Shiro carefully closes the door to Hat’n’Clogs’ lab behind him and strides away, keeping to the back hallways and secret passages as he does. He hadn’t known what to expect when Urahara had given him a ‘trust me’ look and asked him to conceal himself, but…

Finding out there is rot in the knighthood was not it.

(Nor, frankly, is finding out that one of his brother’s knights considers him pretty.)

(Pretty!)

Shiro groans and rubs at his temple, praying that his blush has died down enough that Ichigo won’t comment. He’s heard numerous compliments on his looks all his life, even after he gained his reputation as a war-mage, so one knight’s opinion shouldn’t matter.

(Perhaps it’s the way he found out, instead of the words. Urahara’s easy teasing and the knight’s despairing acceptance.)

(No artifice, no pretense. Just two friends comfortable enough to tease and be teased about an infatuation.)

He shakes his head and lets his hand drop to his side, straightening his shoulders and pulling his thoughts in line. Now isn’t the time to worry about what one knight thinks of him.

There’s a war on the horizon, and he’s just learned that there’s rot amongst the knights. Shiro doubts they have time to actually correct the issue, not when they need all their warriors, but maybe his brothers can think of something better than ‘dismiss everyone involved’ or ‘scatter them all to the worst posts available’.

Though that second idea has some merit to it…

Shiro considers all the currently deployed knights as he continues towards his twin’s study, already making a mental list of which ones would be a benefit to recall. It probably won’t be enough, but scattering even just the ringleaders of the problem to the four winds will help.

He doesn’t bother to knock when he reaches Ichigo’s study, just tosses open the door and stalks in, ignoring Ichigo’s glower. “Yo, we got a problem.”

“Of course we—” Ichigo pauses, eyebrows climbing as he scans Shiro. “Are you blushing?” He leans forward, scowl lightening into a smirk, and asks, “So who do I have to bribe to find out who made you blush?”

“No one!” Shiro growls, dropping into a seat next to Ichigo’s desk and pointedly leaning back to thump his booted feet atop the desk. “That ain’t the problem!”

“Uh-huh,” Ichigo agrees absently, pulling his paperwork away from Shiro’s feet and stacking it elsewhere. “Because of course it isn’t. My little broth—”

“I am three fuckin’ minutes younger, shut yer mouth!” Shiro snaps, pointing a finger at Ichigo and letting his magic rise.

Ichigo laughs and leans forward, plucking a few wisps of blue-black flame from Shiro’s hand and absorbing them — and the excess magic in the air — without thought. “Okay, okay, suit yourself,” he says, then sobers and gives Shiro a serious look. “What have you discovered?”

Shiro huffs and flicks a few sparks of lightning at Ichigo in revenge, ignoring the way his brother easily absorbs those as well. They’re twins, after all. Sharing magic comes easier to them than any other.

“We got a problem in th’knights,” Shiro admits reluctantly, giving Ichigo an apologetic look. “Don’t know ‘xactly what jes yet, but at least one knight’s bein’ bullied somehow.”

Ichigo scowls, his lingering mirth dropping away, and reaches out to grab a sheet of paper and his brush. “Tell me what you know.”

“Ain’t much. Suspicion, mostly,” Shiro says in warning, before continuing, “Urahara thinks it’s a big enough deal t’get me t’hide an’ eavesdrop, though. Prob’ly workin’ ‘round a promise, I’d guess. We need t’look harder at Ishida Uryuu, an’ those ‘round him.”

“Wait… Ishida-san?” Ichigo frowns and sets his brush aside. “That name…” he mutters to himself, flipping through a sheaf of reports. “Isn’t that the knight..?”

“Tha’s always clumsy on th’practice field? Yeah,” Shiro agrees with a grimace. He’d thought the clumsiness a result of the man being accustomed to fighting from horseback and simply overlooked it. Several of his own knights, accustomed to fighting only in the air, are similarly clumsy on the ground, after all.

(Does he need to check his knights too? Is something similar happening amongst his own without his knowledge?)

“I thought it was nerves,” Ichigo admits ruefully, waving a report at Shiro. “He does fine in the field, just… not whenever one of us is around.”

Shiro huffs a laugh and nods in agreement. “An’ I thought he was jes like Haruka-san, deadly when mounted, an’ an absolute disaster otherwise.”

Ichigo sets the sheaf of papers aside and runs a hand through his hair, eyes unfocused as he considers their options. Shiro leaves him to it and instead sits up in order to snatch his brother’s brush and paper away. He starts on his list of knights to possibly recall, adding their post next to their name and starring those he knows are particularly terrible.

He comes up with more than he expects, in the end. Some of them he knows Zangetsu will veto immediately, but Shiro’s certain he can badger at least ten spots out of his eldest brother. Especially once Zangetsu knows why Shiro wants to recall so many of the older knights and scatter the younger ones to the four winds.

(Zangetsu might even come up with new postings that ‘desperately’ need attention.)

(He can be horribly vindictive at times…)

“If only Yoruichi was back,” Ichigo mutters eventually, pulling Shiro away from his self-appointed task. “Ugh. We’re going to have to sneak around ourselves.”

“We can’t call ‘em out about this jes yet,” Shiro cautions. Ichigo narrows his eyes, and Shiro continues before his brother can protest, “We can’t, idjit. Ishida didn’t come t’me about this, I learned it by eavesdropping. Which means we have no fuckin’ clue how deep all’a this goes. I’m gunna need t’check th’flying knights fer this too, and Zangetsu’ll prob’ly say we should investigate damn near everyone.”

“Stop being logical about this,” Ichigo complains as he pushes back from his desk and stands. “You’re not supposed to be logical. You’re supposed to be the one charging in to challenge all of them to duels or something.”

“Nah, tha’s boring. No one ever fights me seriously ‘cept you an’ Zan.” Shiro slides his sheet of paper over and smirks up at Ichigo from his seat. “Sides, I already got th’start a’some revenge planned out.”

Ichigo takes one look at the sheet and laughs, immediately catching on to Shiro’s plan. His smile, when his laughter trails off, is sharp and deadly, and Shiro returns it with joy.

He’s always enjoyed putting fools in their place, and doing it with his twin is even better.