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

Unexpected Deviations

Chapter 3

Isshin Kurosaki stared deadpan into Urahara's widely-smiling face, the latter languidly fanning himself, acting for all the world as though he'd just asked for a cup of sugar. "Let me get this straight," Isshin asked dully. "You want a blood sample from Karin?"

"Yes, pretty much." Urahara cheerfully replied.

"Why do you need a blood sample from Karin?" Isshin asked.

"Oh, no particular reason." Urahara replied.

"I need more than that, Kisuke." Isshin firmly said.

"If I were to say…I needed her blood for an experiment…" Urahara theatrically replied, only for Isshin to stab at his face with a scalpel. Urahara caught it with his fan, the steel blade punching through the paper and catching against the metal ribs. He narrowed his eyes.

"Your powers are coming back." He observed. There was just no way an ordinary scalpel could have punched through his fan like that.

"Of course they have." Isshin snorted. "Much sooner than I expected, but after that Kuchiki girl gave her powers to Ichigo, well, it'd be more surprising if they didn't start coming back. Still, it'll be a while before I'm back to a hundred per cent. More importantly, don't try and change the subject, Kisuke. You need my daughter's blood. Okay, I understand that. And I do trust you. But! I'm going to need a reason for me to go along with this."

"Can't you just take the request at face value?" Urahara asked.

Isshin gave him a look. "Put yourself in my shoes," he said. "And imagine Kurotsuchi asking for a sample of Yoruichi's blood for no reason at all. How would you react?"

Urahara actually winced. "Okay, fair enough." He conceded with a sigh. "I can't tell you all the details right now, but I need a blood sample for an experiment about her spiritual pressure. Specifically, it's to find out whether or not it'll cause an explosion or worse should she meet a certain someone."

Isshin's eyes widened. "And who is this certain someone?" he asked.

"I can't tell you that right now." Urahara evaded. "For now, let's just say she's just a distant relative."

"Is that right?" Isshin asked suspiciously. "From which side of the family? Shiba or Kurosaki?"

"…Kurosaki."

Isshin made an unhappy sound. "So, the Quincy side of the family." He said. "Right, I see what you mean, considering everything that went down back then. Alright, you'll have your blood sample. But that's only after the girls get back from school. And I want a complete explanation of what the hell is going on, Kisuke."

"You'll get it." Urahara assured Isshin. "Just bring over the blood sample later. The experiment should only take a while to perform, and then you'll meet this relative of yours. Trust me, just meeting her should explain a lot already."

"I'll hold you to that."

Karin sighed as she used Hirenkyaku to land right next to Ichigo's discarded body, as it lay all but lifeless where Rukia and Ichigo had left it on the school rooftop. "It'd be real hell if people found him like this." She said to herself.

Looking around, she took a plastic chair from a corner and used it to jam the door. "That should keep anyone from just walking in…" she said, only to trail off as she imagined how Ichigo and Rukia would react when they returned. After all, it'd look pretty obvious someone had jammed the door from this side of the rooftop, and then had somehow left without going through the door.

With that thought in mind, Karin returned the chair back to the corner. Then unlocking the door, she stepped into the stairwell beyond, and locking the door behind her first, closed it.

Then she broke the doorknob with a sharp jerk. "That should do it." She thought. "No one can just walk in on Ichigo's body, and as for when they come back…well, they can just break the door down. That should teach them not to just leave Ichigo's body where anyone can find it."

Snorting and shaking her head at Ichigo and Rukia's…irresponsibility? Whatever…Karin walked over to the stairwell window, and used Hirenkyaku to leap through in the blink of an eye. Standing on a rooftop several blocks away from the school, she reached out with her senses, and found Ichigo and Rukia both.

Another leap with Hirenkyaku later, and she was watching from around a corner as Ichigo dealt with a Hollow while Rukia looked on.

"…cares about commitment?" Ichigo was saying as the injured Hollow fled back to Hueco Mundo. "I saved this boy because I wanted to. Were you any different?"

"What?" Rukia asked in surprise.

"You risked your life to save mine last night." Ichigo replied. "Were you thinking about commitment or duty when you did? Of course not, because when you put yourself at risk, it doesn't matter, does it? But if not, then I…!"

With a roar, the Hollow returned from Hueco Mundo, having regenerated its limbs. It lunged at Ichigo and Rukia both, only for the former to stab it through the head mid-lunge. Then he withdrew his sword, the Hollow staying on its feet a moment longer before collapsing to the ground, already crumbling away into spiritual particles as the tormented souls it was made from were cleansed of their lingering regrets and sent to Soul Society.

Karin raised an eyebrow as she watched Ichigo approach the crying ghost of a boy the Hollow must have been chasing. "There's something off about that sword of his." She thought. "It's like…it doesn't feel like a Shinigami's Zanpakutou at all. If anything…it feels…it feels like one of our Spirit Weapons…strange…very strange…I'll have to ask Urahara about that later."

Then she blinked, and stepped back into hiding as Ichigo and Rukia made to leave and head back to school. As they passed, Karin used Hirenkyaku to move from hiding place to hiding place, shadowing them as they went. At least, that was the plan.

A glowing arrow lanced through the air at high speed, a Heilig Pfeil shot by another Quincy, and aimed dead at her. Karin just swatted it away with a hand, though, Blut Vene briefly highlighting her veins through her skin with a crystalline blue.

Tracking its source, she changed course in midair…

…and in the blink of an eye, kicked Uryuu Ishida across another rooftop. "Rude, aren't you?" Karin asked. "Who the hell shoots Heilig Pfeil out of the blue at someone just passing by?"

"…so, you're really a Quincy." Uryuu gasped as he shakily got to his feet, before adjusting his glasses. "I had to make sure. And since only a Quincy would know what a Heilig Pfeil is, there can be no other doubt."

"That doesn't answer my question." Karin snapped.

"Tell you what," Uryuu said. "I'll answer your questions, and you'll answer mine."

"…fair enough." Karin agreed after a moment.

Uryuu smiled smugly. "I just answered your question." He said. "I needed to be sure I was sensing a fellow Quincy. Huh…I thought I was the only one left…"

"There's still your father, isn't there?" Karin asked back.

Uryuu snorted. "Ryuuken turned his back on the way of the Quincy long ago." He said with more than a hint of anger. "No, I am the Last Quincy. At least, I thought I was. After all, here you are."

"Last Quincy, eh?" Karin echoed. "The world's a big place, so don't be so sure. There are others more like us out there."

"Maybe…I hope so…" Uryuu said with a sigh. "Anyway, it's your turn to give me answers. What's a Quincy like you doing trailing after Shinigami like Kuchiki and Kurosaki?"

"Making sure they don't cause trouble." Karin replied shortly.

"…okay, that's fair." Uryuu conceded after a moment. "Still, I'm guessing you're new to this town, otherwise I'd have sensed you long since. Maybe we could work together…"

"…figure out how to use Quincy Blut, and we'll talk some more about that." Karin interrupted. "Surprised I noticed? If you were using Blut Vene that kick of mine wouldn't have winded you as badly as it did, and if you were using Blut Arterie, even with my Blut Vene active, I couldn't have just swatted your Heilig Pfeil away so casually."

Uryuu coughed, a mild flush coming to his cheeks as he adjusted his glasses again. "I could just have been using neither form of Blut, you know." He said more than a bit defensively.

"Hmm…then let's get something straight." Karin said firmly. "I can see you don't like Shinigami. Fine…that's your choice, and none of my business. But I get the feeling you'll eventually confront them, which is going to be a problem if you can't even use Blut at its most basic level. And while you're strong enough to deal with ordinary Shinigami or maybe the lower seats, the higher seats or worse, a lieutenant or a captain will eat you alive."

Karin paused and took a deep breath. "Make learning how to use Blut a priority." She said, gripping her Leiden Hant. "It'll keep you from just throwing your life away."

Uryuu stared at her in silence for several moments. "You make it sound so easy." He finally said with just a touch of bitterness.

"I'm Gemischt too." Karin said, and causing Uryuu to look at her in surprise. "If I could unlock and master my Blut, then so can you."

"Hey, wait…!" Uryuu began as Karin began to turn away.

"Get back to class, boy." Karin snapped at him. "And don't bother me until you've unlocked your Blut. Leave keeping an eye on the Shinigami to me."

And with a flicker of Hirenkyaku, she was gone.

"Oh wow." Karin whistled in awe as she walked into the designated testing room in the Urahara Shop. "I haven't seen barriers like those since the Third Seireitei Campaign. They look like they can take on a Shinigami's Bankai and hold."

"You flatter me with your praise." Tessai said. "While these barriers should be able to contain a captain's spiritual pressure, I suspect a sufficiently powerful Bankai could break through them."

"…okay, fair enough." Karin conceded after a moment's thought. "I have seen Captain-Commander Sui-Feng's Bankai, and I've also heard stories of Old Man Yamamoto's Bankai. Not too sure about the others, though."

"…the Third Seireitei Campaign, huh?" Urahara said as he emerged from the other side of the experimental apparatus. "From the data, I believe that was an attempt by the Alliance to reclaim the Seireitei, and use it as a staging ground to attack the Royal Dimension from, right?"

"Yeah, it was." Karin said with a nod. "I was only a Soldat back then, and it was also my first big battle. We came so close too…"

The young woman trailed off with a sigh, looking down and then up with a distant look in her eyes. A couple of moments passed, and then she shook her head. "Okay, what now?" she asked.

"Go make yourself scarce." Urahara said. "Your father's on the way."

Karin blinked, and then nodding once, vanished in a flicker of Hirenkyaku. Urahara and Tessai then busied themselves with making sure the various Kidou barriers were sufficiently powered and reinforced, to say nothing of the material shielding inside. It had been very expensive to get Sekkiseki from Soul Society in ample quantities in a short amount of time, but they'd managed it.

Hopefully, the containment vessel, in conjunction with the Kidou barriers, could limit a temporo-spatial implosion that could potentially result when the blood of Karin from the future met the blood of Karin from the past. Or rather, when the traces of each other's spiritual power in their blood mingled.

Or both, even. Who knows? The theory was sound, but the practical did not always conform to the theoretical.

It took several more minutes, but eventually, the faintest hints of spiritual power heralded Isshin's arrival. The man made his through the store into the testing area, shown the way by Urahara's assistants, Jinta and Ururu.

"Alright," Isshin began while holding out a vial filled with Karin's blood, which Urahara took. "Let's get this over and done with."

"Right…here's to hoping." Urahara said with a sigh as he approached the containment vessel, another sample of blood already in its heart. "If I die…take care of Yoruichi for me."

"Wait, what?" Isshin asked in surprise, but Urahara just smiled impishly before opening the vial, and dribbling blood down into the containment vessel, against the other sample inside. Blood mixed with blood…

…and nothing.

"Well, that was anticlimactic." Urahara said. "More importantly, it's safe for the two of them to be in the same room as each other. You can come out now."

"Gladly." Karin said as she reappeared with a flicker of Hirenkyaku. Isshin turned to her, eyes widening in surprise.

"K-Kuukaku…?" he asked. "What are you doing here?"

"Who is Kuukaku?" Karin asked with a frown. "My name is Karin, Karin Kurosaki."

Isshin's eyes bugged out. "Karin? As in my daughter's name?" he asked incredulously. "What are you…OOF!"

"…just…just shut up, you stupid old man…" Karin sobbed, as she buried her face in her father's chest, practically having thrown herself at him. "…shut up and hold me…"

Slowly, comprehension dawned on Isshin's face, even as he cautiously hugged his daughter back. "Y-you…Karin…you're my Karin…right?" he asked even as both Urahara and Tessai made themselves scarce. "But…the way you look…the way you feel…the test Urahara just did…you traveled through time…why?"

"…it was our only chance…our last chance…" Karin sobbed. "…we were the only ones left…Urahara and me…so he sent me back…before…"

"…ah…I see…I'm sorry." Isshin said with a voice filled with regret, regret that had things gone otherwise, their generation would have failed, and forced the next one to carry on what should have been their fight to win.

And judging from Karin's horrified look as she sharply looked up at him, she understood.

"…no…no…don't apologize dad…it's not your fault…you did everything you could!" she babbled. "I…I'm the one who should apologize…I was the one who wasn't strong enough…I was the one who let go…I was the one who let Yuzu die…!

"Shh…" Isshin hushed her, wiping tears from her cheeks with his thumbs. "…if I shouldn't apologize, then neither should you. I'm sure you also did everything you could, and more. You took the chance to jump through time and save everyone, didn't you? My beautiful little girl…you've grown so strong…I'm so proud…"

"…s-s-shut up…stupid…old man…" Karin sobbed, again burying her face against her father's chest, Isshin just sighing and holding her while rubbing circles into her back.

"There, there." He said soothingly. "Everything will be fine. We'll make sure of that."

"So," Urahara said with a grin. "I imagine the waterworks are finished?"

Karin and Isshin punched him in the face. "Learn to read the mood, damn it!" Karin growled, a vein throbbing on her forehead.

"You deserved that, and you know it." Isshin said while rubbing his knuckles. "Damn, that hurt. I need more time to get my powers back."

"Time we might not have," Urahara said while rubbing his nose. "I'll see if I can find a way to safely accelerate your recovery. In the meantime, Karin did anything unusual happen today?"

"Uryuu Ishida's sensed my presence, and forced a confrontation." Karin replied.

"Was there any way you could have avoided that?" Urahara asked.

"Not when he shot a Heilig Pfeil at me." Karin said with a scowl. "Don't worry, though. I passed myself off as just another, older Quincy. He doesn't even know my name."

"…is that all?" Urahara asked.

"Eh, I kicked him across a roof." Karin said while rubbing the back of her head. "I mean, seriously, who shoots arrows at random strangers? If it wasn't for my Blut, that shot would have gone through my neck!"

"Fair enough, I guess." Urahara conceded. "What about Ichigo and Rukia?"

"They dealt with a Hollow in a public park around lunchtime." Karin said. "They also sent a Plus to Soul Society, just as the data said they would today."

"Hmm…still, the butterfly effect is already in play." Urahara mused. "Tomorrow…yes, tomorrow night, according to the data, should be when the Hollow that used to be Miss Inoue's brother will attack her. Whether or not that occurs should tell us how far the butterfly effect has already affected things."

"If it's alright to you," Isshin cut in. "I'd like to see that data Karin brought back from the future. Also, what's the gist of our plan?"

"We continue as planned for now." Urahara said with a sigh. "Unfortunately, even with the data Karin brought back, our closest and best opportunity to expose Aizen will still be when Soul Society sends someone to bring Miss Kuchiki back. That, or Aizen not making a move until it's too late, and Miss Kuchiki has completely turned into a Human."

"Wait, what?" Isshin asked.

"Oh, I haven't told you?" Urahara asked. "I hid my Hougyoku inside Miss Kuchiki's soul. Together with that special gigai she's using, which will slowly turn her into a Human over time, it should keep Aizen from simply taking the Hougyoku back, and once she turns into a Human, destroy it. Hopefully, that would provoke Aizen into doing something rash which we can use to expose him."

"That's…that's low, and underhanded, even for you, Kisuke." Isshin darkly said.

"I won't deny it." Urahara admitted. "But we have to do what we have to do. Once you see the data, you'll understand. In any case, should Miss Kuchiki completely turn into a Human, I'll make sure she's properly taken care of."

"No, I'll take care of her." Isshin firmly said. "I understand we all have to make hard decisions given what we're dealing with, but this…if it goes as planned, or even if it doesn't go as planned, I'll have you apologize to Rukia for using her. And I doubt she'd want to live on your charity after you destroy her life as a Shinigami."

Urahara sighed. "No, I suppose she wouldn't." he admitted again. "Very well, she'll have my apology when this is over and done. And you can have responsibility for her should she completely turn into a Human."

"Now then," Isshin said. "What's this bit about Rukia getting dragged back to Soul Society? Also, how the hell are we going to explain this to the rest of the family?"

"Speaking of family," Karin cut in. "Who's Kuukaku?"

Urahara smiled. "Oh, now all of those are very good questions." He said. "Which of them shall we answer first, I wonder."

A/N

Welp, Isshin now knows, and unfortunately, so does Uryuu. The butterfly's wings have begun to flap, even if the changes aren't all that big yet.