Disclaimer: I do not own the Bleach franchise it is owned by Tite Kubo.
Echo
Part I
Original Timeline
"This is terrible…" Orihime Inoue murmured with evident horror.
Ichika was literally cut into two at the torso, so much blood pooled around her that her skin had turned pasty white, her ragged red hair falling in stark contrast over her face. It was a clean cut, and not simply because it was done with a single stroke, which made it all the more horrifying.
When a Hollow or even a Shinigami attacked and injured their enemies, they usually left an imprint of their spiritual power behind. Ichika's injuries, though, were too clean. If it weren't for the fact that she was a Shinigami, Orihime would have thought an ordinary Human had done this to Ichika. There were simply no spiritual imprints left behind.
And that was exactly the point, because Orihime had seen injuries like this before.
Only a Quincy could cause this much damage while leaving virtually no trace of their presence behind. How could they, when a Quincy's power completely destroyed their enemy's spiritual essence? A Shinigami purified their fallen enemies. A Hollow corrupted and consumed their prey.
A Quincy simply destroyed.
"Ayame, Shun'ou: Souten Kisshun." Orihime firmly said, her Shun Shun Rikka forming a glowing, golden, oval-shaped barrier over Ichika's body. "I reject."
Almost immediately, flesh and bone began knitting together, and while her heart still wasn't beating, Ichika's skin began to grow less pallid, as blood returned to her veins. "It's so slow." Uryuu Ishida remarked from where he stood guard nearby. "And the cleanness of that cut…together with what Kazui said…then…"
"Yes," Orihime softly agreed with a nod. "A Quincy did this. A Sternritter…"
"…why, though?" Uryuu asked. "And who she claimed to be…I didn't think the Kurosaki Clan had any Quincy left after Ichigo's mother died."
Orihime opened her mouth to reply…
…and then gasped in shock as she looked to the distance, in the direction of a simply monstrous surge of spiritual pressure. No…not surge…emptiness…there, in the distance, and steadily coming closer, was a shimmering wave of spiritual power that simply devoured everything in its path. "What is that?" she breathed in horror.
Ichigo, where are you? Are you safe?
"Stay behind me, Inoue!" Uryuu shouted, putting himself between Orihime and the fast-approaching wave, spiritual particles flooding into his veins even as he readied the Antithesis.
But it wasn't enough. The wave passed over them…
…and they were gone. Every soul in Karakura Town was consumed, drained along with every last drop of spiritual power and particles to fuel the activation of the Almighty. Power enough to create a Royal Key was instead funneled to alter the flow of time itself.
A single choice in the past singled out. A single choice changed.
Everything else followed that point.
Altered Timeline
Everything but one.
As Sousuke Aizen once said, Orihime's power wasn't healing, or even blocking and cutting, no matter the form of her Shun Shun Rikka. No, what she possessed was the power to reject reality.
It could even block the Almighty, for all that Yhwach had simply and literally bypassed that protection by going around her.
Only…
…her Shun Shun Rikka's Souten Kisshun had completely englobed Ichika's corpse at the time Hikari had activated the Almighty.
The instant reality changed, the Shun Shun Rikka collapsed, the version of Orihime that had cast it no longer existing in this changed world. But the reality it had englobed remained, imposed on the world which was forced to accept it, regardless of the Almighty which changed everything else.
It wasn't long before the blood and flesh of a fallen Shinigami drew the attention of a random Hollow from Hueco Mundo. And had the Shingami on duty been even a minute or two late, that would have been the end of it.
As it was, he arrived just in time.
"Bakudou 61," the Shinigami firmly spoke. "Rikujoukourou!"
Yellow light flashed from the Shinigami's outstretched finger, and which transformed into six panes of matching light. They slammed into the Hollow, forming a flattened circle around its waist, and pinning it in place.
The Hollow roared in outrage, and immediately began to struggle. Cracks spread over the Bakudou, but the Shinigami had just enough time to draw his asauchi, and them leaping up, brought it down in a clean, two-handed strike. With a sharp crack, the Hollow's mask shattered, even as the rest of its head and body split into two. Then with a flicker of light, it crumbled into a stream of spiritual energy, the restless souls making it up purified and dispatched to Soul Society.
The Shinigami got to his feet, and then sheathed his asauchi. Then turning in its direction, the man's eyes widened as he took in Ichika's lifeless form next to him.
"You know, for someone who always complains about Captain-Commander Kyouraku's parties, you don't seem to mind lazing about yourself."
Ichigo just shrugged from where he was lying on a sloping hillside in the Rukongai, specifically one of the districts closer to the Seireitei. Rukia was with him, the dark-haired woman also lying on her back, perpendicular to Ichigo, with her head resting on his chest.
"Well, I'm on break right now." He said. "We've also finally finished off the backlogged paperwork, and then some. Besides, it's not that I mind taking things easy, especially when there's nothing serious going on."
"You just mind going overboard with it, right?" Rukia knowingly asked.
"Well, yeah." Ichigo said with another shrug. "Besides, it's not like you disagree. After all, aren't you here with me right now?"
"Fool!" Rukia scoffed with a playful backward slap against Ichigo's stomach. "I'm your lieutenant, after all. I have to support you in all your decisions. That's all there is to it."
"Sure, sure." Ichigo said with a laugh, Rukia joining in after a moment. For the next few minutes, they just lay there, savoring the cool breeze blowing over the hillside, staring up at the blue sky dotted with clouds. "Hey, look at that."
"What?" Rukia asked.
Ichigo pointed up at the sky. "That cloud over there." He said. "It looks like a carrot. That one looks like a patch of seaweed, and that one looks like a torn basket."
"Huh…" Rukia mused, looking at the clouds Ichigo pointed at. "They actually do. That one looks like a school of fish, while that one looks like a rabbit."
Ichigo snorted, and then burst out laughing. "W-what's so funny?" Rukia demanded, getting up with a glare.
"Figures you'd find a cloud that looks a rabbit." Ichigo said with another laugh.
Rukia pouted, and then lunged at Ichigo. "Why, you…!" she yelled, the two of them grappling at each other and rolling down the hillside until they came to a halt, Ichigo on top with Rukia below him.
The two of them glared at each other for a moment, and then smiling, Ichigo leaned down while Rukia closed her eyes…
"Captain…!" the shout came from up the hill, and causing both Ichigo and Rukia to scowl at the interruption. "Lieutenant!"
"What is it?" Ichigo asked, getting up and off Rukia, who also got to her feet. Soon enough, Third Seated Officer Kiyone Kotetsu was sliding down the hill towards them.
"Sorry to interrupt your date, Captain Kurosaki, Lieutenant Kuchiki." Kiyone began.
"Date?" Rukia echoed.
"We weren't…!" Ichigo began, before pinching his nose. "Never mind…what's going on?"
"The Captain-Commander's summoned all the captains and lieutenants for an emergency meeting." Kiyone replied.
Ichigo and Rukia looked at each other, and then nodded. "Right, we'll head over to the First Division at once." He said while looking back at Kiyone. "Kiyone, please pick our things up and bring them back to the Thirteenth Division."
"Leave it to me, Captain!"
Ichigo and Rukia looked at each other again, and with another nod, vanished as they used shunpo to quickly get to the First Division.
"Sorry to call all of you here on such short notice," Shunsui Kyouraku, Captain of the First Division and Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13 began. Much like his predecessor, he alone sat in the meeting room, the other captains standing in twin files before him. "But something's come up."
He then nodded at Fifth Division Captain Shinji Hirako, who nodded back before speaking up. "Four days ago," he began. "One of my men – Eleventh Seat Kenichi Oki – was on patrol in Karakura Town when he ran into a Hollow."
"What's so special about that?" Eleventh Division Captain Kenpachi Zaraki growled.
"Nothing…except the Hollow was distracted and never noticed my officer's approach." Shinji replied. "At first, Eleventh Seat Oki thought it might have been busy toying with or stalking a Plus. Instead, it turned out the Hollow was drawn to and about to eat a Shinigami's corpse."
"What?" Seventh Division Captain Iba Tetsuzaemon burst out.
"Who was it?" Ichigo asked. "The dead Shinigami? And from which division?"
"Well, that's the strange part." Shinji said with a shrug and spread hands. "We don't know."
That got him blank looks and silence from his fellow captains, at least for a couple of moments. "So…we have a dead mystery Shingami on our hands." Tenth Division Captain Toushirou Hitsugaya concluded. "That doesn't sound good at all."
"I assume an investigation has been launched?" Second Division Captain and Onmitsukidou Commander Sui-Feng asked.
"Naturally." Kyouraku said with a smile before nodding to Fourth Division Captain Isane Kotetsu.
Isane nodded before speaking up. "The autopsy reveals that the late mystery Shinigami was a child, literally so." She said. "Apparently, she was only eight-years-old at the time of her death. Cause of death was massive blood loss compounded by critical organ trauma from being bisected across the torso."
"Only eight-years-old?" Ichigo breathed in shock and anger.
"What a waste." Third Division Captain Roujuurou Outoribashi murmured.
Other captains made similar outbursts of shock and outrage, barring Sui-Feng and Twelfth Division Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi. "That's not all, is it?" the former asked.
"No," Isane said with a shake of her head. "We performed other tests, such as blood matching and genetics tests, as part of standard procedure to identify the victim. And this is the strangest part of all. She doesn't exist in any of our records, but her genes point to two existing Shinigami as her parents."
That caused surprise and interest among the gathered captains. "Who are they, then?" Hitsugaya asked.
"Sixth Division Lieutenant Renji Abarai," Isane said with a wary glance down the lines of assembled captains. "And Thirteenth Division Lieutenant Rukia Kuchiki."
"What?" Hitsuguya asked in surprise, but his reaction was drowned out by two other outbursts.
"That's impossible!"
"That's impossible!"
Blinking in surprise, Ichigo and Sixth Division Captain Byakuya Kuchiki shared a look between them at their shared response. Kyouraku chuckled at the sight, as did Shinji. Other captains made small smiles at the unsurprising result.
"Of course the two of you would say that." Kyouraku said.
"We've triple-checked our findings," Isane continued, and gave a nod towards Mayuri. "And even asked the SRDI to give us their opinion."
"It's as Captain Kotetsu said." Mayuri concurred. "The genetics and bloodwork don't lie, our mystery Shinigami truly is the daughter of Lieutenants Kuchiki and Abarai."
Byakuya and Ichigo narrowed their eyes, silently urging their colleagues to continue. "But," Isane said after a long moment. "None of Lieutenant Kuchiki's health records show that she was ever pregnant, much less ever gave birth to a child. As someone who personally oversees the annual medical exams for captains and lieutenants both, I can absolutely testify that Lieutenant Kuchiki never gave birth to this child."
"Yes, yes," Mayuri said with an impatient wave of a hand. "But that only proves Lieutenant Kuchiki's lack of active involvement in this matter."
"Meaning what?" Byakuya pressed.
Mayuri pressed his fingers together. "A natural conception and birth aren't the only ways to produce a child." He said. "So long as sufficient genetic material is available, along with the proper equipment and expertise to operate them, then a child can be produced without the knowledge much less involvement of the biological parents. Why, I could do it in my sleep."
Ichigo grit his teeth and clenched his fists angrily at that, causing Kenpachi of all people to put a hand on his shoulder just in case. "Hey," he said to Mayuri, who stood opposite Ichigo. "Watch it. While I'd love nothing more than a good fight, now's not the time."
"So somebody went to all the trouble to…engineer, an artificial child between Lieutenants Kuchiki and Abarai?" Sui-Feng asked. "Why, though?"
"And why was she killed?" Shinji asked. "And in Karakura Town, no less?"
"About that," Isane continued. "Analysis of her injuries show no lingering imprints from her killer's spiritual power. At first, we thought this was an error, but all our tests kept bringing back the same result. And when taken at face value, this could only mean that her killer was a Quincy."
"A Quincy?" Shinji echoed before narrowing his eyes. "How and why are they involved in this?"
"Let's not jump to conclusions now." Kyouraku quickly said. "That said, I'm not about to second-guess Captain Kotetsu and her men. Captain Sui-Feng, alert your spies in the Vandenreich. Have them look into this matter discreetly, and confirm whether or not they have any involvement. Either way, if there's any lead they can find, we need to know."
"I'll have it done, Captain-Commander." Sui-Feng said with a nod.
Kyouraku nodded back at her, before turning back to the rest of the captains. "Well, that's all that really needs to be said." He said. "Unless anyone else has something else to say?"
"What's going to happen to the girl's body?" Eighth Division Captain Lisa Yadoumaru asked.
"For now the SRDI has custody of it." Isane uncomfortably replied.
"We've detected unusual readings from the body." Mayuri chimed in. "They might be useful, whether as part of the investigation into the girl's origins, or just for general research purposes. I'll report anything relevant as soon as possible."
"And then what?" Ichigo pressed.
"Once everything relevant has been found," Kyouraku cut in, before the amoral and ruthless Director of the Shinigami Research and Development Institute (SRDI) could provoke the more strait-laced youngest captain any further. "The body is to be released and given proper funerary rites."
Mayuri sniffed, clearly not caring one bit about such things, but he stayed silent, seeing no point in arguing with the Captain-Commander over the issue. "Right then," Kyouraku continued. "This matter isn't exactly top secret, that said, it is going to be a sensitive topic for more than a few people. So I'd really rather not find it going around the rumor mill any time soon. Captains Kuchiki and Kurosaki, I'll trust both of you to be even more discreet about this."
"Of course, Captain-Commander." Byakuya laconically said.
"Yeah, I won't make a fuss out of this…Captain Kyouraku." Ichigo said, still struggling with formalities even after years as a captain.
Kyouraku smiled and nodded. "Alright then," he said. "If there's nothing else, you can all get back to your everyday lives."
The captains stood to attention and then began to file out, only for Byakuya to speak up. "Captain Kurosaki," he said. "I would speak to you for a moment."
Ichigo gave him a look, and then nodding, joined him in a corner. "How do you intend to deal with this matter?" Byakuya asked.
"That depends," Ichigo responded. "Would you tell me what you're going to do?"
"If you wish." Byakuya replied, causing Ichigo to raise a surprised eyebrow before giving a sigh.
"It's not like I can lie to Rukia, can I?" he asked. "Seeing as someone went around and played with her blood and Renji's blood to make a test tube baby, and then said baby got killed by a Quincy…she has the right to know. And I imagine Renji does too."
"Then you have answered your own question." Byakuya said with a small nod. "Thank you for your time, Captain Kurosaki."
Ichigo made a small choking sound as Byakuya brushed past, and then scratching at his head, shrugged before heading out as well.
Rukia stared.
Ichigo stared back.
Rukia kept on staring.
Ichigo kept staring back.
Something had to give.
"That's absurd!" Rukia finally burst out. Ichigo laughed, only to wince as Rukia slapped him on an arm. "This is no laughing matter!"
"I know." Ichigo said. "That said, there is something funny about how…messed up, this whole thing is, right?"
"…well, now that you mention it…" Rukia briefly considered, before clutching herself as a shiver ran down her spine. "Wait, no. It's actually quite creepy. Sure, Renji's my oldest friend, and I practically grew up with him, but that actually makes him more like a brother. Imagine finding out someone grew a kid between you and Yuzu or Karin."
Rukia smirked as a sick expression dawned on Ichigo's face. "Yeah," she said. "That's exactly how I feel. Wait…don't tell me you were actually worried?"
Then she blinked, as she found Ichigo looming over her, all but pressing her against the wall. "Of course I'm worried." He admitted. "Just a little bit…though I guess I'm less worried, and more…jealous. But I can't help it."
Rukia stared up at him for a long moment, and then giving a warm smile, reached up to press a hand against his cheek. "Well, I guess I'd be mad if you took it too well." She admitted. "I'd even wonder if you actually cared."
Ichigo returned the smile, and then leaning down, captured her lips in a kiss. Rukia closed her eyes and leaned into the kiss, Ichigo's warmth and scent engulfing her for the next few moments. And then they parted, expressions serious once more.
"So, what now?" Rukia asked.
"The investigation's still ongoing." Ichigo said. "Mayuri has the body, he said there's something weird about it, but he'll report back once he finds anything out."
"I'm not exactly happy that even an artificial daughter of mine is with Captain Kurotsuchi," Rukia admitted. "But we do need to get to the bottom of this, and Captain Kurotsuchi is the smartest man in Soul Society."
"…on the bright side," Ichigo began. "Once we have everything we need to know, Kyouraku has ordered the body released and given a proper funeral."
"Well, that's something at least." Rukia said with a sigh. "Why would anyone do this? And how are the Quincy involved?"
"Good questions," Ichigo admitted. "Maybe we ought to have a chat with Ishida about this."
"Don't you go running off out of the blue, now." Rukia said, and locking an arm around Ichigo's own. "You're a captain now. You can't just do whatever you like whenever you like. You have responsibilities to live up to."
"I wasn't planning on…!" Ichigo began to protest, only to falter at Rukia's deadpan appearance. "Okay, fine, maybe I was…"
Ichigo trailed off with a sigh, and Rukia gave a triumphant smile. "I'll see if we can quietly get in touch with Ishida." she said. "If nothing else, you can always invite him to come with your family on their next annual visit."
"That's…fine, I guess."
Rukia beamed, and then nodded. "Now then," she said. "Shall we go back, captain?"
Ichigo nodded back, and the two of them headed back to the Thirteenth Division arm in arm.
A/N
The funny part about Byakuya is, despite being so strait-laced now, in his youth he was actually pretty much as hot-blooded – if not more so – than Ichigo. Writing or even just imagining interactions between those two can be quite a fun exercise.
Not too sure when I can update this, but I needed to get this idea on paper before my train of thought derailed.