Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ Bleach Ficlets: Dare To Live ❯ 34 Locked & Loaded ( Chapter 34 )

Authors Note: I don't own Bleach and make no claims on it. If I did, there'd be a whole hell of a lot of kinky shit going down.

 

34Locked & Loaded

 

The front door open and closed with a muffled bang. The three of us sitting in the kitchen turned to stare at the entrance way. My father, dork extraordinaire, walked in and froze when he saw all of us watching him. He tried for a welcoming smile but let it fade when none of us responded to it. Oh yeah, he knew he was in trouble.

 

“You didn't have to wait for me. I had an emergency just as I was leaving and had to accompany a patient to the hospital.”

 

Yuzu'd insisted that we wait for Dad to get home before we could eat. That was forty-five minutes ago. For nearly ruining Yuzu's meal, he deserved a knock to the head. For making Yuzu almost cry over it, he deserved a kick to the balls. Ichigo stood and scowled at our Dad before stalking over to him and standing nose to nose with him.

 

“Just as you were leaving… where? Yuzu sent me to tell you supper would be ready in twenty minutes, but the clinic was locked up tight. You coulda called if you knew you were going to be held up at the hospital,” Ichigo said giving Dad a jab in the chest with his finger.

 

Dad winced and grunted, one hand coming up to cover the spot where Ichigo had poked him while the other shoved Ichigo away. Ichigo took a step back, frowned and narrowed his eyes. Great. I knew that look and I didn't like it one bit. Two big, dumb animals were going to scrap it out in the middle of the kitchen and then expect me and Yuzu to clean up their mess. Not gonna freaking happen this time. I was out of my chair and between the two of them before punches could actually fly, one hand pressed to Dad's chest and the other against Ichigo's.

 

“Do not start a fight here and now. You can beat the daylights out of each other after the supper that Yuzu worked so hard to make and that is very close to being ruined,” I said with a stern look at my father and brother.

 

Dad looked guilty and Ichigo flushed with embarrassment. Yuzu softly called everyone to the table and hurried to set out the dishes. I could understand Ichigo's look but I wasn't entirely sure why Dad looked so guilty. Fine, he was late and hadn't called to say he'd be late, but that shouldn't produce such a guilty look. Nobody said anything and the majority of the meal was eaten in a tense kind of silence. I think it might've been better if I'd let Ichigo and Dad beat the snot out of each other before we ate. It might've cut some of the tension. I watched Ichigo and Dad covertly through the meal. The two of them had been acting weirder than normal for a while now, and that was saying a lot.

 

Most of the sex noises from Ichigo's room had stopped or were a lot quieter. It was bugging the living daylights out of me that I couldn't figure out who he was sleeping with or catch one of his boyfriends entering or leaving his room. That alone was beyond weird. Not that I was staking out his door or anything, but we didn't live in a thirty-room mansion either. Odds were that I'd see one of his boyfriends at some point. Yet I hadn't and that made no sense.

 

Dad ate his supper and made noises of approval to Yuzu. She smiled and just like that, her mood lifted from upset to happy. Dad was shifting around in his seat and if I didn't know better, I'd swear he was fidgeting. I narrowed my eyes at him, trying to figure out what was making him so twitchy, but nothing jumped out at me. There was a subtle current of… something that seemed attached to Dad, but I just couldn't put my finger on what it was. I gave up after a while when all I'd managed to do was give myself the beginnings of a headache. The only thing that I did see right off the bat that was odd and not something I wanted to notice at all was that one of Dad's nipples looked like it was trying to poke a hole through his shirt. I so didn't need that brought to my attention.

 

Supper over, Ichigo and Dad escaped before Yuzu could rope them into helping with the dishes. I helped her, all the while muttering under my breath about how certain people needed to lend a hand more around the house before they got my sneaker stuffed up their nose sideways. Dishes done and with Yuzu happily watching a comedy on TV, I went in search of Ichigo. While I had all kinds of questions for Ichigo about his boyfriends, I was more interested in our father's new strangeness this time and wanted to talk to Ichigo first to see if he might have any idea what was going on with our dad. I knocked on Ichigo's door and got a grumpy “what?” in answer.

 

“Need to talk, Ichi. Now.”

 

Ichigo opened his door, scanned the hall and pulled me into his room. He had books open on his desk, so I assumed I'd interrupted him studying. Tough. I had questions and he was going to give me the answers I wanted.

 

“If this is about the tunes I cranked a little while back, I'm sorry. I really liked that song and didn't think….”

 

I waved my hand at Ichigo. “Nope, this isn't about that, although that story doesn't fool me for a second. I'm still curious who your boyfriends are. Why don't you invite them over? Come on, Ichi, we wanna met these boy-toys of yours.”

 

“Like I want to bring my boyfriends over for Dad to embarrass,” Ichigo snorted. “Besides, they're… uhhh… shy and have a busy schedule.”

 

“Riiiiiight. Okay. Whatever. You'll eventually have to introduce us. I can wait,” I smirked when Ichigo paled a little. “I wanted to ask if you'd noticed that Dad has been acting weirder than normal lately. During supper tonight, I sorta noticed a strange … aura or energy around Dad. It was really faint, but it's bugging the crap outta me. You had to notice it, too. You see spirits and… things, so you can't tell me you didn't feel it.”

 

Ichigo sighed and rubbed the back of his head. A tinge of pink coloured his cheeks and my eyebrows rose. He scowled and glanced at his mirror before looking back at me. I folded my arms across my chest and gave him a look that said not to try and fluff me off.

 

“Actually, I didn't feel anything. I don't notice that stuff unless I concentrate on it.”

 

I was sure my eyes were bugging out of my head in shock. No freaking way he hadn't felt that. What the… he was a Shinigami. Didn't they feel stuff like that all the time? Wasn't that part of their job or something? Was he trying to protect me? I sighed and dragged a hand over my face. God save me from idiot fathers and dorky brothers.

 

“Well? Concentrate already,” I demanded with a hard poke to his chest.

 

Ichigo scowled at me but closed his eyes. His frown deepened and he muttered a soft “what the fuck?” before opening his eyes. He stared off into space thinking hard for several minutes before looking at me.

 

“There is something faint around Dad but I don't know what it is. I don't think it's there to hurt him or us. Leave it alone, Karin. It's nothing big enough to get worked up over.”

 

I stared at Ichigo and was almost positive he was lying to me. He probably thought he was protecting me. I still wanted to punch him anyway. I whirled on my heel and stomped to his door.

 

“Don't say anything to Dad about this feeling you got from him, Karin. We both know he won't tell you shit if he thinks he's protecting you from something. You'll only make things tense between you and Dad if you corner him and that'll upset Yuzu.”

 

I glared at Ichigo over my shoulder, pissed off that he was right and was doing something similar. I was frustrated and had my mouth in motion before I could stop myself.

 

“Like father, like son huh, Ichigo,” I snapped before walking out of his room and slamming the door behind me. It was very small consolation that Ichigo had a look on his face like I'd just sucker punched him.

 

There was something going on with Dad, and Ichigo now had an idea what it was but wasn't going to tell me. Weirdness was the name of the game with Ichigo and his boyfriends, too. Down-right bizarre stuff going on with the men in my family and I hated being out of the loop because they thought they were protecting me like I was some dumb little kid and couldn't handle it. Whatever it was. I was going to find out what was going on come hell, high water or over-protective family members.

 

Just watch me.