A Shadow of What Was

Author's Notes: What can I say? The daddies wanted love and demanded that they get to have some fun.

Acmarache, we do not encourage the beta on the matter of the sequel. I would like to keep at least some tiny shred of my sanity. Besides, Shadow is not even half done!

Erin, I am a little ahead (usually about 4 chapters) because I write fast and I meet with my beta only once a week. And who says these loons don't demand stuff from me? I have spent weeks fighting with certain people. *cough* Gin *cough*

AJS, don't worry. Kisuke is adapting well to all the upheaval in his life and he does get a few breaks. And Yoruichi was a bit mean but she was just trying to look out for Ichigo and Urahara. Her heart was in the right place - and she didn't tell Isshin about them - that has to earn her some points.

* * *

Ryuuken had been prepared to quietly seethed through his day. The hospital staff had recognized his mood and been tip-toeing around him all morning. Oddly enough, by eleven am, the worst of his hangover was past and a great deal of his work was done, mostly because everyone had been too afraid to bother him, and he was beginning to find the humor in his situation - something that was much easier to do when Isshin wasn’t laughing at him.

He loved the other man but being laughed at always raised his hackles, it was an ingrained response from years of being bullied. He hadn’t been the genius Kisuke was, but he was more than merely bright. He had always been the top of his class and had been in the top two percent in medical school. It had not endeared him to his classmates.

And none of that had mattered to Souken. Now he was a force to be reckoned with, but as a shinny boy of ten he hadn't even been able to summon a bow. His father had not been pleased and had rode him relentlessly about it. Most Quincy began manifesting their powers around five or six, gaining a boost at puberty and finally settling into their final strength around twenty-two, another ten or fifteen years after that and they had usually achieved their mastery. He had not even been able to draw a bow at ten and had tried to make up for it with grades; but it hadn‘t mattered to his father. He was the last Quincy and he was without powers.

It hadn’t been until sixteen that he came into his power - his full powers - all in a rush. It had been heady and wonderful and he had delighted in the newfound attention Souken lavished on him - until he had realized that the only reason the older man was so interested was his powers. That realization had cemented his hatred of his father, but oddly enough, not of his Quincy powers. Those he had clung tight to and nurtured, training himself and devouring every lesson he could. Mostly because he had met Isshin and Kisuke by then.

They had been older than him, around twenty to his seventeen, but the three had become fast friends. Kisuke had been fascinated by his powers and Isshin had just loved to talk to him, enchanted by the human world and the idea of being human. He had simply loved having friends, people to talk to and to trust.

He sighed and stood, stretching before moving to stand before his window, looking out over the town. He growled faintly as his phone rang, drawing him from his peaceful contemplation of Karakura and his own life.

“What?” he snarled into the receiver, no reason to ruin a good morning by letting everyone know he was in a good mood.

“I tried to stop him, Dr. Ishida, but he wouldn’t listen and…” came a frantic, young female voice, the receptionist at the front desk - Hana or something. He hung up as he heard his secretary desperately trying to stop someone and couldn’t help the tiny smile that tugged at his lips. The woman had no chance. Isshin might have acted like an idiot, but he was quick, clever and strong.

“It’s fine, you can let Dr. Kurosaki in,” he said opening his door, smirking at the woman attempting to bar Isshin from his office.

Isshin grinned and sauntered in, a huge bag in his arms - that explained why the girl had been able to fend him off for as long as she had. “I figured you would be feeling better about now, so I brought lunch,” announced Isshin.

“And had to deliver it yourself?” taunted Ryuuken with a smirk.

“Well, I was thinking afterwards we might take a walk by the old hospital…,”

“By a certain Shinigami base?” he asked, sliding into the game with amusement.

“Since we would be in the area, I figured we might as well stop by there. See how a certain mutual friend is doing and maybe give you a chance to say hello to a certain young vice captain,” offered Isshin archly.

Ryuuken took the food from him, giving the former Shinigami a sharp look. He opened the bag and was greeted with the scent of garlic and basil - Italian. Isshin really was trying to get him to come. There was linguini and shrimp for him and lasagna for Isshin, small salads and plenty of garlic bread.

“I suppose I could see my way to a walk,” he murmured, setting out the food and making Isshin chuckle.

“Of course you could! A man your age needs to stay active,” teased the former Shinigami captain, earning a sharp glare from Ryuuken.

“I am not the one nearing his millennium,” growled the Quincy.

“Hey! I’m not that old!” protested Isshin.

“Another hundred and seventy-four years,” purred Ryuuken with a wicked smirk as Isshin flailed and sputtered. The Kurosaki family was prosperous enough that Isshin knew his birthday. Privately, Ryuuken thought that had things gone a little different in the war the Kurosaki family might have found itself promoted to a noble house. Soul Society was in desperate need on an infusion of strength and that was one thing the Kurosaki family had in spades.

Isshin finished his tantrum and pouted at him, making Ryuuken smirk. "Eat your lunch and we'll take your walk, Isshin," he murmured, sighing happily as he opened his carton. "Any plans for getting in the door? You will remember we were ejected."

"My daughter is sleeping with the base commander and my son is a captain. Also, I called Tessai and told him we were coming," announced Isshin smugly, clearly pleased with himself as he attacked his lunch with gusto.

"Is this where I point out that Tessai was your friend, not mine. And in fact, does not like me very much?" asked Ryuuken, before taking a bite of his pasta.

"He's making an exception so we can check up on Kisuke. He may not like you, but he loves Kisuke. Now enough on blondes, I want details on petite brunettes," pressed Isshin with a truly wicked grin.

Ryuuken glared at him, cursing that Isshin seemed to be one of the few beings immune to his glare. "There is nothing to tell. Kuchiki merely wanted a place to stay. Your son was upset over the situation with Kisuke and his reiatsu is rather overwhelming, as you well know. I let the girl sleep in my spare room. We had a few drinks and talked a bit. Honestly, Isshin, you're making something out of nothing."

Isshin eyed him jaundicely for a moment and Ryuuken relented with a sigh. "I will admit that she is a very lovely young woman. She is also quite intriguing and very well spoken. Under other circumstances I might be inclined to ask her to have drinks. These are not other circumstances, she is a Shinigami vice captain and I am a Quincy. She also happens to be rather good friends with my son and his lover - a fact you seem to be overlooking."

"So you admit that she's pretty," grinned Isshin cheekily.

"Are you selectively deaf or just stupid?" snapped the Quincy.

"Neither. I just fail to see your point of view on things. The Shinigami-Quincy argument is flawed since Uryuu is sleeping with Abarai and has been doing so for years. As for her being Uryuu's friend...Well, Kisuke and Ichigo seemed to work out pretty well."

Ryuuken growled, half tempted to shoot Isshin. "If there is one thing guaranteed to convince me not to pursue this idiocy it is comparing it to your son's affair." He paused and a considering smirk tugged at his lips. "Although could you imagine Uryuu and Abarai's reaction?"

Isshin howled with laughter and Ryuuken found his own lips turning up in a smile.

"Sadistic bastard," muttered Isshin once he had stopped laughing. "Still, I think it would be good for you to get out - even if it is only to piss off Abarai and reclaim your Quincy honor by drinking Kuchiki under the table."

"Fine, you can locate Kisuke and see how badly the Shinigami are screwing up handling him and I'll have a word with Kuchiki. It'll be nice to have an intelligent bit of conversation," snapped Ryuuken, wondering if it would be childish to throw the heel of his garlic bread at Isshin. Probably, he decided.

"You know, as long as we are discussion people getting out," he murmured gently.

Isshin grew sober and seemed to visibly dim. "I can't, Ryuuken. There was only her and there can only ever be her."

Ryuuken nodded, his eyes closing for a moment. If he ever needed proof in the existence of love he never had to look further than Isshin. Willing to give up everything for the woman he loved, still devoted to her memory - then again, Masuki had been someone worth doing those things for. He might have loved her himself once, if Isshin hadn't been taken with her the first time he laid eyes on her. And they had been happy. So happy. What he had imagined a marriage should always look like.

"It's all right, Isshin," he soothed, laying his hand over the other man's for just a moment, earning a grateful look from the former Shinigami. "Let's see about that walk. I have a Shinigami to drink under the table and someone needs to see how badly your lot are doing with Kisuke."

"Do you think we should make alternate arrangements for him?" asked Isshin.

"It couldn't hurt to have them standing by," murmured Ryuuken, making a private note to let Isshin be the one to tell the Shinigami when they took charge of Kisuke.