Bleach (c) Tite Kubo
Black and Blue
Friction
Having left that rather awkward situation behind, Rukia and Ichigo agreed to stay well out of Kaien's way for the time being.
Ichigo knows in his bones he's got an old fashioned ass-kicking in store, with a side order of mega-pranking, and dreads it. The times he's sparred with Kaien were already brutal. To date, Ichigo hasn't managed to land even a single hit on the slippery bastard. So he anticipates in their next training session Kaien might straight up murder him.
Rukia... she's probably in for much the same, with heavy emphasis on the pranking side of things. And judging by that expression on her face; the admittedly hilarious mix of shock, horror and embarrassment, she's not looking forward to that any more than Ichigo is. They'll probably remanence and laugh at this one day. Or cringe at their stupidity. But for now, they're resolved to put as much distance between themselves and their mutual, currently thoroughly peeved, mentor as possible.
About dozen blocks away from Kisuke's place, he and Rukia part ways. A call on her denreishinki demands her attention and she quickly excuses herself to handle the matter (Ichigo overheard her addressing Ukitake so she must have new orders), thus leaving Ichigo to collect his new sword alone.
Kisuke delivered on his promise. Not that Ichigo ever doubted the eccentric shopkeeper. Once the usual brief pleasantries were dispensed with, he cut to the chase and produced a seemingly plain katana to Ichigo, handing it over while sounding like a corny TV salesman trying to sell him a long-con. Ichigo ignores the poor attempt at playing the fool, but offers his gratitude all the same.
The Asauchi looks simple enough. Its a standard sized katana that matched the Zanpakutou carried by other shinigami. The tsuba is oval shaped, completely unadorned by inscription or decorative markings, and the hilt is wrapped in deep navy silk. The exact same shape and size as the sword Zangetsu had thrown to him, or more accurately at him, when he'd been dragged his inner world during that bloody struggle against Kenpachi.
Back then, the old man confiscated Zangetsu from him and allowed Shiro to snatch it up instead. His Hollow gleefully spent the better part of that whole skirmish smacking Ichigo around like a ragdoll, wielding Zangetsu's blade as though it was second nature. At the time, Ichigo hadn't considered that fact unusual but with a moment idle, he reflects on it. Wonders about it.
Maybe because his Hollow was born and made for battle, it instinctually picked up the finer nuances of wielding Zangetsu like a berserker would? Or perhaps it was the old man's subtle way of implying if Ichigo hadn't shaped up, he would've shifted allegiances to Shiro and allowed him to assume mantle of King.
Ichigo's lips press in a thin line. While the blade is in his grasp and his path forward is obvious, he has to contend with the spirit intended to inhabit it.
He hasn't practiced that Jinzen technique. Kaien instructed him to, and Ichigo knows he should've followed that direction, but the truth is he's been afraid. Afraid of his spirits' rebuke - of their entirely justifiable anger. For days he kept telling himself he'd settle the matter when he got the sword. Now its in his hand, he has to grit his teeth and get it done. Because there's one thing Ichigo knows with absolute certainty, he's damn sick and tired of this shrouding isolation. The only thing to hope for is that when he tries to reason with Zangetsu and Shiro, they'll be inclined to listen.
Ichigo draws in a breath and makes the decision then and there.
If they don't listen to him? Ichigo will just have to kick their asses until they do.
That evening, after Ichigo's come home and hidden the Asauchi away in his room for the time being, he knocks on his father's frosted office window and puts his head in the door without waiting for a reply.
"Hey Goat-Face, do you have a few minutes to talk, I-"
Ichigo winces immediately when two faces stare back at him in surprise, cursing the fact that one of the skills he'd failed to train was his sensory abilities. He suppresses a prang of awkwardness when his eyes land on Kaien's mildly surprised expression. He's reclining on one of two red padded guest chairs across from his father's heavy wooden work desk. Isshin Kurosaki sits on his tall black office chair, leaning over a pile of half-finished patient paperwork.
Evidently they had been deep in discussion before Ichigo's interruption and once again he has the impression of stumbling into a clandestine meeting.
"Never mind, I guess you're busy. I'll come back in a few minutes." Ichigo excuses himself quickly, mostly because he wants to avoid Kaien like the plague right now.
No such luck.
Kaien waves a hand to beckon him, "You can come in. We're not talking about anything too cloak-and-dagger."
Reluctantly, Ichigo allows himself in and closes the door behind. "Do I even want to know what you're doing here specifically?"
Experience has taught him not to trust that mischievous glint in Kaien's eyes, "Just organizing the specifics of an Omiai with Byakuya."
A vein pops on Ichigo's temple, fingers flexing into claws, "I'm going to throttle you."
"Don't hit your cousin too hard, Ichigo. He bruises easily." Isshin scolds in a faux serious tone which Kaien scoffs at.
"Love you too, Uncle." Kaien mutters under his breath then addresses Ichigo defensively, "Listen. I'm not the guy who fought the entire afterlife to save a girl I'd known the all of two months. Any objective observer would say that tends to give off a certain impression," Kaien turns towards Isshin for back-up, "Am I wrong?"
Isshin sagely shakes his head, "No. Absolutely not." A conspiratorial grin spreads across his father's lips, "Let's not forget I did tell him to bring back a mighty fine lady to introduce to the family. And that's precisely what he did."
Kaien stifles a snigger with his fist.
"For cryin' out loud." Ichigo groans, pinching the bridge of his nose and letting his shoulder slump, "Fantastic. Now I have the insanity in stereo. Exactly what I needed to cap off my day," he aims a scowl at both of them, "For the record, I'm not interested in Rukia in that way. So drop the stupid jokes about my private life, will ya?"
"C'mon Ichigo, there's nothing wrong with being interested in girls your own age. And Rukia is a teenager, too... comparatively speaking," Kaien teases then leans forward with peaked interest, "Or is this your subtle way of admitted that you've already got eyes on someone else? I've seen how that long-haired friend of yours looks at you - what was her name? Orihime. Is there maybe the teensy bit of a spark there?"
"W-what?!" Ichigo sputters,
His cousin raises his hand, finger and thumb close together. "Just a teensy bit?"
Ichigo's cheeks flush bright red in embarrassment, and he snaps, "That's none of your damn business!"
Studying his reaction for a second, Kaien glances at Isshin, tossing a thumb Ichigo's way. "Denial." He says. Isshin concurs with a nod.
Ichigo growls, willing his cheeks to stop, "Gossiping hens, the pair of you. Will you stop?"
Kaien gives him a disappointed pout, "But I love teasing you, you go so ballistic."
"What the hell are you even doing here? And give me a serious answer this time." Ichigo grouses, scowling.
"You have no sense of humour." Kaien laments quietly to himself, "Just letting uncle know I'm kidnapping you for two weeks for some remedial training. Maybe two weeks extra for a trip to the Soul Society, but only if you behave. And no, I'm not accepting ransom offers."
Ichigo crosses his arms, leaning on the door, "Oh. Now you're suddenly interested in training. Did you get around to telling Dad the part where you skipped out on training me and Rukia to go on a date today?" Ichigo challenges.
"A date you craaaaa-" Kaien trails off. His face instantly drops with sharp realisation, his gaze slowly turns to Isshin, whose mouth flopped open like a fish.
As the same time, Ichigo notices a creeping dread on Kaien's face, like the little boy with his hand caught in the cookie jar, culminating in a helpless "Ah crap."
"I knew it!" Isshin explodes. He claps his hands in triumph with an expression that can only be described as manic glee before thrusting a finger in his nephew's reddening face.
Ichigo starts in alarm before grinning privately to himself for successfully redirecting his father's attention to his elder cousin, who very much looks like he wants to die (again) of embarrassment, or is hoping the ground would open up and swallow him whole, "Masaki always insisted you two would make a cute couple! But what did you say? You swore until you were blue in the face for years there was absolutely nothing going on between you two. And lo and behold, I have an eye witness. Two of them! Ichigo caught you red-handed. My wonderful firstborn, I am proud of you!"
"Wh - Years?! Was that woman in on your crappy act?!"
"Quick one, aren't ya." Kaien gives a long suffering groan of a kind he's undoubtedly sounded over his centuries. Isshin is not going to relent in his fresh torment any time soon and Ichigo is thrilled to watch.
Oh, how the tables turn.
"And you want to know how I knew?" Isshin asks rhetorically.
"No." Kaien sulks grumpily, casting a glare Ichigo's way which promises mountains of unceasing pain in the days to come.
Ichigo doesn't care. He's too wrapped up in enjoying the schadenfreude while wearing a crooked smirk to not-so-subtly rub it in.
Kaien squirms in the guest chair, reduced to a surly teenager suffering a taste of his own medicine.
"Because this is exactly the way you acted when you started courting Miyako. You said the exact same thing: claimed to everyone who asked that absolutely nothing was going on, and then Ganju caught you two red-handed!"
The tips of Kaien's ears are red with embarrassment, hissing under his breath, "That tiny traitor."
The next question is icing on the cake, "Eight months later, you proposed. Am I going to have a new niece in the foreseeable future?"
"Oh dear god, we are not having this discussion! Can we got back to tormenting Ichigo? Please?" Kaien practically begs.
Ichigo folds his arms, leaning on the doorframe, "Nope. No, I'm thoroughly enjoying watching karma bite you in the ass, thank you very much. But I see how it is."
Kaien aims a warning finger Ichigo's way, "Don't you dare. Isshin doesn't need you encouraging him, you little smartass."
"But I gladly accept it all the same."
"Funny how it's perfectly fine for you to poke fun about plotting to marry me off, but as soon as the tables turn and its your love life at centre stage, you clam up. And you're so quick to accuse me of being in denial or not having a sense of humour. Aren't we the mighty hypocrite, cousin?"
Kaien scowls between the two of them. "For the record, I know where you both sleep."
Isshin leans in with a challenging half-smile, "And precisely what do you intend to do? Remind me again who taught you all your best pranks and tricks, kiddo?"
The heavy emphasize on the kiddo reminds Ichigo once again that for all his cousin's centuries of experience, his father is even older than that. Part of him wonders exactly how old, but he puts that aside in favour of witnessing this hilarious spectacle. It feels like an appropriate revenge given their lunchtime fiasco.
"I've got a few extra up my sleeve..." Kaien threatens flatly.
"As entertaining as it is watching Kaien become a punching bag," Ichigo announces, returning the discussion to somewhere approaching sanity, "If he's already told you what's up then I'm going to go pack a bag. Give me ten minutes and I'll be ready to head out."
Isshin watches his son depart. All the good humour seemed to evaporate with him, like a receding tide.
Kaien waits until they sense Ichigo ascending the stairs before he snaps his fingers with a silent spell on his lips. A sheet of pale blue-green energy descends over the office door, shimmering for brief seconds before fading like it had never existed in the first place. The speed and complexity of the sound-dampening chant-less kido is damned impressive, even to a person of Isshin's experience. He feels a profound sense of pride in his nephew's casual display of high-level techniques like they're second nature - his father would be proud too. But that pride doesn't preclude the onset of dread about the type of conversation necessitating such a barrier in the first place.
Kaien heaves out a sigh, shaking his head morosely, "You know, I remember back when I was his age, I used to be able to come to you for advice on just about anything."
"Kaien, you were a toddler at his age." Isshin points out.
Kaien shrugs, leaning back in the chair with his hand folded over his stomach, "My observation stands. It actually kind of hurts witnessing how distant you two are from each other."
Isshin exhales a heavy breath, "Ichigo - he's always been the independent sort. He's not a little kid anymore and he's allowed to make his own choices."
"That's a bold statement if I ever heard one." Kaien mutters under his breath with the barest hint of derision, "If he's not a little kid anymore, why do you keep insisting on treating him like one?"
"I'm not sure I follow your meaning." Isshin says mildly.
"Yes you do." Kaien replies breezily. His calculating eyes meets Isshin's gaze for a long moment before he hoists himself to his feet, circling around the chair and leaning on the back with folded arms. "Listen... I don't know what secret you and Masaki were keeping. It's not my right to know nor my place to ask."
Isshin fixes him with a steely gaze, "Kaien, drop the pretence. I know when you're about to tap-dance around a point. It doesn't suit you."
"But," Kaien continues, conceding, "Far be it from me to tell you how to raise your kids... Whatever it is, you should tell him. Preferably soon. Tell Ichigo now when its safe and quiet. You can answer his questions or let him process, or grieve; whatever he has to do. Alternatively, you let someone else tell him later, and I promise they won't be as kind about it as I was."
Isshin leans back in his chair, he takes a few minutes to compose a reply, his tone is measure. "You could've brought this up years ago. Why the sudden interest now?"
"When have I been in town long enough to press the subject? And frankly, that's a conversation you should've had with him as soon as that damn Hollow blew your clinic to pieces months ago. Hell, I'd argue even before that."
Isshin's gaze narrows, "Are you pushing this now because you believe he should know or because you want to know?"
Its unintended but the question does ring like an accusation.
His nephew offhandedly shrugs, "Are you refusing to tell him out of concern for his wellbeing or because you're concerned for yourself, and how he'll look at you from that point onwards?"
Isshin frowns, "... I don't like you're insinuating, and I resent the implication."
"Be that as it may, Ichigo has a right to know his heritage. I shouldn't have been the one to tell him he's noble born. How can he even begin to understand himself when you give him nothing to help guide him? He's floundering in the dark," Kaien tosses his thumb over his shoulder, "I don't know how it's escaped your attention but he can barely tell his ass from his elbow. He didn't even know what Shinigami or Hollows were until Rukia showed up and explained it to him. His powers are fundamentally screwed, thanks to Kisuke pushing him through god knows how many shortcuts for the physical side and giving him nothing to handle with spiritual aspects. You can help him deal with that but you don't. None of you do. To make matter worse, from my perspective, it seems you're taking great pains to be as unhelpful as possible. Then there's the whole web of lies and deception you insist upon maintaining for mystifying reasons beyond my understanding."
"Kisuke saved your life. Saved Ichigo's too." Isshin reminds him sternly.
"That's what you took from that?" Kaien shakes his head in disbelief, "I'm aware of the debt I owe Kisuke, but my gratitude doesn't render him immune to criticism."
Isshin continues with a quiet authority underlying his tone. "Ichigo is my son. Not yours. I'm doing what I think is best to protect him."
"I'm trying to protect Ichigo too. From enemies who'd gladly use his own ignorance against him. At this point, why even bother keeping up the charade? That damage is done. He knows. At least he knows your secret. He deserves to know about the other half too. Especially if it had anything to do with why Masaki couldn't defend herself from Grand Fisher that day."
There's an involuntary tremor below Isshin's left eye. A tiny twitch, but its enough to give away something he'd rather not. Especially under his nephew's scrutinizing gaze. He silently curses himself.
"So she did have powers." Kaien concludes with a single nod to himself.
"Its a long and complicated story."
"When is it not?"
Isshin shakes his head helplessly, "I decided to keep it from him for his own good."
Kaien's head drops with a disbelieving groan, "Oh, for god's sake. And enlighten me, what problems have you solved by sticking your fingers in your ears and humming loudly? You can't keep kicking the can down the road forever."
"When you have children of your own, you'll understand," Isshin declares and he sees his nephew barely containing the urge to roll his eyes, "Even now, even if I wanted to, it's never... I've never found the right opportunity to tell him. Every time I think it is, the moment just slips away."
"Secrets and hidden things, Isshin. Secrets breed lies and suspicion. Lies that will always break someone in the end. And in your considered experience, you should know precisely how deep that rabbit hole goes. He can't make informed decisions about what he wants to be in life, or what he actually wants to fight for, if no one bothers to actually inform him, Captain."
Isshin flinches at the use of his former rank. Recovering, his retort is stern, "I'll not be interrogated by you."
Kaien ignores the rebuke, "You know, its hilarious. When Shinji approached Ichigo, he decided the best approach was to act like the seediest bastard alive and scare Ichigo into compliance. Naturally Ichigo told him to go screw himself. You want to know how I got him to accept my help? I told him the truth... funny how that works, huh? Its almost like you catch more flies with honey. Who'd have thought?"
Isshin rubs his temple, "What... and when I tell my son anything is none of your business, Kaien. I'll ask you to stay out of it."
Kaien sighs in defeat, punctuating a tense silence that stretches between uncle and nephew.
"If not now, when? When are you going to tell him? When our enemies have twisted your arm and left you no alternative? When he's broken and bleeding, and his spirit's been shattered to pieces after the pillar of lies have come crashing down around him? When you're on your own deathbed?"
"And when do you plan to tell him that Asauchi in his hand was supposed to be yours? Or that you've been using his combat pass to slip information to your Captain?" Kaien's lips press in a thin line at the counter, scowling at his uncle, "Stones thrown in glass houses, kiddo. I'd thought you knew better than anyone the dangers of prying into things best left alone."
"If other people did their jobs properly in the first place I wouldn't have had to do for them, now would I? Seems to be a bit of a running theme I've noticed." Kaien answers rhetorically, his fingers brushing the scar and tattoo on his neck in an unconscious gesture.
"You're not a parent. You're not Ichigo's parent either."
"And you're not one to make excuses to avoid voicing hard truths, so you can imagine my confusion by the sudden change of heart." Kaien starts listing off on his finger, "Irrelevant of that; Ichigo has faced down monsters, monsters no fifteen year old should ever have to contend with, and came out on top; he cut his own chain of fate, defied the entire afterlife, destroyed the Sokyoku, faced death on multiple occasions and made friends with his literal inner demon… call me crazy, but compared to that I think he can handle one potentially unsavoury bedtime story about his mum and dad."
"And I shouldn't have to tell you that knowledge is power. The more he knows, the less that can be used against him. I only have so many pieces of the puzzle," Kaien pushes himself upright, hands in his pocket, "Your silence isn't sparing him pain. It's crippling him. And I have no idea why you can't understand that..."
Isshin slouches in his chair, not angry or defiant. He's overcome by a sudden wave of fatigue. "How am I supposed to begin that conversation; Hey Ichigo, do you want to hear about the time I met your mother?"
Kaien gives him a deadpan stare on the way out, "That's a good fuckin' start."
Author's note:
I'm going to be completely honest. The reason I haven't updated is a mix of writing myself into a bit of a corner and Tears of the Kingdom. For the latter; I've been a sucker for Zelda for... nearly 25 years now (holy shit, quarter of a century!) and I love me a good Aztec aesthetic. I won't lie, I may have poked a friend once or a dozen times about the idea of Ichigo and Kaien wearing those Zonai tunics.
Regards,
Aurora313