Chapter 19: Visoreds Meet Shiro

Utter chaos occurred as everyone began yelling all at once, everyone except for Shinji. Hiyori's loud voice boomed over everyone else's. "What the hell is a damn hollow doing here Urahara?!" she about screeched at her former captain.

The scientist was about to answer her when Ichigo's fist hit the girl on her head. "My brother isn't a damn hollow!" he yelled in his brother's defense. "I'm fucking tired of everyone calling him one!" He and Hiyori glared at each other.

"You're a fucking idiot if you believe for one second that, that is true!" she yelled back at the teen.

Ichigo was about to punch her in the face when Shiro gripped his arm to stop him. "It's okay Ichi." he said in a quiet voice. "We're going back to bed." he told Urahara before dragging his brother back to the room they had been sharing.

"The hell..." Ichigo began only to stop as he was pulled away from the group of people and back into their shared room.

Back in the shop everyone looked at Kisuke for answers. Sighing, Urahara waved everyone to follow him into another room where he could talk to them in private, where the boys couldn't hear them. Once inside, the Visoreds began to sit around a table in the room. "Explain!" Hiyori yelled, tired of the waiting game Urahara was playing with them.

"It began about twenty years ago..." Urahara began. He figured they deserved the full story from the beginning. As he ended, Yoruichi handed him another cup of tea.

"So the hollow that was obviously created by Aizen..." Kensei began only for Mashiro to finish.

"Is that white haired boy?" she both questioned and finished for Kensei.

Urahara nodded. "Without a doubt." He took a sip from his cup. "I sealed his powers years ago, but he somehow unsealed them."

Shinji raised an eyebrow at this statement. Urahara was an expert at sealing enchantments. This meant the boy was even more powerful than Urahara first thought, otherwise the man would have used an even more powerful seal. "And the other boy?" Love questioned having witnessed the orange haired boy's anger than reminded him of a hollow's anger.

"Ichigo is no hollow." Yoruichi defended, having come to like to younger boy.

"Actually," Urahara began. "I believe some of Shiro's hollow side may have rubbed off on him while they were in Masaki. I just don't know how much has influenced him."

"Sounds like you might need our help in evaluating these boys." Rose stated as he took his cup of tea from the side table.

"Is this why you call us back?" Shinji inquired. "Your so called emergency?"

"Yes and no." Urahara pulled out his paper fan and began to cool himself down. "I believe Isshin, their father, may be doing harm to Shiro that's causing the boy to mistrust his own father." As everyone knew, if a child showed promise with powers in Soul Society and was being abused in any way, that child had to be removed from that home to stop any adverse influence taking root in their lives which could turn them against Soul Society itself or certain people in Soul Society. The one abusing the child would have their own powers sealed and would be placed in a certain prison that nobody likes to talk about.

"What proof do you have?" Lisa asked as she pushed her glasses back up her nose, knowing the road they were about to go down was a dangerous one, but it innocent would were in danger of being turned evil...

"None." Kisuke answered with a shake of his head. "Just a gut feeling."

"This is bullshit." Ichigo grumbled as he laid in bed next to his brother. Shiro stayed silent knowing Ichigo needed to vent. "First Rukia, now these guys." Ichigo covered his eyes with his arm. "They don't even know you!"

Shiro grasped Ichigo's free hand that was turning into a fist. Ichigo looked over at his brother. Gold/black eyes stared into brown/gold speckled eyes. "I'm glad I have you in my corner Ichi, but you need to calm down."

Ichigo snorted. "Maybe I want to be mad." he countered as he looked away from his twin. Feeling Shiro's hand leave him, Ichigo thought Shiro was going to leave him be only to suddenly have his brothers body on top of his and hands tickling his sides. The ensuing tickle fight led to laughter between the two boys.

Ichigo scratched the back of his neck as he and Shiro walked towards the school the next morning. Urahara had been nice enough to wake the up for school. Breakfast had been good, but nothing held a candle to Yuzu's cooking. Walking into homeroom the twins saw Chizuru holding her nose but smiling like a pervert as Tatsuki protected Orihime. Shiro was about to say hello when he heard a thump behind himself, along with a groan. Turning he saw that Ichigo had his foot in Keigo's face. Exasperating, Shiro shook his head. So it was a normal morning or it would have been until Shiro saw the tall lanky blonde from the night before enter the room with the teacher.

Shinji made the kids in the room laugh at his stupid joke about his name, all the while he was taking in the environment he was placing himself in. Both of the twin boys were giving him identical glares, though he had to say Shiro's was a bit scarier as it reminded him too much of an angry hollow. Coincidentally he was placed in the desk between the two boys.

Trying to be amicable towards them he told them he was hoping to be their friend. He received identical answers, he was simply ignored. His own hollow was feeling annoyed by these two, something Shinji shared with it. He found that school was very boring. Lunch led him to follow the two boys whose friends invited him to eat with them.

He met a big guy that looked more like a grown adult named Sado, though the boys called him Chad. Next was the beauty from early that morning, Orihime Inoue. She had a cheery disposition and was a bit of an airhead. He found that not only was the brunette girl, Tatsuki, protective of the girl; but so was Shiro.

Shiro's protective side was proven later that afternoon when two guys from another school cornered the two girls. Tatsuki was about to fight one when Shiro and Ichigo came into sight. The pale boy threw his bag to his brother and went up to the one boy who was closest to Inoue and punched him in the gut, before grasping the other boh by the collar of his shirt pulling him close and whispering something into the other boy's ear. Whatever it was turned the boy's face pale white. He grabbed his buddy and the two turned tail and ran off.

Shinji watched all of this from the sidelines. Ichigo turned his head towards Shinji, who was close to him. "Do yo still think my brother is one of those monsters?" His words were full of venom, but Shinji supposed he deserved it for believing that Shiro was dangerous without having proof.

He looked at the white haired boy who was making sure the two young girls were alright. "He may not be one now, but he once was."

Ichigo's eyes seemed the darken at these words. His anger spiking. "You're just like him then." he stated before looking away from Shinji and walking away.

Like him? Shinji thought as he thought about Ichigo's words. Him who? That was the big question. In order to understand the two boys he needed to understand why they mistrusted people so easily. This included why they seemed to be so protective of their friends. The only conclusion he could come up with as he walked back to Urahara's shoten was the same conclusion his old friend had come up with, their father had to be the reason.

When he and the others had left that night so many years ago, he could recall Isshin being a young new captain. Not as new as Urahara had been to the twelfth or as new as Rose had been to the third. About a decade before Otoribashi had become a captain, Isshin's had been inducted as captain of the tenth. By then, Shinji had been captain of the fifth for fifty years. He knew that at that time Isshin's had become not only a captain but the leader of the Shiba clan, a clan that was one of the five elite noble clans. How Isshin had let all of that go the moment he met Masaki and why had been told to them the night before.

Now Shinji had only one question. If he had let all that go for the woman he loved, why was he mistreating one of the children she had given birth to? An image of Shiro appeared in his mind as he stepped into Urahara's porch. He paused in his steps. Did Isshin's only see a hollow where a bit stood, just like he and the Visoreds had? Or was there something more to his hate towards one of his son's?

Shinji sat down across from Kisuke, as he did so he seemed zoned out. The shopkeeper waited until Shinji seemed to notice his presence. "I think you might be right." he admitted. "There's no physical proof but for them both to be so protective of each other and their friends, there's got to be a reason."

Kisuke nodded in agreement. "I'm going to confront Isshin." he told his old friend. "Do you want to be there?"

"I've only just met the kids..." Shinji stated as he felt his hollow stir at those words. It was true, he had just met the twins. However, as they had learned years ago, sentient hollows like what the Visoreds had, created strong bonds that were close to what would be called familial bonds. They were like a clan now and his hollow was saying those boys belonged in their clan.

Urahara eyes Shinji for a moment. "If you want to come, I'll be meeting him after dark." Kisuke fanned himself to cool his body down, but even as he did this he watched Shinji just nod in agreement.

M-Angel: As promised, a longer chapter. ^_^

MugetsuIchigo: Yes, now the fun is going to start.

Anne Camp aka Obi-quiet: Yes, they are back.