"Izuru and Rukia have been really close…" Momo sighed to Renji. In the far distance, the aforementioned pair were excitedly chatting away. "They keep going to the World of the Living… how does Izuru even have the free time to do that?" Says the girl with a diligent captain who does his own paperwork.
Renji nodded with a frown. His long-time crush hanging out with a good friend of his really stung a nerve. "I wonder what it is they do all the time there…" He deeply frowned with a hum.
"Oh! Maybe we should follow them! I can ask my captain for permission for us!" Momo suggested, slamming her hands on the table they were sharing. She frowned for only a moment. "We'll need disguises too. Otherwise, they'll notice."
Although he felt a little guilty at the idea, Renji let out a sigh. "Yeah, we should follow them and find out where they're going." He said, crossing his arms and nodding his head, like he was the one that came up with the plan.
"Okay, I'll go ask Captain Aizen! They go this Saturday. Don't tell them!" Momo sprung to her feet and ran off to find her beloved captain.
Momo pouted at her disguised gigai. She looked like a middle school student, with a white top and navy skirt and collar. Her hair turned into a shoulder-length dark brown with a distinct birthmark on her arm.
She looked up at Renji who… by all intents and purposes, could pass as her dad…
Renji looked over at his reflection in a store window as they walked, his hair was short, cropped, and a dark brown, and his eyes seemed to be this hazel color. He looked nothing like his actual self, a mole under the right side of his lip. Straight brows and a prominent jawline. He didn't like it. He missed his actual reflection. He sighed and looked down at Momo who was still pouting. "You ready?" Even his voice was different. It was far deeper, sounding gruff.
"Yep!" Momo paused. Her voice barely changed at all, just a slightly higher pitch. "I think I heard Izuru say something about stationary restocking on his way to the gates!"
The pair headed off. Briefly spotting Rukia and Izuru enter both a bakery and a stationary store with fluidity like they do this every time they visit. Both leave the bakery with cream puffs in their mouths. Izuru was carrying a delicately wrapped box along with a criminally overstuffed shopping bag..
Honestly, their only stroke of luck they didn't immediately lose the pair was because Izuru towered over the average human. He was average height for the Seireitei, but in the human world, he was a giant. Not to mention he did nothing to hide his blond hair. In a sea of black and brown, yellow stuck out.
But… somehow, someway, they lost the pair at some point.
"Where could they have gone?" Renji muttered, frowning as he looked around. His usual height would have come in handy but he was barely taller than the average person in this damned gigai. It felt cramped and uncomfortable but in reality, he knew that was all in his head.
Momo wasn't faring any better. "Um, a few weeks back, Izuru said he and Rukia babysat for kids in a park. Maybe they went there?" She bounded over to a random older woman, who was more than happy to tell the cute schoolgirl where the nearest park was.
When they reached the park, they heard it: Children… screaming?
Momo ran ahead, fearing a Hollow had appeared. With Renji hot on her tail, she was about to pop a soul candy to fight when the pair hit a screeching stop.
Because the scream was coming from a little girl Izuru just threw into the air!
Renji's brain seemed to screech to a halt, trying to figure out how and why Izuru was launching a child straight into the air… and why it seemed as though the child was enjoying it.
They watched as Izuru easily caught the girl. He would do a quick once over on her, then set her down, pick up a boy with orange hair, and repeat the process… with more gusto.
When it came to a third girl- a very timid-looking one. Izuru scooped her up under her armpits, did an almost perfect squat… then lightly tossed the child barely a few inches out of his arms. She was then caught, tucked close to Izuru's chest with kisses to the forehead. Then repeated the aggressive throwing of the squealing dark-haired girl.
The display of affection compared to the other two children left Renji's head reeling. "What the…" He muttered, rubbing his face. "Momo…" he mumbled softly. "Am I seeing things?"
"I am too… It's like he knows these kids?" Momo muttered, watching as Izuru was more than willing to hold both of the rambunctious children by an ankle each. "You don't do that with strangers' kids…"
Never, in the decades of knowing Izuru, had Renji ever seen the man interact with children. It's not like children were ever brought to the Seireitei outside of going to the academy… and these were young kids.
The orange-haired boy looked over his shoulder and glared at the two newcomers. Even upside down, the kid seemed perfectly aware of his surroundings.
In the distance, Momo spotted something, "There's a soul over there." She pointed over where a child's soul was lingering by the swings, its chain barely hanging onto his chest. The orange boy seemed to notice the same thing, getting Izuru's attention.
"Rukia! My hands are full, can you-?" He gestures to the child's soul with the arm still dangling the black-haired girl. He started setting down the two kids.
Rukia nodded and smiled, popping a soul candy and taking out her Zanpakuto. She talked sweetly to the little spirit. They seemed to talk back and forth for a few minutes before she enacted the konso.
"Wow… even on their days off they'll still do their duties…" Momo said breathlessly. "I want that kind of work ethic-"
"RUKIA!" Izuru shouted. He had only barely caught the orange-haired boy before he collapsed. "Ichigo? Hey, Ichigo? Little man? What the hell-?" He put the back of his hand against the boy's forehead. Spiritual energy bursting through the small body. "He's overheating!"
Rukia was already next to him, she frowned deeply as she examined him… "Izuru, his spiritual energy is too high, we need to get it down somehow!" She shook her head, the only person coming to mind who could help was Kisuke. "We should take him to the shop!"
Rukia took the boy, tucking his broiling hot body close to her chest.
Yuzu was standing nearby bawling her eyes out. Karin's whole body was ridgid, but her reddening eyes told a story of her emotions. There was something wrong with their big brother. They didn't understand what was going on, and it left their poor little minds riddled with anxiety.
They didn't get much time to let their worries truly take over.
"Come here, little bunnies. We're getting your brother help." Without any sort of grace, Izuru was already hauling them like geese, following Rukia. Momo and Renji lost track of them almost immediately.
"Why are Rukia and Izuru around a kid with spiritual energy that high?" Momo questioned herself more than anything. "Maybe I should ask Captain Aizen? We could always help them!"
Renji nodded in agreement. "It could be for the best…" He muttered, rubbing his chin with his hand in a very Renji way. He couldn't help but worry about whether or not the boy would be okay. Even though he had nothing to do with him. He knew if something happened, Rukia would be sad.
"Let's head back… I don't think we'll find them before it gets dark," Momo suggested, heading back to their designated return spot. She just knows Captain Aizen will have the answers to all of their problems!
"Izuru!" Momo called out to the man, causing him to turn and smile at the girl. "I have great news!"
'You're leaving Squad 5?' Izuru guessed internally, and tilted his head. "What is it?"
"Captain Aizen said I could take the same day off as you and Kuchiki-san! Renji's gonna talk to his captain too. We can all go to the World of the Living together!" Momo clapped her hands excitedly.
Izuru's smile tightened. "Ah, I see. But… you know, that's mine and Rukia's thing…" He silently prayed that she would take the hint and back off.
"I know, Renji and I talked about it, and we thought that we could explore the area while you played with Ichigo!" Momo paused, her smile shrinking when a chill ran up her spine. "Izuru…?"
His spiritual pressure slowly leaked out, twisting around the smaller girl as the focus. Pure, thinly concealed rage hit her like a freight truck.
"How do you know about Ichigo?" Izuru asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
"We followed you… I'm sorry we didn't tell you. We were concerned and Captain Aizen got us approved for disguised Gigais. We saw you playing with a boy with orange hair named Ichigo…" Momo went still when she realized Izuru was looming over her. "I was worried because he got sick after you two purified that spirit and…"
"Did you tell Captain Aizen?" Izuru asked.
"Captain Aizen wanted to know before he approved." Momo took a step back. "Izuru, you're scaring me…"
"Why did you tell him about Ichigo?" Izuru didn't reach for Momo, but his posture didn't change. "If we didn't tell either of you… THEN WHY WOULD WE WANT CAPTAIN AIZEN TO KNOW?!"
"Why are you acting like this? Captain Aizen is nice! He supports you and Rukia!" Momo yelled back.
All the more reason to get more upset. Despite this, Izuru took a long, slow breath.
"Captain Ichimaru and I had a deal, Momo. I go to the World of the Living once every other week with Rukia, I buy him a snack at a shop, and as long as I do not spend more than 24 hours; he doesn't ask me questions. I have been doing this for well over 13 human years. I always made sure to spend time with you, Renji, and Shuuhei. Hell, I'm in the same club as you." Izuru raised a hand, fingers curling like claws ready to strike. "Was that not enough for you? You wanted to strip away the one thing in this life that brings me happiness?"
"Izuru, I'm sorry! If I had known I would have-" Momo started.
"No, you wouldn't have asked. You would have gone to Captain Aizen regardless. Even now, I know the minute I leave this conversation, you'll go running to him crying because he's your emotional support person! I don't need someone like YOU around Ichigo and his family!" Izuru paused, slowly breathing as he uncurled his fingers. "I formally cease my connection to the World of the Living outside of missions."
Momo took another step back. All of the light in Izuru's eyes, the brightness that has been shining all these years… gone. Just like that. "Izuru…"
"I believe I am done here. This conversation never happened and as you are the only witness, I will deny any claims you make." He leaned closer to the shorter girl, a frown etched into his being. "Do not approach me for the rest of the living year. If I hear you went near Ichigo… Well… You'll just tell Captain Aizen if I finish that sentence, yes?"
Izuru turned on his heel and walked away. Ignoring the growing sobs of the person this body once considered friends.
"Rukia," Izuru said as he approached the girl, a dark gloom over his face. "Aizen knows about Ichigo. Guess who followed us on our last visit?"
Rukia's face went blank, a clear sign of her anxiety as she bit into her bottom lip. "Who?"
"Momo and Renji." Izuru raked his hand through his hair. "I almost hit her when she told me… they used disguise gigai and tailed us… They saw Ichigo spotting the spirit and passing out."
Rukia paled. "Oh shit, oh no… What do we do?" she was in full-blown panic mode. "Oh, man." She started pacing, chewing into her bottom lip as her brain ran a mile a minute.
"Simple. I will stop going to the World of the Living," Izuru answered with a shrug. "I told Momo as such, and frankly, I told her out on her crap with Aizen. He won't dare hurt you, not with Byakuya protecting you- but I work for his right hand man… He could use Gin to make me hurt Ichigo or the others and I won't have the power to stop him."
He sighed, tilting his head back. "I'll talk to Renji. I don't want you two to have a ruined relationship… they just wanted to see what we were up to. This might be the one time I get drunk."
Rukia frowned, tears welling in her eyes. "I still can't believe he'd go so far as to follow us…" She covered her face with her hands and tried to take some deep breaths. "I don't want you to have to stop coming… If you want… I'll take frequent pictures with the new camera I got. That way you can at least see them that way…" She let her hands fall to her side and offered him a wavering smile.
"We can do that… In the meantime, I'm going to use my days off to train. I know we've both been doing so whenever possible, but I need to be…" Izuru looked at his arms, slowly rolling the sleeves to reveal weights with the kanji for 15 on them. "Faster. Much, much faster. Strength means nothing with Wabisuke, but I need to be faster than our opponents."
Rukia nodded. She rubbed at her eyes and hardened her expression. "I'll make sure Ichigo doesn't end up as… well… hard-headed as in canon." She whispered softly. "Well, I'll try my best anyway." She laughed lightly.
"Hopefully, he doesn't forget me for the 5 years before the main events happen," Izuru said with a chuckle. "I uh… better go talk to Renji. I'll drop off Ichigo's birthday present at your place- should probably tell Masaki too."
Izuru vanished in a shunpo, leaving Rukia alone.
Rukia let out a shuddering breath and shook her head. Masaki isn't going to be happy at all about this. "He won't forget you, Izuru…" She murmured to herself. "He's known you his whole life. A few years' absence isn't gonna make him suddenly forget you. You forget how good kids' memories can be when it comes to knowing someone for a majority of their lives since infancy." She snorted and shunpoed to her home. She needed to finish preparing her own gift for Ichigo.
A few days later found the tiny raven-haired girl standing outside the Kurosaki residence with two rather large gifts tucked under her arms. She took in a deep breath and moved forward, not bothering to set the presents down as she used her foot to knock on the door. Any other day she would have just walked in, but with her hands full she needed help.
Yuzu was the one who opened the door. Her wide soft brown eyes lit up at the sight of Rukia.
"Rukia-nee!" She chirped, glancing around curiously. "Where's Izuru-nii?" She asked, curiously.
"He has work to do." She lied smoothly, smiling brightly at the 5-year-old girl. "He sent me with Ichigo's present."
Yuzu nodded and let her in, she seemed disappointed and Rukia couldn't help but feel saddened.
Ichigo stood up from where he was sitting, smiling brightly. "Rukia!" He said, looking around the room as though expecting Izuru to pop out of the woodwork. "Where's Izuru?"
"He had work he needed to take care of Ichigo, he sent his regards and an awesome present." Rukia smiled sadly.
"Oh…" the now 10-year-old boy said softly. He seemed disappointed, like his sister.
"What kind of work did he need to do?" Karin piped up from her spot on the couch.
"Oh you know… a lot of paperwork for his boss." she laughed nervously in response and moved to set the presents down near the rest of them.
"Hey Rukia, you made it! Sad to hear Izuru couldn't make it." Isshin popped his head out of the kitchen, a cake in his hands as he placed it on the table. "Now come on Ichigo, it's time to sing Happy Birthday!"
Rukia laughed as he lit candles and she dimmed the lights. She took out her camera and snapped photos as the party commenced.
At the very least, she could share these memories with her dear friend.
Well I really enjoyed writing this one! It was a lot of fun to write honestly. I hope you enjoyed reading this! Next chapter is gonna be interesting :)