A song of Death Gods and Direwolves chapter 23

I do not own ASOIF or Bleach

Japanese been spoken

It was Sansa's name day or as Ichigo simply called it, a birthday. Nearly a week has passed since the battle of the stone bridge, as people have taken to calling it. A lot of the citizens of the now city-state kept their distance at first from the lord, the initial rumors outright frightening them. A single man stopping an army of thousands. And yet, the more time went on, the more exaggerated the rumors became, none but the cavalry that Arya had led knowing the full truth. The event soon went more to the back of people's minds, although some weariness remained when around the lord.

No word has come from any of the other ends of the Westerlands of the capitol and Ichigo allowed himself a small breather. As his good sister was having a birthday, a large quantity of lemon cakes were made. All in all, the feast was to be a small one, if it can even be called a feast. When night drew near, the four family members took a seat around the table, Sansa having the seat of honor this time around.

Ichigo had noticed the way Sansa looked at Nymeria, the girl nearly breaking into tears and actually running away when the direwolf returned with them. Even now, she kept occasionally throwing glances at the large animal as it lay in the side of the room, observing silently from a distance.

The talk around the table was light and it was her mother, Caitlyn that presented Sansa with her first gift of the evening. A long-sleeved, form-fitting blue dress with crimson outlines. Ichigo was no expert in any way, but he could at least agree that the fabric it was made of looked nice.

Arya came up next, giving Sansa a large book. It was clad in simple brown leather and boasted a good three hundred pages. Looking at the title, 'The Way of Conflict', Ichigo was quick to recognize it as one of the books in Castamere's library. Despite boasting a relatively large collection of books, Ichigo had only read the poetry ones, strangely enough. It was actually a book from some kingdom to the east that resembled old China, but for all the resemblances, Ichigo found that it was still a different state then what he knew of the old neighbor back home.

"I knew you would not like a sword, so…" mumbled Arya sheepishly, occasionally throwing glances at Ichigo, the orange-head realizing that she hoped that he would not recognize the book. It would seem that his spitfire of a wife had simply taken it from the library and somehow, that brought a small smile to his face. It would be just in her character to completely forget that her sister had a birthday and remember in the last minute, only to give her a present that she herself would rather have.

"Thank you, Arya. I would be sure to read it." Returned the elder sister, giving an uneasy smile before it morphed into a more genuine one, the girl idly tracing the letters on the cover.

Ichigo then excused himself in order to bring his own gift. He went up to his room and found the tiger cub excitedly sitting on his bed. He cracked a small smile seeing the creature. It did look a lot healthier now than when he first bought it, and having the tiger simply roam around his room with no form of restriction was amusing to see, even to him. The small creature jumped at him as he entered, his claws trying unsuccessfully to entangle themselves in the fabric of his pants, the white thing falling to the floor, landing on all fours.

"C'mon. Time to meet your new owner. I am sure you will like her." The creature made a strange noise, almost as if he understood him. Bending down and picking him up, the cub no bigger than the average grown cat, the orange-head began his descend downstairs. For a moment, he wondered about how right he was about this gift. Was he not in a way simply replacing Lady? Ichigo understood and saw the need that Sansa felt for a companion, even an animal one. The closer he drew to the door of the dining room, the more he felt his doubts rise, the cub surprisingly calm and silent in his hands.

Eventually, he entered the room, the small chatter that was there instantly ending as three sets of eyes locked upon the white bundle. No one moved and slowly, Ichigo came around and set the thing infront of Sansa, stepping back. The orange-head felt his doubts sky-rocket as the girl made no indication her eyes locked upon the tiger infront of her.

"I know that no one can ever replace Lady and I am not trying to. But you need some happiness in your life." He said slowly, the phrase sounding much better in his head then it did out loud.

Just as he was about to ask if she liked it, if he should take it back, the girl gingerly extended her hand and scratched the cat behind its good ear, the white bundle purring in delight and nuzzling her palm. The girl turned to him, a small smile on her face.

"You have given me great happiness by allowing me to live here, by giving me back what family I had left. You have been nothing but kind to me, my lord. Thank you."

Ichigo allowed himself a small smile in return. The orange-head simply hoped that at least things would get easier now around his land or at the very least – his castle. He did not doubt his ability to win the war that he started, but it was more of a case of thinking how to do it with the least amount of people dying on any side. He supposed he can simply deal with all lords before they could have even assembled their armies, yet no matter what, he realized he would have to destroy their entire families for there to be no response.

"Don't mention it." He returned, steeping back and letting the three females admire and even pet the small cub.

Ichigo then heard it. From the open window towards the front courtyard, a buzz. A buzz that he had not heard in nearly five years. A buzz that he dearly missed. The buzz of flash step.

He moved to the window with uncharacteristically slow cautious steps. He saw a shape there, sitting in the evening sun, a smug smile on the figure's lips. Eyes widening, the orange-head rushed the stairs down to the yard before suddenly grinding to a halt.

He looked the same, exactly the same as he remembered him to be. The gruff beard, the short hair. He stood, his hand folded, the arms hidden in his sleeves. Before the orange-head can react, the figure spotted a massive grin before shooting forth, legs first.

"ICHIGOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" a shout that probably carried far over the city below. The older man only met a round kick from the lord, sending him flying into a tree. Comically did the man collide with it, sliding down to the base.

"WHAT THE HELL, GOAT CHIN?!" shouted Ichigo in turn. All three women that were now poking their heads from the window were surprised, having never heard him shout, and in a foreign language, no less.

"Good, you haven't lost all your reflexes. My morning trainings were not for nothing!" said the man as he got up, dusting himself, a smile returning to his face.

"It really is you…" mumbled Ichigo just loud enough to for the man to hear him. The orange-head walked towards the other man, a smile beginning to grow on his lips as a single tear escaped his eye. "…dad."

"MY WAYWARD SON!" shouted Isshin in returning, embracing the long-haired man before him, Ichigo gladly returning the hug, none of them moved and Ichigo though he heard "Masaki, I finally found him." The two of them broke after a while, Ichigo bearing a small, genuine smile.

"I never thought I would say this, but I missed you, goat-chin."

"Ofcourse, you would! Who can live without me?!" boasted Isshin, pumping his chest, his chin held high before the elder man once again softening. "We all missed you too, dearly. Much had happened."

"How is everyone? Are they alright? What of the war, of Aizen?" suddenly questioned Ichigo, Isshin only closing his eyes and beginning to rummage through his pockets.

"Don't worry about Aizen. That war was won and so was the next one." Finding what he was looking for, the dark-haired male pulled out a pack of cigars and a lighter. "The girls are safe and so are your friends. Ishida and that girl, Orihime, even married and had a child, like a month ago."

"A child…" mumbled Ichigo, his voice a mix of emotions. Happiness for his friends yet also sadness for not been there to see it. Sadness for having missed so much that his friends have built a new life for themselves without him in it.

The orange-head was broken out of his thoughts by his father trying to light a cigar. Before the fire can ignite the tobacco, the offensive piece of smoking device flew out of the older man's hand. "No smoking in my castle." Icily said Ichigo.

Isshin was momentarily taken aback, his eyes wide.

"Your castle?"

"Yes, my castle, my town, my lands." Returned the lord of Castamere.

"Aye, I can see it." mumbled his father, taking a look around as if just noticing where he was, but given that he arrived via shunpo, it was not surprising all that much. Taking a closer look at his son, Isshin said. "Your eyes have changed. They are strong, yet tired."

"You've got no idea…" mumbled Ichigo, his mind going to management of the town, the war and finally his wife… his wife! Uncharacteristically, Ichigo began awkwardly scratching the back of his neck.

"Dad… there are some people you should meet." Seeing his son's embarrassment, Isshin's eyes lit up like wildfires.

"Lead the way, son!" he enthusiastically responded.

The two of them entered the keep, going several floors up before coming back to the hall where Sansa was having her name day. On the way, Ichigo idly asked: "You do speak English?"

"Of course, my son. It is mandatory to speak the most popular world of the living language for a captain!" shredding lightly, Ichigo pushed the door open.

"Hey, am… well… this is my father, Isshin Kurosaki. Dad, these are Caitlyn Stark and her daughters, Sansa Stark and Arya… " Ichigo visibly paused "Kurosaki." One could have heard a pin drop before a bellow left Isshin's lips in, as the locals would call it, Westerosi.

"MASAKIIIIIIIIIII, OUR SON IS A PEDOPHILE!"

A bit shorter than average chapter, but I haven't posted something in a long time and felt it was needed. Finally more Bleach appears and who else but the most eccentric of all (maybe after Urahara). The next chapter would probably be more background and discussion, so it would probably not be all that long, either.

As for the whole future of the story, I had another idea where to take it, however it is very far down the line but just a hint… black and green.

Thank you for reading.