A/N: Sorry for the long hiatus but here is the new chapter. I'm not entirely satisfied with this chapter but I hope you enjoy anyways. I cut out a lot of things that happened but I hope it doesn't take away from the plot.

Created Life from Death 15
Kurosaki Ichigo

Doing Rukia's Shinigami job was… frustrating. As much as Ichigo enjoyed moving around without his own body and liked the excitement that slaying hollows brought him, the lack of control of… everything greatly annoyed him. He couldn't control his own reiatsu anymore with Rukia's power mingled with it. He couldn't use his experience in kendo because the sword was so damn big because of the same reason. He couldn't control what was going on in his life anymore with Rukia bossing him around and generally not leaving him alone. He couldn't hang out with Mirai or Tatsuki even without the Shinigami finding out they knew more than they should and then trying to erase their memories. It was already bad enough that Tatsuki had experienced it in the aftermath of Orihime's brother going rampage.

The only thing they had control of was in mitigating the damage. Mirai and Tatsuki both ran interference between the Shinigami shenanigans and their classmates while Ichigo kept Rukia distracted and suitably off-balance. Thankfully the assignments they got and found were more than enough, the parakeet-case being the most prominent.

Then of course Mirai wanted to mess with the Shinigami girl a bit. And with her acting skills it was more than enough. Rukia had this certain sheltered look in her, which was contradictory to her regular violent reactions. But even her two-sided nature couldn't complete with Mirai's craftiness and manipulation.

There… He actually said manipulation. Because that's what Mirai did. She was kind and polite to their classmates who didn't really interest her and thus kept them at arms-length at least. She played some of the stupider teachers marvelously when they were being annoying like in the aftermath of Kon-incident. And then she flipped a switch to either direction. The creepy and scary revenge-seller that kept thugs on toes and Rukia off-balance. Or then the sarcastic but vulnerable Asagi that Ichigo, Tatsuki, Neko-sensei and Bara-san knew her as. Of course, there was other roles that Mirai could adopt and adapt but those three were the most prominent ones.

Some outsider might've found her behavior suspicious but for Ichigo that was just how Mirai was. It was her survival and defense mechanism. They trusted each other and could read each other even through their masks. Mirai had always looked after Ichigo and his sisters, even without asking, and Ichigo trusted she wouldn't abuse the trust he'd placed in her. Just like Mirai trusted he wouldn't turn his back to her.

Because no matter how strong Mirai pretended to be, her entire world view was built on bonds she had formed with people. And if Ichigo cut their bond, it would shatter her. Neko-sensei had explained it to Ichigo once when Mirai had been off learning to use her zanpakuto. It… hadn't been a pleasant conversation but a necessary one. And in the end Ichigo would protect her as much as she protected him, if in a different way.

Kon might've been tolerable to handle if Ichigo's mother's death day hadn't been so soon. Of course the mod-soul's personality didn't help the matters and the fact that Rukia and Kon needed to hide every time Yuzu (or anyone else of his family) entered his room without knocking didn't do favors on Ichigo's nerves.

But just few weeks and it would be over. Nothing too bad would happen in the meantime. Right?

He shouldn't have jinxed it.

"Why did you follow me?!" The orange-haired teen shouted at the petite Shinigami. Why? The one day he wanted for himself and his family, this… menace had to follow him. It was only one day. Nothing bad should happen. And even if it did, he could handle himself. He had done so for years. Besides…

"Fool! What would you do if a hollow attacks and I'm not nearby?" Rukia retorted.

"Just because of that… Y'know, if you were going to follow, you should've been more covert! Or, you know, told me first!" Like certain someone did.

"Sorry about that. I wasn't aware."

"What are you so angry about?" Ichigo frowned. He was the one pissed off now. What reason did Rukia have since she was the one to follow him?

"Nothing. I'm not angry." Rukia stated. "Killed… That's what you told me. Your mother…"

"…I didn't say that." Ichigo cursed himself. He'd been thinking aloud again.

"…Who killed her?"

"…"

"You told me you could see ghosts for as long as you could remember. If that's so, answer just one question for me."

She was getting annoying.

"Wasn't the thing that killed your mother a hollow?"

Really annoying. Just talk, talk, talk… Imposing her worldview and opinions on him…

"It's possible! You've seen spirits for as long as you could remember, so if your reiatsu is that high, the hollows could have targeted you and mistaken you mother for…"

"Shut up!" Ichigo barked. "I know already!"

"Huh?" Rukia blinked, not used to Ichigo losing his temper at her since their first meeting.

"It was a hollow, okay? I saw it. I saw it kill my mother and I saw a Shinigami slay that thing." Ichigo glared. "But quit jumping into conclusions!" He shouted at the astonished face of the Shinigami.

"He's right." A new voice joined in. Mirai melted out of the shadows and drew back a hood of her 'magic cloak'. Rukia jumped at the voice and turned to stare at the now blonde girl.

"You… how can I not sense you? What are you doing here even?"

"It's this cloak. It conceals my reiatsu." Mirai shrugged. "Anyways, I'm here to patrol the area just in case. Bara-san is watching over rest of Karakura in our absence. You are right in the way that Ichigo's reiatsu does attract hollows so even residue might cause them to gather but you are wrong in assuming that simply because someone is killed, it's automatically work of hollow because of that."

"What?"

Mirai sighed. "While it's true that Masaki-basan was killed by a hollow, it doesn't give you right to assume that hollows are responsible of every evil in this world. As for why I'm here… I'm keeping an eye on Ichigo's back."

"You? Why you?"

"In the case you haven't realized it yet, I too, can use reiatsu. Quite well in fact." Mirai deadpanned. "Now, I'm going to fade back to the foliage and avoid Kurosaki Isshin as well as I can." And with that, she vanished again. Rukia stared after her but Ichigo turned around in order to head to the graves.

"Let's go. Don't worry about her."

Everything went as normal and fine until Karin spotted a kid on a cliff. A bait. The hollow attacked her and Yuzu. And when Ichigo and Rukia reached them, they were both on the ground and the monstrous hollow loomed over them and Mirai who was standing between them. In her hand was a… fan? A bloodied metal fan and the hollow's arm was on the side, cut off.

"Apparently its name is Angler Bait." The blonde stated. "Sorry, I couldn't act sooner. The bait itself was pretty misleading."

The bait in question looked like a little boy in a furry cloak. Very unthreatening, just like the girl bait of Grand Fisher had been.

Ichigo swallowed Kon's pill and told the mod soul to take the girls away.

"So… Is this Grand Fisher's spawn or something?" The orange-head asked, lifting his sword on his shoulder in order to avoid attacking the thing right away. He was angry. No, he was furious at the thing for attacking Yuzu and Karin but right now the girls were safe. He could exact his revenge a tiny bit later. Once he had all the facts.

"I'm not a spawn! I'm my own person! I'm Angler Bait and I'm stronger than that pathetic Fisher!" The hollow shouted, the bait's disguise falling away.

"Well, it's definitely made from the same wood…" Mirai muttered. "Anatomy certainly matches… Copy-cat."

"I'm stronger and better than Grand Fisher! And I'm going to prove it to you!" And the hollow attacked. Ichigo dashed forward to block its clawed hand while Mirai jumped back, out of the way.

"Do you want the honors?" The girl asked, her cloak concealing her body language and weapon. Was the fan really her weapon? What about her zanpakuto?

"Please." Ichigo grunted, pushing against the hollow and then backing away.

"Angler Bait." Rukia read from the paper that her denreishinki printed out. "Taken over Grand Fisher's territory since the slaying of the other hollow six years ago by Shinigami Nakatomi Tomo of Twelfth Division. Managed to evade Shinigami since then and continued Grand Fisher's habits of eating spiritually strong humans."

"Like I said, copy-cat." Mirai commented but Ichigo wasn't paying attention anymore. He attacked. Angler Bait dodged by jumping in the air and a new leg spawned in the place of the one Mirai had cut off. They exchanged blows, being about equal in strength.

"Why aren't you helping?" Rukia asked Mirai while preparing to fire a kidou at the hollow.

"Ichigo doesn't want us to interfere." The girl replied. "While this thing isn't the same than what killed Masaki-basan, it's close enough. Ichigo may not blame himself for letting the hollow lure him and thus get the opportunity to kill Masaki-basan but right now his reiatsu is the one that lures hollows to him and this thing did attack his sisters. It's battle for pride for him."

Rukia paused. She stared at the blonde as the words rang in her mind.

"Rukia…" Ichigo spoke up, getting up from the ground where the hollow had pinned him previously. "Please don't interfere. This is my fight. Just ensure that the girls get to safety with Kon, okay?"

The Shinigami girl ran off.

"Mirai… Stay back until I absolutely need help." Was it wrong for him to ask Mirai to stay while he sent Rukia away? But Mirai had known his mother. She was close with Karin and Yuzu. She understood. Plus she had powers while something was going on with Rukia and her lack of recovering from the transferal.

"Very well. But I'll be judging myself when the help is needed."

"Stop ignoring me!" The hollow screeched.

"Oh, you have my full attention, bastard." Ichigo growled.

()

They fought across the cemetery. Gravestones were getting shattered in the hollows reckless attacks but it was strong. And fast. And annoyingly durable. Completely different class than the other hollows Ichigo had fought. And the hollow just. Wouldn't. Shut. Up.

Worst thing was though when it someone gained information of what the Grand Fisher had done and just whom it had killed. And had the bait take Masaki's form.

And Ichigo… he couldn't strike. Even if he knew his mother was already safely in Soul Society thanks to Tomo-san, part of him was still the ten-year-old boy that found his mother's body on top him and his best friend apologizing for something that was not her, but his fault. The sight of Kurosaki Masaki, corporeal and clear instead of hazy memories, stayed his hand.

"Step aside Ichigo." Mirai's voice rang clear. Mirai… she could do it. While Mirai knew Masaki and had cared for her, still had distance that Ichigo didn't have and couldn't afford.

"Mirai…"

"Let me do this." The girl melted out of the shadows. "I don't want to lose you to that thing. It's a mere substitute after all."

Rukia was somewhere near. He could just barely sense her. But the moment of distraction was enough for the hollow to attack again.

Mirai moved.

And then she was between them batting away the attack with her fan. Ichigo hissed at the hollow's claws grazed him again.

"Ichigo, you are injured. Step aside." The blonde repeated. Slightly shaking her hand from the blow it had received.

"Are you sure you can…?"

"Yes." The girl flicked her right arm straight and then the metal fan in her hand unraveled to reveal a sleek katana. The handle was wrapped in white and the guard was round with some sort of ripple pattern in it.

"That's…"

"My zanpakuto yes. Currently in sealed state but I find it handy to disguise him." Then she drew her arm back and turned in a way that had the katana vertically in front of her body, the tip pointing down and her left palm against the flat of the blade. "Distort, Sazanami."

In the katana's stead was a Chinese jian. Still white-wrapped handle but now the guard was golden in color and had intricate designs. And at the end of the hilt was a red tassel hanging.

"Just relax Ichigo, I'll take care of this." Mirai's outline blurred in his eyes. Was it her ability or the blood loss that made it seem so?

Mirai did not escape the hollow unscathed either but she was in considerably better condition that Ichigo. Partly thanks to her cloak that concealed her body and hindered the claws, partly thanks to her own cooler head and whatever ability that her zanpakuto wielded. In the end the hollow escaped (though injured too) and left the two mock-shinigami bleeding on the ground.

"Ah… we lost." Mirai smiled but it was fake smile.

"Ichigo! Kotobuki-san!" There was Rukia.

"Iiichigooo!" And that was Kon.

"Rukia… Thank you." Ichigo said quietly. "Thank you for not interfering."

"Honestly, you both…" The Shinigami girl huffed. "Thank you for surviving."

What followed next was Rukia patching up their injuries (with Mirai protesting and trying to tell she'd be fine) and the pair coming clean in their knowledge.

"I've… I've known about things since I was ten or so." Ichigo began. "After okaa-san died, it was Mirai's mother that slayed Grand Fisher and escorted okaa-san to Soul Society."

"Last we heard of her, she was living with her in-laws." Mirai added.

"Your mother?" Rukia frowned. "A Shinigami? You said before…"

"Yes. Nakatomi Tomo, Ninth Seat of Twelfth Division. She is… a mother even if I was raised by the Kotobuki's."

"Anyways… Asagi was there for me afterwards and explained to me about the ghosts and hollows and Shinigami."

"We later gained some spiritually aware friends and teachers who helped us more but the gist is that Ichigo isn't as ignorant as we led you to believe at first."

"But why keep it secret?" Rukia asked. "Why put up all the show for me?"

"Because you are a Shinigami. And one thing we learnt about the Shinigami is that they believe everything living underneath them. That the 'priviledge' of seeing and understanding the spiritual plane should be limited only to them." Mirai cut in. "I'd experienced memory tampering once by a Shinigami and I didn't want it to happen ever again."

"The Shinigami are… proud souls." Ichigo then said a bit slower. "And as long as I kept asking questions and limited my skills, we knew we'd be fine."

"But then we found out you were a bit unusual for a Shinigami." Mirai smiled. "We got attached. And I think you are trustworthy."

"Being in the World of Living has definitely loosened you up." Ichigo grinned. Rukia blinked at the change of mood. It was as if the incident just now hadn't happened.

"Oh, I…"

"Let's get back okay." The orange-haired boy slid back into his body and got on his feet, grunting at the strain on his injuries.

"I'll go to Tatsuki. She'll want to know everything is okay." Mirai added, wrapping her cloak a bit tighter and then disappearing once more.

"You are a good friend, Rukia. Don't ever doubt that." The blonde's voice echoed from the forest.

It turned out that Kurosaki Isshin could give some good advice occasionally. Ichigo… appreciated the gesture even if the man's avoidance of all things spiritual annoyed him.

"It's just that… The woman I fell in love with… was a woman who could die protecting her son. And don't forget… You are the guy the woman that I loved gave her life to protect."

It was nice. And the advice about living was good too. But Ichigo wasn't like Isshin believed him to be. He didn't carry guilt over Masaki's death. But he did have determination to become stronger in order to protect what was his. The strength to act and the strength to let go.

"Rukia, are you listening? Does it look like your Shinigami power is returning? Whether it is or not, please let me remain a Shinigami for a while longer. I want to become strong. More and more and more. Become strong, defend against hollows, for those who get targeted. Become strong and not stop moving forward! To live and help those who need it! Otherwise… I won't be able to face okaa-san!"

It was raining. It was raining and Ichigo let the tears finally fall.

Next evening Mirai appeared on Ichigo's windowsill. Rukia took a double take at the girl's appearance.

"I usually don't visit but…" The girl grinned. "I'm collecting my debt."

"From…"

"From the mod-soul incident, right?" Ichigo asked, stepping into the room after a shower.

"Yup. I want two things. The first thing… I want wasabi peanuts from Urahara Shoten." Mirai lifted one finger up, leaving Rukia gaping. "The second thing… I want Ichigo to have a free afternoon in a week. I'm going to have a kendo match with him."

"I… Okay?" Rukia agreed hesitantly. "Sure. I'm in your debt after all."

"Good." And the girl was gone again.

"Does she always do that?"

"Disappearing you mean?" Ichigo clarified. At Rukia's nod, he sighed. "Not really… And it's not you that makes her uncomfortable."

"Then who? Surely not your sisters? They seemed… aware."

"Yes. Karin can see ghosts and fire a basic kidou while Yuzu has a good spiritual sense even if she can't see." It had been a difficult conversation last night with the girls about what had happened by the cemetery but it had soothed their worries eventually. "It's oyaji."

"Huh? But he… He seems so harmless."

"Yeah. It's because of the gigai he has. But it doesn't change what he is and what he did." Ichigo grit his teeth together. No matter how supportive Isshin tried to be, it didn't change the fact that he'd tried to separate him and Mirai. And was generally useless when it came to hollows.

"You don't have to tell me."

"No, you deserve to know. It does concern you since you are staying under this roof." Rukia was a Kuchiki. It made the situation a bit iffy. But Ichigo trusted Rukia. It had been a startling revelation and realization to him, but he fully trusted Rukia just like he trusted Mirai and Tatsuki and Chad.

"That man downstairs is former Shinigami captain of the Tenth Division, Shiba Isshin."

"Shiba?!" Rukia exclaimed quietly.

"Yes. I don't know what happened to make him live as a human in the World of Living but I suspect falling in love with my mother had something to do with it." Ichigo said ruefully. "As Mirai mentioned yesterday okaa-san living with her in-laws, she meant the Shiba Compound with oyaji's niece and nephew."

"So you are a Shiba?" Rukia asked, eyes wide.

"I'm very much a Kurosaki. It's my mother's family name and that's what I've always used."

"Ah… Well, it does explain…"

"Explain what?"

"You look very much like the former Lieutenant of Thirteenth Division, Shiba Kaien. He was… my mentor and friend."

Ichigo blinked slowly, mulling over the information. It… did partially explain Rukia's attachment to him. But it was also clear that she saw him as his own person which was good.

"Did he die?"

"Yes… It was… a day and situation very much like yesterday." Rukia sat down on Ichigo's bed next to the boy. "A hollow had killed several of our soldiers, including Kaien-dono's wife, Miyako-dono. And… like Kotobuki-san explained to me yesterday, our captain explained to me that day it was a fight for pride."

"And he didn't survive."

"No. The hollow possessed him and… our captain had always ill health so it fell to me to…" The Shinigami drew a shaky breath. "I killed him. I killed him and he said thank you. How could he… How could he think like that? How could he make me do that? Why couldn't he let us help?" She broke down in tears. Ichigo remained still for a moment but leaned forward to wrap his arms around her.

"Why?" Was the anguished question she kept repeating over and over again. And Ichigo had no true answers to that.

In the morning Rukia had calmed down and life returned to the usual pace. Ichigo slayed hollows, Mirai hung around people on her own pace, Rukia bought wasabi peanuts for the other girl and Ichigo and Mirai had their kendo match.

Then was Don Kanonji show that was practically a farce. Ichigo and Mirai tag-teamed against the hollow that Kanonji created and kept cursing at the man's stupidity and theatrics. But they handled it. And Kanonji got an educational lesson out of it.

Not that it helped in the aftermath at school.

"I can't freaking believe this! Do you guys have any idea of what you've done?" Kagine-sensei shouted and reprimanded them. Tatsuki and Orihime managed to squirm out of trouble since they hadn't done anything and Rukia managed to lay all blame on Ichigo's feet. During her show the boys escaped.

"Honestly, I don't get what the problem is." Mirai spoke up. "It's not like they were in our school uniforms. To outsiders they could've been just anyone, even from out of town. Moreover… why was I dragged in here since I didn't even go to watch that thing?"

"Because wherever Kurosaki is causing trouble, you always follow after!"

Then Kagine noticed boys escaping through the window and Rukia and Mirai took their chance to disappear as well. Kagine's shouts echoed throughout the school.

Ichigo grinned. Things were looking up.

A/N: The grave scene is the only one where I like Isshin. Otherwise... meh. Rukia and Ichigo's conversation about Kaien just... happened. It wasn't planned at all but... With Mirai lurking at the background, their friendship wasn't as deep as it was in canon. Now though, Ichigo has told her a lot of things, and now Rukia opens up in turn. In canon they had great chemistry so I wanted to build it here too, if from a bit different angle.

And yes, this was pretty much an excuse to have Ichigo observe the different forms of Mirai's zanpakuto even if he didn't manage to properly see the abilities itself.

Replies to reviews:

-xenocanaan:
Thank you. I can't wait to write it either.

-Yatocat19:
Thank you very much. I hope this chapter was also satisfactory.

-Girl-luvs-manga:
Oh yeah, it will be interesting indeed.

-zubhanwc3: (chapter 10)
Well, he does have his fingers in about everything happening in Bleach.

-Boyy2k:
Yep, I'm not going in detail to that case though. With this chapter, it's wrapped up.
Thank you.

-Antex-The Legendary Zoroark:
Thank you!

-DragonClanMaster:
Yeah. But like this she gets the be in the loop even if she is not in the middle of everything.

-Silverlined Phoenix:
I'm glad to hear you like the shifting povs. Some people find it confusing. And I'm glad to hear the character stay true to themselves.
Kisuke is soon...

-Guest:
Great to hear, thank you!

-Irie27:
You're welcome! I hope you liked this chapter too. I can't wait to write Urahara's chapter either but before that I need inspiration for Rose's chapter.

-milpld:
Once we get to Soul Society, this will be more streamlined as things will be closer to canon. But right now, I'm building this story around the relationships and mystery that Mirai represents.

-Rainy-Round:
Thank you. And yes, I've read that fic. It's amazing though I'm sometimes confused where the timeline is going in compared to canon.

-DreamsOfTheDamn:
Thank you. Great to hear that.

-Guest:
Thank you. :)

-Bleached Guest:
Thank you very much for your review. It had a lot of things that made me think the progress of my fic.
Mirai is... relaxed when it comes to her situation. She changes things if she can (like with Tatsuki) but she has no interest in actively interferring with the bigger lines of the plot, especially if it's beyond her capabilities (like Masaki). But even then she tries to make up for it (guiding Ichigo). The reason she didn't interfere with Sora situation was because she had no accurate timeline for it and Orihime frankly was just a vague notion for her as Tatsuki's friend and even then they were in different school.
I know that my writing style choices in this fic is... different. Mostly this is a test to write a SI-OC story with the majority of story from outsiders view. But once we get to Soul Society, it will focus more on Mirai and her actions. But at the same time I admit the story takes leaps within chapters while the timeline itself doesn't go forward that much. In the future I'll also write some chapters that I call 'collective' chapters. Those will have multiple povs in them and contain only one case in cohesive manner. Hollow Bait and Rukia's kidnapping will the chapters like that.
I mostly named Mirai that for irony's sake. She has knowledge of future, she is made with technology that hasn't been seen before in SS... but at the same time she is stuck observing the present and choices people have made in the past. Tomo had ambitions but she needed to back away because of her own misjudgment. 'Mirai' was an ambitious project yet...*spoiler* But Mirai is a ripple effect instead of butterfly one and thus her presence makes more changes rather than her actions.
I don't really know what else to say. I hope what I said made sense. Please continue reviewing, you are great thoughts. :)

-swordworks: (chapter 2)
Urahara is one of my favourite character, thus I picked him. Certain points of canon provided me with loopholes to create my character. And it's easier to write a character with proper canon founding in the timeline. I didn't fancy start world building in Soul Society itself and filling this fic with OCs didn't appeal to me either. And Mirai is a girl so do use 'her' when speaking of her.
And my fic is neither nonsense nor disgusting. My grammar is perfectly fine, thus nonsense does not apply to this. And disgusting would imply squick themes that I do not have. And please, until you write your own fic that becomes greater than mine, don't come here ruining my good mood and slandering in general. If you read my other reviews, you'll find yourself in the majority with your opinion.

-Yomuhime:
Thank you. I hope you liked this chapter too!

-Smugster:
Thank you. I'm glad you like my style and stylistic choices. And great to hear you like Mirai. With SI-OC characters it's hard to find the balance when the characters have mental maturity and knowledge not typical for a child. Because it automatically forms an advantage over other characters. But I relieved to hear she doesn't seem like a Maru Sue.

-Guest:
Thank you. I hope you liked this chapter too.

-Xx56:
Two chapters to go to the confrontation. I hope it will be satisfactory too.
Thank you very much for reviewing.

-xasonous: (chapter 1)
That's great to hear. I'm glad you like this.

-SonOfNenji: (chapter 3)
I do have a plan for the Old Man (now, didn't really have one before). But it's great to hear that he is liked character and would be missed if I were to do away with him. But no worries, he will remain. :)