Chapter One: Explanations, Others, and Yachiru

After Isshin woke up, Ichigo calmed down and the others got over their shock, they all gathered around a table and were having tea. It was silent… until Ichigo decided to ask something.

"Er… Dad, is Mom all right?" Ichigo asked, a bit uncomfortably.

"Yes, she's fine. You killed the hollow before he could kill her," Isshin said, smiling.

Ichigo gave a sigh of relief then smiled happily. "That's great!"

"Um, excuse me, miss?" the blond one said, gaining Ichigo's attention. "Can ou tell us more about your past life, Miss Yamamoto?"

Through his question, Ichigo's face had the curious look of a child being asked a question… until he called her Miss Yamamoto. Then her face took the form of someone smelling a really bad odor.

"Okay, first, never call me 'miss'. Second, never call me my old last name. I never really liked it; you can call me by my first name in this life or Naichingeru and/or Nai. Thirdly, while I know my father, I don't know you, so can you introduce yourselves?"

"Of course, Naichingeru-chan. My name is Tessai Tsukabishi. You may be me Tessai," the large man introduced himelf.

"Nice to meet you, Tessai-san."

"Hi, Nai-chan. My name is Kisuke Urahara!" the one with the bucket hat chirped happily. Ichigo gave him a deadpan stare.

"Okay, three things I can say about you. One: you sound like you're been eating too much of the candy in the shop," (this got three very amused expressions and a frown) "second, is that you need to shave." (two chuckles a pout and a 'damn straight' from a certain cat) "The third… I want to wear your hat!" Ichigo finished, childishly holding her hands out in front of her to reach for the hat on the blond's head. The last part got four very confused looks.

"Err…. why?" Urahara asked.

"Well, I'm technically a child again. Most children can have some bouts of randomness from A) short attention spans kicking in, B) sudden urges of want for objects or things to do, and C) both. Right now I fit into the category of C.

Urahara nodded. "Well, all right, just remember to give it back," Urahara said, handing it to Ichigo.

Ichigo happily grabbed the hat and placed it on her head. It was a bit too big for her nine-year-old body, but she seemed happy. "Thanks! Now what about- What the fluff! Put some clothes on!" Ichigo shouted angrily.

The men didn't even need to look to see what happened to know why Ichigo was reacting that way. Urahara took off his coat and passed it to Tessai. Tessai added his belt to the coat and passed it to Isshin. Isshin now had his pants in hand, not caring that he was sitting in his blue boxers showing. He grabbed the coat and belt, added his pants and handed them to the now nude woman (once a cat) sitting next to him. She gave a cat-like grin before putting the pieces of clothing on. Ichigo glared at her before looking at the guys in the room (who were looking away from the woman).

"You guys are used to this, aren't you?" asked Ichigo.

"She's been my best friend for a long time," Urahara deadpanned.

"I have often worked with many others of her clan," Tessai said flatly.

"I'm her cousin," Isshin said in a tired voice.

*Sigh* "I should have known I'd meet up with another Shihoin Clan member in my next life. And I'm even related to them. I can deal with mostly everything they do, but damn it, I wish they would have a little shame."

"Aww, what fun would that be?" the cat woman said. "My name's Yoruichi."

Now that she was clothed Ichigo looked at her and her eyebrow twitched. "You wouldn't happen to be directly related to Kou, would you?"

"Oh, you knew Grandma? She was awesome!" Yoruichi said.

Ichigo pinched between her eyebrows. *sigh* "I knew it. Okay, I think I'll just tell you about my previous life now. Please keep all questions you have until the end."

The four's attention went straight to Ichigo as she began her tale.

"I was born in District 57 of North Rukongai of a woman with some spiritual power and a Soul Reaper of some nobility. I had grown to be about the age of what could be the Soul Society equivalent of four years old (really about 40-75 years old) when my brother Genryusai was born. My mother died giving birth to him and my 'dad' barely came to visit at all so he didn't even know he was about to have a son, most likely. I left the district with little Gen-Shi in a sling on my back and a small bag of stuff I thought we'd need, told the elder of 57 that if the guy came looking for me or Mother to tell him that she was dead and I went looking for a place to raise my baby brother. I kept moving in between districts and fed my brother juice from fruit and milk when someone was kind enough to give it. When Gen-Shi looked to be about one and a half years old, Chikyu Kyojin's family let us stay in their home for the winter." Ichigo smiled fondly. "Chikyu was half giant and he had dark brown skin and hair as green as grass so it was easy to figure out why he was named 'earth giant'. His father was, as I used to call him, a mountain with feet. I don't even know how he and his wife had Chikyu, 'cause she was teeny-tiny even compared to most humans. During that winter I learned Chikyu was picked on a lot and since he wouldn't protect himself, I protected him. He became my best friend and left home to join me and my brother's travels. His zanpaku to Chujitsuna Shinrin no Otoko (loyal forest man) was something else.

"Soon after that, well, a few years after that we found my second best friend Yachiru. She was passed out from hunger on the road side. She was always the shortest and most hot-tempered of our group. She was the first and only woman to earn the title of Kenpachi in my time. We actually expected her zanpakuto to be a fire or lightning type, but it was surprisingly a snow type. It was a very scary sight seeing how much damage her and Hiai Yuuki (Grieving Snow) could do. Somehow Chiru found and made friends with Kotone (Sound of the Koto) that spring. Kotone was a very kind person and was a great healer with a very… er, interesting sense of taste. She and Chiru were close; if you saw one you would see the other most of the time. Her zanpakuto Chinsei mesu no Kujaku (calming Peahen) had an odd ability.

"After the five of us traveled more, some Soul Reapers found us and brought us to 'Father's' clan. Gen-Shi was about what would be the three-year-old stage of life for a Soul by then. The clan wanted to raise him to become its heir since, as the old sexist coots in the clan said, 'A woman has no right to run a clan, no matter how powerful she is, and should focus more on raising children.'"

All three males in the room backed away from the females, as they were realizing a large amount of K.I. (killing intent)

"After I made friends with the Shihoin females, we had a 'fun' time convincing the elders to not think so little of females. Some of their wives even joined in on the 'conversation'."

Both females smirked evilly as the men sweated in fear as they translated what Ichigo said. 'Fun' meant it was only fun for the girls as they unleashed their fury. 'Talking' meant torturin the males. And lastly, 'conversation' meant the beating of a lifetime.

"Err… can you please continue with your story, Nai-chan?" Urahara squeaked out.

Instantly, the K.I. died out and Ichigo smiled awkwardly. "Oh, right, back to the story.

"The clan let my friends and I have a separate compound they owned but barely used. They wanted me away from my brother so their influence was stronger than mine. I would go and visit him for a long time each day. It didn't fully stop their influence, but my visits slowed it and pissed them off to no end. Chiru, Chikyu, Kotone, and I made a friend named Kageenja (Shadow Speaker). We called him Kage though. He was quiet, skittish, and a bit of a coward, but he was loyal, a brilliant actor, a talented, kind medic and a scientist. Many people thought he was a girl (picture a black-haired, grey eyed, older and taller Haku from Naruto) when they first met him; it was actually very funny. His zanpakuto Sairentoasashin (Silent Assassin) fit him not only because he was quiet, but he had also been an assassin sometime before we met. Never killed if he didn't have to, really nice guy. Although, I think he spent way too much time in the worst places of the afterlife 'cause his hand-to-hand combat was the dirtiest I ever saw, but that is a different story.

"The five of us grew stronger and became known wide spread. Most people referred to our group as something like the seasons. Chiru was the harsh, cool winter. Chikyu was the sunny summer. Kage was the colorful fall, Kotone was the calm spring, and I was referred to as the sun and the moon. Yachiru became the captain of the eleventh Division while Kotone became captain of the Fourth. Chikyu was the seventh company captain. I was offered the position of captain of First Company, but the clan used its power to save Gen-Shi that seat. So I became captain of the Thirteenth."

The four gawked at her.

"Yeah, I know. Anyway, after Gen-Shi took the captain seat, he started doing stupid things. I have no idea how he could have thought that the Central 46 would help the Soul Society, but he did. Luckily, we were able to help out some of them."

"Huh? What do you mean by 'some of them'?" Isshin asked.

"Let me ask you this. Have you ever met people who were different than others and were killed or nearly killed because Central 46 thought of them as a threat?"

Thinking of the Vizards, the four nodded.

"Well, my friends and I helped them get out of the Soul Society. Soul Reapers with hollow powers, Soul Reapers with the same zanpakuto, Soul Reapers with odd features, shape-shifters, were-humans, etc. We helped them get here and spread out or helped them go to the Wasure Rareta Tochi."

"Land of the Forgotten. What's that?" Yoruichi asked.

"Oh, it's a parallel dimension Kage found out how to enter. Don't ask me how, but he did. I don't even think he knew how he found that place at first. We named it Wasure Rareta Tochi because we wanted a 'safe' place for the people who were deemed 'at threat' and other things. We also referred to it as The Land Where The Gods Do Not Help. Kage also said something about time passing more slowly in that dimension or something. I was kinda distracted at the time. Anyway, someone had gotten a clue that 'one of us' was 'helping the convicts' get away and disappear. I didn't want the others to get caught or have to leave home, so I left enough 'evidence' behind for someone to get me to 'confess'. I knew Kiko Oh wouldn't shatter my soul to pieces so it was no big deal."

"How? Did you know, I mean." Isshin asked.

"*He* I'm the one who forged Kiko Oh in the first place. I forged my own blood in that thing, practically. I was pissed with what they did to him. He is not an 'execution device', dammit! Well, I was executed and… well, here I am talking to you. I'm gonna have to train myself back up to par. You don't mind if I use your training area or ask for information about what's changed since my time, do you?"

After receiving a head shake 'no', Urahara asked her, "You can, but what are you so determined to train for?"

"You don't think that I would A) be executed, B) have to grow up again, and C) basically have to relearn everything I know along with things I don't for no reason, did you? I had a 'source' tell me something that will happen sometime in the up and coming years. He didn't have all the details, only a very vague outline. But I was concerned about it, it was a risky chance I felt I had to take, so I did what I had to do. It would be easier to get back up to par if Chikyu, Chiru, Kotone, and Kage were with me, but, judging by what year it is… they've probably already… aged and turned to dust," Ichigo finished sadly.

A sad feeling filled the room They finished their tea in silence.

"Heh, I shouldn't be so sad. If Yachiru were here, she'd yell 'stop being so depressed, you idiot! You're trying to help people! So focus on getting strong or I'll kick your ass!' while trying to hit some sense into me," Ichigo said, her spirits lifting a bit.

The four smiled. "Sounds like a true friend," Tessai said.

"Yeah. *yawn* She was… *zzz…*"

The four blinked, amazed that she could just fall asleep like that… Until they looked at the time and saw it was two o'clock in the morning. Isshin picked up Ichigo and used Shunpo to get home, seeing as he didn't want anyone to notice him going around in his underwear. The rest went to bed.

…Four Months Later, Karasu Riverside…

Ichigo was relaxing and just walking by the river. The last few months were busy. She loved Masaki and would help her cook or clean around the house. At first, she was awkward about her daughter when she was first told what happened, but she became calmer soon after that. (Karin and Yuzu are about five and don't know about Soul Reapers, but she does thanks to her husband.) Ichigo loved the twins and would play with them whenever she could; she had always wanted a sister or two in her past life. She spent a lot of time training her powers while in her human body at Urahara's. She had also started the 'steal Urahara's hat' game. She did well in school, even though she had to act a lot younger than she really was most of the time and went to karate. Her friend Tatsuki had been acting weird the past week. Like she wanted to ask about something but she didn't know what to say and stopped.

Ichigo shook her head. Glad that she had a moment alone. After ten minutes of walking she stopped and heard someone running up behind her. Turning, she saw an out of breath Tatsuki standing about twelve feet away.

"What's going on, Tatsuki?" Ichigo asked, tilting her head to the side.

After panting a few times, Tatsuki pointed at Ichigo and glared. She shouted, "Naichingeru Tsukihime Yamamoto! You have ten minutes to tell me what the hell is going on or you'll be shouting out in pain!"

Ichigo's eyes widened in shock. Only one person would do that and know who she was.

"Yachiru!" Ichigo called out in pure joy and hug-tackled her friend to the ground. 'Yachiru' cussed worse than a sailer for a while after that.

Review please!

I would like to try putting some other peoples' OCs into my story along with my own. They probably won't be perfect, but I'll try my best. Here is an example:

Name: Kiba

Type: Were-human

Discription: Second form is a man-wolf that stands at a height of 9'2" and weighs 668 pounds. Is more like a beast than a man compared to what Sajin Komamura is like. Only wears a pair of shihakusho pants with a hole in the back for his tail. Lives in Wasure Rareta Tochi. First form is a wolf the size of a large horse. Will let certain people ride on his back. No matter which form he is in he'll scratch his ear with his foot. Barely talks but if he does, it's short and sounds like growling. Hates when people pull his fur. Grateful to Naichingeru after she saved him as a puppy and raised him.

Zanpakuto: Name unknown, (for now) prefers to use his claws and teeth.