Chapter 5: Not Normal

Ichigo looked between his father and the stripe-bucket hat wearing man to his brother who was hiding behind one of the candy isles, all the while peering out at the strange man who was talking to their father. As soon as they had arrived at the candy store, Shiro had stiffened up once he'd spotted the strange man. Urahara. That was the name is father introduce him as. It was obvious that Shiro was scared of the man. Why? Now that was the question. Ichigo had never met the man before, so that automatically meant that Shiro hadn't either, right?

"Ichigo." Isshin called his eldest son over to his side.

The orange haired child ran over to his father's side instantly, with a sucker held out. "Please?" he asked his father. Ichigo had learned that Isshin was a sucker for manners and when he used them he almost always got what he wanted.

"Sure." Isshin agreed as he took the piece of candy and sat it on the counter.

"Shiro too?" Ichigo asked. His brother really liked sweets. Ichigo liked them, but only up to a certain point.

"Of course." Isshin stated before he picked Ichigo up and sat him on the counter as well. "Ichigo I want you to sit still. Okay?" he asked in his serious tone. The little boy nodded as he watched the storekeeper walk around to the front of the counter to stand in front of Ichigo. Ichigo looked into the strange man's shadowed eyes and felt a sudden shiver go down his spine. A thought coming to him. That this man was more than he seemed. At that moment, Ichigo didn't know how right he was with that thought.

It was then that Ichigo saw the man's hands glow a light green color. He touched Ichigo's chest with one hand before touching the top of his head with the other. After several seconds, he suddenly felt a tug on his pant leg. Looking down, Urahara saw Shiro looking up at him with a worried look in place. He hadn't even heard the boy move let alone feel his energy get closer until now.

"Don't hurt my brother." Shiro said, his voice sounding very scared and by the slight tremor in the boys hands, Urahara could tell he was very scared of him.

Opening his mouth to speak, Urahara was beat to the punch by Isshin. "He's not hurting Ichigo." Isshin assured his youngest. "He's helping him."

Urahara removed his hands from Ichigo. "Actually, there's nothing to help with." Urahara bent down and picked Shiro up. The white haired boy went stiff immediately. Sitting him next to Ichigo, he first handed Ichigo the sucker he'd picked out earlier before reaching in his pocket of his haori and pulled out another sucker.

"But I swear he-" Isshin began only to be stopped by a look in Urahara's eyes.

"I have no doubt that Ichigo bit you and may have shown some odd behavior afterwards." Kisuke stood back and watched the two boys interact. Ichigo trading his sucker for his brothers. Shiro checking Ichigo out to make sure he really wasn't hurt. It was interesting to watch the hollow-child interact with his twin. "I believe Ichigo may have been influenced by Shiro within the womb. As the two had grown within Masaki, they shared reiatsu. As I examined Ichigo, I felt some residual hollow reiatsu inside of him." he said as he walked towards the backroom door. "It's not harming him." he added before leaving the room.

Isshin looked at his two boys, Ichigo was whispering something into Shiro's ear before both boy's began laughing. "Then there isn't anything to worry about?" he asked, his voice loud enough to be heard by the former captain, turned exile.

"Now I did not say that." Kisuke came back into the room with a necklace that held a single red gem on it. Placing it around Ichigo's neck he watched the gem turn colors before settling on a brilliant blue color. "Incredible." he mumbled with awe in his voice. "It would seem Ichigo here is very special indeed." He messed the boys soft hair up, causing Ichigo to look at him with annoyance. Ichigo pulled the necklace off as Kisuke continued. "Not only has the hollow reiatsu fuzed with him, but the Quincy and shinigami powers within him have fuzed in perfect harmony. In other words, Ichigo is a very unique hybrid. I am almost certain that when his powers do begin to manifest, that they'll do so quickly." He looked at Isshin very seriously. "You need to ensure to train him before this happens, otherwise, when they do appear he'll have no idea of how to protect himself."

He went to continue when from his peripheral vision he saw Ichigo put the necklace around Shiro's neck. Instead of a brilliant blue color, a pure white color appeared. "Goatface, Shiro's glows too!" Ichigo exclaimed.

Oh this isn't good. Kisuke thought as he realized what this meant. Not only were Shiro's powers beginning to slowly return, but when they fully manifested the boy was going to be so very powerful. Possibly too powerful.

"What does that color mean?" Isshin demanded, the tone he had almost sounded like a command.

"Calm down." Kisuke told him as he popped a chocolate candy into his own mouth. "It only means that Shiro's sleeping reiatsu will be powerful once it reawakens." Isshin frown at this. "It's nothing to worry about. I know people who can be called in if it gets out of hand.

Isshin's eyes widened as he realized who he meant. "You mean they're still alive?!" He sounded both shock and impressed that, that was even possible.

Kisuke smirked as he waved his paper fan in front of his face. "Did you ever doubt?" Then looking a bit more serious he continued. "The best thing you could do for either of these boys is train them together. Ensure they get strong, together. The more focused they are on protecting each other, the better."

A week later the twins found themselves enrolled into a karate class at the local community center. While there they met Tatsuki, a girl who not only could promise pain, but dish it out too. Ichigo instantly liked her, Shiro was unsure but went along with it as Ichigo seemed happy. They always got beat up there though and while the bruises would fade the lessons they learned there would last throughout their lives.

It was during one of their lessons at karate that Isshin, instead of Masaki, picked the twins up. They had to leave early due to their mom being taken to the hospital. She was two weeks early in her labor and though Isshin tried to hide it from the boys, he was worried for her. Over the last week, Masaki had been getting weak and slept longer than usual. She had also been eating less. These were worrying signs and the doctor in him was trying to figure out what was wrong with her without worrying her. As they arrived at the hospital, Isshin took the two boys to the daycare center there and then disappeared to find his beloved wife.

Once alone Ichigo looked at Shiro. "Do you think Mama is okay?" he asked.

Shiro grinned. "She's fine." he stated with confidence. "Goatface said so."

"But he looked worried." Ichigo pointed out.

Shiro looked towards the lady that was watching them, her attention was on a pair of cute blonde girls in pink dresses. "If we sneak out now, we could find her before Goatface does and make sure she's okay." he said with a wide grin.

"Sure." Ichigo grinned back mischief entering his eyes as he waited for Shiro to make the first move. Without hesitation the white haired boy moved quickly, with his orange haired counterpart following. Once the daycare door was opened, without any problems on their behalf, they took off down the hall towards the elevator. This is when the two boys had an adventure that would lead them to getting into trouble.

M-Angel: Woohoo! I actually was able to write this chapter. Got called in on my day off, sucked, but it's more money in my pocket.

Srw601 - I hope this chapter explained why Ichigo is acting out a bit.

Magapanda34 - Aw, I'm glad you are enjoying this story. I hope the next chapter brings you delight. Mischief abounds.

Naeme - I am so very happy you are enjoying my take on this story.

Anielsen33326 - Yep. They are Karin and Yuzu, who are about to be born. ^_^