I was writing Chad's part and I realized something. He's could be Teal'c from Stargate SG-1's twin! I was having trouble writing him, and then I realized why. They are both those kind of people who think less talking is better, and everything is slow, solemn and stoic! Teal'c one of my favorite characters from Stargate, so once I realized how alike they were, it made writing Chad's part so much easier. : -D However, I apologize if he is still OOC.
My Document Manager is all freaking screwed up! It's pissing me off. I had this entire this typed yesterday, but it wouldn't let me upload it. O.o It's been acting up a lot lately. When I tried to save some things it said it had been saved successfully, but it had, in fact, deleted something! Is this just my computer, or is it everyone's?
This chapter isn't the longest one, but I felt that it was a good place to end. However, it is extremely dry. There's really no action in it. You're going to have to wait for the next chapter for that. Anyway, enjoy it, and please leave a review. I now know why authors get frustrated when people read, put a story on alerts or favorites but don't review. So please, reviews really do inspire me to write faster! Review pllllleease. : -D
Chapter 5: Of Conversations and Surprises of a Parental KindAfter their discussion about Shinigami, Hollows, past lives and all of that, Uryuu, Rukia and Orihime had returned home for the night.
Rukia decided that she needed some medication for her headache so she stopped at the drugstore before she got home. On her way there, she became a witness to a fight between some Hollow and Chad. Her mouth literally fell open. "Chad's a…. Shinigami…?" she whispered. "Since when…?"
It didn't take long for the tall Mexican to dispose of the Hollow, and when he was finished, he turned to face her, despite her attempt at staying out of sight. He nodded at her solemnly. "Rukia," he said in his deep voice.
She stared at him, without responding.
He nodded again. "You can see me?" he asked slowly.
Rukia nodded. "Y-yeah," she muttered, then the words she had been thinking spilled out. "Since when were you a Shinigami?" she demanded.
"Since I died," he responded evenly. "You remember, us?" he asked.
"Yeah. So does Ichigo, too." She had to lean against a wall, to steady herself as the world spun a little.
Chad frowned a little at her. "Do you require assistance in returning home?"
"No I-" another wave of dizziness hit her, and she changed her answer. "Actually help would be nice."
She gripped his arm tightly, as he used Shunpo to take her to her house. It took far less time than it would have if she was to walk, and she greatly appreciated it. "Thanks," she said when she had let go of his arm.
Chad nodded. "Do Inoue and Ishida remember?" he asked before he left.
Rukia shook her head. "No," she told him. "Only Ichigo and I. Actually that's why my head hurts; all the memories."
"The others will be happy to hear that you remember," he said after a moment.
She shook her head again, ignoring the way it made her headache worse. "Don't tell them yet, please. I think it'd be best it they found out from us, and we still need to sort everything out."
Chad nodded once more, and turned to leave.
"Before you go, though," she said, "can I ask what Division you're in?"
"I am the Vice-Captain under your brother."
Rukia's mouth fell open as he used Shunpo to leave.
She stood there, staring at where he had been standing. About a minute later, the door opened up behind her. Her sister stood there. "Rukia?" she asked. "What are you doing home so late?"
Rukia turned, and walked into the house, past her sister. She leaned against the counter, before going to the refrigerator to get a juice box so that she could take the medicine for her head.
"Rukia?" her sister said again. "Why are you ignoring me?"
Rukia was silent for a few seconds more, than turned to her sister slowly. "Hisana, you remember O-nii-sama, don't you?" she asked. "That's why you changed our last name to Kuchiki after Mother and Father died, isn't it?"
Hisana's eyes went wide at her younger sister's inquiry. "You- you remember then?" she asked is surprise.
Rukia nodded, continuing to ignore the swimmy feeling in her head, as her headache got progressively worse.
"Yes," Hisana said after a moment of silence. "I remember Byakuya. I'm surprised you do. Do you remember everything?"
"I do," Rukia said simply.
"How long?"
"Just tonight," Rukia answered. "Ichigo and I both regained our memories."
Hisana sighed. "And you are bitter?"
"No," Rukia told her. "My head is pounding against my skull, I'm getting a migraine, I need to go to sleep, and I'm frustrated, but bitter is the one thing I'm not," she said. "Can we continue this conversation in the morning?"
Hisana nodded. "All right."
Rukia was about to walk past her older sister, but paused. She turned to her slowly, and then wrapped her arms around the older girl. "It is good to see you."
Then she went up to her room.
As soon as his friends had left, Ichigo decided he needed to talk to his mother.
She was sitting at the kitchen table, drinking coffee when he entered the room. He sat across from her. "Mom," he said slowly.
"I'm happy you remember, dear," Masaki told him. "And yet I'm not. I was hoping you wouldn't have to go through the experience of being a living Shinigami again."
"Actually I'm a vizard."
Her eyes widened in surprise. "You…you're a…How?" she asked after stuttering for a moment.
"Blame Urahara. It was his stupid training."
"I'm going to kill him," Masaki growled.
Ichigo laughed at his mother's vehemence. "Why?" he chuckled.
"Because he deserves it," was the simple, growled answer.
He laughed again. "True, but it was his training that helped me save Rukia."
Masaki anger deflated. "I know," she told him. "He and your father explained a lot of what happened after my death."
"Dad?" Ichigo asked. "Goat Chin?"
Masaki laughed. "Goat Chin?" she asked. "If you mean Isshin, then yes."
"He's still my father?" Ichigo exclaimed. "Damn!"
"Language, Ichigo."
"Sorry, Mom. But…. He's such a pain."
Masaki laughed. "So I've heard. However he's also a Captain and your father."
"Dad's a Captain again!?" Ichigo shouted in surprise.
"There's no need to shout. But yes, he is Ninth Division Captain, He was Eleventh's but since that strange man is still alive, he decided Ninth was alright."
Ichigo's mouth fell open. "He was the Captain that Zaraki "killed"?" he asked, using air quotes over the word 'killed.' "But I thought Zaraki…. then again…that does make sense."
Masaki laughed again. "Yes, it does, doesn't it? But back to our first point, yes, Isshin is still your father."
"Then why doesn't he ever come around?" Ichigo demanded.
"Your father, Kisuke-san and Yoruichi-san are the only ones from the Soul Society who had previous knowledge of you, Rukia-chan, Orihime-chan and Uryuu-kun," his mother told him. "Nobody else knew that the four of you had been reborn except for their families and myself."
"Huh?"
"You should find out more tomorrow, dear. But, your father can't come around. We didn't want you children to get noticed, and we feared that if he came around to much, someone would get suspicious and you all would be discovered."
"That would be a bad thing?" Ichigo asked.
Masaki gave him a sad smile. "We didn't want you all to ruin your lives again because of the Shinigami."
"Ruin our lives?"
"The War cost you four your lives; we didn't want that to happen to you again."
Ichigo looked at his mother in mild surprise. "We saved people's lives, Mom. We didn't waste or ruin our lives."
His mother nodded. "Perhaps it was just us being selfish, as Yoruichi pointed out, but we didn't want to lose you again."
Ichigo smiled a little. "That's all right. I think I prefer your form of selfishness, to some others'. But, now that we do remember, I think we have to help. Mom, when I came home the other night, half-delirious… it was because of an arrancar. If Zangetsu and Hichigo hadn't helped, we would have died. I'm not gonna let that happen to someone else."
"I see what you're saying, but who are Zangetsu and Hichigo?" she asked.
Ichigo sighed. "Zangetsu is my zanpakuto, and Hichigo is what we call my Hollow half."
Masaki stared at him. "Your Hollow half? It helped?"
"He, and yes. We have something almost like a truce. He helps when I need him to."
Masaki just looked surprised. "I'm almost scared you'll introduce him," she whispered.
Ichigo grinned. "Maybe I will. Just not now. I think I'm going to fall asleep here at the table."
Masaki gave him that Motherly Look. "Go get some sleep, Ichigo. We can talk more in the morning."
Ichigo rose from the table, and was about to head up to his room, when he stopped. He walked over to his mother and embraced her. "I'm so sorry, Mom," he whispered.
"Ichigo…" Masaki said. "It wasn't your fault. I never blamed you or your father."
"I'm happy I'm can see you again," he said.
She smiled. "As am I," she answered. "Now go get you butt into bed. You're going to have a long day tomorrow."
Ichigo gave his mother an uncharacteristic smile. "Good night, mom," he said.
"Good night, dear."
End Chapter 5: Of Conversations and Surprises of a Parental Kind.
