I think this chap has veered off the ol beaten path a bit. But hopefully it still turned out okay. If not then I'll try rewriting it later.

Also, Shunsui tries to explain to Yuzu and Karin why Ichigo marrying him would be a good thing for all of them. I don't really know anything about Japanese noble ranks. And to be honest, without knowing anything about it I had to improvise.

Sorry!

Ichigo had obviously been worried about her younger sister's reactions to the news of their impromptu marriage for a reason. A damned good one too if the copious amount of blood spreading across the floor of her childhood home from under her dad's body, was any indication at all.

Shunsui had never seen a person being murdered in a fit of rage before that was outside of a battle. So, this was a first for him. Especially since Isshin's death was basically the man's own fault.

He should have known that the other man would approach the explanation about Ichigo marrying as if it were a game of some sort. Not only that but the story to help the two girls understand that this wasn't something that could be avoided, had been nothing less than insulting.

Yet Isshin had made him sound like a yakuza of some sort that was there to take Ichigo from her family just to square away some non-existent debt.

It had rubbed Shunsui the wrong way to be made out to be the villain here when he wasn't. And in all honesty, if both of Ichigo's younger sisters hadn't killed Isshin, then he just might have.

But since that wasn't what had happened- instead he simply stood there, staring warily at the two kids while Ichigo had some kind of panic attack.

Not that he could actually blame her any. She had already been pretty stressed to begin with but seeing her dad being brutally murdered via a soccer ball and dented frying pan had obviously done an even more serious number on his poor bride-to-be's nerves.

He could feel how shaky she was thanks to the fact that her back was practically pressed against his front so tightly that it was a wonder that he could think at all with the way that his blood was flowing in the opposite direction. Something that he doubted very much that she even noticed right then.

Yet despite that fact, he was feeling very impressed with her younger sibling's ingenuity. And would certainly be writing about the two of them and the murder in his next book since there was no way that something like this was remotely believable unless someone saw it with their own eyes.

He was thinking of calling it, Fear Me since the two girls were awfully fear inspiring at the moment. Especially when they finally turned their murderous glares to him.

Ichigo made a funny little sound in the back of her throat and jumped a little bit as she pressed herself even more against him. Shunsui looked down at her, a warning on the tip of his tongue about what she was doing to him, but it quickly died when he saw her terrified expression.

His eyes narrowed a little bit at the fear that he saw there, and he wondered just what her siblings had done to inspire such feelings in her since this wasn't a normal, healthy respect for their tempers that he was seeing.

"N-Now, now, let's all calm down," Ichigo finally found her voice enough to stutter out as she held her hands up in a placating gesture. "We all know that d-dad is an idiot. And never makes any good decisions."

"Of course, he is." Karin finally drawled as she rolled her eyes. "Dad is one of the most idiotic people that we know."

"Yeah, dad was never really father of the year when it came to you," Yuzu said as she nudged their dad's body with one of her toes to make sure that he was really dead as she tacked on. "We made peace with that fact a long time ago. But that's no excuse for him basically handing you off to someone like a puppy or a kitten. You're his daughter too. And it's not your responsibility to pay for his lousy debts!"

Ichigo didn't say anything, but she did flinch a little. Which was a good indication that some of what her sisters said was right on the mark. Yet even so, Shunsui stayed silent where he stood. Though he remained watchful and focused on the drama unfolding in front of him.

"Yuzu's right." Karin said as she scrubbed a hand over her face before then saying, "Dad's lousy, fantasy story aside, what's really going on Ichigo?"

"Huh?" Ichigo said unintelligibly as she flinched back from the two girls.

"Dad doesn't usually come up with such creative lies. Besides, you already told us earlier today that you work with this guy-" Karin said as she pointed at Shunsui, who merely smiled at them and waved. Earning a dark look from Karin before she continued speaking. "If you work with him, then why the lies. Are you going away again and need some sort of cover story? And what's with this sudden 'marriage' thing about?"

"I bet the reason has to do with her job monster hunting." Yuzu said as she crossed her arms over her chest and trying to look intimidating. Which she was. Especially with the bloody frying pan still held in her hand as she demanded in a sugary sweet tone. "Well, are you going to come clean, or do we have to murder someone else here?"

Shunsui started to feel a bit bad for Ichigo for being put on the spot like this. Especially by a couple of adorable murderous, and demanding children.

So, while his bride floundered, he decided to say something.

"You're right, your father lied," Next to him Ichigo squeaked, startled that he had decided to speak up. He supposed that she had believed that he would just stand there and smile at the kids and not risk a frying pan upside the head. But she was wrong. "The truth of the matter is that this does have to do with the monster hunter job. Some of our higher up have made certain threats against Ichigo, her family, and her friends. And if something isn't done...all of you could be hurt or even killed. Do you understand?"

Both of the girls were eyeing him suspiciously for several minutes as they decided on whether or not he was being honest with them before the two finally exchanged a glance with each other and then one of them said, "Okay. We believe you."

Shunsui nodded his head sagely and gave the kids a small smile hoping that his explanation had settled everything. However, his hopes were dashed when Yuzu asked,

"But what is this marriage stuff? If someone is threatening to hurt us or worse, what does Ichigo getting married to you do to fix it?"

Shunsui wasn't really startled by the question. In fact, he had been expecting someone to ask him that at one point or another. Which was why he was able to so easily list everything that Ichigo becoming his wife- would fix as well as how it would benefit them as her family.

Though he had to use a more modern terms for certain things since he wasn't sure exactly how much the kids knew about nobility. But he did the best that he could to be as honest as possible.

"It's like this, my family consists of many generations of extremely powerful and obscenely rich nobles. I was born with the title of a Grand Duke. Because of this, once Ichigo and I marry- she will become a Duchess and a high-ranking lady of nobility. Once that happens, she will be untouchable since I will not allow anyone to hurt her or use you to hurt her. If this means that you will need bodyguards- I will arrange for it to happen. If you need assassins to take care of certain problems. That's not an issue either." He said with a slight shrug. "If you need to be relocated and given new identities so that you can live your lives in peace; I can do that too. Do you get it now, girls?"

The kids were openly gaping at him by the time he finished speaking. Their expressions utterly disbelieving, he noted with faint amusement. However, it was Ichigo's reaction to this new bit of information that startled him.

His poor bride looked both totally horrified and worried, as if the mere prospect of being a Lady of any rank was the worst thing imaginable to her. But then she was probably thinking about how unworthy she was of him and other ridiculous things and then, as if that wasn't irksome enough, the girl suddenly fainted.

Scaring not only him, but both of her poor sisters as well.