Dark

Rolling onto my side beneath the covers, I yawned and rubbed sleepily at my eyes, wondering why I had woken up. I glanced out the window to confirm it was still dark outside the shop and then sat up, another large yawn escaping me.

The sound of someone shuffling about near my bedroom door startled me and I sharply turned my gaze to it, eyes only now starting to adjust to the darkness of the room. “Yoruichi?” I ventured, figuring it might have been her that had disturbed my sleep. “Is there something I can -” I didn’t expect for the person to fall to the floor, a sob racking the body shadowed in my doorway. With wide eyes, I finally identified the person as someone I knew – but it definitely wasn’t Yoruichi. “My God, Isshin?!”

Immediately, wasting no time, I rushed to his side. I was barely in grabbing range when he latched onto me, tears staining the white over-shirt I slept in. Awkwardly, I rubbed soothing circles on his back, trying to ease the crying that was breaking my heart to see. “What happened?” I asked softly. “God, Isshin, you’re acting like the world came to an end or something. What’s going on? This is definitely not like you.”

“Ma – Masaki … she …”

My blood ran cold suddenly. Something had happened. Something had happened while I was asleep. “Isshin, calm down. Is there anything I can get you? Something to drink, a snack? You need to relax first and then tell me what happened, okay?”

The shaking abruptly stopped, Isshin stiffening in my arms. I slowly moved back, giving him more space and reluctantly removing my arms. He still had his head bowed so I couldn’t make out the look in his eyes, but I had a feeling he was angry. At me or something else, I wasn’t sure – but the sudden change in mood was enough to make me keep my distance lest I become a pissed off Isshin’s punching bag. It had happened before, so I rather thought this was a wise decision. However, I was not expecting for him to stand up and turn sharply on his heels, as if to head right back off to wherever he had been before coming here.

And I’d be damned if I let him go in such a state. Why had he even come here if he was only going to march off in an angry huff? It just didn’t make any sense. “Isshin! Dammit, Isshin, where are you going now?”

He stopped in his tracks, halfway to the shop entrance, and I was grateful. I really didn’t want to go outside with hardly anything on. “Urahara - ” I flinched. It had been a long time since he had called me by my last name. I had gotten so use to ‘Kisuke-chan’ that I had almost forgotten what it was like to be addressed that coldly by him. “This gigai … if I leave it, could you create a soul that would take care of my family? A soul like me?”

I narrowed my eyes at his back, wishing he’d turn around. To say something like that to me with his back turn? I almost wanted to punch him for even daring to speak like that. “You …. Dammit, Isshin! What is WRONG with you?” I had never raised my voice against him before – at least not in actual anger, it had always been playful and teasing. This was nothing like that. But I wasn’t backing down, not now. Not when my friend needed me the most. Here he was, talking about abandoning everything that was important to him. Why? “What happened, Isshin?” I demanded, the harsh tone in my voice not going away.

There was silence for a while. And for a moment, I really thought he wasn’t going to answer - as if I wasn’t important enough for a proper explanation.

“Masaki … she’s gone, Kisuke,” he whispered finally, a choked sob barely restrained. I almost thought he was going to fall to the floor again, but he didn’t – he stood, proud and strong while my mind wrapped itself around the fact Masaki had died somehow, some way. And when it did, I was already behind Isshin, hugging him and refusing to let go.

“Don’t even think about leaving, you complete and utter idiot. You can’t. Where would you go?”

His fists clenched at his sides. “I’ll kill the son of a bitch who killed her, that’s where I’ll go. Let me go, Kisuke. Just let me go. You know I’m stronger than you, anyway.”

“Physically maybe,” I relented, my hold never wavering despite my words, “but I’m stronger in many other ways, don’t forget.”

“What? You’re gonna cut me to shreds with Benihime?” he taunted. But I could tell he was smirking even if I couldn’t see it.

I smiled just a little. “If it comes to that, I would do it in a heartbeat. You should know that, dearest Isshin-chan.”

“Liked to see you try.”

And, in a way, I had won.

Isshin hadn’t gone after the Hollow that had killed his wife in the end.