many thanks to Quetzelcoatls for allowing me to resurrect this story for him

now

you will notice some changes

for instance I decided that there was no logical reason why Integra would order Seras destroyed outside of plot convenience, and while this means I'm going to have to wing it in places, the result should make me much happier

also: I'm setting this during the 30 years between the end of the manga and the epilogue simply because there aren't nearly enough stories out there like that and it's my story now so there

so no, Alucard will not be showing up, apologies to anyone who was looking forward to that in the original story, but again, my story now

as for how much of Bleach this is going to cover and how many recent spoilers it will contain?

well

I never watched past the beginning of the Zanpakuto Rebellion arc and have never read the manga

I just know a lot of spoilers anyway

so

I'm just gonna stick with anime canon and see how far this gets

probably to the end of the Winter War

well, that's enough of that

On with the show!

Edit: I realized that I screwed a few things up, and also that I really actually wanted to have my chapters mirror the original as much as possible

what this means for you all is that this chapter is going to actually include Seras and Isshin's conversation, plus a bit more

Seras stepped off the plane, immensely thankful that she no longer had to be shipped like cargo in her coffin to cross oceans.

suppressing a yawn, she mentally reviewed the task at hand: Hellsing had received word of a series of strange unexplained deaths in and around the town of Karakura in Japan. Bodies found with no signs of trauma, but were nonetheless dead. Given that Seras had (admittedly distant) family in the area, it seemed only natural that she be the one sent out to investigate.

Of course, said family hadn't learned of her death, which had the potential to be problematic. On the upside it meant that she could announce her arrival over the phone without startling the Kurosaki household too badly, but on the other hand it meant that she was going to have to remember how to act human

Ah well, she'd figure something out when she got there

anyway, there were more immediate concerns: her coffin itself did still count as cargo, so she was taking pains to conceal it in a nondescript wooden crate. Even if she didn't exactly need it the way she used to, it still helped a lot

fortunately, language wasn't going to be a problem. It had been years, but she still had a rudimentary grasp of Japanese from the last time she'd been in the country, though that would probably improve with her first meal

speaking of which, how was she going to feed herself? She knew the Kurosaki's ran a clinic, but that ran into her old hangup of taking blood that was meant to save lives, and besides, she figured they kept track of their stock. She could always go for the old standby of "wander back alleys until someone tries something and then eat them", but then she had discovered that she was a bit of a picky eater. She'd really rather not have the souls of people she despised running around inside her if she could help it, besides, it wouldn't be fair to Pip.

well

another problem that could be resolved later, when she was actually hungry

Isshin Kurosaki was concerned

he'd been tracking a strange reishi signal all day

a reishi signal that was approaching his house

a reishi signal that was approaching his at the same time as his distant niece was supposed to be arriving

this was, put simply, a problem

whether it was the sort of problem that required a zanpakuto to deal with was uncertain, but he wasn't discounting the possibility

he would do whatever he had to to protect his children, even if it meant blowing his cover

he just hoped it wouldn't come to that

the signal arrived

and then, against all logic, the doorbell rang

now rather more curious than uneasy, Isshin decided that opening the door probably wasn't the worst thing he could do in this situation

he wasn't entirely sure what expected to see on the other side, but the busty blonde girl with an unnervingly toothy grin was decidedly not it

"Hello! sorry for showing up on short notice like that, it's been a long time hasn't it?"

Isshin stared for a moment as his brain caught up to the fact that it did indeed appear to be one Seras Victoria standing before him, despite the fact that last he'd heard, Seras was human.

"yeah no kidding, what are you?"

Seras' face collapsed

"wha...? how did you know?"

"just answer the question"

"well...um...this may sound a bit ridiculous, but I'm a vampire"

Isshin simply continued to stare

"a vampire"

"that's what I said, please don't make me prove it"

"no, no, it's just...vampires are real?"

"I was just as surprised when I found out believe you me, granted, I found out when Dracula himself shot me in the chest and then drank my blood"

"Dracula's real?"

"and until I drink his blood, he is my master, yes"

"...you'd better come in"

"so let me get this straight, you were turned by Dracula himself, who now goes by the name of Alucard and serves the Hellsing organization, which then recruited you to hunt other vampires?"

Seras managed not to roll her eyes.

"for the last time yes, and the Zeppelin Incident was in fact the work of Nazi vampires, and I helped my master put an end to it, though at great cost"

Isshin managed to look sheepish.

"sorry, it's just...this is a whole new kind of weird for me"

"imagine how I felt"

"right, so how much of the myth is true?"

Seras started ticking off items on her fingers.

"well, garlic does nothing to me, but silver, especially blessed silver, burns like a hot poker, I can withstand the light of the sun, but I really don't like it and it does weaken me, I had to sleep in a coffin for half a year, and it still helps me maintain my power, I once saw my master come back from being decapitated, but then he had millions of souls within him at the time, and I only have the one"

Isshin startled, this was alarming to say the least.

"wait, back up, did you say souls? within him?"

Seras looked at him quizzically

"yes, when a vampire drinks the blood of a living human, they absorb that person's soul into their own being to increase their power" Seras noticed that Isshin had gone slightly pale at this "is something wrong?"

Isshin's mind was racing, he was definitely going to need to have a talk with Urahara about this.

but he had more pressing concerns at this moment, like finding out just how dangerous his niece had become.

"no, nothing, never mind, anyway, you said you only had the one, care to explain?"

sensing the question behind the question, simply answered "he was already dying and gave me his blood willingly. I have never actively hunted humans, and see no reason to do so so long as I have access to medical blood"

this seemed to reassure Isshin somewhat, though he still looked guarded

"so then why are you here?"

now it was Seras' turn to look guarded.

"I don't know how much I can say beyond the fact that I'm on a mission. I honestly shouldn't even have told you about Hellsing, we are supposed to be a secret organization after all"

"I suppose I can't argue with that. Well then, I suppose you can have the guest room on the north wall, it gets the least sun"

Seras grinned at him, inadvertently showing off her fangs again

"thank you, this means a lot"

"just go get your coffin"

the next morning, Isshin watched suspiciously as Seras introduced herself to the twins, it was no surprise they didn't know her, given that they'd both been babies the last time she'd been around. So far she seemed to be acting normal, if somewhat sleepy. She was also noticeably (to Isshin) attempting to stay out of direct sunlight as much as possible.

well

she only had about ten more minutes before the girls left for school, he figured she'd be fine

hearing the telltale sounds of Ichigo coming down the stairs, Isshin grinned silently to himself, maneuvered into an ambush position, waited for the opportune moment, then launched himself at the stairwell with a yell

all he got for his trouble was a foot to the face

Ichigo proceeded to ignore his father's profuse compliments on his form and timing

then he noticed Seras, and blinked in confusion

"who the hell are you?"

Seras, for her part, looked hurt

"I'm your cousin Seras, don't you remember?

Ichigo frowned, thinking. Now that he thought about it, he did remember something about a distant cousin living in England, but the last time he'd seen her was ten years ago

"oh yeah, I guess I do"

"It's nice to see you again after all these years, I hope you don't mind, but I'll be staying here for a while"

"what for?"

"She's on a secret mission from her government!" supplied Yuzu excitedly

"somehow I doubt that" Karin replied lazily, more focused on pushing her cereal around her bowl with a spoon

"Sometimes you'll find that truth is far stranger than fiction" seras said with a laugh. "Anyway, I'll see you guys later tonight okay? My plane got in really late last night, so I'm going back to bed for awhile". The others nodded their assent and she left them to finishing their breakfast. She may have been far more powerful now than she was as a freshly-turned fledgling, but she still had a hard time staying up for long after the sun had risen and she was rapidly approaching her limit. Upon reaching her room, she headed immediately for the closet where her coffin was being kept and climbed in, sighing with relief when the lid clicked shut and blocked the sunlight. She was going to make damn sure that she never reached the point of starvation around those girls, it wasn't like back home where the only people she had to worry about hurting were soldiers who would shoot her if she tried anything. Fortunately, Isshin had agreed to give her access to the clinic's supply of medical blood, just so long as she didn't deplete his stock too much and stuck to the packs that were nearing expiration.

20 minutes later, Isshin was sending Ichigo off to school. He snuck a glance at the room Seras was staying in. She had warned him that waking a sleeping vampire was a tough job at best, and a dangerous undertaking at worst. However, this did give him the chance he needed to go talk to one of his few friends in the living world.

If anyone could tell him what the hell he was dealing with, it was Kisuke Urahara

Kisuke wondered what it said about him that the story Isshin was telling him was not the weirdest thing he'd ever heard of. Still, this was one of the better ones. "are you sure it's actually your niece and not something imitating her?" he asked as he poured the tea. Isshin shook his head morosely, "Yes, I'm sure, and that's the problem. She talked about absorbing souls Kisuke, doesn't that sound suspicious to you?"

"while I'll grant you that it is unsettling, she said she came here for a mission right? She was probably hoping that she could get here, do whatever it is she's doing, and then leave before you noticed anything about her. I certainly don't believe that she means you any harm"

Isshin nodded, sipping his tea

"I suppose you have a point"

"this could save you a lot of trouble you know" said Kisuke, snapping his fan for emphasis

Isshin frowned at him

"how? and with what?"

those seals I placed on Ichigo aren't going to last forever you know, he's simply becoming too strong. Your little vampire may be able to keep him out of trouble"

Isshin considered this

"that may be, but how exactly am I supposed to ask her to protect him from Hollows without giving away my own secret?

Kisuke just smiled from behind his fan

"you did say her Reiatsu was strong, if unusual, sooner or later a Hollow is going to notice her, let her find out on her own" he suggested cheerfully

"that might not be the best idea you know" Isshin responded drily

"you can't deny that it would work. How powerful would you say she is?"

"right now? somewhere around that of a tenth seat, but she hasn't been a vampire for long, and true power takes time"

"well then I'm sure she'll be fine!"

"you're impossible, you know that right?

Kisuke just laughed

I realized that I'm writing Isshin as rather unconcerned with the fact that he just let a monster into his house

just imagine that he's ready to strike at a moment's notice through the whole thing

couldn't really come up with a way to get that across that didn't seem needlessly intrusive to me

I nearly just skipped the whole thing, but that wasn't gonna work

anyway, I hope I'm doing at least a half-decent job of keeping everyone in character. Seras is kind of hard because of how much she changed over the course of that night while still staying basically the same kind and innocent young girl she always was, and striking that balance is proving difficult

I also just realized how much work I've given myself by changing things the way I have

but then I did that to myself, so I really have no right to complain

so yes

chapter one

done properly this time

now on to actually writing chapter 2 instead of obsessively editing what I already have

also: periods are the bane of my existence