"Hey, Kurosaki," said Ichimaru, lazily greeting said person.
"You!" snarled Ichigo, reaching for his badge thing (a.k.a. the metal object he obtained from Ukitake that had, has, and will have little significance). "What are you doing here?"
"Just visiting," replied Gin, carelessly. "Don't worry, we won't stay long. Or rather can't stay long, 'cause…"
"And you are?" inquired Natsuko, cutting Ichimaru off rather unceremoniously.
"Kurosaki Ichigo," replied Ichigo, proudly. "Don't worry, children, I'll save you!"
At this, all four of them looked around, searching for the "children" that were to be saved by an egotistic high school student dressed in a shinigami uniform, carrying a ridiculously large sword.
"Ah… Ichigo," whispered Chad, "I think now isn't really the best time to –ah- be challenging other people-er- I mean people shaped beings."
"What are you talking about?" demanded Ichigo, annoyed. "This is the perfect time to show all our readers my super awesome vizard form!"
"We're supposed to be looking for Orihime, you fool!" screamed Ishida. "Not picking fights with ex-captains, arrancar, and kids."
"B-b-but," stuttered Ichigo, "But what about my super awesome vizard form? It's totally awesome and-and-and cool!"
"Well, you can show it off later," hissed Ishida. "Now hurry up or we'll leave you here."
Ichigo was about to come up with another retort when a relatively brilliant idea came to him.
"I've got it!" he exclaimed, excitedly. "I'll beat up these guys with my super awesome vizard form, rescue the kids, you guys will tie up Ichimaru and that arrancar while the kids shower me with compliments and praise, and we'll hold them ransom!"
"Why would we want to hold the kids ransom?" asked Chad, confused.
"No, no," corrected Ichigo. "We'll hold Ichimaru and the arrancar ransom and exchange them for Orihime. No! Better yet, we'll invade Hueco Mundo anyway and rescue Orihime while Aizen is still deciding if he wants to give up Inoue or his right-hand-man. That way, I can rescue the damsel in distress!"
"Actually," interrupted Toki, "Inoue's not really in any distress. She's quite happy. Plus, she has Kon to keep her company."
"And," added Tullio, "there's not way that you're going to defeat me, much less Ichimaru-sama."
"This is ridiculous," griped Natsuko. "Why did we come here in the first place."
"I'm bored," complained Gin, "and hungry."
"Yeah," agreed Toki, "I'm hungry too."
"Now that you mention it," grumbled Natsuko, "I haven't had any lunch."
"Well, Ichimaru-sama, Ichimaru-san, and Aizen-san," said Tullio, "I suggest we go get something to eat."
"Excellent!" said Natsuko, cheering up from her terrible mood at the prospect of food. "You must be the only sensible person here!"
The four of them headed in the direction Tullio had suggested, completely ignoring Ichigo, which did not sit very well with our hero.
"Hey!" he yelled. "Get back here so I can show everyone my super awesome vizard form!"
"Put a sock in it," yelled back Natsuko.
"Wait!" wailed Ichigo. "Don't go! I-I need to rescue someone! I-I need to show off my super awesome vizard form! No! No! Don't goooooooo….."
His voice trailed off as he fainted from being deprived from performing heroic acts for too long. Ishida and Chad exchanged a look that was something between contempt and pity. Then, they picked up Ichigo and half dragged, half carried him to Urahara Shoten.
At the entrance of the train station of Karakura, was a large sign. The words the sign was displaying was nearly unreadable due to bad weather and vandalism, but the sign is not the object our attention should be focused upon. The object-or rather person- that deserves our attention at this moment and the two children sitting under the sign, playing poker. The one that appeared to be older seemed about twelve. He had wavy, blond hair the fell over his shiny, black eyes. The other one had light brown hair that stuck up at odd angles and pale, translucent eyes. They both had deathly pale skin and a bored expression. Upon finishing their fifteenth round, the older of the two stood up and strolled toward the parking garage, without waiting for his companion, who acted as if nothing had happened and continued dealing the cards.
"Where are you going?" the younger boy finally asked.
"I sensed something," replied the older boy without turning around. "You can come if you want."
"I don't need your permission," replied the younger boy. "I sense it too, but unlike you, I have identified it, so there is no need for me to search for it."
"You have identified it?" echoed the older boy, turning around. "Then what is it?"
"I can't tell you," smirked the younger boy.
"Because you do not know what it is," replied the older boy. "Therefore you have not identified it, so you were lying to me."
The younger boy shrugged and returned to dealing the cards.
"Just bear in mind," he added, "that you don't want to find it."
"Why not?" replied the older boy, slightly vexed.
"You just don't," his companion replied.
"It's getting nearer!" exclaimed the older boy. "It's-it's Toki?"
"I warned you," said the younger boy, cleaning up the cards. "Oh, look, how pleasant. He brought a few friends."
The older boy swore under his breath as Toki, Gin, and Natsuko approached them.
"Hey Jikan!" greeted Toki.
"Hello," replied the younger boy. "I see you brought Natsuko. And Gin."
"What are you doing here?" asked Natsuko, addressing the older boy.
"I've got a right," snapped the older boy. "Jikan and I were bored, so we came here."
"Actually," corrected Jikan, "we were forced to."
"Yeah, yeah," said the older boy.
"So that's all?" asked Natsuko. "Just you and Hirohito?"
"Why'd you come here, Roto?" asked Toki.
"It's Hirohito," snapped the older boy. "I was forced to."
"I'm tired," said Jikan. "Where are you staying, Toki?"
"Las Noches," replied Toki. "I'm a bit tired myself. Let's get going. Don't want to miss dinner, do we?"
"We do if Inoue is doing the cooking," muttered Ichimaru.
Aizen sat in his throne, surveying all he ruled, and dreaming of delusions of grandeur. In his current delusion, he was lounging in the King's white palace (or at least he imagined it to be white). His loyal arrancar were attending to his every whim and even Ichimaru was not making his usual sarcastic comments. At the corner of the room he imagined he was currently in, was a long, narrow door. He heard footsteps and smiled, thinking it was Kurosaki Ichigo, here to make a big scene, only to be squashed by him, Aizen. The door creaked open and in came Ichimaru loudly saying, "Hey, Sosuke!" This snapped Aizen out of his daydream and he refocused on the scene before him. The arrancar, Tullio, stood off at the side, looking rather nervous. Toki had apparently snuck off, obviously to cause more mischief. Natsuko was looking annoyed and Ichimaru was, as usual, smirking in his direction. Two boys that he had never seen before stood next to Natsuko.
"And this is?" began Aizen, impatiently.
"Hirohito," said the older of the two boys, "This is my companion, and half-brother, Jikan. We came to your time shortly after the arrival of my sister, but did not see fit to enter with such short notice, so we waited a while."
"Your sister?" echoed Aizen.
"Yes," replied Hirohito, "I thought you have already met Natsuko. Did she not mention me?"
"And this is your half-brother?" asked Aizen, completely ignoring Hirohito.
"Yes," answered Hirohito.
"What is this?" yelled Aizen. "How many children do I have? I mean will have?"
"Actually," said Jikan, gazing at Aizen with his pale, translucent eyes, "I am not your son. I am related to Hirohito and Natsuko through my mother."
"Then whose son are you?" asked Aizen, not convinced.
"Ichimaru Gin's," replied Jikan. "If you are not convinced, there are paternity tests…"
"Yeah," sniggered Hirohito. "You should have seen Father's expression when he found out Mother was cheating on him."
"Gin!" yelled Aizen.
"What?" replied Gin. "I didn't do anything. Yet."
"This is your fault!"
"What?"
"You took Toki and Natsuko out and now look: they've multiplied!"
"…."
"This is all your fault!"
"Might I suggest a therapist?"
"Your fault! Your fault! You're all against me!"
"…"
