Erich followed his father into the man’s office, mouth dry and stomach a knot of tension; this was the moment where everything could go wrong, where he could be found out as a liar and—

He honestly didn’t know how his father would react, either to discovering the lie as a lie or believing it; his father had never really seemed against him staying in Kisuke’s guild, but… being part of a guild and declaring that he wanted to marry an ex-Shinigami were vastly different things.

(He just hoped Kisuke didn’t realize how nervous he was.)

(Kisuke was having a difficult enough time without Erich’s worries added to his own!)

“Welcome back, son,” his mother greeted him as she rose from one of the chairs, a warm smile on her face and her arms out for a hug. “It’s been far to long since I’ve seen you,” she murmured as she swept him into a tight hug as soon as he stepped closer.

“I’ve been busy,” Erich tried to defend himself, then huffed as she ruffled his hair. “Mother!”

She chuckled warmly, pressed a kiss to his cheek, and then finally let him go. “Well, I suppose I’ll let it slide since you’re here now.”

“Thanks,” he told her dryly, then turned towards his other mother, Eris, and arched an eyebrow at her. “Going to attack my hair too, Eri-ma?” he asked, ignoring Kisuke’s puzzled noise and Alexis’ hissed explanation about Eris and Lucia being married.

(They… probably should have warned him about that.)

(Whoops…)

Eris smirked at him and finished setting out the refreshments she’d brought. “Going to get close enough for me to do so?” she asked as she straightened up and gave him a once over. “You’re looking good these days, kid. Candy Shop agrees with you, for all the name is ridiculous.”

“It is not!” Kisuke squawked in offense, then twitched and gave an awkward laugh when everyone turned to look at him. “Maa… I mean, uh—”

“You aren’t the first young guildmaster I’ve met to name his guild something odd, and I highly doubt you’ll be the last,” his father said with amusement, then gestured towards the chairs arranged around the table. “Let’s all sit down and get comfortable.”

Erich nodded and stepped over, taking a seat on Eris’ free side as Alexis guided Kisuke over and nudged him into the seat next to Erich, then sat on Kisuke’s free side, effectively boxing the man in between them.

His father watched them, eyes narrowing thoughtfully as he took their positions in. “Why do I feel that you’re about to inform me of something that you’re afraid I won’t like.”

“Sir, with all due respect,” Alexis started to say, only to freeze when his father gave her a dry, exasperated look.

“You really aren’t helping your case like that,” his father said, tone as dry as dust. “So, ignore the pretty words and give it to me plain; what scheme have the… three of you, I suppose, come up with?”

“Uh…” Alexis hesitated, shared an awkward look with Erich, then swallowed and hesitantly said, “We’re going to marry Kisuke?”

His father stared at Alexis for a moment, slid his gaze over to Erich, then smirked and turned to his mother and held out one hand. “I win,” he said archly. “I told you our boy was in love with Urahara.”

“You were betting on my love life?!” Erich couldn’t help but yelp, relief that his father believed them warring with sheer embarrassment at the idea of his parents betting about his love life. “Father! Mother!”

His mother sighed and rolled her eyes, but still placed a few coins on his father’s hand. “Yes, yes, you win, dear.” She hummed a bit and looked Kisuke over thoughtfully. “You know, if the two of you just want to avoid becoming guildmaster to the Quincy, there are certainly easier ways than creating a scandal through marriage,” she said as she gave Erich an amused look. “Like asking us.”

Erich blushed and ducked his head, desperately hoping that his parents didn’t realize that he’d never even considered asking to be an option. “That’s… not why,” he mumbled awkwardly. “I know the guild won’t react well to Kisuke, and that it will create a scandal, but he… I…”

His father laughed, deep-bold-bright, and said, “Son, anyone with eyes could tell this was going to happen sooner or later. The real surprise is Alexis, frankly. Your mother was certain that you’d be like us, two pairs instead of a full triad.”

“And you thought otherwise?” Alexis asked.

“The two of you have shared nearly everything since you got together,” his father said in amusement. “Your weapons, your mounts, that young man Briar… I was pretty certain you’d at least start with the idea of sharing him.”

At Erich’s side, Kisuke made a soft noise and slumped back in his seat, his face bright scarlet as he stared blankly up at the ceiling.

“You should probably stop embarrassing the boys,” Eris spoke up, sending Erich a teasing smirk as she did. “Much more and they’ll both melt into incoherent puddles.”

His mother chuckled at that and leaned forward to pick up a cup of tea. “I suppose we can let it be for the moment, given how much we have to speak of. All three of you will need to be fitted for your wedding outfits, of course, and we’ll need to discuss how you want the ceremony altered—” she paused when Erich sighed, then laughed again and added, “but that all can wait until another day.”

“Thank you,” Erich said in relief, giving his mother a wan smile as he did. “Sorry, mother, but… it’s been a long few days.”

“A long few weeks is more like it,” she agreed with a grim smile, levity dropping away. “With the loss of our blastia it’s become… very hard to live out here. We’re lucky we produce as much of our own supplies as we do.”

Erich grimaced but nodded, having heard more than one smaller guild say the same thing as they filtered into town to take up residence there.

“Wait, didn’t that letter Seigmar sent say that part of your guild want to move further away?” Kisuke asked as he abruptly sat up and stared at Erich’s mother. “If you’re already having problems out here…!”

Her lips pinched into a thin line and she nodded sharply. “You see the problem.”

“Why would they think…?” Kisuke trailed off with a grimace and glanced at Erich imploringly.

“Because it’s our history,” Erich answered with an awkward shrug, rubbing at his chest as he did. “Long before guilds really became a thing, we lived there and became stronger for it. I suppose they think we can do the same again if we return.”

His father nodded in agreement. “That’s exactly what they think, and they’ve managed to convince a fair number of others of that opinion as well.” He gave Erich a thoughtful look, eyes sharp with something that Erich couldn’t place, and said, “I hope you have a plan for how to handle the fallout when your marriage splinters this guild apart.”

Erich swallowed and straightened his spine, meeting his father’s gaze firmly as he announced, “I do. I’ve given it quite a bit of thought these past few weeks, ever since Alexis first wrote me about the rumors beginning to circulate. With Guildmaster Kisuke’s permission, some members such as Alexis’ adventuring party and any child who becomes beholden to us will join us in Candy Shop. Others who want to remain Quincy will be brought back to town with us and assisted in setting up a guildhall inside the relative safety of the walls. As for the rest…”

“They can set out to find the old hold if they really want to,” Alexis spoke up with a dark scowl. “And either way they’ll never darken our doorstep again.”

“An interesting plan,” his father said as he leaned back in his seat and drummed the fingers of his right hand against the arm of his chair. “Who do you intend to leave as guildmaster to the Quincy who wish to follow you back to town?”

“Maris is the more reasonable of the two who are next in line,” Erich answered easily. “They’d take the lead if I asked, I expect.”

His father arched an eyebrow and asked, “And Rainer? He’s convinced that he’s the one who will inherit, and there are plenty who will follow him.”

“If we do it right, we can convince him to take his group to another city,” Alexis suggested, then shrugged when Erich shot her a questioning look. “He and Maris are both convinced the elders are going to get everyone killed, so he’s not likely to fall in with them. Between the two of them, we can get a majority of our people to safety and… well… stop at least some of the infighting. The clan has gotten large over the generations, so a split is… probably due.”

“And if the guild doesn’t split due to your marriage?” his mother prompted. “If they expect you to take your father’s place as guildmaster and expect that Kisuke’s guild become integrated into ours?”

Erich gave his mother an exasperated look at the suggestion. “In the very unlikely event that everyone is perfectly fine with us marrying Kisuke, then we’ll take over and begin the process of splitting up the guild and moving the different portions into different towns. There just isn’t enough space inside many towns or cities to accommodate our entire guild in one place and everyone knows that.”

Eris chuckled at his answer, then raised her hands in surrender and said, “Just amused at how much you take after your father in some ways. That’s a very him answer, you know, getting the same result no matter which outcome occurs.”

“I know,” Erich agreed with a faint smile. “I listened when he showed me how it was done.”

“Well, I’m satisfied,” his father declared with a nod. “If you think that’s the best way to handle our current situation, then you have my blessing.”

Erich breathed a sigh of relief at his father’s words, pleased that they’d managed to convince the man to go along with the plan to essentially /end/ the Quincy guild as it currently was.

(Maybe he really hadn’t needed the deception of being in love with Kisuke?)

(Well… it was too late to back out now.)

(He could still use it to rile the elders and their sympathizers.)

(Everything would work out somehow.)