Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ Father to Daughter ❯ Father to Daughter Part II ( Chapter 2 )

Pairings: Ichigo/Rukia, slight Isshin and Rukia fluff

Thanks to all those who have reviewed the first chapter: animals, Tituba, Bushido, and akirk85029. Also to all those who have read but didn’t review, thanks.

Now on to the story:

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Isshin smiled. “Good then, we can start immediately. I have our whole day planned!” And then came out the map with Isshin pointing to every stop that had a big dot on it. As Yuzu, Karin, and Ichigo got up to leave, Ichigo couldn’t help but give a good luck pat to Rukia whose eyes dropped from their sockets. Good Buddha, have mercy on her!

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Isshin and Rukia made their way out of the house and clinic only stopping to lock the door. Soon they were walking for the first dot on the map, the park. Even though Rukia had been to the park plenty of times, she didn’t want to tell Isshin this and not ruin his day.

Once they got to the park, he motioned for her to have a seat next to him. “So Rukia-Chan, what do you think of Kurakura town?”

“I think it’s beautiful actually. And everyone here so far has been very nice to me.”

“Do you know why I brought you here to the park Rukia-chan?”

“er…no.”

“Well, do you see that jungle gym over there? That’s the very jungle gym where Ichigo fell down and broke his arm when he was five. The little rascal wanted to be the big man on the playground and decided to climb to the top, but lost his footing and fell.” Rukia listened intently to this. Ichigo had never told her he had broken his arm at such a young age. “He cried and cried, poor boy, but with his mommy at his side, it didn’t last long. My Masaki was able to put a stop to any ill-humor. She was gifted that way.” Rukia stared at the jungle gym and watched the little children trying to climb it. It was quit a feat to climb on such a daring object, but she could easily see an orange-headed five year old, stubborn to the core, attempt to climb it. It was just like Ichigo. Never thinking ahead, but plunging forward.

“I enjoy coming here sometimes by myself. It brings back such great memories.” Rukia looked to the man sitting beside her. “We used to have a family picnic almost every Sunday right underneath that tree. Masaki would make the best little deserts, and Ichigo always tried to fit all of it into his mouth. He was such a little pig.” Isshin smiled widely and Rukia couldn’t help but to ask.

“Do you think it would be okay to have a picnic every once in a while?” Isshin smiled tenderly down at her. “It’s been ages since we’ve had a family picnic, not since my dear wife passed on. For a long time, I don’t think Ichigo would even consider having a picnic here in the park. But it’s been a long time, and traditions are meant to be kept up. Rukia-Chan, I would enjoy it greatly to have a family picnic once again.” Times change, and so do people Rukia-Chan. Ichigo wouldn’t object to a family picnic now.

And so Rukia smiled feeling a bit better now that she had gotten the ball rolling to being comfortable. It was a personal matter, of course, this family picnic, but she couldn’t help herself. She kept imagining a beautiful woman with soft brown hair carrying a blanket on one arm, and holding Ichigo’s hand in the other while Isshin and his girls raced to the tree with the food. She had never had that, a mother and father to have a picnic with, but then again, she doesn’t regret her earlier life with Renji and the boys either.

“Come on Rukia-chan, we have more places to visit.” Shaking her out of her thoughts, Rukia got up and walked beside Isshin to their next destination.

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“Achoo!”

“You okay there Ichigo? That was a big one. It almost sent me flying across the street.” Keigo stated getting close and personal with Ichigo’s face. Ichigo looked away.

“Shut up moron.” He stated putting his hand to Keigo’s face and pushing him back. “It’s not like I caught a cold or anything.”

“Maybe some lovely lady is speaking about you.” That was Mizuiro chiming in his piece. “Could it be the lovely Rukia-san making remarks about her beloved strawberry?”

Ichigo’s eye twitched. “Shut up Mizuiro. Rukia is out with my dad today doing some serious bonding time. I doubt that she would stop to think on me.” Although deep down, Ichigo secretly wished that Rukia was having thoughts about him. Because he knew that he sure was, especially after seeing the movie that Keigo just made them go through. In fact, when he got home, he just might take the next step and kiss her. “Ichigo? You thinking naughty thoughts strawberry?” Mizuiro once again came into his thoughts.

“Ohhhhh…I bet they’re about the lovely Rukia-san. Oh Ichigo you lucky jerk! To have such a beautiful, small, and lithe woman at your side always. I bet she feels great underneath….ack!” Mizuiro sighed as he watched his angry orange-haired friend strangle his idiotic friend. He laughed to himself. Ichigo used to never be opened like this. Rukia-san has changed you in ways you’ll never know Ichigo.

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“Kurakura Arcade and Fun Park!” Isshin shouted giddily. Rukia looked around to make sure that no one was paying them any attention. “Come on Rukia-Chan! We have lots to do here!” And so grabbing Rukia’s hand, they ran into the park.

Once in the park, Rukia looked around at all the animated people and squealing children. “Doesn’t it look fun Rukia-chan? Ichigo, Yuzu, and Karin used to love this fun park to bits. When we would come, we couldn’t get them out of here without coaxing them with treats.” Rukia smiled at Isshin as he began to run up to a vendor.

“Hey there sir, would you care to throw the ball and hit the pins. You knock them all down for your pretty little daughter there, and she’ll win this.” And the man pointed to a huge Chappy the Rabbit stuffed toy. Immediately, Rukia pouted and turned to Isshin.

“Kurosaki-san…”

“no, no…it’s papa now Rukia-chan.” Isshin smiled. Rukia, not wanting the bunny to be lost to any one else immediately complied. Of course, when the word papa first left her lips, it felt strange but at the same time comforting. Her thoughts slowly started to stray to the fact that this was one way of being loved and accepted into the family. What better way to get closer to someone than by calling them by something so loving and familiar.

“Papa..” it rolled off her tongue strangely at first. The word foreign, but she tried it again. “Papa, can I have that stuffed bunny please?”

And how could Isshin refuse such an adorable face. “Of course my daughter! Papa shall win you that Chappy!” And so, the vendor smiled greatly handing Isshin the balls to throw. Stepping back, Isshin flexed his arm, took aim, and threw. To his disappointment and embarrassment, his target was off.

“Oh to bad sir. Would you like to try again?”

And so Isshin, being stubborn for where else would Ichigo get his stubbornness from, quickly gave up another dollar to the vendor for another shot at the bunny. But to his horror, once again his aim was off. In defeat, he turned to his daughter and hugged her while crying. “Daddy is so sorry. I couldn’t do it.”

Rukia, feeling a little uncomfortable at all the attention they were getting, immediately put up one of her own dollars to take aim at Chappy. “I’ll give it a go.” And thus, she picked up the ball, took aim, and threw. The ball immediately hitting the middle of the pins. Rukia screamed and jumped up excitedly. “I won! I won! Did you see that! I won! I won Chappy!” And she hugged the stuffed bunny to her chest strongly as Isshin looked on in wonder and amusement. Rukia turned to him and smiled. “Thank you papa.” It came out so naturally this time. Isshin couldn’t help but fall into another bout of tears and hugged Rukia strongly to him.

“Oh my daughter! Papa loves you a lot!” And thus the people looked on at the strange sight, until a man with a cane and green and white hat approached.

“Can I interest you sir, in a game of my own?” Rukia looked up immediately to the voice. Urahara stood there in all his glory and fan. “I have more Chappy merchandise if you would like.” Isshin didn’t want to pass this chance up to redeem himself in his third daughter’s eyes. He grabbed Rukia’s wrist and tugged her towards Urahara’s booth.

Rukia couldn’t help but keep glancing at Urahara. The man was up to something. She wasn’t sure of what yet, but she disregarded the idea the second she stepped up to the booth and saw a Chappy the Rabbit purse. She just had to have it. Isshin seemed to know what she was thinking.

“So Sir, tell me about this game here. What do I need to do to win this rabbit?” Isshin asked.

“Well Sir,” Urahara hid behind his fan as he spoke. “All you have to do is hit the little gopher with the mallet. The more hits you get in, the more points you get, which will earn you the prize! Now let‘s begin!” And then Urahara snapped his fan shut and smiled. Rukia grimaced. What was he up too? Isshin gladly took the mallet from the shop keepers hands. The second the little stuffed gopher popped out of the whole, Isshin started bashing the heck out of the poor machine. Urahara and Rukia gazed in awe at how quickly Isshin dispatched the poor gopher, which was hanging over the edge with its stuffing twisted out, and the poor machine which actually started to smoke from the dents that Isshin had blasted it with.

“Sooooo….where’s my prize?!” Isshin smiled gladly.

“You broke my machine.” Urahara stated flatly.

“But you told me to dispatch the gopher, and so I did. As you can see sir.” Urahara glanced over to the poor piece of stuffing and cloth that was behind Isshin.

“I can see that clearly. Thank you.”

Isshin’s smile broadened as Urahara sighed and handed to him the Chappy the Rabbit purse that Rukia had been eying. “You see, Papa defeated that evil gopher for his little Rukia-chan. Are you not pleased with papa’s efforts?”

Rukia, slack jawed, looked over to the machine once again. She turned back to Isshin, her fake smile plastered on her face. “Thank you Papa! You are surely the best!” And once again Isshin fell on her with pools of tears down his face screaming something about finally being accepted by his little Rukia-chan.

Urahara watched Isshin and Rukia from the corner of his booth. He smiled once again behind his fan. Isshin had told him what he planned to do today on the promise that Urahara made sure that no interruptions, or hollows, would ruin the day’s activities. Besides, Isshin had something grand planned as the main event. Urahara couldn’t wait to see what that was going to be about. He was almost positive though that it had something to do with Isshin’s son and his new daughter. Urahara couldn’t wait to see the fireworks tonight, and fireworks were a Kurakura specialty. Isshin my old friend, you seem so alive today. Has Rukia-chan really made that big of an impact on you and your family? Stepping away back into the shadows, Urahara disappeared.

Rukia was happy when they left the fun park. It had been a very fun two hours. After Isshin had so valiantly defeated the evil gopher, they decided to try their hand at putt-putt golf. But after Isshin had lost almost all the balls to the murky water and a snot nosed chubby kid, they decided to call it quits. Or at least Rukia did when Isshin started to growl at the chubby kid for ruining his day with his daughter. Rukia effectively grabbed his shirt collar and drug him out of the park.

So here they were now standing at their next destination. A big purple dot marking them at Kurakura Theatre and Fine Arts Hall.

Isshin immediately looked at his watch and smiled. Everything was running right on time. “Come on Rukia-chan. The show is about to start.”

“What show?”

Isshin smiled. “Well, since you hang around Ichigo, I thought that you might have a taste for the arts as he does. The boy just simply adores Shakespeare. So, I thought that you would enjoy a play. Of course, this is just the local theatre group putting the show on, nothing high class like what you would get on Saturday nights. But all the same Rukia-chan, you would love this.”

“So what are we going to see?”

“The Taming of the Shrew.”

Rukia nodded and they both walked in and took their seats. It wasn’t long before Rukia became enraptured by Kate, the foul-mouthed shrew that no one wished to marry, and the man who was determined to have her, Petruccio. She couldn’t believe how horrible Kate was to her sister and her father. Nor could she believe that Petruccio would want Kate. Of course, Petruccio had his own reason for putting up with the woman. In the end, he had her absolutely subservient.

Rukia stared on for a while thinking about her and Ichigo. When they had first met, they both seemed like Petruccio and Kate. Both at each other’s throats. But that was the only connection that she could make between them. Ichigo and she had both grown to understand each other and accept each other for who they were. They were able to form a bond of trust and friendship, and then move on to better things. Rukia blushed. Was she starting to think of Ichigo romantically? It was true. She had lived with him, fought with him, and was always right there with him. They were like paper and glue now. She was enjoying her time with Isshin, but now that she was thinking about it, she was starting to miss Ichigo. She wasn’t dependent on him, but she sure did miss seeing his bright hair and hearing his voice. She would never tell him, but she enjoyed hearing his opinions and arguing with him.

Isshin snapped her out of her thoughts. He was smiling at her. “Ne Rukia-chan. What are you thinking about?”

“No..Nothing. It was a really good play. Thank you so much for bringing me here.” Rukia got up from her seat and walked out. Isshin stood there for a moment. “What did I say?” He scratched his beard and sighed as he too soon followed after her.

End Part II