Warnings: Time travel fic, violence, swearing, SPOILERS, OOC, etc. etc.
Pairings: mainly HitsuHina, IchiRuki, KenShuu, GrimmUlqui KisuYoru, side GinRan, ByaRen, Shinji\Hiyori, some others.
Flames will only cause to make me laugh because you suck at it. Before you try to flame me or hurt my feelings, please learn proper grammar and spelling before you do so. Constructive criticism is perfectly fine with me; be brutally honest with me if you must. I will reply to as many reviews as possible and explain as many questions as possible without giving spoilers.
~oOo~
"Well. It worked." Hitsugaya is in Tenth Division Barracks. It is night time, and he is sitting on his bed; clearly his past self was about to go to sleep.
Bundles of paper are in his arms, protected with several Kidou spells cast by Urahara himself. Rising, Hitsugaya summons his Hell Butterfly to open a Senkaimon to go to the World of the Living.
He enters and leaves within seconds, the door closing behind him silently, heading up the steps of Urahara's "candy shop", tapping on the door.
Seconds later, the door slides open, revealing Urahara, wearing his strange clothes as usual. Hitsugaya wonders if he was even sleeping—probably not. He knows this is the Urahara of the past because there is a brief look of surprise.
"Are you here to arrest me?" is the first thing he asks. "I do wonder how you found me though."
"I have been here a great deal in my timeline, Urahara. And no, I am not." He passes the bundles of paper to Urahara, who takes them cautiously and removes the Kidou spell upon it, meticulously flipping through the pages.
"This Kidou is of mine and Tessai's design," he says quietly, "and the reiatsu is undoubtedly my own."
"I am glad you realized, Urahara," Hitsugaya replies monotonously. "If you have not figured it out yet, I am from approximately three years in the future. In my point in time, Aizen Sosuke is dead—along with most of the other Gotei Thirteen."
Urahara pauses, organizing the paper before casting the same spell over the paper. "Come inside, and I'm sure you can explain all of this."
"Once four others arrive."
As soon as the words exit his mouth, Kurosaki Ichigo walks up to the store in his human body, side by side with Kuchiki Rukia. Waving halfheartedly, the former smiles lopsidedly.
"Hey there, Toshiro, Urahara-san," he calls, sounding very tired.
"It's Hitsugaya-taichou, Kurosaki. And good evening to you and Kuchiki as well," Hitsugaya grumbles. "Address me by the proper title or I will beat your ass into the ground."
Suddenly a Senkaimon and a Garganta simultaneously open, dropping a panting Hisagi Shuuhei and an annoyed looking Espada on the ground before closing. "I-I'm sorry I'm late, Hitsugaya-taichou," the former pants, bent over. "I arrived as soon as I could."
"Why I am here is beyond me," the Espada grumbles, crossing his arms like a petulant child. "What's going on in this neck of the woods?"
"Hello there, Grimmjow," Kurosaki says way too cheerfully. "It's nice to see that you survived!" Jaegerjaquez shoots Kurosaki a look, huffing in annoyance.
"Stupid strawberries," he grumbles, causing Kurosaki to scowl in turn.
"Now, if you two are finished arguing, can we get with the program?" Hitsugaya snaps in annoyance. "I—no, we—do not have the time nor the patience to wait all night for you two finish any arguments. Do you understand? Good." He turns to Urahara. "I believe we can answer all of your questions, and if Jaegerjaquez causes trouble, I'll have Kurosaki sit on him."
Said Espada's face distorts into an annoyed grimace but he says nothing, clearly getting the high strung "I am annoyed, do not mess with me right now" vibes coming off of Hitsugaya with the chilly reiatsu in the air.
"Ah, yes! Come in. Ururu-chan, prepare some tea! We have a few guests!" Urahara calls into the building. The strange group of five follows the man into the store, with only Jaegerjaquez looking vaguely uncomfortable in a strange environment.
They take a seat around a round table, Tsumugiya coming into the room with a tray of tea. Tsukabishi and Hanakari are there as well.
"I take it Shihoin is not with you?" Hitsugaya asks, sipping his tea. Urahara shakes his head, letting Hitsugaya continue. "Pity. I suppose you'll have to explain it to her yourself. I will explain what has gone on in our timeline, and why we have been sent back.
"We should start when Aizen Sosuke shows his true colors." Hitsugaya sets down his teacup as Tsukabishi and Urahara tense up at the name. "I took a brief look at your calendar, meaning that the future version of you sent us two months before Aizen's betrayal. This also means this is during Kuchiki's time at Kurosaki's school.
"Aizen murders the Central 46, casting his illusions—Kyouka Suigetsu—so that he is in control of the Seireitei's every move. He has Kuchiki captured by her brother and Abarai for the crime of giving a human Shinigami abilities, causing Kurosaki, you, Shihoin, and several of Kurosaki's human friends to go to Seireitei to rescue her. However, Aizen continuously shortens the amount of time until Kuchiki's execution.
"Then, to remove all blame upon him, Aizen creates an illusion of his dead body with his sword pinning him to the wall, causing me to incorrectly blame Ichimaru. He is after the Hogyoku that you sealed within Kuchiki's body to complete his own.
"I wasn't personally there, but I do know that Kurosaki managed to save Kuchiki as Aizen proves that he was the one behind everything. He leaves with Tosen and Ichimaru for Hueco Mundo.
"After a month, Aizen captures one of Kurosaki's friends—Inoue Orihime—and takes her to Hueco Mundo. Kurosaki, Ishida, Yasutora, Abarai, and Kuchiki head to Hueco Mundo to save her. They do succeed, taking out quite a few Arrancar on the way.
"Meanwhile, the Seireitei creates a fake Karakura Town—Aizen's target to creating a key to the Soul King's Palace—and Aizen and his troops enter the scene. We fight against his various Espada and defeat them, but once we turn to Aizen himself, at the end, it turns out we are raising our swords against Lieutenant Hinamori.
"However, with Kurosaki's arrival after defeating Sciffer, he manages to try and attack Aizen. However, Aizen takes all of us—Vizards, Shinigami, exiled—out. I do not know the full details, but I know that Aizen goes to the real Karakura in Soul Society where Ichimaru turns traitor, but he is killed. Kurosaki, after mastering Getsuga, manages to cut his reiatsu down enough so the seal you placed upon him earlier came into effect.
"Kurosaki lost his Shinigami powers due to the Final Getsuga Tenshou, but he gains the Fullbring two years later while training with the first Substitute Shinigami. He makes his choice and defeats the Substitute after we give him his powers back.
"Not too long after, the Quincies have come into play, killing multitudes of Shinigami with barely thirty in ranks. I myself am nearly killed. The Quincies massacre every single Shinigami, with only a few stragglers, and you of the future gather those and send them to the past to change it, along with one of the remaining Espada. You stayed behind because you were going to die anyway; that much you already knew. That is all."
Hitsugaya picks up his tea, sipping it to soothe his sore throat as Urahara, Tsukabishi, Hanakari, and Tsumugiya quietly digest this information. "Tomorrow morning, Hisagi and Kurosaki will go visit the Vizards to update them. I do not wish to deal with eight Hollowfied Shinigami after my blood this late. Kurosaki is a Vizard, and Hisagi does have emotional attachment to Muguruma Kensei, making them the best candidates."
"I've noticed you spoke in present tense while you were relaying the story," Urahara muses. "And you did say 'tomorrow'… where you intend to stay?"
"I spoke in present tense because it has yet to happen, but I—no, we—hope to stop it. I know Kurosaki and Kuchiki are staying at Kurosaki's home, but the rest of us will most likely have to deal with sleeping on the roof."
"You can stay here," Urahara replies, and Hitsugaya notices he hasn't touched his tea yet. "As in, inside. I'll be looking through these papers the Urahara of the future wrote."
Rising, Hitsugaya nods. "Thank you." Kurosaki and Kuchiki flash step away, leaving only Jaegerjaquez, Hisagi, and Hitsugaya at the shop.
"Be ready, Hisagi. You must mentally prepare yourself."
~oOo~
The closer they get to their destination, the more Shuuhei thinks that this is a very bad idea, but Ichigo looks perfectly at ease, his hands nowhere near the hilts of his two Zanpakuto. "I feel like we're walking into the lion's den," Shuuhei murmurs.
"Ah, but this is their past form!" Ichigo replies cheerfully. "I could take them all on my own!" Shuuhei doesn't doubt him but he still gives him a look.
Ichigo sticks a hand through the barrier if only to draw the Vizards' attention before hollering, "SHINJI! HIYORI! LISA! LOVE! ROSE! HACHI! KENSEI! MASHIRO!" Shuuhei winces at the loud noise. "COME OUT AND PLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!"
Hirako comes out, looking rather curious, confused, and annoyed at the same time. "Who the fuck are you?" he demands, raising an eyebrow.
"Hi, Shinji!" Ichigo says way too cheerfully. "I'm Kurosaki Ichigo, and this is Hisagi Shuuhei!" He waves, and Shuuhei thinks he's hyper—did Kuchiki feed him candy or something?!
"How do you know my name?" Hirako inquires, crossing his arms. "Are you two Shinigami? Here to execute us?" The other Vizards come out, looking on guard.
"Lieutenant Hisagi Shuuhei of the Ninth Division, Hirako-taichou. Kurosaki Ichigo is a Substitute Shinigami. We are not here to execute you—actually, the Seireitei doesn't even know I'm here," Shuuhei says hastily, bowing respectfully.
"Huh. Taichou. I haven't been called that in a long while." Hirako sighs. "You'd better come in and explain whatever the fuck's going on here."
~oOo~
"Kensei, I think you're scaring him."
"The fuck I am!"
"Hey, Shuuhei. Cat got your tongue?" Ichigo asks, smirking. Shuuhei nods, looking quite embarrassed. "Fine. I'll do the talking."
They're seated on the couch, the Vizards looking bored but attentive. "As I said earlier, I'm Kurosaki Ichigo, and I'm a Substitute Shinigami. My mom's a Quincy, my dad's a Shinigami, and I have two Zanpakuto, the smaller representing my Quincy powers, the larger representing the mix of my Shinigami and Hollow abilities." This gets their attention.
Quickly, Ichigo reiterates what Hitsugaya-taichou had said the night before, but incredibility shows on their faces, and as soon as Ichigo finishes, Sarugaki snorts and laughs. "That's utter bullshit."
"Oh, really? You're the ones who taught me how to use my Hollow abilities, and Shinji told me what happened one hundred one years ago—your Hollowfication. From what he told me in my timeline, he said that Kensei and Mashiro were the first to Hollowify. Shinji was the last, and Urahara came on to the scene."
"Let's say that this is true," Hirako says carefully. "What do you want us to do about it?"
"Train," Ichigo answers simply. "As of now, I'm pretty sure I can obliterate Aizen, but I can't do that arbitrarily. We're going to need a reason for it lest the Seireitei traps my soul for twenty thousand years—god that would be horrible, and the Quincies will be everywhere!"
Regaining his voice and composure, Shuuhei adds meekly, "If you want, we can clear your sentence with the Central 46."
"I still think you're scaring him, Kensei," Yadomaru says, amused, causing said Vizard to glare at her.
"We'll definitely train," Otoribashi says coolly. "But the Seireitei probably won't be our allies… we will merely be fighting against a common enemy. We will consider your offer."
Shuuhei and Ichigo stand, the former bowing respectfully once more. "Thank you, Otoribashi-taichou," he says quietly before leaving while Ichigo just waves carelessly at them.
~oOo~
"Where were you yesterday, Kurosaki?" Ishida asks, not looking up from his lunch. "You weren't here."
"Visiting a few friends of mine," Ichigo answers breezily. "Shuuhei was there as well. You remember him, right, Rukia?"
"Him? The guy with the sixty-nine tattooed on his face?" Rukia laughs. "You can't not know him. He's a real nice guy, although I don't talk to him much."
Keigo spits out his juice. "S-sixty-nine?" he chokes. "What kind of place would let a student tattoo that on his face?"
"Eh? Does sixty-nine mean anything here?" Rukia inquires, genuinely confused. "It doesn't mean anything to me."
"Don't think about it too much," Ichigo intervenes before Keigo can explain to her. "You don't need to or want to know."
"What friends? Last I checked you didn't have any outside of school."
"Ah, is that so? Do you want to meet them? If you want to, I don't guarantee you'll leave alive, Uryuu."
"It's Ishida."
~oOo~
"Good luck. Don't get yourself too hurt, Rukia."
Rukia rolls her eyes, adjusting her uniform. "I've been through this process, idiot. I can take care of myself." Although her words are exasperated, her tone is fond. "What I'm worried about is whether you're going to be okay or not."
"I'll be fine," Ichigo promises. "I won't go in too early; I'll wait for Yoruichi-san to open the Senkaimon gate for me. I'll beat up Kenpachi, Ikkaku, Byakuya, and Renji and then go and save you. Does that sound okay?"
Rukia winces but laughs slightly. "Don't overdo it, Ichigo."
"Don't worry about it!" Ichigo waves and turns, heading back for his house. "I'll fill Kon in on the details so he doesn't freak out like last time."
Rukia watches him go before turning, looking up into the sky and waiting for her brother and Renji to come through the Senkaimon. "Good evening," she says emotionlessly. "I take it that you are to bring me back to the Seireitei?"
Renji and her brother nod. "Come, Rukia," her brother says tonelessly. "Your trial awaits you. Bid the World of the Living goodbye; I imagine that you will not see it for a long time."
She bows her head in acknowledgement. "I understand, nii-sama."
~oOo~
A/N: Whoa! I ended it here! HA. I'm publishing it! XD Please tell me what you think, whether through flaming or actually putting a review here, and tell me what I need to fix. Being brutally honest is perfectly okay with me! :D