So, I finally got myself some time and typed up the next chapter. For that matter, I also watched the Xcution arc of the Bleach anime.

So, does anyone else see Kuchiki Byakuya's declaration of "I do indeed owe you a great debt and you have my gratitude. However, you are Kurosaki Ichigo's enemy. Therefore, no matter how much I owe you, I will kill you without a moment's hesitation." declaration to the memory-hijacker the next best thing to a claim of complete and total devotion? (What kind of devotion may be up to debate, granted, but from Byakuya it's quite the statement.)

Chapter 4

Ichigo glanced over at the clock, wondering what was keeping his father. "Maybe I should check on Dad," he stood up, moving to open the door separating the house and clinic.

The flying kick was unexpected but easily countered. "Dammit, Oyaji! What have I told you about attacking me whenever I open a door!"

Isshin gave a weak thumbs-up from his new position upside-down in the corner, "Nice counter, son!"

Ichigo sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Well, at least you're back to normal."

"Isshin!?"

"Oh?" Isshin rolled himself to his feet, looking at the Shinigami Captain who was staring at him. "My son! You haven't introduced us properly!" He turned on Ichigo with an out-flung fist.

Ichigo leaned out of the way, braced a hand against the wall, and kicked Isshin's feet out from under him. "Idiot! Will you stop acting like a tantruming three-year-old for five minutes?"

"Why is he acting like this is normal?" Isane asked Ukitake warily.

Ichigo snorted and turned his attention back to his guests, "Ignore his antics," he gestured towards the pouting man-child behind him, "Anyway, Ukitake-san, Isane-san, this is my dad; Kurosaki Isshin."

Ukitake stiffened slightly—name and face couldn't be coincidence, but the former Tenth Captain had gone missing years before… labeled KIA during a living-world mission where his reiatsu had spiked dramatically before disappearing from the Twelfth's scanners. Something had happened.

"Oyaji, Ukitake Juushiro and Kotetsu Isane. Try to behave while they're here."

Ukitake examined the man surreptitiously. Isshin wasn't showing any signs of recognition and the fact that he had no more reiatsu than a normal human was worrying enough, but it was worse that what little power he possessed felt nothing like the Shiba's should have. If he truly had no memory of whatever had caused it… they might never know what had happened to him.

But at least it gave an explanation for inborn Shinigami abilities. The Shibas were a true-blood family, and regardless of present ability, Isshin's blood remained what it was. And if he had married a spiritually aware human… well, it explained the insane reiatsu levels of the Shinketsu-human teen… and his facial structure, so similar to Kaien.

But if Isshin didn't know... the man had a human life—if a brief one—and a family. And apparent insanity that went far beyond even Shiba norm. Should they tell him? Try and get him healed?

A hand on his forehead broke Juushiro out of his thoughts.

"Oi, Ukitake-san, are you all right?"

"Oh… aa, I just got distracted," the Thirteenth Captain smiled at the younger Kurosaki.

Ichigo scowled slightly. He could only guess at what was going through the Captain's head, but knew better than to push the line of questioning, "If you say so. Oyaji! You got your kit? Let's get this thing started!"

xxxx

(Many) hours later, diagnosis confirmed and tests with reiyōku-saturated Rifampin against bacteria in the blood samples having shown very positive results, Ukitake was given his first dose of medication.

"We should start seeing sure improvement within a few weeks," Isshin informed his friend, regretting that he couldn't show how well he knew the Shinigami Taicho. "There's no way to say exactly when, as you're not… well, human, but even after you start feeling better, you need to take the medication as instructed. If we don't run you through the full regimen, we can't be sure that the illness won't return—especially if you've had it as long as you say you have. And… this might be a bit inconvenient, but it would be best if you remained in the… gigai?" Isshin waited for the slight nod of confirmation on the term, "For at least the first two weeks. It would be best to remain in it for the entire treatment session, but I'm guessing that might not be possible since you said you're one of the leaders. For now, though, you can take one of the clinic rooms so we can keep an eye out for any unusual reactions. As for you, Kotetsu-san, you said you're one of his doctors?"

"Healers, but yes."

Isshin nodded, "I'll write up a list of things to watch out for and instructions on the medication's use for you. Again, I'd prefer he remain in that… gigai… for as long as possible during the treatment."

Ichigo nodded at that, "Lets get you settled in, Ukitake-san. This way."

Ukitake himself was still too overwhelmed to come up with actual words and followed Ichigo in a half-daze, not quite able to wrap his mind around the unexpected cure. He hadn't allowed himself to truly hope this spur-of-the-moment idea a human teen had tossed at them would actually work, but Isshin, Isane, and Ichigo all declared it to have a very good chance at being a cure.

Hope, he discovered, was a stunningly sharp thing, cutting as deep as grief with an edge made of possibility instead of loss.

xxxx

Isane stayed for another two days before being recalled, but Ukitake had been put on medical leave by the Healer-Captain and continued to stay at the clinic. Ichigo sighed; with only one person who had known his father while the man had still been part of the Gotei, it was a little easier to keep the fact that Isshin remembered a secret.

Isane-san had figured out who he was on the second day, and Ichigo was fairly certain that the Thirteenth Captain had figured it out in the first twenty seconds. He hadn't said anything, though, and there was a recurring gleam of worry when the man glanced at Goat-Chin.

Well, hell with it—it was a gamble that he'd mentioned to his father late the night before, just to make sure he had approval—time to confront Ukitake.

If he did it right, the belief that Isshin was oblivious would be reinforced and Ichigo could freely admit to knowing his father had been part of the Squads. Captain of the Tenth… well, it helped explain his own power, at any rate.

Ukitake had headed over to a nearby park—no real surprise that he liked it there, as most of Karakura was steel and concrete and the parks held the majority of the larger plant-life in the city—so Ichigo headed out.

"Oi, Ukitake-san," he called once he was within easy range, "Can I talk to you?"

The Shinigami turned, smiling, "Of course, Ichigo-kun," he paused, taking in the teen's expression. "Is something wrong?"

Ichigo shook his head, "Not… wrong, no. It's just—you keep looking at my Dad like… like he's been hurt and you can't help. Like you know him, and are sad for it."

Juushiro stared for a long moment, then shook his head with a soft sigh, "You are very perceptive, Ichigo-kun. I believe I may have known your father some time ago, yes, but I do not have any real knowledge of his history and cannot be completely certain."

Ichigo shrugged, "All I know is that Mom found Dad half-dead and took the time to see him healthy again. He fell in love with her, eventually they got married. He said his first memory of this life was looking at the face of his angel." Not—quite—true. Oh, his dad had said that, exactly that, with emphasis on 'this', but he had more-or-less made up the rest of it. He'd tell his father what he'd said when he got home.

If he'd tried to deny and anyone had bothered to look at records, there was no telling what could happen; this way it was a combination of confirming suspicions and insuring Isshin's current separation from Soul Society. Powerless and without memory? They had no real reason to try and bring him back, and he got the feeling that this man, at least, was willing to stand up for his old friend.

"So… he is Shiba Isshin…"

"I don't know," Ichigo shrugged, "He took Mom's name when they married."

"He's all but powerless, and what little power he has feels… broken. His Ribbon is white; he is without his Zanpakuto, and… well, with that in mind, perhaps it's better that he doesn't remember. I don't know what I'd do if my blade's soul was torn from me."

Ichigo understood, sort-of. He could feel his own blade, for all that he had yet to speak with… him (probably a 'him', anyway). Even with a bond so tenuous, he was certain it would be agony to lose that presence in his soul.

Which actually could explain quite a bit of Isshin's insanity. Forceful distraction from loss—the man had gotten even more erratic after Masaki had died.

Ichigo sighed again, "Yeah, I think I know what you're saying. I can only feel mine, and already I think I'd… well. If I feel this way, I don't know what it would be like for someone who could hear their blade."

Ukitake remained silent for a long moment, then shook his head and changed the subject, "Well, since we're both here and it's a lovely afternoon… is there somewhere nearby where we could get in a Kido lesson?"

Ichigo nodded, a hint of a smile passing over his face. "Yeah, there's an abandoned construction site not too far. This way."

xxxx

Ichigo considered the rectangular shield in front of him, broader and taller than his own frame by perhaps two feet in each direction, as evidenced by the sudden three-inch thick imprint in the dirt. It was transparent, almost invisible—and had been much easier to cast than he'd expected.

"Huh," he said.

Ukitake blinked. "Well. I didn't expect you to get it up at all on your first try. Maintain that and I'll throw a few lower-level Hado at it. If it doesn't hold, duck."

'Sho' washed off in a puff of displaced air and the captain worked his way up by skipping three spell ranks each time. He got to 'Shakhakko' before stopping. "It seems solid and while it also seems like it could take much stronger spells, it would be dangerous to test that while you're in your human body. Go ahead and let it dissipate."

Ichigo nodded and a the pane of energy shimmered out of existence.

"How do you feel?"

Ichigo considered, then shrugged, breathing deep and steady. "Like I've jogged a while? Not bad, but a little out-of-breath and a little energized, I guess."

"Well done," Ukitake smiled, "Danku, working on the first try. I'm impressed."

"It wanted enough power that it was easy to shape," Ichigo explained. "That's what you planned on, right?"

"Yes," the man's smile widened, "Still, I expected it to take a few tries before you got it right… but, then, you've been manipulating your power outside your body for a while now, haven't you?"

Ichigo thought that over, "Yeah, I guess. It doesn't feel the same, though. This kido is much easier. It doesn't fight me; it pretty much shaped itself. The words actually do something, don't they?"

Ukitake nodded, "Danku is simplest of the high-level Bakudo, the only one that doesn't need an actual incantation. There is one, of course, but it focuses just as well without it, so no one actually bothers to remember what the incantation is. All the focus for the spell snaps into place just by saying 'Danku'. Do you think you could create it without the name? It usually weakens a spell by at least sixty percent, but I'm not sure how you shape reiyōku, so you might be fine."

Ichigo shrugged and brought up the pane-like shield again, silently pushing his power into the same pattern it had snapped to when he'd spoken the spell. A little harder, but…

Ukitake frowned, inspecting the result. "Perhaps a bit less stable, but certainly not by any great amount. What were you thinking about when you made it?" Had Ichigo incanted silently, as he had learned to?

"I just pushed it into the pattern the name had pulled it into. It's not quite right along the outer edge, but I can fix that with some practice. The middle of the pattern is octagonal—not all that stable. I think if I just…" he reached out with something, formless as thought, and tugged at the power in the shield, turning the octagon into connected triangles, threads of power that would shunt impacting force outwards, to slough off the edge of the shield instead of concentrating the force at the middle. The edges… hmm…

A mild curve, ragged? Better in case of nearby innocents or allies, starting out jagged and tapering into almost-thread to catch and disperse force.

Ukitake gaped, "What did you just do?"

"Hit it with something heavier than that red fireball," Ichigo instructed, holding the shield in place as he stepped around to the front of it, beside the now even more baffled Captain.

Said Captain was clearly repressing the urge to stare at him, but nodded. "Sprinkled on the bones of the beast! Sharp tower, red crystal, steel ring. Move and become the wind, stop and become the calm. The sound of warring spears fills the empty castle! Hadou Number 63: Raikouhou!"

Ichigo watched clinically as the wave of yellow electricity impacted his shield—which did exactly as he'd wanted it to. The power was shunted to the edges, tangled briefly in the threads, and dispersed into a shower of sparks. He had a vague thought of a reversed elliptical-type set up, to reflect back, but that would only work if something hit dead-center. Not worth the effort.

Ukitake shook his head slightly, trying to focus. "What did you do?"

"I shifted the pattern," Ichigo explained. "The pane with a central octagon was less stable and relied on raw power to endure. I changed it to interconnected triangles and altered the shape to shift force outwards, but that could hurt nearby allies, so I made the edges pretty ragged to catch and diffuse the energy. Hang on, though—Danku."

The word pulled his power into the first pattern.

"Huh. So, I don't have an incantation for that. I'm pretty sure it'll take at least thirty seconds to get up, too… I need to practice."

Ukitake shook his head again, smiling wryly. "Well, now that you have made an entirely new kido that has neither name nor incantation, shall we try a lower-level Bakudo? I would like to see when it becomes difficult for your power to form the spells."

xxxx

Ichigo rolled his shoulders, a little tired but pleased. He hadn't been able to control anything under seventy-three and Tozansho itself was unstable, but now he had something to work on. Ukitake, however, was starting to look pretty worn out. "Oi, Ukitake… let's head back, huh? You're getting better, but you've still got a while before you're illness will be gone. Don't push too much."

"I'm fine," the Captain assured.

"No, you're not," Ichigo snorted, "You've gotten used to it, I'm sure, but if you push too hard, it'll just take longer for you to get well. So get better, then push your limits."

Ukitake bowed his head slightly, smiling. "Aa, well, then… I'll defer to your judgment, Ichigo-sensei*."

xxxx

*Sensei—the closest English translation is probably 'teacher', but there are a myriad of other uses for the honorific that reflect more on how a person is viewed than actual profession. The term is often applied to doctors, especially family doctors. In this case, Ukitake's use falls somewhere between gently mocking and genuinely respectful.