Chapter 12

Renji and Sakura ran upstairs as Orihime said, "Ichisan-san!"

Renji asked me, "Ichisan? What are you doing?"

I looked up at Orihime as I begged her, "Please, Inoue-san! I can't keep this secret from my dad! He was the one who raised me! He was the one I looked up to! The one I turned to for help! Please! Let me tell him this! After I tell him, I swear that I won't tell anyone! He'll be the only other Shinigami and the only soul that will know! Please, Inoue-san!"

I saw Orhime's eyes glisten as she told me in trembling voice, "I'm sorry, Ichisan-san, but you made the promise already."

I got myself into my Shinigami form as I whispered, "Sorry, Orihime. I know I promised, but I can't keep this kind of thing from dad."

I ran as fast as I could and jumped out of Sakura's window. The last thing I heard was Renji yell, "Ichisan! What are you doing?"

When I arrived at Mr. Hats-And-Clogs' place after ignoring Renji's question, Rukia had stepped out of Mr. Hats-And-Clogs' place. She asked with surprise, "Ichisan! Why are you here?"

I pushed her out of my way as I snapped, "Where's dad?"

From behind me, I heard my dad's voice ask, "What's wrong, Ichisan?"

I turned around as I asked him, "Can we talk somewhere alone, dad? There's something that you need to know that I really shouldn't be saying in front of others. Especially not in front of mom." I turned my head to her half way as I told her, "No offense, but it can't be helped."

I saw my dad looking at Rukia, but all she did was nod at him as she said, "Go, Ichigo. If Ichisan says she needs to tell you something in private, then I can't force her to say it in front of me. You know that very well yourself."

My dad threw his bag over to Rukia as he said, "Smell you later, then!" He put his arms around me as he said, "Let's go, Ichisan." When we got to an old alley, my dad stopped walking as he told me, "This is the best place I could think of. Any way, what is it that you want to tell me that can't be said in front of Rukia?"

I took in a deep breath as I told him, "It's actually about Orihime. Accoring to her, the girl who sits behind me in class named Harin told Orihime that she saw the future about me going out to look for Orhime to talk to her. Because of that Orihime came looking for me first and some how, she knew exactly where to find me. But, that's not the point. The point is about what she told me when she found me."

"Nothing bad happened to her, right?" my dad asked with a startle. "Please don't tell me she got taken away by the Aizen's army again! Last time that happened, I almost got killed along with your mother and our friends! Including Renji!"

I shook my head as I told him quietly, "No. She's alright, but it's what she told me in person that matters, dad." When he gave me a questioning look, I told him, "She has feelings for you. She admitted it in my face. She even told me that when you chose Rukia to marry and all, she tried to leave her feelings behind in her past and failed. She even burst into tears because of that. From what I could tell, dad, she's going through a lot of struggles."

My dad looked a little shocked as he said, "But that can't be. She never showed it or even said anything!"

I thought for awhile as I asked him, "Did she do anything before she left for the other world when the guy named Aizen declared war last time, dad?"

My dad was silent for quite some time, almost as though he was in deep thoughts. "She actually came into my room in middle of the night. Earlier that day, I got injured badly that no one could help me heal quick enough. But when she stopped by when everyone was asleep, she healed my wounds before she left," my dad responded. "Too bad that I was asleep and never got to thank her for healing my wounds."

To my left, my dad and I heard panting as Orhime's voice begged, "Ichisan-san! Please don't tell him!"

I apologetically looked at her as I said, "Sorry, but it's too late. I already told him."

My dad quickly got in front of me as he cried out, "Orhime! Attack my daughter and I will take the hit for her! I know you well enough and I know that you hate hurting people you care about so much! Do you know what kind of stuff I also remember about you? You never liked to see people get hurt! Whether or not they were your friends!" I heard Orihime bursting into tears and my dad walked over to her. As he hugged her lightly, he asked, "Is what Ichisan told me true, Orihime?"

"I tried so hard and I tried to be happy for you and Rukia-san! I really did, Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime said as her body shook violently.

All my dad said was, "I'm sorry that I didn't even notice, Orihime, but it doesn't change the fact that I still love Rukia." It took about ten minutes before Orihime calmed down. As my dad got up when she stopped, he told me, "Don't worry about her, Ichisan. Just let her rest for now. She's been through a lot stress from what I could tell." My dad started to walk off and I noticed that Orihime was asleep on the ground, almost as though she was careless about the sun being out and shining like crazy. When my dad stopped right in his tracks, I heard him yell, "Kon! Get the hell away from me!"

"But I saw Miss Inoue on top of there!" Kon's voice responded.

I quickly picked up Orihime's body and ran as fast as I could to Mr. Hats-And-Clogs' place. When I arrived, Mr. Hats-And-Clogs came out as he asked with a smile, "What's this all about, Captain Kurosaki?"

"Kon's the problem," I responded. "Can you keep her here? I can't have her hanging around at Akira's house."

He nodded in a serious way as he said, "Of course. That is quite reasonable considering he's been put in a box for over a century, nearly."

Mr. Hats-And-Clogs took Orihime and went straight inside. As I turned around to start walking off, a man with brown hair that was a little bit of a mess and blue eyes was standing right behind me. He was smiling when he said, "My name is Sosuke Aizen. I'm a former captain of the fifth company."

I snared at him, "No need to introduce yourself by telling me which company you were captain of, Aizen."

"Oh, a tough one, I see," Aizen said in a flattering way. "And who might you be? You still haven't introduced yourself."

"Ichisan Kurosaki, Captain of the Twleveth Company and daughter of Ichigo Kurosaki," I snapped. When I mentioned my dad's name, Aizen suddenly looked surprised for some strange reason. When I saw Kenny and Renji right behind Aizen, I nodded as I said, "Renji and Zaraki. Been expecting you two to arrive sooner or later."

Kenny asked me, "Any problems you have, Ichisan?"

"No. Can you just make sure Rikokou and Santona are fighting, Kenny?" I asked. As Kenny nodded and went inside, I snared at Aizen, "What do you want with the Shinigami in my old home town?"

"Nothing," Aizen simply responded. "Only to confirm the war that I declared."

Renji responded for me as quickly as possible, "You should be checking with the commander, don't you think, Aizen?"

"How dare you address to me like that, Abarai! I'm higher leveled then you are!" Aizen yelled with outrage.

When Renji looked a little surprise at the response, I yelled at him, "And how dare you address to my husband like that when he's an assistant captain of my company? Not only that, you're no longer a captain!"

"Moved up to higher company little too quickly. Don't you think, Abarai?" Aizen snared.

"Got out of Soul Society to join the evil side a little too quickly. Don't you think, Aizen?" I snapped at Aizen.

Toushirou, Rukia, Kenny, Ikkaku, Yumichika, Rangiku, Yachiru and my dad all came out of Mr. Hats-And-Clogs' house. Mr. Hats-And-Clogs and the old geezer soon came out and Mr. Hats-And-Clogs said in surprised tone, "Aizen! What are you doing here?"

"Urahara! Goat beard! Get inside! This has to do between Aizen, me and everyone besides you two! Along with Rikokou and Santona!" I ordered Mr. Hats-And-Clogs and the old geezer. I turned my head half way around and saw Mr. Hats-And-Clogs and my grandfather having doubtful look on their faces, so I screeched, "Now!"

When Mr. Hats-And-Clogs and my grandfather ran inside, Aizen smiled slyly at me as he asked, "Don't you think that was a little bit too harsh on those two?"

"Not if she wants to be a good captain, Aizen," my dad snared as he came up to stand next to me. Renji had done the same after my dad had halted right next to me.

Renji quickly added, "After all, she's got her father's blood."

"Why don't you let her speak for herself?" Aizen spat. As he turned to me, his voice suddenly turned sweet once more as he said, "But if you don't accepting my offer of joining our side, Captain Kurosaki, I'll just have to do one thing I thought I would have never had to do."

I smirked lightly as I asked, "And that would be?"

Aizen yelled, "Tousen! Bring the boy!" When an African man with sun glasses and the usual braidded hair that any Africans would do appeared, Yakiru was held firm in the man's grip. Yakiru looked terrified as Aizen told me, "Or I'll have the choose the fate of this boy. It's two possibilities. Either I turn him into an arrancar or I have one of the previous espadas kill him off."

I screeched, "You monster! What has Yakiru done to you? He's just an innocent high school student! And you know that he's nothing more than just a normal human being!"

Aizen was obviously enjoying himself as he cooed, "What will it be, Captain Kurosaki?"

"Help me! I don't wanna die!" Yakiru started to scream with fear.

I took slow, calming breaths and Renji kept whispering to me in a tone that said that he was in a panic and in an outrage, "Ichisan! You can't do this! Just let Aizen take the boy! It's just one soul that will be less to protect!"

Shaking my head, I said, "Fine. But here's the deal, Aizen."

"Ichisan! Don't you dare go the dark side!" my dad ordered me. "I'm telling you right now as your father! Don't you dare think about joining his side!"

"Dad! Keep quiet! I know what I'm doing, although this may sound a little stupid after you hear it!" I cried out. I turned back to Aizen as I told him, "You can have both Yakiru and me on your side."

"Ichisan!" Renji and my dad cried out in unison with anger and surprise.

I snapped at both of them, "You haven't heard everything yet, so keep it down!" I continued on by saying, "But only if you beat me in a one-on-one fair fight. If I win, you let Yakiru go and leave me alone as well. Along with the town. If it's a war you want, then that should be discussed with the new Center 46. I can guarrantee you, though, that these humans have nothing to do with what you want."

"How are you so sure? The twins that you're staying with are powerful enough for me to accomplish what I am trying to set the war on," Aizen told me.

"What are you talking about, Aizen," Toushirou snared.

Aizen sighed as he responded, "Don't you see where I am getting at? Those two kids are powerful! Their spiritual energy is as powerful as the younger Kurosaki! Both of them put together is the double the energy of younger Captain Kurosaki alone! Their power is what I want! I knew and still know that you all will never let me have those two kids that easily, so I wanted to declare a war for their bodies and souls!"