UraIshi AU Ch.13
Title: Unravelling Threads of Fate
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: UraIshi
Summary: AU. Ishida has had a hard life. With the help of some friends, it finally looks like things are going to work out. When he meets a bizarre and cheerful man named Urahara Kisuke, the two are inexplicably drawn to each other. But when Ishida discovers the truth about Urahara's past and its ties to his own, difficulties arise.
Notes: I keep on forgetting to thank kirstian for her quick beta-read every time. XD You rock.
Disclaimer: All characters belong to the genius KT. ♥
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12
“Uryuu.”
The name was out before Urahara could stop it, before he could remember that Ishida had told him not to call him by his first name anymore. It had just become such a natural thing for him to say it; but now…
After Yoruichi had left that night at the Kurosaki residence, he and Isshin had settled down on the couch with a new bottle of sake, passing it back and forth.
“Do you think he’ll forgive you?”
Urahara had glanced at him before reaching over to grab the sake. “… I don’t know.”
“You’ve changed since college,” Isshin had noted, taking the bottle offered back to him. “Less optimistic, more cautious.”
“College was a long time ago.”
“Still.”
The two had eyed each other coolly, refusing to budge, until Urahara had looked away to let out a quiet sigh.
“Let’s just say, I’ve seen things that made me change my attitude.”
“Related to this problem with Ishida-san?”
“More like the basis to the entire situation.”
Isshin had made a thoughtful noise, tipping the warm liquid into his mouth. “Not everything’s your fault, Kisuke.” At the lack of response, he had continued. “You can’t control everything and you can’t save everyone either. Sometimes things happen and you just have to accept that there is nothing you can do to change them, no matter how much you wish you could.”
His eyes had flickered to the poster of Masaki; she had died in a car accident 12 years ago.
“You can’t win at everything, Kisuke.”
“This coming from the man who has lost every single drinking contest against me.”
“Hoho, another example of your failing genius!” Isshin had announced with a smirk. “Do you really think I didn’t notice how you cheated every time? I let you win because you were the one who usually brought all the alcohol - and who would pass up free drinks?”
The next afternoon (or early evening, to be exact), Urahara had woken up with a headache that had threatened to split his skull apart. The pain that would have resulted from his initial guilt binge had probably been amplified by the full-blown drinking contest with Isshin afterwards. Crawling to the bathroom, he had discovered that wanting to empty his stomach, even when there was nothing in it to begin with, was not and would never be a fun experience; especially when it had felt like knives were lancing through his head. Forcing himself back to the couch, he had attempted to sleep off the hangover and awoke late the next evening to see Isshin holding out a glass of water with a triumphant grin.
When he had finally returned to the penthouse, he had stood with his back against the door, marveling at how empty the place had felt. It was silly, wasn’t it? Almost all of Ishida’s things were still in the suite and yet it had seemed so bare. Urahara had supposed that it was due to the knowledge that the boy might never come back.
… But he had come back. For what reason, he didn’t know nor did it matter as they stood there watching each other. It was almost frightening how much of an affect Ishida had on him and he hadn’t been scared of anything for quite some time.
The silence stretched on between them until it was finally broken when Ishida lowered his gaze to the floor. “Urahara-san, I’ve come to return the studio key.”
Urahara almost flinched at being called “Urahara-san” but nothing was revealed as he calmly replied, “No, it’s yours.”
“I don’t think it would be proper for me to keep it. I would… feel uncomfortable.”
“You’re lying,” Urahara remarked as he turned to shut the door behind him, causing Ishida to glance up at him sharply. “You want to keep it and I want you to have it. You leave that key here and I’ll just hand it over to Kuchiki-san who would probably be more than happy to give it back to you.”
“I find it a little ironic to have you accusing me of lying.”
The older man appeared to deflate a little, shoulders sagging and eyes descending into shadow. Ishida’s brow softened and he took a tentative step forward from the dining room table, hands clasped before him.
“Yoruichi-san came to speak with me, as you probably know,” he said, pausing to take a deep breath. “I’ve decided to listen to what you have to say before… before I make any decisions.”
Urahara looked up with mixed emotions fleeting across his face: relief that Ishida would listen, worry that it wouldn’t change anything, and so many others too difficult to read. He made his way to the couch and sat down heavily, taking a deep breath.
“Where should I start?”
“I hear the beginning’s always good,” Ishida replied softly, leaning against one of the dining room chairs.
Urahara smiled faintly. “Well, in that case…”
~~~
Urahara Kisuke lost both of his parents to illness in his early teens - this and his naturally curious nature were probably what encouraged him to choose his later career. Still classified as a minor, he moved in with his new legal guardians and old friends, the Shihouin family. The fairly wealthy family encouraged and supported his education, congratulating him when he was accepted to university at only fifteen years of age.
In his second year, he met Kurosaki Isshin; their friendship was instantaneous. Yoruichi, who he had known since she was born, joined them the year after. Urahara was, to put it simply, a genius. He absorbed information easily, rarely taking the time to study because it just wasn’t necessary (instead, he spent that time at parties with Isshin). By the age of twenty, he received both his Bachelor of Medical Laboratory Science and Doctor of Medicine and wished Isshin the best of luck before leaving the university.
Using funds left by his parents and scholarships from the school, Urahara set to work at creating his own laboratory, SOUL, hiring new graduates with similar goals and ambitions as his own. The research, the creation of vaccines and sending them out to be tested - he loved every aspect of his work. SOUL’s name began to frequent the newspapers and the medical magazines with several interviews from the man behind it all.
Urahara’s fame continued to grow.
~~~
“I was young and foolish,” Urahara mused, turning to stare out the patio doors at the rain beginning to patter against the glass. “All of those people praising me and my work - it went to my head.”
“What do you mean?” Ishida asked, curiosity lighting his face.
He glanced over at the boy with a slightly regretful expression. “Amidst it all, I forgot why I had started the company in the first place.”
“And why did you?”
“I wanted to save people.”
~~~
The day came when a young man named Ishida Ryuuken approached the increasingly famous scientist to extend an offer. Urahara accepted almost immediately, excited to have found someone who could possibly be an equal to his genius. The company’s name changed to MOD-SOUL and Ryuuken conceded the role of president to Urahara. Over the following weeks, Quincy Corporation’s workers were introduced to SOUL’s staff and allowed time to adjust to their new surroundings.
The months passed and something akin to friendship grew between the two scientists. Ryuuken could indeed keep up with the bridges Urahara rapidly built from one thought to another, sometimes even surprising the president by jumping ahead of him. At times they were on the edge of a breakthrough and worked late into the night, long after all the others had gone home. The company flourished from their dedication, gaining even more prestige when many of their test vaccines returned positive results.
Then Kurotsuchi Mayuri applied to MOD-SOUL for a position, straight out of university, two years after the merger.
He was an obviously intelligent young man with impressive qualifications who was eager to start working, but there was often a strange glint in his eyes. Urahara brushed it off as nothing more than an avid curiosity and desire to join the laboratory. He observed Mayuri carefully over the next few weeks before coming to a decision.
Urahara had been considering appointing someone as vice-president for quite a while. What he couldn’t decide was who it would be. The obvious candidate was Ryuuken but something always tugged on his conscience whenever he considered giving the role to him. In the end, Mayuri received the position and the day after the announcement Ryuuken showed up at the president’s office.
“How could you do this?” he had demanded, staring at the man from the doorway.
“Do what?” the man had replied brightly, seemingly oblivious.
“You know exactly what I’m talking about.”
Urahara had eyed him silently before sighing. “I’m not going to change my decision.”
“And I want to know why.”
“Why?” MOD-SOUL’s president had stood up to step around the desk. “He’s a perfect candidate: degrees in both medicine and business and a new mind for fresh ideas.”
“Why not me? I helped start this company and I deserve that position more than some new graduate - do years of experience even matter to you?” Ryuuken had asked, eyes flashing angrily from behind his glasses.
“I stand by my decision,” Urahara had stated firmly before softening his tone. “You’ll just have to trust me when I say this is not meant as an attempt to cheat you and that… your family will be thankful in the end.”
“Thankful?” the pale-haired man had scoffed, turning to leave. “I see no reason to trust you now.”
~~~
“Wait,” Ishida cut in, confusion and curiosity lining his features. He had taken to sitting on the dining room table, legs dangling back and forth. “What did you mean by that?”
“Ah…” Urahara smiled faintly, a trace of wistfulness touching his eyes. “You see, I had been planning to appoint your father as vice-president when I discovered how talented he was but one day he mentioned his family in passing; a wife and a little boy less than two years old.”
The dark-haired boy glanced at him sharply, mouth parted slightly.
“I considered what the role of vice-president might do to affect your family. Ryuuken would have been much busier and would rarely have had the time to travel back to your town. To put it simply, I wasn’t happy with the thought that his son would be lacking a father figure in his life.”
“So… you didn’t give him the position for me?”
Urahara tilted his head with a thoughtful expression. “Well, technically yes. At the time, it was for the little boy who needed a father, not specifically for the Ishida Uryuu I would end up meeting twenty years later. I was lucky enough to have Yoruichi-san’s parents treat me like their child after the passing of my own and I acknowledged the fact that having parents is important.” He smiled again at Ishida who only stared back at him, speechless. “If you had two perfectly capable parents, why should you only see one?”
~~~
Ryuuken avoided working with Urahara at every cost after that, isolating himself in his office or surrounding himself with other people when examining the bacterial cultures. Mayuri, on the other hand, took full advantage of this by shadowing Urahara’s every move. He seemed to want to surpass the cheerful scientist, working late almost every night, but was never successful. Every idea he formed had always been already thought up, hours or even days before. Mayuri grew frustrated and much like Ryuuken, began to withdraw himself to work on solitary projects.
It appeared that Urahara either knew nothing of these changes in attitude or if he did, simply ignored them. The truth was neither. He certainly did know but was simply too busy to stop and do something about it. When he wasn't experimenting in the lab, he was out attending conventions or galas, revelling in the attention from the media.
Shihouin Yoruichi joined the staff soon after Mayuri as the company's financial planner/advisor and, as a lesser known fact, Urahara's personal lawyer. With years of rather unorganized financial records, she was kept busy at sorting them out and diverting funds to areas that required them.
Two years later, that fateful day arrived when the hospital contacted them in regards to a patient with a strange illness. MOD-SOUL sent a few workers over to take down observations and get some blood samples - nothing particularly rushed. Urahara was intrigued by the thought of a new virus but still frequented the medical dinners in lieu of remaining at the laboratories to do some of his own research; he felt it was something that could be handled easily.
The scientists grew worried when nine more people were admitted with identical symptoms after the first week. They began to panic when an entire wing of the hospital was filled with over a hundred patients the next week. Very few workers left the laboratories to go home and rest, staying there instead in the hopes of finding something that could contain the situation. The patients’ symptoms worsened and the majority became bedridden, too exhausted and weak to even sit up. When a phone-call arrived from the hospital early one afternoon, the room fell silent as Urahara relayed the message to them all: the first person who contracted the illness had died, only one month after being diagnosed with the strange, new virus.
It was a race against time now; they had a general idea for the duration of the sickness and had approximately that much time to try and cure the remaining patients.
Urahara appeared to be severely affected by the news from the hospital. He dropped all public appearances to devote his time solely to helping the others work, ignoring most meals and sleep; still, the patients grew worse and the death tally grew larger.
In the early hours of the morning, six weeks after the first infection, Ryuuken made his way towards one of the laboratories - it was empty except for one man with messy blond hair scrutinizing a slide.
“Urahara.”
“What, Ishida-san?” he had asked tiredly, sitting back from the microscope. Papers covered with writing had been piled all around him and on the floor. He had gone with so little rest for so long that dark bags had formed under his eyes, mimicking the shadows that had normally been cast by his hat which had sat discarded on the tabletop. He had started to wear it a month ago when Yoruichi had remarked that his eyes were easy to read.
“This has to stop.”
“Yes, I know. That’s what-”
“No,” Ryuuken had said firmly. “This pathetic hope of finding a cure - it has to stop.”
Urahara had frowned at him, gently sliding the microscope away as he had stood up. “What exactly are you proposing?”
“We are wasting valuable resources and time. Instead of doing this we should just contain the situation and hope it stops spreading.”
“You want to just let them all die?”
“They’re going to die anyway,” Ryuuken had replied angrily. “What good does it do to try and save those who are as good as dead?”
“Because dead or alive in the end, they’re still alive right now!” Urahara had burst out.
“Be reasonable, Urahara! We have tried our best and it’s not good enough. Tell me, have you managed to find anything that we haven’t already seen?” When the man had fallen silent, Ryuuken had exhaled slowly. “This is a hopeless cause - the most we can do is try and prevent this thing from killing more people.”
“… I don’t agree.”
“What?”
“I’m not going to give up on them. Accepting that first patient made them my responsibility which I admit, I didn’t take seriously at first,” Urahara had glanced back at the slides scattered across the tabletop with a frown, “but I plan on doing all that is possible to fix that mistake, even if it ends up killing me. I will not accept death as their final option while they still breathe.”
Shaking his head as he had left, Ryuuken had muttered, “Foolish…”
In spite of everyone’s efforts, all of the patients who had been diagnosed with the unknown virus ended up dying. Strangely enough, the influx of infected persons abruptly stopped two months after the initial outbreak; any trace of the virus vanished with the last patient, leaving only weeks of frantic research behind. Blood samples taken during the ordeal mysteriously disappeared and the inquiry issued on the matter was called off after only five days.
The media, who had been keeping a fairly reasonable distance, swarmed over MOD-SOUL and Urahara. He handled all of the interviews calmly and continued his work as usual for the week following the death of the last patient.
Then he disappeared.
~~~
Ishida hovered by the couch where Urahara sat with his head propped up by his hands. At one point during the older man’s recollections, he had unconsciously moved closer from his seat on the dining room table and now debated whether or not to join him.
“Just sit down, Ishida-san. I won’t do anything.”
The dark-haired boy sat but not because of Urahara’s reassurance. It was simply the tone of his voice - it sounded so tired, so worn, so unlike his usual cheerful nature when making a statement like that. He couldn’t help but feel a little concerned.
“And so we arrive at the point which started this whole mess.”
Ishida nodded, staring down at his hands clasped together on his lap. “Why did you leave?”
“The simplest answer I can offer is that I couldn’t take it,” Urahara replied softly. “I started that business to help people and somewhere along the way, due to fame or fortune or my own idiocy, I lost that goal. When I finally found it again, it was because people were sick and dying; real people with families and lives of their own were all depending on me. Only I wasn’t there to help at the beginning - I thought they wouldn’t need me - and to this day I still blame myself for that. If I had been there, would those people still have died? Perhaps, perhaps not.”
“You can’t save everyone, Urahara-san.”
He smiled faintly. “You know, Isshin said that to me the other day. I thought I could save everyone back then. When that last patient died, it was like the final illustration of my failure. I dealt with the media as best as I could but their repeated accusations and speculations were too much.” Urahara paused for a moment with a thoughtful expression. “Only Yoruichi-san knows what happened the night before I left - her and perhaps the tow-truck driver.”
Ishida frowned as he looked up at him, echoing, “Tow-truck?”
“I had perhaps one too many drinks in an attempt to drown my guilt and took Benihime for a spin. The next thing I knew, she was more than a little scratched and I was teetering off the edge of a bridge.” Ishida gaped at him but he continued on. “Lucky for me, Yoruichi-san had decided to call me out of concern and I told her about my rather uncomfortable situation. It wasn’t a busy road which is why no one ever heard about that incident. It also makes it a bit more understandable as to why she refuses to allow me alcohol most of the time.”
“You nearly killed yourself!” the young designer exclaimed. “How could you be so-”
“Stupid? Yes, it was a stupid thing to do but it also made me realize that I couldn’t work at MOD-SOUL any more if it was going to affect me that way. After a long discussion with Yoruichi-san, I decided to leave.” Urahara fell silent for a moment in thought. “You called me selfish that day - I agree with you. In the end, I made the decision solely for my own sake. I just hope you understand that I knew nothing of Mayuri’s future plans; if I had known, I wouldn’t have left.”
“I do understand now,” Ishida replied quietly. “I only wish you had told me when you first found out. More than anything, it hurt to know you would hide things from me. I grew up trusting very few people… and I trusted no one as much as I trusted you.”
Urahara gazed at him before slowly sliding off the couch to kneel in front of him. Removing his hat, he bowed forward to rest his forehead against Ishida’s knees.
“I’m sorry, Uryuu. You have no idea how sorry. I didn’t tell you because I was afraid I would lose you.”
The dark-haired boy sat unmoving, staring down at the man kneeling before him, the blond head resting against his legs.
“Forgive me…”
Ishida slowly bent forward and lifted his arms to rest in a gentle embrace around Urahara’s head, pressing his cheek against the soft hair.
“There’s nothing to forgive… Kisuke.”
A/N: This took far too long to write - I'm sorry. XD But anyway, they aren't broken up anymore, yay! lol Let me know what you thought of the chapter. :3
... and if anyone draws that last scene for me, I will ♥ you. XD
To Chapter 14
X-posted places
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: UraIshi
Summary: AU. Ishida has had a hard life. With the help of some friends, it finally looks like things are going to work out. When he meets a bizarre and cheerful man named Urahara Kisuke, the two are inexplicably drawn to each other. But when Ishida discovers the truth about Urahara's past and its ties to his own, difficulties arise.
Notes: I keep on forgetting to thank kirstian for her quick beta-read every time. XD You rock.
Disclaimer: All characters belong to the genius KT. ♥
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12
“Uryuu.”
The name was out before Urahara could stop it, before he could remember that Ishida had told him not to call him by his first name anymore. It had just become such a natural thing for him to say it; but now…
After Yoruichi had left that night at the Kurosaki residence, he and Isshin had settled down on the couch with a new bottle of sake, passing it back and forth.
“Do you think he’ll forgive you?”
Urahara had glanced at him before reaching over to grab the sake. “… I don’t know.”
“You’ve changed since college,” Isshin had noted, taking the bottle offered back to him. “Less optimistic, more cautious.”
“College was a long time ago.”
“Still.”
The two had eyed each other coolly, refusing to budge, until Urahara had looked away to let out a quiet sigh.
“Let’s just say, I’ve seen things that made me change my attitude.”
“Related to this problem with Ishida-san?”
“More like the basis to the entire situation.”
Isshin had made a thoughtful noise, tipping the warm liquid into his mouth. “Not everything’s your fault, Kisuke.” At the lack of response, he had continued. “You can’t control everything and you can’t save everyone either. Sometimes things happen and you just have to accept that there is nothing you can do to change them, no matter how much you wish you could.”
His eyes had flickered to the poster of Masaki; she had died in a car accident 12 years ago.
“You can’t win at everything, Kisuke.”
“This coming from the man who has lost every single drinking contest against me.”
“Hoho, another example of your failing genius!” Isshin had announced with a smirk. “Do you really think I didn’t notice how you cheated every time? I let you win because you were the one who usually brought all the alcohol - and who would pass up free drinks?”
The next afternoon (or early evening, to be exact), Urahara had woken up with a headache that had threatened to split his skull apart. The pain that would have resulted from his initial guilt binge had probably been amplified by the full-blown drinking contest with Isshin afterwards. Crawling to the bathroom, he had discovered that wanting to empty his stomach, even when there was nothing in it to begin with, was not and would never be a fun experience; especially when it had felt like knives were lancing through his head. Forcing himself back to the couch, he had attempted to sleep off the hangover and awoke late the next evening to see Isshin holding out a glass of water with a triumphant grin.
When he had finally returned to the penthouse, he had stood with his back against the door, marveling at how empty the place had felt. It was silly, wasn’t it? Almost all of Ishida’s things were still in the suite and yet it had seemed so bare. Urahara had supposed that it was due to the knowledge that the boy might never come back.
… But he had come back. For what reason, he didn’t know nor did it matter as they stood there watching each other. It was almost frightening how much of an affect Ishida had on him and he hadn’t been scared of anything for quite some time.
The silence stretched on between them until it was finally broken when Ishida lowered his gaze to the floor. “Urahara-san, I’ve come to return the studio key.”
Urahara almost flinched at being called “Urahara-san” but nothing was revealed as he calmly replied, “No, it’s yours.”
“I don’t think it would be proper for me to keep it. I would… feel uncomfortable.”
“You’re lying,” Urahara remarked as he turned to shut the door behind him, causing Ishida to glance up at him sharply. “You want to keep it and I want you to have it. You leave that key here and I’ll just hand it over to Kuchiki-san who would probably be more than happy to give it back to you.”
“I find it a little ironic to have you accusing me of lying.”
The older man appeared to deflate a little, shoulders sagging and eyes descending into shadow. Ishida’s brow softened and he took a tentative step forward from the dining room table, hands clasped before him.
“Yoruichi-san came to speak with me, as you probably know,” he said, pausing to take a deep breath. “I’ve decided to listen to what you have to say before… before I make any decisions.”
Urahara looked up with mixed emotions fleeting across his face: relief that Ishida would listen, worry that it wouldn’t change anything, and so many others too difficult to read. He made his way to the couch and sat down heavily, taking a deep breath.
“Where should I start?”
“I hear the beginning’s always good,” Ishida replied softly, leaning against one of the dining room chairs.
Urahara smiled faintly. “Well, in that case…”
~~~
Urahara Kisuke lost both of his parents to illness in his early teens - this and his naturally curious nature were probably what encouraged him to choose his later career. Still classified as a minor, he moved in with his new legal guardians and old friends, the Shihouin family. The fairly wealthy family encouraged and supported his education, congratulating him when he was accepted to university at only fifteen years of age.
In his second year, he met Kurosaki Isshin; their friendship was instantaneous. Yoruichi, who he had known since she was born, joined them the year after. Urahara was, to put it simply, a genius. He absorbed information easily, rarely taking the time to study because it just wasn’t necessary (instead, he spent that time at parties with Isshin). By the age of twenty, he received both his Bachelor of Medical Laboratory Science and Doctor of Medicine and wished Isshin the best of luck before leaving the university.
Using funds left by his parents and scholarships from the school, Urahara set to work at creating his own laboratory, SOUL, hiring new graduates with similar goals and ambitions as his own. The research, the creation of vaccines and sending them out to be tested - he loved every aspect of his work. SOUL’s name began to frequent the newspapers and the medical magazines with several interviews from the man behind it all.
Urahara’s fame continued to grow.
~~~
“I was young and foolish,” Urahara mused, turning to stare out the patio doors at the rain beginning to patter against the glass. “All of those people praising me and my work - it went to my head.”
“What do you mean?” Ishida asked, curiosity lighting his face.
He glanced over at the boy with a slightly regretful expression. “Amidst it all, I forgot why I had started the company in the first place.”
“And why did you?”
“I wanted to save people.”
~~~
The day came when a young man named Ishida Ryuuken approached the increasingly famous scientist to extend an offer. Urahara accepted almost immediately, excited to have found someone who could possibly be an equal to his genius. The company’s name changed to MOD-SOUL and Ryuuken conceded the role of president to Urahara. Over the following weeks, Quincy Corporation’s workers were introduced to SOUL’s staff and allowed time to adjust to their new surroundings.
The months passed and something akin to friendship grew between the two scientists. Ryuuken could indeed keep up with the bridges Urahara rapidly built from one thought to another, sometimes even surprising the president by jumping ahead of him. At times they were on the edge of a breakthrough and worked late into the night, long after all the others had gone home. The company flourished from their dedication, gaining even more prestige when many of their test vaccines returned positive results.
Then Kurotsuchi Mayuri applied to MOD-SOUL for a position, straight out of university, two years after the merger.
He was an obviously intelligent young man with impressive qualifications who was eager to start working, but there was often a strange glint in his eyes. Urahara brushed it off as nothing more than an avid curiosity and desire to join the laboratory. He observed Mayuri carefully over the next few weeks before coming to a decision.
Urahara had been considering appointing someone as vice-president for quite a while. What he couldn’t decide was who it would be. The obvious candidate was Ryuuken but something always tugged on his conscience whenever he considered giving the role to him. In the end, Mayuri received the position and the day after the announcement Ryuuken showed up at the president’s office.
“How could you do this?” he had demanded, staring at the man from the doorway.
“Do what?” the man had replied brightly, seemingly oblivious.
“You know exactly what I’m talking about.”
Urahara had eyed him silently before sighing. “I’m not going to change my decision.”
“And I want to know why.”
“Why?” MOD-SOUL’s president had stood up to step around the desk. “He’s a perfect candidate: degrees in both medicine and business and a new mind for fresh ideas.”
“Why not me? I helped start this company and I deserve that position more than some new graduate - do years of experience even matter to you?” Ryuuken had asked, eyes flashing angrily from behind his glasses.
“I stand by my decision,” Urahara had stated firmly before softening his tone. “You’ll just have to trust me when I say this is not meant as an attempt to cheat you and that… your family will be thankful in the end.”
“Thankful?” the pale-haired man had scoffed, turning to leave. “I see no reason to trust you now.”
~~~
“Wait,” Ishida cut in, confusion and curiosity lining his features. He had taken to sitting on the dining room table, legs dangling back and forth. “What did you mean by that?”
“Ah…” Urahara smiled faintly, a trace of wistfulness touching his eyes. “You see, I had been planning to appoint your father as vice-president when I discovered how talented he was but one day he mentioned his family in passing; a wife and a little boy less than two years old.”
The dark-haired boy glanced at him sharply, mouth parted slightly.
“I considered what the role of vice-president might do to affect your family. Ryuuken would have been much busier and would rarely have had the time to travel back to your town. To put it simply, I wasn’t happy with the thought that his son would be lacking a father figure in his life.”
“So… you didn’t give him the position for me?”
Urahara tilted his head with a thoughtful expression. “Well, technically yes. At the time, it was for the little boy who needed a father, not specifically for the Ishida Uryuu I would end up meeting twenty years later. I was lucky enough to have Yoruichi-san’s parents treat me like their child after the passing of my own and I acknowledged the fact that having parents is important.” He smiled again at Ishida who only stared back at him, speechless. “If you had two perfectly capable parents, why should you only see one?”
~~~
Ryuuken avoided working with Urahara at every cost after that, isolating himself in his office or surrounding himself with other people when examining the bacterial cultures. Mayuri, on the other hand, took full advantage of this by shadowing Urahara’s every move. He seemed to want to surpass the cheerful scientist, working late almost every night, but was never successful. Every idea he formed had always been already thought up, hours or even days before. Mayuri grew frustrated and much like Ryuuken, began to withdraw himself to work on solitary projects.
It appeared that Urahara either knew nothing of these changes in attitude or if he did, simply ignored them. The truth was neither. He certainly did know but was simply too busy to stop and do something about it. When he wasn't experimenting in the lab, he was out attending conventions or galas, revelling in the attention from the media.
Shihouin Yoruichi joined the staff soon after Mayuri as the company's financial planner/advisor and, as a lesser known fact, Urahara's personal lawyer. With years of rather unorganized financial records, she was kept busy at sorting them out and diverting funds to areas that required them.
Two years later, that fateful day arrived when the hospital contacted them in regards to a patient with a strange illness. MOD-SOUL sent a few workers over to take down observations and get some blood samples - nothing particularly rushed. Urahara was intrigued by the thought of a new virus but still frequented the medical dinners in lieu of remaining at the laboratories to do some of his own research; he felt it was something that could be handled easily.
The scientists grew worried when nine more people were admitted with identical symptoms after the first week. They began to panic when an entire wing of the hospital was filled with over a hundred patients the next week. Very few workers left the laboratories to go home and rest, staying there instead in the hopes of finding something that could contain the situation. The patients’ symptoms worsened and the majority became bedridden, too exhausted and weak to even sit up. When a phone-call arrived from the hospital early one afternoon, the room fell silent as Urahara relayed the message to them all: the first person who contracted the illness had died, only one month after being diagnosed with the strange, new virus.
It was a race against time now; they had a general idea for the duration of the sickness and had approximately that much time to try and cure the remaining patients.
Urahara appeared to be severely affected by the news from the hospital. He dropped all public appearances to devote his time solely to helping the others work, ignoring most meals and sleep; still, the patients grew worse and the death tally grew larger.
In the early hours of the morning, six weeks after the first infection, Ryuuken made his way towards one of the laboratories - it was empty except for one man with messy blond hair scrutinizing a slide.
“Urahara.”
“What, Ishida-san?” he had asked tiredly, sitting back from the microscope. Papers covered with writing had been piled all around him and on the floor. He had gone with so little rest for so long that dark bags had formed under his eyes, mimicking the shadows that had normally been cast by his hat which had sat discarded on the tabletop. He had started to wear it a month ago when Yoruichi had remarked that his eyes were easy to read.
“This has to stop.”
“Yes, I know. That’s what-”
“No,” Ryuuken had said firmly. “This pathetic hope of finding a cure - it has to stop.”
Urahara had frowned at him, gently sliding the microscope away as he had stood up. “What exactly are you proposing?”
“We are wasting valuable resources and time. Instead of doing this we should just contain the situation and hope it stops spreading.”
“You want to just let them all die?”
“They’re going to die anyway,” Ryuuken had replied angrily. “What good does it do to try and save those who are as good as dead?”
“Because dead or alive in the end, they’re still alive right now!” Urahara had burst out.
“Be reasonable, Urahara! We have tried our best and it’s not good enough. Tell me, have you managed to find anything that we haven’t already seen?” When the man had fallen silent, Ryuuken had exhaled slowly. “This is a hopeless cause - the most we can do is try and prevent this thing from killing more people.”
“… I don’t agree.”
“What?”
“I’m not going to give up on them. Accepting that first patient made them my responsibility which I admit, I didn’t take seriously at first,” Urahara had glanced back at the slides scattered across the tabletop with a frown, “but I plan on doing all that is possible to fix that mistake, even if it ends up killing me. I will not accept death as their final option while they still breathe.”
Shaking his head as he had left, Ryuuken had muttered, “Foolish…”
In spite of everyone’s efforts, all of the patients who had been diagnosed with the unknown virus ended up dying. Strangely enough, the influx of infected persons abruptly stopped two months after the initial outbreak; any trace of the virus vanished with the last patient, leaving only weeks of frantic research behind. Blood samples taken during the ordeal mysteriously disappeared and the inquiry issued on the matter was called off after only five days.
The media, who had been keeping a fairly reasonable distance, swarmed over MOD-SOUL and Urahara. He handled all of the interviews calmly and continued his work as usual for the week following the death of the last patient.
Then he disappeared.
~~~
Ishida hovered by the couch where Urahara sat with his head propped up by his hands. At one point during the older man’s recollections, he had unconsciously moved closer from his seat on the dining room table and now debated whether or not to join him.
“Just sit down, Ishida-san. I won’t do anything.”
The dark-haired boy sat but not because of Urahara’s reassurance. It was simply the tone of his voice - it sounded so tired, so worn, so unlike his usual cheerful nature when making a statement like that. He couldn’t help but feel a little concerned.
“And so we arrive at the point which started this whole mess.”
Ishida nodded, staring down at his hands clasped together on his lap. “Why did you leave?”
“The simplest answer I can offer is that I couldn’t take it,” Urahara replied softly. “I started that business to help people and somewhere along the way, due to fame or fortune or my own idiocy, I lost that goal. When I finally found it again, it was because people were sick and dying; real people with families and lives of their own were all depending on me. Only I wasn’t there to help at the beginning - I thought they wouldn’t need me - and to this day I still blame myself for that. If I had been there, would those people still have died? Perhaps, perhaps not.”
“You can’t save everyone, Urahara-san.”
He smiled faintly. “You know, Isshin said that to me the other day. I thought I could save everyone back then. When that last patient died, it was like the final illustration of my failure. I dealt with the media as best as I could but their repeated accusations and speculations were too much.” Urahara paused for a moment with a thoughtful expression. “Only Yoruichi-san knows what happened the night before I left - her and perhaps the tow-truck driver.”
Ishida frowned as he looked up at him, echoing, “Tow-truck?”
“I had perhaps one too many drinks in an attempt to drown my guilt and took Benihime for a spin. The next thing I knew, she was more than a little scratched and I was teetering off the edge of a bridge.” Ishida gaped at him but he continued on. “Lucky for me, Yoruichi-san had decided to call me out of concern and I told her about my rather uncomfortable situation. It wasn’t a busy road which is why no one ever heard about that incident. It also makes it a bit more understandable as to why she refuses to allow me alcohol most of the time.”
“You nearly killed yourself!” the young designer exclaimed. “How could you be so-”
“Stupid? Yes, it was a stupid thing to do but it also made me realize that I couldn’t work at MOD-SOUL any more if it was going to affect me that way. After a long discussion with Yoruichi-san, I decided to leave.” Urahara fell silent for a moment in thought. “You called me selfish that day - I agree with you. In the end, I made the decision solely for my own sake. I just hope you understand that I knew nothing of Mayuri’s future plans; if I had known, I wouldn’t have left.”
“I do understand now,” Ishida replied quietly. “I only wish you had told me when you first found out. More than anything, it hurt to know you would hide things from me. I grew up trusting very few people… and I trusted no one as much as I trusted you.”
Urahara gazed at him before slowly sliding off the couch to kneel in front of him. Removing his hat, he bowed forward to rest his forehead against Ishida’s knees.
“I’m sorry, Uryuu. You have no idea how sorry. I didn’t tell you because I was afraid I would lose you.”
The dark-haired boy sat unmoving, staring down at the man kneeling before him, the blond head resting against his legs.
“Forgive me…”
Ishida slowly bent forward and lifted his arms to rest in a gentle embrace around Urahara’s head, pressing his cheek against the soft hair.
“There’s nothing to forgive… Kisuke.”
A/N: This took far too long to write - I'm sorry. XD But anyway, they aren't broken up anymore, yay! lol Let me know what you thought of the chapter. :3
... and if anyone draws that last scene for me, I will ♥ you. XD
To Chapter 14
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