Disclaimer: I do not own the Bleach franchise it is owned by Tite Kubo.

Unexpected Deviations

Chapter 2

They had been Soldat once.

The foot soldiers of the Quincy Army, men and women who put their lives on the line to avenge the genocide of the centuries past, and who would bring down the aloof and uncaring Soul Society. Together, they would build a new order, one where mortals would not have to depend on the whims of the corrupt and decadent otherworldly nobility to protect them, but on men and women like them.

That was what the Vandenreich was meant to become. An invisible empire not because it hid in the shadows, awaiting the right time to reveal itself to their ancient enemies, but one that stood between the Human World and the enemies from beyond.

That was the dream they had fought for. That was the dream they had died for.

That was the dream their king, he who should have been the greatest among them, had betrayed.

The Vandenreich was dead. They were Soldat no longer. But they were still Quincy. They still had their pride. And so they fought on, even though the world they had once sought to protect was dead and gone, even if it meant fighting alongside their one-time enemies.

Heilig Pfeil flew in gleaming swarms that numbered thousands of arrows per volley, countless Hollows crumbling away into spiritual particles at their bite, every trace of their regret, hunger, and longing wiped away. But while the faceless masses that made up the bulk of the horde were little more than fodder for the Quincy, the Menos Grande at its heart were made of sterner stuff.

The air trembled and roared as bright red beams lanced out, hundreds of Gillians firing off their ceros at the same time. The Quincy scattered, the flanking formations falling back, to cover provided by the Kidou Corps.

Hollows charged forward, eager to take advantage of the seeming retreat. More ceros lanced out, covering their charge, but the Quincy had regrouped. Now protected by the barriers of the Kidou Corps, they resumed firing their volleys of Heilig Pfeil, thinning the horde and forcing the heavy hitters to come forward.

Shadows flickered across the battlefield, the Onmitsukidou's Execution Force dashing in fast to strike at the Gillians. One found its head cut into three, mask and all. Another was bisected from crown to foot, while another was literally cut to pieces.

Ribbons shimmered along the flanks of the horde, before the Shinigami rank-and-file charged in with Zanpakutou drawn. They were a dying breed, the Shinigami, but when it came to melee they were still in some ways better suited than the Quincy were. Once, the Quincy would have taken bitter comfort in the Shinigami tasting the same horror of genocide they had inflicted on the Quincy.

Here and now, though? Neither had the time nor patience to argue on who deserved the heavier boot.

The adjuchas loped forward, the Heilig Pfeil and Zanpakutou of the Quincy and Shinigami rank-and-file alike all but useless against their Hierro. But this only meant the Stern Ritter as well as the Shinigami captains and lieutenants would have to commit.

"Burner Finger 2!"

"Sit on the frozen heavens, Hyourinmaru!"

"Snap, Tobiume!"

Flames and ice erupted across the battlefield, as those Stern Ritter, captains, and lieutenants present led the attack against the adjuchas. Spiritual pressures boiled and ebbed as they fought and adjuchas died, only for a crushing weight to fall across the entire battlefield. Rank-and-file Shinigami and Quincy alike fell to their knees, while common Hollows simply disintegrated, the spiritual particles they were made of crumbling as their souls were torn away and consumed by that singular presence at the heart of the horde.

Even the other Menos Grande weren't spared, the Gillians moving away as though to avoid becoming collateral, along with those of the adjuchas not already engaged in combat. And there, standing on the air on platforms of spiritual particles, was the leader of the horde.

A Vasto Lorde.

Just as planned.

"Bankai." Sui-Feng, third and last Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13, and Commander of the Alliance spoke firmly. "Jakuhou Raikouben."

A pillar of golden light erupted into the air, the commander's spiritual pressure cancelling out that of the Vasto Lorde. Then with a blast of displaced air, the pillar petered out, exposing Sui-Feng, a gigantic missile launcher mounted on her right arm. With a single smooth motion, she swung it to aim at the Vasto Lorde in the distance, fins extending along the missile's body as a whine began to build.

In the distance light flickered, and then acid green lanced across the battlefield, as the Vasto Lorde fired off a cero.

With a thunderous roar, Jakuhou Raikouben launched, the missile soaring out to impact against the cero mid-air above the battlefield. A massive explosion blew Shinigami and Quincy off their feet, but the two attacks canceled each other out.

Then through the smoke, Sui-Feng leapt up and out, already aiming Jakuhou Raikouben for a second shot. Too slow; a moment later, and the Vasto Lorde also leapt out of the smoke, and cut her in half.

Or so it seemed. An instant later, and only Sui-Feng's tattered haori was left in the air, with the diminutive Shinigami already aiming a second missile at the Vasto Lorde at point-blank range. The missile launched with a roar…

…and a second explosion shook the battlefield. The Vasto Lorde's spiritual pressure vanished, and then a moment later, Sui-Feng was dropping out of the sky, falling in a controlled arc back down to the ground.

Cheers went up from the soldiers on the ground, even as the last of the Menos Grande were either finished off or fled the battlefield. It wasn't much, but they'd won, and victory was always something to celebrate.

Then light lanced down from the sky, striking down one in every five Quincy. Most managed to avoid it, but each and every Quincy present felt sickly and weak, their lives sapped and leached to empower their treacherous king. A few even found themselves struck dead on the spot, their flesh seared clean off their bones, which crumbled to the ground as the light faded.

Cries of alarm and concern rang out across the battlefield, Shinigami rushing to the aid of their allies, even as the Quincy struggled to help themselves. One of them shakily – frantically – pulled off her beret and her gas mask…

…Karin vomiting out what little was in her stomach at the sight of one her friends turned to ash and bone in front of her.

Karin's eyes sprang wide, and she woke with a shout, jolting herself up into a sitting position. A dream…it was just a dream…

…no. It wasn't a dream.

It was a memory.

"Bad dreams, I take it?" Yoruichi asked over the breakfast table.

"You know war, don't you, Lady Yoruichi?" Karin asked back.

Yoruichi snorted, her laughter having just the slightest edge. "It's been a long time since I've had to step onto the battlefield." She said. "But yeah, I know war. I wish I didn't have to. And I wish you didn't have to."

"Well, like Urahara used to say back during the war," Karin began. "We don't live in an ideal world."

"No," Yoruichi said with another bitter laugh. "We certainly don't."

"Hey, how come Yoruichi gets an honorific and I don't?" Urahara complained.

"We used to call you Professor Urahara, but you told us to stop since it made you feel old." Karin replied. "Well, some of us still did, at least until…well…"

"…go ahead." Urahara said before taking a drink of his tea. "Just say it. I've got no reason to be afraid or angry about something that hasn't happened yet."

"…after Lady Yoruichi died," Karin softly said after a moment, and causing both Yoruichi and Urahara's eyes to widen. "You said…you said you didn't deserve to be called that, when you couldn't…couldn't stop her from getting herself killed…"

For once, Urahara was completely lost for words, and actually looked away when Yoruichi gave him an unreadable look. Eventually, though, he gave a cough and turned back to the table. "I can…see, how that would have affected me." He said. "Still, that doesn't have to happen. We have a bigger chance than ever before at keeping that bad future you came from away."

"Yes, we do." Karin softly agreed.

For the next several minutes, the residents of the Urahara Shop ate in silence, but as Urahara finished his meal and washed it down with tea, he fixed Karin with unreadable eyes. Karin finished soon after, and met his gaze with her own unyielding ones.

"How far are you willing to go to stop Yhwach and Aizen?" Urahara asked.

"Whatever it takes." She replied.

Urahara's lips twitched into a smile. "Is that so?" he asked. "Strange as it might sound, I find myself believing you. Okay! Miss War Veteran, what do you think we should do?"

"I think we should let things play out as they would have, at least until Soul Society sends someone after Rukia and Ichigo." Karin said.

"Hmm…what makes you say that?" Urahara asked.

"Well, for one thing it gives us time to actually think and make proper plans." Karin replied. "As things stand, you've only really started going over everything I brought with me back in time. If we act now, chances are, we're going to do it rash and without thinking. Knowing Aizen, or for that matter, Yhwach, all we'll be doing is giving them opportunities to take advantage of."

"True," Urahara conceded. "I need more time to properly assess all the information you brought with you back from the future, much less come up with anything remotely concrete with them. And both Aizen and Yhwach still have overall stronger hands than we have, though we should concentrate on the former in the short-term."

"We need to find a way and an opportunity – hopefully more than one – to expose him." Karin agreed. "And right now, our best bet still looks like taking advantage of Rukia getting dragged back to Soul Society, and Ichigo going after them."

"Precisely." Urahara agreed. "It also looks like our best bet too to make an early move against Yhwach and the Vandenreich."

"…we should also look into the possibility of getting some of the Stern Ritter on our side." Karin said after a moment. "Not all of them were fanatically devoted to Yhwach, and the same goes for the Soldat."

"I've seen as much in the data." Urahara agreed. "The problem is that it took Yhwach using Auswahlen on them to get them to see the light, as it were."

Karin was silent for a long moment, and then her eyes narrowed. "Then," she said. "Should we force his hand?"

Urahara's smile turned crafty, while Yoruichi raised an eyebrow before narrowing her eyes. "Underhanded, aren't we?" she asked.

"Survival's dirty." Karin simply said before briefly closing her eyes, and then giving a small smile. "That, and the Commander of the Alliance was the head of the Onmitsukidou."

Yoruichi huffed with a hint of pride in her one-time protégé. "Not bad, my little bee." She thought to herself. "Not bad at all."

"I'll look into it further," Urahara said. "But do you have any other ideas, Miss Kurosaki?"

"Call me Karin." Karin said. "And yes, I actually do. You almost certainly want me to stay away from Ichigo and his friends, to say nothing of his family."

"…well, I suppose it doesn't have to be absolute." Urahara said after a moment, along with some vague hand movements. "I wouldn't be against you reuniting with your family, we just need to make sure you don't set off a temporal paradox in the process."

"Yeah, the future you said something about that, only a bit more technical and making my head spin." Karin said before shaking her head. "Anyway…assuming those tests go well, I'm thinking we should only really let my dad know. And Ichigo, after whatever goes down in Soul Society, so he doesn't get distracted. Knowing my brother, he'll throw a fit about me having to fight."

Karin paused and actually looked thoughtful. "…it'd be nice, though." She admitted after a moment. "Meeting Ichigo again…"

The young woman trailed off, her eyes distant and faraway, and then taking a deep breath, closed them and coughed. "Anyway," she said. "As for my younger self and…and Yuzu…I honestly don't know."

"Oh?" Urahara asked.

"Don't get me wrong." Karin said, her words dark and brooding but masking the pain and regret beneath them. "I want to see Yuzu again. But…the Yuzu here and now…she's not my Yuzu. Not my other half…I…I let my Yuzu die…I…I couldn't save her…and I don't want to get between my younger self and her twin. They deserve better."

"So…what then?" Urahara pressed.

"I guess if they have to find out about me, I'm just a distant relative." Karin said with a shrug. "It's probably best if we tell that same story to Ichigo until it's time for him to know. It'll piss him off, but…I'll take care of that when the time comes."

"Very mature of you." Urahara observed.

"I've had forty or fifty years to grow up." Karin dryly said. "I might look like I'm only in my 20s, but I'm at least twice that. Besides, children have no place in war. They either died, ran, or hid. None of that appealed to me."

"No, I imagine not." Urahara said. "Alright then…I agree with just about everything you've said. We'll hold off on actively changing the timeline until after things come to a head at Soul Society. That'll give us time to plan and prepare."

Karin nodded. "That said," she began. "The you from the future said something about needing to take something he called the butterfly effect into account."

"What's that?" Yoruichi asked.

"It means small, random actions could have unexpected big effects." Urahara explained. "Basically, the idea refers to how something as simple as a butterfly flapping its wings could set off a typhoon somewhere else. But yes, I can see why we need to take that into account. Even if you don't actively butt in, just your presence alone could affect things. After all, even with you suppressing it, to say nothing of having only a limited amount of spiritual particles to work with, your spiritual pressure is comparable to a captain's. Even if it's not detected by Soul Society, it will have an effect on your general vicinity."

"Seeing as you'll be busy picking at my data with your brain," Karin said. "I volunteer myself for handling with anything unexpected. I don't mind getting my hands dirty."

"You'll need supervision." Urahara remarked, and Karin looked at Yoruichi who shrugged and turned to Urahara.

"I can take care of that." She said. "I know you wanted me to infiltrate Soul Society and gather information, but I'm sure you can find other ways to get what you need to know."

"Hmm…no." Urahara said after a moment's thought. "You should still infiltrate Soul Society regardless. As for supervising Miss Kurosaki, no, Karin here, I think there's no one better suited than her own father."

Urahara paused, and then laughed. "Well," he continued. "Assuming my tests for whether or not a temporal paradox results prove it's safe, of course."

"You had something else on your agenda, didn't you?" Yoruichi asked, walking into Karin's room with a passing knock.

"…yeah, I actually do." Karin admitted.

"Oh?"

"…I could be wrong." Karin began after a moment. "But over the years before the war with the Quincy, Ichigo and Rukia…they seemed to be…I don't know. How to call it…"

"Dancing around each other?" Yoruichi asked with a small smile.

"Yeah…" Karin uncertainly said before giving a shrug. "…sure, let's go with that. They got along well enough, and seemed closer than friends, but never really moved on each other."

"Ah, I see what you're getting at." Yoruichi said with a nod. "So leaving them alone over the next few months is also to let them develop their relationship, or at least get it on its feet."

"Whether or not they really get together isn't really my business." Karin said with a sigh. "But I shouldn't – can't – be the cause for their friendship to have never existed at all."

"I suppose that's fair." Yoruichi admitted. "Seriously, though, they never got together? Even though they seemed closer than friends, as you put it?"

"Well, they never seemed to have dated or anything like that." Karin admitted. "And Ichigo is the old-fashioned type, and the same seemed to go for Rukia, so I don't think they were sleeping with each other despite not actually dating. Either way, it's not my business."

"But you wouldn't mind it either if they did get together that way, do you?" Yoruichi pressed.

"If she makes him happy…" Karin softly said, and Yoruichi nodded.

"That's also fair." She said, staying silent as Karin finished dressing up, the younger woman brushing at her clothes and holding her arms out.

"How do I look?" Karin asked, wearing a white, short-sleeved shirt with red edges along the collar and waistline. A wide band of red ran around the middle, with evenly-spaced circles in white, and two more narrow bands of red above and below. She also wore dark jeans and a brown vest, along with a yellow and black pair of rubber shoes.

All in all, she looked like your typical young adult, with the only indication of her Quincy nature being the Quincy Cross clipped to her belt, and the white half-glove on her right hand that reached up to her elbow. A pair of silver chains wrapped around the arm in an X, with dull silver spurs extending from around the wrist.

"Like an ordinary person." Yoruichi finally said. "That glove, though. What's that?"

"It's a Leiden Hant." Karin replied, and flexing her right hand as she did so. "Basically, it's like a seal on my powers."

"I've heard of that." Yoruichi mused. "A Quincy's last resort, right? You can use it to gain power equal to a Bankai, but only temporarily, and afterwards your powers disappear forever."

"No, that's the Letzt Stil." Karin said. "And it doesn't just match a Shinigami's Bankai, it outright surpasses it. Of course, you lose all your powers afterward…so the Quincy completely reworked the technique into the Vollstandig. It's not as powerful, but it can still match Bankai, and it doesn't take away all your powers. The downside, of course, is that you have to keep it sealed at all times. Hence the Leiden Hant."

"Makes sense, I guess." Yoruichi mused. "Could come in handy, too. Still, I hope you never have to use it."

"So do I." Karin admitted with a sigh. "So do I…anyway, I get the feeling you didn't come here for just a chat. Does Urahara need something from me?"

"Yeah, actually he does." Yoruichi said.

"And that is?" Karin asked.

Yoruichi smiled apologetically. "Your blood." She said.

"What?"

A/N

Flashback to a skirmish in the war, and then Karin wakes up in the past.

Sorry if the story seems a bit slow, but I need to lay down a foundation first before starting to get into things. Otherwise, it'll seem rushed. Besides, things should really start to change come next chapter.