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When it’s all over, the people remaining are:
Ichigo. Inoue. Chad. Urahara. Goat-Face.
Hitsugaya Toshiro, who’s looking at Goat-Face like he wishes he could commit murder with impunity.
“Uh,” Ichigo says, jogging up to his body. “Toshiro? I thought all the captains…”
Toshiro strikes like a snake, an open-handed slap with the heel of his palm to Goat-Face’s chin. With enough force that his dad stumbles back and lands on his ass.
“Hey!!” Ichigo draws Zangetsu. “What the hell?”
“Put Zangetsu down,” Dad wheezes. “It’s okay, Ichigo. I deserved that.”
“You deserve a hell of a lot worse than that,” Toshiro snarls in his face. “Two decades. No goodbye, no note, no anything, you just let Matsumoto and I think you were goddamn dead.”
Ichigo’s eyes go to his dad’s one-shouldered captain’s coat. That answers what squad he was, he supposes.
“I didn’t have a lot of choice,” Dad says, grimacing as he regains his feet and feels his face. “I’m sorry, Toshiro.”
“And then I find out,” Toshiro says, and Ichigo sees frost spreading from his feet, “that not only are you alive, you’re Kurosaki Ichigo’s father. The biggest pain in the ass I’ve ever met, including you, and more importantly, the half-trained brat who invaded Soul Society without even a basic understanding of swordplay, kido, or the Seireitei.”
“Hey,” Ichigo protests, even though…Toshiro has a point, actually.
“I was spirit-blind, Toshiro,” Dad says. “I couldn’t have done anything. I thought growing up as a normal family would keep them safer.”
“Bullshit!” Toshiro shouts. Ichigo stares. He has never heard Toshiro curse that strongly, and he’s seen the man fight Aizen. “What happened to the captain who was all about ‘gathering information before acting’ and ‘understanding the enemy!’ What the hell happened to you?”
Dad sighs. Puts his hand gently on Toshiro’s shoulder. “I know. I’m sorry, Toshiro. I screwed up pretty badly this time. I’m sorry that I left you and Matsumoto to pick up the pieces of Squad Ten. I…I’m proud of you. Your Bankai is truly impressive, and you’re a far better Captain than I ever was.”
“Shut the hell up!” Toshiro knocks Dad’s hand away. “You don’t get to say that anymore. We mourned you, asshole. We held your funeral. And this whole time you were messing around in the World of the Living? Pretending to be human? What the hell, Isshin?”
Isshin winces. “It’s a long story. I had to, Toshiro. There was no time to come back and explain. I had someone to protect, and it wasn’t anything anyone else could have done. And then I was spirit-blind, and the only ally I had was Urahara, who you may remember was nearly executed? He couldn’t think of a way to sneak in safely.”
“Doubt you looked that hard,” Toshiro says, crossing his arms. “Since Kurosaki over there didn’t know anything about you. If he had, he would’ve said something.”
Yeah. Yeah, he probably would have. If he’d had any idea the Captains were in mourning…
Well, he’d wonder why anyone would mourn Goat-Face, but he’d still tell them he was all right. He’s familiar enough with loss that he isn’t about to let others suffer from it. He knows grief intimately at this point.
“…Why don’t we go for a drink?” his dad offers. “Urahara has a space where we can talk. Call Rangiku, if you’d like. You both deserve to hear this.”
“Wait, no, why didn’t you just tell me to pass a message on?” Ichigo says. “I know you know where I was going. You gave me Mom’s amulet.”
Isshin looks over to him. It’s so weird, seeing him be serious. “A few reasons. One: I didn’t want to distract you by revealing myself when you were going on a life-threatening mission. Two: I didn’t want anyone in Seireitei to know whose son you were. Can you imagine how much more seriously they would have taken you, knowing you were the child of a Captain? Three: I was afraid. I’d kept who I was from you for fifteen years. Thinking it didn’t matter, that if you didn’t train…you would always just be a strange man who saw ghosts. You were doing well. I was no longer a shinigami. There was no reason to tell you about our family history. It didn’t matter anymore. I was just Kurosaki Isshin, a mediocre doctor and single father of three.” His father sighs. “Of course, then you became a shinigami, and suddenly it mattered quite a bit. I could never find a time to explain to you that wouldn’t have added to your burdens. Before Soul Society? When Byakuya nearly killed you? When Urahara almost turned you into a Hollow? When you returned, exhausted, carrying the knowledge there was a traitor out there? When I regained my shinigami abilities with the dissolution of Urahara’s seal, and you were struggling against your Hollow? When you went to train with the Visored? Ichigo, when would it have helped you to know who I used to be?”
Yeah. Weird.
“When you first knew I could see ghosts,” Ichigo says, staring his father down. “You should have told me as soon as you knew. I don’t know if it would have changed anything. But it would have meant something, not being alone. Not being the freak kid who got in fights because some asshole kicked a dead girl’s flowers over and you’re the only one who can see her crying. Fuck, when would it have helped me? The hell kind of a question is that?”
“You always did avoid anything difficult,” Toshiro says, rubbing his temples. His intervention saves Isshin from responding, for the moment. “I was busy during the invasion, but everything I heard about the orange-haired Ryoka sounded like you. Charging in headfirst, confident, loudmouthed…”
“Hey,” Ichigo protests.
“And making it work,” Toshiro finishes. “Beating everything put in his way. A Third Seat, then a lieutenant, then a captain. Then the Sokyoku. Another captain. And that’s just the start. Damn prodigy. Left for three days and came back with a Bankai, when a couple weeks earlier he didn’t even have a Shikai.” He shakes his head. “Ukitake said you reminded him of Kaien. I guess I know why now.”
“Kaien…Rukia’s lieutenant?” Ichigo asks. “Why would I…”
“Hadn’t told him that part,” Isshin says, throwing a Look Toshiro’s way. “I took your mother’s name when we married, Ichigo. She didn’t particularly care, but I wanted to cut my ties with the world I believed lost to me.”
“You’re looking at the former Captain of Squad Ten, Shiba Isshin,” Toshiro says, more bluntly. “Kaien’s uncle.”
Ichigo needs a minute to process that.
“Fuck, wait, Kukaku and Ganju—“
“You met them?” Isshin asks, surprised.
“They came into the Seireitei via firework cannonball,” Toshiro says dryly. “Though I’m not sure they made the connection from him to you. And yes, Ichigo, they’re your cousins.”
“Fuck,” Ichigo repeats. “Toshiro, the first time I met Ganju we tried to kill each other.”
“Isn’t that how you meet a lot of your friends?” Toshiro asks, with a smirk pulling at his mouth.
“Shut up.”
“He’s right,” Isshin contributes.
“Yeah? Who’d I get that from, Goat-Face? It sure as shit wasn’t Mom.”
Toshiro doesn’t laugh, but he cracks a smile. “Yeah, he’s a Shiba,” he says, and it sounds approving. “Damn miracle he turned out this well, Captain.”
“Isshin,” Toshiro’s former Captain corrects. “I’m not a Captain of anything anymore. And I don’t plan to steal your squad from under you.”
“Like you could,” Toshiro says, allowing the smirk to bloom on his face. The tension between the pair eases, perceptible. “You know, seeing Kurosaki for the first time, I thought maybe your soul had reincarnated. Stubborn as Hell, taking on a challenge too big for him and coming out on top. Wasn’t too far off the mark, was I?”
Isshin laughs. “My son is far stronger than I ever was.”
“Believe me,” Toshiro says, rolling his eyes. “We know. Overpowered brat.”
“I seem to recall several of your teachers assigning that title to you.”
“It takes one to know one,” Toshiro asserts. “But he’s worse.”
“You never told me what squad you were,” Ichigo breaks in.
Isshin looks at him and shrugs. “You didn’t ask.”
“Don’t put your inaction on him,” Toshiro says, sharp. “You didn’t tell him. You didn’t tell us. You ran off without thinking of the chain of command, or even informing us so I could try to cover for you. Do you know how much trouble Matsumoto and I got into for having no damn clue where our Captain was?”
Isshin winces. “There wasn’t time, Toshiro. I…” He looks at Ichigo and cuts himself off.
“This has to do with what you don’t want to tell me,” Ichigo says, rubbing a hand over his forehead. It’s obvious.
“I don’t want to,” Isshin acknowledges. “But you deserve to hear it. Both of you.” He sits there in the empty grass. Ichigo waves the others off. They’ve been hovering, but Urahara returns his wave and forcibly escorts Inoue, Chad and Ishida away.
Isshin begins his story.
By the end of it, Toshiro mirrors the stunned disbelief Ichigo’s sure is on his own face. “Goddamn,” the younger captain says, shaking his head. “You weren’t kidding.”
“Mom was a Quincy?” That’s the part Ichigo is stuck on. “Karin and Yuzu—“
“You and Karin take far more after me,” Isshin replies. “But Yuzu can’t see ghosts because she’s got your mother’s Quincy blood, yes. It’s something that requires active training. Ryuuken wasn’t exactly forthcoming with specifics.”
Right, he knows Ishida’s crazy dad.
“Fuck, Shiba,” Toshiro groans. “You got in too deep this time.”
“A bit,” Isshin agrees easily. “It’s the Shiba way, isn’t it?”
“The Isshin way, maybe.” Toshiro shakes his head. “What will you do?”
“What I’ve been doing,” Isshin answers easily. “I have children to raise. Consider it an extended leave of absence.”
“I think that’s called desertion,” Toshiro says, unimpressed. “Do you want the Head Captain to know?”
Isshin waves a hand. “Ah, I don’t care what he thinks of me. Bring Matsumoto over sometime, we’ll all have a drink and catch up. Has she got bankai yet?”
“Are you kidding? Of course she doesn’t,” Toshiro snorts. “Haineko’s as contrary as ever. I’m holding you to that drink, Isshin. Bring your troublemaker.”
“I’m not actually drinking age,” Ichigo throws in, and then, “Wait, are you drinking age?”
“You’ve nearly died for us a few different times now, drink some damn alcohol,” Toshiro says, raising his eyebrows. “As for me, I’m a Captain, thanks, and well over 200 years old. Don’t make the mistake of thinking I’m a child just because I look like one.”
“He’s about your age, but he’s late to his growth spurt,” his dad translates. Isshin pulls Toshiro in, clasping one shoulder in his usual manly side-hug before the Captain can stab him for the insult. “Take care, Toshiro. Don’t be a stranger.”
“I’ve got twenty years of leeway on that,” Toshiro retorts. He unsheathes his sword to open the senkaimon and leaves without saying goodbye.
Ichigo shakes his head. What a weird day. Between the stress of Tsukishima’s stunt, Ginjo, regaining his powers, and now this…he’s going to sleep for a week before he feels better.
And then he needs to figure out the best way to tell Ishida he’s a Quincy. He can’t wait to see the look on his most reserved friend’s face. Snickering to himself, Ichigo heads home with Isshin, making plans.