Breath of Life
An Uncle~

The alarm went off in the twins room, causing Karin to let out a groan. While she had finally managed to fall asleep the night before she happened to find herself unable to sleep the night before. She found herself letting out a deep sigh before standing up and getting dressed in her middle school uniform. She then headed down the stairs in time to see Yuzu cooking breakfast. "Where's dad?"

"He's still taking care of the patient he brought in yesterday." Her sister shook her cooking utensil. "Can you believe that he made ohagi for breakfast?"

"He made that for breakfast?" Karin let out a deep sigh before pushing her chair back in. "I'm going to go and see how he is doing."

The small female slipped into the clinic and found her father unlocking the clinic. The man glanced up, blinking a couple of times. "Good morning Karin."

"You look like you don't want to see me." The girl tilted her head to the side so she could glance around him to see the room the stranger was in. "You did promise that you would explain who that person was. Who is he?"

"I did make that promise." Isshin shook his head in frustration. "Would you tell me when your brother is up and eating his breakfast. I need to talk to all three of you."

"Are you sure that you want to talk to all three of us at the same time?" Karin tried pushing her father for answers.

"Just go eat your breakfast!" The man waved his hand towards the door to the house. He then headed into his office to take care of some paperwork.

The small female let out a deep sigh and walked back towards the room. She found herself peeking around the corner at the dark haired man. He had his arms folded under his head and he was resting. His eyes were closed and he didn't seem to be paying her any mind. She couldn't help but notice how much Ichigo and the stranger looked like each other.

Suddenly, the man opened one eye and looked right at her, almost as if he had known she was there the whole time. Karin found herself startling and suddenly hurrying back towards the house. She found herself sitting down in the chair. Yuzu placed a plate of food in front of her, only to have her sister not touch the food.

A few minutes later, her brother came down the stairs. He grabbed his plate of food and dug in. "Hey, you two are ready for school, right?"

Karin simply continued to pick at her food, not eating a single bite. Yuzu walked over to stand next to her. "Are you all right Karin? You wouldn't happen to be having boy problems?"

"Boy problems? I don't have boy problems. They know that they don't want to get on my bad side." The dark haired twin let out a deep breath. She took the time to glance up at her brother, only to have her head dart down when she remembered that the stranger and her brother looked like each other. She continued to stir her food.

Isshin came in. "The three of you are possibly wondering who the stranger in the clinic happens to be."

"Not really." Ichigo shoveled his food into his mouth and ignored his father.

"I'm interested." Yuzu spoke up. "And you seemed interested the night before."

"Again, not really. There are certain things I'd rather not be explained." The substitute shinigami put food in his mouth.

"Actually, it is rather important that you three know who this person is. We're also need to lay down some ground rules while this guest is staying with us." Isshin sat down in a chair. "This person happens to be my brother."

Ichigo suddenly found himself coughing on his food. He pounded a fist against his chest. "Hold on... if he is your brother, then that means he's a..." The orange haired teen took a drink to clear his throat. "You wouldn't happen to be pulling some sort of sick joke on us."

"So that is where Ichigo gets his good looks from." Karin blurted out, the stress getting to her. She glanced first at her father, then her brother and then back again. She narrowed her eyes, knowing that something was being kept from him.

"You mean Ichi-nii looks like our uncle?" A smile spread across Yuzu's face.

"Yeah, except his coloring is like dad and mine while Ichi-nii happens to have mom's coloring." Karin spoke up.

"Since he's our uncle I should take him some breakfast." The small female started towards the kitchen, only to find her arm grabbed by Isshin.

"I would appreciate it Yuzu if the three of you would let him rest as much as he needs to before you meet him. I would also appreciate that there be no guests over for awhile." Isshin let go of her arm, only to have her turn and look at him with a pout on her face.

Karin suddenly found herself standing up, slamming her hands onto the table. "Hold it! I had planned on having one of my friends come over and visit. He hasn't been over since... well, he hasn't been over for awhile and I haven't seen him in awhile."

Her father took a deep breath and shook his head. "I mean it when I say that you aren't to have any quests."

"I'm guessing this includes Rukia?"

"Es... no, not even Rukia." Isshin glanced down at his hands. "It is really important that we don't have any guests over."

"But Rukia-nee-chan is family!" Yuzu shook her head.

"Ignore him Yuzu. He has a reason for doing this." Ichigo began to pick at his food.

Karin however found herself starring at her father, remembering the dream she had the night before. Rukia had been in the dream and she was quite sure that her father had almost said the word especially. Her brother tapped her shoulder and then pointed at her food and muttered something about her being late for school.

However, Isshin had something else to say. "I would also appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone that your uncle is here, staying with us."

"Why not?" Yuzu folded her arms across her chest.

"It's fine Yuzu. Dad doesn't bother to ever explain things to anyone." Ichigo muttered through a mouthful of food.

"Yeah, but this is rather strange."

"Well, your uncle has amnesia and I'm wanting him to remember things on his own. I don't want anyone interrupting this process." Isshin stated, letting out a deep sigh. "I've got to get back to the clinic. You three have a good day at school."

"Yeah..." Karin continued to pick at her food. She watched as her father disappeared back into the clinic.

"So, who were you going to have over today?" Ichigo asked.

"It doesn't matter, he can't come over. He'll have to stay somewhere else when he comes."

Her brother suddenly pointed a fork at her. "How do you know that he would be over today when you haven't had contact with him for what, since that happened to me."

"Just but out Ichi-nii." Karin stated as she stood up and stormed out of the house to head to school.