Author's Note: Gonna be honest, this took way to long, and the worst of it is that I'm still not too happy with it. Ah well, this is kind of a chapter just to get the plot moving a little more. Read and review if you wish!

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach~

Chapter 3

Isshin Kurosaki was busy filling out the paperwork of the patient that had been released from their clinic some time ago and moved to a bigger hospital. He slipped into critical condition and so Isshin had to remain with him until an ambulance arrived to take him to a larger hospital. The paper work was now being completed because the former shinigami captain had been distracted, and rightly so.

He had a lot to think about ever since Yuzu began to exhibit memory loss. The part that worried him the most was that he had no idea what was causig it, but upon hearing that a second opinion determined that there was nothing physically wrong with his middle child, Isshin moved to the spiritual.

Yet he could find no leads there either. No word of some sort of hollow with memory devouring abilities, or anything of the like. It worried him greatly.

He had spoken with Urahara on this matter and the former captain had promised to look into it. Now all he could do was wait, and he found himself, in the position of a worried parent doing just that.

Someone or, heaven forbid, something, could very well be causing this. Out of all of his children, not that he would want anything like this to happen to Ichigo or Karin, he hadn't expected for any ill will to befall Yuzu.

Yuzu who wouldn't hurt a fly if she could help it. Yuzu who worked diligently every day to make sure they had everything they needed. That still blew him away to this day, the amount of work his middle child had taken upon herself. The cooking, the cleaning, the laundry, and she had begun this all at the age of five!

Out of all of his children she was the least spiritually aware too, well, as far as he knew. She did not exhibit the same sort of pressure as either of her siblings. Granted he wasn't sure that many had the same amount of spiritual pressure his eldest had. Nevertheless, whatever was causing this shouldn't have been drawn to her by the spiritual abilities, and that just didn't add up.

Then there was the other scenario. That this all was truly medical and somehow that was harder to swallow. Since the doctors, including himself, had no idea what was going on with her there was a good chance that by the time they figured out what was wrong, it would be too late…

"Dad!" that shout startled him out of his inner musings like a bucket of ice cold water being dumped on him. His eldest rarely called him dad. "Old goat" and "bastard" were the usual names he got for his over the top antics.

He had never run more quickly in his life.

All that ran through Ichigo's head was that he needed to get her lying flat on her back before turning her onto her side. Thankfully his training had kicked in rather quickly and as far as he could tell she was having a seizure. Placing her on her side would keep her from choking on vomit should she end up becoming sick.

Ichigo was glad that he had trained in the clinic when he was younger. Though he was not called in to assist that often these days. Usually he was too busy either trying to catch up in school or taking care of hollows.

To be honest he was not as adept with these sorts of things like the rest of his family, but he was at the very least competent and could provide support.

As he placed her on her side he felt…off. An uneasy feeling settled in his gut, and he pulled his hand away from his sister's shoulder only to find the sensation fading away.

'What on Earth…?'

Ichigo pushed that aside for the moment and watched as faint tremors ran through her body. He tried to think of all the times that he had felt this helpless in a situation. He was always trying to keep a cool head when things got bad. If he didn't people could die.

Those moments seemed to become more frequent after he had taken up the position of a substitute shinigami.

The feeling curling inside of this stomach was a mixture of frustration and helplessness.

He wanted to ask her how she was, get her to respond, but he knew she wouldn't. Her eyes were half-lidded and glassy, focusing on something just beyond his shoulder but not really seeing.

There was a rapid thumping from the stairs that signaled his father's arrival. The man looked completely disheveled and terrified. Ichigo could only think of one other time where he might have looked like this, but he never got to see that. He had been too distraught over the death of his mother to really take in his father's appearance.

The first time he even remembered seeing his father was when he had been wrapped up in a hug, a large hand pressing his orange covered head into his father's shoulder as he was consoled.

Seeing him like this now sent the teenager on edge.

The dark haired man walked over tentatively and a look of pride washed over his face.

"Good work," he murmured gently, probably unable to get his voice any louder. "We'll have to wait until she quits seizing."

Ichigo clenched his fists but said nothing. There really wasn't much else they could do for her. He hated feeling helpless, but they could work when she stopped seizing.

Minutes ticked by and then her muscles began to relax one by one until she was utterly limp. Her eyes fluttered before closing.

"Yuzu, sweet heart, can you hear me?" Isshin asked gently, leaning down to her level. There was no response from the light haired girl. He continued anyway, just in case she could hear him. "I'm going to pick you up, alright?"

Still no response. That had a heavy feeling settling in Ichigo's stomach, but his father seemed cool and collected as he looked her over.

Gently he lifted her up into his arms and made his way to the clinic side of their home. He was careful not to jostle her around as he laid her on one of the empty clinic beds.

"I'm home!" a voice called from the entrance to their house. Karin had left earlier this morning to go shopping on their sister's behalf.

"In here!" he called, and winced at his shaking tone. What was wrong with him? He shouldn't be acting like this. He was supposed to be strong when things like this came up.

"What are you guys-" Karin stopped talking, and her hands released the grocery bags she had been carrying, spilling the contents all over the floor. She took a step forward, but Ichigo shook his head, stilling her. The raven haired girl gritted her teeth before demanding an explanation. "What happened?!"

"Karin, keep your voice down," Isshin scolded his youngest gently as he pulled the sheets up and around Yuzu to keep her warm. "Yuzu just had a seizure."

That quieted Karin before she asked in a far softer voice. "Seizure…?"

'Yes," he said, gently opening Yuzu's mouth and turning on a pen light to inspect their sister's throat. He was more than likely making sure that nothing was obstructing her breathing. The man made a noise of critique before turning the pen light off and rubbing his hand over his face wearily. "She's alright, for now."

Ichigo swallowed thickly and cursed himself for how weak his voice sounded. "For now?"

"We can't rule out the possibility that this might happen again, Ichigo," Isshin said, appearing to fret slightly over the blankets that currently wrapped up his light haired daughter, before turning to face him fully. "We'll have to keep a close eye on her from now on. Right now, let's let her rest…"

Ichigo felt numb as his father's large hand landed on his shoulder and steered him towards the living room. He glanced over to his father's other side to see Karin being guided in much the same way. Her eyes were slowly filling with unshed tears and she bit her lip violently to keep them at bay.

After they had made it into the living room Karin had broken away to wash her face properly and compose herself. There was an embarrassed blush on her cheeks. If there was one thing his youngest sister hated, it was crying in front of others.

He sat heavily on the couch and listened as it creaked in protest. Anger suddenly swelled up inside of the teenager and he gritted his teeth.

"This isn't medical, is it?" he asked gruffly. The substitute shinigami didn't want this to be medical. He wanted this to be caused by…something. Something he could hack into with Zangetsu. He needed to be able to fix this.

"I'm not sure," his father said honestly, rubbing the stubble on his chin. His old man was starting to look his age, or at the very least haggard. Charcoal eyes swiveled to meet his brown ones. "I don't want you getting in over your head, Ichigo."

He wasn't sure how to respond to that. Ever since he had started his work as a substitute shinigami his father had never said one word against the idea after revealing to Ichigo that he knew. Nor had he ever expressed any real concerns. The man was always pretty cool and collected in these paranormal situations.

"Dad," he began, voice a little less firm than he would have liked. The teenager's pride was a bit bruised too. He had been through Hell and back, quite literally, and now his old man was worried? "I've been doing this stuff for a while now."

"Humor me," his father's voice was gruff, lacking all of his usual wit and over the top cheekiness. "I know you're powerful, Ichigo, but I'm still in the position of a father. One of my children is currently incapacitated, possibly by some outside force, and I don't want something to happen to another."

"Oh," he winced at that lame rejoinder. He knew his father was worried. What parent wouldn't? But it was weird seeing him like this. Being so, protective and all. Usually that was Ichigo's job, but he supposed he had to have gotten that from somewhere.

The raven haired man turned away, and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand before sighing. "Look after your sisters, Ichigo."

He remembered a time not too long ago when his father had asked that of him. Yuzu had been dragged to Hell then…

He swallowed thickly before asking, "Where are you going?"

Isshin seemed to actually take pause then before meeting his son's gaze. "I need to speak with Urahara. I won't be gone long."

Picking up his car keys from the table near the front door he headed outside leaving Ichigo to watch after his siblings.

Heading back towards the clinic side of their house he couldn't help but remember that feeling that he had near the beginning of Yuzu's seizure. He almost felt like someone had been watching.

He filed that information away for later as he went over to sit by Yuzu's bedside.

To be continued...