Chapter 4: Revelations
by HyperionRising/Saber Girl Jaina
Beta'd by IluvsBakura

"I am become death, the shatterer of worlds."
- J. Robert Oppenheimer

This was simply delicious. The boy who had once been the closest thing to a threat to his plans was kneeling at his side, wide eyes staring up at him full of awe and devotion. The conference had recommenced with Ulquiorra resuming his seat. "Gris" seemed to see no discrepancy between his rank and not having a chair of his own. He would have a seat in time, at Aizen's right hand, but for the moment the former captain chose to savor his once-enemy's submission. He reached out a hand and began stroking Gris's hair. The boy leaned into his touch, practically purring. Aizen smiled.

Truly delicious.

-----

Isshin closed the door behind him.

"What are you doing here?" asked Rukia, thoroughly stunned.

"Oh, I'm here to kill Kisuke. Or possibly just maim him, seeing as he's an old friend. But probably kill him."

"Wait--wait a second. You know Urahara-san? How the hell do you know Urahara-san?!"

"Known him since my academy days."

Yoruichi entered the shouten in her cat form.

"Kuchiki-san," she said, giving the feline equivalent of a polite bow. Rukia would normally have bowed back, but she was just a little stunned at the moment.

"Which ... academy?"

"Shinigami Academy, of course!"

"... What the hell?"

Isshin sighed. "Look Rukia-chan, I don't really have time to get into the whole not actually being human thing right now. Places to go, former friends to kill, know what I mean?"

The door of the shouten slid open again, revealing a panting Kurosaki Karin.

"Ah!" exclaimed Isshin. "Karin-chan! Good, good, you can help me kill the bastard who lost your brother."

Karin stared at him in silence for a moment. "WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?!"

Instantly, the sound of running feet was heard. Within a moment the rest of the group had arrived, the shinigami in spirit form, some with swords drawn. The desert brothers peeked out from behind the crowd.

"What's going on?" Hitsugaya asked. He was not one of those who had drawn his sword.

"Yoruichi-san," said Urahara sadly, "You could have taken a little longer. I haven't finished my pocky yet!"

"Goddamn your pocky!" said Isshin, suddenly completely serious. "I trusted you to keep my son safe and now he's either dead, beyond dead, or a slave to that bastard Aizen!"

"You know you're not going to kill him, Isshin-san. Everyone capable of fighting is one more barrier between your daughters and the arrancar," said Yoruichi.

"Leave me my dreams, Yoruichi-san," Isshin replied.

"What the hell is an arrancar?" asked Karin.

"I am!" shouted Nell, pouncing on Karin.

"Ah! Get it off!"

"Nell is not an it, Nell is a she!"

"I don't care what Nell is, get off of me!" Karin finally succeeded in removing Nell and flung her across the room. Nell rolled to a stop, giggling madly.

"Dad, what the hell do you mean by 'the whole not being human thing?'" Karin askedslowly, looking almost frightened.

"Daddy will explain after he's killed Urahara-san, Karin-chan."

"I'd appreciate an explanation as well," said Yumichika, fiddling with one of his feathers. "I was under the impression that you couldn't see spirits."

No one else seemed to have noticed this incongruity.

"Ah, very observant, shinigami-san! You see, in the course of my long life I have enjoyed many occupations, of which doctorizing is only the latest and quite possibly greatest. I have been, among other things, a poet, an extremely bad traveling performer, a sailor, a cat burglar, a teacher of the classics, and the captain of the fifth division of the shinigami!"

"You're lying," said Karin flatly

Isshin sighed. "Indeed I am, Karin-chan. Alas, I was never a cat burglar."

"How can you joke like that if you know what's happened to Ichigo?" asked Rukia disbelievingly.

He turned to her and said "To stop myself from really thinking about it."

Rukia bit her lip. She had lost a... friend. Isshin had lost his first child. She couldn't even imagine how that felt

Hitsugaya spoke up. "You do realize, sir, that I'm going to have to report the fact that you're alive to Yamamoto-soutaicho. The disappearence and possible desertion of Aizen's predecessor has been filed as a 'cold case' so to speak, but a significant one. They're going to want to know where you've been."

"I'll talk to Yamamoto-san myself, once I'm done with my business here."

"Uh, hello! Would someone please tell me what the hell is going on?!" interjected Karin angrily. She was obviously tired of being ignored.

"Kuchiki-san, would you be so kind as to explain to Karin-chan what's happened? Elsewhere, preferably," said Urahara. Rukia looked back and forth between Isshin and Urahara, then nodded.

"Come with me, Karin-chan."

"But-"

"Please, Karin."

Karin relented and followed Rukia out of the room.

"All of you, go with them," said Hitsugaya. Matsumoto nodded and lead the other shinigami out as well. Tatsuki herded Ichigo's friends after them. Yoruichi followed, hissing at the desert brothers to propel them before her.

-----

Rukia started her story with who she really was and how she'd met Ichigo, then went on to her return to Soul Society.

"He was just lying there, bleeding," she said, so lost in the memories that she didn't notice the sick look on Karin's face. "The doors closed and I- I didn't even look back. I couldn't let them see that I-" She swallowed. That she what? She didn't even know. "I was ready to die. He came for me, though, idiot that he was."

She went on to recount her perspective on the rescue, with a rather annoying running commentary from Renji. Inoue, Uryuu, and Chad all added their own perspectives. There were digressions to explain what a Quincy was and for Inoue to speculate as to how Shiba Kuukaku had lost her arm. The latter involved bears.

Then they went on to Aizen and the arrancar, and finally to Orihime's capture and the journey to Hueco Mundo. Orihime explained for the first time what had really happened the night of her capture. The desert brothers introduced themselves with great alacrity. Eventually they came to the end. Rukia looked down at her clenched hands.

"He was just... gone."

-----

"So, are you going to kill me or not?"

Isshin sighed. "No. Yoruichi's right. You're pretty much useless, but at least you can fight."

Urahara nodded, putting his pocky down on the sales counter. "I'm sorry, Isshin."

Isshin leaned against the wall and nodded. "I know, Kisuke, but that doesn't change what happened to Ichigo. It makes me sick, but I hope his soul was annihilated. The alternative is... terrible. For all of us."

"What do you mean?" said Hitsugaya. "Yes, Kurosaki-san was an incredible warrior, but, upsetting as it may be to hear this, he can be replaced."

Isshin shook his head again. "Oh no, Taichou-san. He was much more than that..."

-----

Gris was standing now, watching the other arrancar curiously as his master introduced them.

"And finally," he said, indicating an elderly looking arrancar, "this is Muerte Negro, head of the Exequias. All these are your subordinates Gris, but you must also listen to them. They have existed for longer than you, as arrancar and as hollows before that. If you are to lead them effectively you must consider what they say." Gris nodded furiously, eager to please his master. "Muerte will have a greater degree of independence as he is not part of the Espada chain of command, but he will still follow your orders. You are more than an Espada, Gris. You are nearly on a level with the others I brought with me from Soul Society."

Gris took a moment to process this. "Soul Society?"

Master smiled at him. "Soul Society is where the Shinigami come from." Gris nodded again. He wanted to show that he understood, that he could be a good servant.

"You will be leading them on a mission to the human world soon," said Master, and Gris grinned wider, almost too wide, "but first, you have much to learn."

Gris's smile remained, but there was something less manic about it. Training was good, but it didn't... excite him in the same way the thought of fighting did.

-----

Hitsugaya stared at Isshin and Urahara in horror. "Oh gods. We're so screwed."

-----

A/N: Which is almost ironic, considering they ARE the gods.

As you may have noticed, I now have things-I-can-never-remember-the-name-for-that-go-above-the-main-chapter. Anyone happen to know what they're called? Anyway, can't be sure I can edit this on without loosing reviews, and reviews equals not only valuable concrit but advertising. Check my livejournal for the things-I-can-never-remember-the-name-for-that-go-above-the-main-chapter for previous chapters (haven't done them all yet. Coming up with these isn't easy.)

Sorry about the lack of Ichigo. Well, not really sorry. I'm not going to just stick him where he didn't fit, and he didn't fit in this chapter too much. More of him next chapter. A lot more. Also, I finally got around to catching up on the manga, and discovered that this is now AU! Oh well. I'll be sure to incorporate canon elements that work well with the story as they come up.

Above all, thanks to IluvsBakura for the beta!

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