, fumbling a little bit. It took two tries before his room dropped to silence again.
Time to get out of bed, good morning, see you later.
He dropped his phone back to his nightstand and rubbed his hands over his face. Now that it was actually time to get ready for the day, he didn't want to leave bed. At least he was wide awake. Now it was just finding the energy to get up and moving. Ichigo sighed, decided that being responsible was probably the best choice, and got out of bed, stretching. His spine and shoulders popped.
Today was going to be a long one, he could already tell. Best get ready for the day.
He blinked when he saw Rukia standing in the hallway, leaning against the wall near the twins' bedroom. Yuzu and Karin had to be downstairs already because Karin wouldn't tolerate having someone just standing outside their door without making themselves known.
Then he noticed her appearance. Rukia wore a simple black yukata and sandals. It looked sturdy, if not particularly fancy. And he would swear there were some design elements built into it that would make it easy to run around in, even if Ichigo couldn't see it. Uryu would know, when he saw it.
"Good morning, Ichigo," Rukia said.
"Morning," Ichigo replied, "Where did you get that? Yuzu doesn't have anything like it."
"I'm borrowing it for the day," Rukia said, picking at the hems of her sleeves, almost shy. "Apparently this is appropriate to wear when going to visit a grave?"
Borrowing? From where? Or did that shop she kept visiting for shinigami tools carry other things as well? Huh, who knows, maybe it did, Ichigo had no idea what shinigami needed when they visited the World of the Living. He was sure that despite everything, there were times they had wear gigai and interact with humans.
"It is," Ichigo said. "My family doesn't often wear yukata, but it's mostly due to personal preference than being inappropriate or anything like that." Ichigo, the twins, and Dad would all be wearing matching black tops today. It was about the only concession they made regarding the occasion.
"I thought so. Yuzu did compliment me on it when she saw it earlier," Rukia said, pleased. She motioned him to the bathroom. "I'll let you get ready. Yuzu and Karin are already downstairs, I'll let them know you're awake."
Ichigo nodded, then looked to her seriously. "How were they last night?"
"They slept well," Rukia promised, "They shared the same bed, but it was restful."
"Thank you," Ichigo said and went into the bathroom.
Rukia was kind if she made sure to keep an eye on the twins all night. Especially if Yuzu and Karin were able to sleep restfully under her watch.
Well then. Yuzu already made the claim earlier, but it seemed that it was now up to Ichigo to start teaching Rukia about what it meant to be Kurosaki. Rukia was family, and family didn't keep secrets from each other. He'd have to talk with Yuzu and Karin first, just so they were all on the same page, but there wasn't much to mistake about the situation. Maybe it wasn't a formal adoption, but family was family.
He'd have to talk to Uryu too. They'd grown up and learned together, sharing what they knew with each other, for so long that Ichigo honestly forgot which techniques belonged to each Clan. Uryu might not mind Rukia at this point, but it'd be improper for Ichigo to teach Rukia about the Ishida without explicit permission. And that would be from Uncle Ryuken too.
"Good morning, Onii-chan," Yuzu greeted when he made it downstairs.
He wandered over to where she was packing the last of their bento and pressed a kiss to her hair. She beamed at him and he went to Karin to do the same. She leaned into his touch even as she glared balefully at him for daring to show her affection. Dad reached out from his spot at the table to pat Ichigo on the shoulder since it was the closest space he could reach.
Ichigo eyed Rukia, decided she probably wasn't quite ready for familial affection without some explanation, and patted her shoulder instead. Kon was seated on the counter next to Yuzu, quietly watching everything go on.
Ichigo grabbed his own breakfast, a simple cereal, and sat down. Karin methodically ate, eyes blank, clearly going through the motions without really registering them. Considering they sent her to get Dad for breakfast to wake her up some more, and Dad was already peacefully eating at the table, that explained that. Karin would wake up properly when they headed out.
Rukia ate daintily, watching them with something approaching apprehension. Which was probably the right thing to feel. The Kurosaki were by no means a quiet family, so the scene probably was surreal to her. She didn't need to worry. They'd all return to their usual energetics on their walk to the graveyard.
She'd also probably regret feeling cautious about the quiet. Seems Rukia hadn't quite learned to appreciate the calm when it happened in this household.
She'd learn. Rukia would have to, since they were intent on keeping her.
It was turning out to be a hot and humid day, almost miserable in the heat and it was only morning. That afternoon would undoubtedly be worse. Ichigo hoped that Uryu and Tatsuki brought cold drinks with them or Ichigo just might cry.
"How are you not melting?" Ichigo complained at Rukia. They all had water bottles, so it wasn't like they were going to risk being dehydrated, but still. And Rukia wore a solid black yukata.
"I am of the ice and snow," Rukia informed him primly. She took clear pleasure in her own comfort compared to them, ignoring the glares they all gave her in return. "Even powerless as I am now, controlling my temperature is simple."
Ichigo glared at her and Rukia smiled innocently. He didn't buy it for a second. Rukia was vicious, and curel, and so very mean to him. Violent too, though she didn't do any more than a hard tap outside of training. Of course she got along with Yuzu and Karin. Why did he ever think otherwise.
Powerless, though? The thought nagged at him, but Ichigo put it on the back burner for the moment. There were more important things to think about right now. Like catching the bags of food Dad just dropped because he decided that showing off by walking on his hands was a good idea.
"Dumbass!" Ichigo snarled, and kicked Dad so he rolled down the hill. It was fine, Dad was remarkably sturdy. Rukia stepped aside and idly watched the dust cloud that trailed after Dad. "Yuzu worked hard on our food, you know!"
"Onii-chan, it's not too bad," Yuzu promised. "I know how to pack food so it doesn't get ruined by clumsy handling."
"It's the principle of the thing, Yuzu," Karin said, ignoring Dad entirely. She kept walking up the hill, pulling Yuzu along with her. "Goat-Face should know better."
"I know, but Otou-chan doesn't mean to do it, normally," Yuzu said. She didn't resist Karin pulling her along, trailing after her sister. Kon, carried in Yuzu's free arm, giggled remorselessly in Dad's direction.
"Ichigo, I can carry some of that," Rukia said.
"Thanks," Ichigo said, and handed her some bags. Dad was meant to carry it the entire way, but clearly he couldn't be trusted. And it was better than waiting for Dad to reach them again.
By the time they reached the grave, Dad caught up to them. They started cleaning immediately, removing any litter and wiping off dust. There was very little, honestly. Karakura took care of their graveyards. Even before the Ishida, and then the Kurosaki, moved into town, the place was well maintained by miko and priests. With the added wards to prevent decay made by Quincy lining the place, it was probably one of the most well maintained graveyards in Japan.
Rukia watched what they did intently, curious and wanting to learn something new about the World of the Living. But she stood back, hesitant to enter their space. Clearly she recognized that this was a family matter.
Ichigo huffed and rolled his eyes. He reached out to tug at her sleeve. "Get in here, Rukia. You're family, you can help clean up."
Rukia went still, and stared wide eyed at him.
"Onii-chan is right, Rukia-san," Yuzu agreed, and motioned Rukia to move closer. "You might be Kuchiki Rukia, but you're also Kurosaki now."
"Yeah, we decided to keep you," Karin said, sitting up to look at Rukia. "It's why we brought you here, to introduce you to Mom."
"And if the kids say that you're family, that means you're family," Dad said, for once as calm as can be. He grinned, and despite the obvious joy in it, it wasn't the usual overdramatic expression Dad normally wore.
Rukia swallowed, and wrung her hands together. It looked like she tried not to clench at her sleeves, not wanting to wrinkle the fabric. "I…"
Dad reached out to pat Rukia on the shoulder, the easiest place he could reach. "You can be part of more than one family, Rukia-chan," Dad said. There was a wealth of history in his voice.
Yeah, Dad never spoke about his own family from before he married Mom, but they knew he still missed them a lot. Sometimes, Dad would just watch Ichigo and his sisters with a weird nostalgic expression, not saying anything. They constantly reminded Dad of his unknown family. They never pushed because Dad got unusually quiet the first few times they tried when they were younger, but sometimes Ichigo just wondered. For all that Dad took Kurosaki in honor of Mom, he obviously still considered himself part of said unknown family.
"Family is a choice," Ichigo said firmly, and tugged Rukia's sleeve again. "It's who you choose. Do you think I have any relation to Tatsuki?"
That, of all things, broke Rukia out of her stupor. She swallowed, and kneeled with them. She was still unsure of her welcome, but she was there.
Ichigo shared a glance with Yuzu and Karin around Rukia's slight frame. Yeah, they needed to show her a bit more affection if Rukia was this unsure of her presence. If Rukia didn't believe they wanted her there with them.
Ichigo probably needed to beat up the Kuchiki family. No one should be so wary about something so freely given. No family should make someone so quick to hide their own personality behind practiced disdain and so-called polite manners. Though maybe Ichigo should ask Rukia about them too before he went on the attack. Superior physical force might get them to stop, but nothing would change if he didn't find what would change their minds too.
They finished cleaning and put Mom's favorite food on the little ledge. Ichigo set up some incense, using flint to do so. Of course he could start a fire with his spiritual energy. That was easy as breathing. Some things simply needed to be done by hand.
The group of them sat back and there was a long moment of silence as they each said their own prayers.
Yuzu nudged Ichigo from her spot and she smiled at him. Karin nodded slightly, too from Yuzu's other side.
"Mom," Ichigo said, breaking the silence. He was nominally the Head of the Kurosaki Clan, for all that they never really bothered with it. It was his job to introduce new family to the previous Head. Ichigo reached for Rukia's hand, gentle, so she could pull back if she was overwhelmed. Instead she held his hand in return. "We brought someone with us today that we'd like you to meet. She's family now. We decided to adopt her. She's crazy and kind and stupidly stubborn like the rest of us. I really think you'd like her."
He looked to Rukia, motioning for her to speak. Yuzu and Karin and Dad waited on Rukia patiently, willing to give her the space she needed to breathe until she was done. Maybe they were throwing her into the deep end a little bit, but Rukia was tough.
Rukia chewed on her lip for a long moment before taking a breath. "Hello," she said, sounding the words out. "My name is Kuchiki Rukia. I first met Ichigo last month, and have been staying in your home since. It's the most fun I've had in a long while," Rukia admitted, and gripped Ichigo's hand tighter. She didn't look like she would cry, but something seemed fragile around her in that moment. "I am honored to be part of your family, informal as it is." Rukia bowed her head, not able to do much more than that with everyone around her.
Ichigo noticed quite clearly that she did not mention anything about saving their family from a Hollow. He'd bring it up later. It was Rukia's time to shine right now.
"Good introduction, Rukia-nee-san," Yuzu said proudly. Rukia blushed at the change in address, looking both embarrassed and pleased. "But we Kurosaki aren't so formal as all that, even if we can pull it off really well."
"That's Rukia being regular formal, not super formal," Ichigo told Yuzu. "You should hear Rukia when she's really going at it, it's like listening to some historical drama."
"I do not!" Rukia hissed, and jabbed him in the side. Then she looked mortified that she did so in such close proximity to Mom's grave.
Ichigo grunted and glared at her again. Karin snorted and Yuzu giggled at the reaction, with Dad laughing loudly behind them. Rukia blinked and then flushed at the reaction, but she visibly relaxed. Still, despite the glaring, Ichigo was pleased. That was enough emotions for the moment. Today was going to be long, emotional, and exhausting enough like it always was. No need to spend all of it in one go.
"See, there you go," Karin said, nodding firmly. "Family."
"Family," Ichigo agreed, and squeezed Rukia's hand. She was still red, but smiled shyly and squeezed his hand back.
As the morning passed, they all became more energetic, full of dramatics. Rukia relaxed enough to take part, testing what she could and could not do. It was obvious that she placed herself as a guest before, and made herself polite and helpful for the most part. Now she moved past that. She was hesitant, but a step forward was a step forward. Not bad for something they dropped on her that morning. Ichigo was very proud.
When Uryu and Tatsuki finally showed up around noon, they're pretty much well into their day. Karin greeted Tatsuki cheerfully, and Yuzu took the offered additional food to start setting up lunch. Rukia helped her, eager to learn more about how a picnic was held. With Uryu and Tatsuki there it turned into a proper party.
Should they really be having a picnic party in a graveyard? Probably not, but it had been years at this point and they weren't going to stop anytime soon.
"Ah, man, Chad couldn't make it this year?" Tatsuki asked. "That sucks."
"Yeah, he said he couldn't get a day off," Ichigo said.
"We'll have to make sure he can make it out next year," Uryu said. His glasses glinted ominously. Obviously he meant with prejudice.
"You should invite Inoue next year," Ichigo told Tatsuki. He thought about it some more. "And maybe we can also invite Mizuiro and Keigo." It'd be better to only invite Mizuiro, but it'd be impolite to. And Mizuiro would probably take offense.
"Maybe not Asano-san," Uryu said, glancing at Dad. Oh, yeah, they all agreed to limit how often Dad and Keigo met. They made a promise about it after their first meeting.
"We'd have to plan around the two of them ahead of time, but it's possible," Tatsuk said amusedly. "The biggest question is whether or not we want to deal with the two of them."
"Well, we have a year to figure it out now," Ichigo said.
Now that Rukia was solidly part of the family instead of in that nebulous area of guest and intruder she was at the start, it opened a lot of avenues. Having her around and keeping her entertained also made Ichigo think over his relationships with his friends, too. Being kept away from them for the most part, unwilling to show Rukia all of their secrets right off the bat sort of isolated him from them in the usual way.
Not regarding the supernatural or anything. He kept well in touch with them for that. But just the regular mundane things. There were also all of the situations Ichigo found himself in since her arrival. Most of it was because he chased Hollows down on her behalf, but really…
Ichigo sighed. That was something else to think about later. He made a mental note to put it in the same box he did everything else to be taken out and poked at later. Right now he had some more important things to do.
"Ichigo?" Tatsuki asked.
"Remind me to spend more time at your house," Ichigo told her. Because he hadn't been over in more than a month at this point. He nodded to Uryu to tell him to do the same. Even if they didn't interact with Uncle Ryuken often, they still saw each other.
"Oh yeah," Tatsuki said, glancing at Rukia. "Well, she's family now, Yuzu approved and everything. Mom and Dad will want to meet her."
Uryu rolled his eyes. "She's welcome to meet Father, but that won't be fun for anyone."
"You kidding? It'll be entertaining," Tatsuki told him smirking.
"We're not setting Kuchiki-san on my father," Uryu said flatly. "I don't know who'd come out worse from that introduction."
"Who knows, they could get along wonderfully," Ichigo mused. And wow, that definitely would be entertaining. If it really worked out that way, it'd be either the worst possible situation, or the best thing Ichigo would ever do in his life.
Uryu grimaced. "Don't say that. Father isn't meant to have a social life. He even admitted it to me once."
"Did he really?" Ichigo asked, eyebrows raised.
"He implied it. Heavily." Uryu clarified.
"We definitely need to introduce them. And also spend more time with Uncle. I feel like we've been neglecting our duty to keep him company," Ichigo said.
"And also to annoy the crap out of him," Tatsuki said cheerfully, because she always could read his mind. "You know, so he doesn't lose his tolerance."
"We have to live up to Mom's legacy somehow," Ichigo said solemnly.
"It's going to go so badly," Uryu said mournfully. Then he nodded. "Let's do it."
"I'm sure he's aware of them already, but we need to introduce him to Chad and Inoue too," Ichigo said, "Since they're developing their powers. And also Mizuiro and Keigo. They're starting to, if not as quickly."
"If Mizuiro and Uncle don't somehow already know each other, I'll eat my sneakers," Tatsuki declared.
Ichigo shared a glance with Uryu, who shrugged. Yeah, that tracked. Mizuiro was definitely the type of person to know Karakura General Hospital's director.
"Well," Uryu said slowly, "Kojima-san's reaction to being introduced to Father as someone with spiritual energy should be entertaining, at least."
"I don't know," Ichigo mused, "At this point, it's like fifty-fifty that Mizuiro hasn't already researched everything he could regarding the supernatural once he learned of his own developing power."
"Could very well be that he hasn't," Tatsuki denied, "He knows full well that the supernatural is your domain. He isn't dumb. If he felt like he needed guidance or anything, he'd wait until you brought it up. Or asked about it."
"Something to ask Kojima-san, then," Uryu said. "With Kuchiki-san involved completely now, you can start doing everything that you've been putting off."
"Right," Ichigo agreed. He looked to Rukia, who was helping Yuzu set up their lunch. She was clearly invested in it, and carefully arranged everything to Yuzu's specifications. "I think I need to talk to her about her own family too, just to be safe. I don't want her to think that because we've adopted her that she has to return the favor for the Kuchiki, or give up their secrets."
"Are the Kuchiki even a Clan?" Tatsuki asked, "Or just a family?"
"If not a Clan, then at the very least associated with some sort," Uryu said, "She had no trouble with giving us space when we told her we were discussing Clan stuff."
"Besides, even without the noble background, families have traditions and secrets," Ichigo pointed out, "Like the Arisawa. It's why I'm part of your family too."
Dad crowed something loudly to Karin and got punched in the arm for his trouble. Rukia startled slightly at the sudden noise but recovered remarkably well. She narrowed her eyes in annoyance but refrained from making a comment.
"Wow, she has remarkable self control," Tatsuki commented.
"She'll learn," Uryu said dryly.
Ichigo sighed. He loved his family, he really did. "Well, best get back to it."
0o0o0