Disclaimer- I do not own Bleach. Never have and never will

A/N- Alright, for those of you who love this story for it's obnoxious cuteness it may lose some of it's appeal from this point on although I sincerely hope that is not the case. Consider everything that has happened up to this point to be the back story. Now we're going to flash forward four years and the real story is going to begin. Hope you enjoy. Please read and review.

Chapter Eleven -Hollow Bait

Shiro and Kasumi were on their way to school and Kasumi was mad at her best friend because he'd arrived at her house behind schedule and now the two of them were going to be late for school. This would completely ruin Kasumi's perfect record and she was not happy about it. She periodically glared over at Shiro as they hurried toward school, just to reiterate the fact that she was mad at him.

"Would you stop looking at me like that?" Shiro snapped after she glared at him for the fifth time. "I told you I was sorry, what more do you want from me?"

"Being sorry isn't going to keep us out of trouble Toushirou," Kasumi stated, placing her hands on her hips and focusing an even more intense glare in his direction.

Shiro shook his head however he had enough sense not to say anything further. She'd called him by his full, first name, which she almost never did and was a sure sign that she was seriously mad at him. He was in enough trouble and did not need to cause more by further comment however more trouble was exactly what was coming for the young white haired boy. The two kids were about halfway to school when they heard a familiar, bone chilling roar issuing from behind them. Whirling around their eyes widened as they saw a couple of huge Hollow approaching them.

"Oh crap," Kasumi mouthed as she stared up at the Hollow.

"Run," Shiro commanded, turning to his friend.

"What do you mean run?" Kasumi snapped.

"Just what it sounds like," Shiro said, raising his voice in the hopes of getting his point across. "Run!"

Shaking her head Kasumi turned to run however she'd only gone a few steps when she realized that Shiro wasn't following her. Whirling back around she saw that her friend had his arms raised and was muttering something, although she couldn't understand what he was saying. However her unspoken question was answered a few seconds later when a burst of reiatsu erupted from Shiro's hand.

"He's using kidou," Kasumi whispered, her eyes wide in disbelief. "In an actual battle. This could be bad."

Shiro watched as his attack flew toward the Hollow that was closest to him, striking it in the center of its mask. The Hollow screamed in rage a second before it disintegrated. "One down," Shiro thought to himself as he turned toward the larger of the two Hollow.

"This one might be a little more difficult," the boy thought as he prepared for another attack. However before he had the chance to fire another kidou blast his view of the Hollow was obstructed by a flash of white. His gaze shifted upward and Shiro groaned as he saw the number five on the back of his dad's captain's coat. "This is bad. Honestly, I think I stood a better chance against the Hollow."

Ichigo swung his zanpaktou, "Getsuga Tenshou!"

A burst of energy erupted from the tip of Zangetsu and completely obliterated the Hollow. Replacing his sword, Ichigo turned to face his son. "What exactly did you think you were doing?"

"Getting attacked by Hollow," Shiro stated matter-of-factly.

"You were planning to fight weren't you?" Ichigo said, choosing to ignore his son's smart aleck reply.

"He didn't see me destroy the first one," Shiro thought to himself. Well that was one thing to be thankful for. Thinking quickly Shiro said, "No Dad, I wasn't going to fight. I had every intention of running away."

"Sure you did," Ichigo said, shaking his head and not sounding at all convinced. "Well you and Kasumi had better get to school."

"This little incident with the Hollow is going to make us late," Shiro said, gazing up at his dad. "So can you write us a note so we don't get into trouble?"

"I guess," Ichigo said with a sigh. "Give me a piece of paper and a pencil."

Shiro quickly removed the messenger bag that was slung across his shoulder and, reaching inside, he pulled out a piece of paper and a pencil. He handed them to his dad and Ichigo quickly wrote the two kids a note excusing their tardiness. "Here," he said, handing the piece of paper to his son. "Now go."

Taking the piece of paper from his dad Shiro's eyes quickly scanned the note and he frowned up at Ichigo, a look of complete and utter disbelief on his face. "Dad, this isn't going to work."

"Why not?" Ichigo demanded.

"Please excuse Toushirou Kurosaki and Kasumi Ishida for being late to class because I said so. Ichigo Kurosaki." Shiro rolled his eyes as Kasumi started laughing. "You don't see the problem with this?"

Ichigo shrugged. "Fine. You write the note and I'll sign it."

Shaking his head Shiro pulled another piece of paper from his messenger bag, quickly wrote an acceptable excuse and then handed it to his dad to sign. Without even reading what Shiro had written, Ichigo quickly signed the paper and handed it back to his son. "Better?"

Shiro nodded and, slinging his bag back across his back, he rejoined Kasumi and the pair made their way toward school. Once they were far enough away from Ichigo so that they couldn't be overheard, Shiro turned a smug look to his best friend and held up the letter he'd gotten from his dad in triumph. "You can't be mad at me now."

Kasumi rolled her eyes. "Quit trying to make it sound like you planned all of this out from the start Hollow bait."

Shiro's eyes narrowed and he glared at his best friend. "What did you just call me?"

"Hollow bait," Kasumi repeated, gazing over at Shiro without batting an eye. "And you are. Every time we go somewhere together we get attacked. That isn't normal and it doesn't happen to me except when I'm with you. Therefore it has to be your fault."

Shiro growled low in his throat but said nothing.

Once he'd rescued his son and Uryu's daughter from the Hollow Ichigo made his way back home. He'd rushed out without so much as a word to Rukia and when he reentered the office she gazed up at him with a questioning look in her eyes. "I had to go and save your son from a Hollow," Ichigo told her as he sat back down at his desk. "Which should excuse me from this paperwork."

"Nice try but no," Rukia said, shaking her head. "And you know we're really going to have to do something about his reiatsu. He's turned into a regular Hollow magnet."

"I know," Ichigo said. "But what can we do?"

"I have an idea," Rukia told her husband. "We're taking a trip to Soul Society when Shiro gets home from school this afternoon."

Ichigo groaned, not happy about the prospect, however he knew enough not to complain. Complaints never helped and were just a waste of time and energy. With a sigh the Squad Five Captain picked up his pencil and began once again working on the hated paperwork. "Why the hell did I take this job in the first place?"

When school was dismissed for the day Shiro and Kasumi met at the gate like they always did and walked home together. Thankfully for Shiro his friend was in a better mood now and she smiled as he approached her. "So how was your day Hollow bait?"

Shiro's eyes narrowed. "Stop calling me that!"

Kasumi smirked.

"I shouldn't have asked Dad to write us an excuse," Shiro muttered as he and Kasumi began walking toward home. "I should have just let you get into trouble."

"You'd have gotten into trouble too Toushirou," Kasumi snapped, glaring at her friend.

"Yea," Shiro said with a nod. "The difference being, I couldn't care less."

"Of course not," Kasumi said, rolling her eyes. "Because you're used to it."

"Hmm."

The walk home was uneventful and the two children parted ways at the Ishida residence and Shiro made his way home by himself. And as he walked, he noticed a figure dressed in black leaping from roof top to roof top overhead. The boy growled low in his throat. "They sent Tomori to make sure that nothing happened? Like he'd be able to stop a Hollow from killing me, the guy's a complete wuss. I'd probably have to save him."

Shiro briefly debated running from his unwanted escort however in the end he decided not to. He simply picked up the pace and jogged to his house, anxious to escape the gaze of the man whom he so heartily disliked. Reaching his house Shiro wrenched open the front door and ran inside, slamming the door behind himself.

"Is that you Shiro-chan?" his mom called out from the living room.

"Yea it's me."

"Can you come in here for a minute please?"

"Yea." Vaguely wondering whether he'd done something wrong, and yet unable to think of anything, Shiro walked into the living room, where he found his parents wearing their shihakushos and seated on the sofa. "Trip to Soul Society," the boy thought to himself as he walked across the room.

Rukia smiled at her son as he came to a stop in front of her. "Take your things upstairs Shiro-chan and then come straight back here. We have some urgent business to take care of in Soul Society."

Shiro nodded, turned and dashed up the stairs. The boy stowed his messenger bag next to the desk in his room and then made his way back down to the living room. His parents got to their feet as soon as he reentered the room and Ichigo said, "Let's go."

Ichigo led the way down to the Senkaimon and together the small family traveled to Soul Society. Once they were there Shiro was expecting to go to Squad One however he was surprised when his dad led the way across the Seireitei to the Shinigami Academy.

"What in the world are we doing here?" Shiro thought to himself.

They arrived at the Academy just as class was ending and Rukia turned to her husband and son, "I'll be back in a few minutes. You two just hang out here." And with that she turned and entered the building.

"Dad, exactly what are we doing here?"

"You'll see," Ichigo replied.

Shiro shrugged and leaned against the building. If his dad didn't want to tell him what was going on that was okay. He could wait.

A few minutes later Rukia emerged from the building and she was followed a few steps back by Hinamori. The two women walked over to the spot where Ichigo and Shiro were waiting and Hinamori smiled down at the small boy. "I hear you had a bit of a scare this morning Shiro-chan."

Shiro was momentarily confused by this statement but then he remembered. "Oh yea the Hollow." The boy quickly forced a relieved look on his face. "Yea. Kasumi and I were attacked on our way to school this morning. It's a good thing Dad showed up when he did or it would have been bad."

Ichigo made a noise like he was clearing his throat however he made no comment.

"Shiro," Rukia said, gazing down at her son. "I want you to go with Momo, she's going to teach you something that will keep the Hollow from constantly attacking you."

"Okay," Shiro said with a shrug.

"Let's go Shiro-chan."

Shiro fell into step behind Hinamori, who led him across the Seireitei to the training grounds. Once they were there Hinamori turned to face the young boy. "I'm going to teach you an advanced barrier kidou Shiro-chan. It's kind of complicated but if you learn it then you'll be able to hide your reiatsu from detection. Shall we give it a try?"

Shiro nodded. She'd said that the kidou was complicated and Shiro was always up for a challenge however as Hinamori demonstrated the barrier kidou Shiro soon realized that its complexity had been greatly exaggerated. It only took him two attempts to perform the technique and after about fifteen minutes of practice he'd completely mastered it.

Hinamori stared down at the child in wide-eyed amazement. No way should the boy have been able to master such an advanced kidou in such a short amount of time. She had students at the Academy who couldn't pull it off. This was taking prodigy to a whole new level. "This is not normal. What exactly is he?"

Shiro grinned, enjoying the look of shock on Hinamori's face. He'd been learning kidou for years although none of the adults were aware of this fact. Shiro had discovered that he could mimic their techniques after watching them and since then he'd taken full advantage of this knowledge. He had a wide range of kidou attacks, although for obvious reasons Kasumi was the only one who'd ever seen him perform any of them. He got the feeling that his parents, especially his dad, wouldn't be overly happy if they knew.

"Well I guess we can go back now Shiro-chan," Hinamori said, her expression still somewhat stunned. "You've completely mastered the barrier kidou."

Shiro nodded and together the two of them left the training grounds. Hinamori led the way across the Seireitei to the Squad One office and Shiro smirked as he gazed up at the large number one above the door. "I knew we'd eventually end up here. It never fails."

Hinamori knocked lightly on the door and then pushed it open. She stepped inside the office, followed a few steps back by Shiro. Ukitake, Rukia and Ichigo were all seated on the sofa and they all looked up as Hinamori and Shiro walked across the room toward them.

"What's wrong Momo?" Ukitake asked, his gaze shifting back and forth between Hinamori and the young boy who was standing at her side. "Was the barrier kidou too complicated for him?"

Hinamori shook her head. "No sir. He can do it."

Rukia's eyes widened. "Already?"

Hinamori nodded, not even bothering to try and keep the slightly shocked note out of the tone of her voice. "Yep. He performed the kidou on the second try and he had it completely mastered within fifteen minutes. Which is amazing. I have fourth year students who can't pull off this kidou and yet I just taught it to an eight year old in twenty minutes."

Ichigo and Rukia stared over at their son in wide eyed amazement. They had always been aware of his powers however the true extent of said powers were just now coming to light and they were truly frightening.

Rukia was the first to recover from shock. "Thanks for teaching the barrier kidou to him Momo."

"You're welcome," Hinamori said in her quiet voice. "Do you need anything else?"

"No I think that pretty much covers it," Rukia said.

Hinamori nodded. "Guess I'll go home then. Shuhei will be worried if he gets home before I do. Like I'm not capable of taking care of myself."

Rukia smiled. "See you later Momo."

"Bye."

With that Hinamori left the office.

"So Shiro," Ukitake said, gazing intently at the boy. "You mastered the kidou in twenty minutes huh?"

"Something like that," Shiro replied.

"Shiro why don't you go and pay a visit to Rangiku?" Ukitake suggested. "It'll be more fun than hanging around with us and I still have a few matters to discuss with your parents."

"Okay," Shiro said and with that he left the room.

Once the boy had left Ukitake turned to Ichigo and Rukia, a serious look in his eyes. "We're going to have to start his training soon. I know we agreed to wait longer however his powers keep increasing and if we don't teach him how to control them soon it could spell trouble."

To the surprise of both Ukitake and Rukia, Ichigo actually nodded his head in agreement. "You're right."

"What did you just say?" Rukia asked, turning to her husband.

"When I went to save Shiro and Kasumi from the Hollow earlier today Shiro was about to fight it," Ichigo said, a serious look in his brown eyes. "Which means that he already has some measure of control over his powers as well as a reckless disregard for his own safety."

"Hmm," Ukitake said thoughtfully. "Sounds like someone else we know."

Choosing to ignore this comment Ichigo said, "If he can already use his powers on a level that makes him think he can defeat a Hollow then I definitely think he should begin training soon."

"We'll give it a few months and see if knowing the barrier kidou keeps him out of trouble," Ukitake said. "If the Hollow no longer attack him then he'll have no reason to use his powers which may temporarily solve our problem."

Rukia and Ichigo nodded.

Meanwhile Shiro had arrived at the Squad Ten barracks and, after knocking lightly on the door and receiving no answer, he entered Matsumoto's office. The Captain of Squad Ten was seated at her desk however instead of doing paperwork she had her head resting on her arms and was fast asleep.

"Oh yea Grandpa Ukitake, this is SO exciting," Shiro muttered as he stared at the sleeping Squad Ten Captain.

Not really keen on the idea of hanging around and watching Matsumoto sleep, Shiro turned and left the Squad Ten office, closing the door softly behind him. "Now what?"

Having no desire to go back to Squad One Shiro decided to go for a walk around the Seireitei. It wasn't often that he got a chance to explore by himself and the boy decided to take full advantage of this opportunity. As he made his way across the Seireitei Shiro's pace slowed as he saw a tall man dressed in a shihakusho and captain's coat walking toward him.

"Oh crap," Shiro thought to himself as the captain came to a stop a few steps away and gazed down at him. "Hello Captain Kuchiki."

Byakuya regarded the boy for a minute before continuing on his way.

Shiro's eyes followed the captain for a few minutes and then he heaved a sigh of relief. "That guy is just plain creepy. I can't believe he's my mom's brother. I just don't see the family resemblance."

After his run-in with Byakuya, Shiro decided that he wasn't really in the mood to explore after all. With a sigh the boy made his way back to Squad One and sat down with his back against the building, to wait for his parents to finish their meeting with Head Captain Ukitake.

As he sat outside of the Squad One barracks, Shiro thought about his current situation. "I'm so weird," the young boy thought to himself as he pulled his knees up to his chin and wrapped his arms around them protectively. "Not really a Shinigami and yet I possess all the powers of one."

Now most of the time Shiro didn't dwell on this fact however at times like these he couldn't help but wonder what had made him the way he was. What strange force of nature had given him powers that, by all rights, he shouldn't even know about let alone possess.

After a decision had been made concerning Shiro's training, Ichigo and Rukia decided that they should probably collect their child and return home to the world of the living. Bowing to the Head Captain the couple left the Squad One office and, to their surprise, they ran into their son a couple of feet away from the door.

Shiro was leaning up against the wall and he gazed up as he heard their approach.

"What are you doing out here Shiro-chan?" Rukia asked.

"Rangiku was asleep," Shiro replied. "So I came back here but I didn't want to interrupt anything so I sat out here to wait for you."

Ichigo and Rukia were completely shocked by their son's good behavior, which was so uncharacteristic for the boy, however they chose not to comment on it. Instead Rukia smiled down at her son. "Well come on. We're going home."

Shiro nodded and jumped to his feet.

As they walked toward the Senkaimon that would take them back home Ichigo gazed down at his son, a serious expression on his face. "Now make sure you use the barrier kidou that Hinamori taught you Toushirou. It should keep you out of trouble, at least where the Hollow are concerned."

"I understand," Shiro said.

A/N- Hope you enjoyed this installment of Shiro's story. To all of the readers who have been following this story since I began posting it I sincerely hope that you still enjoy the story and aren't disappointed with the recent turn of events. Please review and let me know what you think. Until the next time this is Hitsu-taichou signing out.