"Ryu keep holding tight around Daddy's shoulders, okay?"
"Okay!"
A young couple was each carrying a small child in their arms, while a third child clung to their father's shoulders as they ran.
"Was Urahara positive that this is the right place he's sending us to?" The man looked to his side at the woman, who was clinging tight to their second daughter.
"You mean the right time?" She replied, clearly annoyed with the whole situation. "I'm not sure. He said that this was the first time he had really messed with time travel."
The man looked down at his only son that clung to his shihaksho. "We will be back for them when this is all over, so it better be right. Are you sure this was the right time to jump to?"
"This is way before we even discovered our feelings for each other. I'm positive that they won't be able to find the children here with them- us." The woman quickly corrected herself, feeling weird about the whole situation.
"I'm not going to handle this well." The man stated, talking about his past-self.
"No. No, you're not." The woman agreed. "Which is why we're leaving before they can object."
"Ryu, you can take care of Ruka and Ichi right?" The man called up to the eldest on his back.
"Uhuh!" She answered. "I'm five now, daddy. I can do it!"
The man chuckled. "Good girl, Ryu. They will need you because this is going to be confusing for all three of you."
"Daddy's right, Ryuichi," The woman agreed. "Mommy and Daddy have to go away for a while so you, Ruka and Ichiro have to be good."
"We're going to the World of the Living, right?" Ryuichi asked.
"Yeah, but it's not like the World of the Living you know." Her father answered. "It may look like it, but no one will know who you are."
"Why not?"
"Because we had to go to a time before you were born to keep you safe from some bad people."
"Is it like the guy who tried to attack us the other day?"
"Exactly." Her father firmly nodded. "So we had to bring you here to keep you safe where no one knows about you."
"Not even Grandpa?"
"Not even Grandpa."
"Or my aunties?"
"Nope. And you will see me and Mommy, but we won't know you either." He explained. "But they will protect you as I and Mommy do. You still have the note we wrote before we left, right?"
"Yeah, but I can't read," Ryuichi stated, annoyed.
Her father chuckled. "That's fine. As long as you give it to the Mommy and Daddy that don't know you, that's how we know you three will be safe."
"Okay."
"Is that the exit up there?" The woman pointed to bright light at the end of their path.
"It has to be." The man answered, looking serious again. "Let's go."
They were at it again.
The Kurosaki household was always hectic around dinner time, and tonight was no exception.
"Come on, Ichigo." Isshin Kurosaki was teasing his son yet again. "You can't tell me that you and my third daughter haven't at least gone on one date."
"Dad, would you just shut up!" The orange-haired teen glared across the table at his father.
"I promise, Isshin, mine and Ichigo's relationship is just a friendship." Rukia Kuchiki tried to explain.
"But I've seen the way you two are together," Isshin whined. "And how many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me Isshin and call me Dad?"
"She doesn't want to, Dad." Karin rolled her eyes.
"But I have taken her in as my third daughter," Isshin complained. "It's all I ask of you, Rukia. Please?"
Rukia gave an uncomfortable laugh.
"It's okay, Rukia. Just ignore him." Ichigo said, taking a bite of his food.
"Would you like some more, Rukia?" Yuzu offered from her place at the stove. She hadn't even sat down to join her family yet.
"I'm fine, Yuzu. You should sit and eat some food yourself before it gets cold." Rukia gestured.
"I will, I'm just making sure that everyone else is okay first." The young girl smiled.
"We're all fine, Yuzu," Ichigo said. "Just come and sit dow-"
The was a knock at the door.
"I'll go get that first." Yuzu said. "I wonder who it is at this time."
"This is Grandpa's house." Ryuichi pointed at a building nearby, now walking alongside her parents.
"The twins are still asleep after all of that." The woman noted, looking at both small children they were carrying. "They definitely are your kids."
The man chuckled. "Well it's better that way, isn't it. You know how afraid of the dark they are and the pathway to this time was pitch black. All Urahara told us to do was keep running."
"We should stop and wake them." The woman said.
"Yeah." The man nodded.
They both shifted the positions of the children, causing them to both stir.
"Come on, you two." The man spoke gently to them. "We're here now."
Both of the children slowly opened their eyes and yawned.
"Hello, my sleepy-heads." The woman laughed as they focussed their eyes on their parents.
"Mommy, where we at?" The boy asked, stretching and looking around.
"The World of the Living."
As soon as she said that, both twins perked up and grinned.
"Are we gonna go to Grandpa's?" The girl looked hopeful up to her father.
He nodded and ruffled her hair. "Yeah, you're going to stay at Grandpa's for a while."
"Where you going, Daddy?" The boy questioned, looking confused.
"Well..." He scratched the back of his head and looked over to the woman. "How do we explain this to three-year-olds?"
The woman shrugged and thought for a moment. "Well... Daddy and I will be here, but we're gonna play a game." She finally spoke.
"What game?"
"You know how you and your sisters play pretend all the time?" She asked.
"Uhuh."
"It's going to be like that. Me and Daddy, along with everyone else here are going to be really good pretenders that we don't know who you three are."
"That's not a fun game, Mama." The girl puffed her cheeks out.
The woman looked up at the man, hoping that he had an idea.
"Well, it's like this Ruka." He began as he got down on her level. "We're pretending that this is waaaay before you and your brother and sister were born. It might not sound like a fun game now, but I promise it will be when you see me and Mommy again."
The twins looked to each other, unsure about the game that their parents were talking about.
"Ruka, Ichi." Ryu pushed her way between her parents and had her hands on her hips. "We're on a mission!"
The two perked up at their older sister's words.
"Like Mama and Daddy?" Ruka asked.
"Uhuh!" Ryuichi exclaimed. "It's called hide from the bad guys that took everyone's memory!"
The parents looked to each other then at their children, wondering if their eldest's words were working to get the twins to play along.
"It's coming from the old man, himself!" Ryuichi continued, sounding just like her father. "Do you accept this mission, Ruka and Ichiro?"
The twins looked at each other, this time excitement filled their eyes.
"Yes, Captain Ryu!" They both giggled with glee.
"Then let's go! Forward march!"
The three kids walked past their parents, the oldest of the three in the lead. All three had serious expressions on their faces.
"I don't know where they get that from." The man chuckled, scratching the back of his head.
"Gee, I wonder." The woman rolled her eyes.
The family made their way to their destination.
"Okay, you three." The woman got down on their level as they arrived. "Daddy and I are going to have to go now. Remember, you have to be really really good."
"Okay, Mommy," Ryu answered for the three of them.
The woman grabbed all three of them tightly in a group hug as if she weren't going to be able to see them again.
When she let go, the three of them turned their attention to their father.
"It may be confusing for a while, but Mommy and I will take you back to our time before you know it." He said, looking to Ryu who somewhat understood what was really happening.
Ryu tried to stand tall and brave, but when she realized that her parents were leaving her she started to falter. Her violet eyes started to fill with tears.
"Aww, come on Ryu. You have to be a big girl for your brother and sister." Her father said, ruffling her hair.
The girl just launched herself into him, gripping tight to his shihaksho.
The twins followed her motion and clung to their father.
"Okay, we have to go now." He said, standing back up. "We'll be back soon."
"Okay, Daddy." Ryu sniffed and wiped her tears away.
Their father reached over them and knocked on the door. Once he heard someone coming to answer, he looked to the woman and they quickly shunpoed away.
"I wonder who it is at this time." A soft voice spoke on the other side of the door as it slowly opened.
Soft brown eyes met with two sets of violet and one set of amber eyes.
"Oh... Hello?" Yuzu greeted, confused and looked around for adults nearby.
"Hi, aunt-" Ichiro started to respond, but Ryuichi cut him off.
"Is Ichigo here?" She quickly asked, looking as sweet as she possibly could.
Yuzu blinked a few times before she answered, trying to take in what she was seeing and hearing from the three children.
The taller of the three had bright orange hair that was cut neatly at her shoulders and had a loose bang in her face. The boy had the same hair but unlike the two girls, he had amber eyes. The smallest of the three had her hair cut similarly to her sister's but her hair was kept out of her face with a violet headband.
"He is..." Yuzu slowly answered. "Who are you three?"
The three siblings looked to each other then back to Yuzu.
"I'm Ryuichi and these two are my brother and sister." The bold little girl answered. "We are on a mission from the future."
"O...kay..."
"Yuzu, who is it?" Isshin came to the door and looked down at the three kids, who looked up to him with huge smiles.
"Hello. Where are your parents?" Isshin asked, getting down to their level. He looked at each child carefully to see if he recognized them.
The boy had him taken aback. He looked just like Ichigo when he was little.
"They had to go back to get the bad guys." The dark-haired child answered.
"The bad guys, huh?" He looked around again and stepped to the side. "Let's get inside so you can tell me more about the bad guys."
The three children casually walked past him and into his home.
"So you said you were on a mission, right?" Isshin asked as the three sat neatly on his sofa.
"Mhm." Ryuichi nodded.
"And you're looking for Ichigo?"
"Yup!" Ruka grinned.
"I have a note for him," Ryuichi said, casually taking off the backpack that she had been carrying and rummaged through it for the piece of paper.
"I see... Can I see the note?" Isshin asked.
"Nope! Only Ichigo or Rukia can." Ryuichi said with a serious look.
"Rukia? So you know her too?"
"Mhm." Ichiro nodded.
Isshin looked at the three with his arms folded. "Okay, then... I'll go and get them."
"I wonder what's taking them so long," Karin said, looking in the direction of their front door.
"Who knows," Ichigo stated, finishing off his food. "It might be a salesman giving them his best pitch and Dad is probably buying every bit of it."
"Shouldn't you go stop him then?" Rukia asked.
"It's not my problem that the old man can't keep track of his finances." Ichigo snorted.
"Yeah, Dad is really gullible when it comes to the door to door salesmen." Karin sighed. "He just can't help himself."
"I see," Rukia said, finishing off her own food.
After a few minutes, Isshin came back into the kitchen and motioned for Ichigo to follow him back to the living area.
"Oh, no," Ichigo argued. "I'm not buying into whatever you're getting from the salesman."
"It's not that... It's these kids." Isshin tried to explain.
"Dad, I'm all for feeding the hungry kids and all but I'm not-"
"No, it's not that," Isshin said, this time going over and pulling his son's arm.
"They insist on seeing you and Rukia."
"What?" Rukia looked confused. "The two of us?"
"They say they have a note for you."
Ichigo and Rukia gave each other a quick glance. Could it be from the Soul Society?
They nodded and followed Isshin into the living room where the three kids were chatting with Yuzu.
"So, you're five and they're three?" Yuzu asked.
"Mhm! Almost four." Ryu grinned.
Ichigo looked at the three kids, puzzled as they chatted on with his sister.
"You three are so cute." Yuzu giggled and ruffled the boy's hair. "Are you hungry? I can make you some food if you would like."
"No thank you. We ate before we left home." The smallest of the three replied. She was quieter and reserved compared to her siblings. Her vocabulary was much more extensive than her bother's.
"Rukia, do you recognize them?" Ichigo asked, looking to the shorter woman who had followed him and his father into the room.
Rukia shook her head. "No, not at all."
The three kids looked up when they heard Ichigo's voice.
The smaller two started giggling when they saw the two new additions to the room.
"They look funny, Ryu." Ichiro snickered.
"Shhh. Remember what Mommy and Daddy said." The oldest said with a serious face. "It's waaaaay before they know us."
"Okay." Ichiro and Ruka said, composing themselves again.
"Hello," Ryuichi politely greeted and walked over to the two. "We're supposed to give this to you."
The small child handed out the note to Ichigo, who took it with uncertainty.
Once she handed over the piece of paper, Ryu quickly went back to the couch where her siblings were. They eagerly watched his face as he read.
Look, I know this is sudden, but we really had no choice.
Ichigo looked confused because he recognized the handwriting as his own.
This is not a joke, no matter how much you wish it is. This is real. These three are your kids from the future. And I swear on our mother's grave, I will come back and kick your ass Ichigo if you screw this up for us. These three are the best thing to ever happen to us, besides the midget.
Ichigo's face heated up at the last sentence. Did this mean that Rukia was their mother if he was their father?
Ryuichi has some grasp on what is going on, but the twins don't. Ichiro and Ruka are still a little bit too young to understand that this is something other than a game.
Here's the thing... There are some bad people that are after our kids. Like I said, we had no choice but to bring them to this time where they weren't even thought of as a possibility yet. It was a hard decision to make, but we had to do it. No one would expect them to be here.
It's only until we can find and get rid of these people that we need you to take care of them. Rukia left some notes to help you guys out. I promise we'll be back to get them soon.
Ichigo scanned over the bottom part of the note that was written in a more neatly manner than the top half, obviously Rukia's handwriting. It gave instructions on how to put the three to sleep at night, what not to feed the children, and what games they enjoyed most. At the end of it all she scrawled hastily:
Don't forget to tell them that you love them.
Ichigo slowly lowered the note and handed it to Rukia, shocked by the things he had just read. Was time travel even a possibility?
"Are you okay, son?" Isshin looked at him curiously.
Ichigo ran his hand through his hair and let out a long sigh. "I don't even know what to think right now. There's absolutely no way that this is real."
A few moments later, Rukia lowered the paper from her face with the same expression Ichigo had.
"Ryu, I think they broke," Ichiro whispered.
"Daddy said he wasn't gonna handle this well," Ryu whispered back.
"Shh!" Ruka puffed out her cheeks and glared at her siblings. She was still waiting for their "Mother" to speak.
"What do you think, Rukia?" Ichigo looked at her.
"I-I don't know." She admitted. "They're obviously from the Soul Society. I just... I don't know."
That reminded Ichigo of something unusual about this situation.
"How come can Yuzu see you three?" Ichigo asked. "She can't see spirit beings."
"Cuz we're human," Ryu answered. "We were born in the World of the Living."
"When?" Rukia quickly asked.
"I don't know. I'm only five." Ryuichi answered, annoyed by her question.
"What does the note say?" Isshin kept prodding, sounding like a whining child.
"Rukia don't hand him that-"
It was too late, she had released the paper into Isshin's possession before he could finish his sentence.
"Could this be true?!" Isshin's eyes lit up and looked to the children again. "I knew I could see something in them! And you said you haven't taken her out on a date yet." The older man poked at his son.
"Would you stop it?!" Ichigo glared at his father. "I told you that Rukia and I don't feel that way about each other."
"Either way," Rukia spoke, earning the teen's attention. "How do we know this is real or not?"
"I could run a DNA test," Isshin suggested.
Rukia and Ichigo looked uneasy at the thought.
"Come on, it's just a swab of the mouth and then you're good to go," Isshin explained. "Which, I think is stupid because I see the resemblance by just looking at them."
Rukia stepped forward and knelt in front of the couch where the three children were seated. She looked at each one of them closely and slowly nodded.
Ryuichi, the oldest of the three, had Ichigo's wild orange hair which looked like a good brushing tamed easily aside from the stray bangs that swept in front of her face like Rukia's did. Her violet eyes watched Rukia carefully with every move she made. Even though she had seemed like a playful child, Rukia could tell that she was wary of what was going on.
The only boy had looked nearly identical to Ichigo, save the nose and his eye shape. That he must have inherited from his mother. Rukia unconsciously grazed her hand over her own nose as she examined his facial features. He looked hopeful when she met his amber eyes. It was almost as if he was trying to restrain himself from reaching out to her.
And lastly, she looked the smallest of the three. She had a much more petite build compared to her siblings. Her identical violet eyes stared back at Rukia in a calm manner. Her raven hair was pulled back, completely exposing her face. Her cheekbones were a little higher than Rukia's, she had noted. When she looked over to Ichigo, she could see where she inherited them from.
Rukia took a deep breath and steadied her racing heart.
"I... Believe them." Rukia slowly spoke.
"Yay!" Ryu beamed and reached forward to cling to Rukia.
Rukia awkwardly patted the small child on her head, hoping that she would release her. She still hadn't come to terms with the fact that this was really happening.
"Ryu." Ichiro tapped her on the shoulder.
"What?" She let go of Rukia and turned to look at her little brother.
"Mama doesn't look like she likes that," Ruka answered for her brother.
Ryu looked up and saw how stiff Rukia had become.
She quickly let go and sat back in her seat, looking down in an apologetic manner.
"So what do we do now?" Ichigo finally asked, still looking like he was having a hard time with the realization that one day he was going to be a father.
"Well, we have to do what we asked ourselves to do," Rukia said, standing to her feet.
"That is the weirdest thing I have ever heard you say, and I have heard you practice modern slang." Ichigo wrinkled his nose.
Rukia glared over at the orange-haired teen and placed her hands on her hips. "Oh like you could have put it in a better way!"
Ichigo looked awkwardly to the kids and back to Rukia. Was this really his future?
"You're back. I see my device must have worked well." Urahara greeted the shinigami couple as they appeared suddenly in his shop without children in tow.
"Yeah. They're safe for now." Ichigo nodded with a serious look on his face.
"You don't think this will change anything do you?" Rukia looked up to Ichigo with a worried face.
"You're worried about me, aren't you?" Ichigo sighed.
"Well of course I am!" She huffed. "You were so dense back then! There's no telling if you'll ever come to terms with your feelings now."
"I'm sure I will." Ichigo waved her comment off. "Things will probably go back to normal when we go back and get the kids."
"They better." Rukia huffed. "We just put our fate in the hands of a seventeen-year-old."