Chapter Text
Ichigo was hurt, worse than he’d ever been hurt before. Yuzu had overheard a few of the strange spirits- the Shinigami, talking about it. They somehow knew she couldn’t see ghosts well. They didn’t know that her powers, like Karin’s and a few other peoples, had increased since her older brother had gotten tangled up with the Shinigami, and she could now hear them perfectly well.
She’d looked worried and concerned- and done her best not to react to their words at all as she sat on the bench nearest the Urahara Shoten.
One of the voices was familiar- the man with the long red hair and tattoos that had attended school briefly with Ichigo and had worked at the Urahara Shouten. The other was a man she’d never heard before.
“Poor kid’s worried sick.” Abarai-san had spoken first. “Wonder what they’ve told her.”
The other voice was wry. “The truth, perhaps?”
“Doubt it Taichou. That’s the one which can’t see ghosts- the sweetheart of the family. Easily upset. She’s not crying- so she knows Ichigo’s hurt, but not that he might die.”
Might die? Yuzu deliberately looked over her shoulder to the Shoten, catching a glimpse of the blurred shapes. It was definitely Abarai, although he was wearing black instead of his usual interesting clothes, while the other man was tall, with dark hair, and wearing something white over black. She looked forward again.
“Any sister of Kurosaki’s could not be so naïve.”
“The way he gets about them? I’d totally believe they had no idea about any of this.”
That may have been true- Ichigo was insanely protective of them. The man seemed to believe that meant he guarded them from all harm, which admittedly he made a fair attempt at, but Ichigo had also taught them skills to help them survive in tricky situations. Yuzu didn’t know anyone else whose big brother had taught them about gang territories and Yakuza fronts, or how to eavesdrop on conversations in plain sight.
She bit her lip and went for her bag.
The conversation continued. “I would believe it of Shiba Isshin to keep his family in the dark, but I had not expected the same of Kurosaki. Did he expect their ignorance to shield them? Or did he plan on always being able to destroy their enemies?”
“I dunno. If he wakes up, we can ask him- not like he’s going to be able to fight hollows with no powers. If not- the other one’s got potential. Ichigo in miniature female form. Maybe she’d train up.”
There was a map in her bag. She opened it up and gazed at it blankly.
“Abarai-fukutaichou, Kurosaki is strong. He has made a great sacrifice for the Gotei 13, and it may take him his entire human lifespan to recover from the loss of half of his soul- but he will recover. And when he does, if he learns that anyone suggested training one of his beloved sisters to replace him, he would utterly destroy them. I strongly suggest never mentioning such.”
Tall-and-dark was clearly a sensible man with a good sense of Ichigo’s priorities in life. Her big brother was of the opinion that anyone going after his sisters would have to go through him first- the one and only time Otou-san had suggested ‘training’ Karin like he did Ichigo, Ichigo had calmly promised to cut off Isshin’s foot if he ever kicked Karin. A doctor needed his hands after all.
Abarai took a long time to answer. “Lost half his soul? I thought he just lost his powers. That’s not so bad- he’s human, they don’t usually have powers.”
“He was born half Shinigami. With that came with his Zanpakuto, even if he only became aware of his full potential powers this past year. In using the Final Moon Cutter technique, he lost that part of him. I do not know that I would survive the loss of Senbonzakura in such a manner- although if anyone could survive after such a loss, it would be Kurosaki Ichigo.”
Yuzu stood up abruptly- she couldn’t bear to listen for one more second.
The map in her hands, she marched down the sidewalk with no idea of where she was going- until she passed a particular signpost.
Then she knew. She opened up her map again and found she was right, her destination was less than ten minutes away, but time was of the essence, especially since she still had to get the needed supplies. She broke into a run- the morning had just begun, she could still make it if she tried.
XXX
The next morning, Urahara Kisuke was surprised to hear Tessai call him from Ichigo’s side in order to deal with a visitor.
When he went into the store, he was even more surprised to see young Yuzu Kurosaki leaning on the counter, a grim look on her face.
“Urahara-sensei.” She greeted and when had he become Sensei? The last time they spoke he’d been Urahara-san, what had happened to change that? “I have something for Ichigo.”
He opened his mouth to protest- Yuzu was a good cook, but Ichigo was essentially in a coma and thus couldn’t eat, but thankfully he noticed the bag Yuzu clenched in her hand. Curious, he put out a hand for it.
Yuzu gritted her teeth and walked to him, limping.
“Are you alright Kurosaki-san?” He asked worriedly, as she nearly stumbled.
“I’ll be fine.” She bit out, even as she pressed the bag at him.
He opened it and was hit with a strong smoky scent- incense. He had never been good at kumikō or other incense games though, so he couldn’t identify which type. He could at least tell it was less flowery than he would have expected from Kurosaki Yuzu. Curiosity piqued, he opened the bag further.
It had two items, one concealed beneath the scarf Yuzu had worn the day before. He moved it to reveal a plush toy fox with a red ribbon around its neck. The fur was very soft, and when he squeezed the plush was soft, definitely not as stiff as a plush meant for decoration..
“For Ichigo?” He clarified.
Yuzu nodded, and Kisuke couldn’t help but notice that the scowl on her face made her resemble her brother fiercely, no matter how much she took after Masaki’s gentler nature.
“Inari Ōkami is the protector of Warriors Urahara-sensei.” Yuzu said. “I asked him to help Ichigo through this.”
That… had not been what Kisuke had expected. He hadn’t known Yuzu was religious- sure, the Kurosaki’s attended all the usual festivals- but so did just about everyone in town, regardless of their beliefs.
That said- he recalled a time when Ichigo had been training to rescue Rukia. The night before, he’d come down from the shop smelling of the incense used at their small shrine to Inari. He didn’t use the shrine much himself, he had installed it back when it was commonplace for small shops to have one and had left it as something that fit the ‘old-fashioned shop owner’ persona. He’d assumed Ichigo had just wanted a moment to himself- but perhaps the contradictory young man had been praying.
HHe glanced down at the bag again. If she had brought the toy fox to a shrine, it might explain why it smelled of incense. However, with such a strong scent still clinging to it, it must have been close to the burner for a long time, and he couldn’t imagine any of the Kurosaki children sat still in prayer for any true length of time, not even Yuzu.
Yet- her feet pained her. Hyakudo-mairi, the one hundred times pilgrimage, was said to be more effective done barefoot.
He closed the bag and bowed to the young girl. “Perhaps you’d like to place them yourself?” He offered. “He’s not conscious, and we don’t expect him to be for a long while yet- and quite frankly we hope it’s after the pain he’s in has subsided.”
Tessai gawked at him, even as Yuzu’s face lit up. “Thank you Urahara-sensei!”
Kisuke had always considered his former student’s protective attitude over his little sisters to be adorable if a bit odd.
Nonetheless, he found himself giving one of those little sisters a piggy back down the stairs into the room where Ichigo rested- not a storeroom, but an actual room he’d cleared out and placed a western style bed in.
Yuzu hopped down from his back and hobbled over, leaning on a part of the bed far from her brother’s form.
“Hello Ni-san.” She greeted, accepting the bag back from Kisuke. “I have something for you.”
Kisuke walked to the doorway but didn’t leave, instead watching for a moment as Yuzu fussed over her big brother. She placed the fox toy with part of it under his pillow, carefully positioned so its eyes were on Ichigo.
““I bought this before I started stepping one hundred times.” Yuzu said. “Then I went to the Homewares Store for bamboo skewers, I bought ribbon to make a collar for Kitsune-kun. Maybe I’ll even make him a Shinto priest outfit while you get better, I didn’t have much time last night after I got home.”
She took her scarf out of the larger bag carefully, and as she unwrapped it he saw why- there was an Omamori in the folds. She slipped it under Ichigo’s pillow.
“I didn’t think any of the Omamori on sale in the shop were good for you- although I did buy a kanai-anzen for our house.” Urahara nodded- Ichigo would appreciate a wish for the safety of his family, although peace and prosperity of the household would be impossible in the Kurosaki home, with four headstrong members.
“Luckily the Kannushi on duty was really nice. Todora-san made me one for spiritual and physical recovery, after I told him the story Karin came up with. Dad’s story wasn’t very good.” Yuzu made a face. “In fact, it was terrible. Karin kicked him for it, so she decided we’d tell everyone you have a head injury and are in a coma- we’re hopeful you’ll wake up soon, but we don’t know the effects of the head injury and won’t know until you wake up.”
She stayed there for a while, chatting away to a brother too lost in agony to hear her. She kept a smile on her face as she told him about her visit to the shrine, but eventually her voice shook and tears fell from her eyes.
Kisuke was completely out of his depth- but he couldn’t leave her. He stepped away from the doorframe and lay a hand on her shoulder. He didn’t say anything- all he could think of to say were the usual platitudes one spouted in a situation like this, and that wouldn’t help the child in front of him.
She was obviously still in pain when she declared her intention to leave, so he ordered Jinta to see her home. Jinta lit up like he’d given him tickets to see his favourite baseball team and rushed to the door.
Before following Jinta, Yuzu bowed to Kisuke. “Thank you Urahara-sensei, for letting me see Ichigo. I know my father would disapprove.”
That was true, but… “I thought you might want to give Ichigo those gifts yourself, so you knew for certain he had them. He’ll be glad to know you visited when he wakes up, even if he also yells at me in case you were traumatised for life.” He responded. “I didn’t consider your father at all.”
For reasons he didn’t understand she smiled brightly at him, bowing again and hobbling over to Jinta, who put an arm out, like a gentleman in bygone days of the West.
He could have gone to his lab, or done some work for the store, even if it was officially closed for stocktaking. Instead, he grabbed the incense burner from the shrine and returned to Ichigo’s bedside.
He put a hand to Ichigo’s forehead, checking both his temperature and his reiryoki levels. The former was a bit high, the latter was still falling.
He should have tended to Ichigo with Kido. Instead, he wiped down Ichgio’s face and neck with a damp cloth they kept nearby and ran a hand through his hair, pushing the growing length back from Ichigo’s face. “I hope those prayers come true.” He said quietly, leaning down to rest his forehead against Ichigo’s for just one moment. He turned and put the incense burner on the same desk as the wash basin and lit a stick of lavender incense. It was perhaps not the most masculine of scents, but it was meant to be calming.
He placed a kido barrier around it to allow him to leave it without fearing for Ichigo’s health, and then left the room.
XXX
Inari Ōkami- my name is Kurosaki Yuzu. I pray to you, Protector of Warriors, on behalf of my brother Ichigo. He-who-protects. Number-One-Guardian. He was wounded- badly. Someone said he’d lost half of his soul- and I don’t know much about souls, but I know that isn’t good. Ichigo’s hurting, and he will hurt for the rest of his life. If there’s anything in your power to help my brother be as whole as possible, to help make him able to face the world as a warrior again, please help him! Ichigo’s whole self is based on the fact he protects people, be it from thoughtless delinquents, yakuza thugs, or hollows. The people around him, who he went to battle with… They’re mourning him. Because he won’t be able to fight hollows or see ghosts. Like they think that was all he was.
He’s so much more than that Inari Ōkami. He’s my big brother, a loyal friend to anyone who earns his friendship or respect, and he’s a dork who loves Shakespeare but hides it because he thinks it’ll make him seem less scary to people who want to fight him.
Please- I want him to be okay again, one day.
Within Ichigo’s bedroom, concealed from spiritual senses by the kido, the incense flared. He groaned as he opened his eyes- his head turning towards the plush fox Yuzu had left.
His eyes opened, just a sliver- and met the glowing red eyes of the plush toy. Uncomprehending, Ichigo slipped back into darkness…