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

Unexpected Deviations

Chapter 4

"Hey, Rukia?" Ichigo asked, pausing where he was at his desk doing his homework. Rukia was nearby, lying prone on the floor with her legs waving in the air, busy doodling away on a spare notebook.

"Hmm?" She hummed to indicate her attention, not that she actually looked his way or stopped doodling.

"Have you…have you gotten this feeling that we're being watched, or something?" Ichigo asked.

At that question, Rukia stopped her doodling, as well as the waving of her legs. Slowly, her legs descended to lie flat on the ground, and then with a thoughtful expression on her face, she rolled onto her back, before forcing herself into a sitting position. "You feel it too?" she finally asked.

"Yeah, I have." Ichigo said, turning to sit sideways so he could look at Rukia while talking to her. "To be honest, it's…it's not like I'm actually sensing something, it's just that…"

"Your combat sense is tingling, isn't it?" Rukia interrupted before giving a nod. "Yes, it's the same with me too. I don't actually sense anyone else's spiritual pressure, but I have this feeling like something or someone is watching while staying in hiding."

"Why though?" Ichigo asked.

"I do not know." Rukia said.

"Well, whoever they are, they better knock it off, because it's both creepy and annoying!" Ichigo said, yelling the last out the open window. Naturally, there was no response, but Rukia just smiled and laughed briefly.

"Did you really think that would scare them out of hiding?" she asked.

"No," Ichigo admitted with a sigh. "But if they're watching – and I think they are – then they know we're on to them."

"At the very least," Rukia pointed out. "They don't seem to be hostile."

"Eh…I'm not so sure about that." Ichigo said, rubbing at the back of his head, and continuing at Rukia's confused look. "Remember back when we were dealing with that Hollow? You know, the one who was keeping that poor kid's soul in a bird and was trying to lure Chad into leaving himself open?"

"How can I forget?" Rukia asked back with a sigh. "That was…not the most pleasant fight I've ever had to face. To say nothing of how it ended; even if Shrieker got what it deserved in the end, seeing the Gates of Hell and a soul getting dragged through them…it's something to remember."

"Just not in the good way, huh?" Ichigo also asked back in his turn. "Yeah, I get what you mean. Anyway, back to what I was actually going on about, when the Gates of Hell turned up, I sensed a really powerful spiritual pressure flare up nearby. It didn't last long, but it was enough for me to get a feel for it."

"…could it be our mystery stalker?" Rukia asked after a moment.

"I'd bet on it." Ichigo said with a scowl. "If I had to guess, seeing the Gates of Hell spooked them into popping off their spiritual pressure, though they must have quickly snapped out of it. Like I said, it didn't last long."

"Could it be…another Shinigami?" Rukia asked softly and with a faint hint of worry.

"Maybe…but it felt different." Ichigo said.

"Different, how?" Rukia pressed.

"…it's…I don't know how to put it." Ichigo hesitantly replied. "I know it wasn't anything like yours, that's for sure. It was also much more powerful, I'd say at least three times as powerful as you."

"Hmm…you may be exaggerating," Rukia slowly said. "Or you could be overestimating things, seeing as you're not exactly experienced or even properly trained in this. That said, while you could be wrong about how powerful that spiritual pressure was, I'll take at face value that you did sense something or someone getting spooked into revealing themselves at seeing the Gates of Hell."

Ichigo scowled at the reminder that he wasn't really a proper Shinigami in any way, but he couldn't deny the fact. "Fine, then." He said. "What now? Should we try to lure whoever this is out of hiding?"

"Hmm…I'm not so sure about that." Rukia admitted after a moment's thought. "Right now, they're not hostile. But if we try to lure them out, they just might become hostile as a result."

"Yeah, but we can't really just let them keep stalking us either." Ichigo pointed out.

"True," Rukia conceded. "Still, we should think some more about this. If they turn hostile and turn out to be as powerful as you claim they were, we'll be in very serious trouble, with no way to actually fight back."

"If that happens," Ichigo said with narrowed eyes. "Then I'll hold them off while you go and get help."

Rukia stared at Ichigo, struck silent by both his words and the honest determination in them, to say nothing of the protective way he look at her. Then she blinked, and coughing to hide the flush creeping up her cheeks, briefly looked away. "Not necessarily a bad idea," she said. "But who am I supposed to get help from, exactly?"

"You had to get Kon from someone, didn't you?" Ichigo asked, his tone making him sound as though he was pointing the obvious. "And since mod souls are supposed to be from Soul Society, shouldn't that guy be a Shinigami too or something?"

"Former Shinigami, to be exact." Rukia corrected. "And an exiled one too, meaning his powers would have been sealed before getting banished from Soul Society. That said…at the very least, he might have a way to contact Soul Society, and get help. But that's going to cause big trouble, to say the least…not to mention…"

Rukia sighed, and ran a hand through her hair. She wasn't quite sure why this was so hard for her, as Ichigo's plan was not only simple and straightforward, but the only reasonable one if they ever ran into something they couldn't handle. That is, run and get help.

That said, it didn't sit well with her to practically turn her back on him while he had to hold off something that could be stronger than she had been before she gave him her powers. It was a Shinigami's duty to protect Humans, after all. That he had an uncanny resemblance with Lieutenant Shiba was also…

Rukia's eyes widened ever so much. Now that she thought about it, Ichigo did have more than a passing resemblance to her late mentor, the memory of whom caused pangs of regret to grip at her being. More importantly than that…why? Why and how did he have such a resemblance to Lieutenant Kaien Shiba?

Could it be…that he's…Lord Kaien's…

"Well, I guess we shouldn't rush this." Ichigo suddenly said, and jolting Rukia out of her thoughts. "There is such a thing as picking your fights, and whoever or whatever our stalker is might turn to be too much for us to handle. We'll think this through and talk some more about it later. Who knows? They might get bored and move on after…well…"

Ichigo trailed off with a pained and faraway look on his face. "Ichigo…?" Rukia asked with some concern, coming closer and placing a hand on his arm. That jolted him out of his reverie.

"Sorry…" he said with a cough. "It's just that…my mom's death anniversary is coming up, and me and the rest of the family will be visiting her grave. So…yeah…we'll talk some more about this later."

Rukia nodded in silent understand, her hand briefly squeezing Ichigo's arm to reassure him before letting go. Ichigo turned back to his homework, and while Rukia could have gone back to her drawings, she instead just stared at Ichigo's back for a long while.

The first sign that things weren't going to go as planned was morbidly enough Masaki Kurosaki's grave. Oh, it hadn't been vandalized or anything.

No, there was just a fresh bundle of chrysanthemums neatly lying before it, along with several incense sticks burning away. And from how much of the incense had actually been consumed, assuming they and the flowers came from the same person, they'd all been placed there recently.

"Did someone else visit mom?" Karin Kurosaki mused.

"It looks that way." Ichigo said, feeling a strange sense of foreboding fill him.

"Mom had many friends, didn't she?" Yuzu Kurosaki asked no one in particular. "Maybe one of them visited earlier today?"

"…could be…" Ichigo said. Karin looked skeptical, but Isshin seemed to just take it in stride.

"Well," he began. "Whoever they are, I don't really mind. Your mother wouldn't have either. She'd just smile, thank whoever it is, and invite them for tea and a snack while chatting them up. That's…that's just the kind of person she was."

Ichigo and his sisters stayed silent, unable to disagree with their father, because he was absolutely right about that. "Should we get started then?" Yuzu instead asked after a moment.

"Yeah, let's get started." Karin said with a nod. "I don't mind one of mom's friends visiting her grave and leaving flowers behind. But it'd be real shameful if we don't do just as much now that we're here. Here, Yuzu. Let me help with that."

"Yeah, let me help too…" Ichigo began, moving to help Yuzu with what they'd brought for Masaki's memorial service. He'd already crouched down when he heard and felt it. A Hollow's roar, and a Hollow's spiritual pressure.

Ichigo's eyes widened, and he was about to get up, an excuse waiting on his lips…

…only for Isshin's hand to land firmly on his shoulder. Ichigo looked up, his eyes meeting his father's curious eyes. "Something wrong?" the older man asked.

"No…I just…" Ichigo began.

"Then help your sisters, Ichigo." Isshin firmly said before giving a grin to take the edge off. "You can run off to the men's room after the ceremony. I'm sure whatever it was you ate that didn't agree with you can wait until then."

"…huh?" Ichigo deadpanned before he realized what his father had just said. "Wait…that's not what I…!"

"Hey, you two!" Karin irritably snapped, heading off any potential arguments that could erupt between the two. "Can you not get up to your usual antics in front of mom's grave? And today of all days!"

"Karin…I just…" Ichigo began, only to flinch away as Isshin burst out with his usual effusiveness.

"YES! YOU'RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT, KARIN!" he loudly yelled, one arm held around Ichigo's shoulders, the other pumping a fist into the air. "TODAY'S ALL ABOUT MASAKI!"

"You go, dad!" Yuzu cheered her father on, even as both Karin and Ichigo sported deadpan faces. And through it all, Ichigo all but forgot about the Hollow's roar and spiritual pressure alike.

In any case, the latter had already been snuffed out by another's spiritual pressure.

Karin's Spirit Weapon swung through the air, the spirit-forged steel of the katana cleanly cutting Grand Fisher's lure in half. The Hollow roared in pain and anger, tentacles lashing out at blinding speed from the holes in its mask.

Steel flashed through the air, and Karin cut the tentacles apart in a blur of motion that ended with her in a crouch, left index finger pointed up into the air. Spiritual particles flashed and a Heilig Pfeil lanced out, and blowing the limb connecting the lure to Grand Fisher's body clean off.

Realizing it was outmatched, Grand Fisher immediately opened a Garganta, aiming to run and lick its wounds back in Hueco Mundo. It could always come back later, and finishing the job, get its revenge on this…Human which managed to wound it so badly.

There was a flicker of motion…

…and with a roar of pain, Grand Fished found itself being smashed into the ground by a leg drop from above.

"What's wrong, Grand Fisher?" Karin mocked, every word dripping with hatred and loathing for this…monster, which had taken her mother away from her. To hell with the butterfly effect, this was personal. Besides, it wasn't as though Grand Fisher had played a significant role in events to come.

Its early destruction or purification – either would work fine, though Karin preferred the former out of sheer pique – shouldn't really matter much in the grand scheme of things.

"You don't like it when the boot's on the other foot?" Karin continued to mock the Hollow as she easily avoided getting thrown when the angry Hollow heaved itself back up. It lashed out with a hand, trying to grab her, only for Karin to chop it clean off.

"My hand!" Grand Fisher screamed, leaping back while holding the bleeding stump of its hand. "You…you pathetic, disgusting Human! What…what did you do to me? Why can't I…?"

Enraged by its high-speed regeneration getting nullified by a Quincy's destructive nature – not that it actually knew it – Grand Fisher hurled itself at Karin, the claw on its remaining hand extended to cut and rend. Karin breathed in, taking her Spirit Weapon by both hands…

…then the claws shattered, Karin breaking them with a thrust and then a sharp twist, before stepping aside and then chopping down, Hirenkyaku letting her move so fast Grand Fisher might as well be in slow motion.

Grand Fisher screamed again, staggering back while holding both of its stump-ended arms in the air. It stared at them in disbelief, and then back at Karin. "You didn't…" it began in horrified realization.

Karin rolled her eyes and flickered out of view…

…and Grand Fisher screamed again as she cut off one of his feet, and then the other. "P-p-please…" the Hollow begged. "…m-mercy…mercy, my l-lord…"

"And why should I grant it to filth like you?" Karin asked, Spirit Weapon aimed to stab and kill, and obliterate the Hollow in a single blow. Before she could do it, though, voices spoke up.

"Stop!" Rukia and another Shinigami yelled. They glanced at each other, before the latter continued. "There's no reason to go any further, Quincy! The Hollow is beaten, and we're here!"

"This thing killed my mother." Karin spat. "By all rights, I should return the favor and put this…thing, out of its misery forever."

"And would that make you any better?" Rukia chimed in. "I…I understand how you must feel, Quincy. Believe me, I do. But you can and should be better than a Hollow. A better being…a better woman…"

"Let us purify the Hollow." The other Shinigami urged. "We can end the threat it poses to other Humans, while also freeing all the souls it's eaten to pass on to the afterlife. Please…if not for yourself, and certainly not for the Hollow itself, then think of its victims."

Karin was silent for several long moments, and then relaxing, allowed her sword to fall. "Fine," she said, stepping back and away. "Do…!"

"FOOL!" Grand Fisher screamed, more tentacles lashing out from behind its mask to wrap around Karin and squeezed. "YOU WORTHLESS HUMAN, DID YOU REALLY THINK I…?"

For an instant, spiritual pressure exploded with crushing force, shredding all but one of the tentacles wrapped around Karin. Crystalline blue shone through her skin, spiritual particles flooding her veins. Glaring at the stunned and terrified Hollow, she stabbed her sword into the ground, and grabbing at the last tentacle, pulled.

With a surprised shout, Grand Fisher was dragged close and fast, allowing Karin to land a solid punch into its face. The mask shattered, but the punch kept going, driving into the Hollow's suddenly-exposed and brutish face.

Grand Fisher howled in agony, the bones of its face shattered by the force of the blow. Karin retook her sword, cut herself free, and spat contemptuously at the Hollow. "Trash!" she snarled before stomping off. "It's all yours, Shinigami."

Rukia kept looking after Karin as she walked and vanished into the trees, while the other Shinigami approached Grand Fisher. He drew his Zanpakutou as he approached, and then raising it with two hands, swung down.

The Hollow died with a pained gurgle, its body crumbling away into spiritual particles, the clearing by the cliff filling with a peaceful ambiance from all the souls released from bondage and lingering regrets. "That was a bit tense." Rukia said with a sigh.

"Hmm…I didn't think there'd be any Quincy left." The other Shinigami observed. "Then again, we couldn't have gotten them all. And while I know better, in this case…damn, I can't help but sympathize."

"Yeah…" Rukia agreed with another sigh. "Thankfully she was able to see reason."

"That she was." The Shinigami said before fixing her with a censorious glare. "Anyway…my mission here wasn't to hunt down the elusive Grand Fisher, for all that finally bringing it down makes for a nice bonus. My mission was actually to find you, seeing as you haven't reported back in a long time."

"I've been sending reports," Rukia quickly said. "To say nothing of purifying Hollows and performing soul burials for any Pluses I run into."

"Yes, but you haven't exactly reported back in person either." The Shinigami responded before narrowing his eyes. "You have to admit it is rather suspicious, especially when I can barely sense your spiritual pressure at all. If anything, it looks as though you're hiding something. Now what could that be, I wonder?"

The rustle of leaves underfoot echoed like a gunshot in the clearing, and the Shinigami immediately raised his sword defensively. "Who's there?" he demanded. "Show yourself!"

A tense moment passed, and then Ichigo stepped out from behind a tree, still in his Human body, hands raised in a placating gesture.

"A Human?" the Shinigami said with a questioning note. "And you can see me too?"

"Rukia," Ichigo began. "What's going on?"

"Ichigo," Rukia hesitantly replied, a cold sweat breaking out on her forehead as she frantically tried to explain. "This is…"

The Shinigami hummed in curiosity as he regarded them both, head turning to and fro, from the young man to the young woman, before something clicked. "Oh-ho-ho-ho~" he laughed with a grin. "So that's how it is, eh? And you're on first name terms with each other too. Fine…I suppose it's not really illegal, just frowned upon. Still, when you next have to report back, I suggest coming up with a very good excuse, Miss Kuchiki. For now, I'll stay silent and give a generic report on my return. The rest is up to you."

With a nod, he sheathed his Zanpakutou, before flickering away with shunpo. Rukia stared after him in shock and disbelief, as she realized what he seemed to have inferred, based on what he said. "Wait…no…that's not…I…we…" she stammered out, her cheeks pink.

"Rukia," Ichigo continued as he approached. "What just happened? And the Hollow from earlier? Did that guy deal with it? He looked like a Shinigami too. What was he here for? And what did he mean with all those things he said?"

Rukia's face turned red with mortification, causing her to clench one fist in the air. Ichigo actually found himself taking a step back as she whirled on him. "Yeah, that was another Shinigami." She said quickly. "He came here to check up on me after I stopped personally reporting back for so long. Yes, he took care of that Hollow from earlier. As for what he said…"

Rukia paused, letting her face falling into a hand and pinching her nose. "He…" she hesitantly continued. "He seemed to think…from how familiar we are with each other…that we…uh…"

"…go on." Ichigo said. "I'm getting a bad feeling about this, and it's not just because of that Hollow from earlier. Just spit it out already, I'm sure we'll get over it quickly."

"…he…he seemed to think that…we might be…sleeping with each other."

"…WHAT?"

A/N

Time skip, past the whole business with Shrieker and Kon, which largely went as in canon. As mentioned in passing, the former's conclusion with the Gates of Hell opening up to drag Shrieker to Hell briefly spooked Karin. This allowed Ichigo to just as briefly sense her presence…in addition to both him and Rukia now getting this feeling they're being watched. Which they are: they just haven't noticed Karin stalking them yet.

With this, the butterfly's wings are flapping faster, with Grand Fisher having been taken out of the game early on, to say nothing of the Gotei 13 now thinking Rukia's in a relationship with a Human. That's going to go down well with certain men in Soul Society.