Serendipity

Crush the World Down

"This... This is... impossible...!" Grand Fisher moaned in denial with his last breath. His eyes rolled into the back of his head as both halves of his corpse finally went completely limp, and his body began to disintegrate.

"One... one hit... He dropped him with just one attack..." Kon stuttered as he stared at Isshin in awe, dripping with cold, nervous sweat. 'This is crazy... He's so strong, it's crazy! Is he really Ichigo's... stupid dad...!?' he wondered in disbelief as an image of Isshin acting embarrassingly idiotic popped into his head. It was completely incompatible with the cool and serious man that now stood before him.

"Did you get it?" a familiar voice asked as they suddenly became aware of the sound of wooden geta clicking on pavement.

Kon's eyes widened in surprise as he and Isshin turned to face its owner. Urahara was walking towards them, followed closely by a petite girl wearing a black cloak that was way too big for her. The mysterious teen didn't seem to have even the slightest trace of reiatsu.

"Your revenge," Urahara finished as he and Seren came to a stop in front of them.

"So you came... Urahara," Isshin said solemnly.

"Long time no see, Isshin-san," Urahara greeted the Shinigami with a slight smile as he placed a hand on his hat. "Iyah~! It looks as though your skills are still as sharp as ever~! What a relief~!" Urahara said lightly.

"Oh yeah? It's nice to hear you talk straight once in a while..." Isshin deadpanned.

"Well... if you became weaker and blamed me for it, it would be problematic~!" Urahara teased, grinning, as he whipped out his fan.

"Oh really?" Isshin asked dryly, turning his head as he crossed his arms. "Don't worry. Even if I became weak, I wouldn't blame you. I would just accept it. Same goes for my abilities."

'Hmm? Sounds like they get along pretty well with each other... I wonder why I've never seen him come to the shop before...' Seren thought as she watched the exchange between the two men.

"By the way, Urahara... who's that little ojou-san behind you?" Isshin asked curiously as he glanced at Seren. "Your girlfriend~?" he teased, winking and grinning like an idiot, as he held up his pinky, making the Japanese hand sign that symbolized such a relationship.

Seren's face could not have been any redder. She was blushing so hard that steam was practically coming out of her. What the heck was this ossan saying!? She had been so startled by his sudden dive into such a sensitive topic, that she had nearly bitten her tongue in surprise!

"Hahaha! Please, Isshin-san~! You shouldn't say things like that, even as a joke~!" Urahara said, waving his hand at the notion, causing Seren to flinch in shock at how quickly the idea of dating her had been dismissed. "Seren-chan has a really scary father, you know~! He'd slaughter me if he heard you say something like that!" Urahara said playfully, laughing in amusement. His smile tensed slightly as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face.

Actually... That wasn't really too far from the truth...

"Seren-chan happens to be my number one pupil," Urahara explained as he patted her on the head. "Don't worry, she's the soul of discretion. Although, she sometimes has trouble following directions..." he added, giving her a pointed look to let her know he wasn't going to forget her recent transgression anytime soon.

Seren laughed a little nervously while she avoided his gaze. So, he still hadn't completely forgiven her for that yet...

"So... how does it feel...?" he asked Isshin, changing the subject. "Taking the form of a Shinigami that you abandoned twenty years ago?"