Sullivan stared at the dark-haired man before him, his breath stuck in his throat while his heart began to beat frantically in his ribs. This man, this non-human being that was unknown to him was...his lost nephew?
"You can't feel my mana any can you?" The man asked, looking just a bit sad.
"I- No." Sullivan croaked out.
The man nodded his head curtly and then a second later his appearance changed. It was subtle, and under normal circumstances someone who was non-demon wouldn't be able to sense the rise in his mana, much less see the shift in his appearance.
His eyes changed color to one similar to Sullivan's late brother. It was a deeper purple than the elderly demon's own, but he would recognize those eyes anywhere since he had held his nephew the day of his birth.
Those eyes had to be one of the prettiest colors that Sullivan had ever seen before in all his years of living. He had thought so back then, and he still thought so now.
Looking closer, Sullivan could also see that the man had pointed ears, and horns. Though one of them seemed to have been snapped off dangerously close to his scalp. Whereas the other one appeared to have been filed down a bit so that it was a smidgeon shorter than it probably had been before.
"Isshin?" Sullivan asked in a quivering tone that had Opera's head snapping around to look at his master in concern.
"Yeah, Uncle Sully, it's me." Isshin replied, using the nickname that he'd used to call his uncle when he'd still been a child and the demon had decided to visit him.
Sullivan made a happy noise and tried to reach for him, but the net was still in place and to the elderly demon's obvious disappointment was impeding his ability to touch his long-lost kin.
"Oh, this dratted net!" Sullivan sniffled after a moment or so while his nephew looked startled and then quickly moved to remove it from the two demons.
"Sorry about that, Uncle Sully. My eldest daughter is a slippery little punk sometimes, so I needed to use something to distract her until the others could grab her and cart her off to prepare her for the party." Isshin explained as he removed the net and then wadded it up and tossed it aside. Obviously uncaring of whether or not someone or something else got tangled in it in the future.
The second that they were free of it, Sullivan lunged at his nephew and hugged him tightly while he sobbed. "My boy! My boy!" Over and over again as a small chuckle escaped Isshin's throat.
"Still a crybaby, I see." He said as he hugged his uncle back.
"I missed you so much!" Sullivan cried against Isshin's shoulder; the demon's tall body folded in half just so that he could cry on him.
"I missed you too Uncle." He said as he rubbed the elderly demon's back in what he hoped was a soothing way.
To be honest, it had been so long since he had interacted with any other demon's that he may have forgotten certain rules and etiquette.
Thankfully, Sullivan didn't seem to mind that. And neither did the younger demon standing just to the side of his uncle dabbing at his eyes with a kerchief.
"Would the both of you like to come inside? The party is still a few hours off, so I can give you a snack and some tea while we talk and catch up."
"That sounds lovely and would certainly be appreciated since my master will need a little while to pull himself together again." Opera said politely as he cast a slightly fond but exasperated look his master's way.
Isshin merely smiled and then began the task of semi dragged his still crying and clinging uncle towards his home. While the other demon followed them at a sedate pace, looking amused.
A few minutes later, both demons were inside of Isshin's home, and settled onto a comfy little couch. And Sullivan had been transferred to Opera's grasp so that he could keep crying a bit longer while Isshin went to grab those snacks and tea that he had promised.
Leaving the pair alone for a few minutes in an unfamiliar place with no one to watch them was a little bit of a gamble. Especially since there were so many humans and Soul Reapers running around the house doing various things. But Isshin hadn't had much of a choice since everyone else was busy at the moment.
Which was why he wasn't overly worried...until Kyoraku came crawling through the living room window with Renji right behind him. Then, Isshin became worried.
Especially once they both noticed the two unknown people sitting on the couch.
"Who're you?" Isshin heard Kyoraku asked curiously.
"Guests." The red-haired demon replied cryptically before then asking the Reaper. "Do you always climb through other people's windows in such a... rude manner?"
Kyoraku had the good grace to look uncomfortable while Renji replied to the query.
"Ichigo forbade us to ever use any of the tunnels we had made in the ceiling again. She screamed at us for doing something to the 'structural integrity' of the house after part of the ceiling in her bedroom collapsed. Or at least that was the impression that I got. I think?"
Kyoraku shook his head at the younger man's inability to recall said incident properly. But then, Renji had taken some seriously hard blows to his head over the years. Between the damage and the loss of brain cells it was a wonder that the younger man was still able to function half as well as he did.
The red-haired demon didn't seem to really know what was being said to him, so he just nodded his head and resumed caring for Isshin's uncle who was finally starting to calm down.
"Are the two of you the relatives we were told about?" Kyoraku suddenly asked.
"I am my master's security devil," The red headed demon said as he indicated to the bigger demon. "Not a relative."
"Ah, alright then," Kyoraku said as he took a moment to sit down in one of the chairs off to the side of the couch that the demon's occupied. "I suppose that I should introduce myself, since I'm here."
Sullivan lifted his head from Opera's shoulder to look at the non-human man for a second. In truth that was all that he needed to realize that the man was a part of the Deity race. And though he didn't quite have the power or strength that other deities seemed to have, he was no less intimidating.
"My name is Shunsui Kyoraku, and I am the Head Captain of the Thirteen Court-Guard Squads. And this house is the home of a very special young lady who is a dear friend to us which is why there are so many of us hanging around here at present." He paused for a second and then motioned to the tall red headed man with his hair pulled back into a ponytail and then said, "That guy there, is the best friend of said young lady. As well as one of her special guards and his name is Renji Abarai."
Renji, gave a small finger wave just to be friendly with his king's relative and the guy's companion.
"Ah, you are members of the Deity race. Reapers, I think you are called." Sullivan finally said. Shunsui grinned at him, at least somewhat impressed by the guy's knowledge. "How is it that you've found yourselves here? Even if you are friends of those within this house, I can't imagine that you would so boldly go announcing yourselves to lesser beings such as ordinary humans.
"L-Lesser b-beings?" Renji stammered out, looking torn between laughing and crying. Shunsui, himself snorted a little bit before quickly covering it with a cough so as not to be rude. After all, it was a good question.
However, before he could reply, Isshin returned from the kitchen with a tray of goodies and tea for all of them as he replied.
"Usually, you'd be right about that Uncle Sully. However, since my oldest daughter was more or less drafted by the lot of them when she was still just a kid- things have been...different."
"I'm sorry, but what do you mean, Isshin?" Sullivan asked as his nephew handed him a cup of tea and even placed a plate of some finger sandwiches and cookies in the middle of the table for everyone to munch on.
"It's a very, very long story. Hopefully one of these days we will have time enough for me to tell it to you." Isshin said as he then seated himself in the only available seat left and let out a little sigh before tacking on, "I will say this though, Kyoraku and the other Reapers are here to protect their king."
Sullivan had been about to take a sip of his tea when his mind completely registered what his nephew had just said, and he almost dropped his cup as he gaped at his brother's son in stunned disbelief. "What?"
While Opera asked/demanded. "Wait- Your king is here?!"
That certainly explained why a deity's power had saturated the house and surrounding areas.
Yet at the same time... neither demon couldn't fathom why the King of Soul's would be hanging out in Isshin's home? Has my nephew somehow curried favor with the King? Sullivan wondered as he took a moment to look around the immediate area in vague alarm.
After all, the King of Soul's wasn't exactly known for being nice to what he considered lesser beings. And as much as Sullivan hated to admit it, he and Opera were probably lesser beings than humans to that creature.
And being snuck up on by the Soul King didn't really sit right with him. Especially if said king was in a terrible mood and decided to 'unalive' he and Opera with a smile.
"Calm down, Uncle Sully." Isshin said gently as he moved from his seat to get on his knees in front of the elderly demon and grasped both of his hands as he said soothingly. "Neither of you are in any danger here."
"You should listen to your..." Kyoraku said as he eyes the dark-haired man that had sired their king.
"Nephew." Isshin supplied helpfully, without looking away from his uncle.
"Right." Kyoraku said, "Anyway. About six or so years ago, a holy war broke out in Soul Society over who should succeed the throne and the former Soul King was killed in the battle. I'm not sure if you've ever met the former guy, but judging from your reaction to being told that our King is here. I'm guessing that you have."
"He was killed?" Opera echoed, looking just a tad bit...upset?
"So...when you said that your king is here, you meant his heir?"
"Actually, Yhwach is dead too."
Sullivan did a funny full body twitch that had Renji suddenly laughing as he pointed to the elderly demon and said in a mirthful tone, "Now I can see the family resemblance! Ichigo does that funny full body twitch thing too. Especially when she's reacting to something potentially chaotic or comical."
Kyoraku smiled at the younger man, already knowing what he was talking about since the last time she had paid them a visit in Soul Society, she had tried to help him with some of the requests snuck into the official paperwork.
To be fair to Ichigo, some of those requests from the other Soul Reapers were outright ridiculous to begin with.
But when some requests, obviously written by Miyuri, and on toilet paper no less, came across his desk. Ichigo had taken a full minute to read the first few requests and then disappeared for a little while to 'educate' the demented scientist on why he shouldn't use toilet paper instead of official forms to make his silly requests.
He and many others within the science division had heard of Miyuri's screaming not long after she got there.
Needless to say, she never bothered to help him with his paperwork again. But at least she got the fool to use something other than toilet paper to write out his requests and other things on.
Miyuri however was still a little bit 'twitchy' himself from his educating at her hands. Apparently, being strapped down to one of his dissection tables and forced to listen to The Wheels on the Bus song on endless repeat for weeks was now considered a cruel and unusual form of torture in Soul Society.
But whatever.
"Oh," Sullivan said, looking from Isshin to Kyoraku and then to Renji before finally saying. "Uh...please finish your story, Mr. Kyoraku."
"Please call me Head Captain, or Shunsui. Especially since you are our King's family." Kyoraku said in a friendly manner that had both demons blinking at him in confusion. "Anyway, let me continue the story so that you will better understand things a bit. So, the former Soul King was killed and Yhwach is dead too due to his crimes against the throne. Your nephew, Isshin, participated in the war- due to the fact that Ichigo was on the front lines fighting for every being in creation's very lives."
"Once the Soul King was killed, Yhawach intended to take the throne and cull everyone and everything that he didn't feel should exist. We Soul Reapers would have been entirely wiped out, along with probably a third of the human race. I'm not sure if he would have thought to do anything to the demon race- but it's possible that you would have been completely wiped out too."
The horrified expression on both demon's faces told him that they already realized that before he had even said the words.
"That's when Ichigo came in. The girl fought like hell, cut a bloody path all the way to the throne room in the Heavenly Palace, and totally annihilated the opposition. Yhawach didn't stand a chance against her determination, but the unraveling of existence had already begun. And without someone to take the King's place, there was no way to stop it."
"Everyone here was preparing to die," Isshin said quietly, his voice filled with emotion. "After doing my part I came straight home and grabbed my younger children and all I could do was hold them and wait for the inevitable."
"But Ichigo saw the unraveling up close, and refused to let things end like that. So once Yhawach was gone, and the war was over- she forced her way back to the Heavenly Palace and took the throne so that all of existence would remain alive."
Isshin released one of Sullivan's hands so that he could conjure a picture of his eldest daughter, for his uncle to see. And then once he had the picture in his hand, he held it up for the demons to see it more clearly and proudly said. "This is Ichigo, my eldest baby. She's our king now."
Sullivan couldn't articulate a response, not when he understood enough what he was being told as well as the implications. Yet despite that, he found himself curious about what sort of Soul King she could be.
He gently took the picture from Isshin's grasp and stared at the picture of the greatest ruler in creation. The picture wasn't exactly flattering to someone of such a coveted and noble position, was the first thing that he noticed. The second was that the woman in the picture had a blindingly brilliant smile just like her father, who was standing next to her in the picture with one of his arms slung around her neck.
The two of them were covered in mud, grime, blood and other bodily fluids, and looked like they had just come back from one hell of a fight.
"This picture-"
"It was taken immediately after she seized the throne." Kyoraku said helpfully. Sullivan hummed in agreement, since he was able to see just how rough her physical state was in the image.
But despite the terrible state that she was in, he could also see just how happy and exhausted that she was. No doubt the battle for all of creation must have been a fierce one full of bloodshed.
"She's lovely, my boy." Sullivan finally said, feeling a little bit choked up just from looking at the woman's face.
So, this is the new King of Souls. Honestly, he was more than a tad bit surprised. Not just about how open his nephew and the Reapers were being about such delicate information but about the fact that a holy war had taken place recently as well.
But since he had more or less come to take said woman back to the Netherworld with him...perhaps it was a good thing that he was being informed of her importance ahead of time.
Isshin beamed at him and then said. "She takes after her momma in the looks department."
"Isshin, you realize that I came today to take your eldest daughter as my heir, right?"
Isshin's proud expression didn't falter or dim in the slightest even as he replied. "Yes, I know."
"If she is your king, then why are you willing to let her out of your sight? Even if we are related, how can you be so sure that I won't harm her or use her for my ambitions? You are placing more than a tad bit of blind trust in me. And while I'm certainly flattered and humbled by that, I can't help but wonder what is going through your mind."
"You're right. I can't always trust others blindly. Not even if we're related, however... Ichigo isn't like the previous Soul King. She isn't content with riches, or fancy things. She doesn't want to live her life in a castle, locked away from the world." Isshin paused for a second to think of the best way to tell his uncle why he was okay with him taking his idiot daughter so far from him, but Renji chimed in.
"The long and short of things is this; Ichigo has it set in her mind to live her life as humanly and possible. Because of this, everything that she does as the Soul King has to be done in secret from...everyone outside of her inner circle. Since that is the case, there is a certain level of sacrifice involved. One of those sacrifices is that despite wishing to live as a human for as long as she can- she had limited herself in what she can and can't do. How much she can interfere in creation and the lives of others, etc."
"I want my baby to be able to thrive," Isshin said. "But as long as she continues to live here in the human world and hide who she is from everyone- the more it will wear on her over time. I honestly believe that she would probably be much better off in your care. Living in the Netherworld with you would be an adventure for her. She would get to meet new people, experience new things- all while being able to move a bit more freely when it comes to her duties as our King."
Sullivan made a thoughtful humming sound, knowing that his nephew had some good points.
"I see. And you truly believe that she would be safe with me?"
"I do." Isshin said firmly.
"Same," Renji said from where he was standing with his back against the wall. "I don't know much about demons, but you two seem pretty decent for a couple of them. And if Ichigo's dad thinks that she'll be safe in your care, then I can't really complain. Just know that I and some others will be popping in from time to time to check on her or hang out." The red headed Reaper gave a careless one shoulder shrug and then muttered, "Or whatever."
Sullivan gave him a bemused look. Barely able to understand just how attached to the woman the young Reaper really was.
"Oh, and the girls like popping in on Ichigo from time to time to drag her out of her room to do some exploring or shopping."
"Don't forget about the camping trips!" Someone called out from another room in the house, startling everyone.
"Yeah, we do camping trips and things like that too." Renji said as he lifted a hand to rub at the back of his neck awkwardly. Just a tad bit embarrassed by the fact that he had forgotten about that. Especially since he loved smores so much.
"You are very attached to your king." Opera, who had remained silent up until then finally decided to chime in as he took the picture from his master's grasp to look at it. It wasn't asking a question, merely stating a fact. He knew that other non-humans were quite protective of the King of Soul's. In fact, they displayed a level of devotion and respect for their king that was on par with his own towards his master.
It was interesting to say the least.
"You aren't wrong." Kyoraku said wryly.
"Well, I can't help it!" Renji said defensively as his face turned slightly red from embarrassment. "The brat is basically like my little sister. Of course I'm going to be attached to her."
Isshin, Sullivan, and Opera laughed subtly at the man's comment when someone else came walking into the room.
"The decorations are done," A young man in a nice cream-colored suit, with his dark hair slicked back from his face, said tiredly as he walked over to Isshin and did a strange salute. "Supreme Commander, it took forever to wrangle the damned caterers. Not to mention the florist, but everything is in place."
Isshin smiled at the young man as the newcomer stared at Opera and Sullivan, making the two feel a little bit put upon. Opera moved a bit closer to his master and stared at the newcomer as if he'd like nothing more than to bury him.
"Thanks for the help, Mizuiro. Would you like an introduction since you're staring at my relative and his friend like you want to take them around back and beat them senseless?"
"That would be wonderful, yes." Mizuiro said in slightly dark tone that even had Renji, Kyoraku, and Isshin all shivering from the cold feeling that just slammed into them with all the subtleness of a ton of bricks.
Isshin took a second to clear his throat and then introduced his uncle, and the other guy to his daughter's friend. And the second that Mizuiro had both demon's names, the cold feeling vanished and he extended his hand to Sullivan.
"I apologize for any discomfort that you two just felt. Sometimes my abilities get away from me without my realizing it," He said politely, "I'm a childhood friend of Ichigo's. It's nice to meet you both."
Sullivan slowly reached out and took the young man's hand, half fearing that the guy was going to do something to him. But when nothing happened, he couldn't help but feel relieved.
"It's nice to meet you too, young man."
Mizuiro looked slightly startled at being called 'young man' by the elderly demon. But his placid smile also lost its ice and appeared to be more genuine now.
"Please, call me Mizuiro. Everyone else does." The young man said in a friendly manner. "May I ask, and please don't think that I'm trying to be impolite- But do demons have any need for lawyers?"
"L-Lawyers?" Sullivan echoed, feeling a little bit as if he were missing something.
"Someone who defends the guilty and the innocent against certain laws that are either broken, bent or generally just bad for someone's well-being." Mizuiro explained. "You see, if you don't have anyone like that, then maybe I can set up shop in the Netherworld and defend Ichigo and her family against certain laws and such."
Ah, now Sullivan understood. This young man was dangerous but in an entirely different way from the typical dangers that he had encountered.