Disclaimers, etc.: see chapter one
Opening Theme: No Way Back (AAA Dome Tour 15th Anniversary - thanx AAA lot - Live) by AAA
Ending Theme: Party It Up - City Summer Party Remix - by AAA

Author's Note: Contains references to Immortal Princess, which is MA Only. Descriptions of events have been watered-down to keep this story Rated M.

Chapter 04 written 10/16/2022

Bleach: Cross
Princess on Vacation
by Eugena

Rated M

Chapter Four: Photo Admission

天国的白雪公主

KARAKURA TOWN - ELSEWHERE

Ichigo's friends, Uryu, Chad, and Orihime walked down the street. They each carried various items ready for their day job courtesy of Retsu Unohana.

Across the street, Toshiro Hitsugaya turned many shades of red as he stared at his phone. He looked up occasionally, so he didn't bump into someone, but mostly his gaze fixed on the screen.

"Oh, hey," Orihime said to the others, "there's Toshiro." She waved. "Toshiro!"

"Is there something wrong?" Chad asked. "We'd better go check. He keeps looking at his phone."

"Maybe something happened," Uryu said. "Let's go check it out."

The three friends rushed over to Toshiro.

"Hey, Hitsugaya!" Uryu greeted. "Is something wrong?"

"Huh?" Toshiro asked, barely paying attention.

"Oh, no," Orihime said. "It must be bad. He's not even looking at us."

"Let me see," Uryu said. He took the phone. "I'd better check first, just in case - ."

He saw the image.

"H - how - huuuh -?"

"Oh, dear!" Orihime exclaimed. "What's so horrible that - ?"

She took the phone and looked. She turned red.

"Um, is this a man's favorite?" she asked. "This is how Ichigo will like me?"

Chad took the phone next. He looked down.

"No," he said. "It must be someone making a bad joke on her. Who would expect her to wear - ?"

"But imagine how she'd look in that," Orihime said.

"I'm trying not to," Uryu said. "It would not be appropriate for me to - ."

"Hey!" Toshiro snapped as he came around. "Don't take my phone!" He took it back.

"Oh, I get it, Hitsugaya," Uryu said. "You're into those sorts of things. So, you sent that to her anonymously hoping to get her to try it on."

"And he got a picture!" Orihime exclaimed.

"But she's not wearing it," Chad pointed out.

"She probably destroyed the phone taking the picture. She must have seen it," Uryu reasoned.

"My dad would totally kill him," Uryu thought, "but maybe he'd want to see it first. I'd like to unsee it. It's just not right of me to see that."

"I can't believe you'd actually send something like that to her, Hitsugaya," Chad said. "Don't you know she's a princess, among other things? And in front of her children! I bet she opened up your anonymous package right in front of them."

"Yeah," Uryu said, "this is worse than that time Mayuri Kurotsuchi gave Nemu - ."

"He just did CPR," Orihime interrupted. "Why is your mind in the gutter?"

"He did just look at that picture," Chad reasoned.

"But I'm sure Shirahime didn't want to wear that. I think it probably insulted her. Toshiro, how could you?" Orihime asked.

"I - I - ," Toshiro stammered.

"That's so shameful," Uryu said. "Besides, don't you have any survival instinct? Won't Kenpachi Zaraki kill you?"

"Not to mention her father," Chad added.

And Uryu's father.

"And Yoruichi," Orihime addded, "and Soi Fon."

"I didn't do it!" Toshiro insisted.

"If you say so," Chad replied, unconvinced.

"Then we should probably find out who did," Orihime said. "Maybe we should ask her when we see her."

"You're going to see her?" Toshiro asked.

"Well, yeah," Orihime explained. "Unohana Taicho hired us to provide snacks for the Shinigami Women's Association's beach vacation."

"Shirahime's not a member," Toshiro said.

"Of course not. Knowing her, she said it was 'a conflict of interest'. But I'm sure she'll be there anyway," Chad said.

"Maybe someone stole her bathing suit and left her that!" Orihime exclaimed.

天国的白雪公主

KARAKURA TOWN - KUROSAKI CLINIC

Isshin Kurosaki hoped his son would have a good day. He had mixed emotions on whether or not he hoped Ichigo would let Shirahime go. Sure, reincarnation was important. Past lives and circumstances had merit, but Ichigo was too young.

Karin came out of her room. She was moody. Again.

"How's my little girl?" he asked.

"I'm not so little."

"Oh, I see, got a boy in your life? Do I need to talk to him?"

"You wouldn't understand!" she snapped.

"Why not, honey?"

"Because you like the woman who stole him from me."

"Stole him?"

"That stupid woman we call princess all the time. You know, that foreigner that Ichigo begs you to give him permission to marry."

"Karin, hime-sama is our family, even if she keeps turning down Ichigo's proposals."

"I don't want her to be family. Not anymore. I don't want to be family with the woman who's taken my Toshiro from me!" she yelled.

"Toshiro?"

"Toshiro Hitsugaya. Yet another one who follows that princess around. She stole my Toshiro from me!"

"Honey, he's not yours."

"But he would be," she reasoned. "Except for that princess. Why do we keep calling her that anyway?"

"Because she is a princess."

"Of what?"

"A very important family."

"Then they should take her back. Her and all her kids! And she should leave my Toshiro alone!"

"Karin," Yuzu said as she came out of her room. "He's not yours. Besides, maybe the reason why she won't marry Ichigo is that she's going to marry Toshiro. I mean she has her first kid and then those cute twins. Maybe they are his kids."

"Twins?"

"Yeah, twins. Don't you know Daichi has a twin sister?" Yuzu asked.

"You mean that pink-haired girl? She's too young."

"No, a really cute girl with blue hair. And blue eyes like hime-sama's."

"See, dad, she has too many kids. Just leave my Toshiro alone already," Karin complained.

"He's not your Toshiro," Yuzu said. She looked at her father. "Her bad family's not coming here anytime soon, are they? What her father-in-law did to her was so bad."

"I hope -." Isshin began

"See!" Karin snapped. "She's already married."

"Against her will," Yuzu reminded her. "I think that shouldn't count.

"Karin, she stayed here with us after all those terrible things happened. She didn't even know her own father. I know dad won't tell us, but I'm old enough to understand what really happened to her. Karin, her father-in-law arranged for that to happen to her. No wonder Ichigo wants to marry her. It's probably his way of protecting her."

"That family, that marriage, should not count," Isshin agreed. "We should never think of them as her real family or that terrible man as her actual father-in-law." Although, as a shinigami, he had to acknowledge it. Shirahime knew who he was, and they both pretended she had no idea. "I hope they're not coming here," he said.

"Ichigo said he'd protect her," Yuzu reminded him.

"And she said since she was the adult, she'd protect him and you two," he reminded her.

Isshin would do his best to support her. After all, her father didn't have the best track record. For example, there was that one time . . . .

天国的白雪公主

KARAKURA TOWN - KUROSAKI CLINIC - FLASHBACK

TIMELINE: DURING FIFTH DIVISION IN THE RED II: PRINCESS DIVISION

Isshin Kurosaki opened his door to find Kisuke Urahara bowing low to the ground.

"What happened?" Isshin asked. "Is Shinnouhi okay? I mean, both of them?"

At this time, Shirahime summoned a past incarnation, Yukihime Suzunami, in order to save Daichi and Raiko. Several things happened after that, leaving Shirahime pretending to be the resurrection of her sister, Benihime, and Yukihime pretending to be Shirahime. Shirahime looked much different than Yukihime, because she looked almost like her human American self.

Isshin knew that. As a doctor, he often helped out. But only under the guise of not knowing who Shirahime really was to everyone else. To Urahara's group, he knew, but he had to pretend Shirahime didn't know who he was.

That left Ryuken Ishida, Uryu's father, who was also a doctor. As a quincy and with Uryu's involvement, he could freely say he knew Shirahime's identity while treating her. She needed a doctor who could also treat humans.

Of course, if Ryuken was going to pick someone to try and start dating, might as well pick the Imperial Princess, right? Isshin tried to pretend he was ignorant as to how far Ryuken got. As long as he knew Ryuken didn't take advantage of her in a medical situation, Isshin left it alone.

Shirahime was good for him. She wasn't exactly a shinigami, so she wasn't his enemy. Every bad thing done to her was done by shinigami, so they had a common enemy. Although the man who assaulted her upon her resurrection was human, they could blame the Soul King - perhaps not a shinigami - but could furthermore blame zero division, and those were shinigami. The two doctors worked together to help save her in that terrible time.

"Yes, but something worse has happened!"

Kisuke's response brought Isshin's mind back to the present.

"Her children? Come in, Kisuke, quickly!"

Isshin ushered him in, ready to grab his medical supplies.

"Oh, Isshin, it's terrible!" he wailed.

"Tell me what happened," Isshin said.

"Daichi - Daichi has become a man."

Oh.

"What am I going to do?" Kisuke asked.

"Is someone pregnant?" Isshin asked.

"That's the thing. Daichi thinks he'll be pregnant next. He's got to be told. Isshin, this dating contest - you see, Shirahime's going to explain to the girls. And someone else is going to explain to the boys. But I'm supposed to tell Daichi."

"Okay . . . ?"

"What am I going to do, Isshin?"

"Well, you just got to tell him. Man-to-man. Gotta let him know. Besides, being his mom's had kids in different incarnations, there's no way her kids probably understand pregnancy. Believe me, Ryuken and I have checked her a few times. She's not pregnant. Well, at least she wasn't when that happened. Thank whatever gods for that."

"But, Isshin, I'm a horrible father. I hated my own daughter. I even was happy she was dead. How am I going to be good to her children?"

"Well you're not good for them," Isshin admitted. "Just try, alright?"

"But how can I - ? Wait, that's it! You can do it, Isshin! You can explain it to him."

"But he's your grandson."

"Please?"

谢谢你们的阅读。