It was raining...
June 17...the same date...barely different
The day he had gotten past long ago when he met her...it shouldn't have returned...but it was still on the calendar
"Daddy! Wait!" The small orange haired girl screamed as she ran down the stairs to see her father leave. Her hair was lightly waved and short since she picked up her grandmother's looks, her eyes the same color. She almost didn't pick up any of her mother's genes. Unlike her twin sister, the black haired girl racing behind her, with hair like her mother's, black with a raven flare to it. Her violet eyes bright with her smile.
The two quickly grabbed the man's legs, holding him down. Or at least trying to. "Daddy! Don't go!"
The orange haired man sighed, looking to his wife. "Yeah Ichigo, don't leave us" she pouted, pulling the best puppy dog pout she could with a smirk.
He picked up the two girls, having no trouble pulling them from his legs. "I'll be back in a week, can't you gals live without me till then?"
They shook their heads, "No!" "Mommy is always busy with Katsu!" "Hey!" Their mother yelled, trying to get a word in for her own defense. "She'd forget about us!" The two continued, "And Kaien is always crying!" "Then the dishes wouldn't get done!" "And what about the spiders!" Ichigo raised an eye brow, "Spiders?" "What if theres a spider!" "or a mouse!" "Mommy wouldn't get it! Shes scared of 'em too!"
"Yeah Ichigo. We need you here so you can't go" Rukia said, the smirk still on her face.
He sighed against, "I have to go, my boss wouldn't take no for answer. So how about you girls walk me to the car instead?"
He glanced to his wife, knowing how she felt about it.
Rukia looked at the set of purple and two sets of amber eyes then sighed, giving up as Ichigo and the girls grinned. "As long as you wear your raincoats, it'd be just like you to show up for a doctors' meeting in Tokyo with a cold."
Ichigo set the two girls down seconds before they went to get their raincoats from their rooms. He kissed her before asking; "Can you really handle things around here without me?"
She kissed him back on the lips, wrapping her arms around his neck. "You might have some extra dishes to do when you get back" he lightly smiled and pulled her closer, placing his hands on her hips as he kissed her again.
"I'll miss you" she smiled, "then you better come home sooner then next week."
He sighed, smirking, "Yeah, I'll try." Ichigo was obviously nervous about leaving four kids with his wife, along with full soul reaper duties.
"Ewwww" The two girls said at the same time, catching their parents in the act. "Can't you guys just do that kind of stuff when we're not around?"
"We'll remember that for next time" Ichigo said with a smug grin as his hands left her body. "Anyways, I thought you girls were going to walk me to my car?"
They grinned his grin in their yellow and purple raincoats, rushing out the door. Ichigo grabbed his red raincoat and put it on, taking off after the girls with his backpack an all.
Rukia leaned against the door to the small house for a moment, just watching him catch up to the two.
A toddler started to cry in a room nearby and she quickly left to take care of him. "Mommy! Katsu's crying again!" Kaien yelled, as he stood by the crib to see the smaller boy.
"Daddy, can we come with you?" Hisana, the black haired twin asked as she held one hand and her sister held the other.
"Your brother's sick, and its just a boring meeting for a week then I'm gonna met up with a few friends." He explained, a smile across his lips.
"Who are you meeting?" Masaki, the brown haired twin asked.
"Uryu is gonna fly down there with me then Renji, Chad, and Tatsuki are gonna meet us there. Afterwards Tatsuki and Renji are planning on flying back with us to meet you kids."
"Really?" "So you should come home sooner!" The two girls said.
Ichigo froze in place, unable to move. Masaki and Hisana pulled his arms to walk faster. "Dad?" "Are you coming?" They asked.
A tear rolled down his face and they looked at him completely confused. "Daddy?"
He fell to the ground, both girls let go of his hands as they stared at him confused.
Hisana shook his body as he laid on the ground. "Daddy?" She looked at her sister who's mouth was open, looking up at something. Hisana looked in the same direction, not seeing anything and grabbed Masaki's hand, pulled her away. The smaller girl collapsed to the ground. "Masaki? Masaki?"
A deep voice laughed as the hollow watched the young girl. Ichigo stood there with a chain attaching his soul to his body, "Leave them out of this!" He screamed, as the hollow just laughed at him. "Ichigo, do you remember me?" He asked, smiling.
"He only remembers half of us, only his past live would remember me" The hollow said, sounding like it had come from a different person.
Ichigo glared up at the hollow, he didn't care, but his daughter was hurt at this point and he wasn't happy about that.
The brown haired girl watched, not noticing the chain that was attached to her body. "Hisana, I'm right here" she said, reaching out to touch her.
Ichigo bit his lip, glancing back at his daughter, "Hisana, you need to get out of here" he said calmly.
She looked at him, stunned by the hollow.
He placed his hands on both of her shoulders, "Hisana, get out of here, run." He calmly ordered. She nodded, running as fast as she could away from them.
"What do you want!" Ichigo yelled.
"Don't you remember us? Or should we attack Masaki and Kaien again?" The hollow asked. "And even on the day of your mother's death, how could you forget?"
Then it hit him. It was the remains of the two hollows in one. Grand fisher, the hollow that had killed his mother and Metastacia, the one who had possessed Kaien which led to Rukia having to kill him. It was June 17, the same date as his mother's death. They'd come for his family, for his life...There was no way he'd let them get away with this.
"Leave my family alone!" Ichigo yelled, no longer interested.
"Or what?" The hollow's large face came close Ichigo's. "You'll kill us? Cut us up?" "With what?" They asked, obviously enjoying this more then they should have been.
He wasn't bodiless like when he was a soul reaper, it was different. It was the feeling, like he was actually dead.
"Daddy" the small girl cried, she was lost as she knelled between her father and her sister. Then Ichigo saw it...the blood. It was flooding the ground and washing into the nearby drain, her blue dress had already been stained of the blood at the bottom.
He looked back at the hollow to find it gone, completely. "Dammit" he mumbled before glancing once at Masaki then taking off towards his home.
Rukia stroked the young toddler's cheek as he laid in the crib. Then the feeling of the strong spiritual power nearly forced her to the floor.
"Where have I felt that before..."
Kaien opened the frig, taking out a juice box then heading back to his room. "Kaien..." A man said behind him.
"Dad?" He looked at his father as he stood in the small living room, exactly how he looked as he left.
"Kaien!" His arms were open for a hug, the black haired boy quickly raced towards him.
He slid to a stop on his socks, looking up at the man he grinned. His hands were in front of his body and he took a few steps back, "Bakudou one! First restraint obstruction!" Kaien yelled the binding technique at the top of his lungs.
The man that he thought was his father tightened up and fell to the ground before seeming to disappear out the window.
"I like this Kaien...Hes more like Ichigo" the more female part of the hollow said. "Less thinking, more action" the other said, watching from outside the window.
They didn't even seem to care about Ichigo as he ran inside the house. "Kaien!"
The boy looked at him, and smiled "Dad! I used the binding technique! It actually worked!"
"Kaien, tell your mom that theres a serious soul reaper problem and she needs to call the Ishida's and the hospital then get as far as possible away from here."
"No! Let me fight with you!" Kaien argued.
"Its too dangerous!" Ichigo yelled.
"How 'bout I just kill him instead?" The hollow said, picking Kaien up by his shirt.
"No! Take me! Leave him alone!" Ichigo screamed.
The hollow tossed Kaien to his other hand, holding him by the neck and tightening his grip around his neck. "He's smaller then the old Kaien, I wonder how long it'll take till he snaps..."
"Hadou 90...Kurohitsugi...Black coffin" Kaien said as loudly as he could, the dark, black coffin covered the hollow's whole body, including the hand that was holding him.
"Kaien! Stop!" Rukia screamed, racing down the stairs to the living room in soul reaper form.
She glanced over at Ichigo to see that he was unable to turn into a soul reaper, then her eyes went to her son. It was dangerous.
"Ichigo!" She screamed at him, watching the coffin activate and pounded the two inside. Her eyes were teary as she was only able to watch the hollow fall to the ground with her son in hand. His own blood was dripping from his head.
Ichigo stared blankly, motionless at the hollow and his son. "Kaien" she said quietly as she brought her hand to her face.
The small boy groaned, pushing away from the hollow before Rukia rushed over to him. "Kaien!" She picked him up, rocking him like he was a baby again for a moment.
"Rukia, get rid of this guy. I'll watch him" Ichigo said surprisingly calm.
She nodded, setting him down on the ground then pulling out her sword and chopping the hollow in two then going back to Kaien and Ichigo.
"The girls are outside, Hisana is with my body and Masaki's, while Masaki ran. I'm not quite sure where she is but her body is still with her soul."
"I'm going to see if the Ishidas can come. Then Orihime can heal you guys." Rukia suggested, getting the phone and dialing their number.
Inside the yellow house the phone began to ring. The phone in main bedroom was dragged under the covers by a sleepy Ishida. His black hair messy as his wife and three kids slept peacefully in the large bed.
The second the phone beeped he heard a upset Rukia on the other end yelling at him as her words were crammed together confusing him.
"Orihime..." He said, gently shaking his wife and handing her the phone.
"Hello?" She answered, half asleep.
"Orhime! There was a hollow, and you two have to get down here, now. Ichigo might be dead, Masaki and Kaien are hurt and please come!"
"I am, don't worry Rukia, we-I will be there in a minute or two" she yelled back into the phone before rolling over and out of bed in her light green pajamas. Quickly she pulled out some jeans and a shirt and threw them on with a jacket before grabbing her keys.
"Uryu..." She whispered into her sleepy husband's ear before kissing his lips. "I have to go to Rukia's, I'll be there till morning so when you're awake come over."
"Hmmm...Rukia's...6 am...gotcha" he replied, kissing her back before watching her walk out the door.
"Rukia?" Chappy said standing at the bottom of the stairs with little Katsu in her arms. "Ichigo?"
With Ichigo's soul out of his body without being a soul reaper, it wasn't a good sign. Then Kaien was bleeding on the floor while Hisana sat nearby, crying about Ichigo and Masaki's bodies lying lifelessly on the floor. Now Ichigo was pacing back and forth, his hands in his pockets as he tried to figure out what to do. Rukia was doing her best to heal Kaien, the healing spell only half working.
Ichigo looked up, going over to Rukia's body that had Chappy inside. "Is he alright?"
"Of course, other then the ear infection, hes fine."
The small boy rubbed his eyes before sticking them out to his mother with a "mommy."
Rukia sighed, forcing a small smile towards him.
"Rukia!" Orhime yelled running through the front door.
Ichigo raised an eye brow at her. "Yo" he said with barely a one hand wave.
She froze, looking at the soul of her friend, mainly the chain on his chest. "Ichigo, your chest...The chain of fate..."
"I might be dead unless you can heal my body" Ichigo said, keeping calm.
She nodded, seeing his body and getting to work by Ayame and Shun'o creating a shield around Ichigo's body, and Kaien.
"What happened?" She asked quietly.
"A pair of hollows formed together and tried to kill us. Kaien used some kidou and at least hes still alive." Ichigo spoke quietly, as if holding back his pain since he could see that he might not be able to return to his body. The fear of not being able to protect his family was clear in his eyes.
"Orihime... we can't heal his body anymore. He's dead" Shun'o informed them.
Rukia nearly fell backwards, staring at the small fairy like creature in front of her. She bit her lip to stop the tears and words from forming.
"I can just get gigai, can't I?" He asked, partly in shook from her words.
"Not exactly" Rukia chewed her lip, she couldn't say it. Hisana had stopped crying to look at her mother. Ichigo dropped his eyes, "Unless you go to the soul academy, you can't use a gigai. And since your body is dead that means your soul isn't 'alive'." Chappy explained looking at Katsu in his small blue and yellow robe like pajamas with his finger in his mouth as both his eyes moved between his mother and his father.
It was purely quiet as Hisana jumped up and hugged her father. "Please, daddy, don't go" she begged. She didn't noticed but when she went to hug him all she hugged was herself as her arms seemed to completely miss his arms.
This time there was no sound, nothing.
He patted her head and squatted down to her level, with a fake smile across his face, he said; "I'll be back. You'll see. Just remember," he paused to kiss her forehead. "I love you."