[Log] Izuru Kira, Isshin Kurosaki, Jyuushirou Ukitake

[doomcake]

Title: Surprise Visitor
Characters: Izuru Kira (melpomene), Isshin Kurosaki (corelle), Jyuushirou Ukitake (bakabokken)
Timeline: June 1949
Rating: PG? If that.
Summary: Isshin invades Ukitake's office, only to find the wrong blond. Ah, well, he might as well harass someone today - except, Izuru isn't so amused.

Isshin strolled into the DA’s common area whistling a jaunty little tune. It’d been awhile since he last visited Ukitake and he was looking forward to catching up with the man. Walking down the hall he located Ukitake’s office, barely knocking before letting himself in.

Huh, empty.

He sighed, slightly disappointed the man wasn’t there. He probably shouldn’t have come during lunch hours. Oh, well. Isshin turned to leave then thought better of it. Taking a quick look down the hall he closed the office door part way and walked over to the desk. He had always wondered if Ukitake had anything good hidden around his office, something to take the edge off a hard day maybe. There was no way he was going to waste this opportunity to snoop around.

Plopping down into the man's chair he started searching through the desk drawers.

'Lunch' for Izuru generally meant eating a cold sandwich (kindly prepared by Cook each morning) at his desk while perusing whatever mountain of paperwork and case law was currently occupying his desk. It was a blessedly quiet hour, with few interruptions, no clerks or fellow ADAs popping up to question him about this or that, and Izuru made the most of it. But not without coffee.

So there he was, on his way into the meeting room for his ninth cup of the day when movement in DA Ukitake's office caught his eye. Izuru paused for a moment to peer into the half-open door, expecting to see his boss foraging in his drawers for a fresh bag of candy to replenish the bowl he always kept on his desk. Instead, he was surprised to see a dark-haired man he'd never seen before doing the rummaging.

"Hey!" Izuru exclaimed, indignation overwhelming his alarm. "What are you doing? I don't think you should be in here!" He pushed the door the rest of the way open, stepping through to frown at the stranger, brandishing his empty coffee mug absently. "Please leave at once or I'll have to call security."

Isshin's head snapped up in surprise, a grin spreading across his face when the blond threatened to call security.

"You go right ahead." He smirked. "Of course, you'll have to explain to the DA why you called security on his friend."

Standing up, he walked over to indignant man in the doorway. "I'm Isshin Kurosaki."

He stuck out a hand and cocked his head to the side frowning. "You're new, right?"

"No," Izuru said, the corners of his mouth turning down even more sharply. "I am not." He regarded the offered hand suspiciously for a moment before his manners won out and he took it with his free hand, gave it a quick, firm shake and let go.

The name seemed vaguely familiar - very vaguely, which meant it was not something important, wherever he'd heard it. "Izuru Kira," he supplied belatedly. "You still shouldn't be poking around in here by yourself." Whoever you are, he added silently.

Isshin cringed a little. He didn't mean to insult Izuru but well, he'd never met him before and he knew pretty much everyone here. He scrubbed the back of his neck and smiled sheepishly. "Well, my mistake."

Moving back around the desk he sat down and leaned back in the chair, propping his feet on the desk. "So what do you do here?"

"I'm an ADA," Izuru answered, a touch stiffly. Friend or not, he really didn't think it was proper for this man - Isshin - to be digging around in DA Ukitake's desk, to be sitting in his chair, or really even be in the room (or perhaps the entire building) unsupervised. Izuru really didn't think he should be putting his feet up on the aforementioned desk, and it was only through long years of practice that he was able to keep the scowl off his face.

"Maybe you'd care to join me in the break room," Izuru said instead, not quite managing to infuse his tone with as much artificial pleasantry as his mental handbook said the situation called for. Because, YES, his mind was shouting, IN THE BREAK ROOM AND OUT OF THIS OFFICE AND WITH YOUR SHOES OFF THOSE PAPERS.

Isshin smiled. "Nah, I'm more comfortable here, thank you." He fiddled with the pencils sitting on the desk, twirling one across his knuckles expertly. He was starting to like this guy. He looked easily ruffled, which was always fun and, being as bored as he was, he decided to take advantage.

"An ADA, huh? Ukitake usually introduces me to his lackeys."

Izuru twitched. "I'm assuming you mean his paralegals," he said, making himself smile. It always felt more like a snarl or a grimace, was probably more either of those things than a smile, but he knew it was a convincing fake nonetheless. "There are a great number of ADAs in this office. At least fifteen on this floor alone," he continued. "It's not surprising that you wouldn't have met them all."

Obviously, he didn't add. Obviously not.

"Paralegals, right. I always forget what they're called." Isshin smirked at the blond's barely noticeable twitch. He was definitely good at maintaining a calm exterior but Isshin bet he was just about fuming on the inside. Maybe he should ease up a little. He didn't want Ukitake mad at him for upsetting his subordinate too much.

Isshin moved his feet off of the papers Izuru had been eying and instead set them down on a clear part of the desk. There. That should settle him down a bit.

"So, how long have you been working here?"

"About a year."

Izuru's shoulders relaxed just the tiniest bit. That was better. Still not ideal; the feet were still on the desk. But they were off the papers, and that was just slightly more acceptable. He fought the urge to rush over to the desk and check if they were ruined. Izuru didn't know exactly which papers they were, but he had a sinking feeling that it was something he was going to have to redo if they required reparation.

He looked down at his empty mug dangling from his fingers. Oh. Coffee. He'd almost forgotten. But if this Isshin wasn't willing to go down to the break room with him, how was Izuru going to remedy that? He certainly couldn't go off on his on in his quest for caffeine and leave the man alone in Ukitake's office again.

Isshin frowned. A year? And he hadn't met him yet? What, was Ukitake hiding his people from him now? He felt a touch insulted, he wasn't that bad. In fact he would prove it.

The blond had looked at his coffee mug wistfully, no doubt wanting to go fill it but not willing to leave him alone in the DA's office, so he would be a good boy and accommodate him.

He stood up and stretched. "You know I could use a coffee. Why don't we go ahead and move to the break room?"

"Good idea," Izuru said enthusiastically, scanning the desk surreptitiously for signs of damage. There didn't seem to be any, thankfully, and he took Isshin at his word, trotting off quickly towards the room in question, casting a covert eye over his shoulder to make sure the other man was following. He'd been buried up to his eyebrows in case law since he'd gotten in this morning, researching precedent on one thing or another, and Izuru needed the caffeine to keep hacking through the pile that was currently staging a hostile takeover of his desk.

Chuckling as Izuru made sure he was following Isshin shoved his hands in his pockets and walked along behind him obediently. The man must really be desperate for caffeine to being moving that quickly. Isshin knew what it was like trying to get through a day's work without something to give you a boost and he felt kind of sorry for teasing the young blond. Not enough to stop of course. But still.

He walked into the break room after Izuru and grabbed himself a clean mug off the counter. Leaning near the coffee pot he waited patiently for Izuru to get his coffee before filling his own mug.

Izuru poured himself a fresh cup of awful office coffee with more carefully concealed glee than the act probably warranted; the stuff tasted terrible and would likely give him an ulcer sooner or later, but it was certainly effective as a form of fuel. Taking a few quick swallows black off the top of his mug, he shifted away from the coffee machine to give Isshin access, reaching for the containers of cream and sugar to douse the rest of the liquid with. When it came to quality coffee, Izuru preferred to drink it black and without interference, but whatever was supplied in the office was always so bad that, after the first cup of the day, he preferred to taste it as little as possible. Besides, Izuru reasoned, the cream probably helped keep his stomach intact for just that much longer.

"Careful," he said, stirring a small mountain of sugar into his cup. "It's very, very bitter."

Isshin chuckled and filled his mug. Of course it was bitter, it was office coffee after all. Isshin took a big gulp and barely resisted spitting it back out. He swallowed the mouth full with a grimace. Wow. He'd tasted some bad coffee in his day, but this took the cake.

Isshin reached for the sugar and poured it into his cup greedily. He did actually prefer his coffee with just a bit of cream but that wouldn't be enough to get this down his throat. Taking a careful sip to test the taste he moved to one of the tables available and sat down. He gestured for Izuru to take the seat across from him and started back up with the questions.

"So how long have you known Ukitake? I'm still surprised I haven't heard your name at least once."

Thank goodness for small miracles, Izuru thought, witnessing the the carpet's near-miss with a mouthful of hot, acrid coffee. Biting back the told-you-so on his tongue, he followed the older man to the nearest table. At least he wouldn't be spending the next fifteen minutes frantically attempting to keep a stain from setting while waiting for the custodial staff to come to the rescue.

Sitting down in the indicated seat, Izuru fought the urge to shrug or, worse, roll his eyes at the question. That certainly wasn't polite in any circumstance, not even with nosy interlopers. Izuru had no idea who Isshin was to expect to be so informed on either office happenings or the DA's personal life, but it was a little irritating. They were out of Ukitake's office now, however, and he wasn't being uncooperative, so Izuru probably didn't have a valid reason to call security at this point.

"Mmm," he said, taking another sip of his over-sugared coffee and thinking for a moment. "I first met him when I was nine, I believe."

Isshin eyebrows rose in surprise. Since he was nine? He had been half-teasing before but now he really was curious as to why he hadn't at least heard Ukitake mention him.

"That's quite a long time ago." Isshin took another tentative sip of his coffee. "How'd you know him?"

"He used to work with my father," Izuru replied shortly. He wasn't about to lie, but he wished Isshin hadn't asked; he wasn't in any mood to be talking about his family.

Isshin's eyes widened slightly at Izuru's tone. Obviously a sensitive subject. He cleared his throat and shifted in his seat uncomfortably. It looked like it was time to change direction a little.

"That's nice. I've know Ukitake for about four, five years now myself." Isshin smiled. "He's a great guy. You must feel lucky to be working with him."

"He's a good man," Izuru agreed, setting his mug down. Four or five years? Now that he thought about it, Isshin's name probably had come up at one point or another, especially if he were prone to wandering into the office randomly. Izuru was usually holed up in his office when he wasn't in court, so it wasn't much of a surprise that he missed these impromptu visits. If Izuru thought very hard, he did sort of remember Ukitake telling him about something like this. He'd been preoccupied with justifiable homicide statutes at the time, however, so he didn't recall most of the conversation.

Izuru hoped not letting Isshin have coffee wasn't on the list of warnings the DA had issued.

Isshin tapped his fingers on his cup, the rhythm quick and completely off-beat. This was why he usually put cream in his coffee, to water it down a bit. Between the caffeine and all the sugar he'd put in the mug he was starting to feel pretty wired.

"So..." His leg started bouncing restlessly. "Any idea when he'll be back?"

"I think he's out for a lunch meeting. Or maybe just lunch."

Izuru eyed the overactive leg warily. He was getting a bad feeling about this.

Jyuushirou could have sworn that the meeting he'd just come from was one of the nine circles of Hell. They weren't any closer on finding the information they needed to be able to prosecute one of his smaller cases, which was just frustrating at the end of the day. And it wasn't even the end of the day - Jyuushirou looked at his watch, frowning when he realized he'd missed his usual lunch break. Ah, well, coffee would have to do; the break room was on his way back to his office anyway.

He wasn't twenty feet from the break room when he heard two voices (both familiar - one was definitely Mr. Izuru) drifting from the open door, and then heard his own name pop up.

Huh. Another reason for him to go to the break room, then.

The moment Jyuushirou poked his head into the doorway at the break room, he knew it was a very wise decision; sitting in two chairs at one of the tables were two people he'd hoped wouldn't have to meet. Not because he disliked either one, by any means - Mr. Izuru was like a nephew to him, and Isshin had become a good friend and valued connection over the years - but mostly because he knew that Isshin's rather eccentric personality could very well drive Izuru into an absolute fit if left unchecked.

And Isshin was drinking coffee. ... Oh dear.

Izuru was incredibly tense about the shoulders as they both sipped at their respective mugs of coffee; it looked like Isshin had already started down a wrong path, but it hadn't progressed beyond a point of no return just yet. It looked like he'd made it in time to make sure it stayed far away from that point.

“Izuru, Kurosaki,” he said with a smile, nodding to each as he said their names. “I must say I'm surprised to see the two of you in here together.” The nervous chuckle that had been nestled in the back of his throat wasn't supposed to slip out of his mouth, but it did anyway - and he sincerely hoped it wasn't going to cause an issue. They were both looking at him with expressions he couldn't quite read, and it was making him nervous. Isshin was likely going to be angry that he hadn't introduced Izuru to him sooner, and Izuru was probably wondering why his boss hadn't said anything about the excitable P.I. sooner.

This is going to be... interesting.

He could feel his own plastered-on smile faltering. Time to move things along. Clearing his throat, he asked, “I'm not interrupting an important conversation, am I?”

"No," Izuru answered clearly. Privately, he always found it a little fascinating to see his boss discomfited; it happened much more rarely these days than Izuru remembered from their early meetings. To be fair, however, he had to admit that that may have at least partially been the result of his own father's initial animosity towards Mr. Ukitake. Kagekiyo Kira had always had a way of putting people off when he wanted to. It was a trait that was sometimes useful when bargaining with criminals, but dealing with interpersonal relationships? Not so much.

Regardless of any of that, Izuru felt immediately better now that the DA was back in the building and he was no longer alone with a man Izuru feared he may have inadvertently turned into a ticking caffeine bomb. If Isshin's gradually increasing restlessness was any indication no coffee had definitely been on the list of things Mr. Ukitake had rattled off while Izuru had been grappling with one law book or another and not listening.

"We were just... getting acquainted," he said with a lift of the brows that he fervently hoped his mentor would correctly interpret as continue intervening, please.

Isshin jumped up eagerly. Thank god Ukitake was finally here, things were starting to get uncomfortable. Plus now he could find out why he’d never heard of Kira. He was actually a little irritated about that. Isshin grinned and rocked back on his heels.

“So you’ve started hiding your staff from me? What, you ‘fraid I’d scare him away?”

Yes, actually, but Jyuushirou wasn't about to say that aloud. Strongly stifling the urgent desire to grimace as the tension almost physically struck out at him, Jyuushirou coughed lightly and grinned sheepishly.

“I would hardly call it hiding, Kurosaki,” he said. “The opportunity just never came up, I'm afraid. This is Izuru Kira, as I'm sure you now know - he's one of my trusted Assistant District Attorneys, so please don't harass him; I need him later.” Turning to his ADA, he added, “I'm sure you also know that this is Isshin Kurosaki, private investigator - and a friend of mine. I'm sorry I didn't introduce him earlier; that was an oversight on my part.”

Then Jyuushirou finally let the grimace show on his face. “And I'll have to talk to you later about the meeting. There are a few case-related issues I'd like your input on, if you don't mind.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Jyuushirou saw that Kurosaki was practically vibrating in his seat. How much coffee had the man actually had at this point? Maybe it was a good idea to try to find a way to weasel Mr. Izuru out of the office as soon as he could.

Izuru nodded, gaze drifting slowly from one man to another. However he might have felt about it, he'd been every bit as apt a pupil as his great-aunt could have hoped for and, while he couldn't even begin to guess at the cause, he could read the new uneasiness in the room quite clearly. "Of course," he said, vocally supplementing his assent as he rose to his feet. It was a small opening, but one he intended to exploit thoroughly.

"I was just about to get back to my research, actually. Was there anything you wanted me to pull while I'm up and about?"

There was something about the ADA’s name that made Isshin’s insides twist and his fists clench when Ukitake said it. That hadn’t happened the first time around. Of course, he hadn’t really paid all that much attention to the blonde’s name, having been more interested in teasing him. Still…

Isshin forced him self to relax, shoving his hands in his pockets and keeping a small smile on his face. Inside though his mind was whirling trying to make the connection he was sure was there. It was the last name.

Kira.

He knew he’d heard it before and it didn’t feel like a pleasant memory. He studied Izuru quietly as the blond spoke to Ukitake. He certainly didn’t look familiar.

“I'll let you know when I think of something else I might need for you to pull, Mr. Izuru,” Jyuushirou said in reply to Izuru's question. It wasn't difficult to tell that his ADA was trying his best to walk away from this conversation as quickly as possible, and he wasn't about to stop the poor kid. “I'll be by your office later, at any rate.”

Isshin was regarding Izuru with an unreadable expression, which meant that it was a very good idea to get Izuru out before something nasty came up. Jyuushirou hadn't forgotten how much Kagekiyo and Isshin hated each other in the past; should Isshin realize that he was speaking with Kagekiyo's son, there would likely be an issue regardless of the fact that Izuru had thus far proved to be composed differently than his father had.

But now that Isshin had met Izuru Kira, Jyuushirou fully expected to be bombarded with questions the second the ADA was out of hearing range. The caffeine Isshin had ingested wasn't going to help, either.

"Sure thing," Izuru answered, nodding at his boss. Turning back to Isshin he proffered a similar inclination of the head. "It was nice meeting you, Mr. Kurosaki. I'm... sure I'll be seeing you around." He managed a smile that wasn't too ragged around the edges as he set off gratefully for the sanctuary of his own office; those briefs had been waiting long enough.

Tapping his heel against the floor Isshin watched the ADA walk out of the room. Kira. The name was familiar and he had a good idea as to who’d know how he knew it.

“Have I met him somewhere?”

Jyuushirou watched as Izuru disappeared down the hall before he turned back to Isshin.

“You might have, a long time ago.” He scrubbed his face with his hand. “Kurosaki, that's Kagekiyo's kid.”

... Brace for impact.

Kagekiyo?

Kagekiyo!

“Why didn’t you tell me?” He hissed at Ukitake. Though in reality he knew perfectly well why. He hated that man. Even though he was now calm enough to know it wasn’t Kagekiyo’s fault he still blamed him for letting Masaki’s killer go.

And that blonde was the man’s kid? Figured.

Though when he stopped to think about it it didn’t ‘figure’. The boy was nothing like his father. At least not from what he’d seen. Isshin sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “You should have told me.”

Jyuushirou tried not to sigh; he really tried. Glancing over his shoulder to make sure nobody else was privy to this private conversation, he nudged the door to the staff lounge shut and fervently hoped nobody entered for the time being. Perhaps he should try moving this conversation to his own office.

“You know very well why I didn't say anything, Isshin,” Jyuushirou said firmly. “There was no need for me to give you a reason to hate the boy just after you met him. He's been through hell over his own past; it wouldn't be right for you to add to that, no matter how justified you think you might have been in doing so.”

He contemplated sitting down, but he really would rather have this discussion in the privacy of his own office, and it was readily apparent that Isshin wasn't going to let this drop so easily. Besides, if Isshin had come to him again, that meant the private investigator had something else he wanted to talk about as well.

“Why don't we head to my office and finish talking there? This is a public room, and I'd feel more comfortable if we were able to continue speaking in private.”

He hated it when Ukitake took that tone with him. Made him feel like a child again. He suppressed a growl of indignation and reminded him self that he hadn’t come here to yell at Ukitake.

“Yes, I think it would be best to move this elsewhere.” Walking out of the room he made his way to the DA’s office and waited impatiently. The second Ukitake crossed the threshold he spoke angrily. “What makes you think I’d hate the boy for what his father did?”

Didn't Ukitake know him at all?

Ukitake winced when Kurosaki snapped at him. Of course Kurosaki wouldn't hate Izuru for what the P.I. thought was Kagekiyo's sin; he really hadn't meant to offend his friend with the comment.

“I don't know,” he said with another sigh, closing his office door behind him. “I'm sorry; that was rude of me to assume as much, but have to admit that I do sometimes feel a bit protective of the kid. After all he's been through, it's kind of hard not to be.” He dropped into his seat and motioned for Kurosaki to do the same, then reached into his desk drawer to pull out the candy bowl. “But you didn't come here to talk about the past, did you.”

It wasn't a question, and he certainly hoped that Isshin wasn't entirely pissed at him by now.

Isshin sat but continued to shift around restlessly, Ukitake’s apology being the only thing keeping him from jumping back up and leaving. All the kid’s been through? Isshin opened his mouth to protest when he suddenly remembered what Ukitake was referring to and swore instead. He’d completely forgotten about the accident and the death of the boy’s parents…god, he was an idiot sometimes.

Scrubbing a hand through his hair he slouched in the chair and sighed. Looked like he was the one who should be apologizing. Chuckling a bit sheepishly he rubbed the back of his neck. “Guess I’m not as over that incident as I thought.”

Glancing away briefly he continued. “You were right not to tell me earlier… would have only made things harder for him. Sorry I snapped at you.”

Jyuushirou's expression softened when Kurosaki apologized. He couldn't blame the man; he'd lost his wife in a horrible incident, and with the killer still at large, it was no wonder that the P.I. was sensitive to even the barest hint of the situation. There was no need to fight over this, not now - not when they were both on the same side.

“No, I'm sorry I didn't say anything sooner,” he said. “I know you're still hurting - and will continue to hurt - over what's been done to you as well. I should have been more sensitive.”

He took a piece of his own candy out of the bowl before offering it in Kurosaki's direction; damn the fact that combining sugar and caffeine in Kurosaki's system was asking for trouble.

He was still feeling pretty wired from the caffeine earlier so he only took one piece of candy instead of his usual three. Popping the sweet into his mouth he sucked on it quietly, mulling over what he’d learned about Izuru. He knew how hard to was to lose a loved one, especially a parent. His own children had had a rough time of it when Masaki died and he’d never wish the experience on anybody. Talking around the candy in his mouth Isshin shrugged.

“It’s alright, no damage done.” He crunched down on the sweet, breaking it into smaller pieces and grinned. “Well, no permanent damage at any rate.”

Swallowing the bits in his mouth Isshin reached for another piece of candy. “Oh and I didn’t actually come here for anything important. Just to see how you were doing. Thought maybe you’d like to meet for lunch later this week?”

Leave it to Kurosaki to show up just for the hell of it, and manage to stir up some hell of his own. Ah, well - as the P.I. pointed out, no serious damage done. Jyuushirou had come to expect such things out of his friend, anyway.

“Lunch sounds great,” Jyuushirou replied. “I have an opening on Thursday, if my secretary hasn't slotted something in there that I don't know about yet.” He raised an eyebrow. “Does that work for you?”

“Sure, Thursday’s good. I never schedule anything during lunch any more, hate going hungry.” Isshin grinned as he stood, glancing at his watch. “Should probably get going. Got an interview with a witness in a few hours and still need to review notes and stuff.”

He rolled the candy around in his mouth, making it clink against his teeth with his tongue. “So guess I’ll see you then.”

Grinning, Isshin strolled out of the office, throwing a last second wave over his shoulder before disappearing down the hall.

“Take care,” Jyuushirou said as Kurosaki turned to leave.

He waved after Kurosaki's retreating back, then slumped back into his chair once the P.I. was down the hall. Well, that could have gone much worse, he decided. It didn't seem like there would be any immediate issues arising between Isshin and Izuru on account of the past. Any massive disruptions had been successfully averted; no harm done, right?

Damn, but he was tired.

Jyuushirou exhaled slowly, knowing full well that he needed to get back to work. Now that this situation had been dealt with, he turned to his meeting notes. Now where was that file he wanted Izuru to look over...?

Ah - he found one of the stacks of papers he'd been looking for. Wait, is that a dirt smudge on the papers? They look kind of wrinkled...

Jyuushirou sighed, chuckling to himself as he realized what had happened. Some things just never changed - Kurosaki still insisted on planting his dirty shoes in the middle of his paperwork. Izuru wouldn't be pleased, and yet Jyuushirou couldn't stop snickering.