Chapter Text
"I'm not defending stupid Kensei. I just happen to agree with stupid Kensei." Mashiro says, as bubbly as ever.
Between frequent bouts of nagging, her professional habit of getting on his nerves and a century's exile, Mashiro never quite shook that inherent lieutenant's loyalty to her captain. Even without the pretense of ranks getting in the way, she and Kensei were always thick as thieves and a hell of a team, despite all surface appearances to the contrary. Unsurprisingly, she's dutifully backing Kensei up. By extension, Shinji too.
It's touching and admirable and bloody irritating.
"Mm. No surprise there." Kaien grunts then stops, closes his eyes with a grimace, "I'm sorry. That tone was snippy and uncalled for."
He plants Nejibana's trident in the water-slick ground and stretches out an annoying kink in his back while surveying the recent damage. Having spent the last hours training solo in an attempt to work off his foul temper, pressurized water had carved massive fissures and chasms into this section of their stony training grounds. Overflow crept into the holes, producing interconnecting muddy puddles and ponds of various depths. The end result is this section of their basem*nt resembling a foggy swamp.
It's not enough.
All his glorified temper tantrum really succeeded in doing is trash the place. But if he's outraged by this travesty, Kaien can't imagine what emotional turmoil Ichigo is suffering through right now.
They had a brief talk a couple hours back. More a thorough interrogation, actually. Ichigo cornered him and demanded everything,everythingKaien knew with a frighteningly relentless zeal.
In Ichigo's words, "I don't give a damn about privacy. He clearly doesn't give a sh*t about how it affects me. Tell me what you know. Now."
Kaien confesses his own respect for a person's secrets flies right out the window when it endangered the lives of people he cared about, so of course he freely gave what answers he could. He told his cousin the truth as he understood it. He'd sincerely believed Masaki was merely a rare spiritually gifted human, like his school friends.
Between two separate wars of extermination bringing the species to the brink of extinction, the possibility of Masaki being practicing Quincy never crossed his mind. If there was any Quincy in her, at most it would've been some ancient ancestry might've contributed to her spiritual awareness. Otherwise Ichigo and his sisters wouldn't exist as they do, not without a lot of help.
In that state of mind, Kaien's not sure Ichigo believed him but the poor kid probably doesn't know what to think right now. Or who to trust.
Then Ichigo pressed him for any reason why Isshin kept his mother's past a secret.
That one was far more difficult to answer.
First prefacing their discussion with an emphatic declaration what he had were only theories and speculation, Kaien shared the possibilities he could think of. Everything from wanting to distance themselves from historical shames and wars to folklore and children stories. He'd scoured his own memory, listing off any hundreds of different grievances he remembers from academy curriculums to the clan's archives. No real reason to leave anything out at this junction, despite painting his allegiances with an unsavory brush and highlighting the many, many checkered past actions of the Gotei 13.
Ichigo listens to everything intently with a grim shadow on his face. He's no stranger to their corruption and idiocy so there's no point sugar-coating the pill.
But don't let it be said that Kaien didn't offer more benign benevolent explanations, interjecting a bit of forced optimism where he could. Suggesting perhaps his parents simply met one day while Isshin was on a mission and clicked enough that Isshin willingly gave up his powers and position to be with Masaki. That perhaps they kept their origins secret until Ichigo was older so he could enjoy a relatively normal human childhood, growing up in blissful ignorance before the pressures of the spirit world came crushing down on his shoulders. An admittedly reckless but ultimately understandable and well-intentioned notion.
Neither of them really bought it. Neither of them point out that with the blood of Shinigami, Hollow and nowQuincyin him,Ichigo is the farthest thing from 'normal' as he could possibly get.
Dissatisfied, either with the explanation or more probably this whole mess in general, Ichigo point-blank demanded his take on the matter.
Kaien briefly considered bluffing or deflected from his own thoughts, though ultimately decided against it. There's been enough obfuscation already and Ichigo had been manipulated and deceived enough by people he's supposed to trust. Adding more fuel to that particular fire was begging for more trouble. (Plus Kaienreallydidn't want his face burnt off again. Once was enough, thank you very much).
With visible hesitation, Kaienmighthave let slip his speculations about what Kisuke's intentions were, what role he wished Ichigo to play in the battles to come. What role he wanted the boy to play in defeating Aizen.
Predictably, Ichigo took it badly. A mix of outrage, disgust, hurt, betrayal and sadness danced on his face in a conflicting mess. And when those had burnt out, what remained was a defeated, pained sort of resignation accompanied by a sad bitter little chuckle. Like Ichigo expected that on some level all along.
The memory of that horrible expression shatters Kaien's heart.
Once more, Kaien feels the urgent need to cave his uncle's skull in. What kind of man had Isshin become to willingly raise Ichigo this way, for that purpose? Was he always like this and Kaien was too blinded by nostalgia and too trusting as a boy to see it? Or was it Urahara's influence and dubious strategies at play, compelling him to strong-arm Isshin into keeping the whole matter quiet?
(If Kaien knew this would happen, he would've told Kisuke to cram the Aizen hysteria up his ass ten years ago. He would've fought like hell to stay in Karakura, risk of discovery be damned.)
Kaien chews his lip, frustrated. Usually he would consider himself a pretty good judge of character, but if this keeps up he'll need to reevaluate his capabilities.
Behind him, Mashiro pouts for a half-second before plopping herself down on a flattened stone outcrop.
Apparently she'd been talking to him this whole time but Kaien's been too lost in his own head to hear her. She hums and harrumphs to herself, kicking her legs back and forth and humming. Kaien can feel her eyes on his back and its making his hairs stand on end.
"Hope you don't plan to stare at me all day. You're gonna make someone jealous." Kaien teases flatly.
"I'm wondering..." Mashiro drawls in her airheaded way.
"Anything you feel up to sharing with the class?"
When Kaien finally spares a glance over his shoulder, he notices Mashiro's nose wrinkling. Those wide brown eyes fix him with a bizarre look. A strange uncharacteristically deep and frankly unnerving contemplation, like she's examining a specimen in an overly comical way, like she's cosplaying a fictional Victorian British detective.
With a once-in-a-blue-moon seriousness, Mashiro ventures cautiously. "Why are you really upset?"
Kaien faces her fully, looking at her like she's grown a second head. An awkward half-smile tugged at his lips. "You mean that isn't readily apparent?"
Mashiro leans forward, humming with an oddly endearing yet slightly creepy skepticism. "No, I know why you're upset. Butwhyare you upset?"
Kaien arches an eyebrow. Is her brain going in circles or something? Wouldn't be the first time.
"I mean, is all this..." Mashiro gestures both hands in front of her, encompassing him and the ruined training ground in an grand sweeping circle, wearing an unusual severe expression, "coming from a place of genuine concern or is this selfishness?"
Kaien's eyes widen. That certainly wasn't what he expected to hear. He scowls, keeping his tone mild. "I beg your pardon?"
Mashiro's brows furrow, choosing her next words carefully for a minute. She proceeds to ask her next question very slowly and deliberately as though addressing a particularly unruly child (that didn't chaff at Kaien's ego one bit), "Does this situation make you angry because a teenager and his friends were dragged into this war? Or are you upset because you finally found a playmate who can keep up with you and Kisuke's plan would take that away?"
"And," Lisa chimes in from behind him.
"Gez!" Kaien starts in fright, caught soundly off-guard. He shoots her a pouty glare as she saunters to join Mashiro. "Don't sneak up on me like that. For that matter, where the hell did you come from?"
Lisa ignores him, continuing as though uninterrupted. "Are you only reacting this vehemently because one of the teenagers in question happens to be a member of your family in particular?"
Kaien looks between them before pointing at both woman, "Okay. What is this? Since when do you two gang up on me?"
"Since a day ending in y." Mashiro informs gravely.
"What happened to ex-lieutenant solidarity?" Kaien complains.
"Girls' club trumps ex-lieutenants' club." Lisa says unrepentantly.
"Silly birdbrain forgot seniority." Mashiro says sagely in a remarkable return to form, then turns her attention to Lisa, "Where's carrot top? Shouldn't you watching him in case he goes all Quincy-ish?"
Lisa waves a dismissive hand. "He wandered off hours ago. Probably best to leave him alone. Let him sort out what he wants to do with what happened. I'm certainly in no hurry to pull the pin on that grenade." She then gestures to the devastation behind them demonstratively, "Shiba tempers have a blast radius."
Kaien won't bother defending himself from that one.
"Hm. I'm super-duper hungry." Mashiro announces as a ditzy non-sequitur, sliding off her perch and wandering towards the stairs. "I saw a fresh tub of mochi ice-cream in the freezer. It's mine now."
"Wha-Hey, no. That's mine! Mashiro, so help me, if you binge my snacks again, I will find you and hurt you badly." Kaien threatens.
Mashiro turns, childishly sticking her tongue and pulling at her eyelid at them.
"I'll give you ¥5000 to eat the whole thing in one sitting." Lisa says unhelpfully.
"Done!" Mashiro jumps.
"Mashiro, no-!"
"Mashiro,yes!" Mashiro announces happily, disappearing with a hop, skip and a shunpo.
Kaien's head drops to his chest with a long suffering groan. "Must you encourage her?"
"Yes." Lisa answers bluntly.
"That's a ten litre tub! She's going to make herself sick! Then Kensei'll be on my ass for buying it in the first place."
"Wouldn't that brighten up my afternoon." Lisa deadpans, fixing him with a hard look.
Kaien groans again, forking his fingers through his sweat-damp hair. Probably should've seen that one coming. He studies at her, overcome by a sudden wave of fatigue. She folds her arms and waits, watching him expectantly. With another defeated sigh, Kaien ends their impromptu staring contest and makes his way over, slumping down next to her.
A minute of tension passes in silence. "Go on. Get it over with. Tell me I'm being an idiot. That I'm being petulant, stubborn, recalcitrant, et cetera, et cetera."
"And here I thought those were your best qualities." Lisa says.
Kaien shoots her an unamused look.
"All of the above." Lisa concludes. "But if you want my honest opinion, you're overcompensating."
Kaien scowls at nothing in particular. "Overcompensating for what?"
Lisa rolls her eyes and shakes her head disapprovingly, "Soul King's tit*, you can be remarkably dim-witted. I'm talking about past failures. Regrets. And if we're being frank, you have a score sheet a mile long."
Kaien grunts, folding his arms and shifting uncomfortably. "I'm aware. Thanks for the reminder."
"You failed to protect Miyako and your clan from Aizen in the past. Well-intentioned or not, your actions brought down his retribution on their heads. And there wasn't a damn thing you could do about it. Ignoring the fact that at the time you were mindlessly rampaging around Hueco Mundo, wolfing down Arrancar-shaped happy meals."
Lisa ignores Kaien's disgust. "Was it absolutely necessary for you to phrase it that way?"
"Fast forward tonow, since it appears a member of your family's being unwittingly set up to take a fall again - partially by your own family no less - guilt from past failures and a sense of betrayal is driving you to lash out against it. You're desperately scrambling to stop it from happening while you have the chance, despite the fact its possibly the only path to a guaranteed victory we have left. Ergo you're overcompensating."
Kaien leans back exhaling, fingers tracing the tattoo and scar on his neck, "And people say I don't hold back on my opinions."
Lisa gives a vague shrug, concluding her lecture. "Consider the possibility."
"I don't need to consider it."
"Because I'm right."
"Because you're right. As usual." Kaien admits, deflated. After a brief pause, he tosses his thumb over his shoulder, "Mashiro's right too."
Lisa eyes him, "In which regard?"
"Both." He rubs his temple, willing away an oncoming headache. "My own personal grievances aside for the moment, you can't possibly tell me you're on board with this. Are you?"
"I don't like the situation, no. But Aizen murdered my two best friends and turned the rest of us into monstrosities. I might've gotten one back but I'm rarefied company. Then there's the Arrancar army gathering at his back with the Hyogoku churning out more by the day. At this rate, with enough vasto lordes under his banner he could comfortably set himself up to conquer the rest of the worlds. I like that even less." Lisa says, pragmatic as ever.
Kaien says nothing.
"You know just as well as I do when war breaks out -trulybreaks out in earnest - neither side have any claim to a moral high ground anymore. There's no heroes nor saints, nor saviours or messiahs. As soon as blades are drawn, we're all villains."
"Boy, does that have a familiar ring." Kaien allows a sad nostalgic smile despite himself. "Let me guess; desperate times call for desperate measures? Ends justify the means? I studied under Captain Kyoraku too."
"What's been done to Ichigo is cruel. What's been done to his friends is cruel. And Isshin's the spineless prick who should've stood against it, instead he stepped aside and allowed it to happen. Your uncle, I know, but spineless all the same. No one's denying those facts. But if those cruel actions can stop an even greater evil and spare us all a lot of pain in the long run, I don't have a problem with that." Lisa states matter-of-factly. "We can waste time feeling as sh*tty or remorseful as we like after the fact. But unfortunately there's such a thing as necessary evil."
Kaien groans, nursing his head. "I've got no problem employing underhanded methods to defeat an enemy. Especially this one. I have no issue admitting there's a lot I'm willing to contribute to make that happen, be it in the name of justice or vengeance, but I don't think its necessarily wrong to want to avoid compromising every single value we have on the way. What's the point of victory if you wind up committing worse atrocities than the other guy to get there?"
"The high road is very pretty. But tell me, would you like 'at least I died with my morals intact' inscribed on your second gravestone?" Lisa asks cuttingly.
Kaien flinches, aiming a harsh glare on her.
For her part, Lisa quietly acknowledges she crossed a line. She takes off her glasses, examining them for a second then cleaning them with the hem of her shirt.
"Point made I trust." She has the grace to sound apologetic and subdued. "I don't have to remind you that Aizen has done worse than use children to achieve his ends."
"Yeah. That line's been floating around a lot lately," Kaien says curtly, hoisting himself up with his right hand outstretched. Nejibana's trident yanks itself out of the ground, snapping into his fist like a magnet while he walks away. "Just makes me hate this mess even more."
Whatever conversation Kisuke and Isshin held in the backrooms of Urahara's shop grinds to an unspectacular halt when the door to slides open with a hard clack.
Ichigo looms ominously in the doorway, framed by the hallway light with a patch of medical gauze on his right cheek and bandages wrapped from his hands and disappeared under his jacket sleeves. Training has clearly been taking its toll, though Kisuke suspects its more than a vigorous workout that's responsible for those dark bags under his eyes. His neutral expression fixes on his father, though only a fool would mistake that for calm.
Isshin hesitates then slips on a fake cheerful façade as easily as breathing, throwing his arms wide, "Ichigo! What an unexpected surprise, son! I didn't think I'd see you until after you got back from the Soul Society next month. From the looks of you, you're as clumsy as ever. And here I thought Kaien bruised easi-"
"At what point were you planning to tell me my mother was a Quincy?"
The question is simple. Delivered so mildly that even Ichigo seemed surprised by his own tone but it cuts to the core of things immediately. Isshin recoils as though slapped in the face, all pretence to cheer shatters like glass.
For the seconds that follow, an uncomfortable silence settles over the trio.
In retrospect, this confrontation was inevitable. Though neither man anticipated it happening this soon.
Kisuke makes the first move to break the tension, shifting quietly and preparing to excuse himself. He has no place in this conversation. "Perhaps I should leave you two to discuss this priv-"
"No, you can stay right where you are." Ichigo says mildly.
It's Kisuke's turn to hesitate. He spares Isshin a glance then coaxes his expression into a mask of polite indifference to address Ichigo, "This seems to be entirely a family matter, Ichigo. While I'm deeply flattered by your trust, I don't believe I should be involved in such a private affair."
Ichigo finally turns to address him, "And right now, I wouldn't trust this man if he told me the sky was blue and water was wet. Call it third-party insurance."
In the corner of his eye, Kisuke spots the wince Isshin couldn't entirely suppress. Well now. That's the direction this conversation will go, is it? That doesn't bode well. Kisuke halts his attempts to stand for a minute, before graciously relenting and settling back in his place. He silently studies Ichigo's inscrutable expression.
Swallowing down the lump in his throat, Isshin's tone is curiously devoid of emotion when he speaks, "I thought you said you were going to wait until I was ready to share that story?"
"Yeah, I did." Ichigo responds tersely, "That was before the creature I thought was my zanpakutou turned out to be the personification of my Quincy powers. Imagine my shock at that confession, right before that damn thing went berserk and nearly kill ten people. Two members of your own family included." Ichigo explains pointedly with the first tremors of real anger.
Well, that explains how he found out. As soon Ichigo's zanpakutou had been destroyed and that asauchi came into the picture, Isshin should've anticipated something like this happening. He'd ignored the feeling. Buried it. But even the deepest darkest secrets inevitably find their way into the light.
It's a visible effort on Ichigo's part to keep himself composed, clinging onto this thin veneer of civility by his finger tips. "An event I have the sneaking suspicion - no, the certainty you knew would happen the second I got my hands on that damn sword."
Isshin is all together grim when he finds his voice again, "Ichigo, it's not what you think."
"Then by all means,enlightenme." Ichigo responds with barely disguised bitterness, arms folding over his chest with that stern scowl set in place. "I'm giving you, both of you, one chance and one chance only to set the record straight. After that, I'll decide whether or not I believe you. Then I'll decide whether or not I'll ever speak to either of you again. Now answer the question.Please."
The words hang in the air. A renewed tension rapidly mounts between the three followed by another silence. One which drags on for an agonizingly long minute.
"And... for argument's sake, if we decline?" Kisuke asks tentatively.
"I walk," Ichigo answers icily. "You two can sort out your little lover's spat with Aizen all by yourselves, because I sure as hell won't be helping you anymore."
Caught off guard, Isshin stares disbelieving at his son, momentarily lost for words. Kisuke on the other hand studies him carefully under the rim of his trademark hat.
Then Isshin does something Kisuke considers extremely foolish, he gets angry. As in chest-thumping furious. "Do you seriously think can drop everything and run away, just like that? Do you honestly think throwing a tantrum will stop Aizen and his Arrancar's attacks? What about your friends, what about your sisters? All the innocent people in this town counting on you to protect them from that maniac?!" The questions come out in a rapid fire splutter, "I didn't raise a coward!"
"Tantrum, he says. Interesting choice of words. I don't recall raising my voice once yet." Far from being cowed, Ichigo meets his father's fury with an bone chilling scowl of his own, utterly unfazed, "I'll be taking Yuzu and Karin away with me, have not fear about that. You'll never hear from any of us again either. And I promise they'll know the reason why. They'll know everything you've been hiding from them since we were born, and you willingly endangered countless lives because you stubbornly refused to answer one question."
Isshin grits his teeth. Kisuke continues to study Ichigo with a cool calculating expression. This type of ultimatum is a particularly out of character move for the young man. Kisuke didn't think he possessed the kind of ruthlessness required to hold others hostage in this manner. Absently Kisuke wonders who taught him this kind of bargaining strategy?
Kisuke weighs the possibilities in his mind. On one hand, Ichigo's declaration could very well be a bluff in an attempt to goad Isshin and himself into revealing information. Admittedly information he is owed, but an exploitative tactic all the same. On the other hand, if this is a genuine declaration of intent? Kisuke can't afford to take that risk. As guilty as he feels for involving Ichigo and his companions in accelerating his own plans, Ichigo was far too valuable an asset to simply let go at a time like this. Not when the war with Aizen was about to enter a critical junction.
Moveover, dare Kisuke think it, the boy, his student, is fast becoming a friend. One that he cared for more than he'd expected. And if a little information was the price for his continued collaboration, then it would be currency well spent.
This conversation was long overdue anyhow. But Isshin Kurosaki is as stubborn as Shibas come. Some might mistake that for being driven. Kisuke would describe it as utterly bullheaded inflexibility. But judging by that expression on Ichigo's face, he wouldn't accept anything less than he demanded.
The shopkeeper only hopes this can be resolved before the metaphorical locking of horns becomes quite literally, and his poor little shack is lost in collateral damage.
"You might wish to respond." Kisuke prompts unsubtly.
"Stay out of this, Kisuke." Isshin barks.
"No. I will not. Your son is threatening to cut you out of his life permanently. If you sincerely believe continued obfuscation is the correct course of action, you're a greater fool than I estimated." Kisuke puts on a pretense of diplomacy but there's no disguising the underlying threat, "And to be perfectly frank, my own patience on this issue is long spent. Out of respect for your son, out of respect for what his friends have suffered through thus far to remedy our mistakes, if you do not tell him now, I will."
"Not that I expect a straight answer out of you anyway," Ichigo cuts in contemptuously, "The dear old man's been perfectly content letting everyone else air the family's dirty laundry in the most asinine, roundabout ways possible. Why should he switch gears now?"
Isshin scowls at his son. But before he could respond in any way, Kisuke had already lost his patience. He folds his hands on the table before him, daring not to meet Ichigo's eyes as he delivers his hasty summary, "When she was perhaps a few years older than you Ichigo, your mother suffered an wound in combat from a hollow while protecting your father. With it came an infection which rapidly eroded at her spiritual cohesion. Quincy cannot tolerate hollowfication the same way Shinigami or humans can. Their souls disintegrate without an opposing power to keep the degradation in check. Isshin, then Captain of the 10th Division, volunteered to function as a living vaccine, after which I was able to bind their souls to keep the hollowfication in check at the cost of his powers. Obviously the operation was successful. Your mother lived. Forever changed, yes, but alive all the same."
Isshin seemed like he was about to strangle the life out of Kisuke for a good few seconds there before letting his head drop in defeat. Ichigo on the other hand listened, but showed no other reaction of any kind.
"Unfortunately, that hollowfication did not merely stop with her. It would be a condition carried within her bloodline from that point onwards."
"Why was that so hard?" Ichigo demands of his father pointedly, who had his head cradled in his hand, "And if I understand what you're saying correctly, I didn't become hollowfied from the encroachment, it's a taint I inherited from birth?"
"That is correct."
Ichigo's face is a puzzling mix of emotions, fury and disgust flashing briefly among them, "Suppose I really am a malformed abomination then." He mutters, closing his eyes with a sharp exhale before he's composed again. "While that's fascinating bit of information to learn, Kisuke, and while I appreciate the honesty -finally -that doesn't answer my original question."
"Masaki..." Isshin begins, his wife's name heavy on his tongue, and Ichigo turns sharply on him, "She never wanted you to be a Quincy. She never wanted any of you to be Quincy. She thought that as a species they did more harm than good. That they deserved to die out. After she'd been infected by White - the hollow - she couldn't use her Quincy powers. Not without eroding the seal that kept the hollowfication in check. She almost saw that as a blessing in disguise. And when we decided to have children, she desperately hoped that with the hollow's influence, she wouldn't be able to pass on those powers."
"So you're telling me that keeping these secrets my entire life, it was all mum's fault?" Ichigo snorts derisively, understandably not impressed. "How convenient for you. And in any other circ*mstance, I might've even believed you. But right now, it sounds like you've been caught in the biggest lie of my life and you're invoking my mother's name to cover your own ass."
That puffs Isshin right back up, "Oh, and you think Kaien hasn't kept secrets from you? Or Shinji at the others?"
Ichigo shrugs a shoulder unperturbed, "The Visoreds always had their own agendas. They've been completely unapologetic about that. But you know the key difference between you and them? They'restrangers. We're still building that trust and our relationship has always been transactional. You're myfather,the person I'm supposed to trust and look to for guidance in this world, and you've being lying and manipulating me from the very start. Now that it's finally caught up with you, you're cowering behind my mother's ghost."
"What was I supposed to do!? Tell small children that heartless monsters would hound their every step for the rest of their lives?!" Isshin bellows.
"You could've given me something of my heritage. You didn't need to go into specifics about how you two met, or what either of you actually were, or even the damn hollow taint, but it would've been nice to have some parental affirmation I wasn't insane for seeing spirits my entire life." Ichigo snaps right back, anger and genuine resentment surging with a vengeance, "There is a laundry list of decisions youknowI would've handled differently if I had any idea about what I was, and about the dangers of this world. Least of all, not putting my mother in the position to be killed in the first place!"
Isshin opens his mouth to refute the claim but ultimately stops, shaking his head. At what, Kisuke isn't sure.
"But, instead of doing your due diligence as a parent, you did your level best to avoid preparing me for the sh*t show that's been my life these past months. Or pawned your responsibilities off onto strangers at every opportunity." Ichigo finishes his uncharacteristic vitriol with an exhausted huff. "Stellar parenting, Isshin."
"Well, I can't do anything about it now, can I?" Isshin shoots back sternly, "I can't go back and change the past. So what's the point in getting angry about it now?"
Ichigo's mouth flops open, utterly incredulous, "You've lied to me my entire life and now you're telling me to suck it up?!"
"Gentlemen," Kisuke raises his voice, calm and composed and slicing into the conversation, "I'm certain there are better places for you two to continue this conversation. Ichigo, I deeply regret the role I played in concealing this admittedly explosive information from you. They are facts you should've been equipped with long ago, however I am not your parent. Isshin made his wishes clear and I respected those wishes, I confess against my better judgement, therefore it was not my place to disclose it."
"Oh, skip to the end already." Ichigo groans irritably.
"Very well. Now that the truth has come to light, I fear I must act selfishly and ask the question; will you continue to lend us your aid against Aizen?"
Ichigo seems to have composed himself a little more now. It undoubtedly helps that Kisuke is not the object of his current ire.
"That depends. What exactly was your plan to defeat Aizen? And how does the Final Getsuga Tenshou factor into it?" Ichigo prompts, folding his arms.
Isshin snaps to attention, realization dawning on him, "Kaien told you about that, too?" He hisses out a frustrated curse under his breath, "That meddling brat."
"Yes, he did. And he graciously informed me what that technique would do to me if I was ever insane enough to learn it. Because unlike one person I could mention in this room, my dear cousin seems to be of the opinion I deserve to be educated regarding these things." Ichigo says resentfully.
"I see." Kisuke muses morosely, "It appears you've been told more than I anticipated."
"So it's true. That's what I was born for, right?" Ichigo says, sparing a pointed glance towards Kisuke, whose expression is hidden under his hat, "Or given the context of who andwhatwas involved - would it be more accurate to say that's what I wascreatedfor? You were going to push me into a corner, force me to sacrifice my powers solve your problem. And considering the bastard cut me to ribbons last time we met, god only knows if that would even work."
"That wasn't the initial plan, Ichigo." Kisuke insists. After a minute mulling over his thoughts, he continues. "I'd become something like a friend and benefactor to your mother. She'd been living with the Ishida family before her hollowfication. After the Ishida family threw her out, I offered assistance in paying tuition, work placement and similar financial aid. A small token to alleviate the suffering our mistakes caused her. But the decision to have children was one she made on her own. Though I know our credibility is understandably strained at the moment, please believe me when I say enlisting your aid didn't factor into my plans until well after you were born."
Ichigo levels a blank stare at him. "Comforting. Well you can forget it. I'll let you know now I categorically refuse."
"You can't be serious! Do you-" Isshin explodes but he's cut off.
"If you're so keen on it, feel free to fall on that blade yourself." Ichigo snarls, summoning every ounce of disgust as he could possibly muster. "You can do what you wish with your soul but you willnotdecide what happens to mine."
"I understand." Kisuke interjects, as calm as ever, cutting through what would've been another round of heated arguing between father and son, "If that is what you've decided, I am hardly in the position to change your mind. Especially after this conversation."
"What?! This was your plan in the first place!" Isshin shouts.
"Indeed, it was a contingency plan. One of many hundreds I've prepared for our final confrontation with Aizen. As such, I'm at liberty to use or discard it as I choose." Kisuke answers with an abruptly sunny tone, "Ichigo has made his position perfectly clear. I shan't force the matter any further. I will merely readjust our strategies accordingly. I confess some expediency will be lost, but you should know I never put all my eggs on one basket."
"But let me make myself abundantly clear: If either of you attempt to push me into a corner now or ever again, to trick me into any of that sacrificial do-or-die crap - I don't care how strong you are, or were, you will spend the rest of your lives drinking meals through straws." Ichigo declares darkly.
"Duly noted." Kisuke says, head bowed and taking the threat quest seriously.
"One last question,dad," Ichigo spits the word venomously, "Are you planning on telling to tell Yuzu and Karin about any of this at any point? Or were you going to extend them the same courtesy you gave me?"
Isshin doesn't answer. Doesn't meet his eyes either.
Ichigo scoffs, shaking his head as he turns to leave, thoroughly repulsed. "If only I was so sure of winning the f*cking lottery."
