Questioning

Becoming a captain sure had its perks - including the pay. I had a decent enough salary to play with now, making it easy to fund my own research and develop many new projects. Unohana was even putting in a good word for me so I could set up an institute for technology. She said something about it being a beneficial project overall, even if I was a little on the dubious side concerning my morals. And the day the Central 46 gave me the go ahead was one of the happiest days I can remember. I had, for once, been given permission to do something I loved.

Isshin did not share in my happiness. He hadn’t approved much of my experiments, saying it would get me into trouble in the long run. That had definitely put a damper on my spirits; I had been so sure he would have at least congratulated me, having known how much the institute and its verification meant to me. Yoruichi, as if to make up for Isshin and his bull-headed opinions, hopped onto my back from behind, blatantly ignoring Isshin and his sulking.

“This is great! Now Kisuke can make that hair-dryer he promised me back in the Academy!”

I grinned, looking over my shoulder to catch a glimpse of her. “You still remember that? My first project which ended up a disaster?”

“Well, of course! The thing fuckin’ blew up in my face, Kisuke!” She laughed, loud and carefree. “So I want my new one to be much better! It better not leave any frizz either or I’ll kill ya.”

“So nice to little old me.” I turned back to Isshin, shifting her on my back to get a better hold. “We’re going out for drinks, Isshin. You can join us, if you want.”

“I never said I was going any where with you, baka!” Yoruichi teased, not trying to escape in the slightest despite her words. I think she liked the feeling of being high up, anyway, much like a cat. This whole piggy-back thing was something she loved doing, nevertheless, and I knew she wasn’t about to slide off any time soon.

“Sure, sure.” I looked expectantly at Isshin for an answer, hoping against hope he would come with us. “You in or what?”

He crossed his arms, a defensive gesture that meant something was bothering him. “I’ll only come because it involves free drinks. Don’t you go assuming I like your stupid scientific crap.”

“Who said anything about free drinks?!” I demanded, inwardly smiling at my victory. “Yoruichi! Tell him I’m not paying for his drinks!” I turned and started off for the nearest bar in a huff. “He can get his own drinks if he’s not going to celebrate with us!”

I felt her turn on my back to look at Isshin, and I could practically hear the laughter in her voice when she next spoke. “Ya hear that, Isshin no baka? You have to loosen up or Kisuke’s gonna act like he has a stick up his ass all night.” I did not like the sultry way she had said the last bit, just so you know. It had been laced with innuendo about something else I would have liked up my – Yes, we won’t go there. I should spare you all the details before your brain decides to break or something.

“Psh, Kisuke’s always acting like he has one of them up there. Hell, he even walks like he does.”

“Hey! It’s one thing to insult my attitude, it’s another to insult the way I walk,” I chided half-heartedly. “You’re so mean to your best friend, Isshin. How cruel!”

The banter continued on until we reached the bar, Isshin still insisting that he wasn’t coming with us to celebrate at all. So, when we finally stopped outside the tavern I had chosen, it was rather odd to see Isshin holding the door open for me and Yoruichi. I suspiciously eyed the door and then him. Since when did Isshin act like a gentleman?

“If I trip, I will hurt you so much.” My eyes had by now narrowed to slits - Isshin was trying his best not to crack a grin.

“Oi, if he trips, Isshin, I’ll fuckin’ kill your ass. Forget the pain,” Yoruichi threatened. Of course, if worse came to worse, I had no doubt she would use me as cushion to break the fall. True friends and all that. Yup, I really knew how to pick them, didn’t I?

Isshin hadn’t end up tripping us, thankfully. If you ask me, Yoruichi had Isshin whipped. Or maybe he was just planning something else and was trying to lure us into a false sense of security. Either way, I was on my guard concerning him. It was always good to be on guard around this particular man, anyway. He gave spontaneous combustion a run for its money in the spontaneous department.

After Yoruichi slid off my back, running off to order our drinks at once, I took a seat in a nearby booth with Isshin, an awkward, unwanted tension filling the air.

“So …” I started.

“So …” he repeated. He wasn’t budging an inch, apparently still mad at me for no other reason than the fact I had finally gotten something I had always wanted. This was giving me a headache. I was going to have to invent, I decided, some kind of happy drug for situations like these. Headaches were not something a president of the new Research Institue of Technology should be encumbered by.

“Look, Isshin, why don’t you tell me what you’re really upset about?” I propped up one elbow on the table separating us, staring at him relentlessly. If I didn’t get an answer soon, I was going to strangle one out of him. Or maybe Benihime could loosen his tongue for me …

“I heard about your first official project, asshole.”

Ah, that was right to the point, was it not? “The detailed anaylsis of mod-souls? It was above my head, Isshin; I had no say in the matter. If I want this institute, I have to take orders quietly, accept my role. And half of doing that is sacrifice.”

“Those souls are living, you son of a bitch. Talk your way out of that.”

“Let me ask you something, Isshin. Have you ever been to the human world?”

He gave me a look, assuming I was stupid for even asking. “Multiple times. You should know that. Are you losing it, Kisuke? ‘Cause I wouldn’t doubt it.”

“No, no.” I propped up my other elbow, supporting my chin in my hands. “You see, if you know anything about human nature, it’s that humans destroy to create. That, my friend, is just what I am doing.”

“But you’re a shinigami, Kisuke, not a fuckin’ human!” He slammed his hands down on the table, making a point. “You should know better than those morons!”

“I was once a human, too, Isshin. Once a human, always a human.”

“Now you’re just making excuses,” he accused. “You have a heart in there somewhere, bastard. I know you do. Why don’t you fuckin’ use it for once?”

“Because, simply put, it would do more harm than good,” I readily answered back. “Shinigami aren’t supposed to make their job personal, Isshin. This is exactly why the Shiba family should have stayed away from the affairs of death. You really are an imbecilic pacifist, Isshin.”

“Don’t you go callin’ me names, you researching, life-killing asshole.”

If Yoruichi hadn’t returned with our drinks at that exact moment, I was pretty sure our verbal fight would have escalated into a physical one, neither of us the type to back down.

“Yo, something wrong, you two?” She cocked an eyebrow, taking a seat beside Isshin and poking him in the side. “Isshin, you’re redder than Jyuushiro in a coughin’ fit.” She shot me a look, curious. “Were you two arguing about Kisuke’s experiments again? God, give it a rest! Kisuke will do whatever the fuck he wants to do, that much we know.” She poked Isshin again. “And you! You don’t have to like it, but still, he’s your best friend! Do you really want to lose him over something this completely stupid?”

“It’s not stupid!” Isshin and I shouted at the same time, both of us put out and exasperated at her. We glanced across the table at each other and then burst out laughing. If there was one thing we could always agree on, it had to be Yoruichi.