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

Unexpected Deviations

Chapter 10

"Hey, dad."

Karin choked at what she heard, fumbling with the box of syringes she was arranging in the clinic storeroom. Catching it just before it could hit the floor and break, she crept back to the door, and opening it just a bit, peeked out.

There was her dad, sitting at his desk, and there was an older woman, probably in her 20s, wearing a sleeveless pinstriped shirt under a dark blue jacket over brown shorts. Karin's eyes widened. "It can't be…" she thought as one of her eyes began to twitch. "…did…dad get a girlfriend…no way…he's too obsessed with mom for that…but…why's she calling him dad?"

"Oh hey, Karin." Isshin said, and causing Karin's mouth to fall open. "You ready for the big show tonight?"

"I've been ready for a long time." 'Karin' replied with a nod. "I lived through a war where everybody else died…the soft and untried Gotei 13 of this day and age…how can they compare?"

"I can see why you'd think that way," Isshin said with a sigh. "But don't get overconfident either. They might not be as…well, tough, as they'd become in the future you came from, but they'll adapt quickly. And while the younger captains are fairly green, the older ones…don't underestimate them, least of all Old Man Yamamoto or Retsu."

"Don't you mean Yachiru?" 'Karin' asked.

"Yes."

Karin wondered if it might be possible for a Human jaw to just…fall off. If what her dad and this woman was saying were true, this woman was a time traveler, who went back in time to…what, exactly? Fight a bunch called the Gotei 13? Retry a war they'd lost in the future? And her dad was up to his neck in it too, it seemed.

But that name…

…and the way she…felt, to Karin…

…no way…there's just no way…

…right?

The door was forced open, and Karin fell back onto her rump with a yelp. She rubbed at it, grumbling under her breath, and then looked up at the other Karin, who was looking down at her deadpan. And then…

"How much did you hear?" she asked.

"You supposed to be a time traveler, lady?" Karin defiantly asked.

The older Karin sighed. "I don't remember having an eavesdropping habit at your age," she said. "But I guess you just overheard by accident. Dad…I think we need to change the plan…damn it…"

"…I was never happy about it keeping it from everyone anyway." Isshin admitted.

"Really?" Older Karin asked skeptically, with a very familiar look on her face, the look of resigned and exasperated skepticism that Karin (and Ichigo) had developed over years of having to deal with their father's…flamboyance. Despite herself, Karin began to realize that this woman might really be an older her.

"Wow…so I get breasts that big eventually…wait, why am I even thinking that?" she thought to herself.

"…planning to tell everyone the truth sooner or later." Isshin was saying. "I guess we might as well come clean to everyone."

Older Karin sighed. "Looks that way." She said. "Ichigo's going to throw a fit."

Isshin laughed. "You think too poorly of your big brother." He said. "I'm sure he'll handle it better than you expect."

"Want to bet on that?" Older Karin asked. "Also, since I'm older than him right now, doesn't that make me 'big sister' now?"

"He was still born first."

"…point."

"I'm back." Ichigo said as he entered the house a few hours later, looking forward to a final meal of Yuzu's home cooking and then a few hours in his bed before making the trip to Soul Society.

He certainly didn't expect to get punched out of his body by his father, nor for his father to just pop out of his own body soon after, the way Rukia popped out of her Gigai back then. Or for that matter, his father wearing a Shinigami's Shihakusho, with the addition of a white haori on top.

"Dad…what…the…fuck?" Ichigo asked in complete and utter shock.

"Oh, there's the look." Isshin said with a grin. "Karin, take the picture?"

There was a flash of light, and Ichigo turned to where the female Quincy from before was taking a picture with a matching grin. "I got it!" she sing-sang.

"Right then…" Isshin said before drawing himself up, and placing a hand on Ichigo's shoulder. The young man blinked then, at the look of complete seriousness on Isshin's face, something he wore only for when he absolutely needed to be focused, usually when working in the family clinic. This was the man under the playful fool he liked to normally be.

"…you'll get your explanation, Ichigo." Isshin said. "Let's go to the living room, where your sisters are waiting. They need to hear this too."

"And…what about her?" Ichigo asked with a nudge of the head at the Quincy.

"What about her?" Isshin asked. "She's your sister too."

"Eh?" Ichigo fumbled, even more so when the Quincy gave him a sad smile.

"It's always been good to see you again, big brother." She said, and causing Ichigo's shock to grow even more.

"Come on, you two." Isshin said, practically pushing his children to the living room. "And Karin, stop messing with your brother's head. You might accidentally break it."

"Wait, what?" Ichigo asked. "Karin? As in my younger sister…wait, no…that can't be right, I…"

He trailed off as Isshin forced them to the living room, where the twins were already waiting. "Ichigo…?" Yuzu asked in confusion. "Dad…what's going on? Why are you two dressed like that? And why do you feel…different?"

"Wait, you can see us?" Ichigo asked in shock, a headache beginning to build between his temples. "How? You could never…"

"Dad gave Yuzu a…what did he call it?" Karin explained. "A spiritual power infusion or something, so she can see spirits for a while."

"Eh? Spirits? Like ghosts?" Yuzu stammered out. "But…that means…if dad and Ichigo are like this…they're ghosts? They're…dead…?"

"No!" Ichigo burst out. "We're not dead! We're just…uh…not in our bodies right now. We have to leave them to be…well…uh, Shinigami?"

"Shinigami?" Karin and Yuzu asked at the same time.

Ichigo palmed his face, while Isshin sighed. "Maybe it's best we start from the beginning." He said.

"Sure, go ahead, old man." Ichigo said, massaging his temples.

Isshin nodded, sitting on an armchair opposite from the twins. Then he began to explain. He started with Soul Society, then about Shinigami and what they did. He told them about Hollows, as well as about the Cycle of Reincarnation and the Balance of Souls. He talked about the Quincy, and about the bloody history between them and the Shinigami.

Then he introduced himself, as he once was: Isshin Shiba, a branch head of the Shiba Clan, one of the Five Great Noble Families of Soul Society. Former Captain of the Tenth Division of the Gotei 13.

He talked about how he had investigated unusual Hollow activity in Karakura decades ago, and his first meeting with their mother, Masaki Kurosaki. Last scion of and heiress to the Kurosaki Quincy lineage. He talked about the White Incident, and how he sacrificed his powers to save Masaki's soul.

"Wow, that's so romantic." Yuzu gushed, her eyes practically shining as Isshin talked about his whirlwind romance with Masaki after that.

"…dad, how old are you really?" Karin asked, one eye twitching.

"Eh…around four hundred or so years old, why?" Isshin asked.

Ichigo made a sound like a dying cow, and let his face fall in his hands. "Dad, you married mom when she was just out of being a teenager." Karin pointed out. "And you were around four hundred or so…doesn't that seem…uh, creepy?"

The Quincy coughed, her cheeks pink, while Isshin just huffed. "You can't argue with love!" he said.

Yuzu nodded enthusiastically. "Love overcomes all!" she said, and Isshin grinned.

"Absolutely right, my daughter!" he cheered, while Karin's eye twitched again.

"Dad…can we…go back to the main subject?" Ichigo practically pleaded.

"Huh…oh, right. Yes, of course…now, where was I?"

After a moment, Isshin went back to explaining, about how Ichigo gained Shinigami powers from another Shinigami a few months ago after she was injured fighting a Hollow. About how Ichigo then spent the next few months fighting Hollows himself, until the Shinigami's – Rukia Kuchiki's – fellows came to take her away in chains for illegally giving her powers to a Human. Then he explained about how Ichigo needed to go to Soul Society to save Rukia, as Soul Society had somehow decided that despite the extenuating circumstances, to make an example of Rukia by executing her.

"So…basically, you and Ichigo are death gods?" Karin asked deadpan.

"That's…not completely accurate, but yeah, sure, let's go with that." Isshin said.

"And Ichigo has to break into the afterlife to save his girlfriend?" Yuzu excitedly asked.

"She's not my girlfriend!" Ichigo burst out, his face red.

"Yes, he does." Isshin said at the same time, and causing Ichigo turn on him.

"Dad, what the hell?" he demanded, but Isshin just ignored him.

"Okay…what about her?" Karin asked, pointing at her older self, who was leaning against a corner of the room.

"Yes…what about me?" the Quincy asked.

"Oh, that's easy." Isshin said. "A few years from now, the world will end, killing most everyone and allowing an insane god to rule over what's left. Karin survived, joined up with other survivors, and fought as part of an army to try and rebuild the world. They lost, and with help from another survivor, she went back in time to win the war before it even begins."

"So, she's really me?" Karin burst out.

"No." Older Karin unexpectedly said. "You are not me. You should not want to be me. I'm wiser and more powerful than you, but you should absolutely not want to be me."

There was something in her tone that Karin didn't like, so much so that she actually got up and stared down her older self. "Oh really?" she challenged. "And why's that?"

"Because I couldn't save my Yuzu." Older Karin immediately said, and causing her younger self to actually recoil in horror. "I couldn't save dad, or even my big brother. I couldn't save my Toushirou. In the end…I'm just someone who survived by climbing over the corpses of the people I love. So tell me, do you really want to be me?"

Karin's mouth worked wordlessly, and after a moment, Yuzu took her hand. Karin looked down, and swallowed dryly even as Yuzu wordlessly squeezed her hand reassuringly. "…guess I don't." she admitted.

"Then make sure you don't make the same mistakes I did." Older Karin said, an old pain visible in her eyes. "Whatever happens, no matter what, don't let go."

Karin dryly swallowed again, before jerkily nodding and sitting down, letting Yuzu hug her tightly without resisting. Ichigo did likewise to Older Karin. "It's alright." He said softly. "We won't let the future you came from become reality. We'll stop that war from even starting at all. And we'll save everyone."

"Ichigo…"

"I'm sorry too." Ichigo continued. "For not being there…and for not being able to…"

"…don't apologize, you stupid big brother." Older Karin snapped, her fist bunching up Ichigo's shirt. "You have nothing to apologize for, least of all doing everything you could. But thanks…I appreciate the thought…"

Ichigo smiled sadly. "…you've really grown up, haven't you?" he asked. "You don't need to pretend to be strong like you've always done."

"Don't ruin the moment." Both Karins snapped, and despite themselves, Isshin and Ichigo smiled.

It was so very much like them, after all.

"Hey, White Zangetsu!" Ichigo snapped as he stomped across his Inner World while doing Jinzen. "I've got a bone to pick with you."

"Oh…someone thinks he's a big man, now." White Zangetsu taunted from he was lying upside down on another skyscraper. Ichigo leaped over, and causing the skyscraper to tilt until it was the right side up. "Right, then, King, what do you want?"

"You're the Hollow that attacked mom, right?" Ichigo asked. "Back then…when she first met dad?"

White Zangetsu made a disgusted sound. "You're really going on about that?" he asked before getting up. "You're not going to let this go, are you? Fine, I'll give you an answer. Yes and no."

"What?" Ichigo asked.

White Zangetsu rolled his eyes. "You heard goat chin." He said with a shrug. "They sealed White inside of mom by sacrificing his powers. But when she had you, she passed White along. Only, White didn't get, well, passed along, without being affected by it. Just because his powers were sealed it didn't mean goat chin actually stopped being a Shinigami, after all."

"What are you saying?" Ichigo demanded, and White Zangetsu made another disgusted sound.

"He means that just as you and your sisters inherited Quincy powers from your mother," Black Zangetsu explained as he walked over. "You also inherited Shinigami powers from your father. In your case, they fused with White, changing it in the process, and creating White Zangetsu."

"Pretty much." White Zangetsu said with a grin and a nod. "And don't worry, King. I don't blame you for distrusting me considering where I came from. That said, if it makes you feel better, just remember I'm part of you."

"And that's supposed to reassure me?" Ichigo skeptically asked.

"Sure." White Zangetsu said, before his grin faded and he became completely serious. "She's my mom too."

Ichigo blinked, and then looked away with a snort, but couldn't really deny it either. As White Zangetsu said, he was a part of Ichigo, and thus just as much Masaki's son.

Then he narrowed his eyes at Black Zangetsu. "You're Yhwach." Ichigo said. It wasn't a question.

Black Zangetsu tilted his head. "Yes and no." he replied.

"What is it with you two and that reply?" Ichigo asked in exasperation, and causing White Zangetsu to collapse, rolling on the floor laughing.

"It is simply the truth." Black Zangetsu said. "I am Yhwach only in the sense that I embody the part of him that exists in each and every Quincy. But I am also you, just as much Zangetsu here is."

White Zangetsu finally stopped laughing, rolling to lie prone on the ground and looking up at Ichigo and Black Zangetsu both, chin resting on an elbow. "So you finally admit it eh, old man?" he asked. "You're not Zangetsu."

"I am not." Black Zangetsu admitted. "I am Black Zangetsu. The name given to me by Ichigo. Is that not all that matters?"

"We've been through this already." Ichigo firmly and irritably said. "I won't change my mind, and I'm getting sick of arguing over it already. You're both Zangetsu. White or Black, Shinigami or Hollow or Quincy…it doesn't matter. You're all part of me, one way or another. And that's the end of it."

"We are our choices." Black Zangetsu laconically said, while White Zangetsu just laughed while getting to his feet.

"That's the way!" he said, gesturing approvingly at Ichigo. "Keep acting like that, like a King, and we'll be fine and dandy, Ichigo!"

Ichigo just nodded.

"So you're staying, huh?"

Ichigo, Isshin, and (Older) Karin stood together on the rooftop of the Kurosaki home. Both Shinigami were in their Shihakusho, while Karin was already in her Stern Ritter uniform. "Don't get me wrong." Isshin said. "I'd love nothing more than to go back to Soul Society. We still have family there, after all, like your cousins Kuukaku and Ganju. Not to mention Rangiku and Toushirou from the Tenth Division…okay, I wasn't related to them, but they were practically family to me back then."

"Wait…Toushirou…" Ichigo echoed, looking back and forth between Isshin and Karin. "…it can't be…"

"Anyway…!" Karin interrupted with a faint blush. "I promise I won't hurt them…much. I'll just try and knock them out instead if I ever run into them. The Tenth Division people, that is. Besides, I doubt I could actually bring myself to hurt Toushirou…even if he isn't the one I…well…you know…he's still Toushirou…"

"Ah…" Isshin breathed in satisfaction. "To think my daughter and the boy I taught to be a man would end up together…truly there is nothing so satisfying…!"

Ichigo and Karin kicked Isshin off the roof and into the sky. "So…you'll be able to look out for yourself, right?" Ichigo asked before wincing. "Damn it…that didn't come out right…"

"It's alright, Ichigo." Karin said. "I understand. And don't worry. I'll be just fine."

"I know you will." Ichigo said. "I still can't help but worry, though."

Karin gave a small laugh. "Thanks." She said. "It means a lot."

"The two of you should get going." Isshin said as he returned. "Time's not something you can ignore when traveling to Soul Society. Don't worry. I'll keep an eye on things here while you're gone, and on the twins, especially."

"Alright then," Karin said. "We'll leave it to you, dad."

"Take care of yourself, old man." Ichigo added. "Don't worry, we'll be back safe and sound."

"I'll hold you to that." Isshin said, and pulling his children into a bear hug before they could step away. "Now, get going, and watch each other's backs."

Ichigo and Karin nodded, and in both their own ways, flickered away. Alone on the rooftop, Isshin sighed and looked up into the sky. "Looks like our kids have finally grown up, huh, Masaki?" he softly asked. "They're both like us in their own ways. Watch out for them, and bring them home safe."

There was no reply, and Isshin laughed at himself for thinking there might be. "Take care," he silently told his children. "And come back safely, Ichigo, Karin."

"Oh, yes." Urahara said, before letting the assembled group pass through his Senkaimon. "One more thing. Only Shinigami can normally pass through a Senkaimon. Humans must first use a Spirit Exchanger before they gain the ability to pass through a Senkaimon."

There were six of them. Ichigo, of course, already in his Shihakusho, Zangetsu sheathed at his waist. There was Orihime Inoue and Sado 'Chad' Yasutora, as well as their guide, Yoruichi, though she was in her feline form. Then there was Karin and Uryuu, the latter now wearing the modernized Quincy uniform instead of the older, monk-like, traditional outfit.

Well, Uryuu had the standard uniform, as Karin had customized her trench coat, which lacked double breast pockets. He also wore a peaked cap with black trim, the Quincy Zeichen pinned in silver at its crown. He also wore his new Quincy Cross pinned like a medal over his right breast, the pentacle now flanked by a pair of wings. And unlike Karin, he didn't have a hooded cloak, as despite their best efforts, they weren't able to unlock his Vollstandig in the past three weeks, thus denying him the rank of Stern Ritter.

Still, from what the two Quincy had said, it wasn't as though Uryuu's training had been unproductive.

"Well," Urahara added as both Karin and then Uryuu passed through the Spirit Exchanger. "I've heard Quincy have their own way of getting to Soul Society."

"Who knows?" Karin cryptically said.

"I've never heard of anything like that either." Uryuu added with a curious look at his senior as a Quincy.

"Alright then." Urahara said while briefly closing his eyes, while Orihime and then Chad passed through the Spirit Exchanger in their turn. "Now then, remember what we told you about the Dangai, as well as the Koutotsu. Also, remember: four minutes. You need to get to Soul Society in four minutes, or you'll be trapped in the Dangai forever. And whatever you do, don't touch the Kouryuu! If you do, we can't help you."

"Don't worry Kisuke." Yoruichi said. "I'll keep them safe."

"I'll leave it to you then, Yoruichi." Urahara said.

Ichigo nodded. "This is what we've been training for." He said. "So let's go save Rukia."

"We're right behind you, Kurosaki." Orihime said in her turn.

Chad just grunted, while Uryuu pushed his glasses up his nose. "Yes," he said, a mischievous smile playing over his lips. "Let's go save your girlfriend."

Ichigo turned on him, his face red and his teeth grinding together. "She's not my girlfriend." He ground out. "First Yuzu, then the old man, and now you…why does everything think that?"

"Because the two of you have been practically joined at the hip since you first met?" Uryuu asked.

"He's got a point there, King." White Zangetsu chimed in.

"Indeed." Black Zangetsu added.

Ichigo pulled out his sword, glaring at the black blade and white chain both. "You stay out of this!" he snapped, and ground his teeth some more at the taunting laughter echoing in his head.

"Uh…right…" Karin said, looking at them all unimpressed. "You do realize time's a wasting, right? Kids these days…"

Shaking her head while pulling her hood over it, Karin stepped and vanished into the Senkaimon. With a last glare at Uryuu (who just smirked at him), Ichigo sheathed Zangetsu before stepping into the Senkaimon. Orihime followed, then Chad, then Uryuu, and finally Yoruichi brought up the rear.

And as the Senkaimon closed, Urahara smiled.

A/N

And the family unexpectedly finds out early, thanks to (Younger) Karin accidentally eavesdropping. It went well, all things considered, aside from Yuzu poking her brother's buttons, and later on Isshin doing likewise for Karin and Toushirou. Of course, he had to frame it in such a way that ended with him getting kicked off the roof, but that's pretty much par the course for Kurosaki family dynamics.