Author's Note: Before reading this, you should know that I read the Bleach manga, but don't watch the anime. You should also know that I haven't read a Bleach chapter since right before the battle started. The last thing I remember is the full page spread of the captains and vice captains gearing up to kick some ass. So I'm sure there are some inconsistancies with this fic, and I apologize.
Usted Está Aquí
By Stalk Me
- * -
Chapter One:
Dirty Little Secret
His eyes opened slowly, but it took much longer for him to see his surroundings clearly. They blurred at first, a mass of color and light clashing smoothly together, which was pretty, but offered no indication of where he was at. Then, slowly, the shapes and colors sharpened, revealing his location: the Kurosaki clinic. Hitsugaya groaned and brought a bandaged hand to his eyes, as if hoping he could wipe the image from his sight. It didn't work. He opened his eyes again to find himself in the same place: the human world, lying in a patient bed at the Kurosaki clinic, stuck in his gigai.
He sat up with some difficulty. His ribs and abdominal muscles burned with ache, and a bandage on his stomach dug into his skin as his body altered into the new position. He was shirtless and shoving the covers off of his legs revealed that he was wearing a pair of basketball shorts that had to have been Ichigo's at one time. The drawstring was tied tightly to keep them on him, and when he eased himself out of bed and stood on his own feet, the shorts ended just past his knees. There was no sign of his shinigami robes or captain's haori; he figured they were probably bloodstained anyway. Hyorinmaru pulsed against his back, however; invisible, but still there. He may have been stuck in the human world for an unknown amount of time, but he was still a shinigami. He would wait it out.
The door to the clinic was opened slightly, letting in a thin beam of golden light and the din of a family dinner. Hitsugaya walked towards it and pushed it open, leaving the darkened clinic where Isshin must have treated his wounds after the battle, and joining the family in the dining room. Everyone looked up when he entered.
"He's up!" Isshin announced jovially, his smile lighting up his face and causing his youngest daughter, Yuzu, to smile as well, completely innocent. Isshin's other daughter, the one who had Ichigo's scowl, was staring at him with narrowed, calculating eyes. And Ichigo – no, not Ichigo; Ichigo was in Sereitei, where Hitsugaya was supposed to be. Kon, trapped in Ichigo's body until the boy returned, nodded once at Hitsugaya before returning to his food.
"Ya hungry?" Isshin asked finally, gesturing to the empty spot at the table. Yuzu took that as her cue. She jumped up from her seat and rushed into the kitchen, returning with an extra plate and a skillet full of aromatic food. Hitsugaya sat slowly and awkwardly down at the table as she spooned the food onto his plate. The other girl, Karin, sat beside him, and she rudely stared at him, as if trying to decipher something. Hitsugaya rubbed his arm self-consciously; her stare made him feel as though static electricity was running up and down his side…
'That's not it,' Hitsugaya thought suddenly. His eyes widened and, forgetting himself, he turned and sent her a shocked look. It wasn't her stare that was causing his arm to bristle; it was her reiatsu; it had grown much stronger since the last time he had visited the house. Hitsugaya immediately tore his eyes away from her to send an incredulous expression to her father.
Isshin narrowed his eyes at Hitsugaya, as if ordering him to keep his mouth shut. The older man suddenly cleared his throat, his demeanor serious for once. "Girls, Hitsugaya-kun here is going to be staying with us for awhile," he explained. He then turned to Kon. "He'll be staying with you in your room," he added.
Kon nodded; then, as if just remembering that he was pretending to be Ichigo, he scowled. Realization then dawned on Hitsugaya; the girls knew nothing. To them, Kon was their older brother, Ichigo. And he…he was some injured orphan that they were taking in.
"Eat up, Hitsugaya-kun," Yuzu proclaimed happily. "Your food's getting cold!"
Hitsugaya tried to offer her a slight smile, though he was sure it turned out as a grimace. He hated the situation, hated the human world. But he had no choice. With the war going on, the gate between Soul Society and Earth was firmly shut, opening for no one, not even a captain. He picked up his chop sticks and picked at his food, trying to keep the bile down. How long until he could return? Staying in the human world meant that he would age as a normal human. If the war took too long…
Dinner was a muted affair. Hitsugaya, Kon and Karin remained completely silent, while Yuzu occasionally commented about her day and Isshin over-reacted to every little comment his daughter made. When the meal was finally over with, Kon and Isshin busied themselves with bringing a bed from the clinic up to Ichigo's room. Hitsugaya felt like he should help them, but he was still injured, and with Isshin's bulk and Kon's strong legs, they didn't need help anyway. Hitsugaya therefore found himself getting roped into doing the dishes with Yuzu. She washed, he dried, and Karin put the dishes away. The black-haired girl continued to stare silently at Hitsugaya, making him irritable and suddenly self-conscious, wishing that he had a shirt.
"Well, we had to do some rearranging, but we've got the bed in," Isshin announced, just as Karin had put the last plate away. He looked directly at Hitsugaya, his smile wide, though his eyes apologetic. "I think you should probably go to bed," he ordered. "You need your rest to heal."
Hitsugaya glared at him, not appreciating the order. He had gone from captain of the tenth division to kid within a very short amount of time. And judging by the knowing looks Isshin was giving him, as well as the strong reiatsu he radiated, Hitsugaya knew that Isshin knew more about him, the war and just where the real Ichigo was than what he was letting on.
Nevertheless, he nodded and went up the stairs to Ichigo's old room, he'd play along. At least for now.
- * -
It was nearly two hours later when Kon finally opened the door to their bedroom, stepped inside and jerked his head in an indication that Hitsugaya should follow him.
The hallway was dark and quiet; the girls must have been asleep. Hitsugaya wordlessly followed Kon down the stairs and into the dimly lit living room. Isshin was there, dressed in shinigami robes, a captain's haori over his shoulder. Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow in surprise. He had figured that Isshin had been a shinigami; that had been evident just in the fact that two of his children had such strong reiatsus. But a captain…
Kon looked between Isshin's cocky smile and Hitsugaya's shocked expression, rolled his eyes and flopped onto the couch. Isshin's smile grew as Hitsugaya masked his surprise with a scowl.
"I remember hearing rumors of a genius advancing quickly through the shinigami academy before I left," Isshin announced suddenly. "I assume that was you?"
Hitsugaya crossed his arms. "Probably. When did you leave?"
Isshin settled into an armchair, his smile softening as he reminisced. "Just over twenty years ago," he said. "I fell in love with Ichigo's mother while I was on a routine mission down here. I finished my mission, then left Soul Society. Spent a year dating her, married her and Ichigo was born a few years later." He smirked. "I was captain of the tenth, by the way," he added, noticing how Hitsugaya was attempting to surreptitiously glance at his captain's haori. "So you can imagine my surprise when I found the current captain of the tenth passed out and bloody on the side of the road the other night. What happened?"
Even Kon raised his head and looked at Hitsugaya, suddenly taking interest in the conversation. Hitsugaya sighed.
"We had made a copy of Karakura Town to fight in because Aizen had chosen that to be the place of our battle. Things were going well for a little while, but then Gin somehow moved us all to the real Karakura Town. We decided to quickly move the battle to Sereitei to save innocent lives. We managed to move it there, and we were going to lock the gate between Soul Society and Earth, which I'm assuming they managed to do but…"
"But…?"
"Obviously I got left behind. All I remember is a blow to my head, flashing white lights in front of my eyes and then darkness. I think I remember hearing Matsumoto's voice calling out as I fell, but…" he trailed off, not wanting to say more.
A wistful smile crossed Isshin's face, replacing the serious demeanor he had been sporting earlier. "I remember Matsumoto. Feisty, young thing. She had talent though."
"She's my vice-captain," Hitsugaya confirmed.
"Good for her."
"I miss the lovely Matsumoto-san!" Kon whined from his spot on the couch. "Her boobs are bigger than Inoue's!"
Hitsugaya and Isshin both ignored him. Isshin's expression turned serious once more.
"Hitsugaya Taichou, listen," he said, shifting in his seat. "The girls know nothing of all this. They don't know about Soul Society or shinigami; they think Kon's Ichigo." He paused, his mouth a thin line. "Karin can see spirits. Her reiatsu grows stronger everyday. I don't think she knows much though."
"You want me to keep up the charade," Hitsugaya stated.
"For as long as you can," Isshin replied.
Hitsugaya glanced at Kon. The mod soul's face was hardened in an Ichigo-like scowl. It was clear that he didn't like deceiving the girls anymore than Hitsugaya did. Hitsugaya turned back to Isshin.
"I'll play along," he agreed. "But if they find out on their own and ask, I'm not going to lie to them."
Isshin nodded his head once. "I can agree with that."
Hitsugaya narrowed his eyes. "You should really think about telling them though," he cautioned. "Karin's reiatsu is strong. Once the gates open up again, she'll be a primary target for hollows. You should train her while it's still safe." Isshin's eyes darkened, and Hitsugaya suddenly felt as if he had crossed some line. "I'm just saying you should be careful, that's all," he mumbled.
"You should too," Isshin replied.
Hitsugaya looked up, wondering if the older shinigami was threatening him.
Isshin, appearing to have read his mind, laughed. "Don't worry. I wouldn't hurt you unless I found you with one of my girls."
Kon sat up suddenly and looked at Hitsugaya. "Yeah, that's the only rule. No romancing the girls. Specially for me." He gestured to Ichigo's body. "For genetic reasons, obviously."
"Kon, you're disgusting," Hitsugaya reprimanded.
"Hey! I'll have you know that I actually do think of them as my little sisters!" He stood and came very close to Hitsugaya, bearing down on him. "So once puberty does happen to you kids, if you ever find yourself wanting to get a little closer to one of them," he trailed off and cracked his knuckles.
"Oh, I'm sure Hitsugaya Taichou is shaking in his shoes over that threat, Kon," Isshin said sarcastically. He stood up and came forward, resting a hand on Hitsugaya's shoulder.
"What I was trying to say is, when I first left Soul Society, I still had my shinigami abilities. But the longer I stayed, the weaker my reiatsu became. By the time Ichigo was born, I was completely human. Hell, that's probably the reason why he was born in the first place! The dead aren't really known for being fertile."
Hitsugaya frowned. "Urahara…"
"Urahara is a much smarter shinigami than you and me. And he doesn't share his secrets unless he wants to."
"The Vaizard…"
"Have their own special powers that we don't have," Isshin cut in. "Listen, I'm not saying that it's going to happen to you. I stopped training after I got married, so that's probably why it all went away. I'm just saying that if being around a shinigami was enough for my powers to return and my daughter's reiatsu to strengthen, then being around humans can theoretically have the opposite effect for a stranded shinigami. Be careful."
Hitsugaya nodded. "Thanks," he replied curtly, turning away and heading towards the stairs. His wounds were starting to ache again, and all he wanted to do was lapse into a deep sleep.
"And remember," Isshin called after him. Hitsugaya paused and glanced over his shoulder. Isshin and Kon stood in the living room, the dim light casting shadows upon them, making them look more imposing than what they really were. "It's our little secret."
End Author's Note: You will eventually find out why Hitsu fell from Soul Society...but you find out much later in the story. I greatly look forward to hearing any comments you guys may have about characterization. I find Isshin and Kon a little tricky to write because they're such eccentric characters, but can also display real maturity when they need to. And of course any other comments you guys may have are welcomed as well. Next chapter is done and should be up in a week or so. I hope you enjoy!
