Chapter 3: Siblings

"Nothing escapes my gaze." a man with black hair says as his hand reaches for the orange haired boy. A shattering sound fills the air as the sword he held in his hands turned to dust. "Rest in pieces, Ichigo." He suddenly felt his chest exploding in pain as a hole the size of a fist appears in his chest. "It's been fun..." the man's voice wavered as his ears rung from the pain he was experiencing. He barely caught the next few words. "…resistance was ...amusing...best."

Ichigo had suddenly felt his body hit the ground as he was cast away from the strange man as he was left gasping for air, blood splurtting out of his mouth as he coughed up blood. His lungs filled with the red liquid. Karin, Yuzu... Forgive me. he had thought as he had lain there dying. In the distance he heard a voice screaming his name.

"ICHIGO!"

Brown eyes opened instantly as the owner of those eyes woke up suddenly. A crash was heard as the young boy of six fell from his bed. His father's voice the reason he'd been forced to awaken. Above him he heard the bunk squeak and saw his face mirrored by his twin, who is trying to suppress a giggle. The Two had been sharing a room ever since they'd been born. Strange as that seem, what was even more so was the fact that if they did sleep in separate rooms they usually would find their way back to each other. The bunk beds had been their father's idea. The same father who always acted like an idiot and would do the strangest things; like rude awakenings on the weekends.

"He does know it's Saturday, right?" she asked him gaining a scowl from her brother.

Her answer came a second later as the door burst open and a black haired middle-aged man came into the room yelling. "MY BABIES!" Both children glared at their father. "RISE AND SHINE!" he laughed as he went to pull them into his arms.

"ISSHIN!" came their mother's returning yell.

The twins watched their father freeze and slowly turn around, both smiling twin smiles at the turn of events. In the doorway was Masaki with Yuzu on her hip and Karin on her other hip. The two, two year olds having been awakened by their obnoxious father's rather loud voice. Masaki was like a mother bear when it came to her children and he had disturbed their beauty sleep.

"Masaki, my sweet-" he began when he froze at the glare in her eyes. Uh-oh. he thought and knew he was in for it.

"Why are you yelling at seven a.m. in the morning, on a Saturday?" she demanded as she was barely holding back her anger at being awaken so rudely by her husband's voice.

"Saturday?" he questioned gaining sweat drops from his eldest children. Thinking quickly he answered. "Saturday morning cartoons. Daddy time!" he said excitedly.

Masaki's eyebrow twitched. "You woke the children for mindless cartoons?" she asked sounding annoyed as she put the two younger children down who ran over to Ichigo who was now watching this little drama like it was the best entertainment going on. He helped both girls into his bed and watched what would unfold next.

Isshin laughed nervously. "Now, Masaki." he began only to have his wife walk up to him and snag his left ear and tug it hard until he was crying out. "MASAKI!" he cried as he was pulled from the room. All four children following to watch their tall father be punished by their short mother. Smiles on all four children's faces, especially the two older ones who were used to this kind of thing.

"Dad never learns." Ichigo stated with a grumble before looking at his twin who held Yuzu in her arms. The little one looking tired still. "You still want to sleep Verena?"

The older girl sighed as she looked towards him. "You know he'll just sneak us down later." she said tiredly.

He gave a nod before picking up Karin, the dark haired child wrapped her arms around his neck as he took her downstairs, clutched in her hands was her baby blanket, as Yuzu sucked on her pacifier. Both of the older twins sat their siblings onto the couch before turning on the tv and searching for the cartoons. Once the station was found they went into the kitchen that was next to the living room and began searching for their cereal. Once four bowls were filled, they went back over to the couch and sat the bowls on the table. Yuzu and Karin climbed down onto the floor and began to eat their breakfast with their older siblings.

A couple hours later Verena looked towards the stairs to see their Mom walking down them looking quite happy. "Who's hungry?" she asked causing the children to look at their empty bowls on the table.

"I am!" came their father's voice from the upstairs.

"We ate." Verena stated as they continued to watch the tv.

"Really?" Masaki took in the mess in the kitchen and the bowls on the table. "I see." She walked over to the couch and kissed Ichigo and Verena's foreheads. "What helpful children I have." the praise caused both children to smile. "Why don't you both go get dressed and afterwards we will go to the park."

"Okay!" was their duel answer as they ran up the stairs to go get dressed. They almost caused Isshin to fall as they ran through his legs.

"Whoa!" he cried out. "Where's the fire?" he asked as the two disappeared upstairs.

Masaki laughed at her husband as he came around her and kissed her neck as he wrapped his arms around her waist. "Help me with Yuzu and Karin and we'll go to the park to have family time?" she asked him causing him to smile.

"Of course my beloved." he kissed her cheek before rushing over to the twin girls. "Who wants to get dressed?" he asked them only to have Karin grab his nose and pull hard. "Ouch!" he cried out and began to rub the offended appendage.

"Silly Daddy." she said before sliding off of the couch and running off as Yuzu began laughing as she chased her sister.

"That hurt." he mumbled causing Masaki to chuckle before she scooped Karin up into her arms. Isshin grabbed the second child and began to make their way up the stairs.

Once in the park Verena and Ichigo ran off to hide from their father who was chasing the other two. Verena noticed Ichigo was starring off into the distance, a frown marring his face. "What is it Ichi?" she asked him as she looked off to where he was looking.

"Do you see it?" he asked as he continued to look off into the distance.

"It?" she asked as she looked into the distance but saw nothing but trees there.

"There's a woman crying there. She's see through though." he stated.

"A ghost?" she asked him with wide eyes.

He gave a nod. "I've seen them before, but never this clearly." he said. "I told Dad, but he says he can't see them." he looked away from the woman and up into the sky. "I've been having weird dreams again." he looked at her.

"Of you dying?" she asked. He nodded as he shuffled his feet in the dirt. "Have you told Daddy or Mommy?"

He shook his head. "No." he stated as he shoved his hands into his pockets. "I had dreams of a person who looks just like me but has white skin and hair, but has black and golden eyes too." he looked at his sister. "He's in this world with buildings facing sideways. He talks, but I can't hear him. It's like his voice is on mute or something."

"Maybe you need to listen more carefully." She stated. "Next time he appears, you should listen really, really carefully to him. Maybe he's like your invisible friend or something." she laughed at his confused look.

"Why would I need an invisible friend?" he asked her only to get a shrug as she took off in a run. Deciding to chase her, he took off after her and left behind him the gloomy thoughts as he tried to have fun with his family.

It was a couple days later when Ichigo and Verena were at school when a new kid was introduced to the children. He was tall and lanky looking. He called himself Lee and almost instantly Ichigo didn't like him and as the kid came out onto playground later that day, Ichigo found that the feeling was mutual.

Lee, it turned out, was a bully. He pushed Ichigo around on the playground. Calling him names like freak, berry boy, strawberry and flower. He also pushed, punched and kicked Ichigo and nobody seemed to care as he was being beat up. He was suddenly pushed against the fence between the first years and the nineth year classes and was about to get punched in the face when suddenly a hand grabbed Lee's and pushed it away. Ichigo opened his eyes to find his sister's angry looking face as she suddenly kicked Lee between his legs. Ichigo winced as he saw the boy go down clutching his privates.

"Leave my brother alone you big bully!" she yelled as she kicked the downed boy in the gut. Grabbing her brothers hand she pulled Ichigo with her to find a teacher and show them Ichigo's bloodied nose.

After that incident everybody knew not to pick on Ichigo. It was also after that moment that Ichigo decided he'd get stronger. He didn't want to see his sister get hurt because of him. She wasn't just his sister, she was his protector; but the same could be said of him, he wasn't just her brother, he was her protector too.

In the end though, it was Isshin and Masaki who decided it was time they both learned how to defend themselves. They began to go to the dojo that was nearby. It was there that they met Tatsuki Arisawa, a young girl who was also taking martial arts and was really good at it, so much so that the two began to learn from her. Instantly the twins liked the girl and almost as fast the three became friends. It was here that the hands of time began to once again change.

M-Angel: Ichigo and his sister are so cute! I wanted a name that was similar to Ichigo's as his sister's name, which is why I gave her the name I did. I do hope everybody enjoyed this chapter! ^_^

Verena - German in origin. Means Protector.

Now to answer a question left by a reviewer. The reason I created a new character to be Ichigo's twin and did not use Karin or Yuzu is because those two go really well together as sisters. There is no actual twin to Ichigo unless you are talking about his Hollow side. Also, I liked the idea of Ichigo having a twin sister. It had nothing to do with Karin being a tomboy, one of my best friends is like that. It also had nothing to do with Yuzu being too girly, because every girl has that potential in them. I wanted my story to be different and not like any other, most give him a twin brother. Yes, I know original characters have gained a bad rep on this site and yes that is because a lot of them become like self-inserts; but I've used original characters in my stories for years. I even used one in two different fandoms and have retired that character because of that. I'm sorry to hear that you won't be reading my story because of this. I hope my other readers don't do this, but if they do, I'll understand; but that won't stop me from writing my story.